United Nations published this video item, entitled “Libya & other topics – Daily Briefing (21 December 2020)” – below is their description.
Daily Press Briefing by the Spokesperson of the Secretary-General, Stephane Dujarric.
– Libya
– Afghanistan
– Middle East peace Process
– Western Sahara and more…
SENIOR PERSONNEL APPOINTMENTS
Today, the Secretary-General is announcing the appointment of Georgette Gagnon of Canada as his new Assistant Secretary-General, Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator for Libya.
Ms. Gagnon succeeds Yacoub El Hillo of Sudan, who will complete his assignment on 5 January 2021. The Secretary-General is grateful for his distinguished service in support of the UN mandate in the country, and his work with the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL).
Ms. Gagnon brings to the position over twenty-five years of experience leading and implementing strategic initiatives on human rights, humanitarian action and development and coordinating multi-disciplinary teams in conflict and post-conflict situations.
Also, being appointed today is Ramiz Alakbarov of Azerbaijan as his new Deputy Special Representative for Afghanistan with the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA). He will also serve as the United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in the country.
Mr. Alakbarov succeeds Toby Lanzer of the United Kingdom, to whom the Secretary-General is grateful for his dedicated service.
Mr. Alakbarov also brings 25 years of experience in executive leadership, strategic planning and policy making, development programming and management, as well as humanitarian response, including as the Director of the Policy and Strategy Division in New York and the Country Representative in Haiti for the UN Population Fund (UNFPA).
SECURITY COUNCIL/MIDDLE EAST
This morning, the Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Nickolay Mladenov, briefed members of the Security Council. He said told them that the latest humanitarian needs assessment found that almost 2.5 million Palestinians – that’s 47 per cent of the population of the Occupied Palestinian Territory – need aid.
Mr. Mladenov said he remains deeply troubled by continued Israeli settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
Over the past year, Israeli authorities advanced controversial settlement plans that had been frozen for years. He added that the total number of units advanced this year are on par with 2019 numbers, despite an eight-month hiatus.
Also, Mr. Mladenov said that violence and attacks against civilians have continued in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. He said that he’s appalled that children continue to be victims – with a particularly troubling series of incidents over the past month in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. He urged security forces to exercise maximum restraint and use lethal force only when strictly unavoidable to protect life.
SECURITY COUNCIL/WESTERN SAHARA
This afternoon the Security Council will also hold a closed meeting on Western Sahara. They will be briefed by Bintou Keita, the Assistant Secretary-General for Africa, and Colin Stewart, the Special Representative and head of the UN Mission for the Referendum on Western Sahara (MINURSO).
ETHIOPIA
On Ethiopia, our humanitarian colleagues confirmed that two inter-agency assessment teams are expected to enter Tigray today following official approval from the Federal Government last Saturday.
One team is destined to visit Shire and another will go to Mekelle. The aim of the missions, which are expected to last one week, is to assess the humanitarian needs.
In the meantime, the Humanitarian Response Plan for Northern Ethiopia has been updated. We now seek $116.5 million until the end of January 2021. The goal is to address the immediate needs of an estimated 2.3 million people, including 1.3 million people impacted by the recent conflict.
The plan is currently 46 per cent funded with an outstanding gap of $63.4 million.
CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC
The United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) said that political and security tensions increased over the weekend in the midst of the electoral campaign for the presidential and legislative elections on 27 December.
A coalition of armed groups simultaneously attacked four prefectures in the western and southern part of the country. These groups also attempted to reach the capital, Bangui. UN Peacekeepers responded proactively and exchanged fire with armed groups in several areas. No damage was reported.
On Sunday, the Mission and members of the G5+ consisting of main international partners in the Central African Republic, issued a communiqué condemning the incidents and calling on stakeholders to stop the violence and expressed their support for the holding of the elections as scheduled.
Full Text Transcript: https://www.un.org/press/en/2020/db201221.doc.htm
United Nations YouTube Channel
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