HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY STEPHANE DUJARRIC
SPOKESPERSON FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES
FRIDAY, 2 FEBRUARY 2024
TRIP ANNOUNCEMENT
At the invitation of the Government of the Kingdom of Morocco, our Deputy Secretary-General, Amina Mohammed, will travel to Rabat, over the weekend, on Sunday. Once in Morocco, she will take part in the High-Level Ministerial Conference on Middle-Income Countries. This conference brings together middle-income countries, the UN System, International and Regional Financial Institutions and key development partners to identify new and innovative approaches required to support the development needs of these countries and meet the Sustainable Development Goals.
The Deputy Secretary-General will also have bilateral meetings with senior government officials, UN colleagues on the ground and other stakeholders.
And she will be returning to New York on 6 February.
OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY
In a statement issued today, Philippe Lazzarini, the Head of UNRWA [UN Relief and Works Agency] UNRWA, said that the colossal humanitarian needs of over two million people in Gaza now face the risk of deepening following the decision of 16 donor countries to stop financial contributions to the organization.
He reiterated the Secretary-General’s call to resume funding to UNRWA, warning that if the funding remains suspended, the Agency will most likely be forced to shut down operations by the end of February - not only in Gaza but across the region.
In Gaza itself, our colleagues at the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) report that thousands of Palestinians continue fleeing to the southern town of Rafah, which is already hosting half of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million people. Most are living in makeshift structures, tents, or out in the open, according to UNRWA.
Meanwhile, UNICEF estimates that at least 17,000 children in the Gaza Strip are unaccompanied or separated from their families. This corresponds to 1 per cent of the overall displaced population of 1.7 million people.
The conflict has had a severe impact on children’s mental health. UNICEF now estimates that almost all children in the Gaza Strip need some sort of mental health or psychosocial support – that’s more than one million children.
Since the start of the conflict, UNICEF and its partners have provided this kind of support to more than 40,000 children and 10,000 caregivers. Given the scale of needs, this is far from sufficient – and the only way to deliver these services at scale is with a humanitarian ceasefire.
UKRAINE
The Humanitarian Coordinator for the United Nations in Ukraine, Denise Brown, today condemned a deadly attack on aid workers that took place in the south of the country. Two aid workers from an NGO were killed yesterday and several others injured when their vehicles were attacked.
Just a week ago, a similar attack on humanitarian vehicles took place in the town of Chasiv Yar, in the east. Last year, 50 aid workers were killed or injured in Ukraine, including 11 who were killed in the line of duty.
Despite the challenges and insecurity, humanitarian workers continue to deliver aid. Today, an inter-agency humanitarian convoy delivered three trucks of humanitarian supplies to the residents of front-line communities in the Kharkiv area.
The supplies included hygiene kits, thermal blankets, sleeping bags, kitchen sets, evacuation kits and construction materials to repair damaged homes.
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
We have an update from the peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo – MONUSCO. They are reporting that, earlier today, presumed members of the M23 armed group fired upon one of our UN helicopters. That took place in the Karuba region in the North Kivu province, in Masisi territory.
The incident resulted in injuries to two South African peacekeepers, including one that was seriously wounded. The helicopter was able to land safely in Goma, and the peacekeepers are currently receiving medical attention.
In a press statement today, the Head of the peacekeeping mission there, Bintou Keita, strongly condemned the attack against an aircraft bearing the UN emblem, which comes almost a year after a similar attack caused the death of a South African peacekeeper. She recalled that attacks against peacekeepers may constitute war crimes. The mission will spare no effort, in cooperation with the Congolese authorities, to bring the perpetrators to justice.
Meanwhile, the head of our peacekeeping department, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, joined by Catherine Pollard, the Under-Secretary-General for Management Strategy, Policy and Compliance, along with Christian Saunders, the Special Coordinator on Improving the UN Response to Sexual Exploitation and abuse are all in the DRC. They arrived in Beni, in North Kivu, today, where they will continue their visit to the eastern part of that country.
ETHIOPIA
In Ethiopia, the impact of an El Niño-driven drought is ravaging communities in Afar, Amhara, Tigray and Oromia, as well as Southern and South West Ethiopia Peoples' Region. Severe water shortages, dried pastures and reduced harvests are impacting millions of lives of human beings and livestock, with reports of food insecurity and rising malnutrition.
In a joint statement, the UN and the Government called for urgent funding to respond to food insecurity across the northern highlands. A recent joint assessment by our humanitarian partners and the Government concluded that the number of critically food insecure people will continue to grow over the next few months, reaching a peak of 10.8 million people during the lean season, which is from July and to September.
Malnutrition rates in parts of Afar, Amhara and Tigray and other regions have already surpassed globally recognized crisis thresholds, although the situation is currently not reflective of famine-like conditions.
Meanwhile the situation in many of these areas is already alarming, our colleagues note that there is an opportunity to avert a serious humanitarian catastrophe through additional funding to urgently scale up and sustain response efforts. More than 6 million people are already being assisted with food and cash across affected areas, but much more needs to be done.
CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC
In the Central African Republic, the UN and its partners today launched the 2024 Humanitarian appeal for that country, which is seeking nearly $370 million to support 1.9 million people this year.
While the situation has improved in some areas, humanitarian needs will remain high this year. This is mainly due to the consequences of conflict, as well as the impact of the war in Sudan and insecurity in the border region with Chad.
In some relatively stable areas across the country's interior, and after consultation with authorities and communities, humanitarian organizations will work with development partners to provide support in protection as well as resilience.
SUDAN
And in Sudan, the World Food Programme is warning that almost 18 million people across the country are currently facing acute hunger – which translates to a phase 3 on the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification syster.
WFP is also raising the alarm about the number of hungry people that has doubled from a year ago.
Despite its efforts to reach as many people in need as possible, the food agency is currently only able to regularly deliver food assistance to 1 in 10 people facing emergency levels of hunger that are trapped in conflict hotspots, including Khartoum, Darfur, Kordofan, and now Al-Jazira State, which we have been talking about. It is becoming nearly impossible for aid agencies to get to these hotspots due to continued insecurity, enforced roadblocks, and demands for fees and taxation. And that is a diplomatic way of talking about other things.
The situation will get worse if immediate guarantees for the safe and unimpeded delivery of humanitarian food assistance to conflict-hit parts of Sudan are not provided.
To prevent a crisis from becoming a catastrophe, WFP continues to underscore that people in Sudan must be able to access aid and food immediately.
FOOD INDEX
Speaking of food. WFP’s sister agency, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reported today that the benchmark for world food commodity prices fell further in January.
This was highlighted by decreases in the prices of cereals and meat.
The FAO Food Price Index, which tracks monthly changes in the international prices of a set of globally-traded food commodities, averaged 118 points in January, down 1 percent from December and 10.4 percent from its corresponding value one year ago.
INTERNATIONAL DAYS
Today is World Wetlands Day. A broad definition of wetlands includes freshwater, marine and coastal ecosystems, lakes and rivers. As you know, these are critical to people and nature.
And on Sunday, we mark the International Day of Human Fraternity. In his message for the Day, the Secretary-General calls to reaffirm our commitment to bridging divides, fostering religious understanding and cooperation among people of all cultures and beliefs.
NOON BRIEFING GUEST MONDAY
On Monday, the guest at the noon briefing will be Rabab Fatima, the Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for the Least Developed, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States.
She will be here to brief on the fourth International Conference on Small Island Developing States, called SIDS4, which will be held from 27 to 30 May 2024 in St John’s, in Antigua and Barbuda.
HONOUR ROLL
Cuba is the 37th Member State to join the Honour roll this year, following full payment of their regular budget dues.
