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Security Council, African Union Summit & other topics- Daily Press Briefing
This morning, the Security Council held an open meeting on sanctions.
On Saturday, the Secretary-General sent a video message to the 35th Assembly of the Heads of State and Government of the African Union. The Deputy Secretary-General, Amina Mohammed, represented the Secretary-General at the meeting.
The UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen, David Gressly, held constructive meetings last week on the UN-coordinated proposal to mitigate the threat posed by the ageing floating storage and offloading unit, FSO Safer, moored off the coast of Hodeidah.
From the Central African Republic, the UN Mission there says that, on Friday, the UN and G5 Ambassadors met with the leaders of opposition parties, who confirmed the opposition’s return to the preparatory committee of the national dialogue, scheduled for March.
We have an update on Tropical Cyclone Batsirai, which made landfall as an Intense Tropical Cyclone on the east coast of Madagascar on Saturday night, local time. At least 10 people have died and more than 43,000 are displaced across 180 displacement sites. At least 211 schools have been affected.
Turning to Afghanistan, we have an update from our humanitarian colleagues on the ongoing humanitarian response. Between 2 and 3 February, more than 123,000 families received food assistance in ten provinces in the country. Cash assistance was also provided to close to 8,000 families in eight provinces.
From Tonga, our UN team there tells us that $1 million has been allocated from the Central Emergency Response Fund following last month’s volcano and tsunami.
From Myanmar, the UN Children’s Fund says it is deeply concerned over a growing wave of violence against children in the country.
Late on Friday afternoon, we put out the announcement that the Secretary-General has appointed Major General Aroldo Lázaro Sáenz of Spain as Head of Mission and Force Commander of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon, or UNIFIL. Major General Lázaro Sáenz succeeds Major General Stefano Del Col of Italy.
Our colleagues in the UN Development Coordination Office tell us that we have two new Resident Coordinators to announce today. Anna Marttinen-Pont of Finland is the new Resident Coordinator in Equatorial Guinea, while Roli Asthana of the United Kingdom is the new Resident Coordinator in Uzbekistan.
At this stage, the United Nations has not received any formal request about talks in Venezuela.
On Saturday, Pablo Picasso’s iconic Guernica tapestry was rehung outside the United Nations Security Council Chamber. The return of the Guernica had been announced by Nelson A. Rockefeller, Jr., whose family has been the longtime steward of the tapestry.
And last, three more countries have paid into the regular budget, for which we are enormously grateful. Our thanks go to Australia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Nepal. Their payments take the Honour Roll to 50.
For further details please see SOURCE below.
Office of the Spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General