28 February 2023 | UNDSS Comms
During a recent visit to Ethiopia for the 36th ordinary session of the African Union on February 18,2023, the United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres announced the release of USD 250 million from the United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund to support with efforts to combat the risk of famine in Horn of Africa due to prolonged periods of drought.
The funds will serve people in some of the most forgotten crises around the world, particularly those in Africa who are at risk of famine. While addressing the Summit, the Secretary-General reaffirmed that ¡°The United Nations stands with the people of Africa at this moment that is a moment of risk, but that is also a moment of enormous promise and potential.¡±
As part of enabling the visit, UNDSS provided close protection and arranged for convoy movement within Addis Ababa. ¡°Ahead of the Secretary General¡¯s visit, we conducted several coordination meetings with the African Union and host government security agencies to ensure a safe visit of the Senior United Nations Officials (SUNOs),¡± said Prince Bruce, Chief Security Adviser, Ethiopia. After the African Union Summit, the Secretary-General held a townhall meeting with UN personnel at the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA). Ricardo Freitas da Silva, Chief of Security and Safety Services, ECA, said, "We provided adequate security coverage of the United Nations compound which resulted in an incident-free visit."
Across the globe, UNDSS provides protective services as prevention or mitigation measure to support and enable the activities of SUNOs in the course of their duties, who may be subject to increased threat and associated risk due to their role or implementation of specific mandates and programmes.