Armed conflict in Libya & other topics - Daily Press Briefing (29 July 2019)

Noon briefing by Farhan Haq, Deputy Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.
Daily Noon Briefing:
- Libya
- Senior Personnel Appointments
- Afghanistan
- China
- Yemen
- Syria
- Philippines
- Cote D'Ivoire
LIBYA
The Security Council held an open meeting on Libya this morning.
Briefing Council members, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative, Ghassan Salame, said that the armed conflict in the country shows no signs of abating, with the war around Tripoli having left nearly 1,100 people dead, including more than 100 civilians.
He noted that forces on both sides have failed to observe their obligations under international humanitarian law, pointing to the deadly airstrike that hit the migrant detention centre in Tajoura earlier this month. Mr. Salame said that, following UN-backed efforts to move the migrants to more secure locations, in recent days, authorities have moved more than 200 migrants back into the bombed facility in Tajoura.
He also stressed that the deaths of up to 150 migrants at sea last week again underlines the urgent need to address the root causes of the migrant issue. He emphasized the need for migrant detention centres to be shuttered, urging the Council to call upon the authorities in Tripoli to free those held in these facilities.
The Special Representative put forward a three-part plan of action to end the conflict. First, he called for a truce to be declared for Eid al-Adha; second, he called for a high-level meeting of concerned countries to end the hostilities and implement the arms embargo; and last, a meeting of leading and influential personalities from Libya to agree on a way forward.
Also on Libya, the Humanitarian Coordinator ad interim in Libya, Bérangère Böell-Yousfi, strongly condemned today what she called the disgraceful shelling of Al-Alamain school and Az Zawiyah Field Hospital, south of Tripoli. Thousands of people have been deprived from access to basic services as a result.
The UN and humanitarian organizations continue to call on all the parties to the conflict to respect their obligations under International Humanitarian Law, and urge an end to the attacks on hospitals, schools and other civilian infrastructure and personnel.

SENIOR PERSONNEL APPOINTMENTS
I have a couple of announcements for you.
The Secretary-General today announced the appointment of Karla Gabriela Samayoa Recari of Guatemala as his Deputy Special Representative and Deputy Head of the United Nations Verification Mission in Colombia.
Ms. Samayoa Recari succeeds Jessica Faieta of Ecuador, to whom the Secretary-General extends his deep gratitude for her exemplary leadership and dedication.
Serving as Guatemala’s Ambassador to Italy and Permanent Representative to the United Nations Organizations based in Rome since 2018, Ms. Samayoa Recari brings to the position over twenty years of experience in diplomacy, including in United Nations contexts, where she focused on peace and security, humanitarian and management issues. 
And I have another announcement for you. Today, the Secretary-General is appointing Rosine Sori-Coulibaly of Burkina Faso as his new Special Representative for Guinea-Bissau and Head of the UN Integrated Peacebuilding Office in Guinea-Bissau, or UNIOGBIS for short.
Ms. Sori-Coulibaly succeeds José Viegas Filho of Brazil, who completed his assignment on 18 May 2019. The Secretary-General is grateful for Mr. Viegas Filho’s leadership of UNIOGBIS during his tenure.
Having recently served as Minister of Economy, Finance and Development in her home country, Ms. Sori-Coulibaly brings to this position more than 35 years of international and national experience in the field of sustainable and humanitarian development, political transition, poverty reduction, fiscal and budgetary reforms, gender equality and women’s empowerment.
And we have more on this online.
Highlights:
Libya