Noon briefing of 3 July 2017

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE U.N. SYSTEM
MONDAY, 3 JULY 2017

[U.N. Headquarters will be closed on Tuesday, 4 July. There will be no noon briefing.]

SECRETARY-GENERAL DELIVERS KEYNOTE ADDRESS AT TIDEWATER CONFERENCE IN LISBON

  • The Secretary-General is in Lisbon, Portugal, today to deliver the keynote address at the Tidewater conference, which for decades has been a forum for strategic discussions among ministers and heads of major bilateral and multilateral aid agencies.
  • This year's session is focused on shaping a development architecture fit for the 2030 Agenda.
  • On the sidelines of the event, he was also scheduled to meet with the Secretary-General of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, Angel Gurria, and the President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Suma Chakrabarti.
  • The Secretary-General is also to meet with the Foreign Minister of Portugal, Augusto Santos Silva.
  • The Secretary-General will be back in New York on Tuesday evening.
SECRETARY-GENERAL WELCOMES ‘UNDERSTANDING’ PAVING WAY FOR COMPREHENSIVE CYPRUS SETTLEMENT
  • In a statement issued over the weekend, the Secretary-General said he had held a series of highly constructive discussions with His Excellency Mr. Nicos Anastasiades, His Excellency Mr. Mustafa Akıncı; and the three Guarantor Powers – Greece, Turkey and the United Kingdom – as well as the European Union.
  • In a positive, results-oriented meeting of the Secretary-General with the Heads of Delegation on Friday, 30 June, a clear understanding emerged of the essential elements of a package that might lead to a comprehensive settlement in Cyprus.
  • With the Conference on Cyprus continuing at the political level, the Secretary-General remains fully engaged in these efforts to deliver a comprehensive settlement to the people of Cyprus.
U.N. SPEAKS OUT AGAINST SUICIDE ATTACK ON THOSE FLEEING FOR SAFETY IN IRAQ
  • The United Nations in Iraq condemned yesterday’s attack by a suicide bomber at the Kilo 60 transit site, west of Ramadi, where 14 people were reportedly killed and 13 injured, most of whom were women and children.
  • Calling it a “horrible” attack, the Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq, Lise Grande, said that the victims had fled to Kilo 60 for their safety.
  • In recent weeks, the number of civilians fleeing Da’esh-controlled areas in western Anbar has increased significantly, with as many as 900 people arrived at the Al-Nadhira checkpoint between 25 and 28 June. The emergency site at Kilo 60 has reached nearly full capacity.
  • Ms. Grande said that fighting is likely to intensify in these areas in the weeks ahead and she is deeply worried that civilians will be at extreme risk.
  • She cautioned that while the battle for Mosul may be nearing its end, fighting in other locations continues, putting civilians are in danger.
  • Ms. Grande stressed that everything must be done by the parties to the conflict to ensure that people are safe.
  • The 2017 Humanitarian Response Fund for Iraq is 42 per cent funded, well below what is required to support people fleeing conflict and violence, many of whom are women and children.
AGENCIES APPEAL FOR $25 MILLION FOR GAZA STRIP
  • Humanitarian agencies in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) are calling upon the international community to provide $25 million in new humanitarian funding to stabilize the spiralling humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip.
  • In a document presented to diplomats today in Jerusalem, agencies identified top-priority interventions in health, water, sanitation and hygiene, and food security sectors.
    The funding is needed to help mitigate the effects of deep power cuts and lack of fuel for generators for hospitals, water treatment plants, sewerage pumps and other key facilities. Included in the package are chemicals for water treatment and spare parts for generators that have increasingly become the primary energy source instead of the back-up for key facilities.
  • Despite the arrival of some fuel purchased in the Egyptian market over recent days, Gaza’s electricity crisis is far from over. The electricity supply over recent days has ranged from four to six hours per day.
U.N. RELIEF CHIEF VISITS TURKEY
  • Emergency Relief Coordinator Stephen O’Brien is traveling to Turkey from 3 to 5 July to hold a series of meetings with Turkish officials, the NGO community and those affected by the humanitarian crisis in Syria.
  • During this visit, Mr. O’Brien will thank Turkey for its strong humanitarian engagement and support in the Syria crisis, discuss with political leadership in Ankara the significant humanitarian needs in northern Syria and the importance of NGO and UN cross-border operations to provide life-saving assistance to Syrians in Syria, and engage directly with NGOs and affected people to put a human face to the suffering in Syria and the region. He will also visit Gaziantep.
D.R. CONGO’S 31 DECEMBER AGREEMENT MUST BE IMPLEMENTED WITH NO FURTHER DELAY – U.N. ENVOY
  • The Special Representative of the Secretary-General in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Head of the UN Mission in the country, Maman Sidikou, is closely following recent political developments in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and in particular the recent declarations made by key national stakeholders.
  • The Special Representative reminds all signatories of the 31 December 2016 Agreement of their obligation to fully and faithfully implement the Agreement in its entirety.
  • The United Nations recalls that this Agreement remains the only viable and peaceful way through the current political crisis towards the organization of peaceful and credible elections.
  • The Special Representative calls on the Government of the DRC to ensure the full and prompt implementation of the confidence-building measures provided for in the 31 December 2016 Agreement, which are required to create conditions conducive to the organization of elections
  • He also reiterates his availability to continue to pursue his good offices efforts in support of the full and faithful implementation of the 31 December Agreement as mandated under Security Council Resolution 2348, and to work with all national stakeholders and regional and international partners to achieve this goal.
U.N. OFFICIAL URGES SOLIDARITY WITH ITALY TO ADDRESS REFUGEE CRISIS
  • The High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, over the weekend urged countries, in particular those in Europe, to step up their efforts to address the current refugee crisis in the Mediterranean, noting that Italy has been working to provide asylum to many of them, but cannot bear the brunt of this problem alone.
  • Mr. Grandi said Europe needs to be fully involved through an urgent distribution system, increased external engagement and additional legal pathways of admission.
  • He added that without a comprehensive joint response, there will only be more tragedies at sea.
  • In total, 83,650 people have reached Italy by sea since the beginning of the year, which represents an increase of almost 20 per cent compared to the same period last year. Close to 200,000 accommodation places are available for refugees and migrants across Italy, but are nearly all full. An estimated 2,030 have lost their lives in the Mediterranean since the beginning of the year.
REFUGEE AGENCY PUBLISHES NEW STUDY ON REFUGEES AND MIGRANTS IN LIBYA
  • A study of mixed refugee and migrant flows by the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has found that around half of those travelling to Libya do so believing they can find jobs there, but end up fleeing onwards to Europe to escape life-threatening insecurity, instability, difficult economic conditions plus widespread exploitation and abuse.
  • Foreign nationals going to Libya are part of mixed migration flows, meaning that people with different backgrounds and motivations travel together along the same routes, often with the help of ruthless people smugglers and criminal gangs. They include refugees, asylum seekers, economic migrants, unaccompanied minors, environmental migrants, victims of trafficking and stranded migrants, among others.
  • In recent years, the number of people crossing by sea from North Africa to southern Europe has increased. The indications are that this trend is likely to continue. Of the three main routes used by refugees and migrants to reach Europe – the Western Mediterranean route, the Central Mediterranean route and the Eastern Mediterranean route– Libya has become the most commonly used one, and also the deadliest.
  • The study found that the profiles and nationalities of people arriving in Libya have been evolving over the past few years, with a marked decrease in those originating in East Africa and an increase in those from West Africa, who now represent well over half of all arrivals to Europe through the Central Mediterranean route from Libya to Italy.
U.N. FOOD AND AGRICULTURE CHIEF: AFTER YEARS OF PROGRESS, WORLD HUNGER IS ON THE RISE AGAIN
  • The number of hungry people in the world has increased since 2015, reversing years of progress, the Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) José Graziano da Silva told member states today at the opening of the agency's biennial conference.
  • Graziano da Silva stressed that almost 60 percent of the people suffering from hunger in the world live in countries affected by conflict and climate change.
  • FAO currently identifies 19 countries in a protracted crisis situation, often also facing extreme climatic events such as droughts and floods. It has signaled high risk of famine in northeast Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen with 20 million people severely affected.
  • The livelihoods of these mostly rural people have been disrupted and "many of them have found no option other than increasing the statistics of distress migration," Graziano da Silva said, addressing the FAO Conference, being held from 3-8 July, , which reviews and votes on the program of work and budget and discusses priority areas related to food and agriculture.
  • FAO's top priorities for the next two years include promoting sustainable agriculture, climate change mitigation and adaptation, poverty reduction, water scarcity, migration and the support of conflict-affected rural livelihoods as well as ongoing work on nutrition, fisheries, forestry and Antimicrobial Resistance.
DR. TEDROS TAKES OFFICE AS WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION’S DIRECTOR-GENERAL
  • On 1 July, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus took office as Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), succeeding Dr Margaret Chan, who has held office since 1 January 2007.
  • The Director-General is WHO's chief technical and administrative officer and oversees the policy for the Organization's international health work.
  • Dr Tedros was elected on 23 May 2017, by vote of Member States at the Seventieth World Health Assembly. It was the first time that WHO Member States at the World Health Assembly selected a Director-General from among multiple candidates. In previous elections a single nominee was forwarded by the WHO Executive Board to the World Health Assembly for consideration.
U.N. PROJECT TO PROVIDE FRESH WATER TO 49 ISLANDS IN THE MALDIVES
  • The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is launching a project to improve the water supply system in the Maldives.
  • The five year-project, which is being financed by the Green Climate Fund, will also provide an uninterrupted supply of water to 49 islands that currently rely on emergency deliveries for three months of each year.
  • The Maldives is at the forefront of climate change, with water shortages impacting the country during dry season. The project is meant to help with the country’s long-term adaptation strategy.
SECOND EDITION OF U.N. MIGRATION FILM FESTIVAL NOW OPEN FOR ENTRIES
  • The UN Migration Agency (IOM) is inviting professional and emerging filmmakers to submit films about the migrant experience for the second annual Global Migration Film Festival, which will take place from 5–18 December.
  • The Festival showcases films that capture the promise and challenges of migration for those who leave their homes in search of a better life and the unique contributions migrants make to their new communities.
  • This year’s themes include: the promise and challenge of migration and the positive contributions migrants make to their new communities.