UN Water Conference, Ukraine, Türkiye/Syria & other topics - Daily Press Briefing (24 March 2023)

Briefing by Farhan Haq, Deputy Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.

Highlights:

UN Water Conference 
Ukraine 
Türkiye/Syria 
Central African Republic 
Sudan/South Sudan   
Somalia
The Gambia 
Yemen
International Days 
Noon Briefing Guests  

UN WATER CONFERENCE
At 4:30 pm, the Secretary-General will deliver remarks at the closing of the UN 2023 Water Conference.
He is expected to reiterate that our hopes depend on bringing to life the Water Action Agenda forged this week, adding that this means game-changing, inclusive and action-oriented commitments to put safe, secure, sustainably and smartly managed water and sanitation within reach of every person on earth.

UKRAINE 
The UN, the World Bank, the European Union and the Government of Ukraine launched yesterday afternoon the second Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment. It shows that after a full year of war, direct damage to infrastructure and people’s lives is calculated at more than $135 billion and social and economic losses amount to $290 billion.
Over the past 6 months the UN has produced more than 20 sectoral assessments in partnership with line ministries that informed these calculations. Housing, energy and the social sector are priorities for recovery and reconstruction, as well as addressing the damages and losses to the agricultural sector, which alone is estimated at $40 billion. According to the assessment, 80 per cent of this amount is related to productive loss in the agricultural sector and caused by destroyed equipment and mined farming land.
Also on Ukraine, today the UN Human Rights Office released two reports. One on the human rights monitoring mission in Ukraine and the other on the treatment of prisoners of war. These reports are available online.

TÜRKIYE/SYRIA
In Türkiye, the UN and its partners continue to support the Government-led response to last month’s earthquakes.
To date, UN agencies and humanitarian partners have reached nearly 535,000 people with shelter support. The International Organization for Migration estimates that 3 million people were displaced by the earthquakes in Türkiye.
About 1.7 million people are living in informal settlements, some of which lack proper water and sanitation services. Approximately 1.4 million people have received water, sanitation and hygiene support – and about 47,000 people have been provided with health services.
There are more than 345 organizations on the ground distributing hot meals to about 1.25 million people every day.
We urgently need additional funding to help more than 5 million people affected by the earthquakes in Türkiye. As of today, our flash appeal is about 20 percent funded.
And in Syria, the UN and its humanitarian partners continue to scale up our response in earthquake-affected areas across the country.
As of today, 1,035 trucks carrying humanitarian aid from seven UN agencies have crossed into northwest Syria from southern Türkiye, via the three available border crossings.
Our humanitarian partners in Al-Hassakeh and Ar-Raqqa governorates say flooding has damaged the tents of 270 families in collective shelters and informal settlements. At least 100 other families were also affected by the recent rains, with some having to temporarily relocate.
Affected families are receiving emergency ready-to-eat rations, mobile medical services, and other items from our humanitarian partners.

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