Noon briefing by Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.
– COVID-19: UN Response
– Refugee Resettlements Suspended
– Mali
– Sudan
– ILO
– Education
– Unicef
– Yemen
– Libya
– Mozambique
– FAO
– Senior Personnel Appointment
COVID-19: UN RESPONSE
The Secretary-General is in the office today with a reduced staff. He is spending most of the day making calls to leaders of UN entities, staff and missions around the world to check in on them and to see how they are doing.
Following is an update on the UN system response to the pandemic:
In Peru, in addition to immediate health needs, UN entities are working with the Government to minimize the social and economic impacts of the outbreak.
The Pan-American Health Organization and the World Health Organization (WHO) have been working permanently with the Ministry of Health on public health system preparedness and community awareness.
Meanwhile, the International Labour Organization has also been working with other ministries to protect people’s rights.
Turning to Venezuela situation, UNHCR and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) are working with Government counterparts to support migrants and refugees, who are coming from Venezuela to access social programmes that may be limited. And UNFPA is also working on reproductive health services in that regard.
Meanwhile, in Uzbekistan, preparedness is in full speed with the UN team’s collaboration with government counterparts. UN staff have been trained for emergency communications with the Ministry of Health and various other government agencies. The training included monitoring of public opinion, countering false information and working with communities. This complements a UN-backed campaign with the Government on COVID-19 in Uzbek and Russian.
REFUGEE RESETTLEMENTS SUSPENDED
The UN Refugee Agency and the UN Migration Agency – IOM- today announced that they are temporarily suspending resettlement departures for refugees.
This decision is the result of the measures countries are taking to reduce entry into their territories due to COVID-19. This means that travel arrangements for resettling refugees are currently subject to severe disruptions. Some countries have also placed a hold on resettlement activities given their public health situation, which impacts their capacity to receive newly resettled refugees.
The two agencies said that they are also concerned that international travel could increase the exposure of refugees to the virus.
The 2 agencies are appealing to States, and working in close coordination with them, to ensure that movements can continue for the most critical emergency cases wherever possible.
The suspensions will begin to take effect within the next few days. Both agencies look forward to resuming full resettlement travel as soon as prudence and logistics permit.
YEMEN
The UN’s Humanitarian Coordinator in Yemen, Lise Grande, today condemned the continued attacks against health facilities in Taizz, which are threatening services for hundreds of thousands of people, according to a UN spokesperson.
Briefing journalists from his residence for the first time ever as the COVID-19 pandemic evolves, UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said preliminary reports indicated that on March 13th, two buildings at the Al-Thawra General Hospital were hit by missiles. He added, “According to WHO and health partners, since the beginning of the war in 2015, hospitals and other medical facilities across Yemen have been the target of 142 attacks. Less than 50 percent of health facilities across Yemen are currently functioning at capacity and those that are operational lack specialists, equipment and medicine.”
Asked about the humanitarian response amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Dujarric said Yemen had “no reported cases of COVID-19” adding that humanitarian operations are continuing. He said a crisis management team has been established to address COVID-19, and it was “continuously assessing its best measures.”
The UN spokesperson said humanitarians were “introducing new activities based on the threat of COVID-19” adding that WHO and UNICEF “are engaging local communities to increase awareness of the virus and how to prevent it.” He said, “Mass communications campaigns are ongoing in various forms of media. And I think a lot of our humanitarian colleagues are following the same measures.”
Full Highlights: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/noon-briefing-highlight?date%5Bvalue%5D%5Bdate%5D=18%20March%202020
