Virtual Briefing, New York - 10 August 2020
Mark Lowcock, Emergency Relief Coordinator- As delivered:
Secretary-General, Excellencies, Ministers, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, It is my pleasure to welcome you to this briefing on Lebanon.
We are joined today by:
the United Nations Secretray-General Mr. António Guterres;
His Excellency, Mr. Tijjani Muhammad-Bande, President of the General Assembly;
The United Nations is working closely with the authorities in Lebanon to support ongoing response in the aftermath of the massive deadly explosion that rocked Beirut on Tuesday, destroying large swathes of the capital. More than 130 people were killed in the blast, which ripped through the port and surrounding area, causing countless injuries and leaving thousands homeless. The Government has declared a two-week state of emergency.
Speaking on Wednesday, UN Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq told journalists that support for hospitals and trauma response is a top priority.
The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) commissioned this study to reflect on what the Covid-19 pandemic response tells us about the fitness of the international crisis financing system. Crises provide moments of opportunity for policymakers.
16 Jul 2020
The UN humanitarian chief, Mark Lowcock, has called on G20 nations to act now or face a series of human tragedies more brutal and destructive than the direct health impacts of the coronavirus as he released an updated US$10.3 billion appeal to fight the virus in low-income and fragile countries.
The COVID-19 pandemic and its impacts on ongoing humanitarian crises have created a need to make funding agreements more flexible so that frontline humanitarian actors receive timely and adequate resources and can pivot as appropriate to COVID-19-related activities.
This light guidance was developed by WHO and UNHCR on behalf of the IASC Results Group 4 on Humanitarian-Development Collaboration and in consultation with the UN Joint Steering Committee to Advance Humanitarian and Development Collaboration (JSC). It is to be a live document meant to ensure a common understanding of analysis, funding and financial strategies and effective coordination initiatives. It highlights key steps and questions that should be answered during the process of creating and delivering context-specific collective outcomes.
This checklist is to accompany the full Interim Technical Note on Protection form Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA) during COVIID-19 Response.
The authoring bodies are: CHS Alliance, InterAction, IOM, Oxfam, UNFPA, UNHCR, UNICEF, OCHA, WFP, WHO, and the UN Victims’ Rights Advocate in consultation with other IASC members.
The IASC Emergency Relief Coordinator and UN Humanitarian Chief, Mark Lowcock, released US$25 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) on 23 June 2020 to the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to support front-line non-governmental organizations’ (NGOs) life-saving health and water and sanitation responses to COVID-19 in Bangladesh, the Central African Republic, Haiti, Libya, South Sudan and Sudan.
