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Briefing by Spokesperson for Secretary-General
The Secretary-General spoke this morning at the High-level debate of the General Assembly marking the 15th Anniversary of the adoption of the UN Convention against Corruption.
This morning, the Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed, today spoke at the special meeting “Towards sustainable, resilient and inclusive societies through participation of all.”
The Secretary-General will travel to Switzerland, where he will speak to students at the University of Geneva tomorrow. The Secretary-General intends to focus on his disarmament agenda in his remarks to the students.
Nickolay Mladenov, the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, briefed the Security Council by VTC this morning, and he discussed how the violence on 14 May was a reminder of how easily violence in Gaza flares up. He said that we must act urgently to avoid another war, to alleviate the suffering of people and to empower the Palestinian Government to take up its responsibilities in Gaza.
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says that since 15 May, more than 7,000 people at sites for displaced people in rural Damascus have returned to eastern Ghouta, following two months of displacement.
The UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations says that on 21 May 2018, the African Union/UN mission in Darfur, UNAMID, received reports of a confrontation between Rapid Support Forces personnel and internally displaced people in the Khamsa Dagaig IDP camp in Zalingei, Central Darfur, resulting in one death and injuries amongst the displaced people. This triggered demonstrations, which led to further injuries and arrests of internally displaced people. UNAMID evacuated UN and non-governmental organizations personnel to its camp, stepped up its patrols, and maintains a regular presence in and around the camp. Yesterday, a verification mission comprised of UNAMID and OCHA personnel reported that the situation has calmed down and humanitarian workers have returned. UNAMID continues to engage with the relevant authorities and to monitor the situation.
Today in Geneva, World Health Assembly delegates agreed on a new strategic plan for the next five years.
Today is the International Day to End Obstetric Fistula. An estimated 2 million women in sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, the Arab region, and Latin America and the Caribbean are living with this obstetric fistula, and some 50,000 to 100,000 new cases develop worldwide each year. However, this injury is almost entirely preventable, and this Day seeks to raise awareness of the importance of timely access to obstetric care all women around the world.
This Friday at 7:00pm, at All Saints Episcopal Church, there will be a concert celebrating the accomplishments of female and minority classical music composers: namely, William Grant Still, Ulysses Kay, Joseph Boulogne, Pauline Viardot, Lili Boulanger, Giaccobe Cervetto, Amy Beach, Juilius Eastman, and Yuko Uebayashi.
The Lao People’s Democratic Republic has paid its regular budget dues in full, bringing the Honour Roll to 99.
