HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY STÉPHANE DUJARRIC
SPOKESPERSON FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES
TUESDAY, 2 JULY 2024
SECRETARY-GENERAL/TRAVELS
This morning, in Cholpon Ata, the Secretary-General had a bilateral meeting with Sadyr Zhaparov, the President of the Kyrgyz Republic.
In the meeting, they discussed UN-Kyrgyzstan cooperation, regional peace and security issues, and progress in the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals.
The Secretary-General commended the President of the Kyrgyz Republic for his leadership in advocating for sustainable mountain development. He thanked him on behalf of the United Nations for naming a mountain in the Tian-Shan range in honour of the Organization.
After the meeting, the Secretary-General visited a UNDP project, related to the impacts of climate change.
The project's primary focus is the restoration of engineered structures specifically designed to reduce the risk of mudflow.
At the project, the Secretary-General met with the local community and civil society representatives. He also had a meeting with young activists on climate and environmental issues. He told them how important their voices are in pushing for change around the world.
In a joint press encounter with the Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Kyrgyz Republic, Zheenbek Kulubaev, the Secretary-General commended Kyrgyzstan for its leadership on mountain issues and welcomed the adoption of the General Assembly Resolution on Sustainable Mountain Development, an initiative of Kyrgyzstan. He noted that around the world, we see many serious challenges to multilateralism and a failure of countries to unite behind global solutions.
The Secretary-General pointed out that the Summit of the Future in September is a pivotal opportunity for renewal and reform, and Central Asian countries have a key role to play. He said that we will have a mountain to climb together, but Kyrgyzstan’s expertise in this area will be more important than ever.
Tomorrow, the Secretary-General will head to Kazakhstan, where he will have a bilateral meeting with the President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.
ASWAN FORUM
Today, the Secretary-General spoke by pre-recorded video message to the fourth Aswan Forum for Sustainable Peace and Development, which is taking place in Egypt.
He told participants that the Forum arrives at a difficult moment for Africa and the global family, as sustainable peace and development are being obstructed by enormous challenges.
He called for accelerated efforts to rescue the Sustainable Development Goals and renewed his appeal for deep reforms to the global financial architecture so that developing countries can invest in jobs, gender equality and education. The Secretary-General said that this year’s theme for the conference reminds us of the need to re-envision global governance and amplify Africa’s voice and leadership on the world stage — including the UN Security Council and across the global financial system.
He said that he looks forward to strong and vocal African leadership at September’s Summit of the Future in New York.
PEACE OPERATIONS
Jean-Pierre Lacroix, the head of the UN Peace operations department, is at the Aswan Forum for Sustainable Peace and Development, where he is scheduled to participate in a panel tomorrow on the future of peace operations in Africa.
In meetings today with the Egyptian Ministers of Interior and Defence, Mr. Lacroix thanked them for their support and contributions to UN peacekeeping and discussed how we can collectively address the current challenges facing multilateralism.
Mr. Lacroix will then visit Cambodia from July 4 to 9, to thank the government for its support to peacekeeping and to recognize the enormous progress made in clearing the country's landmine legacy, including through support from the United Nations.
During his visit, he will engage with senior Cambodian government officials, including Prime Minister Borvor Manet Hun; the Director-General of the National Centre for Peacekeeping Force, Mine and Explosive Remnants of War, or ERW, Clearance, as well as the leaders of the Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority.
Mr. Lacroix will also visit a demining operation near the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Prasat Koh Ker.
HURRICANE BERYL
As of this morning, Hurricane Beryl is now ranked as an extremely dangerous Category 5 hurricane as it heads towards Jamaica.
UN agencies have been following reports from Grenada and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines after Hurricane Beryl battered the islands - as the strongest hurricane in the history of the Atlantic in the month of June.
Seven agencies based in Grenada and nine in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines will be augmented by additional UN emergency teams in the coming days.
Logistics are going to be a challenge, given the islands’ dispersal, damaged infrastructure and limited accessibility. Initial reports indicate severe damage to homes, infrastructure, power and communications.
“Sustained winds have increased to nearly 165 mph with higher gusts and extending outward up to 40 miles” according to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).
“It takes just one landfalling hurricane to set back years of socio-economic development,” said WMO Deputy Secretary-General, Ko Barrett.
Hurricane Beryl is only just the start of what’s been forecast to be an extremely intense 2024 hurricane season.
HAITI
And in Haiti, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says that humanitarian agencies in the country are in close contact with Haitian authorities as the country could be hit by heavy rains, strong winds, and landslides as Hurricane Beryl sweeps across the region.
The Sud, Sud-Est and Grand-Anse departments, all in the south of the country, could be the hardest hit in the next 24 hours. National authorities in Haiti have amplified early warning messages to populations to mitigate the potential impact of a hurricane landfall in the country.
UN agencies stand ready to assist and have already taken anticipatory measures.
For example, the World Food Programme in Haiti is prepared to assist if local authorities confirm the need.
Immediate assistance would be in the form of locally sourced hot meals and distribution of high-energy biscuits, followed by food distributions or cash-based assistance.
The hurricane season which started on June 1st and runs until the end of November could aggravate the living condition of millions of Haitians who are already caught in a complex humanitarian crisis, marked by violence, displacement, food insecurity and poor access to basic social services.
Adding to this, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said today that the number of internally displaced children in Haiti has increased by an estimated 60 per cent since March – the equivalent of one child every minute – as a result of ongoing violence.
According to the latest estimates, over half of the almost 600,000 internally displaced people in Haiti are children.
Already six months into the year, the $674 million Humanitarian Response Plan for Haiti is only 24 percent funded with $168 million received.
SECURITY COUNCIL
Sigrid Kaag, the Senior Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator for Gaza, told the Security Council this morning that we have also seen an increase in the volume of commercial cargo entering Gaza, albeit irregularly.
She said that the UN is in discussions to ensure that commercial supplies align with the population's immediate needs.
Since the start of the Israeli military operation in Rafah and the subsequent closure of the Rafah Border Crossing in early May, Ms. Kaag said, the volume of aid entering and distributed across Gaza has dropped significantly. Military activity and the lack of safe routes inside Gaza continue to impact humanitarian operations. A near-total breakdown of civil order has further led to an environment of lawlessness and criminality. This worrying trend significantly hampers the UN’s ability to deliver on its mandate, she warned.
Ms. Kaag told the Council that Resolution 2720 has achieved significant progress, yet there is no substitute for political will, full respect for international humanitarian law, especially the protection of civilians, and a safe and enabling environment to secure effective distribution.
OPT
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs is deeply concerned over the impact of Israel’s latest evacuation order on tens of thousands of civilians, many of whom have been repeatedly displaced over the last nine months.
Yesterday’s order for Palestinians to evacuate 117 square kilometres in Khan Younis and Rafah governorates applies to about a third of the Gaza Strip – making it the largest such order since October, when residents were ordered to evacuate northern Gaza.
OCHA underscores that an evacuation of such a massive scale will only heighten the suffering of civilians and drive humanitarian needs even higher. People are left with the impossible choice of having to relocate - some most likely for the second or third time, to areas that have barely any spaces or services, or staying in areas where they know heavy fighting will take place.
Initial estimates by the UN Relief and Works Agency, UNRWA, indicate that nearly 250,000 people may have resided in the areas subject to evacuation at the time of the order.
The new evacuation order affects over 90 schools, many of which host displaced people, four medical points, and the European Gaza Hospital area.
The World Health Organization said that, yesterday, 70 patients had reportedly self-evacuated along with medical staff, with more patients having evacuated this morning. WHO's representative for the Occupied Palestinian Territory – Rik Peeperkorn – said earlier today that only three patients remained at the European Gaza hospital and three in the ICRC field hospital. He said that WHO was supporting the transfer of valuable medical equipment and supplies out of the hospital, which was one of the few remaining key referral hospitals in the south of Gaza.
This morning, the Israeli authorities clarified that the order does not apply to patients or staff at the hospital.
A reminder that all parties must always respect international humanitarian law. This means that civilians must be protected, and their essential needs – including food, shelter, water and health – must be met, wherever they are in Gaza.
AFGHANISTAN
Today Rosemary DiCarlo, the Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, together with the Special Envoys, met in Doha with members of Afghan civil society, including human rights groups and women’s organizations.
Speaking to the media after the meetings, Ms. DiCarlo said that she had heard views from members of Afghan civil society, women and men, who provided their valuable insights on the rights of women and minorities in the country, girls’ education and many other issues.
She reiterated that human rights, especially the rights of women and girls, and inclusion of all members of society will continue to be an integral part of all upcoming discussions.
Ms. DiCarlo underscored that this is still the beginning of this process, and it will take time and patience, however helping all the people of Afghanistan remains the main objective.
Answering questions on whether she thinks that human and civil rights is an internal issue in Afghanistan, Ms. DiCarlo stressed that she made it clear during the talks that Afghanistan has signed on to a number of treaties and international agreements that focused on human and civil rights, and Afghanistan - as a country - is bound by these agreements, therefore it is not an internal issue.
SUDAN
Turning to Sudan, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs tells us that it has been receiving reports of people becoming displaced in recent days following clashes between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces in Sinja Town, located in Sennar State, in the southeast of the country.
Latest figures indicate that more than 60,000 men, women and children have already fled the fighting in Sinja. There are reports of insecurity in Abu Hujar and Ad Dali - also located in Sennar State.
Most of these people are moving east - toward the neighbouring state of Gedaref.
The situation is very volatile and humanitarians fear that the numbers could increase in the coming days, as the fighting continues, and people are moving constantly.
The UN and its humanitarian partners are present in Gedaref and are preparing food and nutrition supplies for the arrival of people that have fled their homes.
The UN calls on the parties to de-escalate immediately, spare civilians and ensure safe passage for those fleeing the fighting in Sinja and all conflict-impacted areas in Sudan.
Alarming new food security projections confirm that Sudan is facing a hunger catastrophe on a scale not seen in the country since the Darfur crisis in the early 2000s. Sudan is also the world’s largest displacement crisis, with 9.1 million people forced from their homes. The spread and continuity of the fighting will only worsen the already dire situation.
UNHCR/SUDAN
As the impact of the conflict in Sudan continues to spread, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and partners are seeking additional resources to support millions of people forced to flee. Aid partners now require $1.5 billion, up from $1.4 billion in January, to assist and protect up to 3.3 million people forced to flee, as well as local communities in neighbouring countries, until the end of the year.
Two new countries, Libya and Uganda, have been incorporated into the regional refugee response, in addition to the Central African Republic (CAR), Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia and South Sudan. Neighbouring countries have shown great solidarity in welcoming those fleeing the war, but services in host communities remain overstretched, making it extremely difficult for refugees to settle, make a living and rebuild their lives.
So far, only 19 per cent of the required funds for the refugee response have been received, abysmally insufficient to cover the most basic needs for people forced to flee. UNHCR continues to urge for stronger donor support for the response.
SOUTH SUDAN
The UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) organized training that brought together 600 security personnel from diverse factions across various locations in both Unity State and the Ruweng Administrative Area to strengthen protection of civilians.
This initiative marks the first joint training among opposing forces in these states since factions were relocated from Bentiu in Unity State last year.
Recent clashes in the Unity State and Ruweng Administrative Area resulted in deaths, destruction of property and civilian displacement.
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
The peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo – MONUSCO - have started a joint operation with the Congolese Armed Forces to protect civilians in the Madombo and Itendey areas of Ituri province, respectively controlled by the Zaire and CODECO armed groups.
On 30 June, Congolese armed forces engaged suspected members of the CODECO armed group - with logistical support from UN peacekeepers - and gained control of a village named Lisey.
Meanwhile, in South Kivu, peacekeepers completed the official handover of their bases in Minembwe and Mikenge to the Congolese Authorities last Saturday, as part of the Mission’s disengagement plan from the province.
The Humanitarian Coordinator there, Bruno Lemarquis, condemned yesterday’s deadly attack on humanitarian workers in North Kivu province, in the east of the country.
On June 30th, an armed attack on a humanitarian operation in Butembo killed two aid workers. At least five vehicles of a humanitarian partner were also set on fire.
Since the beginning of the year, more than 170 security incidents have directly targeted humanitarian workers, resulting in at least four deaths and 20 injuries.
Violence continues to displace people in North Kivu, creating significant additional humanitarian needs while the country’s $2.6 billion Humanitarian Response Plan is only 26 per cent funded $669 million.
The North Kivu province is home to 2.8 million displaced people. Between June 27th and June 30th —or in four days — more than 150,000 were displaced due to continued fighting in the town of Lubero, which was already hosting more than 500,000 displaced people who had arrived in March after fleeing violence in the Masisi and Rutshuru territories.
Mr. Lemarquis reiterated his call for immediate de-escalation of violence and political dialogue to find a sustainable solution to the conflict.
