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UN Geneva briefing - 30 January 2024
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Press Conferences | OCHA , OHCHR , UNHCR , WHO , WMO
UN Geneva briefing - 30 January 2024
UN GENEVA PRESS BRIEFING
30 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 of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the World Health Organization, the United Nations Refugee Agency, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, and the World Meteorological Organization.
Progress update on eliminating industrially produced trans fat
Dr. Francesco Branca, Director of the Department of Nutrition and Food Safety at the World Health Organization (WHO), explained that trans fat was produced industrially by the partial hydrogenation of any liquid oils which made them hard. Invented several decades earlier, those fats were known to be harmful and could lead to cardiovascular diseases. The good news was that only five year earlier, only six percent of people in the world had been protected through national policies on trans fats; today, as many as 46 percent of people in the world, across 53 countries, were covered. This way, an estimated 183,000 lives were being saved every year. Five countries had been awarded a WHO certificate for eliminating industrial trans fats from their food supply chains: Denmark, Lithuania, Poland, Saudi Arabia, and Thailand. Dr. Branca said that Cargill, one of the big manufacturers, had committed to eliminating trans fats from their production process. On the other side, the job was far from being finished, warned Dr. Branca. It was hoped that within next five years, at least 90 percent of the global population would be covered by policies on the elimination of industrially produced trans fat.
Responding to questions, Dr. Branca said that a report on this subject was being published shortly. The important news was to acknowledge the five countries which were leading the way, while the newly published data was encouraging and showing consistent progress towards eliminating trans fat. More information from the WHO on trans fat is available here.
Situation in Gaza
On questions related to the situation in the Gaza Strip, Dr. Francesco Branca, for the World Health Organization (WHO), said that a recent evaluation showed that close to 90 percent of the population were in a very precarious situation regarding food safety. The situation with food and water was very dire, reminded Christian Lindmeier, also for the World Health Organization; access to clean drinking water was affected by the desalination problems. The malnourished population was very prone to catching diseases, he warned, which came on the top of constant shelling. Mr. Lindmeier reminded that Dr. Tedros had already appealed to donors not to suspend the funding to UNRWA at this critical moment, which would only hurt the people of Gaza who now desperately needed this vital support.
Close to half of the people in Gaza were a refugee population for whom UNRWA had the primary responsibility, said Mr. Lindmeier. Before the war, UNRWA had run 22 health centers; only six were currently functioning. By 14 January, close to one million people were living in UNRWA shelters, almost half of the entire population of the Gaza Strip. Mr. Lindmeier emphasized that UNRWA provided vital services. He said that 70 percent of the almost 27,000 killed people in Gaza were women and children; the deliberate shelling of the civilians continued, which was acknowledged even by some of the closest allies of Israel. As important as the discussions were on the alleged participation of several UNRWA employees in the 7 October attacks, those discussions were also a distraction from the extremely dire conditions for the civilians in the enclave. Alessandra Vellucci, for the United Nations Information Service (UNIS), said that while the Secretary-General was horrified by the allegations against some UNRWA employees, he emphasized the need that the funding for UNRWA be continued at this critical point. Answering questions on what the humanitarian community would do, should UNWRA stop working for lack of funds, Ms. Vellucci said that the stopping had not happened yet, and the Secretary-General was working hard to solve the issue. Jens Laerke, for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), reiterated that UNRWA’s work was critical for humanitarian operations in Gaza.
Mr. Lindmeier, for the WHO, responding to other questions, said that scaling up of aid deliveries was possible; this was not a question for UN agencies, but for the Israeli forces as the occupying power. Why cut off an already existing lifeline, wondered Mr. Lindmeier. The situation around the Al Nasr hospital was getting worse, he said; it was a very important medical centre remaining in the south, which was under siege. The previous day, three missions to Al Nasr had been planned; only one convoy had been allowed through. Such denials and delays by the Israeli forces impeded the work of medical establishments.
Catherine Huissoud, for the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), informed that on 31 January, UNCTAD would release a rapid assessment of the social and economic deterioration in Gaza since the beginning of the military operation after 7 October 2023. The new report quantified GDP loss, recovery timelines, and described enduring effects on poverty and household expenditure; it painted a daunting picture of the development challenges ahead. Utilizing innovative satellite imagery and official data, UNCTAD estimated the current level of contraction of the economy.
Myanmar three years after the coup
Jeremy Laurence, for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), read a statement by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, ahead of the third anniversary of the military coup in Myanmar. Three years after the coup, Myanmar’s ever deteriorating human rights crisis was now in freefall, with insufficient world attention paid to the misery and pain of its people. Since the end of October 2023, the situation had deteriorated even further. Pitched battles between the military and armed opposition groups had resulted in mass displacement and civilian casualties. Sources had verified that over 554 people had died since October. Overall for 2023, the number of civilians reportedly killed by the military had risen to over 1,600. As of 26 January, credible sources had documented the arrest of nearly 26,000 people on political grounds, of whom 19,973 remained in detention.
Rakhine State had been particularly hard hit since fighting restarted there in November. Many communities, especially the Rohingya, had already been suffering from the impacts of Cyclone Mocha and the military’s months-long limitation of humanitarian access and provision of assistance. There had now been several reports of Rohingya deaths and injuries amid the military’s shelling of Rohingya villages. OHCHR stressed that parties to armed conflicts had to take constant care to spare the civilians and civilian objects, in the conduct of military operations, which includes taking feasible measures to protect the civilian population under their control against the effects of attack. “This crisis will only be resolved by insisting on accountability for the military’s leadership, the release of political prisoners and the restoration of civilian rule,” High Commissioner Türk said, urging all Member States to take appropriate measures to address this crisis. The full statement is available here.
Replying to questions from the media, James Rodehaver, head of the Myanmar Team at the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), speaking from Bangkok, said that the fighting, while significantly subsided following a China-brokered ceasefire, had continued with military attacks against the three armed groups in the so-called “Brotherhood Alliance.” Those armed groups were now very much in control of the areas they had captured; OHCHR was keen to see what kind of impact that had on the governance of those areas and how the civilian population was being cared for. Mr. Rodehaver said that the situation in the Rakhine State was dire, where both parties – the Myanmar Military and the Arakan Army – were establishing themselves in and around Rohingya villages, using schools and mosques for artillery attacks and mortar fire. Mr. Rodehaver stressed the importance of collecting comprehensive, detailed information for the sake of future accountability. It was very hard to get reliable data on weapons transfers, but some foreign assistance still seemed to be getting through to the Myanmar Military, including jet fuel and maintenance services. Organized crime and trafficking networks were still very active in the country. Many of the crossing points with neighbouring countries were now under the control of ethnic armed groups rather than the Myanmar Miliary. Rohingya had very limited options, which was why many amongst them opted for unseaworthy vessels. Mr. Rodehaver explained that almost all funding for his team came from extrabudgetary sources, and the fundraising was a labour-intensive process.
Shabia Mantoo, for the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), answering a question, said that there were still around one million Rohingya refugees hosted by Bangladesh. Continued support for them was or paramount importance. UNHCR was present and providing assistance in both Bangladesh and Myanmar.
OHCHR appeals for USD 500 million in extrabudgetary funding for 2024
Jeremy Laurence, for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), informed that UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk today appealed for a significant increase in annual voluntary funding for his Office this year, warning it was still drastically short of funds needed to more effectively advance human rights globally.
In 2023, he reminded, the top five contributors of voluntary funds had been the European Union, the United States of America, Sweden, Germany, and Norway. More information is available here.
Record temperature in Europe
Clare Nullis, for the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), said that the WMO had officially confirmed the record temperature for continental Europe: 48.8 degrees Celsius, recorded in Sicily, Italy in August 2021. The procedures to confirm such records were painstaking and time-consuming, she explained. More details are available here. It was possible that a new global temperature record would be witnessed this year, she said.
Ms. Nullis also informed that the WMO had appointed Ko Barrett as Deputy Secretary-General and Thomas Asare as Assistant Secretary-General.
Announcements
Christian Lindmeier, for the World Health Organization (WHO), reminded that an embargoed press conference ahead of the World Cancer Day would be held at 2 pm today.
At 3 pm today, a press conference would be held ahead of the Tenth session of the Conference of the Parties (COP10) to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which would take place in Panama City from 5 to 10 February.
Alessandra Vellucci, for the United Nations Information Service, informed that the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, was reviewing today the report of Niger.
The Committee on the Rights of the Child would hold on 1 February a meeting with State parties before closing its 95th session on 2 February.
The World Interfaith Harmony Week would be marked from 1 to 7 February, informed Ms. Vellucci.
***
The webcast for this briefing is available here: https://bit.ly/unog30012024
The audio for this briefing is available here: https://bit.ly/UNOG30012024
Teleprompter
Good morning.
Welcome to the press briefing of the Information
Service of the United Nations in Geneva.
Today is Tuesday, 30th of January.
We have quite a few briefing points and I would like
to start immediately with our guests from the World Health Organisation.
Christian has brought with us It was the
director of the Department of Nutrition and Food Safety,
Dr Francesco Branca.
Welcome, Francesco,
and I'll give you the floor immediately for a progress
update on the elimination of industrially produced trans fats.
Thank you very much,
Alexandra. And good morning to all
today for a change, I'm coming with some good news.
So we're talking about industrial trans fats.
Trans fats are a particular category of fats
which is
naturally present in food, particularly in dairy food. It comes from ruminants
or and that's the largest amount we have in our food systems.
Or we used to have in our food system
which is produced by bubbling hydrogen in liquid oils to make them hard.
So they were invented a
few decades ago, what we had on our tables as margarine.
But then there has been a demonstration that these fats,
even more than the saturated fat and butter are responsible for heart disease,
and we have estimated that about 250,000 nets have been
connected to the consumption of trans fat in the past,
recommends not to consume trans fat or to consume
less than one per cent of total energy.
Acknowledging that some of it will come from dairy products,
for example now the good news is that while
five years ago
very few people in the world were protected from this harmful compound,
about 6% of people in the world in five years.
After a very energetic programme to persuade countries to
adopt policies to ban this compound from the food
system. Now we have 46 per cent
of the world covered, which is 3.7 billion people. 53 countries have adopted
the
best practise policies.
That means that we've been able to save about 183,000 lives every year,
so that's a good achievement.
The reason why we're convening this press conference today is because yesterday
awarded five countries the first certificate to
document the elimination of trans fat,
so basically
they have established policies,
but they also have established monitoring
and enforcing mechanisms that actually cert.
The fact that trans fats have been eliminated from
the food supply in these countries are Denmark,
Lithuania, Poland, Saudi Arabia and Thailand.
So different parts of the world, different food systems,
some of them own producers, some of them food importers.
And I must say that has been also a good collaboration with the private sector,
particularly the largest food manufacturers committed also to
to
eliminate trans fat,
industrial trans fat from their food supply from their supply chains.
We have been able to monitor this commitment and we have
been able largely to say it's not 100 per cent,
but largely
implemented.
We also have received a commitment by one of the big manufacturers of fat and
oils, which is Cargill,
that they would also
eliminate this compound from their products by the end of the year.
But then,
what about the rest of the world? There is still half of the world to be covered
in some cases because the problem is there,
but also because we would not like to see that countries
that do not have regulations in place basically receive products.
End of the stocks or products which are cheaper because
there has not been an update in the technology.
And so the poorer countries would again
get poorer products. So we said Job is not finished,
so we definitely want to have in the next five years. Another additional effort to
at least have 90 per cent of the burden of this is eliminated.
And it's sufficient to focus on a few countries with the highest burden.
We do work with partners and particularly with resolve to save life,
which is a non profit organisation that has been
very active in working with
on this agenda. So I'll stop here. Thank you.
Thank you very much. Francisco, for this
we need good news. And the work, as you said, continues.
So I'll open the floor to questions now in the room, if any.
I don't. Yes, Christian. Christian
Erich is our correspondent of the German news agency.
Uh, good morning.
I haven't quite understood what the news is today. Other than that you
handed out certificates yesterday to five countries.
So maybe you can Is there a report out today or are there new figures out?
Is it something that is new today? Thank you.
Yes, Indeed, there is a report.
I'm not going to be able to share the report with you today.
It's actually being published.
So the news is that we have actually analysed, as we do every year, the data.
And so today we are able to say this is the number, this is the latest number. At
the same time,
we wanted to acknowledge the fact that some specific countries have been leading
and not only doing this good job for themselves,
but inspiring other countries in the region in the world,
if
example of Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabia imports the largest amount of their food.
So by having this strict legislation,
they are able to stop food at their customs and they are influencing regionally
the country. So we wanted to acknowledge it.
So I think the first news is yes, we have analysed the data
and I'm going to be able to share the report with you
in the next few weeks. We already have actually data published on our website.
So if you're interested to have some details about countries
and numbers, we can do that.
And of course, the other second piece of news is this recognition of the countries.
Thank you.
I may,
uh
I'm Francais.
Nay,
Moa.
No
integrated phase classification classification.
The
risk. The
thank you.
Just a few general points.
As you know that the situation in general is very dire in Gaza.
And of course, the hunger
and
the food and water situation is extremely bad.
Food has been cut off.
Regular food supply has been cut off Gaza since more than 100 days.
The water supply, the fresh water supply has been cut off. Water is Salin,
or mixed with waste water.
Now the pumping stations partially are not working because of lack of fuel.
So all basic supplies have been cut off since more than three months. Now
the population is really at the at the border of famine,
as was discussed multiple times already.
And it's definitely not getting better. It's getting worse by the day.
We had a convoy just this morning trying to reach
hospital with patients,
health care staff, everybody there needing food.
But the
needy population already before
basically took
the supplies,
as we can call it. This was a self distribution
of supplies which only shows how dire
the needs are
and on top of it. A malnourished
population is very prone to catching diseases, catching infections in a
situation where they are cramped together, where housing is scarce,
where shelter is bad and needed,
and where infections and rashes and diseases can spread like wildfire.
And that's on top of the bombing and the shelling
and the collapsing buildings.
Any other question to Francesco IC, Lisa
Schlein, Voice of America. Lisa,
Good morning.
Uh, good morning. Uh, this is not on trans
fat. I,
uh that was yesterday's.
Actually, uh I don't know whether it's appropriate to talk about more about, uh,
Gaza.
I'm interested in following up on the question
that was asked and on, uh, Christian's reply,
How do you How do you want to deal with this?
Um, OK, so since I don't see other questions on
the issue of the trans
fat, maybe we go. Unless there is other.
It was at the hand. Jamie. No. OK, so let's, uh,
keep, uh Let's, uh Francisco. If you want to stay here, no problem.
But I'll now turn to Christian.
If you have other questions on the health situation in Gaza, please
raise your hand and I'll give the floor again to Lisa first as she was talking.
Yeah. Lisa, Sorry.
Because of the discussion on the floor here, can I ask you to repeat, please?
A Absolutely. I didn't actually ask a question, so but I But I will now,
uh, yeah, uh, regarding the, uh, uh uh, situation that's occurring in, uh, Gaza.
And you're talking about the dire situation.
and and now I heard a, um, an interview with Mark Rego,
who is, uh, Benjamin Netanyahu's spokesperson, And,
uh, this morning and he said in regard to,
uh the possibility, which seems more likely that
UNRWA uh, well, it's been suspended and that it won't be able to carry out its work.
He was asked whether,
uh, food and, uh, water,
all of the things that are necessary would be able to go over into Gaza.
He essentially said
yes.
They had, uh,
now two border crossings and that they would take
care of food and everything else going in.
And, uh, I'm not going to inject my own, uh, view of the situation,
but I would like to ask you the question.
Finally,
if indeed UN
R a is no longer able to do the work that it has been doing because of,
uh, money, which is no longer going to it.
Um, what will happen Will, um,
the humanitarian,
uh, work, uh, supplies that your organisation and others want to get into Gaza,
be able to actually
go from, uh, uh through the border crossings into the territory
and if not the consequences of that. Thank you,
Christian. Maybe you want to answer this. We also have online.
I
don't know if
I
want to say something on the general
picture of the situation. Maybe I'll
start with Christian.
Thank you, Lisa. Very difficult situation for the people in Gaza. Indeed.
But I cannot speak for unf.
That's clear. But let me point out a few things.
Dr.
Tedros, Director General
Dr Tedros
has said
that we appeal to donors not to suspend their
funding to UNRWA at this very critical moment.
Cutting off funding will only hurt the people of Gaza who desperately need support
and maybe just a few figures. In order to put this into context. U NRW
provides vital support to the population of Gaza,
including in the health sector,
as you may know, and just to put that
UN R
A is in charge of the Palestinian refugees in Gaza
and they are close to half of the population in Gaza is the refugee population.
That's what UN
R A is and who's
in charge of the resident Gaza population. If you want to call it that way,
that's what
is mainly concerned with in terms of health and other issues. So
before the conflict,
UNRWA provided care for approximately
100,000 individuals with diabetes and hypertension
for 40,000 pregnant women annually.
The escalation of hostilities in Gaza made the continuation of
such care extremely difficult as daily life itself became untenable.
UN W ran 22
health centres before the war,
but by January 14th, only six were still operating.
Services provided include critical cases of non
communal diseases, emergency outpatients, vaccinations for Children,
postnatal services and the management of high risk pregnancies.
from 8 October to 31 December, a total of
nearly 570,000 medical consultations were provided
in the nine operating UNRWA healthcare services.
From 8 October to 14 January,
close to a million medical consultations were
provided through medical units and shelters.
By 14 January,
nearly 1 million individuals who were living in
or near emergency shelters or informal shelters.
UN
W A was operating 154 shelters,
many of them school buildings.
Each shelter has a designated medical team that is
composed of a medical office and a nurse.
They focus on outpatient service, dispensing medication,
following up with vulnerable ID PS,
maternal health,
coordinating the nearest health centres for case management and
and and and and so these are vital services.
The
shelters, the
health centres and everything else is provided in Gaza through UNRWA.
Therefore, let me repeat Dr
Ted's
words.
We appeal to donors not to suspend their funding to UNRWA at
this critical moment. Cutting off funding will only hurt the people of Gaza
who desperately need support
and let me,
as we add it,
maybe add a few things again on context and not forget that
this discussion is vital, of course, and criminal activity
can never go unpunished.
But the discussion right now is much of a distraction from what's really going on.
Every day,
every hour, every minute in Gaza,
it is a destruction from close to 26
27,000 deaths per now out of which 70% of women and Children
it is a distraction from preventing an
entire population from access to clean water.
Food shelter.
It's a distraction from preventing electricity
to come into Gaza for more than 100 days.
It is also a
distraction from the continuous shelling of an entire population,
even in areas that just moments before had been designated as safe areas.
And some of the closest allies of Israel
have been calling this deliberate shelling.
It's a distraction
from attacking shelters, schools,
hospitals,
whatever it is living quarters,
whether they are run by UNRWA
by the Ministry of Health.
By
who?
It doesn't matter.
It's a distraction.
And as important as this discussion is,
let's not forget what the real issues are on the ground.
Thank you very much, Christian. Quite a few additional points.
We have been
first of all, thanks for mentioning the
figures on
I sent you yesterday.
What they call the
report situation report the number 70
which had all these numbers. So you have all the figures there?
I also we also distributed to you the various statements whether by
by Commissioner General Lazzarini
and by the Secretary General on the actions that are
being taken in relation with the funding of UNRWA.
And
you've seen that the Secretary General
has expressed his personal.
He said he is personally horrified by the
accusation against the employees of the agency.
But he has also spoken about the need to continue
the funding of the organisation for ensuring the continuity of
sorry, its operations.
Uh, and, uh, uh just wanted to add that
today
there will be a meeting in New York hosted
by the Secretary General with the major donors for
UNRWA. So we will probably hear more about this.
But on the general humanitarian situation, maybe I'll give the floor to Jens,
who has connected
Jens.
Maybe you want to add some more
information about the humanitarian situation there?
Go ahead.
Well,
thank you. Alessandra.
I, uh I didn't actually ask for the floor,
so I don't think I have anything to add at this point.
You you will all have the situation report, uh,
that we issue daily and all the details are in there.
Thank you very much. I see very many,
um, hands up. So I will start with the Michelle.
Ok,
thank you. Alexandra I I wanted to follow up, actually, on this question. Um, just
how will this impact though, Uh, your operations,
your
mic is a bit more in front of your face because
you through the system.
OK.
Um, yeah. So how will this, uh, impact, uh, WH OS work, But also O OS work?
I just wanna know a little bit How operationally this, uh,
could have an impact on what you're doing on Gaza.
Thank you.
No.
Yes.
You want to say a few
words?
There is also the fact that we were speaking still about something hypothetical.
We have declaration from member states about the fact that they are
thinking or are already defending
rubber.
For the moment we are working on it.
That's something that we need to be very clear about.
And
Sigrid Khan
has been working a lot and she will report to the Security Council soon.
So we're speaking still about something hypothetical. I don't know if
if Jen,
you can see something. What would happen if UN
was completely stopped in its operation?
But I think it's pretty hypothetical for the moment. But
I let Jens, of course, say
yeah. Thank you, Alexandra
But I, I think you touched on on the key point today.
And that is that UNRWA has not stopped working. UNRWA continues to work.
Um, it's the pipeline of funding that is in in danger.
Um, was is irreplaceable.
Uh, in the humanitarian operation, as I think was very clear from one.
What, uh, Christian said,
so
I will not go into hypotheticals about what if, uh,
I think everybody is is working towards ensuring, as the secretary general said,
the core functions of of that organisation
Exactly. And we will continue doing so. Mr. Lazarin
has been extremely swift in his reaction, Secretary General, too.
So let's let's concentrate on what has happened instead of what could happen.
Um, I saw a lot of hands
in that. No, there was, uh, Emma and then Jamie. Emma,
I don't think you'll like my question because it was about whether
the WHO and Ocho could scale up if you got extra resources.
And and in the event that UR
is, uh, defunded, it's hypothetical.
But they said it could be in February, which is a few days away.
So, um, I think it's a legitimate question.
Could you scale up.
Well, let me start with this, and I'm sure
Yan says something hypothetically to add here.
Thanks, Emma.
We always said the whole un any anything is possible. Any deliveries are possible.
Any skating up is possible.
It's not the amount of food or trucks or medical
aid or whatever we should need to get in.
That's all possible.
It's a long process,
its approval of getting convoys in its approval of
its about getting these cleared and checked in time.
And it's of course, once inside Gaza,
which is already very difficult getting it distributed inside Gaza,
getting
approvals for convoys to move, getting every item approved,
checking for dual use items. So
it is really a hypothetical question. But
I would say it's not a question for us. It's a question for the powers on the ground.
It's a question for the Israelis. Would they allow a scaling up?
I
have no doubt that the UN in general and
would be able to scale up whatever needs to be done.
But why cut off a life a lifeline which is already existing,
and make it even worse for those on the ground?
Make it even more difficult to operate.
Yes, we would certainly be able to to scale up under most difficult circumstances.
But again, the question
is not
for the UN agencies, I would say,
but over to
answer that. It's for the occupying power.
Tell me.
Thank you. Uh, Alessandra, this question is for Christian.
Um, if you, um, could comment on the fact that, uh,
armed Israeli forces disguised as men and wet medical workers,
uh, stormed the, uh, Ibn
Cina hospital in Jenin today.
I don't know if you are familiar with this situation, but, uh, apparently,
they went in and killed three, Palestinian militants, Um, inside the, uh,
inside the hospital. And I'm just wondering, um uh What, uh, WH OS?
Um, position might be on
a military raid with people disguising themselves as medical
workers to carry out a military operation inside a
hospital. And again, it's in Jenin.
We're not talking about Gaza. Of course. Thank you.
Sounds like a horrible sport.
I have not heard about it, so I cannot confirm or deny anything of this.
Any abuse of a medical facility is prohibited.
There should never be an abuse in any form or shape or way of a medical facility,
but again, just to stress.
I have not heard about that incident or rumour or whatever it is.
I had seen another hand in the room. Was that Ben?
No, it's OK.
I answered already. Go ahead. OK, so let's go to the platform.
Uh, Nick?
Yeah. Thank you. Uh, Christian you mentioned, um
I think that there was a convoy getting to going to NASA today.
Is is NASA now accessible? Does that indicate that, um, that area of
kiss is
is which has been highly conflicted is the The conflict has kind of diminished, and
you're able to get medical supplies in there. And secondly,
I'm just curious. Um,
what are you aware of? And, uh, Jens might want to comment on this, too.
What steps are you aware of? Um, since Friday's I CJ ruling
to actually respond to its
instruction to, uh, massively increase the delivery of aid. Do you What?
What steps are you aware of that are being taken to to follow up on that. Thank you.
Thank you, Nick. Um,
so as far as I know, the situation around Al Nasser has only gotten worse.
The shooting,
the
fighting around the difficult of access for people to reach
al Nasser or the difficulty for leaving.
But that's why it was so important that there was finally a clearance
or de conflicting
in order to reach Al Nasser with necessary food supplies.
No, I don't believe the situation around al
NASA has changed to under our understanding. It's actually gotten worse.
As we keep saying, uh, Al
Nasser
in the South or yeah,
is what Al
Shifa was in the North. It's, uh,
it's a highly important hospital remaining in the South,
but it's as much under siege and under distress, um,
and, uh, and and turns into a crucial symbol.
Catherine.
Oh,
sorry. Yeah, that's right. Um,
Jens, you may want to add something. Sorry for the
rest of the question. Sorry. And
no, that's that. That's fine. Um, and thanks for for the question, Nick. Um,
I'm not aware, and I haven't seen reported anywhere that we should know,
uh, about the Israelis, uh, plans.
usually, you would have to ask themselves.
What we do is we report on the situation on the ground.
You have the the report in your in your inbox,
and I will invite you to draw your own conclusions.
Uh, from, um, from that report about
whether the humanitarian situation is getting better or it is getting worse.
Catherine.
Thank you. Um, I I'd like to come back, um, on on the trucks and the aid. Uh, Christian,
um, can you confirm that aid trucks have been blocked for the last three days?
Um, at Karem
Shalom by, uh, Israeli protesters,
Um, or or yes. I don't know. One of both of you can can, um,
answer the question.
And, uh, Alexandra, would you kindly, uh, be able to send us the link?
Um, of the meeting. Or if if we can attend
that is taking place in New York this afternoon,
Don't think it's a public meeting, but I will check
the info
or the info detailed info that maybe New York is going to publish
related to.
If we get more, I'll share it with you. Of course.
So,
Jens on the tracks?
Yeah, I. I don't have any update on that.
I believe Stephane in New York addressed that,
yes, I was looking for that.
Find it yet,
but I keep looking, but maybe
I don't have particular information But in general, if you look at the map,
the issue about Cam
Shalom
is whenever there's a disruption at Caer
Shalom,
we're trying to re route through Rafa.
And Rafa,
of course,
is a challenge in general because it's not been laid out
from the beginning to work as a clearing terminal for trucks.
It was more foot crossing issue. So any
any trucks having to go through rough is even more of a headache.
But again, I'm not aware of the particular trucks that you're mentioning.
I see. Mohammed.
Yes, Thank you so much, Alexandra.
As you know, Following Israeli allegations,
many countries suspended their financial support to UN.
R
A.
My question is, don't you think this is a collective punishment of
more than 2.2 million people in Gaza?
And also, will this step not lead to increased famine and hunger in Gaza? Thank you.
I think Mohammed, you can draw as we said before. Your own conclusions obviously
is essential, as the Secretary General said
to the humanitarian support of 2 million people and more
just in Gaza.
And obviously we need to make everything possible for UN
operation to continue and you draw your own conclusion on what it means.
I'll give the floor to John.
Yes. Uh, good morning. Uh, it's a follow up to the question by Jamie.
Uh, I was wondering, uh, and that's to all the reps on the
on the podium from various UN agencies.
If you have in the in the
in the recent past
or in the last 10 or 20 years had any incidents in your agencies
where the UN emblem was misused
by covid operatives
in the field
and it led to the death of quite a few humanitarians. Thank you.
Uh,
John? Sorry. You're asking that to Jens?
I'm not sure I understood your question. No, to all the reps to all the agencies.
Whoa.
If they've had cases in the field
where the UN was misused by
covert operatives,
not not on top of my head. John, Thank you for that. Um,
II
I right out of my memory.
I only recall, um, abuse of Red Cross or Red Crescent vehicles or that that Yes, uh,
but to my knowledge,
doin
your side. But I might be wrong. Um, I. I don't recall any
looking at ants, but
no, I mean, I'm not sure. I understand the question.
If it's something like you,
you're asking if there's been some kind of false flag operation, uh,
on the UN flag by someone else.
If if that's the case,
Not not to my knowledge.
OK, thank you very much. I don't see other hands up
in the room or on the platform.
So thanks for the colleagues who have been updating us on Gaza.
I just wanted to say that indeed, yesterday
Stephane Duri
confirmed that
there had been blockage
for parts of the day of the trucks
by the Israeli protesters. But that's as much as we have at the moment.
OK, so
thanks, Christian. Thanks to Francesco, who is
moving out of the room. And I like to go now to my right to
Jeremy. You brought us James Roth.
Have
that our journalists know. Well,
the UN Human Rights Office, head of the Myanmar team.
Um, James,
you are with us from Bangkok and you are going to brief on the
human rights situation in Myanmar ahead of the third anniversary of the coup.
So you want to start Jeremy and then we go to
James?
Yes. Uh, thanks. Alexandra.
Yes, as you say, We've got James here.
He's head of our, um Myanmar team based in Bangkok.
Uh, he will can take some questions after I read this, uh, statement.
Three years after the military launched a coup,
Myanmar's ever deteriorating human rights crisis
is now in freefall with insufficient
world attention paid to the misery and pain of its people.
Amid all of the crises around the world, it is important no one is forgotten.
The people of Myanmar have been suffering for too long
since the end of October last year.
Their situation has deteriorated even further as a result of the long
established tactics of the military to target them,
the High Commissioner of Human Rights, Volker
Turk said today in a statement Ahead of the
anniversary of the coup on the first of February,
pitched battles between the military and armed
opposition groups have resulted in mass displacement
and civilian casualties.
As the military have suffered setback after setback on the battlefield,
they have lashed out,
launching waves of indiscriminate and aerial bombardments
and artillery strikes.
Sources have verified that over 554 people have died since October.
Overall for 2023 the number of civilians reportedly
killed by the military rose to over 1600
an increase of some 300 from the previous year.
As of the 26th of January,
credible sources had documented the arrest of
nearly 26,000 people on political grounds,
of whom
19,973 remain in detention,
some
reportedly subjected to torture and abuses
and with no hope of a fair trial.
Over the
over the last three years,
some 1576 individuals have died while being held by the military.
Rakhine state has been particularly hard hit
since fighting restarted there in November.
Many communities, especially the Rohingya,
were already suffering from the impacts of cyclone
mocha
and the military's months long limitation of
humanitarian access and provision of assistance.
There have now been several reports of Rohingya deaths
and injuries amid the military shelling of Rohingya villages
on Friday, the 26th of January,
fighting between the Arakan army and the Myanmar
military reportedly left at least 12 Rohingya civilians dead
and 30 others wounded in Hipp on
Yoli
village, where inhabitants are trapped between the two warring parties,
the Arakan army allegedly positioned its troops
in and around this Rohingya village.
Anticipating
the military's attacks,
the military repeatedly shelled the village, destroying infrastructure
Parties to armed conflicts must take constant
care to spare the civilians and civilian objects
in the conduct of military operations,
which includes taking feasible measures to protect
the civilian population under their control.
Against the effects of attack,
the international community must redouble efforts
to hold the military accountable.
The High Commissioner urges all member states to
take appropriate measures to address this crisis,
including to consider imposing further targeted sanctions on the military
to constrain their ability to commit serious violations
and disregard
international law.
A full version of this statement is now available online.
and, uh, I will hand over to James now for any questions.
OK, so is there any question on this matter in the room?
James.
Jamie. Sorry,
Jamie.
Jamie A.
P. Uh, James. Hello, Mr Rohe.
It's nice to see you again. It's been quite a while from when you were, um, in Geneva.
I wanted to ask you about, um,
the, uh, cease fire that was announced, uh, between, uh
uh, by by china, Um, between, uh, the Myanmar military and, uh,
ethnic guerilla groups. What's the current status of that?
Are you seeing any impact on the ground?
Go ahead, Jim. Uh, well,
OK, uh, thank you very much for that.
Uh, well, the I guess you'd say that there is one clear impact,
which is the The fighting has subsided to a large degree.
However,
there still continue to be airstrikes and some artillery barrage barrages by,
uh, the military
against the positions by those, uh, three,
armed groups. Uh, the the three brotherhood alliance, the TNL a, the MNDA A
and the
aan army that have, uh
uh, you have captured a significant amount of territory there in Northern Shan
Now, uh, the airstrikes and artillery barrages have been specifically part,
you know,
prohibited as part of that cease fire agreement.
And, uh, the the armed groups have made it very clear that, uh,
the cease fire has been repeatedly violated by the
Myanmar military and that they are not responding.
Um, now,
what is unclear is that are they not responding because,
uh, there is a a larger strategic, uh, movement going on right now.
Um, where the These armed groups are repositioning themselves, um, and and,
you know, trying to to, uh, to re arm,
uh, Or whether they are being ordered by by China, who is both their benefactor.
And, uh, their of course, the the broker of the cease fire, whether they are,
are being told, you know, simply not to respond
and are and are accepting, you know that their assurances.
Uh, but it is, uh,
there are still instances where civilians are being
killed as a result of these barrages.
So So they are, you know, still very much concerned.
Um, I'd say that the last thing is that, um, of course,
that cease fire was negotiated with that
three brotherhood alliance operating in that northern Shan
area.
There are other armed groups that still continue to operate
in that area as well.
And so there's still fighting that is going on,
I guess you'd say in the periphery of that larger area
that has been impacted by,
uh, this operation 1027 that's been ongoing since the 27th of October last year.
So, um, you know it. It's something that is that to keep an eye on,
Uh, I think what the The final aspect of all of this, and And what would be extremely,
um, what we are quite eager to know more about,
uh is how these areas that have been captured, how they're being governed.
Because the armed groups are now very much in control of those areas
in some of the towns and villages they've handed over, uh, administration to, uh,
the civilian civil servants,
Uh, that that work primarily with the the national unity government.
So, uh, we we're quite keen to see what impact that's had.
And and, uh, and also, of course, uh,
whether or not humanitarian access is going to expand in those areas
and, uh,
whether the the needs of the civilian population are going to be better cared for.
Thank you very much. Um, I look at the room again, so let's go to the platform.
Uh, Nika M,
Bruce, The New York Times.
Hi, James. Good to see you again.
Um, thanks for the notes. The comments. Um,
it sounds as if you're saying
Arakan Army are are pretty systematically using the rohingyas
of kind of human shields in this conflict.
Would would you would you confirm that? And,
second thing is, uh, another question.
We had a statement from AA double M also saying that they have
collected large amounts of data over the last three
years on the the main perpetrators of human rights abuses
in terms of promoting accountability.
Is there any intention to let us have the names of
some of these guys so that the international community can take,
um, follow up action to to target them?
Thank you.
Thank you very much. Uh, Nick, uh,
well, the first question on Rakhine state I mean,
the situation there is is very dire,
and it's it's really the the the worst case scenario that we feared.
Uh, and that's specifically because, um
in, uh, 2022.
There was a three month period where Rakhine state, uh, you know,
returned to a state of armed conflict.
And there were very clear patterns,
uh, that emerged from the fighting between the
Arakan army and the Myanmar military,
and that is that they both actively tried to position themselves so that
essentially the Rohingya villages were the battlefield that
they chose to fought on to fight on.
And, uh, and and at the time,
uh,
that was had you know led to a limited number of civilian casualties,
but it led to a lot of civilian displacement.
And given that
the Rohingya villages that are you know, the Rohingya population is still there
in Rakhine
and those villages, they are often under very strict, uh, movement restrictions.
So there are are very few places people could flee to
And, uh, but right now with the situation where again,
you know, there are at least several instances now where you have, uh, the
aan army and the Myanmar military both wanting to take up positions,
insinuating themselves on the edges of Rohingya villages or even in some cases,
taking up positions inside schools
in Rohingya villages or in mosques in Rohingya villages,
uh, and then using those as staging grounds for artillery attacks, mortar fire
and and other, uh, and, of course, you know, spotting for, you know,
communications with aeroplanes before airstrikes.
All of that sort of behaviour is ongoing right now.
And whenever you look at the humanitarian situation in Rakhine,
which was already dire,
uh, because of the impact of Cyclone moca last year
and the Myanmar military is deliberate,
a denial of humanitarian access to
many communities limiting humanitarian access,
limiting what kinds of services can be delivered.
Uh, to these communities, it has an outsized impact.
Uh, on the Rohingya population.
Thank you very much. Lisa
was
of America.
Oh, I'm I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
Uh, I I forgot about the second part of Nick's question about accountability.
Um, if you don't mind, let me just quickly address that.
Uh, of course, you know that.
You know,
delivering names that in in public is is a practise
that that many UN mechanisms have been asked to do in
but have not.
And that's specifically because they are trying
to respect the presumption of innocence.
And, of course, they don't want to deliver names without first
having a guarantee
that prosecution is going to follow.
Uh, in many cases, it's basically if if you're wanting people like OHCH
R or the double I double M to release names, you're almost asking us to fire.
You know, our one shot from our musket in the air,
and and and rather than waiting until it's properly aimed at at at a at a target,
that if it's not completely tasteless to use such
an analogy when talking about civilian casualties and accountability.
Uh, but, uh, it it really is.
In the end, I think up to the double I double M, uh,
and and the prosecutors that they cooperated with
as to how and when they will make, uh, such names available to the public.
Uh, but I would say that you know it.
It's sort of the gold standard
anytime you're investigating these sorts of violations
that you are trying to find out.
OK, who are the commanding officers of the forces in that area?
Uh, who are the the Air Force commanders for the, you know,
the bases where the planes that are
conducting these attacks where they're coming from.
So I I It is something that we always have an eye on,
uh, to try and ensure, you know, that we have the proper,
detailed information to make the the documentation we
do as useful as possible for future accountability.
When did Liza
uh Yeah, OK. Thank you. Um, good morning, James.
Uh, I don't know where to begin. Really? Uh, a actually. What? What
is it?
What can break the logjam,
If I may say that is
ASEAN,
for instance seems to be
pretty toothless organisation.
Um, China, I guess which has the most influence. Doesn't appear to be
using it, uh, in a peaceful manner, If I may say,
And, um, are weapons still flowing in
unabated, uh, to
to the, um, the junta.
And, uh,
then I'm wondering whether are any humanitarian agencies
able to work in the country or have,
uh, E essentially been banished from Myanmar? And I'm wondering whether
the Rohingya are still fleeing if they're even able to flee.
And then
I'd like to ask a question to the UN HCR.
But maybe I'll do that later after you answer these questions. Thank you,
Lisa.
Is
is it also on Myanmar?
Yeah, just go ahead. We've got
connected, so I'll let James and then Chea
answer. Go ahead.
OK, Shair,
Good morning to you. I can't see you yet, but anyway,
um yeah, if if you could, uh,
sort of speak a little bit about the situation of the Rohingya refugees in
Cox's bazaar whether the, uh,
there's still a lot of pressure on the part
of the Bangladeshi government to send them back to Mima
even though it doesn't seem
to be a propitious time to do that? Uh, anything you could
say on that? I don't think you have a presence.
Or do you have a presence at all in the country In Myanmar, that is.
Thank you.
OK, I'll start with James. Uh, yeah. Shay is
connected. OK, James.
Ok, now, thank you very much for those Those questions.
Um, first of all, on the flow of weapons, Um, you know, it it is our understanding.
I mean, it's very hard to get reliable data on on weapons transfers,
but, uh, you know, the
whenever we do get information,
it does appear that there are certain arms transfers that still go through,
uh, to the military. We know that they are, Yeah.
They are reliant on, uh, foreign, uh, assistance.
And particularly in order to both get jet fuel and to get the ser uh, the, um,
maintenance services
that both their aircraft and some of the more sophisticated, uh,
artillery systems that they utilise on the battlefield.
Uh, you know, so So they are reliant on,
you know,
foreign foreign, uh,
technical support in order to keep those systems operational,
their their planes up to, you know, specs and so forth.
So so Yeah, they still are getting,
you know, foreign assistance for weapon systems.
Also at the same time, though, uh, we we are not always sure where they are.
They are coming from,
uh, but, of course, organised crime networks.
Uh, trafficking networks both for narcotics,
human trafficking and for arms trafficking, uh,
are still very active in the country.
Of course. China's initial backing of the ethnic armed groups,
uh, and their offensive in late October
was really based around the desire to shut down some of
these trafficking networks primarily human trafficking
of Chinese nationals into Myanmar.
But, of course,
the number of victims of trafficking in the country is still massive.
I think that the estimates are anywhere from 80 to 100,000.
Uh, you know, your human, uh uh, victims have been trafficked into the country.
So I I it's, uh,
really, you know, AAA massive problem that still remains.
And and it's always hard to see where some of these, you know, black economies,
how they they have their regular sort of transfer points.
What is interesting is that as a result
of these offences, many of the border crossing points with,
uh with their neighbours have are now under the control
of the ethnic armed groups rather than the Myanmar military.
So it'll be very interesting.
I think to see, uh, just you know how that impacts the traffic from China,
how it impacts the traffic, uh, from Thailand.
And, uh, and and then, you know, what is the the end result of the impact on that?
Including on, you know, humanitarian assistance
and its ability to get through borders and and to
get to the places where it needs to go.
The last question you had was just
on Rohingya fleeing and on humanitarian operation.
Yes,
The humanitarian community is still actively trying to deliver aid
anywhere where they are still able to get travel authorizations.
Uh,
they they they're working extremely hard every
day under enormous pressures and increasing insecurity.
And, uh, that includes UN HCR, uh, in Rakhine
state. Uh, even though,
uh, the flow of of humanitarian aid there has really been shut down to a large extent.
But i'll, um, I'll I'll I'll leave that for the other agencies to to report on.
But the Rohingya, of course, have very limited options.
Uh, which is one of the reasons Why, Uh,
so many are are looking for any way to get out and into a safe locations.
And that includes even,
you know, trying these very, uh, unseaworthy boat routes.
Um, either you know, directly from Myanmar or out of, uh, Cox's bazaar.
But, um, I'll leave. I'll leave the rest for my UN HCR colleagues, uh, to discuss.
Thank you very much. Uh, yes, Shay.
Um Thanks, Lisa, for your question and and good morning to everyone.
Um, no, it's a very pertinent question.
There are about a million of Rohingya refugees still hosted, uh, in in Bangladesh,
and they continue to support them
generously. But we know that this is a protracted,
um, situation. Humanitarian needs continue to accrue with all the the pressures.
So what's really important is for support to be sustained, uh,
to the the Rohingya that are outside, uh, their country and in Bangladesh.
So I think that's really a really critical point to make um, and yes, as part of, uh,
the broader UN.
Um uh, footprint we are present in
in Myanmar. And, uh, and also providing assistance. Thank you.
Yes. Um, Philip Motaz.
Yes. Philippe
Matos, The Geneva Observer
at
the end of the day. Your action is predicated about your funding.
Uh, any concerns about the
confirmation that the
liquidity liquidity crisis is severe and will be lasting?
Uh, that's a question to you, uh, in Bangkok
and more generally on that same issue.
Alessandra, how are you coordinating this whole thing with New York?
The the decision, The hiring freeze, et cetera, et cetera. Uh,
say, um,
uh,
the mechanism in Myanmar affected by it or or in Syria or
or HC HR comes to you and says this is mission critical.
Uh, we need, uh absolutely, uh, to hire people. We need new services.
How are you coordinating?
Coordinating this with New York. And who is in charge here in Geneva. Thank you.
I
can just answer this question first very quickly.
There is no
co ordination of this kind in place.
I mean, the Secretariat, as a secretary general,
is sitting in New York as a controller who
is in charge of making the house run.
They are taking the decision. We are just applying them here
in the U
fees for what concerns the UN Office. The agencies have got
their own budgets, and we are just implementing
and tailoring the decisions that are taken to New
York in New York to the Geneva Office.
And sometimes the needs here are specific, like we saw last year
about the energy costs. But that is something
that is made under the framework of what?
The instructions that we get from New York
from the Secretary General and its controller.
As for the other parts of the Secretariat and the agencies, of course,
I cannot speak for that.
Maybe James, you have some information, some answers on the issue of liquidity
for your operations.
Well, II, I mean,
the the information that I can give is that we get most of our funding.
Almost
almost all of our funding is from,
uh, extra budgetary sources.
Uh, we we have to directly appeal to to donors to help, uh, support my team.
And, uh uh, or else, you know, we could not operate. And,
uh, and that includes, uh,
you know, uh,
the vast majority of people that we have on
the ground that are trying desperately to gather information,
uh, remotely and and it's a very labour intensive process.
Um, and and so, uh, it's not ideal to be entirely extra budgetarily funded.
But I would say that it puts us in a better position right
now than we would be if we were funded by the regular budget.
So,
um, it it's, um it's a sort of a double edged sword in this case, but, uh,
we seem to be on the right side of the blade.
Thank you very much. Uh, yeah.
Yes.
Uh, quick. Follow up. Uh,
would it have any impact on the HHP?
Sorry.
Then again, you are speaking about the the liquidity problems for for here.
Uh,
to the best of my knowledge,
the strategic heritage plan is fund has been decided and funded a
long time ago by a separate decision of the General Assembly.
So, uh, the works continue.
I don't see other Hands up.
Uh, um, Jeremy,
you also wanted to speak about the appeal of the High Commissioner this morning,
Uh, speaking indeed about funds.
Yes. I guess that that the timing is, uh am I honour. Yes.
The timing is, uh, perfect for to follow up on your question.
So the the high Commissioner, Volker Turk,
has just issued the UN human rights offices appeal for 2024.
Calling for a significant
increase in funding for our office.
He warned that the office is still drastically short
of funds to more effectively advance human rights globally.
So to that end,
he appealed for $500
million in extra budgetary resources to boost our ability to address
some of the biggest human rights challenges we are facing now
and will face in the future.
Thank you, Jeremy.
Don't see other hands up on this. So thanks very much to James rover
for connecting from Bangkok. Thank you, Jeremy. Oh, sorry.
Yeah. To to James.
Ok.
Hi. Uh, Mr,
could you just, uh you mentioned that, uh, you are Your funding is extra.
Um, it's beyond the normal budgetary process. Who are your main donors?
Uh, I.
I would rather
not discuss that.
Uh uh, I you know, it's it's part, Uh, I believe it would be, uh, accounted for in the,
uh,
in the the annual report of the office.
Um, but at any given time, um, I,
I could not tell you exactly which funds are being spent at any given time.
Uh, but we we do get funding from,
uh I believe at this point. Six different member states.
Um and, uh, so that, uh,
you know, my my team can continue to function,
but I'd rather not go into the specifics.
Uh, unless I had the consent of those donors to release that publicly,
Jeremy has a little bit more.
Yes, I can.
I can just, uh,
provide a bit more information not specifically on in the case of Myanmar,
but, uh, last year, um, we had 283 million,
uh, involuntary, uh, contributions.
so I can tell you that the top five contributors were the European Union,
the US, Sweden, Germany and Norway.
It generally
no.
Yes,
there
is,
I
think maybe the need for a little bit of clarity between the regular budget,
which has been approved by the General Assembly. As you know, at the end of last year,
the crisis is about liquidity over that budget, and it's about the regular budget.
And then we have the extra budgetary funds,
and that is a different issue. Because, of course, as you know, depend on the donors
and the donors.
Maybe, as as as Jeremy said,
these are additional funds and we are doing
also requests for funding, which are extra budgetary.
And of course, please again,
remember that this is concerning the Secretariat and the
agencies have got their own budget and funding as Christian
is nodding.
So
I don't see this time other hands up. Thank you very much. Thank you, James.
Thank you, Jeremy.
It seems Christian has some update on Gaza, so I'll give him the floor again.
Yeah, I was good.
I stuck up here.
because I just got a little update on the convoys
as some of you have asked about the missions to NASA
just to update that. So
yesterday,
three missions to NASA
were planned.
That was one for food. For
patients and health workers.
This mission was delayed and could eventually not go ahead.
Another one for fuel
was denied.
A third one for the medical supplies did go ahead yesterday.
Denials and delays are part of a pattern which impede humanitarian
supplies from reaching hospitals and could make them non functional.
Today,
another attempt was made to get food to,
but due to delays around 500 metres from the checkpoint,
the crowd self distributed the food
and it could once again not reach.
Thank you very much for this, uh, live update, Christian.
I see a hand up, Emma.
Just a quick one on that. I mean, um ho, how close to starvation?
Are they in the hospital? Have you had any reports of how bad it is?
When was the last time they got food?
we only get only
the only reports we get are about the desperate situation inside the the hospital.
Um, with people sheltering everywhere they can,
patients on the floor sometimes surgeries.
Um
uh, having to take place on the floor. Um, but I do not have details on how bad the
starvation or water or whatever situation is.
Yes. Chris.
Yes, Christian.
Sorry. I have to
also add to this. Can you explain a little bit to us?
How far is it from the checkpoint to NASA?
And do the WHO convoys travel with security? Or
how does this happen?
That, uh, the supplies that are meant for a hospital are actually
being distributed by people in the streets.
Thank you.
So I don't have much, many more details than than what I just told you.
The only part I have in this point is
that the delays around 500 metres from the checkpoint.
Um, that's when the the the crowd Uh, basically self distributed.
Um, but I do not have Geographics of how far the checkpoint, then again,
is from from the hospital.
So I don't know,
uh,
we only know that the area around the hospital is
an active fighting area and people have been warned,
and hence there, I assume as a checkpoint.
But I don't have a layout of the land or a map or anything.
I also don't have a list of how often
I recall we had once a report about a truck with fuel
that was also stopped in search for food.
But since there was no food, um, it was, of course, was going forward.
So I don't have figures on how often it happens, but to put this into context,
it just describes
the the terribly devastated situation on desperate
situation of the people of the population and to
stop UN convoys to stop any truck they see
to try to get anything to eat or fresh water from it.
Lisa?
Yeah? Hi. Thanks. Uh, hi, Christian again. Yeah.
Um
uh uh Why? Why are. Why were the missions denied? Who denies them?
And, um, then you talk about delays occurring. Uh,
what is that due to or that, uh, you know, inspections or
or what?
Uh,
Thank you.
I don't have more than what I just read out.
This was last minute information I just got now.
Um, but of course, checkpoints are run
by the Israeli authorities by the military,
and denials come from from them.
Don't see their hands up.
Let me see on the platform. It's fine.
So thank you very much. Before we let Christian
go, you just have two quick announcements of press conferences.
Yeah, just, uh, briefly. Very different topics as you've got the invites already.
So it's just a reminder of today's embargoed
virtual press conference on World Cancer Day.
That's happening at two o'clock again. An embargoed one.
you got the invite. Head of World Cancer Day in 4th February.
The International Agency for Research on Cancer IR,
uh, will release the latest estimates on the global burden of cancer
and
will publish a survey a country survey showing how a
majority do not provide adequate cancer and palliative care.
The second right after that
is three o'clock a virtual press briefing,
the opening press conference of the Global Tobacco Control and Governing Bodies,
the Conference of the Parties number 10 and the meeting of the Part number three,
which will start on Monday in Panama.
And it's about all the main tobacco control decisions
being taken care of. So two
o'clock and three o'clock today, thank you very much.
Thank you, Christian.
So thanks and
let you
go this time for
Let me turn to my right. Kin
is with us
also for the announcement of the report
development,
the
contract
Mercy KT
They kissed you and I
said,
Let's
go
to
but definitely not least you also have an announcement.
Yes. Good morning, everybody.
We sent out a press release this morning.
The World Meteorological Organisation has
officially confirmed a new record temperature for Continental Europe.
This was 48.8
°C converted into Fahrenheit. That's
119.8
°F.
It was recorded in Italy on 11 August 2021 at
an automated weather station in Sicily,
and the findings were published today
in the International Journal of Climatology.
Why did it take so long for us to verify this temperature.
The investigations like this one are very, very lengthy procedures.
We want to get it right.
They are very
painstaking because it is important
that
we have confidence. The world has confidence that
our global records are properly measured, that they are verified
and why does it matter?
It matters because the extremes that we are monitoring verifying
their snapshot of our changing climate.
And
this is a quote from the W
weather and climate extremes. Rapporteur Professor Randall
Cerveny.
He said
the extremes presented before the WM for
adjudication are snapshots of our current climate.
It
is possible even likely,
that greater extremes will occur across Europe in the future.
When such observations are made,
new evaluation committees will be formed
to adjudicate these observations as extremes.
We do have a number of ongoing investigations and one of them
which will be coming up hopefully in the next few weeks is
into whether Tropical Cyclone Freddy was indeed did indeed break the
record last year as the world's longest lasting tropical cyclone.
So we don't do this for fun.
It is a very, very important way of record keeping of our changing climate.
And just separately we sent out a press release
yesterday just to say that the World Meteorological Organisation
has appointed CO. Barrett
as deputy secretary general and Thomas
Asari as assistant secretary General
Co.
Barrett is currently senior adviser for Climate at
the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Those of you who follow climate policy climate science closely will also know that
she used to be vice chair of the Inter Governmental Panel on Climate Change.
And Thomas Asare is currently comptroller and director of
the Division of Financial and Administrative Management at UNICEF.
So they
will join W
and complete the leadership line up under Celeste
Saulo. Thanks.
Thank you very much. Claire.
Uh, let me see. Jamie.
Good morning, Claire. Thank you for that.
I know that there's been some projections about
the likelihood that the world will see,
uh, record high global temperatures in the next five years.
10 years? There were numbers.
You today You're specifically talking about europe.
what can we say about projections or what has WMO said
about projections for Europe specifically being vulnerable to a new,
uh, temperature record?
Is there anything that's been said on that?
The
the World Meteorological Organisation last year when we
released the Provisional State of the Global Climate Report
and we confirmed it in January,
said that 2023 was the hottest year on record globally.
And we've said at the time that given that we are
now in an El Nino year and typically
El Nino has its biggest impact on temperatures the year after its development.
So it is possible and this is what Professor Solo
has also said. It's possible that we
may have a new global temperature record again this year
for Europe. Specifically,
we will be releasing a report in April on the state of the climate in
Europe and whilst it will look back to
2023 obviously there will be some comments are salient
for 2024 and the future
the Inter Governmental
Panel on Climate Change. They have done
quite detailed fact sheets, regional fact sheets
and so if you are specifically interested in
Europe in the Mediterranean,
I recommend that you look at those because they are very,
very detailed and basically
yes, the Mediterranean is one of the global hot spots,
both in terms of heat and water stress
and that's from the IPCC.
OK,
so other questions for WMO.
No, I don't see any,
so thank you very much, Claire.
This leaves me only with a few announcements.
We have already given you the information about the
Committee on the diminution of discrimination against women.
They have started the review of the reports
today It's ***.
But as I told you, the last briefing in
Tajikistan, Italy, Turkmenistan, Greece, Oman,
Djibouti and Central African Republic are next in line.
The Committee on the Rights of the Child
will have next Thursday afternoon a meeting with the state parties.
And then they will close on Friday, their 95th session.
And this is basically what I have for you
just to remind you. And I think we need that from that one.
From the first to 7 February,
the international community celebrates World Interfaith Harmony week,
and I think we have a lot of need of that.
So thank you very much to you all. And, um,
I'll see you in
No, uh, that would be London.
Uh, bona petit.
Thank you