Daily Press Briefing by the Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General

The following is a near-verbatim transcript of today's briefing by Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesman for the Secretary-General.

All right, good afternoon.

**Guest

In a very short while, we will be joined in person by our friend Matthias Schmale, who, as you know, is the Humanitarian and Resident Coordinator for Ukraine.

He is here for some meetings in New York, and we thought we would drag him in here to answer some of your questions.

**Sudan

Let me start with Sudan. Our humanitarian colleagues are warning yet again that civilians across the Kordofan region face growing dangers as violence intensifies. Earlier today, the Operational Humanitarian Country Team in Sudan issued a statement, condemning in the strongest terms the escalating violence across Kordofan and the ongoing sieges that have cut off multiple cities. Our humanitarian colleagues tell us that the people in Dilling and Kadugli in South Kordofan State remain trapped, facing extreme hardship, severe restrictions on movement and limited access to essential services and protection. Famine conditions have been identified in Kadugli, while sustained attacks have been reported in Babanusa, in West Kordofan State, in recent days.

The humanitarian community in Sudan also expressed deep concern over continued attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure in the region, noting that the violence is restricting access to food, medicine and essential supplies and limiting farmers' access to their fields and to markets for their products. This is increasing the risk of famine spreading across the Kordofan states.

The statement from our colleagues on the ground urged that all those involved in the fighting protect civilians, including medical and humanitarian workers, particularly those fleeing besieged areas and local front-line responders delivering life-saving aid wherever they are able to.

Aid workers in Sudan face extraordinary risks as they work to deliver basic assistance to 1.1 million human beings across the Kordofan region. They require safe and unimpeded access to reach all those in need.

The humanitarian community in Sudan also stressed that sexual violence, abductions and the recruitment of children must end, and that all civilian sites, including hospitals, shelters and markets, must be respected and protected in line with international humanitarian law.

Meanwhile, in North Darfur State, our partners at Save the Children tell us that more than 43,000 people displaced from El Fasher following the escalation of conflict in late October have now arrived in Korma town and Silk camp, placing immense strain on what you can imagine is already a fragile community. An assessment last week in Korma, which is located about 70 kilometres north-west of El Fasher, found critical shortages of food, healthcare, nutrition, water and sanitation services, as well as education and protection.

An OCHA (Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs) team also visited Korma yesterday, noting that people fleeing violence continue to arrive in the area.

And you will recall, last month, Tom Fletcher, our Emergency Relief Coordinator, also visited Korma, where he heard from survivors who escaped the violence in El Fasher.

**Occupied Palestinian Territory

Turning to the situation in Gaza: Our humanitarian colleagues are informing us that the humanitarian scale-up is well under way, even as insecurity persists, with frequent reports of attacks across the Gaza Strip causing casualties, including among civilians, and of course, causing further destruction.

On Monday, our partners leading on shelter and protection support distributed critical items to thousands of households, including thousands of winter clothing items, hundreds of bedding kits, tents, tarpaulins and kitchen sets. About 1,100 people were provided with services ranging from psychological support to legal consultations. Also on Monday, our partners set up 30 activity tents in different locations across Gaza to provide safe spaces where children can access psychosocial support and structured activities.

During November, we and our partners distributed monthly food parcels to more than 60 per cent of Gaza's population. That's about 1.3 million people out of 2.1 million. You will recall that we are also supporting community kitchens, bread production and other activities critical to addressing food insecurity.

Throughout last month, our mine action partners conducted over 130 assessments of explosive hazards across priority humanitarian locations, including warehouses, distribution points, major transport corridors and key infrastructure. This mapping exercise has been essential to enable [us] and our partners across all sectors to scale up operations based on our plan for the initial period of the ceasefire.

Our mine action partners also continue to educate people, especially children, on how to stay safe around explosive hazards, and they are reaching a lot of people every week doing that.

At the same time, we warn yet again that our humanitarians colleagues continue to face impediments in their efforts to fully implement the scale-up we are trying to do in Gaza. There needs to be full respect for the ceasefire to ensure the safety of all civilians, including aid workers, and that needs to be fully guaranteed. In addition, more crossings must open, more volume of and aid needs to go in, and more diverse supplies need to enter Gaza through multiple routes, and without delays or other impediments. The work of all our humanitarian partners, including UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency), WFP (World Food Programme), UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund), WHO (World Health Organization) and NGOs (non-governmental organizations), must be facilitated. To that end, customs currently imposed on humanitarian supplies should be waived, and restrictive registration requirements must be lifted.

**Central African Republic

Turning to the Central African Republic, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said it is alarmed over the impact that armed violence is having on civilians in the south-east of the country.

On Sunday and Monday, an ambush in the Mboki region killed several civilians and heightened intercommunal tensions - that's what local sources are telling us. Several homes were burned, and the violence displaced about 1,000 people, who reportedly sought safety at a Catholic church in the region.

Mboki has seen repeated clashes, with humanitarian access made extremely difficult due to insecurity and poor telecommunications.

Last week, two staff at a local NGO working in the area were injured by stray bullets.

They had been partnering with the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) to provide food, protection, and water, sanitation and hygiene support as part of a project backed by the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF).

Although the situation has improved in parts of the Central African Republic, violence continues to deepen needs in other regions -- including the south-east, where some 50,000 people require humanitarian assistance.

**South Asia Floods

Turning to South and South-East Asia, we have an update on the catastrophic flooding and landslides that have reportedly killed over 1,500 people and impacted nearly 11 million people across the region. As we mentioned yesterday, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Thailand, Viet Nam and Malaysia have been among the hardest hit, facing record-breaking rainfall, storm surges and widespread inundation.

In Sri Lanka, we and our partners continue to support the Government-led response and assessments. In close coordination with the authorities, we and our humanitarian partners have delivered emergency aid, including food, hygiene supplies, kitchen sets and water tanks. We have also distributed maternity and dignity kits and deployed medical teams. Early recovery efforts are under way, including deeper damage assessments.

For Viet Nam, the Emergency Relief Coordinator, Tom Fletcher, allocated $2.6 million from the UN Central Emergency Response Fund yesterday to bolster assistance in the most affected provinces. The new money will support shelter, water, sanitation and hygiene, as well as [food] security interventions - including cash assistance - to complement the Government-led efforts.

In Indonesia, the Government-led response to the devastating floods in Aceh continues despite major logistical and access challenges. We are working closely with the Government there on logistics, health, water and sanitation, and facilitating coordination with local partners.

We will continue to closely monitor the situation in the region and remain in close contact with national authorities. We stand ready, obviously, to support any ongoing efforts by the Government.

**Hurricane Melissa

And an update on the aftermath of another storm, that is Hurricane Melissa, which, as you will remember, hit the Caribbean last month and made landfall in a number of countries. Communities in Cuba and Jamaica continue to face significant needs. In Jamaica, some 280,000 people remain displaced, with very few returns recorded. Our humanitarian partners have reached an estimated 280,000 people with assistance, including food distributions and hot meals.

Our humanitarian colleagues note that the most critical services are gradually being restored, but access remains uneven, with tens of thousands of households still without electricity or reliable piped water. Daily water trucking continues in the hardest-hit areas.

We, along with our humanitarian partners, continue to support the Government-led efforts, including the deployment of 5.5 metric tons of health supplies, psychological first aid, and ongoing assessments to guide recovery planning.

UNICEF is supporting school recovery through sanitation, cleaning and efforts to maintain access to learning, while the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) is helping repair health facilities and procure medical supplies and equipment.

In Cuba, the UN system continues to support the Government-led recovery efforts. Over the past month, and with support for anticipatory action from the UN Central Emergency Response Fund, PAHO reached nearly 1 million people with health assistance, ensuring essential services across hospitals. WFP, for its part, provided food assistance to some 340,000 people, and UNDP (United Nations Development Programme) has distributed materials to help 120,000 people do repairs.

FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization) also distributed half a million vegetable seeds to support the recovery of household agriculture.

Despite these efforts, the needs are significant. The UN Plan of Action to support the response to Melissa in Cuba, which seeks $74 million to help 1 million people, is just 20 per cent funded. […]

**International Days

International day. If I tell you show me the money, what International Day is it? […] It is the International Day of Banks. This year, the Day highlights the essential role of multilateral development banks, international development banks and domestic banking systems in advancing sustainable development, supporting climate action and improving standards of living.

And today is also the International Day against Unilateral Coercive Measures. The Day aims to raise awareness about the negative impact of unilateral coercive measures not in accordance with international law and the Charter of the UN. It emphasizes the need to promote dialogue, mutual respect, understanding, tolerance and multilateralism as the cornerstone of international relations and diplomacy.

**Senior Appointment

We have someone who is coming on board. Today we are announcing that the Secretary-General and the Director General of the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), Qu Dongyu, and the Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP), Cindy McCain, appointed jointly Matthew Hollingworth of the United Kingdom as the World Food Programme Assistant Executive Director for Programme Operations. He succeeds Valerie Guarnieri of the United States, to whom the Secretary-General is grateful and to whom we personally say thank you.

Mr. Hollingworth is an experienced humanitarian leader with over 25 years of experience in emergency response, supply chain management and country leadership roles.

He is currently the WFP [Representative and] Country Director in Lebanon.

**Mic Browne 

And we want to note that a good friend of ours is retiring today. Ireland's own Mic Browne, the long-time Chief of Security at Headquarters, is leaving us.

Chief Browne's career has taken him from the parade grounds of the Irish Defence Forces to the corridors of the United Nations, with stops in Lebanon, Iraq and many other places along the way. His time at UN Headquarters has been focused on keeping all of the people who are in this building safe, and that includes yourselves, journalists, diplomats, staff, NGOs and visitors.

Providing stellar leadership, he has navigated countless high-stakes events and coordinated operations for some of the most complex gatherings on Earth.

And of course, he had to deal with crises that pop up now and then - from dealing with a Colonel Saunders lookalike who made his way into the building to meet the PGA (President of the General Assembly) back in 2009, to allegedly malfunctioning escalators - Mic has always risen to the challenge with good humour and professionalism.

He has been a good friend to this office, and we wish the young men from Limerick the best.

**Questions and Answers

Spokesman: On that note… All right, Dezhi?

Question: Yeah. A couple of topics. First today, the Israel military launched airstrike to the Southern Lebanon area, targeting what they called Hizbullah depots. Does the Secretary-General have any reaction on the latest development?

Spokesman: Look, I haven't gotten an update today from our colleagues at UNIFIL (United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon), but I can tell you that we stand firmly against any violations of resolution 1701 and any violations of the Blue Line.

Question: You actually part answered my question. So, the UNIFIL colleagues haven't provide updates, right?

Spokesman: They haven't come up all the way up through the pipes to me.

Question: We know that the Security Council members, they are going to visit UNIFIL camps in southern Lebanon. Would there be any effect of this?

Spokesman: You would have to ask the Security Council. I'm not across their trip. I do know there are… from what I gather, they are in Syria today. But otherwise, you should speak to the Council.

Question: Right. Okay. On Sudan, you just talked a lot of the devastation in Sudan. But the head of the Sudanese Armed Forces, Abdel [Fattah] Burhan, said recently that his priority is to disarm RSF (Rapid Support Forces), which means if there's no intention to disarm, he's not willing to talk to RSF but will continue the military operation. How worried is the Secretary-General about the trajectory of this crisis in Sudan?

Spokesman: Look. I mean, if you've been listening to what we've been saying, what the Secretary-General's been saying, what the Secretary-General's representatives have been saying, I think we've been spending a lot of time highlighting this horrendous humanitarian crisis in Sudan, where two leaders are continuing to fight, and their people are paying the ultimate price in horrendous conditions. The Secretary-General's Personal Envoy, Ramtane Lamamra, was in Port Sudan recently. He's in Addis. I can tell you that he is in touch with all parties and getting what I would say is sort of cautiously positive signals that both the Government and the RSF are willing to engage with him.

Question: Has Secretary-General ever reached out to the White House? Because it seems that President [Donald] Trump has now has an interest to solving that Sudan crisis. And also, the Secretary of State said that he is the only leader in the world capable of resolving the Sudan crisis.

Spokesman: Listen, Mr. Lamamra is speaking to all relevant parties.

Question: White House?

Spokesman: He's speaking to all relevant parties, including the United States. Abdelhamid, and then we'll go to you, Benny.

Question: Thank you, Steph. First, as part of the marking the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian people, there is a movie today at 1:00 in the Trusteeship. Expected you to announce the movie, which is The Voice of Hind Rajab.

Spokesman: I understand, Abdelhamid. I don't mention every event that goes on in this building.

Question: Now my question is Yasser Abu Shabab, a Palestinian in Gaza who was accused of being an Israeli agent, was gunned down today. Do you have any information to share with us?

Spokesman: I don't have any further information than what I've read in the press.

Question: Okay. And the Foreign Minister of Egypt said that dividing Gaza is not acceptable. That means there are some fears that Gaza is being divided as we speak. What do you say?

Spokesman: I think, if you've… again, paraphrasing what I just told to Dezhi, if you've listened to what the Secretary-General has said, his representatives, what we've said from this [podium], is that we stand against the division of Gaza and also stand against the division of Gaza from the West Bank as a future Palestinian State. Benny Avni?

Question: Hey.

Spokesman: Hey.

Question: Speaking of films, last night in Manhattan, there was a screening of a movie called Unravelling UNRWA, which is, as you can hear from the name, critical of UNRWA. Are you aware of the movie? Is there any… [cross-talk]

Spokesman: We're aware of the movie. One of our colleagues… I think you've seen the movie.

Question: I have not. Regrettably, I was going to go see it.

Spokesman: Okay. Alright. [cross-talk] Okay. Benny, if you haven't seen the movie, I would encourage you obviously to see the movie. One of our colleagues, a senior UNRWA person, spoke at length to them. And so since neither you or I have seen this film, I'm not sure what kind of discussion we can have.

Question: What, you are accusing me of not seeing while you are not seeing it?

Spokesman: No. I'm just saying, so I'm happy… [cross-talk] It's hard for us to have a discussion.

Question: To follow up on that. So, there's now reports that in Gaza, UNRWA is much less active than other UN and NGO agencies. Any, is it… [cross-talk]

Spokesman: Based on what information?

Question: As I said, there's a lot of reports on that.

Spokesman: I mean, UNRWA continues to do its work. We talk about them almost every day, in terms of creating learning spaces. They have the network. They have the buy-in from the community, along with World Food Programme, WHO, UNICEF. Every UN agency on the ground in Gaza is doing as much as it can in the space it is being given to do its work.

Question: And just to be clear on that film, the central allegation from the book that was the movie was based on is that UNRWA perpetuates rather than helps resolve the Palestinian-Israeli dispute. What's your line on this? [cross-talk]

Spokesman: UNRWA was not created to solve the Israeli Palestinian dispute. UNRWA was created in 1948.

Question: '47.

Spokesman: '47. There you go. Thank you.

Question: No. Sorry. '49.

Spokesman: '49.

Question: My mistake.

Spokesman: …To deal with Palestine refugees. It is not there to perpetuate. It exists while a political solution is to be found. You are a better student of that history than I am. There have been periods where we've almost found a political solution and others where we've not. UNRWA is not there to perpetuate anything.

Question: One more question, please, since I have the microphone.

Spokesman: Me, too.

Question: On the situation in Venezuela, you've addressed it a lot of times and I missed that, but is it the UN position that [Nicolas] Maduro is the legitimate leader of Venezuela?

Spokesman: Look. Secretary-General is not there to recognize or grant legitimacy on leaders or not. The credentials of the Venezuelan Government, their representatives here, have not been questioned. We deal with the Government in Caracas, like we do with Governments in every Member State. The Secretary-General has expressed his concerns about the elections and the lack of transparency, and those concerns stand. I'm going to go to my Irish friend.

Question: Can you put me in touch with our young friend from Limerick?

Spokesman: Yes. Delighted.

Question: Since he's presumably now free to talk to the press.

Spokesman: Ah, yes. His gag order has been removed. I will.

Question: And secondly on Sudan, obviously, the Secretary-General invoked Article 99 over Gaza. Is he going to do the same over Sudan?

Spokesman: Look. At this point our focus is, I think, on two simultaneous fronts. One is to get as much humanitarian aid and as much humanitarian access in. And the second is on the political track. And Mr. Lamamra just briefed the Secretary-General on his efforts, on the contacts he's had with both the RSF and the Sudanese Government, and we're trying to find progress on both tracks simultaneously. You will be the second to know if there's any invocation of Article 99. Islam?

Question: Thank you, Stéphane. I would like to follow-up the yellow line question again. But before I ask my question, I think I need to make a little clarification about my question yesterday. I used the phrase like, sort of, educate the Gazans not to approach it. I didn't really… sort of, I sounded like blaming the Gazans. So I want to correct that for the clarification. And your answer yesterday, you said that the challenge is limited or no access to behind yellow line, which is yellow line and East Gaza line. Best of your knowledge, to the best of your knowledge, what do we know so far about how many people may remain there, especially civilians? Is there any contact with them? Or the communication is completely lost?

Spokesman: There is some contact. I mean, I don't have hard numbers, but my understanding is a rather very small percentage of the overall civilian population in Gaza is in that area between the so-called yellow line and Gaza's eastern land border.

Question: And if I may ask a different question on Venezuela. I came across the UN agency, which is UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). And I was wondering, just out of curiosity, do they have any mandate, or their scope is related with this tension between US and Venezuela?

Spokesman: No. I mean, their mandate is on reporting on issues relating to drug cultivation and drugs and the enforcement against criminal enterprises and so on, linked to the drug trade. They've published a number of reports about the region, and I would encourage you to read them. Please. Namo, please.

Question: Thank you, Stéphane. I have two questions on Syria. The United Nations Security Council is in Syria for the first visit ever that the Security Council has paid to the country. I'm wondering what role does the Secretary-General envision, for what concrete role does he envision for the United Nations to play in Syria, in post-Assad Syria, as different communities are debating what form of government the country should have, how decentralized it should be?

Spokesman: We will be there to support the Syrian authorities in whatever way we can. We will continue to speak up and to encourage them to be as inclusive as possible in all of their policies, to ensure that Syrians of all religion, ethnic groups feel protected and feel recognized and support the Government in this transition period.

Question: Any concrete actions that you have?

Spokesman: We continue to have a UN… there's a UN country team that is active on all UN fronts. And on the political end, we have a UN political mission that continues that has a presence in not only in Geneva, but of course, in Damascus through our Deputy, Najat Roshti.

Question: And my second question on Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported, quote, growing public concern in Latakia following an attempted kidnapping of a young Alawite girl. There seems to be growing sectarian tensions in Syria.

Spokesman: Yes. I mean, haven't seen this particular report, but the fact that there is sectarian tension in Syria is well known, and we've spoken out very clearly against it.

Question: Thanks, Steph. The presidents of the DRC and Rwanda are in Washington today to sign a peace treaty. And given the UN's longstanding role on the ground in the DRC in Eastern Congo, has there been any input from the United Nations towards this agreement?

Spokesman: Look, I think our colleagues on the ground have been in contact with the US. This is not an agreement that we are directly involved in, but I would stress that we welcome this positive development towards peace and stability in the Great Lakes and commend the United States' continued engagement in this regard. And I think we're also encouraged by the presence of a number of African leaders in Washington today, beyond the presence of the DRC and Rwanda - notably, the African Union, its appointed mediator, President [Faure] Gnassingbé of Togo, as well as the State of Qatar, to ensure the coordination and complementarity among all of the peace efforts. You know, we've supported the AU's mediation, and we'll continue to support all efforts towards sustainable peace in the DRC and the wider region, including through our peacekeeping mission, support for the implementation of commitments made under both the Washington and Doha processes.

Question: Should there have been greater consultation with the United Nations?

Spokesman: I think every agreement, every peace effort has different configurations. What is important is that there is actually peace on the ground. Okay. Any questions online? Excellent. Do not move. I will get my guest, right here, is in the back.