HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY FLORENCIA SOTO NIÑO,
ASSOCIATE SPOKESPERSON FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES
FRIDAY, 25 AUGUST 2023
MYANMAR
Today marks six years since the forced mass displacement of Rohingya people and other communities from Myanmar’s Rakhine State. Rohingya people remain displaced domestically and abroad, including around one million Rohingya in Bangladesh.
The vulnerabilities faced by people of Myanmar, including the Rohingya, have been compounded by the ongoing conflict and by the devastation caused by Cyclone Mocha. The United Nations will continue to support efforts to create conditions that would be conducive to the voluntary, safe, dignified, and sustainable return of Rohingya refugees to their places of origin in Myanmar.
The Secretary-General calls on all stakeholders to redouble efforts to find comprehensive, inclusive, and durable solutions that can adequately address the root causes of systemic discrimination and violence in Myanmar and to respond to growing protection crisis and humanitarian needs while strengthening refugee protection efforts in the region for those fleeing persecution and violence.
Bangladesh has demonstrated humanitarian commitments and generosity which must be acknowledged through shared responsibility. More must be done to support the Joint Response Plan and prevent a broader humanitarian crisis.
The United Nations is committed to working with all stakeholders, including regional actors, to help resolve the crisis and seek accountability and justice for victims towards a sustainable peace in Rakhine State and all of Myanmar.
The High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, also issued a statement.
SECURITY COUNCIL
This morning, the Under-Secretary-General of the UN Counter-Terrorism Office, Vladimir Voronkov, briefed Security Council members. He said that Da’esh and its affiliates continue to constitute a serious threat in conflict zones and neighbouring countries.
He added that while there has been progress in targeting Da’esh finances and leadership cadres, including the death of the Da’esh leader earlier this year, these measures had a notable effect on the group’s operations in Iraq and the Syrian Arab Republic, as well as elsewhere.
For her part, the Executive Director at the Counter-Terrorism office, Natalia Gherman, said that the Secretary-General’s report on the threat posed by Da’esh to international peace and security welcomes the continued efforts of Member States to repatriate its citizens from the north-east of the Syrian Arab Republic.
She emphasized that it is critical that our counter terrorism measures are part of a comprehensive approach to addressing the threat of terrorism. The measures must be evidence-based and human rights-compliant.
And this afternoon, the Security Council will reconvene for a briefing on nonproliferation/DPRK. Assistant Secretary-General for Middle East, Asia and the Pacific, Khaled Khiari, will brief.
DEMOCRACTIC PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF KOREA
In a statement, the Secretary-General strongly condemned the attempted launch of yet another military satellite by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
He said that any launch by the DPRK using ballistic missile technology is contrary to the relevant Security Council resolutions and he reiterated his call on the DPRK to cease such acts and to swiftly resume dialogue without preconditions to achieve the goal of sustainable peace and the complete and verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
SUDAN
The Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Martin Griffiths, warned in a statement today that the hostilities have gone viral and are now spreading to Kordofan where food stocks have been fully depleted in some areas. In addition, clashes and road blockages are preventing aid workers from reaching the hungry.
And just to update you on our humanitarian efforts to provide assistance to people in Darfur, our colleagues are telling us that on Wednesday, UNICEF delivered 20 tons of assistance to Koulbous, in West Darfur. The cross-border shipment from Chad included 10 tons of water, sanitation and hygiene supplies to benefit 10,000 people for three months, as well as 10 tons of medical and nutrition items. This was the first time the UN has reached Koulbous since the conflict in Sudan broke out in mid-April.
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says an inter-agency mission - including OCHA and several UN agencies - reached Koulbous yesterday. The team met internally displaced people who had fled the state capital – Geneina - and other locations. Further cross-border missions to West Darfur are planned in the coming days.
More than 1.5 million people in West Darfur are in need of humanitarian assistance – according to this year’s revised Humanitarian Response Plan.
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
The World Food Programme warned that in the eastern provinces of North Kivu, South Kivu and Ituri, 6.7 million people face acute food insecurity. WFP said that it is on the ground and is scaling up its support to progressively increase the number of people reached with food and cash assistance, but the sky-rocketing needs are stretching an already severely underfunded and ignored operation.
WFP added that its assistance is required by 3.6 million people across these provinces, however, the resources are not available to meet all the needs of this population. With current resource shortages, while prioritizing cash assistance more rapidly, WFP is already struggling to meet the needs of the 1.5 million people it has already registered.
If additional funding is not received, WFP said that it will be forced to drastically reduce the number of vulnerable and food insecure people it can assist from October onwards. These would include women and young children. WFP is urgently appealing for $567 million to meet the most pressing needs in the three provinces for the next six months - August 2023 to January 2024.
OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY
On the Occupied Palestinian Territory, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs warns that humanitarian needs are deepening because of restrictions of movement of Palestinians inside the West Bank. This undermines their access to livelihoods and essential services such as health care and education.
OCHA has identified 645 obstacles that restrict movement across the West Bank which represents an 8 per cent rise from the last survey in 2020.
All the mapped obstacles are inside the occupied Palestinian territory rather than on the Green Line.
Under international law, the Israeli authorities have the obligation to facilitate the free movement of Palestinians within the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and only certain security-related exceptions are recognized.
PAKISTAN
The UN Children’s Fund today warned that one year after historic floods devastated Pakistan and a national state of emergency was declared, millions of children continue to need humanitarian assistance and access to essential services. UNICEF said that recovery and rehabilitation efforts remain underfunded and that this season’s monsoon rains are worsening already challenging conditions for flood-affected communities, tragically claiming the lives of 87 children across the country.
UNICEF estimates that there are still 8 million people - around half of whom are children - that continue to live without access to safe water in flood-affected areas. UNICEF’s current appeal of $173.5 million to provide life-saving support remains only 57 per cent funded.
CYPRUS
The Assistant Secretary-General for Europe, Central Asia and Americas in the Department of Political Affairs, Miroslav Jenča, will be in Cyprus from 27 to 29 August for separate meetings with the Greek Cypriot leader, Nikos Christodoulides, and the Turkish Cypriot leader, Ersin Tatar, and their representatives.
The discussions are expected to focus on the way forward on the Cyprus issue and recent developments on the ground.
GUATEMALA
The Secretary-General notes that the second round of elections in Guatemala took place in an orderly fashion, as underscored by OAS and EU observers. He is, however, concerned by reports of attempts to undermine the results of the election in which Bernardo Arévalo emerged as the victor, by means of prosecutorial action against members of the electoral tribunal, the electoral boards and political parties. He recalls that electoral institutions should undertake their work in an independent manner, respecting the free expression of the will of the electors.
UN NEWS APP
The Department of Global Communications launched today it’s enhanced UN News APP. UN News’ multimedia app across nine languages has brought you breaking news, insightful interviews, in-depth features, photo stories and live streaming of major meetings for some five years, it includes new features.
