Colombia, Haiti, Rwanda & other topics - Daily Press Briefing (9 April 2024)

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

Highlights:
-Deputy Secretary-General/trip announcement
-Senior appointment
-Occupied Palestinian Territory
-Colombia
-Haiti
-Democratic Republic of the Congo
-Rwanda
-Hepatitis report
-Mozambique
-Briefings

DEPUTY SECRETARY-GENERAL/TRIP ANNOUNCEMENT
This evening, at the invitation of the Federal Government of Belgium and the European Commission, our Deputy Secretary-General, Amina J. Mohammed, will travel to Brussels, Belgium. Ms. Mohammed, on behalf of the Secretary-General, will take part in the opening of the EU Global Gateway High-Level Event on Education and engage with European Union Officials, senior government officials and other stakeholders attending the High-Level Event.
The Global Gateway High-Level Event on Education will kickstart a series of UN events this year aimed at taking stock of global efforts to transform education and achieve Sustainable Development Goal 4.
The Deputy Secretary-General will return to New York on Thursday, 11 April.

SENIOR APPOINTMENT
The Secretary-General has appointed Kirstine Damkjær of Denmark as Deputy Executive Director, Delivery and Partnerships of the United Nations Office for Project Services, otherwise known as UNOPS.
She brings over 25 years of global senior-level management experience, including significant expertise in infrastructure, development finance and project implementation. She currently serves as the Non-Executive Director and committee chair of Africa Finance Corporation, a multilateral financial institution, alongside a wide range of board and advisory leadership roles.

OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that yesterday, OCHA and the World Health Organization (WHO), as well as other agencies assisted with the organization of dignified burials for unidentified bodies at Al ShifaHospital, and that follows the end of the Israeli siege there last week.
The UN Mine Action Services and UN Department for Safety and Security also supported Gaza’s Health Ministry with proper burials, either onsite or nearby.
In a social media post, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the head of WHO, said the bodies were previously lying under dirt or plastic sheeting, and that dignified burials allow them to be identified later with forensic examinations, giving some consolation to their loved ones.

COLOMBIA
This morning, Carlos Ruiz Massieu, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Colombia and head of the United Nations Verification Mission in Colombia, briefed Security Council members. He said Colombia has reached an important juncture in relation to its ambitions to implement the 2016 Final Peace Agreement. There is deep desire for peace in the country that extends from the highest levels of government and state institutions, across civil society and to vulnerable communities in the regions still afflicted by conflict, he said. However, he noted that the key challenge is to translate that political will and drive into results on the ground.
Also, this afternoon, the Security Council will have a closed meeting to discuss the letter sent by Guyana on 5 April, and the Assistant Secretary-General for the Americas, Miroslav Jenča, will brief the Council members.

Full Highlights: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/noon-briefing-highlight?date%5Bvalue%5D%5Bdate%5D=09%20April%202024