Noon Briefings

The Secretary-General laid a wreath today in memory of former Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld, who died 54 years ago.  Speaking at the ceremony, he said that the Organization remains inspired every day by Mr. Hammarskjöld’s integrity, intelligence and idealism.

The Secretary-General, speaking at the award ceremony for the United Nations Energy Grant, said that energy underpins common efforts to achieve development objectives — from reducing extreme poverty to enhancing food security, powering essential health services and providing electricity for education.

The United Nations Refugee Agency welcomed European Commission proposals to address the current crisis, urging their full and swift implementation.  The proposed scheme to relocate 160,000 refugees could only succeed if accompanied by a large-scale emergency response in most-affected States, such as Greece, Hungary and Italy.

United Nations aid agencies and their partners warned that the number of people struggling to cope with food insecurity in Afghanistan doubled in the last year.  Today, more than 1.5 million people are considered severely food insecure.  Meanwhile, the Food and Agriculture Organization announced that its Food Price Index registered its sharpest fall since December 2008.

In South Sudan, the World Food Programme and UNICEF today launched a joint plan to reach more than 2 million people to help reverse the dire malnutrition situation.  In Yemen, where global acute malnutrition nearly doubled since 2014, the World Health Organization and partners set up mobile centres serving 23,000.

The Secretary-General, in recent phone calls, appealed to European leaders to quickly find a joint approach to address refugees’ basic needs.  He emphasized the importance of their stand against increasing xenophobia, discrimination and violence against migrants and refugees, stressing that many were fleeing war.

Following the decision by President Otto Pérez Molina of Guatemala to resign, the Secretary-General trusts that the authorities will abide by the Constitution and ensure an orderly democratic transition.  He appeals to the authorities and all sectors of society to work to strengthen institutions and the rule of law.

The Secretary-General attended commemorative events in Beijing, marking the Second World War’s seventieth anniversary.  Meeting with President Xi Jinping, he called for China’s continued support for building momentum ahead of the Paris Climate Change Conference and for implementation of the new development agenda.

The United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen condemned the killing of two International Committee of the Red Cross staff members in Amran Governate.  The Emergency Relief Coordinator reiterated a call for all parties to the conflict to respect international humanitarian law and to protect aid workers.

The Secretary-General called today the “start of a new era”, as he handed over to the General Assembly the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development to be endorsed at the Summit later this month.  He said the new Agenda aimed high, putting people at the centre of development while fostering prosperity, peace and justice.