HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY STEPHANE DUJARRIC

SPOKESPERSON FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES

FRIDAY, 22 FEBRUARY 2019

THE PHILIPPINES
The Secretary-General congratulates the Government of the Philippines, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the Bangsamoro Transition Commission, civil society groups and local communities on the establishment of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority today. This follows the confirmation on the 21 January and 6 February plebiscite on the Organic Law for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
This is a landmark achievement on the road to lasting peace in the Southern Philippines, as well as a historic occasion for all people from the Philippines.
The United Nations will continue to support the Philippines in the implementation of the Bangsamoro Organic Law, and to help build the capacity of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority to achieve peace, democratic governance, and respect for human rights.

UNAUSA
This morning, the Secretary-General delivered the keynote address at the UN Association of the US Global Engagement Summit. He told some of the 1,500 participants that over the years, the US has played a critical role in helping provide multilateral answers to global challenges and stressed that today “we need the engagement of the US more than ever.”
He also told the students that the UN needs them to tackle today’s most pressing challenges, including climate change, and he called on all of them to sound the alarm and highlight solutions for this issue. In a tweet, he asked them to share their climate action ideas with him.

INTER-PARLIAMENTARY UNION
Yesterday afternoon, the Secretary-General spoke at the annual hearing of the Inter-Parliamentary Union and the United Nations.
He said that, as a former parliamentarian himself, he has felt the heavy responsibility of representing people and trying to advance their aspirations.
The Secretary-General said that, today, we live in a paradox, where global challenges are more connected but our response remains fragmented.
He added that it is our duty as parliamentarians and at the UN to re-establish trust.

DEPUTY SECRETARY-GENERAL TRAVELS
This evening, Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed will head to Barcelona, Spain, to deliver a keynote address at the World Mobile Congress and to participate in meetings with CEOs. The Deputy Secretary-General will highlight the power of mobile technology as a tool for development and action to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), also while advocating for the need to bridge the digital divide, ensure gender parity and mitigate the social and environmental risks of new technologies.
On Monday, she will head to Madrid for meetings with senior Government authorities. During that time, Spain and the UN will announce a Joint Communiqué, which reflects Spain’s strong commitment to the implementation of the 2030 development agenda, specifically the UN Development System reform and the funding compact.
On 27 February, the Deputy Secretary-General will proceed to Seville to deliver the closing remarks at the High-Level Event on Localizing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which is co-hosted by Spain, Ecuador and Cape Verde, in collaboration with the Local 2030 initiative.

NIGERIA
The Head of the UN Office for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS), Mohamed Ibn Chambas, appealed today for all eligible Nigerian citizens to turn out massively to exercise their constitutional rights to vote tomorrow. As you know, these elections were previously scheduled to take place last Saturday.
Mr. Chambas encourages all Nigerians to continue to maintain a peaceful atmosphere by remaining calm and restrained through the result of the voting process and especially after the announcement of the final results.
He is calling on all political parties and candidates to contribute to the integrity of the electoral process by addressing any complaints that may arise through established legal and constitutional channels. 

SOUTH SUDAN
Nearly 7 million people in South Sudan could face acute food insecurity at the height of this year’s May-to-July lean season, according to a report released today by the South Sudanese Government and our colleagues at the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the World Food Programme (WFP).
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report shows that the number of acutely food insecure people has already increased by 13 percent since January of last year. 
Food insecurity continues to be driven by the effects of conflict, insufficient food production and associated population displacement. 
The agencies said there is an urgent need for more funds to scale up humanitarian assistance to save lives and protect livelihoods. 

SYRIA
The Special Envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, is in Brussels, where he met Belgian officials yesterday.
The Special Envoy also met this morning with the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Federica Mogherini.
Meanwhile, an estimated 2,500 people, mostly women and children, from Hajin and Baghouz in Syria’s Deir Ezzour Governorate, arrived in Al Hol camp in Al Hassakeh Governorate last night, bringing the total number of internally displaced people in the camp to over 43,000. 
The conditions in the camp are extremely dire as the camp has surpassed by far its accommodation capacity. Thousands more may arrive at the camp in the coming hours and days.

YEMEN 
Our humanitarian colleagues tell us that, on 19 February, eight civilians were killed and another 10 were injured in Hudaydah when an artillery shell landed on Al Azeeb market in the Al Mateenah area. 
The following day, there were unconfirmed reports indicating that one woman was killed and three children were injured when a house was hit in At Tawayah, in Hajjah Governorate.
The Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen, Lise Grande, said these attacks are unconscionable. 
Next Tuesday in Geneva, the UN and the governments of Sweden and Switzerland are convening a third High-Level Pledging Event on the Humanitarian Crisis in Yemen to mobilize support for the humanitarian response. The Secretary-General will address that meeting.

BIODIVERSITY
Our colleagues at the FAO have today released a new report in which they present mounting evidence that the biodiversity that underpins our food systems is disappearing – putting the future of food, livelihoods, health and environment under severe threat.
Information from 91 reporting countries reveals that wild food species and many species that are vital to food and agriculture are rapidly disappearing. 

HONOUR ROLL
Today we say thank you to Namibia and Serbia, who have joined the Honour Roll, now totaling 59.