The United Nations Office at Geneva
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Bi weekly press briefing -19 January 2024
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1:19:24
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MP4
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4.9 GB
PRESS BRIEFING BY THE UNITED NATIONS INFORMATION SERVICE
19 January 2024
Alessandra Vellucci, Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired a hybrid briefing, which was attended by spokespersons and representatives of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the World Health Organization, the United Nations Children’s Fund, and the World Meteorological Organization.
Situation in Gaza
Ajith Sunghay, representative of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, speaking from Gaza, said that another staggering milestone was being reached in Gaza, with almost 25,000 people reported to have been killed, majority of them women and children. In Raffah since 15 January, Mr. Sunghay had witnessed people arriving from various places in their thousands, in desperate situations, setting up makeshift shelters with any material they could get their hands on. It was a massive humanitarian crisis, and a large scaling-up of humanitarian aid was necessary now. The communications blackout was continuing since 12 January, contributing to fear and confusion. Bombings of Middle Gaza and Khan Younis was audible in Raffah. Mr. Sunghay had managed to meet a number of released Palestinian detainees. Those kept in captivity by the Israeli Security Forces described being blindfolded for long periods, beaten, and possibly subjected to what could amount to torture. Some of the released men were found wearing diapers only and no adequate clothes. The families of detainees, believed to be in thousands, had not been provided with any information on their fate. Mr. Sunghay said that Israel had to ensure that all those detained were treated in line with the international standards. Those held in detention had to be either charged or released, unless Israel could demonstrate pressing, imperative security needs to keep each individual detainee. Accountability into alleged torture and mistreatment was necessary. A humanitarian ceasefire was urgently needed, and all hostages had to be released without delay, stressed Mr. Sunghay.
Tess Ingram, for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), speaking from Amman, said that almost 20,000 babies had been born in Gaza in over 105 days of the conflict, which meant one baby was born into horror every ten minutes. Having spent one week in Gaza, Ms. Ingram provided examples of new mothers, some of whom had lost their babies, others with serious injuries or illnesses. She spoke of a nurse who had performed numerous cesarean sections on dead women in recent weeks. The already precarious situation of mother and newborn mortality had been further exacerbated by the hostilities; more miscarriages were reported than usual, due to bombing and unhealthy air and smoke related to it. The Emirati Hospital in Raffah was now catering to most pregnant women in Gaza and was overwhelmed; new mothers had to be released hours after undergoing a C-section. Some 135,000 children under the age of two were in severe risk of malnutrition. In the north of Gaza, the situation was even worse, stressed Ms. Ingram. In the time Ms. Ingram had made her statement, another baby had likely been born in Gaza in terrible circumstances. Mothers and newborns in Gaza Strip needed a humanitarian ceasefire now.
Alessandra Vellucci, for the United Nations Information Service (UNIS), mentioned the previous day’s statement by Philippe Lazzarini, UNRWA Commissioner-General, who had just completed his fourth visit to Gaza since the start of the war.
Responding to a question, Ms. Ingram, for UNICEF, said that it was difficult to establish the exact infant mortality rate at the moment, due to the difficult conditions and limited access. What was certain was that babies were dying of hunger, illness, cold, and bombardment, and had no access to adequate aid. On another question, Mr. Sunghay, for the OHCHR, said that it was impossible to ascertain an exact number of Palestinians currently in detention, but this number was certainly in the thousands. Most released detainees claimed that they had also been taken to detention centres in Israel, but, as they had been mostly blindfolded, it was difficult to know where exactly those locations were. Mr. Sunghay informed that there were at least 4,700 Palestinians from the West Bank who were detained, the highest ever-registered number. The conditions of detention were horrific, whether those were detainees from the West Bank or Gaza, he said. The detainees were categorized differently based on their profile; some had undergone interrogations and others had not. Ravina Shamdasani, also for the OHCHR, confirmed that the engagement of her Office with the Israeli authorities continued. She said that the OHCHR had repeatedly raised with the Israeli authorities the issue of ill-treatment of Palestinian detainees, including before 7 October 2023. She reiterated that the UN was calling for a durable solution to this long-lasting conflict. Answering questions on the Israeli’s declaration against the two-state solution, the UN was fully supportive of it. The Secretary-General’s backing of the two-state solution was unchanged, added Ms. Vellucci, for UNIS.
Ms. Ingram, for UNICEF, in a response to another question, informed that UNICEF was delivering medical supplies, including obstetric supplies and anesthetics, nutrition supplies for pregnant women and ready-to-use infant formula. UNICEF was working with implementing partners on the ground to deliver aid directly to local communities. Ms. Shamdasani informed that the Human Rights High Commissioner had not had direct engagement with the Israeli Prime Minister; his access to Israel and the OPT was requested. She said that the High Commissioner was closely following the proceedings on genocide claims at the International Court of Justice and was looking forward to the outcome of the process.
Answering a question from the media, Tarik Jašarević, for the World Health Organization (WHO), stated that the previous day Dr. Tedros had spoken of Hepatitis A among children in Gaza, which, while a mild disease, demonstrated how bad the living conditions were, including a lack of clean water and sanitation. Since mid-October 2023, 223,600 cases of upper respiratory infections had been reported in displaced people shelters, 158,300 cases of diarrhoea, including 84,000 among children under the age of five, 68,700 cases of lice and scabies, 6,600 cases of chickenpox, and 44,550 cases of skin rashes, among others. The number of diarrhoea cases among children under five years of age cases recorded during the last three months of 2023 were 26 times higher than reports from the same period in 2022. Health system and surveillance had to be supported and rehabilitated, stressed Mr. Jašarević. A ceasefire was as needed as ever.
Anti-terrorism bill in Sri Lanka
Ravina Shamdasani, for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), stated that the OHCHR was seriously concerned by the revised Anti-Terrorism Bill currently being considered in the Sri Lankan Parliament to replace the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act. Repeal of the Prevention of Terrorism Act should be a turning point for meaningful reform of Sri Lanka’s approach to its internal security, but this proposed law instead risked perpetuating patterns of violations from the past.
The proposed law was substantially identical to previous drafts that were withdrawn after widespread criticism. It defined acts of “terrorism” overly broadly, restricted the scope of judicial guarantees, especially with respect to challenging the lawfulness of detention orders, and curtailed the ability of the Human Rights Commission to visit places of detention, among other problematic provisions. OHCHR urged the authorities to meaningfully engage with civil society and other stakeholders to substantively revise the Bill and bring it fully into line with Sri Lanka’s international human rights obligations.
Answering a question from the press corps, Ms. Shamdasani said that the OHCHR had raised very detailed concerns with the authorities, and it was hoped that the OHCHR’s calls would be heeded.
Flood response in the Republic of the Congo (Brazzaville)
Jens Laerke, for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), informed that in the Republic of the Congo (Brazzaville), the United Nations was responding to a flood disaster, unprecedented in scale for six decades, and with hundreds of thousands of people in need of humanitarian assistance. Extreme rainfall since October 2023 had led the banks around the Ubangi River - a tributary to the Congo river - to burst. A flood emergency had been officially declared by the Government on 29 December. Some three weeks later, nine out of the country's 12 departments remained under water and a total of 1.8 million people were affected.
Mr. Laerke specified that more than 350,000 people urgently needed humanitarian assistance, but access was a challenge because of the floods and many villages could only be reached by boat or canoe. UN agencies had developed a response plan with the Government with a total budget of some USD 26 million. Priority sectors included shelter, food security, nutrition, health, and water, sanitation, and hygiene. To support the initial response, an allocation of USD 3.6 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund had been made to address the most pressing needs of 270,000 people. However, to implement the response, more international funding would be needed, concluded Mr. Laerke.
In response to questions from the media, Mr. Laerke said that the UN was still assessing the situation, a slow process because the infrastructure was not working well. The official death toll as of now stood as 23, while over 6,000 people were displaced. This was a long-term disaster, as in mid-to-long term food security would be compromised, and children would need to go back to school. He called for more international support. Logistics was a major challenge.
Clare Nullis, for the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), informed that Jean Bienvenu Dinga of the Congo Hydrological Service said this was the most exceptional event since the catastrophic floods in 1961, when there had been a measured discharge of 80,000 cubic meters per second. On 9 January 2024, the discharge had reached 75,000 cubic meters per second. The Congo was trying to improve their early warning system, which was one of the priorities of the WMO’s new Secretary-General, concluded Ms. Nullis.
Announcements
Tarik Jašarević, for the World Health Organization (WHO), informed that the 154th meeting of the Executive Board of the WHO would be held from 22 to 27 January. He reminded that this body of 34 elected Member States implemented decisions and policies of the World Health Assembly and facilitated its work. All documents were available on the WHO website, and the proceedings would be webcast. WHO Director-General would deliver his report on the opening day at 10 am. Appointments of regional directors for Eastern Mediterranean, South-East Asia and Western Pacific would be considered by the Board on 23 January. While journalists could not enter the meeting room, they could observe the proceedings from a nearby overflow room. On 22 January at 1 pm there would be an informal briefing by the Board on the negotiation process on the future pandemic preparedness treaty.
Alessandra Vellucci, for the United Nations Information Service, informed that the Committee on the Rights of the Child was continuing this morning its review of the report of Senegal, which would be concluded this afternoon.
On 22 January, the Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review would commence. The States to be reviewed by the UPR Working Group during this 45th session would be, in order of scheduled review: Saudi Arabia, Senegal, China, Nigeria, Mauritius, Mexico, Jordan, Malaysia, the Central African Republic, Monaco, Belize, Chad, the Congo, and Malta.
The Conference on Disarmament would hold the first public plenary of its 2024 session on 23 January, at 10am, under the Presidency of India.
Teleprompter
Good morning.
Welcome to the press briefing of the UN Information Service here in Geneva.
Today is Friday, 19th of January.
We are going to have a couple of briefings on the situation in Gaza and I will start with Ravina Shamdasani for OHCHR who has brought us a cheat Sangai, the OHC representative in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
Welcome.
So you are you are in from Gaza.
I give the floor to Ravina.
Thank you, Alessandra.
Good morning, everyone.
As Alessandra mentioned today, we have with us Ajit Sangay, who is the head of our UN Human Rights Office for the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
He has been leading the work lately from Amman.
Given access restrictions.
Ajit is currently in Rafa in Gaza.
He'll be sharing some observations with you on what he's witnessed and how it corroborates with a lot of what we have been monitoring all along.
Ajit will also be able to take some questions if there are problems with the connections.
I'm here to to back up for him.
Ajit, please, over to you.
Ajit, we can't hear you.
Maybe if you can.
Can you hear?
Me now.
Oh, no, it's fine.
Perfect.
Go ahead.
Good.
Good morning, colleagues.
Thank you for having me from Gaza.
We're reaching yet another staggering milestone in Gaza.
Nearly 25,000 people reported killed, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health, 70% of them women and children.
Another 61,500 at least have been injured.
Several thousands more are under the rubble, many presumed dead.
I've been in Gaza since Monday, so far only in Rafa.
I will share with you what I have witnessed and observed.
People continue to arrive in Rafa from various places in their thousands in desperate situations, setting up makeshift shelters with any material they can get their hands on, have seen men and children digging for bricks to be able to hold in place tents made with plastic bags in place.
This is a massive human rights crisis and a major human made humanitarian disaster.
Gaza needs urgent scaling up of humanitarian aid, including of protection response.
It is a pressure cooker environment here in Rafa in the midst of utter chaos given the terrible humanitarian situation, shortages and pervasive fear and anger.
The communications blackout has continued for the 6th consecutive day, adding to the confusion and fear and preventing Gazans from accessing services and information on areas to evacuate.
Heavy bombardment of Middle Gaza and Khan Unis is clearly visible and audible from from Rafa.
Especially at night, I hear bombing, sometimes several times an hour.
Night time is clearly the most terrifying time for the people, even in Rafah.
And I also think of over 100 civilians held hostage in Gaza unseen, who most certainly hear the same sounds and feel the same fear.
During my time here, I managed to meet a number of released detainees.
These are men who were detained by the Israeli security forces in unknown locations for between 30 to 55 days.
They described being beaten, humiliated, subjected to I'll treatment and to what may amount to torture.
They reported being blindfolded for long periods, some of them for several consecutive days.
One man said he had access to a shower only once during his 55 days in detention.
There are reports of men who were subsequently released, but only in diapers without any adequate clothing in this cold weather.
What they told me was consistent with reports our office has been gathering of the detention of Palestinians on a broad scale, including many civilians held in secrecy, often subject to I'll treatment, with no access to their families, lawyers or effective judicial protection.
The families of detainees, believed to number in thousands, have not been provided with information on the fate or location of their loved ones.
Israel must take urgent steps to ensure that all those arrested or detained are treated in line with international human rights and international humanitarian law norms and standards, notably with full respect for their due process rights.
Unless Israel can demonstrate imperative security grounds for each person remaining in detention, they must be charged or released.
Israeli authorities must ensure that family have access to information about their loved ones.
All instances of ill treatment or torture of people arrested or detained must be fully and transparently investigated and if found to have taken place, action must be Action must be taken to ensure accountability and to prevent recurrence.
Victims and their families have the right to truth, justice and reparation.
I have to end with the resounding plea from Gaza, above all for an immediate ceasefire, for human rights and humanitarian reasons and for all hostages to be released.
These horrors must not become normalised.
Thank you.
Thank you very much for this briefing, Mr Sange.
I will now give the floor to our colleagues from UNICEF.
We have with us James and Tess Ingram, who is the UNICEF Communication Specialist from Amman, for an update on the children born into war in Gaza.
I don't know, James, if you want to start or we go directly to a Tess.
No, thanks so much, Altrana.
Yeah.
So Tess Ingram is a communication specialist out of New York.
She spent the last month from early December into early Jan in Amman working on Gaza and then spent a week just coming out just now this last week in Gaza.
So over to Tess.
Thanks.
Thanks, James.
In the 105 days of this escalation in the Gaza Strip, nearly 20,000 babies have been born into war.
That's a baby born into this horrendous war about every 10 minutes.
This time last week, I was spending time with mothers at the Emirati Hospital in Rafa in the Gaza Strip.
The day there was a welcome reminder of the strength of life amid the chaos of war.
But it was also the most heartbreaking of the seven days that I spent in Gaza.
Let me give you 4 quick examples that speak to thousands of women's experiences.
Iman ran terrified through the streets while eight months pregnant through Gaza City while it was under attack.
Now, 46 days after a caesarean, she's hospitalised with a severe infection and she's too weak to hold her new baby, Ali Marche Al.
Her house in the middle area was hit, her husband was buried under the rubble for several days, and then her baby stopped moving inside her.
She says she's sure now, about a month later that the baby is dead, but she is still waiting for medical care.
She tells me that it's best a baby isn't born into this nightmare.
Amal buried under rubble during an attack while she was six months pregnant.
The baby didn't move for a week.
Fortunately, baby Sama was born healthy the day before we met, but Amal is injured and sick and was preparing to take Sama home to a makeshift shelter on the streets of Rafa.
And lastly, Nurse Webda has performed emergency caesareans on 6 dead women in the last 8 weeks.
She tells me there are also more miscarriages now because of the unhealthy air and smoke due to the bombing, and this has happened more times than I can count.
The situation of pregnant women and newborns in the Gaza Strip is beyond belief and it demands intensified and immediate actions.
The already precarious situation of infant and maternal mortality has worsened as the healthcare system collapses.
Mothers face unimaginable challenges in accessing adequate medical care, nutrition and protection before, during and after birth.
The Emirati Hospital in Rafa is now catering to the vast majority of pregnant women in the Gaza Strip.
Struggling with overcrowded conditions and limited resources, staff are forced to discharge mothers within three hours of a caesarean.
These conditions put mothers at risk from miscarriages, stillbirths, preterm labour, maternal mortality and emotional trauma.
The trauma of war also directly impacts newborns, resulting in higher rates of undernutrition, developmental issues and other health complications.
And pregnant and breastfeeding mothers and their babies are living in inhumane conditions, makeshift shelters, poor nutrition and unsafe water.
This is putting about 135,000 children under the age of 2 at severe risk of malnutrition.
And let's not forget, this is in the southern half of Gaza.
Despite relentless efforts, UNICEF has been unable to access the north, where the situation is incredulously worse.
Seeing newborn babies suffer while some mothers bleed to death should keep us all awake at night.
In the time that it's taken me to present this to you, another baby was likely born.
But into what, like a mile?
They'll be returning to a makeshift shelter, nervous that the water is going to make their baby sick or worried about what the baby will eat.
Becoming a mother should be a time of celebration.
But in Gaza, it's another child delivered into ****.
Humanity cannot allow this warped version of normal to persist any longer.
Mothers and newborns need a humanitarian ceasefire.
Thank you.
Thank you very much, Tessen, really, both of you, for this horrific briefing and the horrific situation in in Gaza.
And I would like to add before giving the floor to the journalist, just drawing your attention to the statement that was issued yesterday by Philippe Letzerini, the Commissioner Channel of UNRWA, as he ended his latest visit to Gaza.
It's also full of quite chilling information.
So let's open the floor to questions.
Now I look at the room first.
If there are any questions here, I don't see any.
So let's go to the platform.
OK, I'll start with Yuri Aprelev Rianovosti.
Yuri, go ahead and tell us to whom you're asking your question, please.
You do you have to unmute yourself?
No, you're on.
Go ahead.
I had a problem with Internet and Happy New Year to everyone that I didn't.
So before I have one question for UNICEF and one question for OHHCR.
I don't know if I can ask the both question.
Yes, please go ahead.
OK.
So my first question for UNICEF is to know what is the rate of death, the mortality rate among the 20,000 newborns in Gaza since 7 October?
And my second questions for OSHER is how many Palestinians in total have been arrested in Gaza since October, if you have any data on that.
Thank you.
Thank you, Yuri.
I'll start with Tess.
Thank you, Yuri.
It's a really good question.
I actually asked the the director of maternal medicine at NASA Hospital whether they had any information on this.
And unfortunately, because of the current conditions, they're not sure what the infant mortality rate is at the moment.
But it is safe to say that that children are dying now because of the humanitarian crisis on the ground as well as from the bombs and bullets.
He told me that he's aware of a couple of newborn babies that have died few days after being born because their mothers were undernourished and the babies were born sick and and weak and weren't able to make it.
I also heard stories unrelated to babies, but about a 2 year old who died at an informal displacement site in Kan Yunis from the cold because he was sleeping on the streets without anything warm.
And I also brought in medicine for a 10 year old boy, Mahmoud, who had a pre-existing condition.
And unfortunately by the time I was able to to meet with him and his family, he had died.
So we're now seeing a very situate, serious situation where children are dying because of the conditions on the ground and the lack of access to aid in the Gaza Strip.
Thank you very much and I'll go to Ajit.
Thank you.
Thanks Siri for that question.
It is a question that we have tried to find answers to even before arriving here.
Getting to the bottom of numbers have has been extremely difficult on a range of issues including this.
What we have heard is it runs into thousands, but I'm completely unable to give you exact numbers or even a rough estimate.
The commonality from different sources that I've heard is that it comes to thousands, but there are variations in the numbers that they're providing simply because these detentions are happening from different parts of Gaza, from middle area, from northern parts, probably in Kan Yunis as well.
So with that being the case where people are not able to move, NGOs are not functioning to the the in the manner they used to do.
It's been extremely difficult to come up to some kind of figure at this stage.
Maybe we will have better sense as we move forward.
Sorry about that.
Thank you.
Thank you, Ajit Antonio brought to the Spanish news agency.
Thank you.
Good morning.
My question is for Rajiv is about this temporary detention centre that was destroyed by Israel in Gaza City in university.
Do you think this centre was used for for the main abuses that were committed against Palestinian detainees?
And also, do you think that it has been destroyed especially for or avoid any investigation on these abuses?
Thank you, Rajit.
Thank you.
Thank you, Antonio.
That's again a very difficult question to answer about a specific place as a detention centre because our information also comes from those who are released.
All of them, all of them were blindfolded before they were moved from where they were detained to the place of detention.
What most of them say is that they were also at some point taken into detention centres in Israel, but nobody can exactly say where they were detained.
So unfortunately I cannot answer your question on a specific place inside Gaza and if the purpose or the reason for why it was destroyed was to destroy village.
I don't have that information unfortunately.
Thank you.
Thank you very much, Catherine Fiancon, France.
Vancat, France.
Thank you.
Good morning, Alessandra.
Good morning to you all and thank you for this briefing.
Just first of all, could please Mr Sunghai and the Lady send us their notes.
It would be very helpful in order to cover properly the stories.
I'd like also to have some information, if possible, of WHO regarding the infections, because as you don't have precise figures about the infections of mothers, new mothers, maybe WHO has some elements.
And also I'd like to come back to the detainees recently.
According to Euromed, the conditions of the tensions were horrific.
So could you give us more details about the numbers of people that are detained?
And people often speak about Gaza, but also what about the other territories?
OK, thank you.
I see Ravina nodding when you say, when you speak about the notes, I don't see James nodding, but I'm pretty sure they will send Tessa's notes very quickly.
So let me see normal in theory.
We have Tariq on the line.
Let me go to him.
Tariq, is that possible that you take on this question on the mortality rate?
Hello, hello.
Thank you very much Alessandra, and thanks.
Thanks for the question.
So you have seen yesterday Doctor Tetris has tweeted about the confirmation of hepatitis A in Gaza.
There were 24 out of 25 samples that tested positive with the kids that WHO supplied.
Now, hepatitis A is a mild disease, but it highlights really the, the, the really this, this, this deadly cocktail of, of bad living conditions, hunger, lack of clean water and sanitation for the, for the possible spread of disease.
I'll just give you some figures that we have from the, from, from Gaza on on, on, on, on different, different diseases.
So since mid-october there were two 123,000 and 600 cases of upper respiratory infections that were that were reported in displaced the shelters for displaced people.
Now 158,300 cases of diarrhoea, including 84,000 among children underage of five, 68,700 cases of lice and scabies, 6600 cases of chicken pox 44,000, 550 cases of skin rashes.
And and as I said, there was also hepatitis A that has been that has been also reported among among children.
So, so that is really just shows that that people are being pushed into ever smaller places.
They are in a overcrowded shelters with lack of access to clean water, with lack of access to toilets and and with the with the temperatures being down, obviously there is a there is a spread of more intense spread of respiratory diseases.
There is a spread of water borne diseases such as area as a skin diseases, lice and scabies.
Hepatitis A that I just mentioned is also transmitted through the through the pieces and an unclean water when when there is a when there is a virus being.
Present in the end so, so really what's again, just to go back to what my colleagues were saying, what we need is to preserve the health system and make sure that health services are available, including this work of of surveillance for infectious diseases.
But really what we are looking at is a large population, a large chunk of population in Gaza.
So you have people who are injured in bombardment who need immediate trauma action and this, the services are not available.
Now.
I'll just tell you something.
We had a, we had a team yesterday visiting a NASA medical complex and I'm just going to, to, to to read what, what some of the findings were.
For example, that the, so the phosphorus is still functioning, but only partially.
And, and the emergency department has only two doctors compared to 24 doctors before the war.
So ICU capacity reduced from 45 beds to only 14 beds.
Only 5 or 20 nurses are are available.
So, so, so, so really the, the, the capacity is, is getting is, is is is is low, especially in the north of Gaza and needs are becoming bigger.
People are getting injured, as I said, but also pregnant women that our colleague from this have just talked about, people with chronic diseases, cancer, diabetes, hypertension, people who need dialysis for renal failure, people with all sorts of other conditions who need those services cannot access because the, the, the health system cannot function properly.
And on top of all of that, you have these infectious diseases that are being spread.
And therefore we need access to be able to, to bring what we can to help a really heroic work of health workers who are still doing their job in Gaza.
But above all, we need a.
We need a ceasefire.
Indeed, the Secretary General has reiterated still yesterday.
Just wanted to tell you, I've just sent you the latest update from UNRWA.
We've just arrived, so you have it in your mailbox and Tarek, if it's possible to put in the notes or in the chat the figures that you've just given or if you have a website where they can find them.
Let's go to the next question from Nicomine Bruce, The New York Times.
Nick.
Yeah.
Good morning.
Thanks.
A question for Agita or perhaps for Ravina.
Ready for adjutant's question of whether you could give us more information about conditions in which these detainees are being held.
I mean, are they being held in large numbers?
Do the people that you've spoken to with a held in small cells with that few people, were they part of a large crowd?
Were they bed ever?
Were they subject to systematic interrogation and what happened that led to their release?
And for Ravina, the question is what has been your level of engagement or OHCHRS level of engagement with Israeli authorities on specifically on the issue of detainees and what are the responses that you've received?
Thank you Do.
You want to start.
Thank you.
Maybe I'll also answer the question from the earlier reporter who asked about the detention numbers investment.
That's right.
That's right.
We had absolutely.
Please.
We, we released a report in December where we basically said there are at least about 4700 Palestinians from West Bank, including E Jerusalem who are detained as the highest.
We have seen many in many, many years.
That number continues to grow.
So that's part of the answer.
Coming to the question that was asked by Nic and it overlaps with the previous question as well.
The detention conditions are horrific overall, whether it is detainees from West Bank or detainees from Gaza.
But also what is important to understand is everyone I have spoken to say that they have been moved from place to place.
So it is not just in one place.
So at some point it is probably inside Gaza as the first step because they estimate the amount of time it takes from a place that they have been first quote, UN quote, arrested or detained to where they have been brought.
They are blindfolded for for many hours or sometimes many days.
So they do not know exact location, but they guess it is within, within Gaza.
So these places are makeshift places, and then they're taken again in large, in large trucks, again mostly unclothed for ours.
And they believe at that point in time they're probably gone inside Israel, but they're unable to take say exactly where.
The conditions there too are are horrific.
Initially they are in groups, so someone could actually say like they were roughly about 120 or so.
In some other case it was another 200 or so.
But then they're also then moved into smaller barracks or smaller rooms.
There are interrogations.
But I think from, from from what I also heard is that depending on the profile of persons, as they, as they speak to them and as the days pass, they categorise and differentiate the way they're treated.
So there are some people who have gone through interrogation, others may not be the case.
The reasons for release, I've asked very specific question on that and there is consistent response which is we do not know.
We were not told, we were not even told that we're going to be released.
We were simply blindfolded, brought to Terem Shalam and dropped and that's exactly when we realised that we were being released.
Ravine.
Thanks, Nick.
On your question on engagement, yes, the Office and the **** Commissioner himself have raised our alarm on a whole host of issues since October 7th, directly with the Israeli authorities as well as publicly.
And every time we put out a report, for example the West Bank flash report that Ajit just referred to under tensions, these reports are shared with the Israeli authorities as well.
We have at least 2 reports coming up to be presented to the Human Rights Council.
Again, these will also be shared with the Israeli authorities before they are made public.
So the engagement exists.
We of course have also repeatedly asked for access and unfortunately we have yet to receive a response on on many of these.
Thank you very much colleagues MFR, Reuters.
Good morning.
I also wanted to ask, please, about the humiliating treatment of detainees and specifically what you said about the the diapers actually.
Is that something that is happening systematically?
Are they forcing detainees to to wear diapers and why?
And and secondly, I'd like to ask OHCHR about allegations that Israel is exhuming graves to look for hostages.
Is that true?
On what scale?
And is this a human rights violation?
Thank you.
OK.
Thank you very much.
Ajit, you want to take this one?
Thank you.
Yes, on the question on diapers, there were two groups, Some, some people who were released had prison uniforms still on.
Everything that they had in the past when they were initially detained were completely taken away, including clothes, belongings, currency, etcetera, etcetera.
That was not written.
So they came out in prison uniforms or they came out in diapers.
So we're not exactly sure why they were put in diapers and sent out, but they were clearly visibly shocked and even shaken when when I met them and then I spoke to them.
So that's where it stands on the grave issue.
We have seen reports.
Unfortunately, they do not have any more information than what we've seen in media at this point in time, but we'll have to look into it.
Thank you very much, Lisa Schlein, Voice of America.
Yes, hello.
Good morning to all.
Yeah, the first question I have is actually I think to to you Ravina and then I have one for Tess.
OK.
I'd like to, I'm not sure whether you really answered this.
I, I imagine that you have directly confronted or at least spoken to the Israeli authorities about these allegations of torture and so forth.
Could you confirm that and have you received any response regarding that?
Also, I may have missed it, but is there any estimate on the number of people that have been detained in Gaza?
And also would you comment on Prime Minister Netanyahu's rejection of the two state solution?
And and then I'll just quickly ask my question to to test.
OK, yes, please.
And that yeah, OK.
Is that that concerns, I was wondering how much, how much aid is actually getting through to, to the, the mothers, the the women, the children, the babies and so forth in Gaza.
And would you, I have heard media reports saying that humanitarian aid which actually goes, manages to get into Gaza is the first Co opted by Hamas and then afterwards it goes to the civilians.
Would you comment on whether there is truth to that and what measures are being taken in order to ensure the fact that the aid, little as it is, gets to the people that need it?
Thank you.
Rina, you want to start?
Yeah.
Thanks, Lisa, for your questions.
If you don't mind, I'll break them down a little bit.
Have we raised concerns with the Israeli authorities about I'll treatment which may even amount to torture of detainees in the occupied Palestinian territory?
Yes, repeatedly prior to October 7th and since then.
These are unfortunately not new issues.
We have had issues with I'll treatment of Palestinian detainees by Israeli authorities over many years on these specific oh, and on the report that Ajit had referred to, the West Bank report on detentions where in which we also documented I'll treatment, humiliating treatment of detainees.
That was also shared with the Israeli authorities on the allegations on the reports that Ajit is sharing today from what he's, you know, learned from, from people he has spoken to over the past couple of days, I don't believe these specific ones have been put to the authorities yet.
I can get back to you on that one, on the the comments that you cited by the Prime Minister.
Listen, we're calling for an immediate ceasefire.
We are calling for the space to be created for a solution, a lasting, durable solution to this long standing protracted conflict, an untenable situation.
This means a ceasefire, this means a political solution.
And as you know, the UN is fully subscribed to fully behind the the two state solution.
I think Alessandra will have more to add from the Secretary General on that.
Yes, the spokesperson spokesman of the secretary General said yesterday in answering a question is exactly on what you said Liz about the the declaration of Prime Minister Netanyahu.
The spokesperson man said the Secretary General's backing of the two state solution is unchanged.
As he said repeatedly, he believes that out of the tragedy that is unfolding in Gaza, we should use this as an opportunity to get things back on track so that the aspirations, the hopes and the legitimate concerns of the Israeli people and Palestinian people are met and with ultimately 2 states living side by side.
Sorry, Alessandra, I just wanted to check if Ajit would like to supplement what I said on detentions and you know, the concerns being raised with the authorities.
Yeah.
And then we will go to test Ajit.
Yeah.
Just perhaps one additional point to what Raveena said, which is we had actually come out with a press statement on detentions in Gaza.
So this what we received now confirms what we had put out or there's a lot more here.
So to say that this is not the first time that we put out on Gaza detention post October 7th.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Neil.
Go to test to answer the last question from Lisa.
Thanks.
Thanks for the question, Lisa, in terms of, of what aid is, is getting through to, to the mothers and the babies.
UNICEF is, is delivering medical supplies such as obstetric kits and midwifery kits that, that help hospitals deal with, with all of these births.
They, they include PPE and, and medicines and also importantly anaesthetic.
We've heard some stories of of, you know, it's caesareans, for example, being performed without anaesthetic, which is a nightmare to even think about.
We're also providing nutrition supplies for pregnant women, including nutrients and supplements like folate and iron and ready to use infant formula.
Many of the mothers are having difficulty breastfeeding because of their nutrition situation and the trauma.
And so some we're providing this ready to use infant formula that doesn't have to be mixed with water and can be given straight to a baby in terms of of a diversion and looting.
The way that we work at UNICEF at the moment is because of the telecommunications challenges, we're actually to working directly with our implementing partners on the ground at our warehouse crossing point to, to coordinate the distribution of supplies.
So a partner will come straight to us and we will load suppliers onto their truck directly and then they will go straight to the communities in need.
So that's a very kind of direct straightforward transfer.
And then in terms of that, that transport movement, we take, you know, measures with our partners to safeguard a delivery, to make sure that it goes to the children that need it.
And we condemn any interference with aid because it obviously robs families of the assistance that they need to survive.
But certainly the situation in Gaza is incredibly desperate and, and we can, you know, we see some supplies being lost to families that are taking food and water, just doing their very best to survive.
Thank you very much.
I see quite a few follow-ups to those questions, so I'll start with Katherine with Katherine Jankong.
Thank you.
Thank you so much.
In fact, it's a question to you and to Ravina Antonio Guterres, the SG of UN, did mention during an interview in Lavos that the Prime Minister of Israel, Netanyahu, did decline his calls.
So I'd like to know if it's also the case of Mr Volcker Turk.
As all the heads of agencies NSG are trying desperately to have a contact, I suppose to convince the Israeli authorities for ceasefire, so are the efforts of Mr Turk also declined.
If I may, I, I will not characterise the the declaration of the Secretary General as as you did.
He said indeed that he would speak to to Prime Minister Netanyahu, but and he couldn't until now.
But he said also that he has been speaking with all others authorities and of Israel, but also with all those representative of those states who have an influence on the on the conflict.
And he has not stopped doing that since the beginning of this crisis.
So I would not characterise it in the same way.
But I let Ravina answer on on **** Commissioner Turk contact.
Absolutely fully endorse what what Alessandra said, also from the **** Commissioner side.
The **** Commissioner has not had direct engagement with Prime Minister Netanyahu, but he has been raising the issue of Gaza with everyone he meets with every member state that has influenced civil society actors.
And you'll recall that the **** Commissioner for Human Rights conducted a mission in early November to Cairo and to Amman and to Rafa in in Egypt as well.
He had requested access to Israel and the occupied Palestinian Territory.
Unfortunately, we did not receive a response.
We have again requested access.
Thank you.
I see.
Catrine has her hands still up.
Catrine.
Yes, Alessandra, maybe I did express not very clearly.
Yeah, I know that SG is making a lot of efforts with all the the the heads of States and the authorities that could help in solving the the the problem.
But I was particularly speaking about Prime Minister Netanyahu that is apparently declining direct contact with the SG, and it is the same for Mr Turk.
I know that both heads are making the best efforts in order to find solutions, but did Mr Volkatrik try to have a direct contact with Prime Minister Netanyahu?
And was his efforts or his calls declined only with Mr Netanyahu?
The rest, we know that they're making a lot of efforts.
Thanks, Kathleen.
Normally we, we prefer not to speak about bilateral contacts in detail, but your, your question is very specific.
I will check and get back to you if it's as appropriate.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Lisa, you also had a follow up.
Yeah, very quick one to Ajit.
I had asked if you have an estimate on the number of Palestinians who are being detained by Israel both in Gaza and I think you came up with a number actually and the West Bank, but do you have one for those in Gaza?
Thank you.
Thank you, Lisa.
Sorry, I think, yeah, I did.
I did respond to this question initially.
Unfortunately we don't have the exact number or even a round figure.
But what I can come to some kind of a conclusion that it runs into thousands.
We've had three or four different sources, they all come into thousands, but there is a gap.
And the reason for that is this is happening in an active conflict zone where people are unable to move, where NGOs and usual partners are unable to function in the normal manner.
People are being detained from different corners of Gaza in not the middle and in the communists and at different points in time.
So it's extremely difficult to get a full number at this point in time, but hopefully we will reach that, that number.
I mean the, the, the total at at some point.
But the challenges of figures is not just confined to detention, it goes beyond and that is because of the nature of what that we have in the intensity.
So stop there.
But what I can say, so the commonality from different sources is that the detention number runs into thousands.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Catherine, your hand is still up.
Is that a mistake or a further follow up?
Oh, no, no, no.
It's a mistake.
I'm sorry.
Thank you very much.
So I go to Nick who also has a follow up.
Yeah.
Again, just to to Raveena, what does raised with authorities mean?
I mean, is there any conversation?
Catherine is talking about contact with the **** Commissioner, with the Prime Minister, but are you just issuing press releases and sending them reports or are you actually able to have discussions with anybody?
And if so, at what level and what response do you get in those contacts?
Thank you.
Thanks, Nick.
Thanks for specifying.
As I said, we, we don't like to get into the details of our bilateral contacts because they are exactly that they're, they're bilateral.
We have, you know, many different avenues that we try to use to influence public, private and the private tends to it's, it's important for it to remain private for for obvious reasons.
But to to give a more direct answer to your question, what we mean by engagement letters to the permanent mission through the permanent mission to, to various authorities, conversations, press releases from both Geneva and from our OPT office.
Ajit, if you have anything to supplement on that on engagement, please do.
Or if you don't that, that we'll leave it at that.
I think Ravina, you've covered everything.
I mean, we have also sent series of letters on specific issues.
So I'll leave it there.
Thanks.
Thank you.
And the last question goes to Musa Mojo.
Musa.
Musa for our our correspondent for go ahead.
In case thanks Mussano, the **** Commissioner is of course following very closely the the consideration before the ICJ.
It is important for independent institutions to make a considered evaluation of the arguments and then to come to a decision.
We're very much looking forward to to seeing what will come out of this.
And of course it's important to respect the independence of this court.
So at this point, I'll leave our reaction to that.
The conclusions, Thank you very much.
I didn't see the questions on this matter.
Thank you very, very much.
Colleagues on the ground Test Ingram, UNICEF communication Specialist, Energit Sanjay, OHCHR representative in the OPT.
I'll keep Ravina with me because she has another briefing for you on the situation in Sri Lanka.
And good luck for the colleagues with their work.
Thank you.
On Sri Lanka, we're concerned by the revised Anti Terrorism Bill currently being considered in the Sri Lankan Parliament to replace the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act.
Repeal of the Prevention of Terrorism Act should have been a turning point for meaningful reform of Sri Lanka's approach to its internal security.
But this proposed law instead risks perpetuating patterns of violations from the past.
The proposed law is substantially identical to previous draughts that were withdrawn after widespread criticism.
It defines acts of terrorism overly broadly, restricts the scope of judicial guarantees, especially with respect to challenging the lawfulness of detention orders, and it curtails the ability of the Human Rights Commission to visit places of detention, among other problematic provisions.
If it is passed in its current form, the bill would grant excessive powers to the executive to restrict rights, with limited or no safeguards against ***** of such powers.
It would weaken the legal grounds needed for security forces to arrest individuals without warrants.
It would also still permit lengthy pretrial detention.
We urge the authorities to meaningfully engage with civil society and other stakeholders to to substantively revise the Bill and to bring it fully into line with Sri Lanka's international human rights obligations.
Thank you very much.
Any question to Ravina on Sri Lanka in the room?
Yes, Robin.
Hello, Have you raised these points with the Sri Lankan government and, and had any any response from them on these issues?
Are there are there any signs that there might be some movement within the country that things and maybe lawmakers willing to go that way?
Thanks for the question, Robin.
Yes, yes, resounding.
Yes.
We have raised very detailed concerns with the authorities.
In May last year, we shared with the government our preliminary comments on the bill.
It's really quite detailed comments and we pointed out elements that conflict with international human rights law.
And we did urge them to hold further public consultations with with all stakeholders, with, you know, political parties, opposition politicians, civil society writ large.
We hope our calls will be heard.
Thank you very much, Robin.
I don't see other questions for you.
So thank you very much for this briefing and thanks for bringing us Ajit.
And I'll turn to my left now.
Yes, welcome.
You have an update on the flood response in the Congo.
Thank you very much, Alessandra.
Good morning, everyone.
Indeed, short note in Congo.
That's the Congo where Brazzaville is the capital.
the United Nations is responding to a flood disaster unprecedented in scale for six decades and with hundreds of thousands of people in need of humanitarian assistance.
Extreme rainfall since October last year has led the banks around the Ubangi River, which is a tributary to the Congo River, to burst.
A flood emergency was officially declared by the government on the 29th of December.
Some 3 weeks later, 9 out of the country's 12 departments remain underwater and a total of 1.8 million people are affected.
The floods have left local communities without shelter or access to Primary.
Health services, Villages, Schools.
And health facilities have been flooded and many water points and sanitation facilities are no longer functional.
There's limited or no access to clean drinking water or sanitation in the worst affected areas.
And that is in the central north of the country.
Some 27,000 children are out of school.
More than 350,000 people urgently need humanitarian assistance, according to our assessment.
But access is a challenge because of the floods and many villages can only be reached.
By boat or canoe.
The UN agencies have developed a response plan with the government with a total budget of some $26 million.
The priority sectors include shelter, food security, nutrition, health and water, sanitation and hygiene.
But that's just the immediate response.
The floods could also have longer term consequences.
Our initial assessment estimate that 2300 hectares of cultivated land have been flooded, which raises concern.
That means to produce food, for example fruit trees and fishing gear has been destroyed and livestock has perished.
To support the initial response and allocation of $3.6 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund has been made in recent days to address the most, most pressing needs.
However, to implement the response, much more international funding will be needed.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
I'll see first of all in the room.
No, no heads up.
So I'll go to Lisa, Lisa Shine.
Thank you.
Good morning.
Yes.
I mean the picture you paint sounds absolutely appalling and you say that talk about the difficulty of reaching people and so forth.
I mean, is any aid to getting to these people?
How do they actually, how are they actually coping?
How are they surviving?
What is have have any people been killed or are are are they missing?
Are they injured?
Do do they need medical aid as well?
And I'm kind of wondering about the children and what their situation is like.
Anything that you can kind of, you know, elaborate?
Upon to give a sort of fuller.
Picture about how they're actually managing to survive with this situation as you painted.
Thank you.
Yeah, thank you very much.
These are those are very good questions and and very, you know, pertinent aspects of of what we're looking at.
We're still in the process of assessing the situation.
I, I, I just spoke to a colleague there this morning and she said it, it really it's, it's very slow Why?
Because the infrastructure is not working, it's flooded.
We can get to places up there in, in the north, for example, only by boat and canoe.
So how do you make a proper assessment in these situations fast?
It's almost impossible.
So we are of course working on that because we want to give an informed response to this that doesn't prevent us with the government of putting out a.
An.
Initial plan as as the, as the government has presented in in coordination with us, I do not have a any confirmed death toll or how many people are actually missing in to a large extent because of the reasons I just mentioned.
These are numbers unfortunately that will come.
We will see.
We will see them in the days and weeks and likely months ahead.
How how big this actually is?
As I mentioned, it's a long term disaster.
We are, we are, we're looking at, we are, we are warning that in the mid to long term food security will be compromised.
We need children to get back to school.
We know as I said, 27,000 kids are already out.
That is also, you know, a recipe for future problems if we don't get them back in in a safe.
School, school.
Environment so that is that is what I what I can say our our call today is of course for more international support in terms of of funding international funding to to the plan that is there.
But it's also for example to the private sector markets have been have been flooded and destroyed.
It's important to get that up and, and running again and also to the, the, the, the, the private sector in the international community who may be helpful in the logistics response because logistics is such a big challenge in this flooding.
Yes, described Kayla.
Maybe before I I open the floor to further questions you want to give your insight of the situation.
Yes, so thanks.
So thanks for inviting me to speak.
Alessandra.
The World Meteorological Organisation, at the moment we have a meeting of hydrological advisors taking taking place.
One of them is an expert from Congo Brazzaville and I spoke to him last night just to get some details as to what's happening.
I put his name in the chat for you and said these figures that I'm about to give come, come from, come from him.
And so Doctor Jean Bienvenu Dinga is his name.
He's the director of the National Hydrological Service of Congo.
He said it's the most exceptional event since the catastrophic, catastrophic floods back in December 1961.
Just to give you a comparison.
Then in 1961 there was a measured discharge of 80,000 cubic metres per second in the end of the Congo Basin and in December 2023 there was a measured discharge of 74,300 cubic metres per second and on the 9th of January it reached 75,000 cubic metres per second.
Those figures are in the chat.
For you.
As I've said, as Yance just said, it has resulted in massive displacement in loss of life.
The work forecasts, it was predicted to be an exceptionally heavy rainy season.
The seasonal forecast for October, November, December did warn that there would be very heavy rainfall.
It is a typical impact of El Nino in the in the region.
And one other interesting thing that Doctor Dingo said is that Congo, like many countries, are really, really trying to improve their early warning systems.
They, you know, would like to embrace the Early Warnings for All initiative, which WMO Secretary General Celeste Salo spoke to about earlier this week.
But it comes down to lack of resources.
There are, you know, there are, there is no funding, there are no resources.
Doctor Dinger told me that in 1995 there were 80 hydrological monitoring stations.
So it's 80 now.
There are just 1313.
So, you know, we've seen a massive deterioration in the in the observation network in recent years.
And with that goes the, you know, goes the ability to issue early warnings.
Thanks.
That's it.
That's it for me.
Thank you very much.
And I see that Tariq is also put in the chat the link to a news which was issued by the regional office of WHO on the floods in this part of the world.
Like let's go back to the question, Chris.
No, Kathleen, wait.
You know, I take this opportunity to say that I always try to give the floor first to the journalists who are in the room to thank them for their presence.
So I go first to Chris.
Chris VOC.
It's just a practical matter is that when we're in the room, we're typically not in the chat and so we can't get the info.
So if you can send us the.
Information.
That's very good point that you put in the chat.
For e-mail, it would be great for us to come here.
Yes, that's a very good point.
Thank you for reminding us of this.
And also I understand from Katrina, from other journalists that what's in the chat cannot be copied as such.
So that's for colleagues, if they can send this kind of information also at least also or by by e-mail.
And then you had to raise your hand.
It was the same thing.
OK, fine.
So Katherine, now let me come to you.
Thank you.
Thank you, Alessandra.
Thank you so much.
Exactly.
I mean, kindly remind the the spokesperson that we can not copy what they post in the chat.
So it would be a really appreciated if they could mail it so like that everyone would be able to have access to it was just Christoph mentioned my question regarding Congo, Congo Brazzaville maybe yes.
Regarding the regions that have the floods, are there regions that were used to to be facing floods in the past or is it new?
They've never been affected by floods?
Yeah, I mean that's thanks for the question is a quite a broad one.
We just heard reference to massive flooding 60 years ago, so of course there's been flooding before.
We can also see in, you know, the other side of the river in.
Kinshasa, I saw a news report yesterday with, you know, people taking the pirogue down the street in Kinshasa.
So there, there is flooding elsewhere.
But the Congo is it's really a focus right now.
And if I can just come back to, to a question that that that Lisa raised, because I'm getting some real time info here.
The official death toll is 23 and that is since the beginning of the flooding as as, as I mentioned, the, the heavy rain started already in October.
That's where we are now 23 death and what we know of recorded displacement is 6178.
So those are the the figures that we have as of today from the government.
Thank you very much, Antonio.
Thank you.
So you said that 9 out of 12 departments are underwater.
Do you know how this translates into land area?
What percentage of the country is is flooded?
Yeah.
As our initial assessment says, 2300 hectares of farmland if if you like, which is of course what we're looking at because that has a direct impact on, you know, food production.
The total area in terms of hectares, frankly I do not know but we are there are report from as you mentioned 9 out of the 12 departments that they are affected to to various degrees.
The the most affected departments are are central and and north, as you may know, they are called Plateau, Cuvet and Liquel.
Thank you.
I don't see other questions on this matter.
No.
So yes, thank you very much for this update.
I'll go to Tariq.
Tariq, you had an announcement and I've seen the chat that Emma also wanted to ask a question.
So maybe just start with your announcement and I'll go the floor.
I'll go to to Emma and sorry, I I have just quickly seen some seen Claire's face.
Claire, is there anything else you wanted to add?
No, I don't think so.
OK, so let's go to Tarek for the announcement and the questions.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you very much, Lissandra again.
So just to go step back on the on, on, on the figures that I said about about Gaza.
So I sent to few people who asked by e-mail.
Now we have little issue at WHO with the platform we used to send the information to journalists as of late last night.
So I can't really, I'm not in a position to send to everyone through that platform to the ballet media list.
So I will have to do 1 by 1 so whoever.
Wants.
It might be just easier if you send it to us and then we can distribute to everyone I.
Did I did.
To us, to Eunice, yes.
OK then.
Then we will take care of this.
Help.
But then.
But then it would be easier.
Yeah, sure.
And then you know, it's it's also issue of that I'm going to talk about now.
So we have a executive board coming next week and we want to send the media advisory with all the information.
Hopefully we will sort out the problem and we will be able to send this information during the day.
But I will, I will just give it to you now so you have it.
So as you know, we have our regular executive board meeting.
It's a 154th session and it will take place from 22nd to 27th of January.
Now you, you remember it's a 34 body, 34 member states that are elected for three years.
And the role is really to, to, to, to implement decisions and policies of the World Health Assembly and to facilitate the work of the, of the World Health Assembly.
So this executive board is taking place from 22nd to 27th starts on Monday at 9:30 and from Tuesday it will be working from 10:00 in the morning until 5:30 with a, with a, with a break between 12:30 and, and, and then 2:30 in the afternoon.
So all the documents are already on, on, on our website.
So we have a, we have a provisional agenda, we have meeting documents.
We will also be having the daily timetable.
So this is on on our website.
And again, once we send this media advisory, you will have the links as well.
If you want to consult it now, just go to WHO website governing bodies, executive board.
So proceedings will be webcast as always.
So you may follow, follow that.
So Director General, we will deliver his report on Monday at 10:00.
So we will have his, his report sent to, to, to media.
Also something to, to, to, to keep an eye on is that on Tuesday at the beginning of the session at 10:00, members of Executive Board will consider the appointment of regional directors for free region, Eastern Mediterranean, Southeast Asia and Western specific.
There are documents with the with the names of proposed candidates also on the, on the website.
On the website, you can also find the composition of the board and all the other information.
There are some 45 items and sub items on the agenda and, and you can, you can get all of that for journalists who want well, you can watch the sessions online.
If you want to come and, and be physically present, let us know.
There will be there will be no room inside the meeting room, but there will be overflow room that can be used.
So just let us know and we will from the media team, we will be in the building and we can facilitate your, your access.
So that's, there's also one, one side event that I would like to mention on Monday, again, from 1:00 to 2:00, there will be informal briefing on the processes related to the IMB and, and negotiations on, on, on, on, on any treaty or any other legal document on the pandemic preparedness.
So that's, that's just a side event.
It's at at 1:00 on Monday.
So any other, any other really questions, let us know.
And we again hope that this media advisory with all the links will be will be sent today.
Thank you very much, Tarik Lisa.
Yeah, hi, Yeah, Hi Tarek.
Couple of things, maybe you said it and I missed it, but is Ted Rose Dr going to make an opening statement to the executive board and will you be sending us the the speech also what by e-mail?
Also what time will that be?
And then a question regarding the press conference which is taking place fairly soon on the malaria vaccine which is going to be well introduced next week on a on a big scale.
Is that a a webinar or is that exclusively for journalists in?
Geneva And more importantly, is it possible to get the audio of that?
Cause too many things happened at the same time and I'm totally schizophrenic.
I have to say thank you.
Thanks.
Thanks Lisa.
So first on the DG Doctor Tetris, yes, it will be Monday at 10:00 that Tetris will present his report to executive board and we will have his report shared to media as as always, you know, either as it's as it's being delivered or just immediately after.
You can also follow it online.
Now the press conference this afternoon is not WHO press conference, although we did disseminate the the media advisory.
So it is led by Gabby, you in a media advisory, you have contact emails for Gabby and any logistics, please contact it's media at gavi.org.
We have from our side, from WHO one of the speakers, our Kate doctor, Kate O'Brien will, will speak.
But again, you know, this is Gavi.
Let's press briefing.
Thank you, Taha.
Yes, thank you Tarek for useful information regarding us.
Are you able to reach those who are affected by the disease?
So you're asking your question back on Gaza.
Yeah, OK.
I don't know Tariq, if you can talk about that.
There is still OK.
So yeah, go ahead, go ahead.
Yeah.
So practically this is so the information that that we that I, that I provided the numbers are from the from the shelter.
So, so we are working on trying to improve the disease surveillance and rapid response.
Now really the issue is, is, is, is a broader, it's access to, to hospitals.
You remember Doctor Tetris was talking how for two weeks we were unable to go to hospitals in the north to provide what they need.
That includes fuel, medical supplies and, and, and other things.
So, so we need this access.
And you have seen though really the, the, the, the press release that being issued jointly by free agencies a few days ago.
We need to to change the way the aid is being delivered.
We need to have also economic sector being involved because what is getting in right now is simply not enough.
And we need, we need those two supplies to treat people who are who are injured, but also people who who have chronic conditions, as well as people who may be infected with these infectious diseases that are circulating.
Thank you very much, Emma.
Thanks for all those details, Tarek.
Just a couple of specific questions.
I heard there's going to be a political debate on health emergencies which will touch on Gaza.
I was just wondering if you knew off the top of your head when that would be and the side event, would you kindly send us details?
Is it at The Who and can we come the the side event on the IMB?
Thank you again.
Please, we will, we will send, we'll have all the links in an immediate advisory that we will send once we get our platform working again.
If you need really right now, just go on our website and check the provisional agenda, see what is there and, and and and contact us if you if you want to, to come in person and and and be there.
Thank you very much, Tarek Antonio.
You already mentioned that this malaria webinar is organised by Gabby, but are you preparing any press release concerning these malaria vaccines?
Not that I know Antonio.
I think the best thing is really to follow the the press briefing and if you have any other other questions we may we may organise something for you to provide you with information.
OK.
I think that's it.
Tariq, you're off the hook.
Thank you very much for this information and let me just give you a couple of announcements to close.
Just wanted to remind you that the Committee on the Rights of the Child is continuing the review of the report.
So today it was the report of Senegal, which will be concluded this afternoon.
Next week we will have Russian Federation, Lithuania, South Africa and then, as I told you last time, a meeting with the state parties on Thursday, 1st of February in the afternoon.
I also wanted to remind you that on on the 22nd of January and Monday, the Human Rights Council's Universal Periodic Review Working Group will start.
This is the 45th session of the group.
They will examine the record the human rights records of 14 states.
As you know, the UPR is a unique mechanism of the Council that calls for each UN member states to undergo a peer review of its human rights records every 4 1/2 years.
The states to be reviewed at this session are in order of the scheduled review Saudi Arabia, Senegal, China, Nigeria, Mauritius, Mexico, Jordan, Malaysia, the Central African Republic, Monaco, Belize, Chad, the Congo and Malta.
It's the fourth time that these countries will be undergoing UPR examination and the final outcome of the 45th session will be adopted by the plenary of the Human Rights Council at its 56th regular session taking place in June and July.
I don't have more information on that.
I'm happy to take your question.
But I know that our colleagues of the Human Rights Council media team have sent a press release on 17th of January and they are sending out also detailed information about each country under examination 1 by 1.
And I conclude my announcements and I give you the floor ban.
The last thing I wanted to remind you of is the Conference on Disarmament.
The Conference will hold its first public plenary of the 2024 session on Tuesday, the 23rd of January at 10 AM under the Presidency of India.
Our Director General, Tatiana Balovaya, who is also, as you know, the Secretary General of the Conference on Disarmament, will address the Conference at 10 AM on Thursday, 25th of January.
As you know, the conference of this amount take place on three parts every year.
And this year these parts will go the first one from the 22nd, as I said, to the 28th of March, the 2nd part from 13th May to 28th of June, and the last from the 29th of July to the 13th of September.
So I'll give you the floor, then you have the.
Question for servicial editorial concern the condition security particular if you use the mosque trooper confirm me Uno confirmed the Geneva observer short effect Lachino express emon demanded the majority of security particular concern or not Amor la possible presence.
Hello SULA premier question for me.
They measure the security particular measure put the Monday no collect the security activity really or UPRS.
We don't remember the the meeting summaries every more they keep you can say key killer killer doctors to demand that I do security like security body.
Yeah, from the next Monday, I've seen so many said events and room 24 or some hour somewhere around.
So do you have any details because all the said events who called infirmal consultation, we need more details and what time on which side events.
Thank you.
But I'm really, really sorry, I have no other information on the UPR session and whatever side events may be.
So please ask.
I've just read you the information because of, you know, as a meeting update, but I don't have this information.
You would have to ask Pascal and his team please.
Yeah, yeah.
But could you assisted Pascal to send us a universal e-mail or?
It has, they have sent a, an e-mail with the generic, the general information about the this session, the 45th session of the UPR working group on the 17th of January.
And now they are sending country by country the information with the also the links to the background documents etcetera.
So they are really taking this up.
I would really invite you to talk to him if you have specific question including on the programme and including on the side events.
I on my side, of course, I can ask security if there is any special issue on the access, but on the programme, on the side events, on specific questions related to a specific country, you have to ask the organisers.
Thank you very much.
So if there are no other questions that we see on the yes, Mohammed.
Yes, Alessandro, thank you so much.
I have a question for you on different topic.
Civitzerland and Ukraine announced at the beginning of this week and they plan to organise a peace summit for Ukraine hosted by Switzerland.
Two countries also start the talks on this issue in Davos this week.
My question is, is the United Nation part of this initiative?
Yes, I want to know that.
Thank you.
Yeah, You remember Mohammed is USG Griffiths said when he addressed you, you know, at the beginning of the week when we had the press conference on Ukraine with USG Griffiths and Grandy USG Griffiths was asked this question and answer.
At least at that moment, there was no direct implication of the UN for the moment.
We have seen the report of course, of the possibility of a conference to happen in Switzerland.
But I in on this, I will ask you to address your questions to the Swiss mission at this.
For the moment, I don't have any further information on that, so I don't see any other question.
Thank you very much.
I wish you all a very good weekend and I'll see you next week.
Thank you.