SECRETARY-GENERAL’S TRAVELS
The Secretary-General is in Geneva in Switzerland today, where, tomorrow, he will speak at the opening of the World Refugee Forum, which is being co-hosted by UNHCR and Switzerland.  The Secretary-General and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, also intend to talk to the press following the opening ceremony.
And, you will have seen that yesterday, the Secretary-General expressed his disappointment at the results of the COP25, which wrapped up in Madrid over the weekend.
He said that the international community had lost an important opportunity to show increased ambition on mitigation, adaptation and finance to tackle the climate crisis. But, he added, we must not give up and that he will not give up.
The Secretary-General is more determined than ever to work for 2020 to be the year in which all countries commit to do what science tells us is necessary to reach carbon neutrality in 2050 and no more than 1.5-degree Celsius temperature rise.
 
TRIP ANNOUNCEMENT
Tomorrow evening, the Secretary-General will begin an official visit to Italy, during which he will have bilateral meetings with the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella; the Prime Minister, Giuseppe Conte; and the Foreign Minister, Luigi Di Maio; as well as other senior officials. The Secretary-General and the Prime Minister will hold a joint media stakeout following their meeting.
On Wednesday morning, he will address a Special session that will take place in the Italian Senate. In his remarks, he will discuss global challenges and will appeal for a renewed commitment to multilateralism and international solidarity.
The following day, the Secretary-General will go to Brindisi to mark the 25th anniversary of the UN Global Service Center, a facility providing crucial support to peacekeeping and political operations throughout the world. 
On Friday, at the Holy See, the Secretary-General will have an audience with His Holiness, Pope Francis.
 
APPOINTMENT
The Secretary-General announced today the appointment of Agnes Kalibata of Rwanda as his Special Envoy for the 2021 Food Systems Summit.
In 2021, the Secretary-General will host a Food Systems Summit with the aim of maximizing the co-benefits of a food systems approach across the entire 2030 Agenda, including meeting the challenges of climate change. As a key contributor to the Decade of Action to deliver the Sustainable Development Goals, the objectives of the Food Systems Summit are to generate momentum, expand the knowledge and share experience and approaches worldwide to help countries and stakeholders unleash the benefits of food systems for all people. The Summit will also offer a catalytic moment for global public mobilization and actionable commitments to invest in diverse ways to make food systems inclusive, climate adapted and resilient, and to support sustainable peace.
The Special Envoy, working with the United Nations system and key partners, will provide leadership, guidance and strategic direction towards the Summit. Ms. Kalibata will be responsible for outreach and cooperation with key leaders, including governments and other strategic stakeholder groups, to galvanize action and leadership for the Summit. She will also support the various global and regional consultative events focused on food system transformation planned during 2020 and 2021.
Ms. Kalibata has been the President of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) since 2014. Her biography is available in our office.
 
SECURITY COUNCIL
The Security Council is holding an open meeting on the shared causes of intercommunal violence and preventing violent extremism in West Africa.
Briefing Council members by videolink, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative, Mohamed Ibn Chambas, said that the region has been shaken by unprecedented violence in recent months, pointing to examples such as last week’s horrific attack against the Inates military camp in Niger.
Such incidents, he said, show how terrorism, organized crime and intercommunal violence can easily intertwine.
In the afternoon, the Council is scheduled to hold an open meeting on threats to international peace and security caused by terrorist acts, as well as a separate meeting on Afghanistan.
 
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
The Special Representative of the Secretary-General in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Leila Zerrougui, condemned the attacks attributed to the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) in the region of Beni in the eastern part of the country. On Saturday, 22 people were killed in Ntombi, and another 12 people were killed in Kamango last night.
In a statement issued today, Ms. Zerrougui said these barbaric acts are orchestrated as an attempt to break the population’s trust and discredit actions conducted against the ADF by the Congolese armed forces and the UN peacekeeping mission.
Today in Kamango, UN peacekeepers are conducting joint patrols with the Congolese military. The mission is also evacuating to Beni six civilians who were injured in the attacks.
During the past weeks, the Mission has intensified its joint activities with the Congolese army. The Mission has also deployed an additional platoon of UN Police to Beni to support the Congolese police who have recently arrived to secure the town and its surroundings.
The UN Mission is also working in close collaboration with national authorities to identify risks and individuals inside communities who are helping to facilitate these massacres.
 
NIGER
The Assistant-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs, Ursula Mueller, concluded a six-day visit to Niger.
She met with the President, the Prime Minister and other government officials, to discuss the deteriorating humanitarian situation in the country.
Ms. Mueller also traveled to the regions of Diffa and Maradi, where she met with regional authorities, local communities and people displaced by the Lake Chad crisis and intercommunal clashes in northwest Nigeria.
This year, Niger was hit by the worst floods recorded in 100 years. Ms. Mueller met some of those who lost their houses and are still living in displacement sites due to climate shocks.
She also visited refugees and migrant transit centers outside of the capital Niamey, and a reintegration center for children formerly affiliated with non-state armed groups.
Over 2.3 million people are currently in need of humanitarian assistance in Niger. This number is expected to rise to 2.9 million next year.
The UN and humanitarian partners are developing, together with the Government, a humanitarian response plan for 2020 that will seek $407 million.
 
PHILIPPINES
Turning to the Philippines, the UN and other entities are in the area of the earthquake which struck Davao del Sur province yesterday, reportedly killing 3 people and displacing at least 50,000 others.
We are there to support local authorities to assess the impact of the earthquake and the resulting priority needs.
 
YEMEN
The World Food Programme said today, in their latest food security monitoring data, over 11 million people continue to face a daily struggle to find enough food in Yemen.
WFP has this year achieved an unprecedented expansion of food assistance in Yemen, scaling up by 50 percent – from reaching 8 million people at the beginning of the year.
WFP now provides food assistance to some 12 million people per month.
Meanwhile, food assistance has been doubled to the worst-hit areas where conflict and economic collapse have left nearly 240,000 people living in famine-like conditions.
 
UNRWA
The Qatar Fund for Development and the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, otherwise known as UNRWA, signed an agreement yesterday under which the State of Qatar will contribute $20.7 million to support the access of Palestine refugees to basic services in Syria. With this generous contribution, the total support provided by the Qatar Fund to UNRWA this year is $40 million.
The acting Commissioner-General, Christian Saunders, noted the donation to UNRWA’s operations and activities in Syria comes at a time of intense financial challenge for the Agency. He said UNRWA was truly grateful for the additional funding.
 
OBESITY
Lastly, a new approach is needed to help reduce undernutrition and obesity at the same time, as the issues become increasingly connected due to rapid changes in countries’ food systems.
According to a new report of the World Health Organization (WHO) published in The Lancet, this is especially important in low- and middle-income countries.
More than a third of such countries had overlapping forms of malnutrition, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, south Asia, and east Asia and the Pacific.
Undernutrition and obesity can lead to effects across generations as both maternal undernutrition and obesity are associated with poor health in offspring.