HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY STEPHANE DUJARRIC

SPOKESPERSON FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES

WEDNESDAY, 23 MARCH 2022

Afghanistan 
The Secretary-General deeply regrets today’s announcement by the Taliban authorities in Afghanistan that girls’ education from the sixth grade has been suspended until further notice.   
The start of the new school year has been anticipated by all students, girls and boys, and parents and families. The de facto authorities’ failure to reopen schools for girls above the sixth grade, despite repeated commitments, is a profound disappointment and deeply damaging for Afghanistan. The Secretary-General says that the denial of education not only violates the equal rights of women and girls to education, it also jeopardizes the country’s future in view of the tremendous contributions by Afghan women and girls.   
The Secretary-General urges the Taliban de facto authorities to open schools for all students without delay. 
That statement has been shared with you I will now Sam give you the floor and then we will take some questions.

UKRAINE
In Ukraine, more than 200,000 people lack access to water across the Donetska oblast in the country’s east. That is according to authorities and humanitarian colleagues. 
More people could be cut off from the water supply as clashes continue in the area, potentially leaving millions of people without access to water. 
Attacks on healthcare are continuing. The World Health Organization said that, since February 24th, there now have been 64 attacks on health facilities, health care workers and ambulances. Health workers, healthcare facilities and supplies must never be targeted. Any attacks on healthcare are a violation of international humanitarian law. 
The International Organization for Migration is managing regional hotlines to help people move safely, and have had more than 15,000 consultations in the last few weeks. 
People are seeking information regarding human trafficking, as well as safe travel, how to seek asylum and obtain refugee status, and how to receive support from diplomatic institutions and other organizations.  
The 2022 Ukraine Flash Appeal is still funded at 38 per cent of the $1.1 billion.
 
SECRETARY-GENERAL/STEERING COMMITTEE
The Steering Committee of the Global Crisis Response Group on Food, Energy, and Finance, that the Secretary-General announced earlier last week is holding its first meeting. The aim of the Steering Committee is to coordinate the global response to the worldwide impacts of the crisis in Ukraine. 
In his remarks, the Secretary-General is expected to note that many developing countries are already struggling to recover from the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and now, they face skyrocketing food, fuel and fertilizer bills.  
The Secretary-General will stress that we need to bring developed and developing countries together to find global solutions, because this is a global crisis. 
The Steering Committee will be led by Amina Mohammed, our Deputy-Secretary-General, on behalf of the Secretary-General, and will have four immediate areas for focus: coordination, action, data and analysis, as well as partnership. It will complement existing coordination and operational delivery mechanisms, lending its support to enhance and strengthen these arrangements and fill gaps as necessary.  
On food, for example, we will make a strong call on countries to prevent hoarding and speculative movements threatening supply and solidarity in times of crisis, all nations are urged to “keep food markets open” and to cease trade restrictions and export bans. 
The steering committee has about 31 members, including senior UN officials, representatives of regional development banks, the International Chamber of Commerce, energy experts and so on.

SECURITY COUNCIL  
The Security Council met this morning on the cooperation with the League of Arab States.  
Addressing the Council, the Secretary-General said that the UN and the League of Arab States remain united in our pursuit of multilateral answers to the cascading challenges facing the Arab world and beyond.  These efforts, he said, have an added urgency as we face the profound global ramifications of the war in Ukraine.  
He noted that numerous countries, for example, import half of their wheat from Ukraine or Russia – that includes Egypt, Lebanon, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen.   
The Secretary-General discussed cooperation with the League in dealing with situations in Libya, Sudan, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Yemen and Israel and Palestine.  
The Council also heard from Ahmed Aboul Gheit, the Secretary-General of the League of Arab States. 
 
HORN OF AFRICA
On the heels of International Water Day, which was yesterday, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the Horn of Africa tell us that millions of men, women and children face severe water shortages and are going hungry due to the devastating drought in that region.  
People in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia have endured three consecutive poor rainy seasons. If the rains are scarce from March to May, this drought risks becoming one of the worst climate-induced emergencies in the last 40 years in the Horn of Africa. 
Water sources have dried up across the region, forcing people to walk long distances to find water for their families and their livestock. The crisis has also resulted in displacement, conflict over scarce water resources, and the increased risk of violence and abuse against children and women. 
Food insecurity is at record highs. According to the latest estimates, between 13.1 and 14.1 million people in Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia are struggling to put food on the table every day. 
The prolonged drought will leave more than 5.7 million children acutely malnourished in these countries in 2022, 1.7 million of them severely acutely malnourished. 
Humanitarian partners are scaling up the response and have helped 1.6 million people in Somalia, more than 2.7 million in Ethiopia and more than 800,000 people in Kenya.  
Aid agencies are appealing for $4.4 billion to help some 30 million people in the three countries, but funding is extremely low. We urge donors and the international community to step up their help to fight the drought across the Horn of Africa. 
 
RESEARCH ROADMAP
In November of 2020, the UN released the UN Research Roadmap for the COVID-19 Recovery, in collaboration with 38 research funding agencies around the world and led by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. 
Today, new data published in Wellcome Open Research show that between April 2020 and July 2021, more than $800 million has been invested in nearly 4,000 research projects that align with the UN Roadmap. 
The Roadmap for the COVID-19 Recovery provides a framework for leveraging the power of science in support of a better socio-economic recovery and a more equitable, resilient and sustainable future.  
It identifies 25 research priorities and key scientific strategies to support a recovery that benefits everyone, as well as actions that researchers, research agencies, governments, civil society organizations and UN entities can take.

WORLD METEOROLOGICAL DAY
Today is World Meteorological Day. In his video message, the Secretary-General announced that the UN will spearhead new action to ensure every person on Earth is protected by early warning systems within five years.  
The Secretary-General asked the WMO to lead this effort and to present an action plan at the next UN climate conference that will take place at the end of this year, in Sharm-el-sheikh, in Egypt. 
Today, one-third of the world’s people, mainly in least developed countries and small island developing states, are still not covered by early warning systems. 
The Secretary-General said this is unacceptable, particularly when climate impacts are getting worse. 
Early action and early warnings save lives.
You can find more details on the WMO website and in the statement we issued.

NOON BRIEFING GUEST 
Samantha Mort, UNICEF’s Chief of Communications in Afghanistan, briefed reporters on the situation of girls’ education in Afghanistan.