HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY STÉPHANE DUJARRIC,
SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES
THURSDAY, 18 JULY 2024
DEPUTY SECRETARY-GENERAL/TRAVELS
The Deputy Secretary-General, Amina Mohammed, is in Conakry, Guinea, and today she was there to discuss the acceleration of the Sustainable Development Goals, in a context of transition.
Since her arrival yesterday, she has held meetings with senior government officials, including the Interim President General Mamadi Doumbouya, the Prime Minister Amadou Oury Bah, and the Foreign Affairs Minister Morissanda Kouyate. She called for an inclusive transition process and dialogue toward a return to constitutional order, while ensuring investments in people and climate action while this process unfolds.
Ms. Mohammed reiterated our commitment to continue working with Guinea to accelerate the implementations of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), building on the country’s strong economic potential and its determination to achieve those goals.
As part of her visit, she also visited a women’s livelihood center where she engaged with women civil society leaders to listen to their perspectives and their aspirations.
Tonight, she will be heading to Bamako, in Mali.
BANGLADESH
The UN is following the developments in the capital Dhaka and other places in Bangladesh very closely and continues to call for restraint from all sides. The urges the government to ensure a conducive environment for dialogue and we encourage protesters to engage in dialogue to resolve the deadlock.
Violence is never a solution. The Secretary-General encourages meaningful and constructive participation of youth in building a better world.
The UN calls upon Bangladesh authorities to work with its young population, find solutions to the ongoing challenges and catalyze their energy towards the country’s growth and development.
OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says that active conflict, access constraints, fuel restrictions, the ongoing power blackout, the lack of public order and safety, and other challenges continue to impede the delivery of life-saving humanitarian assistance to civilians who needthe most in Gaza.
OCHA says it is still extremely difficult to access areas north of Wadi Gaza, which requires coordination with the Israeli authorities and passage through an Israeli checkpoint.
During the first 16 days of July, our colleagues coordinated 60 humanitarian missions into the north. Only 24 were facilitated, while 12 were denied access by the Israeli authorities, and 20 others were impeded by Israeli troops on the ground. The remaining four missions were canceled by humanitarian organizations themselves due to logistical, operational or security reasons.
This is preventing aid organizations from gaining regular access to the north, where hundreds of thousands of people need humanitarian assistance. It also makes it impossible for humanitarian workers to manage the flow of supplies into Gaza via the Erez West crossing.
Families across Gaza continue to face dire conditions, with limited access to hygiene and clean water. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) reports that rashes and skin diseases are increasing across the Gaza Strip. Their teams are providing medication, but the agency warns that without improved conditions, the infections invariably return to people.
Currently, just 10 of UNRWA’s 26 health centres in Gaza are still operational. Despite this, UNRWA’s teams continue to risk their lives every day to provide medical care to families and people who need it.
Meanwhile, in the West Bank, in its weekly update, our OCHA’s colleagues report that more than 750 Palestinians have been displaced since the beginning of the year, after the Israeli authorities demolished or forced the demolition of their homes due to lack of building permits. For that reason, more than 600 homes and other structures were demolished during that period. OCHA reminds us that permits are rarely granted to Palestinians in Area C and East Jerusalem.
Meanwhile, OCHA reports that more than 740 Palestinians were displaced when their homes were damaged or destroyed during Israeli military operations, mostly in refugee camps in the northern part of the West Bank.
UKRAINE
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says that escalating hostilities in the Donetsk region, in the east of Ukraine, today and yesterday, are once again forcing civilians to flee their homes in search of safety.
Local authorities have reported 30 civilian casualties and damage to civilian infrastructure.
OCHA notes that the town of Pokrovsk has been especially hard hit, following several attacks over the last week. The UN and its humanitarian partners who were on the ground today said that multiple houses, an education facility and other placeswere damaged.
They provided critical support, including materials for emergency repairs, and psychological and legal support to those impacted by the attacks.
OCHA warns that as heavy fighting continues, the situation is getting worse. Authorities say that since last week, more than 1,500 people have left the front-line towns of Chasiv Yar and Toretsk.
AFGHANISTAN
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) today said that the UN, along with its partners, are coordinating with the de facto authorities in Afghanistan on the response to the heavy rainfall and flash flooding that have impacted the east and northeast of the country earlier this week.
Initial reports received by the UN indicate that more than 40 people died and more than 250 others were injured, with 573 houses destroyed or damaged. Our humanitarian colleagues tell us that 734 families require urgent humanitarian assistance.
OCHA also noted that the reception centre at the Torkham border crossing, which serves as a main entry point for people returning from Pakistan, has been heavily hit by the storm. Water, sanitation and hygiene facilities and 400 tents at a nearby camp have been damaged or destroyed.
While assessments are ongoing, our humanitarian partners have deployed nine mobile health and nutrition teams, while our health partners have provided medical supplies to Nangahar Regional Hospital and Fatima Zuhra Hospital.
Afghanistan, as you know, is highly vulnerable to climate change, with more than 145,000 people having been impacted by heavy rains and flooding so far just this year.
OCHA stresses that additional funding is urgently needed to support people impacted by floods and to protect families living in the open or in makeshift shelters. To date, we have received some $720 million – which is less than a quarter of what we need for this year’s $3 billion humanitarian appeal for Afghanistan.
CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC
A new report by the UN Human Rights Office and the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) calls for urgent and concrete action to ensure respect for human rights in the country’s places of detention.
The report says that thousands of people are currently held in overcrowded places of detention across the country, with limited access to food, water, sanitation and basic healthcare. Torture and ill-treatment, illegal, arbitrary arrest and detention are also most prevalent.
Ongoing reforms in the penitentiary system offer an important opportunity for the Central African Republic to address this issue.
As such, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, and the Head of the peacekeeping mission on the ground, Valentine Rugwabiza, pledged continued UN support to the Government to enhance the respect of human rights and the rule of law in the country, including in places of detention.
LIBYA
The United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) yesterday welcomed the Trans-Mediterranean Migration Forum in Tripoli, which it said can serve as an important opportunity to take forward a human rights-based approach to migration governance.
The Mission stressed the need for a concerted international effort based on shared responsibility and full respect for human rights to address current challenges. UNSMIL stands ready to support initiatives aimed at implementing a rights-based approach to the complex realities of migration.
The UN in Libya calls on Libyan authorities to adopt a comprehensive legal and policy framework on migrants and refugees in line with Libya’s international human rights and refugee [law] obligations.
MANDELA INTERNATIONAL DAY
Today is Mandela International Day. In a message, the Secretary-General calls on everyone to honour Madiba’s legacy.
The Secretary-General also joins the Nelson Mandela Foundation in urging everyone to perform 67 minutes of public service on Nelson Mandela International Day – one minute for each year he fought for justice.
***The guest at the Noon Briefing was the UN Women Representative for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Maryse Guimond. She briefed reporters on the situation in Gaza.
