HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY STEPHANE DUJARRIC,
SPOKESPERSON FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES
MONDAY, 10 APRIL 2017
EGYPT: SECRETARY-GENERAL SPEAKS OUT AGAINST ATTACKS ON COPTIC CHURCHES
- In a statement issued yesterday, the Secretary-General condemned yesterday's attacks on two Coptic Churches in Egypt.
- The Secretary-General expressed his deep sympathies to the families of the victims and to the Government and people of Egypt.
- He wishes a quick recovery to those injured and hopes that the perpetrators of this horrific terrorist act will be swiftly identified and brought to justice.
- Today, the Secretary-General sent a letter of condolences to President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi.
JOINT U.N., RED CRESCENT CONVOY DELIVERS AID TO HARD-TO-REACH AREAS IN SYRIA’S RURAL DAMASCUS
- On Saturday, a UN/Syrian Arab Red Crescent inter-agency humanitarian convoy delivered life-saving assistance, including food, water, sanitation, and health supplies, to 35,000 Syrian men, women and children in need in the hard-to-reach towns of Yalda, Babila and Beit Sahm in Rural Damascus.
- Some surgical items were removed from the aid supplies.
- The last inter-agency convoy to the area was on 5 May 2015, nearly two years ago.
- The UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) plans to deliver matching aid for Palestine refugees in the area in the coming weeks in a separate operation.
- The UN continues to call for unconditional, unimpeded and sustained access to close to 5 million people who are in hard-to-reach and besieged locations throughout Syria.
- On the city of Atabaqa in Raqqa governorate, the UN is deeply concerned for the safety and protection of over 30,000 civilians following reports of military operations.
- The civilians remain inside the city where they face deteriorating humanitarian, health, living and security conditions, and the city has had no water and no electricity for more than 20 days. The fighting and insecurity around the city is also inhibiting those trying to leave.
- We remind all parties to the fighting in Raqqa of their obligations to protect civilians under international humanitarian law.
FIGHTING CONTINUES TO FORCE PEOPLE TO FLEE IRAQ’S MOSUL – U.N.
- The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says that displacement from Iraq’s west Mosul continues to surge, with some 17,000 people having fled the area over the weekend.
- More than 280,000 people have now been uprooted from west Mosul since the military operation there began in late February, with a total of 352,000 people having been displaced in total as a result of fighting in both east and west Mosul.
- Humanitarian partners continue to work around the clock to keep up with the daily sharp increases in displacement. There is enough room to immediately host 36,000 people, and further site expansion and construction is ongoing, with a new camp at Hamam al Alil, south of Mosul, expected to be open tomorrow.
- According to a joint food security report issued by the World Food Programme (WFP) and the Iraqi Government today, more than half of Iraqi families are at risk of food insecurity and can no longer absorb any further shocks, such as conflict or increases in basic food prices.
- The report, conducted prior to the recent Mosul offensive, is one of the most robust technical food security studies ever conducted in Iraq, and warns of unprecedented levels of vulnerability.
MALALA YOUSAFZAI TO SPOTLIGHT GIRLS’ EDUCATION AS NEWEST U.N. MESSENGER OF PEACE
- Today the Secretary-General will designate Malala Yousafzai as UN Messenger of Peace with a special focus on girls’ education.
- Ms. Yousafzai, a global advocate for girls’ education and Nobel Peace Laureate, will become the youngest-ever UN Messenger of Peace and the first one to be designated by Secretary-General António Guterres.
- Her designation will take place in the Trusteeship Council at 3:15pm and will be followed by a conversation between the Secretary-General, Ms. Yousafzai and youth representatives from around the world coming from countries like Afghanistan, Pakistan and Syria, among others. Many of these young people are first or second generation immigrants or refugees in the United States.
U.N. REFUGEE AGENCY CALLS FOR HALT TO TRANSFERS OF ASYLUM-SEEKERS TO HUNGARY
- The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) today called for a temporary suspension of all transfers of asylum-seekers to Hungary from other European States under the Dublin Regulation, which is a European Union law that determines which European country is responsible for examining the application of an asylum seeker.
- UNHCR said the situation for asylum-seekers in Hungary has worsened since a new law introducing mandatory detention for asylum-seekers came into effect on 28 March.
ETHIOPIA, HAITI LATEST U.N. MEMBER STATES TO PAY DUES IN FULL
- Ethiopia and Haiti have paid their regular budget dues in full, bringing the total number of Member States which have done so to 79.
