Virtual Press Briefing by Spokesperson for Secretary-General

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

The UN system is stepping up its efforts to help the people in Lebanon following the explosion one week ago in the port of Beirut.

Heavier than usual rains throughout 2020, including monthly flash floods since March, have affected at least 16 of Lebanon’s 22 Governorates.

The UN Mission in that country says that it has received reports from authorities in Tonj that more than 70 people were killed and dozens injured during clashes between members of the South Sudan People’s Defense Force and armed civilians over the weekend.

Our colleagues at the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said today that clashes in Sudan’s Western Darfur region have forced refugees to seek safety in neighbouring Chad.

From neighbouring Abyei, the UN peacekeeping mission there says that, on Saturday, there was an attack in the village of Ibrahim, in which three people were killed, one of them a four-year-old boy.

Violence in the South Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo has been impacting a growing number of people.

An update on flooding in Asia: In Bangladesh, people are experiencing the worst and longest monsoon flooding in years, with a quarter of the country being inundated. In neighbouring India, the monsoon there has reportedly claimed more than 770 lives. And the Korean Peninsula has also experienced heavy rainfall. In the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the unusually heavy rains this month have resulted in flooding.

Some COVID-19 related news from the Pacific region: the UN team there, led by Resident Coordinator Sanaka Samarasinha in Fiji, is organizing a virtual concert called “Pacific Unite: Saving Lives Together” and that will take place on August 15th and will bring together local, regional and international artists to pay tribute to essential workers across the region and will help renew the Secretary-General’s call for global solidarity in the fight against the virus through music and art.

UNICEF today said that the polio immunization campaigns have resumed in Afghanistan and Pakistan, months after COVID-19 left 50 million children without their polio vaccines.

Education Cannot Wait, the global fund for education in emergencies, launched its annual report today.

While the UN Headquarters remains closed to the public, the UN Visitor Centre announced today that it is offering of virtual tours and briefings.

After somewhat of a dry spell, we get to thank our friends in Tunis, as Tunisia has paid up its regular budget dues for 2020, bringing us up to 108 Member States of these United Nations.

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

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