HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY STEPHANE DUJARRIC
SPOKESPERSON FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES
WEDNESDAY, 24 JULY 2024
SECRETARY-GENERAL/EXTREME HEAT
Tomorrow, the Secretary-General of the United Nations will talk to reporters at 12:30 p.m. He will present his Call to Action on Extreme Heat.
FOOD SECURITY
In a video message, the Secretary-General spoke about the launch of the 2024 edition of the “State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World.” He notes that the report contains two important messages: the first is that hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition remain a global crisis; and the second message is that we can solve this crisis.
He added that as the Group of 20 ministers gather in Rio de Janeiro, finance is the key, saying that we need justice to help hard-hit countries invest in resilient, innovative and sustainable food systems that can reach all people with affordable food.
OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY
Turning to the situation in Gaza, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says that intense hostilities and large-scale displacement continue in Khan Younis, with most people moving into an area labeled as a “humanitarian zone” by the Israeli authorities. As a reminder, this area -- which is now smaller than before Monday's evacuation order -- is already overcrowded and lacks almost any infrastructure or services.
The UN and its humanitarian colleagues have been in touch by phone with hundreds of people who are trapped in combat zones of Khan Younis, within the area designated for evacuation. This includes more than 300 people sheltering in schools. As we said yesterday, this also includes people with reduced mobility and family members who have stayed behind to support them. The UN continues to engage with the parties to the conflict to ensure their safety.
Civilian casualties continue to be reported in Khan Younis. The UN received news that two schools there were hit. The World Health Organization and Palestine Red Crescent Society were able to evacuate six of those wounded and bring them to the International Medical Corp field hospital. They also retrieved the bodies of two people who had been killed.
Meanwhile, people continue to cross from northern Gaza southwards. The UN and partners are still registering those who cross, providing them with water, food and other supplies, basic health care, medical referrals, critical information, and child protection services. However, the point where aid workers had been providing this assistance was forced to relocate about 800 metres south, following shelling near the Israeli checkpoint earlier this week.
In northern Gaza, the World Health Organization reports that health services at Al-Ahli have partially resumed, after insecurity in the area rendered them non-functional for a few days. WHO was able to deliver much-needed fuel and medical supplies to the facility last week.
WHO is also working with partners and the Ministry of Health in Gaza to initiate response measures following the detection of variant poliovirus type 2 in six environmental samples.
Meanwhile, the UN and its humanitarian partners in Gaza continue to screen children, as well as pregnant and breastfeeding women, for malnutrition – and to provide treatment. Since mid-January, nearly 170,000 children under the age of five and more than 10,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women have been screened.
Over 11,500 of those children have been diagnosed with acute malnutrition and are receiving treatment.
Catherine Russell, the Executive Director of UNICEF, today spoke out on the impediments faced by humanitarian workers in Gaza, saying that we do not have the necessary conditions in the Gaza Strip for a robust humanitarian response. The flow of aid must be unimpeded and access must be regular and safe, she said.
She asserted that the dire situation and attacks against humanitarian personnel continue to obstruct our efforts. Just yesterday, Ms. Russell recalled, a clearly-marked UNICEF vehicle was hit by bullets while waiting at a designated holding point near the Wadi Gaza checkpoint.
And turning to the West Bank, OCHA and the UN Relief and Works Agency are assessing the needs of people displaced during an Israeli military operation in Tulkarm city and the refugee camp there earlier this week.
OCHA reports that at least five Palestinians were killed by drone strikes by Israeli forces on Monday.
LEBANON
Today, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, the Special Coordinator for Lebanon, briefed Security Council members in closed consultations, alongside the Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations, Jean-Pierre Lacroix. These consultations, as you know, followed the publication of the Secretary-General’s latest report on the implementation of Resolution 1701.
Ms. Hennis-Plasschaert told the Security Council that both Lebanon and Israel state that they do not seek war and she expressed hope that a “Gaza deal” would lead to an immediate return to the cessation of hostilities across the Blue Line.
The Special Coordinator also touched upon the other pre-existing crises in Lebanon, mainly the ongoing presidential impasse, reaffirming the UN’s enduring support and assistance.
DEPUTY SECRETARY-GENERAL/TRAVEL
The Deputy Secretary-General is in Burkina Faso today. Since her arrival yesterday, she met with the transitional authorities, including President Capt Ibrahim Traore, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jean Marie Traore, and other ministers, to take stock of the challenges in delivering the Sustainable Development Goals and find acceleration pathways with the six-and-a-half-year timeline remaining until 2030.
During the meetings, she reiterated the UN system’s commitment to staying and delivering on its mandate, guided by the SDGs and humanitarian action.
During her visit, the Deputy Secretary-General also engaged with a range of stakeholders, including with the national coalition of women and international financial institutions. She also participated in a roundtable discussion with donors for investments in the SDGs and met with the UN country team.
This evening, the Deputy Secretary-General will depart for Niger where she is expected to have meetings with senior government leaders, a group of women leaders as well as the UN country team.
UKRAINE
Turning to Ukraine, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says that attacks today and yesterday in the east and south of the country resulted in civilian casualties and damaged infrastructure.
OCHA says that ongoing strikes have damaged humanitarian facilities and supplies – and continue to impede aid operations in Ukraine. At least 10 such incidents were reported in seven eastern and southern regions in May and June alone. Attacks in major Ukrainian cities where humanitarian organizations have a significant presence – including Kharkiv and Dnipro – pose a major threat to aid workers.
ETHIOPIA/HUMANITARIAN
On Ethiopia, since last night, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has been on the ground in the areas impacted by the landslide. OCHA is leading a team to assess the situation and mobilize response efforts.
The UN and its partners, are already dispatching assistance, including food, nutrition, health and other critical supplies.
Search-and-rescue efforts are ongoing, amid fears the death toll could increase significantly beyond the more than 230 fatalities reported so far.
Authorities say more than 15,500 people have been impacted and stress that it is critical they be evacuated, given the high risk of further landslides. The Government is working with regional and local authorities on plans to relocate them.
MALAWI
In Malawi, the UN and its partners launched a flash appeal seeking more than $136 million to provide life-saving assistance to 3.8 million people who have been impacted by the country’s devastating drought.
Malawi declared a drought disaster in March due to prolonged dry spells that have damaged crops and hampered food production.
An estimated 5.7 million people – that’s more than a quarter of Malawi’s population – are expected to face food insecurity during the upcoming lean season, from October through March. Malawi is one of the six countries in Southern Africa that have declared a state of disaster due to drought. Since December of last year, the Central Emergency Response Fund has allocated nearly $37 million to UN agencies responding to El Niño-induced drought in several countries in the region – with $2 million going to Malawi.
COLOMBIA
Turning to Colombia. OCHA says it is concerned, because during the first half of this year, more than 120,000 people have been displaced or had their movements restricted by armed groups, and that’s according to humanitarian partners as well as official reports.
Humanitarians are also worried about the potential for an increase in armed violence in Colombia’s border regions – which would only increase humanitarian needs there.
Some 8.3 million people – out of the 52 million people in the country - need humanitarian assistance, amid ongoing conflicts between the Government and armed groups – and among those groups themselves.
Colombia also continues to cope with the effects of climate shocks.
Already this year, more than 1.2 million people in the country have been affected by the El Niño phenomenon, which has fueled wildfires and led to water shortages in almost all regions of the country. Indigenous, Afro-Colombian and agricultural communities have been especially impacted.
The humanitarian community in Colombia continues to support response efforts – with nearly half a million people having received at least some form of assistance this year.
SENIOR PERSONNEL APPOINTMENT
Today, the Secretary-General appointed Milbert Dongjoon Shin of the United States as his new Deputy Special Representative for the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo, or UNMIK.
He succeeds Barrie Lynne Freeman of the United States, to whom the Secretary-General has expressed his gratitude for her dedicated service with UNMIK.
Mr. Shin brings to the position 30 years of experience in international peace and security, international law, and human rights, including in the field. Since 2022, he has served as Chief of the Rule of Law and Security Institutions Section in the UN Mission in South Sudan, UNMISS.
GUEST TODAY
Noon briefing guest today is Máximo Torero, Chief Economist of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), on the launch of the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2024.
