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Briefing by Spokesperson for Secretary-General
The Secretary-General has arrived in Bangui, in the Central African Republic. He will lay a wreath for fallen peacekeepers at the UN Mission’s base. He will then celebrate United Nations Day with UN staff.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) colleagues say that insecurity and access constraints continue to prevent the transferring of goods and humanitarian aid to respond to the needs of 18,000 besieged people in Pombolo, where widespread violence led to civilian deaths last week. An additional 3,000 displaced people in the village of Dimbi also remain inaccessible. Humanitarian workers are making every effort to send a convoy with assistance this week.
Today is United Nations Day, which marks the anniversary of the entry into force in 1945 of the UN Charter.
In his message, the Secretary-General said that our world faces many grave challenges, but we have the tools to overcome them.
“The world’s problems transcend borders. We have to transcend our differences to transform our future. When we achieve human rights and human dignity for all people – they will build a peaceful, sustainable and just world. On United Nations Day, let us, ‘We the Peoples’, make this vision a reality,” he said.
At UN Headquarters, the Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed spoke at a commemoration ceremony and thanked staff for their commitment. She told the audience that she is hopeful because despite obstacles and limitations, the men and women of the UN get up each and every day to inch our world closer to peace and justice and dignity for all.
On the occasion of UN Day, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Iraq expressed his confidence that the Government of Iraq and the Kurdistan Regional Government, just as they banded together to defeat Da’esh, can work to overcome their differences through dialogue.
Ján Kubiš said that recent developments have sadly triggered confrontation, adding another layer of insecurity, fragmentation and difficulties, bringing about new waves of displacements, mostly of Kurds.
He noted that the United Nations is closely monitoring the situation while providing humanitarian aid to those in need and raising issues of violations of human rights as warranted, guided by the principle of impartiality and with the interests of the people of Iraq, including in the Kurdistan Region, at heart.
The Special Representative offered the good offices of the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq to facilitate discussions if asked by both sides.
The Security Council failed to pass a resolution concerning the mandate of the Joint Investigative Mechanism dealing with Syria, owing to a veto from the Russian Federation. The draft resolution had 11 votes in favour, two votes against and two abstentions.
The Council is to hold consultations on Lebanon following the current meeting.
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is concerned for the safety and protection of civilians at risk of death and injury from unexploded ordnance reportedly planted throughout Raqqa city’s neighbourhoods in Syria. While the clearing of unexploded ordnance operation is ongoing, nine people were reportedly killed during the weekend while trying to return to their homes.
Humanitarian workers have been unable to access the city until the clearing of mines and other unexploded ordnance is completed.
The UN calls on all parties to take all measures to protect civilians and to facilitate safe, unimpeded and sustained access to all people in need across the country.
The UN Refugee Agency is increasingly concerned by escalating displacement in several key regions of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Since 2015 the number of people displaced internally has more than doubled and now stands at 3.9 million people, with some 428,000 of these having been displaced in the past three months alone.
With widespread militia activities, and unrest and violence fueled by ethnic and political conflict affecting many areas, the risk of further displacement is high, while the challenges of getting aid to people in need are growing fast.
In all, there are also more than 620,000 refugees from the DRC in more than eleven African countries.
At the same time, the number of refugees from neighboring countries seeking refuge inside the Democratic Republic of the Congo has grown by a third since early 2016 and now stands at 526,000 people.
The UN Migration Agency (IOM) and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) have helped some 134 Somali refugees return from Yemen to their home country.
The IOM said that these Somalis came to Yemen searching for a better life and found themselves caught up in conflict and often subjected to abuse by smugglers. Among the group returning home are families, who had been living in Khares refugee camp and others, who had been living in the city of Aden. Prior to departure, IOM doctors ensured that all were fit for travel and UNHCR provided them with a cash package to assist their reintegration once they arrive home.
The UN Migration Agency (IOM) has distributed thousands of hygiene kits to Rohingya refugees who have fled Myanmar’s Rakhine state to Bangladesh.
The kits include soap, toothbrushes, water containers, and other items, and were funded by the UN Central Emergency Response Fund.
IOM says that these supplies ensure that Rohingya families, particularly women and children, can meet their personal care and hygiene needs in the makeshift settlements in which they live.
Yesterday afternoon, the UN received a copy of Nicaragua’s instrument of accession to the Paris Agreement on climate change.
We welcome Nicaragua’s accession to the Paris Agreement, making it the 169th country to join the historic agreement to address climate change. By joining the Agreement, Nicaragua has reinforced the universality of the Agreement and the overwhelming desire by countries to address climate change.
Today is World Polio Day. In 1988 when the World Health Organization became part of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, polio paralysed 10 children for life every 15 minutes, in nearly every country in the world.
In 2017, so far, 12 cases of polio have been reported in just two countries. Today, only three endemic countries remain, which have never stopped polio: Afghanistan, Nigeria and Pakistan. Even within these countries, the virus is cornered into fewer districts than ever before.
However, eradicating polio is hard and complicated. It requires committed, hardworking frontline healthcare workers to deliver doses of the oral polio vaccine to every single child, multiple times, so that they develop full immunity.
Once no children remain under-immunized, the virus will die out and the world will be free of polio.
Today is World Development Information Day, which highlights the potential of information and communication technologies to provide new solutions to development challenges, foster economic growth, and help eradicate poverty and promote social inclusion.