SECRETARY-GENERAL/UKRAINE
This morning, the Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, spoke at the General Assembly’s emergency special session on Ukraine. He told the Assembly members that the fighting is raging across the country, from air, land and sea, and that it must stop now.
The Secretary-General underscored that this escalating violence – which is resulting in civilian deaths, including children – is totally unacceptable. Enough is enough, he added.
Mr. Guterres said that we are facing a tragedy for Ukraine, but also a major regional crisis with potentially disastrous implications for us all. He noted that, yesterday, Russian nuclear forces were put on high alert and that the mere idea of nuclear conflict is simply inconceivable. Nothing can justify the use of nuclear weapons, said Mr. Guterres.
He added that he hopes that the direct talks taking place today between Ukrainian and Russian delegations will produce not only an immediate halt to the fighting, but also a path towards a diplomatic solution.
He flagged that, tomorrow, we will launch two coordinated emergency humanitarian appeals for Ukraine and the broader region.
This afternoon, the Security Council will hold a meeting on Ukraine, and the Emergency Relief Coordinator, Martin Griffiths, will brief Council members in an open session.

UKRAINE/HUMANITARIAN
From the ground, a quick humanitarian update for you: Our colleagues are telling us that days of intense clashes across parts of Ukraine have caused civilian causalities and damage to critical infrastructure, with severe humanitarian consequences. Road damage and insecurity have disrupted local supply chains and access to food and other basic items.
According to the UN’s Human Rights Office, more than 400 civilian casualties have been reported, including more than 100 deaths. The real figure could be considerably higher as many reported casualties have yet to be confirmed.
According to latest figures from the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), more than half a million people have already crossed the international borders, mostly towards Poland. An additional 160,000 have been internally displaced. This is likely a significant underestimation, as the numbers are changing by the hour.
Our humanitarian colleagues are also warning that the increasingly intense conflict threatens to trigger a humanitarian catastrophe in Ukraine and in neighbouring countries.
We, along with our humanitarian partners, are preparing to rapidly scale-up operations once the security situation permits. Local civil society organizations and volunteers are on the frontlines providing support to everyone in need, including internally displaced people, those impacted by the violence and the people trying to cross borders.
For its part, our colleagues at the World Food Programme (WFP) is launching a three-month emergency operation in Ukraine to provide food assistance for people fleeing the conflict. The operation is guided by the humanitarian principles of neutrality, impartiality, humanity and independence. WFP is also on stand-by to assist refugees in neighbouring countries, as requested.
The World Food Programme teams are on the ground in Kyiv and in a number of neighbouring countries, leading the emergency telecommunications and logistics clusters on behalf of the UN’s humanitarian community. The World Food Programme also warns that the Black Sea basin is one of the world’s most important areas for grain and agricultural production and that the conflict’s impact on food security will likely be felt beyond Ukraine’s borders.

HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL
Turning to the Human Rights Council, speaking by pre-recorded video message at the opening of the 49th session of the Human Rights Council this morning in Geneva, the Secretary-General said human rights are under assault, everywhere.
But, he added, the solutions to the crises we are facing – be it COVID-19, global finance, climate action, lawlessness in cyberspace, or peace and security – the solutions are all rooted in human rights.
Turning to conflict, Mr. Guterres said civilians caught up in wars suffer not only violations of their rights to safety and protection, but often their rights to food, clean water, healthcare, education and jobs.
Protecting minorities and promoting their economic, social, cultural, civil and political rights are among the most important conflict prevention tools we have.
Through the [daily] grind of advocacy, monitoring, and investigation, the Secretary-General said human rights defenders, including journalists and lawyers, are standing up for our common humanity – often at great personal risk.
Together, he concluded, they are helping to build a world of dignity and equality for all.

CLIMATE
The Secretary-General also spoke by pre-recorded video message at the press launch of the new report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
The Secretary-General said the report is an atlas of human suffering and a damning indictment of failed climate leadership.
“With fact upon fact, this report reveals how people and the planet are getting clobbered by climate change,” he said, adding that coal and other fuels are choking humanity.
He called on G20 governments to stop funding coal in their own countries and dismantle their coal fleets. He also called for those financing coal to be held accountable.
You cannot claim to be green while your plans and projects undermine the 2050 net-zero target and ignore the major emissions cuts that must occur this decade.
Fossil fuels are a dead end, Mr. Guterres said, for our planet, for humanity, and for economies worldwide.
The Secretary-General acknowledged the rage and anxiety of people all over the world on this issue and said that now is the time to turn rage into action.

UN ENVIRONMENT ASSEMBLY
In Nairobi, the UN Environment Assembly’s in-person meeting kicks off today. As you know, the Assembly is the world’s highest environmental decision-making body.
Representatives from Member States, business leaders, civil society and environmentalists from around the world will come together in-person and online to discuss progress on halting plastic pollution, stopping harmful chemicals in agriculture and deploying nature to find sustainable development solutions, among other topics.
As we mentioned to you, the Deputy Secretary-General, Amina Mohammed, is also there. The meeting will wrap up on Wednesday, to be followed by a special session opening Thursday focusing on the fiftieth anniversary of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP).

SYRIA
In the Security Council, Izumi Nakamitsu, the High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, briefed Council members this morning on the work being done regarding chemical weapons and Syria.
She urged Syria to respond as soon as possible to technical requests from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). The OPCW’s Technical Secretariat stands ready to deploy a team to Syria once the needed visas have been received.
Impunity for the use of chemical weapons is intolerable, Ms. Nakamitsu said. Such profound violations of international law cannot continue to go unaddressed and unresolved, she concluded.

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC
The Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, finished up his four-day visit to the Central African Republic today.
In Bria, in the Haute-Kotto prefecture, he engaged with community representatives, civil society, women, youth, and local authorities. The people he met with expressed their appreciation, but also called for more support on the security front and human rights monitoring in the country.
As part of our support for the restoration of state authority, Mr. Lacroix inaugurated projects under the Community Violence Reduction Program and handed over equipment to local Internal Security Forces and other civil servants in Bria.
Mr. Lacroix also met with the Central African authorities, including the President, Faustin-Archange Touadéra, as well as with the Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs. He also held talks with the office of the organizing committee of the Republican dialogue and the diplomatic community. Mr. Lacroix stressed the Mission’s continued support for the advancement of the political and peace process and called for an inclusive political dialogue.

SUDAN
From Sudan, the UN Integrated Transition Assistance Mission (UNITAMS) there today issued a new report on the political process that under way to break the current political impasse which began after last October’s military coup.
As you know, the UN Mission last month launched a political process, consulting with more than 800 people – one third of whom were women – representing many different groups.
The Mission hopes the new report will help to design the next stage of the process. It stressed that the outcome can only be Sudanese-made and Sudanese-owned in order to succeed.
That statement from them is online.

SOUTH SUDAN/HUMANITARIAN
Regarding neighboring South Sudan, the 2022 Humanitarian Needs Overview was launched today.
It highlights how the humanitarian situation in South Sudan continues to deteriorate. Some 8.9 million men, women and children will require humanitarian assistance this year, compared to 8.3 million last year, which is still a huge number.
This is due to continued conflict, extensive flooding, deepening food insecurity, inflation, high food prices, and lack of access to basic services.
We, of course, are continuing to provide support.

SOUTH SUDAN/PEACEKEEPING
The UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) is appealing to national and local leaders, as well as armed groups, to immediately stop the violence in Unity State.
In the past two weeks, civilians have been killed, injured and forced to flee their homes, and humanitarian supplies have been looted. There have also been reports of women being raped.
The Mission strongly condemns this violence at a time when humanitarian needs are rising, and people are already reeling from the worst flooding in decades.
The Mission has also stepped up its community engagement efforts to reduce tensions in Magwi in Eastern Equatoria state. This follows clashes among farming communities and herders that led to 3,000 men, women and children fleeing their homes last week.

LEBANON
A quick note from Lebanon, where there was a handover of leadership at the UN Interim Force (UNIFIL) headquarters in Naqoura: The Head of Mission and Force Commander, Major General Stefano Del Col of Italy, handed over authority over the Mission to Major General Aroldo Lázaro Sáenz of Spain.
Before handing over command, Major General Del Col applauded the cooperation of the parties for working with him and demonstrating their commitment and collaboration. He said that has helped maintain “the remarkable stability” in south Lebanon over the past 16 years.

HYBRID BRIEFING TOMORROW
Tomorrow, at 2:00 pm., there will be a hybrid briefing here by Ambassador Lana Nusseibeh, who is the Permanent Representative of the United Arab Emirates and will be presiding over the Security Council for the merry month of March.

FINANCIAL CONTRIBUTION
We thank our friends in two countries for their full payments to the regular budget: Fiji and Spain.