HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY STÉPHANE DUJARRIC​,
SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES
THURSDAY, 27 AUGUST 2020

SYRIA
Following additional testing and further medical advice regarding four earlier positive tests for COVID-19, the Office of the Special Envoy for Syria has been officially informed by the competent health authorities that the nature of those cases is such that the Third Session of the Constitutional Committee Small Body can resume its meetings, with full social distancing and related precautions in place.
Having consulted the Co-Chairs and committee members, the meetings resumed today at the Palais des Nations, all being facilitated by Mr. Geir Pedersen and his team.

SECURITY COUNCIL
This morning, the Security Council held an open video teleconference on the humanitarian situation in Syria.
The acting Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator, Ramesh Rajasingham, briefed the Council.
He told the members of the Council that community transmission of COVID-19 in Syria is widespread.
Mr. Rajasingham said that rising patient numbers are adding pressure to the fragile health system and that several health facilities have suspended operations due to capacity issues and to staff contracting the virus.
In Al Hol camp in northeast Syria, where people are already highly vulnerable, 12 health facilities had to suspend operations this month. Between 6 and 10 August, eight children under the age of five died in the camp, from a range of conditions.
In his remarks, Mr. Rajasingham also addressed the economic downturn; protection of civilians; humanitarian access; and what support humanitarian agencies have been delivering to people across Syria.

COVID-19/REMOTE LEARNING
A new report released today by our good friends at the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) shows that at least a third of the world’s schoolchildren were unable to access remote learning when COVID-19 shuttered their schools. This represents 463 million children. According to UNICEF, at the height of nationwide and local lockdowns, around 1.5 billion schoolchildren were impacted by school closures. The report outlines the limitations of remote learning and exposes deep inequalities in access.
Schoolchildren in sub-Saharan Africa are the most impacted, where at least half of all students cannot be reached with remote learning.

COVID-19/DATA
Our colleagues in the Development Coordination Office tell us there is a new data portal tracking the work of UN teams to tackle COVID-19 in 162 countries and territories.
The web portal http://data.uninfo.org is a public platform covering our work to respond and recover from the pandemic’s impacts, but also shows data from the health and humanitarian response led by the World Health Organization and our humanitarian colleagues.  The portal shows that more than 100 UN teams have repurposed US$2.44 billion to help governments tackle the health, humanitarian and social and economic needs.
Nearly 80 UN teams are rolling out their plans to save lives and livelihoods, and more than 70 UN teams have mobilized funding to support countries, bringing an extra $1.15bn from a range of sources, including the Joint SDG Fund and the UN’s “Recover Better Fund”, as well as other partners, and we have been updating you regularly on the work of those country teams.

LATIN AMERICA
In Latin America, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet today urged the Organization of American States (OAS) to end its impasse on the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights over the Commission’s executive leadership, stressing the importance of ensuring that the Commission’s independence, autonomy and effectiveness are not undermined.
The mandate of the current Executive Secretary of the Inter-American Commission, Paulo Abrão, officially expired on 15 August, after the OAS Secretary-General declined to renew it further.
Ms. Bachelet said this is a very damaging situation which risks undermining the independence and effectiveness of the Inter-American Commission.
And she added, sorry, that “this should not be about personal reputations, or political allegiances, or loss of face – it should be about working together to protect the human rights of hundreds of millions of people all across the Americas during a time of massive crisis.”  More information online.

HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS
Our Human Rights colleagues have also put two other reports online. One detailing the human rights violations in eastern Ukraine and Crimea, and the other one is a human rights report from the UN Assistance Mission in Iraq. That report warns that despite promising steps by the current Government of Iraq regarding human rights violations committed in the context of demonstrations, accountability remains elusive.

SECRETARY-GENERAL/DARBARI SETH MEMORIAL LECTURE
Tomorrow morning, at about 2 a.m. New York time, the Secretary-General will deliver the 19th Darbari Seth Memorial lecture at an event organized TERI - The Energy and Resources Institute, an Indian-based global think tank focusing on a broad range of sustainable development and climate-related issues.
In his remarks, which have been shared with you under embargo, the Secretary-General will renew his call on G20 countries, including India, to invest in a clean, sustainable transition as they recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.  As governments mobilize trillions of dollars to recover from COVID-19, their decisions will have climate consequences for decades.