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Briefing by Spokesperson for Secretary-General
This morning, the Secretary-General addressed the Security Council on the topic of human trafficking. He told the Council that stopping human trafficking, sexual exploitation, forced labour and modern slavery is a collective responsibility. These activities he said, are being committed in the shadows and constitute serious abuses of human rights, and may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity.
He pointed to the recent news reports of African migrants being sold as ‘goods’ in Libya and urged the Council to protect the human rights and dignity of migrant populations by bringing perpetrators to justice, increasing humanitarian aid and helping Libyan authorities to strengthen their capacity to protect vulnerable populations.
He added the there is also an urgent need to create more opportunities for regular migration and preventing situations that lead to human trafficking by addressing poverty and exclusion in line with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
The Secretary-General also spoke this morning at the High-level conference for reconstruction and resilience of CARICOM countries affected by hurricanes Irma and Maria.
He recalled that during his recent visits to Dominica and Antigua and Barbuda, he saw a level of devastation that he had never witnessed before. In these two countries alone, damage is estimated at $1.1 billion, and total economic losses at $400 million.
Countries in the Caribbean need support now to rebuild, and to take effective climate action, the Secretary-General said, with a new generation of infrastructure that is risk-informed, to underpin resilient economies, communities and livelihoods.
Financing these efforts is a key challenge, he noted, urging the international community to explore eligibility for concessional finance, reinsurance mechanisms and ways to leverage remittances. Debt instruments should also be sensitive to the ability to pay, and have catastrophe clauses built in, he added.
The Secretary-General stressed that the meeting today must be about more than speeches and pledges. It is an opportunity to forge a partnership for a better future, and to deepen a vision for recovery that puts people at its centre, as active development agents.
The UN Mission in Mali said today that a Chadian peacekeeper who had been injured during an attack in Kidal region on 26 October died on Sunday. He had been quickly evacuated to Dakar for medical treatment following the attack on his convoy but has died from his wounds.
The Special Representative of the Secretary-General in Mali, Mahamet Saleh Annadif, paid tribute to this peacekeeper who died in service of peace. We join him in extending our condolences to his family and to the Government of Chad.
Following the Iraqi Federal Supreme Court’s decision yesterday concerning the Kurdish independence referendum, the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) urges the authorities of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq to acknowledge and respect this ruling and the Constitution.
UNAMI urges the Federal Government and the Kurdistan Regional Government to start negotiations without delay, based on the Constitution, on all current issues between the two Governments.
The UN Mission reaffirms its opposition to the threat of use of force, inflammatory statements or confrontational actions, especially at this time when the issue of the referendum has found its resolution, based on full respect for the Constitution. The Mission commends the pivotal role played in this respect by the Federal Supreme Court.
Ali Al-Za’tari, the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Syria, is appalled by the two mortar shells hitting Syrian Arab Red Crescent warehouses in Quneitra in southern Syria. The United Nations stands ready to support the Syrian Arab Red Crescent in repairing the warehouse and replenishing the destroyed aid to avoid any interruption of humanitarian activities in the area.
We also continue to be alarmed at the escalated violence in East Ghouta and Damascus which has resulted in dozens of civilian deaths and hundreds of injuries, many of them are women and children.
Today, the 2018 Syria Humanitarian Needs Overview was released, reflecting the humanitarian community’s shared understanding of the ongoing crisis inside Syria. It includes the most pressing humanitarian needs and the estimated number of people who need assistance. Close to seven years on, the scale, severity, and complexity of needs across Syria remain overwhelming. Some 13.1 million women, children and men require humanitarian assistance, according to the overview.
As of today, 32 humanitarian flights into Yemen have been cancelled and the Saudi-led coalition has not been responding to new UN Humanitarian Air Service flight requests.
As a result of the blockade, the Humanitarian Air Service is only able to operate flights to Aden.
Humanitarian staff have been unable to move in or out of Sana’a since the blockade went into effect.
A report by the UN Human Rights Office and the African Union-UN Hybrid Operation in Darfur, UNAMID, is calling on the Sudanese Government to pursue effective, transparent and durable policies to enable the 2.6 million people internally displaced by the conflict in Darfur to return home voluntarily or to reintegrate into host communities.
The report notes that despite a ceasefire between the Government and various armed opposition groups, violence against internally displaced people continues to be widespread and impunity for human rights violations persists.
It details the situation of IDPs from January 2014 to December 2016, a period marked by the Government military campaign “decisive summer” that led to mass civilian displacement. The report says there are reasonable grounds to believe that the military operations resulted in serious violations of human rights law and international humanitarian law.
Dag Nylander, the Personal Representative of the Secretary-General on the Border Controversy between Guyana and Venezuela, facilitated discussions between Carl Greenidge, Vice President and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Guyana, and Jorge Arreaza, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Venezuela, in New York on 19 and 20 November.
The Foreign Ministers and their delegations explored options for a full agreement for the solution of the controversy.
They also reaffirmed their commitment to the good offices process and reiterated that their Governments will remain actively engaged with the Personal Representative.
Today is World Television Day, which seeks to highlight the impact that TV has on decision-making by bringing the world’s attention to conflicts and threats to peace and security as well as other pressing economic and social issues.
To mark the Day, at 1:30 p.m. in Conference Room 4 there will be a panel showcasing collaborations between the TV industry and international organizations