24 February 2021 Daily Press Briefing by the Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General

The following is a near-verbatim transcript of today’s noon briefing by Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesman for the Secretary-General. **Myanmar On Myanmar, we’ve been telling you about the impact that the military takeover has had on the freedoms of assembly and speech, among others. Today, the UN team in Myanmar says it is gravely concerned that the recent events will jeopardize the COVID-19 vaccination effort that is under way. Our colleagues say that Myanmar had developed a robust, meticulous national deployment and vaccination plan. It had already vaccinated 105,000 health workers as of 31 January.

Also on Myanmar, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) team in the country said today that it is alarmed by the continued use of excessive force against children by security forces during ongoing demonstrations. Earlier this week, on 22 February, a five-year-old child was seriously wounded in Kachin State when he was reportedly shot by a member of security forces using a slingshot. As we told you earlier this week, a child was killed by security forces in Mandalay over the weekend. UNICEF is once again calling on security forces to refrain from violence, to exercise maximum restraint and for differences to be resolved through constructive and peaceful means, prioritizing the protection and safety of children and young people.