0:00 → 0:11(12s)
Noon Briefing by Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General. Highlights: Lampedusa Senior Personnel Appointment – Children and Armed Conflict Senior Personnel Appointment - BINUH Gaza Occupied Palestinian Territory UNIFIL Colombia Somalia Food Price Index International Day and Week Financial Contribution LAMPEDUSA Twelve years ago today off the coast of the Italian island of Lampedusa, 368 human beings lost their lives at sea while searching for of a better life. At the time, UN Agencies said that there was a widespread call for change and a commitment to ensure that such a tragedy would never happen again. Yet today we continue to mourn lives lost at sea. Since that day, our colleagues at the UN Refugee Agency, the International Organization for Migration, and UNICEF tell us that an average of 42 people have lost their lives every week along the central Mediterranean route, and we estimated that one in five of them are children. With over 32,700 deaths since 2014, the Mediterranean has become a death trap for those seeking safety, a dramatic reminder of the risks faced by migrants and refugees. The UN Agencies stressed that it is important that international cooperation remains strong, that conflicts are addressed, and that safe and regular migration channels are strengthened to reduce dependence on dangerous sea journeys organised by traffickers. SENIOR PERSONNEL APPOINTMENT – CHILDREN AND ARMED CONFLICT Today, the Secretary-General is appointing Vanessa Frazier of Malta as his Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict. She succeeds Virginia Gamba of Argentina, to whom the Secretary-General is grateful for her dedicated service and commitment to the United Nations. The Secretary-General also wishes to extend his appreciation to Najat Maalla M’jid, his Special Representative on Violence against Children, who is serving as his Acting Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict until Ms. Frazier assumes her post. You, of course, all know Ms. Frazier, who recently served as Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Malta to the UN from 2020 to 2025. She brings multilateral diplomatic expertise, crisis management skills, consensus building and dedication to child protection, with the ability to navigate complex global negotiations and broker agreements among diverse stakeholders, having played a pivotal role as Chair of the UN Security Council Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict. And I believe she is the first UN senior official ever to have been on an Olympic team. SENIOR PERSONNEL APPOINTMENT - BINUH Also today, the Secretary-General is appointing Nicole Flora Boni Kouassi of Côte d'Ivoire as his new Deputy Special Representative for the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti, which you all know as BINUH. She will also be the Resident Coordinator in Haiti. Ms. Boni Kouassi will also serve as the Humanitarian Coordinator. She succeeds Ulrika Richardson of Sweden, to whom the Secretary-General is grateful for her dedicated service and steadfast commitment to the UN. Ms. Boni Kouassi brings over 22 years of UN experience to this position, with extensive experience in development, peace and security, and humanitarian work. She has been most recently the UNDP Resident Representative in Niger since 2022. We welcome her and congratulate her on this appointment. GAZA Turning to Gaza, you will have seen that Tom Fletcher, the Emergency Relief Coordinator, said today that we are ready and eager to act on the window of opportunity provided by the US initiative on Gaza. He said that we have some 170,000 metric tonnes of food, medicine, shelter and other desperately needed supplies poised to enter Gaza from across the region. For the humanitarian plan to succeed, Mr. Fletcher said that we need open crossings; we need safe movement for civilians and aid workers; unrestricted entry of goods; visas for staff; the space for humanitarians to operate; and the private sector to be revived. He called on the parties to agree to a ceasefire, to give us access, and just let us work. Full Highlights https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/noon-briefing-highlight?date%5Bvalue%5D%5Bdate%5D=03%20October%202025
