HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY STEPHANE DUJARRIC
SPOKESPERSON FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES
FRIDAY, 26 APRIL 2024
CRITICAL TRANSITION MINERALS
The Secretary-General launched the Panel on Critical Energy Transition Minerals.
The panel brings together a diverse group of governments and other stakeholders to help embed justice in the ever-growing demand for minerals for clean energy technologies.
The Secretary-General underscored that justice is at the heart of this initiative: justice for the communities where critical minerals are found; justice for developing countries in production and trade; and justice in the global energy revolution.
For developing countries with large reserves, critical minerals are a critical opportunity: To create jobs, diversify economies, and dramatically boost revenues. Critical minerals could be a golden ticket to sustainable development, but only if they are managed properly, the Secretary-General stressed.
The work of the Panel will be co-chaired by Ambassador Nozipho Joyce Mxakato-Diseko of South Africa and Ditte Juul Jørgensen, the Director-General for Energy of the European Commission. They will be supported by a technical secretariat led by the UN Secretary-General’s Climate Action Team, the UN Environment Programme and the UN Trade and Development and comprised of over a dozen UN system entities.
DEPUTY SECRETARY-GENERAL
The Deputy Secretary-General, Amina Mohammed, is in the United Arab Emirates.
Since her arrival yesterday, she held meetings with senior government officials, including the Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan; the Minister of State for International Cooperation, Reem Bint Ebrahim Al Hashimy; the Deputy Foreign Minister in charge of Multilateral Affairs and Former Permanent Representative to the UN, Lana Nusseibeh; and Mohammed Abdullah al-Gergawi, the Minister of Cabinet Affairs and Chairman of the Executive Office of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.
Discussions centred on the situation in the Middle East, the UN-UAE relationship and accelerating action on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) leading up to the Summit of the Future.
SUDAN
The United Nations is receiving increasingly alarming reports of a dramatic escalation of tensions between armed groups in El Fasher.
The Rapid Support Forces are reportedly encircling the city, suggesting that a coordinated move to attack the city may be imminent. Simultaneously, the Sudanese Armed Forces appear to be positioning themselves.
The UN continuously warns that an attack on the city would have devastating consequences for the civilian population, in an area already on the brink of famine.
On 15 April, the Secretary-General spoke to you, and he reiterated his call on all parties to refrain from fighting in the El Fasher area.
The Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy, Ramtane Lamamra, is engaging with the parties to de-escalate tensions there.
Also, for his part, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, today expressed his grave concerns. He stated that at least 43 people, among them women and children, were killed as fighting was taking place between the two rival forces – backed by their respective allied militia – since 14 April.
SUDAN/HUMANITARIAN
The city of El Fasher serves as an important point to reach other parts of Darfur, including for aid shipments through the Tine crossing from Chad and via a northern route from Port Sudan.
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warns that the security situation has effectively cut off humanitarian access to El Fasher. Currently, more than a dozen trucks with lifesaving supplies for 122,000 people are stranded in Ad Dabbah in neighbouring Northern State, as they cannot move onward to El Fasher due to insecurity and lack of guarantees for safe passage.
The toll on humans is horrifying, the latest tensions resulted in the displacement of 40,000 men, women and children over the past two weeks.
Internally displaced people are particularly at risk, including those in Zamzam camp in North Darfur state, where there have been alarming reports of acute hunger and malnutrition in recent months.
CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC
The United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic say that the situation in the south and the west of the country is now relatively calm, after a series of attacks against civilians since the beginning of the month. Despite this, peacekeepers remain vigilant and are maintaining a robust posture. Those attacks by armed groups in the prefectures of Haut-Mbomou, Mbomou and Ouham-Pendé claimed many lives, including women and children.
The Mission reports they have intensified patrols, deployed a quick reaction force in the Mbomou prefecture and set up a temporary operating base in Ouham-Pendé.
GAZA
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs warns that the sanitation crisis in Rafah in the south of Gaza will only worsen as the weather grows warmer in the coming weeks – where the temperatures are reaching to 40 degrees Celsius. More than a million men, women and children are sheltering there.
UNRWA reports that most families in Rafah don’t even have tents – with many living under sheets of scrap plastic, because they have nothing else to use to shield them from the weather.
Meanwhile, the agency says that people in Rafah are living in absolute fear of an imminent military operation.
OCHA today reiterated that all parties to the conflict must respect their obligations under international humanitarian law – including by taking constant care to spare civilians and civilian objects.
This includes allowing civilians to leave for safer areas – and allowing them to return as soon as circumstances allow. But regardless of whether they move or stay, civilians must be protected – and they must receive the essentials they need to survive: food, shelter, health care, and other critical support.
OFFICE OF INTERNAL OVERSIGHT SERVICES
The Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) has been investigating the allegations made by Israel that some staff members of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) were involved in the 7 October attacks.
OIOS has been investigating 19 UNRWA staff members – the 12 the UN was informed of in January, whose contracts were terminated by UNRWA, and 7 more that the UN has since received information about – five of them in March and two in April.
Of the group of the 12 staffers, 8 staff members remain under OIOS investigation.
One case was closed, as no evidence was provided by Israel to support the allegations against the staff member.
OIOS is exploring corrective administrative action to be taken in that person’s case.
Also, three cases were suspended, as the information provided by Israel is not sufficient for OIOS to proceed with an investigation. UNRWA is considering what administrative action to take while they are under investigation.
Regarding the 7 cases that were brought to the UN’s attention since January, one case has also been suspended pending receipt of additional supporting evidence. The remaining six of those cases are currently under investigation by OIOS. OIOS has informed us that its investigators had travelled to Israel for discussions with the Israeli authorities and will undertake another visit during May. These discussions are continuing and have so far been productive and have enabled progress on the investigations.
LEBANON
The Head of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and Force Commander, General Aroldo Lázaro, met this week with the mayors and religious authorities of southeastern Lebanese towns.
During the meeting, held at a UNIFIL base in Ibl el-Saqi as the exchanges of fire across the Blue Line approach the seventh month, they discussed the ongoing situation and local needs, and reaffirmed continuous efforts to support the people and restore stability in the along the Blue Line.
And just to flag that against a background of worsened economic and social hardship, UNIFIL has been supporting communities with medical, veterinary, and educational assistance within its mandate, while ensuring humanitarian access to the most impacted communities.
Since early October of last year, peacekeepers have facilitated 25 humanitarian missions to hard-to-reach areas close to the 120-kilometre Blue Line.
UNIFIL continues to engage and support local communities by addressing their immediate and urgent needs and working to deescalate tensions, including through the mission’s vital liaison role with the IDF and Lebanese Armed Forces.
HAITI
Turning to Haiti, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says that armed violence continues across the country, with Port-au-Prince and the Ouest Department particularly impacted.
Following vandalism and looting by members of armed groups at the Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy in the capital on Sunday night, OCHA stressed that targeting education infrastructure is a violation of humanitarian norms and jeopardizes the well-being of communities already facing immense challenges.
The situation also remains volatile at the port. The Varreux fuel terminal is now closed after several gang attacks. However, in the past three weeks, more than 100 humanitarian containers were retrieved at the Caribbean Port Service.
Meanwhile, the humanitarian response continues, and the World Food Programme has provided daily food assistance to displaced people in Port-au-Prince, and in other departments.
On the health front, WHO and UNICEF set up mobile clinics at displacement sites to provide medical consultations. IOM is also providing basic medical and psychosocial services to displaced people.
UNICEF, IOM and their partners continue to distribute drinking water. Since the beginning of March, they have delivered 6.5 million liters across 29 sites.
UKRAINE
In Ukraine, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs today facilitated a humanitarian convoy to support nearly 2,000 residents of front-line communities in Kherson Region, in the south of the country. This is the fifth convoy to the region this year.
The UN, along with partners, delivered a charging station, hygiene items and solar lamps to Beryslav, one of the communities most affected by hostilities on the southern front, where electricity, gas and water supplies have been disrupted due to attacks.
Meanwhile, the front-line regions of Donetsk, Kharkiv and Kherson continue to be impacted by ongoing attacks, resulting in civilian casualties, including children, and damage to civilian infrastructure. Today and yesterday, local authorities reported dozens of casualties in these regions, as well as damage to homes and civilian infrastructure.
SECURITY COUNCIL
This morning, the Security Council held a meeting on threats to international peace and security.
Briefing Council members, Miroslav Jenča, the Assistant Secretary-General for Central Asia, Europe, and Americas at the Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, noted that the destruction of the Nord Stream gas pipelines in September 2022 highlighted the vulnerability of critical commercial and energy infrastructure in the current regional and global context.
Mr. Jenča said that the UN does not have any additional details of the events and is not in a position to verify or confirm claims or reports made regarding the incident. He reiterated that any intentional damage to critical civilian infrastructure is of serious concern and should be condemned and investigated.
Mr. Jenča urged everyone to exercise restraint while we wait for the remaining investigation to conclude and for the information to be shared accordingly.
Oguljeren Niyazberdiyeva, Chief of Office of the Under-Secretary-General of the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism, also briefed Council members.
INTERNATIONAL DAYS
Today is the International Chernobyl Disaster Remembrance Day.
Since the Chernobyl nuclear plant accident in 1986, the UN, along with the Governments of Belarus, the Russian Federation and Ukraine, has been leading the recovery and development efforts to support these impacted regions.
Today is also World Intellectual Property Day. This Day celebrates the world’s amazing inventors and creators and explores how Intellectual Property helps shape our world.
On Sunday, the World Day for Safety and Health at Work is observed. To mark this Day, the International Labour Organization (ILO) launched a new report titled "Ensuring safety and health at work in a changing climate," which reveals alarming new data on the impact of climate change on workers’ safety and health.
FINANCIAL CONTRIBUTION
Japan has paid its dues to the regular budget, becoming the 104th Member State to pay its dues.
GUESTS MONDAY
On Monday, Reena Ghelani, the recently appointed Climate Crisis Coordinator for the El Niño / La Niña Response, and Beth Bechdol, the Deputy Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization, they will brief journalists on the humanitarian impacts of El Niño.
