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Briefing by Spokesperson for Secretary-General
The Secretary-General today paid tribute to 210 UN staff members who lost their lives in the line of duty between 1 January 2015 and 30 June 2016.
At a solemn ceremony, the Secretary-General said that in nearly a decade, he has had the sad duty to take part in many staff memorials at headquarters and around the world.
He said that the staff we lost never intended to be heroes. But in striving to do their best for others, they came to represent the best in us all. Today and every day, he said, let us honour their sacrifice by giving life to the mission and the values of our beloved United Nations.
The Secretary-General will give this year’s Gabriel Silver Memorial Lecture at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs today.
His lecture will touch on a range of topics, including sustainable development, Syria and the International Criminal Court.
In a statement issued yesterday, the Secretary-General condemned the outbreak of violence on 24 October in Bangui, Central African Republic, which resulted in the tragic death of at least four civilians and the injuring of a further nine. He deplored the attacks against the UN Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA), in which five peacekeepers were injured. He reiterated that the UN Mission will take all necessary measures, in line with its mandate, to protect civilians and foster stability.
The Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for the Great Lakes Region, Said Djinnit, delivered a message on behalf of the Secretary-General in Angola today, during a meeting of the Regional Oversight Mechanism of the Peace, Security and Cooperation Framework for the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Region.
The Secretary-General welcomed the steady progress being achieved in regional integration and economic development but noted major security challenges remaining, including continuing atrocities by the Allied Democratic Forces and other armed groups in Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that more than 10,500 people have to date been recorded as internally displaced as a result of the Mosul military operation.
The majority of the displaced are sheltering in host communities. Others are sheltering at three displacement camps outside of Mosul.
The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) today received information from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) that an IDF soldier south of the Blue Line was hit by a small arms fire originating from the vicinity of Kfar Kela on the Lebanese side. The IDF also informed UNIFIL that they returned fire.
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that access to areas affected by Hurricane Matthew is improving.
The International Organisation for Migration has sent 34 truckloads - that represents 150 metric tonnes of supplies - to Jérémie and Les Cayes.
Some 28,000 families have already benefitted from this assistance with another 13,000 families to receive critical supplies in the coming days.
However, the $120 million flash appeal remains critically under-funded at just 28 per cent.
In response to questions, the Spokesman said that the Secretary-General welcomes the decision by President Kenyatta of Kenya to commute the sentences of 2,747 death row convicts into life imprisonment.
The Head of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), José Graziano da Silva, called today for a data revolution to implement the 2030 Agenda, stressing that the data requirements for the Sustainable Development Goals far exceed the current capacities of most national statistical systems.
To help countries achieve the 2030 Agenda - including the Zero Hunger Target - the FAO is putting in place a series of initiatives aimed at strengthening tried-and-tested systems as well as adopting innovative approaches, such as the use of mobile technology or remote sensing imagery.