Report on Sexual Abuse & other topics - Daily Press Briefing (18 March 2019)

Briefing by Stephane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.
Daily Press Briefing:
- Secretary General's Report on Sexual Abuse and Exploitation
- Secretary General's Statements on Zimbabwe and Indonesia
- Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Mali
- Syria
- Africa Climate Week
SECRETARY-GENERAL’S REPORT ON SEXUAL ABUSE AND EXPLOITATION
Just to let you know that the Secretary-General’s report on “Special measures for protection from sexual exploitation and abuse” is out today as a document. It should be up if it is not already up already on the UN documents website. As you know, this is the annual update, looking back at 2018, on our efforts to prevent and respond to sexual exploitation and abuse, in line with the Secretary-General’s strategy on this.
Just to give you a quick update on progress made:
In 2018, the Clear Check tool was launched to ensure that perpetrators of sexual exploitation and abuse are not rehired in any part of the United Nations; 29 UN entities are now participating in this.
We also developed the Incident Reporting Form which is designed to minimize the number of times a victim or witness is interviewed and standardize the complaint intake process across the UN system.
There is also a centralized tool to track victims’ assistance that is being rolled out in all peace operations. And we have a protocol on implementing partners which includes strong provisions on victims’ rights.
These are just a few examples of the long-term effort which, as you know, we continue to work on to fight this scourge of sexual exploitation and abuse.

SECRETARY-GENERAL’S STATEMENTS ON ZIMBABWE AND INDONESIA
You saw that, yesterday, we issued two separate statements by the Secretary-General in which he expressed his sadness at the loss of life, destruction of property and displacement of people by Tropical Cyclone Idai in Zimbabwe and by flash floods, landslides and an earthquake in Indonesia.
He extends his condolences to the families of the victims of both tragedies and to the people and Governments of Zimbabwe and Indonesia.
Both statements are available online.
On Cyclone Idai, our humanitarian colleagues report that, in Mozambique, widespread damage is reported in Beira City, with at least 48 reportedly killed. In Malawi, it has affected more than 183,000 people, while 9,600 people in Zimbabwe have been impacted due to flooding and landslides. The UN and our humanitarian partners are supporting the Government-led relief efforts in the respective countries.
Further on the disaster in Indonesia, we are told that heavy rains in Papua since 16 March have resulted in at least 79 deaths, with dozens more missing or injured. The Government is leading relief efforts, with assistance from the National Red Cross and other national NGOs.
In West Nusa Tenggara Province, two earthquakes yesterday triggered landslides, killing 3 people and injuring nearly 200 others.

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO – SECURITY COUNCIL
The Secretary-General’s Special Representative for the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Leila Zerrougui, is here in New York, where she briefed the the Security Council this morning.
She said that the electoral process in the country was a decisive step towards the consolidation of rule of law and democracy.
She said the new President had, during his first public intervention, also said he wanted to work toward this consolidation and followed these statements of intentions by concrete acts, such as the release of political prisoners.
Ms. Zerrougui said that, despite these opportunities to achieve lasting peace and security in the country today, she remained concerned about several developments in the eastern DRC. She highlighted the situation in North and South Kivu, where she said structural violence was profoundly entrenched. North Kivu’s Grand Nord region is also where the second-largest Ebola outbreak in history is ongoing.
She encouraged the Council to continue to support the consolidation of what has been achieved in the country in recent months and to support the DRC in addressing the threats to peace and security which remain.
And Ms. Zerrougui has told us that she will take your questions at the stakeout at the end of consultations.
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