UN Chief Visit to Christchurch & Other Topics - Daily Briefing (14 May 2019)

Briefing by Farhan Haq, Deputy Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.
- Secretary-General's Travels
- Yemen, Inequality
- Sri Lanka
- Libya
- Myanmar
- Ebola
- Peacekeeping
- Dementia

SECRETARY-GENERAL’S TRAVELS
Today, the Secretary-General was in Christchurch, New Zealand, to pay his respects and show solidarity with the Muslim community there after the attacks on two mosques in March.
The Secretary-General told the Muslim community: “I know there are no words to relieve the hurt and sorrow and pain. But I wanted to come here personally to transmit love, support and total and complete admiration.”
He said that hate speech is spreading like wildfire in social media and is being exploited as a platform for bigotry. “There is no room for hate speech, online or offline,” he said, adding that we must all show solidarity in response to this dangerous upsurge in hatred.
The Secretary-General visited the Al-Noor Mosque, where he laid a wreath at the Christchurch Remembrance Wall for the victims of the terror attack and met with local Imams and Christchurch Mayor Lianne Dalziel. He also visited the Linwood Islamic Centre, where he heard from survivors of the attacks.
He told them, “In these trying times, I am here to say with a full heart: You are not alone. The world is with you. The United Nations is with you. I am with you.”
In the afternoon, the Secretary-General was given a presentation focusing on sustainable agriculture by the Ngai Tahu, a large Māori tribe in the South Island, and the New Zealand Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Research Centre. 
The Secretary-General is now in Suva, Fiji, where he will attend the Pacific Island Forum. We will bring you more on that tomorrow.
YEMEN
The Chairman of the Redeployment Coordination Committee (RCC) in Yemen, Lieutenant General Michael Lollesgaard, visited today the ports of Hudaydah, Salif and Ras Issa to verify the redeployment of Ansar Allah forces. UN teams have been monitoring this redeployment, which has been executed, partly as agreed by the Yemeni parties in the concept of phase one. 
Lieutenant General Lollesgaard welcomed the handing over of the security of the ports to the coast guard and the efforts to remove all military manifestations from the facilities. There is still a lot of work to be done on the removal of the manifestations, but cooperation has been very good. 
These steps are significant as the first part of the broader redeployments in Hudaydah, to which both Yemeni parties continue to express their commitment. Lieutenant General Lollesgaard urged the parties to finalize the outstanding negotiations to allow for a full implementation of phases one and two of the Hudaydah Agreement. 
UN teams will continue to monitor these initial steps in an impartial and transparent manner. We sent a full note to correspondents on this topic earlier today.
Also today, the Office of the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Yemen, Martin Griffiths, is meeting the Yemeni parties in Amman to discuss the implementation of the economic provisions of the Hudaydah Agreement. Issues to be discussed include the management of revenues from the ports of Hudaydah, Ras Issa and Salif and their use for the payment of public sector salaries in Hudaydah governorate and throughout the country.
The Special Envoy encourages the parties to engage constructively and with good faith to agree the modalities of implementation, for the benefit of the people in Hudaydah and the whole of Yemen.
INEQUALITY
The Deputy Secretary-General spoke this morning at the General Assembly’s high-level thematic debate on addressing inequality toward inclusive development.
She said that reducing poverty and inequality is the lynchpin if we are to ensure that the results of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development are seen and felt in the lives of everyone, everywhere – and if we are to keep our commitments to have a people-centred and planet-sensitive future.
The Deputy Secretary-General stressed that high inequality is not inevitable, with investment in human capital, well-targeted social protection programmes, and the tackling of discriminatory laws, among others, being critical.
She also noted how crucial financing is, stressing how we must align global financial and economic policies with the 2030 Agenda.
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