Pakistan, Afghanistan, Black Sea Grain Initiative…

With the tragic situation facing millions of men, women and children impacted by the historic floods in Pakistan, the Secretary-General will travel to the country next week for a solidarity visit. He is expected to arrive in Islamabad on Friday, 9 September. The Secretary-General will be back in New York on 11 September.

This morning, the Secretary-General, in a video message, addressed the launch of the Flash Appeal for the Pakistan Floods Response Plan, where he made the link between extreme weather events and climate change.

On the ground in Pakistan, the World Food Programme and its humanitarian partners are stepping up their support to the Government’s relief efforts. 
 
In Afghanistan, more than 250 people have been killed and more than 100,000 have been impacted by heavy rains and flash floods across the country just this year.
 
We are happy report that, earlier today, the first ship carrying humanitarian food assistance under the Black Sea Grain Initiative reached the port of Djibouti.
 
On the ground in Ukraine, our humanitarian colleagues say that a convoy, organized by the United Nations and our partners, recently reached Toretsk in eastern Donetska oblast on August 26th. This convoy delivered 56 tons of food and other items for 2,000 people living close to the front line and who are under shelling.

In Ethiopia, the situation in the northern part of the country continues to be tense as violence continues, with reports of displacement and increased humanitarian needs.
  
In nearby South Sudan, the head of the UN Mission there, Nicholas Haysom, spoke at the graduation of the first group of soldiers from the Necessary Unified Forces, which he called a long-awaited day in the country’s pathway to peace.

Another peacekeeping update, this one from Mali, where our peacekeeping mission has responded rapidly to a terrorist alert in Tin Hamma, in the country’s northeast region of Gao.
                                        
This morning, the Security Council held consultations on Syria, sanctions on the Democratic People’s Republic of the Korea and other matters. At 3 p.m., the Council will hold an open meeting on the Panel of Experts on Mali.
That will be followed by another open meeting on Libya, where Rosemary DiCarlo, the head of the Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, will brief.
 
Today is the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances.

The guests at the Noon Briefing were Asim Iftikhar, the Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan, and Julien Harneis, the UN’s Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Pakistan. They spoke to reporters about the launch of the Flood Response Plan for Pakistan.