Noon briefing by Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.
– Counter-Terrorism Week
– Integration Segment/ECOSOC
– Syria, Nigeria
– COVID-19/Dominican Republic
– COVID-19/Malawi
– COVID-19/Peacekeeping
– DRC
– CAR
– UNTSO
– Senior Personnel Appointment
– Financial Contribution
– Press Briefing Tomorrow
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.
Highlights: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/noon-briefing-highlight?date%5Bvalue%5D%5Bdate%5D=06%20July%202020
