UN GENEVA PRESS BRIEFING

9 August 2024

Alessandra Vellucci, Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired a hybrid briefing, which was attended by the spokespersons and representatives of the United Nations Children’s Fund, the United Nations Human Rights, the United Nations Refugee Agency, and the World Food Programme.

El Niño drought emergency in southern Africa

Valerie Guarnieri, Assistant Executive Director for Programme Operations at the World Food Programme (WFP), speaking from Rome, said that 27 million people across seven countries in southern Africa were struggling with an El Niño-induced drought. Ms. Guarnieri had visited Lesotho and Zimbabwe, where 50 percent and 34 percent of the countries’ respective populations were food insecure. In Zimbabwe, she witnessed that families had run out of stocks, and rural areas were now empty of grain. People were starting to apply negative coping mechanisms such as withdrawing children from school and reducing numbers of meals. Prices of maze were going up in the country. The UN was scaling up its actions across the whole region, gearing up to provide people with both food and cash during the upcoming lean season, which was arriving early and was already more severe than usual. Some 500,000 people had already been reached with early warning messages and cash assistance. At the same time, governments were mounting their own responses across the region, assisted by the WFP and partners with both procurement and delivery.

The need to be investing in resilience activities was once again obvious in southern Africa, stressed Ms. Guarnieri. WFP, other UN agencies and partners were scaling up such activities, including water access and storage, so that partners across the region could increase their coping mechanisms and adapt better for future shocks. Resilience activities ought to be doubled down, both for this year and the years to come. Funding remained a major concern; fiscal space for governments was tight, and they did not have the resources to buy and bring into their countries all the food they needed. The WFP appeal for the region had thus far raised only one fifth of the USD 400 million it needed to provide assistance to vulnerable people across the seven hardest-hit countries.

Responding to questions from the media, Ms. Guarnieri explained that in both Zimbabwe and Lesotho there was emphasis on reintroducing sorghum and some ancient crops and varieties that were both drought-resistant and nutritious. In Lesotho, efforts were underway to restore the land which had been eroded over time. Answering another question, Ms. Guarnieri said that 27 million people were affected by the El Niño-induced drought; of those, 5.9 million were targeted by WFP activities right now. Across the seven mostly affected countries, 21 million children – one out of three – were stunted. Pregnant women and children needed to have access to nutritious diets in order to avoid children’s stunting.

Rainy season in Sudan worsens plight for thousands displaced by war

Olga Sarrado, for the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), said that, as heavy seasonal rains kicked in across Sudan, refugees and internally displaced people continued to bear the brunt of an incredibly dire humanitarian situation after more than a year of deadly war compounded by the growing impacts of climate change. Heavy rains and flooding had already impacted tens of thousand people across Sudan, causing further displacement, injuries, and deaths.

Over eleven thousand people, including refugees hosted in the country and local communities in the eastern Kassala state, had been impacted by severe floods and heavy rains in the past two weeks. UNHCR and partners were on the ground making every effort to assist the most vulnerable. Together with state authorities, new land had been identified where tents were being set up to accommodate the affected families. The new site was expected to host some 800 families newly displaced due to the flooding. UNHCR had already started erecting emergency shelters, with some 400 tents installed so far.

As the conflict spread across the country, said Ms. Sarrado, people continued to move in search of safety. To date, over 10 million people had been forced to flee their homes both within the country and across its borders. As the situation was expected to worsen during the year, UNHCR had launched a regional floods appeal for nearly USD 40 million to assist and protect 5.6 million refugees, returnees, internally displaced people and local communities in Burundi, Ethiopia, Somalia, Rwanda, South Sudan and Sudan, which had so far received only USD five million in funds.

More information is available here.

Answering questions, Ms. Sarrado said that the conflict had impacted the ability of people to reach their fields, thus affecting their livelihoods. UNHCR continued to call for a ceasefire; the only way out of this crisis would be to stop the war so that people could go back to their regular lives. On another question, Alessandra Vellucci, for the UN Information Service (UNIS), explained that the Sudan talks, expected to take place in Geneva this month, were not a UN-led initiative. More details on possible UN involvement would be provided as soon as they were available.

Situation in Gaza

Saleem Oweis, for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), speaking from Amman, said that the unrelenting war in Gaza continued to inflict horrors on thousands of children, keeping far too many separated from their loved ones. He spoke of a prematurely born boy, Yahya, who had been evacuated from one hospital to another, and eventually placed into temporary care and kept safe with the support of UNICEF and partners, who had managed to stay in touch with his family; the family had been eventually reunited. The successful mission had included seven children from four families and had been a rare moment of joy in an otherwise bleak environment.

Mr. Oweis said that in his recent visit to Gaza, he had been shocked by the depth of suffering, destruction, and widespread displacement. While the footage the world saw on television gave an important peek into the living hell people had been enduring for over ten months, it did not fully show how behind the crumbled buildings whole neighborhoods, livelihoods and dreams had been levelled to the ground. The life of a child in Gaza, in month ten of this conflict, was not a life. There was no safe place, and everything was running out – food, water, fuel, medicines.

Water and waste were a huge problem; the decades-old sewage network was mostly clogged and leaking. Families urgently asked for soap and hygiene supplies; they were using water and salt to clean their children or boiling water with lemons to try and treat skin rashes.

There was also a serious lack of medicine for children with pre-existing conditions like cancer and congenital ailments.

The only hope of survival for many sick children in Gaza was a ceasefire. The children of Gaza were still clinging to the belief that this day would come, and UNICEF shared this hope. Achieving a ceasefire was still possible, more necessary now than ever and way overdue, and everyone had to do everything in their power to advocate for it, stressed Mr. Oweis.

Jeremy Laurence, for the United Nations Human Rights (OHCHR), said that the High Commissioner was shocked and appalled by the statement of Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich that starving two million Palestinians in Gaza could be “moral” and “justified”. Starvation of civilians was a war crime. Collective punishment of civilian population was also a war crime, stressed Mr. Laurence. Such incendiary statements had to stop immediately, investigated, and if they amounted to crimes, adequately prosecuted.

There was no safe area in Gaza, reiterated Alessandra Vellucci, for the United Nations Information Service (UNIS). People had to be allowed to receive humanitarian aid, whether they remained in their places of residence or moved. Mr. Laurence added that, over and over, civilians had become victims even when they moved to allegedly “safe areas”. The information provided by the OHCHR on the incidents in Gaza, including killing of UN and other humanitarian staff, had been used and would continue to be used by international investigation mechanisms, including international courts. Ms. Vellucci spoke of the existing deconfliction mechanisms, which were in place to protect humanitarians and allow free flow of humanitarian aid, but unfortunately those were not always working.

Executions in Iran

Elizabeth Throssell, for the United Nations Human Rights (OHCHR), stated that the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk was extremely concerned about reports that, in the space of two days this week, Iranian authorities had reportedly executed at least 29 people across the country. This represented an alarmingly high number of executions in such a short period of time. Thirty-eight people were confirmed to have been executed in July, which brought the reported number of executions to at least 345 this year. Ms. Throssell said that those executed had been primarily convicted of drug related offences or murder. Imposing the death penalty for offences not involving intentional killing was incompatible with international human rights norms and standards, as the OHCHR had repeatedly emphasized.

OHCHR also had recurring concerns about the lack of due process and fair trial standards in many of these cases. Several executions had been carried out with neither the prisoner’s family nor legal counsel being informed. Minorities, including Kurds, Ahwazi Arabs, and Baluch continued to be disproportionately affected by these executions. It was time for Iran to join the growing consensus worldwide towards universal abolition, by imposing a moratorium on executions, with a view to ultimately abolishing the death penalty.

Full statement is available here.

Ms. Throssell, responding to questions, said that it was difficult to verify with absolute certainty all figures, which was why the term “reportedly” was used. The change of government in Iran had taken place quite recently, so more time was needed to see whether it would usher in any real change. OHCHR was concerned about the fact that minorities continued to be disproportionately affected by death penalty. A crackdown on religious minorities in Iran had been observed since mid-December. Around 20 percent of those executed since the beginning of the year were believed to belong to minorities. The fact that so many executions were for drug-related offences was very disconcerting, said Ms. Throssell.

Limitations on international crimes in Peru

Elizabeth Throssell, for the United Nations Human Rights (OHCHR), said that the High Commissioner deeply regretted that a law setting a statute of limitations in Peru for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed prior to 1 July 2002 was now set to come into force. The law contravened the country’s obligations under international law and was a troubling development, amid a broader backlash against human rights and the rule of law in Peru.

Crimes against humanity and war crimes were among the most serious violations of international law and neither amnesties nor statutes of limitations should extend to them. Those responsible for atrocity crimes had to be held accountable, consistent with international law.

OHCHR statement can be found here.

In recent months, the OHCHR had expressed its concern over the deteriorating situation in Peru. Judges and human rights defenders were feeling threatened.

Russia-Ukraine war

Responding to questions, Elizabeth Throssell, for the United Nations Human Rights (OHCHR), said that the OHCHR was concerned about the reports of civilian casualties and related damage in the Kursk region of Russia. OHCHR did not have a monitoring presence in the Russian Federation, so human rights staff were trying to obtain more information through other channels. Their findings would be included in the next periodic report, to be released in late September.

Post-election situation in Venezuela

Answering to more questions from the media, Elizabeth Throssell, for the United Nations Human Rights (OHCHR), said that the OHCHR was closely following developments in Venezuela. The High Commissioner had expressed concern about reports of arbitrary detention and was calling on the authorities to release them and to put an end to this practice. Everyone had the right to protest peacefully and express their views freely. Alessandra Vellucci, for the United Nations Information Service (UNIS), also answered that the UN Secretary-General had spoken to the US Secretary of State about the situation in Venezuela in relation to the recent presidential election. The need to resolve electoral disputes in Venezuela peacefully and to ensure the complete transparency of election results was reiterated.

Announcements

Alessandra Vellucci, for the United Nations Information Service (UNIS), informed that the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination was concluding this morning its review of the report of Pakistan. Summaries of this and previous country reviews can be found here.

The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities would open on 12 August its thirty-first session, during which it would review the reports of Burkina Faso, Benin, the Netherlands, Ghana, Belarus, Belgium, Denmark, Mauritius, and Ukraine.

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The webcast for this briefing is available here

The audio for this briefing is available here

TOPICS:

WFP Valerie Guarnieri, Assistant Executive Director, Programme Operations

• El Niño drought emergency in Southern Africa

UNHCR Olga Sarrado

• Sudan: Crisis upon crisis as rainy season ushers in severe floods, worsens plight for thousands displaced by war

UNICEF Salim Oweis, UNICEF Communications Officer for the Middle East and North Africa

• Life in Gaza for a child 10mths into the Gaza conflict

OHCHR Liz Throssell

• Iran executions
• Peru: Statute of limitations for international crimes