Source: United Nations (Video News)
Noon Briefing by Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.
Highlights:
D.R. Congo Refugees
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Secretary-General
Deputy Secretary-General
South Sudan
Occupied Palestinian Territory
Israel/Palestine
U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon
Libya
Ukraine
Mother Language Day
Financial Contributions
Guest
D.R. CONGO REFUGEES
UNHCR today launched an appeal seeking $40.4 million to deliver protection and assistance to 275,000 internally displaced people in South Kivu, North Kivu, Maniema and Tanganyika provinces of the DRC, as well as to support a potential influx of 258,000 refugees, asylum-seekers, and returnees in neighbouring countries, including Burundi, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.
UNHCR said there is an urgent need for shelter, food and latrines as well as relocation of the new arrivals to other sites to address overcrowding. UNHCR and its partners are stepping up assistance, distributing warm meals and water to new arrivals. They need all sorts of relief supplies.
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
And just to say that in South Kivu, humanitarian partners have also raised concerns that ongoing clashes in Uvira are hindering access – including the movement of ambulances – while hospitals report daily casualties among civilians.
An in the Kalehe territory, fighting has forced more than 50,000 people to flee over the past week, many to Burundi. Since February, more than 40,000 Congolese nationals – the majority of whom are women and children – have arrived in Burundi seeking protection there.
SECRETARY-GENERAL
A couple of travel notes, as I mentioned to you yesterday, the Secretary-General will be in Geneva on Monday to address the Human Rights Council as well as the committee on disarmament.
DEPUTY SECRETARY-GENERAL
Our Deputy Secretary-General is in South Africa, where today she took part in the second and final day of the G20 Foreign Ministers Meeting.
In her remarks, Amina Mohammed reaffirmed our support for the G20 platform. With just five years left to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, she warned that we are off track and that decades of development gains are at risk, particularly for the most vulnerable. She underscored that in today’s deeply interconnected world, no nation can stand alone and that global challenges demand global action.
In the afternoon, she had a number bilateral discussions with several foreign ministers, emphasizing the urgency of reinforced multilateralism and strong partnerships to accelerate the implementation of the Pact for the Future and the SDGs.
She also sought their support for securing an ambitious outcome at the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development which will take place in Seville, Spain, in July.
Tomorrow, she travels to Nairobi, Kenya, for a series of engagements on food systems ahead of the second UN Food Systems Summit Stocktake, which will take place in Addis Ababa, also in July.
And, yesterday, I said that Ms. Mohammed met with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. I stand corrected – that meeting did not take place.
SOUTH SUDAN
Our Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, is continuing his own travels in eastern Africa. In South Sudan, he met today with the country’s First Vice President, Riek Machar. They discussed the progressing peace implementation, among other topics.
He also met with key members of technical bodies tasked with constitution-making and electoral preparations, to get a sense of the challenges they face in making significant advances in their respective areas.
Additionally, he held discussions with the diplomatic community, including the African Union and Intergovernmental Authority on Development, known as IGAD. As mentioned, Mr. Lacroix will travel to Abyei tomorrow to visit the peacekeeping mission there.
Full highlights: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/ossg/noon-briefing-highlight