Youth, Tonga, Mali & other topics- Daily Press Briefing

This morning, the Secretary-General spoke virtually at the opening of the High-Level Conference on Youth Inclusive Peace Processes. He said that youth are not only being heavily impacted by today’s biggest crises, like the pandemic and climate change, but that they’re also on the frontlines for actions and solutions.

Secretary-General expresses alarm at the continued airstrikes in Sana’a, Hudaydah and elsewhere in Yemen during recent days.

The Government of Tonga has asked us for urgent assistance. The Resident Coordinator, Sanaka Samarasinha, has responded and remains in close contact with the Tongan authorities.

On a related note, I want to say that we stand with the Government and all people of Peru who are facing the impacts of a tragic oil spill in the aftermath of the massive waves from the eruption of the Hunga Haʻapai volcano.

We are told that still no humanitarian supplies have entered Tigray though the Semera-Abala-Mekelle corridor since December 14th of last year due to continued clashes in Abala, in the Afar province. No fuel for humanitarian operations has been allowed into Tigray along this route since August 2nd. Aid organizations are also unable to secure sufficient fuel locally. As a result, we and our partners are having to reduce, postpone or cancel distributions of food, medicine, and nutrition supplies, among other critical items.

We are happy to report that the peacekeeping mission in Mali tell us that, following fruitful discussions with the country’s authorities, they are now able to restart air operations.

In Liberia, our Resident Coordinator Niels Scott said that the UN team is profoundly saddened by the loss of lives and injuries sustained during the tragic event in the outskirts of Monrovia..

The Security Council, this morning, was briefed on Colombia by Carlos Ruiz Massieu, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for that country. He told Member States that it is important to carry forward the momentum provided by the celebration of the fifth anniversary of the Peace Agreement in order to consolidate peace.

I just wanted to add, on Western Sahara, a clarification, that there has been a lot of reporting and interpretation about Staffan de Mistura’s ongoing regional tour. Any statement about his position or his activities that is not released by him or my office is all too often a distortion of the facts.

At 2:45 p.m. today, Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield of the United States will be joined at the Security Council stakeout by the Permanent Representatives of Albania, Brazil, France, Ireland, Japan, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom. She will read out a joint statement on behalf of all of these Permanent Representatives concerning the situation in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Thanks to full payments from Canada, Norway, Palau, Singapore and Slovakia, we are already up to 19 on the Honour Roll.

***The guest at the Noon Briefing was the Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator in the Philippines, Gustavo Gonzalez, who gave an update on the humanitarian needs in the country, a month after Typhoon Rai.

For further details please see SOURCE below.
Office of the Spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General