Terrorism, Syria/Missing Persons, Mexico & other topics – Daily Press Briefing (28 March 2023)
Noon briefing by Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.
Highlights:
Terrorism
Syria/Missing Persons
Syria
Mexico
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Western Sahara
UNOWAS
Afghanistan
Guatemala
Cholera
Financial Contribution
TERRORISM
The Secretary-General addressed today’s Security Council meeting on countering terrorism. The meeting was chaired by the President of Mozambique, Filipe Jacinto Nyusi.
The Secretary-General said that terrorism tightens its grip by seeking out and exploiting weaknesses and instability in political, economic and security systems, and he added that the situation in Africa is especially concerning.
Mr. Guterres said that he is deeply concerned by the gains that terrorist groups are making in the Sahel and elsewhere. The trail of terror is widening, he said, with fighters, funds, and weapons increasingly flowing between regions and across the continent — and with new alliances being forged with organized crime and piracy groups.
The Secretary-General said that the United Nations stands with Africa to end this scourge. Above all, that includes our ongoing close collaboration with the African Union and regional and sub-regional African organizations. He noted that tailored assistance the United Nations provides to African Member States includes the areas of prevention, legal assistance, investigations, prosecutions, reintegration and rehabilitation, and human rights protection.
SYRIA/MISSING PERSONS
Later this afternoon, the Secretary-General is going to brief Member States in the General Assembly on the issue of missing persons in Syria, as the fate of an estimated 100,000 Syrians remains unknown.
He will tell Member States that the families and loved ones deserve to know the truth about the whereabouts of the missing persons, and the international community has a moral obligation to help ease their plight.
And following his own remarks to the General Assembly on this issue, later this afternoon, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, is expected to be at the press stakeout in front of the General Assembly Hall.
SYRIA
The United Nations and its partners continue to respond to the urgent health needs across Syria. Since last month’s earthquakes, the UN has provided more than 922,000 medical consultations in Government-held areas including more than 500,000 consultations for mental health, and nearly 11,000 trauma consultations.
Fifty-four mobile health teams have been deployed, and the UN and its partners have supported more than 200 health facilities.
Hospitals urgently need medicines, equipment, reproductive health and other supplies. They also need support for mental health issues and people with chronic illnesses.
The UN’s three-month flash appeal for the earthquake response is now 85 percent funded. But the annual Humanitarian Response Plan for Syria, seeking $4.8 billion, is just 5.6 percent funded. The UN urgently needs additional money to meet the needs of some 15.3 million people across Syria.
In the northwest of the country, UN staff have so far completed 39 cross-border missions since the first interagency visit to Idlib on 14 February.
And as of today, more than 1,130 trucks have crossed into northwest Syria from southern Türkiye carrying vital humanitarian aid from 7 UN agencies.
MEXICO
The Secretary-General is deeply saddened by the death of at least 39 people in a fire last night at a Mexican migration facility in Ciudad Juarez. He conveys his deep condolences to the families and loved ones of the deceased and wishes a swift recovery to the injured.
The Secretary-General calls for a thorough investigation of this tragic event and reiterates his commitment to continue working with the authorities of countries where mixed movements of people occur to establish safer, more regulated, and organized migration pathways.
Full highlights: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/ossg/noon-briefing-highlight?date%5Bvalue%5D%5Bdate%5D=28+March+2023
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