The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
UNOG RUSH NEWS Briefing 21NOV2023
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1:21:30
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MP4
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4.8 GB
STORY: Gaza Start of truce WHO - OCHA 24 November 2023
TRT: 2:40”
SOURCE: UNTV CH
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 10 November 2023 - GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
SHOTLIST
- Exterior medium shot: UN building with UN flag, UN Geneva.
- Wide shot, press briefing room with spokesperson, journalists and screens, UN Geneva
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) – Jens Laerke, OCHA spokesperson: “The United Nations can confirm that, as I speak, trucks with humanitarian supplies continues to cross into Gaza through the Rafah crossing point. We hope the agreement between Israel and Hamas now in force will bring respite to the people of Gaza and Israel and some relief to the hostages and detainees who will be released and to their families. We hope it allows grieving families to honor their dead and bury them with dignity. And we hope that this humanitarian pause leads to a longer-term humanitarian cease fire for the benefit of the people of Gaza, Israel and beyond.”
- Cutaway: Wide shot, press briefing room with spokesperson, journalists and screens, UN Geneva
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) – Jens Laerke, OCHA spokesperson: “We need access across the Gaza Strip, especially in the north. That's where the damage and the humanitarian needs are the greatest. So, we continue to call for access to reach all parts of Gaza.”
- Cutaway: Wide shot, press briefing room with spokesperson, journalists and screens, UN Geneva
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) – Jens Laerke, OCHA spokesperson: “It is very important to get fuel in, to be able to operate any machinery that will be required to get people out, out of the rubble. We see that in all kinds of situations where you have massive infrastructural damage and collapse.”
- Cutaway: Wide shot, press briefing room with journalists and screens, UN Geneva
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) - Christian Lindmeier, spokesperson for the World Health Organization (WHO): “We're working on further evacuations from hospitals as soon as possible to remind you that on 22 November, together with the Palestine Red Crescent Society, WHO joint, a led joint UN mission, evacuate 151 patients, relatives and health workers accompanying them from Al-Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza. This was undertaken specifically following requests from health authorities and hospital officials in Gaza.”
- Cutaway: Close up, journalist listening, UN Geneva
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) – Christian Lindmeier, spokesperson for the World Health Organization (WHO): “We're extremely concerned about the safety of the estimated 100 patients and health workers remaining at Al-Shifa and due to the limited time that the mission members were able to spend in the hospital and the urgency of moving the most critical, it was difficult to determine exactly how many remain.”
- Cutaway: close up, technicians listening, UN Geneva
- Cutaway: wide shot, press briefing room with journalists, UN Geneva
- Cutaway: close up, journalist listening, UN Geneva
STORYLINE
After a four-day-day pause in fighting between Israel and Hamas which started on Friday at 7 am local time, trucks carrying humanitarian deliveries entered the Gaza Strip through the Rafah crossing from Egypt bringing respite to the Gazans in the devastated Palestinian enclave, UN humanitarians said.
“The United Nations can confirm that, as I speak, trucks with humanitarian supplies continues to cross into Gaza through the Rafah crossing point,” said Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the UN humanitarian affairs coordination office (OCHA). “We hope the agreement between Israel and Hamas now in force will bring respite to the people of Gaza and Israel and some relief to the hostages and detainees who will be released and to their families.”
As the death toll in the enclave passed 14,800 as of Thursday evening, according to Gaza’s Government Media Office quoted by OCHA, thousands of people are estimated to be trapped under the ruins of their houses.
Mr. Laerke said that “we hope that the truce will allows grieving families to honor the dead and bury them with dignity, and we hope that this humanitarian pause leads to a longer-term humanitarian cease fire for the benefit of the people of Gaza, Israel and beyond.”
UN had repeatedly stressed that the humanitarian agencies needed access all over the Strip, including in the north, where needs were the largest. It was expected that people in need would be reached wherever they were, but it was still too early to confirm when that would be possible.
OCHA’s spokesperson reiterated the importance to get “access across the Gaza Strip, especially in the north. That's where the damage and the humanitarian needs are the greatest. So, we continue to call for access to reach all parts of Gaza.”
OCHA reported that 75,000 litres of fuel entered Gaza from Egypt on Thursday, following an Israeli decision from 18 November to “allow the daily entry of small amounts of fuel for essential humanitarian operations”. The UN Office said last week that some 200,000 litres of fuel per day were needed.
“It is very important to get fuel in, to be able to operate any machinery that will be required to get people out of the rubble”, stressed Mr. Laerke. “We see that in all kinds of situations where you have massive infrastructural damage and collapse.”
Welcoming the humanitarian pause, although more was needed, UN health agency (WHO) spokesperson Christian Lindmeier said that “we're working on further evacuations from hospitals as soon as possible.” He reminded that “on 22 November, together with the Palestine Red Crescent Society, a joint UN mission evacuated 151 patients, relatives and health workers accompanying them from our chief hospital in northern Gaza. This was undertaken specifically following requests from health authorities and hospitals and hospital officials in Gaza.”
This was the third mission to Al-Shifa carried out by WHO and partners in less than a week; the first had been an assessment mission on 18 November and the second an evacuation mission to transport 31 infants on 19 November. WHO was working on further evacuations from hospitals.
“We are extremely concerned about the safety of the estimated 100 patients and health workers remaining at al-Shifa and due to the limited time that the mission members were able to spend in the hospital and the urgency of moving the most critical, it was difficult to determine exactly how many remain”, said Mr. Lindmeier.
Out of 24 hospitals operating in the north prior to the war, 22 are either out of service or unable to admit new patients, while of the 11 medical facilities in the south, eight are functional. WHO said that of those, only one has the capacity to treat critical trauma cases or perform complex surgery.
-ends-
Teleprompter
Good morning. It is Tuesday, the 21st of November. This is the
Tuesday briefing from the United Nations Information Service here in Geneva.
Thank you very much for joining us.
We have a long list of speakers today.
Announcements also from the UN refugee agency.
Shab
Mantu
is joining us. Maybe we'll get that over and done with quickly, if that's OK. Shabir,
can we
Can we patch you through if you can hear us?
Yep. Sure. Thanks.
Um happy to do so,
um so I just wanted to to remind everyone
that the Global Refugee Forum will be taking place,
uh, 13th to 15th of December at Palexpo in Geneva.
Uh, as you know,
it's held every four years and it's
the world's largest international gathering on refugee issues
and it's squarely focused on solutions.
So the Global Refugee Forum will bring together UN
member states with community members and refugees themselves,
international organisations, humanitarian and development actors,
international and regional financial institutions,
um, other regional organisations and local authorities, civil society,
faith based and sports organisation,
academics,
other experts and others.
So we will be confirming which dignitaries will be attending, uh,
closer to the event, But we do expect a broad and interesting lineup.
Um, and for media representatives, uh, permanently accredited to
EOG who possess a blue badge with a white P for press.
Um, and you are still required to register via indigo.
And this is due to the forum taking place at
Palexpo and not the Palais.
So to register,
please submit a letter of assignment an ID and a
photo via the link that was shared in the advisories.
And you would recall we sent out several advisories and
we'll also send out several others before the accreditation deadline
of December 1st.
So media accreditation will allow, um, access to a dedicated press room.
Um, side events and press conferences
and seats in the plenary, uh, for the first morning will be limited,
and we will be operating a poor system for interested media.
Um, all plenaries after 3 p.m. on 13th of December will be open to all
so media attendance at the
nanson ceremony.
Uh, the
nanson awards ceremony, as you know which will be taking place on the first evening,
will also be at
Palexpo and will also be pulled.
And there will be a live transmission available in the press areas and to stream.
So we will also provide further logistics,
uh, details on logistics. Rather, um, closer to the event.
Um, thank you.
Thank you very much. Sha
Um
OK, um, any questions on the UN Refugee forum?
I see none. OK, we'll move on to Rosalind Yard. Can you hear me?
No. Sorry. I do beg your pardon. I see plenty of hands.
Uh, John. Kathleen.
Jamie
in that order. John, can you hear me?
Yes. Good morning. Uh,
so
I was wondering firstly, if the, uh,
high Commissioner will give a press conference, uh, ahead of the beginning of the,
uh,
event to, uh, set the scene,
uh,
we didn't get a press conference from him after the end of the executive committee
last month, so it would be nice to have the High Commissioner talk, Uh, brief us.
And you just mentioned, uh, we just need to, uh, go online,
uh, with our badge. Or did you say we need a letter from the editors?
Because we've never had to do that before.
It's a lot of paperwork.
Go for it.
Shabier.
Uh, thank you, John. Um, we will be, um, confirming details.
of of, um, any other press events. So we'll get back to you on your first question.
Um, And for the second one about registration.
Um, yes, it will require registration via indic O.
so we do need, uh I think they they do require a letter of assignment
and ID and photo. But, um, do get in touch with us in case there are any issues.
And we can also, uh,
uh, help support with that. Thanks, John.
Thank you, Shabier.
We'll let you know if we get any press conferences. It would be very welcome.
Of course.
Uh, Jamie.
Thank you, Daniel. Hi, Shab. Yeah.
Um, could you just tell us what the stakes are for this meeting?
What's really up for, uh, discussion and what's gonna be the big breakthrough?
Thanks,
Tha Thanks, Jamie.
Um, so this is I mean, this is, uh, the world's, uh, only, you know,
largest gathering of of, uh, on refugee issues.
Um, so we'll look at, uh, the current, uh, refugee situation, Take stock.
Uh, look at, uh, solutions and pledges, uh, and really garner momentum and support.
Um, so we, uh you know,
we'll we'll also be in touch closer to the event with more details, but, uh,
to confirm,
um, details of of attendees, uh, and and all other, uh, arrangements.
But it is, uh, it's It's a hugely significant event.
Um, the one of its kind in the world. Um, and it's held every four years. So it's,
uh, you know, you're familiar with the first one. So,
uh,
and a lot has really changed in the last four years.
We've been through the the covid pandemic.
Um, we've seen, uh, you know, other conflicts erupt,
but we've also seen great progress on solutions, so
it will really take stock of the global, uh, situation.
The global displacement and refugee picture.
Thanks.
Yeah. Thank you. Um, Katrina.
Thank you.
Bon
jour.
Daniel. Hello.
Hi,
Xavier.
Nice to see you.
Uh, my my question is regarding, um, the Nanson Refugee Award.
Is it going to take place on the 13th
of December? Please, could you confirm the date?
Um, and you
just mentioned that you will share details about, um,
the heads of states and the heads of government that are going
to be part of the event. When are do you plan to share?
Uh, the list or
an approximate, uh, list of, um, VIP S that are going to join.
Thank you.
Thanks. Katherine.
Um, we You know, I will. We'll have to check and see.
Um, you know, if we have a sort of a rough, uh, timeline,
but we will definitely be in touch. Um, and we'll provide you with those details.
Uh, you know, whatever information we're able to share as soon as we can.
Um, but we will be also communicating quite regularly.
As I mentioned, uh, we'll be sending other advisories,
um, closer to to the date,
Um, and then on on the nats and logistics as well. Um, we'll come back to that.
But just to say that, um,
the media attendance at the ceremony will take place on the first evening of the GRF.
And that will also be at palexpo.
Um, but we will come back to you with with further details on on that as well.
Thanks, Katrine.
Many thanks.
Shabier. I see. John, you have a follow up.
Yeah. Yeah, I have. Uh, actually, it's on the
nanson awards because, uh,
the last few years, uh,
the the UN HCR restricted the access of the number of media who could follow the
nanson awards.
So I'm wondering if that's, uh, will be the situation again this year.
Only a handful of people were allowed to follow last year's event.
If that's the case, that that's all.
And secondly, is this event being sponsored by some member states or the
Swiss government or corporations?
Or is this coming out of the general budget of UN HCR? Thanks,
tha Thanks, John. Um, the Nanson awards ceremony.
The media attendance will be, um, pulled.
Um, but as I mentioned, we we can come back to you with further details.
Um, and the global refugee forum.
It is, uh it is co convened by by other states as well.
Um, but it's really, um, an event that brings together, I mean,
the international community.
And we talk about the whole of society.
Um, but we can also come back to you with further details.
Uh, John Shaw of Offline by email. Thanks.
Many thanks, Shar.
Ok, I think you've answered all questions
and any follow ups. Please
deal directly with shar
at the UN refugee agency.
I beg your pardon? There's people in the room. Shavi,
please don't go away. apologise.
Nina,
Thank you.
I just wanted to ask if, uh,
there'll be any room for discussions about Palestinian refugees at this event.
I know that UN, HTR and NAR are usually
are distinct from each other, but it would be interesting to know what, uh,
what kind of focus there might be on the Palestinian issue.
Thank you.
Th Thank you, Nina.
Um, well, the Global Refugee Forum, Um, it's, uh, held, uh,
with through sort of coke and bean or supported by by UN HCR.
Um, so we will be looking at, um, solutions, uh, for refugees, but also momentum.
But,
um, it is, uh, you know, as we as we are aware, it's really about, uh uh,
the the refugees that are also, um that are supported, uh,
and also under that come under UN HC R's mandate.
Um, it so it is very much focused on that, Um,
but we will also be in touch if there are any further details.
Um, on on the the questions you mentioned before the the event. Thanks.
No.
Okay,
right. Fine. I see no other questions. So
that has
dealt with the global refugee forum.
Uh, beginning the 15th,
uh, at Pel
Expo.
So
I don't think that Rosalind Yard is quite ready to speak.
We'll give you a couple of minutes just to get settled,
so we'll move on to our next topic, which is the latest on the
Gaza Israel escalation and crisis.
James Elder is going to speak to us from UNICEF
now
with an update.
I hope on the dire and deadly water and
sanitation situation for youngsters and all those in Gaza over
James
Daniel. Thanks so much. Hi. Good morning, everyone.
If Children's access to water and sanitation in Gaza continues to be restricted
and insufficient,
we will see a tragic, yet entirely avoidable surge in the number of Children dying.
It's also important to note it's starting to rain in Gaza
Now combined Children face a serious threat of mass disease outbreak.
This, of course, would be lethal.
It's important to remember as well that the the
threshold for a minimum a bare minimum amount of
water per person per day be that in war or famine like conditions is 15 litres far,
far below what people were regularly getting in Gaza before this conflict.
Now that 15 litres is to cook, to clean, to wash.
It's for everything or absolutely critical, Uh,
if we're going to prevent waterborne and other infectious diseases.
Yet there are parts of Gaza now, particularly in the North,
where as many as around 700,000 people, uh,
are
where people struggle on as little as three litres a day.
And on some days,
given the problems with distribution and the immense devastation on some days,
it's none at all.
So we have to be clear.
The control of fuel and the access to water.
Uh, that is to control whether thousands,
perhaps tens of thousands of Children live or die
now.
This next part, of course, is not a footnote.
More than 5350 Palestinian Children have already been reportedly killed.
Now the death toll among Children is sickening.
Grief is becoming embedded in Gaza,
so this, then is a stark warning.
Without sufficient fuel, without sufficient water,
conditions for Children will plummet.
Meanwhile, of course, at least 30 Israeli Children are still being held hostage.
Somewhere in
this hell scape, they must be released. It's abhorrent
to think of their fear, to think of the torment
that their families are enduring, it has to end
now. The potential for widespread loss of life in Gaza
is significantly exacerbated by the fact that around
800,000 Children in Gaza are displaced 800,000 Children.
Now they're DES desperately, often vainly seeking,
seeking refuge in very densely overpopulated shelters.
On average,
there is one shower unit for 700 people
at Ura
Sha
shelters,
1 to 700 people,
a single toilet for 100 and 50 queues. Take hours and hours.
Break that down and think what it means for your average adolescent girl.
Without enough fuel, we will see the collapse of sanitation services.
So we have then on top of the mortars,
um, and the bombs a perfect storm for the
for the spread of disease. It's a perfect storm
for tragedy.
We have a desperate lack of water, faecal matter,
SCR strewn across densely populated settlements
and unacceptable lack of latrines and severe severe restraints on hand washing,
personal hygiene and cleaning.
We're already seeing almost 10 times the monthly average
reported cases of diarrhoea amongst Children under five,
in addition to increases in scabies, lice, chicken pox, chicken pox, rather
and respiratory infections.
So to finish what must happen
three things one permit the supply of water
and sanitation materials and equipment for the emergency repair
and operation of critical water and sanitation services.
That means pumps, electrical mechanical equipment and generators.
It's all absolutely critical
immediately provide safe and unimpeded access for a daily
sufficient supply of fuel.
That's going to meet the needs and operation of critical water and
sanitation supplies for all Children and all citizens there.
And of course, as we have been
saying from the start, we need a humanitarian ceasefire,
safe and unimpeded humanitarian access and the
immediate and safe return of abducted Children.
Without these,
an indifferent world will watch the death of countless Children in Gaza. Thank you.
Thank you, James. So
just to reiterate the crisis there yesterday, you'll have heard the
Secretary general's spokesperson saying that
the Israeli authorities had agreed
to allowing the entry of a daily amount of some 70,000 litres of fuel from Egypt,
which, while good,
remains well below the minimum
requirements for essential humanitarian operations.
And then
Mike Ryan also briefed yesterday
the Security Council, saying that
the
not one of the 36 hospitals in Gaza
is able to treat critical trauma cases or perform surgery.
I
have world health organisations Christian Lima next to me.
I'm just realising and remembering. So I'll let him speak for the organisation.
But for the World Food Programme
online, We have
Arif Hussein,
who's the UN Agency's chief economist joining us now from Rome over to you.
Thank you, Daniel. Um hello, everybody.
Yeah, Um I was just wondering how how to to build on what, uh, James was saying,
um
in in one food programme. I worked for about 20 years.
Uh,
I've always been in analysis and one of the
things which we do whenever there's a disaster.
Whenever there's war shock of any time
we try to answer like five basic questions.
And those questions are first and foremost. What happened?
How many people were affected?
Uh, how are they affected? Um what type of assistance they require.
And, uh, for how long? These are basically the questions which we we try to answer.
So we are able to inform our our operations in terms of helping people.
So I thought maybe I'll just do it like that.
And, um And, um, first of all how many people are affected? Well,
pretty much. All of the population of Gaza,
2.2 million people
need food assistance.
1.6 million people
internally displaced,
70% of that in Gaza.
1,800,000 to 1 million Children
are affected.
That's what James said.
Um, mortality.
Over 12,000.
68% of that women and Children.
And
then we come into specifics.
Specifics of
how are they affected.
One basic thing. Food
since seventh of October until about last week. That's 15th of November.
That's the time for which I have the data.
457 trucks reached Gaza.
That's just 15%
of what should have happened,
only 15%.
Most of the bakeries are shut down.
Why? Because they're destroyed
or there's no energy
or there's no water
food. Inflation
is on the ice.
Water
prices have doubled,
wheat flour is up by about 65%
vegetables by about 32%
and fresh fruit prices by about 27%.
Mind you, this is all in one month or less.
What you heard already from James, I can disagree.
the other thing. ID, PS and shelter in the north of Gaza
have not received bottled water for over a week.
This also gives rise to dehydration and all kinds of diseases
the jails were talking about.
Then we get into energy.
Yes, gratefully, 70,000 litres
will start coming in
against the requirement of 200,000 litres
of
energy.
Next we look at em Remittances Gaza,
West Bank. They rely on Remittances 4.1 billion
in 2022
which is about 20% of the
22% of the GDP.
that may be coming in, but the dispersement of that use of that
that is highly constrained.
Also,
60% of employment
has been lost in Gaza since the start of current conflict.
That is about 100 and 82,000 jobs
there. We also look at the spillovers of this into the West Bank,
where an estimated 24% of employment or 208,000 jobs
have been lost over the same period.
Then we get into housing.
45% of houses housing units are reportedly destroyed
or damaged
on the education,
625,000 students are currently without
access to education
over half of the facilities. Educational facilities have been hit.
This is
what is
the situation
in there
now getting a little bit into what the BFP is doing.
We have assisted about 607 164,000 people
since this started in Gaza and West Bank, 704,000 in Gaza and 60,000 in West Bank.
550,000 displaced people in UN.
Designated shelters have been reached so far with the basic food
as in date bars or canned fish or fresh bread.
And I think the the most important thing again here going forward looking forward
is that we need to reach about consistently reach about 1.1 million people
in the next 60 days in Gaza and the West Bank.
And in order to do that,
in most cases you would talk about two things.
It will say, Look, if I have the money
and if I have the physical access to get to people,
we can save any life.
But here
you need those two things. Plus, you need regularly working supply chains
under trucks
coming in from Rafael.
That's not gonna happen.
We need more border reports entry ports. And these need to be sustained
entry points
going
forward.
If we have that, if people are safe or in safe places where they can be assisted,
we can save
lives.
And then the next question is in the very last question.
In that sense,
for how long? People will need assistance.
Well, people will need assistance till this war comes to an end.
So people are
able to go back
and start to rebuild their lives.
I'll stop here. Thank you.
Yes, Thank you very much, Mr Hussein.
If you wouldn't mind, I'd just like to pass the floor to Christian nm
from World Health Organisation. Then we can take questions together, if that's OK.
Actually. Thank you. But, uh, I'm
ready to to answer any questions. So let's do that one. How about that?
Ok, um please go ahead. Yuri.
Yes, Thank you. And thank you for the
for this briefing. If you can send
your notes as
sad because there is a lot of data, especially about the inflation.
And if you can send it so that we can
use all the good data that you provide. Thank you.
OK.
Message sent and John
Zara.
Costas, you're online?
Yes. Good morning. Uh, thank you for the updates. Firstly, I'd like to ask James
James, uh, we've seen in many conflicts in in Yemen, in Syria, in Ukraine.
Uh, water systems targeted,
uh, by the combatants.
Um, how many water systems have been targeted in, uh, in the Gaza Strip at the moment.
And secondly,
have you approached the Israeli authorities for to expedite the repairs?
And have you got the green light? Thanks.
Thanks, John. Um, very much so.
I don't know. I'm targeting
because
it it would imply, um,
I can certainly get you the number on on.
Well, I will try to get your number on how many have been hit.
I'm unsure. I'm targeting.
we are, as all conflicts, working with all parties, but you're dead,
right on water supplies.
There was, uh, particularly I'll share you data recently on, um,
the enormity of attacks on water systems in Gaza, but also in Ukraine.
the most critical aspects at the moment in the production in the middle and the south
John is now,
you know,
still still ongoing, um, at a much reduced capacity. But it's happening.
The problem is in the middle and the South.
The network has been fractured or, as you refer to has been,
has been damaged in in a lot of ways.
So it's not spreading around,
Um, whereas in the North, um, there are no distribution networks.
People are having to provide their own fuel to try and get water, or most mostly,
to buy Fu to buy water.
Uh,
bottled water very expensively.
And as I said in the briefing,
there are days where people in the north simply have no water.
So for UNICEF
within,
those asks that I mentioned it's so important we get what's called dual use items in,
and these have so far been restricted.
And, yes, we're,
uh,
perpetually having conversations to get
in that electrical mechanical equipment.
Those generators,
you know, water pumps,
all the things that need to go into the huge amount of
repairs that need to happen on top of getting in sufficient fuel.
I think Christian would like to add something.
Yeah. Thank you, John. And thanks, James.
The as, uh, James hinted at one of the main issues,
is actually the the lack of power for the
for the pumping stations and the desalination plants.
So that's the real attack here. Depriving
the system
of power of fuel.
Hence, they cannot run the desalination plants,
which are necessary because most of the fresh water, which would be there is,
is in filtrated by by Salin
seawater.
Um, as you also know, we had the reports about, uh,
the the the last remaining fresh water tanks on top of Al
Shifa that were actually targeted. Apart from that, I we also don't have specific
data on targeted
attacks on the, um,
on the water system. But again,
the power and the fuel is necessary to run the the water system
and to run the sewage system,
both of which is heavily and only depending on fuel and electricity.
Yeah, Nina Larson had a question.
Uh, thank you.
I wanted to ask, um, about the diseases that you're you're worried about.
Especially perhaps, um, cholera. If there have been any indications of cholera,
uh, I know that that's something you've been worried about it.
But if you've seen any, uh, evidence that that cholera might be spreading in the
situation and then for Christian, uh, that could also be for Christian,
but for Christian.
I was also wondering if you could say a little bit about,
um, the evacuations that are going on now of of hospitals. Uh, if the Al
Shifa evacuation is complete,
Uh, and also, uh, about the Indonesian hospital,
which is also being evacuated if you have any more details about, uh,
how that's going.
Thank you.
I'm sorry, James. We just need to unmute you.
Sorry, then, you know, Yeah, I'll defer to Christian. They only, um
it has been and remains. Cholera has been and remains our great fear.
there have been so many things in Gaza
that become lethal and game changers for Children.
Um, and most of them are falling from the sky.
If there is a cholera outbreak, that's where we fear. We fear
the number of Children now will into the thousands, plus
around 2000, somewhere under rubble.
We feel that they will rise exponentially if there's a cholera outbreak.
But Christian will confirm,
um, whether there's been any trace over
Thank you. James and Christian.
Yeah, thanks, Nina. Thanks, James. Um,
so what we have so far is let me start this way that the health system is struggling
to deal with thousands and thousands of injured people,
thousands of critically ill
and sharp increase in diseases such as diarrhoea,
respiratory infections
providing here with almost no water, no fuel, no food,
no electricity or medical supplies.
Since 7 October,
we have over 72,000 cases of upper respiratory infections
in the shelters remind you. Over 700,000 people are sheltering
in the on
schools
and other people also cram together wherever they find shelter.
Close to 49,000 cases of diarrhoea over half
of these among Children under five years.
In comparison, we normally have a registered about 2000 cases monthly
in Children under five in the last years.
So compared to now 49,000, which is an immense
increase,
it's actually a 3031 times increase among the under five year olds
and 100 times increase among the above five year olds as compared to 2022.
We already have over 1000 cases of chickenpox,
over 17,000 cases of skin infections and infects
infestations like
scabies and others lice, for example. Of course, in these conditions,
we also have clinically traced hepatitis A
that has been reported. It could not be lab confirmed because the laboratory also is
out of function
out of fuel out of electricity.
Um, but on top of that, we have the thousands of patients that are also at risk.
More than 2000 cancer patients,
more than 1000 patients in need of dialysis,
50,000 cardiovascular patients
and over 60,000 diabetics
and last but not least well not, not least at all.
There are estimated 50,000 pregnant women.
Most of them
will be giving birth without any
skilled attendance. Any hospital.
And that translates again to about 180 babies born every single day.
So we have been talking a lot about 31 premature
infants evacuated from one hospital in a in a huge
event that has been catching public attention.
But again, 100 and 80
born every day,
and more than 20 of those on average
need specialised care
every day,
just like
the 31
evacuated
from Al
Shifa
and coming to the evacuations that you mentioned.
Al
Shiva is not yet completely evacuated, but let me start differently again Here.
Wo's
priority is not evacuating the hospital
or the hospitals.
The hospitals are the only safe space for any population
to go to when all the last resorts have been cut off.
The hospitals
should be the only the last safe place where people can go to,
because taking away a hospital from an area
doesn't only mean the physical evacuation of the
patients and the doctors and the nurses.
It means
robbing
the entire population of that area
of the last resort to go to to seek health care,
the last resort of humanity when you're injured,
when you have an irregular disease, when you have asthma,
or when you have shrapnel and bullet wounds or crush injuries from
from the ongoing war,
so that should be the last resort.
But as our teams visited
on Saturday,
they were asked by the hospital staff
to facilitate evacuation. That's why W Jordan, together
with the Palestine Red Crescent
and
the UN colleagues,
moved
to facilitate that evacuation.
The 31 are well known.
Unfortunately, as you may remember, we had 33 the night before,
which was scheduled to be evacuated,
and two of these premature infants died only on that night because of the lack of care
available to them.
Um, on top of it, we have about 20 patients who need dialysis treatment.
They need to be evacuated and specialised
care and specialised
equipment.
With the accompanying medical staff,
we have over 50
um
50 spinal injuries.
Those should normally never be moved
because any movement could risk permanent
paralysis
if
there's anything to rescue so far. So
the point is that
when these people, the doctors, the nurses, the patients are asked to be
evacuated. That's really the last resort.
That means that the situation on the ground has grown so dire
that the only other alternative is facing what they think. Certain death
as the hospitals are under attack as Al
Shifa is under attack.
So these vacations need time.
They need preparation, they need specialised equipment, they need a safe passage.
They need the co ordination with IDF
and, of course, also with Hamas
to get to a safer place inside Gaza.
And I stress safer place because there is no safe place in Gaza
to be, then stabilised and eventually be transported
out to Egypt.
As Egypt has so nicely agreed and the
facilities in Al
Arish and the Egyptian Red Crescent are absolutely ready to take over
as they did with these infants and treat them further as necessary.
Now,
what we heard from the Indonesian hospital is
that they also asked for facilitating um,
evacuation
and, uh, as much as I know also the
Al
Arabi Hospital.
So we're looking at three hospitals right now
in the north that asked to be evacuated.
But again, the important point is where to?
There's no safe space.
There are The only places they can go to
right now are non specialised hospitals in the South
nonspecialist hospitals that are overcrowded already
that are struggling to take care of those who are already there
with no water,
no food,
no electricity.
And that's a situation all over Gaza. Let's not forget that we're talking about a
highly
in hospital of high attention right now, Al
Shifa.
But Al
Shifa is Gaza
and Gaza is Al
Shifa. Right now,
the situation there is the same
everywhere,
and people are safe nowhere.
Thank you.
Yes, Thank you, Christian.
And that really echoes what the Secretary
General of the United Nations said yesterday
in the sense that we're witnessing quoting him a killing of civilians
that's unparalleled and unprecedented in any
conflict since I've been secretary general.
He went on to talk to journalists,
and he was actually talking about a climate report
the climate emissions report yesterday, which was released. And he said that
the region can only move forward once the fighting stops,
obviously calling for a humanitarian
pause and end to the fighting.
And he said that it's essential that after the war we move into a determined,
irreversible way to a two state solution.
It also means that after the war and this is his opinion,
he believed it's important that after the war a war that
there is a strengthened Palestinian Authority
to assume responsibilities in Gaza,
I'll let you follow up on those. I'm sure you've already seen them. But
many questions in the room
starting with Nina.
Sorry.
It was just a just a follow up, uh, Christian, Uh, just on the, uh,
thank you for the details on the evacuations.
Um, on cholera. Uh, I wa I was just wondering.
I know you mentioned the diarrhoea cases and the great increase in those. Um do you,
uh do you suspect that cholera is spreading in Gaza and is
there any way to actually determine that to test for it?
Thank you.
So cholera I haven't seen in Gaza yet simply because it needs the introduction of
the vibrio cholera bacteria and that is not present in in Gaza. Normally
now you could cynically say, with the little movements in and out of Gaza,
the likelihood that the vibrio
is being introduced is unlikely at that point. But of course it's not impossible.
But again, to this point,
it's not there,
but a heavy,
watery, acute, watery diarrhoea is non different than cholera.
Let's face that, and it's just because it has a different name.
It doesn't mean it's less lethal for weak, malnourished
Children or people as they are in Gaza right now.
Emma F.
Uh Thanks, Christian. I was hoping for a couple of clarifications on the hospitals.
you mentioned
Indonesian hospital, but also is the Al
Ali. Is that in Gaza City? The other one that wants evacuation
And could you say whether that's something you're actively working on then,
and any information on whether the Indonesian
hospital is still surrounded by tanks?
Um, still coming under attack,
and then more broadly, um, on the babies. There is a lot of interest in in those 31.
Um, is there any update on those
that were left behind the three? Um, are they, uh, what state are they in currently?
Um, and then maybe UNICEF Maybe James, you could say,
say a word on on reuniting them with their families.
If they're not already with their families, how many of them are
are orphans? Um, how is that process going?
Thanks very much.
So on the hospital, I understood. It's
Al
Harbi. Um, I hope I'm right with this one.
but we're talking about three. And I, I beg, uh,
lack of information in case it's it's different. But,
um
so, yeah, the, uh, the vocation was asked for by staff in these hospitals.
Um, and planning is ongoing, but again, it needs a lot of coordinations.
It needs a lot of planning. It needs a lot of,
uh, transport, uh, facilities.
It needs peace, at least on the convoy route.
It needs constant co ordination during, uh, the convoy routing
in order to know exactly where the convoy is. So that the so called deconflicting
is important is the most important actually. And then it is the,
uh, the safe transport of the of the, uh, of the patients. But so far,
that's only in in planning stages. Um, and with no further details
on the little ones, um,
the 28 have been taken care of by the Egyptians, and some of them, I understand,
are being taken forward to specialised hospitals.
The three are still in the Emirati
hospital in the south
with their families. No further information on their condition. I must admit,
you had another question.
Mhm
reuniting. It was It was for James.
Yeah. So
the three in Gaza already reunited.
And for the others,
I have no detail on how and when they could come back and reunite with families.
Emma, I will. Um yeah, a Christian nail on the head.
I will add at the foot of the briefing note. Just a little breakdown on
those 31 and
one of them is twins. So that changes to the number of caregivers and so on.
So when I share the briefing note after this, I'll add that just as
a
as a footnote.
I, I would only say as well just to reiterate what Christian was alluding to that
Schiffer
is rightly a focus. You know, premature babies are, of course, you know
one of society's
most vulnerable miracles, if you will.
But of course, whilst the world is waiting for, you know,
images or whatever it is of tunnels out of
Shifa,
it's very important to remember that
we have an average of just over 100 Children.
100 boys and girls are still being reportedly
killed every single day everywhere else across Gaza,
which, of course, is the exact opposite of a miracle.
So
I do think it's important that to keep our attention as well,
that the numbers of that we keep being reported of Children killed have
shown absolutely no signs of abating since the I think it's ne.
We're now a solid two weeks since those first, uh, attacks on Shea
hospitals.
So, you know, we're, well,
a well and ahead of another 1500 Children reportedly killed since Shea
started dominating the airwaves of
Thank you, James, there's no follow ups apart from, uh, uh, Christian or Rick, um,
has a question for I don't know who.
I don't know who can answer this Do you know whether the
babies that were rescued are orphans or whether they have families?
And do they all have names attached?
Do you know who they are or who their families are? Even if they were
maybe killed. Thank you.
I'm also looking at James if he has more information.
Sorry, I abso I do, um, but I wanna get it exact. So as soon as this is over,
I'm in Cairo, and, uh, I walk five me five minutes to a to a colleague
and Nina,
I'll give that exact breakdown on the back of at the foot of my briefing
note which will be a number of babies where they are a number of caregivers.
Those whose caregivers didn't come.
The twins, which is obviously important because that's
means one less caregiver.
So if you just give us five minutes till after this briefing it, it will be yours.
Thank you, James. And thank you for sharing your notes
in advance, John. Z our
costs as you've been waiting patiently.
Yes. Thank you. Patience is a virtue.
Uh, I was wondering, uh, Christian, if, uh,
you could share with us the notes of Doctor Ryan to the Security Council,
if that's possible.
And
can you tell us who led the, uh, the interagency, uh, fact finding mission to Al
Shifa?
Was it, uh, doctor Rick Peppercorn or or Who was it that led it?
Thank you.
Thank you. Yeah. II.
I quoted a lot of figures before, so I'll share these notes afterwards.
Um, we'll send them from from us,
and we'll also share them here with with the colleagues at the UN.
Um, we go so far as to say it was a senior
emergency.
Um, health emergency Officer.
We are not naming colleagues who were involved in the operation for
obvious reasons. Sorry for that, John.
Thank you.
Jan Haberman?
Uh, yes. Good morning. Um,
that's basically a question for all agencies present.
Uh, there's, uh
there has been much talk about a possible
humanitarian cease fire for a couple of days.
Um, in the in the Gaza Strip. How do you prepare for this?
And how do you make sure that you get as much aid in as possible
in the PO
possible upcoming short period of time? Thanks.
Um, yeah. Thank you, Jan.
So first of all, we
would be good to hear it's coming true what you're saying there
and we are looking forward to that. And I'm looking maybe at colleagues here from
orchard to see about the
supplies coming in.
But what we do know is that the UN has been ready for a while,
with the supplies lined up outside of Gaza down in Rafah.
The Egyptian,
uh, Red Crescent Society has been instrumental in getting everything ready.
The referral hospitals in terms of
medical supplies,
are ready. The a AR
hospital, with all lines set up,
the airports have been
bringing in supplies over and over.
So from that side, everything is is set up and and geared up.
Even the Palestine Red Crescent inside Gaza is ready.
But of course needs the fuel for trucks and for Lorries and for
for all type of equipment to operate.
These, uh, these equipment and the trucks inside are also ready.
So the logistical side is is
geared up.
What it needs is a ceasefire.
It needs the fuel,
and it needs the political will from all sides to make it happen.
I have a question on the floor
over to you. Please introduce yourself,
Mohammed.
I do. I do
beg your pardon?
Yes. Ah, Mohammed
from
Ah my question for WHO
like one hour ago.
Ah, Gaza Health Ministry.
Ah, Health Ministry explained that all hospital in Ah,
northern Gaza Strip went out of service.
Also, co ordination is
ah under the ah under way to
ah, evacuate. Ah, Indonesia hs Ah hospital.
Ah, I was wondering what's your ah comment on that? And what is the next plan?
What could be the next plan for the patients?
Ah, in the region. Thank you.
I'm sorry. Could you repeat the first part again?
Ah, Gaza Health Ministry, Uh explained it like one hour ago.
All hospital in Ah, northern Gaza. Ah,
went out of service.
Yeah, thank you. I think Yesterday also, the the colleagues Mike Ryan and
Rob Holden clarified at the UN that there's no more functional hospital
in in the north and and that comes back to to what I said before. It's
it's not only physically having a hospital, not there anymore.
It's robbing the entire population of the north
of of the last means to to seek, seek health and seek seek access. Um,
look after the horrifying attacks by Hamas and other
armed groups on 7 October and after the deplorable
hostage taking,
which involved 35 Children,
the entire population of Gaza was robbed of water, was robbed
of food supply, was locked, robbed of electricity
and by destroying or disabling the sewage system,
robbed also of humanity.
Um
Then came the bombings and homes, schools
on rush shelters,
the safe access roads were bombed.
Those who tried to flee to the south sometimes returned because they said,
it doesn't matter where we're going.
We're being bombed everywhere.
Over 30% of the deaths and injuries
are in the south of Gaza. In the so called safe area,
over 30% of the deaths are in the south of Gaza.
Then came the bombing and the attacks of the hospitals.
Um, and now no more hospitals functioning in the north.
Colleagues from MS F have been reporting
that they were attacked, too. Uh, one of the last resorts there.
So taking away health care of people is taking away.
The last resort is taking a lot away. The last piece
of humanity.
And that's what's happening right now.
One comment on the,
um on the hospital because I just mentioned and I got clarification in the meantime.
So the hospital, the third one
is called Al
Ali Al
Arabi Hospital.
Hence the confusion with the name because it's one name, which is long.
So in short, Al
Ali is fine.
but the the long name of the hospital is Al Ali Al
Arabi Hospital. Hence the confusion with the different names.
Go with Al
Ali and then we're fine,
James. I see you'd like to add something.
Yeah. Hi. Thanks, colleagues. Just to come back. Nina, I give it to you now.
Rather well, I can. I'll do both
on the premature babies. So 28 came into Egypt yesterday.
Seven mothers and there were only seven mothers.
Seven mothers accompanied eight babies. That's the one of those.
Mother was a mother of twin twins leaving
20 of those premature babies who are unaccompanied.
Um, so of those 2816 are at
a
hospital
and 12 have been moved to the new administrative capital that the N, the new capital,
um, UNICEF
is supporting a range of medical supplies through the Ministry of Health.
That includes, of course, therapeutic milk. Uh, therapeutic milk.
Thank you.
I believe there's going to be a request for some
written confirmation of that information. James, is that possible? Christian?
Would you like to add something? Sorry. One clarification.
The 20 that are unaccompanied.
Do you know whether they are orphans, or do we just not know where the families are?
Thank you
both. In short, I will get the exact answer in a very quick briefing this morning. Um,
I, I was told there were definitely some parents who, uh,
were unable to come. But let me give you exact language.
Unless Christian has it, I'll add it to the email, which will have the briefing note.
Thank you, James.
Right.
I see no further comments from any of the agency folks on the situation in Gaza.
So we're going to move on to our next topic, which is with the world food programmes.
World food programmes. Excuse me,
Deputy Country director and Chad
Enrico Pali.
Are you with us? Enrico?
Uh,
before we go to you, Enrico,
do you mind if I just take a quick question from Jamie Keaton?
Thanks, Daniel. Sorry about that.
Um, could either, uh, James or Christian or, uh Mr Arif, um, if he's still there,
Um just tell us what, if any, information you have about
the prospects of a
cease fire. And, uh, and a, uh
uh, release of hostages. And what?
That would mean if there is a cease fire for humanitarian operations.
Thank you, James. Do you wish to say anything?
Hi, Jamie. Uh, I. I mean, we can only report what we're seeing
that that you've seen on the news in terms of
what came out of the White House late last night.
Our time? Um,
the humanitarian ceasefire. I is so pretty cool because, of course,
it allows people actual safety which they haven't had since the seventh of October.
Getting that then it's important not just about getting, uh, supplies in.
And as Christian said,
all the agencies and I won't list all the agencies have the supplies that they need
ready to go. Everyone has major warehouses across the region.
What's really important then,
is that the humanitarian ceasefire is accompanied by
unimpeded access and
un
the supplies we get in. Uh, in that briefing that I just mentioned,
for example, water is so critical, um, when it comes to
people's ability to survive and also to prevent disease outbreak.
That's because of sanitation.
So fuel, as we have talked about anos them for the last two weeks.
But it's not just fuel. There's been such devastation to those desalination plants
that we need all that dual use equipment,
and that so far has been prevented from coming in.
So a humanitarian ceasefire has to be supported with, um,
with both unimpeded access and, um, full ability to get in the the, uh,
the equipment that we know is essential,
whether it's medicines or whether it's generators over.
Thank you, James.
I see no further comments
or questions.
So thank you for all of those
important
additions to the topic. And we will, of course, keep watching and
hope to get the notes from all of those present today as quickly as possible.
Thank you.
So the, um,
Mr Pai,
if you're if you can hear me, I think you are online from the World Food Programme.
You're calling in from
Jona.
and another alert now, from
the Sudan,
uh, about refugees crossing into chad and
real concern that your assistance may have to end.
Please tell us more.
Yes. Thank you, Daniel. And good morning, everybody. Um
Yes. I'm calling from Chad.
Where, unfortunately, we are witnessing yet another humanitarian trauma.
Now, the Chad is now hosting over a million refugees, Uh, mostly from Sudan.
It's one of the largest and fastest growing refugee population
in in in Africa.
Now, over the past six months since the beginning of the conflict,
the number of refugees have basically doubled in,
in, In in the countries. Um,
and, uh, yes, indeed.
You know, you know, this includes, uh, over 450,000 refugees, but also some,
you know, Chadian That came, uh, came back. Um,
and now this is unfortunately, uh, ve ve very, you know,
very difficult for us as well, to to respond to
I mean, just to give us a few numbers and I like only on.
During the first three days of November, we had over 5000 people across the border.
Most of them are women and Children.
Now, remember when I was, uh, on on the border there,
You know, we interviewed some of the people that came.
Basically. They had no possession, nothing. I still remember these two siblings.
One was aged seven. The other one was aged nine.
So we asked them, What are your parents? And they said, we don't know.
We lost them on the way, you know, trying to cross the border.
And when we asked them, you know, when's the last time you had any food?
Uh,
I said the answer was, Well, we don't We don't remember.
And And this, unfortunately,
you know, as to already,
you know, multiple and overlapping process
that child
is is is fighting.
And now, if I can to score a few a
few numbers,
you know, before this, you know, this new crisis started.
You know, we already had over 2 million people
in a food insecure, uh, acute food insecure situation
and over 1.3 million Children suffering
from from malnutrition. We look at the east only where the Sudanese refugees are,
you know, 90%
of the population as what we call very poor, uh, food consumption.
Um, but the situation for the local population is not much, uh, better.
And now, if you look at, uh, at them,
probably, you know, over 70 around 70% of the local population
as well doesn't have some
fish
sufficient foods, you know, to
to to eat uh,
Now, we're now we're doing the assessments. Uh, you know, not only
in the east world. These, uh, refugees are coming, but in the whole country.
And unfortunately,
you know the preliminary results. You know, um, don't
don't give us any any positive, uh, hope, uh,
in the sense that the situation is is likely to get a worse. Uh,
you know, people are affected by the impact of climate prices,
the global economic shocks that are seeing two prices and fuel prices coming up,
declining agricultural productions,
intercommunal tensions.
Now on top of that, unfortunately, and we also have a population over 200,000,
you know, internally displaced people in the east, which we can no longer support.
and we have already had to stop assistance to them,
including refugees from the Central African Republic. They come
in Nigeria,
and, uh, very shortly, we will have to
stop assisting additional 1.4 million people unless we receive, uh,
human
needs. And they're quite quite fast. They're quite soon, um,
and I will, uh, probably stop here. Consider the amount of time and I would be
very glad to answer any questions.
Thank you.
Thank you. for that update. And we are aware of the
humanitarian emergency that seems to be escalating in Sudan.
I
can see a couple of hands already. Peter. Kenny.
Yeah. Thanks for taking my question. Uh, could you just elaborate a little bit more
on the reasons, Uh, for these, uh, cuts that you envisage? Is this, uh,
due to the, um,
the situation in in Palestine and Israel or, uh, was this planned before? Thank you.
Ok, thank you so much. Um,
now, just to
to to to say that,
you know, for the next six months, you know, our
financial needs count to $185 million. Uh, now, that might might sound, uh,
you know, a a
high figure, but we are dealing with, uh,
with a million of people
in need of, uh, food assistance and nutrition. Nutritional assistance?
Yes, indeed. The situation was already dire
before
they started, but definitely we have had a decrease of pledges,
you know, since other crisis started and and not, uh, including including gases.
So that's definitely
not helping much,
But unfortunately, we don't have the choice here
to stop assistance. Uh, the country is already
very fragile.
and it's the only stable country in the region
if you look at all the neighbouring countries,
Uh,
you know, unless
you know,
challenges and displaced people and refugees
host but the country required system,
there's a risk of destabilising
the the the whole region.
Thank you.
OK. Regional destabilisation Also a major factor
to take into account. Catherine.
Thank you, Daniel. Uh, and thank you to the gentleman for his briefing.
Uh, Daniel, um, this is more a question to you. I think,
um uh, Sudan has addressed a letter
to the SG about one week ago to inform them, uh,
that he informed UN that they've decided to terminate the UN mission
in Sudan.
and, um, I'd like to have, um
um, a reaction on that. I haven't seen any.
Uh, and of course, um, I suppose that it will have an impact
on the humanitarian support. Also,
Um, I don't I suppose that Mister Anaika
pai
cannot comment this.
Um but maybe you D
could, um,
tell me, uh, what has been the reaction of UN of another country
meaning Sudan deciding to terminate
on the UN mission on their territory.
Thank you, Don.
I'm sorry to disappoint Catrin.
I can't see any reaction,
at least in yesterday's noon from New York.
If I get something, I will, of course, pass it on to you.
I
don't know that the Security Council is scheduled to discuss this.
Even I can see from their programme of work that today
they'll be talking about the 17 01 resolution. So that's Lebanon,
then Ukraine,
tomorrow on the Middle East.
But nothing on the mission in Sudan, I'm afraid, but I will. I will ask and
hopefully get you something that's useful.
What? Did you have any other questions? Kathrine?
Uh, no, no, in fact, it it was just to tell you that it was a letter
that had been sent one week ago on 16 November
from the Sudanese authorities,
uh, to the representative of UN to say that they wanted to terminate
the UN
mission in Sudan. So, um, if I'm not mistaken, it was It took place on the 16th,
1 week ago. Thank you, Dan.
Thank you. I will follow up.
so I see no further questions on Sudan.
I'm going to say thank you very much indeed to Mr Pai
for joining us this morning
and updating us. Please stay in touch on Sudan.
Bye bye. Now
we'll move on to our last topic, which is
the impact of Pakistan orders for undocumented foreigners to leave the country.
And many of them
many hundreds of thousands of them are Afghans.
So to
start us
off, we'll
have a quick chat with Shaa
Manto.
And she's going to be introducing Philippa Candler,
who is the UNHCR
UN refugee agency representative in Pakistan and then afterwards, it
from the UN Migration Agency. I
will follow up
over to you.
Uh, Philippa,
Thank you.
Um, I just wanted to say Philippa is joining us from Islamabad.
And she's the UN HCR UN refugee agency. Uh, representative there.
So over to Philippa. Thank you.
Thank you very much. And good morning to everyone from Islamabad.
And this morning,
UN HCR is raising concerns over Pakistan's
announcement for undocumented foreigners to leave Pakistan.
The announcement,
which is also referred as the illegal foreigners repatriation plan, um,
has adversely affected Afghan nationals, um, living here in Pakistan, including
registered refugees and others with valid documents,
even though the focus is very much on undocumented, um,
people
since the announcement which took place on the third of October 2023.
We've seen over 370,000 people who've returned to Afghanistan,
and many of these have done so,
um, in a lot of haste and in fear,
because we've been seeing witnessing an exponential increase in arrests
here in detentions and also in deportations of Afghans.
Mass arrivals back to Afghanistan are, of course,
adding to the ongoing humanitarian crisis.
Winter temperatures are already starting to dip in some locations, the minimum
already reaches minus four
°C
and many of the Afghan returnees are vulnerable and include women and Children who
could lose their lives in a harsh winter if left without adequate shelter.
Because of this, um, here in Pakistan,
UN HCR is asking for a halt to the returns over the winter period,
which also has a precedent because we
do halt our voluntary repatriation programme,
which has been ongoing for a number of years.
Um, but that always stops over the winter period as well.
Um, in the last two weeks, I've visited different locations in Pakistan,
meeting with Afghans on the move as well as with local authorities.
Afghans have shared some of what they've been through
and are still going through stories of threats,
evictions and arrests in some cases.
And the atmosphere of fear and uncertainty has compelled many to decide to leave.
Um, sometimes after decades living here, and many people, uh,
Afghans living here have of course been born
here and have never actually lived in Afghanistan.
I've also heard about families not moving out of their houses
in the current climate and not sending their Children to school.
And of course, this all creates a sense of panic in the in the community.
Um, even though registered Afghan refugees are exempt from the government's plan,
the announcement has still created a lot of stress even for this population.
And many of them are also packing up to leave, um,
and reporting incidences of harassment and evictions
and threats of evictions as well.
Um, from our perspective,
UNHCR is urging the government of Pakistan to put in place a screening mechanism
to identify individuals who are in need of international protection.
Um, and we're willing to lend our support to this to the government,
also recognising the legitimate concerns of the
government to manage undocumented foreigners And that,
coupled with our request to halt the operation over the winter,
are our two main asks of the government of Pakistan.
And of course,
it also creates a major humanitarian challenge for
our colleagues in Afghanistan who are already overwhelmed,
especially after the recent series of earthquakes in Herat.
And I hear that I own colleague is there, and we'll brief more on that.
Um, so perhaps on that note, I'll I'll conclude there also in the interests of time,
but happy to answer any questions back to you.
Thank you very much, Philippa. So,
before we go to any questions,
I'll hand over to Tai
from the UN Migration Agency on the same topic. Thanks.
Uh, thank you, Daniel. Uh, good morning, colleagues.
Uh, so, as as we've heard from from our colleagues in the
UNHCR, the numbers that we are looking at now are over 374,000
that have left Pakistan in the last. Uh, I would say in the past two months,
but I'll focus mostly on, um
what is happening when they arrive in in Afghanistan.
Uh, so far, we've seen an increase from around 200
daily uh, crossings up to 17,000 now, and we expect that this will increase.
Uh, since the the the November the first deadline was set,
Uh,
in the last week or so, we've seen 45,000, uh, arriving
and our chief of mission in Afghanistan, Maria Moya,
was at the border with the humanitarian coordinator,
uh, in the past week and she was able to meet some of the people who are crossing over.
And, uh, this certainly is is is a as we've heard from, uh, my UN HCR colleague, uh,
huge humanitarian crisis
where I think we are looking at a situation
where people have left with with really nothing much,
uh, people who had savings, people had properties, people who had
something that they they could hold on to living very, very quickly,
without any any any chance to to gather their belongings.
So we are looking at a situation where they are also going back into a country,
as we heard earlier,
that is already facing, uh, a lot of other challenges.
We're looking at over 6 million
displaced people within the country,
and the needs are quite immense.
Uh, we are working with our UN and international NGO partners
to ensure that we can provide as much help as we can. And this includes,
uh, looking at just covering the basic, uh, needs such as shelter, uh, protection,
healthcare.
Uh, and in some cases, some cash, um, to help them, uh,
as as best as possible, settling back to Afghanistan as we've heard,
some of them have not actually lived in Afghanistan at all.
They've born and bred and grew up in Pakistan.
We are also looking at, in particular, at the situation of women and girls.
I think according to the statistics that we have, uh, over 52% are women and girls.
So, as you know, the situation in Afghanistan, you can imagine, uh,
girls who have been attending school in
Pakistan now going back to Afghanistan where they
probably would not have access.
So that's certainly an issue of concern amongst many others.
We
are working, as I said,
with our UN partners and international NGO S to
try and provide as much support as possible.
But we do need more
attention from the international community to make sure that all the needs, uh,
of these, um uh, returnees are met.
And, of course, we expect that the numbers will continue to increase,
as we also know that, uh, we get, uh, we also have returns from Iran.
And in recent weeks, we've We've also seen,
uh, returns, uh, coming in from
Toka.
I think I'll stop there. Thank you.
Thank you very much. It
and
just let me see if there are any questions. Yes, I see some questions, buddy.
Thank you for next. TV.
Uh, probable. I miss a
part from your speech. That
is that the long term concerning of, uh, IO,
or is that just a new response from you?
Uh, do you have a complete, uh, report on this issue? Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Yes, we we We have, uh, a response that has been ongoing since this all started.
I think we just shared a press note.
Uh, please reach out to me if you haven't received it.
There's also a link which actually shows more detailed, uh, numbers,
uh, from the past two months. Uh, but it's an ongoing response.
And as I mentioned earlier,
our chief of mission in country has been to
the two border crossings and will likely um uh,
return again as the needs, uh, continue to increase.
We do have a very active team in Afghanistan,
so, you know,
within the the restrictions that we may face in terms of
how we can get directly to the populations that need support.
But we are definitely on the ground.
Thank you very much. Uh, question from me Far.
Uh, yeah. Thank you.
In the context of these forced returns,
I'm wondering if you're coordinating at all with Taliban officials.
and I'm also wondering if you have any concerns about them maybe screening
returnees as they go back across the border. Um,
possibly looking for political opponents or
minorities and whether that's something that you're worried about. Thanks a lot.
Thank you very much. II.
I can't speak definitively on on on on how we are cooperating or working, uh,
with the relevant authorities on the ground.
But all I know is that we we do have, uh,
access in terms of providing support to to
the populations that require the immediate support that,
uh, we can certainly see is is is increasing by the day.
Uh, I would certainly say that, uh, within the UN Uh, country country team.
Of course, we have quite a consortium.
Uh, I think they're calling it the border consortium,
which includes several UN agencies, including UN, HCRWFP, UNICEF
and others. Plus, uh, you know, international NGO S like save the Children.
Uh, DRC and NRC who are working collectively to provide the support.
So in terms of coordinations, I think, um uh,
we we do have a a great A very good set up on the ground,
which to me again I can I can always go back and get more information on this,
Uh, implies that we do have the access,
maybe, or some of the access that we need.
Uh, and that can only happen, I think, through the
the, uh, the Taliban or the de facto authorities there.
Thank you very much. No follow ups.
Philippa, would you like to say something on behalf of the UN refugee agency
to end?
Um, thank you very much.
No,
I just wanted to add to the point about the screening because one of the
big concerns that we have is that
amongst the undocumented population here in Pakistan,
we have a lot of arrivals.
Who who came to Pakistan um,
after August 2021
um, and and amongst those, there are people who could be at risk of of of
to themselves should they be forced to go back to Afghanistan.
We have received assurances by the authorities here
in Pakistan that they're not going to be,
um, targeting, um, such groups it
includes, but by no means is exhaustive ethnic and religious minorities,
certain professions, human rights activists, journalists, kinds of profiles.
so we've received assurances that they will
not be targeted by this repatriation ban.
Um, but nevertheless,
that's another reason why we're appealing to have some kind of screening process.
Because obviously,
um, there is a risk in the absence of any formal, um,
commitments that they may end up being returned or some of them may,
And that would we would.
None of us would like to see that happening.
Thank you.
Thank you very much. Indeed. Philip Ocala,
joining us from Islamabad and
and
for being here,
I
think that ends the item on the Afghan
returnees just to respond quickly to
Kathrine's question on the letter from the government of Sudan,
which I see now was confirmed.
The receipt was confirmed by the
UN Secretary general's spokesperson last Friday at
the noon briefing and he did confirm the receipt of the letter
to terminate units,
which is the UN Independent Transition Assistance
Mission in Sudan. It was set up by the Security Council in June 2020.
The secretary general has appointed a special review
on behalf of the Security Council to decide how the mission can be
adapted, and I believe that the
mission was due to end its current mandate in early December.
The
third,
If I am not mistaken,
just bear with and I will see if I can just find that date
quickly.
I can't quickly find it, so if I find it, I will share it with you.
And indeed, what I can do is I can share the
link
to the letter and
the
the reservation. The confirmation from the
security
from the secretary general's spokesperson in the chat Now,
if you want to see his exact response,
so we're going to end,
but not before we have Rosalind
Yard from the International Labour Organisation with
some important information about health and safety.
The World Congress on Occupational Safety and Health
Good morning, everyone.
Um
Yes, The I will be publishing a new Occupational Safety and Health Report on Monday,
27th of November,
which includes latest estimates on deaths due
to work related accidents and diseases.
The report includes an analysis of the factors leading to deaths in the workplace,
a breakdown by gender as well as a regional overview and comparisons.
It also outlines the ILO's new global strategy on
occupational safety and Health for 2024 to 2030.
The report will be issued to coincide with the opening of
the 23rd World Congress on Safety and Health at Work,
which is one of the largest international conferences on
this subject that will take place in Sydney,
Australia, on 27 to 30 November.
It will be presented at the conference, which is organised by the ILO.
The International Social Security Association is
the government of Australia and Safe Work, New South Wales,
and this Congress brings together more than 4000 industry leaders,
policy makers and specialists.
So we'll be sending you an embargoed press release and the report on Thursday,
23rd November
and the embargo will lift on Monday. The 20 sorry on Sunday, the 26th of November,
and it's at 11 p.m. It's the Sunday and I realise that
it's an odd time and it's probably not ideal for you.
But this is because of the location of the conference in Australia.
So if you need further information, please write to me or to newsroom at Ilo.org.
Many thanks indeed. Ross Lynd.
I'm just looking for questions there from those who are with us and I see none,
but I should take the opportunity.
Christiane.
Yes,
I might have cut you short. You might have been wanting to say the same thing.
I just learned that it's Rosalind's last briefing here,
and I wanted to say to you, on behalf of our colleagues, Heartfelt. Thanks.
We were always very well served by your
office and
your help. Thank you
so
much.
You need to activate your mic.
But just before you do,
let me say that that sentiment is shared by
everyone at the UN Information Service here in Geneva.
And more widely, I'm sure
by all the all your colleagues and we will miss you and wish you a happy retirement.
I understand.
Yes. So please stay in touch and tell us about your adventures.
Yes.
Yeah, That was one of the reasons that was my second notification.
Actually that Yes, I am. Indeed.
I'll be taking my retirement from the ILO on the 30th of November.
So that's next, uh, next Thursday.
And my successor will be, um, Zaina
Award.
Um, who's a former Al Jazeera presenter.
And she's also worked for the BBC, CNN, CBC and T RT.
And so she'll be taking up her post as chief of news and Media on the 11th of December,
And then the interim Sophie Sophie Fisher, who you know, will be covering for me.
So any inquiries, please write to newsroom at IO.ORG.
And for me, it's also been a pleasure working with you over these last years.
I am staying in the area,
Um, so you may well bump into me. Um, but in a different capacity.
So thank you very much.
Great. Thank you very much indeed,
Rosalind. And yes, we will miss you. So
thank you very much for brightening up our briefings.
I have a few other things to say quickly
that on
the
that we are launching and we are partnering and happy to tell you about the 27.
November
Orange The world event, which is 16 days of activism to end violence against
women.
And this will be from 12 until 1230
on the 27
which will be at Door 40
building E here at the Palais
in NAC
so that 16 days of activism
and the hashtag is orange,
the
world we say no to violence against women and girls.
For more information, just go to your favourite search engine.
And very finally, just a few announcements about meetings are ongoing
at the Pala
National or Further AEL at Paly
Wilson
Committee Against Torture is closing its 78th session
on Friday morning
with concluding observations on six countries Burundi, Costa Rica,
Kiribati, Denmark,
Egypt and Slovenia.
The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
is ending on 8 December and the country under review this week.
Bolivia this afternoon
and tomorrow afternoon, Morocco
now and tomorrow morning Germany, South Africa, Bulgaria
and Vietnam
this week and next,
so
I don't see any other questions.
I'm going to thank you very much for your time this morning.
It's a lengthy briefing, so I'm sure we could
take the opportunity to stretch our legs. Thank you very much. Have a good day