United Nations published this video item, entitled “Moldova, Ukraine, Syria & other topics – Daily Press Briefing (10 May 2022)” – below is their description.
Noon briefing by Farhan Haq, Deputy Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.
Highlights:
– Moldova
– Ukraine
– Syria
– Yemen
– Democratic Republic of the Congo
– South Sudan
– Mozambique
– Eswatini
– Counter-Terrorism Conference
– Inflation
MOLDOVA
The Secretary-General is in Vienna now, having wrapped up his visit to Moldova, where he met today with President Maia Sandu.
During that meeting, he expressed appreciation for the immense generosity and solidarity shown by the Government and people of Moldova towards those fleeing the war in Ukraine. He also noted that Moldova, already a fragile country, is by far the country that has received the most Ukrainian refugees, as a proportion of its own population.
The Secretary-General expressed the UN’s full solidarity and commitment to scale up assistance to the Moldovan authorities to address the refugee crisis and the full impact of the war in Ukraine, as well as to the strengthening of the country’s national institutions.
Earlier, the Secretary-General had met with the UN Country team and thanked them for their efforts at quickly adapting to the shifting priorities due to the war in Ukraine. The Secretary-General also noted the fact that many members of the UN team were themselves hosting refugees in their private homes.
Prior to leaving Chişinau, Mr. Guterres visited a Refugee Centre, run with the support of UN agencies, where refugees can find temporary places to stay, hot meals and register for cash assistance. During the visit, the Secretary-General had an opportunity to meet a number of families who are housed or just using the services provided by the centre.
The Secretary-General said to the press afterward, “It is impossible to meet refugees and not be deeply moved by their stories.” He added that this tragedy demonstrates that “war is a senseless thing, and that this war must stop.”
Immediately following the visit, the Secretary-General visited the home of a Moldovan family which is hosting Ukrainian refugees. The Secretary-General thanked them for the generosity they have shown by opening their homes to those fleeing violence.
UKRAINE
We also have an update on Ukraine, where hundreds of thousands of people continue to be uprooted by the war. The UN Refugee Agency and the International Organization for Migration today said that nearly 14 million people have been forced to leave their homes over the last couple of months.
To give you the breakdown, more than 8 million people had been internally displaced across the country by the end of April, an increase of 322,000 people in just two weeks, according to IOM. Another 5.9 million people were forced to cross borders to seek safety in other countries, according to UNHCR.
Our humanitarian colleagues note that some 2.7 million people who were previously internally displaced within Ukraine have returned to their places of usual residence, further highlighting the complexity of mobility within Ukraine. According to IOM, 13 per cent of the returnees—353,000 people—indicated an intention to leave their homes again due to the current situation.
The UN and our colleagues from the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights continue to receive reports and allegations of grave violations of human rights in Ukraine, including credible reports of rape, threats of sexual violence against civilian women and girls, men and boys and enforced disappearance and displacement, allegedly perpetrated mainly by Russian armed forces and allies. The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine is documenting and investigating the cases, some of which may amount to war crimes.
And on funding, yesterday, our humanitarian colleagues have launched an interactive Ukraine Private Sector Donations Tracker, to document this unprecedented show of generosity and improve transparency about humanitarian funding flows.
The private sector has committed more than $1 billion of cash and in-kind donations for the humanitarian response to the war in Ukraine. Our Member States have made $1 billion available, out of $2.25 billion requested by aid organizations in Ukraine to support people impacted by the war.
And in response to a question from yesterday on Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths’ engagement in Turkey, our humanitarian colleagues tell us that he was received in Ankara yesterday by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mevlut Cavusoğlu, and Presidential Spokesperson Ibrahim Kalin. Their discussions focused on Turkish support to the UN’s efforts towards progress on pressing humanitarian concerns in Ukraine.
Full highlights: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/noon-briefing-highlight?date%5Bvalue%5D%5Bdate%5D=10%20May%202022
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