Category: The Civic Circle

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The Head of Strategy and Coordination for OCHA in Afghanistan, Shannon O’Hara, announced that a response plan to the recent earthquakes in Afghanistan “is being finalized and will be launched tomorrow to cover immediate lifesaving needs,” and stressed that “flexibility and speed are critical.”

Upon her return from a field visit to the World Food Programme’s (WFP) hub that’s being established in Mazar Dara, in Kunar Province, O’Hara said the goal of the visit was to “provide key response enablers for scaling up, including an UNHAS helicopter to ensure humanitarian and supplies can reach these areas.”

She told journalists in New York that “the only road in and out is a narrow single lane track carved into the mountainside” which “was blocked by large rocks from landslides and many vehicles trying to get up and down the valley, including large trucks overloaded with humanitarian assistance rushing to get to the most affected areas.”

The OCHA official said, “as we drove towards the epicentre, we saw families walking in the opposite direction, displaced, carrying what little they could. Many were still wearing the same clothes from the night of the earthquake. Mothers and fathers were carrying their children, some with fresh bandages covering their injuries.”

Upon reaching Mazar Dara, she said, “the smell of dead animals from the surrounding villages was overwhelming.”

O’Hara said, “we saw families whose lives had been shattered. Just within a few minutes, the earthquake had destroyed their homes, their farms and their livelihoods, leaving them with absolutely nothing. The conditions on the ground there are dire. Some families are living in crowded tents, while many are sleeping under the open skies, exposed to rain and cold. There was no clean drinking water and no sanitation. With cholera endemic in the region and initial assessments indicating that 92 percent of these communities are practicing open defecation, the potential for a cholera outbreak is alarming.”

She said, “if we don’t act now, these communities may not survive the coming winter. Additional funding is urgently needed. Without immediate support, the weeks ahead risk compounding this tragedy, with preventable disease outbreaks further displacement and additional loss of life.”

Highlights:
– Briefings Tomorrow
– Senior Personnel Appointment
– UN General Assembly
– Ukraine
– Ukraine/Humanitarian
– Occupied Palestinian Territory
– Jerusalem
– Haiti
– Democratic Republic of the Congo
– Yemen
– Sudan
– Pakistan
– Afghanistan
– Nigeria
– Human Rights
– International Literacy Day
– Micronesia/New Resident Coordinator

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BRIEFINGS TOMORROW
Tomorrow, at 10:00 a.m., there will be a briefing here on the launch of the UN Secretary-General’s report entitled The Security We Need: Rebalancing Military Spending for a Sustainable and Peaceful Future.
The Secretary-General will be here to make opening remarks, but he will not take any questions.
He will be joined by Izumi Nakamitsu, the Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, and Haoliang Xu, Acting Administrator of the UN Development Programme (UNDP). .
Then, at noon, the incoming President of the General Assembly, Annalena Baerbock, will speak to you at the General Assembly Stakeout area.
The Secretary-General will hold a press conference next week, most likely on Tuesday, September 16th, ahead of the General Assembly.

SENIOR PERSONNEL APPOINTMENT
Today, the Secretary-General is appointing Mr. Miroslav Jenča of Slovakia as Special Representative for Colombia and Head of the United Nations Verification Mission in Colombia.
He will succeed Mr. Carlos Ruiz Massieu of Mexico, to whom the Secretary-General is grateful for his dedication and service.
Mr. Jenča brings more than 35 years of experience in diplomacy, mediation, leadership and oversight of UN peace operations, as well as close knowledge of the Colombian peace process and its regional and international context. 
He is currently serving as Assistant Secretary-General for Europe, Central Asia and the Americas in the United Nations Departments of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and Peace Operations, a role he has held since 2019. 

UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY
We’ve seen in the last few days a high volume of misinformation regarding whether a vote had taken place in the General Assembly to move the high-level session out of New York. I want to be clear that there was no such vote in the General Assembly and that I am not aware of any preparations being made to move the General Assembly’s high-level session.

UKRAINE
The Secretary-General strongly condemns the attacks by the Russian Federation on 7 September, which killed and injured several people, including children. The attacks struck a Government building in central Kyiv and damaged residential and other civilian infrastructure in the capital and other regions of Ukraine.
The targeting of government institutions represents a further escalation of the conflict. Attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure violate international humanitarian law. They are unacceptable and must end immediately.
The Secretary-General reiterates his call for a full, immediate and unconditional ceasefire as a first step towards a just, comprehensive, and sustainable peace in Ukraine, one that fully upholds Ukraine’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity, in line with the UN Charter, international law and relevant UN resolutions.

In Kinshasa, Mr. Lacroix met with President Félix Tshisekedi, the Prime Minister, members of the government, and opposition leaders. He conveyed the UN’s continued commitment to supporting peace and stability in the DRC. The Congolese authorities emphasized the necessity for MONUSCO to continue fulfilling its mandate, expressing clear support for the Mission’s efforts.

Mr. Lacroix emphasized that hundreds of thousands of Congolese people, including displaced persons, rely on MONUSCO for daily protection — particularly in areas like Fataki and Beni, where joint operations with the FARDC continue against armed groups.

He highlighted the importance of international diplomatic efforts, including the Washington and Doha processes, and called for intensified engagement to achieve tangible results such as a ceasefire and reduced violence. He reiterated the UN’s readiness to support the implementation of the Security Council’s resolution 2773.