The World Food Programme (WFP) said today that funding shortages were making it difficult for WFP to expand its emergency operation to feed millions of conflict-affected people. Executive Director Ertharin Cousin said that as the crisis enters its third year, now is not the time to reduce or stop WFP operations.
In progress at UNHQ
Noon Briefings
In Jordan today, UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres urged donors to approve extraordinary funds to help Syrian refugees and host countries. While praising Jordan’s efforts, he warned of devastating consequences — for both the Syrian people and for regional stability — if funding levels do not rise.
The Secretary-General has learnt with deep sorrow of the death of four Russian air crew members, following the crash of a UN-contracted cargo helicopter on 9 March, twenty kilometres west of Bukavu, South Kivu, in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. He offers his sincerest condolences and sympathy to the families and friends of the victims, and to the Government of the Russian Federation.
The UN Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo, MONUSCO, reports that this past Saturday, one of its helicopters, with four crew on board, went missing between Bukavu and Shabunda in South Kivu Province. The helicopter’s wreckage has been located and a rescue team has arrived a few kilometres away from it. However, due to bad weather and the difficult terrain, the team has not yet been able to reach the crash site.
The Secretary-General, participating in the official commemoration of International Women’s Day here at UN Headquarters, said that women and girls are subjected to shocking attacks and abuse. No country is immune, but the violence is not inevitable. All must wage this struggle: women and men, girls and boys.
The Secretary-General has welcomed this morning’s adoption of Security Council resolution 2094 (2013) on the recent nuclear test by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. He said in a statement that the Security Council had sent an unequivocal message that the international community will not tolerate its pursuit of nuclear weapons and related acts.
As you will have seen, we issued a statement last night in which the Secretary-General expressed his sadness at the death of Venezuelan President Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías. This morning, the Security Council observed a minute of silence in honour of President Chávez.
The Security Council has begun consultations this morning concerning a draft resolution on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. Then, at 3:00 p.m., the Secretary-General will brief the Security Council in an open meeting, followed by consultations, on his new report about the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The Secretary-General met over the weekend with the Joint Special Representative for Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi. Both expressed deep frustration at the failure of the international community to act with unity to end the conflict and referred to recent statements by the Syrian Government and the opposition, saying the United Nations would be prepared to facilitate a dialogue between them.
The Secretary-General is in Geneva, where he has just been delivering the annual Sergio Vieira de Mello lecture. In it, he said that as Sergio Vieira de Mello and the colleagues who died with him in Baghdad proved in their too-short lifetimes, the United Nations is dedicated to fulfilling its humanitarian imperative.