United Nations published this video item, entitled “Niger, Peacekeeping operations & other topics – Daily Press Briefing (28 July 2023)” – below is their description.
Noon Briefing by Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.
Highlights:
-Niger
-Security Council/Peacekeeping operations
-Syria
-Cyprus
-International days
-Financial contribution
NIGER
The Head of the United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS), Leonardo Santos Simão, is briefing the Security Council on the Secretary-General’s behalf in closed consultations.
He is back in Dakar and is in close contact with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the African Union, and other key partners to support regional efforts to restore constitutional order.
On Sunday, he will be at the ECOWAS Summit in Abuja, which will be dedicated to the situation in Niger.
On the ground, our humanitarian colleagues said that their work in the country is continuing.
However, flights from the UN Humanitarian Air Service – UNHAS – remain grounded – because air space in Niger is closed.
The UN and its humanitarian partners remain fully committed and engaged to supporting the vulnerable populations of Niger who are impacted by a combination of climate, economic, and security shocks, in a context of very high humanitarian and development needs.
This morning, Nicole Kouassi, the Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator ad interim noted that the $583 million humanitarian appeal for Niger, is only 32 percent funded.
SECURITY COUNCIL/ PEACEKEEPING OPERATIONS
This morning, the Security Council held a meeting on the protection of civilians by UN peacekeeping operations. Briefing Council members were Jean-Pierre Lacroix, the Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations, as well as the Force Commander of the UN Mission in South Sudan, Lieutenant General Mohan Subramanian; the Force Commander of the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Lieutenant General Otávio Rodrigues De Miranda Filho, and the Force Commander of UN Interim Force in Lebanon, Major General Aroldo Lázaro Sáenz.
SYRIA
In Syria, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) today warned about the ongoing heatwave there, with temperatures going from 30 to 46 degrees Celsius. This is putting lives at risk, particularly in the northwest where millions of people live in camps and settlements.
Yesterday, a one-year-old girl passed away in a displacement camp in Idleb after her health deteriorated due to extreme heat. The infant and her family lived in a three-year-old tent in a camp hosting about 860 people. Partners on the ground reported that at least 165 tents in the camp lack proper thermal insulators to protect people from extreme heat and other weather conditions.
A plan, launched by the UN and its partners, to move displaced people in north-west Syria out of tents and into dignified shelters is being implemented.
However, living conditions remain harsh for about 800,000 people who still live in tents today, often in overcrowded conditions.
The summer months also saw the spread of fires across the region. In July, at least 134 fires were reported across north-west Syria. Partners also reported over 320 fire incidents that have affected over 720 tents housing displaced people since the start of the year.
Some 1.9 million displaced people live in some 1,400 camps or self-settled sites in north-west Syria, the majority of whom are women and children.
CYPRUS
Today, the two leaders, Nikos Christodoulides and Ersin Tatar, jointly visited the laboratory of the Committee on Missing Persons (CMP) in Cyprus.
The visit reaffirms their political will to support the humanitarian process of finding, identifying, and returning the remains of missing persons to their families.
This was the first joint visit of the leaders to the Committee’s anthropological laboratory since 2015. Through its work, the Committee on Missing Persons in Cyprus helps families find closure and contributes to the restoration of trust between the two communities. The Committee on Missing Persons is an example of successful cooperation between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots and has continuously yielded results.
Learn more: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/noon-briefing-highlight?date%5Bvalue%5D%5Bdate%5D=28%20July%202023
United Nations YouTube Channel
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