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 Stephanie Tremblay, Associate Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.
**Noon Briefing Guests
Good afternoon everyone. Is it too late for me to wish Happy New Year to everyone? Well, Happy New Year, welcome to the noon briefing. Today, as you know, right after you are done with me and I’m done with you, we will have guests. Our guests will be Mr. Shantanu Mukherjee, the Director of the Economic Analysis and Policy Division at the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs — better known as DESA — as well as Hamid Rashid, the Chief of the Global Economic Monitoring Branch also at DESA. They will brief you on the launch of the World Economic Situation and Prospects Report 2024. This report presents an outlook for the global economy and underscores the importance of global cooperation and prudent policies to lift global growth and accelerate progress towards the SDGs [Sustainable Development Goals], and I know this is always a very popular report, so we are looking forward to their presentation.
**Gaza
Let me now turn to Gaza, I have an update on what is going on there. The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs is telling us that bombardments and fighting continue in most of Gaza, as well as the firing of rockets by Palestinian armed groups into Israel. OCHA [Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs] says that, yesterday, 3 January, for the second day in a row, the vicinity of Al Amal hospital and the Palestine Red Crescent Society in Khan Younis was bombed multiple times throughout the day. Many displaced families who had been sheltering in the building and in the Red Crescent headquarters attempted to evacuate.
Our food security partners continue to provide support, but they tell us that the operating environment and response capacity continue to be hindered by security risks, by mobility constraints, delays and denials. Despite these challenges, between December 28th and 31st, the World Food Programme conducted a large-scale distribution of food to some 10,000 households in make-shift camps as well as an additional 26,000 displaced people through distribution sites in Rafah. Hot meals were also provided they tell us to 57,000 people in Rafah, Deir al Balah and Gaza City.
Yesterday, UNRWA [United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East] announced that it will carry out a rapid response plan — together with UNICEF, the World Health Organization and other partners — to deliver more than 960,000 doses of key vaccines into the Gaza Strip to protect against diseases such as measles, pneumonia and polio. Humanitarian workers — as we have said repeatedly — need safe, sustained and unhindered access now to deliver urgently needed life-saving assistance.
**Security Council
And as you all saw that yesterday afternoon at the Security Council, the Assistant Secretary-General Khaled Khiari briefed Security Council members on the situation in the Red Sea. He reiterated our warnings against the adverse political, security, economic and humanitarian repercussions of military escalation in the Red Sea and the risk of worsening regional tensions. He also underscored the need to protect the freedom of maritime navigation, as well as our concern about the potential impact of the current attacks and disruptions to sea traffic in the Red Sea on international trade.
The Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization, Arsenio Dominguez, as you saw, also briefed the Council and stressed the importance of ensuring the safety and security of global supply chains. He added that IMO — the International Maritime Organization — continues to closely monitor the situation and to liaise with industry and navies on this matter.
**Ukraine — Humanitarian
Let me move to Ukraine. Our humanitarian colleagues are telling us that attacks and hostilities have continued across the country over the past 24 hours. This morning, according to our humanitarian partners on the ground, most of the city of Kropyvnytskyi, in the centre of the country, was left temporarily without water and electricity after strikes. Attacks also damaged homes and schools, killing and injuring civilians in the Sumy Region in the north, in the Donetsk Region in the east, and in Kherson and the Mykolayiv Regions in the south.
In total, since 29 December, at least ten health facilities and eight schools have been damaged in Ukraine, and this according to UNICEF and the World Health Organization. We, along with our humanitarian partners, are helping people impacted by these attacks. In Kharkiv, humanitarian organizations are working with volunteer groups and they covered more than 30 per cent of 1,500 windows that were damaged in the city over the past days, which is something important as they are in the middle of winter and it’s very cold. In the Sumy Region, humanitarian workers rapidly responded following an attack in the evening of 1 January, which damaged a two-story apartment building. They provided sheets of tarpaulin for the rapid repair of homes and psychological support to people impacted by the attack.
**Sudan
Turning now to Sudan, different continent. In a statement that you may have seen that was issued earlier today, the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Martin Griffiths, warned that nine months of war there has tipped the country into a downward spiral that only grows more ruinous by the day. Across Sudan, nearly 25 million people will need humanitarian assistance this year — but escalating hostilities are putting most of them beyond our reach. Mr. Griffiths called on the parties to the conflict to protect civilians, facilitate humanitarian access and stop the fighting immediately. He said that in 2024, the international community — particularly those with influence on the parties to the conflict in Sudan — must take decisive and immediate action to stop the fighting and safeguard humanitarian operations meant to help millions of civilians.
**Afghanistan
And you asked us yesterday about whether there would be a new meeting on Afghanistan in the near future, I think Miriam you are the one who asked about that. I can tell you that the Secretary-General indeed intends to organize a second meeting of special envoys for Afghanistan at an appropriate time, I don’t have a time to announce today, and this is to cement international consensus on the way forward and to discuss the recommendations of the independent assessments. James, I think you also asked about the Special Coordinator, Feridun Sinirlioğlu. His work I can tell you has been extended until the end of February to support the preparations for the envoys meeting as well as relevant consultations. And in terms of who does what, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, whom you know, Roza Otunbayeva, continues to lead of course the day-to-day operation and engagement of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, UNAMA. So that’s what I have on that.
**World Braille Day
And finally today, does anyone know what today is? It’s [World] Braille Day. This Day is a reminder that Braille is essential in the context of education, freedom of expression and opinion, as well as social inclusion for blind and partially sighted people. And on this, I can now turn over to you. Yes, Edie, please go ahead.
**Questions and Answers
Question: Thank you, Stephanie. Two questions. First, on Sudan. You didn't mention any involvement by the United Nations in political efforts to settle the conflict and reports that these are going on. Is the UN involved and who, if so, who, what, and where?
Associate Spokesperson: We welcome all the diplomatic efforts aimed at securing a ceasefire and trading a political way forward. And in terms of our direct involvement, I can tell you that Mr. Ramtane Lamamra is now preparing to hold extensive consultations with the Sudanese as well as regional and international stakeholders to support our ongoing efforts to restore peace in Sudan.
Question: And on the Red Sea and the continuing Houthi attacks on ships. Can you tell us what Special Envoy Grundberg is doing and is anybody else from the UN involved in trying to talk to the Houthis in particular?
Associate Spokesperson: So what I have on that is, of course, you heard the briefings yesterday, so we stand by everything that our colleagues said yesterday at the Security Council. Everyone that is involved in the region is trying to deescalate the tensions over there. Yes, Maryam.
Question: Thank you so much. Regarding to your answer about Afghanistan. Is the Special Envoy's meeting going to be about selecting a Special Envoy or the Special Envoy is going to be picked before that meeting?
Associate Spokesperson: I don't have a timeline on the Special Envoy, apart that it was mandated by the Security Council. So we'll have an announcement when that announcement is ready.
Question: But it's going to be before February?
Associate Spokesperson: But that Special Envoy's meeting is another one of those, like the one that the SG held last year.
Question: Yeah. But Sinirlioğlu's job is going to end, like, at the end of February. So a Special Envoy is going to be picked before the end of February. Is that what you're referring to?
Associate Spokesperson: We will have an announcement when it is ready. I don't have a date, a specific date. Yes, James.
Question: Very quick follow-up on that. Where is that new Special Envoy's meeting going to be? I heard one report it was going to be in Japan.
Associate Spokesperson: I don't have a location to announce. But we'll have more. As we get closer, we'll share all the details. Yes. Any other questions? Should I then turn to our guests? If you don’t mind, if you can just bear with me for a second, I will just read this on the record. It’s about Russia and Ukraine.
**Ukraine
The Secretary-General welcomes the exchange of 230 Ukrainian and 248 Russian prisoners of war between Ukraine and the Russian Federation — the largest such exchange since the Russian Federation’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. He commends the efforts of both parties and the third-party facilitation by the United Arab Emirates that contributed to this positive development. The Secretary-General hopes that this important step will be followed by additional exchanges of prisoners of war and by other de-escalation efforts. So on this, let me now turn to our guests.