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Briefing by Spokesperson for Secretary-General
The Secretary-General has expressed his profound sadness at the passing of Ambassador Joseph Verner Reed, who he called an outstanding supporter of the United Nations. Ambassador Reed’s long and distinguished service to the UN encompassed four Secretaries-General and many roles, complementing a career in the private sector and the United States Foreign Service.
There are continued reports of ongoing aerial bombardment on eastern Aleppo city in Syria, as well as other areas in the Governorate, resulting in civilian casualties and severely damaging civilian infrastructure, including water networks, medical facilities and bakeries. The United Nations has called for a cessation of hostilities, to put an end to the indiscriminate bombing and shelling to protect civilians, civilian infrastructure, and to enable urgent humanitarian life-saving assistance.
The Emergency Relief Coordinator, Stephen O’Brien, is expected to visit Djibouti and Yemen from 1- 4 October. In Djibouti, the Emergency Relief Coordinator is scheduled to meet with key officials and visit local communities supported by humanitarian assistance.
Women and men from the Government of Colombia, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People’s Army, the FARC-EP, and international observers from the UN Mission in the country have started working together at the joint bilateral ceasefire and cessation of hostilities Monitoring and Verification Mechanism Headquarters in Bogota.
On Monday, representatives of the Government, the FARC-EP and the UN Mission begin joint activities in the first five of eight regional offices. They are also planning and coordinating logistics for regional offices and zones where the separation of forces will take place.
The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) in South Sudan has said they are increasingly concerned for the safety and well-being of some 100,000 people trapped in Yei, South Sudan, about 150 kilometres south-west of the capital Juba. Over 30,000 people have reportedly been displaced in the area following attacks on civilians and looting earlier this month.
UNHCR has also expressed concern that restrictions on the movement of people in eastern Ukraine have led to increased hardships and limited the access of thousands of people to heathcare and social payments. The Agency called on authorities to ease the plight of 26,000 people crossing the dividing line between government- controlled and non-government-controlled areas in eastern Ukraine.
