UNOG RUSH NEWS Briefing 21NOV2023

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UNOG RUSH NEWS Briefing 21NOV2023

1:21:30

MP4

4.8 GB

05-11-2023

Press Conferences | UNICEF , WHO

UNOG RUSH NEWS Briefing 21NOV2023

ENG ESP FRA العربية

Shotlist Story

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

[Other language spoken]

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.

[Other language spoken]

Maybe we'll get that over and done with quickly, if that's OK.

Shabia, can we, can we patch you through if you can hear us?

[Other language spoken]

Happy to do so.

So just wanted to to remind everyone that the Global Refugee Forum will be taking place 13th to 15th of December at Palexpo in Geneva.

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, other regional organisations and local authorities, civil society, faith-based and sports organisations, academics, other experts and others.

So we will be confirming which dignitaries will be attending closer to the event.

But we do expect a broad and interesting line up.

And for media representatives permanently accredited to Eunog who possess a blue badge with a white P for press.

And you are still required to register via Indigo.

And this is due to the forum taking place at Pell Expo 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 access to a dedicated press room, side events and press conferences.

And seats in the plenary for the 1st morning will be limited.

And we will be operating a poor system for interested media.

All plenaries after 3:00 PM on 13th of December will be open to all.

So media attendance at the ***** and ceremony, the announcement award ceremony, as you know, which will be taking place in the first evening will also be at PAL Expo 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, details on logistics rather closer to the event.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you very much, Shabbier.

OK, many questions on the UN Refugee Forum.

[Other language spoken]

OK, we'll move on to Rosalind Yard.

[Other language spoken]

Oh, no, sorry.

[Other language spoken]

I see plenty of hands.

[Other language spoken]

Good morning, Shabby.

I was wondering, firstly if the **** Commissioner will give a press conference ahead of the beginning of the event to set the scene.

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 **** Commissioner talk brief us.

And you just mentioned we just need to go online 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.

[Other language spoken]

We will be confirming details of of any other press events.

[Other language spoken]

And for the second one about registration, yes, it will require registration via Indico.

So we do need, I think they they do require a letter assignment and ID and photo, but do get in touch with us in case there are any issues and we can also help support with that.

[Other language spoken]

We'll let you know if we get any press conferences.

It would be very welcome.

Of course, Jamie.

[Other language spoken]

Could you just tell us what the stakes are for this meeting, what's really up for discussion and what's going to be the big breakthrough?

[Other language spoken]

So this is, I mean, this is the world's only, you know, largest gathering of, of on refugee issues.

So we'll look at the current refugee situation, take stock, look at solutions and pledges and really garner momentum and support.

So we, you know, we'll, we'll also be in touch closer to the event with more details, but to confirm details of, of attendees and, and all other arrangements.

But it is, it's, it's a hugely significant event, the one of its kind in the world and it's held every four years.

So it's, you know, you're familiar with the first one.

So, and a lot has really changed in the last four years.

We've been through the, the COVID pandemic, we've seen, you know, other conflicts erupt, but we've also seen great progress on solutions.

So it will really take stock of the global situation, the global displacement and refugee picture.

[Other language spoken]

Nice to see you.

My my question is regarding the Nansen Refugee Award.

Is it going to take place on the 13th of December?

Please could you confirm the date and you just mentioned that you will share details about 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 the list or an approximate list of VIPs that are going to join?

[Other language spoken]

Thanks Catherine.

We you know, I will, we'll have to check and see you know if we have a sort of a rough timeline, but we will definitely be in touch and we'll provide you with those details, you know, whatever information we're able to share as soon as we can.

But we will be also communicating quite regularly.

As I mentioned, I will be sending other advisories closer to to the date and then on on the Nats and logistics as well.

We'll come back to that.

But just to say that the media attendance at this area ceremony will take place on the first evening of the GRF and that will also be at but we will come back to you with with further details on on that as well.

[Other language spoken]

Yeah, I have actually.

It's on the Nansen Awards because the last few years the the UNHCR restricted the access of number of media who could follow the enhancement awards.

So I'm wondering if that's 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 UNHCR?

[Other language spoken]

The Nansen award ceremony, the media attendance will be pulled.

But as I mentioned, we can come back to you with further details.

And the Global Refugee Forum it is, it is Co convened by by other states as well.

But it's really an event that brings together I mean the international community and we talk about the whole of society.

But we can also come back to you with further details.

John Shaw offline by e-mail.

[Other language spoken]

Many thanks, Shabia.

OK, I think you've answered all questions.

I and any follow-ups, please.

Please deal directly with Shabia at the UN refugee agency.

[Other language spoken]

There's people in the room.

Shabia, please don't go away.

[Other language spoken]

I just wanted to ask if there will be any room for discussions about Palestinian refugees at this event.

I know that you and ATR and you know are usually are distinct from each other, but it would be interesting to know what what kind of focus there might be on the Palestinian issue.

[Other language spoken]

Well, the Global Refugee Forum, it's held with through sort of coke and bean or supported by by UNHCR.

So we will be looking at solutions for refugees, but also momentum.

But it is you know, as we as we are aware, it's really about the the refugees that are also that are supported and also under that come under Unhcr's mandate it so it is very much focused on that.

But we will also be in touch if there are any further details on on the the questions you mentioned before the the event.

[Other language spoken]

OK, right, fine.

[Other language spoken]

So that has dealt with the Global Refugee Forum beginning the 15th at PAL Expo.

So I don't think that Rosalind Yard is is quite ready to 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 on with an update, I hope on the dire and deadly water and sanitation situation for youngsters and all those in Gaza.

Over to you, James.

[Other language spoken]

Hi, good morning, everyone.

Yeah, 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 ****** of mass disease outbreak.

This of course would be lethal.

It's important to remember as well that the the threshold from 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 if we're going to prevent water board and other infectious diseases.

Yet there are parts of Gaza now, particularly in the north, where as many as around 700,000 people 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.

That is to control whether thousands, perhaps 10s 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 hellscape.

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 desperately, often vainly, seeking, seeking refuge in very densely overpopulated shelters.

On average, there is one shower unit for 700 people at UNRWA shelters, 1 to 700 people, a single toilet for 150.

[Other language spoken]

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 them on top of the mortars 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 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 5, in addition to increase in scabies, lice, chicken, posh chicken, pox rather and respiratory infections.

So to finish what must happen?

Three things.

One, commit 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 provides 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 and indifferent world will watch the death of countless children in Gaza.

[Other language spoken]

So, and just to reiterate the crisis there yesterday, you'll have heard the Secretary General 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 Linmar 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 Hussain, who's the UN agency's chief economist, joining us now from Rome.

Over to you, Arif.

[Other language spoken]

Hello everybody.

Yeah, I was just wondering how how to to build on what James was saying in in what food programme.

[Other language spoken]

I've always been an analysis and one of the things which we do whenever there's a disaster, whenever there's war shock of any kind, we'd try to answer like quite basic questions.

And those questions are first and foremost what happened, how many people were affected, how are they affected, what type of assistance they require and 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, and 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 1,000,000 children are affected.

[Other language spoken]

Mortality, over 12,068% of that women and children.

And then we come into specifics.

Specifics of how are they affected.

One basic thing, food since 7th of October till about last week.

That's 15th of November.

That's the time for which I have the data.

[Other language spoken]

That's just 15% of what should have happened.

Only 15%.

Most of the bakeries are shut down.

[Other language spoken]

Because they're destroyed or there's no energy or there's no water.

Food inflation is on the rise.

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.

[Other language spoken]

You heard already from James.

I can disagree then other thing, Idps 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 that James 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.

[Other language spoken]

Gaza, West Bank, they rely on remittances, 4.1 billion in 2022, which is about 20% of 22% of the GDP that may be coming in, but the disbursement 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 182,000 jobs there.

We also look at the spill overs of this into the West Bank.

We had an estimated 24% of employment or 208,000 jobs have been lost over the same.

Then we get into housing, 45% of houses, housing units are reportedly destroyed or damaged on their 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 BFB is doing.

We have assisted about 600 and 764,000 people.

Since this started in Gaza and West Bank, 704,000 in Gaza and 60,000 in West Bank 5, 150,000 displaced people in UN designated shelters have been reached so far with 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 Rafa.

That's not going to happen.

We need more border points, entry points, 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, till people are able to go back and start to rebuild their lives.

I'll stop here.

[Other language spoken]

Yes, thank you very much, Mr Hussain.

If you wouldn't mind, I'll just like to pass the floor to Christian Linmayer from the World Health Organisation.

Then we can take questions together if that's OK Actually, thank you.

But I'm ready to to answer any questions.

So let's do that one.

How about that?

[Other language spoken]

Yes, thank you and thank you for the for the briefing.

If you can't send please your notes, Assad, because there is a lot of data, especially about the inflation.

And if you can send it so that we can use all the goods data that you provide.

[Other language spoken]

And John Zaracostas, you're online.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you for the updates.

Firstly, I'd like to ask James.

James, we've seen in many conflicts in in Yemen, in Syria, in Ukraine, water systems targeted by the combatants.

How many water systems have been targeted in 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?

[Other language spoken]

Thanks, John, very much.

So I don't know on targeting because it would imply I can certainly get your number on on.

Well, I will try to get your number on how many have been hit, I'm unsure.

[Other language spoken]

We are as all conflicts working with all parties.

But you're dead right on water supplies.

There was particularly I'll share you data recently on 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 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 as being as being damaged in a lot of ways.

So it's not spreading around.

Whereas in the North there are no distribution networks.

People are having to provide their own fuel to try and get water or mostly, mostly to buy fuel to buy water, 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 been so far been restricted.

And yes, we're 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 James hinted at, one of the main issues is actually the the lack of power for the for the pumping stations and the desalina tion plants.

So that's the real attack here, depriving the system of power of fuel.

Hence they cannot run the desalina tion plants which are necessary because most of the freshwater which would be there is, is infiltrated by by salinated seawater.

As you also know, we had the reports about the, the, the last remaining fresh wet the 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, 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, on electricity.

[Other language spoken]

I wanted to ask about the diseases that you're you're worried about, especially perhaps cholera.

If there have been any indications of cholera.

I know that that's something you've been worried about it, but if you've seen any evidence that that cholera might be spreading in the situation and then for Christian, that could also be for Christian, but for Christian.

I was also wondering if you could say a little bit about the evacuations that are going on now of of hospitals, if the AL Shifa evacuation is complete and also about the Indonesian hospital, which is also being evacuated, if you have any more details about how that's going.

[Other language spoken]

We just need to unmute you.

Sorry.

Then.

[Other language spoken]

I'll defer to Christian there only.

It has been and remains Chora has been and remains our great fear.

There have been so many things in Gaza that become lethal and game changers for children, 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 whether there's been any trace over.

Thank you, James and Christian.

[Other language spoken]

So what we have so far is let me start this one 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 care with almost no fault, 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 onerous schools and other people also crammed 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 5 in the in the last years.

So compared to now 49,000 which is an immense increase, it's actually a 1431 times increase among the under 5 year olds and 100 times increase among the above 5 year olds as compared to 2022.

We already have over 1000 cases of chicken pox over the 17,000 cases of skin infections and infectations, infestations like scabies and others, lice for example.

Of course in these conditions we also have clinically traced hepatitis A that has been reported could not be lab confirmed because the laboratory also is out of function, out of fuel, out of electricity.

But on top of that, we have the thousands of 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, 180 born everyday 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 Shifa is not yet completely evacuated.

But let me start differently again here.

W Joe'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 and the doctors and the nurses.

It means robbing the entire population of that area of the last resort to go to, to seek healthcare, the last resort of humanity when you're injured, when you have a regular 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.

On top of it, we have about 20 patients who need dialysis treatment.

They need to be evacuated in specialised care and specialised equipment with the accompanying medical staff.

We have over 50, 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 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 and 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 coordination 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 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 evacuation and as much as I know, also the Al Harabi hospital.

So we're looking at 3 hospitals right now in the north that ask to be evacuated.

But again, the important point is where to There's no safe space.

There aren't.

The only places they can go to right now are non specialised hospitals in the South, non specialised hospitals that are overcrowded already, that are struggling to care, 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 **** 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.

[Other language spoken]

Yeah, 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 when 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, an end to the fighting.

And he said that it's essential that after the war we move into a determined irreversible way to A2 state solution.

It also means that after the war, and this is his opinion, he believed it's important that after the war of war that today 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 Christian, just on the thank you for the details on the evacuations on cholera.

I was just wondering, I know you mentioned the diarrhoea cases and the great increase in those.

Do you do you suspect that cholera is spreading in Gaza and is there any way to actually determine that to test for it?

[Other language spoken]

So cholerae haven't seen in Gaza yet simply because it needs the introduction of the Vibrio cholerae the the 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 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 none different than cholera.

Let's let's face that.

And 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 Fudge, 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, still coming under attack?

And then more broadly on the babies, there is a lot of interest in, in those 31.

Is there any update on those that were left behind?

The three, are they, what state are they in currently?

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?

How is that process going?

Thanks very much.

So on the hospital, I understood itself, Harabi, I hope I'm right with this one, but we're talking about 3 and I I beg lack of information in case it's it's different.

But so yeah, the the evocation was asked for by staff in these hospitals and planning is ongoing.

But again, it needs a lot of coordination.

It needs a lot of planning, it needs a lot of transport facilities.

It needs peace at least on the convoy route.

It needs constant coordination during the convoy routing in order to know exactly where the convoy is.

So that the so-called de conflicting is important, is the most important actually.

And then it is the, the safe transport of the, of the of the patients.

But so far that's only in, in planning stages and with no further details on the little ones.

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.

[Other language spoken]

You had another question.

Reuniting.

It was it was for James.

[Other language spoken]

So, yeah, the, the 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 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 would only say as well, just to reiterate what Christian was alluding to, that Schieffer 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 we're now a solid 2 weeks since those first attacks on cheaper hospitals.

[Other language spoken]

And ahead of another 1500 children reportedly killed since Sheepa started dominating the airwaves.

[Other language spoken]

There's no follow-ups apart from Christian or Rick has a question for.

[Other language spoken]

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?

[Other language spoken]

I'm also looking at James if he has more information, sorry, I absolutely I do.

But I want to get it exact.

So as soon as this is over, I'm in Cairo and I walk 5 minutes, 5 minutes to to a colleague.

And then I'll give that exact breakdown on the back of the foot of my briefing note, which will be number of babies, where they are, 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 5 minutes till after this briefing, it, it will be yours.

Thank you, James, and thank you for sharing your notes in advance.

John's our cost, just you've been waiting patiently.

[Other language spoken]

I was wondering, Christian, if 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 the interagency fact finding mission to Al Shifa?

Was it Doctor Rick Peppercorn or or who was it that led it?

[Other language spoken]

Yeah, I'll, I really, they, they quoted a lot of figures before, So I'll share these notes afterwards.

We'll send them from from us and we'll also share them here with the, with the colleagues at the UN.

We'll go so far as to say it was a senior emergency health emergency officer.

We are not naming colleagues who were involved in the operation for obvious reasons.

Sorry for that, John.

[Other language spoken]

It's basically a question for all agencies present.

There's there has been much talk about a possible humanitarian ceasefire for a couple of days 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 possible upcoming short period of time?

[Other language spoken]

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 from Orchard to see about the supplies coming in.

But what we do know is that the UN has been ready for for a while with the supplies lined up outside of Gaza.

Down in Rafa, the Egyptian Red Crescent Society has been instrumental in getting everything ready.

The referral hospitals in terms of medical supplies are ready.

The Irish hospital with all lines set up.

The airports have been bringing in supplies over and order.

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, these equipment and the trucks inside 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.

[Other language spoken]

Beg your pardon?

Yes, Mohammed from Honolulu.

My question for WHO?

Like one hour ago, Gaza Health Ministry.

Health ministry explained that all hospital in northern Gaza Strip went out of service.

Also, coordination is under the underway to evacuate Indonesia Hospital.

I was wondering what's your comment on that and what is the next plan?

What could be the next plan for the patients in the region?

[Other language spoken]

I'm sorry, could you repeat the first part again?

Gaza Health Ministry explained it like one hour ago.

All hospital in northern Gaza went out of service.

[Other language spoken]

I think yesterday also the the colleagues Mike Ryan and Rob Holden clarified at 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.

Look after the 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 by destroying or disabling the sewage system, robbed also of humanity.

Then came the bombings in homes, schools, unrushed 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 on the South of Gaza.

Then came the bombing and the attacks of the hospitals and now no more hospital is functioning in the north.

Colleagues from MSF have been reporting that they were attacked too.

One of the last resorts there.

So taking away healthcare 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 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.

[Other language spoken]

Rather Well, I can.

I'll do both on the premature babies.

So 28 came into Egypt yesterday, 7 mothers.

There were only 7 mothers.

7 mothers accompanied 8 babies.

That's the one of those mother was a mother of twin twins leaving twenty of those premature babies who are unaccompanied.

So of those 2816 are at Al Rish Hospital and 12 have been moved to the new administrative capital that the the new capital UNICEF is supporting a range of medical supplies through the Ministry of Health that includes of course, therapeutic milk.

Therapeutic milk.

[Other language spoken]

I, I believe there's going to be a request for some written confirmation of that information.

[Other language spoken]

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?

[Other language spoken]

In short, I will get the exact answer in a very quick briefing this morning.

I was told there were definitely some parents who we're unable to come, but let me give you exact language unless Christian has it.

I'll add it to the e-mail which will have the briefing note.

[Other language spoken]

Right.

I see no further comments from any of the agency's 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 Pasili, are you with us?

Enrico, Before we go to you, Enrico, do you mind if I just take a quick question from Jamie Keaton?

[Other language spoken]

Sorry about that.

Could either James or Christian or Mr Adif, if he's still there, just tell us what, if any, information you have about the prospects of a ceasefire and and a release of hostages and what that would mean if there is a ceasefire for humanitarian operations.

[Other language spoken]

James, do you wish to say anything?

[Other language spoken]

I mean, we can only report what we're seeing that you've seen on the news in terms of what came out of the White House late last night, our time.

The humanitarian ceasefire is so critical because of course, it allows people actual safety, which they haven't had since the 7th of October.

Getting that, then it's important not just about getting supplies in.

And as Christian said, all the agencies, and I want this, that 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 unimpeded the supplies we get in.

In that briefing and I just mentioned, for example, water is so critical 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 at nauseam for the last two weeks, but it's not just fuel.

There's been such devastation to those desalina tion plants that we need all that dual use equipment and that so far has been prevented from coming in.

So humanitarian ceasefire has to be supported with with both unimpeded access and full ability to get in the the equipment that we know is essential, whether it's medicines or whether it's generators over.

[Other language spoken]

So thank you for all of those important additions to the topic and we will of course keep keep watching and hope to get the notes from all of those present today as quickly as possible.

[Other language spoken]

So the Mr Pasili, if you're, if you can hear me, I think you are online from the World Food Programme.

You're calling in from Gemena and another alert now from the Sudan about refugees crossing into Chad and real concern that your assistance may have to end.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you, Daniel, and good morning, everybody.

Yes, I'm calling from Chad where unfortunately we are witnessing yet another humanitarian trauma.

Now the Chad is now hosting all by medium refugees, mostly from Sudan.

It's one of the largest, fastest growing refugee population in, in Africa.

Now over the past six months is the beginning of the country.

The number of refugees have basically doubled in, in, in in the countries.

And yes, indeed, you know, you know, this includes over 450,000 refugees, but also some, you know, Chadian that came, came back.

And now this is unfortunately very, very, you know, that is very difficult for us as well to, to respond to.

I mean, just to give us a few numbers and likely 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 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 age 7, the other one was age 9.

So we asked them where 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?

Basically the answer was, well, we don't, we don't remember.

And, and this unfortunately, you know us to already, you know, multiple and overlapping crisis that Shab is, is, is fighting.

And now if I can just 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, acute food insecure situation and over 1.3 million children suffering from from malnutrition.

They look at the east only where the Sudanese refugees are, you know, 90% of the population as well.

We call very poor food consumption.

But the situation for the local population is not much better.

Now, if you look at Birmingham, probably, you know, over 70, around 70% of the local population, as well as an absent fish for fishing foods, you know, to, to, to eat.

Now we're now we're doing the assessments, you know, not only in the Easter world, these refugees are coming, but in the whole country.

And unfortunately, you know, the preliminary results, you know, don't, don't give us any, any positive hope in the sense that the situation is is likely to get a worse.

You know, people are affected by the impact of climate crisis, the global economic shocks that are seeing fuel 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, internal 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 come everywhere in Nigeria.

And very shortly we will have to stop assisting an additional 1.4 million people unless we receive humanitarian aid.

And they're quite, quite fast, quite soon.

And I will probably stop here, consider the amount of time and I will be very glad to answer any questions.

[Other language spoken]

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.

[Other language spoken]

Yeah, thanks for taking my question.

Could you just elaborate a little bit more on the reasons for these cuts that you envisage?

Is this due to the, the situation in, in Palestine and Israel or was this plan before?

[Other language spoken]

Now just to, to, to, to say that, you know, for the next 6 months, you know, our financial needs count to 185, you know $1,000,000.

Now, they might might sound, you know, a **** figure, but we are dealing with with a million of people in need of food assistance and nutrition and Nutrition Assistance.

Yes, indeed the situation was already dire before they started.

But definitely we have had a decrease of pledges, you know, since other crises started and and not including improving gases.

So that's definitely not helping much.

But unfortunately we don't have the choice here to stop a system.

The country is already very fragile and it's the only stable country in the region.

If you look at all the neighbouring countries, you know, unless you know Chadians and displaced people and refugees host, but the country require the system, there's a risk of destabilising the the the whole region.

[Other language spoken]

Catherine Shankar, thank you, Daniel and thank you to the gentleman for his briefing.

Daniel, this is more a question to you.

I think Sudan has addressed a letter to the SG about one week ago to inform them that he informed UN that they've decided to terminate the UN mission in Sudan and I'd like to have.

A reaction on that, I haven't seen any.

And of course I suppose that it will have an impact on the humanitarian support also.

I don't, I suppose that Mister Eneko Pawzili cannot comment this, but maybe you then could tell me what has been the reaction of UN of another country, meaning Sudan deciding to terminate the UN mission on their territory.

Thank you, Dan, I'm sorry to disappoint Katherine.

I can't see any reaction, at least in yesterday's noon from 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 1701 resolution.

So that's Lebanon, then Ukraine tomorrow on the Middle East, but nothing on on the mission in Sudan, I'm afraid.

[Other language spoken]

I will ask and hopefully get you something that's useful.

But did you have any other questions, Katherine?

No, no, in fact, it it was just to tell you that it was a letter that had been sent one week ago on 16N from the Sudanese authorities to the representative of UN to say that they wanted to terminate the UN mission in Sudan.

So if I'm not mistaken, it was it took place on the 16th one week ago.

[Other language spoken]

I will follow up so I see no further questions on Sudan.

I'm going to say thank you very much indeed to to Mr Pasili for joining us this morning and updating us.

Please stay in touch on Sudan.

[Other language spoken]

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 to start us off, we'll have a quick chat with Shabbir Mantu and she's going to be introducing Philippa Candler, who is the UNHCRUN Refugee Agency representative in Pakistan and then afterwards Italy from the UN Migration Agency.

I will more follow up over to you, Philippa.

[Other language spoken]

I just wanted to say Philippa's joining us from Islamabad and she's the UNHCRUN Refugee Agency representative there.

So over to Philippa.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you very much and good morning to everyone from Islamabad.

And this morning, UNHCR 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, has adversely affected Afghan nationals living here in Pakistan, including registered refugees and others with valid documents.

Even though the focus is very much on undocumented people.

Since the announcement, which took place on the 3rd of October 2023, we've seen over 370,000 people who've returned to Afghanistan and many of these have done so 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 -4°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, here in Pakistan, UNHCR 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, but that always stops over the winter period as well.

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, sometimes after decades living here.

And many 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.

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 and reporting incidences of harassment and evictions and threats of evictions as well.

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.

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 her act.

And I hear that the I-1 colleague is there and we'll brief more on that.

So perhaps on that note, I'll I'll conclude there also in the interest 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.

[Other language spoken]

Good morning colleagues.

So as we've heard from from my colleagues in the UNHCR, the numbers that we're looking at now are over 374,000 that have left Pakistan in the last, I'll say in the past two months.

But I'll focus mostly on what is happening when they arrive in in Afghanistan.

So far we've seen an increase from around 200 a daily crossings up to 17,000 now.

And we expect that this will increase since the, the, the November the 1st deadline was set in the last week or so, we've seen 45,000 arriving.

And our Chief of mission in Afghanistan, Maria Moita was at the border with the humanitarian coordinator in the past week and she was able to meet some of the people who are crossing over.

And this certainly is, is, is a, as we've heard from my UNHCR colleague, huge humanitarian crisis where I think we're looking at a situation where people have left with, with really nothing much, people with savings, people with properties, people with something that they, they could hold on to.

We're living very, very quickly without any, any, any chance to, to gather their belongings.

So we're looking at a situation where they're also going back into a country, as you heard earlier, that is already facing a lot of other challenges.

We're looking at over 6,000,000 displaced people within the country and the needs are quite immense.

We're working with our UN and international NGO partners to ensure that we can provide as much help as we can.

And this includes looking at just covering the basic needs such as shelter, protection, healthcare, and in some cases some cash to help them as as best as possible Settling back to 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're also looking at in particular at the situation of women and girls.

I think according to the statistics that we have, over 52% are women and girls.

So as you know, the situation in Afghanistan, you can imagine girls who have been attending school in Pakistan now going back to Afghanistan where they probably will not have access.

So that's certainly an issue of of concern amongst many others.

We are working, as I said, with our UN partners and international NGOs 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 of these retainees are met.

And of course, we expect that the numbers will continue to increase as we also know that we get, we also have returns from Iran in in recent weeks, we've thought we've also seen returns coming in from Tokyo.

I think I'll stop there.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you very much, Itali.

And just let me see if there are any questions.

[Other language spoken]

Phoenix TV probable I miss apart from your speech that is that the long term concerning of IOM or is that just a new response from you?

Do you have a complex report on this issue?

[Other language spoken]

Thank you very much.

Yes, we, we, we have a response that has been ongoing since this all started.

I think we just shared a press note.

Please reach out to me if you haven't received it.

There's also a link which actually shows more detailed numbers from the past two months, but it's an ongoing response.

And as I mentioned earlier, our Chief of mission in country has been to the 2 border crossings and will likely return again as the needs that continue to increase.

We do have a very active team in, 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.

Question from Mohammed Faj.

[Other language spoken]

In the context of these force 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, possibly looking for political opponents or minorities and, and whether that's something that you're worried about.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you very much.

I, I, I can speak definitively on, on, on, on how we are cooperating or working with the relevant authorities on the ground.

But all I know is that we, we do have access in terms of providing support to, to the populations that require the immediate support that we can certainly see is, is, is increasing by the day.

I would certainly say that within the UN country, country team, of course, we have quite a consortium, I think they're calling it the Border consortium, which includes several UN agencies including UNHCRWFP, UNICEF and others.

Plus, you know, international NGOs like Save the Children, DRC and NRC who are working collectively to provide the supports.

So in terms of coordination, I think we, we do have a great, a very good setup on the ground, which to me again, again, I can always go back and get more information on this implies that we do have the access maybe or some of the access that we need.

And that can only happen I think through the the, the Taliban or the de facto authorities there.

Thank you very much.

[Other language spoken]

Philippa, would you like to say something on behalf of the UN refugee agency to end?

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 after August 2021.

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 on here in Pakistan that they're not going to be targeting such groups.

It includes, but by known it means is exhaustive ethnic and religious minorities, certain professions, human rights activists, journalists, those kinds of profiles.

So we've received assurances that they will not be targeted by this repatriation plan.

But nevertheless, that's another reason why we're appealing to have some kind of screening process because obviously there is a risk in the absence of any formal 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.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you very much indeed.

Philippa Campbell joining us from Islamabad and Andy Tai for being here.

I think that ends the item on the Afghan returnees.

Just to respond quickly to Catherine Catherine'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 spokesperson last Friday at the noon briefing and he he did confirm the receipt of the letter to terminate Unit TAMS, 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 3rd 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 reservation, then 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 a Rosalind yard from the International Labour Organisation with some important information about to health and safety, the World Congress on Occupational Safety and Health.

Good morning everyone.

Yes, the ILO 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 the 27th to the 30th of November.

It will be presented at the conference which is organised by the ILO, the International Social Security Association, ISA, the Government of Australia and Safe Work NSW.

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 of November.

And the embargo will lift on Monday, the 20, sorry, on Sunday the 26th of November and it's at 11:00 PM.

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@ilo.org.

Many thanks indeed, Rosalind.

I'm just looking for questions there from those who are with us and I see none, but I should take the opportunity.

Christian, yes, I might have cut you short.

You might have been wanting to say the same thing.

I just learnt that it's Rosalyn's last briefing here and I wanted to say to you on behalf of our colleagues, A heartfelt thanks.

We were always very well served by your office and your help.

[Other language spoken]

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 and wish you a happy retirement.

[Other language spoken]

So please stay in touch and tell us about your adventures.

Yes, yeah, that was on the the, 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, next Thursday.

And my successor will be Zaina Awad, who's the former Al Jazeera presenter and she's also worked for the BBCCNNCBC and TRT.

And so she'll be taking up her posters, 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 enquiries, please write to newsroom@ilo.org.

And for me, it's also been a pleasure working with you over these last years.

I am staying in the area, so you may well bump into me, but in a different capacity.

So thank you very much.

[Other language spoken]

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 27th of November at Orange the World event which is 16 days of activism to end violence against.

Women and this will be from 12:00 until 12:30 on the 27th, which will be at door 40 building E here at the Paladin nacion.

So that's 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 and very finally, just a few announcements about meetings which are ongoing at to the Palais de Nacion or further afield at Palais Wilson.

Committee against Torture is closing it's 78 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 the 8th of December and the country's 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.

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