UNOG Bi-weekly press briefing 29 May 2020

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UNOG Bi-weekly press briefing 29 May 2020

1:30:17

MP4

784.7 MB

29-05-2020

Press Conferences | OHCHR , UNHCR , OCHA , WHO , UNOG , WFP , IOM

UNOG Bi-weekly press briefing 29 May 2020

ENG

COVID-19: High-level event on financing solutions and other matters

Rhéal LeBlanc, for the United Nations Information Service (UNIS), reminded that United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, the Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, and the Prime Minister of Jamaica, Andrew Holness, had convened world leaders and international organizations yesterday in a joint initiative to sharpen and accelerate the global response to the significant economic and human impacts of COVID-19. They had launched a collaborative effort to enable discussions on concrete proposals to overcome challenges in six areas, including the need to expand liquidity in the global economy and maintain financial stability to safeguard development gains; the need to address debt vulnerabilities for all developing countries to save lives and livelihoods for billions of people around the world; and the need to create a space in which private sector creditors can proactively engage in effective and timely solutions.

A press release is available here.

Responding to questions, Tarik Jašarević, for the World Health Organization (WHO),

explained that the study published in The Lancet and other factors had prompted the Executive Group to implement a temporary pause of the hydroxychloroquine arm within the Solidarity Trial while the safety data was being reviewed. A final decision on the harm, benefit or lack of benefit of hydroxychloroquine would be made once the evidence had been reviewed by the Data Safety Monitoring Board. This review would include data from the Solidarity Trial and other ongoing trials, as well as any evidence published so far. It was expected by mid-June.

Solidarity, sharing of knowledge and open science were necessary to ramp up production of vaccines to the benefit of everyone everywhere, Mr. Jašarević added.

COVID-19: Caste-based killings in Nepal

Rupert Colville, for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), said there had been a shocking killing of five men by opponents of an inter-caste relationship in Nepal last weekend, as well as several other incidents of caste-based discrimination and violence that had taken place during the COVID-19 pandemic. Caste-based discrimination remained widespread not only in Nepal but other countries, too, and often led to serious harm and, as in this case, even loss of life. The High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, had noted that ending caste-based discrimination was fundamental to the sustainable development vision of leaving no one behind, and had called for an independent investigation into the attacks. She had stressed that the victims and their families had the right to justice, truth and reparations. Dalits were seen to be on the lowest rung of the caste hierarchy in Nepali society, traditionally discriminated against as “untouchables”. Since the start of the COVID-19 lockdown, Dalit activists and journalists had reported several cases of caste-based discrimination, incidents of rape, assault, denial of funeral rites and discrimination at quarantine sites.

A press release is available here.

Responding to a question about Hong Kong, Mr. Colville said OHCHR had taken note of the decision taken yesterday by the National People’s Congress of the People’s Republic of China regarding a national security law for Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. OHCHR would review this decision in light of its potential impact on the human rights and freedoms of the people of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. In the meantime, OHCHR was calling on the authorities to ensure peaceful protesters can exercise their right to freedom of expression and assemble safely in the coming days, as the situation may become increasingly tense and polarised.

A journalist asked a question on Twitter and President Donald Trump. Mr. Colville responded that OHCHR had repeatedly called for further action to address the many ways in which social media platforms had contributed to human rights violations, including through hate speech, incitement to violence and misinformation that undermines fundamental rights. Efforts by social media companies to better ensure their platforms address these concerns were welcome. There were no simple fixes in this arena, however. Overbroad regulation could stifle free expression and be used to target human rights defenders. The digital environment had never been more essential to our daily lives than today, and these issues deserved thoughtful consideration and effective responses.

COVID-19: Situation in Latin America and the Caribbean

Elisabeth Byrs, for the World Food Programme (WFP), stressed the socio-economic impact of COVID-19 could push an additional 10 million people in Latin America and the Caribbean into severe food insecurity this year, an estimate for the countries and subregions where WFP had a presence. Quick and decisive action was needed to prevent this crisis from becoming a hunger pandemic. The number of people who suffered from severe food insecurity in Latin America and the Caribbean could rise from 3.4 million in 2019 to about 14 million in 2020, demanding urgent attention from the global community. COVID-19 worsened a regional situation where economic shocks, erratic climate, displacement and insecurity had already taken a heavy toll. The pandemic had the potential to push even more people into poverty and hunger.

Shabia Mantoo, for the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), stated that as Latin America emerged as the new epicentre of the COVID-19 pandemic, UNHCR had warned of worsening conditions for displaced Venezuelans in the southern region of the continent as winter approached. In addition to health risks, COVID-related lockdowns and confinement measures had already resulted in severe hardship for Venezuelan refugee and migrants. Many had now lost their livelihoods and were faced with poverty, destitution, eviction, widespread hunger and food insecurity as well as increased protection risks. As national capacities were stretched to breaking point, access to public health services and timely medical care was also a challenge, especially for those in an irregular situation. UNHCR was worried that their plight could now worsen with the onset of winter as temperatures drop in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay, which together hosted more than 1.5 million Venezuelans.

A briefing note is available here.

Responding to questions, Safa Msehli for the International Organization for Migration (IOM), deplored the killing of 30 migrants in a shooting involving a trafficker in Libya. This was a bleak reminder of the horrors migrants had to endure at the hands of smugglers and traffickers in Libya. As conflict continued unabated in the capital and surrounding areas, conditions for civilians, especially migrants and displaced persons were quickly deteriorating.

Situation in Yemen

Jens Laerke, for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), stressed that the United Nations relief agencies and NGO partners in Yemen were seeking $2.4 billion for the next seven months (June to December) to sustain a humanitarian lifeline for 19 million people devastated by over five years of conflict, displacement, malnutrition, disease and a weak health system buckling under the pressure of the COVID-19 pandemic. To help fund-raising for the response in Yemen, a virtual pledging conference would take place on 2 June co-hosted by the United Nations and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. If funded, more than 200 organizations - working in a coordinated fashion through a common strategy - would be able to continue to deliver food, nutrition, health care and support to 3.6 million displaced people and provide other critical activities for vulnerable communities across the country. If not funded, the spectre of famine would return, COVID-19 and other killer diseases such as cholera, dengue and malaria would ravage the country, and more people would die. A media advisory for the pledging event 2 June had been sent yesterday.

Elisabeth Byrs, for the World Food Programme (WFP), said the international community had provided an unprecedented level of support for Yemen over the last 5 years. WFP called on the authorities to work with it to ensure that the necessary resources could be mobilized to sustain life-saving assistance and stop COVID-19 from devastating Yemen. WFP in Yemen was focusing its efforts on mobilizing the resources it needs to sustain assistance to the most food insecure people in Yemen. WFP needed 200 million US$ a month for its programmes and was doing everything possible to make sure no child or mother was left behind, as COVID-19 poses yet another threat to Yemen’s children. Yemen’s fragile health system was already on the brink of collapse. A further deterioration may leave malnourished children and mothers unable to access the nutrition support they need.

Shabia Mantoo, for the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), said UNHCR was urgently seeking USD 89.4 million to keep lifesaving aid programmes running. Without these funds, UNHCR would have to reduce and cut programmes, which would severely impact nearly one million refugees and internally displaced people. Some of these consequences would mean 282,000 refugees and asylum-seekers would no longer have access to basic services such as education, health, food, water, sanitation and hygiene and shelter, or protection services including registration, documentation and specialized services for children. At least 360,000 internally displaced people (IDPs) would not have access to adequate services - shelter, hygiene and WASH, increasing their risks of contracting communicable diseases. Some 655,000 IDPs would not receive basic shelter for themselves and their families in the early days of displacement, heightening the risk of violence against women and children and the reliance on harmful coping mechanisms.

Responding to questions, Mr. Laerke said that, should enough funds not be raised, further cuts in food assistance would raise the spectre of a famine, as millions of families across Yemen depended on food aid to survive. Supplemental nutrition for 1.7 million children and expecting mothers would be reduced. Preventable death and disease would follow. Mobile teams and treatment centres for acutely malnourished children would be forced to reduce or stop services. Water and sanitation services in Yemen's major cities may grind to a halt, placing millions of people at risk of water-borne diseases such as cholera.

Eastern Nigeria camp blaze

Shabia Mantoo, for the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), said UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and humanitarian partners were stepping up assistance to nearly 4,000 displaced people who had lost all their goods in a large fire that had swept through a camp in Maiduguri, in eastern Nigeria’s Borno State. The blaze had left two people dead and hundreds of families had had their shelters destroyed. The fire had broken out on the eve of the Muslim festival of Eid-al-Fitr celebrating the end of Ramadan, at the makeshift camp now hosting some 40,000 internally displaced people. It had begun after sparks from a cooking fireplace spread out and ignited a fire that soon engulfed shelters all around the camp. Houses had been razed to the ground and damaged other facilities. Most of those affected people were women.

A briefing note is available here.

Paul Dillon, for the International Organization for Migration (IOM), said that according to IOM’s Displacement Tracking Matrix, there were more than 830,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe state living in camps or camp-like settings. Four out of five IDPs were living in overcrowded conditions with makeshift and temporary shelters built near each other. In some camps, per capita space was less than one-square metre. This made it nearly impossible to enforce physical distancing, a crucial measure to prevent the spread of COVID-19. It was essential that additional lands be identified to address these highly congested conditions. IOM was urging the Government of Nigeria and all humanitarian actors to prioritize decongestion efforts and to expand IDP camps in a manner that respected the rights of IDPs, their safety and dignity, and to mitigate the spread of diseases like the COVID-19.

Geneva announcements

Rhéal LeBlanc, for the United Nations Information Service (UNIS), said today was International Day of UN Peacekeepers, with a special focus on women in peacekeeping. On this occasion, the United Nations was honoring more than one million men and women who had served as United Nations peacekeepers and the more than 3,900 who had lost their lives in the line of duty. In his annual message, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres had said that “women often have greater access in the communities we serve, enabling us to improve the protection of civilians, promote human rights and enhance overall performance.” This was especially important today, as female peacekeepers were on the frontlines in supporting the response to COVID-19 in already fragile contexts.

Tarik Jašarević, for the World Health Organization (WHO), said WHO would launch the COVID-19 Technology Access Pool, an initiative aimed at making health tools to fight the pandemic accessible to all. Today's event would host leaders from across the UN, academia, industry and civil society. The Pool had first been proposed in March by President Carlos Alvarado of Costa Rica, who would join WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus today at the official launch, along with Prime Minister Mia Mottley of Barbados and Aksel Jacobsen, State Secretary of Norway.

WHO would issue a press release on the findings of a survey it had done, and completed by 156 WHO Member States, about the impact of COVID-19 on services for non-communicable diseases.

Teleprompter

Let's let's begin again.

Well, at the beginning, I only reminded you of the **** level event on financing for development in the era of COVID-19 and beyond that took place yesterday.

It was a virtual event convened by the United Nations, Canada and Jamaica in which some 50 heads of states participated, looking at how to bounce back from this health crisis that has really rocked the entire planet.

As the Secretary General has said, there is a decisive multilateral effort that is needed to support all countries facing major challenges with this COVID-19 crisis.

The countries have agreed to work in on 6 critical areas, which include finding ways to enhance global liquidity, so developing countries to have the resources to fight the pandemic, preventing debt crisis in all countries at risk, engaging with private creditors on joint debt relief efforts, aligning global financial systems with the SDGS, ending illicit financial flows and rebuilding differently and better learning from what has happened over the past several weeks.

We have sent or forwarded to you all the remarks of the Secretary General, as well as the full transcript of a press conference that he held right after the event with the Prime Ministers of Canada and Jamaica.

So I invite you to read that.

As I was saying also, we are marking a couple of international days.

Today, in particular is the International Day of Peacekeepers.

We are honouring more than a million men and women who have served the as United Nations peacekeepers and the more than 3900 who have lost their lives in the line of duty.

Today, we still have 95,000 civilian, police and military personnel that are deployed around the world.

They're facing obviously one of the greatest challenges ever, which is delivering on their peace and security mandates while helping countries address COVID-19 pandemic.

The Secretary General in his message that I believe we've shared with you says because the theme this year is on women in peacekeeping, thus highlighting their their very central role in all of our operations.

The Secretary General says that women have of often have greater access in the communities we serve, enabling us to improve the protection of civilians, promote human rights and enhance overall performance.

Their role is especially important today as female peacekeepers are on the front lines in supporting the response to COVID-19 in very fragile contexts, using local radio to spread public health messaging, delivering necessary supplies to communities for prevention, and supporting efforts of local peace builders.

Yet women continue to represent only 6% of uniformed military, police, justice and corrections personnel in field missions.

So the Secretary General says that we must do more to achieve women's equal representation in all areas of peace and security.

Let us continue to wage peace, defeat the pandemic, and build a better future.

So today's message marking the International Day of Peacekeepers and I invite you to check out the, the, the, the main web page for the International Day on the UN website.

It is extremely complete with lovely testimonials from women, peacekeepers and others doing, you know, fulfilling their role on a daily basis.

And then on the 31st of May is World no Tobacco Day, but I believe Tariq will say something about that.

So unless there are any questions at the moment, we'll go to Tarika Jasarvik from the World Health Organisation who is here with a couple of announcements.

Tarik, are you with us?

Yes, can you hear me?

Yes, perfectly excellent.

Hi Raul.

Well, on, on World Note Tobacco Day, we had a press conference yesterday that was under embargoed until this morning.

So I don't really have to add much beyond what has been said yesterday and in a, in a press release as well.

Now I just have a 2 announcements to make for today.

So today we will send the the, the media advisory and the press release, I think in the next 30 minutes or so.

Today we will be launching together with Costa Rica, a landmark COVID-19 technology access pool.

So 30 countries and several international partners and institutions have signed up to support the COVID-19 Access Pool, an initiative aimed at making health tools to fight COVID-19 accessible to all.

The pool was first proposed in March by President Carlos Alvarado of Costa Rica, who joined Doctor Tetris and who will join Doctor Tetris today at the official launch of this initiative.

So the press, the media advisory and the press release will come and we invite journalist to join the lounge today at 5:00.

This will happen instead of a regular COVID-19 press briefing.

We don't expect to have time for questions, but if there is any time for questions at the end of the lounge, we will then proceed to that.

So that's the one thing.

So just stay alert for the media advisory and the press release that will be under embargo until 5:00 today.

Second thing is that just to give a heads up to journalists that we are issuing a press release hopefully today that basically looks into survey that WHO has done and completed by 156 WHO Member States during a free.

three-week.

In May.

And this is about the impact of COVID-19 on services for non communicable diseases.

So prevention and treatment services for non communicable diseases have been disrupted since the COVID-19 pandemic began, according to the results of WHO survey that we are releasing.

So we will be posting the the the complete survey and we'll have a press release hopefully today, but we will also have some of our experts being available for interviews.

So just look out for that.

Hopefully this press release will be going out today.

So this is what I have from my side.

OK, Very good.

Thank you very much, Tariq.

I see there are some raised hands.

So let's give the floor to Ahmed Haoun first.

Ahmed, good morning.

Hello.

How are you?

Real?

Good morning.

I have a question for you.

Real.

Actually, I, I, I'd like to ask why the agreement between the UN and the World Economic Forum is not published and if the country's member in the UN received this agreement.

I'm sorry, the agreement between the UN and the World Economic Forum and the World Economic Forum, Yes.

I I can look into that and try to get back to you.

OK.

Yeah.

I don't, I I don't know where it is at the moment, but let me let me look into it.

OK.

Great.

All right.

Thank you.

Let's go to Peter.

Peter.

Kenny.

Sorry, Peter.

We're having some difficulty hearing you.

No, you're not coming through very, very well.

Let's while we try to fix that problem, let's go to to Jamil.

Peter, we will come back to you.

Maybe you can look at your settings and see if there is something you can improve, but we were not hearing you at all.

So let's go to Jamil.

Yes, Rial, thank you.

My question to Tarek.

Tarek, could you tell us from the 30 countries which ones are from Latin America?

And secondly, if you could tell us also if countries that are have not joined, if we can still join?

Thank you.

Unfortunately, Jamil, I cannot answer that question.

I don't have a list in front of me.

There will be lots of speakers today.

I'm not sure that we will have from every country, but probably will have from many countries.

And there will be a number of of heads of states who will speak from international partners as well, some experts even from the industry and civil society.

So I invite you to do that.

And I will ask on the question on, on participation.

But I think that as we, as we had also with our trials, that it's, it's an open, open invitation to everyone.

But let me let me check on that if I have a if I can get a full list and, and and to answer the question on open, open invitation.

Thank you.

OK, thank you, Tariq, Nina, Nina Larsen.

Good morning, Nina.

Yeah, hi, thank you.

I had a couple of questions.

First, I was hoping, Tariq, that you could come back on the, there's been an open letter from some big experts on The Lancet study on hydroxychloroquine if you have The Who has any reaction to that?

And I also had a question on the US, which has passed the 100,000 mark on death.

It's The Who has any reactions as the third of third of the deaths or more than about 1/3 of the deaths in the world.

And one last question is on whether there'll be a briefing on on Monday, which is a holiday here.

Thank you.

I don't really have any particular comment on these reports about the study of Lancet that prompted the suspension of, of, of solidarity trial arm on hydroxychloroquine.

But our, our executive group of the Solidarity trial obviously is reviewing constantly all the evidence and is, is, is is looking into what is the latest knowledge on all of that.

So, so obviously it will probably be looked at as well.

What we have seen really is that without commenting on, on, on particular numbers that we have seen that the, the, the, the, the, the intense transmission is happening in, in countries that had beginning of, of, of transmission later.

So we see the big numbers now and intense transmission in South and Central America, while we see the decrease in numbers, for example, in Europe.

Now obviously the, the, the advice remains the same and especially for countries that are easing the restrictions is that that should be done in a progressive way in a with a abundance of caution and following the advice that has been issued by by by WHO on Monday.

Yes, we will have a briefing on Monday.

Thank you very much, Navi.

I see we have.

I see Peter Kenny is back, so maybe we can go to Peter and see if his we hear him better.

Peter.

Hello.

Good morning.

Can you hear me real?

Yes, we hear you perfectly now.

Please.

OK, Well, I haven't changed my settings.

I just rebooted Technical issues this morning.

Please go ahead.

Yeah, my question is to Tarek and it it's a sort of a follow up from World Tobacco Day yesterday in in South Africa, there has been a total ban on the sale of cigarettes and alcohol since it's lockdown began more than five weeks ago.

And there's quite a lot of disquiet in the country as they are in some places about shutdown of economies.

And I know that WHO stance on tobacco, but it is a legal drug.

Could you just comment on what the how The Who perceives the situation in South Africa?

Peter, can you just please repeat the question?

I'm not sure I understood exactly.

There is a total ban on the sale of cigarettes and alcohol as well in South Africa since the beginning of the COVID-19 lockdown.

I was just wondering what, what, what your comment is about the, there's a lot of disquiet about this in South Africa and I, we know the WHL stance on the tobacco, but it is a legal drug.

So would you like to comment on what the situation is there?

Well, I don't know really the situation in in particular in South Africa, but the available evidence does suggest that smoking is associated with increased severity of disease and and deaths as well in hospitalised COVID-19 patients, that this is likely related to severity.

There is no evidence to quantify this risk so far, so the risk to smokers of hospitalisation of infection with COVID-19.

So we need really more studies and probably population based studies to address these questions.

We do urge researchers and scientists and and the media to basically be cautious about amplifying what those, for example, claims that the tobacco could reduce the risk of COVID-19.

What we have seen.

So because there is currently really not sufficient information to confirm really any link between tobacco in the prevention or treatment of COVID-19.

But again, as we said that smoking will As for many diseases will lead to to increased severity of, of disease.

Thank you.

Thank you, Derek.

Well, I see we have a question from Ben Parker, the new humanitarian.

So, Ben, good morning.

Good morning.

Thank you.

The question for Tariq, when will we see the revised strategic preparedness and response plan which the original version was from February to April?

Thank you.

Let me come back to you.

We did publish some updates.

I'm not sure we have we have published the full or I think we did.

Let let me just come back to you.

Then I'll I'll see what is published and and I'll forward it to you.

OK.

I'm just trying to go through my through my notes, but I'll I'll come back to you.

OK.

Thank you, Gabriella.

Gabriella Super Mayo.

Good morning, Gabriella.

Can we unmute her microphone?

Hello, do you hear me?

Yes.

Hello.

Very nice to see you real and as well.

Yeah.

My question is for both, Well, I have two actually 2 questions.

1 is when are we coming back to the briefings there?

Because I saw the, the, the regulations that you sent and it looks like we are banned from going to the briefings and I don't see why, Why is there a reason?

And you know, I, I think the press is the priority and there's a lot of rooms that we can be separated, I mean, with real distance, physical distance.

So I would like to know why is that a reason?

And as well for time, when are we coming back to the briefings there?

To who we have a lot of questions.

We have a lot of follow-ups and it's it's really difficult to communicate.

So that that is one question.

And the other question for Tariq is what what is going to be the role of intellectual property in this initiative that Costa Rica is proposing in, in, in, in terms of the vaccines?

Thank you very much.

So maybe I can, I can answer first to Gabriela.

So, well, yes, you, you saw the note to correspondence we issued this morning with an update on, you know, the gradual return to the Palais de Nacion, which will start around the 8th of June with the most essential staff coming back to the Palais.

As a general rule, we are encouraging, you know, staff who can continue to work from from home to do so, at least until there is a real need for, for people to be on site.

In terms of journalists, journalists have always even throughout this pandemic, journalists with offices at the Palais were were able to come to to to the Palais and and do their work if they need to access their offices.

The briefings at the moment we are continuing them virtually.

We are of course looking for the the first available opportunity to maybe come back to a format, a mixed format of physical presence and virtual virtual briefing.

But we, and so we may envisage that after the, after the, the 8th of June, but we are, it's in discussion and we're trying to look at the various options that are available to us.

And of course, you know, journalists will be able to participate as much as they can physically.

But I, I think we have to accept the fact that we will continue doing some level of briefing on a virtual in a virtual format.

So that's as much as I can tell you at the moment.

When there are actual events happening at the Palais again, we will, we will have, you know, limitations on the number of people who can enter a specific room.

We will have to see how many, you know, the space that is available for the various segments of the audience and we will have to work around that.

Nevertheless, as the director general said in her press conference, you know, our, our, our priority will be to make sure that information is always available to the media for you to, to, to do your job.

So it's not an easy situation.

We understand fully that it's not ideal, but we're trying to to manage it as as best we can and we continue to be working in quite close contact with of course the the executive committee of the economy.

So we will keep you informed of more developments as we have more information.

But at least for the moment we were we were happy to be able to send you this morning the note to correspondent with that with a copy of the back to office plan that has been developed by our colleagues and administration for all staff, which is also extremely relevant for for journalists.

Tariq, you might want to add something.

Yeah, well, I, I think regarding the presence of media, we are we are the same situation as as our colleagues at at, at at eunuch.

We are looking into into how, who and how many of our staff will start coming back to work.

So far we are still at just those whose physical presence is required to do their critical duties are coming to the building.

So, so once once there are decisions made in that regard, we will we will inform you regarding the question intellectual property, what we were saying throughout this pandemic, that solidarity, sharing of knowledge and benefits of science for everyone is the key.

And that means really cooperation.

So this means really open science and sharing knowledge.

So we can ramp up production of vaccines and medicines that work and protect people everywhere.

So this was something that this was the position of WHO since the beginning just just to to to answer the the the more on the question from Nina.

So regarding the hydroxychloroquine.

So basically the data safety monitoring board that is working with our executive group of Solidity trial will will look into all evidence and we'll do extensive review of that evidence including data from Solidarity trial but also other ongoing trials as well as evidence published so far.

So this review is expected by mid June.

So the temporary suspension is being implemented as a precaution while the review by the data safety monitoring board is complete.

OK, Thank you.

Antonio Grotto from FA.

Good morning.

I want to ask Tariq if he can advance which heads, heads of state are participating this afternoon.

Maybe some of them are still not confirmed, but if you can just tell which ones are confirmed.

Thank you.

Yeah, there's there's really a list and I wouldn't like really to give the names because there are always last minute changes.

But we expect obviously the President of Costa Rica as a host of as a Co host of the of the event.

We would probably have Prime Minister of Barbados and then representatives hopefully from some other countries like Ecuador, Palau, Indonesia, Norway and others.

But again, all it's always as always has been the case that the lists have been revised until the last minute.

OK.

Thank you.

And yes, hello.

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Or norm the person he he he commence test pass the correspond or unknown the person on the rule don't yeah, the the the potential officiate.

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Fabian.

Hello, Tariq Merci Boku.

Thank you very much, Tariq for being with us.

Thank you.

We are now going to continue with with the issue of COVID-19.

Rupert Colville should be with us from OHCHR.

Do we have Rupert with us?

Yes, Rupert, good morning.

And you have something on Nepal to share this morning.

That's right, Rail.

Thank you very much.

Yes, the UN **** Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet will be issuing a press release very shortly on the shocking killing of five men by opponents of of an inter caste relationship in Nepal last weekend, as well as on several other incidents of caste based discrimination and violence that have been taking place during the COVID-19 pandemic and in particular during the lockdown.

It's a matter of deep regret that caste based prejudices remain deeply entrenched in our world in the 21st century.

These two young people held **** hopes of building a life together despite the obstacles presented by their accident of birth.

And now one is dead and the other is deprived of the future she hoped for.

Caste based discrimination remains widespread not only in Nepal but in other countries and often leads to serious harm and as in this case, even loss of life.

The **** Commissioner notes that ending caste based discrimination is fundamental to the sustainable development vision of leaving no one behind, which as you know underlying CEOSTGS.

On the 23rd of May, a 21 year old Dalit man.

So this is the the incident in more detail.

On the 23rd of May, this 21 year old Dalit man who was called Nawaraj BK and a group of his friends were travelling to western Rokum district in Nepal and that was the home of Novaraj's girlfriend who belonged to a so-called dominant group.

They intended to escort the young woman back to their home district, allegedly at her own request, but they were attacked and chased into a river and five men, four of whom including Novaraj, were Dalits, were later found dead, while another person is still missing.

Extremely disturbing reports are also emerging about a 12 year old Dalit girl who was killed in a separate attack in the Rupandehi district.

She's said to have been forcibly married to her alleged ****** from a dominant caste, and the girl's body was reportedly discovered hanging from a tree on the 23rd of May.

The **** Commissioner calls for an independent investigation into these attacks, and she stresses that the victims and their families have the right to justice, truth, and reparations.

Dalits seem to be on the lowest rung of the caste hierarchy in Nepali society and they've traditionally been discriminated against as quotes untouchables.

The killings have sparked outrage in Nepal and that's that's a good thing of course, prompting the Federal Ministry of Home Affairs to establish A5 member **** Level Investigation Committee to look into the incident.

And on the 26th of May, the police filed A complaint against 20 alleged perpetrators.

Despite constitutional guarantees, however, impunity for caste based discrimination and violence remains **** in Nepal.

But the **** Commission notes the country's taking big strides to address this scourge.

But so much more can and must be done to eradicate these type of incidents and this is especially the case when the COVID-19 pandemic has has increased their vulnerability.

Since the start of the COVID-19 lock band, Dalit activists and journalists have reported several cases of caste based discrimination, incidents of ****, *******, denial of funeral rights and discrimination at quarantine sites.

Parliament The Napoli Parliament Law, Justice and Human Rights Committee has directed the Ministry of Home Affairs to investigate all incidents of car space discrimination and violence during the COVID-19 lockdown.

And the Parliamentary committee asked authorities to immediately investigate 2 cases of gang **** of Dalek women as well as other caste based cases involving ******, enforced disappearances and forced abortion.

Dalits in Nepal and other countries experience discrimination at every level of their daily lives, limiting their employment and educational opportunities, the places where they can collect water or worship, and their choice of who to marry.

Structural barriers and discrimination forced outlets to continue low income and dehumanising employment such as manual scavenging, disposing of dead animals, digging graves or making leather products.

And there are one or two more elements in the press release.

Thank you Rupert, what a absolutely horrid story.

Are there any questions for for Rupert?

Yes, Musa ASI Musa Canada.

Nina, Nina Larson from ASP.

I was just wondering, do you have any comment on the Hong Kong situation now?

Does your office?

Thank you.

Yeah, Actually has taken note of the decision which was taken yesterday by the National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China regarding the National Security Law for Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

I had hoped to give you more information today, but we're still attempting to get hold of the final official version of the text of the decision in order to analyse all the legal implications.

And obviously we do need to be sure we have exactly the right final version before we can do that analysis properly.

But we will review this decision in light of its potential impact on human rights and freedoms of the people of Hong Kong.

And in the meantime, we call on the authorities to ensure peaceful protesters can exercise their right to freedom of expression and that they can assemble safely in the coming days as the situation we fear may become increasingly tense and polarised.

And I hope we will have more to say on this in the next day or two.

Very good.

Thank you very much, Rupert.

OK, I see Peter Kenny has raised his hand.

Peter, go ahead.

Good morning, Rupert.

The the some UN human rights experts today put out a statement urging the United States government to reduce the population in places of detention to prevent large outbreaks of COVID-19.

Has there been any reports to your rights office about this matter?

And is there an increase in the number of COVID-19 patients that you are aware of, of people who are in detention in the United States, specifically in the US specifically?

No, there are, I mean, there, there are published figures on the number of cases, the large number of cases in, in prisons in the US, particularly in certain cities and I believe again in certain cities.

But it's, it's a patchy picture depending on the different states people are are being released from, from detention in some cases, including some **** profile figures which you would have seen like people like Michael Cohen and so on.

So yeah, it's a big issue in the US as it is in in many other countries.

As you know, back on 25th of March, we, we issued a statement very much calling on governments to release, you know, people nearing the end of their sentences, people who've been convicted of minor crimes, political prisoners, human rights defenders and so on.

People who shouldn't be in prison in the 1st place.

Countries to a varying degree have, I mean, a lot of countries have released people and a lot of countries clearly did take that, that advice on board and and we're thankful for that.

But in, in many countries, I think the numbers are still still not enough.

And obviously prisons are extremely dangerous, overcrowded places if if the social, sorry, physical distancing is not made possible.

And that can only be made possible in overcrowded prisons by releasing those who really don't particularly need to be there.

We just stress also, we're not not suggesting that people guilty of very serious crimes, including international crimes, war crimes, crimes against humanity and so on, are released.

But even they should be put in a position where they're as safe as possible from catching COVID-19.

OK, I see we have another question and maybe this can be the last for Rupert Ahmed.

Ahmed, please go ahead.

Yes, yes.

Good morning, Rupert.

Morning, Ahmed.

I'd like to know if you have any comment regarding the decision taken by President Trump yesterday on Twitter and the other social sites.

Yes.

Well, we've repeatedly called for further action to address the many ways in which social media platforms have contributed to human rights violations, including through hate speech, incitement to violence, and misinformation that undermines fundamental rights.

You know, and they've been sort of very obvious highlighted cases, for example, the use of Facebook in Myanmar, in the genocide in Myanmar, and so on.

So there are issues about the use of social media that are very much human rights issues, and these are issues we've been focusing on.

So efforts by social media companies to better ensure their platforms address these concerns are of course welcome.

That said, there are no simple fixes in in this arena.

We've seen of course first hand that over broad regulation can stifle freedom of expression and be used to target human rights defenders in some countries.

The digital environment has never been more essential to our daily lives as we see through this press conference and the but these issues obviously deserve really thoughtful consideration and effective responses.

We hope to arrange an in depth press conference on a range of digital issues linked to human rights sometime over the next two or three weeks for you.

So with senior colleagues who have been following closely a whole range of digital IT issues linked to human rights over the past few years.

Can you have a follow up admin?

Go ahead.

Yeah, just a small thing.

I don't know if if report if Rupert can send us a kind of comment by e-mail or not.

I can send you what I what I just said, more or less.

Yeah, please.

Thank you.

OK.

Thank you, Ahmed.

Thank you very much, Rupert, for being with us.

We'll let you go and turn now to the World Food Programme with Elizabeth Bias.

Bonjour, Bonjour, Bonjour.

I will switch to to English.

You probably have seen yesterday a press release issued by WFP about Latin America and the Caribbean and saying that the socio economic impact of COVID-19 can push an additional 10 million people in Latin America and the Caribbean into severe food insecurity.

So what I would like to add is that we need to act quickly and decisively if we are to prevent this crisis from becoming a hunger pandemic.

The number of people who suffer severe food insecurity in Latin America could rise from 3.5 million 3.4 million in 2019 to about 14,000,000 this year, which is huge and demands urgent attention from the global community.

WFP is particularly concerned about vulnerable people in 80.

We have 700,700 thousand people in 80 with severe food insecurity, and this year this number will rise to 1.6 million for 80.

We are concerned about what we call the Central American Dry Corridor.

I mean El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua.

There were 1.6 million in this corridor, people food insecure in 2019 and this year we will have 3,000,000.

So you can see the that is a very strong increase.

We also are concerned about Venezuelan migrants in Colombia, Ecuador and Peru.

The plight of workers unemployed in the informal sector is particularly worrying, especially as many of them aren't covered by any social protection programmes.

From Panama, our regional humanitarian hub WFP is supporting the response of COVID-19 to COVID-19.

The hub has dispatched supplies to 25 countries in the region, including COVID-19 kids, gloves, mask, hospital gowns.

WFP also plans to organise passenger flights to different points in the region as needed.

For the humanitarian and health community.

WFP is opening humanitarian corridors in the Dominican Republic to support Haiti, also corridors in Honduras to support Central America and corridor in Colombia to support South America.

Food stocks to support WFP operation for three months will be positioned here in those in those corridors.

Some 400,000 vulnerable migrants a month in Colombia and in quarter receive cash based transfer of food ration to take home and WFP has helplines dedicated to assisting this population.

We have seen also the situation in IT, where we provide cash and food distributions every week throughout the country.

In Honduras, 29,000 families hit by COVID-19 will receive food assistance in 12 departments.

In El Salvador, 3000 vulnerable 5 minutes.

Receive food assistance for two months in rural areas in eight departments.

I have many of the details on all the countries, so I will stop here.

I would like to apologise because I had a computer problem and I couldn't send my notes before the briefing, so I will send them immediately after and that's all for me.

OK, thank you very much Elizabeth.

And since we are on in the area of Latin America and the Caribbean and you did mention displaced Venezuelans, maybe I could ask Shabby Aman 2 from UNHCR to also share a bit of information on on the, you know, as as the people in the Southern Hemisphere prepare for winter, I guess this is causing also hardships for displaced Venezuelans.

And then we'll take some questions.

Shabby.

Thank you and good morning, everybody.

I hope you can hear me.

Does this sound OK?

Yes, perfect.

OK, great.

Well, today, as you mentioned, we're going to just give you an update about the Southern Hemisphere winter in terms of that intensifying hardship for displaced Venezuelans.

So, as Latin America emerges as the new epicentre of the COVID-19 pandemic, UNHCR warns of worsening conditions for displaced Venezuelans in the southern region of the continent as winter approaches.

In addition to health risks, COVID related lockdowns and confinement measures have already resulted in severe hardship for Venezuelans in those countries.

Many have now lost their livelihoods and are faced with poverty, destitution, eviction, widespread hunger and food insecurity, as well as increased protection risks as national capacities are stretched to breaking point.

Access to public health services and timely medical care is also a challenge, especially for those in irregular situations.

UNHCR is worried that their plight could now worsen with the onset of winter as temperatures drop in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay, which together hosts more than 1.5 million Venezuelans.

With the approaching cold weather, UNHCR is bracing for a deepening of the crisis.

With the winter season considerably increasing need for humanitarian and medical assistance, including to respond to other types of respiratory diseases such as influenza.

We expect an increase in the numbers of those that will now require emergency shelter and winter items such as blankets, warm clothing, medicine and fuel to heat their homes.

Shelter, food and hygiene kits, as well as cash assistance are already critically needed for many vulnerable Venezuelans who are living in precarious conditions and who are at risk of becoming homeless or living on the streets in exile.

UNHCR is stepping up its response to face this double challenge.

Together with partners, we're continuing to provide emergency shelters, rental subsidies and other material assistance.

We're also strengthening our humanitarian partnerships to be able to provide essential healthcare for refugees in vulnerable conditions in the continent Southern region.

We're also delivering cash based interventions to help refugees and migrants prioritise their most urgent needs during winter.

In show there, almost 790 Venezuelan families have already received virtual multi purpose vouchers which will enable them to buy products in local stores and supermarkets, and this can be for clothes, fuel or hot meals.

In Peru, where torrential rains and snow are expected during winter, UNHCR has prioritised support in refugee coastal regions such as Costco, which stands at 4000 metres above sea level and where temperatures can drop to well below 0°C.

So far, more than 2000 basic needs kits and 4700 blankets have been distributed to vulnerable Venezuelans and their host communities in that region, while cash transfers also continue for those most at risk.

We're also planning winter assistance for vulnerable displaced Venezuelans in Argentina, Uruguay and Bolivia, as called with sorry as cold weather hits the region in the coming weeks.

And just just to say we welcome the commitments made on Tuesday at the virtual international donor conference for Venezuelan refugees and migrants.

Donors at the conference committed 2.79 US, that's U.S.

dollars 2.79 billion to support refugees, migrants and host communities in countries across the region where Venezuelans have found safety, health care and jobs.

Thank you.

Thank you very much, Sylvia.

I see that Jamil has a question.

Jamil, you, is this for Elizabeth or for Shadia?

Yes, for Elizabeth.

Can I, can you hear me?

Yes, we hear you perfectly.

Elizabeth.

First of all, it's a pity we didn't receive this yesterday.

At least I did not receive you briefed in some regions, but the briefing on at least I did not receive the one on Latin America.

I just saw that there was a press release.

My question is the fact that at least FAO puts Brazil back on the hunger list, but your press release does not mention at all the situation in Brazil.

I would like to know if you have any information, if you have any specific information about Brazil where the number of cases of COVID-19 exploded over 5 million people already unemployed since the beginning of the year.

It's a bit of a little bit puzzling that in your press release you don't have any data on on hunger in Brazil.

And to you NHCR, some some weeks ago we mentioned how you mentioned how there was these isolated camps, if I'm not wrong, or predetermined camps that could check if people were detected with COVID-19 coming from Venezuela.

At that point we put the question and you mentioned that there was no, no one was there yet.

My question, have you already registered people coming from Venezuela to Brazil or to Colombia with COVID-19, especially because the data from Venezuela are not reliable and the numbers obviously are much lower than what supposedly could be the situation there?

Thank you.

Thank you, Jamil.

Elizabeth, maybe you've been.

Yes, regarding this press release, it has been issued last night for us in in Panama and dated Panama City.

I I've seen that it has been widely called already covered by press agency and media in the region.

That's why I decided not to repeat, in fact, but I just added more details regarding Brazil.

I will come back to you with more information because it's true that I do not have information and they are not including in my in my notes.

So I will come back to you with this and I will send you my detailed notes as soon as we finish the briefing.

Sorry, Jabir.

OK, thank you, Elizabeth.

Jabir, thank you.

Thanks General for your question.

I think I understand your question correctly.

You might be referring to the isolation areas that we had set up in Broad Vista and this was for in case there were suspected cases for not just Venezuelan refugees and migrants, but also the local population.

I don't have an update on on that, but I can, I can certainly blow that up and get back to you.

I just don't have an update on Brazil.

But in general, I mean, we among refugees, we haven't really seen any major, major cases outbreak.

But as I mentioned, I can follow up after this.

Thanks.

OK.

We have a question from Paula Dupras Dubias.

Hello Paula, Hi, good morning.

I just wanted to know if any of the agencies may have anything to comment about the situation in Peru of internally displaced people.

There have been thousands of people who have been migrating mostly from the the coast to their come back to their communities.

They've been requesting assistance from regions.

Very few of these requests have actually been satisfied and people are just taking off on their own without any support.

Just walking, walking back to the community, I, I actually have been trying to get in touch with with UNHCR and IOM in, in Lima and haven't heard back anything.

And I was just wondering if you may have any of the agencies, whether it's IOMUNHCRWFP, whether anybody may have any comments to, to, to make about what's going on and potentially their operations there?

Thank you.

Paula, Sabia, do you have any information to share?

Hi, Paul.

I look on my side.

I've only got an update on at this point only on sort of Venezuelan situation there, but apologies.

We we if that request has kind of slipped through.

We can definitely check with our office and our colleagues again once the breaking is over and see if we have any information.

It hasn't.

I mean, I'm not aware of it, but I can double check with colleagues for sure.

Thank you.

And I was going to call on Paul Dillon from IOM, but I see he's raised his hand.

Paul, you have something to add on this?

Paul.

Hello.

Sure.

Yeah, can you hear me?

Yes, we need to hear you.

Hi.

Yeah, thanks very much for your question.

I don't have anything specific for you today on on Peru.

I'm more than happy to follow up with with my colleagues in Buenos Aires and in Lima.

We do have some information from Chile and other locations.

But as I said, let me get back to you a little later on after the meeting here and see if we can get some answers to your questions.

Much appreciated.

Thank you.

Paul.

Paula, did you have a follow up question?

I don't know.

I mean does does Elizabeth have anything on potentially services that they may be providing or?

OK, Elizabeth, yeah, I just have a line that we, we assist Venezuelan migrants in Colombia, Ecuador and Peru.

In fact, we do not have a presence in Venezuela itself, but we do have food assistance operation for migrants in Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, where we reach a total of about 400,000 people a month.

Since the onset of the migration crisis, WFP and its partners distributed hot meals, school meals, voucher, nutritious food kits.

And because of the COVID-19, of course, we have focused on giving migrants vouchers to redeem for food and rations to take home.

That's all I have on, on the on this issue and I will ask for more details about Peru as very good.

Antonio Bruto.

Hi, my question is for UNHCRII guess I want to know if there is some information on how Venezuelan refugees and migrants are being directly impacted by COVID-19 in these host countries.

In in South America, we have seen in other regions, UN agencies say that that the poorest populations are especially vulnerable to to the coronavirus.

So I want to know if this is the case in in South America as well with the Venezuelans and also if you have information of if the Venezuelans are properly attended by the health networks of the host countries.

Thank you, Antonio Shalia, thanks for your question.

I mean, definitely we've, we've actually issued a number of statements as well in recent weeks.

But our concerns and the context of coronavirus are twofold #1 definitely we're concerned about the health risks.

So the actual, you know, the ****** of the virus itself, many displaced people are incredibly vulnerable.

They've let their homes.

And now we're finding that in addition to the ****** of coronavirus, but also the secondary consequences, so the livelihood issues, people losing their jobs, we're finding many people living on the streets or at risk of evictions are, said becoming homeless.

Others are actually trying to support themselves by selling on the streets.

So they're exposing themselves again to the ****** of the virus, but also to the risk of stigmatisation because they're perceived as not being compliant with lockdown and social distancing measures.

So there are a lot of concerns around that.

And definitely, I mean, we are, we are very worried.

And now again with winter as well, this is adding another ****** on top of that.

So they are just as risk, I mean, everyone is at risk because of this virus that we've heard it being said a lot doesn't discriminate, but certainly people have who are incredibly vulnerable and these people are part of that group.

So we are quite concerned.

And we also issued something as well, I think it was last week about indigenous refugees as well, who are even more acutely at risk as well.

So, so there are lots of reasons to be worried about it, but we are, I mean, we've been very encouraged by the support shown by refugee host countries.

Many refugees do have access to, to the National Health systems and we continue to advocate for that to make sure there's full inclusion of them to access health systems and be part of the response.

And that has been that strong advocacy call.

And we, we are encouraged by that.

So in many, in many of these contexts, refugees who are documented can have access to the health system, they can have access to other services, but all, but if you're in a situation where you don't have documents in your urine in a regular situation, it does become difficult.

So we are also working with with national authorities, planetary partners as well to make sure that no one is slipping through the gaps.

So thanks.

Thank you, Shabia.

I see Paul has raised his hand.

Paul, you have something to add?

Yeah, I do.

I just wanted to note of course that ahead of the pledging conference last week, there was a fair bit of light shine on the issue of refugees and migrants in in South and Central America displaced out of Venezuela.

We share obviously Unhcr's concerns about their circumstances.

If I could just give you one quick snapshot, I turn for a moment to to Chile where there are roughly 3000 migrants of different nationalities stranded in the northern part of the country.

Now these are people who are like many 10s of thousands of people around the world, have found themselves jobless.

Unable to support themselves in the country to which they have migrated in search of livelihood and work and are now attempting to return home.

So we're working in this context with the governments of Chile and Bolivia to facilitate crossings for these people to establish what we're referring to now as humanitarian corridors between countries.

That on the one side will address the very serious public health concerns that are raised by COVID-19 and also the clear humanitarian interests at play here where people need and want to get home.

And there's a clearly an imperative on that side as well.

I should also add that next week there'll be more broader statements specifically about the context for stranded migrants globally.

It's obviously a very difficult situation to quantify in terms of sheer numbers, but if we pull the lens away from South and Central America for a moment, colleagues in in West Africa have identified roughly 25,000 people stranded within the countries where they to which they have migrated and who are desperate to return home.

So it's clearly an issue with a global impact when it comes to the safety, security and well beings of migrants.

Thanks.

Thank you, Paul, for these additional details.

OK, we have three questions.

We'll take these, but then we will have to move on to the next subject.

So Ahmad, Arun, please.

Yes, I have a question for earlier this, but not in Latin America, so I can wait for my colleagues to finish.

OK.

And then we'll come right back to you, Jamil.

Yeah, yes, sorry, it is just a clarification with Elizabeth.

Elizabeth, the this number 13 point something million or almost 14,000,000, is it related only to the countries where you have programmes or is it the entire Latin American situation?

That's the first question.

The second question, if you got to such a detailed and precise number, could you break it down and send us the list of how many people in each country?

Thank you.

OK, This is in fact yes, mostly where we have programmes and we, we, we add in this region 3.4 million people suffering from severe food insecurity.

We will have 10 more millions according to WFP analysis in the region.

And that's why we are reaching this huge figure of 14,000,000.

Then that's why we are concerned and we ask all partners, government and we are part of the, of the humanitarian community to act quickly to prevent this crisis.

We must act very quickly and I will send you all the details.

I haven't asked our office in Panama to send a breakdown of for every country.

OK.

And and sorry for the for the press release, but usually when it's issued and dated from another kind of regional office, I do not share it with with you because it's already dated from another country and already picked up there before the press briefing.

That's why I didn't send it to you.

Thank you, Elizabeth.

Let's go to Peter Kenny and then we'll finish with Ahmed.

Good morning.

My question is for Paul Dillon and it's concerning the IOM statement yesterday concerning the killing of 30 migrants in a shooting in Libya.

I wonder if you could elaborate a little bit more on this statement.

Was it a shootout or was it an execution?

And this area in Mesda, could you say which authority, whose authority control this is under?

Is it the UN recognised government or is it other forces?

Thank you.

OK, thank you.

Peter, can we bring back we have Safa, maybe she has information to to share on this.

Safa, can we unmute?

Safa?

There you go.

Safa, you hear us?

Yes.

Can you hear me?

Yes, we do.

Please go ahead.

Thank you for the question.

Obviously, we learnt of this senseless tragedy yesterday.

It occurred actually the day before yesterday where we believe migrants who were held in in a smuggling or trafficking warehouse were shot at.

30 people were killed, among them 26 Bangladeshi, 11 others were injured and taken to to hospitals.

IOM staff have actually referred five of those injured to to clinics who who have more severe injuries.

The area again, I cannot confirm which authorities it falls under.

The conflict which continues in Libya unabated makes the the the picture a little bit more blurry.

So that's a question for Libyan authorities.

We believe also that many others were also held in this smuggling warehouse.

These are details we're receiving, we're receiving this morning from colleagues.

Many others who who survived this incident have reportedly this morning or last night fled the scene in fear for their lives.

This is yet another reminder of of what migrants have to go through in Libya at the hands of, of smuggling groups and networks.

I, I don't have any further details as as to the identities of the shooters or these groups, but I'm happy to follow up should we receive any further information.

Thank you.

Very good.

Thank you very much, Staffa for coming in on that.

And we'll take that last question on this topic from Ahmed who had something for Elizabeth.

Yes, hello.

Good morning, Elizabeth, Good morning.

I don't know if we can have detailed information about the food insecurity in North Africa, in North Africa.

Yeah, OK, OK.

I briefed on the MENA region, Middle East and North Africa, but I, I, I will send you more information on, on North Africa and try to get the, the breakdown the figure for, for those.

Thank you very much.

OK, OK, sure, thanks very much.

OK, we are going to leave the Latin American region and move to Yemen.

We've been joined by Jens Lark from OCHA who wants to share information on the pledging events yesterday and also the humanitarian situation.

And I think Elizabeth also has something to add there and Shabia.

So Jens, please go ahead.

Thank you very much, Rianne, and good morning, everyone.

United Nations relief agencies and NGO partners in Yemen are seeking $2.4 billion for the next seven months, that is June to December, to sustain a humanitarian lifeline for 19 million people devastated by over five years of conflict, displacement, malnutrition, disease and a weak health system which is now buckling under the pressure of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Latest official numbers are 260 confirmed Corona virus cases in Yemen and 54 deaths.

But without adequate testing and analysis, the true picture is almost certainly much worse.

The Anti ADC Standing Committee principles yesterday expressed alarm about the situation and warned that money for the humanitarian response is about to run out.

To help fundraising for the response in Yemen, a virtual plating conference will take place on the 2nd of June, Co hosted by the United Nations and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

If funded, more than 200 organisations working in a coordinated fashion through a common strategy will be able to continue to deliver food, nutrition, healthcare support to 3.6 million displaced people in Yemen and other and other interventions which are critical for vulnerable communities across the country.

If not funded, the spectre of famine will return.

COVID-19 and other killer diseases such as cholera, dengue and malaria will ravage the country the more people will die.

The media advisory for the pledging event on the 2nd of June has been sent to you yesterday.

Journalists are invited to submit questions in advance for the Q&A session at the end of the event to the contacts listed in the advisory, myself being one of them.

The entire event is web streamed from 3:00 PM Geneva time and we expect to have an embargo press release on Monday with an embargo lifted on the morning itself.

Let me just say a word about the actual programme.

I have sent it to you.

So it will start at 3:00 PM with the opening session.

Opening remarks will be by Secretary General Antonio Guterres and with a statement from the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Saudi Arabia and also the Under Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs.

At around 25 minutes past three, the long segment of pledging will begin.

It's more than three hours where the different delegations will have a few minutes to to announce their pledges and say what they want to say from their respective capitals or if their military organisations, what kind of message that they want to give to this particular conference.

And then the the last segment, which will be pretty late for us around a little bit before 6:00 PM Geneva time, we will have the closing where we will announce the the final pledging results and we will send you a note as well.

So you'll have it on paper what the what the overall number is and with the breakdown of the pledges by the various.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Ian's and you mentioned nutrition, maybe we can go to Elizabeth's for some additional details on this.

Yes, I would like to join my voice to to yen with and I would like to remind you a few facts.

WFP needs every month $200 million to continue its operation in a difficult environment like Yemen.

I would like also to to point out the malnutrition rates among women and children in Yemen.

They are among the highest in the world with more than one million women and two million children requiring treatment for acute malnutrition.

Of these children, around 360,000 are at risk of dying without treatment.

WFP is doing everything we can to make sure no child or mother is left behind as COVID-19 poses yet another ****** to Yemen children.

Yemen's fragile, fragile health system is already on the brink of collapse.

A further deterioration may leave malnourished children and mother unable to access the nutrition support they need.

Trade restriction impacting availability of specialised nutrition commodities, domestic lockdowns and other restriction impacting families ability to earn a living and access markets as well as healthcare.

WFP provides special supplementary food to treat and prevent malnutrition among women and children.

We also run a malnutrition prevention programme to over half of Yemen's district, targeting children under 2 years of age.

We treat 232,000 children under 5, pregnant and breastfeeding women 200,000, prevention programme for children under to 370,000 and prevention for pregnant and breastfeeding women 3003.

Yes, 300,000.

So you can see the figure speaks for themselves.

And that's why, you know, the international community so far has provided an unprecedented level of support for Yemen over the last five years and we must continue.

Thank you, Elizabeth.

I believe Shabia has also a short update to provide from the UNHCR.

Can we unmute Shabia please?

There we go.

Thank you for that.

Just to follow on what what colleagues were just saying, we are continuing life saving interventions in Yemen, but money for the humanitarian response is running out.

We're urgently seeking 89.4 million U.S.

dollars to keep these lifesaving aid programmes running.

Without these funds, we'll have to reduce and cut programmes which will impact nearly 1,000,000 refugees and internally displaced people.

So some of the consequences of this underfunding will mean that 280,000 refugees and asylum seekers will no longer have access to basic services including education, health, food, water, sanitation, hygiene, shelter and essential protection services as well, which include registration, documentation and specialised services for children.

Underfunding will also mean that at least 360,000 internally displaced Yemenis will not have access to adequate services, also including shelter, hygiene, water, sanitation, and it will also increase the risks of contracting communicable diseases.

655,000 internally displaced Germanys will also not be able to receive basic shelter to protect themselves and their families, especially during the early days of their displacement, which will also lead to other protection risks as well.

And lastly, just as another example, about 350,000 women and children will also not be able to obtain documentation and get referred for medical or essential psychosocial support, which will again increase their exposure to risks, including exploitation, violence, human rights abuses, and will also reduce their their ability to mitigate some of these impacts.

So that's it for me.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

So we'll take some questions now, Ahmed.

Yes, I have a question for Yanz.

Yanz, do you have any information about how many cases of COVID-19 in Sanaa city?

This, this is my first question.

My second is a preparation for COVID-19 in Yemen was put in before the the start mentioning announcing the the cases.

My third, why we are talking now about now about shortage or lack of of necessary equipment for Yemen and if there is any, there were any try from the OCHA or from The Who to send this materials to Yemen before and the restrictions prevented?

Thank you.

Yeah, thank you, Ahmed.

On, on, on your first question, I gave you the the total official number and I will refer to WHO because they are the ones they're the custodians of, of of these numbers.

As a matter of fact, in terms of preparedness, of course the the humanitarian organisations in Yemen were aware like everybody else that this has been coming and they have done their utmost with the resources that that they have done all they could to prepare in the best way possible.

They have there has been procurement going on of various medical equipment testing to enhance testing capacity and so on.

So of course things have been going on.

Existing programmes have also been changed in a way so that, for example, things such as social distancing could be taken into account to make sure that we were part of the solution and all of the problem.

What is what is happening now with the with the appeal that we are coming out with now for the remainder of the year is that we have more specifically sat down and looked at exactly what kind of programmes do we need to sustain within the, if you like, normally humanitarian operation Plus what do we need in addition to that to help support and prop up the health system which is indeed collapsing.

So that is what the plan contains and that is where we combined come out with an overall ask for everyone working within this, this structure of $4.2 billion.

We start essentially on Tuesday with 0.

So we need to raise that for for the remainder of of the year in the plan, particularly for the COVID response, there are basically 2 main things in that.

First of it is that we have 19,000 community volunteers that are going out, mobilising and explaining to millions of people what are the risks of COVID-19, how can they protect themselves, what what needs to be done from from their own, what can people do themselves to protect themselves.

And secondly, also working with the private sector, we are fast tracking procurement of things such as personal protective equipment, oxygen concentrators, intensive care unit beds, testing reagents and ventilators.

So these are, if you like, what is part of the COVID-19 response in any country, but where Yemen is really coming to this from a very bad starting position.

Thank you very much, Jens.

Let's go to Nick coming, Bruce from the New York Times.

Nick, hi, good morning.

Thanks.

Couple of questions.

Shabir, if you could just send out your notes on Yemen and stuff that you were talking about, that would be helpful.

Jens, a couple of things.

We read that 30 yard of the 40 programmes closure, if the funding doesn't come through, what are the most vulnerable programmes?

What do you see going down 1st?

And secondly, in terms of getting emergency supplies of PPE and ventilators and other health equipment in, where can you get it in?

You can't get it into SONAR as I understand it.

If you get it into Aiden, can you get it from Aiden to the north into sonar?

Because quite a lot of stuff doesn't seem to be getting through to the north.

So it's just a bit more clarity on what you can do.

OK, thank you.

First, on some examples of the programmes that are really in danger of either closure or being reduced, I've mentioned first up, food.

Really, there are so many millions of people and I'm sure Elizabeth can speak more about that.

There's so many millions of people in Yemen who depend on food assistance and if they do not get it, that one can only imagine the consequences of that.

That's why we're talking about the spectre of famine.

We have seen it before in Yemen.

We would have been able to to to fight back against it so that we actually avoided a large scale famine a couple of years ago.

But if we take kind of the foot off the accelerator right now, we're going to plunge right back into it.

Another example is supplemental nutrition for 1.7 million children and expecting mothers which will have to downsize.

The consequence of that is we estimate nearly 1/4 of a million children will see their their support reduced or completely stopped and preventable deaths and disease will follow.

There are also mobile teams and treatment centres for severely acutely malnourished children which are ongoing and keeping these children alive.

They will be forced to either reduce their activities or stop altogether.

10s of thousands of children will be at risk of imminent death.

If that happens, water and sanitation services in Yemen's major cities may grind to a halt, which will place of course millions of people at at risk or the known risk of not having access to clean water, including waterborne diseases such as cholera.

Family tracing for children, reunification for children, psychological first aid for children assisted to survivors of gender based children may completely disappear.

We will have patients that I need of surgery with chronic diseases unrelated to COVID-19.

Well, in many places be left without help because only half of the health facilities right now are functioning and the other half is now being overwhelmed with COVID-19 cases.

So those are some of the some of the examples of what will, what will happen.

I will not throw.

I don't think we need to throw any more big numbers out there.

The evidence is there.

We know what happens if the money is not coming forward.

I think our very simple question to the international community is the following.

Are we willing to allow Yemen to fall off the Cliff?

Thank you.

Thank you very much, Yens, for that insights.

And I see Lisa Schlein wants to come into the discussion.

Lisa, you have the floor.

Yeah, very quickly, Yens, that was really interesting.

Could you send us those notes as well?

It would be very useful.

You will surely do so.

Thank you.

That's it.

OK.

Are there any other final questions for Yens, Shabia or Elizabeth Nick?

Yeah, If I could just follow up with Yens on this question of what you can get into the country and where you can get it into the country.

Yes, thank you for that.

I, I, I listed out.

The reason why I listed out is that I, I frankly don't have a clear answer for you right now.

So if you'll allow me just to have a little bit a closer look at what's actually in the planning, I'll come back to you.

Thank you.

And I see Laurent Ciero from Swiss News Agency would like to ask a question.

Laurent.

Yeah, thanks.

Yes.

The previous pledging conferences on Yemen were also Co hosted by Switzerland.

Is there any particular reason this year that Switzerland decided not to be associated?

No to to to my knowledge there are no particular reason for that.

It it is correct that they were indeed part of this last year, but not this year.

Thanks.

OK.

We are then going to say thank you to Yen, Shabia and Elizabeth.

Actually, Shabia, I think you will stay with us for the last item on the agenda.

But thank you to Yen's and Elizabeth Sharia.

You want to we'll end the briefing with an item you have on eastern Nigeria and a camp place that has left thousands without shelter.

Thank you.

Yes, one more item for us.

Some some very sad and tragic news from Eastern Nigeria.

So UNHCR and humanitarian partners are stepping up assistance to nearly 4000 displaced people who lost all their goods in a large fire which swept through a camp in major glory in eastern Nigeria's Borno State.

The blaze left two people dead and hundreds of families have had their shelters destroyed.

The fire broke out on the eve of the festival of Edel Fitter, celebrating the end of Ramadan at the makership camp which is host to some 40,000 internally displaced people.

The fire began after sparks from a cooking fireplace spread out and enlighted a fire which soon engulfed all the shelters around the camp.

Sorry engulfed several shelters around the camp, houses were razed to the ground and also damaged other facilities.

The majority of those affected in this incident were women and we know that nearly 300,000 displaced people are basically living in organised and makeshift sites.

Makeshift sites and shelters around Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State.

In the past few months, several fire incidents have been reported and occurred in congested IDP camps across northeast Nigeria, where shelters are very close and back too close for safety.

UNH is working with authorities, aid agencies and local partners to make sure that those affected receive shelter and other relief items as people once again are being displaced outside and also inside the camp.

Now many, including young children, are living under the open, basically living out into the open and without protection, but also needing immediate help, shelter, food and clothing.

A total of 2.5 million people are displaced across the Lake Chad region, including 1.8 million inside Nigeria and the rest in Cameroon and Chad.

And with the ongoing violence by Boko Haram and other armed groups, thousands have to run for their lives each day.

Young girls, old women and aid workers continue to bear the brunt of this escalating violence.

With violence on the rise, the ****** of COVID-19 also brings in new threats for internally displaced people living in overcrowded camps and settlements where physical distancing is impossible.

In response, UNHS is working with the UN Development Programme to expand several camps and build additional shelters.

Thank you.

Thank you very much Sabia.

And I see that Paul has joined us.

Paul, you may have something to add on this from IOM.

Yeah, thanks very much.

I just wanted to amplify something that's Shabby was talking about.

According to IO Ms Displacement Tracking Matrix, there are more than 830,000 internally displaced persons in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe State living in camps and camp like settings.

Four out of five of those Idps are living in overcrowded conditions and makeshift and temporary shelters built in very close proximity to each other.

In some camps, for example, the per capita space is less than one square metre.

Now, overcrowding exacerbates the risks of fires like Saturday's tragedy and disease outbreaks that makes it nearly impossible to enforce the physical distancing measures, critical measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19, for example.

It is essential then that additional lands be identified to address these highly congested conditions.

And we urge the Nigerian government and all our humanitarian actors there to prioritise decongestion efforts and IDP camps in a manner that respects the rights of ID, PS, their safety and dignity and to mitigate the spread of diseases like COVID-19.

Thank you very much, Very good.

Thank you very much.

Paul, do we have any questions for UNHCR or IOM?

And I do not see any raised hands.

So I think this concludes our briefing for today.

Thank you.

Thank you to everyone for being with us and I wish you a long weekend because Monday is an official holiday here at the UN in Geneva.

So we will be closed, but we will see you again on Tuesday morning.

Thank you.

Thank you to all and a very good weekend.