HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY STÉPHANE DUJARRIC,
SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES
WEDNESDAY, 2 OCTOBER 2024
Secretary-General/Security Council
The Secretary-General briefed the Security Council this morning. He warned that the raging fires in the Middle East are fast becoming an inferno. In recent days, he said, we have seen a dramatic escalation – so dramatic that he wonders what remains of the framework the Council established with Resolution 1701.
UNIFIL peacekeepers remain in position, and the UN flag continues to fly despite Israel’s request to relocate, he noted.
Civilians in Lebanon are paying a terrible price, which the Secretary-General utterly condemns. Since last October, more than 1,700 people have been killed in Lebanon -- including over 100 children and 194 women.
Yesterday, he noted, Iran launched approximately 200 ballistic missiles towards Israel.
As he did in relation to the Iranian attack in April -- and as should have been obvious yesterday in the context of the condemnation he expressed – the Secretary-General again strongly condemned yesterday’s massive missile attack by Iran on Israel.
Mr. Guterres told the Security Council that it is high time for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, with the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages, the effective delivery of humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza, and irreversible progress to a two-state solution. And he added that it is high time for a cessation of hostilities in Lebanon and real action towards full implementation of Security Council resolutions 1559 and 1701, paving the way for diplomatic efforts for sustainable peace.
Security Council
The Security Council will reconvene at 3:00 pm for a briefing on the Cooperation between the UN and the African Union.
Parfait Onanga-Anyanga, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative to the African Union, and Martha Pobee, the Assistant Secretary-General for Africa, will brief the Council.
Lebanon/Humanitarian
Following the launch of the $426 million Flash Appeal for Lebanon yesterday, pledges from several Member States were made, and are greatly appreciated – but much more is urgently needed.
The UN and its humanitarian partners continue scaling up efforts to support the Government-led response. The World Food Programme has provided hot meals and emergency cash to nearly 10,000 households, while UNRWA shelters now house more than 2,300 displaced people. WHO is supplying trauma kits and medicine for tens of thousands of patients, amid facility closures, staff shortages and funding gaps.
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says that ongoing hostilities continue to have a devastating toll on civilians and civilian infrastructure.
More than 346,000 people are confirmed to have been displaced, with Government estimates putting the number of affected and displaced people as high as one million. As of yesterday, six hospitals and 40 primary health centres have been forced to close.
According to national authorities, the number of people having fled to Syria has exceeded 300,000, including Syrian and Lebanese nationals.
The UN reiterates that aid must be allowed to reach people safely, wherever they are.
Lebanon/Peacekeeping
The Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations, Jean-Pierre Lacroix will brief reporters on Thursday on UNIFIL.
UNIFIL says that exchanges of fire continue, and shelling is even more intense. The Israel Defense Forces also yesterday ordered nearly two dozen south Lebanese communities to evacuate as IDF ground incursions across the Blue Line into southern Lebanon commenced.
The peacekeepers remain in position in implementation of the mandate.
All parties should cease hostile actions, return to a cessation of hostilities, and fully implement Security Council resolutions 1559 and 1701.
Syria
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says is warning about the impact of hostilities in the region on efforts to help those in need in Syria. Airstrikes reported today in Dara’a and Sweida in southern Syria have led to temporary disruptions in some humanitarian activities.
Within the last few hours, two rockets landed within 120 meters of the UN offices in Damascus. Yesterday, an airstrike in Damascus was about half a kilometer away from several of the UN offices.
The UN and its partners continued to distribute food, relief items, and hygiene kits, and provide protection and psychological support to over 400 families who were displaced for three days because of shelling in Idlib last week.
The situation keeps getting worse and will require humanitarian assistance.
Occupied Palestinian Territory
In Gaza, OCHA says that partners working to provide health care in the Strip reached some 300,000 people each week from mid-September through the end of the month. Fifty-six partners were active during this period, with 48 health service points in operation. As of Sunday, there were 15 emergency medical teams (EMT) on the ground in Gaza supporting the local health-care workforce, including three in northern Gaza.
OCHA says that preparations are underway for the second round of the polio vaccination campaign in Gaza, which is expected to take place in mid-October and will include the distribution of Vitamin A supplements.
As part of a new project launched by the World Health Organization in the north, 240 national EMT doctors have been deployed to the Emergency Department of the Al-Shifa Hospital to provide both trauma and non-trauma services.
OCHA warns that health facilities in Gaza continue to face severe supply shortages due to obstacles hindering the entry of humanitarian aid, as well as a growing backlog of health supplies and equipment awaiting entry into Gaza.
**Deputy Secretary-General/Trip Announcement
Later today, the Deputy Secretary-General, Amina Mohammed, will be traveling to the Kingdom of Lesotho, to attend the official commemoration of the Bicentenary of the Founding of the Basotho Nation, on behalf of the Secretary-General.
Whilst in Lesotho, the Deputy Secretary-General will engage with senior government officials, parliamentarians and traditional leaders. She will also meet with local communities, United Nations colleagues and other stakeholders to discuss key national efforts to reform state institutions and to accelerate implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals.
From Lesotho, the Deputy Secretary-General will head to the Republic of South Africa to engage with Senior Government Officials on the forthcoming G20 Presidency.
Ms. Mohammed will then travel to the Republic of Azerbaijan to participate in the Preparatory Meeting for the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (Pre-COP29) and meet with member state delegations.
While in Baku, the Deputy Secretary-General will also meet with Senior Government Officials of the Republic of Azerbaijan to discuss the negotiations on COP29. The Deputy Secretary-General will return to New York on 11 October 2024.
Haiti
Turning to the situation in Haiti, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs is deeply concerned by rising displacement in recent months, as escalating gang violence deepens the country’s humanitarian crisis.
According to new figures from the International Organization for Migration, more than 700,000 people are now internally displaced in Haiti, an increase of 22 per cent since June. More than half of the people displaced are children.
About three-quarters of the displaced seek shelter in other provinces, with the Grand Sud region alone hosting nearly half of the total displaced population. In Port-au-Prince, where the security situation remains highly unstable, a quarter of those displaced live in overcrowded sites, with limited access to basic services.
The school year started yesterday in Haiti and, as you can imagine, the UN’s humanitarian partners have been working closely with the authorities to support the national back-to-school campaign. UNICEF, through its "Back to Learning" campaign, is working to help children impacted by the crisis resume their education. 1.4 million students and teachers have experienced severe disruptions to education over the past year due to ongoing insecurity.
In partnership with local organizations, UNICEF is offering various forms of support, including by providing cash transfers so that families can cover school-related costs, helping displaced children integrate into host schools, distributing school kits, and ensuring schools are rehabilitated and have adequate supplies. However, these response efforts remain significantly underfunded.
Just 30 per cent of the $30 million needed to provide education support to children in Haiti this year has been received.
And overall, the Humanitarian Response Plan remains only 39 per cent funded, with $264 million of the $674 million required to provide life-saving assistance to the people of Haiti this year. The UN continues to call on Member States to step up support to Haiti.
Ukraine
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says that an attack yesterday in a busy marketplace in Kherson City, in the south of the country, killed and injured dozens of civilians, according to local authorities.
The Humanitarian Coordinator in Ukraine, Matthias Schmale, strongly condemned the strike and called for the protection of civilians during the war.
Also yesterday, and still in the south, Zaporizhzhia came under heavy bombardment and authorities reported scores of civilian casualties. Some 70 houses were also damaged. This is also according to local authorities.
The UN’s humanitarian partners supported the response in both locations, providing hot meals and delivering emergency shelter kits.
They also provided psychosocial and legal support and registered affected families for cash assistance and repair works.
In the north of the country, an overnight attack on energy facilities in the Sumy Region left some 90,000 consumers in three communities without electricity, according to the Ukrainian state energy company.
Meanwhile, still in Sumy region, local authorities there announced a mandatory evacuation of children from 90 towns and villages due to severe hostilities.
Central African Republic
In the Central African Republic, earlier this week, the Government and the UN signed a Handover Protocol on the Protection and Transfer of Children Associated with Armed Forces and Groups to Civilian Authorities.
The agreement recognizes these children as victims and mandates their transfer to civilian authorities within 24 hours after their release from an armed group or force. The protocol also sets out clear procedures for family reunification and for the reintegration of these girls and boys into society.
The Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, Virginia Gamba, welcomed this new protocol, adding that it is the culmination of a process initiated seven years ago.
Eastern Africa
In Eastern Africa, new estimates from the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs indicate that nearly 67 million people in the region are now in need of humanitarian assistance. That is more than 20 per cent of the total number of people in need globally.
The region is facing some of the world’s largest humanitarian crises, driven by climate change, conflict, political instability, economic shocks, and disease outbreaks.
These include cholera, measles and Mpox. At least 776 Mpox cases have been reported in the region as of September 26th. The Marburg virus disease is also spreading. In Rwanda, at least 29 cases have been confirmed as of yesterday, including nine deaths.
The UN’s humanitarian partners continue to provide assistance to millions of people.
However, by the end of last month, only 38 per cent of the $9.3 billion required for humanitarian response efforts in East Africa this year was available, constraining the UN’s – and its partners’ - ability to scale up operations as needs increase.
International Day of Non-Violence
Today is the International Day of Non-Violence.
In his message, the Secretary-General says that on this Day we commemorate the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi and reaffirm the values to which he dedicated his life. Gandhi believed that non-violence was the greatest force available to humanity.
