Highlights:
– Secretary-General Travels
– Gaza
– UN Relief and Works Agency
– Sudan
– Great Lakes
– Climate Change
– Eradication of Poverty
GAZA
This morning, the Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Joyce Msuya, briefed the Member States on the humanitarian situation in Gaza. She said that the situation can only be described as an utter catastrophe. As every hour passes, she said the restoration of essential supplies and services and the need to get more humanitarian assistance into Gaza becomes ever more critical.
She said that the UN will continue to engage with the parties and States with influence to identify urgent solutions in terms of getting humanitarian aid into Gaza so we can deliver these supplies also to secure humanitarian access throughout the territory and to allow UN and NGO personnel in and out of the Gaza Strip.
I just wanted to give you an update on the World Food Programme, which they tell us have more than 310 tonnes of ready-to-eat food either at the border or on their way to Rafah – enough to feed about a quarter-million people for about a week. More food supplies are arriving in Al Arish airport, in northeastern Egypt.
Meanwhile, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) is supporting the overall UN efforts to provide much-needed support to Gaza through the Egyptian Red Crescent. UNHCR will be providing bottled water, blankets, mattresses, jerrycans, hygiene kits and clothing items.
Since 7 October, UNESCO has also confirmed the deaths of nine journalists in the line of duty during the Hamas terrorist attack and the Israeli military response in Gaza, but also on the Israeli-Lebanese border following the resurgence of tensions with Hezbollah. The death toll could rise further, UNESCO warns.
SUDAN
Turning to Sudan, the UN Refugee Agency released staggering numbers today, saying that nearly 4,000 civilians have been killed and thousands of others injured in Darfur, between 15 April and August of this year. The majority are believed to have been targeted mainly due to their ethnicity, and this is true particularly in West Darfur.
At least 29 cities, towns and villages have been destroyed across Darfur after extensive looting and burning. In addition, schools in the area have been closed, cutting off access to education and safe spaces for millions of young children.
UNHCR and partners provided displaced families in North and West Darfur with core relief items. And of course, the agency, and all of us at the UN, continue to call on the parties to the conflict to guarantee the protection of civilians, including refugees and internally displaced human beings, and to ensure safe passage of humanitarian assistance wherever it’s needed.
CLIMATE CHANGE
Our friends in Geneva at the World Meteorological Organization tell us that we just had the hottest September on record – putting this year on track to be the warmest year on record. June, July, August and September all broke monthly records.
In addition, for the sixth consecutive month, September saw a record-high monthly global ocean surface temperature and Antarctica also had its warmest September with sea ice remaining at seasonal record lows.
Full Highlights: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/noon-briefing-highlight?date%5Bvalue%5D%5Bdate%5D17%20October%202023
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