Virtual Press Briefing by Spokesperson for Secretary-General

Briefing by Stephane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.

• Categories: Media / Press Conferences
• Video Length: 00:34:31
• Production Date: 9 June 2020
• Asset Language: English
• Personal Subject: STEPHANE DUJARRIC
• Subject Topical: CLIMATE CHANGE; EPIDEMICS; FOOD SECURITY; GENDER ISSUES; PEACEKEEPING OPERATIONS; RACISM; SECRETARY-GENERAL; UNITED NATIONS BUDGET
• Geographic Subject: CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC; DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO; LEBANON; SOUTH SUDAN; SYRIA
• MAMS Id: 2547728
• Parent Id: 2547728

Description

In a letter to UN staff today, the Secretary-General said that the position of the United Nations on racism is crystal clear: this scourge violates the United Nations Charter and debases our core values.

In a message released today to mark the release of the Policy Brief on the Impact of COVID-19 on Food Security and Nutrition, the Secretary-General said that there is more than enough food in the world to feed our population of 7.8 billion people, but more than 820 million people are hungry.

Our colleagues at the World Food Programme (WFP) tell us that, for the first time since 2018, it has been able to send a humanitarian convoy from Kenya directly into South Sudan through the Nadapal Border crossing.

In Syria, our humanitarian colleagues are concerned about the safety and protection of four million civilians in northwest Syria where the first airstrikes since the 5 March ceasefire have been reported in the last few days. 

In Lebanon, with the support of donors, the UN continues to assist the Government of Lebanon in responding to the Syria Crisis, under the leadership of the Lebanon Crisis Response Plan. 

In South Sudan, the head of the UN peacekeeping mission there (UNMISS), David Shearer, has warned today that stepped up intercommunal clashes are harming civilians and could unravel the peace agreement.

In the Central African Republic, earlier today in the community of Pougol, in the country’s north-west, unidentified armed men attacked a checkpoint jointly operated by the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission (MINUSCA) and the army of the Central African Republic.

In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the UN Organization Stabilization Mission (MONUSCO) continues to support the authorities, including through community-awareness activities, to put in place preventive measures to limit the spread of COVID-19.

The UN Environment Programme (UNEP), UN Women and the UN Development Programme (UNDP) today released a joint report that shows that women on the frontlines of climate action are playing a vital role in conflict prevention and sustainable, inclusive peace.

Tomorrow, the Secretary-General will convene an extraordinary meeting of his Global Investors for Sustainable Development Alliance, known as GISD for short. The event is entitled “COVID-19: Response and Recovery”.

And we end on a positive note today. We are up to 96 Member States who are fully-paid up, and the last one to do so is Botswana, so thanks to our friends in Gaborone for paying up.

For further details please see SOURCE below.
Office of the Spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General