United Nations on Various Global Issues

Briefing by the Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General
The following is a near-verbatim transcript of today’s noon briefing by Farhan Haq, Deputy Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.

Good afternoon, everyone.

**Secretary-General’s Travels

I have travel to announce. Tomorrow morning, the Secretary-General will travel to Washington, D.C., to meet with members of the United States Senate. He accepted an invitation by Senator Patrick Leahy, President pro tempore of the Senate, to meet him and other members of the leadership of the Senate Committee on Appropriations.

While on Capitol Hill, the Secretary-General will also meet with the Chairman and the Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, Senators Robert Menendez and James Risch.

The Secretary-General will return to New York the same day.

**Gender Parity

And this morning, the Secretary-General provided an update on the fifth anniversary of the Gender Parity Strategy.

Speaking to the Group of Friends on the topic, he reiterated that gender parity is a key priority of his second term, adding that it is also a strategic goal for the Organization.

The Secretary-General pointed to notable advances achieved in the past five years: gender parity has been reached among the UN’s senior leadership two years ahead of the target date; along with parity among heads and deputy heads of peace operations; as well as parity among the 130 Resident Coordinators.

The number of UN entities with at least 50 per cent women staff has also risen from five to 26.

But, the Secretary-General added, gaps remain. In the field, he said, progress has been slow and in some cases we have gone backwards. Therefore, the next phase of implementing the Gender Parity Strategy will focus on advancing and sustaining progress in the field.

His full remarks have been shared with you.

**Deputy Secretary-General’s Travels

Following her trip to the Aspen Ministers Forum in Prague, Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed is in Geneva today. Upon her arrival, she engaged with officials and staff from around the UN system. At an executive briefing with Member States, the Deputy Secretary-General reflected on the momentum needed to rescue the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and highlighted the unique partnership opportunities for the forthcoming SDG Summit in 2023.

During the high-level opening ceremony and dialogue of the 2022 Effective Development Cooperation Summit, she called for collective action for today’s challenges, financing and investments in long-term development goals. “Put simply”, she stated, “we need multilateralism that delivers for people and planet”.

The Deputy Secretary-General also met with the President of Rwanda, Paul Kagame, and with the Swedish State Secretary for Development, Diana Janse, as well as leaders from development organizations, the President and Chairs of the Governing Bodies of Geneva and other distinguished representatives.

While at the Summit, she took the opportunity to participate in the UN SDG Action Campaign, which aims to turn division into togetherness and apathy into action.

**Ukraine

Turning to Ukraine: As you know, the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Martin Griffiths, arrived today in the country for a four-day visit. His first stop was Mykolaiv, in southern Ukraine, where he visited a bakery which is owned by a woman. That bakery has remained open throughout the nine months of the war but had to reduce the number of employees from almost 500 to just below 100. Our colleagues from the World Food Programme are supporting the bakery by distributing its loaves to people in Mykolaiv and the front-line city of Kherson.

Also today, Mr. Griffiths visited a centre for displaced people. There, he met a family from the Kherson region who fled to Mykolaiv because their village has been under constant bombardment in recent days. They left with nothing but a bag of clothes and now depend on the support that UN agencies, NGOs (non-governmental organizations) and local authorities are providing for them.

Also at the same site, Mr. Griffiths heard from many elderly people who shared stories of loss and pain, as well as how humanitarians are helping them.

Mr. Griffiths saw how the electricity supply in Mykolaiv, which now hosts just half of its original population of 500,000, is unstable. Water and heating are still not reaching everyone, putting people at risk due to the freezing temperatures.

He heard from the Mayor of Mykolaiv, Oleksandr Sienkevych, and the Governor of Mykolaiv region, Vitalii Kim, about how the economy of Mykolaiv has been devastated by the war, which has impacted the repair of water, electricity systems and other essential services.

We, along with our humanitarian partners, have reached more than half a million people in the Mykolaiv region with aid this year. Most recently, we have provided dozens of generators to hospitals, schools or places for displaced people, like the one Mr. Griffiths visited today.

**Children and Armed Conflict

Also travelling today is Virginia Gamba, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict. She is conducting an official visit in Israel and the State of Palestine until 15 December.

The visit is part of the Special Representative’s efforts to engage with all parties on the importance of ending and preventing grave violations against children, a call emphasized by the Secretary-General in his latest annual report on children and armed conflict covering the year 2021.

**Yemen

Turning to Yemen, our humanitarian colleagues tell us that on Friday, a group of unidentified men attacked a humanitarian UN convoy in Yemen that was traveling from Seiyoun to Ma’rib.

Two security personnel from the escorts accompanying the convoy were killed in the incident, and another four were injured. There were no injuries among the UN personnel traveling in the convoy, which arrived in Ma’rib City safely later that day.

This attack is extremely alarming, and indicative of the security challenges faced by the aid operation in Yemen, which supports 10.5 million people with assistance every month.

Humanitarian workers must be able to carry out their work safely and without impediments. Actions like these not only put our staff at risk but also negatively impact the people we serve. Humanitarian personnel and assets must not be attacked, and all feasible precautions must be taken to avoid and minimize incidental harm to them.

**Central African Republic

We have an update from the Central African Republic, where today our peacekeeping mission, MINUSCA and the Government signed the UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework for 2023-2027. This is our main tool for the planning and implementation of UN activities in-country in support of the 2030 Agenda.

Meanwhile, over the weekend, UN peacekeepers and the national defence forces repelled an attack by the Coalition des patriotes pour le changement in Boyo, 90 km north-east of Bambari, in the Ouaka prefecture. The attack took place near a temporary MINUSCA base. A UN vehicle parked inside the base was hit by several bullets; no UN casualties were reported.

Following reports of mobilization by the Coalition des patriotes pour le changement in the Vakaga prefecture, the Mission has reinforced its presence in Birao and conducted an Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance mission today.

**International Days

Today is International Universal Health Coverage Day, and this year’s theme is “Build the world we want: A healthy future for all”. It highlights that to build a safer and healthier future for all, we must strengthen our health systems to ensure they are equitable, resilient and capable of meeting everyone’s needs.

Also, today is the International Day of Neutrality.

**Financial Contribution

And today, the UN’s coffers reached the 140 mark — meaning that 140 Member States have paid their regular budget dues in full.

The latest cheque came from the Russian Federation. Spasibo!

**Secretary-General’s Press Conference

And on a programming note, the Secretary-General will hold an end-of-year press conference in this room at 10 a.m. on Monday, 19 December, so just a short week from now.

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