HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY FARHAN HAQ,

DEPUTY SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES

THURSDAY, 23 DECEMBER 2021

LIBYA
Stephanie Williams, the Secretary-General’s Special Adviser for Libya, noted that yesterday, the High National Elections Commission in that country announced that despite its technical preparedness, it is unable to meet the 24 December 2021 date set by the political roadmap for national elections. 
Ms. Williams calls upon the concerned institutions to honor and support the will of the 2.8 million Libyans who registered to vote.  To contribute to a solution of Libya’s political crisis and to durable stability, she said, presidential and parliamentary elections must take place in the appropriate conditions, on a level playing field among all candidates to peacefully end the political transition and transfer power to democratically elected institutions.   
The Special Adviser said that the current challenges in the electoral process should in no way be instrumentalized to undermine the stability and progress which has been achieved in Libya over the past 15 months.  She strongly urges relevant institutions and all political actors to focus on the electoral process and on creating the political and security conditions to secure the holding of inclusive, free, fair, peaceful and credible elections, whose outcome will be accepted by all parties.

MYANMAR
The Secretariat is aware of the announcement on 20 December by the de facto authorities in Myanmar informing of their decision to end their hosting of the Office of the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General on Myanmar on the basis of Christine Schraner Burgener ending her tenure as Special Envoy.
The agreement for an in-country presence of the Office of the Special Envoy was reached with the Government of Myanmar in 2018. 
In continuation of the commitment of the United Nations to support the people of Myanmar and promote peace, the recently appointed Special Envoy of the Secretary-General on Myanmar, Noeleen Heyzer, hopes to obtain a first-hand understanding of the situation on the ground and listen carefully to all stakeholders with a view to mobilizing greater international support towards a Myanmar-led process to end the ongoing crisis.  This is in line with calls by the Security Council for all parties to exercise utmost restraint and seek a peaceful solution through constructive dialogue and practical reconciliation in the interests of the people and their livelihood.
In this respect, the in-country presence of the Office of the Special Envoy will remain important and Special Envoy Heyzer looks forward to strengthening cooperation with all stakeholders in Myanmar.

SUDAN
On Sudan, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Pramila Patten, said she is gravely concerned about the situation in the country following reports of sexual violence and sexual harassment perpetrated against women and girls by the security forces during demonstrations in Khartoum this past Sunday, 19 December.
Ms. Patten said she has deep concerns about credible reports of serious human rights violations, including the use of rape and gang rape of women and girls to disperse protesters who had attempted a sit-in. 
She demanded the immediate and complete cessation of all human rights violations and abuses including sexual violence. She also called on the authorities to take effective measures to ensure ease of access to medical, legal and psychosocial support to the survivors, and put in place accountability mechanisms to prevent recurrence of such violence, in accordance with relevant Security Council resolutions. 
Ms. Patten also echoed the High Commissioner for Human Rights’ call for a prompt, independent and thorough investigation into the allegations of rape and sexual harassment.
Also on Sudan, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) noted that children were among those injured and raped in the weekend protests. It called on all authorities in Sudan to protect all children from all forms of violence and harm, including during conflict and political events.

YEMEN
On Yemen, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that UN Humanitarian Air Service – UNHAS – flights into and out of Sana’a airport scheduled for today have been cancelled. 
The civil aviation authorities in Sana’a have now effectively prevented humanitarian flights into and out of the airport since 19 December.  
The Humanitarian Air Service is a vital link for the movement of aid workers and the delivery of humanitarian supplies into Yemen.
As we reported earlier in the week, a UN team visited the airport on 21 December to assess the damage caused by airstrikes the night before and noted that it remains operational for emergency humanitarian use.
The UN is exploring alternatives to move supplies and staff into and out of Sana’a.

VENEZUELA/CHILE
The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said it is stepping up its presence and aid delivery to help a growing number of Venezuelan refugees and migrants crossing by foot across Chile’s northern border with Bolivia.
Since November, according to local authorities, between 400 and 500 refugees and migrants from Venezuela have been crossing into Chile every day, using irregular routes and facing dangers such as the risk of sexual exploitation and abuse by criminal groups. 
UNHCR said that many people arrive hungry and in ill health, suffering from malnutrition, dehydration, hypothermia and altitude sickness. Some 21 people have lost their lives at Chile’s northern border since the beginning of the year.
UNHCR gives information and legal counselling, as well as food, cash assistance and other aid to newly-arrived Venezuelans.

PHILIPPINES
On the Philippines, the Emergency Relief Coordinator, Martin Griffiths, today announced a $12 million rapid response allocation from the Central Emergency Response Fund to support the response to Typhoon Rai.
These funds will help 220,000 vulnerable people in areas such as food, protection, water and sanitation, shelter and telecommunication in the hardest-hit Caraga region and Region VIII.

FINANCIAL CONTRIBUTION 
The Grenada and North Macedonia have now paid their regular budget dues. We are now up to 144 fully paid-up Member States.

BRIEFINGS
This is the last briefing we intend to have this year, since UN Headquarters is closed tomorrow for the Christmas holiday and, as we usually do, we won’t have any briefings during the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day.
We will still have spokespeople working during the weekdays next week to answer your questions and we’ll update our website with the news of the UN system each day.
And the noon briefing will resume on Tuesday, 4 January 2022.

***The guest at the Noon Briefing was the Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in the Philippines, Gustavo Gonzalez. He announced a coordinated plan to respond to the most urgent needs following Typhoon Rai.