The Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Valerie Amos, spoke to the press in Geneva today and said that the situation in the Central African Republic is extremely grave and that urgent action is required by everyone to prevent further bloodshed. She said that the violence has led to a total breakdown of the State.
In progress at UNHQ
Noon Briefings
The Security Council will hold consultations this afternoon to receive an update on the situation in Ukraine by the Deputy Secretary-General, Jan Eliasson, who will talk to the Council by video teleconference from Kyiv. The Deputy Secretary-General has been rejoined by Robert Serry and the Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights, Ivan Šimonović, is arriving there today.
The Secretary-General is in Freetown, Sierra Leone, where he is about to take part in the ceremony marking the closing of the UN Integrated Peacebuilding Office in the country. Earlier today, the Secretary-General had meetings with the staff from the UN office in the country, and as the UN presence in the country will now focus on development.
Before leaving Geneva for Sierra Leone, the Secretary-General met today with Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the foreign minister of Germany, to discuss the latest developments in Ukraine. The Secretary-General stressed the need to urgently de-escalate the tension and facilitate dialogue for a peaceful resolution, and he pledged the United Nations’ support in this regard.
The Secretary-General met in Geneva today with the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and discussed the crisis in Ukraine and the importance of de-escalating the situation by engaging in constructive and meaningful dialogue. Earlier, the Secretary-General said at a press conference that he had dispatched the Deputy-Secretary-General to Ukraine.
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says that aid supplies have been delivered to a number of areas in Syria over the past few days, including a UN refugee agency airlift yesterday of 31 metric ton of relief supplies from Damascus to Qamishly, containing medicines, vaccines for 250,000 people, medical equipment and winterized relief items.
The Secretary-General will speak this afternoon at the New York launch of Kwibuka20, a series of events marking 20 years since the genocide in Rwanda. The theme is “Remember, Unite, Renew”. The Secretary-General will call for those words to be an inspiration during the weeks of reflection ahead, as the world remembers the more than 800,000 innocent people who were so brutally murdered
The Secretary-General said that he is increasingly concerned about the political crisis in Thailand. He has condemned the recent escalation of violence in different parts of the country. The Secretary-General believes strongly that there should be no place for violence by any side in resolving political differences and disputes.
The Secretary-General is seriously concerned about the signing into law of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill in Uganda. The Secretary-General reiterates that everyone is entitled to enjoy the same basic rights and live a life of worth and dignity without discrimination
In a statement we issued this morning, the Secretary-General reiterated his call for non-violence in Ukraine and urged all Ukrainians to express their differences peacefully and through dialogue, and to seek a durable solution through compromise. He calls for a firm commitment to uphold democracy and human rights, and thereby create a conducive environment for free and fair elections.