HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY FARHAN HAQ,
DEPUTY SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES
MONDAY, 26 JUNE 2023
SENIOR PERSONNEL APPOINTMENTS
Today, the Secretary-General is appointing Haoliang Xu of China as Under-Secretary-General and Associate Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Mr. Xu will succeed Usha Rao-Monari of India, to whom the Secretary-General has expressed his appreciation for her service and commitment during her tenure as Associate Administrator.
Mr. Xu has been serving as the Assistant Secretary-General and Director of the Bureau for Policy and Programme Support, UNDP since 2019. His background includes his time as the UNDP Assistant Administrator and Director of the Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific, a position he held between 2013 and 2019.
And the Secretary-General is also appointing Aarti Holla-Maini of the United Kingdom as Director of the UN Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA), which is based in Vienna.
She will succeed Simonetta Di Pippo of Italy, to whom the Secretary-General is grateful for her commitment and dedicated service to the Organization. The Secretary-General also wishes to extend his appreciation to the Chief, Committee, Policy and Legal Affairs Section, Niklas Hedman, who will continue to serve as Acting Director of the Office of Outer Space Affairs until Ms. Holla-Maini assumes this position.
Ms. Holla-Maini brings to this position over 25 years of professional experience in the space sector including in managerial and advocacy functions. Most recently, she has held the role of Executive Vice-President Sustainability, Policy & Impact at NorthStar Earth & Space; prior to which she spent over 18 years as Secretary-General of the Global Satellite Operators Association.
DEPUTY SECRETARY-GENERAL
Over the weekend, the Deputy Secretary-General, Amina Mohammed, was in Shanghai, China. She participated in roundtables with business leaders including some international chambers of commerce to highlight the importance of sustainability, technology, innovation and Artificial Intelligence to deal with the challenges of climate change as well as accelerate progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
On the sidelines of her trip, Ms. Mohammed also traveled to Huzhou City in Zhejiang Province and visited the UN Global Geographic Information Knowledge and Innovation Center, which seeks to strengthen data for the Sustainable Development Goals.
SECURITY COUNCIL
Martha Pobee, the Assistant Secretary-General for Africa, briefed the Security Council on the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
She told Council members that over the past three months, the security situation has continued to deteriorate in Ituri and North Kivu, despite a lull in armed clashes between the M23 and the Congolese armed forces.
However, she added, the withdrawal of M23 from the occupied areas has been piecemeal, tactical and political. The armed group still controls a large part of the Masisi and Rutshuru territories, and its offensive repositioning in recent weeks has raised fears that hostilities could flare up again at any moment. Ms. Pobee said that in Ituri, over 600 people were killed by armed groups in the past 3 months.
She reiterated our call on all armed groups to cease hostilities and for a redeployment of national security forces, particularly in Ituri, to restore State authority in this area.
Turning to the peacekeeping mission transition, Ms. Pobee noted the will of the Congolese authorities to accelerate the transition, she added that during his visit to the country earlier this month, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, the Head of Peace operations, encouraged the finalization of the revised transition plan.
SUDAN
The United Nations Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan – otherwise known as UNITAMS – expressed today its grave concern about the recent violence in Kurmuk locality of the Blue Nile Region on 25 and 26 June. As a result of this violence, hundreds of civilians have crossed into Ethiopia for safety, while others appear to be preparing to move towards Damazine located to the South of Khartoum.
The Mission urges all parties involved to immediately cease fighting in the interest of protecting the local population, and urges all warring parties, in the Blue Nile region, Khartoum, North and South Kordofan states, Darfur and elsewhere, to resort to dialogue to resolve differences and to ensure dignity and respect for all Sudanese as equal citizens.
SUDAN CHILDREN
The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), said today that as of 23 June – last Friday - more than 140,000 Sudanese refugees and 34,000 Chadian returnees have crossed the border. Thousands more are expected to arrive as violence escalates in Darfur.
According to UNICEF, the refugees who arrive share stories of running away from burnt-down villages, civilians being attacked and killed, some as they try to make the crossing into Chad.
UNICEF called to move quickly to limit the effects of the humanitarian disaster that is unfolding.
SYRIA
The Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Martin Griffiths, is today in Syria and is expected to discuss progress and challenges regarding the humanitarian response to the Syria crisis
He was in Jordan yesterday where he held talks with Foreign Minister Ayman al-Safadi. They discussed the continued cooperation to respond to challenges and opportunities in the region.
Also on Syria, last Friday, a UN cross-line convoy of 10 trucks carrying 220 metric tonnes of humanitarian assistance for 22,000 people crossed from Aleppo to Sarmada in north-west Syria. The convoy delivered aid, including food, wheat flour, mobile storage units, hygiene kits and health items, among other supplies, which were provided by the World Health Organization, UNICEF, the UN Refugee Agency and the World Food Programme.
In north-west Syria, more than four million people rely aid on to meet their most basic needs. Some 80 percent of these people are women and children. While an important complement, the cross-line operation is not able to be a substitute for the size or scope of the massive United Nations cross-border operation, which reaches 2.7 million Syrians each month with vital aid, including food and vaccines.
Also, the Deputy Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Syria crisis, David Carden, said in a statement today that he is concerned about the recent escalation of hostilities and offered his condolences.
Since the beginning of this year, and excluding the figures from yesterday’s incident, at least 21 civilians have been killed and at least 51 civilians injured, according to monitoring carried out by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.
MIDDLE EAST
Lynn Hastings, the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, said over the weekend that there has been a shocking increase of settler-violence incidents in the occupied West Bank.
On average, she said, there had been two such incidents recorded daily in 2022, while three incidents have been recorded per day this year.
In a three-day period last week alone, she said, there were 21 recorded settler attacks against Palestinians and their property, leaving 115 people injured.
Ms. Hastings said that accountability is needed for the attacks to stop.
REFUGEES
The UN refugee Agency has anticipated a significant rise in global refugee resettlement needs for next year. According to the Projected Global Resettlement Needs Assessment for 2024 released today, more than 2.4 million refugees will be in need of resettlement, marking a 20 per cent increase compared to 2023.
UNHCR warns that with a deepening refugee crisis and the emergence of new displacement situations, urgent action is required to address the escalating challenges faced by millions of refugees and displaced individuals worldwide.
The UN refugee agency notes that the Asia region tops the list of estimated needs in 2024, with nearly 730,000 refugees requiring resettlement support, representing 30 per cent of global needs. Refugees from Afghanistan are estimated to have the second-highest resettlement needs, followed by refugees from South Sudan, Myanmar and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
DRUG ABUSE AND ILLICIT TRAFFICKING
Today is the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.
In his message for the Day, the Secretary-General calls on the global community to continue the work to end drug abuse, illicit trafficking, and the stigma endured by drug users around the world.
And the UN Office on Drugs and Crime today released its World Drug Report which warns of converging crises as illicit drug markets continue to expand. The report says there is a continued record illicit drug supply and increasingly agile trafficking networks which are challenging health services and law enforcement responses.
New data puts the global estimate of people who injected drugs in 2021 at 13.2 million, 18 per cent higher than previously estimated. Globally, over 296 million people used drugs in 2021, an increase of 23 per cent over the previous decade. However, the demand for treating drug-related disorders remains largely unmet, with only one in five people suffering from drug-related disorders being in treatment for drug use in 2021.
VICTIMS OF TORTURE
Today is the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture.
Nearly four decades on from the adoption of the UN Convention against Torture, there is evidence that it is still taking place in all regions of the world, even though it’s a recognized international crime.
BRIEFINGS TODAY
At 1 p.m., the UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism, Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, will talk about her recent visit to the detention facility at the U.S. Naval Station in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.
CHILDREN AND ARMED CONFLICT
Tomorrow morning, at 10 a.m., Virginia Gamba – the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict - will present the Annual Report of the Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflict.
