听HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY STEPHANE DUJARRIC
SPOKESPERSON FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL ANT脫NIO GUTERRES
MONDAY, 27 JUNE 2022
OCEAN CONFERENCE听
This morning, in Lisbon, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr. Guterres, addressed the opening ceremony of the 2022 Ocean Conference, along with the leaders of the two co-hosting nations 鈥 Portugal and Kenya.听
He warned that we have taken the ocean for granted, and today we face what he would call an 鈥淥cean Emergency鈥, adding that we must now turn the tide.听
The Secretary-General emphasized that we cannot have a healthy planet without a healthy ocean and that our failure to care for the ocean will have ripple effects across the entire 2030 Agenda. He called on all to do their part to make a difference for the oceans.听
Also today, while addressing the media in a joint press encounter with the Presidents of Portugal and Kenya, the Secretary-General warned that our oceans are issuing an
SOS. We must work together to right these wrongs, he听听
stressed.鈥
And just a short while ago, the Secretary-General also briefed by video conference the G7 leaders in a closed session. His remarks underscored the continuing global impact, especially on developing countries, and the food crises, because of the war in Ukraine. 听
JASON MOMOA听
Movie star and activist Jason Momoa, who is in Portugal for the conference, was designated as the 缅北禁地Environment Programme鈥檚 Advocate for Life Below Water.听
The Aquaman actor, who has worked with Sustainable Coastlines Hawaii and rePurpose Global organizations, described how humbled he felt to be entrusted with the responsibility to promote ocean health.
CRIMINAL TRIBUNALS
The Secretary-General appointed today Judge Graciela Susana Gatti Santana of Uruguay as President of the听International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals for a term commencing on 1 July 2022.听 The decision was made after consulting the President of the Security Council and the judges of the Mechanism.听听
The Secretary-General is grateful to Judge听Carmel Agius for his service as the President of the Mechanism from 19 January 2019 until 30 June 2022.
Judge Gatti Santana has been a judge for almost 30 years.听 Since 2012, she has served as a judge at the Mechanism, and she is also a member of the Rules Committee.听
DEPUTY SECRETARY-GENERAL听 听
The Deputy Secretary-General, Amina Mohammed is now in Paris, in France, where she will attend the pre-Summit of the Transforming Education Summit, which is a precursor to the meetings that will take place in September in New York.听听
On Saturday, in Kigali, the Deputy Secretary-General had a meeting with the President of Rwanda, Paul Kagame, as well as a meeting with the President of Nigeria, President Buhari, during which she provided updates on the work of the Global Crisis Response Group on Food, Energy and Finance. She also discussed efforts to advance durable peace and sustainable development on the African continent.听
Yesterday, the Deputy Secretary-General also met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Tanzania, Liberata Mulamula, and flew to France in the evening.听听
AFGHANISTAN听
In Afghanistan, the 缅北禁地team in the country today launched an emergency appeal following last week鈥檚 earthquake. The appeal calls for $110 million to urgently help 362,000 people for the next three months in the hardest-hit areas in the provinces of Paktika and Khost.听
This new appeal is part of this year鈥檚 Humanitarian Response Plan, which calls for $4.4 billion, but it is massively underfunded at just over one third.听
We and our partners are borrowing supplies, personnel, and resources from other humanitarian programmes.听
Last Friday, the Emergency Relief Coordinator, Martin Griffiths, announced the release of $10 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund to help support the initial phases of our assistance to people in Afghanistan.
For his part, our Humanitarian Coordinator in the country, Ramiz Alakbarov in the country, visited the areas impacted by the earthquake and urged the international community to dig deep at this time, as the population confronts yet another emergency.
SAHEL听
The Sahel crisis remains critically underfunded when compared to the needs of the people there.
In the Sahel, the 缅北禁地has called for $3.8 billion to respond to the needs of people in Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Mali, Niger, and Nigeria. Mid-way through the year, the appeal is only 15 per cent funded.听
Last month, the head of the Humanitarian Affairs department, Martin Griffiths, released $30 million from our Central Emergency Response Fund to scale up the response in the Sahel. This brings the total amount from CERF to the Sahel response to almost $100 million since the start of this year.听
And frankly, these emergency funds are meant to be used to kickstart responses, not to replace donor donations.
In the Sahel region, more than 30 million men, women and children need life-saving assistance and protection. This is almost two million people more than just a year ago.听听
Between June and August of this year, more than 18.6 million people 鈥 that鈥檚 15 per cent of all people in the Sahel 鈥 are expected to experience severe food insecurity. That includes 2.1 million people experiencing emergency levels of food insecurity.听
Armed conflict is driving humanitarian needs and more than 6.3 million people 鈥 which is a record 鈥 have been forced to flee their homes in the region.听
Climate 鈥 as you know, is also a factor driving humanitarian needs there. Temperatures in the Sahel are rising 1.5 times faster than the global average. 听
The number of floods and other extreme weather events has nearly doubled between 2015 and [last year].听
MALI听
The Peacekeeping Mission in Mali is taking steps to improve security in two key locations that have come under attack recently from armed terrorist groups.听听
On Saturday, the Mission deployed a human rights team and set up a temporary peacekeeping base in Diallassagou, in the Bandiagara region, to help deter violence against communities.听听
A separate mission has also just returned from the village of Djebock, in the Gao region, where dozens of civilians were killed and many vulnerable families were displaced during a series of terror attacks. The peacekeeping delegation met with the village chief and remaining community members to discuss ways to prevent further violence and, particularly, to respond to the increased use of improvised explosive devices.
Following the visit, the Mission is developing a plan to strengthen security and to advocate for increased humanitarian assistance.听
HORN OF AFRICA听
The Food and Agriculture Organization is appealing for $172 million to help avert a famine in the Horn of Africa.听
FAO revised its Rapid Response and Mitigation Plan, which focuses on four drought epicentres across the region. That is Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia. The time frame for the new plan has been extended from June to December of this year, with the aim of preventing a deterioration in food security conditions in the region, saving the livelihoods and therefore the lives of almost five million rural people across the four countries. FAO and its partners are advocating for urgent interventions that include unconditional cash transfers to enable drought-affected households to cover basic expenditures on food, health and shelter; livelihood packages containing animal feed, vaccines, seeds, tools; restoring water holes; as well as training on good agricultural practices and nutrition.听听听
SUDAN听
In Sudan, conflict has driven more than 67,000 people from their homes this month alone.听
We and our partners are helping 33,000 people in West Darfur who are impacted by the violence.听
In the area of Kulbus in West Darfur, 25 villages were burned and looted. Many families are living out in the open and have lost their livestock and food supplies. In other villages, dozens of children are reportedly missing, with five having been killed in clashes.听
The 缅北禁地Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs also recently led an assessment mission to the Saraf Omra and As Sireaf regions of North Darfur to see how we can help some 19,000 people who are newly displaced.
UKRAINE听
In Ukraine, there have been disturbing reports of a new wave of airstrikes and shelling over the weekend and again today, with civilians having been killed or injured. Homes, health facilities and other civilian infrastructure were reportedly damaged.听
Just a few hours ago, our colleagues in Ukraine say a missile struck the centre of Kremenchuk, which had, until recently, not been impacted by the war. A shopping mall was struck and authorities believe there may have been large numbers of civilians inside. We do not have yet any hard numbers on casualties, but any attack that hits a shopping mall is utterly deplorable.听
During the weekend, the capital, Kyiv, was hit again, and a residential building was damaged, with some people trapped in the debris. Missiles have also struck areas in the west of the country, far from the frontlines.
Fighting also continues in the Donbas region, where humanitarians are facing tremendous challenges in reaching people who are facing increasing needs. The challenges are not only due to insecurity, but also to lack of access due to administrative restrictions imposed by the parties.听
We once again stress that the parties are obliged under international humanitarian law to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure.
MIDDLE EAST听
Tor Wennesland, the Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, briefed the Security Council by video conference from Jerusalem.听 He expressed his alarm at the levels of violence seen in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and in Israel over the past months.听 He noted that mounting violence has been further fueled and heightened by provocative steps and inflammatory rhetoric.听
Mr. Wennesland said it is crucial that all parties take immediate steps to lower tensions and reverse negative trends that undermine prospects for a peaceful two-State resolution of the conflict, with a contiguous, independent, viable and sovereign Palestinian State.听听听
He added that he remains gravely concerned by the continuing violence against civilians, which heightens mistrust and undermines a peaceful resolution to the conflict. The violence must stop and all perpetrators must be held accountable.
听
LIBYA听
This afternoon, the Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, Rosemary DiCarlo, will brief the Security Council on the situation in Libya.听
She will urge members of the Council to press on the Libyan parties to move towards an agreement leading to elections at the earliest possible date.
听听
NIGERIA听
The head of the 缅北禁地office for West Africa and the Sahel, Mahamet Saleh Annadif, arrived yesterday in Nigeria for a two-day visit during which he is scheduled to meet Nigerian authorities, civil society, the diplomatic community as well as our colleagues there.听听
Earlier today, Mr. Annadif met with the Chairman and members of Nigeria鈥檚 Independent National Electoral Commission. In a Tweet, he said he reiterated the UN鈥檚 commitment to supporting the country for the holding of peaceful, credible and transparent elections.听
听
PAKISTAN听
An update from Pakistan, where the鈥灞苯豻eam, led by the Resident Coordinator,鈥疛ulien Harneis, continues to support the Government鈥檚 response to COVID-19, contributing to the full vaccination of nearly 125 million people, 40 per cent of whom are women. To date, more than 250 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered, with nearly half of them coming through COVAX.听听
On health, we supported the establishment of 65 intensive care units and the training of 5,000 medical professionals on COVID-19 related protocols, while contributing to the sanitization of over 100 government buildings. 鈥
Also, UNICEF has been supporting national authorities on the procurement of vaccine storage, vaccination and personal protective equipment, while contributing to the launch and operation of a hotline to tackle vaccine disinformation.听听听
For its part, UNDP boosted socio-economic recovery through green economy and social protection initiatives.听听
WORLD DRUG REPORT听
The 缅北禁地Office on Drugs and Crime today released its World Drug report, which says that the legalization of cannabis in many parts of the world appears to have accelerated its daily use.
The report also details record rises in the manufacturing of cocaine, the expansion of synthetic drugs to new markets, and continued gaps in the availability of drug treatments, especially for women.听
MICRO-, SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZED ENTERPRISES DAY听听听
Today is the International Day for Micro-, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, which represent around 90 per cent of global businesses and half of GDP worldwide.听听
In his message to mark the day, the Secretary-General said that strengthening small businesses helps fight poverty, create jobs and safeguard livelihoods, particularly for the working poor, women and youth.听听
That statement is online.听
听
FINANCIAL CONTRIBUTION听
Peru is the 108th Member State to have paid its budget dues in full.
听
