PAKISTAN
I’ll start off with an update from Pakistan on the assistance we’ve been providing following the floods that continue to devastate the country and impacting millions and millions of men, women and children in Pakistan. 
As part of our emergency response, the UN Refugee agency is providing tents and other relief items from existing stocks in Quetta and Peshawar. The items will be handed over to the national disaster management authority to support their relief operations in the worst impacted areas in Balochistan and the Khyber Pakhtunkwa provinces. 
UNHCR colleagues on the ground have also provided assistance to refugees in villages, as well as host communities, with more than 71,000 emergency relief items, including tents, tarpaulins, sanitary products, cooking stoves, blankets, solar lamps and sleeping mats. 
Our colleagues at the World Health Organization warn that significant public health threats facing impacted populations, including the risk of diseases such as malaria and dengue fever. 
According to government figures, close to 900 health facilities have been damaged or destroyed in Pakistan, leaving millions of people without access to health care and medical treatment.
Working closely with the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination, WHO is increasing surveillance for acute watery diarrhoea, cholera, and other communicable diseases, and is also providing essential medicines and medical supplies to functional health treatment centres treating affected communities. 
WHO has also diverted mobile medical camps, including those responding to COVID-19, to affected districts, delivered close to two million aqua tabs to ensure access to clean water. They also provided sample collection kits to ensure clinical testing of samples to ensure early detection of infectious diseases. And as you will recall the Secretary-General will be heading to Pakistan next week.

MALI
We have an update from Mali, this time on the health front. Our peacekeeping mission there has announced it will transport 1.5 tons of essential medicines to Gao every week. This is being undertaken at the request of regional authorities that are working to mitigate the impact of a pharmaceutical shortage due to a blockade of the main supply route by terrorist armed groups since May. 
The mission is also helping in Douentza town, where Togolese troops have provided medical checks and treatment for 450 community members during a mobile health clinic. In Tin Hama and surrounding villages, where the Mission has stepped-up security measures to protect civilians, the Jordanian Quick [Response] Force has provided medical assistance to local communities and displaced families to help create a safe and secure environment.                                                  

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC
And in the Central African Republic, peacekeepers there conducted 1,325 patrols across the country, including three jointly with the Central African armed forces. Efforts focused on the Bria-Yalinga axis, in the country’s East, to restore calm and enable economic activities, as well as to deter violence against communities around Ndélé, and Bambari. And in Berberati in the country’s western part, the Mission is also providing training in community policing, alongside colleagues from the UN Development Programme. 

SYRIA
On Syria, the Special Envoy, Geir Pedersen, today said that the Secretary-General has released a study “on how to bolster efforts, including through existing measures and mechanisms, to clarify the fate and whereabouts of missing people in the Syrian Arab Republic, identify human remains and provide support for their families”. 
Mr. Pedersen said that Syria has one of the highest numbers of detained, abducted and missing persons in the world.   
He stressed that any credible efforts to build trust and confidence amongst the Syrians must include real steps forward to deal with this issue. 

SECURITY COUNCIL
This morning, the Security Council unanimously voted to extend the mandate of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon, that’s for another one year.
It also held an open meeting on peace and security in Africa, where it adopted a Presidential Statement.

OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY
Turning to the Occupied Palestinian Territory, where 1.3 million Palestinian children going back to school this week, the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Lynn Hastings, issued a statement today in which she said she is concerned that, since the beginning of the year, 20 children were killed in the West Bank.
This is a 67 per cent increase compared to the same period last year. 
There are currently 56 outstanding demolition orders against schools where at least 6,400 children are taught in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. 
In the first half of this year in the West Bank, the UN recorded 115 education-related violations, impacting 8,000 students and increasing the risk they will drop out of school. And in Gaza, schools continue to be overcrowded, and many are operating on double shifts. 
We remain committed to protect children from violence and support them to fulfill their potential.

MIKHAIL GORBACHEV
You will have seen that yesterday evening we issued a statement in which the Secretary-General said he was deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Mikhail Gorbachev, whom he called a one-of-a kind statesman who changed the course of history. 
The Secretary-General extended his heartfelt condolences to Mr. Gorbachev’s family and to the people and government of the Russian Federation.
“The world has lost a towering global leader, committed multilateralist, and tireless advocate for peace,” Mr. Guterres said.

INTERNATIONAL DAY FOR PEOPLE OF AFRICAN DESCENT
Today is the International Day for People of African Descent. In his message, the Secretary-General said that around the world, millions of people of African descent are still subject to racism and deeply entrenched and systemic racial discrimination. This is why, he said, the United Nations continues to call for the full respect of their human rights and fundamental freedoms, for redress when these are violated, and for formal apologies and reparations for the egregious wrongs of slavery and colonialism.
He added that it is essential that we continue to speak up – loudly and without fail – against any notion of racial superiority and that we work tirelessly to free all societies from the blight of racism.

UNCOPS
Lastly, the third UN Chiefs of Police Summit, otherwise known as UNCOPS, likely to be a series on True TV very soon, sorry, it’s actually a very important meeting. UNCOPS begins today in New York, with the ceremony for the 2022 UN Woman Police Officer of the Year Award, which will take place at 1:30 p.m. and a series of side events on issues, such as emerging technologies and artificial intelligence. 
Tomorrow, the high-level event will bring together senior Government and police officials to deliberate on the contribution of the UN Police to sustainable peace and development, as well as the broader role of policing in the current strategic environment. The Secretary-General is scheduled to address this event tomorrow morning.
The UN Police Adviser will be here – it’s Luis Carrilho of Portugal - and he will be joined as our guest by the Police Commissioners from peacekeeping operations in Mali (MINUSMA) and Abyei (UNISFA).