Noon briefing of 16 October 2024

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY STÉPHANE DUJARRIC,
SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES
WEDNESDAY, 16 OCTOBER 2024

SECRETARY-GENERAL
This morning, the Secretary-General spoke to the Fifth Committee of the General Assembly on the proposed programme budget for 2025. He said that in a context of major global shocks, the United Nations is more needed than ever -- with our unmatched convening power.
He added that the 2025 programme budget proposal reflects the priorities set out in the Pact for the Future, the Global Digital Compact and the Declaration on Future Generations.
The Secretary-General also said that the Organization will continue to work to cement its reforms. Some of the proposals he highlighted include continued investment in sustainable development; human rights; boosting support for the unprecedented humanitarian challenges in Gaza; advancing peace and security; and strengthening the UN’s capacities in investigation and ethics.

UNIFIL
The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon or UNIFIL reports that intense exchanges of fire along and beyond the Blue Line continued over the past 24 hours.
UNIFIL recorded 58 air violations - the highest number for a 24-hour period since 8 October 2023. UNIFIL also detected 1,279 projectiles across the Blue Line, the third highest since 8 October 2023. 1,208, originated from south of the Blue Line, 71 from the north.
The mission also reported that indirect fire and firing from close to UN positions caused material damage to UN equipment and facilities near Dayr Amis in Sector West and Shab’a in Sector East. Fortunately, no peacekeepers were wounded in these incidents.
These incidents continue to put UN peacekeepers, who are serving in southern Lebanon to support the implementation of Security Council Resolution 1701 (2006), at serious risk. The UN reiterates that the safety and security of UN personnel and property must be ensured by all actors on the ground and that the inviolability of UN premises must be respected at all times. 
Meanwhile, the Special Coordinator for Lebanon, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, continues her intensive engagements with all actors to urge an immediate ceasefire and that space be given for a diplomatic solution in line with Security Council Resolution 1701. Following further strikes that resulted in civilian deaths today, near Nabatiyeh, the Special Coordinator emphasized in a statement that violations of international humanitarian law are utterly unacceptable. Civilians and civilian infrastructure must be protected at all times.
The Secretary-General again condemns the loss of civilian lives.

LEBANON
Today, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says that multiple airstrikes were reported in Nabatiyeh and nearby areas in southern Lebanon. So far, according to local authorities, six fatalities have been confirmed, including the mayor of Nabatiyeh, as well as members of the Disaster Risk Management Unit killed in the strike on the municipality building during a relief management meeting.
The UN’s health partners tell us that the violence continues to push an already overwhelmed health system to the brink, with devasting impacts on medical care amid huge health needs.
Since 17 September, the World Health Organization says that it has verified 23 attacks on health care.
It also flags the impact of intense bombardment and insecurity which are forcing a growing number of health facilities to shut down, particularly in the south.
Out of 207 primary health care centres and dispensaries in conflict-affected areas, 100 are now closed.
Despite the challenges, WHO and its partners continue to support Lebanese health authorities and to provide medical supplies for trauma care, cholera prevention. WHO also continues to coordinate with the Lebanese Red Cross and hospitals to equip blood banks with adequate supplies and is working with the Ministry of Public Health of Lebanon to establish trauma centres within the existing hospitals.
On education, Lebanese authorities report that 77 per cent of public schools cannot provide education services due to either being used as collective shelters or being in directly affected areas.
Meanwhile, the UN and partners continue to support the response, including by providing food, shelter, water, sanitation and hygiene assistance – but they warn that they are facing operational challenges due to the volatile security situation.

GAZA
Joyce Msuya, the Acting Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, told the Security Council this morning that in just one week, nearly 400 Palestinians have reportedly been killed in Gaza and almost 1,500 injured. The world has seen the images of patients and displaced persons, sheltering near Al Aqsa hospital, burning alive.
Since the beginning of October, she told the Council, we estimate that over 55,000 people have been displaced from the Jabaliya area, while others remain stranded in their homes with water and food running out.
Only three of the ten hospitals in North Gaza Governorate are now operational – and those only at minimum capacity, Ms. Msuya added. These facilities are facing dire shortages of fuel, blood, trauma treatment and medications. Women are giving birth under heavy bombardment.

OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that the UN partners providing nutrition support in the Gaza Strip are working to re-open a medical facility in Gaza Governorate, after mass evacuation orders and escalating hostilities forced three other medical points there and in North Gaza Governorate to shut down. Those closures have compromised the treatment of about 2,000 acutely malnourished children in northern Gaza.
Meanwhile, the distribution of nutrition assistance continues for children under the age of five, as well as pregnant and breastfeeding women. Since January, partners have provided nearly 586,000 one-month nutrient supplements, and some 147,000 children have received high-energy biscuits.
More than 85 per cent of children in Gaza are estimated to face severe food poverty as of last month.
They are consuming less than two types of food every day, which indicates nearly non-existent levels of dietary diversity.
The UN partners report that despite several attempts to scale up nutrition support, they continue to face severe constraints, including supply chain complications, shrinking space for humanitarian operations and ongoing displacement.
Meanwhile, they warn that the reduction in access to health services due to sweeping evacuation orders and hostilities – especially in northern Gaza – will further delay the detection and start of treatment for malnourished children and compromise efforts to follow up with children already being treated.
UN partners working to support Gaza’s beleaguered health system are doing everything possible to reach people across the Strip with life-saving support.
That includes administering the polio vaccine, with the second round of the vaccination campaign continuing today.
The World Health Organization reports that over the past two days, nearly 157,000 children in central Gaza have received the second dose of the. At the same time, more than 128,000 have received vitamin A supplements. The UN and its partners continue to call for the parties to respect the agreed-upon humanitarian pauses required to ensure the vaccination campaign can proceed safely and on schedule.

SYRIA
Turning to Syria, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs is warning about the impact of an uptick in hostilities in Idlib and western Aleppo.
Local health authorities in Syria report that since yesterday, two civilians – including a five-year-old girl – were killed in separate shelling attacks, and at least 11 people were injured.
Critical infrastructure has also been impacted, as the area experiences its first series of airstrikes in three months. Yesterday, two airstrikes hit a power station west of Idlib city, knocking out electricity to water stations serving as the main water source for some 30,000 people living in 17 surrounding villages.
And on Monday, at least three airstrikes hit just a few kilometres from a tent settlement in Idlib, where a UN delegation – led by Deputy Regional Humanitarian Coordinator David Carden – was overseeing a World Food Programme distribution to displaced families.
The UN delegation – comprises staff from OCHA, WFP and the UN Refugee Agency – also visited a community centre that is providing legal assistance and psychosocial support to displaced families, including those who fled from Lebanon.
WFP is appealing for international support to address the escalating humanitarian crisis in Syria, amid the influx of people fleeing the war in Lebanon. The food security situation in Syria is worsening – with more than half the population facing food insecurity and some 3 million people in the grip of severe hunger conditions.
WFP’s Deputy Executive Director Carl Skau warned that people are reaching a breaking point, saying the international community needs to step up.

CYPRUS
The Secretary-General hosted an informal dinner last night with the leader of the Greek Cypriot community, Mr. Nikos Christodoulides, and the leader of the Turkish Cypriot community, Mr. Ersin Tatar.
The Secretary-General recalled the engagement of his Personal Envoy on Cyprus, Ms. María Angela Holguín Cuéllar and regretted that, despite her efforts and engagement, no common ground had been found between the leaders on the way forward on the Cyprus issue.
The Secretary-General encouraged the leaders to consider how to bridge the gap in their positions and rebuild trust to allow movement leading to a settlement.
The leaders agreed to have an informal meeting in a broader format in the near future, under the auspices of the Secretary-General, to discuss the way forward.
They also agreed to meet in Cyprus to explore the possibility of opening new crossings.

UKRAINE
Turning to Ukraine, the Humanitarian Coordinator there, Matthias Schmale, led an inter-agency humanitarian convoy today to Kherson City carrying vital aid, including hygiene kits, dignity kits, solar lamps and power stations.
Attacks in the front line regions of Donetsk, Kharkiv and Kherson yesterday and today resulted in civilian casualties and damage to residential buildings and a school. That’s according to local authorities.
Meanwhile, ongoing hostilities also led authorities in the Kharkiv region to expand mandatory evacuations to some 7,000 people, most of whom are older people.
Humanitarian organizations continue to provide assistance to affected people across the country. So far this year, humanitarians have supported more than 7 million people across Ukraine.

SUDAN
Turning to Sudan, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs is deeply concerned about people continuing to be displaced by conflict in several parts of the country.
The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) says that due to the intensifying conflict in Darfur, close to 25,000 people have arrived in eastern Chad in the first week of October alone. That’s the highest number of new arrivals this year within a single week – and higher than in the whole month of September. And Chad is host to over 600,000 Sudanese refugees – that’s more than any other country.
According to UNHCR, nearly 3 million refugees and returnees have now fled Sudan after 18 months of hostilities, crossing borders to seek safety in neighbouring countries.
Aside from Chad, they are mainly fleeing to the Central African Republic, Egypt, Ethiopia, Libya, South Sudan and Uganda.
Inside Sudan itself, the International Organization for Migration estimates that some 40,000 men, women and children have been newly displaced in the first half of October alone, amid escalating hostilities in some parts of the country as the rainy season ends. This brings the total number of internally displaced in Sudan since the conflict began to nearly 8.2 million human beings. With the rains subsiding and more roads now passable, this is a crucial time for aid organizations to move vital supplies to areas where needs are most acute. OCHA calls on all parties to the conflict to stop the fighting, protect civilians, and facilitate humanitarian access. Meanwhile, we and our partners are working with Sudanese health authorities to scale up the cholera response.
This includes large-scale immunization. As of yesterday, more than 24,000 cholera cases – including about 700 related deaths – have been reported since mid-July.
The ordeal of refugees continues after they cross the borders. Our UNHCR colleagues tell us that they are seeing a surge of families arriving in Chad exhausted, many having walked for days through conflict zones. A health centre in Chad, called the Birak Health Centre, has been overwhelmed. UNHCR is working to coordinate the relocation of thousands from the border areas. However, funding limitations are slowing down the provision of basic services for these refugees.
UNHCR’s Regional Refugee Response Plan appeal for $1.5 billion to support refugees, returnees and host communities is only 27 per cent funded.

SOUTH SUDAN
The UN Mission in South Sudan, UNMISS, issued today its quarterly brief on violence affecting civilians.
The report covers the period between April and June of this year. It recorded a steep increase in the number of violent incidents - and number of victims - compared to the same period in 2023.
Particularly concerning is that abductions increased by 181 per cent whilethe number of victims of sexual violence rose by 168 per cent.
Inter-communal and intra-communal violence by community-based militias and/or civil defense groups remained the primary source of violence. Nicholas Haysom, the Head of UNMISS, called for continued efforts by authorities and communities to peacefully resolve longstanding conflict drivers.

WORLD FOOD DAY
Today is World Food Day.
In his message, the Secretary-General says that on this Day we remind ourselves of the 733 million people who are short of food because of conflict, marginalization, climate change, poverty and economic downturns — including those who face the threat of manmade famine in Gaza and Sudan.
On this Day, he added, “let’s step up the fight against hunger and malnutrition.”

BRIEFINGS TODAY
Noon briefing guest today is Scott Andersen, the Deputy Humanitarian Coordinator and Director of UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency) Operations in Gaza.
At 2 p.m., UNICEF’s (United Nations Children’s Fund) Deputy Executive Director for Humanitarian Action and Supply Operations, Ted Chaiban, and the World Food Programme’s (WFP) Deputy Executive Director, Carl Skau, will both brief you on their recent visit to Lebanon.

BRIEFINGS TOMORROW
Tomorrow, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, will be the noon briefing guest.
Then DESA (Department of Economic and Social Affairs) will be here to brief on the launch of the World Social Report 2024 entitled Social Development in Times of Converging Crises: A Call for Global Action.
At 1:30 p.m., there will be a briefing by the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children, Siobhán Mullally.