Daily Press Briefing by the Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General
The following is a near-verbatim transcript of today’s noon briefing by Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesman for the Secretary-General.
**Oceans
This afternoon at 4 p.m., the Secretary-General will meet with members of civil society and philanthropic organizations, who will hand over a call to urge Governments and corporations to take bold actions to safeguard the ocean at the next UN Ocean Conference that takes place in Lisbon from 2 to 6 June.
Before that, at 1:15 p.m., there will be a briefing here on the Ocean Conference. The speakers will include the Ambassadors of Palau and Denmark, along with Peter Thomson, the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for the Ocean, and Karen Sack, the Managing Director of Ocean Unite.
**Security Council
Back in the Security Council, Izumi Nakamitsu, the High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, briefed the Security Council in its open debate today on small arms and light weapons, and she said that the destabilizing accumulation, illicit transfer and misuse of small arms and light weapons continue to initiate, sustain and exacerbate armed conflict and pervasive crime.
On a global scale, she said, small arms were used in nearly 50 per cent of all violent deaths between 2010 and 2015. This translates to more than 200,000 deaths each year. She added that diversion remains a major source of weapons and their ammunition for gangs, criminal organizations and terrorist groups.
Ms. Nakamitsu added that the negative impact of illicit small arms and light weapons flows is cross-cutting and multidimensional. Illicit small arms and light weapons have a multitude of implications for security, human rights, sustainable development, gender equality and conflict prevention. Her remarks are online.
**Syria
Yesterday, you heard the Secretary-General express his continued concern about the civilian population in northern Syria.
Today, our colleagues tell us that the humanitarian conditions continue to deteriorate in the north-west as air strikes and shelling continue to be reported.
Some 586,000 people have been displaced since 1 December, with over 100,000 others facing an immediate risk of displacement.
Many of those affected are living in particularly appalling humanitarian conditions and most of the displaced are moving north and west away from the conflict in search of safety.
Food, shelter, water and sanitation hygiene, health, education and protection assistance are all urgent priorities as many of the displaced left with nothing more than the clothes on their back.
The humanitarian community has released an emergency response plan to address the needs of up to 800,000 people in the north-west of Syria over a six-month period. The requirement of the plan is about $336 million.
**Libya
Turning to Libya, despite political efforts and commitments, civilians continue to suffer the brunt of the fighting in and around Tripoli.
Yesterday, two more children were killed in shelling on the residential neighbourhood of al-Karamiya al-Sharqiya in Tripoli. The medical team trying to rescue those injured in the attacks were themselves affected by shelling near a local hospital.
This is the third attack to affect health personnel and facilities this year — two health workers have been killed and five others injured in such attacks since the beginning of the year. That’s according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Around 749,000 people are estimated to be in areas impacted by clashes in and around Tripoli, including almost 345,000 people in frontline areas.
Humanitarians continue to call on all parties to abide by their obligations under international humanitarian law to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure and to avoid the use of explosive weapons in populated areas.
Where access and capacities allow, humanitarian partners continue to provide assistance to the internally displaced, to returnees, migrants, refugees and other vulnerable and conflict-affected groups.
The Libya Humanitarian Needs Overview for 2020 was published last week and estimates that 900,000 people are in need of assistance in Libya. This is over 13 per cent of Libya’s population.
**Central African Republic
In a press conference in Bangui, in the capital of the Central African Republic, the Government and the UN Peacekeeping Mission (MINUSCA) have reaffirmed their commitment to the implementation of the peace agreement that was signed on 6 February 2019, so just about a year ago — exactly a year ago tomorrow.
The Mission highlighted progress achieved in the past year, but also urged armed groups — some of whom are still committing violations and human rights abuses — to honour their commitments under the peace agreement.
The UN reaffirmed its commitment to work with the guarantors - the African Union, the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), the Government and other partners — to implement the Agreement and to protect civilian population.
**Coronavirus
An update on the coronavirus. The World Health Organization today launched its Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan to support countries to prevent, detect and diagnose the transmission of the virus.
WHO is requesting $675 million to fund the plan for the next three months; $60 million of that is to fund WHO’s operations — the rest is for the countries that are especially at risk.
WHO has already released $9 million from its own Contingency Fund for Emergencies.
The Organization is also sending half a million masks, 350,000 pairs of gloves, 40,000 respirators and almost 18,000 isolation gowns from its warehouses in Dubai and Accra to 24 countries, with more countries to be added. It is also sending 250,000 tests to more than 70 reference laboratories globally to facilitate faster testing.
The Director-General of WHO stressed that the greatest concern is about the potential for spread in countries with weaker health systems and that WHO is asking countries for political, technical and financial solidarity.
**Refugees
The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said today that only 4.5 per cent of the global resettlement needs were met last year.
Out of 1.4 million refugees estimated to be in urgent need of resettlement worldwide, only about 64,000 were resettled through UNHCR. Most of them went to Canada, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Germany and the US.
The agency says that while the number of resettlements achieved last year is in line with their targets, they worry that based on current projections, fewer refugees will be able to rebuild their lives in new countries. More information online.
**Appointments
You saw that yesterday after the press conference we issued two senior personnel appointments, one for Selwin Hart of Barbados as the Special Adviser and Assistant Secretary-General of the Climate Action Team, and Mahmoud Mohieldin of Egypt as the Special Envoy on Financing the 2030 Agenda.
Mr. Hart is currently the Executive Director for the Caribbean region at the Inter-American Development Bank. He was previously the Ambassador of Barbados to both the US and the Organization of American States and he also had worked here on climate change under the previous Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon.
Mr. Mohieldin, an economist, was the former Minister of Investment of Egypt from 2004 to 2010, and most recently, served as the World Bank Group Senior Vice-President for the 2030 Development Agenda, UN Relations and Partnerships.
**Locusts
I want to flag that on Monday, the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Mark Lowcock, and the Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) Director of Emergencies, Dominique Burgeon, will be here to brief you on the impact of the locust upsurge in the Greater Horn of Africa and elsewhere, and how the UN is responding to support impacted Governments.
**Honour Roll
Today we are thanking Slovakia for having paid its dues in full. Yesterday, if we’d had a noon briefing, we would’ve thanked Bhutan, Morocco and Samoa, which brings us up to… very close to 40.
**Questions and Answers
Edie and then James.
Question: Thank you, Steph. On the escalating situation in Idlib in north‑west Syria, has the Secretary‑General been in contact with the presidents of either Turkey, Russia, Syria or any other senior officials?
Spokesman: I’m not aware of any contacts from the Secretary‑General and Heads of States. Contacts have been had at other levels from the UN to those Member States. We also expect Mr. [Geir] Pedersen and probably Mr. Lowcock to update the Council tomorrow on the situation in north‑west Syria.
James and then Evelyn.
Question: Can I get an update on what’s been going on in Geneva with regard to Libya? The 5+5 talks have been under way. I think it’s quite hard to read between the lines because not many… much information is coming out. We had yesterday morning Mr. [Ghassan] Salamé said a few words, but we’ve had two days of talks. Has it gone into a third day? Have they gone beyond proximity talks? And what does it say about the situation if they’re not even prepared to be in the same room?
Spokesman: I’m afraid I don’t have any updates for you. I’ve not gotten anything from our colleagues in the Mission, the Libya political Mission (UNSMIL). We will try to get something. [He later said that the delegations are still in Geneva and now discussing ways to transform the truce into a lasting ceasefire.]
You know, it’s one step at a time. I think the fact that everybody went to Geneva is already a positive step forward, but I mean, we’re all realists, so we have to take it one step at a time.
Sir. Sorry, and then Evelyn. Sorry. Go ahead. Go ahead.
Question: Just on the WHO coronavirus response plan, 675 million over the next three months, how does that compare to previous plans and mobilizations to outbreaks? Is this a lot of money comparably, or have we…
Spokesman: I mean, it’s a lot of money by any measure. We… you know, it’s hard to do a compare‑and‑contrast. I think that the focus of WHO is really on those countries where the health systems may be not as robust to try to get in front of an even larger spread of the virus as we see it. It’s really about helping the resilience of health systems to deal with outbreaks, to deal with prevention, and also is set to deal with testing, because that’s obviously a critical part of it.
Evelyn and then Alan.
Question: Thank you. In Idlib, is it possible to trace the increase in violence to the withdrawal of US troops and its deal with Turkey?
Spokesman: That’s an analysis question. What we’re seeing is an increase in violence, and what we’re seeing is an increase in suffering to the civilian population. What is clear is that there is a direct correlation between an increase in fighting, an increase in violence and an increase in suffering.
Alan?
Question: Thank you, Stéphane. as far as we know, tomorrow United States President said Jared Kushner is going to meet with Security Council. Is he going to hold the meeting with the SG?
Spokesman: I haven’t seen anything on the SG’s schedule to that effect. But, obviously, tomorrow is another day, as we say.
All right. [in French] Demain est un autre jour. And, demain, I am not here. Farhan [Haq] will be… You’ll be in Farhan’s hands until we get back from Addis Ababa.