Noon briefing of 9 September 2024

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY STEPHANE DUJARRIC
SPOKESPERSON FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES
MONDAY, 9 SEPTEMBER 2024

**Security Council
This morning, the head of Peace Operations department, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, briefed the Security Council during the annual open debate on UN peacekeeping.
He told council members that UN peacekeeping remains a cornerstone of multilateralism in action. But, he added, peacekeeping faces formidable challenges, and can only ever be as strong as the collective support of the UN membership.
Mr. Lacroix said the Summit of the Future will will be a moment to re-appraise and re-affirm the inherent strengths that have made peacekeeping successful over nearly eight decades.
Peacekeeping has proven itself as a key tool of this Council, he said, and it must continue to adapt to meet future challenges. The onus is on all of us to ensure we are ready.

**Occupied Palestinian Territory
In Gaza, today would have marked the start of the new school year there. However, after 11 months of hostilities, more than 600,000 students are being deprived of access to formal education for another year.
The UN Relief and Works Agency, UNRWA, says no official schooling is available in any of its 200 schools, with many serving as shelters for displaced Palestinians. The agency says its teams are still providing recreational activities and psychosocial support in some of its schools.
Children in Gaza continue to suffer the worst effects of the humanitarian crisis there, including the risk of disease outbreaks. The UN and its partners continue our efforts to protect children against the poliovirus, with the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reporting that partners concluded the second phase of the vaccination campaign yesterday in southern Gaza.
More than 256,000 children in Khan Younis and Rafah were reached over a period of four days during the second phase of the vaccination campaign.
The initial round of the campaign is now almost 70 per cent complete – with more than 446,000 children vaccinated out of the 640,000 targeted during this first round of vaccinations – with the second round expected to start in four weeks’ time.
The last phase of this first round is set to begin tomorrow in northern Gaza. However, a new evacuation order issued for parts of the north includes areas where local pauses had been agreed for polio vaccination. About 5,000 displaced people sheltering in seven collective centres, mostly schools, are among those affected by this order – that’s according to initial assessments by our humanitarian partners.
OCHA warns that repeated evacuation orders are deepening the humanitarian crisis for hundreds of thousands of people in Gaza. As of today, more than 55 evacuation orders remain in effect, covering up to 86 per cent of the Strip. These directives – coupled with active hostilities, attacks on aid convoys, the destruction of key roads, the presence of unexploded ordnance, and a lack of public order and safety – are impeding aid operations in Gaza.
Access delays and denials also continue to significantly constrain humanitarian access. OCHA reports that the number of humanitarian missions and movements within Gaza that were denied access by the Israeli authorities nearly doubled in August compared to July – with 105 missions and movements denied last month, versus 53 the previous month.

**Day to Protect Education from Attack
Today is the International Day to Protect Education from Attack. In a message, the Secretary-General says recent years have seen a dramatic increase in attacks on students, teachers, educational personnel and schools around the world — from Gaza, to Sudan, Myanmar, Ukraine, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and elsewhere. He urged all countries to stand with efforts to ensure that children and young people can continue their learning — during crises and after the fighting stops.
The UN Refugee Agency underscores that education opens doors for greater access to the labour market and enables refugees to earn a living. While remarkable progress has been achieved in global refugee education and enrolment, significant challenges remain, with nearly half of the world’s 14.8 million school-aged refugee children still out of school.

**Sexual Violence in Conflict
The Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Pramila Patten, expressed her deep concern about recently published reports by the United Nations, including the Human Rights Office, describing a dramatic deterioration in conditions of detention for Palestinian men, women and children under Israeli custody since the 7 October attacks and the escalation of hostilities in Gaza. 
These very disturbing reports of sexual violence and other inhuman and degrading treatment could amount to sexualized torture, perpetrated against Palestinian men and women, she said.

**Sudan
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is warning that heavy rains and flooding have been impacting about half a million people since late June in South Darfur, Red Sea, River Nile and Northern states. With North Darfur State hardest hit.
The UN and its partners are on the ground aiding those who need assistance. Last week, aid organizations delivered life-saving therapeutic food to treat 6,000 children suffering from severe acute malnutrition in the city of Nyala in South Darfur. In Northern State, partners distributed relief items to tens of thousands of people.
The severe flooding is worsening an already dire humanitarian situation in Sudan.
In areas at risk of famine, including in El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, about 124,000 people have been affected by heavy rains.
Flooding and stagnant water are also heightening the risk of diseases spreading, with nearly 2,900 suspected cholera cases reported since the start of the latest outbreak in mid-August.
The UN and its partners continue the efforts to respond to the recent outbreak. Just this morning, UNICEF reported that more than 400,000 cholera vaccine doses have arrived in the country.

**South Sudan
The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) reports that the Mission provided support to the deployment of a General Court Martial in Maridi, in Western Equatoria, to promote justice and accountability for crimes committed by members of the South Sudan People’s Defense Forces (SSPDF).
The court ruled in 12 cases, including rape and murder. Eight soldiers were convicted, dismissed from the military, and sentenced to prison, while the remaining soldiers were acquitted. The judicial process is regarded as a significant step towards enhancing discipline within the military and building trust with the civilian population. The Misson in South Sudan plans to extend support to these judicial proceedings to other locations to help strengthen the rule of law in the country.

**Chad
In Chad, the Office for the Coordination for Humanitarian Affairs says that flooding continues to get worse across the country.
According to authorities, at least 340 people have been killed, and nearly 1.5 million people are now impacted by the floods. This is 90,000 more people than last week. More than 160,000 homes have also been destroyed.
The floods are also impacting agriculture, as nearly 3.4 million people are facing acute hunger in the current lean season.
Chadian authorities, UN agencies and our partners are providing food and nutrition supplies, among other urgent aid. The UN and its partners are also building shelters and providing tents, tarpaulins and blankets.
Meanwhile, the UN’s health partners continue to support affected provinces, including with vaccinations and surveillance of water-borne disease.
As the situation is evolving rapidly, the Acting Emergency Relief Coordinator, Joyce Msuya, has increased the allocation from the Central Emergency Response Fund to support the floods response from $5 to $8 million.

**Lesotho
Turning to Lesotho, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that the food security situation in the country is deteriorating following a historic drought caused by El Niño. On average, agricultural production in has decreased by one third, reaching the lowest levels since 2018 and 2019.
According to their latest figures, nearly a third of the population – or 700,000 people – are facing food insecurity in the coming months. The Acting Emergency Relief Coordinator, Joyce Msuya, has allocated $2 million from the Central Emergency Relief Fund toward the drought. The Assistant Secretary-General and Climate Crisis Coordinator, Reena Ghelani, recently visited the country to assess the drought’s impact and call for more international support. And our team there is scaling up its operations to support the Government-led efforts.

**Haiti
William O’Neill, the Designated Expert on Human Rights in Haiti, begins today a 12-day visit to the country. This will be his first visit to Haiti this year.
While in the capital, Port-au-Prince, he is scheduled to meet with the President of the Transitional Presidential Council, Edgar Leblanc Fils, Prime Minister Gary Conille, and others. He is also scheduled to travel outside the capital.
Mr. O’Neill was designated by Volker Türk, the High Commissioner for Human Rights in April of last year, following a request by the Human Rights Council.

** Guest Tomorrow
Tomorrow, noon briefing guest is Corinne Fleischer, Regional Director for the Middle East, North Africa and Eastern Europe, at the World Food Programme. She will speak about her recent visit to Ukraine.

**Financial Contributions
Niger and Sudan paid their dues to the regular budget in full. There are now 132 Member States who have paid up in full.