HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY FARHAN HAQ,
DEPUTY SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES
WEDNESDAY, 8 FEBRUARY 2023
TÜRKIYE/SYRIA EARTHQUAKE
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) today said that the UN is helping to mobilize emergency teams and relief operations. More than 40 Urban Search and Rescue teams from Türkiye and 19 other countries are deployed. The majority of these teams are coordinated by the Turkish Disaster Management Agency (AFAD) and a UN Disaster Assessment and Coordination – UNDAC- team of 45 staff located in hubs throughout affected areas of Gaziantep, Hatay, Adimayan and Kahramanmaras.
A separate UNDAC team is on its way to Syria to support the response there.
In north-west Syria, community-based rescue teams are fully engaged in the ongoing search for people trapped under the debris of collapsed houses. The lack of heavy machines to remove rubble, as well as poor weather conditions, are complicating these efforts. In other parts of Syria, humanitarians report the urgent need for assistance, logistics, skilled rescue teams, and temporary shelters.
The UN team in the field have confirmed today that the Bab al Hawa crossing is accessible.
Today, some 90 per cent of the 4.6 million people living in north-west Syria rely on humanitarian assistance to meet their most basic needs. The UN cross-border response, authorized by the Security Council, has served as their humanitarian lifeline. Last year, trucks loaded with aid crossing from Türkiye to north-west Syria reached on average 2.6 million Syrians each month through this operation.
Earlier today, the United Nations Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator ad interim for Syria, El- Mostafa Benlamlih, and the Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Syria Crisis, Muhannad Hadi, briefed journalists
Here, and they reaffirmed the UN’s commitment to support the people of Syria in the wake of the devastating earthquake.
The officials underscored that the response focuses on the most immediate needs, including food, shelter, non-food items and medicines, but much more is needed to ensure that no one is left behind.
For its part, the World Food Programme (WFP) launched its emergency response in Türkiye and Syria to assist the most vulnerable families affected by the devastating earthquake. WFP requires $46 million to support the immediate humanitarian needs of 500,000 earthquake affected people in Türkiye and Syria for the next 3-4 months.
IRAN
In Iran, the UN Team has responded rapidly to a request from the national authorities for post-earthquake relief and humanitarian assistance in Khoy, following the 28 January earthquake there.
The UN team, led by Resident Coordinator Stefan Priesner, mounted a joint assessment mission to the areas near the epicentre in the western Azerbaijan province of Iran on 6 February.
In helping the communities recover from the disaster, the UN will focus on the most vulnerable groups, including the elderly, adolescent girls and children with disabilities. A One-UN Impact Fund has been launched to channel international assistance for the priority needs of the population in Iran.
UKRAINE
On Ukraine, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) today noted that a local hospital in Vovchansk, which is less than 10 kilometres from the Russian-Ukrainian border in the eastern Kharkiv region, was damaged by shelling two days in a row on both the 6th and 7th of February. The first attack caused a massive fire, destroying the roof and prompting the evacuation of the patients from the hospital’s bomb shelter, according to humanitarians on the ground.
Over the past two weeks, dozens of health facilities were reportedly damaged by hostilities. At least five attacks on hospitals were reported by local authorities in the Ukrainian-controlled part of the Donetsk region in the east. On the other side of the front line, four health facilities also had their windows damaged, according to the Russian-installed authorities.
Last month, at least two health facilities were damaged in Kherson, including a maternity hospital. In 2022, the World Health Organization (WHO) verified more than 760 attacks on health facilities in Ukraine. These accounted for nearly two-thirds of attacks on health sites globally.
On the humanitarian front, an inter-agency convoy led by the Humanitarian Coordinator, Denise Brown, today delivered aid to Kherson, which continues to experience continuous shelling. Some 65,000 people are estimated to remain in the city, and they experience frequent interruptions of basic services — electricity, heating and water supply — in the middle of winter.
The supplies carried in today’s convoy were provided by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), the Un Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and WHO. They included trauma and emergency surgery kits, emergency shelter materials, mattresses, blankets, winter clothes, heaters, solar lamps, hygiene items and other household items.
SECURITY COUNCIL/UKRAINE
This morning, the Security Council held a meeting on Ukraine. Briefing Council members, the High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, Izumi Nakamitsu, noted that the large-scale influx of weapons into any situation of armed conflict amplifies concerns regarding the escalation of the conflict and risks of diversion. She stressed that measures to counter the potential diversion of weapons and ammunition will be key to post-conflict recovery and regional security and stability, as well as to conflict prevention efforts in other regions.
Ms. Nakamitsu pointed out that in accordance with international norms, any transfers of arms and ammunition should involve pre-transfer risk assessments and post-shipment controls, such as on-site inspection and end-user verifications.
She reiterated the General Assembly’s call to support the de-escalation of the situation and a peaceful resolution of the conflict, with respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders and in accordance with the principles of the Charter.
LIBYA
The 5+5 Joint Military Commission (JMC) and liaison committees from Libya, Sudan and Niger have developed and approved the establishment of an integrated mechanism for joint coordination and data exchange to facilitate the full withdrawal of mercenaries and foreign fighters from Libya.
The decision was announced today at the conclusion of a two-day meeting in Cairo, chaired by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Libya, Abdoulaye Bathily.
Mr. Bathily, in his closing remarks, said that the decision is an important step toward achieving sustainable stability and peace in Libya, in neighbouring countries and the region in general. This progress is also an important step toward creating a favourable climate for the political process, including the organization of elections in 2023.
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
The United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) today said that one of its convoy was travelling in North Kivu, along the Kiwanja-Munigiaxis, when it was blocked by protestors who assaulted the peacekeepers with stones, looted equipment and burned the vehicles. National defence and police forces responded to disperse the demonstrators. The UN Mission deployed a Quick Reaction Force, which was also targeted by assailants on arrival at the scene.
Three civilians were reportedly killed during the violence. Thirty-two peacekeepers, as well as six truck drivers, were injured and received medical treatment at the MONUSCO hospital in Goma.
MONUSCO has increased security at all bases in the country’s east, with only essential movement authorized in Goma, as the level of threat against UN personnel has increased. The Mission continues to engage with national and provincial authorities as well as community leaders to defuse tensions.
The Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of MONUSCO, Bintou Keita, has condemned the violence. A joint investigation with the Congolese authorities is underway to determine the circumstances of the attack.
ETHIOPIA
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, concluded a three-day visit to Ethiopia. He reaffirmed his commitment to support the humanitarian response for refugees and internally displaced people in Ethiopia and work towards achieving long-term solutions, including for those displaced by drought and the impact of climate change.
Mr. Grandi said that, while the last few years have been incredibly difficult for many of those affected by the conflict, he was very encouraged to see the progress made towards peace in northern Ethiopia and to witness all the efforts made in getting more aid to the people who lost everything.
Since the peace deal in November last year, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), and other partners have been able to step up the delivery of much-needed aid including medicines, shelter materials, clothes, household items and blankets. Mr. Grandi noted that progress is visible on the ground, people are now getting assistance, and some have started to go back to their homes. But he added that much more needs to be done to support the reconstruction and recovery efforts in the Afar, Amhara and Tigray regions.
EDUCATION
According to a new report launched today by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Food Programme (WFP), one in three schools in the world still lack access to drinking water and basic sanitation facilities. This means that an estimated 584 million children have limited or no access to basic drinking water services at school; two in five of these children live in sub-Saharan Africa. And while almost all countries in the world provide school meals, an estimated 73 million of the most vulnerable children still do not benefit from these school feeding programmes on the ground.
The report shows that the provision of school health and nutrition encourages children to come to school, and to stay there. School meals alone increase enrolment and attendance rates by 9 per cent and 8 per cent, respectively.
HONOUR ROLL
Austria, Estonia, Gabon, Ireland and Lithuania have paid their regular budget dues in full, bringing the Honour Roll to 35.
***The guest at the Noon Briefing was Adam Abdelmoula, the Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia He spoke to reporters about the launch of the Somali Humanitarian Response Plan.
