HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY FARHAN HAQ,
DEPUTY SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES
FRIDAY, 2 JUNE 2017
IN WAKE OF U.S. WITHDRAWAL FROM PARIS AGREEMENT, SECRETARY-GENERAL STRESSES CLIMATE CHANGE ‘UNDENIABLE’
- Speaking to reporters in St. Petersburg, Russia, today, the Secretary-General said that climate change is undeniable, and added that climate action is unstoppable. He urged all the governments around the world to stay the course and to remain committed to the implementation of the Paris Agreement.
- Regarding the US withdrawal from that agreement, he said he remains convinced that states, cities, the business community and civil society will also remain engaged and will bet on the green economy, because the green economy is the economy of the future.
- The Secretary-General met with Russian President Vladimir Putin just recently, and he also met yesterday with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. He will return to New York tomorrow.
SECRETARY-GENERAL VOICES CONCERN OVER FOOD CUTBACKS FOR SAHRAWI REFUGEES IN ALGERIA DUE TO FUNDING SHORTFALL
- In a statement, the Secretary-General said that he is deeply concerned over the plight of tens of thousands of Sahrawi refugees in Algeria, who will have their food rations cut due to lack of funding.
- Humanitarian aid, including food aid, is a lifeline for these refugees from Western Sahara. A recent survey highlighted the precarious nutrition situation in the Sahrawi refugee camps and the refugees' limited access to markets or livelihoods.
- A lack of funding has forced the World Food Programme (WFP) to cut food rations by almost one fifth this year, and to halt distributions of nutritional supplements to treat anaemia and malnutrition in pregnant women, nursing mothers and young children. Food rations will be further reduced to half in June, which could have a severe impact on the refugees' food security and nutritional status.
- The Secretary-General calls on donors to urgently increase their assistance to this often overlooked and vulnerable population. WFP requires US$7.9 million to continue providing vital food assistance over the next six months.
D.R. CONGO: U.N. MISSION SOUNDS ALARM ON HUMANITARIAN IMPACTS OF CLASHES IN KASAI PROVINCES
- The UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo today expressed concern over the crisis in the Kasaï provinces and its disastrous impact on local communities. More than one million people are currently displaced due to the violence plaguing that part of the country. Most of them live in deplorable conditions, with no access to health care, food or safe-drinking water.
- In the Kasaï Central province, one in three health centers is no longer operating. 639 elementary and secondary schools have been destroyed or attacked by militias in the Kasaï Central and Kasaï provinces. The UN has also documented over 500 cases of children being used as combatants or human shields by militias.
- The Special Representative of the Secretary General in the DRC, Maman Sidikou, condemned the attacks and called on the parties involved to respect health centers and schools as zones of peace.
IN BID TO EASE INTER-COMMUNAL TENSIONS, U.N., GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS VISIT CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC’S BANGASSOU
- The UN Mission in the Central African Republic reports that a delegation of Government officials, parliamentarians and UN Mission officials visited Bangassou yesterday and met with local leaders, internally displaced persons and anti-Balaka representatives as part of their efforts to resolve inter-communal tensions.
- The UN Mission has also increased patrols in Bria to prevent clashes between the armed groups and ensure the protection of civilians in response to fresh tensions in the town. Amid the volatile situation in and around Bria, the Mission yesterday established a safe passage corridor between its premises, an NGO complex, the hospital and the airport to facilitate humanitarian activities.
U.N. RELIEF OFFICIAL CALLS FOR STEPPED UP PROTECTION, RELIEF FOR DISPLACED PEOPLE IN LIBYA
- The Humanitarian Coordinator in Libya, Maria Ribeiro, today called for increased protection and support to humanitarian assistance for internally displaced persons across Libya.
- The humanitarian community is following with concern recent developments in the Tawargha internally displaced persons camp in Janzour, Tripoli and the possible return of internally displaced persons from Zintan to Tripoli. The Humanitarian Coordinator is alarmed by allegations of abuse of IDPs and calls for their protection and freedom of movement.
SOMALIA: U.N. AGENCY REACHES MILESTONE IN FIGHT AGAINST FAMINE
- The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) says that they have reached a milestone in their campaign to prevent famine in Somalia. In less than three months, they have treated more than 12 million animals, protecting the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of families who rely on their livestock’s meat and milk for survival.
- Many of the animals have been badly weakened by the lack of feed and water, making them highly susceptible to illnesses and parasites but are too weak to withstand vaccination. As part of its response programme, FAO is treating the animals with multivitamin boosters, medicines that kill off internal and external parasites, deworming, and other treatments to fight respiratory infections.
- FAO said it will continue its campaign by deploying 150 veterinary teams across Somalia to treat goats and sheep as well as cattle and camels - up to 270,000 animals each day. By mid-July, it expects to reach 22 million animals, benefiting over 3 million people.
U.N., AID AGENCIES GEARING UP FOR POTENTIAL MASS EXODUS FROM MOSUL’S OLD CITY
- The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says that aid agencies are continuing to plan for a potential mass displacement of civilians from Mosul’s Old City area.
- Somewhere between 2,000 to 7,000 people have been fleeing western Mosul every day since the Government called for civilians to leave last week.
Aid partners report that little food is available in markets in western Mosul, while many people living in Da’esh-controlled areas have not had access to safe drinking water and medicine for weeks or even months.
- For its part, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said today that it urgently needs $126 million to meet critical needs of vulnerable children, women and men displaced from and returning to Iraq’s Mosul until the end of the year.
YEMEN: U.N.I.C.E.F. OFFICIAL WARNS OF IMPACT ON CHILDREN OF RAPID SPREAD OF CHOLERA
- Wrapping up a visit to Yemen, UNICEF’s Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, warned that cholera is spreading incredibly fast, turning an already dire situation for children into a disaster.
- Geert Cappelaere said that cholera doesn’t need a permit to cross a checkpoint or a border, nor does it differentiate between areas of control.
- In just over one month, nearly 70,000 cholera cases were reported with 600 people having died. The number of suspected cases is expected to reach 130,000 within the next two weeks.
- Mr. Cappelaere noted that countless children around Yemen die every day in silence from causes that can easily be prevented or treated like cholera, diarrhoea or malnutrition.
U.N. AFGHANISTAN MISSION EXPRESSES DEEP CONCERN OVER DEADLY KABUL PROTESTS FOLLOWING TERRORIST ATTACK
- The UN Mission in Afghanistan is deeply concerned that today’s protests in Kabul have led to more violence and loss of life following Wednesday’s terrorist attack that caused hundreds of civilian casualties.
- The Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, Tadamichi Yamamoto, said the “genuine anger expressed by the protesters, many of whom suffered the loss of family and friends, is fully understandable,” but added that this tragic week has already caused too much civilian suffering to Afghanistan, and further violence will not solve any problems.
- The Mission reminded those protesting, and also those in a position to protect the protestors, that all have an obligation to avoid violence.
SHELTER URGENTLY NEEDED FOR VICTIMS OF CYCLONE MORA – U.N. REFUGEE AGENCY
- The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) says that in the wake of Cyclone Mora, which swept across the Bay of Bengal, damaging thousands of homes in Bangladesh and Myanmar, shelter is urgently needed for those affected.
- The Agency says that many refugees and internally displaced people are among the victims.
- It found that most of homes of refugees in Bangladesh’s Kutupalong and Nayapara camps suffered some damage, with some 20 percent having been completely destroyed.
- In Myanmar, UNHCR and aid agencies are helping the Government is carry out assessments, and they found that hundreds of shelters in the camps for internally displaced people in central Rakhine state have suffered damage in the strong winds.
- In both countries, UNHCR and its partners are supporting government-led relief efforts to assist refugees, displaced people and their host communities who were affected by this natural disaster.
COLOMBIA: U.N. MISSION READY TO RECEIVE 7,000 F.A.R.C.-E.P. WEAPONS
- The UN Mission in Colombia says it stands ready to receive the more than 7,000 weapons from the FARC-EP that have been registered since the beginning of the laying down of arms’ process.
- The new deadline to receive these weapons in the 26 transitional areas set up to host the FARC-EP members is 20 June, as agreed by the parties.
U.N. REFUGEE AGENCY ‘SHOCKED’ BY DEATHS OF DOZENS OF MIGRANTS, REFUGEES IN SAHARA DESERT
- The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said it is shocked to hear about the reported deaths of 44 migrants and refugees in the Sahara Desert this week, including women and children, mostly from Nigeria and Ghana. Survivor accounts suggest a group of 50 people was on their way to Libya when their truck broke down between the cities of Agadez and Dirkou in the desert in northern Niger, exposing them to extreme heat and lack of drinking water. Only six people survived.
- UNHCR repeated its call for credible alternatives to these dangerous crossings for people in need of international protection, and is seeking $75.5 million to meet the increased humanitarian and protection needs of people in Libya, including internally displaced persons (IDPs) and host communities, as well as refugees and asylum seekers.
U.N. STANDING POLICE CAPACITY CELEBRATES 10TH ANNIVERSARY
- The Standing Police Capacity of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations Police Division is celebrating its 10th anniversary.
- The Standing Police Capacity is a rapid response unit tasked with providing immediate start-up capability and timely support, advice and assistance to police components of UN peace operations. Since 2007, it has provided rapidly deployable policing expertise to 44 peacekeeping operations, Special Political Missions and UN country teams.
- “The Standing Police Capacity is a vital tool of UN peacekeeping across the entire spectrum from conflict prevention to peace sustainment” said Jean-Pierre Lacroix, Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations. He stressed that the Standing Police Capacity and its staff members “invest in peace by deploying and developing the capacity of national police services” with every deployment.
BURUNDI BECOMES 103RD U.N. MEMBER STATE TO PAY DUES IN FULL
- Burundi has become the 103rd UN Member State to pay its dues in full.