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HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY FARHAN HAQ,
DEPUTY SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES
MONDAY, 12 JUNE 2017

SECRETARY-GENERAL VOICES SUPPORT FOR U.N. AGENCY HELPING PALESTINE REFUGEES

• In a statement, the Secretary-General expressed his concern about recent public criticism of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and the integrity of its operations. He wishes to express his support for UNRWA and his admiration for the role it plays in delivering essential services and protecting the rights of millions of Palestine refugees across the Middle East.
• UNRWA is mandated by the General Assembly whose members have repeatedly acknowledged the Agency’s unique contribution to peace and security in that region. UNRWA operates in the front lines of difficult conflict situations and provides education for half a million refugee girls and boys, teaching them human rights and tolerance. Its education and relief activities contribute critically to stability in the region.
• The Secretary-General calls on all Member States to continue their support to the Agency in order for UNRWA to be in a position to fulfil impartially and efficiently its essential role and to implement its humanitarian mandate to serve Palestinian refugees until a just and durable solution to their situation is found.

• The Secretary-General will arrive in Turkmenistan today for a high-level dialogue on implementing the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy in Central Asia.
• Earlier today, he was in Tajikistan, where he flew over the Pamir Mountains on his way to Lake Sarez. The Secretary-General said he was shocked by the effects of climate change he witnessed – in which 30 per cent of Tajikistan’s glaciers have melted – and reiterated his calls for climate action. There is no time to lose, he stressed.
• On Saturday, the Secretary-General was in Uzbekistan, where he met with President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and visited the Aral Sea area. Visiting the Aral Sea and seeing what was the fourth largest inland sea in the world almost dead has caused a tremendous shock, he said, calling it probably the biggest ecological catastrophe of our time. He asked to use the Aral Sea as a symbol of how humanity can destroy the planet and to make it a lesson for us all to be able to mobilize the whole international community to implement the Paris Agreement on climate change in order to make sure that tragedies like it will not be repeated.
• Yesterday, the Secretary-General was in Kyrgyzstan, where he participated with President Almazbek Atambaev in a High Level Forum on “Taza Koom,” a project on public service supported by the UN Development Programme (UNDP), dedicated to bringing the Sustainable Development Goals () to all the citizens of Kyrgyzstan. He said that public service is a critical component for achieving the SDGs, but that we need to pioneer new approaches, work differently, take risks and innovate through training in new skills, building the capacities of the public sector, and seizing the potential of technological innovations. In Kyrgyzstan, the Secretary-General also travelled to Osh to commemorate the June 2010 events and meet with civil society representatives.

• The of the Secretary-General for the Central African Republic, Parfait Onanga-Anyanga, briefed the Security Council this morning. He said that the intensity of recent attacks, the fact that they are premeditated and that they target ethnic minorities reminds us of the darkest moments of the crisis in the country. The new troubling component is the systematic aggression against .
• Mr. Onanga-Anyanga said that the Central African Republic is on a path to incremental peace that will be achieved if we stay the course. However, he said, this will not be enough. He noted that we are now in a critical phase and that the UN Mission in the country (MINUSCA) must continue to consolidate progress towards peace. Mr. Onanga-Anyanga called for the Central Africans to unite around common objectives.
• Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights Andrew Gilmour also briefed on the new human rights Mapping Report in the CAR. He stressed the need to send an unequivocal message to the perpetrators of violations that they will be held accountable.

• Regarding last week’s attack against peacekeepers in Mali’s Kidal, the in the country reports that a peacekeeper who had been missing after the attack was found dead on Saturday. This brings to four the number of peacekeepers who have been killed in this attack. The eight injured peacekeepers have been treated at the UN hospital in Kidal and are in stable condition.
• We join the Mission in extending our condolences to the families of the victims and to the people and Government of Guinea.

• The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says that, on Saturday, 10 June, airstrikes and artillery shelling on Syria’s Ar-Raqqa city reportedly killed 41 people and injured dozen more.
• Heavy fighting has reportedly led to massive displacement in and around the city, with more than 100,000 men, women and children displaced in the month of May alone. Since fighting resumed in November last year, some 80,000 children have been internally displaced and are now living in temporary shelters and camps.
• The UN remains concerned about their protection, particularly in Mabruka camp. We remind all parties to the fighting of their obligations to protect civilians under international humanitarian law.
• Humanitarian partners have developed and are regularly updating a plan for Ar-Raqqa governorate to meet the needs of an estimated 440,000 people who may be affected by the clashes.
• In the month of May, more than 112,000 people were reached with food assistance, while 10,600 children received nutrition assistance. Nearly 490,000 children under five have been vaccinated against polio in Deir-ez-Zor, Ar-Raqqa and Hassakeh governorates.
• The UN continues to call for the safety and protection of tens of thousands civilians inside Ar-Raqqa city, including an estimated 40,000 children, who are caught in the crossfire. The UN also calls for unconditional, unimpeded and sustained access to those affected by the fighting in Ar-Raqqa, and more broadly, to the millions in hard to reach areas across Syria.

• The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan () today Under-Secretary-General Ján Kubiš to Kabul, where he will be completing a strategic review of the mission and its work over the next two days.
• Mr Kubiš, who is a former head of UNAMA, was in Kabul for one week last month conducting meetings with national and international stakeholders. In his current visit, he will follow up with those stakeholders, in particular President Ashraf Ghani.
• The strategic review will be submitted to the Security Council early next month.

• In Geneva, High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi today called for a massive increase in places available for refugees in third countries.
• At the opening of UNHCR’s annual resettlement consultations, he urged governments to deliver places for refugees in line with commitments made in the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants last September, stressing that global resettlement needs outweigh the places made available by governments by a factor of 13 to one.
• According to UNHCR, close to 1.2 million refugees need resettling globally, but only 93,200 places in resettlement countries are expected to be available this year – 43 per cent fewer than in 2016. For refugees from sub-Saharan Africa the situation is especially acute – with just 18,000 available places for more than half a million refugees.

• The World Food Programme (WFP) today issued an urgent call for $1 billion to help 20 million people at risk of starvation in northeastern Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen.
• These funds, which would cover the next six months, must come now, as delays would result in needless suffering.
• WFP says three of the four countries facing famine are entering the so-called hunger season, the annual period when food from the last harvest runs out and the death rate among children spikes.
• WFP also stressed that any blocking of aid by any group translates into the suffering and death of innocent, adding that using food as a weapon of war is unacceptable.

• UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO) have welcomed pledges by countries and health partners for $1.2 billion to eradicate polio.
• Thirty years ago, polio paralyzed more than 350,000 children a year in more than 125 countries, but thanks to the extraordinary efforts of governments, health workers and donors and the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, the virus has now been eliminated in all but three countries: Afghanistan, Nigeria and Pakistan.
• There have only been five cases to date so far this year.
• UNICEF’s Executive Director, Anthony Lake, said that we are, together, truly on the verge of eradicating polio from the planet—but only if we work relentlessly to reach the children we have not yet reached.
• For her part, WHO Director-General Dr. Margaret Chan said that eradicating the virus will be a perpetual gift to coming generations.

• Today is the . This year’s theme spotlights the need to prevent child labour during conflicts and disasters.
• Around the world, 100 million children and young people are affected by disasters each year and 230 million live in areas affected by armed conflict.
• To mark the Day, the Food and Agriculture Organization () has published a guide aimed at development professionals, policy makers and civil society groups working on agriculture, food security and nutrition programming, which includes practical steps to ensure that programmes contribute to safe employment and training opportunities for youth, and that activities intended to support vulnerable families do not have the unintended consequence of encouraging child labour.

• Rwanda has become the 105^th Member States to pay its regular budget dues in full.