Noon briefing of 2 July 2021

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY STEPHANE DUJARRIC

SPOKESPERSON FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES

FRIDAY, 2 JULY 2021

The Secretary-General is wrapping up his trip to Spain and in Madrid today, he met with the Prime Minister of Spain, Pedro Sánchez. In a joint press encounter afterwards, he thanked Spain for its exemplary partnership with the United Nations. He cited multiple examples of collaboration, including the plans for the expansion of the UN Information and Communications Technology Facility in Valencia, Spain’s commitment to the COVAX facility, its leadership in the European Union and as a bridge between developed and developing countries in their efforts to tackle climate change, as well as its strong push to achieve gender equality in all aspects of its society.
The Secretary-General also underscored that all these global issues require multilateral solutions, as well as the inclusion of all sectors of society -businesses, civil society, academia, city authorities, youth – in government decisions.
The Secretary-General also had an audience with His Majesty King Felipe VI.
And this morning, he took part in a roundtable with the Vice-president and Minister for Ecological Transition, Teresa Ribera, and other officials, in which they discussed how to accelerate the green recovery. During the event, the Secretary-General said that there is a gap and a lack of trust between developed and developing countries, and this gap needs to be narrowed. The Secretary-General also stressed that reaching the target of zero carbon emissions by 2050 will require a truly global coalition. He added that he is encouraged by young people’s involvement in this cause, but warned that their participation cannot be only about listening to them as a formality. They need to have a real participation in policy making.

The Secretary-General will be back in the office on Tuesday.

ETHIOPIA
This afternoon, at 3 o’clock, there will be a Security Council briefing on the situation in Ethiopia, which will focus on Tigray.
The briefers from the UN side will be Rosemary DiCarlo, the Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, and Ramesh Rajasingham, the Acting Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs.

On the ground, the World Food Programme (WFP) says they have resumed their operations in Tigray after fighting halted the emergency response last week. However, serious challenges are threatening the entire humanitarian response in the region.   
On Thursday, they reached 10,000 people displaced by conflict with emergency food assistance in the Adi Nebried area, also gave nutritionally fortified food to 3,000 women and children, many suffering from malnutrition, in Endabaguna. WFP continues the distributions today, hoping to reach 30,000 people in Northwest Tigray by the weekend.

In response to questions on bridges, the Spokesman said humanitarian colleagues could confirm that one bridge over the Tekeze river connecting Western Zone and the rest of Tigray was destroyed and rendered unusable. The UN has unconfirmed reports of other destruction.

The destruction and vandalization of vital infrastructure are seriously threatening the provision of humanitarian assistance to the people who need it the most, as well as access to civilians with essential services, goods and livelihoods. All parties to the conflict must protect civilians and civilian infrastructure in compliance with international humanitarian law.
Electricity and telecommunications remain cut off and banking services are still not available. While road access from and to Tigray for humanitarian supplies remains blocked, staff movement from Mekelle to Afar was indeed possible as of yesterday.
Meanwhile, five UNICEF trucks with water, sanitation, hygiene and health and nutrition supplies are waiting to enter Tigray pending approval from federal authorities. There are still no flights in and out of the region though the Government of Ethiopia has announced the possibility that the UN Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS) flights could resume this weekend.

LIBYA
The session of the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum (LPDF) is expected to conclude today in Switzerland, having been extended by a day.
Ján Kubiš, the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General on Libya, urged the Forum members yesterday to live up to the commitments they had made to the Libyan people when they adopted the Roadmap, supported by Security Council resolution 2570 and on the conclusions of the Second Berlin Conference. The Special Envoy added that there was no other way for Libya’s unity, stability, sovereignty, and prosperity than the holding of national elections scheduled this December.


CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC
In the Central African Republic, the office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says that the situation remains tense in Alindao – a town east of Bangui – following clashes between UPC combatants and the Central African army.
UN colleagues say that the violence in the city could further deteriorate the humanitarian situation. There is a shortage of food reported. Markets and shops are closed.
Thousands of people have presumedly been displaced, including at the hospital, at the peacekeeping base, as well as sites for displaced people.

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, we were told that yesterday, a convoy of the UN Mission’s Force Intervention Brigade repelled two separate and consecutive attacks perpetrated by suspected Mayi-Mayi elements in the Southwest part of Bunia, in the province of Ituri.
The attacks resulted in one peacekeeper injured and damage to a UN vehicle. The convoy proceeded to Bunia for medical assistance, and the peacekeeper is in stable condition.
In recent months, the UN Peacekeeping mission has intensified its patrols in the region to protect civilians from rebel attacks, working closely with the Congolese armed forces. This incident is an example of the Mission’s ability to respond to threats, keep peacekeepers safe, and deliver on its mandate to protect civilians.

NIGER
In Niger, UNICEF says that 2.1 million children need humanitarian assistance. That’s about a third more than just a year ago.
The country faces multiple, prolonged and complex emergencies. Challenges include conflict, displacement, food insecurity, cyclical floods and droughts.
Attacks along the borders with Burkina Faso, Mali and Nigeria have led to significant displacements and continue to wreak havoc on the lives of hundreds of thousands of children, the agency said.
The number of schools forced to close due to insecurity in conflict areas has increased from 312 to 377 over the past few months. Threats to school security have been particularly acute in the regions of Tillabéry, Tahoua and Diffa.
UNICEF is appealing for safe and sustained access to deliver humanitarian assistance to impacted populations, including women and children, wherever they are.

ZIMBABWE/COVID-19
Zimbabwe has announced a two-week lockdown to curb the recent surge in COVID-19 cases, with the country reporting more 4,600 COVID-19 cases last week – a 156-per cent increase in just one week.
The UN team, led by the Resident Coordinator Maria Ribeiro, has stepped up its support to the national COVID response efforts. UN colleagues are working to help deliver essential health care services, including improving access to oxygen and intensive care units for severe cases.
The UN teamvis also delivering medical, protective, and sanitizing equipment and supplies to healthcare workers, schools, and communities.
On the socio-economic front, the World Food Programme has provided 326,000 people across 23 urban areas with cash assistance to help vulnerable households meet their immediate food needs during the lockdown.
The UN team is also working on risk communications in communities across 62 districts on COVID prevention and the importance of vaccines.

VENEZUELA
In Venezuela, the World Food Programme has moved its first food supplies to its logistics hub in Maracaibo ahead of the launch of its school meals programme for vulnerable school children and school employees in Venezuela.
As schools in Venezuela are still closed, WFP will provide rice, lentils, and other food for students to take home. School children under the age of six in the areas most affected by food insecurity, they will be prioritized.
WFP aims to reach up to 185,000 children and school personnel by the end of the year and 1.5 million by the end of the 2022-2023 school year. WFP will manage its own supply chain, from purchasing food to distribution in the schools.
WFP’s work in Venezuela will focus on providing nutritious school meals, rehabilitating school cafeterias, and training school staff on food safety practices.

RESIDENT COORDINATOR
Two new Resident Coordinators to announce today.
Vladanka Andreeva of North Macedonia took up her new post as Resident Coordinator in Azerbaijan on July 1^st, while Dmitry Shlapachenko of Ukraine will assume his duties in Turkmenistan on July 5^th. These appointments follow confirmation from the respective host governments.
As you know, Resident Coordinators are the designated representatives of the Secretary-General for development at the country level. They lead the UN’s work on the ground, the response to COVID-19 and helping to recover better together towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.

#PledgetoPause
On 30 June, the World Social Media Day, the Department of Global Communications launched #PledgetoPause, a four-month campaign that builds on the success of Verified, which reached 1 billion people in 2020. Research findings from the Massachusetts institute of Technology (MIT) have confirmed that encouraging people to pause before sharing content online has led to significant reductions in the flow of misinformation and has had an important impact on behavioural change to counter misinformation around COVID-19. A press release on the results of the MIT study was issued by DGC yesterday and is available here: https://www.un.org/sites/un2.un.org/files/press_release_pause_campaign_final_1_july.pdf
The new #PledgetoPause campaign will continue until the end of October, culminating in the UNGA-designated Global Media and Information Literacy Week (24-31 October).

Passing of Ambassador Vassilakis of Greece
We were saddened to learn of the passing on June 30^th of Ambassador Vassilakis, the former Permanent Representative of Greece to the United Nations and former chief negotiator of Greece in the UN-facilitated talks on the 'name dispute' between Athens and Skopje. Ambassador Vassilakis played a key role in the negotiation of the Prespa Agreement. His professionalism and personal contributions to the negotiation process at a critical time were widely acknowledged.

PRESS ENCOUNTER TODAY
Following the Security Council’s meeting on Tigray, there will be an in-person stakeout by members of the A3+1 Group – that is Kenya, Niger, Tunisia and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

BRIEFING GUESTS
On Tuesday, the Spokesman will be joined in-person by the President of the Economic and Social Council, Munir Akram. He will brief on the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development which runs from the 6^th to the 15^th of July.

Following this briefing, Liu Zhenmin, the Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, will be joined by Francesca Perucci and Yongyi Min of DESA. They will discuss key findings of the 2021 Sustainable Development Goals Report.