Highlights:

– Secretary-General/G77 and China
– Ethiopia
– Deputy Secretary-General/Travels
– Humanitarian Crises
– Iraq
– Bosnia and Herzegovina/Serbia
– Sahel
– Honour Roll

SECRETARY-GENERAL/G77 AND CHINA
The Secretary-General spoke this morning at the virtual handover ceremony of the Chairmanship of the Group of 77 and China.
He commended Guinea for its leadership throughout last year and congratulated Pakistan as it assumes the Chairmanship for this year.
The Secretary-General emphasized how the work of the Group of 77 and China is pivotal, noting that it is keeping the views, concerns and ideas of the developing world at the centre of the UN’s discussions and decisions.
The Group, he said, has been instrumental in shaping new UN initiatives to support developing countries.
The Secretary-General said that the challenges we face today are felt most acutely in the countries the Group represents, such as tackling the pandemic.
He stressed that we need to speak out against restrictions that penalize developing countries. We need no more “travel apartheid,” he said.

ETHIOPIA
On Ethiopia, the conflict in the country’s north continues to lead to more people needing humanitarian relief. It also affects aid workers’ ability to respond.
Fighting around the town of Abala, on the border between Tigray and Afar, is making it difficult for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) to bring aid into Tigray.
There have been no deliveries of assistance into Tigray since 14 December.
Fuel trucks have not been allowed entry into Tigray for more than five months, since 2 August of last year.
Aid organizations which are providing food do not have enough fuel to distribute even the limited food supplies available in Tigray. They warn that their work will soon stop without additional fuel.
Meanwhile, airstrikes in several parts of Tigray have intensified since the start of the year, reportedly causing significant civilian casualties.
The UN humanitarian partners temporarily restricted their activities in north-western Tigray, except for the town of Shire, due to the ongoing air strikes. Although they have resumed their work, they continue to be hindered by the lack of fuel.
While fighting continues to hamper aid operations in parts of Amhara, the humanitarian response is scaling up as more areas become accessible.
Between 3 and 9 January, we and our partners provided food to more than 250,000 people. More than 47,000 people received emergency shelter and other supplies in the past week.
It is estimated that several hundred thousand people who had been displaced have returned to their homes in the past three weeks and need assistance.
In Afar, we have reached some 330,000 people with food.

Full Highlights: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/noon-briefing-highlight?date%5Bvalue%5D%5Bdate%5D=14%20January%202022

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