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HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY STÉPHANE DUJARRIC​,
SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES
TUESDAY, 27 AUGUST 2024

SECRETARY-GENERAL/TRAVELS
The Secretary-General has left Tonga and is now on his way to Dili in East Timor, where he will take part in events marking the 25^thanniversary of the National Consultation.
Yesterday afternoon, he issued a global warning on rising sea levels in a joint press conference with the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Secretary-General, Professor Celeste Saulo, to launch his technical brief on sea level rise, as well as the WMO’s report on the State of Climate in the South West Pacific. The Secretary-General said that “the sea is taking the heat – literally.”
Global average sea levels are rising at an unprecedented rate and the ocean is overflowing. The reason is clear, he said – greenhouse gases, overwhelmingly generated by burning fossil fuels, are cooking our planet.
The Secretary-General also took part in the Dialogue with Pacific Island Forum leaders; he met with civil society and women representatives, and visited a community which was impacted by the tsunami triggered by volcano eruptions in 2022.

OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY
Gilles Michaud, the Under-Secretary-General for Safety and Security, has released a statement in which he makes it clear that the UN is determined to stay in Gaza to deliver life-saving aid for and with Palestinian civilians. Humanitarian aid delivery continues – a tremendous feat given that the UN is operating at the upper-most peripheries of tolerable risk.
Mr. Michaud underscores that humanitarians have been in the crosshairs throughout this crisis, which is by far the deadliest on record for the United Nations. Mr. Michaud also makes it clear, like most Palestinians in Gaza, the UN is running out of safe spaces for its own staff.
The timing of the IDF evacuation orders, with just a few hours’ notice to move more than 200 UN staff out of their offices and living places in Deir Al Balah could not be worse, Mr. Michaud added, referring to the start of the massive polio vaccination campaign scheduled for next week, in which a large number of staff will be needed to enter the Gaza Strip and to work on the campaign.
For the women and men who risk their lives to deliver humanitarian aid and need a safe and consistent place from which to work, Mr. Michaud reiterates his call on all parties to respect international law and their commitments under the UN Charter to ensure the safety and security of UN premises.
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says that in response to the latest evacuation orders yesterday, they were able to distribute some tents as temporary shelter. However, stocks are running low and are limited.
Staff of the World Food Programme (WFP) had to relocate to other UN premises and are being forced to leave their offices and guest houses in Deir al Balah. Despite these challenges, the WFP continues to deliver food assistance.
In addition to the loss of warehouses and other humanitarian premises due to evacuation orders, it remains difficult to move around the south of the Gaza Strip due to the severe overcrowding and continuous displacement.
The access of UN humanitarian partners to northern Gaza is particularly challenging as it requires coordination with the Israeli authorities and passage through an internal checkpoint.
The plans to fuel hospitals in that area have now resulted in access being denied five times in the past week, leaving some hospitals without new provision for fuel for over ten days. The dependency on fuel to run back-up generators is complete, as the Israeli authorities cut electricity provision from the Gaza Strip back in October.
On the health front, following the delivery of polio vaccines into Gaza, UN staff on the ground are now positioning them in 11 health centres and are training over 1,000 medical workers and volunteers to participate in the campaign.

GAZA/POLIO VACCINE
Also, a few more details on polio, as we have seen some disinformation regarding the polio vaccine that plan to use in Gaza, and I want to make the following clear.
The safest and most effective way to protect children against the polio virus, regardless of the variant, is to vaccinate them.
The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and the World Health Organization (WHO) are planning to roll out a campaign in Gaza to prevent the spread of the variant type 2 poliovirus. This will be done in two rounds, each consisting of two drops of oral polio vaccine type 2.
This vaccine is safe, it is effective, and it offers top-quality protection. It is a vaccine globally recommended for variant type 2 poliovirus outbreaks by WHO.
The vaccine will be provided to more than 640,000 children under ten years of age, with the aim of reaching at least 95 per cent of the children in each round.
Since the rollout began in March of 2021, more than 1.2 billion doses of the vaccine have been used to protect children in over 40 countries over type 2 variants of polio.

SUDAN
On aid entering Sudan via Chad through the Adre crossing: the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says that, as of Monday (26 August), 38 trucks have gone through the Adre crossing carrying much-needed aid.
That includes food and nutrition supplies.
In total, these trucks carried humanitarian supplies that will assist more than 110,000 people.
Regarding the floods and the collapse of the Arba’at Dam near Port Sudan, OCHA says that according to local authorities, 30 people have died. But they fear that the number of casualties could be much higher, taking into consideration that many more people are missing or displaced.
Some village residents were reportedly forced to escape to the mountains for safety, while others were evacuated.
Local authorities say that 70 villages around the dam have been impacted – 20 of those villages destroyed – while 70 schools have been damaged or destroyed, and thousands of animals are missing.
Some 50,000 people who are living on the western side of the dam have had their homes destroyed or damaged, and people urgently need water, food, shelter, and assistance, according to authorities.
The extent of the impact on the eastern banks still needs to be assessed as roads have been cut off. Local rescue teams are attempting to open these roads.
An inter-agency team led by OCHA has been deployed to the impacted areas. The team is coordinating with partners and the authorities, and will support assessments to further determine the extent of the damage and people’s most urgent humanitarian needs. The team will also help to coordinate the response, which is being led by the government.
The damage of the dam is expected to have wider consequences, as it is a primary source of fresh water for Port Sudan and will impact water supplies there.
Since the onset of the rains in June, floods have wreaked havoc across many parts of Sudan, with the most affected states being North and West Darfur, and the River Nile state. Before the dam collapsed on Sunday, more than 310,000 people had been impacted by flooding across the country, where conflict is ongoing.

BURKINA FASO
The Secretary-General strongly condemns the terrorist attacks perpetrated on August 24 in Barsalogho, in central Burkina Faso. He extends his condolences to the families of the victims and the people of Burkina Faso, and wishes a prompt recovery to those injured.
The Secretary-General expresses his solidarity with the transition authorities in their fight against terrorism and calls on them to ensure that those responsible for these despicable acts are held to account.

BURKINA FASO/HUMANITARIAN
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warns of the severe humanitarian crisis that prevailed in Barsalogho even before this weekend's terrible attack.
According to local Burkinabe officials, at least 90,000 displaced people were living in Barsalogho as of last year. These families had sought refuge there from insecurity in surrounding areas, and their arrival placed an additional strain on local services and supplies. All of Sanmatenga Province, where Barsalogho is located, is facing acute hunger – IPC Phase 3 – during the current lean season.
OCHA says that insecurity in surrounding areas has made it much more difficult to provide aid in Barsalogho. Since 2022, access to the area for aid agencies has mostly been limited to helicopter transport.

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
�鶹��ý Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) reports that peacekeepers yesterday conducted an operation for Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) at a camp in Munigi, North Kivu, to destroy unusable small arms ammunition.
More than 25,000 rounds were eliminated in the operation, which is set to continue through next week.
Over the years, efforts by MONUSCO have included removing weapons and ammunition from communities. This step is regarded as essential in developing and maintaining a secure environment in which demobilization and reintegration can take place.

UKRAINE
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says another wave of attacks overnight caused more civilian casualties and damage to civilian infrastructure across Ukraine. This is according to local authorities.
OCHA adds that the earlier wave of attacks yesterday – reportedly the largest missile attack since the escalation of the war in February of 2022 – damaged key energy infrastructure across the country. Nearly 250,000 consumers – families and businesses – were left without electricity in the Sumy Region alone, according to local authorities. Other civilian infrastructure was also damaged.
OCHA says that evacuations are continuing both from Sumy and Donetsk regions, with mandatory evacuation of children and caregivers announced for another two communities in the region.
Humanitarian organizations continue to deliver assistance to people impacted by the strikes.

MPOX/REFUGEES
The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) today warned that without additional, urgent support, the recently declared Mpox outbreak could be devastating for refugees and displaced communities in the DRC and other impacted countries in Africa.
Working under national authorities, the World Health Organization (WHO), UNHCR and partners have scaled up health system preparedness and response measures including screening at the entrance of impacted refugee camps.

UNGA/MEDIA ACCREDITATION
The 30^th of August is the deadline for accreditations for the General Assembly.
If you already have a pass, you don’t need another one. If you need to get a pass for yourself or others, it needs to be done before August 30^th.
[For more information on accreditation and media arrangements, go to their website: ]