Welcome to the press briefing of the Information Service here at the UN in Geneva.
Today is Tuesday, 23rd of January.
We have a few very interesting briefing.
The first one is brought to you by the World Food Programme.
has is on zoom connection with us.
Tefa, who is the World Food Programme
as senior communications officer and spokesperson
and he is talking to us from Cairo.
So you have an update on the difficulties in delivering aid to Gaza.
I give the floor immediately to Mr Tees.
Oh, it's a lady. Sorry. I'm sorry, madam.
ishita wants to start or we go straight to Cairo.
you're my concern. Just go ahead, please.
madam. You can, uh you can start talking.
Um Ok. Hello, everyone. Thank you so much for
Um well, uh, quite a few updates, You know, three months into the conflict,
I think, uh, as you can all follow from your screens.
The situation in Gaza is, of course, uh,
slipping every day into a more a much more catastrophic situation.
Uh, there are waves of displacement. Uh, people are cramped in the,
you know, southern part of the Gaza Strip.
There is the rampant spread of the disease.
And, of course, a looming threat of famine. As we speak,
there has been a lot of intensification of
efforts to scale up the World Food Programme,
food assistance operations, and to look at all the operational challenges.
I think we are in a good space when it comes to the procurement of food,
the availability of food on the borders and outside of Gaza,
I think, um uh, you know, um, the the the team the supply chain team,
uh, for the World Food Programme has managed to get
21,000 tonnes of food supplies. That's enough for, um,
uh, in Gaza for one month.
This is these are supplies are either in Egypt,
uh, on the way or are already loaded on trucks, uh, on the border with gaza.
Um, so far, and since the beginning of this conflict, we've managed to get around,
um, over 1400 trucks carrying around, um, 24 tonnes of food commodities in Gaza
that includes food, food parcels, the canned food, like beans. Meat.
Uh, we've got wheat flour, um, fortified biscuits, supplementary feeding com
commodities for pregnant and for, uh, breastfeeding mothers.
Um, in January alone, and up until yesterday,
there was around 730 trucks that had around again
13,000 tonnes of food that has crossed into Gaza.
There's quite a movement now
in terms of getting supplies into Gaza.
Um, we've also had the, uh, human
the convoy that started from Jordan into Gaza.
And we've managed to get six convoys, uh,
on behalf of WFP and partners that have crossed
since it was opened on the 20th of December.
So all of this is like on the the good, the the you know,
the the the good side of things problem is that it's extremely difficult to
get into the places where we need to go to get to go to
in Gaza, especially in northern Gaza. So very few assistance has made it beyond
Um, WP is also working with
uh, and and and three partner partners and a number of community representatives
to deliver assistance to people in UN shelters in Deir
and in Rafah as quickly as possible.
Um, so that we can get at least the people that we have access to
that they can get the supplies that are needed.
Uh, also, we've had a bit
movement in terms of the access to bread,
which is a very important staple food commodity for in the Palestinian diet.
So we're giving wheat flour, salt
and sugar to a bakeries. Six of them are in
Two are in there and Bala
so that they can produce fresh bread at
a subsidised price for people in communities.
The bakeries are producing an average of 1 million,
uh, loaves of bread every day.
having said that, uh, I think the risks of of, of having,
you know, pockets of famine in Gaza is very much still there. We?
The assessment that we've done,
uh, during the humanitarian pause, which was, I think around the, uh, last, uh
uh, week of November has shown that we do have, uh you know, um uh,
that we have more than half a million people
in Gaza are facing catastrophic food insecurity
levels and the risk of famine increases each day
as the conflict is limiting the delivery of,
um, you know, life saving food assistance to people in need.
Uh, this report, the I PC has shown that, um,
all the 2.2 million people are in crisis or worse, levels of food,
acute food insecurity and almost a quarter of the population.
That's more than half a million people are actually
in in in the most stage of hunger, which is I PC five means that people are starving.
We're also, um, you know, Children that are being evacuated
to get treatment on the Egyptian side of the border.
reports of malnutrition and Children who lost a lot of weight extremely thin.
we're we're seeing a very worrisome situation in terms of Children's, uh,
the shortage of water is making things worse because Children gets weaker,
Uh, with diarrhoea, uh, which makes things quite fatal.
pregnant women not getting enough to eat and the impacts of the impact
of that on the health of the babies and the young Children.
I think in terms of the, uh, distribution.
So far, we've We've reached quite a lot of people again, uh,
in the southern part of Gaza,
few convoys have made it to the northern part of Gaza. But that's very, very,
uh, rare occasion when we managed to get a convoy to the, um, to the north of Gaza.
I think that's pretty much it.
Unless you have any further questions,
please go ahead and shoot me these questions over.
Tefa. Yes, indeed. There are questions. So I will start with Gabriella,
Uh, here in the room. Uh, she is our correspondent of Reuters.
Uh, thank you very much for the update. Uh, just a quick question.
In fact, regarding deliveries to northern Gaza,
uh, you just mentioned it was a very rare occasion for this to happen.
Uh, in which context did this happen? Precisely. When was it possible to do it?
Uh, generally, the biggest impediments to having these deliveries, um,
shipped to northern Gaza. Um,
and if you have any idea of the quantity that has
gone from WFP since the start of the conflict Thank you.
Well, in terms of the access to, uh, north Gaza, Uh,
that it's a process of clearance and deconfliction with the
Israeli authorities so that we make sure that the convoys are passing into areas,
um, into these areas safely
in a safe manner to the, uh to, you know,
to truck drivers to the people that were trying to get the, uh, food to
And, of course, to the, um, you know,
partners and aid workers that are with these convoys.
I, I have to get to you exactly on the dates of the, um
of the convoy and how much it was carrying. I think it was.
That was probably between a week to 10 days ago.
So But I think I'm I'm gonna share with you exactly.
The the the date when this convoy has gone.
And, uh, I'm actually looking at my notes, so I can't find this immediately.
It wasn't soon. I mean, it wasn't in the last few days.
It was just like, literally more than two weeks ago.
But, um, I'll send this information through ishita,
Absolutely. And I'm pretty sure this will be
very interesting for all the journalists. So if I
could share this. That would be much appreciated.
I'll go ahead with Chris,
our correspondent of the French news agency
Hello. Thank you for taking my question. I would like to come back.
You are talking about, uh, the the risk of pockets of famine Still
still there? Could you give us a little bit more details on that?
Do you have any idea how many people
suffering from famine? And, uh, can you tell us
where it is in the Gaza Strip? Thank you.
When in the, um when the I the integrated phase classification system took place,
it was the information that we have and the data that we have It comes from the,
um, the study that we did, uh, during the humanitarian pause, which was like,
uh, towards the end of November. So that's almost like two months ago.
So the information that we have is like, bleak, and it's quite old,
and the situation has not improved
in terms of the locations.
I think the the majority of these areas and again I
don't have the specific locations are areas that are north of
It's like beyond the areas that we can have regular reach out to, which is the, um
you know, the, uh beyond Rafa,
which is where the assistance is concentrated.
the entire population of Gaza that's around 2.2
million people is in I PC Phase three.
That's a level of need that requires sustained and regular food assistance.
Or these people are above, which is like, basically crisis. Like I PC four or five.
more than half a million more than half a million people are already in
the catastrophe. Phase five.
That's the most severe level of food insecurity and
the highest share of people facing high level,
uh, acute food insecurity that the I PC has ever classified in any
given country or conflict ever.
So that's actually like, uh, uncharted territory when it comes to,
the I PC, uh, findings that any result in many parts of the world,
it's basically this is they look at, um,
again different kind of analysis to determine
and the severity and magnitude of the hunger crisis, according to a certain, uh,
scientific standards and criteria.
So, uh, locations again, Um you know, it is all the areas that are inaccessible.
I mean, of the areas inaccessible, um,
which is basically anything outside of the south of of, um, uh, Gaza.
has confirmed that she will share the figures you were looking for, Gabriel
with the notes. So you will get it.
Thank you so much. Alessandra, Thank you for the
As you know, Israel continues to belong. Aid to Gaza. People in
in Gaza are in a very bad situation, and there is a huge
You can probably see the news of people are trying to pick grass and eat.
such a poor site before? And how would you compare with others? Thank you.
Um, first of all, I just want to, uh,
correcting The data was gathered were gathered between the
24th of November and the seventh of December.
So just to make sure that, uh, you know all of the reference to this, uh,
between 24th of november and the seventh of December
and we expect that the situation probably is much worse by now, because,
um, you know, the improvement on the ground is really, uh, not, you know,
situation has not improved.
uh, maybe we've had, uh, some more, um, you know, food supplies getting in,
but not again into every area.
Also, the communication blackout that's hitting Gaza is really impacting. Um,
also how we're operating distribution.
We're unable to organise distribution in
an orderly manner because of the communication
breakdown between the different teams across Gaza.
In terms of the comparison between,
between this conflict and any other conflict in terms
of access to food and food and security,
And, uh, I I think I mentioned
that the data having this high level or highest numbers of people in
I PC five is extremely concerning.
It is the largest concentration of people in what
looks like famine like conditions anywhere in the world
and the the also how fast we got to this point is extremely concerning.
It does take us many months of conflict of of, you know, chaos
And if you look at the even, you know, the situation in Yemen or in Syria or in,
Uh, in Sudan, all of this we, you know, with with with the conflicts
and the long years of conflict in these countries, we haven't seen
in these conditions in such a short span of time.
In less than 100 days, we had the these figures. Um,
I think I'm I'm not sure. I'm sorry if I missed the other part of the question.
If if I did, please remind me. Other than that, um, um, over from my side,
I think you you covered pretty much, uh, the question from, uh, Mohammed.
So thank you very much. Uh, for this,
Bruce. The New York Times.
Yeah. Thank you for taking my question. And I just wanted to confirm
is you. You said half a million people are starving. They are in IPCC five.
Is that based on the estimate
uh, at the end of november and early December.
Or is that something that you've adjusted?
you know, and escalated since that time.
that is all based on the numbers that we've had end of this, uh, end of November.
It's like between the 24th and the, you know,
the numbers that we've released on the 20th of December based on this data,
what we said at that point, if we don't get if the conflict, if if we don't have, uh,
humanitarian pauses, cease fire, more access to people we're going to see.
You know, these people are starving already,
and they will be in a very difficult situation.
Nothing has changed since then. Maybe we've had a little bit.
Things like the Jordan Corridor has opened. We've been able. We have now right now,
enough food supplies for all the 2 million people
inside Gaza for enough for one month. Everything is like on the borders
but not yet inside. And the the important element is that
there are people who are not
So if we want to save lives, get more, get people you know, uh, lifted from this, uh,
from the the experience that they are having living in a famine like conditions.
Then we have to have this regular access to all of the areas uh, that are in Gaza.
Um, in terms of the, uh I think that, um
I'm just looking at my notes here. Um,
pretty much the, uh, the,
uh we haven't been able to do any kind of food assessments since this pause,
and we would need another ceasefire.
Humanitarian pause so that we are able to follow up on
these figures and see how the situation has developed since,
Thank you very much. Very clear.
I think Christian would like to Christian Lind Meyer
from W-2 would like to add something.
Yeah, thank you very much. Alessandra.
And then the colleague from from WFP and then Nick and others who asked
the questions just to add a bit of a to the picture here.
Um, the situation is really grave on the ground.
We just had the missions planned, and actually,
some of them now managed to get them through these last days.
We're waiting for a statement, which we will send out the moment. Um, this is ready.
So it should be any any time soon. Now, today,
Um, but the important part is
this was now one of the convoys had mainly fuel for a hospital on it,
and the people were holding it up as it multiple times.
It was trying to move forward and trying to leave and trying to
get onto the road because they were so desperate looking for food.
And we needed to convince them and the team on the ground needed to convince them
that all that there's only fuel and try to actually show them that this is only fuel,
um, so that there's nothing to eat for them on there or no food for anybody else,
um, so which they would urgently need. So the desperation is really grave.
uh, grave reports from inside the hospitals, people begging as they are lying,
waiting for surgeries or or for
for any interventions, begging for water, begging for food,
uh, horrible scenarios on the ground. And,
um, the point here is that
as of 18 January, uh, which is now,
Um uh, until five days ago, we had
88 WO trucks with medicines have crossed into Gaza.
And while you hear reports every now and then 100 trucks coming in,
then another day celebrations that are maybe 150.
Or maybe even 200 trucks are coming in.
yeah, as badly needed as they all are.
Every single truck is badly needed, but the problem is it needs to be sustainable.
And it needs to be secure
constant access into Gaza and throughout Gaza
to supply everybody with the needs they
have and the hospitals and the patients
with the medicines with the surgical equipment.
And, of course, with the food, the water and the fuel as it is needed on the ground.
And that again needs to be plan. It needs to be sustainable.
And it cannot be an ad hoc intervention.
It cannot be a celebration of 100 trucks being coming in,
and therefore the obligations under any international law have been fulfilled.
It needs to be more everything which is coming out and in
right now it gets to be moved forward is badly needed.
But it's way, way, way too little. And needs to be more.
Thank you very much. Um, Gabriel with a second, I had
Yes. Thank you. Um thank you for doing this.
I just want to get a better sense of how often you have been rejected, Um,
by this lady about your attempt to send food to the north in January.
you need to unmute yourself, please.
so in terms of the i think I, I did have a figure about the percentages, and, uh,
I do if I remember this correctly,
that it's probably the figure is between around 70%
rejection to a request, uh, to go to the north.
Someone had the question of how many, Uh, when was the last time we got, uh, trucks,
uh, to the north. It was.
There was two convoys around the 11th and the 13th of
January that were carrying 200 tonnes of food for 15,000 people.
15,000 people. That's really, uh, a very, very small numbers.
And this is why we're seeing people becoming more desperate,
impatient to wait for food distributions, because it's very sporadic.
They don't get it frequently. And they have no trust or confidence that
this, um, that these convoys will come again.
So very, uh, compared to the, um you know, magnitude of needs
in these areas. Extremely, uh, difficult conditions as my colleague from WHO.
thank you very much. And Gabriel, I
has said actually on January 12th, 0
they were noting a systematic refusal by Israeli authorities
for delivery specifically to northern Gaza.
Uh, you say that 70% of requests to deliver food to northern Gaza have been refused.
Do you see something systematic here? Thank you.
Yes, absolutely. It's very systematic.
And again I have to double check on this figure of, uh, the percentage.
And it's not just for food. I think it's just in general for access,
uh, to northern Gaza. This this figure I think came from
oa. But I have to double check on this.
Systematic limitation on getting into the north of Gaza, not just for WFP,
I think for pretty much everyone,
I maybe I can, uh unfortunately, we don't have the spokesperson of O
But I can tell you what I have
received in terms of information on the humanitarian access
that in the first two weeks of January,
humanitarian agencies planned 29 missions to deliver life
saving supplies to the areas to the north of
Only seven of the 29 were accomplished, which is 24%
either fully or partially.
The remainder of the missions were denied access by the Israeli authorities.
This is a significant increase in denials compared with the previous months
between October and December,
last year, only 14% 6 out of 43 emissions planned to the North were denied,
while the remaining 86% which is 37 out of 43 missions, were facilitated.
These denials prevent the scale up in humanitarian assistance
and add significant costs to the overall response.
The capacity of humanitarian agencies to operate safely
and effectively also remains heavily compromised by the long
term restrictions applied by the Israeli authorities on
the import of critical humanitarian equipment into Gaza.
That is information from O.
Yes, I just want to follow up the The lady gave you reason why they rejected.
Um, no, I'm sorry, I don't have this information.
uh I don't have first hand hand information
to what were the reasons behind the rejection
given this update to us? Oh, sorry. I wasn't
mic was not on. Can you hear me?
that concludes the questions to you.
Good luck with your important work.
And please come back and brief our journalists any
time in the near future on this dire,
Let's stay in the region and go again to
Christian. You brought us Dr
representative in Yemen and is connecting
tell us about the health situation in this country.
And I will Now let's see if he
has been able to connect.
Alice Christian. Do you want to start
we go directly to a doctor?
Let me just say the statement. Thank you very much, Alexander.
And thanks for the intro. So you did it perfectly. Of course. No.
But the the statement that Dr Artur
will now soon give was just now sent to the Pale
Journalist. So you should all have it.
And hence yeah support what we will discuss now Thank you very much.
Thank you very much. And, um, good afternoon to everyone from
Uh, it has been nearly a decade of conflict here in, uh,
the country remains to be one of the world's worst
humanitarian and health emergencies. Yet unfortunately forgotten by many,
we have millions of Children born into the war.
Many have grown up, which is in conflict. And all people of Yemen have lived
through some of the harshest humanitarian health crises.
Recent events over the Red Sea and attacks in
Yemen as the situation in the occupied Palestinian territory worsens
can reverse this hard gain. Progress for peace and stability.
The people of Yemen have lived through deep devastation, hunger and violence.
They deserve a life of peace and progress.
The UN brokered truce and peace talks raised many hopes that the prolonged conflict
would soon end and that the country was on the path of sustainable peace.
This year, 2024 17.8 million people need health support.
2.4 million Children under the age of five are malnourished.
only 51% of health facilities are fully operational,
while 36% are providing limited services.
And amongst this, 29% of the functioning hospitals do not have specialist doctors.
The extent to which these indicators will
affect Yemen's long term health and development
cannot yet be measured, but its impact will last generations.
um affected by the increasing insecurity are
facing the worst health and development challenges
and for example, the Hodeida
alone hosts 100 and 35,000 internally displaced households
This has increased the socio-economic concerns
facing communities and health facilities.
is in the rest of the countries overwhelmed by endemic diseases such as malaria,
dengue, measles, diphtheria
Since the beginning of this year,
we've had 3940 cases of acute watery
diarrhoea and suspected cholera cases having been reported
with 13 associated tests.
The disease first emerged among a mobile community
whose movement is quite difficult to track the control
The cases have also already been reported among host communities.
Enough and if you could recall between 2016 and 2021
Yemen was classified as the world's largest outbreak of cholera,
with over 2.5 million reported cases.
Thus, um, we say that, uh, like, for our situation in WHO,
we're facing a severe shortage of humanitarian support in the country.
our funding gap in 2023 reached 93%.
WHO was able to support at least 100 26 health facilities,
um, that year to, compared to 227 in January of 2022.
the drop of support from 100 and one
health facilities that used to provide life saving services
These numbers have very direct, inconceivable implications on human lives.
So we reflect today that Yemen is, uh, a critical crossroads.
And the days to come will determine the future of more than 35 million people,
whether humanitarian and developmental progress will be reversed
or if Yemen will be on the road towards peace.
So I stop here, and, um, I would welcome any questions uh,
you may have with regards to our situation here in Yemen.
Thank you very much, sir. Um, let's see in the room if there's any question
thank you very much, sir,
For for this update, I'm looking at the platform in case somebody had raised
their hands. No. So thank you very much, Doctor
for this update and maybe Christian before I give the floor to Matt before we let go.
Let you go. You have an announcement Also,
indeed. And thank you very much. And again, the the statement was sent.
So for any follow ups on a briefing by our head of country office, please come to us.
So, uh, it's an important, uh,
sorry. Nick has asked for the problem. Maybe just, uh
no, no. Give us. Give us your announcement, and then we will see.
Maybe there will be other questions. Go ahead.
No. Unless it's this this is on Doctor
Yes, it might be If you can wait on the line one more moment. Yes. No,
Christian before you disappeared?
I wanted to check with you whether you had an update on
the situation of the two hospitals that we understood,
uh, were under attack this morning or were being
surrounded by military. Uh, units and and and hostilities.
So do you have any update on that?
And could you specify which the hospitals are and and and what?
You've heard about the situation inside.
Yep. Give me a second. Because there are other things, obviously. Now, here, um,
maybe let's start as a as a general thing. Thank you. And then Alexandre
FAU, I'll do the question first and then come to the, uh, come to the announcement.
Um, we now have 14. And that's important.
14 partially functioning hospitals, seven in the north and seven in the south.
Um, and with two minimal functioning, uh, ones,
which is one of the two hospitals that is now being raided.
And we don't have specific updates on the situation.
There was no which is basically sieged around the
hospital and has no way in and and out.
It's a must be a horrible scenario on the on the ground there,
with people not knowing what the next minutes
And additionally, the situation of not having enough food,
water or the medical supplies.
for an update on exactly those hospitals and
the statement is being prepared right now,
so I have to ask for your patience on this.
It, uh, it will come out, uh, anytime soon. I. I, uh I guess,
important. 20 hospitals are not functioning.
Um, right now, um, that's all over Gaza, as you know. And, um,
Said last night that the patients and
people seeking safety within these facilities,
not only are they now at risk, but also they are being prevented
or or newly injured. People are being prevented to reach the hospital and come in.
absolutely unacceptable and not what any health facility
anywhere in the world should go through.
I think you can go ahead with your announcement.
So, yeah, a bit of a a topic change. Um, bit of a mood change.
And, um, additionally, So the
the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control,
the WTO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.
One of the few international
uh, is having an opening press conference, um,
of the global tobacco controlling control governing bodies.
Um, next week, the pre the briefing is next week,
but the conference of the parties that is called the cop 10
is happening now, and you may recall, um, late in last year, it had to be postponed
because of, um, the the, um, technical, um, situation
in in the host country. So now it is happening. It's happening.
The cop 10 in Panama from five to Jan,
followed by the so called mob. The meeting of the party.
So the conference of the parties
is similar, like the World Health Assembly and the mob is a bit similar,
maybe they'll give you a quick idea for those who are not too familiar with but very,
very interesting and important topics out there.
The slogan is together promoting healthier lives.
and some of the topics being discussed just to
give you a quick idea are tobacco advertising,
Something is resolved. Very
um, heavily discussed around the world.
And again, the, uh the the brief press briefing just for the P
um will be next Tuesday, Tuesday, 30 January from 3 to 4 in the afternoon. 15 to 1600
hours. Uh, CE T. Just a briefing for for P a journalists. Um um, a virtual briefing.
We'll send out a media advisory today because you need to register with the media
team of the FCTC simple media email media FCTC in one word at who.int.
But again, an advisory will come out
and there is an opportunity to register,
and that needs to be accredited for the cop in Panama.
Um, I assume not many of you will go, but maybe you have, uh,
colleagues from your agencies.
So you want to flag to this and there's a deadline to that. That's, uh,
also exactly Tuesday, Wednesday, next week. So that needs to be,
um, done soon again. It will be in the media advisory, but very interesting
topics coming up. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Christian. And I don't see questions on that.
We remember the briefing of Dr
was also referring to this meeting.
And they will be waiting for your invitation to the press briefing.
I turn to my left now and
on the situation of Ranger refugees
Thank you, Alexandra. And good morning, everyone.
As you mentioned Alexandra,
we have an update on the dramatic increase in
the loss of life at sea among Rohingya refugees.
UNHCR is deeply alarmed by statistics that reveal a
surge in the number of desperate Rohingya refugees reportedly dying
or going missing at sea while taking risky boat journeys across the Andaman Sea
or the Bay of Bengal. Last year,
some 570 Rohingya were reported to have perished or gone missing last year
in the south East Asian waters,
with nearly 4500 embarking on deadly sea journeys.
That's a significant increase
and there was a big increase in the last quarter. In particular,
the number reported missing or dead is the highest since 2014, which saw some 730.
The findings for 2023 give some shocking details.
For example, survivors have shared horrifying accounts
of abuse and exploitation during the journeys, including gender based violence.
that one Rohingya was reported to have died or gone
missing for every 88 people attempting the journey last year.
This makes the Andaman Sea in the bay of Bengal,
one of the deadliest stretches of water in the world.
Most attempting these journeys were women and Children.
Some 66 per cent of all of those embarking.
The refugees have been leaving from Bangladesh and to a lesser extent from Myanmar
in a single deadly incident in November 2023.
It is feared that some 200 Rohingya lost their lives when
their boat was reported to have sunk in the Andaman Sea
and prior to that from January to August,
there were at least three serious wrecks with 30 dead and 177 reported missing.
These figures provide a chilling reminder that failure to act
to save people in distress results in unnecessary deaths.
More and more desperate people are dying under the watch
of numerous coastal states in the absence of timely rescue
and disembarkation to the nearest place of safety.
UNHCR calls on regional coastal authorities to
take urgent action to prevent future tragedies.
Saving lives and rescuing those in distress at sea is a
humanitarian imperative and a long standing
duty under international maritime law.
is working with impacted states and other stakeholders, including refugees,
to develop a comprehensive regional response to address these perilous journeys.
The root causes of these maritime movements must be addressed.
And the international community must step up to make good
on pledges made at the global Refugee Forum in Geneva in
December 2023 to advance solutions for Rohingya refugees
and improve self reliance to provide hope for refugees and
reduce the compulsion to take these dangerous boat journeys.
Thank you very much, Matt.
And I see you have already sent your notes to the journalist, So thanks for that.
Any questions to you in HCR
but I don't see any hand up on
Uh, yeah. Hi, Matthew. Thanks for this. Um,
Um, on the actual circumstances of these particular accidents, such as the
the the the one you mentioned about 200
were these just, unfortunately, fragile vessels that were caught in a storm,
or were they pushed back?
Do we have any accounts that indicate that
shipping had passed them by and ignored them?
is there a deliberate strategy of basically keeping them at sea.
Of course, these crossings are made in incredibly fragile vessels,
overcrowded vessels, and so they are particularly vulnerable
and susceptible to accidents.
In terms of the specifics around
the wrecks that I mentioned,
I don't have any further details in terms of state action.
But of course we reiterate our call that saving lives
and rescuing those in distress at sea is a humanitarian imperative
as well as a long standing duty
under international maritime law. In other words,
it is the duty of states and vessels
to rescue those in distress at sea and to ensure
as close as possible to that rescue.
Thank you, Matt. Any other question?
So thanks very much for this update,
which concludes our briefing. I just have a couple of short announcements
just to remind you that the Committee on the Rights of the Child is concluding the
review of the report of the Russian Federation this morning and this afternoon we
start the review of the Report of Lithuania.
And as I told you on Friday, the conference on this armament is holding this morning
the first public plenary of the 2024 session
with under the presidency of India with a speech of our Director General
Vala, who was also Secretary General of the Conference on Disarmament.
Sorry. And her speech will be on Thursday, 25th of January.
So this morning, it's just opening the public plenary.
Um, this is, uh, what I had for you.
Uh, I don't know if there is any question to me.
just also to remind you that on Friday we will be Commemorating
the International Day of Remembrance of the victims of the Holocaust.
That will be a lunch time.
And we will send you the invitation
for this commemoration. And I hope you will be able to attend
any other question any other point. I don't see any hand up, so thank you very much.
And I'll see you on Friday. Thank you.
