UN United Nations : Daily Press Briefing by the Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General
06/03/2021 | 05:41pm EDT
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Required fields The following is a near-verbatim transcript of today s noon briefing by Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesman for the Secretary-General. All right. Good afternoon. Everybody is awake? Just checking.
- Corruption As the General Assembly holds a special session against corruption today, the Secretary-General delivered a video message at the launch of the anti-corruption GlobE Network that took place in Vienna, in Austria. He told the participants this morning that corruption is not only immoral, but it is a serious crime. He said that corruption betrays people and democracies. Turning the tide against corruption is essential if we are to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), promote peace, and protect human rights, he asserted.
Palestinian UN workers in Gaza tell UNRWA Gaza director to never come back after he admits Israeli airstrikes were accurate and not aimed at civilians.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) on Wednesday summoned the director of its operations in the Gaza Strip, Matthias Schmale, over statements describing Israel .
UNRWA is the biggest employer in the Gaza Strip, and
UPIreported Wednesday that agency employees in the enclave took to the streets outside UNRWA headquarters, demanding Schmale be removed.
Hamas issued a statement on its website later Wednesday claiming that the terror group’s leader Yahya Sinwar met that evening with Schmale’s temporary replacement, UNRWA’s Deputy Commissioner-General Leni Stenseth, to discuss the issue.
The statement asserted that Stenseth expressed understanding of the Palestinian reaction to Schmale’s comments, “affirmed her solidarity” with the Palestinians, expressed condolences on behalf of UNRWA, and called Schmale’s remarks “indefensible.”
The Palestinian news agency