Afghanistan, Ethiopia & other topics - Daily Press Briefing (22 December 2021)

The United Nations of Earth reporting on this issue: "Afghanistan, Ethiopia & other topics - Daily Press Briefing (22 December 2021)"
The topics: Noon briefing by Farhan Haq, Deputy Spokesperson for the Secretary-General. Highlights: -Afghanistan - Ethiopia - DSG Travels - Yemen - Cameroon-Chad - Philippines AFGHANISTAN This morning, the Security Council unanimously adopted resolution 2615 (2021), on a humanitarian exception in the UN sanctions regime applicable in Afghanistan. In a statement, the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Martin Griffiths, welcomed the adoption, stressing that this milestone decision will enable urgently needed humanitarian action to save lives and livelihoods in the country. He said that this humanitarian exception will allow organizations to implement the work we have planned, and it will give legal assurances to the financial institutions and commercial actors we rely on to engage with humanitarian operators. Mr. Griffiths noted that some 160 national and international humanitarian organizations are providing critical food and health assistance in Afghanistan, as well as education, water and sanitation, and support to agriculture, and that we urgently need to ramp up this work. He said humanitarian operations in Afghanistan are set to be the largest anywhere in the world in 2022, reaching some 22 million people. Also today, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned that children across Afghanistan are increasingly vulnerable to disease and illness due to the deadly combination of rising malnutrition, an unprecedented food crisis, drought, disruptions to vital health and nutrition centres, lack of access to and poor quality of water and sanitation services, and crippling winter weather. UNICEF noted that so far in 2021, more than 66,000 cases of measles have so far been reported in children. There have also been outbreaks of acute watery diarrhoea, malaria and dengue fever. Four cases of wild poliovirus type 1 have been confirmed this year. UNICEF warned that severe winter weather conditions, with temperatures already well below freezing in many areas, increase the risk of pneumonia and Acute Respiratory Illness. Children living in high altitude regions are especially vulnerable and require urgent life-saving assistance. including winter clothing, blankets and fuel for heating. ETHIOPIA In response to questions about our contacts regarding Ethiopia in recent days, the Spokesman said that over the past few days, while in Lebanon, the Secretary-General has been speaking by phone to key interlocutors regarding Ethiopia in an effort to find a way to end the conflict. Over the past two days, one staff member and one dependent were released from detention in Ethiopia. Ten staff members and one dependent continue to be detained, and we continue to call for their release. DSG TRAVELS This morning, the Deputy Secretary-General, Amina Mohammed, traveled to Washington, D.C. to participate in an informal brainstorming meeting to discuss advancing the Sustainable Development Goals. The Deputy Secretary-General will return to New York this evening. Full Highlights: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/noon-briefing-highlight?date%5Bvalue%5D%5Bdate%5D=22%20December%202021


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