HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY FLORENCIA SOTO NIÑO,
ASSOCIATE SPOKESPERSON FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES
WEDNESDAY, 23 AUGUST 2023
SECRETARY-GENERAL IN SOUTH AFRICA
The Secretary-General arrived in Johannesburg, where the BRICS summit is being held.
This evening he will attend a dinner hosted by President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Tomorrow, the Secretary-General, at the invitation of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) will be participating in the BRICS-Africa Outreach and BRICS Plus Dialogue sessions.
Prior to flying back to New York, he will be holding a press briefing.
SYRIA
Special Envoy for Syria, Geir Pederson, briefed Security Council members today on Syria. He said that the Syrian people - both inside and outside the country - continue to suffer acutely from the conflict in all of its dimensions, and the absence of a genuine political process is deeply detrimental to their well-being.
He added that a political process is the right of the Syrian people, and the only path out of the crisis is a political process that involves the Syrian parties themselves, in line with resolution 2254.
This afternoon, the Security Council will hold closed consultations on Myanmar.
NIGER
In Niger, the United Nations and partners continue to deliver assistance across the country.
In Tahoua, in the country’s south-west, humanitarians have provided medical care, reproductive health services and nutrition to over 1,000 people through mobile clinics. And last week, the World Food Programme started food distribution to more than 9,000 refugees from Mali in Tchintabaraden, also in the south-west.
However, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warns about the consequences of the ongoing crisis on the humanitarian situation. Significant amounts of urgent medical supplies, nutritious food, equipment, and food stocks are stranded in neighbouring countries, and airspace closure affects movements in and out of Niger.
Humanitarian exemptions from border and air closure sanctions are urgently required to allow humanitarian stocks to be replenished.
On the floods in Niger, 88,000 people across the country are impacted, with the Maradi region most affected.
The United Nations is ramping up the response and distributing sanitation kits and shelter items while assessments in newly affected areas continue. Heavy rains are forecast for the coming weeks. This is expected to increase water levels in rivers, including in the capital Niamey.
SUDAN
In Sudan, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs warns that civilian displacement is continuing at an alarming scale, as the conflict spreads to new areas. The number of people who have fled the fighting has now topped 4.5 million.
The International Organization for Migration says that more than 3.6 million people are internally displaced – almost 169,000 of them in the last week alone.
Meanwhile, the UN Refugee Agency reports that nearly 950,000 refugees, asylum seekers and returnees have sought safety outside Sudan – mostly in Chad, Egypt and South Sudan.
As hostilities in Sudan continue, hunger is also on the rise. The World Food Programme says that it has now reached 1.8 million people with food assistance since the conflict erupted in the country in mid-April. But that’s less than 10 per cent of the 20.3 million people who are facing acute hunger.
The agency is aiming to reach some 6.7 million people by the end of the year – however, access challenges and insecurity are hampering these aid efforts.
MALI
In Mali, a MINUSMA convoy came under direct attack from unidentified armed individuals, while en route from Gao to Ménaka. The armed assailants fired shots from a distance at the convoy before retreating. Fortunately, there were no casualties among peacekeepers, and the convoy, which was supporting the withdrawal of the Mission, reached its destination without further issue. This is the second such incident in a week on this axis.
This latest attack is another reminder of the challenges the Mission faces, as it withdraws from the country, at the request of the Malian authorities and pursuant to the United Nations Security Council resolution 2690 (2023). The United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali is nearing the completion of implementing Phase 1 of its withdrawal plan, which entails the closure and handover of the farthest and smaller bases to the Transition Government.
Over the past weeks, the Mission has closed bases in Ogossagou, Ber and Goundam, with Ménaka to follow next. The safety of the UN peacekeepers will remain a priority throughout this process.
CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC
United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) says that starting next week, peacekeepers will assist the authorities in the holding of the second criminal session of the Bangui Court of Appeal. Strengthening the rule of law and essential criminal justice services are one of the tasks of the Mission towards fighting impunity, preventing conflict and laying the foundations for sustainable peace.
The Mission’s support to the Court will extend to several areas, including security, transporting people under trial to the courtroom under safe conditions, as well as protecting victims and witnesses, particularly in cases of sexual violence.
UKRAINE
In Ukraine, the Humanitarian Coordinator, Denise Brown, has condemned a new wave of attacks on nearly half of Ukraine’s regions over the past 24 hours. According to local authorities, grain storage facilities, vital for Ukrainian farmers and global food security, have been hit in the Danube area.
In the Sumy region, a school was damaged, and teachers were killed and injured according to national authorities. Our humanitarian partners on the ground tell us that in the Kherson region, civilians endured hours of relentless strikes that damaged a hospital and forced aid organizations to suspend vital assistance and take shelter during the day yesterday.
TROPICAL STORM FRANKLIN
Tropical Storm Franklin made landfall along the southern coast of the Dominican Republic this morning, bringing torrential rains to the country and to neighbouring Haiti. We are working with national and regional partners, including the Caribbean Emergency Disaster Management Agency, to prepare for potential impacts of the storm.
The Haitian Civil Protection agency has disseminated precautionary messages to the population and we are mapping available stocks and resources with our partners. Humanitarian organizations have also pre-positioned shelter materials in several areas in the country, including in Anse à Pitre in the Southeast which is expected to be the most affected areas.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs warns that insecurity in regions affected by gang violence might create access challenges.
For its part, the World Food Programme is working with the General Directorate of Civil Protection to plan for potential humanitarian food needs and has prepositioned 120 metric tonnes of food in a newly constructed operations base in Miragoane. WFP is also prepositioning food stocks for potential use in the metropolitan area of Port-au-Prince and at Cap-Haitien. WFP stands ready to provide dry food rations and cash-based assistance to up to 100,000 people if required.
In the Dominican Republic, General Directorate of Civil Protection has put 14 out of 32 provinces under red alert. This is where about 6.5 million people, or 61 per cent of the population live.
Partners have pre-positioned stocks and are working to identify the most vulnerable families.
SLAVE TRADE AND ITS ABOLITION
Today is the International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition.
The Secretary-General notes in a Tweet that the impact of the slave trade remains visible in today's racial injustices and inequalities. He underscores that ending slavery’s legacy of racism is a global imperative.
BRIEFING
The Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations, Ambassador Ruchira Kamboj, will talk to journalists about India’s mission to the moon. The United Nations congratulates India on being the first country to land a spacecraft on the south pole of the moon. The UN has taken a very keen interest in space, particularly in the peaceful uses of outer space.
