General Assembly, Secretary-General / El Niño and La Niña Update, Ukraine & other topics - Daily Press Briefing

All right.
Good afternoon.
In a short while, I will be joined virtually by Anand Filippos, UNFPA's representative in Lebanon.
I see her on the screen.
I'm going to ask you for a little bit of patience as I do a couple of announcements here, and then we will get to you.
I to get more on the situation in Lebanon.
This morning, the Secretary-General spoke at the General Assembly meeting in which Kalio Rahman of Bangladesh was elected as the forthcoming president of the 81st session of the General Assembly.
The Secretary-General said the new president elects theme is an inspiring call to action for the multilateral system, restoring trust, managing transformation, a United Nations that delivers for all.
The Secretary-General also paid tribute to Alena Berbck of Germany for her outstanding leadership during the 80th session of the General Assembly.
He noted how miss Berbach over the term pushed member states forward on the implementation of the Pact for the future and had organized interactive dialogues with the candidates for the next Secretary-General.
He also said that the PAC for the Future and the UN AD Initiative represent a blueprint for action, a blueprint for solutions, and bold reform to carry the United Nations into the future.
The work of the General Assembly, he added is critical to bringing these commitments to life and delivering real solutions and results that can renew the world's faith in the work that the UN does.
And my favorite event of the year when the Secretary-General picks the name of the country that will be first in class in the GA.
Do we know what country was chosen? Morocco.
Exactly.
Morocco was selected to be the first seat for the next General Assembly session.
They will be in front of the class for the next session.
In a video message released today on the World Meteorological Organization El Nino La Nina update, the Secretary-General noted that the science is clear.
El Nino is arriving on our doorstep in the coming months with 90% certainty, he stressed that the world must treat it as the urgent climate warning that it is.
The Secretary-General warned that El Nino conditions will pour fuel on the fire of a warming world.
He emphasized that the only effective response is climate action equal to the crisis, ending our addiction to fossil fuels, accelerating the shift to renewables and protecting the most vulnerable and delivering early warning systems for all.
Um, turning to Ukraine, I can tell you that the Secretary-General strongly condemns the latest overnight large scale missile and drone attacks by the armed forces of the Russian Federation on Ukrainian cities, including Kyiv, Dniero, and Kharkiv.
These attacks reportedly killed at least 20 people, including two children, and injured more than 100 others and resulted in widespread destruction of residential and other civilian infrastructure.
Once again, we emphasize that attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructures are prohibited under international humanitarian law and must end immediately.
We also reiterate the Secretary-General urgent appeal for immediate de escalation, leading to a full, immediate, and unconditional cease fire in this conflict.
The humanitarian coordinator in Ukraine, Mattis Smollet also condemned the attacks.
Our humanitarian colleagues noted that rescue operations are ongoing as of this morning.
Mr.
Smollet pointed out that instead of enjoying the start of the school summer break, children and their families spend the night in shelters awakened by air raids, sirens, and explosions.
Humanitarian organizations, including our own UN agencies are fully mobilized and providing first aid and psychological support, distributing emergency relief items, and registering affected people for humanitarian cash assistance.
And as you know, yesterday afternoon, the Security Council met to hold a briefing on threats to international peace and security following a request by Romania.
Moving to Lebanon, I can tell you that despite ongoing de escalation efforts, our UNIFIL colleagues in the South continue to observe intense air activity and exchange of fire across the blue line and within Unifil's own area of operations.
As stressed during the emergency Security Council session yesterday, we call on all parties to exercise maximum restraint and fully adhere to the cessation of hostilities that was agreed to.
Today, between midnight and 4:00 P.M.
Local time, UNIFIL recorded 478 trajectories of projectiles, 468 attributed to the Israeli defense forces, ten attributed to Hezbollah.
The mission also recorded nine IDF airstrikes and 46 violations of Lebanese airspace.
This followed intense military activities yesterday when UNIFIL reported 702 trajectories of projectiles alongside 47 launchers from Hezbollah.
UNIFIL also observed intensive air activity across its whole area of operations.
Peacekeepers report strikes in both sectors of their area of operations, including on road networks.
The escalation in southern Lebanon has included a high volume of artillery, of mortar and rocket fire.
Yesterday, UNIFIL recorded 702 firing incidents from IDF positions south of the blue line and within UNIFIL area of operations.
The peacekeepers also reported two recent safety related incidents that impacted them.
On the night of 31st May, two machine gun rounds struck a prefabricated UNIFIL accommodation unit in Sector East, penetrating three rooms.
No personnel were injured as they had taken shelter in other places.
In separate incident, a fixed wing drone intercepted by the IDF exploded over a UNIFIL position southwest of Nukora yesterday.
No injuries have damage, but both incidents are under review by peacekeepers.
Despite all of these challenges, our peacekeepers are continuing to facilitate humanitarian and institutional support.
Yesterday, the mission enabled two humanitarian missions to Tyre, following coordination with OCHA.
Today, UNIFIL peacekeepers from Italy donated an ambulance and medical supplies to the Lebanese armed forces military hospital in Abadao in Beirut.
In the presence that was the handover.
It was done in the presence of the Force Commander General Abanyra And just a reminder that the humanitarian resident coordinator for Lebanon Imran Risa and the Prime Minister of Lebanon Nawaf Salam will jointly launch the revised Lebanon flash appeal, and that will take place in Beirut on Friday.
The appeal remains focused on providing lifesaving assistance to people in need.
Our friend Imran Risa will also brief your colleagues in Geneva on Friday remotely from Beirut on the appeal.
And I was asked yesterday about the current flash appeal that was launched in March for $308.3 million.
I can tell you that as of June, the appeal has secured $185.9 million, which is, according to our OCHA math expert, about 60% of what we need.
Turning to the occupied Palestinian territory, and our colleagues at OCHA warned that yesterday, Israeli forces began routing our convoys through a new road with a new checkpoint to reach the Karim Shalom Karim Abu Salam crossing from inside Gaza.
Today and yesterday, humanitarian convoys have faced significant operational challenges at the new checkpoints, including delays, congestion, malfunctions, and slow screening.
As a result, only some of the supplies planned to be collected from the crossing could be picked up.
You'll recall that this crossing is right now the only cargo crossing currently operational for us because Zakim crossing in the North has remained closed for a second week now.
Our teams are engaging with authorities to secure smoother access to the Israeli crossings along Gaza's perimeter and the reopening of additional routes.
Meanwhile, to respond to emerging shelter and continuing shelter needs, partners last week distributed nearly 5,000 bedding items, 150 tents, 2000 tarpaulins to more than 5,700 families, However, partners say their dwindling stocks, ongoing restrictions on the entry of essential material, and limited access to affected areas make it challenging to meet the daily needs of the many, many displaced people in Gaza.
Turning to the West Bank, Israeli forces on Sunday extended military order that closes off three refugee camps in Janin and Tkarum.
Information from our colleagues at Unwa indicate that more than 33,000 Palestinians from these camps have been displaced and not allowed to return since January of last year.
This extension prolongs their displacement by another two months until July 31st.
We call, of course, for the lifting of moving restrictions and other policies that cause a prolonged displacement or hinders access to basic services and sources of livelihoods.
Turning to Sudan, yesterday, I was asked about the activities of the Secretary-General personal envoy to Sudan Peka Havisto, and I can tell you that he will travel to Sudan later this week to continue consultations with Sudanese authorities and other stakeholders in the country.
Meanwhile, tomorrow in Addis Ababa, the Quintet, which as you know, is comprised of the African Union, the European Union, the intergovernmental Authority on Development, the League of Arab States, and the United Nations will convene Sudanese civilian stakeholders for a workshop as part of the process aimed at discussing the parameters and priorities of a future inter Sudanese civilian dialogue.
Mr.
Avista will be there for part of the workshop ahead of his travel to Sudan.
This workshop will build on the extensive consultations that Quintet has undertaken in recent months with a broad spectrum of Sudanese stakeholders, including political blocs, political parties, civil society actors, women's group, youth groups, and representatives of displaced communities on the contours of the dialogue process.
Quintet is aiming for the dialogue process and for the preparatory workshop preceding it to be meaningfully inclusive in the way that reflects Sudan's political and social diversity.
And on the ground, the situation remains dire, the humanitarian situation, but despite these mounting insecurity, access constraints, and severe funding shortfalls, we and our humanitarian partners are continuing to do our best to deliver critical assistance to millions of people across the country.
In April alone, we and our partners provided food aid to more than 3 million people including 800,000 people in areas experiencing or at risk of severe hunger.
In North Darfur State, the World Food Program and its partners provided emergency food and nutrition assistance to almost half 1 million of people in Tawa, which, as you know, hosts one of the largest population of internally displaced people in Sudan.
At the same time, we remain gravely concerned by the escalating into communal violence that we're seeing in parts of Darfur region.
As we told you yesterday, clashes over the weekend in several villages across central and West Darfur reportedly claimed dozens of lives.
And yesterday, the violence continued to spread additional communities and tensions remain high despite mediation efforts by local authorities and community leaders.
Meanwhile, drone strikes continue to affect Darfur.
Yesterday, drones reportedly struck the town of Kaboum in South Darfur State, as well as several parts of the state capital, Nyala.
Our OCHA colleagues once again call on all parties to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure and to allow for rapid, safe, and unhindered and sustained access for humanitarian aid for all people who need it wherever they may be.
Um, Turning to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, our colleagues at the Office of the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs tell us that escalating violence in the eastern provinces continue to impact civilians and, of course, the response of the Ebola outbreak.
In Ituri, our partners report that at least seven civilians were killed in villages in Mombasa territory on May 31st.
This attack follows a week long escalation of violence in the province, bringing the total death toll to more than 170 for the month of May alone.
The provinces of North Kivu and South Kivu have not been spared by violence, with authorities reporting casualties in armed clashes, preventing communities from accessing their fields.
This also created obstacles for humanitarian and health workers in carrying out the Ebola response.
We reiterate our call on all parties to respect international humanitarian law, to protect civilians, and to ensure safe, sustained, and unhindered humanitarian access.
Meanwhile, the Ebola outbreak continues to expand.
We and our partners continue to support national health authorities.
This includes the establishment of Ebola treatment centers, the delivery of meals to patients on a daily basis and to frontline health workers, We and our partners are also providing assistance for case management, transporting medical supplies, as well as community engagement, risk communication, and strengthening surveillance to help prevent the spread of the disease even further.
On a positive note, yesterday, the government of the DRC announced a reopening of the airport in Bunia following a comprehensive public assessment of the surveillance and containment measures needed.
The airport had been closed for commercial flights since 23rd May, although humanitarian cargo and flights by UN Humanitarian Air Service had been allowed on an exceptional basis.
And in Uganda, the number of confirmed Ebola cases, according to WHO has risen to 11, including two confirmed deaths as of yesterday.
Some of the cases have been linked to cross border transmission from the DRC.
We and our partners have launched a $15.8 million three month emergency appeal to support the government led response to the Ebola outbreak in Uganda.
Elsewhere in the region, countries are reinforcing their preparedness measures.
Burundi has developed a $17.3 million Ebola contingency plan to support preparedness and response efforts while Zimbabwe has reportedly set up Ebola isolation centers.
Moving to the shores today in Haiti, human regarding Haiti, our human rights colleagues welcome the opening of two specialized judicial units in the country, which are expected to address complex corruption cases, including the illicit trade of arms and money laundering.
They will also deal with serious human rights violations and abuses like killings, kidnapping, sexual violence, and child trafficking.
Our colleagues say the creation of these specialized units is a significant step towards tackling widespread impunity in Haiti.
So far this year, gang related violence has resulted in at least 2,300 deaths Close to 700 people, notably women and girls, have been victims of sexual violence in Haiti, and hundreds of children have continued to be trafficked by gangs.
Volker Türk, the Hi Commissioner for Human Rights urges Haitian authorities to quickly implement these units in accordance with international human rights law and best practices with support from the international community.
A quick note from Bangladesh as we get closer to the ninth anniversary of the large scale forced displacement of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar into Bangladesh.
UNHCR says it's calling on the international community not to forget the 1.2 million Rohingya refugees who are still in Bangladesh.
Most of them, as you know, live in the camps in Cox’s Bazar.
The generous support from Bangladesh and the Bangladeshi people as well as the international community has been critical in meeting their basic needs.
But as we face sharp reduction in humanitarian and development support, Rohingya refugees remain largely reliant on aid.
This year, we and our partners in coordination with the government of Bangladesh appealed for $710 million to meet the most urgent needs of Rohingya refugees and local host communities.
This hyper prioritized appeal is now 60% funded.
However, UNHCR warns that significant humanitarian needs persist.
Without continued international solidarity, the plight of the Rohingya families will deteriorate.
Just lastly, quick, an update for you on global dialogue on AI governance, which will take place In Geneva on July 6th and seventh, media registration for this event is now open, and we encourage you or your colleagues covering AI to register as early as possible.
You'll recall that the AI dialogue was established by the General Assembly last year.
The dialogue in Geneva will be the first of its kind and will gather representatives from governments and the private sector, academia and civil society.
The dialogue was created to ensure that AI governance reflects the priorities of all nations, not just the most technologically advanced, and that the benefits of AI are shared by all.
We also expect members of the independent International Scientific Panel on Artificial Intelligence to present their preliminary report during the event.
That's it.
Quiz, where's the event taking place? Yes, you're paying attention.
Excellent.
In Geneva.
Yes, in Geneva.
I'm open to questions.
Please.
Don't fight the two of you.
Okay.
Hi, Ala.
Hi, how are you? Good.
I'm well.
Thank you.
Um, you know, Janine Hennis, her term is up, you know.
So who's going to be replacing her? I do not have a name to share with you as of yet.
As soon as one is, um, agreed upon, and that will involve consultation with security council, we will let you know.
Gabriel.
Thank you, Steph.
As you noted in your remarks, UNIFIL recorded 478 trajectories of projectiles in a one day period yesterday and 468 attributed to the IDF, as you noted.
That's 97% in one day coming from one side.
3% coming from the other side.
Does the Secretary-General acknowledge that this is not simply a war between two equal sides and that there is a clear aggressor based on these facts? Look, a few points.
The territorial integrity of Lebanon needs to be respected by its neighbors, including Israel.
The monopoly of the use of force, the monopoly by the Lebanese army throughout its territory and its security services also needs to be respected.
And is Israel's actions right now, would the Secretary-General classify them as an occupation or partial occupation of Lebanon? Look, there are clearly Israeli troops in Lebanon, and that's a fact that the Israelis themselves admit.
Islam, Thank you, Stephanie.
I would like to follow up the same question.
With a simple math, it's like every 2 minutes there's a firearm from the Israeli site.
As Gabriel said, it's overwhelming firing.
The question is here, we still I mean, on diplomatic platform, it is still called cease fire.
You have been long enough on this position.
Have you ever been in that period that the meaning of the word eroded so much like in this case? Look, Words matter, right? There's an agreement on cessation of hostilities that was agreed on by the parties.
I think, you know, the Secretary-General has been using the term blessifier The point is that there are agreements.
They need to be respected.
We want to see the guns silenced.
We want to see the population of South Lebanon being able to return to their homes in peace and security.
We want to see the people in Northern Israel being able to return to their homes in peace and security.
We want to see the state of Lebanon strengthened so that its army and its state security services are the only ones with guns in the authorities to use them throughout the territory.
And today, if I may continue today in Washington, this is going to be fourth ceasefire meetings between Israel and Lebanon.
Does UN have any observatories? We do not.
We do not.
But, you know, we obviously are kept abreast of the developments through various mechanisms, including the ones from UNIFIL.
We're in constant contact with both the Lebanese armed forces and the Israeli defense forces.
Madam.
The Secretary-General submitted the options for the replacement of UNIFIL in a letter to the council yesterday.
I just wanted to ask whether he has gotten any feedback.
I know it's still too early.
And what does he expect from the council in terms of the options? Well, I mean, the Secretary-General answered the requirement in resolution 27 90, which called for the end of UNIFIL's mandate by December.
The Secretary-General sent them a letter with a number of options.
What he accepts, what he expects and what he hopes for is for the council to make a decision on the options or whatever they wish to make a decision on.
I think the earlier the council makes a decision, the easier the planning will be for us and also less costly.
The more when planning is done very close in haste, I should say, it's often more expensive.
So the earlier we have a decision and a way forward, the better it will be for all concerned.
Dolce.
Uh, yeah, I wanted to ask you about the process of the Secretary-General and the head of FAO choosing the next World Food program.
Islam.
Sorry.
Is there another Dolce? Yeah.
Yes, sir.
Try to keep discipline in this class.
Anyway, what is the process? The process calls up the FAO head and says, What do you think of this nominee is that it's a joint appointment.
So there's consultations between the Secretary-General and the Director General of the FAO.
Obviously, prior to them talking, there's consultations done by their offices, and it's jointly named.
Okay.
Is there a timeline? Obviously, we WFP now has an acting executive director.
The process will take the time that it takes, but it is getting underway.
Hi.
Okay.
Abdel Hamid, I see you on screen.
Thank you, Stephan.
I want to follow up with the questions of my colleagues Gabriel and Islam.
And I want to wonder why the spokesman for the Secretary-General does not call spade a spade, why he doesn't call the aggressor, why he doesn't speak about occupation, why there is monopoly on victimhood for one side and not the other.
And what happened today in Han unis and killing Palestinian by Israeli bombardment is not mentioned, why there is some language, evasive language when it comes to Israel.
Look, you know, I stand here, answer your questions to the best of my ability.
I welcome you to cover it, to criticize what I say, to compare and contrast what I say, but we stand by what we say.
We try to do our best to highlight the pain and the plight of civilians who are caught in conflict throughout the world as much as we can on an equal basis.
Thank you.
Ala.
Sorry.
Then we'll Stefino, regarding the three options.
Yep.
Okay.
Did the Secretary-General work with the Lebanese government to come up with these three options? I mean, of course, you know, these are the Secretary-General options.
Of course, there are discussions and conversations with all the parties involved, but in the end, it will be this is what the Secretary-General thinks are the best three options for the Security Council to choose from.
They will have to make the ultimate decision.
Yes, ma'am.
Thank you, Stephan.
I'm Nishan Misa from Turkey Journal.
My question is that, can you elaborate more about the meaning of Bangladesh presidency as a UN PGA, in terms of diversity at the UN and how it is more significant now at this point? Look, this was a vote taken by the General Assembly.
You know that the General Assembly tends to choose its presidency on a rotating geographical geographical basis.
And I can tell you that the Secretary-General looks very much forward to working with Mr.
Ahmad as the president of the General Assembly.
And, of course, I think any country should take pride when one of their own is elected to lead the General Assembly.