Press Briefing by Spokesperson for Secretary-General

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

• Categories: Media / Press Conferences
• Video Length: 00:31:55
• Production Date: 2 March 2021
• Asset Language: English
• Personal Subject: STEPHANE DUJARRIC
• Subject Topical: CLIMATE CHANGE; CORONAVIRUS DISEASE - COVID 19; TECHNOLOGY; UNITED NATIONS BUDGET; VACCINATION
• Geographic Subject: CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC; ECUADOR; ETHIOPIA; LIBYA; MYANMAR; NIGERIA; UKRAINE; YEMEN
• MAMS Id: 2605447
• Parent Id: 2605447

Description

The Secretary-General today welcomed the holding of peaceful general elections in Ecuador on 7 February and took note of the announcement of the official results by the National Electoral Council on 21 February.

This morning, the Secretary-General spoke by video message to the Powering Past Coal Alliance virtual Summit hosted by Canada and the United Kingdom.

Yesterday afternoon, following the High-Level Pledging Event on Yemen, the Secretary-General said that the outcome was disappointing. Pledges announced totaled approximately $1.7 billion. This is less than what was received for the humanitarian response plan in 2020, the Secretary-General said - and a billion dollars less than was pledged at the conference we held in 2019.

The UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, Edward Kallon, today strongly condemned the attack by armed groups in Dikwa in Borno State. Several aid facilities were attacked during that incident.

The Secretary-General is delighted at the news that more than 200 schoolgirls who were kidnapped last week in Zamfara State in Nigeria have been released.

Today, Nigeria received nearly 4 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine from the COVAX Facility.

A virtual meeting in the Central African Republic brought together the African Union Commissioner, Smaїl Chergui, the President of the Commission of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), Ambassador Gilberto da Piedade Veríssimo, the Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, and EU High Representative, Josep Borrell. They met with the Central African President Faustin-Archange Touadéra.

In Ethiopia, our humanitarian colleagues have seen the media and other reports of abuses in Tigray and call on all to ensure that access is granted for humanitarian workers to provide required assistance and aid to victims and survivors.

The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the World Food Programme (WFP) today appealed for $266 million to end food ration cuts for over 3 million refugees in Eastern Africa.

On Myanmar, the Special Envoy, Christine Schraner Burgener, continues her conversations with various parties regarding the current situation.

The UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) today strongly encouraged the House of Representatives to meet as scheduled to discuss and consider the vote of confidence on the cabinet to be proposed by the Prime Minister-designate.

On Ukraine, the first UN-organized humanitarian convoy with 133 tons of shelter materials and other relief items passed through Shchastia crossing point to the non-government-controlled area of Luhanska oblast.

The UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) is launching its “Technology and Innovation Report 2021: Catching Technological Waves – Innovation with Equity”, tomorrow at 9.30 a.m.

Italy, Namibia and Nepal have all paid their regular budget dues in full, bringing us up to 63.

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