SECRETARY-GENERAL TRAVELS
On Sunday, 20 October, the Secretary-General will arrive in Addis Ababa, to take part in the 8th African Union–United Nations annual conference.
The high-level discussions, to be held on Monday, 21 October, will be co-chaired by Moussa Faki Mahamat, the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, along with Mr. Guterres. The meeting will focus on progress in the implementation of cooperation frameworks between the two organizations, but also on the joint action and challenges linked to peace, security, development, human rights and the impact of climate change on the African continent.
Discussions this year will also include the implementation of the Pact for the Future, as well as the operationalization of Security Council resolution 2719 (2023), which, as you will recall, establishes the framework for financing of African Union-led peace support operations through United Nations assessed contributions – something the Secretary-General and the Chairperson of the African Union Commission had long advocated for.
The annual conference will conclude with a joint press conference by the Secretary-General and the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat. It will be available on UN WebTV shortly after.
Later in the day, the Secretary-General will go to the UN Economic Commission for Africa in Addis Ababa, where he will take part in the re-inauguration ceremony of Africa Hall, which is reopening after extensive renovations to transform it into a modern conference centre. We expect the ceremony to be webcast live on UN WebTV.
While in Addis Ababa, the Secretary-General is also scheduled to hold meetings with the President and Prime Minister of Ethiopia.
AFRICAN UNION – UNITED NATIONS
Speaking of UN-African Union relations, I’d like to note that on 15 October, the Peace and Security Council of the African Union and the United Nations Peacebuilding Commission convened their 7th Annual Consultative Meeting at the ECOSOC Chamber here at UN Headquarters.
The meeting highlighted the collaborative peacebuilding efforts of the AU Peace and Security Council and the Peacebuilding Commission for peacebuilding and sustaining peace in Africa, as well as the comprehensive review and progress of the status of implementation of outcomes of the 6th Informal Meeting in November 2023. They also noted that more work still needs to be done in supporting peacebuilding efforts. We have a note with more details on that meeting.
LEBANON/UNIFIL
Firing continued across parts of Lebanon and northern Israel today, with Israeli strikes in Saida, Nabatieh, Jezzine, Bekaa, and Mount Lebanon as well as the UNIFIL area of operations, while strikes by Hizbullah into northern Israel, including towards Haifa, and the Israeli-occupied Golan, also continued.
Our colleagues in the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) report that the high levels of fire across the Blue Line have persisted, with UNIFIL detecting 966 projectiles over the past 24 hours. The vast majority of these projectiles originated from south of the Blue Line, primarily striking Ayta ash Sha'b in Sector West and Al Wazzani and Mays al-Jabal in Sector East, while 68 projectiles were recorded originating from north of the Blue Line. The Mission also noted 70 air violations by the IDF into Lebanese air space, breaking the previous day’s record for daily violations since October 2023. Furthermore, clashes on the ground between Hizbullah and the Israel Defense Forces within the UNIFIL area of operations continue, with fatalities reported on each side.
Additionally, this morning, peacekeepers reported that one of UNIFIL’s patrols that was resupplying a UN position in Sector East observed an impact less than 50 metres from its location. The patrol returned safely to its location of origin, and no injuries were reported. UNIFIL continues to reiterate the importance of ensuring the safety and security of peacekeepers and reminds all actors of their obligations in that regard.
SECRETARY-GENERAL/UNIFIL
In a video message to the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), the Secretary-General said that he is full of admiration and gratitude to the men and women of UNIFIL. He said that we are all very aware of their bravery during some of the most challenging moments in the history of UNIFIL.
The Secretary-General reaffirmed that the safety of United Nations personnel is our highest priority and that the inviolability of UN premises must be respected, at all times.
He added that our path forward is clear: We need an immediate ceasefire and the full implementation of Resolution 1701.
The Secretary-General told the peacekeepers, “You are not just on the Blue Line in Lebanon; you are literally on the front line of peace.”
LEBANON/HUMANITARIAN
The Office for the Coordination for Humanitarian Affairs says that airstrikes continue, deepening the crisis in areas of Lebanon already grappling with the displacement of people.
According to Lebanese authorities, 1.2 million people have been displaced or otherwise directly affected by the crisis. The International Organization for Migration has identified nearly 780,000 displaced people and says that more than 190,000 of them are now staying in over 1,000 shelters, most of them in Mount Lebanon Governorate and Beirut.
Preliminary assessments led by the Lebanese authorities show that there are four times more displaced people living outside formal shelters, primarily from Dahiye, South Lebanon, Baalbeck and West Bekaa. Many of them are highly vulnerable and are at risk of homelessness and precarious housing situations. Meanwhile, we and our partners continue to support the response across the country.
On 17 October – yesterday – the World Health Organization delivered 35 tons of trauma supplies, treatments for acute malnutrition, and medicines for chronic diseases—enough to help 200,000 people. The supplies will be delivered to priority referral hospitals identified by the Ministry of Public Health.
For its part, the UN Population Fund has distributed more than 10,000 dignity kits to displaced women and girls in collective shelters across Beirut, Mount Lebanon, Akkar, the North, Bekaa and the South. During the distributions, UNFPA teams also provided psychological first aid and referral of women and girls at risk of gender-based violence.
SECRETARY-GENERAL/GAZA
You’d asked me yesterday about the Secretary-General’s reaction to the death of Yahya Sinwar. I can tell you that, although he does not comment on events of this nature, the Secretary-General is interested that this now leads to an immediate ceasefire, the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages and unrestricted humanitarian access to Gaza.
I’d like to add that Tor Wennesland, the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, took note of the killing in Gaza yesterday of Yahya Sinwar. Mr. Wennesland said that, today, we are at a critical juncture. We must seize the moment to silence the guns and release the hostages now. He calls on all sides to engage in dialogue and reach a deal.
OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs continues to sound the alarm about the increasingly dire and dangerous situation that civilians in the northern part of Gaza are facing. Families there are trying to survive in atrocious conditions, under heavy bombardment.
The UN Relief and Works Agency, UNRWA, has confirmed another attack on one of its schools in the north – the third such attack on the agency’s facilities this week alone. Scores of people who were sheltering there – including children – were reportedly killed when the school in Jabalya was hit yesterday.
OCHA warns that the ongoing lack of access to the Jabalya area is having life-threatening impacts. Today, OCHA has submitted an urgent request for the Israeli authorities to facilitate the evacuation of a few dozen people reported to be alive and trapped under rubble. We are now awaiting a green light. In previous instances, OCHA accompanied rescue teams whose access was facilitated too late, resulting in only dead bodies being recovered.
The UN and our partners also stand ready to provide fuel for essential operations like water pumping and medical equipment, and also to deliver much-needed food supplies in Jabalya and elsewhere.
As you’ll recall, no food supplies entered the north in early October – and the World Food Programme was only able to reach about 100,000 people, given supply shortages, access restrictions and ongoing fighting. On Tuesday, 12 trucks of wheat flour entered northern Gaza, after two weeks of closed crossings, but those supplies were only enough for 9,200 families.
We call on the Israeli authorities to allow safe, rapid, sustained and unimpeded access to Jabalya and all areas of the north where people are in desperate need of assistance. Aid organizations must be allowed to carry out their life-saving work across the Strip.
Meanwhile, in southern Gaza, the World Health Organization says its teams have been on the ground there, delivering supplies to health facilities before the second phase of the polio vaccination campaign starts in the south on Saturday. The UN and our partners aim to provide more than 293,000 children in southern Gaza with the second dose of the vaccine, and more than 284,000 with vitamin A supplements.
DAG HAMMARSKJÖLD
The Secretary-General has transmitted to the President of the General Assembly the report of the Eminent Person, former Chief Justice of Tanzania, Mr. Mohamed Chande Othman, concerning the investigation into the conditions and circumstances resulting in the tragic death of Dag Hammarskjöld and of the members of the party accompanying him. The Secretary-General’s letter to the President of the General Assembly is accompanied by the Eminent Person’s report and will be publicly available as General Assembly document (A/78/1006).
At this juncture, the Eminent Person assesses it to remain plausible that an external attack or threat was a cause of the crash. The Eminent Person notes that the alternative hypotheses that appear to remain available are that the crash resulted from sabotage, or unintentional human error.
The Secretary-General notes that the Eminent Person considers that it is almost certain that specific, crucial and to date undisclosed information exists in the archives of Member States. The Secretary-General further notes the Eminent Person’s assessment that he has not received, to date, specific responses to his specific queries from certain Member States. The Secretary-General has personally followed up on the Eminent Person’s outstanding requests for information and calls upon Member States to release any relevant records in their possession.
With significant progress having been made, the Secretary-General calls on all of us to renew our resolve and commitment to pursue the full truth of what happened on that fateful night in 1961.
SOMALIA
The Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, Rosemary DiCarlo, today wrapped up a two-day visit to Somalia and reaffirmed the UN’s support for the country’s peace- and state-building.
While in Mogadishu, Ms. DiCarlo met with President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and senior members of his team for wide-ranging discussions, in addition to meeting with representatives of civil society.
In her meeting with the President, Ms. DiCarlo noted Somalia’s many achievements in the past year, including debt relief under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative, the accession to the East African Community, and the lifting of the arms embargo.
She also met with the Special Representative of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission for Somalia and Head of the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia, Ambassador Mohammed El-Amine Souef, and other international partners.
CAMEROON
Turning to Cameroon, the Acting Emergency Relief Coordinator, Joyce Msuya, has allocated $4 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund to support the flood response in the country.
The resources will support more than 200,000 vulnerable people in the departments of Logone-et-Chari and Mayo-Danai in the Far North region – the most affected by the floods – with health, shelter, food, water and sanitation assistance.
Since August this year, torrential rains in the Far North region have triggered floods affecting over 350,000 people. More than 50,000 homes and over 80,000 hectares of farmland have been damaged. Health centres and schools have also been impacted.
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, our peacekeeping operation there, MONUSCO, continues to support the Government to encourage the demobilization, disarmament, and reintegration of ex-combatants. This week, the Mission repatriated four ex-combatants from Rwanda along with a dependent woman. Since the beginning of 2023, the Mission has repatriated 76 ex-combatants and 40 dependents from Rwanda.
Meanwhile, the Mission also continues to protect civilians in Ituri and North Kivu. In Ituri, the Mission met with women traders in Fataki and local leaders in Komanda. Peacekeepers also deployed to Kokola and Mapiki in North Kivu, to assess security conditions in the area.
BRIEFINGS
On Monday, my guest will be Andrea Tenenti, Spokesperson for the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon. He will brief you from the UNIFIL House in Beirut on the situation in the country.
And, at 1:30 p.m., there will be a briefing here by the Chair of the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances, Gabriella Citroni.
