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HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY STÉPHANE DUJARRIC​,
SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES
MONDAY, 6 JULY 2020

COUNTER TERRORISM WEEK
This morning, the Secretary-General spoke at the opening event for the Virtual Counter-Terrorism Week. He said that it is too early to fully assess the implications of COVID-19 on the terrorism landscape. But, he added, the pandemic has highlighted vulnerabilities to new and emerging forms of terrorism, such as the misuse of digital technology, cyberattacks and bioterrorism.
Mr. Guterres highlighted five areas to guide our action. He called on the international community to keep up the momentum in the fight against terrorism, as well as to closely monitor evolving threats, trends and to be innovative in our responses.
The Secretary-General went on to say that counter-terrorism responses must always be gender sensitive and protect and promote human rights. He also said that we need to tackle the spread of terrorist narratives through pandemic-sensitive, holistic approaches.
And finally, he said, we need to strengthen information sharing to learn from the experiences and good practices of others COVID-19 security landscape.

INTEGRATION SEGMENT/ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL
This morning, the Secretary-General also spoke by a video message at the Integration Segment of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). He called on governments, civil society, the private sector, and development partners to accelerate coordinated global action to ensure that we recover better from the pandemic and deliver together on the promises of the 2030 Agenda.
The Vice-President of ECOSOC, Ambassador Mher Margaryan of Armenia, said that the implications of the pandemic have gone beyond the health sector, affecting all Sustainable Development Goals and realizing the decade of action and delivery for sustainable development will depend on our policy choices and resolve to act together.
As a reminder, tomorrow is the start of the United Nations High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development which will go on until 16 July under the theme “Accelerated action and transformative pathways: realizing the decade of action and delivery for sustainable development.”

SYRIA
In Syria, the UN continue to reach millions of women, children and men in urgent need of humanitarian assistance throughout Syria. On average each month in April and May, some 3.2 million people were supported from within Syria and 1.3 million people were supported through cross-border operations from Turkey. 
With 2.8 million people in need and 2.7 million internally displaced people, needs for those in northwest Syria remain incredibly high. We have significantly increased the aid delivered via cross-border operations into the area, but much more is needed. 
Since the beginning of this year, 8,486 trucks have crossed into Syria from Turkey. That included 1,579 trucks in June alone.  
As highlighted in the Secretary-General’s recent review of crossline and cross-border operations, a sustained, large-scale cross-border response is necessary to meet the enormous humanitarian needs of the people in north-west Syria.

NIGERIA
In Nigeria, our Humanitarian Coordinator there, Edward Kallon, condemned last Thursday’s attack by armed groups in Damasak in Borno State. At least two civilians, including a five-year-old child, were killed and several others were injured.
A UN Humanitarian Air Service helicopter was hit, sustaining serious damage. Mr. Kallon stressed that the damage to the helicopter severely impacts the ability of aid workers to provide urgently needed assistance to vulnerable people in remote areas across Borno State.
We, along with other humanitarian organizations, are working to bring life-saving assistance to 7.8 million people in crisis-affected areas of the states of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe, many of them in remote areas. The UN Humanitarian Air Service is essential to evacuate wounded civilians and remains the backbone to facilitating humanitarian access.
In 2019, the Humanitarian Air Service transported in Nigeria more than 66,000 passengers and nearly 150 megatons of humanitarian cargo. It also carried out 30 medical and 70 security evacuations.
Mr. Kallon called on all armed parties to respect international humanitarian law and international human rights law, and to ensure the protection of civilians, humanitarian property and personnel.

COVID-19/DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
In the Dominican Republic, there are more than 37,000 confirmed cases of the virus, and nearly 800 deaths. Led by Resident Coordinator Mauricio Ramirez, the UN team has supported the government’s response on all fronts.
The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has provided 12 ventilators for local hospitals while UNAIDS is working to ensure that people living with HIV continue to receive antiretroviral drugs.
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP) have organized a virtual training on vegetable farming for young people to generate additional income. WFP has also provided food assistance to more than 11,000 children under the age of 5, pregnant women, older people and those living with HIV.
The UN team has donated thousands of masks to organizations supporting people with disabilities and to government staff working with migrants, including those on the border with Haiti.
The UN is helping to plan the socioeconomic recovery process, and this includes the reopening of schools with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and UNICEF, together with the Ministry of Education, designing psychological support programmes for children on the impact of COVID-19.

COVID-19/MALAWI
In Malawi, the UN and its partners, in collaboration with national authorities, are scaling up the response to fight the pandemic and protect the country’s 18 million people. Almost all districts in the country have been affected, with over 1,400 cases reported.
Since March, a risk communication and community engagement campaign has reached more than 15 million people. With our support, Malawi now has 41 testing centres and six isolation and emergency treatment centres.
More than 4.8 million units of essential supplies for fighting the pandemic have been mobilized. These include testing kits and personal protective equipment for health workers and other frontline providers.
We along with our partners have also been given training to health workers and community facilitators. Since June, the UN Humanitarian Corridor has been operating in Malawi, bringing into the country critical relief and humanitarian personnel.
We also have been supporting an emergency education radio program for six million primary school students and digital learning for more than 15,000 secondary school students.

COVID-19/PEACEKEEPING
The UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) organized a two-day workshop for community leaders and business owners in Wau and Jur River counties to spread messages on preventing the spread of COVID-19. Together with the Interfaith Base-Council for Peace Initiative in Western Equatoria State, the peacekeeping Mission has launched an awareness campaign at the Masiya market, one of the most populated parts of the town of Yambio.
And in Darfur, the joint African Union-United Nations mission (UNAMID) handed over the newly-constructed Justice and Confidence Centre in the Krinding Camp for internally displaced people. This is near the town of El Geneina, in West Darfur.
This centre aims to improve law enforcement and justice institutions in the camp, as access to justice remains one of the key protection challenges in Darfur, especially during the pandemic.
As part of its response to combat the spread of COVID-19, the Mission has distributed hygiene materials and dignity kits to internally displaced women at a site for internally displaced people in Sortony in North Darfur.

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where, according to a UN investigation, attacks by the ADF - the armed group also known as the Allied Democratic Forces - have left more than 1,000 people dead and dozens injured.
This is over the past 18 months, the armed group has intensified attacks against civilians in the country’s eastern provinces, and also expanded its actions beyond the areas in which it previously operated.
The report, issued today by the UN Joint Human Rights Office in the DRC, shows how the human rights abuses committed by ADF fighters have been systematic, brutal and may amount to crimes against humanity and war crimes.
The head of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO), Leila Zerrouigui, called on State authorities to step up efforts to complete pending judicial cases into all allegations of human rights violations and abuses; to bring all alleged perpetrators to justice; and to ensure the right to truth, justice and reparations for the victims and their families.

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC
We also have an update from the Central African Republic, following clashes last week between 3R insurgents and UN Peacekeepers in the Ouham-Pendé prefecture. The Mission has deployed additional peacekeepers to reinforce its capacities on the ground.
This is part of the joint UN and National defense forces military operation against the 3R group in the country’s north-west.
The joint operation named “A la Londo,” which was launched on June 15^th, aims to force the insurgents to leave the areas they have occupied after last year’s peace agreement. The operation also aims to improve the protection of civilians and to restore freedom of movement in the area.
In response to threats issued over the weekend by Abbas Sidiki, the leader of the 3R, the head of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA), Mankeur Ndiaye, warned that they will be held accountable if civilians are impacted by violence.

UNTSO
On Thursday night we issued a note to correspondents informing you that two male international staff members who were assigned to the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO), in Jerusalem, who were in the UN vehicle in Tel Aviv, had been identified as having engaged in misconduct, including conduct of a sexual nature.
The two staff members have been placed on administrative leave without pay. The OIOS investigation continues, and we will keep you informed.

SENIOR PERSONNEL APPOINTMENT
I want to read into the record the announcement we put out late last week, that of the appointment of Cristina Duarte of the Republic of Cabo Verde as Special Adviser on Africa. She succeeded Bience Gawanas of Namibia, to whom the Secretary‑General is grateful for her commitment and dedicated service to the UN.
Ms. Duarte brings to the position more than 34 years of leadership and strategic management experience in public policy making and in the private sector.

FINANCIAL CONTRIBUTION
I am delighted to thank our friends in Port au Prince for their full payment to the 2020 regular budget. That brings us to 102 Member States that have paid in full for 2020.

PRESS BRIEFING TOMORROW
Tomorrow, my guest will be Liu Zhenmin, the Under- Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs. He will be joined by Francesca Perucci, the Chief of the Statistical Services Branch of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), and Yongyi Min, the Chief of the Sustainable Development Goals Monitoring Section.
They will discuss the key findings of the 2020 Sustainable Development Goals report, to be launched tomorrow, on the opening day of the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development.