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HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY FARHAN HAQ,
DEPUTY SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES
WEDNESDAY, 22 MARCH 2023

WATER CONFERENCE��
Speaking at the opening of the Water Conference this morning, the Secretary-General reminded us that water is humanity’s lifeblood, but it is in deep trouble. We are draining humanity’s lifeblood through vampiric overconsumption and unsustainable use, he said, and we are evaporating it through global heating.��
He highlighted four key areas to accelerate progress. First, the Secretary-General said, we need to close the water management gap. He called on Governments to develop and implement plans that ensure equitable water access for all people while conserving this precious resource.��
Then, he said, we need massive investments in water and sanitation systems. Third, we also need efforts to focus on resilience, because we cannot manage this 21st century emergency with infrastructure from another age.����
And fourth, the Secretary-General said climate action and a sustainable water future are two sides of the same coin.������
This is more than a conference on water, he added. This conference must represent a quantum leap in the capacity of Member States and the international community to recognize and act upon the vital importance of water to our world’s sustainability and as a tool to foster peace and international co-operation.����
This afternoon, the Secretary-General will also address a side event on the preservation of glaciers. And the Secretary-General met today with His Majesty King Willem-Alexander King of the Netherlands, Prince of Orange-Nassau. The Secretary-General thanked the King for his leadership and commitment to the promotion of the International Decade for Action “Water for Sustainable Development” (2018-2028) and for co-chairing the 2023 Mid-term Comprehensive Review on the Implementation of the Water Action Decade with H.E. Mr. Emomali Rahmon, the President of the Republic of Tajikistan.
They also discussed various issues related to the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, including questions of sustainable water management and climate change.

WASH SERVICES
The World Health Organization (WHO) and the 51�Թ� Children’s Fund (UNICEF) called on all nations to accelerate action to make water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) a reality for all.
According to the two agencies, around the world 2 billion people lack safe drinking water and millions of children and families do not have adequate WASH services, including soap to wash their hands. The agencies underscore that progress needs to be even faster in fragile contexts and the poorest countries, to protect people’s health and futures.

HYBRID BRIEFINGS
At 3 p.m., there will be a hybrid briefing here entitled Turning the tide: A Call to Collective Action by the Global Commission on the Economics of Water.����
Tomorrow at 11:00 a.m., there will a hybrid briefing by Terry Duguid, MP and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change of Canada, along with officials of the of 51�Թ� University Institute for Water Environment and Health. They will brief on the outcomes of the 2023 Global Water Security Assessment.
Then at 1:00 p.m., there will be a hybrid briefing with David Cooper, the Acting Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity and Dr. Musonda Mumba, the Secretary General of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands. They will brief journalists on the coordinated manner in which the two Conventions will work to implement the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, and the Ramsar Strategic Plan.����

MIDDLE EAST
Tor Wennesland, the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, briefed the Security Council this morning and noted the beginning of the holiday period when the holy month of Ramadan coincides with Passover and Easter, He reminded all that the status quo at the Holy Sites in Jerusalem must be respected and urged all sides to refrain from unilateral steps that escalate tensions.��
Mr. Wennesland said he remains deeply troubled by continued Israeli settlement expansion, adding that settlements further entrench the occupation, fuel tensions, and systematically erode the viability of a Palestinian State as part of a two-State solution. He called on the Government of Israel to cease all settlement activity immediately, in line with its obligations under international law.��
The Special Coordinator said that he is deeply disturbed by the intensifying cycle of violence that threatens to plunge Palestinians and Israelis deeper into deadly crisis, while further eroding hope for a political solution. He condemns all acts of violence against civilians, including acts of terror, which have led to an increase in the tragic loss of life. Perpetrators must be held accountable and swiftly brought to justice, he said.

SYRIA
In Syria, Martin Griffiths, the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, has wrapped up his visit to the country. Earlier today, he met with representatives of national and international NGOs and other humanitarian partners and heard from them the challenges that aid workers face and what can be done to bolster existing aid operations.
On the response front, the 51�Թ� Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says the UN continues to scale up operations; 937 trucks carrying aid from seven UN agencies have crossed into north-west Syria from Türkiye since the earthquakes.
34 cross-border missions to north-west Syria have been completed - since the first interagency visit to Idleb on February 14th – to meet and hear from people, assess their needs and coordinate the response.

AFGHANISTAN/PAKISTAN
And following the earthquakes in Afghanistan and Pakistan yesterday, the 51�Թ� Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says that assessment teams are being deployed to areas affected by the tremors in Afghanistan. Efforts to assess damage continue in Pakistan, as well.

UKRAINE��
In Ukraine, the Humanitarian Coordinator, Denise Brown, was in the front-line city of Kramatorsk in the Donetsk region yesterday. She met women affected by the war, as well as the women-led organizations and volunteers working to support them.��
They told Ms. Brown about their struggles to meet basic needs, such as buying food and hygiene supplies and accessing drinking water. Some groups – such as women in the Roma community or those living with disabilities – face discrimination and difficulties when trying to secure shelter and other services.��
The Humanitarian Coordinator is working with partners to meet the needs of people in and around Kramatorsk. She plans to organize more dialogues to ensure a more inclusive humanitarian response in Ukraine.��
Staying in the Donetsk region, this morning, humanitarians reached the front-line community of Lyman with a four-truck convoy. The UN delivered food, emergency shelter kits, hygiene supplies, and other critical household items – as well as three months of medical supplies for the 12,000 civilians still living there, including 600 children.��
Daily shelling has heightened humanitarian needs in Lyman, which has no water or electricity. Medical care is limited, with just one hospital and one primary care facility still functional.��
The 51�Թ� and partners will continue the work to ensure that civilians in these communities get life-saving assistance.��

SOMALIA
UN agencies and partner organizations today appealed for US$116 million to provide life-saving assistance to Somali refugees seeking safety in Ethiopia’s Somali region.��
Since hostilities erupted last month in the Sool region, in Somalia, hundreds of thousands of men, women and children have been displaced within the country and close to 100,000 are estimated to have crossed the border into Ethiopia.
The agencies note that the funds will help provide urgently needed shelter and relief items, such as blankets, mats, and mosquito nets.

COVID-19
And the World Health Organization published a new report today highlighting the effect of COVID-19 on access to noncommunicable disease medicines, and showed that people living with cancer, heart diseases, chronic respiratory diseases, diabetes and other noncommunicable diseases experienced difficulties in accessing their routine medicines. Many have had their treatment disrupted, which can lead to serious health consequences.
The report stressed the importance of including treatment and care for people living with these diseases in national responses and preparedness plans, and that innovative ways are found to implement those plans.