Briefing by Spokesperson for the Secretary-General

Briefing by Farhan Haq, Deputy Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.

• Categories: Media / Press Conferences
• Video Length: 00:25:55
• Production Date: 7 December 2015
• Asset Language: English
• Subject Topical: AGRICULTURE; CEASEFIRES; CLIMATE CHANGE; FAMILY; FARMING; HUMANITARIAN AFFAIRS; HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE
• Geographic Subject: FRANCE; LIBYA; SYRIA; UKRAINE; YEMEN
• MAMS Id: 1525547
• Parent Id: 1508565

Description

This morning the Secretary-General opened the High-Level session of the 21st Conference of the Parties (COP21) just outside of Paris.

Today in Geneva, the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator launched a record $20.1 billion humanitarian appeal to help nearly 90 million of the world’s most vulnerable and marginalized people in 2016.

Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, the Secretary-General's Special Envoy for Yemen, will convene a series of face-to-face consultations among the Yemenis in Switzerland on 15 December. These consultations seek to establish a permanent and comprehensive ceasefire and secure improvements to the humanitarian situation and a return to a peaceful and orderly political transition.

The Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Kyung-wha Kang, today called for greater protection and assistance for Syrians caught up in the country’s four-year conflict, following a five-day visit to Jordan and Turkey. During her visit, the Assistant Secretary-General talked with Syrian refugee families in Jordan and Turkey.

Martin Kobler, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Libya, emphasized in remarks over the weekend that the Libyan Political Agreement is the basis to end the conflict in the country. He said that it has been negotiated for over a year and facilitated by the United Nations. It enjoys the support of the majorities of both House of Representatives and the General National Congress.

A new survey by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has found that the conflict in eastern Ukraine is forcing some 230,000 farming families to skip meals, migrate to find work, borrow to pay for necessities, kill livestock for lack of feed and plan less due to lack of seeds and fertilizer.