Daily Press Briefing by Spokesperson for Secretary-General

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

• Categories: Media / Press Conferences
• Video Length: 00:18:28
• Production Date: 19 October 2020
• Asset Language: English
• Personal Subject: STEPHANE DUJARRIC
• Subject Topical: CORONAVIRUS DISEASE - COVID 19; ELECTIONS; HUMANITARIAN CRISIS; SMALL STATES; VACCINATION
• Geographic Subject: AFGHANISTAN; ARMENIA; AZERBAIJAN; BOLIVIA; CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC; LIBYA; SAHEL; VIET NAM; YEMEN
• MAMS Id: 2573554
• Parent Id: 2573554

Description

In a statement, the Secretary-General congratulated the Bolivian people on the holding of highly participative and peaceful general elections that took place on 18 October.

This morning, the Secretary-General spoke to the Forum of Small States. He pointed to challenges that small states face, such as the collapse of the global tourism industry, the contraction of remittances, the major trade slowdown, and the climate crisis.

In the Security Council this morning, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative in the Central African Republic, Mankeur Ndiaye, reiterated the UN Mission’s commitment to support the forthcoming presidential and legislative elections, as well as local elections scheduled next year.

A reminder that, tomorrow, the Secretary-General will address the ministerial conference on the Central Sahel by video message. The conference is organized by our humanitarian colleagues, together with Denmark, Germany and the European Union.

In Geneva, the fourth round of the Libyan 5+5 Joint Military Commission talks began this morning. These are taking place at the Palais des Nations, with the presence and participation of the Acting Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Libya, Stephanie Williams.

In Yemen, our humanitarian colleagues tell us the situation continues to worsen as clashes surge in Hudaydah, Taiz and elsewhere.

Turning to Việt Nam, we have been told that the central region of the country has experienced prolonged, heavy rains since 6 October, provoking widespread flooding and damage impacting some 5 million people. More than 130,000 homes have been flooded and more than 66,000 people have been evacuated.

The Secretary-General has appointed Valerie Julliand of France as the new Resident Coordinator in Indonesia; Issa Sanogo of Côte d’Ivoire will be the new Resident Coordinator in Madagascar, and Coulibaly Siaka of Côte d’Ivoire will be the new Resident Coordinator in Senegal.

Our friends at UNICEF said today said that it has begun laying the groundwork for the rapid, safe and efficient delivery of the eventual COVID-19 vaccine by purchasing and pre-positioning syringes and other necessary equipment.

In a statement issued over the weekend on Afghanistan, the Secretary-General strongly condemned the indiscriminate attack that took place Sunday on provincial police headquarters in Afghanistan’s province of Ghor.

Also, over the weekend, we issued a statement on the situation between Armenia and Azerbaijan, in which the Secretary-General condemned all attacks on populated areas impacted by the conflict.

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