Myanmar, Haiti, Ukraine, & other topics - Daily Press Briefing (4 April 2024)

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

Highlights:
-Mine action awareness
-Gaza
-Myanmar
-Myanmar humanitarian
-Haiti
-Ukraine
-Madagascar
-Sport for development and peace

MINE ACTION AWARENESS
Today is the International Day for Mine Action Awareness and Assistance. Our guests will be Ilene Cohn, the Director of the United Nations Mine Action Service. She will be joined by Giles Duley, the UN Global Advocate for persons with disabilities in conflict and peacebuilding situations; as well as Paul Heslop, the Ukraine Programme Manager for the UNDP, UN Development Programme.
They will be joined by the Deputy Permanent Representative of the Permanent Mission of Cambodia Ambassador Tithiarun Mao and the Deputy Permanent Representative of the Mission of Switzerland Adrian Dominik Hauri.
In his message for the Day, the Secretary-General notes that landmines and explosive ordnance and remnants of war threaten millions of people caught up in armed conflicts around the world.
Please stay for the briefing after we’re done here.

GAZA
Turning to the humanitarian situation in Gaza, our colleagues from the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs tell us that aid movements resume tonight, after the 48-hour pause on night-time convoys that we told you about yesterday.
Today, the World Health Organization reached two hospitals in Gaza city. The agency carried out an assessment at Al Sahaba hospital and delivered food and supplies. Meanwhile, at Al Ahli hospital, WHO delivered medications and supplies and transferred one patient and their caregiver to a hospital in southern Gaza.
Regarding Al-Shifa hospital, the WHO team spoke with patients who were able to leave the hospital following the latest Israeli military operation at the facility. They described dire conditions during the siege, with no food, water or medicine available.
One patient said that doctors there resorted to putting salt and vinegar on people’s wounds in place of non-existent antiseptics, which are non-existent. And of course, the actual physical mission has still not been able to travel to Al Shifa.

MYANMAR
This morning, Khaled Khiari, the Assistant Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, spoke to Security Council members on Myanmar.
He said that more than three years since the military overturned the democratically elected Government and detained its leaders, the Secretary-General has consistently called for their immediate release as well as all arbitrarily detained prisoners. He has also called for a unified response as violence continues to intensify throughout Myanmar.
Mr. Khiari also voiced the Secretary-General’s concern about the military’s intention to move ahead with elections amid intensifying conflict and human rights violations across the country.
Also briefing was Lisa Doughten, the Director of Financing and Partnerships Division in the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. She briefed on behalf of Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths. She stressed that people across Myanmar are living in daily fear for their lives, while their ability to access essential goods and services, and to cope with the crisis, is stretched to its limits. 2.8 million people have now been displaced, she said, 90 per cent have been displaced since the military takeover three years ago.

MYANMAR HUMANITARIAN
And just to give you a bit more context about the dire humanitarian situation in Myanmar, our humanitarian colleagues tell us that in Rakhine State, civilians are being exposed to ongoing fighting between the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army, with deadly aerial bombardment and heavy shelling, including in residential areas. Many people are facing water scarcity as they head into the driest weeks of the year. Food insecurity is also a major concern with soaring prices and extremely limited market supplies in many locations.
In addition, alarming new figures show that last year in Myanmar there was a staggering 270 per cent surge in deaths and injuries from landmines and explosive remnants [of war] compared to 2022, with more than a thousand casualties reported nationwide.
The 2024 Humanitarian Appeal and Response Plan for Myanmar, which asks for $994 million, is – as so many of our humanitarian response plans, extremely underfunded with just 4 per cent funded at $41 million. We urgently need additional resources to help 5.3 million men, women and children in need and replenish depleted supplies ahead of the cyclone season.

Full Highlights: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/noon-briefing-highlight?date%5Bvalue%5D%5Bdate%5D=04%20April%202024