UNOG Bi-weekly press briefing 31 January 2020

Alessandra Vellucci, Director of the United Nations Information Service (UNIS), chaired the briefing, which was attended by the spokespersons for the World Food Programme (WFP), the World Health Organization (WHO), the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

The topics addressed were: situation in the Sahel; New coronavirus; the Illicit Trade Forum; the Geneva Humanitarian Network Week; and the WHO Executive Board meeting.

Situation in the Sahel

Elizabeth Byrs, for the World Food Programme (WFP), informed that the there was a staggering rise of hunger in the Sahel. At the moment, 3.3 million people had immediate humanitarian needs. If no action was taken rapidly, the number of food-insecure people with humanitarian needs between now and the June lean season would rise to almost 4.8 million people. For comparison, in 2019, 2.4 million people in the region had been hungry. The conflict was devastating agriculture and rural economies. WFP was increasing its activities: in September 2019, the WFP had assisted 900,000 people, and in December 2019, the WFP had helped 1.4 million people.

Over the next six months, the WFP would urgently need USD 227 million for operations across the Central Sahel nations of Mali (34 million), Niger (106 million) and Burkina Faso (87 million), under existing programmes that included both emergency activities and resilience-building programmes.

Alessandra Vellucci, for the United Nations Information Service (UNIS), reminded that the United Nations Secretary-General had recently spoken about Sahel, asking for the international community to step up and do whatever it could to support the countries in need. Development aspects would also need to be addressed in order to tackle the root causes of the current situation.

Responding to questions, Ms. Byrs said that people were looking for ways to deal with the food shortages, including by selling their assets and skipping meals. The droughts associated with the climate change, aggravated by the conflict, made the situation truly challenging.

More information about the spiraling violence in the Sahel can be found here.

New Coronavirus

Answering to questions on the New coronavirus, Christian Lindmeier, for the World Health Organization (WHO), said that the exact kind of support to countries in need would be decided individually by experts in the coming days. Not every health system was well equipped to respond to the arising cases; having strong health systems was definitely helpful in the current situation. Technical assistance and training of health care staff were options for helping countries which needed it. Assistance could involve sending countries necessary equipment and training customs and border control officials.

Mr. Lindmeier reiterated that the WHO was not recommending travel or trade restrictions. Official border crossing should be kept open and monitored in order to avoid clandestine crossings. WHO had country offices in over 150 countries; they were often located within national ministries of health, and were in regular communication with local authorities, and countries could easily request assistance if needed. Mr. Lindmeier could not speak in detail about weaknesses of individual country health systems.

Mr. Lindmeier confirmed that a so-called “mission briefing” by the WHO for the representatives of Permanent Missions had been held in Geneva on the previous day; that was a regular practice whenever there were major outbreaks.

As of this morning, there were 9,692 confirmed cases in China, and a total of 213 deaths. As of the previous night, there had been confirmed cases in 18 countries. More cases in more countries were expected. No information was available on confirmed asymptomatic cases outside of China. Some 200 people had recovered and had been discharged. Important factors for infected people to recover or not from the virus included having underlying conditions and an early request for medical help.

Mr. Lindmeier reiterated that the WHO recommendation was not to impose travel restrictions, but every sovereign nation or an airline company was, of course, free to decide on their own measures.

It was not yet clear if a person who had recovered from the virus would become immune and not be at risk of falling sick again. It would require longer monitoring and analysis.

More information regarding WHO’s declaration of a Public Health Emergency of International Concern can be found here.

Geneva announcements

Catherine Huissoud, for the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), informed that UNCTAD was organizing, together with the Transnational Alliance to Combat Illicit Trade (TRACIT), the first ever UN Illicit Trade Forum, in Room XXVI of the Palais des Nations, Geneva, on 3 and 4 February. UNCTAD Secretary-General Mukhisa Kituyi and TRACIT Director-General Jeffrey Hardy would open the Forum on Monday morning. Ms Huissoud explained that the global economy was losing an estimated USD 2 trillion annually because of this trade, which was holding back progress on the global development agenda.

Jens Laerke, for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), informed that about 2,000 experts from 350 organizations and countries would be gathering in Geneva the following week, for the Humanitarian Networks and Partnerships Week (HNPW). More than 120 different sessions would take place at the International Conference Centre. It was an open and free event; participants would just need to register at the entrance. The event is a global gathering where humanitarian professionals meet, build new coalitions and collaborate in identifying solutions to common challenges in crisis preparedness and response. More information on the sessions, events and speakers could be found at the HNPW2020 website and the HNPW social media channels Facebook and Twitter.

Mr. Laerke also informed that on 3 February, at 2 pm in Press Room 1, Ute Kollies, head of the OCHA office in Mali, would provide an update on the situation in Mali.

Christian Lindmeier, for the World Health Organization (WHO), said that the 146^th session of the WHO Executive Boardwould take place in Geneva on 3-6 February. Most sessions would be open to journalists, and webcast in broadcast quality. The first session at 9 am on Monday, 3 February would include Dr. Tedros’ opening remarks. During the meeting, the regional directors for Africa and Europe would be elected from the nominated candidates. Speeches of WHO officials would be made available and sent out to journalists, informed Mr. Lindmeier. A summary of the decisions would also be sent out at the end of the week. Primary health care, universal health coverage, and global vaccination efforts were some of the main topics on the agenda.

Responding to a question from a journalist, Alessandra Vellucci, for the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, explained that the UNOG management was aware of the Le Temps article on the financial losses connected to the Strategic Heritage Plan. The article was based on a report by the office of Internal Oversight, and the management was taking appropriate actions in that regard. Ms. Vellucci stressed that the SHP budget issues should not be confused with the current cash flow problems of the Organization.

Ms. Vellucci informed that a press conference by the United Nations Works Relief Agency (UNRWA) on UNRWA’s operational priorities and financial needs in 2020 would be held today at 12 noon in Press Room III. The speaker would be Christian Saunders, UNRWA Acting Commissioner-General. Webcast would be available on http://webtv.un.org.

On Monday 3, February at 10 a.m. in Press Room 1, the International Labour Organization would launch of the report “Implementing the ILO Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention No. 169: Towards an inclusive, sustainable and just future,” which would be under embargo until 9 p.m. that day.

On Wednesday 5, February at 10 a.m. in Press Room 1, UNHCR would release its 2019 refugee resettlement data. The speaker would be Grainne O’Hara, Director of the UNHCR Division of International Protection.

The full list of upcoming meetings and press conference at UN Geneva can be found here.

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The webcast for this briefing is available here: http://bit.ly/unog310120