Category: MIL-OSI

Source: United Nations (video statements)

Noon Briefing by Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.

Highlights:
Sudan
Occupied Palestinian Territory
Syria
Sri Lanka
Guest tomorrow

SUDAN
One year ago, in August 2024, famine was confirmed in Zamzam camp and has since spread to areas in Darfur and Kordofan. Currently, 17 areas are classified as ‘at risk of famine’ including parts of Darfur, the Nuba Mountains, Khartoum, and Gezira.
Since then the situation, especially in El Fasher, has only gotten worse.
Our colleagues at the World Food Programme today called for humanitarian access to El Fasher that is facing starvation and remains cut off from humanitarian assistance.
WFP says that, as a coping mechanism, some residents are reportedly surviving on animal fodder and food waste.
WFP continues to provide digital cash support to roughly a quarter-million people in the city, allowing them to buy the dwindling food left in the markets. However, the escalating needs make it imperative to address hunger at scale.
We reiterate our concern about the ongoing conflict and renew our calls for all parties to end the violence, and resolve to dialogue and to put the interest of their people first.

OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY
Turning to Gaza, we continue our efforts to bring in goods and fuel into the Strip. Updates from today’s movements are yet to come to us. But I can tell you that yesterday our teams collected food and fuel from the Kerem Shalom and Zikim crossings. While more than half of 15 missions coordinated with the Israeli authorities were facilitated, the remaining ones were either denied, impeded or cancelled.
Meanwhile, the entry of goods has improved the market situation in terms of both prices and availability. For example, after peaking at 600 shekels per bag, that’s equivalent to about $175, in the past two weeks, the price of sugar has dropped to an average of 40 shekels, or $12. However, severe cash shortages are preventing families from being able to buy food, water and medicine.
As a reminder, the amount of aid and goods that can be brought into Gaza does not meet the minimum requirements of people who are starving. A ceasefire is critically needed to reach all those in need, along with a sustained and scaled-up flow of aid.
Today, the Ministry of Health in Gaza reported that eight people, including three children, died due to malnutrition and starvation over the past 24 hours. Such reports have become a daily occurrence, reflecting the deepening humanitarian crisis and the urgent need for sustained assistance.
Today, the World Health Organization conducted a refresher training at the Rantissi Children’s Hospital help staff members stay current with new information, focusing on the inpatient management of malnutrition. Rantissi is one of the five nutrition stabilization centres in Gaza, and one of only two located in Gaza city.
The recent surge in malnutrition cases among children has necessitated the establishment and scaling-up of these centres.
So far this year, more than 340 children have been admitted for malnutrition treatment at these centres in Gaza – and this year, as of August 5th, 49 validated child deaths from malnutrition have been reported, including 39 children under the age of 5.
Data collected by ourselves and our partners from over 900 households across Gaza in July indicated continuous trauma leading to mental health issues, including anxiety and depression. Many people are living in informal shelters that are overcrowded, unsafe and lack space and privacy, especially for women and children.
Care staff themselves are traumatized, and today, partners working on protection started providing mental health and psychosocial support for their teams in Gaza.
OCHA reminds us that shelter items are a priority, as supplies have run out, leaving people exposed to the summer heat and with nothing to protect them when winter comes. Many tents and tarpaulins need to be replaced, as they will not be able to withstand the elements.
Meanwhile, households continue to report poor sanitation and lack of clean water. In southern Gaza, the Israeli-supplied water pipeline has been damaged for almost a week now, impacting water supply for thousands of people in the area.

full Highlihts: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/noon-briefing-highlight?date%5Bvalue%5D%5Bdate%5D=13%20August%202025

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBbaj7Bh_Ig

Source: United Nations (video statements)

The United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Haiti, Ulrika Richardson, today (12 Aug) told reporters in New York that the situation is “strikingly horrific” in the country’s capital Port-au-Price with “3,000 people having been killed in gang related incidents since the beginning of the year.”

Briefing correspondents for the last time as the Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Haiti, Richardson said, “I often feel that I can’t even find words any longer to describe the situation. Is it alarming? Is it acute? Is it urgent? It’s all of that, and even more.”

She said, “we have 1.3 million people displaced currently, as a result of the gang violence, as the gangs have sort of rummaged the city. And half of them are children,” noting that 2 million people are in IPC four, meaning at an emergency level of food insecurity.

Richardson said, “all of that is just figures, in a way. And behind every figure there is, a woman, a mother, a child, a father, a young person.”

She said, “obviously children are particularly affected, particularly we have a malnutrition that is striking. We have children being recruited by the armed gangs. And of course, they fare really poorly, many of them also in terms of education. You can imagine, broken school years. We have generations that have not fulfilled an entire year of schooling.”

Richardson said, “we have a humanitarian response plan. It’s only funded 9 percent. It’s the lowest level of funding for any response plan in the world. And it’s 900 million. We are not talking about the biggest response plan either. So, that is of course a big frustration. But also, we have other; we have a sanctions regime that was introduced in 2022. We have an arms embargo, similarly, introduced in 2022. We have, the Multinational Security Support Mission that has been on the ground for a year but not given the tools or the sights needed to actually perform its role. So that is actually very frustrating. We have tools, but the response from the international community, is just not at par with the gravity on the ground.”

Secretary-General António Guterres appointed Richardson as his new Deputy Special Representative of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) and Resident Coordinator in Libya. She succeeds Aeneas Chuma of Zimbabwe.

She has been the Deputy Special Representative for the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH), Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Haiti since 2022, and was previously the Development Coordinator in Kosovo, working closely with the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) (2018-2022). Her earlier assignments include serving as the United Nations Resident Coordinator and Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in Cabo Verde (2013-2018), UNDP Resident Representative in Gabon (2012-2013), and Deputy Resident Representative in Türkiye (2007-2012) and in Cuba (2004-2007).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsns3jY45yc

Source: United Nations (video statements)

Since 2020, large parts of Bentiu in South Sudan have been submerged, leaving 300,000 people stranded on a narrow stretch of land.

To prevent further flooding, peacekeepers from the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) are working tirelessly to raise the dikes and monitor water levels weekly, providing early warnings to communities at risk.

As the climate crisis continues, peacekeepers, local authorities, and communities are joining forces to mitigate the impact and protect lives.

#ClimateChange

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxhY3KLHro8

Source: United Nations (video statements)

Ramesh Rajasingham, OCHA’s Director of the Coordination Division, told the Council that more than 17 million people, that’s nearly half of the population of Yemen, are estimated to be acutely hungry.

Rajasingham said, “Yemen is now one of the most food insecure countries in the world. As the economy continues to collapse and pressures on the food pipelines mount, many households with access to food can no longer afford it. Livelihoods across the public sector and agriculture and fisheries industries, among others, have been disrupted by ongoing conflict.”

He said, “half of the nation’s children under the age of 5 suffer from acute malnutrition, and nearly half suffer from stunting. This means developmental delays and infections, and a risk of death from common illnesses nine to 12 times higher than average. In a context where healthcare is desperately inadequate, and where support services are unavailable to many, this is a life-or-death gamble for children.”

Rajasingham told the Council that the Yemen Humanitarian Fund will be releasing $20 million to address the negative impacts of continuing food insecurity in Yemen.

Yemeni Ambassador Abdullah Ali Fadhel Al-Saadi said, “Yemen today is at the threshold of a difficult era. After 11 years of war waged by the terrorist Houthi militias against the country, the state and its constitutional bodies, a war that has destroyed the hopes and aspirations of a people that aspire for security, stability and dignity, justice and equality. A people that strives to build a civil state befitting of their glorious history and their status in the region.”

Al-Saadi said, “the Presidential Leadership Council and the Yemeni government are exerting efforts to push forth the peace process and to positively deal with international and regional efforts, and with the United Nations efforts through its Special Envoy to Yemen, to put an end to this conflict. However, the Houthi militias continue to obstruct all of these efforts and undermine any chances for peace.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-k7n5HZ0ec

Source: United Nations (video statements)

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) expressed its "strong condemnation and categorical rejection of Israel’s announcement of its intention to impose full military control over the Gaza Strip.”

On behalf of the Group, Deputy Permanent Representative of Türkiye to the UN Fikriye Asli Güven told reporters today (12 Aug), “We consider this announcement a dangerous and unacceptable escalation, a flagrant violation of international law and an attempt to entrench the illegal occupation and impose a fait accompli by force in contravention of international law, international humanitarian law and relevant United Nations resolutions.”

Ambassador Güven added, “The group reaffirms that this declared course of action by Israel constitutes a continuation of its grave violations, including killing and starvation, attempts at forced displacement, and annexation of Palestinian land, the settler terrorism, which are crimes that may amount to crimes against humanity.”

The Group demanded “the immediate and comprehensive cessation of the Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip, and an end to the ongoing violations committed by the occupying forces against civilians and civilian infrastructure in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and East Jerusalem.”

Moreover, the Group also demanded that Israel, as the occupying power, “immediately and unconditionally allow the entry of humanitarian assistance at scale into the Gaza Strip, including food, medicine and fuel, and ensure the freedom of operation of relief agencies and international humanitarian organizations in accordance with international humanitarian law and its applicable principles.”

The Turkish diplomat reiterated the Group’s “full support for the efforts undertaken by the Arab Republic of Egypt, the State of Qatar, the United States of America to achieve a ceasefire and reach an agreement for the exchange of prisoners and hostages as a fundamental humanitarian entry point to de-escalation, alleviating suffering and ending the aggression.”

It also called for the immediate commencement of implementation of the Arab Islamic Reconstruction Plan of the Gaza Strip, and for active participation in the upcoming reconstruction conference to be held in Cairo.

Ambassador Güven reiterated the Group’s “rejection and condemnation of all attempts to displace the Palestinian people from their land in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the affirmation of the need to preserve the legal and historical status quo of the Islamic and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem while recognizing the key role of the Hashemite custodianship in this regard.”

Ambassador Güven affirmed that a just and lasting peace can only be achieved through the implementation of the Two-state solution, adding that, “we hold the Israeli occupation fully responsible for the ongoing genocide and the unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe, taking place in the Gaza Strip, and calls upon the international community, particularly the permanent members of the Security Council, to assume their legal and humanitarian responsibilities and to take urgent action to stop Israel’s illegal aggressive policies aimed at undermining prospects for a just and lasting peace, and eliminating any horizon for the implementation of the Two-state solution and ensuring immediate accountability for all violations committed by Israel against international law and international humanitarian law, including those amounting to genocide.”

Palestinian Ambassador Riyad Mansour said that the High-Level International Conference for the Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine and the Implementation of the Two-State Solution will resume 22 September in New York.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SiwG66-Cm70