Syria & other topics - Daily Briefing (27 June 2019)

Daily Press Briefing: Secretary-General, Appointments, Deputy Secretary-General, Under-Secretary General for Peace Operations, Sahel, Syria, UNAMID, Trachoma, Measles, UNODC, Small Business Day, Press Encounters
Briefing by Stephane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.
SECRETARY-GENERAL
The Secretary-General arrived in Osaka in Japan today, where tomorrow and Saturday, he will take part in a number of meetings related to the G20.
Earlier today, he tweeted out that he is at the G20 Summit because people around the world are demanding immediate action on climate change and inclusive development. He added that the green economy offers countless benefits, but that to reap them, we need rapid transition, deep transformation and of course political will.
Tomorrow morning, he will hold a press conference and take part in G20 sessions on trade and digital innovation.

APPOINTMENTS
The Secretary-General today announced is appointing David McLachlan-Karr of Australia as his Deputy Special Representative ad interim at the UN Peacekeeping Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where he will also serve as UN Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator.
He succeeds Kim Bolduc of Canada, to whom the Secretary-General is grateful for her leadership and dedicated commitment in supporting humanitarian and development efforts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. 
Mr. McLachlan-Karr brings 26 years of experience working at the UN, including on various assignments for UNDP and OCHA in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
The Secretary-General also recently announced strengthened coordination and support mechanism in the epicenter of the Ebola outbreak in eastern part of the country, and that was been led by David Gressly of the United States of America as UN Emergency Ebola Response Coordinator.  Mr. Gressly has more than 20 years of experience with the United Nations system, including as Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Sahel based in Senegal.
In view of Mr. Gressly’s assumption of the role Emergency Ebola Response Coordinator, the Secretary-General also announced today the appointment of François Grignon of France as Deputy Special Representative for Protection and Operations ad interim in the Peace Keeping Mission in the Center-African Republic.

DEPUTY SECRETARY-GENERAL
This morning, the Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed spoke at the Forbes 400 SUMMIT on Philanthropy.
She told participants that the 17 Sustainable Development Goals provide an excellent foundation for informing and guiding ambitious philanthropic strategies, priorities and outcomes.
However, she stressed that the clock is ticking and we need to accelerate efforts to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. For this, a more collaborative model of donors, governments and businesses working together is needed to address pressing issues.
Ms. Mohammed also issued a call to all present to identify and pursue the most ambitious contribution that philanthropy can make to in achieving the transformation that our planet and its peoples so desperately need. She also reiterated the UN’s commitment to work with them to this end.
Tonight, the Deputy Secretary-General will travel to Abu Dhabi to attend the Climate Meeting in the preparation of the Climate Action Summit that the Secretary-General is convening in September. 
She will also travel to Saudi Arabia to engage Senior Government officials and the leadership of the Islamic Development Bank on galvanizing support in the region for the Climate Action Summit and sustainable development high-level meetings in September.
She will be back in New York on 2 July.