INT’L CULTURE

Noon Briefing by Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.Highlights:
-United States
-UN Chief Executives Board for Coordination
-Polio/Gaza
-Occupied Palestinian Territory
-UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East
-Lebanon/Humanitarian
-Afghanistan
-Democratic Republic of the Congo
-International Day United States
In a statement issues this morning, the Secretary-General commended the people of the United States of America for their active participation in the democratic process.
The Secretary-General also congratulated President-elect Donald J. Trump and reaffirmed his belief that the cooperation between the United States and the United Nations is an essential pillar of international relations.
The United Nations stands ready to work constructively with the incoming administration to address the dramatic challenges our world is facing, the Secretary-General said.UN Chief Executives Board for Coordination
This evening, the Secretary-General will head out to the Greentree state where tomorrow and Friday, he will chair the biannual session of the UN System Chief Executives Board for Coordination (CEB), which brings together the heads of the UN system organizations.
This meeting of the CEB is scheduled to discuss current affairs as they impacted and are related to the UN system. Also on the programme are sessions on Multilateralism and Priorities for the Next Two Years as well as the Future of Humanitarian Action.Polio/Gaza
The World Health Organization (WHO) confirms that the second round of the polio vaccination campaign in the Gaza Strip was completed on yesterday.
An overall 556,774 children under the age of ten are vaccinated now with a second dose of polio vaccine.
WHO and the other agencies that participated in this, notably UNRWA and UNICEF, say that this is a remarkable achievement given the extremely difficult circumstances the campaign was executed under.
The campaign, we were told, achieved in central Gaza 103 per cent coverage, which means that they reached more children than they expected, and 91 per cent coverage in southern Gaza. However, in northern Gaza, where the campaign was compromised due to lack of access, there was approximately 88 per cent of coverage, according to preliminary.