Noon Briefings

The Secretary-General condemned Saturday’s rocket attack on the city of Mariupol, Ukraine.  He also further denounced the unilateral withdrawal from the ceasefire by rebel leadership, and particularly their provocative statements about claiming further territory.

The Secretary-General, at a plenary meeting of the World Economic Summit, said this is the first generation that can end poverty and the last that can take steps to avoid the worst impacts of climate change. Future generations, he added, “will judge us harshly if we fail in upholding our moral and historical responsibilities”.

The General Assembly held an informal meeting today to discuss concerns about the rise in anti-Semitism worldwide.  Speaking to Member States by video message, the Secretary-General said that a United Nations that wants to be true to its founding aims and ideals has a duty to speak out against anti-Semitism.

Presenting Ebola response requirements in Davos today, senior United Nations officials said the needs for the first six months of 2015 amount to $1.5 billion. With almost $500 million already available, the appeal is now to fund the gap of $1 billion. Resources spent in 2014 contributed to a decline in new cases.

The Secretary-General deplores the heavy fighting between Ansarallah armed groups and Yemeni presidential guards throughout Sana’a, and calls on all sides to cease hostilities, exercise maximum restraint and take the steps needed to restore full authority to the legitimate Government institutions.

The Secretary-General, noting that 2015 is a year of action on sustainable development, told the Security Council that development that excludes part of the population can be socially corrosive, contribute to crime and create a sense of hopelessnesss and alienation - conditions that breed extremism.

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees warned that an upsurge in fighting in Libya since the start of the year across several towns and cities in the east has led to more displacement.  An estimated 400,000 people remain displaced across the country.

The United Nations Special Envoy for Global Education, Gordon Brown, called for the world to unite and condemn Boko Haram’s ‘new barbaric low’ of using young girls as suicide bombers, noting that over the past week there had been three attacks by girls who blew themselves up in crowded areas.

The Secretary-General condemns the shelling yesterday of a bus in Ukraine, reportedly resulting in the death of at least 11 civilians.  He exhorts all sides to respect the ceasefire and return to the implementation of the Minsk agreements.
 

The United Nations Children’s Fund has delivered warm clothing, blankets, heating supplies, cash and vouchers to more than 900,000 children in Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey as the harsh winter season continues, including 350,000 children in Syria, and more than 200,000 children in over 100 hard-to-reach and high altitude areas in Iraq.