HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY STEPHANE DUJARRIC

SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES

TUESDAY, 17 DECEMBER 2019

Global Refugee Forum
The Secretary-General spoke at the Global Refugee Forum in Geneva this morning and recognized the tremendous efforts made by countries and communities to welcome large numbers of refugees, adding that at this time of turbulence, the international community must do far more to shoulder this responsibility together. He said that more than 70 million people have been forced from their homes, including more than 25 million refugees, in what UNHCR calls the “highest levels of displacement in the world.”
The Secretary-General said the Global Compact on Refugees must be the blueprint to reaffirm the human rights of refugees. He urged attendees to be bold and concrete in the pledges they would make and to work together to build a more equitable response to refugee crises through a sharing of responsibility. He said the world must chart a bold and practical path to help millions of people find protection and dignity, and to help all of us shared with a path towards a better future.
In remarks to the press afterwards, the Secretary-General said that our system of international protection is one of the defining successes of the past century, but it is clearly feeling the strain. He said that this is a moment to ensure that human rights of refugees are upheld and to re-establish the integrity of the international refugee regime and to address the root causes that lead people to flee in the first place.
The Secretary-General will be heading to Italy as we announced to you yesterday.
 
Security Council
The Security Council also held an open meeting this morning in which Permanent Members were briefed by Chairs of the Council’s subsidiary bodies.
This afternoon, the Council will hold an open meeting followed by consultations on Sudan and South Sudan. The Secretary-General’s Special Representative for South Sudan, David Shearer, will brief the Council by videolink.
And yesterday afternoon, the Council held an open meeting on Afghanistan.
Briefing Council members was Tadamichi Yamamoto, the Secretary-General’s Representative in Afghanistan, he said the country awaits the results of the October presidential election and called for electoral institutions to exercise their responsibilities for all. The full remarks have been shared with you.
 
Afghanistan
On Afghanistan, UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF, released today a report saying that, in the first nine months of 2019, an average of nine children were killed or maimed every day in Afghanistan.
This marks an 11 per cent increase compared to the same period in 2018 and is largely due to a surge in suicide bomb attacks and ground engagements between pro- and anti-government forces.
 
Syria
On Syria, the UN remains deeply concerned for the safety and protection of over three million civilians in the Idlib area, in the north-west of the country, over half of whom are internally displaced, following ongoing reports of airstrikes in the area.
Over the weekend, in the last days, airstrikes reportedly impacted dozens of communities across Idlib, Hama, Aleppo and Lattakia governorates.
Up to 60,000 people have been displaced in the last few weeks alone, due to hostilities, adding to over 400,000 that have been displaced as a result of hostilities this year.
More than six months on, clashes, and shelling and air strikes have taken a devastating toll on critical civilian infrastructure in the area, damaging schools, hospitals and other critical civilian infrastructure.
We continue to call on all parties to the conflict to do their utmost to ensure the safety and well-being of civilians in the conduct of military operations and strictly follow international humanitarian law principles of distinction, proportionality and precaution.
 
Yemen
The Special Envoy for Yemen, Martin Griffiths, met yesterday with Abdulmalik Al Houthi and that took place in Sana’a.
Mr. Griffiths discussed with the Houthi movement next steps in the advancement of the peace process, including the implementation of the prisoners’ exchange agreement.
The Special Envoy is today and tomorrow in Riyadh, where he will be going to hold meetings with the Government of Yemen and Yemeni political parties.
 
Ebola
On the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a couple of things I would like to flag. One, the UN Peacekeeping Mission with the UN Department of Safety and Security (UNDSS) launched a joint plan to improve security support to allow the full resumption of Ebola control activities in Mangina and Biakato.
Coordinated attacks on Ebola response teams took place in the night of November 27-28, jeopardizing operations in that area.
The Peacekeeping Mission is committed to strength the security conditions necessary for the work of response teams on the ground by increasing the number of peacekeepers on site, building a secure base in Biakato and setting up operational structures and coordination capable of providing the security support requested by the response teams.
 
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Heavy rains as we’ve seen in DRC have caused major floods in 12 of the 26 provinces of the country since the end of October.
Our humanitarian colleagues estimate that at least 600,000 people is being affected country-wide. The loss of life, displacement, significant material damages to houses, infrastructures and agricultural land are being reported.
Clean water, hygiene, sanitation, shelter and essential household items, food and health care have been identified as priority needs. Physical access to many locations remains limited.
The UN and humanitarian partners are supporting the Government-led response efforts by providing urgent assistance including household items, cash assistance, water and sanitation kits, nutrition, and logistics support. The rainy season is expected to last until the end of December.
 
Cyprus
The UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) announced today the clearance of nine suspected hazardous areas each on both sides of the island, amounting to a total area of 210 square meters.
This confidence-building measure was agreed upon by both leaders on 26 February of this year as part of their commitment towards a mine-free Cyprus.
In a note released earlier today, the Mission praises the professionalism and dedication demonstrated by both sides in speedily clearing these 18 locations while adhering to International Mine Action Standards, as checked and approved by the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS).
 
Da’esh/Al-Qaeda
Today is the tenth anniversary of the creation of the Office of the Ombudsperson to the ISIL (Da‘esh) and Al-Qaeda Sanctions Committee.
The Ombudsperson conducts an independent and impartial review of requests from individuals and entities seeking to be removed from the United Nations Security Council ISIL (Da’esh) and Al-Qaeda Sanctions List. 
Since the Office of the Ombudsperson became operational, the Ombudsperson has accepted 89 petitions for delisting; 75 per cent of the petitions have been granted. 
The Permanent Mission of Switzerland, on behalf of the Group of Like-Minded States on Targeted Sanctions, has organized a high-level panel discussion today on topics that include the genesis and achievements of the Office of the Ombudsperson and the future outlook for protecting the legitimacy and effectiveness of UN targeted sanctions.

Chile
I wanted to say that in response to questions we were getting on statements reportedly made by the Secretary-General regarding possible foreign interference in the violence in Chile, I can say that the Secretary-General has not made any statements of any kind on this issue. We promote the right to peaceful assembly and condemn all forms of violence.
 
Regular Budget
We would like to say thank you very much to our friends in Uruguay for having paid their dues in full.
That brings us up to 143 Member States.