Zambia, Security Council, Guatemala, & other topics - Daily Press Briefing (8 May 2024)

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

Highlights:
-Trip announcement
-Occupied Palestinian territory
-Security Council
-Guatemala
-East Africa
-Zambia
-Central African Republic
-Remembrance and reconciliation

TRIP ANNOUNCEMENT
I have some travels to share with you. The Secretary-General will be traveling to Nairobi, Kenya, and that will be tomorrow afternoon, where he will take part in the UN Civil Society Conference.
This year’s conference aims to support the preparations for the Summit of the Future.
It is being held on the African continent for the first time and will include representatives from some 3,000 non-governmental organizations as well as academia.
On Friday, the Secretary-General will deliver remarks during the conference’s closing session. As the world faces conflicts, inequalities or the climate crisis - which Kenya as you know is currently experiencing with extreme weather and floods triggered by El Niño - the Secretary-General will highlight the need to revitalise multilateralism so that it reflects today’s reality.
And a multilateralism where the contribution of civil society is recognised as central – not as an afterthought.
Also on Friday, the Secretary-General will hold a press encounter at the UN Office in Nairobi. You will be able to watch that live on our UN Web TV platform.
We will have further travel to announce later this week.

OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY
An operational update to share with you from Gaza. As of now, no goods have come in for our use for humanitarian operations through either the Rafah or Kerem Shalom crossings into the Gaza strip. We are engaging with all involved with the resumption of the entry of goods, including fuel, so that we can again begin managing incoming supplies. However, the situation remains extremely fluid, and we continue to confront a range of challenges, amid active hostilities.
Our colleagues at the humanitarian affairs office tell us that a daily average of 48 trucks and more than 160,000 litres of fuel entered Gaza via the Rafah crossing between 1-5 May. We need all of that fuel to sustain our humanitarian operations for the civilians in the Gaza strip who so desperately need it.
Also, our health partners say all the key medical facilities in Rafah could soon become inaccessible or inoperable. For example, one of the three hospitals in Rafah – Al Najjar – had to be abruptly vacated yesterday, as it was located in the area subject to the evacuation orders sent out by the Israeli Defense Forces.
According to the World Health Organization, this facility has the only dialysis department still operating in Gaza – and is a lifeline for some 200 patients that need that dialysis service.
We remain committed to providing aid to people regardless of where they are. Our teams are still in Rafah, which is where well over one million people, including 600,000 children, have been sheltering. We are also extending our presence northward to assist, as we can, families who are on the move.
In a statement released yesterday, the head of the Humanitarian Affairs Office and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Martin Griffiths, said that civilians in Gaza must be protected and have their basic needs met, whether they move or stay – and those who evacuate must have enough time to do so, as well as a safe route and safe place to go.
Meanwhile, Philippe Lazzarini, the Commissioner General of UNRWA, [the UN Relief Works Agency] said in a tweet that a protest that took place yesterday at UNRWA’s Headquarters in East Jerusalem was nothing less than harassment, intimidation, vandalism and damage to UN property. 
The protest was called by an elected member of the Jerusalem municipality and took place under the watch of the Israeli Police.
Mr. Lazzarini said this has nothing to do with freedom of expression. Host countries – in this case, Israel - are expected to protect United Nations premises and operations at all times and a protest has been lodged.

SECURITY COUNCIL
This morning, the Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, Rosemary DiCarlo, briefed the Security Council members in closed consultations on Resolution 1559, which as you know refers to Lebanon.

Full highlights: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/noon-briefing-highlight?date%5Bvalue%5D%5Bdate%5D=08%20May%202024