Sudan, South Sudan, Palestine & other topics -Daily Press Briefing (29 August 2024) | United Nations

all right thank you for your patience I have a few uh notes to share with you on other uh items uh the Secretary General is in D in teor Les today where earlier today he met with prime minister shanana gusau in a joint press encounter the Secretary General said t Mor lest won the battle for Independence and he won the battle for democracy and that as Secretary General of the UN he's proud that the UN stood by the people of teore lest in their struggle for Independence and then the consolidation of democracy however he added that the country now must win the battle for development and that the United Nation stands ready uh by the people to support them and the government in this effort the Secretary General also invo and visited the Timor resistance archive and Museum um where he saw an exhibit on the role of women in the resistance he later took part in a panel discussions with both the Prime Minister hamos horta and sorry the president hamos Hort and the Prime Minister shanana gusau uh tomorrow he will address the um National Parliament and to and attend an official ceremony to Mark the 25th anniversary of the popular consultation from there he will head to Singapore and then on to China our deputy secretary General Amina Muhammad as you know is in um Port Sudan she just finished her day uh there she was accompanied by rown lamamra these personal Envoy for Sudan as well as the resident coordinator for Sudan Clementine and qua salami and Senior officials from the world food program unhcr and UNICEF they met uh with displaced persons they also met with the UN team and with a number of government officials of Sudan all this was done in Port Sudan as you know this is aimed at highlighting the humanitarian crisis ongoing in the country tomorrow the deputy secretary General and her team will head to adre and Chad which is the Border point from which we've been uh getting some humanitarian Aid into uh Sudan um and just on Sudan itself uh just an impact first on the floods triggered by the collapse of the arba dam near just nor just near Port Sudan that took place last Sunday um our humanitarian colleagues note there's been extensive uh damage uh to S to uh among other things uh to the freshwater pipeline that supplies the city of Port Sudan local authorities also report that some 5 million cubic meters of silt have been released Downstream severely impacting Agriculture and Water Supplies in the surrounding areas urgent needs for people affected by the dam burst include food include shelter and household items we along with our partners are mobilized and have been Distributing emergency assistance our humanitarian colleagues warn that the damage to the the dam has had serious direct impact that will continue to affect the fresh water supply in Sudan for the port Sudan for the months to come um for its part uh world food program said today is working around the clock to try to deliver food and other humanitarian Goods to people ear uh throughout Sudan wfp's priority is to provide vital Aid across 14 areas in in the country to people who are either facing famine or at risk it's slipping into famine after 500 Relentless days of conflict wfp pointed out that since Chad's audre border crossing with Sudan was reopened for humanitarian convoys the food agency trucks carrying over 630 metric tons of food that's about enough of 55,000 people have crossed into darur region the latest uh uh truck Crossing was on Tuesday wfp says that this food assistance is for communities in kenic and SBA two areas that at are at risk of famine in West Dar 4 some supplies have already arrived in mouret town in kenic while other convoys are still on Route the wfp says the progress of the convoys has been slowed by damaged Bridges as well as flooded and muddy roads as this is the peak of as the peak of the rainy season in Sudan approaches about uh trucks carrying about 11,134 metric tons of food that's enough about 280,000 people cross from Chad into Sudan's darur region via other border crossing that's uh the Tina Crossing that took place on Wednesday and Thursday last week distribution of vital food assistance will start as soon as possible in locations across Dar four for communities facing famine or at risk of slipping into famine wfp said the food assistance has been stranded at had been stranded at the border because of flooded seasonal riverbeds linked to heavy rainall last year flood waters have receded slightly and allowing trucks to move though progress remains slow because of poor conditions wfp is also delivering cash assistance to families across um across darur and just staying in the uh in the region um in South Sudan our peacekeeping uh colleagues from the mission tell us that the significant rise in the water levels of the has heightened the need for preparedness especially in high-risk communities near rivers or swampland peacekeepers are helping State authorities to mitigate risk at uh in the wake of extreme flood alerts issued for five counties in jongle the UN Mission visited lanam and Jong State along with humanitarian colleagues to assess the impact of the flood and the preparedness operations they also organized a two-day workshop for Community um members in a village to help them identif ified elevated areas to serve as safe zones the mission peacekeepers also navigated Rising Waters to ele evacuate stranded civilians in kodok and upper n state where Road access has been um has been stren uh has been cut um going back to the occupied Palestinian territory and this time focusing on the West Bank First you will have seen last night we issued a statement on behalf of the Secretary General in which he said he was deeply concerned con ered by the latest developments in that area including the launch of large-scale military operations in Janine taram and tubas governed by the Israeli security forces that involved air strikes which resulted in casualties and damage to civilian infrastructure he strongly condemns the loss of lives including that of children the Secretary General said these dangerous developments are fueling in a ready explosive situation in the West Bank further undermining the Palestinian Authority called for the immediate cessation of these operations today our humanitarian colleagues warned that deadly Warfare tactics that seem to exceed International standards for law enforcement are still occurring in the north the government of Janine the governance of Janine Carman tubas the number of fatalities according to what OA is receiving is 15 in less 15 people in less than two days with many others injured um initial reports suggest that some families have been displaced particularly in urban areas where Israeli security forces have repurposed homes as military positions in multiple locations heavy damage to infrastructure has been caused by military bulldozer bulldozers electricity and Telecom outages are also reported uh meanwhile there continues to be military operations near hospitals severely impacting those facilities an unwa clinic at alar refugee camp had to be had to suspend oper operations yesterday but was able to resume today once the Israeli Security Forces left the area uh Ocha has convene un agencies and other un humanitarian Partners working in the West Bank they stand ready to assess the damage and the people's needs and to respond accordingly agencies have also warned people of the risk of unexploded ordinances in some areas and that will be one of the first issues that will need to be addressed meanwhile on the political end to venesa and the special coordinator uh for the UN in the uh region continues to monitor the ceasefire and hostage release negotiations and to engage regularly with key National and international Regional actors he remains in contact with all relevant parties reiterating the need to urgently reach a deal and the un's commitment to support all efforts towards this goal he's also had held highlevel talks with Israeli security officials regarding the incident involving the wfp vehicle that we told you about yesterday in his discussions he continues to raise his serious concerns about the deteriorate Dynamics in the occupied uh West Bank and as we said yesterday Israeli forces must adere to international law enforcement standards moving to Gaza um yesterday our wfp colleagues as you know decided to temporarily paus the movement of its employees across the Gaza Strip uh following the um the the shooting of the vehicle um despite um despite the paus in staff movement wfp continues its life-saving humanitarian operations in Gaza through cooperating partners and hopes to resume its staff missions as soon as uh the necessary safety security guarantees from Israeli authorities are received and they feel it is safe to resume the movement of Staff wfp as you know is committed to staying and to delivering for the people of Gaza but the incident is a stark reminder of the rapidly and ever shrinking humanitarian space for uh our colleagues um and uh also just OAS mentioning in Gaz is telling us in Gaza that Israeli authorities announced that displaced people could return to specific areas in derl Bala this is the first time where return is officially allowed to an evacuated area uh obviously the evacuation ation orders that we've received that Palestinians have received numerous times uh since the beginning of August has severely disrupted our humanitarian work and our ability uh to work also want to flag that Saturday last un colleagues assess the water hygiene and sanitation conditions in two sites hosting over 12200 families in Rafa people there are struggling with drinking water as no Trucking is currently available they report skin diseases being the main morbidity uh among women and children with no Treatment available when they go to Med medical points also those residing in the areas near on the beach in mawasi have seawater have had seawater flooding their tents and just a flag as you know this afternoon the security Council will meet uh to hear a humanitarian briefing uh on the area Joyce masuya will brief uh on behalf of OA and Dr Mike Ryan will also brief on behalf of wh I've been asked about the situation in Yemen and the um uh sunon oil tanker and I can tell you that we are encouraged by reports that the salvad operations uh for the tanker can proceed with tugboats and rescue ships to access the incident areas this is a necessary step considering the grave risk po posed by the fires reported above that tanker which is I remind you carries 150,000 tons of crude oil and it remains s anchored in waters in the Red Sea and the crew had been evacuated we commend the ongoing concerted efforts of the International Community including through the work of our special Envoy for Yemen uh Hans grunberg and his engagement to secure the immediate access to the vessel and invert an environmental catastrophe once again we say that Security Council resolution 2722 and 2739 must be fully respected in their entirety and we particularly call on the houes to immediately cease attacks against all Merchant and commercial ships in the Red Sea turning to Ukraine uh OA colleagues tell us that attacks in the region of nepro donet and kke continued yesterday local authorities report dozens of casualties as well as severe damage to homes and civilian infrastructure local authorities in the donets region in the east of the country have declared an emergency evacuation as the situation around the town of povos becomes increasingly d due to the continuing fighting our humanitarian colleagues say that some 40,000 residents remain in the town banks will remain operational until the end of the week after only um after which only several ATMs will be available humanitarian organizations continue to assist people in the Frontline communities to provide uh food household supplies and other essential items they're also uh doing whatever they can to support people uh fleeing the fighting donets and Sumi region um and the DRC uh our peacekeeping mission there says that uh one of the their long range patrols came under fire yesterday by members of the codco Armed groups this happened in Bali which is the northeast of jugu in theuri province of the Democratic Republic of Congo peacekeepers repelled the attack forcing militia members to withdraw however we are s to report that one Peacekeeper was wounded he's now reportedly stable condition later in the day another Patrol deployed to the area to protect civilians also coming under Fire by the same armed group but no reported casualties uh peacekeepers also deploying in other locations southeast of jugu to respond to the establishment of two new positions by the codo arm group in that area peacekeepers facilitated the safe passage of local populations uh today is the international day of nuclear test uh um the UN aims as you know to reduce and eventually eliminate nuclear weapons but until then the international day is a chance to remember the Legacy and destruction left behind by nuclear tests and to speak up to end this practice once and for all the Secretary General highlights that the comprehensive nuclear test brand treaty is the only prohibition is the only prohibition on all nuclear testing and an essential verifiable security tool but the treaty is sadly not yet in force he calls on all countries whose ratifications are needed for the treaty to enter into Force to do so immediately and without condition sorry lastly programming note um we're going to have a little time change tomorrow we will brief at 11:00 a.m. oo I will not entertain comments on that but I will entertain questions Edie um two followups sta first on on dou ufp um you said that they hope to resume when there are Safety and Security guarantees can you tell us what kind of talks are on taking place to try and get those guarantees and at what level well uh as I mentioned T venison M met with senior uh Israeli security officials to discuss uh the issue um our security College colleagues uh on the ground are also speaking to their um to their counterparts um as with everything that we do in Gaza assessments are made on a daily basis uh and as soon as wfp feels it's comfortable uh enough to do so they will return to moving staff around and a second followup on Yemen um you said that the UN is encouraged by reports that um that Salvage operations may start do do you have any independent confirmation that the hooes have agreed to this I mean that that's our understanding what we're uh we are not involved in the actual salvaging uh that's being done by the by the private sector but our understanding is that uh yes it will be uh space space for these operations to be conducted safely uh has been agreed to by the hoties and any indication of when that might start uh no ma'am Beno thank you also followup to wfp so you said we we know they um wfp is kind of replacing their actions through Partners I think you said basically um how able is wfp to do their work right now in comparison with like three or four days ago I mean night and day I would say I mean if you can't move staff around you can't move the convo around it's it's it's hampering obviously they were wfp like all many un agencies work with local Partners so they're supporting them remotely get getting information but uh to do the work properly uh we need to be able to move staff around wait you just said when you can't move staff around you can't move convoys around so wfp is not they're not but wfp vehicles and staff are not moving in Gaza currently right right uh they are working with their local Partners to do whatever they can remotely but a lot of the food that wfp receives then goes on is distributed to local uh Community Kitchens and local uh ngos is still done by other partners now that is being done by their their Partners but obviously it's not work I mean wfp is not working at the level it wants to work and it needs to work in Gaza dulie uh yeah how is Amina Muhammad going to get to the adre crossing uh she is flying from Adis Ababa to Chad okay and then she's entering Sudan from the cross as far as I know she is not entering she was in Port Sudan um she flew back to Adis Ababa is overnighting in Adis Ababa and then flying back flying down flying yes down to um to uh to no she's flying down uh to Chad to get to uh to adre tomorrow okay Margaret Basher uh Steph in the DRC where was the Peacekeeper from who was killed uh that's information I'm not yet able to share I think given all the the notifications that have to be done as soon as I have a nationality I will share with you and then on the Red Sea following up on Ed uh the houthis uh gave guarantees previously with the other ship that you guys worked on for two years I mean and it kept taking so long cuz their guarantees never materialized so how optimistic are you I think uh we have we can only take people at their word um but I think there is a there is an understanding from all the parties involved that this is um this is a live case as I want to put it I mean this is a tanker carrying a lot of crude oil which we believe there are fires on board so it's not um it's it's a live wire case you may ask follow Michelle thank you um on that note you mentioned Hans G grinberg's involvement in helping get this agreement he spoke to the Iranians I presume because they are the ones who put out the statement yesterday uh I don't have any confirmation of his contacts with the with any Iranians I do know uh he has spoken to uh onala uh people okay I think we've all been in this room long enough no it's been on for quite a while but not darl Bala in Gaza okay