Noon briefing of 13 November 2023

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY STÉPHANE DUJARRIC​,
SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES
MONDAY, 13 NOVEMBER 2023

GAZA TRIBUTE
At the United Nations Headquarters this morning, the UN flag was lowered at half-mast to mourn and honour the 101 UN Staff who were killed in Gaza in the past month.
The Secretary-General observed a minute of silence – accompanied by the Deputy Secretary-General, Amina Mohammed; the President of the General Assembly, Dennis Francis and the Chef de Cabinet, Courtenay Rattray, along with Resident coordinators from around the world who are visiting New York this week.
In a Tweet, Mr. Guterres reminded that this is the highest number of UN aid workers killed in a conflict in such a short time.
They will never be forgotten, he said.
In UN offices around the world, the UN flag was also lowered and colleagues from everywhere joined in a moment of silence.

ISRAEL/OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES
In Gaza, fighting around Al Shifa hospital intensified over the weekend causing damage to the hospital’s water tanks, the oxygen station, the cardiovascular facility and the maternity ward. Three nurses were reportedly killed.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that while some staff and patients managed to flee, others remain trapped inside, either too afraid to leave or unable to do so for medical reasons.
Hospitals and medical personnel are specifically protected under international humanitarian law. Any military operation around or within hospitals must take steps to spare and protect the patients, medical staff, and other civilians.
OCHA says that lives in Gaza are hanging by a thread due to depleting fuel and medical supplies.
Yesterday, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society announced that Al Quds Hospital in Gaza City was no longer operational due to lack of fuel and power outages.
Martin Griffiths, the Emergency Relief Coordinator, said in a tweet that there can be no justification for acts of war in health care facilities. This is unconscionable, reprehensible and must stop.
Following the collapse of services and communications at hospitals in the north, the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Gaza has not updated the casualty figures in Gaza since 10 November.
Gaza has been under electricity black out for over a month now.
Yesterday, 76 trucks carrying food, medicines, health supplies, bottled water, blankets, tents and hygiene products, crossed from Egypt into Gaza. This brings the number of trucks that have entered Gaza since 21 October to 981.

RESIDENT COORDINATORS GLOBAL MEETING
UN Resident Coordinators are in New York this week for the Global meeting that is taking place at UN headquarters.
They will address progress and challenges in rolling out the UN development system reform, in an increasingly complex global setting.
This morning, the Deputy Secretary-General, Amina Mohammed, spoke with the Resident Coordinators about the multitude of global, regional, and local challenges, including the urgent need to boost financing and political will for people and the planet, as well as ways to fast-track the Sustainable Development Goals at this half-way mark.
Resident Coordinators will also discuss the work in areas such as food systems; energy access and affordability; digital connectivity; education; jobs and social protection; and climate-related issues.
This week, they will also engage with the UN Sustainable Development Group Principals, as well as other senior UN leaders, to tackle issues ranging from the challenges of staying and delivering in increasingly complex settings to implementing the vision of the Secretary-General’s “Our Common Agenda.”

LEBANON/UNIFIL
The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said that a peacekeeper was injured on 12 November after being shot in the stomach during an exchange of fire near one of UN positions in the vicinity of Al Qawzah, by the Blue Line.
Fortunately, the peacekeeper is in stable condition.
The UN condemns this incident, and again stresses the need for all concerned to ensure the safety and security of our peacekeepers and to respect the inviolability of UN premises.
It also reiterates the need for de-escalation, noting that any incident carries the risk of leading to a larger conflagration.

SYRIA
The Government of Syria has extended its permission for the UN to use Bab al-Salam and Al Ra'ee crossings to deliver humanitarian assistance across the border from Türkiye to north-west Syria for three months, which is until 13 February 2024. These cross-border operations remain a lifeline to people in north-west Syria. Each month, the UN and partners reach an average of 2.5 million people with critical assistance and protection services.
So far this year, more than 4,200 trucks carrying UN aid have crossed from Türkiye to north-west Syria using the Bab Al-Hawa, Bab Al-Salam and Al Ra’ae border crossings. As of today, more than 260 cross-border missions by UN personnel have also been completed.

MALI
The United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) reports that all Chadian troops who withdrew from MINUSMA’s base in Kidal have now departed the country using routes by road and air.
Guinean peacekeepers who were serving at the same location are also in the process of being repatriated.
Between 10 and 12 November, 23 military officers and 880 personnel from troop-contributing countries, including Chad, Guinea and Niger, left the Mission as part of the drawdown process.
To date, 7,485 MINUSMA personnel out of 13,871 have departed Mali.
The Mission continues to make all efforts to meet the 31 December deadline for the withdrawal, as determined by the Security Council.

SUDAN
The Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Martin Griffiths, today urged concrete steps to protect civilians in Sudan from the fighting and underscored that humanitarians need safe and unhindered access to everyone in need.
This came as the Sudan Humanitarian Forum met for the first time today, convened by Mr. Griffiths and the Humanitarian Coordinator for Sudan, Clementine Nkweta-Salami. They stressed that the Forum is a critical opportunity to make progress towards relieving the suffering of the people of Sudan.
Representatives from the Sudanese Armed Forces and Rapid Support Forces participated in the virtual meeting, in line with their Statement of Commitments signed in Jeddah last week.
The co-facilitators of the second round of Jeddah talks were also represented – that’s the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the United States and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, or IGAD, which also represented the African Union.

CHILDREN AND WATER SCARCITY
A new report released by the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) today revealed that 1 in 3 children – or 739 million worldwide – already live in areas exposed to high or very high water scarcity, with climate change threatening to make this worse.
“The Climate Changed Child” released ahead of the COP28 summit – shows that the greatest share of children are exposed in the Middle East and North Africa and South Asia regions – meaning they live in places with limited water resources and high levels of seasonal and interannual variability, ground water table decline or drought risk.
At COP28, UNICEF is calling on world leaders and the international community to take critical steps with and for children to secure a livable planet, including
elevating children within the final COP28 outcome document and convening an expert dialogue on children and climate change.

NIGERIA
The UN is urging the Nigerian Government, donors, and stakeholders to commit resources and implement measures to avert a potential food and nutrition disaster in the country.
The call comes amid the latest projection that Nigeria is expected to see about 26.5 million people grappling with high levels of food insecurity for the next year, which is a sharp rise from the 18.6 million people currently vulnerable to food insecurity from October to December of this year.

POLICE WEEK
This week is also the 18th UN Police Week at UN Headquarters.
Leaders of our police components in field missions, including Peacekeeping Operations, Special Political Missions, and Regional Offices, are gathering for their annual meeting to engage with senior UN officials to discuss current challenges, as well as priorities for the coming year, and to provide briefings to the Security Council and the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations of the General Assembly.
A particular focus will include interactive discussions about the contributions of UN Police to Action for Peacekeeping Plus priorities, including data-driven and tech-enabled policing, gender-responsive policing, and strategic communications, as well as enhanced UN Police support to special political missions.
On Thursday, as you may have seen, the UN Women Police Officer of the Year Award will be presented to Police First Sergeant Renita Rismayanti of Indonesia. She serves as a Crime Database Officer with our UN mission in the Central African Republic - MINUSCA. The award ceremony will take place from 1 to 2 PM on Thursday and will be broadcast live on UN Web TV.

BRIEFING TOMORROW
Tomorrow, at 11:00 a.m., there will be a briefing by Ashwini K.P., the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, upon conclusion of her mission to the United States.