HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY FARHAN HAQ,
DEPUTY SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES
TUESDAY, 17 JANUARY 2023
BURKINA FASO
The Secretary-General strongly condemns the abduction of some 50 women and girls on 12 and 13 January 2023, in the surroundings of Arbinda, in the Sahel region of Burkina Faso, reportedly by unidentified armed groups.
The Secretary-General calls for the immediate and unconditional release of the abducted women and girls and for their safe return to their families.
The Secretary-General urges the Burkinabé authorities to spare no efforts in bringing those responsible for this crime to justice.
The Secretary-General reaffirms the commitment of the United Nations to continue working with Burkina Faso and international partners to enhance the protection of civilians, respond to the humanitarian and development challenges, promote and protect human rights, and support efforts towards lasting peace.
BURKINA FASO \ HUMANITARIAN
Further on that, Burkina Faso continues to confront a multi-dimensional crisis. Insecurity is growing and nearly one fifth of the population needs urgent humanitarian aid.
The number of security incidents increased by 220% in 2022 over the previous year. Conflict intensity remains higher than any other Sahelian country. As of the end of December last year, 1.3 million people are in hard to reach areas.
1.7 million people are displaced, or one in 12 Burkinabe. The country was one of the fastest growing displacement crises in the world in 2022.
The conflict and chronic vulnerability to droughts and floods have left 2.6 million people severely food insecure, a figure that is expected to increase to 3.5 million during the 2023 lean season.
Between April and June 2022, at least 400 incidents involving violations of human rights, International Humanitarian Law and refugee law have been reported. At least 649 people have been killed and 39% of those were children.
Burkina Faso’s 2022 Humanitarian Response Plan was only funded at 38 per cent. The 2023 Humanitarian Response Plans requires $866M to respond to the needs of 3 million people.
SG TRAVELS
The Secretary-General arrived in Davos earlier today, where he is scheduled to deliver tomorrow a special address on “The State of the World.”
In his remarks, the Secretary-General is expected to give a sober assessment of the state of the world, noting that while we need more cooperation – on climate, debt relief and global health – we face more fragmentation.
He will deliver strong and detailed appeals to both governments and the private sector to forge pathways to greater cooperation in our fragmented world.
While in Davos, he will also have a number of bilateral meetings, which we will provide details on as they happen.
DEPUTY SECRETARY-GENERAL
On behalf of the Secretary-General, the Deputy Secretary-General, Amina Mohammed, the Executive Director of UN Women, Sima Bahous, and the Assistant Secretary-General of the Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and Peace Operations, Khaled Khiari, started a series of high-level consultations across the Gulf, Asia and Europe to discuss the situation in Afghanistan in an effort to promote and protect women’s and girls’ rights, peaceful coexistence and sustainable development.
The visits so far covered several countries in the neighbourhood, the Gulf and beyond. They also met with the leadership of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, the Islamic Development Bank, groups of Afghan women in Ankara and Islamabad and a group of Ambassadors and Special Envoys to Afghanistan based in Doha.
Throughout the visits, countries and partners recognized the critical role of the UN in finding a pathway to a lasting solution as well as the need to continue to deliver lifesaving support. They asked that efforts be intensified to reflect the urgency of the situation. Government officials stressed the importance of the international community speaking with one voice with a unified approach.
The need for a revitalized and realistic political pathway was consistently highlighted and all remained firm on the fundamental principles, including women's and girls’ rights to education, work and public life in Afghanistan.
Views remained on the need to find the right balance that would urgently enable a positive outcome to the current challenges.
Clear consensus was evident on the issue of women and girls' rights to work and have access to education. There was a broad sense that the region and the Organization of the Islamic Conference’s leadership on these issues was critical and needed to be strengthened with the full support and collaboration of the international community. The proposal of an international conference on women and girls in the Muslim World during the month of March 2023 was considered and agreed in principle.
The team also met with a diverse group of Afghan women. They gave powerful testimonies speaking to a range of issues including the profound societal impact and trauma on women and girls in the society. Overall, there was a deep sense of longing to return to an inclusive, stable and prosperous Afghanistan.
The high-level delegation arrived in Kabul today to continue their engagement.
UKRAINE
In a statement we issued yesterday afternoon, the Secretary-General strongly condemned the deadly missile strike on a residential building in the city of Dnipro, Ukraine, in which at least 40 people were killed, with many more wounded and dozens missing.
He said that attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure violate international humanitarian law and must end immediately.
The Secretary-General extends his deepest condolences to the families of the victims of the Dnipro attack and wishes a speedy recovery to the injured.
YEMEN
In response to questions about the Safer tanker, the Spokesman said that the United Nations is closer than ever to helping the parties in Yemen resolve the grave threat posed by the FSO Safer tanker off Yemen’s Red Sea coast.
Donors have generously pledged more than $84 million of the funding required for the UN-coordinated plan to prevent a major oil spill from the Safer. Additional funding from the private sector is expected soon.
Everyone is eager to see the operation on the water begin as soon as possible. With more than $73 million of the pledges disbursed, the UN has been able to begin essential preparatory work.
All of the technical expertise is in place to undertake the procurement for the complex operation. This includes a marine management consultancy firm, maritime legal firm, insurance and ship brokers and oil spill experts. The contracting of the salvage company that will carry out the emergency operation is at an advanced stage.
However, the key challenge at present is procurement of a very large crude carrier. The UN cannot begin the emergency operation until it is certain that a safe crude carrier will be in place to take on the oil.
The UN is working expeditiously with a maritime broker and other partners to find a workable solution and remains confident the work can begin in the coming months.
MALAWI/CHOLERA
Our UN team in Malawi, led by Resident Coordinator Rebecca Adda-Dontoh, is boosting support to authorities to tackle the worst cholera outbreak in two decades. In the past two weeks, there were hundreds of new cases. Since the onset of the outbreak last March, over 23,000 cholera cases have been recorded with nearly 800 deaths. Authorities declared a public health emergency last month, as they reported over 7,000 new cases and nearly 300 deaths.
Our team confirms that schools in the country’s two biggest cities reopened today following a temporary closure that affected nearly 1 million children over the last two weeks. To avoid students falling further behind after years of COVID interruptions, the UN Children’s Fund ensured that Water, Sanitation and Hygiene facilities were in place, while the World Food Programme (WFP) distributed hygiene items, reaching over 600,000 learners. UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO) are working with the authorities to train healthcare workers on cholera case management. They also provided staff, Oral Rehydration Solution doses, and water purification tablets. In addition to this, our team supported the national Oral Cholera Vaccination campaign, which delivered nearly 3 million doses to at-risk populations. UNICEF has also handed over US$300,000 in further life-saving supplies that will be distributed to cholera treatment centres.
UNICEF
And a new report released today by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) notes that children from the poorest households benefit the least from national public education funding.
According to the report, children living in poverty are less likely to have access to school and drop out sooner. In addition, children from poor households are less represented in higher levels of education, which receive much higher public education spending per capita.
The report calls on governments to provide equitable financing and prioritize public education resources, including increasingly focusing on foundational learning. This entails securing public funding for pre-primary and primary education for all and targeting the poor and marginalized at higher levels of education.
