Noon briefing by Eri Kaneko, Associate Spokesperson For Secretary-General.
Highlights:
– Security Council
– Syria
– Yemen
– Libya
– Somalia
– Nigeria
– South Sudan
– Central African Republic
– Brazil/COVID-19
– Latin America
– Annual Report On Children And Armed Conflict
– Foreign Direct Investment
– COVID-19/Domestic Workers
– Remittances
– Press Briefing Tomorrow
SECURITY COUNCIL
Geir Pedersen, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Syria, briefed the Security Council this morning. He said that currency and price volatility remain acute in that country, and the inflation rate has hit peak levels in the past six months.
Before this recent deterioration, he said, more than 80 per cent of Syrians were estimated to be living below the poverty line. The situation is undoubtedly more severe today, and the intensity of that poverty is likely more acute.
He discussed recent violence in the country and once more appealed for calm to be sustained in Idlib and elsewhere, and for a nationwide ceasefire, in line with resolution 2254.
Mr. Pedersen said that he is ready to convene and facilitate a third session of the Syrian-led and Syrian-owned constitutional committee. Conscious that global travel restrictions remain in place, he is hopeful that a session in Geneva may be possible towards the end of August.
SYRIA
The UN Refugee Agency today warned that the economic downturn prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic has pushed hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees in the Middle East into an ever more desperate situation and has increased their humanitarian needs.
UNHCR says that the number of vulnerable refugees who lack the basic resources to survive in exile has dramatically surged as a result of the public health emergency. The refugee hosting communities in countries in Syria’s neighbourhood experience similar hardships.
Since the start of the pandemic, UNHCR has provided emergency cash support to nearly 200,000 additional refugees in Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey who previously did not receive financial aid, along with other efforts to mitigate the impact of the pandemic. The five countries alone host more than 5.5 million Syrians, the biggest refugee group in the world. The agency is attempting to support at least 100,000 more refugees with one-off payments.
Full Highlights: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/noon-briefing-highlight?date%5Bvalue%5D%5Bdate%5D=16%20June%202020