The United Nations Office at Geneva
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PRESS BRIEFING BY THE UNITED NATIONS INFORMATION SERVICE
09 August 2022
Increased number of premature births reported in Ukraine
Herve Verhoosel, for Unitaid, said that the conflict in Ukraine had seen many hospitals damaged or destroyed, putting thousands of newborns at high-risk of disability or death from a lack in access to oxygen, necessary equipment, and essential treatments. The war had also increased levels of stress in pregnant women, leading to more premature births being reported. Babies born prematurely were more likely to develop respiratory, neurological, or digestive complications, conditions that often required oxygen for treatment.
Unitaid, through its partner Vayu Global Health, had provided 220 bubble nasal continuous positive airway pressure (bCPAP) devices and 125 oxygen blender systems to supply infants with the breathing support and oxygen therapy they needed. This new system, bubble CPAP, was a non-invasive way of ventilating newborns struggling to breathe and oxygen blenders prevented eye, lung, and brain damage associated with giving babies pure oxygen.
The systems were now available in 25 referral facilities across Ukraine, of which 17 were perinatal centers, with funding from Unitaid, explained Mr. Verhoosel. Initial in-person intensive trainings had been organized in Krakow, Poland, to support Ukrainian neonatologists and pediatricians who came from Ukraine.
Unitaid called on donors and the private sector to increase investments in health innovations that were adapted to use in crisis and resource limited settings.
Responding to questions, Mr. Verhoosel explained that the devices could be used for up to three years without electricity. Before the war, some 12 per cent of children in Ukraine had been prematurely born; that percentage had now gone up to 40 per cent in some hospitals.
He acknowledged that 220 devices were not enough for a country like Ukraine, so a larger scale distribution was needed. One device cost less than USD 500 to produce: it was easy-to-produce, easy-to-use, affordable, and effective.
Margaret Harris, for the World Health Organization (WHO), added that it was very important to have such portable devices available when there was no electricity in hospitals. Each individual case was different, and newborns needed the devices for different lengths of time.
One of the three warmest Julys on record
Clare Nullis, for the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), announced that the world had one of the third warmest months of July on record, with prolonged and intense heatwaves affecting parts of Europe. Antarctic sea ice was the lowest for July on record.
This was despite the fact that there was a weak La Niña, which was meant to have a cooling influence. Northern hemisphere land masses saw predominantly well above-average temperatures. Antarctic sea ice extent had reached its lowest value for July in the 44-year satellite data record, at 7% below average, well below the previous record. Arctic sea ice extent had been four per cent below average, ranking 12th lowest for July in the satellite record, well above the low July values seen in 2019–2021.
Temperatures in much of Europe were still above the average, but the heatwaves experienced in July were unlikely to return. The long-lasting drought in parts of Europe was also set to continue. Ms. Nullis stressed, nonetheless, that such heatwaves were a new normal now.
Ms. Nullis, replying to questions from the media, said that the WMO had regional climate monitoring centers, and the European climate center, operated by Deutsch Wetter, warned that parts of Europe would continue to experience heat throughout August. Parts of the Horn of Africa had received rain recently, she added. In the USA, the July average temperature was the third warmest on record, but there were significant regional differences within the country, Ms. Nullis pointed out.
Monkeypox
Responding to questions, Margaret Harris, for the World Health Organization (WHO), said that the monkeypox virus was present in several animals, primarily rodents. It was named monkeypox because it had first been identified among a group of monkeys in a zoo in Denmark. Ms. Harris stressed that the virus was now being transmitted from person to person. No animal or human groups should be stigmatized.
Announcements
Rosalind Yarde, for the International Labour Organization (ILO), reminded correspondents about the launch of the Global Employment Trends for Youth 2022 report on 11 August at 10 a.m. Geneva time (embargoed until 12 noon). The report analyzed differences experiences by young women and men. Alongside the report, there were five regional briefs with specific data for each of the regions. Speakers would be Martha Newton, ILO Deputy Director-General for Policy, Niall O'Higgins, Senior Employment Research and Technical Specialist, and Kee Beom Kim, Macro-Economic and Employment Policies Specialist. The experts were available for interviews, said Ms. Yarde.
Rhéal LeBlanc, for the United Nations Information Service (UNIS), said the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, which had opened its 107th session on 8 August, would begin at 3 p.m. today the review of the report of Benin. The Committee would also review Nicaragua, the United States, Azerbaijan, Slovakia, Zimbabwe, and Suriname.
On 11 August, at 10 a.m., the Conference on Disarmament would hold a thematic event dedicated to “The centrality of international cooperation and capacity-building in building a safe and secure cyberspace“. This event would be chaired by Christophe Lutundula Apala Pen'Apala, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Mr. LeBlanc informed that today was the Day of Indigenous Peoples, and the Secretary-General had issued a message in which he highlighted the role of Indigenous women in preserving and passing on traditional knowledge.
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As world’s water reserves change, countries must prepare for a new reality: WMO
New data showing that rivers were at their lowest level for decades last year provides further evidence that the climate crisis is real and countries must act immediately to protect themselves from the increasing threat to communities and livelihoods, the UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Thursday.
The key findings from WMO’s State of Global Water Resources 2025 report covering the hydrological cycle and extreme events in the five-year period to last year:
- 2025 was one of driest years for river discharge in 35 years
- Past seven years have seen abnorfmal river flows
- Water storage on Earth’s land surface has decreased in past decade
- Widespread glacier loss across all regions for fourth consecutive year
- Asia and Africa are regions most affected by water-related disasters
- Water data availability has improved, but gaps remain in hard-hit areas
Highlighting the long-term decline in the Earth’s freshwater storage and glacier melt, WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo explained that the planet’s water reserves used to act as a planetary “savings account” that absorbed the occasional dry season, avoiding a water crisis. “One of the central stories of the 2025 report is what is happening to that savings account? And the simple answer is that we are depleting it,” she told journalists in Geneva.
Groundwater reserves are equally stretched and have been in decline since 2014, WMO’s report states, with nearly two-thirds of monitored wells worldwide showing levels lower than the historical norm and indicating a shift “further toward deficit…not recovery”.
“At the same time, we are seeing more water-related disasters,” Ms. Saulo said, while also stressing that the currently strengthening El Niño “will increase the risk of drought in some areas, and flooding in others”.
Glaciers disappearing
In 2025, for the fourth consecutive year, every major glaciated region on Earth lost ice mass, leading to short-term hazards including floods and long-term water insecurity, according to WMO.
Responding to a question about whether the changing global water cycle might have contributed to the deadly Nepal-China flooding disaster, Ms. Saulo explained that melting ice and rock was just one factor in the chain of events that ultimately sent a massive and deadly wall of water and debris downstream on 26 August, killing at least 1,367 people.
“You asked if it could happen again? Absolutely; the problem in this region is that there’s 63,700 glaciers at the last count,” she told a Press Conference in Geneva. “Even if you’re looking with remote sensing with satellites at these glaciers, you might see some faults, you might see some slight shifting, that does not mean necessarily catastrophic collapse. So, in order to plan for this, it’s very, very difficult. But the international community is looking very hard at ways in which we can bring people together to solve some of these monitoring issues.”
Data indicates that glaciers shrank between 2023 and 2025 with cumulative losses of 1,400 gigatonnes of water – or about one third of annual fresh water needs.
Every major glacier region on Earth lost ice for the fourth consecutive year.
“All 19 glacier regions around the globe lost ice; in Central Asia, Iceland, the Russian Arctic and western Canada and the United States, it was among the three worst years on record,” said Wayne Jenkinson, WMO’s Director of Hydrology and Cryosphere.
Some regions with smaller glaciers such as Central Europe, the Caucasus, the western Canada and the United States may already have reached “peak water”, Mr. Jenkinson warned.
“After this point, the glacier gives less meltwater each year simply because there is less ice left to melt. That matters for every community downstream that relies on water during hot, dry summers,” he explained.
Narelle van der Wel, WMO’s Head of Cryosphere Monitoring, Predictions and Services, stressed that while some further glacier loss is unavoidable, the eventual scale of the decline is not predetermined.
“Some glacier loss is inevitable, but total loss of glaciers is not yet inevitable,” she said, pointing to emissions reductions as central to limiting future losses.
Preparing for moving baselines
The report does not attribute every observed change to climate change alone. WMO says pressure on water resources and natural variability also contribute.
Mr. Jenkinson said governments need to prepare for “moving baselines” as historical patterns become less reliable.
“The situation 30 years ago is not where we are today,” he said. Countries, he added, need to prepare “for those changes that have really already arrived”.
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