Hantavirus, Palestine, Lebanon & other topics - Daily Press Briefing

All right.
Good afternoon.
Tomorrow, our guests will be our friend A Emre Sornou, who, as you know, is the director of OCHA Crisis Response Division.
She'll be here to speak to you about the humanitarian situation in the Central African Republic, following her recent mission there.
Just as a reminder, at some point after 12 30, we expect Ambassador Mike Waltz, permanent representative of the United States and Ambassador Jamal Faris Aluwai Bahrain's permanent representative to the UN to participate in a joint stakeout on the situation in the Strait of Hormuz.
We will give you a heads up when that starts.
This afternoon at 3:00 P.M.
The Secretary-General high level Group on Beyond GDP will present their report to member states outlining recommendations for a country owned and universally applicable set of indicators that go beyond GDP to guide policy and decision making.
The Secretary-General will make remarks at the event and will say that the report being launched today is a landmark step in correcting longstanding blind spot in measuring progress, the overreliance on gross domestic product.
He will say that while GDP will continue to be an important measurement, it will not be the only one Our world needs more sophisticated, more diverse, and more humane accounting system.
The report titled Accounting What Counts A Compass of Progress for People and Planet offers the UN's first global framework for moving beyond GDP, proposing a wider set of measures to guide economic policy towards well being and environmental sustainability.
And this morning in the General Assembly, the Secretary-General addressed the International Migration Review Forum, reminding member states that migration is an integral part of the human story, an activity as old as humanity itself, adding that migration is not the crisis.
The crisis, he said, is the world's collecting failure to manage it together.
Since the adoption of the Global Compact for Safe, orderly and regular migration, the Secretary-General said member states have taken concrete steps to expand regular pathways, to strengthen labor mobility initiatives, and to improve search and rescue, enhanced data systems, and support for safe return and reintegration.
No country can manage migration alone, the Secretary-General said, We need cooperation across borders, across governments and across society.
I want to give you an update on the situation regarding the Huna virus and this from our colleagues in Cabo Verde, where Patricia Porteo de Sousa, who is the resident UN coordinator in that country, together with the World Health Organization's representative there, doctor Anne Lindstrom.
They work closely with national authorities to support the response to cases of Huna virus linked to a commercial vessel in the Atlantic Ocean.
The ship, according to our information, is now sailing for the Canary Islands.
So far, eight cases have been reported, including three deaths in line with the framework of international health regulations.
The response so far has involved close coordination between national authorities and bilateral partners, particularly Netherlands, Spain, and the United Kingdom, many of whom are coordinating remotely from outside the country, as well as the vessel's own operators.
The World Health Organization and the UN team have also supported with tracking and investigating cases, guidance to health professionals, infection prevention measures onboard the ship, lab investigations and the provision of medical supplies to the vessel.
A WHO expert boarded the ship in Cabo verde and has been joined by two doctors from the Netherlands and an expert from the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control.
They will stay aboard the ship until it reaches its next destination in the Canary Islands.
They are conducting medical assessment of everyone on board and gathering information to assess the risk of infection.
Yesterday, the UN team supported authorities in Cabo verde with medical evacuation of three patients to the Netherlands for specialized treatment following the multinational operation coordinated by the Dutch Cabo verde, and ourselves.
Resident coordinator's Office in Cabo Verde also continues to support national authorities on crisis communications and public outreach in close coordination with WHO.
The World Health Organization is providing guidance to the ship's operators on the management of health onboard the vessel.
They're developing a step by step operational guidance for the safe and respectful disembarkation and onward travel of passengers and crew when they arrive.
More broadly, WHO will continue to work with the countries to ensure that the patients, the contacts, the passengers and crew have the information they need and the support they need to stay safe and prevent the spread of virus.
Moving to Lebanon and our colleagues on the ground tell us that the humanitarian situation there remains volatile.
Wednesday evening's Israeli strike on Beiruts southern suburbs caused a new wave of displacement of civilians who, as you can imagine, had already been impacted by months of conflict.
This was the first attack on Lebanon's capital since the cease fire announcement of April 17th and its subsequent extension.
This is obviously a very alarming development.
We're deeply worried also about reports of civilians also being killed in the attack and that also includes children.
We once again call on all parties to exercise maximum restraint, fully respect international law, including international humanitarian law.
In the South and Naba, new displacement orders were issued this morning by Israeli authorities for three villages forcing yet again further displacement of civilians.
Overall, more than 1 million human beings remain displaced in Lebanon.
This includes 126,000 people hosted in more than 600 collective shelters across the country, while most of the displaced remain outside formal shelters.
With the support of the humanitarian notification system, our humanitarian partners continue to assist civilians in conflict affected areas as well as hard to reach areas.
Since March 2nd, 110 humanitarian movements have been facilitated by the UN system.
The deliveries remain constrained due to insecurity, movement restrictions, unexploded ordinance, and damage to civilian infrastructure.
Despite the constraints, humanitarian partners have distributed more than 160,000 blankets, some 120,000 mattresses to people in need.
They've also delivered more than 100,000 hygiene kits and 50,000 menstrual hygiene kits.
In addition, we and our partners have provided more than 3.7 million liters of water bottles and more than 65,000 cubic meters of water through trucking operations.
And on the peacekeeping front, UNIFIL peacekeepers are continuing to observe extensive military activities by the Israeli defense forces throughout the area of operation.
This includes high density armored movements, large scale engineering works, and sustained logistical traffic.
Peacekeepers also report significant firing incidents and projectile trajectories, most of which appear to originate from Israel defense forces position.
UN peacekeepers and our positions are being directly affected by the ongoing hostilities.
Yesterday, structural damage to outer walls of three buildings inside a UNIFIL position in Al Baida, in sector West resulted in exchange of fire and Israeli military activities in nearby areas.
Separately, yesterday, a fiber optic guided drone carrying a suspected rocket propelled grenade type warhead crashed inside a UNIFIL position in Al Hina in Sector West penetrating the roof of a structure there.
The device did not thankfully detonate and caused no further damage.
No UNIFIL personnel were injured and our explosive ordinance disposal team successfully neutralized and disposed of the explosive device.
Excuse me.
At the UNIFIL position attire in Sector West, peacekeepers also discovered unexploded ordnance which was safely destroyed on site.
Later the same day, UN personnel found another fiber optic cable inside the same position, possibly associated with drone observed in the area earlier.
The cable was subsequently removed.
Today, a rocket impacted and exploded inside one of our positions in Shama, which hosts the Sector West headquarters.
The impact occurred in an outdoor area near the helicopter landing zone.
No injuries reported to our peacekeepers.
Minor damage was sustained to a vehicle.
The rocket is assessed to have been fired by Hezbollah towards the Israeli defense forces units operating in their nearby area.
Once again, we stress that the safety and the security of our peacekeepers and the viability of our UN premises must be respected at all times by everyone.
Turning to the occupied Palestinian territory, our OCHA colleagues tell us that to mitigate potentially life threatening risk of fire, sanitation workers must be allowed to remove waste from displacement sites in residential areas and transport it to Gaza's designated landfills.
Last Friday, UNT mobilized water tankers and machinery to support crews responding to a fire at the Firs market in the center of Gaza City right next to people's shelters.
With designated landfills becoming inaccessible during hostilities, the market has been used as a major solid waste dump with trash now covering an entire city block and exceeding four flights in height.
It's hard to imagine.
Our sanitation partners report that Gazas two sanitary landfills are near the perimeter fence surrounding the strip where access needs to be enabled by Israeli authorities.
They also stress the need for permission to bring into Gaza the machinery to remove the waste, the rubble, and the unexploded ordinance, as well as the spare parts required to operate that equipment.
These permissions are also critical to address health risks linked to pests and rodents.
Meanwhile, our partners say that people's access to water remains challenging.
With infrastructure destroyed, some 40 partners are delivering some 20,000 cubic meters of water by truck every day, an operation that's heavily dependent on fuel and sustained funding.
To meet the need for water for drinking and cooking, families are required to collect water directly from those trucks at about 2000 distribution points, yet many people lack adequate containers to collect and store water and service providers are unable to fully ensure equitable distribution.
Meanwhile, in the West Bank, our humanitarian colleagues warned that foot and mouth disease is now increasing concerns for vulnerable bedouin and herding communities whose livestock is their primary source of income in food.
Partners say that movement restrictions and insecurity are complicating timely vaccination and veterinary response that is needed to treat this disease.
Excuse me, an update regarding Western Sahara, the personal envoy of the Secretary-General for Western Sahara Stephanie Demisto, supports and shares the concerns expressed by Minorso, the UN peacekeeping mission in Western Sahara, concerning the Fuente Polisarios rocket attack on May 5th near SMA.
Minorso expressed its deep concern over incidents of firing in civilian areas and urged the parties to avoid any act that may jeopardize the ongoing political process.
The personal envoy, Mr.
DMistora emphasizes that this is a time for dialogue and negotiations and not a time for military escalation.
Such attacks underscore the urgent need to return to a cease fire and negotiate a lasting mutually acceptable political solution to this conflict.
Moving on to Sudan where humanitarian colleagues say that despite ongoing insecurity, we and our humanitarian partners continue to deliver critical assistance where access allows.
In North Darfur state, more than 15,000 people are now expected to benefit from supplies delivered by UNICEF in Numbaru locality on Tuesday.
These deliveries include health, nutrition, water, hygiene, and sanitation products.
According to our recent assessment in the area conducted jointly with our partners, severe food insecurity with malnutrition rates exceeding emergency thresholds in Unbalu.
However, access along the northern corridor of the state remains constrained by insecurity and continued drone activity limiting the ability to reach people in urgent need.
In West Darfur, the last few weeks we and our partners have provided food assistance to some 15,000 families in Kulbus locality where ongoing violence and intercommunal clashes across Darfur continue to drive displacement.
Continue to disrupt essential services and continue to put civilians at grave risk.
Once again, we call on all parties to protect civilians, civilian infrastructure, and to respect international humanitarian law, which is pretty clear in these aspects.
Turning to Somalia, the World Food Program warns that worsening drought conditions, conflict, and funding shortfalls are pushing millions of people deeper into hunger.
According to the latest assessment, around 6.5 million people are experiencing crisis levels of hunger or worse, meaning that many are skipping meals regularly, suffering acute malnutrition, or at risk of starvation.
Severe funding shortages are forcing humanitarian agencies to scale back operations.
WFP warns that it may be forced to halt emergency assistance in Somalia by July unless additional funding is received.
Emergency food assistance has already been suspended in a number of districts.
WFP and partners continue to support communities through emergency cash transfers, nutrition assistance, and drought response measures.
Back here in the Security Council, they held a briefing on the interim security forces in Abe, USA.
Martha Pobe, Assistant Secretary-General for Africa, said that the mission continues to conduct robust patrols and rapid response operations while also supporting weapons disposal, mine action, and humanitarian access, adding that sustained engagement by the Council will remain essential to uphold the demilitarized status of Javier and advance a durable political solution.
Briefing the Council of IVTC was the special envoy for the Horn of Africa, Guang Kong.
He said his office continues to engage with the Javier high level committee and other stakeholders to support preparations for renewed bilateral talks while urging progress on benchmarks tied to the missions mandate and renewal of broader concerns.
I also want to flag that Volker Türk, the Hi Commissioner for Human Rights, is about to visit Mongolia and the Republic of Korea, beginning this Sunday.
I In Mongolia, he will meet with government officials as well as National Human Rights Commissioner of Mongolia, civil society, religious leaders, and others.
In Seoul, he will hold high level meetings with the government, civil society and the tech sector as well as SKPs from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
He will also attend a ceremony on the May 18th National Cemetery in Guangzu to address World Human Rights Cities Forum.
In both countries, he will speak to the press, we'll share details as we have them.
I also want to flag that we have a new feature on the spokesperson's website which now includes a platform entitled Happening in the United Nations.
It serves as a hub for upcoming UN meetings and events, major observances, SG and DSG activities and developments across the system.
It'll be especially useful for the upcoming GA.
Yes, there's always an upcoming GA.
Ed.
Thank you, Steph.
Um The Iranian government announced today that it is set up an agency to control shipping in the state of Hormuz, including the imposition of tolls on ships.
Does the Secretary-General have any reaction? We've seen those reports.
I can tell you what we want is not additional restrictions or structures.
We want to go back to where it was, which was freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, where civilian ships and ships could come and go to export and to import, and we know how critical that waterway is to all of us around the world.
Mr.
Vakara.
Thank you very much, Stephan.
At the start of his mandate, Secretary-General Gutierrez said conflict prevention should be a core mission of the UN.
Given the failure to prevent major wars and crisis from Ukraine and Gaza to Sudan, Lebanon, and now Iran, does he believe this reflects mainly geopolitical realities or also structural limits of the UN system and the Secretary-General ability to act effectively with the with the tools currently available? Are you asking me a symposium question? I mean, listen, the Secretary-General has been focused on conflict prevention, and I think you all know that whether sometimes it's discrete, sometimes it's less discreet.
But the Secretary-General doesn't hold all the cards.
His his fingers are not on the trigger.
This conflict prevention demands active partnership with member states and it demands member states living up to the commitments they have made under this charter.
Okay.
This was short.
It was almost sweet.
Abdel Hamid, sorry, I just see you now, so I know you have a question.
Go ahead.
You answered one of my questions about Western Sahara.
But my second question about the human rights in Tunisia, civil society has been targeted and Volker Türk issued a statement.
Do you have anything to add to that? No, nothing to add.
We support the work of the High Commissioner as he follows on on his mandate on speaking out on human rights violations around the world.
Okay.
Thank you.