12 September 2017 – United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres condemned the terrorist attack that took place on Monday on a police convoy near el-Arish in northern Sinai in Egypt.

The attack reportedly killed at least 18 policemen and injured 3 others.

“The Secretary-General hopes those responsible for this act will be quickly brought to justice,” his spokesperson, Stéphane Dujarric, said in a statement.

“He conveys his condolences to the families of the victims and to the Government and people of Egypt. He also wishes a swift recovery to the injured.”

12 September 2017 – Over 3.5 million refugee children did not have the chance to attend school in the last academic year, according to a report published today by the United Nations refugee agency, which is calling for education to be a vital component of humanitarian response.

“Left Behind: Refugee Education in Crisis” found that there are 6.4 million refugees of school age – between five and 17 – among the 17.2 million refugees under the mandate of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

“The education of these young people is crucial to the peaceful and sustainable development of the countries that have welcomed them, and to their homes when they are able to return,” High Commissioner Filippo Grandi said in a news release

“Yet compared to other children and adolescents around the world, the gap in opportunity for refugees is growing ever wider.”

Globally, 91 per cent of children attend primary school, according to UNHCR. For refugees, that figure is far lower at only 61 per cent – and in low-income countries it is less than 50 per cent.

As refugee children get older, the obstacles only increase: just 23 per cent of refugee adolescents are enrolled in secondary school, compared to 84 per cent globally. In low-income countries, which host 28 per cent of the world’s refugees, the number in secondary education is disturbingly low, at a mere 9 per cent.

Ensuring that refugees have equitable access to quality education is a shared responsibility Filippo Grandi

As for tertiary education, UNHCR noted that the picture is just as grim. Across the world, enrolment in tertiary education stands at 36 per cent, up 2 percentage points from the previous year. For refugees, despite big improvements in overall numbers thanks to investment in scholarships and other programmes, the percentage remains stuck at 1 per cent.

Refugee girls remain particularly disadvantaged. For every ten refugee boys in primary school, there are fewer than eight refugee girls. At secondary school the figure is worse, with fewer than seven refugee girls for every ten refugee boys.

“Ensuring that refugees have equitable access to quality education is a shared responsibility,” Mr. Grandi stated. “It is time for all of us to put words into actions.”

12 September 2017 – The flow of desperate Rohingya fleeing across the border from Myanmar into Bangladesh is unprecedented in terms of volume and speed, United Nations humanitarian agencies said today, amid calls for international support for the emergency response.

About 370,000 people have crossed the Bangladeshi border in the last two and a half weeks, according to the UN’s International Organization for Migration (IOM).

“UN agencies and the Government were expecting the possibility that as many as 100,000 more people could come across when there were already 600,000 Rohingyas in Bangladesh. But I don’t think anyone expected a mass exodus like this, unprecedented in terms of value and speed,” said IOM Asia-Pacific Spokesperson Chris Lom, speaking with UN News from Cox’s Bazar, a thin stretch of beach in south-eastern Bangladesh.

Mr. Lom, who is one of the UN aid workers on the ground, said the people he spoke with are “very vulnerable, traumatized.”

There are “hundreds of people virtually camped out anywhere there is space. Any spare muddy piece of land or on hillside,” he said, calling for a coordinated, emergency response that is fully funded by the international community to avert a humanitarian crisis.

About 60 per cent of the Rohingya refugees – some 200,000 – are children, according to Jean Lieby, Chief of Child Protection at the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Bangladesh, who is also in Cox Bazar.

“The first thing you see here in the different Rohingya camps is the large number of children. You see children who have not slept for days, they are weak and hungry,” she told journalists in Geneva by phone.

Arrival of new Undocumented Myanmar Nationals (UMNs) continue to increase and the UN Migration Agency (IOM)is scaling up its humanitarian response in Cox’s Bazar. Photo: Saikat Biswas/UN Migration Agency

Arrival of new Undocumented Myanmar Nationals (UMNs) continue to increase and the UN Migration Agency (IOM)is scaling up its humanitarian response in Cox’s Bazar. Photo: Saikat Biswas/UN Migration Agency

A UN Migration Agency (IOM) mobile medical provides healthcare to the new arrivals where around 27,000 people received service from IOM healthcare facilities in the first 12 days of the influx. Photo: Saikat Biswas/UN Migration Agency

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Meanwhile, emergency relief supplies are being airlifted to Bangladesh today, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said.

“A UNHCR-chartered Boeing 777 flew in with 91 metric tonnes of aid,” spokesperson Adrian Edwards told the press, detailing a list that includes shelter material, jerry cans, blankets, sleeping mats and other essential items for 25,000 refugees.

A second flight is scheduled to land later today with some 1,700 family tents, with more aid to be delivered shortly.

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) has already provided some 68,800 people with high-energy biscuits, including to women-friendly spaces supported by the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), and some 77,600 people with warm meals, working through a local partner.

UN and aid partners have launched an emergency appeal for Rohingya refugees, calling for $77 million to cover the next three months.

12 September 2017 – A senior United Nations official today called for greater support for the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) and warned that lack of funding could endanger hard-won progress in the country.

“We have continued to hear passionate appeals from the African Union (AU) Peace and Security Council and the AU Commission that the issue of predictable, flexible and adequate funding for AMISOM needs to be addressed urgently,” said Haile Menkerios, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General to the AU, briefing the Security Council on the cooperation between the Organization and regional entities, including the AU.

“It would be tragic, not least for the long-suffering Somali people, if the gains and sacrifices of the last decade were reversed because the international community was unable to provide adequate and predictable funding for [the Mission],” he warned.

The senior UN official also noted the continued commitment of the Security Council and the AU Peace and Security Council to consider financial burden-sharing for AU Peace Support Operations authorized by the Security Council.

Further in his briefing, Mr. Menkerios, also the head of the UN Office to the AU (UNAOU), highlighted the continuous engagement at different levels between the UN Secretariat and the AU Commission, and that UN envoys work with and complement the efforts of AU Special Envoys in a number of critical situations across the continent.

He also spoke on collaborative engagements between the UN and the AU, and the Security Council’s recognition that its deliberations and decisions on peace and security issues in Africa can be enriched by briefings by senior AU officials, alongside their UN counterparts.

“As many Council members stated during the deliberations, there is a wealth of knowledge, experience and understanding which Special Representatives of the AU, as well as those of its Regional Economic Communities and Regional Mechanisms, could place at the disposal of this Council,” he said, adding: “The UN Secretariat stands ready to work with the AU Commission […] in this regard.”

12 September 2017 – Miroslav Lajčák hopes, that under his presidency, the United Nations General Assembly will overcome narrow national interests and produce tangible benefits for people.

“My hope is that the 72nd session of the General Assembly will be a good one, a productive one that will result in many concrete solutions to the world’s problems,” Mr. Lajčák told UN News ahead of the session’s opening today.

The career diplomat from Slovakia, who was elected by the 193-member Assembly as its President, highlighted two of the world’s most pressing issues – conflict and migration – as his priorities.

“I wish to pay attention to what we can do better to prevent conflict. Because by avoiding conflict, we save human lives and we also save money,” he said, while noting that Member States will also be devoting time and energy to the drafting of a global compact on migration, which is expected to be adopted in 2018.

Having been through difficult missions, particularly in the Balkans, Mr. Lajčák said he understands what it takes to succeed in multilateralism.

“If we disagree, this is not the reason to punish each other. It’s the reason to sit down and try to find a consensus or compromise. This is what I understand as the essence of diplomacy,” he said.

UN News: How do you view the role of the General Assembly in the 21st century?

Miroslav Lajčák: The General Assembly is a unique organ. It’s the most representative organ of the United Nations, where all 193 Member States are present. Each has one vote regardless of its size, power or wealth. That gives the body a huge authority. Plus, according to the [UN] Charter, the General Assembly can discuss any matter. So, therefore, I wish to see the General Assembly being a body where the most important issues are being discussed and where we are able to generate answers to the questions that our people are expecting from us.

UN News: What are your hopes for the new session? What do you see as the biggest challenges?

I believe in respect. We might be different, we might have different views, different interests, but we have to respect each other.

Miroslav Lajčák: My hope is that the 72nd session of the General Assembly will be a good one, a productive one that will result in many concrete solutions to the world’s problems. Most pertinent being probably the two of them. First is the prevention of conflict, because I don’t think we can say that we are in control of what’s happening around us. There are too many conflicts, and too few solutions. So, I wish to pay attention to what can we do better to prevent conflict. Because by avoiding conflict, we save human lives and we also save money.

And the second hope is linked to the issue of migration. It’s a global phenomenon. It’s an issue that we are all confronted with, one way or another. We have a task or mandate to prepare the Global Compact on Migration. This will take a lot of time during the 72nd session. But I really hope that we will be able to present a document that is rich in substance, that is credible, and that will be well received by our citizens.

UN News: In your acceptance speech, you spoke about wanting to focus on six priorities [people; peace and prevention; migration; the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and climate action; human rights; and quality]. Given the situation in international affairs now, do you envisage difficulty in keeping your focus on these six priorities?

Miroslav Lajčák: We have to have priorities. At the same time, we have to be flexible and to be able to deal with the issues that we were not foreseeing at the time when we were preparing priorities. So, my six priorities cover all three pillars of the UN work, namely peace and security, development and human rights, and also the ongoing activities. I mentioned already peace and prevention, I mentioned migration. Of course, there is a sustainable development agenda, and the climate agenda where we have to stay focused. There is an agenda of human rights and human dignity. And there is an agenda of a modern UN, which means to support the reforms and also to adopt a budget that will allow us to work also for the future. But as I said, we must not be rigid in sticking to these priorities. Whenever there is a need to address an issue that has emerged and the UN is expected to deal with, we should be ready to do so.

UN News: Your predecessor made oceans and SDGs a key part of his term in office. What topics or themes do you hope to focus on? And why?

Miroslav Lajčák: I’m not bringing into this job an agenda that will be my agenda. My agenda is the UN agenda. The programme is so full. There are so many events that are already mandated and are expected to take place during my mandate, that we can’t easily cover all the priorities. And also out of respect for smaller delegations that have problems to cope with a huge number of meetings, I said, I’m not going to announce additional topics, I would focus on the quality of the meetings that are already mandated, and they are there. I’m comfortable that through those meetings, and those agendas, we will be able to address all the priorities.

UN News: You also spoke about making the General Assembly more effective. How will you do this?

If we disagree, this is not the reason to punish each other, it’s the reason to sit down and try to find a consensus or compromise. This is what I understand as the essence of diplomacy.

Miroslav Lajčák: The most important thing for me is to understand that what we do here is meant to improve the lives of people on this planet. We are not here because of ourselves and we are not here because of fighting over the text of resolutions. But these resolutions serve concrete purposes. So, let us not forget for a minute that we have to focus on people, on their lives and on their concerns. Second, to be representative, as we are or wish to be, we have to be open, we have to communicate with our partners, with the young generations, with media, with civic activists, and NGOs, and with the business community, so that we are really reflecting the hopes, needs and expectations of the world’s public.

UN News: What made you want to seek this position as the President of the General Assembly?

Miroslav Lajčák: This is a very important position. I’ve always believed in the United Nations. I’m a career diplomat. I spent 30 years as a diplomat, out of which, seven years as foreign minister. I’ve always believed in the United Nations as a centre of multilateralism and multilateral diplomacy. So, I want to use this position to promote further the United Nations, the role of the United Nations, and increase the relevance of the United Nations.

Miroslav Lajčák takes the oath of office as President of the General Assembly. UN Photo/Evan Schneider

UN News: You’ve served your country, the European Union and the international community. How do you expect that your past experiences will facilitate your work here?

Miroslav Lajčák: I do hope that I’ve learned something and understood something over those 30 years. That’s what I am bringing with me into this job. I believe in respect. We might be different, we might have different views, different interests, but we have to respect each other and dialogue. Unfortunately, there is less and less dialogue, and less and less willingness to engage in a dialogue. We are rather exchanging monologues. So, I really want to promote the ability to listen to each other and to hear what we say. And if we disagree, this is not the reason to punish each other, it’s the reason to sit down and try to find a consensus or compromise. This is what I understand as the essence of diplomacy.

I’ve been through difficult missions, particularly in the Balkans. I always tried to listen to the views of the local people, or the views of the region. I never try to impose a solution that I brought with me, but I rather created a solution which was based on the understanding of the local mentality, history, psychology and situation there. And it usually worked. I will try to promote this principle – respect, understanding and dialogue – also into my work here.

UN News: In a year’s time, when you sit here for an exit interview, what do you hope to be able to say as the outgoing President of the General Assembly?

Miroslav Lajčák: I do hope to be able to say that it was a good session of the General Assembly – good because we delivered concrete results for people, and that we were able to overcome our narrow national views and positions in the interest of compromise, which is good for all of us.