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Bi-Weekly Press Briefing 14 June 2022
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Press Conferences | OCHA , OHCHR , UNCTAD , UNOG , WFP , WHO
Bi-Weekly Press Briefing 14 June 2022
Food security crisis in Latin America and the Caribbean
Lola Castro, World Food Programme Regional Director in Latin America and the Caribbean, spoke about the looming food crisis in the region. The climate crisis had been compounded by COVID-19, and most recently by the war in Ukraine. The region was experiencing a very high food inflation; the poorest of the poor could not access food. Many countries were importing more cereals than they were producing locally, she said. The cost of moving one ton of food had also gone significantly up because of the price of fuel, which was particularly affecting small island states in the Caribbean. Most countries in Latin America and the Caribbean were experiencing the shrinking fiscal space, which limited the possibility of social transfers. Migrant caravans were now active across the whole South American continent, with people taking perilous paths aiming to reach the United States. In Latin America some 15 per cent of the people had expressed intention to migrate, while in Central America that number went up to 43 per cent.
Unless the root causes were addressed, an even larger mass migration would be seen, stressed Ms. Castro. WFP was working with the governments to increase shock preparedness and responsiveness and cooperating with smallholder farmers to increase local production. Bringing back some traditional cereal crops to the region would also help and decrease the overdependence on the three globally leading cereals.
Responding to questions, Ms. Castro confirmed that the WFP was present in Brazil, but its activities there were different from the rest of the region. She explained that the whole region would also be affected by the lack of fertilizers and their price increase. WFP aimed to provide assistance – food or cash – to some eight million people in the 13 countries of the region where it was working. WFP was increasing the percentage of food it was buying from small local farmers. While Latin America was not importing that much food directly from Ukraine, the region was being affected by the global availability and prices of food.
Food assistance in South Sudan suspended
Adeyinka Badejo-Sanogo, World Food Programme Acting Country Director in South Sudan, speaking from Juba, stated that the WFP was extremely worried about having to suspend food distributions to some families and communities because of the funding gaps it was experiencing. The current dire situation was caused by the continuing subnational conflict, the climate crisis, and the severe economic shocks compounded by the pandemic and the war in Ukraine. An estimated 8.3 million people, including internally displaced persons and refugees, would endure acute severe hunger during the lean season this year. Acute malnutrition was noted across the country; it was the highest recorded malnutrition level in last five years. Since mid-April, the WFP had taken a painful step to suspend food assistance to 1.7 million people; the Programme currently had resources to support 4.4 million people. WFP was “taking away from the hungry to feed the starving,” explained Ms. Badejo-Sanogo.
Acute levels of hunger were likely to increase as the lean season proceeded. School meal programmes were also being affected by the WFP cuts. Many families were using extreme copying strategies such as selling off productive assets or child labour. Ms. Badejo-Sanogo said that 200,000 people had been newly displaced this year. Moreover, some 600,000 people were estimated to be in the path of flood waters and would be potentially displaced. WFP urgently needed USD 426 million for the next six months to avert the bad situation becoming even worse; donors were urged to keep South Sudan on their radar amidst other crises in the world.
More information is available here.
Launch of public fundraising campaign for the SAFER tanker
Jens Laerke, for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said that the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen, David Gressly, was today launching a social media campaign to raise funds to respond to the stranded Safer tanker off the coast of Yemen. The tanker was holding four times the amount of oil spilled during the 1989 Exxon disaster. The UN had raised three-quarters of the money needed to start the operation, and was now trying to raise the remaining money from individuals and private companies.
Human Rights Council
Rolando Gomez, for the Human Rights Council (HRC), stated that the 50th session of the Council had begun on 13 June with the global update by the High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet. Today, the Council was holding an interactive discussion with the Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territories and Israel. Around 11 a.m. today, Ms. Bachelet would provide an oral update on Myanmar, and around 12 noon, an interactive dialogue on the global update by the High Commissioner would continue. On 15 June in the morning, a panel discussion would be held on the situation of the Rohingya, while at noon a commemorative meeting would mark the 50th regular session of the HRC; the President of the General Assembly and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights would speak, among others.
Mr. Gomez stated that today at 1:30 p.m., there would be a presentation of the report of the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and in Israel. Speakers would be Navi Pillay, Chair of the Commission of Inquiry; and Commission Members Miloon Kothari and Chris Sidoti.
The Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine would hold a press conference in Kyiv on 15 June, following their first visit to the country. The Commission would provide an oral update to the Council in September.
In response to a question about Michelle Bachelet’s successor, Mr. LeBlanc said that the recruitment process was underway, and the Secretary-General would submit the next UN High-Commissioner for Human Rights for approval by the General Assembly, once a suitable candidate was identified. An announcement would be made in due time.
Red Cross Red Crescent statutory meetings in Geneva
Benoit Carpentier, for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), informed that the statutory meetings of the Movement would commence at Palexpo in Geneva on 19 June. The General Assembly and the Council of Delegates would bring together more than 180 national societies. A new IFRC President would be elected on 19 June. The meetings would be closed to media, but the media were welcome to come and interview participating delegations. A press conference with the newly elected President would be held in Palexpo on 20 June at 11 a.m.
Announcements
Catherine Huissoud, for the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), informed that on 15 June UNCTAD would hold a hybrid meeting in Room XXIV to present its contribution to the 2022 Financing for Sustainable Development Report, issued by the Secretary-General's Inter-Agency Task Force on Financing for Development. Rebeca Grynspan, Secretary-General of UNCTAD, and Liu Zhenmin, Head of UN DESA, would make opening remarks, followed by presentations from panelists.
Ms. Huissoud also informed that the Trade and Development Board would welcome UNCTAD’s member states and partners from 20 June until 1 July, in hybrid form in Room XIX. UNCTAD Secretary General would open the session at around 10 a.m. updating member states on the work of the organization. The programme would be accessible online.
Finally, Ms. Huissoud reminded that the UNCTAD Secretary-General Rebeca Grynspan and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet had issued an open letter to Ministers attending MC12 at WTO urging them to align their policies and actions to achieve food security.
Benoit Carpentier, for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), stated that, working together with a network of big cities from across the world, the IFRC was launching the Heat Action Day at 2:30 p.m. today.
Christian Lindmeier, for the World Health Organization (WHO), informed that on 16 June at 2 p.m., there would be a hybrid press conference by the World Health Organization to launch the World Mental Health Report: Transforming Mental Health for All, which was WHO’s largest analysis of world mental health since the turn of the century. The report, under embargo until 17 June, would be presented by Dévora Kestel, Director, Mental Health and Substance Use, WHO; and Mark Van Ommeren, Head, Mental Health Unit, WHO.
Today’s press briefing by the WHO Director-General on COVID-19, monkeypox and other health issues would be held at 3 p.m., informed Mr. Lindmeier.
A briefing on explosive weapons in populated areas would be held on 16 June at 11 am, informed Jens Laerke, for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
At the end, Mr. LeBlanc stated that the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), now in its 82nd session, was beginning this morning its review of the report of Portugal and would begin this afternoon the review of the report of Türkiye.
The Conference on Disarmament was having this morning a public plenary meeting, still under of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
Today at 5:30 p.m., there would be a Ciné-ONU screening of the documentary “In the Shadow of the Sun” on the plight of people living with albinism in Tanzania. The screening would be followed by a panel discussion.
Teleprompter
All right.
Good morning, everyone.
Bonjour.
Welcome to this press briefing of Tuesday, the 14th of June already.
Hopefully, the briefing will not be as lengthy as last Friday.
So we'll get right into this.
Rolando Gomez first from the Human Rights Council, which began yesterday.
So give us an update on what's happening today.
Thank you, Rael.
Yes, I'll be very brief just to keep you on track for the proceedings of the Human Rights Council, which as Rael mentioned, did start yesterday.
The 50th session of the Human Rights Council, in fact, began yesterday with a global update from the **** Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet.
I'll just walk you through today's programme and then tomorrow's.
So this morning we started the Council, started with an interactive discussion, the continuation rather of the interactive discussion with the Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory and in Israel.
The three members of the Commission presented their report, which was made public earlier this month, and they will be speaking to you in this room at 1:30 in a press conference.
So just to remind you of that press conference at 1:30 with the Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory in Israel, at roughly 11:00, the **** Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Beshele, will deliver an oral update on Myanmar.
This is on the implementation of recommendations made by the independent international fact finding mission on Myanmar.
And so this will be followed by an interactive dialogue and close to noon the global update.
The interactive dialogue on the global update that was delivered yesterday by the **** Commissioner will commence.
Now we have approximately 130 speakers on the list and this is not including the NGO.
So this is expected to last throughout the day.
So it'll stop at 1:00 for the lunch break and continue all day, all all afternoon.
Rather in the afternoon, we expect, depending on how far we get, we may continue with that interactive dialogue on the global update with the **** Commissioner.
And then at 10 PM, 10:10 AM, excuse me, 10 AM, the panel discussion on the root causes of human rights violations and abuses against Rohingya Muslims and the other minorities in Myanmar will start.
So this is a 2 hour panel discussion.
At 10 AM tomorrow, the **** Commissioner is expected to deliver opening remarks and details will be will be contained in the note I'll share later on.
At 12:00 tomorrow, we'll have a commemorative event to mark the 50th session of the Human Rights Council.
And now this is an opportunity to reflect on the achievements made and the lessons learned since the first session was held back in June 2006.
Now, among the speakers speaking tomorrow is the president of the General Assembly, Abdullah Shahid, who will be here in person.
The Secretary General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, will be participating via video message.
The **** Commissioner, Michelle Bachelet, will also speak in person, as well as Estella Carlotto.
Some of you may know this name.
She is the president of the Association of the Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo Las Abuelas.
And then we also have Jan Elias and another familiar name perhaps, who was the president of the General Assembly for the 60th session.
And he was a key architect to the construction of the Human Rights Council, as many of you now.
So this was tomorrow at 12:00 in the afternoon.
Tomorrow we have updates from the **** Commissioner on Sudan and Afghanistan, precise times to be determined.
So an written report on Sudan, an oral update on Afghanistan, both by the **** Commissioner.
Last note before I leave is just a point.
Another press conference that's taking place tomorrow, not here in Geneva, but in Kiev, is from the Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine.
This press conference will take place in Kiev at 11:00 AM local time.
So I believe that's 10 AM here.
This is at the to mark the end of their nine day visit to the country.
This is their first visit, as you know, details will follow in a media advisory which is being concocted now.
So I'll share that with you later this afternoon.
Just to give you a heads up.
Logistically, it's a bit complicated.
So we may not be able to open up the doors to everyone, but perhaps you may want to to pass this over to the desks in the region.
And I should just point out that the Commission of inquiry on Ukraine is actually scheduled to present an oral update to the Human Rights Council at the next session in September.
Thanks.
Good.
Thank you very much.
Rolando, I see we have Lisa Schlein with a question.
Yes, good morning, Rayal.
Good morning, Rolando.
Just a quick question.
Are you not issuing summaries of the Council proceedings as you have done on previous sessions?
It it they really are are are very helpful.
So if you could explain that.
Thank you.
Certainly they are helpful.
I'll just have to pass over to Rial to answer that question.
Yeah, thank you, Lisa.
I'm glad to hear that our meeting summaries are are are useful and being read by by many.
We know that we've run into a a small financial difficulty in terms of our budget resources that would allow us to hire the external press officers to to help us with this work is very important work.
But we are working with the president of the Human Rights Council to seek a solution.
And we are as many operations at the UN, We're trying to do a bit of fundraising.
There are positive signs and we hope that we might be able to resume the meeting coverage as soon as we can obtain some funds to, to, to do that.
So in the meantime, we invite you to follow the, the, the proceedings on Web TV at least that is still available.
And as soon as we can reinstitute the meeting coverage, we will do so.
I see that there's a question from John Zaracosta as well.
Yes, good morning.
My question is to Rolando.
I, I was seeking yesterday some information, but I got no feedback from anyone.
Seems like a news blackout.
All the press officers were not responding.
But what I was interested in if there was a text to go with the oral update of the **** Commissioner on the session on the dialogue on the pandemic or was it all in her introductory text which was quite long?
I wasn't too sure.
Thanks, John.
No, there were two separate statements.
I apologise.
I thought I did respond to you via text message.
In any case, 2 separate statements.
There was a global update which was a stand alone 30 minute or so statement.
And then subsequent to that was the statement she delivered on the the state's responses to the pandemic, the COVID-19 in particular, but also pandemics in general.
And so that was a separate statement and that was put online.
I apologise if if you didn't get, if that wasn't clear to you.
In fact, there will be many statements throughout the course of this session delivered by the **** Commissioner and those should be shared with you by the media, her media team, not necessarily by me.
But of course, if you have trouble, just don't hesitate to reach out to me.
Very good.
If are there any final questions for Rolando, I don't see any hands.
One, just quick follow up from John.
It seems John, yes, Rolando, many of us were sort of ambushed by the short notice for the stakeout by the **** Commissioner announcing her departure and giving the details why she's leaving.
Are we going to get a press conference where she might have the opportunity to go into depth on her term as **** Commissioner here?
We haven't had that chance and because many of us were caught up with another big event in Geneva at the moment.
Yeah, I appreciate what you're saying.
And I know it's been a very busy day, busy weeks for you in fact.
So we will all just pass this over to Ravina and colleagues to see if there could be another press encounter arranged in more with more advanced notice, of course, and a bit more comprehensive.
But this was done very much on the fly.
And certainly I'll just make sure your message is transmitted.
Thanks.
Catherine Fiancon, you have a question if we can.
Yes, good morning, real good morning, Rolando.
In fact it's a follow up on on John's question and it's more for Ravina.
If Ravina is connected, if she she could tell us what is the deadline for the candidates.
I mean, do we know already Mrs Bachelet is leaving the end of August, the new, the new **** Commissioner would be appointed.
I'm sorry.
So do could she provide us more info on that, Catherine?
I'll, I'll take that question.
Ravina is not on the line, but in terms of the selection of the successor to Michelle Bachelet, that is a decision of the Secretary General.
So I understand that there would be a process ongoing now to to find a suitable candidate, which of course he will have to submit to the General Assembly for confirmation.
So I guess the the process is ongoing.
I think Stefan Djaric yesterday said that, you know, every effort was being made to find someone to be available on day one.
But at the moment the, the, the process is, is, is ongoing.
So we'll let you know as soon as we have an announcement.
OK.
I think we're done with the Human Rights Council.
Thank you very much, Rolando.
And we're going to move right ahead, right along to UNCTARD with Catherine Rizzo, who has a few announcements.
Uh, the economist like me said organisation only presence, like you said, a key IT like contribution organisation for development.
May we see?
Versus even more.
Rebecca Greenspan.
Minister participant.
You said to let Hubert beyond the MC 12, ONTAD and OHCHR stand ready to work with W2 members within their respective mandates to address to address anti competitive and unfair business practises particularly when exercised in time of crisis.
Hoarding, excessive stockpiling of basic foodstuffs and associated speculation especially during global food shortages adversely affect the enjoyment of the right to food and erodes efforts to achieve food security for all.
Internet.
Like you said.
Sorry, we're going to proceed with the World Food Programme.
So I invite Thompson Ferry and Lola Castro, who is the World Food Programme Regional Director in Latin America and the Caribbean to come brief on the food security crisis affecting this region.
Good morning to both of you.
Good morning, Thompson.
Do you wish to do a brief introduction or we go?
Abuju, Very good morning to you all.
Just to quickly say that Lola Castro has previously briefed you.
She briefed you when she was still in Southern Africa.
I think that was the last time.
Now she is in the Luck region and she is in Geneva.
And we couldn't, we couldn't wait to bring it to you in person.
Over to you, Lola.
Thank you very much.
Thank you very much.
Bonjour.
Good morning.
Buenos Dias.
Today what I would like to do is to brief you very rapidly on what is happening in Latin America and the Caribbean the the looming crisis we have and we have a crisis that in fact is is multiple.
We had the climate crisis that has been affecting the region, hurricanes, flats, droughts, the dry corridor, etcetera.
Then we got the COVID-19.
During COVID-19 in our region, we had around 17, 18.7 million people who became severely food insecure only in the 13 countries where double P work.
And then we saw good news.
We saw that at the end of 2021, we see a decline on these numbers.
We saw around 8.3 million people severely food insecure.
So we thought, OK, we're in the good path.
But unfortunately, Ukraine happens.
And although it's not very much spoken, Latin America and the Caribbean are also very much affected by this global crisis.
And let me explain you why and how.
One on the food, the food axis, as we all know, we have had increase of global food prices.
But with this particular of Latin America and the Caribbean is the very **** food inflation that the countries are having.
We're having countries like Haiti with 26% food inflation and we have other countries that really are off the charts even on the food inflation.
The second one is obviously that related to this food inflation, the the poorest of the poor cannot buy or access a food baskets and the government are really trying their best to provide subsidies and support to avoid this.
We have many countries also in Latin America and the Caribbean, especially the ones where we work where the production is much less than the import of cereals.
So let's say the CDL import ratio is beyond 50%.
What means it's not good news means you have to import and you means you have to import at the global cost.
What is still a very big problem for the region because of the lack of fiscal space?
The second one, let's talk about the fuel or the energy.
The fuel or energy are also a huge issue.
We have seen how in the last two years the cost of moving a tonne of food in our region is 7 times more expensive.
And this is more relevant when we're talking about such a myriad of islands in the Caribbean.
The small island development states is a really in huge problems at this moment because they bring everything through vessels or planes.
So there is another issue that we don't talk so much and it's extremely important.
And also that as a result of all these we're having costs that are 30 to 40% more expensive for moving our tonnes of food.
So that's another issue.
Let's talk about the finances.
So the financial crisis, the third F if you want and, and when we saw the UN report, we are 69 economists.
We are very much affected about the triple effect of this crisis.
We see that there are 19 that are in Latin America and the Caribbean.
This is also not say too much and and there is a very much shrinking fiscal space.
The governments have consumed the fiscal space during COVID-19 to do cash transfers and social transfers to the most affected by COVID-19.
Latin America and the Caribbean was probably the region of the world most affected.
Taking that in consideration, at this moment there is no space to be able to do these increases of social transfers, be food, be cash.
And what has happened?
What are the some of the consequences?
All of you are watching caravans, caravans of migrants moving and before we used to talk about migration happening from the north of Central America, but now, unfortunately, we talk about migration being hemispheric.
We have the whole continent on the move and not only the whole continent, also other continents are coming through Latin America, South America into Central America to go north, to go to the United States mostly.
Let me give you a couple of examples in in there is a a gap, a forest called the Darien Gap that is between Panama and Colombia.
This is a deep forest.
This this forest that have no transit routes.
But in 2025, thousand people passed by the Darien Gap migrating from South America into Central America.
And you know what, in 2021 a 151,000 people passed and this is 10 days walking through a forest, 10 days through rivers, crossing mountains.
And people die because of this is the most one of the most dangerous journalists in the world.
Why they are leaving communities where they have lost everything to climate crisis.
They have no food security, they have no the ability to feed their people and their families.
But also when we talk about the people with the people of Latin American Caribbean, we ask them what is your intention to migrate?
And that's quite a staggering 15% of the populations of Latin America and the Caribbean.
When we talk to them 1515, they want to migrate, they have the intention to migrate.
And when you go then into Central America, North Central America, you have 43% intention to migrate with this almost 50%.
So if you can see the mass migration that we are talking, in fact, it's already happening in Latin America and the Caribbean.
It's not the future, it's now.
And then on top of that, you have people who have migrated from countries that we are in very serious problems.
There was no food security, there was no social services, etcetera like and, and now they have moved to 1 country and they are moving again.
So that's another symbol of the the economic downturn and the crisis.
For example, the Haitians, the Haitians have moved to Brazil and Chile after the earthquake in 2010.
They are again on the move down the move north as well and other countries as well.
We are really seeing with very much concern that unless we do something in the root causes of the in the communities and addressing the root causes for these people to move, we are going to see really a huge mass migration.
And on top with this very much increase of food prices and fuel and the living standards, we really need to immediately respond to this.
So as well for programme, what we're trying to do, we're trying to also work with governments and communities to find opportunities in this big crisis.
And just to finish three things we're trying to do.
1, working with the governments to increase their shock responsive social protection and be more prepared when any shock come.
The second one, to really help the governments to to be able to increase the ability to scale up this shock responsive.
But also as we have a fertilisers crisis to work with a smallholder farmers and trying to innovate and renovate and do more of the organic production and production close to the kilometre 0 and diversified.
And then lastly, as we know the world is really working on eating 3 cereals with rice and and and maize.
And really this is clearly not sustainable.
We have seen in everyone crisis after another.
So in Latin America and the Caribbean, there is very good solutions that ancestral foods that the indigenous population on the region have taken care of for millennia and bringing them back to a table not only for those communities but for the whole world could be a solution.
We all know quinoa came from the Highlands of Bolivia and that's a very good example of what else could be done with all these cities that are there.
So anyway from the international community as to end for Latin America and the Caribbean, what we do, we need as well food programme first we need to really continue talking about the needs that are in Latin America and the Caribbean and to do put put solutions to this big migration, increase food insecurity As what we are looking at now is we're looking at 9.7 million people extremely food insecure, severely food insecure in the countries where double P work.
But we're looking at around 14 million people as forecast if the crisis continue.
And this is not good and we are going back almost to the **** levels that we had during Covic 19.
Let me leave it there and maybe we allow for question.
Thank you very much.
Thank you so much.
Miss Casper for this really interesting briefing.
We do have some time for questions.
And Jamil Chand, a journalist covering for the Brazilian media, has the first question online.
I can do French, Portuguese, Spanish, English, so he wants to learn Portuguese.
Very good.
Jamil, are you with us?
Yes.
Can you hear me?
We hear you fine.
Thanks.
Go ahead, Madam.
A couple of questions, but mainly on Brazil.
I know it is not a country you're working in, but the latest data that were published last week showed 33 million people in the situation of hunger.
How is it that you're not in Brazil?
First of all, are you planning to be in Brazil?
Have you requested, I know that this depends on the government as well.
Have you requested the government to take part and have they answered?
And finally, how is it and we have the WTO ministerial meeting happening this week here.
How is it that a region that every single day during the negotiation claim that they helped to feed 1 billion people around the world, do not fulfil their obligations with their own population?
Thank you.
Yeah, thank you.
Very many questions, but let me try.
Look.
Well, Food Programme has in fact the Centre of Excellency for Education in Brazil.
This is what we have.
We are really benefiting from the very good technical assistance from Brazil to ensure that all the children in the world and are having at least a meal a day and working with governments and working with civil society on that.
So yes, we are present, but in a different way, as we are in other countries.
Of course, as you very well said, we go to countries only when requested by the government.
The Government of Brazil has demonstrated that they have the potential to scale up their social protection and this is what they have done in time of crisis to support the poorest and the most vulnerable.
And WFP has to concentrate in the countries where despite the governments are trying to make an effort, we still are requested to provide either direct support or additional technical assistance.
And as I say, Brazil is not one of those that stand out.
And then on your last question, very rapidly, look, Latin America and the Caribbean, what we are trying to do is in fact the welfare programme is buying most of the food that we distribute in Latin America and the Caribbean in the continent as much as we can.
First, because of what I said before, the cost of freight is increasingly dramatically together with the cost of food and we cannot even afford our programmes are really damaged at this moment.
We have to start cutting Russians of food to the beneficiaries in some countries like Ecuador and and migrants have.
We have to reduce the number of people we can support in the whole continent at this moment due to lack of resources and increasing prices.
But Latin America, while there is a **** potential to to produce more, it's also affected and it's going to be affected in the mid and long term because of the issue of fertilisers.
And we don't have yet the data with FAO.
We'll be looking into that.
How much of the production is going to be reduced in the continent related to the lack of fertilisers or the increased price of fertilisers, especially for smallholder farmers that as you know, do a very big percentage of the producers of the region?
Thank you.
Thank you.
We still have a few questions.
Paula Dupras, over to you.
Yes, hello.
Can you hear me?
We hear you.
OK, great.
So yeah, I'm with the new humanitarian.
My question is actually what WFP is actually doing in terms of delivery of food and where for immediate delivery right now and where you are sourcing that food, Is it regionally, is it in the country or so how is that proceeding?
Yeah, thank you.
Look, what we are aiming to do this year is around 8.2 million people in the 13 countries we work to receive either food or cash.
Obviously in Latin America and the Caribbean, there are markets also functioning in many areas.
So we use the cash transfers as a way to ensure that the local, local markets also continue working and producing.
Where do we buy our food?
We buy the food in countries in the region, Mexico, Argentina and other countries that have accidents, but also we buy a from a smallholder farmers.
In fact, we are increasing the amount that we buy from a smallholder farmers in our region from 4% we had in the past to 10% of the food we buy.
Why?
Because we do believe that working with women and men who are really producing fresh fruits and vegetables and cereals and other commodities is a way to really bring them up to market levels and out of poverty at the end of the day.
So it it fulfils 2 purposes, feeding the institutions where this food goes, normally schools or health centres, but also improve the livelihoods of these families, especially the women and the women in the rural areas.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Antonio Brotto from FA, the Spanish news agency.
Good morning.
So you spoke about Haiti, but can you please give us some more examples of countries in the region especially affected by the food inflation and also how the prices have risen there?
Thank you.
Yeah, thank you.
I mean you mentioned Haiti.
Let me let me start by there.
In Haiti, the food inflation has been quite ****.
But now we have seen a big spike happening.
And obviously when you have a population, you have 4.5 million people out of almost 12 which are already food insecure.
And then if the prices increase, we are going to see an increment of those food insecure because the population are unable to, to really buy the, the regular food.
And, and, and what we are seeing already in some countries is that people have to make tough decisions and not to eat three times a day or even 2 times a day and give the kids only once a day meals.
So we have also the islands.
And in the islands we're seeing big problems because the the food increment due to the, the cost of bringing the food and the cost of cereals is there.
For example, I was recently in Dominican Republic where the government had to provide the subsidy of the basic food baskets for the poorest could afford to go to the supermarket and buy those five basic products that were rice, oil, beans and a couple more sugar another.
So, so that's an example.
And then we have countries like for example, Cuba, where we are having both an access and an availability problem where some foods are missing.
And all that is related to the different crisis, the climate, the COVID that has affected heavily and now this increment of of global food prices and fuel.
So islands very much affected, but most of the countries that are not serial producers but in port are also getting much affected.
Oil is obviously on the on very much very expensive at this moment and almost unaffordable for many populations in in the region, many of the poorest.
Thank you.
Antonio, you have a follow up question.
Yes, thank you.
I would like to know if you have a data on how dependent was the region from food coming from Ukraine and Russia and if the the IT has changed the the source of this food to other countries?
Thank you.
Yeah, this is a very good question.
And This is why maybe we don't talk so much about Latin America and the Caribbean.
We are not directly dependent like Middle East or or West Africa from the wheat or or the maize coming from Ukraine.
But by the increment of the prices and by the increase of the freights 7 times, then we have a the global crisis that is affecting as much Latin America as the other continents, especially the poor, because we come already from subsequent which have affected the economies of these countries and is they have been unable to recover on time before this crisis came back on top.
And you know in Latin America and the Caribbean we have this huge climate crisis.
We have populations, mainly the indigenous populations of the Afro Caribbean coast and also the Highlands of the Dandenian or the forests of the Masonian or the Highlands of the, of the Central America, which are extremely affected by the hydrid problems of the, of the climate crisis.
And all that coupled together creates, if you want, I don't want to ***** for these famous sentence, but a perfect storm if you want.
And now we are going to see it.
And the numbers are increasing.
In the last three months, we have seen 1,000,000 people joining the ranks of food insecure, severely food insecure only in the 13 countries where we work.
So something is happening and it's happening very rapidly.
So the impact is there.
Thank you.
OK.
We'll take one final question from John Zaracosta online.
Yes, good morning.
Thank you.
I was wondering if you could send us a detailed fact sheet explaining how this sevenfold increase has occurred and if you have it breakdown by countries?
And secondly, I'm interested, perhaps Thompson could relay it to Rome.
The Well Food Programme is at the epicentre of the WTO Ministerial.
I understand Mr Beasley is not attending the Ministerial, but the decision on a waiver for Well Food Programme purchases to be exempt from export restrictions is at the on the table.
It would be nice to have someone from the World Food Programme who might be monitoring the conference to perhaps do a briefing with the Geneva based press or even Mr Beasley by a video conference.
He's giving a lot of video conferences to many events.
Perhaps it would be nice to give one to us here in Geneva.
Yeah.
On the first one, yes, we'll send you the information via Thompson.
We have all the data of food inflation, increase of prices etcetera by countries in the region, in the countries we work and that will be very helpful for you I guess when you are have to determine each one of the countries and the impact this is having.
Thank you for that request.
Well noted, John.
We do have our eye on proceedings at the WTO Ministerial Conference and he regards Mr Beasley actually commenting or saying something probably pursuant to to to what is happening there.
He is currently travelling.
He is in East Africa and therefore could not participate in the conference.
However, request well noted and we'll see what we can do.
Good.
Thank you so much, Lola Castro, World Food Programme Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean for being with us this morning.
We're happy to welcome you again in the future if you're ever in Geneva again.
And all the best with your work in the in the region.
Yeah.
See, Thompson, you stay with us because we have a 2nd guest.
We have Adeinka Badejo Sanogo, the World Food Programme Acting Country Director in South Sudan.
Do you wish to say a few words to introduce the topic?
Well, we have briefed you previously on South Sudan.
The situation is now West.
We are between a rock and a hard place.
I we will circulate and not and we will have a news release as well coming out of Rome shortly to, to, to, to help you as well.
But I will leave all the time to add the Inca Badejo who is in Juba and can talk us through the situation that is unfolding there.
Very good.
Do we have Mr Badejo Sanongo?
Yes.
Good morning, everyone.
Miss Adeyinka, Good.
Good morning.
Good morning.
I hope you can hear me clearly.
We hear, we hear you well.
Please go ahead.
Wonderful, wonderful.
So good morning.
Once again, I'm speaking to you from Juba, South Sudan, where the World Food Programme is extremely worried about having to suspend critical food assistance to some families and communities amid rising hunger and malnutrition due to the current funding gaps we are experiencing.
South Sudan is facing it's hungriest year since independence due to compounding effects of continuing sub national conflict, a climate crisis of three consecutive years of flooding and a severe economic shock exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and now the war in Ukraine.
More than 2/3 of the South Sudanese population are experiencing a serious humanitarian and protection crisis and require humanitarian assistance to survive.
Of these, we estimate that 8.3 million people, including internally displaced persons and refugees, will endure acute severe hunger during the lean season.
This also includes 2 million women and children at risk of acute malnutrition.
In this year, in 2022, in the first half of the year alone, we have seen a significant rise, a 36% rise if I may be specific, in acute malnutrition across the country.
The highest increases are observed in Western, Viral Ghazal, Upper Nile and Junglee states.
And when we compare this same time to 2021, we see that it is highest record of malnutrition admissions in the last five years, indicating A worsening trend in the country.
WFP.
We had planned to provide food assistance to 6.2 million people this year.
But faced with increasing humanitarian needs and insufficient funding, we have taken the painful step to suspend food assistance to 1.7 million people.
And these are people that are experiencing emergency and crisis levels of food insecurity, what we call IPC four and IPC 3.
So just to recap, we had planned to assist 6.2 million people.
We have had to suspend assistance to 1.7 million people, which means that we have resources only to support roughly 4.4 million people.
We are particularly concerned with these cuts, especially because these cuts are happening at the start of the lean season when families have completely exhausted any food reserves and are likely to continue to suffer acute levels of hunger as the lean season deepens.
Essentially WFP in South Sudan, we are in farming prevention mode as we focus our available resources to assist people at the brink of famine and some of those at risk of starvation.
Even with this suspension, we still do not have enough funding to cover the critical needs of families in some of the IPC 4 counties, which are counties experiencing emergency levels of food insecurity.
The cuts have also affected our nutrition prevention programmes.
If you recall, I said earlier that we are seeing an increased number of acute malnutrition cases.
So it it really is quite dramatic that these cuts are also affecting our nutrition prevention programmes for 150 thousand women and children and our school meals programme to 178,000 children.
Again, you know these cuts are coming at the worst moment as these essential safety Nets have served to protect the most vulnerable population groups from adopting extreme coping strategies like selling off their productive assets or engaging in child labour.
Just to share some some of the experiences that I saw during my recent visit to Capueta South in Eastern Equatoria.
This visit was to explain the reason why these costs were taking place to people that were expecting our support.
Mothers I met lamented that their children will be forced to drop out of school to work in cattle camps to survive.
We have already seen a sharp decline in attendance rates for school children.
Again.
My team in Western Barrel Gazelle, where we have seen the highest increase in acute malnutrition, reports that local communities are resorting to chopping down more and more trees to make and sell charcoal just to survive.
We are also seeing an increase in the number of child beggars in just the last two weeks.
These are just a few examples of the negative coping strategies that vulnerable families are adopting that I wanted to share with you.
But we are very concerned that it will only get worse as you are.
As you are aware, the political and security context in South Sudan remains volatile and it continues to aggravate the lives of communities.
So far this year, we have seen 200,000 people newly displaced as a result of conflict, and with displacement comes disruption in lives and livelihoods and WFP.
We are at a situation where we simply do not have the resources to respond to new emergencies.
I also want to add that we are expecting a fourth year of massive flooding based on forecast of an above average rainfall, adding on to stagnant waters that have not receded from previous years.
In 20 in 2001, one million people were forced from their homes due to floods.
This year we estimate that approximately 600,000 people are in the path of expanding flood waters and again at risk of displacement.
So we are at a crossroads where we can dial back this explosive situation.
If we get more funding now, we are already in a crisis, but we need to restore food assistance in areas where we have suspended to prevent people from falling into starvation and famine.
To do so, we urgently require 426,000,000 U.S.
dollars for the next 6 months to cover the net the needs for the next 6 months.
We know that early humanitarian action and timely response can save lives and advert famine.
Our donors have been very generous in providing support to the humanitarian response in South Sudan, but the level of funding is simply insufficient.
Therefore, we are calling on our donors to do more and to keep South Sudan in their radar amidst all other global crises.
Thank you.
Thank you so much for this briefing.
We do hope that the donors are listening to your plea to help with this dire situation.
We have a few questions.
Christophe Vogt from Jean France Presse right here in the room.
Hello, thank you for taking my question.
I was just wondering when did the cuts start and what do you hear from from donors?
How how fast do you need that money?
Thank you for that question.
We started implementing the cuts as of mid mid-april, early to mid-april and we have been raising the alarm at the local level meeting with our donors, we are getting some positive responses.
We should be able to raise some of the funding we need, but still it leaves a significant gap.
And again, as I said earlier, 400 and 26,000,000 is what is required to be able to avert.
We are already in a crisis, but we are trying to avert a situation from becoming even more explosive.
Very good.
We're going to take a question from Lisa Schlein from Voice of America.
Yes, yes, good morning.
Thank you.
Horrible report.
I would like to ask you how, how do you choose who gets cut from the rations?
And I mean it's an enormous number of people.
And also are these, are they being totally deprived of WFP food assistance or partially deprived of rations?
But have you perceived that any people have been dying, getting very ill and possibly dying as a consequence of the the food situation that is occurring?
Do you have numbers on malnutrition rates in our children particularly affected by this dire situation?
Thank you.
Thank you, Lisa for that question.
I mean it's, it's, it's a very tough exercise that we have to go through what we call a reprioritization exercise.
The the level of needs in in South Sudan is significantly ****.
We're talking about 2/3 of the population.
Therefore, we have to use or we have to approach it through an evidence based exercise where we use the integrated face classification for food insecurity to help us in doing this prioritisation.
And what it means is that, you know, just to borrow the phrase that have been used quite a bit is we're taking away from the hungry to feed the starving.
So it's, it's a it's not an easy exercise.
It's quite difficult because we know the level of needs are are quite ****.
So we use the IPC to prioritise.
For the moment we're only focused on areas with pockets of IPC 5 which is famine like conditions as well as IPC 4 which is emergency levels of food insecurity.
We simply do not have the resources to support people in levels of IPC 3.
And we are concerned that their food security situation may worsen in the coming year.
Because what, what you may see is that people from in IPC 3 today may slide into IPC 4 tomorrow, I mean next year.
And as I, as I said earlier, we're just at the start of the lean season.
So we do not have any reports of hunger related deaths.
But This is why I'm raising the alarm today that we want to avert, we want to prevent people from falling into starvation.
We want to prevent famine or hunger related deaths so we we do hope that we will get more support to our call.
I also want to flag that even in areas where we are assisting people, we are unable to provide them the full level of support at at this point in time.
Majority are only getting 50% of the food basket which only delivers half the half of the 2100 kilocalorie energy requirements for an adult to live a productive life.
And in the IPC 5 pocket areas we provide 70% because like I said we are in famine prevention mode.
So it's really a tough situation where we've had to stretch very thinly the the resources that we have available.
And again, This is why I'm raising the alarm that as the lean season deepens, we may begin to see significant problems.
But I'm hoping that, you know, if we act now, if we receive additional funding, that we will be able to prevent this situation.
Very good.
We'll take one final question from Peter Kenny who writes for South African Media.
Thanks for taking my question.
But do you, I was wondering about you said that heavy rains are going to impact on, on stagnant water.
Could you explain, elaborate a little bit on that and in what areas will that you know, impact people?
Could you say thank you very much indeed?
Thank you, Kenny, for that question because it really allows me to spend a bit more time talking about the climate crisis we're facing in South Sudan.
In the last three years, the country has received a significant level of rainfall as well as unprecedented flooding.
And at present, we have about 1/3 of the, the country's land mass that is submerged underwater.
So this is what I mean by stagnant waters.
The floodwaters from the previous years have not receded.
People have not been able to return home.
They've not been able to return to their lands and cultivates.
And what we've seen is that the, the, the suit, the, the, the nature of the suit is changing its natural form and expanding water is not easily sinking down into the water table and it's taking much longer to evaporate.
We still have over 1,000,000 people that were displaced from last year's floods and this year the forecast is above average rainfall.
So what it means is that it's going to further compound an already bad situation.
And based on our analysis, we are expecting or estimating that on 600,000 people are in the path of areas that might become inundated.
And in terms of which parts of the the country this is happening in Junglee, Junglee states, Upper Nile states as well as Unity states in Yeah, Unity states.
Very good.
Thank you so much.
Miss Adeyinka Badejo Sanogo for briefing this morning on this very, very difficult situation in South Sudan.
You are the World Food Programme acting country director in South Sudan and you were joining us from Juba.
All the best with your efforts to help the people who need it there.
And maybe you can give us an update in in future as well.
Thank you so much for being with us and Thompson as well.
Have a good day.
OK, we are going to go to Christian Lindmayer from the World Health Organisation who has a quick announcement and then we'll go to the FIRFIRC.
Christian, are you with us?
I am and I should be audible if I get that right.
Thank you to the colleagues for this really great and sombre briefings, actually more more than just one and bit difficult for me to come under a simple announcement yet.
But anyway, we have press briefing and embargoed press briefing for the journalists on Thursday scheduled is the launch of the World Mental Health Report titled Transforming Mental Health for All.
And it's the W social largest analysis of world mental health since the turn of the century, which is already 22 years ago, as you remember.
And that's again on Thursday, this coming Thursday at 2:00 PM.
The invite went out already and we also have today we had to move the press briefing by the DG on COVID-19 and other global health issues and that's today at 3:00.
The announcement and invite went out yesterday and the reminder today.
So see you later for that one on all the COVID monkey pox and other global health issues.
Thank you.
Thanks very much, Christian.
Are there any questions on this for WHO?
And I don't see any questions.
So thanks very much.
Christian, stay on the line with us if you can.
We're going to go right to Benoit Carpentier from the IFRC.
Thank you for being here this morning.
You have a couple of topics that you want to brief on.
Yes, good morning.
Thanks for having us.
Wanted to highlight the meetings that we're having next week starting actually on Sunday, which most of you will be familiar with, which are the statutory meetings of the International Movement of Red Cross requestment, which are starting on on Sunday.
As I said, this time is a little bit special.
Normally in Geneva, we, we hold three meetings, the General Assembly of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the Council of Delegates and the International Conference, which is normally what we have in Geneva every four years.
This time because of COVID, we've had to postpone the meetings that we were supposed to have abroad last year, which are now taking place in Geneva.
So this year is going to be the General Assembly of the International Federation and the Council of Delegate.
The these two meetings are bringing together more than well we have I think more than 180 Red Cross and Red Cross, Red Cross and nationalities coming from all over the world for these for five days meeting.
The, the first meeting will be starting on Sunday with the election of the new IFRC President that will take place on Sunday.
So that's the election of the president plus the election of the vice president.
There's one vice president per region, wherefore region.
And then the then, then that will be also followed by the election of the new governing board of the International Federation.
Then we'll have two more days of meeting on Monday and Tuesday.
And then the Council of Delegate will start with the International Committee of the Red Cross on Wednesday and Thursday.
The main this will be taking place in Pale Expo exceptionally because the the normal CICG where we normally hold these conferences was busy.
So it's in the whole one in Pale Expo.
The meeting is closed to media, but as the plenary is closed, but we're inviting any of you who are interested in coming to have interviews with any of the participants one-on-one.
We have, as I said, more than 180 countries present from Ukraine, obviously, or the Caribbeans or the Pacific Islands that can talk about plenty of different topics and they're very happy to to meet with you.
We will hold the press conference on month.
Well, we'll issue a press release on Sunday on the election of the new president.
And then we'll hold the press conference on Monday at 11 AM in Paluxpot with the new elected President.
So you're all invited to, to join.
Please send me a message if you want to join to, to register.
So that's for the, for the, for the meetings.
The different topics that will be discussed during this five days meeting will be climate change, as we've heard here today is one of the main topic for, for everyone.
We'll have issues on migration.
We have a focus on war in cities.
We have something with the colleagues from the ICRC on data, as you know.
Follow up the, the, the, the discussion, the, the issues that have happened earlier this year.
We have big topics on health also obviously following COVID and community health being very important for us as a volunteer organisation.
That's for the statue to meetings.
So please send me a request if you want to attend.
I just wanted to finish to mention that today we're also launching our first hit Action Day, which is also very topical as you can see.
So we didn't choose it on purpose.
We didn't know, but it happened on the right day in Geneva at least.
So this is we're doing it.
We're partnering with the network C40, which is a network of big cities, mayors or big cities in the world.
We will hold a virtual press conference tomorrow, today at 2:30 PMI think you've should have received the the the invitation by press release today.
If not, please let me know and we'll we'll give you all the details.
So that's 2:30.
That will be with Francesco Rocca, the President of the International Federation.
So that's 2:30 today.
And we will also organise as of today, about 7 in 70 countries, different flash modes to actually raise awareness on heat waves, which we call the silent killer of climate change.
So that's also happening today.
Yes, we have noticed that things are getting a lot warmer.
We have a question online for you from John Zaragosta.
Yes, good morning.
I was just trying to understand why your plenary session is closed to the media.
We've just had the the World Health Assembly where the plenary was open, Human Rights Council on right now where it's open.
You're a voluntary charity organisation and you're holding your meetings behind closed doors.
Why is that?
It's, it's, these are internal meetings to discuss strategy within the, within the movement.
So the first, as I said, the first meeting is our internal governing body where we discussed the, the, the priorities, the strategy for the organisation.
And that's why normally every four years we actually have these meetings that are actually much more open with the state in Geneva when we have the International Conference.
So it's these two meetings, the General Assembly and the Council of the are are and like, but it's every two years for those ones.
They normally happen once in Geneva with the International Conference and once abroad in hosted by a national society.
They are kind of like our working meetings where we discuss where we are in terms of our strategy, like for instance for the for the federation, our strategy 20-30, how do we measure our progress against that strategy.
So that's why I'm saying these are these are internal meetings.
But again, the people that are there are very happy to discuss any kind of issues with you if you request.
So are there any other questions for Benoit?
I do not see any.
So thank you very much.
All the best with your meeting and good luck with your campaign to raise awareness about, yes, heat waves important to protect oneself against these, these, these, this, this heat.
Thank you.
All right, we are going to go to our last agenda item.
Jens Lark from the Office of for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs is here to tell us a little bit more about what's happening with the SAFER tanker off the coast of Yemen, which we have been telling you about for some time now.
Understand, a big campaign was launched yesterday.
Yeah, thank you, Rianne.
And Yemen.
Last but not least, the United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Yemen, David Gressley, is today launching a social media campaign to urgently raise additional funds to start the operation of transfer the oil which is aboard the FSO Safer tanker to a safe temporary vessel, the mode of the coast of Yemen.
The decaying super tanker is holding four times the amount of oil spilled in the Exxon Valdez disaster in 1989, one of the largest environmental disasters in history.
The FSO SAFER tanker could break apart or explode at any time.
The UN has raised 3/4 of the $80 million required to start the emergency operation.
We have a plan.
We are now asking for 5 million from the global public, 1/4 of the remaining gap.
The campaign begins accepting donations today.
Mr Cressley said that while the UN is reaching out to individuals, the campaign also serves to send a message to member States and private companies that have not contributed yet to act now before it is too late.
Thank you.
Thank you very much, Jens.
Yes, you can almost hear the clock ticking on the the potential disaster that this could cause.
And we have been raising awareness of this for some time.
It's absolutely critical that work gets under way to to repair or or save this, this tanker.
Are there any questions for Jens on this?
OK, I don't see any questions.
But Jens, you have another announcement you would like to make.
Yeah, sorry to RT crash here.
You you will get the official invite shortly, but I just wanted to flag up a press briefing on Thursday at 11 AM here and on soon.
It is about explosive weapons in populated areas.
It is a briefing with the participation of Orchard, the ICRC and the International Network on Explosive Weapons, also called INU.
The background is the following.
Since 2019, Ireland has been leading an effort for a political declaration to address the humanitarian consequences of the use of explosive weapons in populated areas.
Dozens of states have been involved in contributing to the drafting process over the years, and on Friday the revised and possible final text will be presented by Ireland.
the United Nations, of course, fully support these efforts to limit it.
So this is a press briefing the day before the meeting takes place where we hopefully will see the final text of this political declaration.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Yens, we have a question from Peter Kenny.
Oh, yeah, thanks.
So, Yens, I'm just wondering explosive weapons, does this mean bombs or does it include firearms?
Could you just elaborate on the on the sphere of explosive weapons?
Thank you.
Yeah, that that that's a great.
That's a great question actually.
And I asked it myself because I'm certainly no weapons expert.
It it there's a wide range of weapons that are considered explosive.
So that is from missiles, bombs down to if the situation is, is such as they cause damage, hand grenades, for example, basically anything that explodes and kills people.
And when they are used in these densely populated areas, they of course, 'cause civilian damage, which they should not according to international humanitarian law.
So this effort is to try to find limitations on the use of of such weapons with the purpose of reducing the the harm to civilians.
And John Zaracosta has a question.
Yes, good morning.
And did I hear you're right, it's next Thursday, not this Thursday that you're doing the briefing?
And I've got a follow up question.
Oh, OK.
So the, the reason why I'm announcing this a little bit in the rush is because it is this Thursday.
So the day after tomorrow at 11 AM, Yes, But the meeting is taking place next week, is it not?
The meeting is taking place on Friday.
Yes, All right, thank you very much for these clarifications.
I don't see any more questions for you, Yen.
So thanks very much for being with us this morning.
And this brings us to the end of our formal agenda.
I'll just share a couple of additional announcements with you.
Well, both Rolando and Christian mentioned those, but just a reminder about the press conference today at 1:30 by the Commission of Inquiry to present the report of the UN Independent International Commission Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian territory, including E Jerusalem and Israel.
That will be with Navi Pillai, the Chair of the Commission, and two Commission members, Milun Kotari and Chris Sidoti.
And then on Thursday, as Christian mentioned, at 2:00 PM, hybrid press conference by The Who for the launch of the World Mental Health Report with Devora Kestel, the Director of Mental Health and Substance Use, and Mark van Omeren, the head of mental Health unit.
In terms of meetings that we are covering at the moment, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women's Sidhar opened its 82nd session yesterday and this morning it was beginning the review of the report of Portugal, and this afternoon it will begin the review of the report of the Republic of Turkai.
Then the Conference on Disarmament is having was having this morning a public plenary meeting still under the presidency of Ambassador Tao Chong Han of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
And of course, the Human Rights Council is continuing its 50th session until the 8th of July.
And just a reminder about yesterday was the world, the International Day of Awareness on Albinism.
And this afternoon at 5:30, if you can, we'd be happy for you to join us for the senior new screening of an extremely powerful documentary called In the Shadow of the Sun that talks about the plight of people living with albinism in Tanzania, but also other parts of the world.
It's a really, really very powerful film.
And we'll have a discussion after it with the independent expert on the human rights of people living with albinism and also the film director and an NGO that works in this field in Malawi.
So if you can do join us at 5:30 for this, this senior year and that's all that I have for you.
I don't see any questions.
So thank you very much for being with us and we'll see you again on Friday.
Thank you.