UNWRA, Afghanistan, Libya & other topics – Daily Press Briefing (23 June 2022)

United Nations published this video item, entitled “UNWRA, Afghanistan, Libya & other topics – Daily Press Briefing (23 June 2022)” – below is their description.

Noon briefing by Stéphane Dujarric, Deputy Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.

Highlights:

– UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees

– Deputy Secretary-General

– Afghanistan

– Libya

– Ukraine

– Malnutrition

– Democratic Republic of the Congo

– Sri Lanka

– Peacebuilding Day

– Public Service Day

– Noon Briefing Guest Tomorrow

– Financial Contribution

UN RELIEF AND WORKS AGENCY FOR PALESTINE REFUGEES

The Secretary-General spoke this morning to an ad hoc committee of the General Assembly dealing with the voluntary contributions to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, otherwise known as UNRWA. He warned that in the last ten years, the needs of Palestine refugees have increased, while funds have stagnated.

The Secretary-General is asking Member States for two steps to end the regular under-funding of the Relief and Works Agency. First, he appealed to potential donors to make pledges today that will bridge the gap between the mandate of UNRWA and the budget needed to ensure vital services to Palestine refugees until the end of the year – to bring UNRWA’s current shortfall down to zero.

Second, he said, we must put the Agency on a durable financial footing. That requires a long-term plan to stabilize the financing of UNRWA and reach sufficient, predictable and sustainable funding.

Just as a programming note Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner General of UNRWA, will be here at 1:30 p.m. tomorrow at the end of the pledging conference so please do come even if it’s Friday afternoon.

DEPUTY SECRETARY-GENERAL

Our Deputy Secretary-General, Amina Mohammed, is in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda today, where she is attending the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.

She delivered remarks at events focusing on sustainable development and on climate. She also spoke at the Violence Against Women and Girls Side Event, with the First Lady of Rwanda and Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall.

The Deputy Secretary-General also had a meeting with the Prime Minister of Cameroon, Joseph Ngute.

And tonight, she is scheduled to meet with Patricia Scotland, the Secretary-General of the Commonwealth. She will also attend the Official Welcome Reception and State Dinner hosted by the President of Rwanda, Paul Kagame.

Tomorrow, the Deputy Secretary-General will continue to attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting and will also meet with several participating leaders.

AFGHANISTAN

On Afghanistan I will not repeat what Martin Griffiths and our colleague Ramiz Alakbarov just briefed the Security Council with, but I’ll just add that our colleagues tell us that priority needs include emergency shelter and non-food items, food assistance, health and water and sanitation as well as hygiene support. The UN Refugee Agency has dispatched tents, blankets, plastic sheeting, and kitchen sets, that’s among other items, to cover the needs of about 4,000 people.

The World Food Programme has confirmed in-kind food stocks for about 14,000 people in hardest-hit Paktika Province.

UNICEF has also prepositioned non-food items in Paktika and Khost provinces and supported medical evacuations.

The UN Population Fund has confirmed capacity to provide dignity kits and support to health facilities in the impacted area.

In addition, seven teams from the International Organization for Migration are now on the ground in Paktika and Khost for assessments.

For its part, the World Health Organization has provided 10 tonnes of medical supplies sufficient for 5,400 surgeries as well as medical treatments covering 36,000 people for three months.

The UN Development Programme, as part of the overall UN response, has launched a series of emergency response initiatives to support the communities impacted by the earthquake.

UNDP and its partners are refocusing their ongoing cash-for-work activities to support the reconstruction of damaged houses, restoring operations of the micro-businesses critical to the local economy, and addressing other basic human needs.

Also today, our humanitarian colleagues on the ground today coordinated the deployment of assessment teams to Khost and Paktika, as well as to Gardez in Paktia provinces. Local coordination with the de facto authorities is ongoing.

Colleagues also warn that the risk of cholera outbreaks are of particular concern in the southeast part of the country, where cases of acute watery diarrhoea were already rising prior to yesterday’s earthquake. Preparations are underway to avoid an outbreak, including through oral vaccinations and hygiene response activities.

The Humanitarian Coordinator for Afghanistan, Ramiz Alakbarov, is expected to lead a team to the affected areas in the coming days to support the coordination of response efforts.

Full Highlights: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/noon-briefing-highlight?date%5Bvalue%5D%5Bdate%5D=23%20June%202022

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