HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY STÉPHANE DUJARRIC​,
SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES
MONDAY, 22 AUGUST 2022

SECRETARY-GENERAL/TRAVELS  
The Secretary-General is now back in New York. On Saturday, he was in Istanbul where he visited the Joint Operations Centre of the Black Sea Grain Initiative.  He was also able to see the World Food Programme (WFP) ship Brave Commander and board the SSI Invincible II vessel which was on its way to Chornomorsk in Ukraine to load up almost 50,000 tonnes of grain – which would be the largest shipment to leave Ukraine since the start of the war.  
The Secretary-General then toured the Joint Coordination Centre (JCC) where he was joined by the Turkish Minister of Defence, Hulusi Akar. He also met with the Ukrainian and the Russian delegations to the JCC separately and then sat in on an official session of the Joint Coordination team where he thanked all the participants for their professionalism and humanity in ensuring that this initiative is a success for people around the world.

UKRAINE FACT-FINDING MISSION 
On 3 August 2022, the Secretary-General announced his decision to launch a Fact-Finding Mission regarding the 29 July 2022 incident at Olenivka, Ukraine, following requests from the Governments of Ukraine and the Russian Federation. The Fact-Finding Mission will endeavour to ascertain the facts of the incident and report to the Secretary-General upon completion of its work.  
Earlier last week, in Lviv, on Thursday, the Secretary stated he was going to appoint General Carlos dos Santos Cruz of Brazil to lead the mission. This has now been done. The other members of the team are Ingibjörg Sólrún Gísladóttir of Iceland and Issoufou Yacouba of Niger.  
The Terms of Reference of the mission were shared with Ukraine and the Russian Federation, as well as the make-up of the team.  The UN will now continue to work to obtain the necessary assurances to guarantee secure access to the site and any other relevant locations.   
As the Secretary-General said very clearly in Lviv, to put it simply, a fact-finding mission must be free to find the facts. The team must be able to gather and analyze necessary information.  Above all, that means safe, secure and unfettered access to people, places and evidence without any interference from any party.  
Some background on the members of the team.  
General dos Santos Cruz has over 45 years of national and international military and civilian experience. In 2017, he led a United Nations high-level review on addressing violence against UN peacekeepers.  General dos Santos Cruz served as Force Commander in the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) from 2013 to 2015, as well as in Haiti from 2007 until 2009. He has held numerous leadership positions in Brazil.
Ms. Ingibjörg Sólrún Gísladóttir brings to the Fact-Finding Mission over 40 years of experience in international and national public service. Most recently, she served as Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Iraq from 2021 to 2022. Prior to that, Ms. Gísladóttir carried out various high-level assignments with the (OSCE) and UN WOMEN. She was Iceland’s Foreign Affairs Minister from 2007 to 2009. She also served as a member of Parliament for seven years and as Mayor of Reykjavík for nine years. 
Mr. Issoufou Yacouba brings several decades of experience in national and international police service. Most recently, Mr. Yacouba was Police commissioner for the UN Peacekeeping force in Mali from 2016 to 2021. Prior to that he also served with the United Nations Operation in Burundi (ONUB) as Deputy Police Commissioner and served in his country’s police force, including as Inspector General. Mr. Yacouba also served as regional governor.

SECRETARY-GENERAL/SECURITY COUNCIL  
This morning, the Secretary-General spoke at a Security Council meeting on Promoting Common Security Through Dialogue and Cooperation. He told Council Members that as the focus of the briefing makes clear, the path to peace is forged by dialogue and cooperation.    
Mentioning his travels to Ukraine and Türkiye, the Secretary-General said that the Black Sea Grain Initiative, which he had the opportunity to see in action, is a concrete example of how dialogue and cooperation can deliver hope, even in the midst of conflict.  He stressed that the same commitment to dialogue and results must be applied to the critical situation at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine.   
The Secretary-General noted that the tools that have kept us from catastrophic war are more important than ever, but they must be fit for today’s rapidly deteriorating international peace and security environment.

UKRAINE
In a statement, the Executive Director of the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Catherine Russell, said that at least 972 children have been killed or injured by violence since the war escalated nearly six months ago – that's an average of over five children killed or injured each day.  These are just the figures the UN has been able to verify.   
Ms. Russell added that beyond the horror of children being killed or physically hurt in attacks, almost every child in Ukraine has been exposed to deeply distressing events, and those fleeing violence are at significant risk of family separation, violence, abuse, sexual exploitation, and trafficking. She added that Ukraine’s education system has been devastated by the escalation of hostilities across the country and UNICEF admits that 1 in 10 schools have been damaged or destroyed.

MYANMAR  
The Special Envoy of the Secretary-General on Myanmar, Noeleen Heyzer, arrived in Bangladesh today for a four-day visit. She will visit Cox’s Bazar to engage directly with Rohingya refugees.  She will also meet with the authorities in Dhaka.

SYRIA  
Over the weekend, the Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Syria, Imran Riza, along with the Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for Syria, Muhannad Hadi and the Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa of the Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Adele Khodr, expressed their deepest concerns about the continuing escalation in the northern region of the country.  
They said that attacks such as the one that occurred last week on a market in Al Bab city, once again show that civilians, many of them women and children, continue to suffer the effects of ongoing hostilities in parts of Syria. The senior UN officials urge all parties to take feasible measures to minimize harm to civilians and abide by their obligations to protect them.

SECRETARY-GENERAL/SOMALIA   
In a statement issues over the weekend, the Secretary-General strongly condemned the terrorist attack on the Hayat hotel in Mogadishu which took place on 19 August.    
He expressed his deep condolences to the families of the victims as well as to the Government and people of Somalia. He swift a swift recovery to the injured, and reiterates the solidarity of the United Nations with the Government and the people of Somalia in their fight against terrorism and their march towards peace.

INTERNATIONAL DAYS  
Today is the International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief. This was a General Assembly observance adopted in 2019. In his message for the Day, the Secretary-General notes that on this day we honour those who have lost their lives or who have otherwise suffered for simply seeking to exercise their fundamental rights to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion or belief.  He reiterates his firm solidarity with the victims.  
And yesterday was International Day of Remembrance and Tribute to the Victims of Terrorism, and this year’s theme focuses on the importance of memories.  
The Secretary-General said in a message that too often victims feel abandoned after the initial shock of a terrorist attack. It is our collective responsibility to remember and honour the victims and survivors, he added.