Secretary-General's Travel, Trip Announcements…

The Secretary-General arrived in Doha in Qatar today. At this moment, he just started the first session - a working dinner - of the meeting he is hosting with special envoys on Afghanistan to reach points of commonality on key issues, such as human rights, especially for women and girls, inclusive governance, countering terrorism and drug trafficking.

He is scheduled to arrive in Nairobi, Kenya, tomorrow 2 May. On 4 and 5 May he will chair this year’s first session of the UN System Chief Executives Board for Coordination.  

Prior to the meetings of the CEB, the Secretary-General will, on Wednesday, is scheduled to attend a State dinner hosted by the President of Kenya, William Ruto. Earlier in the day, he will meet with UN staff at the UN office in Nairobi. He is also scheduled to hold a press conference at the UN office in Nairobi.

On 5 May on Friday, the Secretary-General will travel to Bujumbura, in Burundi, to take part in the 11th High- level meeting of the Regional Oversight Mechanism of the Peace, Security and Cooperation Framework for the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the region. 

Our Deputy Secretary-General over the past few days has been travelling. She arrived last night in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to engage in a high-level strategic dialogue with officials of the African Union and the UN Country Team.

On Sudan, you will have seen that yesterday the Secretary-General dispatched Martin Griffiths, the Emergency Relief Coordinator, to the region to explore how we can bring immediate relief to millions of people whose lives have been turned upside down by the ongoing fighting in Sudan.

Just a bit more information on what’s going on on the ground. The World Food Programme is immediately lifting the temporary suspension of operations. Distribution of food is expected to commence in the states of Gedaref, Gezira, Kassala and White Nile in the coming days to provide the life-saving assistance that many so desperately need right now.

Senior personnel announcement to share with you. Today, the Secretary-General is appointing Clementine Nkweta-Salami of Cameroon as his Deputy Special Representative for the UN Mission in Sudan, UNITAMS.  She will also serve as the UN Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator in the country.  

Quick update for you from Peru, where the Central Emergency Response Fund from the UN has just approved the disbursement of $6.9 million to provide assistance to about 245,000 people impacted by the rains and floods in the north of the country. 

A couple of programming notes. The 2023 edition of the online Africa Dialogue Series gets underway today.

At 2 p.m. today if you’re free, in the General Assembly’s visitors’ lobby, our colleagues from the Peacekeeping department are launching a photo exhibition to mark 75 years of UN peacekeeping.

Tomorrow, we will be joined by Guilherme Canela De Souza Godoi, Chief of the Freedom of Expression and Safety of Journalists of UNESCO.