The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
Geneva Press Briefing - 05 March 2024
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1:33:46
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MP4
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UN GENEVA PRESS BRIEFING
5 March 2024
Situation in Gaza
Dr. Richard Peeperkorn, World Health Organization (WHO) Representative in the occupied Palestinian territory, speaking from Jerusalem, stated that more than 30,500 people had been killed in Gaza, while almost 72,000 people had been injured, and an estimated 8,000 people were believed to be under the rubble. Over two million people were experiencing a humanitarian catastrophe and utter desperation, which was leading to regular breakdowns of law and order. People were living in unsanitary conditions and facing extreme food insecurity. The healthcare system was collapsing, with only one third of all hospitals partly functioning. Infrastructural damages across the Gaza Strip were immense, which would take decades, rather than years, to rebuild. WHO and partners had regained access to north Gaza, and on 1 March they had reached the Al-Shifa Hospital to deliver 19,000 liters of fuel and lifesaving supplies for 150 patients and treatments for 50 children suffering from severe acute malnutrition. Enormous destruction had been observed, along with malnutrition. On 3 March, WHO and partners had been able to access Kamal Adwan and Al-Awda hospital for the first time since 7 October. The situation at Al-Awda Hospital was particularly appalling, as one of the buildings had been destroyed. Dr. Peeperkorn explained that the Kamal Adwan Hospital was the only pediatrics hospital in the north of Gaza and is overwhelmed with patients. WHO managed to deliver 9,500 liters of fuel to each hospital, and some essential medical supplies - just a fraction of the urgent lifesaving needs.
While having access to the north was welcome, what was really needed was sustained and safe humanitarian access; more entries to the north were needed and more paths should be made available. The WHO estimated that some 8,000 Gazans needed to be referred for medical treatment outside of Gaza. Dr. Peeperkorn said that the Al-Shifa Hospital, a level-three facility, had to be supported and revived. There had been over 350,000 cases of upper respiratory illnesses, and a quarter of millions of cases of diarrhea, along with jaundice, scabies, chickenpox and rashes. In the north, one out of six children under the age of two were acutely malnourished, warned Dr. Peeperkorn. Malnutrition had never been an issue before, he said. Now, as many as 90 percent of children under two faced difficulties accessing the right quantity and quality of food. The UN was ready to bring much more food to the north if it was allowed unrestricted and safe access.
Dr. Ahmed Dahir, Head of World Health Organization (WHO) Gaza sub-office, speaking from Gaza, reiterated that, over the weekend, the WHO and partners had been able to visit three hospitals in the north. The routes to the north were in terrible shape, and no videos could fully transmit the real picture on the ground. The health system was struggling to survive. It was heartbreaking to witness the desperation of the people, both health care workers and patients alike. Hospital staff were demonstrating amazing resilience and commitment to their patients, working around the clock in extremely difficult conditions. The Kamal Adwan Hospital was the only pediatric hospital in the north, stressed Dr. Dahir. As of 3 March, 15 children were reported by the Ministry of Health as having died of malnutrition and dehydration at the Kamal Adwan Hospital. Lack of fuel at Kamal Adwan posed a serious threat to patient care, especially in the ICU and the neonatal unit. The hospital received 400 daily trauma, pediatric, and medical cases. There were six operational dialysis machines serving 35 patients daily. Dr. Dahir stressed that the north needed ongoing support. Sustained access for humanitarian partners was of paramount importance.
Responding to numerous questions from the media, James Elder, for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), referring to a statement by Adele Khodr, UNICEF Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, said that at least ten children in the Kamal Adwan Hospital had died of malnutrition and dehydration as of 3 March. He explained the difficult steps taken by medical staff to keep dehydrated, dying children alive. Around 220,000 children had been affected by infectious diseases in recent weeks. In Rafah alone, there were at least 5,000 children with acute malnutrition; the malnutrition rates in the north were three times higher than those in Rafah. Conditions to declare famine had not been reached yet, but that did not mean that the situation was not already beyond dire. It was hoped that this would not become a chronic emergency that would last for 6, 12 or 24 months. Every child in Gaza would be likely to need some psychosocial support, he said. Their traumas and post-traumatic stress disorder would unfortunately last for many years. The only way out of this would first be a ceasefire and then a sustained peace; Gaza was still home to an approximate 1.1 million children.
Dr. Peeperkorn, for the WHO, reiterated that in Gaza, malnutrition had not been an issue ever before. In northern Gaza, over 15 percent of children under five were suffering of wasting, unprecedented figures globally. A joint London School of Tropical Medicine and Johns Hopkins University study presented projections of excess deaths in different scenarios. The projections covered the period from 7 February to 6 August and covered three different scenarios: ceasefire; status quo; and escalation. Over the next six months the report estimated that, with no epidemics occurring, the projection for the ceasefire scenario would be 6,550 excess deaths, for the status quo scenario 58,260 excess deaths, and for the escalation scenario 74,290 excess deaths. With epidemics occurring, the projection for the ceasefire scenario would be 11,580 excess deaths, for the status quo scenario 66,720 excess deaths, and for the escalation scenario 85,750 excess deaths.
Only 2,293 patients had been evacuated from Gaza so far, informed Dr. Peeperkorn. Many more patients needed to be evacuated, and Egypt, along with other countries in the region, were ready to receive the gravest patients and their companions. The complex process currently in place would need be simplified and expedited, he said. Mr. Elder explained that “famine” was a critical term because of the coverage it got, but the terminology did not make much difference for malnurtured children on the ground. Dr. Peeperkorn stressed that this scenario could be averted by allowing influx of aid, and safe access to healthcare for all. Gaza had to return to food production as soon as possible. Gaza had been largely food self-sufficient before the current conflict, he reminded. A functional deconflicting mechanism was needed. Dr. Peeperkorn and Dr. Dahir both spoke of the impressive resilience and commitment of Gaza’s health workers and numerous volunteers who did all they could to keep the ravaged health system running against all odds.
Dr. Peeperkorn said that the data from the Palestinian Ministry of Health was quite accurate. The WHO had always received data from the Ministry of Health. Like anywhere else in the world, every two years the WHO would assess the Ministry’s data, and historically the data provided by the Ministry had been rendered accurate and reliable. Dr. Peeperkorn feared that the number of people still under rubble could be higher than currently believed. Over 1,500 amputations had been completed in Gaza since the start of the war, according to the Ministry of Health, said Dr. Peeperkorn in a response to another question. Long-term psychosocial and mental health support for different population groups, including children, adolescents, and health workers, were very much needed.
Jens Laerke, for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), clarified that there had been no air drops of aid by the United Nations, which continued to explore all possible avenues. The priority would be to scale up land transport, which could bring in larger quantities of aid. If not now, when was the time to pull the breaks to the fighting and flood Gaza with the much-needed aid, asked Mr. Laerke. In recent days, over 100 trucks per day had been entering Gaza, compared to the daily average of 500 before the war. Much more was needed. Closure of UNRWA would mean breaking the backbone of the humanitarian operation in Gaza, stressed Mr. Laerke. How people were treated in detainment was primarily a human rights issue, said Mr. Laerke answering another question.
El Niño Update
Clare Nullis, for the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), said that the 2023-2024 El Niño event had peaked in late December, being among the five strongest on record. It was now weakening but it would continue to affect the global climate in the coming months. This El Niño had fueled heat trapped by the greenhouse gases. This naturally occurring events were now taking place in the context of the climate altered by human activities, said Ms. Nullis. The latest update from WMO says there was about a 60 percent chance of El Niño persisting during March-May and an 80 percent chance of neutral conditions (neither El Niño or La Niña) from April to June.
“Every month since June 2023 has set a new monthly temperature record – and 2023 was by far the warmest year on record. El Niño has contributed to these record temperatures, but heat-trapping greenhouse gases are unequivocally the main culprit. Ocean surface temperatures in the equatorial Pacific clearly reflect El Niño. But sea surface temperatures in other parts of the globe have been persistently and unusually high for the past 10 months. The January 2024 sea-surface temperature was by far the highest on record for January. This is worrying and cannot be explained by El Nino alone,” said WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo.
Ms. Nullis explained that the WMO El Niño/La Niña and Global Seasonal Climate Updates as part of the Early Warnings for All initiative were based on forecasts from WMO Global Producing Centres of Long-Range Forecasts and are available to support governments, the United Nations, humanitarian agencies, and decision-makers to mobilize preparations and protect lives and livelihoods.
More information is available here.
Replying to questions, Ms. Nullis said that the WMO issued El Niño updates four times per year, and more frequently if needed. Global seasonal climate update were issued monthly.
Human Rights Council
Pascal Sim, for the Human Rights Council (HRC), informed that today, the Council had started the consideration of the item 3 on the agenda - promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights. The Council was holding an interactive dialogue with Mama Fatima Singhateh, Special Rapporteur on the sale, sexual exploitation, and sexual abuse of children. In the afternoon, the Council would hold an interactive dialogue with Balakrishnan Rajagopal, Special Rapporteur on adequate housing. Finally, the HRC would hold an interactive dialogue with Nazila Ghanea, Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief. The following day, informed Mr. Sim, the Council would hold dialogues on the right of persons with albinism, and the right to healthy environment, and the right to peaceful assembly and association. More information is available here.
Announcements
David Hirsch, for the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), informed that on 7 March at 2 pm, there would be a press conference with ITU Secretary-General Doreen Bogdan-Martin on ITU’s 2024 priorities.
Mr. Hirsch announced formation of the first-ever ITU SG Youth Advisory Board, which was comprised of 12 young digital experts and innovators. The 12 members had been selected from a pool of several hundred candidates and would serve in their individual capacity for two years.
Alessandra Vellucci, for the for the United Nations Information Service, said that today at 1 pm, the Interparliamentary Union (IPU) would present its report “Women in Parliament”. Speakers would be Martin Chungong, IPU Secretary General, and Mariana Duarte Mutzenberg, IPU Gender Programme.
On 7 March at 11 am, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) would release of global intellectual property (IP) statistic filings. The speaker at the virtual press conference would be Carsten Fink, Chief Economist at WIPO.
Ms. Vellucci informed that the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) would launch its flagship report the new Human Development report and the human development index on 13 March. Report was available on demand, and the media could reach out to Sarah Bel.
The Human Rights Committee, which had started its 140th session on 4 March, would begin this afternoon its review of the report of Chile.
The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which had also its 30th session the previous day, was concluding this morning its review of the report of Kazakhstan.
Finally, Ms. Vellucci reminded that on the occasion of the International Women’s Day, on 8 March, there would be a public event ‘Peace Begins with Her’: A mosaic of portraits celebrating women and peace. An art activation at UniMail in Geneva, from 11:15 am, would be followed by a panel discussion at 6:15 pm featuring women peacebuilders, representatives of civil society, and academia with opening remarks by State Secretary for Security Policy of Switzerland Markus Mäder. All details are available here.
Teleprompter
Good morning.
Welcome to the press meeting of the UN Information Service.
Today is Tuesday, 5th of March here in Geneva.
We have with us Pascal SIM for a brief update on the Council.
Pascal, you up the floor.
Thank you, Alessandra.
Good morning, everyone.
The Human Rights Council has begun this morning.
It's consideration of item three of its agenda, which is a promotion and protection of all human rights, including the rights to development.
So over the next three days, the Council will hear from 9 somatic experts, from its special procedures mechanism.
The Council is currently hearing this morning Mama Fatima Singhate, the Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, exploitation of children.
And the Council will hear later this afternoon from Balakrishna and Hajja Gopal, the Special Rapporteur on adequate housing, and from Nazila Ghaneya, the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief.
Tomorrow on Wednesday, the Council will all dialogues with Mulu Committee, Drummond, the independent experts on the rights of person with albinism, to be followed by David Boyd, the Special Rapporteur on the environment.
That will be Mr Boyd's last appearance before the Council as a mandate holder.
And from Mr Clemovu, the Special Rapporteur on the freedom of the peaceful assembly and of association.
And this coming Thursday, the Council will all dialogue with Alexandra Santaki, the Special Rapporteur on cultural rights, Michael Factory, the Special Rapport on the right to food, and Alice Edward, the Special Rapporteur on torture.
And just to remind you that Miss Edward will also among the report that Miss Edward will present during this session is a report on the recent visit to Ukraine.
And she will give a press conference here this coming Friday at 1:00 PM Thank you.
Thank you very much Pascal for this update.
Any question in the room to Pascal?
No, I don't see any and none on the platform.
So thank you very much.
Good luck for today.
And I, I would like to go straight to the field because we have the honour and the pleasure to have with us 2 colleagues from WHO, who are doing, as you know, an incredible work in, in Gaza and in the Occupied Palestinian territories.
Is we have with us Doctor Rick Peppercorn that you know well who's The Who representative for OPT.
And we also have with us Doctor Ahmed Dahir, who is the head of The Who Gaza sub office.
And he is talking to us from Gaza.
So I'd like to start now giving the floor.
And of course Tariq is also on the on the line if you need him.
We also have other humanitarian colleagues in the room and online.
So in case of questions we can also ask them to answer.
So I like to start that with Doctor Peppercorn for an introductory words and then we will go to Doctor Ahmed Richard.
Yes.
Good morning.
Can you hear me?
Very well.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
So, yeah, let me start SOAS WHR representative of Occupied Palestinian territories and then I'll hand over to my colleagues, Dr Akanda here, our team lead in Gaza and also our Internet manager in Gaza.
I just, I was in Gaza actually two weeks ago for another mission for 2 1/2 weeks and, and I will maybe in the future also refer a little bit to that.
I want to 1st focus on some general facts.
As as we all know from the data we talk currently more than 30,500 people killed and mostly women and children.
We talk about 71,000, almost 72,000 people injured, an estimated 8000 under the rubble.
And as long as there's no sustained ceasefire, we still talk about 2.2 to 3,000,000 Palestinians in Gaza and myths of an, of an epic unity and catastrophe and facing inhumane conditions.
And in my view and our view, absolutely not needed as a, there's risks we see as a risk of famine, there's a risk of dead disease.
We'll get back to that later.
There's an enormous amount of desperation and, and the scarcity have led to a regular breakdown in law and order.
And we see internally displaced people facing acute shortages of food, water, shelter and medicine.
We see communicable diseases are rising and and amidst a very unsanitary conditions, 2 million people facing extreme foot insecurity with women and children, of course is greatest risk.
And we've seen a healthcare system and we've done this over the last four months and we've updated you with health scare system again, completely unnecessary collapsing with only 12 of 36 hospital at the moment, partly functional.
And what we witnessed and also when I was there with him going to Khan Yunus and, and now look after that here will tell you about his missions to as the, as the overall lead of the missions to Shifa and to Kamal at one and, and to Al Ada, the enormous yeah, infrastructure that damages 60 to 70% still in infrastructure, including homes, hospitals, part of hospitals, schools, water and sanitation facilities have been destroyed or or damaged.
And then if you think about that, how much time that would be taking to to rebuild, you really think in decades or decades, unfortunately, very.
And maybe that's a little bit of good news from our side.
So this month WHO with partners and WHO LED missions, we gained access to the North again.
So I stressed that that our mission, most of our missions to the north were denied in late January, only three out of 16 were facilitated.
February zero were actually facilitated and all due to a lack of a proper deconfiction mechanism.
But on the 1st of March, after more than a month, the WHL parts managed to access Shifa in the north and deliver fuel, some life saving supplies for 150 patients and treatment for 50 children suffering for severe acute malnutrition and also bringing vaccines.
Our last mission to Shifa was on 22nd of January on the 3rd of March just last weekend WHO parts were able to reach Kamal at one was further north and other hospitals in northern Gaza.
And that was the first actually visits to those hospitals since early October 2023.
Despite our many efforts to gain more regular access to the north of Gaza.
And Ahmed will, will, will, will brief you on that, on the enormous destruction and and including areas issues we discussed now malnutrition which we never discussed actually was never an issue in Gaza.
A lot of hospital is particularly appalling.
One of the buildings destroyed and and Tamal Advan is the only paediatrics hospital and overwhelmed with patients lack of foods resultings even in death of children, number of children there again the WHL parts brought in fuel and some supplies.
Now I say it's a sliver of good news because we finally have access to the north again, but we need sustained humanitarian access and a deconfliction mechanism which works.
There needs to be again, the same real N much more aids needs to come in, in Gaza, but specifically transport within Gaza.
And so there's more entries needed to the north, also to Han Eunice.
And we also need an entry into the north in northern Gaza and other roads should become available.
That all should be.
We talked about shrinking humanitarian space, which is of course related to that.
I want to make one point on medical evacuation.
Again, we've been pushing this as well for for months now and we estimated that 8000 dozens need to be referred outside Gaza of which 6000 is related to the conflicts and and and related to the conflicts related to the multiple trauma and the trauma injuries, burns exactly etcetera and amputees etcetera, which need to be referred.
We estimate approximately 6000, but 2000 is what we call regular patients.
And again I want to stress before the conflict between 50 to 100 patients per day were referred to easier use them in West Bank of which almost half of them were, were cancer oncology related.
So they need to go and, and, and it applies for everyone, including for our own staff and and and, and, and, and, and Fortunately we can say today it seems one of our staff members which has serious chronic conditions is finally able to get out of those.
Well, last two points is on the health systems.
We see an an an increasingly in health systems in Texas and with 12 hospitals partly functional, 6 in the north and and one minimal functional Alamal and six in the South.
And with one minimal functional Alamal and 23 non functional, we've seen how hospital, we've seen the degradation, the dismantling and even destruction of hospitals.
When I was there a couple of weeks ago, National Metal Complex was a good example how that happens the the dismantling and and very quickly in hospital becomes from partly functional, non functional and not so medical complex is like she back from the South etcetera.
And whatever we have to do, we have to revise that hospital.
I want to make a point.
It's too important.
We cannot lose that three level hospital, the hospital black supplies especially the North and and the mechanism for outside referrals remains ad hoc only the Ministry of Health since the start of the war reports approximately 1500 amputations have been performed.
I think all of us who have been visiting those hospitals, bringing in supplies and and taking, helping with PSCS, taking out patients, etcetera.
I've seen too many of them and we discussed the other.
The last point I want to make is I think they're related is the the rise in diseases and malnutrition.
So rising diseases we see more than almost 370,000 K of acute respiratory, we see almost 76,000 cases of scaling mice.
We see 240,000 cases of diarrhoea and and under 523 times as much as normal.
So that is an outbreak.
We see a lot of jaundice as well, almost 10,000 cases.
Now why do I relate to malnutrition?
First of all, the there had there wasn't nutrition vulnerability situation analysis was done in in January and the situation is particularly extreme in northern Gaza.
So the nutrition screen is conducted at the shelters in the health centres in the north found that 15.6% or one in six children under 2 years of age are acutely malnourished and of these almost 3% suffer from severe wasting and that this was in January, so the situation is likely to be greater today.
Similar screen is in the southern Gaza Strip in Rafa, where eight more be more available from 5% of the children and two, two years acute malnourished.
And I want to stress, I mean, we work in Gaza for a decation and before this conflict, malnutrition was never an issue.
It was acute malnutrition.
You talked about .7% of the children and you may need to discuss when you discuss malnutrition.
You discussed about mitral nutrient deficience, for example, iron deficiency among pregnant women.
That's what where you were discussing.
That's what we were trying to address those days.
Now, now 90% of the children the age of 2 and 95% of the pregnant and breastfeeding women face severe food poverty and, and, and, and they don't have.
It's not only that access to food, of course, it's access to a variety of of food and it's, and this is I think the the what the one UN wants to focus in.
First of all, bring in much more food specifically to the north floods, the markets and property confliction system and access through various roads should be possible, should be made possible for that.
But then when you look at more nutritious combination, it's not just about food and not about one type of of food.
It's about wash and water and sanitation.
How you improve that?
And then it's of course, about medical supplies and shelter.
And you have to look at the whole that whole area where you talk about all those areas when you talk about malnutrition.
I want to leave it there.
And I want to hand over to my colleague, Dr Ahmed Dahir, who will, I think, brief you more specifically on their recent missions to Tamil Adwan and Al Adwa.
And maybe he also wants to say one or two words on the mission to Shiva.
So, Ahmed, over to you.
Thank you, Rick.
Doctor Ahmed, you have the floor.
You have just to unmute yourself.
No, again, sorry.
Yeah, we have mute you, but you have to do it on your side too.
Yeah.
No, you're on.
Thank you.
Yeah, yeah.
Thanks.
Thanks and good morning.
Good morning colleague.
So over the weekend, WHO and partners were able to access Alouda and Kamali Advanced Hospital in northern Raza for the first time since 7.
The route to the north is beyond words.
Every time you think it cannot get worse without it's an easy feeling to see the level of of damage there.
No photos or or videos do justice to the station that has unfolded in both hospitals we visited.
Micro of the overall health system and struggling to survive in direction of small doses of aid, keeping them just functional enough to serve those most in need.
WHO provided all hospitals Kamal Advanel out there with 9500 litre of the of the food in each and urgently needed medical supplies and route to the hospitals.
Desperate, crowded, searching for food approached our time and and and surrounded it.
We had to use our megaphones to to inform them that we were only carrying medical supplies to be allowed to force the.
It's heartbreaking to see that the the hospital, the people applies that we've used to such desperations.
At the hospital, the case was no different.
Health workers and patients barely surviving on one basic meal.
Again, despite the diversity conditions, the hospital staff have shown immense resilience and dedications to providing care to to patients.
They have been working around the clock without chips or rotations at both hospitals had shortage of fuel, power and specialised staff.
Trauma cases constituted the majority of the of the admissions multiple attacks, I would have destroyed one of the hospitals building necessitating services to be consolidated in the remaining buildings.
Hospital building needs extensive restorations, serves over income, fast emergency care, maternity, surgical services with two OT, radiology and basic laboratory services.
The staff of 129 medical staff with 36 volunteers.
Daily hospital activities included 12 deliveries, one security sections, 10 general surgeries and trauma related cases.
Thanks to supplies provided over the weekend, the hospital will be able to restart the operations department, laboratory and radiology department at Commander Advanced, the only paediatric hospital in the northern.
In the northern Gaza, doctors confirmed to us that at least 10 children had died due to starvation.
We saw at least two malnourished children during our visit, according to the to the Ministry of Health, and now 15 children have died due to malnutrition.
This is this is unfortunate mother and 1 was struggling with the lack of electricity causing a serious ****** to patients care especially in on the ISP U and the new unit service working at the hospital included in emergency care, paediatrics, maternity, new United care, ICU, hemodialysis, radiology and basic laboratory service.
The hospital receives 400 daily trauma, paediatric and and medical cases.
There are 6 operational dialysis machines where the 35 patients breathing.
We also visited on 1st March Schipper Hospital where we also provided and resupplied them with the full of nine thousand 19,500 litre along with life saving and we become medical supplies such as anaesthesia, medications, antibiotics, vaccines and treatment of severely acute malnutrition children.
The North needs ongoing support.
We urge to ensure sustained access for humanitarian partners.
Thank you.
Thank you very much, Doctor Dahir.
The the line was not perfect, so I would like to ask Tahir Tariq, sorry, if he could send your notes and and the ones of Doctor Peppercorn as soon as possible to the journalists so that they can have the rights figures that you have mentioned.
There is a there's a background sound.
I guess it's because of the.
Of the earpieces that you're using.
So thank you very much for this update.
I'll open the floor to question.
There are quite a few.
And as usual, I start with the room Renovasti, our correspondent Yuria Prelev.
Yes, thank you.
I have a question for Doctor Dyer and also a question for James, because he's here.
Yeah.
James, maybe you want to come to the podium as we're speaking about children.
Yes, Doctor here.
We, James Helder is our spokesperson for UNICEF in Geneva.
So go ahead.
Today you said that during the weekend you saw about 10 children that were died of starvation in the northern part of Gaza.
Is this the first time that WHO can confirm that children's are dying of starvation?
And my second question, that's why I asked for James 2.
I remember that few months ago UNICEF and WHO fears that people can die more massively because of the humanitarian situation, then because of the conflict itself.
It means because of the no, because of the fighting.
Is this the case now?
Do you think that it is possible that more than 30,000 people can die because of the humanitarian situation?
Or do you feel?
How do you feel about that?
Doctor Dahir, sorry, I know you are calling us in a difficult circumstances.
I don't know if you could ask the people who are behind you, maybe just during the time you have your mic open, if they could lower their voice because we hear lots of background noises.
Sorry, but it would be more, it would be easier to understand what you say.
Go ahead.
Please, Doctor.
Well, I'm, I, I, yeah, I apologise.
Actually it's, it's very complex and then the place we are using it is very limited, so I apologise.
So from so, so regarding the questions when we went to come out in advance, the 10, the 10 children died from civilian equipment patients reported by the medical doctors.
So actually we did not see any children who who died from spin acute malnutrition.
This is the report which we got from the medical doctors who were treating these children at the time of visit.
What we saw two severely acute malnutrition children which with the medical staff treating them at the thank you.
Thank you very much.
And don't worry, I mean we understand you're coming to us in very difficult situation.
James, you want to answer Yuri's question?
Yeah, Hi, Yuri, everyone.
It's, it's a good question.
So let me read briefly from a statement on Sunday from our regional director in the Middle East, which covers some of it.
At least 10 children have reportedly died because of dehydration and malnutrition in Kamala Duan Hospital in the northern Gaza Strip.
Likely many more children fighting for their lives.
These deaths are man made, predictable and entirely preventable.
Now, what's important there is that most malnutrition, death, malnutrition like HIV, is an underlying cause.
So to die from dehydration, it might be important to understand what that would look like in a hospital.
That would mean that that baby, first of all, they're trying to find a vein and they're unable to find a vein because the body constricts through dehydration.
Then most likely, and if we've still got medical staff on that, they would probably look for a vein in the child's head.
So this would be very traumatic for the baby and any care or parent there that would fail.
And then they would probably seek to put a tube down that child's throat into the oesophagus and that would fail.
So the deaths are are extreme, the very painful process, very invasive and of course very distressing.
Are we, we've been concerned since November that yes, because of the lack of clean water, the desperate lack of nutrition that we are now seeing now, So what numbers it turns into, we simply don't know.
Because of course the 30,000 these are reported, we don't no longer have desegregation of what children, how many children have been killed.
That is a real problem as well.
Are we now looking at 1% of the child population?
We don't know.
That would be 1011 thousand.
We know it's thousands and thousands of children being killed.
We also know that nine in 10 children under the age of 5, around 220,000, have been affected by an infectious disease over the last weeks.
So that becomes the spiral that we are so fearful of infectious diseases, lack of food, a desperate lack of clean water, an ongoing bombardment and incredulously still discussion of an offensive into Rafa, which is a city of children.
Rafa has about 3/4 of a million children living in it now.
Thank you, very.
Thank you very much, Chris.
Chris Vogt is our correspondent of AFP, the French news agency.
Thank you for taking my question.
Just on, on the children and the malnutrition, is there any way that you care that you could calculate project the death toll from malnutrition and the consequences it I mean the disease that comes with it?
And is there any way to quantify?
And then I had another question for Doctor Peppercorn on evacuations.
I was just wondering of the 8000, is there any, are there any of them that you were able to get out of Gaza since the beginning of the?
War Can you give us a figure?
Where would they go and what's the?
What's blocking the the fact that you have those wounded people who can't, can't get treatment.
Why?
Why can't they get out?
Thank you, James.
You want to start and then I'll give the floor to Yeah.
Unfortunately, the short answer is there.
There isn't 5000 children with acute malnutrition under the age of five in Rafa alone.
And as Doctor Peppercorn spoke to the numbers of, you know, 23 times what they should be or what they were, there's not.
It is worsening.
We are seeing those deaths that we long feared.
And importantly to speak to the criticality of getting aid into the Gaza Strip and we all know it's been a fraction, The malnutrition rates of under fives in the north are three times higher than those in Rafa.
So some evidence that when that trickle of aid can come in, it does make a life saving difference.
That's a peppercorn.
Go ahead, go ahead.
We can hear you.
Yeah.
So thank you very much.
I want to react to two things.
1 is a bit again going on the malnutrition and, and, and so as James also said, my youth colleague also said we, this is important in Gaza, malnutrition was never an issue.
So what we, what we have now seen, I mean like on this nutrition assessment and again, this is nutritionist vulnerability assessment in January, which is difficult to do, we would like to do.
That's why you need excess to get much better data and to get more regular data and to actually really even assess the situation in a proper way that nutrition vulnerability assessments and the raise what we see specifically in northern Gaza, 15.6% of wasting among children under 2 in northern Gaza, it suggests a serious and rapid decline and such a decline in the population nutritional status in three months is is actually unprecedented globally.
Specifically when you look at it, what it was before, you talk about .7 or .8% of children under 5 are QT malnourished.
Now to make assessments on that like unfortunately some more nutrition was never an issue in Gaza.
Now it has become an issue specifically in the north, but also James said even in the in in the South.
I want to say something on on because that was also related to the former questions, the impacts and projections.
It's always difficult 30,000 people, more than 30,000 people killed now due to conflict.
What is the excess mortality due to other conditions in a time of war?
And, and there is and study, and I'm sure that we will be able to share that from the long school of, of Tropical Hygiene and, and Johns Hopkins University.
And they reviews, we also helped find inputs on, on, on that study.
And, and they show, of course, they are projections.
They are models and they try to predict what does it mean when there will be an immediate ceasefire?
What's when it's the state's call?
What, where there is an escalation?
What happens when there is an epidemic and what's when there is no epidemics?
And if you look at those figures, so this excess mortality, I mean like those are quite astounding.
So when no epidemics occur and there's a ceasefire, you still talk about more than 6000 excess death.
When the status quo, you talk about 58 thousands excess deaths.
And when there's an escalation, you talk about 74 thousands when epidemics would occur.
Then even when there's a ceasefire, the model, the model predicts another 11 1/2 thousands death and stage 466 thousands excess mortality and escalation, almost 86 thousands excess mortality.
And of course the children and pregnant women are then especially vulnerable in when it comes to to that.
And so This is why I think there's many other reasons why it sustained ceasefire.
It's almost needed.
The other question you raised was about matter of fact.
So currently approximately 2200 patients have been evacuated.
It has been a very much an ad hoc type of process and it's not just who it's the Ministry of Health, it's the Israeli authorities, Egyptian authorities which are are all involved in that process and and of course hospital directors, etcetera.
What we are actually surprised about the WA surprised I think well a bit appalled about.
So we've been working on a on a on more sustained and an organised medical evacuations since since November and trying to promote and push that.
And again, based on our estimation, we talk about 8000 patients which need to be evacuated.
We don't understand, you know, all these criteria and why and why is this actually not happening?
More so that Egypt actually very kindly announced that they are ready to to receive a lot of these patients.
But also many countries in the region, many countries in the region have actually offered their support to, to to receive those patients and their companions in the region and also a few European countries.
So what we would like to see and are pushing for that we get an organised and organised sustained Med attack.
First of all, for the patients who need it and who deserve to get better treatments on places which they cannot get currently in Gaza.
But it would also help to relieve, relieve some of the enormous stress this this, this collapsing health services are under in in Gaza.
I want to say also something, one thing positive, what my colleague Ahmed raised on his mission to Shifa.
I think it's remarkable, really, truly remarkable and shows resilience, resilience of the health workers in Shifa that that hospital is operational again and functioning not as a third level hospital, what it used to be, but functioning as a, as a, as a first level hospital and actually becoming again the major trauma centre for northern Gaza.
And it's something we have to treasure and we need to support and we need to sustain support and we need to build it up again.
Thank you.
Over to you.
Absolutely, absolutely right.
So I saw we RFE International Jeremy Jeremy launch Arifi International.
A quick one, given the the numbers that you gave.
We hear the word famine is looming for months.
Is it fair to say that we are in a position to say that yes, there is a famine right now in Gaza?
Or is it, I know that you have to seek to do IPC phase five and, and, and so on.
But given the numbers again, can we say that we're here in a position to to declare a famine in Gaza right now?
Ahmed, Rick or James, who would like to take this one?
Well, I, I, I, I mean the answer is no, because there are criteria that it must meet all three factors and it hasn't.
And I think Doctor Peppercorn might, I think his point on access is critical.
But, but Rick, let me throw to you on, on that.
The only thing I would add is that obviously it's a critical, critical term because of the coverage it gets.
It doesn't make a lot of difference for the children on the ground right now.
OK, so Rick and doctor that here, if you want to intervene, just raise your hand down.
We'll, we'll give you the floor.
Rick yeah, maybe I want to add so I agree with James.
No, we cannot say that.
And and and also I would not be by the way, the person to say that.
No.
And I think the more what I want to stress it's absolutely not needed.
It's so there is the the one UN is ready to bring in lots more food and lots more diversified food, but it has to be a combination.
So it has to be a combination of foods.
Wash Unicep is very misleading in that area and Jave might want to add something or less as such medical and medical access and medical supplies and of course shelter.
So it has to be a combination and there is no need for a famine that we see this increase in acute malnutrition among children.
I mean, that's that's shocking and that needs to be addressed as quickly as possible.
And that can be addressed as quickly as possible.
And I want to make also one point.
We need to get back to the food production in Gaza.
Gaza was self-sufficient when it comes to fish, to poultry, to eggs, meat and actually vegetable and fruits.
The Gaza strawberries are famous.
They were exporting them.
Most of that has been destroyed.
That needs to get back and and and and and, of course, in an organised way, in an organised way as well as the private sector.
Over to you.
Thank you very much.
Christian Erich, German news agency.
Thank you.
This is a question to Doctor Peppercorn.
You were talking about the medical evacuations and how they are difficult.
Can you explain a little bit the process?
Is this an application that you lodge with the Israeli authorities who then deny a patient who has a bed in an Egyptian hospital to be transported out?
Or what exactly is the hurdle here?
Thank you, Doctor Pepe.
Yes, it's an it's a whole process.
It was also a process actually before this crisis.
It's a whole, whole process both, in this case, both with the Israelis and the Egyptian authorities.
And that process needs to be facilitated.
It needs to be simplified and it needs to be quicker.
So what we want to see is that that hospitals and hospital directors do their maker analysis and maker analysis and make sure that they prioritise and prioritise the patients, which should go first, just as we did in a number of missions together with, with Palestinian Red Crescents with patients should be referred to other hospitals in, in Gaza.
So that's which patients should get out of of Gaza, both the primary related patient, but also the, I would say the, the general patients, the chronic diseases patients, etcetera.
So that needs to be simplified, that needs to be organised, etcetera.
And to be honest, we struggle with why does this take so much time and we will continue to push for that.
That's the only thing that I want to say about that.
I continue with the question.
We've got two more in the room and then on the platform.
And I just wanted to say the answer is also here if you have any question for him.
So let's start with the Nick ******* Blues, our correspondent of The New York Times.
Yeah.
Thank you for the briefing.
Sorry I came late so I may have missed some things that you said initially, but I wanted to ask since the events last Thursday and the international outcry that followed, what has changed in the process for getting aid into Gaza?
Are you now planning a lot of missions?
Have you had approval for a lot of missions?
Are you being offered routes into northern Gaza from the north that you can use?
Could you what has changed and and do you see this now facilitating A substantial increase in deliveries of assistance?
Thank you.
Go ahead.
Rick, no, we, we can't hear you.
Sorry.
You can hear me now.
Oh yeah, no, it's fine.
All right, what what we have seen and I'm talking now about WHO and the health missions, the missions led by WHO.
So I told that already in my introduction.
I think that's an for me that's a positive that the first time since, since many weeks actually since months for Kamal Atwan and Alada and and also for many weeks we were able to go to Shiva and to the other two hospitals as a first as a start.
We, we, we all agree that we need to do this in a regular basis.
And, and so yeah, that has been facilitated over the last week.
So I see that as a positive now much more is needed and you need to ask us other UNHC, much more is needed to have a steady flow.
And I also mentioned that in my introduction.
So still overall, there's too little aid coming into Gaza.
Secondly, the aids disputed within Gaza is still incredibly problematic and not happening.
As a ***** happen and what would the one UN would be able to deliver?
So there, there need to be more roads within Gaza, both of the north, there needs to be an access actually point.
There should be an access point in north and northern Gaza.
There's descriptions ongoing, all that that should be allowed to.
There's an access point also to the north, both Kerry of Shalom and, and, and, and Rafael crossings need to work more efficiently and better and all of that.
And then of course, the roads, for example, to the north to Karen units need to be cleared.
At the moment those roads are very bad in some patches, everything like that.
It's, it's possible when Gaza has a very small place, you can clear the roads very quickly.
We've seen this in the past.
So that needs to to happen not just for relatively small medical missions, I mean like with medical supplies and, and, and fuel, etcetera, but for a sustained flow of missions.
And specifically when I look at food, wash, medical supplies, shelter, etcetera, going not only to the north, but also to the middle area and units etcetera, everywhere in in Gaza, that is not yet happening.
Hopefully this is the start of something.
It needs to be very much expanded.
And we need and I think the UN have been raising this for for weeks and for months that we need a proper deconflicting, A deconfliction mechanism, a mechanism that works and that's actually facilitates, facilitates those entries and also protects those humanitarian.
You don't want to yeah, you don't want to get into into this issues.
What we have seen unfortunately last week where the UN was not involved.
Over to you.
So sorry, just to follow up there.
Quickly, because we've got many more questions.
Sure.
But just to be clear then, the process itself for getting these convoys into Gaza hasn't changed.
There hasn't been a streamlining, the process of approving what goes onto the tracks, the process of scrutinising them as they go in, That hasn't changed.
There's been no significant change in the actual process.
I think discussions are ongoing currently and there's actually at a moment and and what I would hope is streamlining process going on.
And again, So I'm, I'm very happy, very happy as a big word, but I'm very definitely happy that for the first time since weeks and actually in months in, in in the case of Kamala one, we were be able to do those missions in a relatively, in a relatively better and organised way and a better facilitated way.
So I want to make that point at all.
Thank you very much.
Jimmy Keaton, Associated Press.
Hello, Doctor Peppercorn, thank you for the briefing.
I was hoping that you might be able to tell us for those of us who are not experts, the clinical technical difference between starvation and dying from malnutrition, if there's any, if, if there's any difference there.
And then the second thing you mentioned getting access to Al Shifa.
What do you attribute the breakthrough to?
I mean, what specifically paved the way for the opening to the access?
Was it a political agreement?
Was it with COGAT?
Was it with?
I mean what, what, what level was the authorization granted for for and and to to allow that to happen?
Doctor Pepper.
OK.
And I'll get, yeah, I think the whole area of malnutrition.
I don't, I'm not talk nutrition expert, but I think you talked about malnutrition and I actually I gave the the the data and of course you may talk about malnutrition.
You refer to a condition where an individual's diet is it doesn't provide enough nutrients for proper growth, development, maintenance of the body, etcetera, etcetera.
And it can result for an inadequate intake of foods.
Diseases increases disease communities.
Starvation is of course, the most it's the end, it's the most serious part.
It's occurs when when it's completely deprived of essential nutrition nutrients.
It's fortunately not happening very often because if that happens for a real problem and and it's depriving of nutrients and the energy and and over an extended problem.
So it's that leads to, to, to, to a severe organ failure and of course, eventually death and death is often of based on a prolonged inadequate intake of food, water and essential nutrients.
Now coming back to Shiba and I want Ahmed also to, to get into here because he was leading that that mission.
But for me, how does it happen?
It shows the resilience.
And I just want to also mention on when I was there a couple of weeks ago and that's a matter of complex.
Initially the team in Nazimer Complex, they were completely, they were besieged for so many days etcetera and the hospital was dysfunctional, no electricity, water, etcetera and no supplies.
And then maybe brought in the first supplies and the assistance.
The first they said the whole hospital has to be evacuated, all staff etcetera.
And then when we finally managed to get access and get in and help and get some of the most critical patients out, etcetera, later, all the patients out.
But there was and even among the health staff, and I think I really want to attribute this to the health staff, the incredible resilient health stuff, there was this glimmer of hope where they were completely desperate and in despair.
You know, maybe we can continue fortunately follow up events in not so many complex makes that that hospital currently is not functional, should be functional in Shiva.
So we've seen and we've seen this in many places.
We've seen this in Shiba, we've seen this in Al Athi Hospital.
We have seen this by the way in Al Aqsa hospital where it's in the middle area.
I mean like that's when when I was there in early December, it wasn't an hospital with 600, no yeah, more than 600 patients etcetera.
Then it went down to only in hospital with five staff and a few patients.
And the last time I was there I visited again, it had 600 patients.
So it depends if the war is coming close to any place or it gets besieged, then the hospital.
First of all, patients cannot access ambulances, cannot access WHL cars, cannot bring in supplies, stuff cannot go, stop, leave, etcetera.
So it becomes very quickly partly barely functional malfunction, but then when it's gone, staff comes back.
There's many volunteers by the way, it's incredible.
There's many volunteers who are working in all of those hospitals for no money working in those hospitals and building up those hospitals again.
So it's, it's not so much, it's not disauthority or WHO or something.
No, it's the, it's the Gazans and the health workers themselves which want to make sure that the health system continue, continues to function.
And that is probably the most intrinsical reasons, the biggest reason we have to continue to support.
I want to ask Ahmed also because he he's been visiting Al Shifa over the last four months a number of times.
So he has seen these changes, but you've seen these changes ultimate Al Athi which is now again function functional and you talk a couple of months ago it was almost dysfunctional functional again.
So Ahmed, you want to jump in on this and maybe come with some specific?
Doctor Dahir and then also James would like to add something.
Go ahead.
Yeah.
Now just to add on Doctor Rick.
So what I need to, to, to say is that the resilience and the commitment of, of the medical Staffs.
So whenever I visit them as, as, as Rick mentioned that since November, I think I did 6 missions to, to ship our hospital itself and, and, and the hospitals it, it, it, it went from different levels with the, with the, with the heavy fighting surrounding the hospitals and then the medical spouse please, with the patients from the hospital.
And then after that they go back.
So this is really shows is, is how the the medical Staffs are resilient and committed to serve the populations in, in, in, in, in, in Gaza and, and, and to add them on this, just to give you an example in camel head one which I visited few days ago, the hospital before the crisis did not have dialysis for, for, for, for the winner.
But what's, what's I, what I saw in my visit that they've opened one unit with the 6th dialysis machines and they brought these machines from the Indonesian hospitals, which is completely nonfunctioned.
And, and they restart running a renal hemodiabetes units.
And then which now they are around 35 kidney failure patients are serving from, from, from, from these services.
And the medical staff, you know, they told me a simple message.
They said, Ahmed, we will continue, we will continue providing services to, to the populations and, and, and Gaza, whatever it happens, if the hospitals sit down, we will come back to it.
You know, so and, and, and, and, and we will try our best.
We have in our capacity and just to ensure that health, health services are, are being provided to the population.
And that's why WHO and, and, and its partners, we are strongly advocating for, for the access.
And that's, that's the most important issue here.
It's access, you know, for, for, for the humanitarian to the, to the, to the not only health, but foods, shelters, water, you know, it's like it's, it's it's, it should be a holistic approach.
Thank you.
James.
Sandra, thanks.
Now only Jamie.
Just to add starvation, of course, that absolute deficit of calories usually leading to things like organ failure for a UNICEF, particularly the most severe type of malnutrition is 11 times more likely to **** a child under 5 from like the most common childhood disease, say pneumonia.
So that's why malnutrition is so lethal.
But it is that underlying 'cause you won't get many children dying from malnutrition and it being called malnutrition, which is why these deaths over the weekend in north of Gaza were so revealing and alarming.
So we have three more questions on the platform.
I go to Mousasi.
You've been very patient, sorry for our colleagues.
Moussa is the correspondent of Almaydin.
Maxi Alexander Question for James AWHO if famine cannot be declared today in Gaza, can we further determine the level of the risk of this famine there?
And is the number of children died last the last week?
There is always the same or there's many or other victims children or non children.
Do you to the to the famine?
My second question is for WHO do you trust the numbers of victims announced by the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza?
Thank you.
OK.
Maybe I'll start with James and then I'll go to the Blue 2 colleagues.
Well, I I think.
Yeah, if I mean if I understand you well and you please, please add the levels of malnutrition now we are seeing deaths from those and we are, we will see those continue to skyrocket.
The famine declaration is it takes much longer, it takes the access that Doctor Peppercorn spoke of and there are three specific factors that I won't go into now but you can Google them and we are not there yet on those.
But please re ask the question if I didn't capture it all.
I thought today here maybe you want to answer and also then either you or Rick on the second question from Moussa.
I will.
I will divert it to the story.
Thank you.
So, Rick.
Yes, the first question, James, I think at rest and, and, and again I want to stress on the on the malnutrition.
And so please no, nothing, let's not talk about famine.
I mean it's that the we talked about this looming crisis, this food insecurity and and again the nutritional variability situation analysis confirms that which is absolutely not needed in Gaza and I think can be can be turned around and can be prevented.
It's all about proper, proper access and not just for food supplies, but as Ahmed right, it's a whole holistic approach and make sure also diversified food etcetera.
This can be easily prevented and turned around.
So the second question, I didn't guess.
I heard something about the Ministry of Health, but I didn't get it.
The line here was very bad.
Sorry.
Yeah, Yeah, it was pretty straightforward.
The question was just if you trust the number of casualties that are announced by the Minister of Health in Gaza.
OK, that's an old question.
I think we've raised this question.
I think this question has been raised from the start and I think even by by many and I think more people came together.
So first of all, I want to also, by the way, point out it wasn't a very good analysis done by the lenses and, and, and maybe that paper should be shared as well, which unfortunately confirms that those assessments, the data from the Ministry of Health is seems very accurate in that sense.
But I want to go back to the start of this all.
So for WHO, we always get data from the Ministry of Health.
And when you talk about we've gone through a couple of years of a COVID crisis or other crisis, you get data from the Ministry of Health.
We do an assessment every two years globally where we assess health and information systems.
Now Palestine, West Bank, Gaza always came out pretty good in those assessments.
So a well functioning, A relatively well functioning health and information systems including vital statistics, death and birth etcetera.
So that's one true.
We've seen in unfortunately in former conflicts escalations in Gaza that when we got data from the Ministry of of Health and assessments were done after the conflict that they very well matched.
There were often even a little bit of an underestimation.
So they matched very well.
Now then three, the analysis of the of the of the lancets, I mean like also confirms this as well.
And then maybe you remember, I think it was only I think in week six or seven or something like that.
These questions were also variable directly raised and the Ministry of Health produced a list, a list, an incredibly detailed 12 page list with approximately, I think then we talked about 8000, 88000 deaths or something like that, those says 7 or 868000 of death and number of injured.
And his list was incredibly detailed with all the the, the identification numbers etcetera from people as well.
So yes, I would say almost unfortunately, of course the the Ministry of Health, they lost a lot of their health information systems.
They're they're devastated, etcetera.
So the last month it became more difficult and you would say there are more estimations, but I'm afraid that the fortune of the yeah, I think we we have a certain, we have a **** level of faith in those data.
And I'm even afraid that the number of people under the rubble, the estimates in SS, it might even be might be higher and so on.
Even in if there would be discrepancy in numbers, you know, it would still not alter our understanding of the level of the human suffering and increasing humanitarian needs in Gaza.
And and again, when we compare this sets captured by OCHA since model was a 2008, it clearly shows an increasing number of civilians being killed with a higher proportion of children and women's fatalities as compared to the cumulative figures from the previous conflicts affecting the Gaza Strip.
So maybe I want to stop there.
Thank you very much.
So I'm sorry there are still more briefers.
So I have Musa has a follow up, then John Lees and Nina and then I'll close here the questions and if we could be a little bit brief, Moussa, you have a follow up.
Yes, for the first question, who announced that Saturday or Sunday 10 children died of hunger, then I speak about hunger, not about malnutrition.
And my question is in which level we are today in Gaza, which level of hunger or famine in Gaza today, if there, if this this risk is real?
Thank you.
I.
Think we have already spoken about that, but maybe somebody wants to reiterate Jamie James.
Sorry, I would, I would literally like, I think the easiest way from my point of view is to share with you the statement from our regional director.
I will.
I will resend it.
But that was that was 10 children, dehydration and malnutrition.
And it spoke to the disparities of **** levels of malnutrition in the north to the South and simply said the situation has only gotten worse.
And as we have warned, we'll see an explosion in child deaths and call that imminent if the burgeoning nutrition crisis isn't isn't resolved.
Not a lot more.
One point I think that's not that's, that's useful to to add there that the regional director shared was the sense of helplessness and despair among parents and doctors in realising that life saving aid is just a few kilometres away, but it's being kept out of reach must be unbearable.
Indeed, John.
John Zaracostas, Franz Wanquette.
Yes, good morning.
This is also for The Lancet Dr Peppercorn you mentioned and I want to make sure I got it right.
You said 1500 amputees are being referred for treatment outside of the region or did I get it wrong?
I don't think I heard it correctly.
And secondly, with regards to so-called declaring famine, in the last 40 years, many of the religions when they were declared famine, it was too, too late, born of Africa and many other areas.
Is there politics involved with going to a declaration?
Is that up to the host country to also have a role in the declaration or not?
Thank you.
Not a perfect one.
I think we discussed that also with our last.
Briefing, first of all, I didn't say so.
The Ministry of Health reported since start of the war that 1500 amputations have been performed, not referred.
We said that approximately the estimated.
Now the figures, what we have said 2293 patients have been referred out of Gaza since the start of the war.
That's all kind of patients.
So we're not talking.
We have raised the point that we estimate that 8000 patients should be referred out of Gaza, 6000 related to the war and war traumas and 2000 general, general patients.
That's it.
And.
The second question.
I would have said, yeah, I think that's we've discussed this.
I think so.
I absolutely don't see it's it's the politics again, I want to stress that also what figures we hear.
So when when, when Ahmed, my colleague wasn't at 1 and that's what he reported, the health workers informed him that 10 children died of malnutrition.
That's what I get the health workers important.
According to the Ministry of Health, 15 kids have died over the time of malnutrition.
So I don't want to go into this.
That's not me.
That's not me.
Only that famine.
I said it the whole IPC process, etcetera.
And again, it's that's that's absolutely not there and it is.
I want to also make it's not needed.
It is already shocking that we see in an assessment done 15.6% of the kids 50.6 under under 2, which are acutely malnourished where it used to be.
You talked about figures of .6 point 7.8 for Gaza and that is unprecedented.
It should be addressed.
It can be addressed and it can be reversed.
I mean like that's what I so that's and and I think it's and also applicable for the cells, but in in an also very serious way, but a less serious way.
And we talk about a holistic approach, not just about providing weeds, etcetera, weeds, diversified foods, combination of wash and wash supplies, etcetera, to make sure the water sanitary coordination avoids diseases, medical supplies and shelter.
And also you need this access, much better access and save access and not just from the but the UN and this partners to do better assessments, to get better data and to make sure that you can target your response in a much more specific way.
Laser valve.
That's what's needed.
Thank you, Lisa.
Lisa Schlein, Voice of America.
Lisa, you asked for the notes.
I see that Tarek is saying hopefully you get them all in 15 minutes, but you have also a question.
Yeah, I have questions for James.
And also I think you said that the answers in the room.
Is that right please?
OK, I'd like to ask him if.
They put out that that couple of questions, OK.
Go ahead.
Can, can.
OK.
Can my colleagues close mic of Doctor Pepicon.
Go ahead, Lisa.
Good morning, James.
Nice to see you following up on.
Some of the.
Things that you said, I'd like Well, first of all, would appreciate receiving the notes from the regional director that you quoted.
But if you succeed in saving children's lives, which I hope you do, since they've been deprived of important nutritions for such a long time, I'm wondering what the likely impact upon them as they grow up and upon future generations will be as a consequence of their not having received the food and other things that they need so well, and what this means for Gaza.
The future outlook of Gaza.
Do you want me to ask Jay?
Uh yeah let's an answer then I'll ask so you can go ahead OK yeah sure go ahead go ahead with your question Lisa.
Yeah.
Oh, you want me to ask my question?
Yes.
On the problem you listens to you.
Yeah.
I I see you.
Good morning, James.
Sorry.
Yes, it's nice to see you.
OK.
I have a couple of questions for you.
And.
And that is are the air drops actually still occurring And you know they don't.
Yeah.
That that's one.
And I, I was wondering whether there was any indication that that Israel is likely to open up a couple of its crossing so the food can get in do are our trucks, are aid convoys actually coming in now either in the South or the north?
If so, how much and how much needs to come in?
Thank you a lot, James.
Start with you.
Lisa, thanks.
When it comes to nutrition, yes, forms of any form of severe nutrition, malnutrition, stunting can impact the, you know well does impact the the growth and development of a child's brain.
That depends on the severity and of course the duration of that.
There is a equally a chance during adolescence where where development is such that you can almost have a catch up.
There, obviously we are hoping that this is not a chronic emergency and we're not talking about levels of malnutrition over 6/12/24 months.
And as Doctor Peppercorn says, it simply wasn't an issue previously.
So on, that's on the physical side.
On the psychological side, of course we are in uncharted territory.
There were studies done a year or two ago showing 80% of children in Gaza reported some type of emotional distress.
Obviously, no study has been done yet.
I think it would be hard to push back on the idea that every single child, every single child in Gaza will be in need of some type of emotional support.
And the impacts on that are relatively well documented.
Though again, we are in terrain that is is quite new.
So whether it will ultimately you can get PTSD that affects a child's nervous system future earning capacity.
Clearly all children in Gaza have come to realise that the world can be a an unsafe, dangerous and and perilous place.
The only way out of that is of course, first of foremost for a ceasefire and and for a sustained peace.
Right now, as we've said previously, Gaza is not a place for children to recover from the kinds of things that they are enduring.
But right now, Gaza still remains home to more or less 1.1 million children.
OK, sorry I see Doctor Peppercorn is raises and maybe on this but I'll I'll let Ian.
Oh, OK, so Doctor Peppercorn, you want to add something to what James said and then I go to to Yan.
Yeah.
OK.
So one thing on the on the malnutrition is I think it's James, right.
Well, you talk about intergenera, generational consequences and and in the acute phase is of course you talk about mortality, morbidity, disability in a longer time you talk about AIDS, height, cognitive ability, economic productivity, reproductive perform, metabolic and cardiovascular.
So it's a whole, it's a whole range.
I want to say something about it because James made a really good point on the mental health and mental health and specifically also for children.
And I want to really broaden that that topic because we're not addressing that enough.
And, and that's why Ceasefire is so important.
You start with thinking about recovery.
I mean, think about mental health and psychosocial support for children.
Yes, of course, think about the youth and the adolescents, think about women, think about men, think about elderly, think about health workers, for God's sake.
That is such a massive undertaking and it should and, and at the moment there's so little done because we, we all focus on this kind of survival issues, talk about food and water and shelter and medical supplies, etcetera.
We need to to go back to to the whole range and and and start building up and thinking about primary in healthcare with a proper integrated mental health psychosocial support community.
Special focus on on on children and special focus also on the other groups, including adolescents, including women, including health workers and men shelves that will be massive.
And again on the there was 1 issue, I think on the on on on Nexus, but I think we've discussed this numerous times.
What is needed for that all to?
You.
Thank you, Lisa, for your questions.
There have been no air drops by the United Nations so far.
However, we continue to explore every Ave to ensure that aid reaches those in need, and that would include air drops, which are more limited in volume than deliveries by Rd.
So our clear focus is to have overland transport scaled up so that it is commensurate with the enormous needs that we hear about now.
When children, starting as the doctors are, are telling our colleagues to die from starvation, that should be an alarm like no other.
If not now, when is the time to pull the stops?
Break the glass, Flood Gaza with the aid that it needs?
So that is what we need to see happen.
We do not have openings over land to the north as we should have.
We continue to engage with the authorities and everyone involved who can help get those openings so that we can get aid in at scale.
But currently we do not have it.
We do see aid that continues to come in through the South through the crossings that you know of.
The most recent data that I have is again numbers of trucks, pretty crude way of counting it, but still 1st of March 133, second of March 107 and 3rd of March 130.
That is against as you know a pre war daily entry of 500.
We consider that minimum that needs to go in now because the crisis is so much larger than it was in the past.
But time of course, to look at any and all possibility, possibilities for for getting the supplies into into Gaza.
Thank you very much, Yens.
Lisa, a quick, quick please follow up.
Yeah, very quick.
I forgot to ask you, Yens, what the impact of UNRWA, the closure of on your operations would have upon the needs of Gaza.
And there it, it, it appears to be in a very perilous situation.
Thank you.
Staying within the logic of what we have said about the importance of UNWA, the closure of UNWA would meaning breaking the backbone of the humanitarian operation.
James, you wanted to add something?
Very quickly and a little unorthodox, but it was a great question on mental health and you're just hearing from middle-aged old men up here.
There was a young woman I encountered in Gaza who was a medical student who was probably who approached me out of nowhere.
We were doing a different story and she was probably the most candid, articulate bang.
Here is my story that I've ever encountered in my 20 years.
I keep in touch with her and I'll play just this is just 10 seconds of something I received the other day to get a sense of the mental health of young people.
She's obviously not studying.
Alessandra made a very good point.
When I think of mental health right now in Gaza, I just see trauma.
I've somehow as humanitarian forgotten about.
They haven't been to school for forever and ever and ever, which which of course has its own degree of perilousness.
So anyway this is a very brief it will play this.
War has taken us through a hurricane.
Feelings Some days I'm.
Very angry at the whole world.
Some days I'm grieving all that we had lost.
And some days I don't feel anything at all.
Anyway, a glimpse of mental health of 1.1 million children in Gaza.
Thank you, James, for this witness.
And I'll take the last question and then we'll go to Clara, who's been very patient.
Nina Larson AFP.
Yes, thank you for taking my question.
It's it's separate and I'll be brief.
I was just wondering about the.
Allegations that were made yesterday by UNORA that its staff were subjected to torture while they were detained by the Israelis.
And since I know that you have had, you said that there are quite a few medics who've been detained, I'm wondering if you have also seen any indication of that and if you have any you have any reaction to, to those allegations?
Thank you.
Doctor Pepper **** or Doctor Hammond maybe, Please unmute yourself.
Yeah.
I think maybe this is more a question for my colleagues from Washa, I think.
OK and sunny.
Sorry, Nina, could you just repeat the question?
It's about torture and relegation.
Yes.
All right, I was going to say it's about.
The.
Allegations made yesterday by Mineral that its staff members who were detained by Israel were subjected to torture and I'll treatment.
And I know that there have been.
It was actually, I guess more for WHO, because WHO has talked a lot about medics and paramedics who've been detained during the health missions and I'm wondering if they've heard anything similar and also if they have an overview of how many are still being detained.
Thank you.
Yeah, I mean, about health staff being detained.
We've all heard heard the story, so I will not speak about that, but let those organisations themselves speak about that.
And generally how people are treated in entertainment and what they are subjected to is a human rights issue.
So I would believe that the office for.
Yeah.
And we have heard it from the **** Commissioner, an extensive, comprehensive description of the situation of human rights in this context.
So I'll, I'll probably go send you back to that.
I don't see other questions and I don't want the questions.
We really want to go to the other speakers, but I really want to thank Doctor Ahmad that here for being with us this morning in the dire situation we know and Richard Peppercorn that keeps updating us and and we're really grateful and thank you very much.
Come back anytime and please stay safe in your in implementation of your functions.
Just a word to add that said, Tariq has written in the chat that you should have now the notes of his two colleagues.
They should have been sent to you in your mailbox.
So hopefully you have them.
And I go now to Clare new list for WMO for an update on El Nino, which is, which is not well, that's particularly difficult to follow what we've just listened to.
The World Meteorological Organisation has just issued its latest update on El Nino, La Nina.
We say that the 2023 to 2024 El Nino event has peaked.
It peaked in December.
At its peak, it was one of the five strongest on record.
It's now gradually weakening, but obviously it will continue to impact the global climate in the coming months.
So even after it disappears completely, we will still feel the impacts of this event.
And what we've seen with this El Nino, perhaps more than any other event in the past, is that it's fuelled the heat trapped by greenhouse gases due to, as we all know from human activities, El Nino is a naturally occurring event.
But everything now, all El Nino events, all La Nino events take place in the context of a climate which has been radically changed by, by human activities.
We do expect above normal temperatures in the in the coming months sort of between March and May.
And this is in overall most land, land areas.
Going into the details, the WMO update says there's about a 60% chance of a Nino persisting during March to May.
And an 80% chance of neutral conditions.
So neither El Nino or La Nina in April to June, there is a chance of swinging back to La Nina later on this year.
But we don't, we don't really know at the moment.
We have what we call a spring barrier to predictability.
So it is actually quite difficult this time of year to make provisions for later on in the in the year, as I said, and you know, now is taking place in the context of climate change.
And so this is a quote by Celeste Salo, the World Meteorological Organisation secretary general.
She said every month since June 2023 has set a new monthly temperature record, and 2023 was by far the hottest year on record.
El Nino has contributed to these temperatures, but heat trapping greenhouse gases are unequivocally the main culprit.
Ocean surface temperatures in the Equatorial Pacific clearly reflect El Nino, but sea surface temperatures in other parts of the globe have been persistently and unusually **** for the past ten months, and the January 2024 sea surface temperature was by far the highest on record for a January.
This is worrying, and it cannot be explained by Al Nino alone.
This is a quote from Professor Celeste Salo.
As we've seen in the past few months, El Nino is associated with increased rainfall, triggering flooding in the Horn of Africa.
So we saw the Horn of Africa swing from, you know, from drought to to deluge.
And the southern states of the United southern part of the United States of America, we've seen unusually warm dry conditions in Southeast Asia, Australia and southern Africa.
And El Nino has exacerbated drought, hasn't caused, it has exacerbated drought in northern northern South America.
So that's, that's it.
The only final thing is that we can predict El Nino events in advance.
And it's thanks to these advance warnings, the seasonal climate predictions that we can help climate sensitive sectors such as agriculture, food security to plan ahead.
And this is obviously in line with the international early Warnings for All campaign, which is our top priority.
Thank you.
Thank you very much for this update, Claire questions, Christian.
Thank you, Claire.
2 quick questions.
The first one is the strongest on record measured by what for any new.
And the second one is on record means since when?
When did records begin?
I did just open it.
OK, this is off.
This is off.
OK, all right, sorry, colour blinders as well.
I'll check on that.
From what I understand it it so it's an interaction between the sea surface temperatures and atmospheric conditions, but certainly one of the indicators is the sea surface temperature.
So in December at its peak we saw a peak value of 2.0° above the 1991 to 2020 average.
It's now, it's now weaker than that, but obviously we are still seeing above average values on record.
Obviously climatological records date back to the 1850s.
I don't think we've been measuring El Nino for quite that long.
But I can, I can double check.
But certainly from what my colleagues have said, it's not as strong as the 2015 to 2016 event and it's not as strong as the 1997 to 1998 event.
But it is, it is, it is up there, Isabel, just.
Do you know when is the next update in the El Nino?
We do the El Nino updates roughly 4 * a year.
If.
Circum, you know, if there is a special circumstance then we will then we will push it through quicker.
The reason that we only do them four times a year is it's an international collaborative effort.
So it does involve, you know a lot of international climate centres.
But having said that, we do a what we call a global seasonal climate update on a monthly basis.
And it is this global seasonal climate update which is predicted, which is forecasting that we will have above temperatures overland and oversea areas, you know, in the next three months.
So that that is that is a monthly product and that factors in not just El Nino, but a lot of other factors as well.
Any other question to Claire, don't see any or on the platforms.
Thank you very much for this update.
David, you have a couple of announcements for that to you.
Thank you.
Yes.
And one that was subject to a press release from Friday, but I'd like to present it here for the record that on Friday, ITU Secretary General Doreen Bogdan Martin announced the formation of her first Youth Advisory Board.
The board is comprised of 12 young digital experts and innovators aged 18 to 30.
Secretary General Bogdan Martin highlighted that bringing in youth perspectives is particularly important as governments and industry work together to connect the 2.6 billion people that are still offline around the world.
The Board will provide recommendations to the Secretary General of ITU to enhance worldwide cooperation and strengthening global connectivity.
Members of the inaugural Youth Advisory Board were selected from a global pool of about 850 candidates, and they will serve in their individual capacities for two years.
If my reading of that note didn't dazzle you, perhaps I can excite you with this news that on Thursday in the afternoon at 2:00, I'm pleased to announce that IT Secretary General Doreen Bogdan Martin will join us here at the press room for a press conference with the with the press corps.
So other than that, I know it's.
Been a long, long haul on the priorities of.
For 2024, that's correct.
So questions to David in the room?
No, but I see there's one in the platform.
Jennifer is gone.
I'm sorry she was here until now, but she's now gone.
OK.
Any question to David?
I don't.
OK, Deco.
Well, so thank you very much.
Good luck with the press conference and the Board.
I have only if a couple of announcement, very short, remind you that the Human Rights Committee is reviewing today the report of Chile.
The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disability concludes Kazakhstan's report today.
And then we'll go to Zambia and a couple of press conferences.
I see that Thomas Fitzsimons is also recalling the press conference in the chat.
And I'm happy to confirm that today at 1:00 PM in this very room, the IPU Secretary General Martin Chungong will speak to you on the issue of women in Parliament.
It'll be accompanied by Mariana Duarte Mutzenberg, the IPU Gender Programme Officer.
And I'm also asked by UNDP to inform you that UNDP will launch its flagship reports, the new Human Development Report and the new Human Development Index that will be on the 13th of March.
The report is available already on demands, so you can contact Sarah if you want to have an advance copy on of this report.
And yeah, just last press conference, I wanted to remind you it's the one organised by Waipor that is on Thursday, 7th of March at 11 AM.
This is a virtual press conference and it's hosted by Waipos, not Unis.
So you can contact Samar in case you need anything.
And this is on the release of the Global intellectual property statistics filings via WAIPO.
The embargo inspires on Thursday, 7th of March at noon Geneva time and the press conference, as I said, is on the same date at 11.
So, and in case of questions, you can go to Samar.
My very, very last announcement and I give you the focus is about an event I've already told you about with which we are organising together with human women, the University of Geneva, the UN Department of Peace Operations in the UN Department of Political and Peace Building Affairs and the LC Initiative Fund.
And they can tone the Geneva together with the Confederation.
It is a day of activation around the theme Peace Begins with Her.
It's an activation of a booth of photo.
It's called Inside Out is the foundation created by photographer French Photographer Jr.
There will be an exhibition of pictures of women peacekeepers and the population that people who pass by that can take their picture at the booth.
And the booth picture will be added to the exhibition.
This will run from 11:15 to 6:00 in the afternoon at Unimi.
We hope to see you there.
It's going to be really beautiful, visually beautiful.
And at the end of this activation, we will have a panel discussion focusing on the role of women in peace with the Swiss State Secretary for Security Policy, Doctor Marcus Mader, the Vice President of the State Council of Geneva, Natalie Fontaner, If Lukiger, Director of the University of Geneva, the director of the Geneva Centre for Security Governance, Ambassador Natalie Chouar and other speakers.
And just to remind you that at 1:00, media will be able to meet and interview some of the formidable women featured in the exhibition that will be also at Unimile.
This include Melton Brock, who is a young peace activist from Cyprus, Captain Vanessa from Virag, a Swiss peacekeeper deployed with Umar Jeep, and Luisa Franco, a Colombian peace activist and programme officer with the Swiss Peace Institute.
So these people will be available for interviews at 1:00 PM at the Unimile.
And I think we've already sent you the media advisory with all the details.
So I see Chris has a question.
And I guess yes, I was just wondering if somebody from the human rights was online or not.
No, I'm afraid we don't have anybody from OHCHR today.
They're really busy with the council.
So are we.
And there are a lot of.
So I mean, just if you could, if you could have them regularly at least online would be really helpful.
Because there are a lot of questions right now going.
On anyway, I'll send them an e-mail.
Thank you.
I'd seen a hand on this side and nobody else see that there was somebody else on this side.
No.
OK then buddy.
So same time at 1:00 today, IPU has this press conference at the same time.
Sorry.
IPU has a press conference at 1:00.
O'clock but what is the other event you said?
Oh, I see a trial.
What you said OHCCHR Human Rights Council has another conference at 1.
Is that misunderstood?
Not OHCHR, we have, sorry, 2:00, but that's on Thursday.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
So not not today, not today.
Human Rights Council has nothing.
No Human Rights Council is going on with this regular programme that Pascal has presented at the beginning of the briefing.
OK, that is about what we have for OHCHR today, I mean for human for the Council, but there is also the IPU press conference and that is at 1:00 PM.
So if there are no other questions for me, thank you very much for having followed this long briefing.
But it was really interesting and important, So I wish you a good afternoon and I'll see you on Friday.
Thank you.