African Union Summit, Yemen & other topics - Daily Press Briefing (12 February) | United Nations

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

Highlights:
Secretary-General/African Union Summit
Yemen
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Occupied Palestinian Territory
Kosovo
Ukraine
Bangladesh
Madagascar
International Days
Financial Contribution

SECRETARY-GENERAL/AFRICAN UNION SUMMIT

The Secretary-General is about to arrive in Addis Ababa. As we mentioned yesterday, he is travelling to Ethiopia to take part in the 39th Ordinary Session of the African Union Summit.

While there, he is scheduled to hold bilateral meetings with the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Ethiopian authorities as well as heads of State and Government from the continent.

Tomorrow, the Secretary-General has also been invited to take part in the Second Italy-Africa summit, organized on the sidelines of the African Union Summit. On Saturday Mr. Guterres will address the opening session of the African Union Summit. And he will hold a press conference, scheduled to take place at 3:00 p.m.

YEMEN

This morning, the Security Council met to discuss the situation in Yemen. The Special Envoy, Hans Grundberg, addressed the Council remotely from Riyadh, where he recently met with Yemen’s newly appointed Prime Minister, Shaya al-Zindani, and members of the Presidential Leadership Council.

Mr. Grundberg underscored the need for an inclusive political process under UN auspices to reach a negotiated settlement capable of sustainably ending the conflict in the country. In this context, he also raised serious concerns regarding the continued detention of UN staff and others.

This week marks one year since the tragic death of a staff from the World Food Programme (WFP) while he was being held in arbitrary detention by the Houthis. Mr. Grundberg noted that no investigation has been conducted by the authorities.

Today, 73 UN personnel, along with civil society members and individuals linked to diplomatic missions remain arbitrarily detained. The UN continues to pursue every avenue, at all levels, in order to resolve this issue.

Focusing on the humanitarian situation, Lisa Doughten, the Director of the Financing and Outreach Division at OCHA said that over 18 million people face acute food insecurity in Yemen. Despite severe challenges, we and our partners are continuing to provide aid wherever we can.

She noted that next week, in Amman, donors, UN agencies, and international and national non-governmental organizations will convene to refine aid delivery and ensure the most vulnerable continue receiving assistance amid growing operational constraints.

She added that our partners remain active in areas held by the de facto authorities in Yemen and will assume a greater share of frontline operational work. Ms. Doughten urged the Council to actively support these efforts.

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO

In a statement released today, the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) announced that Vivian van de Perre, Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of Mission ad interim, has begun a visit to Goma as part of the Mission’s preparations to support ceasefire monitoring and verification, following consultations with Congolese national authorities.

The Department of Peace Operations confirmed that Ms. van de Perre arrived via Goma airport earlier this morning and is engaging with relevant counterparts to advance practical arrangements for the ceasefire monitoring and verification mechanism.

The Mission stated that the visit marks an important operational step after the prolonged disruption of airtraffic in and out of Goma since January of last year.

Under Security Council resolution 2808 (2025), the Mission is authorized to support the implementation of a permanent ceasefire, including through technical and logistical support to the International Conference on the Great Lakes via the Expanded Joint Verification Mechanism Plus. The peacekeeping mission reaffirmed that such support will be provided within its mandate and in full respect of the sovereignty of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that yesterday they coordinated 10 humanitarian missions with the Israeli authorities. The movements were to areas where Israeli forces remain deployed.

These missions allowed UN teams to collect incoming relief items such as food, vaccines, fuel and health supplies from the Kerem Shalom/Kerem Abu Salem crossing, as well as the Zikim crossing.

Full Highlights: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/noon...