HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY FARHAN HAQ,
DEPUTY SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES
MONDAY, 25 JULY 2022
SENIOR PERSONNEL APPOINTMENTS
Today, the Secretary-General is announcing Li Junhua of China as the next Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs. He will succeed Liu Zhenmin of China to whom the Secretary-General is grateful for his commitment and dedicated service to the Organization.
Mr. Li is currently Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of China to Italy and San Marino. Prior to this, he was Director General of the Department of International Organizations and Conferences, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China.
And then, following consultations with UNESCO’s Director-General, Audrey Azoulay, and with her concurrence, the Secretary-General is appointing Professor Tshilidzi Marwala of South Africa as Rector of the United Nations University (UNU) in Tokyo.
Professor Marwala will be the seventh Rector of the United Nations University, as of 1 March 2023. The decision to appoint Professor Marwala was taken after an extensive international search process. Professor Marwala will succeed Professor David M. Malone of Canada who has served as UNU Rector since 2013.
Professor Marwala currently serves as the Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the University of Johannesburg. Lots more in his biography – online and in your mailboxes.
SECRETARY-GENERAL/UKRAINE
In a statement issued over the weekend, the Secretary-General unequivocally condemned reported strikes in the Ukrainian port of Odesa. He stressed that on Friday, all parties made clear commitments on the global stage to ensure the safe movement of Ukrainian grain and related products to global markets.
The Secretary-General noted that these products are desperately needed to address the global food crisis and ease the suffering of millions of people in need around the globe. Full implementation by the Russian Federation, Ukraine and Türkiye is imperative, he said.
BLACK SEA INITIATIVE
On the Black Sea Initiative, the Deputy Spokesman said that since the signing of the agreement, parties to the initiative, and the UN, have been in frequent contact, including yesterday. All parties have reconfirmed their commitment to the Initiative.
The Government of Turkiye has generously provided a physical space for the Joint Coordination Centre, where operations are being established now. By tomorrow, all parties and the UN will have a presence in the Joint Coordination Centre in Istanbul.
We expect that the first ship may move within a few days. The Joint Coordination Centre will be liaising with the shipping industry and publishing detailed procedures for ships in the very near future.
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
This morning, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, demonstrators targeted bases belonging to the UN peacekeeping mission, MONUSCO.
In Goma, they forcibly entered and looted UN facilities, while also throwing stones, setting tires on fire, and creating roadblocks. Peacekeepers were forced to push back protestors by firing tear gas and warning shots to protect personnel, the UN hospital, and other vital infrastructure.
There was also a similar protest at our base in Nyamilima, 38 kilometres north-east of Rutshuru. Several peacekeepers there reportedly suffered minor injuries.
Another protest at the Mission’s base in Kitchanga, 28 kilometers north-east of Masisi, was reported to have been peaceful.
In a press statement, the UN Mission denounced the attacks and recalled that UN premises are inviolable under the Status-of-Forces Agreement between the United Nations and the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Meanwhile, the Mission is activating additional security protocols and advancing contingency planning to ensure the continued implementation of its mandate and the safety and security of all UN personnel.
MYANMAR
The High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, today condemned in the strongest terms the execution of four democracy activists by Myanmar’s military - despite repeated calls by the United Nations and the wider international community to not carry out death sentences.
Ms. Bachelet said these executions – the first in Myanmar in decades - are cruel violations of the rights to life, liberty and security of a person, and fair trial guarantees.
The High Commissioner called for the immediate release of all political prisoners and others arbitrarily detained. She urged the country to reinstate its de facto moratorium on the use of the death penalty, as a step towards eventual abolition.
YEMEN
Hans Grundberg, the Special Envoy for Yemen, yesterday condemned the attack that hit the Zaid Al Moshki residential neighbourhood in Taiz, injuring 11 boys and girls, mostly under the age of 10. One boy died of his injuries.
The warring parties have obligations under international law to protect civilians, Mr. Grundberg said, adding that the killing and injuring of children is particularly reprehensible.
He will continue engaging the parties to renew and expand the truce, and to ensure that Yemenis nationwide experience the protection, greater freedom of movement, and hope that it is meant to provide.
HAITI
In Haiti, UN humanitarians have started delivering humanitarian assistance to help vulnerable people impacted by violence in the commune of Cité Soleil as well as in other neighbourhoods of the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area.
In the past few days, the UN has distributed enough food to feed 7,000 people for a week. We have also distributed drinking water, as well as kits of basic relief items – including hygiene and baby supplies, plastic sheeting and repair items for damaged houses.
Protection remains a real concern. According to the UN, between 8 and 17 July 2022, over 471 people were killed, injured or unaccounted for. Serious incidents of sexual violence against women and girls, as well as boys being recruited by gangs, have also been reported. Around 3,000 people have fled their homes, including hundreds of unaccompanied children, and at least 140 houses have been destroyed or burnt down.
Access to health care is limited or non-existent, while food and water have been in short supply.
The Humanitarian Coordinator, Ulrika Richardson, calls on all parties to end violence and to ensure unhindered access to provide emergency humanitarian and medical assistance to civilians in need.
AFGHANISTAN
In Afghanistan, humanitarians say that flash flooding caused by heavy rain yesterday has resulted in civilian casualties and severe infrastructure damage in Nangarhar, Kunar, Laghman, and Nuristan provinces across the eastern region. According to initial reports, the floods impacted more than 6,000 people, damaging their houses and destroying thousands of hectares of agricultural land.
In response we, along with our humanitarian partners, have deployed assessment teams to the affected areas in the east and southeast yesterday and today.
For its part, the UN Development Programme today held a forum entitled “Community Voices: Vision for Regional Economic Recovery in Afghanistan”. The forum brought together more than 200 representatives of communities from all the main regions of Afghanistan to formulate and share their vision for the country’s economic recovery.
CHILDREN
The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), the International Organization for Migration, the United Nations University and Georgetown University today launched new guidelines to provide a global policy framework that will help protect, include, and empower children on the move in the context of climate change.
The guidelines provide a set of nine principles that address the vulnerabilities of children on the move both internally and across borders as a result of the impacts of climate change.
In 2020 alone, nearly 10 million children were displaced in the aftermath of weather-related shocks. With around one billion children – nearly half of the world’s 2.2 billion children – living in 33 countries at high risk of the impacts of climate change, millions more children could be on the move in the coming years.
The guiding principles provide national and local governments, international organizations and civil society groups with a foundation to build policies that protect children’s rights.
WORLD DROWNING PREVENTION DAY
Today is World Drowning Prevention Day. The World Health Organization notes that as one of the leading causes of death globally for children and young people ages 1–24, and the third leading cause of injury-related deaths overall, drowning tragically claims more than 236,000 lives each year.
To galvanize action and mark World Drowning Prevention Day, the Jet d’Eau in Geneva will be illuminated in blue this evening, accompanied by similar actions in other cities around the world.
NOON BRIEFING GUEST TODAY
Alison Davidian, the Country Representative ad interim for UN Women in Afghanistan, briefed reporters on the situation of women and girls in the country.
