Daily Press Briefing: Development, Middle East, Occupied Palestinian Territory, Security Council, Libya, Central African Republic, Rohingya, Chile, Covax, Verified, Financial Contribution, Press Briefing and Press Encounter

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

• Categories: Media / Press Conferences
• Video Length: 00:26:36
• Production Date: 18 May 2021
• Asset Language: English
• Personal Subject: STEPHANE DUJARRIC
• Corporate Name: SECURITY COUNCIL
• Subject Topical: CORONAVIRUS DISEASE - COVID 19; DEVELOPMENT; ROHINGYA MUSLIMS; UNITED NATIONS BUDGET; UNITED NATIONS ORGANIZATION; VACCINATION
• Geographic Subject: CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC; CHILE; GAZA; LIBYA; PALESTINE
• MAMS Id: 2620270
• Parent Id: 2620270

Description

This morning, the Secretary-General and the Deputy Secretary-General, Amina Mohammed, kicked off a three-day virtual session with Member States on the state of the UN development system.

Rosemary DiCarlo, the Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, told a UN forum on the question of Palestine this morning that the recent fighting has now claimed more than two hundred civilian lives, including children.

On the humanitarian situation, the opening of the Kerem Shalom crossing today has allowed dozens of fuel trucks from UNRWA to enter Gaza. Regrettably, other essential humanitarian cargo was unable to cross.

The Security Council met on the G5 Sahel Force this morning. Jean-Pierre Lacroix, the Head of the Peacekeeping department, said that in the past months, the fight against terrorist armed groups in the region has intensified.

Ján Kubiš, the Special Envoy for Libya, was in London yesterday where he met with high-level British officials, including those in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and the Ministry of Defence.

The UN Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) reports that 300 peacekeepers were deployed to Bakouma, in the Mbomou prefecture. They repaired six bridges on the Bangassou-Bakouma axis to allow freedom of movement and also to help ensure the safe conduct of legislative elections that are scheduled for Sunday.

The World Food Programme said that five years after the 2017 influx into Bangladesh of Rohingya refugees, food security in Cox’s Bazar remains a top priority.

The UN team in Chile welcomed the conclusion of an electoral process through which citizens elected their representatives for the Constitutional Convention, mayors and municipal councils and, for the first time, regional governments.

Armenia received its second shipment of COVAX doses, bringing the total received so far to 74,000. The Philippines has received 60 per cent of the 4.5 million doses from COVAX so far. More than 2 million people have received the shot.

The Department of Global Communications, joined by the Permanent Missions of Namibia and the United Kingdom are inviting journalists to a webinar discussion on how government communicators can rise to the challenge of countering misinformation related to the pandemic and the vaccine.

The Spokesman thanked Ethiopia, who has paid its contribution to the regular budget. There are now 102 Member States who have paid in full this year.

Immediately after this briefing, the Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine, Ambassador Riyad Mansour will answer questions from the press, along with Ambassador Sofiane Mimouni, the Permanent Representative of Algeria and Chair of the Arab Group for the month of May and Ambassador Abdou Abarry, the Permanent Representative of Niger and Chair of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation for May.

At 4:30 p.m., Ambassador Zhang Jun, the Permanent Representative of China and President of the Security Council for this month, will brief reporters at the Security Council Stakeout.

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