Briefing by the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General

Briefing by Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesman for the Secretary-General

• Categories: Media / Press Conferences
• Video Length: 00:19:40
• Production Date: 28 July 2015
• Asset Language: English
• Corporate Name: WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME - WFP; WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION - WHO
• Subject Topical: CIVILIANS; COUNTER-TERRORISM; DISEASE CONTROL; HEALTH; HUMAN RIGHTS; HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE
• Geographic Subject: IRAQ; LIBYA; SOMALIA; SYRIA; VENEZUELA; YEMEN
• MAMS Id: 1410553
• Parent Id: 1410397

Description

You just heard Stephen O’Brien, the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, brief the Security Council on the situation in Syria.

Back to the Security Council this morning. As you know, the Council members adopted a resolution renewing the mandate of the UN Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM) until the end of March 2016.

Earlier this morning, the Secretary-General met with President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela. The Secretary-General congratulated the Venezuelan Government on its contributions to the global agenda, particularly as a member of the Security Council.

Turning to Libya, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) today expressed concern over the verdicts and sentences handed down today in Tripoli in the trial of former Qadhafi officials, including the imposition of the death penalty against a number of them.

Meanwhile, turning to Yemen, the World Health Organization (WHO) reports that the largest single attack since the escalation of the conflict in March has killed at least 55 civilians in Al Mukha District in the Taizz Governorate.

And to Iraq, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights has received today reports that suggest a violent clampdown on people who are attempting to flee Da’esh-controlled areas in Iraq, particularly through the Hamrin mountain chain in north-east Iraq.

And in a video message to the special meeting of the Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee on foreign terrorist fighters today, the Secretary-General said that the rise in the number of foreign terrorist fighters is a manifestation of the growing spread of violent extremism, which demands urgent international attention.

And UN agencies and international partners have warned of an acute shortage of meningitis C-containing vaccines which is severely limiting people’s access to medication in African countries.

Also on the WHO website is more information as today is — I talked about it yesterday — today is World Hepatitis Day.