HIGHLIGHTS OF THE U.N. SYSTEM
5 APRIL 2024
SECRETARY-GENERAL/PRESS ENCOUNTER ON GAZA
This Sunday marks six months since Hamas launched its abhorrent terror attacks in Israel.
The 7th of October is a day of pain for Israel and the world.
The United Nations, and I personally, mourn with Israelis for the 1,200 people, including many women and children, who were killed in cold blood.
Nothing can justify the horror unleashed by Hamas on October 7th.
I once again utterly condemn the use of sexual violence, torture, injuring and kidnapping of civilians, the firing of rockets towards civilian targets, and the use of human shields.
And I call for the unconditional release of all the hostages still held by Hamas and other armed groups. Until then, they must be treated humanely with visits and assistance from the International Committee of the Red Cross.
I have met with many of the family members of those being held captive and even former hostages themselves.
I carry their anguish, uncertainty and deep pain with me every day.
Dear members of the media,
Over the last six months, the Israeli military campaign has brought relentless death and destruction to Palestinians in Gaza – with more than 32,000 people reportedly killed and more than 75,000 injured – the vast majority women and children.
Lives are shattered. Respect for international humanitarian law is in tatters.
During my visit to the Rafah crossing 10 days ago, I met veteran humanitarians who told me categorically that the crisis and suffering in Gaza is unlike any they have ever seen.
Meanwhile – as I saw on my way to the Rafah crossing -- long lines of trucks loaded with humanitarian aid continued to face obstacle after obstacle.
When the gates to aid are closed, the doors to starvation are opened.
More than half the population – over a million people – are facing catastrophic hunger.
Children in Gaza today are dying for lack of food and water.
This is incomprehensible, and entirely avoidable.
Nothing can justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people.
I am also deeply troubled by reports that the Israeli military’s bombing campaign includes Artificial Intelligence as a tool in the identification of targets, particularly in densely populated residential areas, resulting in a high level of civilian casualties.
No part of life and death decisions which impact entire families should be delegated to the cold calculation of algorithms.
I have warned for many years of the dangers of weaponizing Artificial Intelligence and reducing the essential role of human agency.
AI should be used as a force for good to benefit the world; not to contribute to waging war on an industrial level, blurring accountability.
In its speed, scale and inhumane ferocity, the war in Gaza is the deadliest of conflicts – for civilians, for aid workers, for journalists, for health workers, and for our own colleagues.
Some 196 humanitarian aid workers – including more than 175 members of our own UN staff – have been killed.
The vast majority were serving UNRWA, the backbone of all relief efforts in Gaza.
Others include colleagues from the World Health Organization and the [UN Development Programme] – as well as humanitarians from Doctors without Borders, the Red Crescent, and just a few days ago World Central Kitchen.
An information war has added to the trauma -- obscuring facts and shifting blame.
Denying international journalists entry into Gaza is allowing disinformation and false narratives to flourish.
We honour all humanitarian workers who have been killed in this conflict, and pledge to remember their commitment and sacrifice.
Following this week’s appalling killing of seven humanitarian workers from World Central Kitchen, the Israeli government has acknowledged mistakes and announced some disciplinary measures.
But the essential problem is not who made the mistakes, it is the military strategy and procedures in place that allow for those mistakes to multiply time and time again.
Fixing those failures requires independent investigations and meaningful and measurable change on the ground.
In the aftermath of this tragedy, the United Nations was informed by the Israeli government of its intention to allow a substantial increase in humanitarian aid distributed in Gaza.
I sincerely hope that these announced intentions are effectively and quickly materialized because the situation in Gaza is absolutely desperate.
Dramatic humanitarian conditions require a quantum leap in the delivery of life-saving aid -- a true paradigm shift.
I repeat my urgent appeals for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, the unconditional release of all hostages, the protection of civilians, and the unimpeded delivery of humanitarian aid.
Last week, the Security Council called for just that. And in December, the Council demanded accelerating the delivery of life-saving aid under a UN mechanism.
All those demands must be implemented. Failure would be unforgivable.
Six months on, we are at the brink: of mass starvation; of regional conflagration; of a total loss of faith in global standards and norms.
It’s time to step back from that brink – to silence the guns – to ease the horrible suffering -- and to stop a potential famine before it is too late. Read more: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/sg/press-encounter/2024-04-05/secretary-generals-press-encounter-gaza-scroll-down-for-arabic
OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that the United Nations and its partners were finally able to reach Al Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza city today. This follows repeated denials of UN requests to reach the complex in order to triage remaining patients and assess needs on the ground.
OCHA also said that yesterday a 10-truck convoy delivered about 150 metric tonnes of food parcels and wheat flour to northern Gaza, stressing that the United Nations and its humanitarian partners continue to do their utmost can to provide life-saving assistance to civilians across Gaza.
SECURITY COUNCIL/MIDDLE EAST
This morning, Ramesh Rajasingham, the Director of Coordination in the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), briefed Security Council members on the humanitarian situation in Gaza.
He warned that any military operation on Rafah would have incomprehensible consequences. He added that practically the entire population of Gaza is relying on woefully inadequate food assistance to survive. Mr. Rajasingham said this tragedy cannot be allowed to continue, and all hostages must be immediately released and treated humanely until they are.
SUDAN
The World Food Programme (WFP) stated today that two convoys crossed the border from Chad into Darfur in late March, carrying food and nutrition assistance for around 250,000 people facing acute hunger in North, West and Central Darfur. These are the first cross-border convoys of WFP assistance to reach Darfur following lengthy negotiations to reopen these routes after the authorities in Port Sudan revoked permissions for humanitarian corridors from Chad in February.
The temporary halt of the humanitarian corridor from Chad as well as ongoing fighting, lengthy clearance processes for humanitarian cargo, bureaucratic impediments, and security threats have made it impossible for humanitarians to operate at the scale needed to meet the hunger needs in Sudan.
WFP is warning that unless the people of Sudan receive a constant flow of aid via all possible humanitarian corridors – from neighbouring countries and across battle lines – the country’s hunger catastrophe will only worsen.
Sudan’s war is driving hunger to record levels, with 18 million people across the country facing acute hunger. In Darfur, 1.7 million people are in emergency levels of hunger (IPC4).
UKRAINE
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that today two convoys delivered aid to hard-to-reach communities in Ukraine’s Kharkiv and Kherson Regions, in the east and south of the country. OCHA notes that communities in these regions are exposed to frequent shelling and face water, electricity and gas cuts.
The convoys brought hygiene items, medical kits, repair materials, sleeping bags, blankets, pillows, bed linen and kitchen sets. Meanwhile, in the east of Ukraine, in the Donetsk region, local authorities report that intense fighting resulted in civilian casualties and damages to civilian infrastructure.
HAITI
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says aid organizations continue to deliver emergency assistance to people impacted by recent violence, despite security and funding challenges.
Yesterday, the World Food Programme and its partners delivered 21,500 hot meals to displaced people in Port-au-Prince and 216,000 school meals in Cap Haitien, Gonaives, Jérémie and Miragoâne.
Our partners also distributed more than 48,000 liters of water in three displacement sites across the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area. However, displaced families in the capital continue to live in appalling conditions and struggle to receive and access the most basic needs.
PRICE INDEX
Rising international quotations for vegetable oils, dairy products and meat pushed the benchmark index for world food commodity prices up by 1.1 percent in March, its first increase in seven months, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reported Friday.
The FAO Food Price Index, which tracks monthly changes in the international prices of a set of globally-traded food commodities, averaged 118.3 points in March, down 7.7 percent from its corresponding value one year ago.
FAO also released a new Cereal Supply and Demand Brief on Friday, raising its forecast for world cereal production in 2023/24 to 2,841 million tonnes, reflecting expectations of greater outputs of maize, rice and wheat.
SENIOR PERSONNEL APPOINTMENT
Today, the Secretary-General is announcing the appointment of Julie Bishop of Australia as his Special Envoy on Myanmar.
Ms. Bishop succeeds Noeleen Heyzer of Singapore to whom the Secretary-General is grateful for her dedicated service.
Ms. Bishop brings extensive political, legal, management and senior leadership experience to the role. She has held several high-level positions in the Australian Government, serving as Minister of Foreign Affairs (2013-2018), Cabinet Minister for Education, Science and Training, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Women’s Issues and Minister for Ageing. She was a member of the Australian Parliament (1998-2019), following a 20-year legal career.
Ms. Bishop is currently the Chancellor of the Australian National University.
INTERNATIONAL DAYS
Today is the International Day of Conscience and tomorrow is the International Day of Sport for Development.
On Sunday, we mark the International Day of Reflection of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda. In his message for the Day, the Secretary-General says that “we will never forget the victims of this genocide.” He adds that “those who would seek to divide us, we must deliver a clear, unequivocal and urgent message: never again.”
Also, on Sunday, it is World Health Day. This year’s theme is “my health, my right”. That was chosen by the World Health Organization to champion the right of everyone, everywhere to have access to quality health services, education, and information, as well as safe drinking water, clean air, good nutrition, quality housing, decent working and environmental conditions, and freedom from discrimination.
