Briefing by Spokesperson for the Secretary-General and Simon Bland of UNAIDS on the occasion of World AIDS Day

David Nabarro, the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General on Ebola, and Anthony Banbury, Head of the UN Mission for Ebola Emergency Response, gave a press conference a few hours ago in Freetown, Sierra Leone, to mark the first 60 days of the Mission, known by its acronym, UNMEER. Anthony Banbury said that the worst-case scenario seemed to have been avoided.

The Secretary-General will leave for Cambridge, Massachusetts, tomorrow. While in Cambridge, he will be honoured by the Harvard Foundation with the 2014 Humanitarian of the Year award for his initiatives to address human rights, human trafficking, climate change and Ebola, among other global issues.

1 December, World AIDS DAY, the Secretary-General called on world leaders to work together to end AIDS by 2030. He also highlighted the progress made so far in people’s access to HIV treatment, reduction in new HIV infections and prevention of infections among new-borns.

On climate change, as you know, the UN Climate Change Conference, which aims to lay the foundation for an effective new, universal climate change agreement in Paris next year, kicked off today in Lima, Peru.

The World Food Programme (WFP) announced today that it has been forced to suspend a critical programme providing food vouchers to more than 1.7 million Syrian refugees living in neighbouring countries, due to a funding crisis.

From Iraq, the UN Assistance Mission in the country (UNAMI) issued its casualty figures for last month. It said that at least 1,232 Iraqis were killed and another 2,434 were wounded in acts of terrorism and violence in November.

Today, 13 countries won recognition from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) for outstanding progress in fighting hunger, an achievement which includes reaching international targets ahead of the end-of-2015 deadline. Brazil, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Gabon, the Gambia, Iran, Kiribati, Malaysia, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Philippines and Uruguay are the latest in a growing list of countries to make great strides in combating undernourishment.

Appointment announcement: The Secretary-General is announcing the appointment of Sigrid Kaag of the Netherlands as Special Coordinator for Lebanon. She will succeed Derek Plumbly of the United Kingdom. The Secretary-General is grateful for Plumbly’s service to the United Nations.