Press Conferences
Briefing by Spokesperson for Secretary-General
The Secretary-General is in Geneva in Switzerland today, where, tomorrow, he will speak at the opening of the World Refugee Forum, which is being co-hosted by UNHCR and Switzerland. The Secretary-General and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, also intend to talk to the press following the opening ceremony.
Tomorrow evening, the Secretary-General will begin an official visit to Italy, during which he will have bilateral meetings with the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella; the Prime Minister, Giuseppe Conte; and the Foreign Minister, Luigi Di Maio; as well as other senior officials. The Secretary-General and the Prime Minister will hold a joint media stakeout following their meeting.
The Secretary-General announced today the appointment of Agnes Kalibata of Rwanda as his Special Envoy for the 2021 Food Systems Summit.
The Security Council is holding an open meeting on the shared causes of intercommunal violence and preventing violent extremism in West Africa.
The Special Representative of the Secretary-General in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Leila Zerrougui, condemned the attacks attributed to the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) in the region of Beni in the eastern part of the country. On Saturday, 22 people were killed in Ntombi, and another 12 people were killed in Kamango last night.
The Assistant-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs, Ursula Mueller, concluded a six-day visit to Niger.
She met with the President, the Prime Minister and other government officials, to discuss the deteriorating humanitarian situation in the country.
Turning to the Philippines, the UN and other entities are in the area of the earthquake which struck Davao del Sur province yesterday, reportedly killing 3 people and displacing at least 50,000 others.
The World Food Programme said today, in their latest food security monitoring data, over 11 million people continue to face a daily struggle to find enough food in Yemen.
The Qatar Fund for Development and the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, otherwise known as UNRWA, signed an agreement yesterday under which the State of Qatar will contribute $20.7 million to support the access of Palestine refugees to basic services in Syria. With this generous contribution, the total support provided by the Qatar Fund to UNRWA this year is $40 million.
Lastly, a new approach is needed to help reduce undernutrition and obesity at the same time, as the issues become increasingly connected due to rapid changes in countries’ food systems.
For further details please see SOURCE below.
Office of the Spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General