Noon briefing of 3 July 2024

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY STEPHANE DUJARRIC

SPOKESPERSON FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES

WEDNESDAY, 3 JULY 2024

The Secretary-General today is in Central Asia and he arrived in Kazakhstan. In the morning, in Almaty, he saw a presentation by the Central Asian Regional Glaciological Center, which collaborates with UNESCO, on the risks related to the melting of the Central-Asian glaciers.
The Secretary-General also had a meeting with the UN Country Team before heading to Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan. Soon after arrival, he met with the President, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. They discussed UN-Kazakh cooperation, including the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and the Summit of the Future, as well as regional integration in Central Asia.
The Secretary-General thanked the President for his leadership on nuclear disarmament and peace initiatives, and for the government’s support to the UN, including the provision of premises for the United Nations in Almaty.
Today, he also had a meeting with the Minister for External Affairs of the Republic of India, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.
Tomorrow, the Secretary-General will deliver remarks at the Shanghai Cooperation council Plus session, which is taking place at the SCO [Shanghai Cooperation Organization] Summit. He is expected to highlight the need to reaffirm our common commitment to multilateralism based on the UN Charter, international law, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, noting that the central goal of our multilateral system must be peace.
He is also expected to warn that today’s deep global divisions are an obstacle to progress on two existential threats: the climate emergency and digital technologies. The Secretary-General will highlight that the failure of countries to unite for solutions to common challenges reflects a deeper dysfunction in our world, and that multilateralism is falling back.
Later in the afternoon, the Secretary-General will head off to Tajikistan.

DEPUTY SECRETARY-GENERAL
This evening, the Deputy Secretary-General will travel to Brazzaville, at the invitation of the government of the Republic of Congo, to take part in the First International Conference on Afforestation and Reforestation. The conference will focus on global approaches to reverse the loss of forest cover and enhance international cooperation on sustainable forest management.
During her visit, she will meet with senior government officials from the Republic of Congo and the region, as well as the African Union, and other stakeholders attending the meeting.
She will also visit the UNESCO-recognized national park, the Conkouati-Douli National Park along with government officials, to bring attention to the importance of biodiversity conservation, research, community involvement and eco-tourism as catalysts for a green transition towards sustainable development.
We will have her back in New York on 7 July.

SECURITY COUNCIL
This morning, the Security Council met on Haiti. The head of the UN political mission in Haiti, Maria Isabel Salvador, briefed the Council and told its members that the country is making headway toward restoring democratic institutions through enhanced security and credible elections.
She said the first deployment of Kenyan police officers for the Multinational Security Support Mission is an important step and brings renewed hope for the people of Haiti. However, on the security front, she reminded Council members that the alarming levels of violence remain a source of great concern.
Within its mandate, the UN mission will continue to support the transitional authorities in key areas that include elections, constitutional reform, police development, enhanced political dialogue and justice, and community violence reduction.
As we move forward, Ms. Salvador said there is also an opportunity to reinvigorate the UN political mission and reposition its role in the current context.
As the Support mission continues to deploy, she added that the establishment of a coordination mechanism will be critical to promote complementarities, exchange information, and devise effective communication strategies.
She also renewed our appeal to all Member States to ensure the multinational support mission receives the sustained financial support it needs to succeed.

HURRICANE BERYL
On Hurricane Beryl, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says that our teams in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and in Grenada are working closely with local officials.
OCHA has staff working closely with the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency and joined the Agency’s rapid assessment team in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. They arrived yesterday afternoon.
OCHA teams are also in Barbados, supporting the Resident Coordinator for Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, Simon Springett, as well as our partners in order to help them respond to the hurricane’s impact on Grenada and St. Vincent and the Grenadines, where national authorities, our agencies and our partners are assessing the magnitude of the damage.
To date, Grenada and St. Vincent and the Grenadines have reported that hundreds of people are in shelters.
Just to reiterate the Secretary-General’s own direct appeal to the international community to show solidarity with all the Caribbean countries that have been hit or may find themselves in the path of this deadly storm. Not too long ago, as you will recall, the Secretary-General was in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and visited some of the sites that have borne the brunt of the storm.
Meanwhile, we continue to monitor the path of the hurricane, which is likely to reach Jamaica today and Belize and Mexico afterwards.
OCHA is deploying a team to Belize ahead of the expected landfall of the hurricane, with a team also heading to Jamaica. They are also looking at preparedness throughout Central America.
Teams from the UN Disaster Assessment and Coordination units are also being deployed to Barbados, Jamaica, and potentially Belize.

OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY
Turning to the situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and in Gaza, OCHA says that tens of thousands of people have been displaced from eastern Khan Younis following the latest evacuation order from the Israeli authorities.
Yesterday, a team from OCHA and WHO [World Health Organization] visited the European Hospital in Gaza, which now stands empty. Most of the 320 patients who had been there have been referred to Nasser Medical Complex – which is now at full capacity.
Medical supplies and drugs for surgery are in short supply.
OCHA has helped move medical equipment from the hospital, and WHO plans to remove the remaining equipment as soon as possible.
Turning to the West Bank, OCHA says there have been 28 incidents of airstrikes there since 7 October – including two just last week. Fourteen children were among the 77 Palestinians killed during the airstrikes.
Meanwhile, OCHA says that a UN-led assessment yesterday found that at least 200 homes were damaged during a recent operation by Israeli security forces in the Nur al Shams Refugee Camp in Tulkarm.

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC
The UN peacekeeping mission in the Central African Republic report that 311 weapons were handed over to the government yesterday as part of the National Programme for Disarmament, Demobilization, Reintegration, and Repatriation.
The weapons were collected from former combatants during disarmament operations taking place across several areas of the country. The weapons were marked to ensure traceability and are ready to be used by the Central African security forces. Unusable weapons recovered during the operation were or will be destroyed.
The UN mission played an important part by providing technical, logistical and security support for this important programme.
These efforts are part of the initiatives launched by the Government to disarm the 14 armed groups that signed the peace agreement. To date, more than 4,800 individuals have been disarmed through this initiative.

SUDAN
Turning North to the deteriorating situation in Sudan, an OCHA team is in Gedaref today and visited several reception sites where displaced families are seeking shelter following the clashes that erupted in Sennar State in the southwest of the country.
The team reported that people continue to arrive in large numbers. Children and older people are among those arriving in very difficult conditions, having been unable to bring much supplies with them.
OCHA is working with other UN agencies and our partners to provide critical humanitarian assistance. WFP has prepositioned more than 2,200 metric tonnes of food to respond to the ongoing crisis.
OCHA says it is deeply concerned that the spreading conflict and rising insecurity could sever a key route for the transport of humanitarian assistance from Port Sudan in the east. We reiterate that a famine is looming, and it is imperative to sustain the delivery of life-saving aid across conflict lines and across borders.
The situation is not better in other parts of the country. In very shocking and unfortunate developments, UNICEF reported that at least eight children were killed in a reported drone attack on a mosque in El Fasher in North Darfur this past Monday. The mosque had been providing food to vulnerable children and their families and was clearly not a safe place.
The senseless killing of children in Sudan – and elsewhere - must end.

UKRAINE
In Ukraine, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says that the city of Dnipro experienced an attack just this very morning.
This is the second deadly attack in less than a week on the fourth largest city in the country, which hosts already 180,000 men, women and children who have been displaced due to the hostilities in the east and south of the country.
According to authorities and humanitarian partners on the ground, five people were killed and 47 were injured. Several hospitals, schools and a collective site where 120 displaced people reside were also damaged.
Humanitarian workers are already on site, complementing the efforts of first responders, providing psychological support and distributing materials to cover the damage.
Yesterday, the regions of Donetsk, Kharkiv and Kherson were also hit by attacks that damaged homes and civilian infrastructure. More than 40 civilian casualties were reported, that is what our partners on the ground are telling us.
Meanwhile, humanitarian organizations continue to support people across Ukraine. Over the first five months of this year, more than five million people received humanitarian assistance.

FAREWELL TO Al JAZEERA PRODUCER
Anade Situma, Al Jazeera producer, who will be sadly leaving us, as she is headed off to amazing new adventures.
Thank you for being here. Thank you for your active participation in these briefings and your stylish presence.

FINANCIAL CONTRIBUTION
Tajikistan has paid its dues to the UN regular budget.

BRIEFING TODAY AND PROGRAMMING NOTE
At 1 p.m., there was a press briefing organized by the Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation.
On 4 July, UN headquarters will be closed.
There will be no Noon Briefing on Friday, 5 July. We will be posting highlights and we will have a presence in the office.
On Monday, 8 July, the guests at the noon briefing will be Abdoulaye Mar Dieye, the Special Coordinator for Development in the Sahel, and Yacoub El-Hillo, the Regional Director for Africa at the UN Development Coordination Office.
They will be brief reporters virtually on their recent visit to the Sahel.