Welcome to the press briefing here in Geneva.
The UN today is Friday, 15th of March.
We have a long list of speakers, including colleagues joining in from the field.
So I'll ask everybody to be as brief as possible, including to you.
Pascal, you have the floor for a short update of the Council.
Thank you, Alessandra, and good morning, everyone.
The Human Rights Council is currently concluding its third week of the 55th session with a general debate with statements from UN member states.
The debate will be on the promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights.
And starting this coming Monday, the Human Rights Council will begin consideration of human rights situations that require its attention.
On Monday morning, the Council will hold 2 consecutive meetings on the Islamic Republic of Iran, starting with Javaid Raymond, the Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in the country, and then with the international Fact Finding mission that was established in November 2022.
And the report of the fact finding mission was shared with you a week ago.
The Fact Finding Mission will also hold a press conference on Monday in this room at 1:30 PM Monday afternoon.
The Human Rights Council will then hear from Elizabeth Salman, the special reporter on the human rights situation in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
And this will be followed by another debate with the Commission of Inquiry on Syria.
And the Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine that you just heard this morning will present its latest report on Tuesday morning.
For the latest updates on a programme of work, I will recommend that you check our SCED app, hrc55.sced.com.
Pascal, any question to the Council?
I don't see, I see Christophe and just a remark if I may on on your run for example.
So we got the report a week ago as you said and then it gets presented and then we have the press conference a couple of days later.
I'm, I'm sure it's, you know, hard to organise, but for us, it's really difficult to, to work in three bits like that.
So if at least the press conference could be closer to the publication of the report or that would be really helpful for us just to make it more lively.
I, I conveyed your comments from your colleagues in the last week to the, to the various investigative bodies.
Just so you know, the established practise when an investigation is presenting its first report is usually to give the first news to member States public appearance.
So that's why they really insisted on having their press conference right after their dialogue with member States on Monday.
But of course, this is a message that we convey to all our colleagues there.
Any other questions, Pascal?
I don't see any, so thank you very much.
Let's go now to the first of the first two of our invitees.
But I'm told there is a slight problem with Doctor Brennan, the regional emergency director of WHO in the Eastern Mediterranean region.
He's calling in from Cairo.
I understand there are a few issues with this line.
I'm trying to check if he's online.
So I would like, since we have two guests today speaking on Sudan, one being Doctor Brennan and the other one being Jane Lawler, the chief of field operation for UNICEF in Sudan.
I would like to ask Mrs Laura, who's here with Malik C, if she doesn't mind to wait.
It would be to see if we can get Mr Brennan on the line so that we can do one item on Sudan.
Thank you very much, Madam.
Which gives me the opportunity to go now to the other guests we have from the field was Antonella de Prile.
Antonella is the World Food Programme country director in Mozambique.
Let me see if we have her on the line.
So if you can unmute yourself, Madam, and we will unmute you on this side.
So Antonella is going to tell us about the draught that is ravaging the country and inducing hunger, which of course, adds to the Tropical Storm Philippo that we have heard about in the last days and adds to Mozambique's misery.
So you have the floor, Antonella.
Thank you very much, Alessandra.
And indeed, it's an opportunity to talk about these multiple shocks affecting Mozambique in this in this week that marks five years after Cyclone Idai struck Mozambique, affecting more than 2 million people across Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe.
In fact, on 12th of March in the night Tropical storm Filippo entered southern Mozambique in Yasura district in in Yambane province and with a very, very strong wind up to 120 kilometres per hour, it exited back to the Mozambique Channel on on 13th of March to the Gaza province.
So, considering that the region, the provinces is already affected by a new phenomenon, the water level level in rivers and basins remained low.
The government preliminary data on the storm's impact in in Yambane, Sopala, Gaza in Maputo provinces, unfortunately indicated that more than 48,000 people have been affected and over 23,000 students and teachers have been unable to attend school classes.
More than 100, sorry more than 10,000 houses have been partially or completely destroyed.
So of course, there are more damages in key infrastructures like roads, power poles, health units and the assessment are going to continue quantifying the damage.
So this climatic shocks, I was, as I was saying is in camps on top of already constrained WP operations in the northern region because of conflict and insecurity.
Meanwhile, WP and the UN are on standby to respond to the the National Institute of the Disaster Risk Management and Reduction request for support.
As for WP, we are ready to support the more than 50,000 people with the Russian of 30 day with a food ration of a 30 day in covering, as I said, 50,000 people.
I wanted also to give you very briefly as Alexander requested a brief intervention and as I was saying, the WFP, Mozambique and other UN agencies are already under a lot of pressure and constraint and not only for, you know, for resources, but also because we are handling multiple shots.
The situation also in Cabo Delgado just recently has deteriorated, is preoccupying.
Overall, we have 12 out of the 17 districts in Cabo Delgado and also the neighbouring province impacted impacted by a new wave of displacement between the end of December and I was as 3rd of March.
There have been new violent non state armed groups attacks that have triggered 113,000 people fleeing and moving as I said around the the Kabul Delgado province, but unfortunately also crossing into the southern province of Nampula.
This is the second largest concentration display displacement since the beginning of the conflict in 2017.
And unfortunately, 63% of the new displaced people are children and 23% are women.
So WFP, UNICEF and the IOM, their joint response plan, managed to respond and assist 17,000 people in the southern part of Cabo Delgado.
And WFP also responded to the new wave of people moving to Nampula.
We are in a situation whereby we have to take tough decisions because resources are shrinking as people are increasing in their displacement.
Just to give you a very quick statistics, in January 2023, WP assisted the 1,000,000 displaced people in the northern part of the country.
In January 2024, we managed to assist half of the half of half million of the people displaced and we'll have to further reduce to 215,000 people in starting in May with a reduced Russian.
We have of course to, as I was saying, to take tough decisions because at the same same time we have to support the government on tropical summer people.
And also we have already supported the the the government of Mozambique in activating anticipate anticipatory action for a new phenomenon, which is something that I wanted to highlight.
In many of the Satek country, Angola, Botswana, DRC, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe, we have received the lowest rainfall between January and February time frame in the last 40 years.
These extreme weather events, events and the ongoing tropical storm already it has exited already, but the impact is still to be assessed, will likely increase the humanitarian needs in central and southern provinces of Mozambique.
So we have just to conclude northern province with a very active and conflict and with a new wave of displaced people 113,000 more of that, most of them are children and women.
Then we have the central and southern part of Mozambique affected by tropical storm Filippo and and in your phenomenon causing loss, loss of crops because of lack of of water.
So this is, in a nutshell, the complexity of Mozambique with the very, you know, limited resources.
Back to you, Alessandra, and hope I didn't take too much time.
No, no, Antoine, that was absolutely fine.
I just wanted to remind the journalist that the humanitarian response plan for Mozambique for this year, which called for $413 million, at the moment, it's just under 6% funded.
So it's really important that we call your attention on that.
So I'll open the floor to question now and I see Chris VOCT, who is our correspondent of the French news agency AFP.
Alexander, you actually answered one of my questions under under 6%.
The other one, the two questions actually, I would just like you to give us more detail.
When you say we reduce the Russians, what does that mean exactly, like concretely?
And second, according to the WMO, the El El Nino is going away slowly.
It will be replaced most probably by El Nina, El Nina.
So can you tell us what you expect in terms of effect on the weather and crops and etcetera from the El Nina?
Yeah, thank you very much.
Yes, reduce the Russians means that we are distributing every.
I mean we, we, we distributed to families to displace family once to cover two months.
So this is already a reduction because we used to assist the people on a monthly basis basis and also nutritionally the food of course that has to be shared over the two months.
Is, is also you know providing less nutritional intake.
So bimonthly distribution and also a reduced nutritional intake of 79% for food ration on La Nina.
We are, as we speak, we are working very closely with the national counterparts, the Meteorological Institute, the Ministry of Agriculture to 1st assess the impact, impact of the current El Nino.
La Nina is absolutely going to hit in the last trimester of 2024 and most likely On the contrary of this current phenomenon causing heavy rains and flooding in the same area of the current in your phenomenon.
We are going to have, we are going to present this joint worker in the next in the next meeting for the humanitarian country team.
And we will be able also to continue sharing the information at the regional to the regional channels for further details.
Thank you very much, Antonella.
Any other question, let me see on the platform.
I don't see other hands up.
So thank you very much, Antonella for this update.
Good luck with this important work you're doing and and keep us informed.
I'm afraid we could not get Doctor Brennan back online.
So I will go now to UNICEF and ask Jill Lawler.
As I said, she's the chief of field operation for UNICEF in Sudan, if she can brief us on the situation in this country.
And I'm told by our colleagues from WHO Christian is on the line, that he will get the notes of Doctor Brennan on the situation in Sudan, and we'll send them to you by e-mail.
So you have the floor, Jill and Mark sees what's on the line.
Thank you and good morning.
I'm so sorry not to be joined by Doctor Brennan on this important topic, but it's really good to be with you.
My name is Jill Lawler, and I'm the chief of field operations and emergency for UNICEF in Sudan.
Last week I LED a team of 12 UNICEF staff on a mission to Omdurman, Khartoum.
It was the first UN mission back to Khartoum, which has been under near constant fire since the war broke out in April 2023.
Our our objective was to understand as much as possible what the conditions are like for children during eleven months of fighting and to see first hand the work that we're supporting with local partners to deliver life saving supplies and services, at least to the parts of Ombberman that we could reach.
at Al Nah Hospital, one of the only hospitals in Khartoum with a functional, very crowded trauma ward, we met with two young people who had recent amputations.
Two young lives changed forever.
We learned from the hospital director that about 300 people had limbs amputated in the hospital in just that past month alone.
Doctors say that needs are growing.
We saw two, sometimes three, patients sharing beds, exhaustion among staff, many of whom are practically living in the hospital, most of whom haven't been paid salaries and months.
It's palpable, as is frustration at the lack of supplies, equipment and space.
At another hospital, we visited with malnourished children and their caregivers in complete darkness because electricity outages.
Their backup generator had failed about a week prior, and so they were working in the dark and sustaining a critical cold.
Chain vaccines with ice packs.
And as we near the the summer months, those ice packs simply won't last.
During our visit, we learned that women and girls who had been raped in the first months of war are now delivering babies, some of whom have been abandoned to the care of hospital staff who have built a nursery near the delivery ward.
We saw the UNICEF supported Almanara Water Treatment plant which is the only one still functioning out of 13 plants in the cartoon area providing safe water to about 300,000 people in Omdurman and two has been damaged by the fighting and is working at just 75% capacity and will cease to stop functioning in two weeks if we can't get more chlorine in to treat water for that population.
Though we could hear sounds of artillery firing in the distance, there was a relative calm where we were but an intense arm presence in the markets, on the streets and even in the hospitals.
We saw many young people carrying arms, not clear how old they were.
Both clearly young and clearly not.
In schools, which have been shut since the start of the war, hunger is pervasive.
It's the number one concern people expressed.
There's food in the market, but it's simply unaffordable for most families, due in part to the continued telecommunications blackout that is preventing families from accessing mobile cash for food.
We met one young mother at a hospital whose 3 month old little little child was extremely sick.
Because she couldn't afford milk and she had substituted the milk with goat milk, which led to diarrheal conditions.
And she wasn't the only one.
The numbers of acutely malnourished children are rising and the lean season hasn't even begun.
Nearly 3.7 million children are projected to be acutely malnourished this year in Sudan, including 730,000 who need life saving treatment.
The needs children in Khartoum alone are massive, but this is also true in Darfur where I was last month on a cross-border mission through Chad.
The scale and magnitude of needs for children across the country are simply staggering.
Sudan is now the world's largest displacement crisis and some of the most vulnerable children are in the hardest to reach places.
So our asks are clear, we need parties to the conflict to enable rapid, sustained, unimpeded humanitarian access both across conflict lines within Sudan and across borders with Sudan's neighbouring countries.
Chad has provided crucial lifeline to communities in Darfur and access to its borders remains absolutely critical, as does access through South Sudan.
Parties to the conflict have a moral, imperative and legal responsibility to protect children.
In particular, they must take concrete measures to prevent and end the killing and maiming of children, the recruitment and use of children in the conflict and all forms of sexual violence and from the international community.
We need a massive mobilisation of resources by the end of March so that humanitarian partners can get the supplies and capacity on the ground in time to to limit the impending humanitarian catastrophe that we're seeing.
As our executive director said last week, the brutal war in Sudan is pushing the country towards a famine and unless there is sufficient political will, attention and resources put towards the response now, we are looking at a potential catastrophic loss of lives.
Most importantly, 24,000,000 children across Sudan need and deserve peace.
They need a lasting political solution.
They need a chance to be children.
Thank you so much for this opportunity.
Thank you very much for this update.
As we have, we have heard, I mean, the country is really on track to becoming the world's largest hunger crisis.
And as just said, we really need additional resources.
So again, I'll give you the numbers for the humanitarian appeal, which for this year called for $2.7 billion.
We only have 130 million in our bank.
So we really need support.
And we really reiterate the call of the Secretary General that he expressed at the beginning of the month for a silencing of the guns during the holy month of Ramadan.
And I'll open the floor to questions now.
Chris Vogt, AFP, thank you for taking my question.
So we see that the funding is clearly insufficient.
How much supplies or do you actually have supplies that could last for some time if you know the international community doesn't doesn't mobilise on on on the topic and for how long would it last?
How many children could you, could you help?
So we do have plenty of supplies in Port Sudan and the pipeline is strong.
The availability of supplies is not the issue.
It is really access getting the supplies and getting the supplies to the children in need and really advocating for that access reaching children wherever they are, wherever they are.
We have been working very hard, doing our best to get life saving therapeutic nutrition to children, our UTF across the Chad border and also crossed line similarly with many of our wash supplies.
And so the supplies, we do have supplies available, but again, it's, it's really it's the humanitarian access, getting the unimpeded access to these populations that's really critical.
I don't see any on the platform for the first mission of the UN to Khartoum.
No, I see no, no hands up.
So thank you very much, Jill.
And we come to Marx to distribute the notes of your briefing to the journalist here.
Thanks again for for connecting and good luck with your work.
And I like now to go to my colleagues here on the podium.
It's a sad anniversary, the 13th anniversary of the conflict in Syria.
You've been forgiven the the message of the secretary General this week and we'll hear more about this from Jennifer Fenton and then from Matthew Sal March for the OSC and for the UNHCR.
Jen, let's start with you.
Mr Patterson released a statement this morning which you should have received.
This solemn anniversary of the conflict is tragically marked by heightened regional tensions and concerning developments throughout Syria as it enters its 14th year without a political solution.
Insight Syrians have long endured unspeakable violence and devastation, indiscriminately impacting the young and old, men and women.
Across all societies, societal strata.
Serious humanitarian crisis continues to intensify.
An astounding 16.7 million individuals need humanitarian assistance, the highest number of people requiring assistance since the conflict began.
There are more than 5 million refugees living in neighbouring countries and more than 7 million internally displaced inside Syria.
And Syria's economy has collapsed.
The Special Envoy salutes the resilience and courage Syrians show in the face of their deepening suffering.
But at the same time, his message is clear.
Only the unwavering pursuit of a political solution to end this conflict can restore hope to the Syrian people.
This starts with ending violence.
The Envoy again appeals to all parties to the conflict to immediately cease all violence and fulfil their obligations under international humanitarian law, to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure and to pursue a comprehensive nationwide ceasefire, and to work for cooperative and strategic approach to counter terrorism in line with international law.
Mr Patterson also appeals to all parties to the conflict to immediately and unconditionally release all persons held arbitrarily in their custody.
Addressing the plight of the detainees, abductees and missing persons comprehensively and at a scale commensurate with the scale of the tragedy is essential.
Doing so is vital for rebuilding shattered lives, reuniting families separated for far too long, relieving other families from living in the limbo of the unknown, and in for ensuring that the credibility of any political path to a lasting peace.
Refugees and internally displaced persons continue to lack the necessary conditions for a safe, dignified and voluntary return.
Their critical concerns regarding protection and livelihoods central to this matter remain unresolved.
In these fields and other fields, including the economy, the opportunity exists to pursue genuine steps among the various parties involved in the conflict in Syria, and that opportunity should be seized without further delay.
In this regard, the international community needs to unite to push for political process in line with Security Council Resolution 2254, including confidence building measures, the resumption of the Constitutional Committee and ultimately the comprehensive addressing of the full range of issues that would need to be resolved.
We must prioritise peace.
If we do not do so, the grim downward trends across nearly all indicators in Syria will only continue in the year ahead.
The Syrian people deserve better than this.
We will continue to work to enable the Syrian people to realise their legitimate aspirations and to restore the sovereignty, unity, independence and territorial integrity of Syria as mandated in Security Council Resolution 2254.
Thank you very much, Jennifer and Matt on the refugee side.
And Ramadan Karim, to those who are marking the holy month right now, the UN refugee agency has a very simple message today.
And that is, please don't forget Syrians who have been displaced at home and abroad.
13 years ago, the Syrian crisis broke.
It forced more than 12 million women, children and men to flee for their safety, both inside and outside the country.
The displaced have suffered hugely and they continue to.
So now more than ever, they need the world's support.
Back in 2015, Syrian refugees dominated the headlines as they moved in search of safety.
You'll all remember the groundswell of support that we saw then.
Sadly, they no longer command that attention or that support, and their plight seems to have been relegated.
More than 5 million registered Syrian refugees remain in the five neighbouring countries.
These refugees still need international support.
Inside Syria, there's more than 7.2 million people displaced.
Forgotten perhaps, but Syria remains the world's largest displacement crisis by UNHCR.
Counting that Syrians needs have rocketed just at a time when prices have risen, resources and more scarce and funding is dwindling, leaving millions at risk of hunger, illness, ***** and indignity.
Inside Syria, as we just heard, 16.7 million people need aid and 12.9 million people are food insecure.
In neighbouring countries, over 19 million people, including refugees and the host communities, we will need humanitarian assistance this year.
On the funding side, inside Syria, UNHCR is chronically underfunded.
So far in 2024, our appeal is 6% funded.
For the region, we are 10% funded.
But I think what's perhaps more worrying than that is if you look at the broader appeal that we've made with partners recently, which is known as the regional refugee and resilience plan, that too has been underfunded in recent years.
In 2023, it was about 30% funded.
And if you go back to the period of 2015 to 2018, this was around 60% funding funded.
This decline in funding has forced UNHCR and our humanitarian partners to make difficult choices about what and who to prioritise.
We have had to cut cash assistance in 2024.
UNHCR and WFP are assisting 88,000 fewer refugee families with cash and food assistance than we did in 2023.
Less assistance and higher prices means, of course, more debt for Syrian refugees.
Most refugee households in Lebanon are in debt and the average debt rate is almost 500 U.S.
That might not sound a lot to many people, but to refugees in Lebanon that is a huge amount of money.
The lack of funding also risks pushing more children into labour, accentuating gender based violence, early marriages and school dropouts in the aftermath of last year's devastating earthquakes.
Earthquake There has been a further compounding of the suffering for Syrians.
Thousands of those displaced by the quakes remain outside their homes.
And of course, the war in Gaza has raised concerns about a regional spillover that could complicate an already dire situation.
Further intensification of cross-border clashes between Lebanon and Israel have already displaced more than 90,000 people from South Lebanon and as of early February, as of early February, and that includes over 7000 Syrian refugees.
With our partners, UNHCR is supporting the Government of Lebanon's emergency response to those who are displaced.
As we mark 13 years of the Syrian crisis, we continue to stand, of course, in solidarity with the long-suffering Syrian people and those countries that are hosting Syrian refugees.
Syrians deserve better, less support risks eroding gains made with grave consequences for millions both inside Syria and in the broader region.
Thank you both very much.
And again, I'll, I'll like to call your attention to the statement of the Secretary General the 9th of March.
So let's open the floor to questions.
Don't see in the room Musa Musa ASI merci Alexander.
I have a question about the institutional committee.
There's anything new about the meeting of this constitutional community?
And what about the location there is negotiation between Mr Peterson and the, the the sites in Syria and the opposition about the location of these meetings in Geneva or someone somewhere else?
I have a question about the refugees, the impact of the decline of the support in refugees, especially in Lebanon.
How is the situation now in Lebanon concerning the refugees in the country?
Can I give the floor to Jennifer 1st and then maybe to Matt for the part of refugees?
Musa, the UN Special Envoy for Syria has received communication from the SNC accepting the invitation to the 9th session of the Constitutional Committee in Geneva next month.
Mr Patterson has also received communication from the Co Chair nominated by the Syrian government declining the invitation.
Mr Mr Patterson is scheduled to be in Damascus shortly, travelling soon and the office of Special Envoy will update you in due course.
I just want to reiterate, as Mr Patterson has always said, the Constitutional Committee alone cannot solve this conflict.
Resolution 2254 speaks to a wide range of issues, as he constantly reminds the Council that clear ideas for steps for step, confident building measures addressing core elements of Resolution 2254 remain on the table.
Thanks for the question on Lebanon.
As you know, Lebanon hosts almost 800,000 Syrian refugees, making it the second largest host behind Turkey, and of course it is the largest host per capita.
And we all know the situation in Lebanon has been extremely difficult in the last year or years.
The economic situation is grave in the country, there are regional tensions and of course, we work with partners to try to support Lebanese people who themselves are having a very difficult time as well.
In terms of the refugees, as I mentioned, the stresses and strains have increased as funding has had to fall away, levels of debt have risen, levels of precarity are rising.
We do have intention surveys in the country and it does show still though that that the majority of refugees do not feel ready to return to Syria.
But overall, I would say that we are concerned about the consequences of these significant cuts to aid and the growing vulnerability and poverty among refugees.
Thank you very much, Catherine.
Yes, and good morning, Alessandro, and good morning to both of you.
Thank you for the briefing.
A question regarding the decline of funding and the fact that there's less assistance, is it through UN system or could you give us also information about the the help to the refugees in the field?
Do they have help by local NGOs or other entities that UN?
That's my first question.
My second question is regarding Matthew, regarding Syrian refugees in Turkey.
Could you please remind us the number as it is the first place where you have the most, the biggest amount of refugees?
And Jennifer, do you think it would be possible to have a briefing with the Deputy Najat Rojdi on the humanitarian situation?
Yeah, thanks, Catherine for the question.
Obviously, I gave you the numbers for UN and UN partners, our funding for Syria, for the region, for refugees, the levels of funding are, are in significant decline and that's extremely concerning.
And of course, a lot of that funding for us also goes to local NGOs and local partners.
And if we're getting less money, it means for the most part that they're getting less money.
So I think it is across the board the, the tightening up in the in the funding situation, it's affecting NGOs, it's affecting the UN and ultimately it's affecting Syrian refugees.
Your second question on Turkey currently hosts 3.1 million registered Syrian refugees.
Yes, I will reiterate your request to the Deputy Special Envoy and noting as well that others of you yesterday appealed for the Special Envoy to speak to you as it has been some time.
So I will refer those requests and I appreciate that you guys do keep Syria on the agenda.
Maybe just the number that are the figures that are made available by the humanitarian response plan requirement was 4.4 billion.
And the funding update I guess to today is that the coverage is only of 0.03%, only $1.4 million have been provided, extremely low.
Let me go to the next questions, John.
I have a question for Jennifer.
Maybe she might have this information, but I'll give it a shot.
Jennifer does the Office of the Special Envoy have data on how many Syrians are being held in prisons, many being political prisoners?
In both the government side and in the opposition areas in Idlib.
I'll just note that OHCHR and the **** Commissioner normally notes those numbers and has so done so publicly.
I'll just reiterate that what Gare has always said that sadly we've seen no concrete results in addressing the situation of the estimated 100,000 arbitrarily detained, forcedly just forcibly disappeared and missing persons as called for and resolution 2254.
He continues, of course, to meet with families and those affected who continue to live in agony, agony and hope to see their detained loved ones released or at least to know the whereabouts.
Thank you very much, John.
Do do you, do you have the breakdown in the various regions, in the government, health and any other areas held by opposition groups?
This was a brief in the Special Envoys office, the detainees.
It's not only the Office of the **** Commissioner for Human Rights.
But if I have any more information available, I'll make sure to get that to you.
I don't see other questions than that.
So thanks to both colleagues and I'd like to go to now to WHO.
We have two colleagues connected in addition to Mr Brennan.
As I said, we could not join.
We have Doctor Catherine C here, who is the mental health specialist of the Brain Health unit at WHO here in Geneva and Christian with us.
I understand Mrs Doctor Schiller is going to speak first and then we will hear some announcements from Christian.
Doctor, you have the floor.
I'm speaking today on a publication that was released in Lancet Neurology today and that study showed that in 2021 / 3.4 billion people had conditions that affected their nervous system.
This is more than one in three people worldwide.
Previous analysis did not consider child or paediatric conditions, neither did they include neurological complications that stem from diseases that affect multiple body systems such as diabetes, syphilis, malaria or more recently COVID-19 or Zika virus disease.
But so such under reporting has huge implications for policy and service planning.
So that study that was released today by Lancet Neurology used data from the Global Burden of Disease, Injuries and Risk Factor Study 20/21 and presents for the first time the overall health loss that's associated with 37 conditions that either directly or indirectly cause neurological health loss.
Together, this group is the leading contributor to health loss worldwide and also the leading cause of years of life lost.
The top contributors to neurological health loss were stroke, neonatal brain injuries or encephalopathy, migraine, dementia or nerve damage associated with diabetes.
Neurological burden is greater in lower middle income countries where also access to diagnosis, treatment and care are more scarce.
Generally, males are at higher risk for neurological conditions than females, but there are some conditions that disproportionately affect women, such as migraine or dementia.
Over the past three decades, the absolute neurological health loss has increased, mainly propelled by demographic ageing.
But we also do see some positive trends that suggest that public health strategies related to sanitation, vaccination or nutrition such as folic acid fortification are taking effect and help us globally to prevent neurological infections and both related neurological complications.
So in summary, this study is an important step forward in estimating the global burden associated with neurological conditions, but it only represents 1 aspect of all the efforts undertaken by WHO to support its Member States and implementing the recently adopted Intersect Total Global Action Plan on epilepsy and other neurological disorders.
And that plan aims to raise awareness and reduce stigma, strengthen policies, improve access to services, promote brain health across the life course given the large amount of potentially preventable burden.
So that also gives us a great opportunity to join for joint action with other health programmes such as NCDS, maternal and child health, infectious diseases or injury prevention.
Let me see if there are questions.
I don't see hands up in the room or on the platform.
So thanks for this update on this report.
Christian, you also have some announcement, right?
And first, thanks for the to see and we have these remarks and we'll share them with you in in a moment.
2 brief announcements ahead of World's TB Day, World Tuberculosis Day, which is observed next Sunday.
No, actually following Sunday, 24 March, we will have a briefing on World's TB Day on Monday, 18 March.
So coming Monday at 3:00, we're very conscious of the fact that there's a 4:00 briefing, I think by the OCHA humanitarian coordinator from Jerusalem that I saw today.
So we're trying to be brief that you all have time to get back to that briefing too.
So World TB Day briefing on Monday at 3:00.
It's a virtual press briefing, so easier to attend, I say.
The double job will release a new investment case on TB screening and prevention to help countries reach the UN target on scaling up access to TB preventive treatment and to recall.
TB remains one of the world's deadliest infectious killers, causing 1.3 million deaths each year and affecting millions more, with enormous impacts on families and communities.
Also W Joe is holding its biennial stage meeting on immunisation from 11 to 14 March.
So that was finished yesterday in Geneva and then we will hold on Tuesday, Tuesday, 19 March at two o'clock 1400 hours, the press briefing on the immunisation meeting that was ongoing.
So there we will have recommendations on mpox vaccination to update into guidance on polio, hepatitis, hepatitis E and other diseases.
And on both of the items I just announced, there will be press announcements going out today still.
Monday will be a little bit busy, but let me see if there are questions for you.
I don't see in the room Lahore as a question.
No, Christian, just to flag that there is already a press conference by WMO on Tuesday at 2:00 with the head of WMO.
So that not that might be also problem in terms of schedule.
Thanks very much for flagging Laura.
I don't sure how much flexibility we have.
Yeah, he's absolutely right, Christian, I'm seeing it now.
It's exactly 2:00 and it's a big press conference the state of global climate.
We will discuss this offline and see what we can do.
But thanks for pointing this out.
Lauren, other questions to Christian.
So since well, I'll I'll give you the press conferences afterwards.
Maybe I'll I'll pass the floor now.
First of all, thank you, Christina.
And also to doctor say here and I give the floor to Kathy for your announcement.
And then I go on with the others.
Problem Manuel Kerry Simmons, Bridge Town.
Let's see a track at 3, the question Akron, said Jean, WAPA, don't Mercy and I go to David, who's been patiently waiting.
You have also an announcement for ITU.
David, I'm afraid we can't hear you.
I'm told that we don't know why, but we can't hear you David, and you are unmuted.
So there must be a problem with the mic.
Can I propose that I that you disconnect and reconnect And in the meantime, I'm going to read a few announcements and and then just go out and in again and we'll see if it works.
Let's try and while, yeah, just just David, yeah, just disconnect and reconnect and we'll give you the floor immediately.
And in the meantime, I'm just reminding you the the press conferences are, as we have seen, quite a few.
Monday is going to be busy.
In addition to the World Tuberculosis Day literal press briefing that Christian has already mentioned, I remind you of the 1:30 PM press conference by the colleagues of the fact finding mission, independent Fact finding mission on the Islamic Republic of Iran.
This is to present you with the latest report, Monday 18th of March at 1:30 in this room where you'll have the three members of the fact finding mission.
As we said also on Monday 18th of March at 4:00 PM, the humanitarian situation in the OPT Gaza is going to be the subject of a briefing by Jamie McGoldrick, the humanitarian Coordinator from Jerusalem.
Of course, this is going to be partly virtual, but Iansys is here and he will be there for the press conference on Monday.
That's 4:00 PM from this room and at 3, as we heard, the World Tuberculosis Day, that's on Monday.
On Tuesday, we do have a problem with the overlapping with The Who mutual press briefing on the SAGE meeting because we have already scheduled the State of Global Climate 2023.
That's the the WMO flagship report and you will have Celeste Saulo, the WMO secretary general, and Omar Badour, the chief of climate monitoring of WMO, and that's at 2:00 PM.
Then Wednesday 20th of March at 11 AM, you'll be briefed on the situation of human rights in Myanmar.
By Tom Andrews was the special reporter on the situation of human rights in Myanmar.
Let me see if David is back.
Let's try and hear from him now.
I was afraid I might have.
I might have lost my voice.
ITU and and Uniform on Wednesday will release the latest Global e-waste Monitor.
That's on Wednesday, 20 March.
The Unitar ITU assessment includes the latest information on electronic waste as well as other global data on collection and recycling rates.
e-waste generally is any discarded product with a plug or battery and it's both serves as both an environmental and health hazard.
The last e-waste monitor was released in July 2020.
So this is an update, significant update to that.
We did send out an e-mail yesterday noting that embargoed versions of the release and report are available.
That embargo set for 15103 PM Central on on Wednesday and please if anyone is interested in receiving the report and release on the embargo, please do be in touch with their office and also apologise in advance for any cross posting that might have happened in the sending of that material.
Thank you very much David.
That that was loud and clear.
I see John as a question.
Yes, good morning, David, this e-waste report, is this the interagency one that you've done in the past plus some industry advocacy groups participating like the World Economic Forum, The this, this report is report from Unitar and ITU and there's there's and that's noted in the release and on the on the on the research paper.
There's also some a photo and video contribution partner as well.
And your hand is still can you hear me?
So you net ILOWHO they're not participating in earlier reports.
These other agencies were part of the report they've dropped out or what?
The so if you will will provide you the if you will provide you the versions of the report and you'll see in the acknowledgements the participation of of a number of entities beyond unit or night to you.
I don't see other hands up for you, David.
So I have a sorry, a last announcement that's on behalf of the UN Economic Commission for Europe, the United Nations General Assembly proclaim the 21st of March, the International Day of Forest in that was in 2012 to celebrate and raise awareness of the importance of all types of forest.
In 2024, the International Day of Forest will be celebrated on the theme of forest and innovation.
So the UN Economic Commission for Europe will mark this International Day by raising public awareness about the significance of forest as precious sorts of wood.
There will be two events to celebrate, two party events to celebrate this International Day.
UNECE will organise a Forest Talk Innovation for Climate dialogue that will be at 10:00, from 10:00 to 11:30 in the auditorium of the Building H here at the Paladinacion and online with experts from diverse industries to present ongoing research on innovative applications of wood components.
This will be followed at 12:00 until 1:00 by a symbolic ceremony on the title of glacial Threats from Forest to future textiles.
It's a ceremony involving the unrolling and laying of a glacier fleece made from wood based fibres.
And that would be into the iconic Michelangelo Pistolitus sculpture Rebirth in the Garden of the Palais.
That's of course outdoor.
So the information about these events are online on the UNECE websites on the Forest events.
And the Paula Deda, the Director of that division is happy to answer your question if any.
OK, I see there are more questions.
I guess it's not on Forest, John.
It's just a a logistical note.
It's helpful for us to give us a heads up when you have senior UN officials in Geneva to brief member states or NGOs and not necessarily the press.
And then we can chase up our sources to get a readout on what they're briefing.
We had three or four senior officials in town this week and the press officers of the responsible agencies didn't give us the heads up, unfortunately.
Your point is well taken.
What I can tell you is that every time we have a, a **** level officials coming to Geneva, there's a sort of a three pronged operation where we always ask whether they are interested in briefing NGOs, member States and the press.
Sometimes they can do it, sometimes they cannot.
But it's it's well taken.
I know this this week there were quite a few in town.
Yeah, tell me yeah, if I can, because I'm reading this of course on behalf of you.
Could you please kindly repeat the date and ask Paula to send us the link to the the website where we can find the info because we don't have time to search during, you know, websites that are often very complicated.
So if she would be, it would be very nice if she could send us the link to the the website if she has no time to send documents.
So as I said, that's the 21st of March, which is the same day of the commemoration of the International Day of Forests.
As I said, it goes from 1:50, so 10 to 11:30.
The first debate in Building H, the auditorium of Building H, that's the dialogue with experts.
And then from one to two, add the pistolito sculpture, the symbolic ceremony with the glacier fleas.
But I'll tell Paula to send you the information.
No problem with pleasure.
I don't see any, so thank you very much.
Just a reminder that today is the International Day to Combat Islamophobia, and we have sent to you the statement of the Secretary General for this International Day.
Have a nice weekend and I'll see you next week.
