OK, let's start this briefing. Good morning. Welcome
to this press briefing of the UN Information Service here in Geneva.
Today is Friday, 31st of May,
and we have with us. We have the pleasure to have with us a few colleagues coming in
would like to start with this topic the briefing of today.
So I have the pleasure to introduce to you Mr Richard Howard,
who is the UN resident coordinator
He is accompanied by Serhan
humanitarian coordinator,
advisor to the resident Coordinator and the UN country team in Papua New Guinea.
So I give them the floor and then we will open the floor to question.
So I guess, Mr Howard, you would like to start
Good morning, colleagues.
I'll start briefly and then allow my colleagues to speak as well.
But the situation we have now is, uh, still at this point,
only seven bodies have been recovered from the land site like site
and there still remains uncertainty over the total number of victims.
But we have a solid estimate of the total number of people affected by the landslide,
And it is these individuals in the two wards in the area of the site
which will receive our support humanitarian support to cover immediate needs.
We know that 150 structures,
not households but structures were in the area of the landslide site.
Today. A geotechnical team arrived from New Zealand
factors of safety for the local community and
also the implications for using heavier equipment to dig
in the body search in the search for remains.
The security situation in the province is
still affected by tribal tribal fighting,
but it is not yet impacting a delivery
and aid delivery is using military force.
A bridge collapsed on May 28th has been repaired
leading to the site area, but it remains unstable.
Immediate needs in the area include support for removal of bodies,
and we have a tight time frame
of only one week to remove bodies before
it's declared a health risk for further removals.
The geotechnical analysis is needed in an urgent manner to determine,
uh, the trends and the movements of the soil of the land affected by the landslide,
which we understand is moving
at a rate of one metre a day moving down
the slope towards a village that is located below.
Other immediate needs include food
supplies and clothing, emergency shelter,
and information management to support the government.
Two main challenges are are most critical at this stage.
One is the safety of the landslide area.
The land remains. The situation remains dynamic.
It is feared that water might be accumulating under the rubble
and these factors represent a danger
and significant challenge for search operations
and it and it could prevent
heavy machinery from being brought in to assist with the recoveries.
links to security in the area,
while access, as I mentioned to the site remains open. As of today,
complex dynamics are unpredictable.
The distribution of relief supplies could possibly trigger
additional unrest or conflict
as well as the way that relocation of displaced populations is managed.
These are two critical challenges that we face at this point.
So the priority now is twofold,
uh, safe uh, search operations
to be carried out as soon as possible while addressing
the immediate needs of the affected and displaced population.
We have had an unprecedented number of
partners mobilising support for their response.
And the challenge now is for the UN,
as we are doing now to support effective co ordination
for relief supplies that are coming into the country as well as the distribution
and the LoC and the location.
requiring us to step up and make sure that the right kind of materials
are coming in and that we're addressing gaps that are needed to be addressed
But overall, the international uh response has been very positive,
and and there's much appreciated appreciation
by the local communities and the government
as we move forward with addressing
immediate needs. We must also keep in mind
there is a need to move towards early recovery
and to to help communities and local government develop
approaches for long term solutions to not only address,
uh, immediate uh, future, uh, future disasters of this nature,
but also to help the community rebuild in a sustainable and effective way.
Richard. Thank you very much.
Well, definitely. I want to take from where, Uh, our
coordinator has explained,
uh, shelter NF I and a lot of support is pouring in,
and we are really grateful for this, but operational challenges remain.
Uh, and, uh, as well, there are few shortages and security issues.
Organisational capacity needs to be established and maintained throughout in
order to ensure efficient and effective and timely responses.
And this is particularly where we believe,
as the UN and our partners can make
a greater contribution to the collective efforts.
Uh, on that note, we heard a very good news today.
National Disaster Centre informed that the, uh uh,
provincial disaster coordinator of the Western Highlands Province Mr.
to oversee the operations in, uh, W. Uh,
we have worked very closely with Mr Yako
last year as we responded to the Mount Bagana.
He has been, well, capacitated as he worked side by side with the UN team,
and he has our full support. The second is,
uh, the, uh, displacement tracking matrix team.
They have managed to prepare
a detailed map of the area, uh, showing the disaster site
centres to the scale which we understand is going to
be very helpful in facilitating your understanding of the situation.
And this is going to be disseminated widely after this press conference.
And last but not least, I have a very good news. IOM
is currently mobilising its technical capabilities
to establish a communication support hub.
At times, this could be a massive problem in Papua New Guinea.
As we see, especially on this occasion,
there are many, many, many times in a single day alone. On our end.
There is no communication possible between the humanitarian teams
and between and among them operating on the ground.
For that reason, we have been informed that our teams are
certain satellite and other communications
We hope to receive them by next week,
and we will put these in use to help the collective efforts
to move smoothly from now on and in a secure way.
security is always a question which we have to ensure for
the sake of the people and also the humanitarian response teams.
from my side. Thank you. Thank you very much. I don't know if
or we go to the questions.
We can go straight to questions.
so thank you very much just for our journalists just
to inform that our colleagues are calling in from,
as I said from Papua New Guinea from Port Moresby from the UN office there.
So let's now go to the first question.
Benjamin Louis, who is the correspondent of the Swiss television
Um, thank you. Good morning or good. Uh, good. Whatever it is, uh, where you a RE?
two questions. Uh, first of all, could you please, um, mention the numbers again?
I don't remember. Is it affected? People disappeared. People
Uh, and other question, Could you please provide USA little, uh,
uh, summary of the tribal, uh, question
Which tribes? Ah, just a quick understanding of the situation.
Who is fighting against who? Since when did it start
with the incident, or was it a a
previous condition? Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mister Howard.
I'll give you the floor and then you decide who would like to answer that. Please.
uh, on the tribal I can talk. OK, tribal first with, uh, serhan.
And then the second question on numbers, we'll go to mate.
Well, uh, unfortunately, anger is known for its notorious tribal conflicts.
And these can, uh, flare up at any at any time.
And they can actually hit any location at any moment
since the morning of 25 May 2024. Saturday,
neighbouring tribes at a location called Tambi
Miska. If I'm not mistaken.
halfway between the capital of the province, W
had, uh, started fighting
over a dispute that goes back, uh, several years,
uh, which originally, uh,
erupted from two families belonging to two separate but labouring, uh, tribes.
Uh, and eventually, this evolved into such a scale that, uh,
both tribes started fighting each other.
Uh, as of, uh, the date, uh, or as of 29th of may,
uh, we know that a total of 12 people have been killed,
and, uh, many homes have been burnt down as well as uh, uh, business stalls and shops.
And, uh, a lot of women and Children.
They had become displaced.
The family members, especially those, uh, men, household heads.
They had sent those, uh, vulnerable members of their families, uh,
to stay away from the, uh, warring zone.
And, uh, they are just, uh on alert the remaining men and they continue their fight.
the tribes, when they are fighting,
they do not immediately pose a threat to passers by because
they are too focused on their rivalry and their cause,
and they do not necessarily wish to further extend the fight to others.
the danger Ari arises from the fact that some criminal groups,
uh, will wish to capitalise on this chaos for the purposes of gaining, um,
some, uh, wealth through robberies, uh, Carjacking, looting,
the convoys humanitarian convoys are provided with security escort
by the Ministry of Defence by the military force.
Now, this leads to a little bit of time loss, but overall,
once the situation is contained and it's secured and ensured that
the passes why the convoy will not be affected.
They very quickly leave this sector of the road behind.
As of yet, no attacks have been recorded on the UN and the humanitarian convoy.
But of course it is always a risk and we have to be very cautious.
It's also important to reiterate once again
that that issue is completely
irrelevant. It's not related to the landslide
on the on the number. I understand.
Yes, thank you. So I will repeat the numbers.
Um, the total affected population,
which includes those in need of possible evacuation.
Those in need of possible evacuation
and relocation is estimated at 7849 individuals,
which is 1427 households.
Um, as per IO MS first displacement tracking metrics.
Uh, among those there is 1650 individuals or 315 households that are displaced.
in their in their houses, but
would be subject to relocation or evacuation at later stages.
Yeah, OK, so any other question in the room, uh, to our colleagues in Port Moresby,
don't see other hands up on the platform.
I think it's pretty clear I don't see hands up.
So I would really like to thank our colleagues
And please keep us informed because this is not going away.
And we would be happy to hear more
in the next few days on the UN response to this crisis situation.
So let's now go to another crisis area. And this time we moved to Afghanistan.
We have the pleasure to welcome Richard
Trenchard, who is the representative of
Afghan team in Afghanistan.
you have an update on the food security situation in Afghanistan
and also related to the severe floods that impacted
the north and north eastern region of the country.
Please, you have the floor.
Um, hello, everybody. And greetings from, uh,
Um, as as, uh, this has been said, I'll speak briefly on two issues.
The first is the newly released I PC report,
and an update on the recent devastating floods that
have affected some 10 of Afghanistan's 34 provinces,
in the north and northeast of the country. But not only
so, uh, the latest, uh, integrated phase classification I PC assessment.
Uh, this week, um, FA, O and WFP released the new report.
and as always, it provides,
One is at the current levels of food insecurity
in the country that's covering March and April 2024.
And the second is a projection covering the
period from now until the post harvest season.
So that's May until October 2024.
The figures indicate a continuing positive trend,
with 14.2 million people estimated to be currently facing acute food insecurity.
and that's equivalent to 37%
of Afghanistan's total population.
And the projection is for a further fall to 12.4 million people
That's equivalent to about 20 80% of the total population.
Importantly, these latest numbers represent
they reveal a dramatic fall from early 2022 when nearly 23 million people
were facing acute food insecurity.
That was 55% of the population,
23 million people Now 14.2 and and reducing falling
to 12.4 million people later in the year.
So, firstly, and most importantly,
this dramatic fall is testament to the almost depth,
less resilience of Afghanistan's male and female
farmers and its people in general.
it's driven by the relative improvements in the
climatic conditions following four years of drought,
and this is leading to improved harvest outlook.
Thirdly, it also reflects growing stabilisation in the Afghan economy.
it is the result of enormous levels of humanitarian and non humanitarian
food security assistance in 22 and 2023
including both WFP led humanitarian food assistance
and foul led emergency agricultural assistance.
highlight the really high levels of support agriculture
at the very start of the crisis,
which has played a decisive role in bringing down
the headline levels of food insecurity.
But let's be clear, 14 million people
mean that Afghanistan remains amongst the
world's largest food insecurity crises.
In absolute terms, it was the worst.
It's not the worst now, but it's still one of the worst,
and more than 2 million people still face emergency levels of food insecurity
So Afghanistan, of course,
and its people must not be forgotten in a world of spiralling crises,
but worryingly the food security situation.
Despite the positive trend, it remains extremely fragile,
particularly due to the likelihood of climate induced but also other shocks,
but also due to the fragility of the economic context.
And it remains critically important to continue investing
in both humanitarian food assistance
and emergency agricultural assistance to sustain the downward trend. But
as we know the current funding situation, the WFPPF
and all the other humanitarian actors in the country, it remains bleak.
And this risks jeopardising the gains that have been made
in the last two plus years and also actually risks reversing
and as you I'm sure, know, the HNRP for this year remains funded today at just 17%
than equivalent levels for this time of year in 22 and 23.
And the consequences of inaction or delayed action are really high.
Firstly, increased levels of malnutrition and food security.
rural livelihoods remain incredibly vulnerable at the moment.
Three increased displacement risks both within Afghanistan,
but also beyond Afghanistan
and I recently travelling in the far west of the country,
I saw newly abandoned villages, particularly in the south.
We must always remember that women and Children will
bear the brunt of the consequences of inaction.
Thank you. Now moving on to the second,
um, point the update on the severe flash floods
that have affected particularly the north
and north eastern regions of Afghanistan.
Spring flash floods are common across Afghanistan every year they have.
They happen typically in a, uh in April.
However, in May this year, particularly the second week,
the people of Afghanistan suffered unprecedentedly strong and
destructive flash floods across 10 or so provinces
north, north, east, but also down to the south, also
And these floods have caused
absolute devastation across the country's communities
and its vital agricultural landscapes.
Tra, of course. As always, it's leading to coordinations of the response
and many UN agencies, international and national NGO
S, but also the local authorities are involved in the response.
I'd like to share quickly some, uh,
brief reflections and updates based on a mission,
and I came back just yesterday,
in the Northeast. It's one of the worst, um, affected provinces.
What I saw quite simply was numbing communities simply erased
by devastating class, uh, flood services.
But before you had houses and compounds, now you have nothing.
You can't tell that there were houses there.
There were orchards there, but there were fields there.
We just got a 70 or so centimetre
layer of, uh, flood sediment.
Um, nothing but that remains plus
bow the sun as large as cars. One community I was in,
they had a day of rain, not particularly dramatic,
but then they had an eight hour flood search
that just devastated the whole whole community.
Flash floods, as always, they're indiscriminate,
and they're brutally arbitrary.
Some people lost almost nothing.
Other families lost everything
houses vital livestock, agricultural crops, particularly wheat.
And this was only a few days away from the first good harvest after F.
After four years of drought,
wheat that has now been harvested and it's
the foundation of food security in this country
and across the province, its roads, schools, health boats have been damaged
and really importantly, vital
irrigation systems have been either destroyed or rendered
assessment and data collection is a challenge, given the geographical spread
of the clash floods but also the remoteness
of many of the worst affected communities.
But let me share with you some of the latest numbers that
we, the humanitarian community, have settled more than 600 fatalities,
This the main floods hit,
um, in the afternoons, uh, where Children were out.
Almost 100 and 50,000 people directly
affected some 50,000 hectares of agricultural
land simply destroyed and now covered in deep inorganic flood sediment.
More than 20,000 livestock killed. Those estimates may be conservative
more than 100,000 orchard treats
vital again for both food security, but also for livelihoods just destroyed.
And as I said across the provinces, vital irrigation systems either destroyed,
and so other provinces outside the north and north east have been affected.
Yes, humanitarian agencies are responding,
reprogramming already tight resources,
additional funding is required
both for immediate life saving assistance to those worst affected,
for food, for shelter for health,
but also to replace lost livestock to repair
vital irrigation systems for summer crop planting season
And it's importantly to enable farmers to plant vital summer crops,
something that remains currently impossible
for hundreds of thousands of people.
We've unblocked more than 60 kilometres of canal just for diggers, et cetera,
and we've also helped communities dispose of dead livestock.
But they're still dead livestock. I saw them
uh, across the landscape and also working to keep sick animals alive.
But we need to do far more.
We found that also every other humanitarian agency that's working there,
Um, but it's a race against time.
the scale and destructiveness of these floods and I've worked for many years in
in sudden onset crisis sit
situations. But the scale is just it's it's numbing. The human,
um uh, impact is enormous.
So once again, the people of Afghanistan must not be forgotten. Thank you very much.
Thank you very much, sir. Indeed.
Let me see if there are questions in the room. I don't see any,
so I go to the platform. Lisa Schlein, Voice of America.
You have to unmute yourself.
OK, great. And good morning to you
and to you, Mr Trenchard,
Are women allowed to farm?
Uh, and, um, or are they delegated to their homes to, uh, other,
And if they are allowed to farm, then would you say that, uh,
they are in a better position than the women
who live in urban areas who are, uh, essentially consigned to their homes.
And then you talk about the funding
Is this a, uh, uh, a cause of other crises or a combination of
other crises and the situation of the Taliban ad hoc rulers in the country who are
not very, uh, kind, shall we say to women,
Children, education? Uh, very discriminatory. Thank you,
Thank you very much. Uh, two questions.
One on women's role in agriculture and secondly, on, uh, the funding situation.
Um, in Afghanistan, as in every country in the world,
women play an absolutely vital role in agriculture.
Of course, there are variations,
the country, uh, in some areas, uh, you'll see women very much active
in the fields, uh, working morning, afternoon and evening and other areas less. So,
um and that's not because of any restrictions.
That's because of culture, tradition and custom.
So in the South, you tend to see less women in
the fields. But you go to the north, you go to the east. Um,
you will. You'll see women, uh, in the fields involved in crop agriculture.
However, where women, all women across the country involves livestock.
It's the biggest single economic sector for employment sector for women.
Um, and also in, uh, backyard vegetable production. That's
vegetables typically for the family,
but also for local markets produced inside the compound.
there have been no restrictions on Afghan women
Um, and in fact, the authorities have encouraged us to increase our investment,
uh, the last two years in programmes that directly target women,
particularly in livestock, particularly in, uh, vegetable production.
Um, So, uh, the restrictions you refer to, uh,
largely do affect women in in urban areas, not in, uh,
now, as regards funding, I mean, there's I think there's two big drivers, uh,
one Of course, it's just the number of spiralling crises,
uh, across the world whether we talk about Gaza, Sudan but also mean Ukraine.
But also the other large crises Somalia DRC to name
Um, in the case of Afghanistan,
as well as the enormous overall humanitarian need reflected in in
a reduced but still a very large $3 billion plus HNRP.
we've also had a series of
unforeseen shocks earthquakes in Iraq to give you one example, uh, late last year.
the, uh, large unexpected returns from, uh, from Pakistan.
Uh, in late court, uh, late today, last year.
the obviously the international donor community was deeply
concerned by some of the restrictions that were,
um, announced, uh, firstly
on December 22 which banned Afghan
women from working from NGO S and then the extension of
these of these restrictions to the UN in April last year.
Um, there was obviously a lot of discussion around that, uh, a lot of scrutiny.
But the humanitarian community has shown that it can continue to, uh, to reach women
with women and also to operate in principled ways, uh,
in line with core humanitarian principles, but also reflecting other,
So I think the challenge for Afghanistan is less to do with the situation here.
I think the donor community has continued
and it is continued to support Afghanistan.
I think it's just personally,
I believe it's just the the pull of other crises around the world.
Thank you very much. Any other question
in the room or on the platform? I don't see any.
So I would like to thank very, very much Mr Trenchard
Good luck with your important work on the
and come back soon to brief us. Thank you.
I move now to the third of our topics today. Another crisis situation we've got
with us to tell us about the situation. Humanitarian situation in Sudan.
Uh, Alessandra. Good morning, everyone.
19 global humanitarian organisations,
including 12 UN agencies today warned that if they continue to
be prevented from providing aid in Sudan rapidly and at scale,
a famine will likely take hold in large parts of the country.
More people will flee to neighbouring countries.
Children will succumb to disease and malnutrition,
and women and girls will face even greater suffering and dangers.
The principles of the Inter Agency Standing Committee,
which is chaired by emergency relief coordinator Martin Griffiths,
said in a statement that time is running out for millions of people,
including 3.6 million acutely malnourished Children who are at risk of famine
and they are displaced from their lands,
living on bombardments and cut off from humanitarian aid.
is ravaged by war, of course,
and it is also home to the largest number of
internally displaced people in the world at nearly 10 million.
further 2 million people have fled to neighbouring countries. Already,
attacks against civilians, including sexual violence,
are multiplying and hospitals and schools are also coming under attack.
aid workers face systematic obstructions and deliberate denials
of access by parties to the conflict.
Movements across conflict lines to parts of Khartoum,
Darfur, Al Jazeera and Kordofan have been cut off since mid December.
In March and April of this year,
nearly 860,000 people were denied humanitarian aid in these areas.
The closure in February of the ad
border crossing from Chad to western
Darfur has reduced aid delivery in Darfur to a
Aid workers are also being killed, most recently on the 25th of May when a
staff member was killed when shelling hit his house in Al Fasher in
Other aid workers have been injured and
harassed and humanitarian supplies are being looted.
The inter agency Standing Committee principles urgently request
the parties to the conflict. To do the following.
Take immediate measures to protect civilians and
end sexual and gender based violence.
Facilitate humanitarian access through all possible
cross line and cross border routes.
Immediately cease denying, obstructing,
interfering with or politicising humanitarian action.
Simplify and expedite administrative and bureaucratic procedures.
De escalate the situation in Al
and adopt a nationwide ceasefire
and finally stop human rights violations and hold perpetrators to account.
The full statement is online and I sent it to you a little while ago.
Maybe just to remind that the journalist that yesterday
the resident and humanitarian coordinator for Sudan,
remanded all parties of their obligations
to avoid using explosive weapons in populated
areas and to take all feasible precautions
to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure.
so let me open the floor to questions
Not many questions this morning. Uh uh, Isabel. Isabel
Let me see. Isabel. If there is any question, particularly on Sudan,
see a couple of hands on the platform. Beza
Mine is not on Sudan as well. Sorry.
Lisa, do you have a question on Sudan?
Yes. Yes, I do. Go ahead.
My, my, my my pet crisis. Right.
what is the, uh what do you have to say about the situation in famine?
I mean, there there have been all kinds of awful,
uh uh, projections that it is here, or it is coming. And it is soon.
And then I I had read that, um
uh, a general of the, uh, Sudanese armed forces, uh,
had refused to go into negotiations with
the RSF. Uh, is that true? And if so, and what are the prospects of having any kind of
negotiation in the near future about, uh uh, I don't know,
cease fire ending this horrible war. Thank you.
Thank you. Uh, Lisa to take the last one first. Uh,
it is true to the extent that I have also seen that reported. But as far as I can go,
they, of course, maintain their own communications.
If that is indeed a position,
that's certainly not a position that we would like them to adopt.
We, of course, want these
generals to find a way to solve their
differences, not by violence that kills, maims, rapes.
What, not hundreds of thousands of people in Sudan, but do it
I think Mr Griffiths at one point said
that they'll have to fight it out among themselves
in terms of famine. It is something that is certainly on the horizon
with the conflict, which is now in its second year, from April, right
in the second year, we have eight
million people who are acutely hungry.
And as I mentioned, 3.6 million Children who are acutely malnourished
and acute malnourishment is really
the number is that they are
times more likely to die than Children who are not acutely malnourished.
the agency who has these numbers. But I believe that Is that is it
we still don't have. We are waiting
for an update on that which I
have been told is coming soon. But we also know that these food security experts
their time to do the analysis of the data that they have available.
Let me see if there are more questions.
Liza, you have a follow up?
what is the current situation in Al
Fasher is, uh are the, uh, rapid support forces making inroads in terms of, uh,
the city. And, uh, what about the general
for humanitarian agencies to the people in the really hostile areas, uh,
is is has it become almost impossible because of the
security situation? And, uh, sorry. Just one last thing, whether
possible to bring any kind of humanitarian aid from
has that essentially been
put out of line to things?
as a whole is really a flash point. There is extremely little access
Since mid February, the cross border movement from Chad has has come to a halt
is not open. And that's exactly why
the principles are calling
for all modalities cross border cross line from
wherever from space to get food and other
and other hot spots in Sudan.
we estimate that about 800,000 civilians are
bracing for an imminent large scale attack.
kind of the analysis that we have that we have seen.
It hasn't happened full scale yet, but that does not mean that fighting
I believe even today there are reports of renewed fighting in and around al
conditions for aid delivery. Well, it's very, very poor
and it's very, very dangerous,
as I just mentioned a few days ago, a
Sans Frontieres was killed in his home.
Other aid workers have been harassed, injured and so on,
so this, of course, needs to needs to stop.
It needs to be safe and secure for aid workers to operate,
and it needs to be safe and secure for people to receive the aid.
Um, any other questions to the end on this subject? Otherwise we'll go to Gaza.
I don't see any Hands up. So, Isabel,
Um, I would like to ask on the humanitarian access to Gaza.
Uh, because now we we know that the this floating dock or whatever is, um,
built by the Americans doesn't operate anymore. And
II I saw that, uh, some help is coming through the,
crossing point, but, uh, few few,
uh, supplies. And so is this,
getting to the people who has moved now from Rafa to towards the northern part of, uh,
you can explain generally what is now the the humanitarian situation. Thank you.
Yes, thank you very much. On the floating
dock Appear? I won't say much because, as you know, it's not a un
per SE. But of course, we have also said
that any and all ways of getting aid in is welcome. So when that
modality is currently not working, that's of course, bad news
saying. But it was never,
And it was never realistic to be a major or the major pipeline of aid in.
It would have been an addition.
And we keep emphasising that the only way to get aid
in at scale and at speed is through land crossings.
And that's where we have these problems and we need more of these
land crossing and we need them open and we need them safe for us
to pick up the aid when it's dropped off. And that leads me
to your second question about Karem
We continue to insist that Israeli authorities
obligation under the law to facilitate
delivery of aid does not stop at the border.
It does not stop when you drop off just a few metres across the border and then
drive away and then leave it to humanitarian to
drive through active combat zones which they cannot do
to answer your question, no, the aid that is getting in is not
We need that additional help if you like.
live up to their obligations under the law.
That is why we have notification and deconflicting measures and all that.
It is for them to live up to their
I think that is about what? What what I can say.
we need that safe and unimpeded access to get to the drop off
point so we can pick it up and get it to people.
So we can understand that people in Gaza civilians are not getting any food,
any water, anything that the essential supplies that they need to leave
I would say they are certainly not getting the amount that they
prevent the famine to prevent
all kind of horrors that, uh,
that we see. It's very, very little.
Um, if there are no other questions in the room,
let me go to the platform and baza had a question
Yes. Thank you. Good morning.
Actually, my question was similar.
So I would like to add on that question also,
how you evaluate the seizure of the Philadelphia Corridor by Israel.
How would affect the humanitarian assistance there? And
as you said even though the
efficient enough, and it's not reaching the people.
Can you give us the numbers as it's leaving the K
on the on the entry point like how many trucks entered these days?
And you know how many of them reach the people? And how many knots?
Can you give us a certain number on that?
Uh, there is a number here in the
Frankly, I'm not going to go into truck numbers right now because
we have said, and I have said from this podium a long time ago,
these truck numbers will never be able to make
them a line that the Israelis say something.
Trucks are being shifted from one fleet of trucks to another fleet of trucks.
Some is humanitarian, some is commercial.
Some are through crossing points where we have no access.
So it's almost a fool's game
to do this truck counting
the numbers of trucks humanitarian that we are tracking are online.
I think you all have the link where you can
and that is what we officially
Thank you. And I don't see
On UNRWA. Can you, uh, can you comment on the discussions in the Israeli parliament
a as a terrorist organisation?
yes, that is that is something that, of course, we have all seen in the news.
We are not going to comment on a bill has not been yet approved. It's a first reading.
we are not commenting specifically on that particular reading.
very vocal in every occasion as the Secretary General and all our senior officials.
And we have done it here from this podium so many times in the
which remains the backbone of the operations
of the humanitarian operations of the UN
in this region for the Palestinian refugees.
and we will see if this continues.
I don't see any other hand.
Uh, you wanna say something about Gaza? You have an update?
Do you want to sit on that side, Margaret?
Yeah, because I asked the other colleague already to.
has a follow up. Then let me let me go to to Margaret for WHO. And then I'll go.
Thanks. Yes, We've just got a post
monitoring survey conducted by the nutrition cluster. And it shows that
the dietary diversity, which basically means what
And it should be from eight identified food groups every day
and the 95 per cent of Children aged 6 to 23 months.
So that's basically the under fives are eating
two or less different food groups per day.
And but the thing that I found most shocking was 85 per cent of Children did
not eat for a whole day at least once in the three days before the survey.
So this was a snapshot survey.
They went around and asked,
and these are Children under five who are not getting food all day.
And that was in the last three days before the survey.
So you ask the suppliers getting through?
That's very clear. Stay there. Margaret
Maza has another follow up.
Uh, JI I just wanted you to, uh, return to the first part of the question.
Uh what is the seizure of Philadelphia Corridor
would mean for the humanitarian assistance in general
What did you say, sir? Nobody on this. The seizure or what?
The control of the Philadelphia Corridor is taken by Israel recently.
What would it mean for the humanitarian corridor?
Humanitarian assistance? Pardon me?
It's difficult to predict. As you know,
as we all know, it's a very dynamic situation on the ground,
with armed forces moving around to different
as an overall comment on that
more military action is not normally helpful for humanitarian action, is it?
military action to cease altogether.
We want a humanitarian pause,
and that is the only way we can actually do our jobs properly.
it's I don't see I had the hands up, so thank you very much, colleagues
for this, uh, updates. And, uh, let me introduce you on my left.
Gabriela is a disarmament demobilisation and reintegration
officer with the Department of Peacekeeping operations,
and she has an update on an event which is going to take place in Geneva very soon.
No, you have to push that.
So we all know conflict and post conflict environments
are volatile and that the more protracted the conflict,
the more complex the long term peace prospects.
Disarming and demobilising former
combatants provides immediate immediate security
to communities and reintegrating former members of armed groups,
be they men and women or young boys and girls back into civilian life,
provides them with pathways to a new life and supports long term stability.
we have the pleasure to host in Geneva the annual Symposium on Disarmament,
Demobilisation and reintegration,
known by its initials DDR.
This is the biggest meeting on DDR of the year bringing
together specialists from around the world within and beyond the UN,
including national and regional DDR actors.
You are all welcome to attend our high level opening event on
the morning of June 4th from nine until 1130 at the VAM
you can get a better understanding of DDR and
the important work it does to support peace.
DDR works across the entire peace continuum with UN entities, member states,
regional organisations and other partners,
preventing recruitment into armed groups,
mitigating threats posed by armed groups,
and supporting those who leave armed groups
to reintegrate back to families and communities.
Sometimes while conflict is still ongoing,
working directly with the perpetrators of violence and armed groups
is at the core of peace building and sustainable peace.
DDR is an important process comprised of increasingly diverse tools
that the UN can use to support entire regions,
countries and communities around the world to transit
to transition to a peaceful society,
DDR directly supports UN wide agendas like the women Peace
and security Agenda and the youth peace and security agenda.
the both the political and technical nature of
DDR allows it to support broader peace processes.
The United Nations Department of Peace Operations
and the UN Development Programme are co
organising this DDR symposium in high level
event with financial support from Switzerland.
Argos, chief of the DDR section at the UN Department of Peace Operations,
Boyer, the global advisor on Reintegration and DDR
at the United Nations Development Programme are both in Geneva
and available next week to speak more about the symposium.
In addition, experts from from some 20 countries also will be present,
including Burkina Faso, Colombia,
Central Africa, Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Haiti, Libya, Mali,
***, the Philippines, Ukraine and more
funds and programmes and strategic partners will also be in attendance.
If you would like to interview anyone, you or want to learn more,
please contact Ms Sarah Bell, the communications advisor at U NDP or MYSELF.
Gabriella Ginsberg Fletcher, the DDR programme officer with DPO
at the end of this week Long exchange.
The DDR community is aiming to propose AD DR pact for the future
which will signify our commitment to the Secretary General's new agenda for peace.
NDP and DPO will also be delighted to connect with the broader UN community and
after the event next week where we can share further insights from the week.
Any question to our colleagues of the peacekeeping operations in the room?
I don't see any online. Kathrine
Yes. Good morning, Alexandra. And good morning, Gabriela.
Thank you for being there this morning.
Could you please first send us your notes? It would be very useful.
Could you also please share with us? The list of participants?
You spoke about a list of experts from 20 countries.
It would be interesting to get their names and
And also you spoke about the beginning Tuesday, June 4th. I did not catch until when.
Um, that symposium is taking place, and my last question is, Do, um uh,
work in order to enter the symposium?
And would you be kind enough to put your, uh, contact details? Uh,
so we'll be able to contact you if needed. Thank you so much. Gabriella.
The the the, um, contact details will be in the in the advisory that we will.
I think Solange is is already distributed is distributing. But please, Gabriela,
if you can answer the other questions from
Thank you so much. So to clarify, our high level opening event is open to everyone.
It will start nine Coffee 9. 30 to 1130 at the V.
Be conference centre. This is off UN premises. So you do not need a UN badge to get in.
rest of the week long symposium is closed
for our DDR practitioners to reflect together.
uh, we can certainly share a list of participants.
Um, and I can coordinate that after the brief. Thank you.
So the badges there's no need for a badge
because the conference centre is off UN premises.
Bring your badge identification. So we know who you are, of course.
And the rest of the week, as I said,
is closed just for the participants of the DDR symposium.
Catherine, you have a follow up?
Yes, Alexandra. Thank you. So I'd like to understand a bit better.
So the first day is open.
So if we want, for instance, to to have
interaction with the experts, we only have access to them the first day. Is that
Is that how it would work?
You can coordinate with myself or Sarah,
and we can give you access throughout the week as well.
UN We we will be in touch.
I. I see Gabriella clapping. So, II, I hope it's you're happy about that. Good.
I would just like to get a bit of a clarification.
Why? An event on peacekeeping disarmament is closed.
We have a tradition here in the Palais of covering disarmament.
Many of us for many decades
where most sessions have been open to the press.
Who asked for these sessions to be closed?
The event is on disarmament, mobilisation, reintegration,
which is a little bit different than DDR.
And it's our annual symposium that we
do for our practitioners to reflect internally,
happy to speak offline about, uh, the format itself.
But the high level opening will be open to all.
And I saw Did I see your hand? Isabella, Uh,
I would like to know if, uh, apart from experts or people.
I mean, researching on the issue
you invite. Also a representative of armed groups that have been
We have representatives from national DDR commissions attending.
We have other events where we include representatives
as our ex combatants of armed groups,
But this event is not particularly for them.
All right, thank you very much, Gabriela, for coming in and telling us about this,
Catherine. Sorry, I see your hand up again.
So I'm sorry, because it's a last minute Gabriela
So will you share with us the entire programme,
even the one that we are not allowed to attend
because it would be useful to understand a bit better what it is about
and also to about the lists that you going to share with us.
Will it be the list of not only experts,
but also about the other categories of participants?
I will consult with my U NDP colleagues since this
is a joint event and we can share anything that,
thank you very much, Gabriela.
We'll wait for your The journalist will wait for the the
information. And Sarah can definitely.
Sarah has the list of our journalists and can definitely share
So thank you very much. Good luck for the symposium.
to the other. Uh, colleagues were also having announcements for you.
You have an announcements, Uh, on your ongoing events at the ITU.
At the moment, I can see your backdrop. Uh um, it's really nice
Thank you very much. Yeah.
Ongoing And also concluding, uh, two ITU events will be concluding today. Friday,
Uh, the Wiis plus 20 Forum high level event,
which is taking place at ITU headquarters
and the A I for good global summit, which is taking place at the conference C IC G.
At one o'clock today, we'll be hosting a press conference,
uh, at C IC G and with remote availability on brain machine interfaces.
That's, uh, slated to start at one
and should last to about two.
We really I really encourage reporters, uh,
to come a bit early to avoid what have been
somewhat long lines to get into the conference centre.
interesting technology and people to speak to here about a I for good global, uh,
summit, if you do come early,
we would also encourage you to if you have
not already to pick up your secondary badge,
uh, required to get in to C IC G for the event and also coming early.
Um, if possible, allows, um any sort of last minute rushes.
Um, beyond that, we'd expect to have two closing releases provided, uh,
to reporters today, one on on Wiis plus 20 forum high level event
and one on the A I for good global summit. Thanks for all those who have been,
with us showing expressing interest And one of the
things I might say listening to the briefing today and
the work that the United Nations does is to remind reporters that
the intent of of the A i for good global um,
summit is to demonstrate and to,
uh, uh, show how a I technology can support the UN sustainable development goals.
And one of the things that reporters would find
if they were here are a lot of technologies
that are being used and the types of scenarios
that colleagues are briefing on here be a humanitarian,
disaster relief and these types of scenarios where technology
is being used to to go to places where
that are quite forbidding for human beings and really
allowing organisations to do their work in precarious situations.
with that, we again invite you all here for, uh,
events later today and encourage you to just make sure that you have
your badges and that you're in the facility a little bit before time.
Thank you. I'm sorry. Thank you very much.
And I also like to remind you that we have distributed to you the
statement, the video message of the Secretary General to the
questions to David in the room
or on the platform. I don't see any good luck for the press conference,
David. Thank you very much.
And we have online. Claire. Claire Nunes
Claire, you also have an announcement of a press conference and report.
Yes, that's right. Good morning, everybody. Um
uh, the World Meteorological Organisation
will be issuing its next update on El Nino La Nina
on Monday. We'll send out a press release later today. Um, I
know you put a lot on your plate.
We'll send out a press release later today On on that, um,
it's embargoed for Monday morning at, um at 10 a.m. Geneva time.
And then on Wednesday, um,
the W World Meteorological Organisation will be releasing a
report. It's called the annual to
and it's the, um, temperature predictions for the, uh, forthcoming five years.
Um, it's a report that we compile together with, um you know,
long range forecasting centres, Uh, led by the U K's Met office.
we are releasing this report on Wednesday to coincide with the major
climate policy speech by the UN Secretary General in New York.
press conference, uh, with WMO Deputy Secretary General
Co Barrett and with one of our ex
um, at 3 p.m. Geneva time in in the Palais.
It will be embargoed, um,
to coincide with the delivery of the UN secretary General's remarks so
it won't be live casts on on on the UN TV.
Um, because, as I said, we are coordinating with,
um with the UN Secretary General's Office on this.
Um, we also hope to be joined by the Director of Europe's, uh,
Copernicus Climate Change Service.
Who will have their report, Um, for the temperatures over the past 12 months, which,
as we know, have been very, very high.
Um, we hope to send out all the materials under embargo, uh,
mon Monday afternoon or at the latest on Tuesday.
Yes, thank you very much.
And this gives me the opportunity to also inform you,
we will tell you more about this major speech of the Secretary General.
We are trying to see if there will be any
pre briefing to that to that speech.
And we will keep you informed on that and, if possible, send you
So any question on this matter to Claire,
I don't see any in the room or on the platform.
So thank you very much, Claire, for this update,
I also have a couple of announcements for you.
First of all, let me remind you that while the International Day for Peacekeeping
on the 29th, as you know,
we are celebrating here in Geneva today you can see my
and the theme for the day is fit for the future building better together.
You have definitely seen what the Secretary General said yesterday about
this important component of the UN operations,
and I hope that you will be coming today at three o'clock
at the memorial. In fact, we are discussing whether
the ceremony at the memorial in the Ariana Park or
in the Library Hall because of the weather being very uncertain but you
will come to the memorial and you will be told where to go
if we decide to move it inside.
So that's going to be this afternoon at 3 p.m.
not only will we have the president of the International Association of
Peace Soldiers with US and the ambassador and permanent representative of Nepal,
but for the first time, we will also have the representative of Swiss
in the Centre for Peace Operations outside Switzerland.
That will come with a high level representation,
a major general who will be speaking at the event.
Let me remind you also about our human rights committees, the committee and the
Elation and discrimination against Women,
which will close this afternoon at 5 p.m.
the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of all migrants,
workers and members of their family,
which will open next Monday at 10 a.m. its 88th session.
Countries to be reviewed are Turkey,
Senegal and Congo. These are the three countries
and then I have an announcement on behalf of the World Trade Organisation
The World Trade Organisation will welcome the
public to its headquarters in Geneva as part
of its activities to commemorate the 30th
anniversary of the creation of the organisation.
The open day offers an opportunity for visitors to learn about the work of WTO,
explore its historic building
and take part in various activities on the
lakeside terrace and inside the WTO building.
The opening ceremony will be held in the council room
and the addresses will be delivered by W
the General Council Chair, Ambassador Peter
of Norway and representative of Swiss authorities.
You don't need to register for this event. You just can go there
and there is a nice programme online
and this is all I had for you. I think I haven't forgotten anything
except that today is world no Tobacco Day, Margaret.
But we have extensively spoken about that. So I don't think there is much more to say.
And for Jamie and for myself and the other who like bicycles. The third of June,
the international community commemorates World Bicycle Day
if there are no other questions and I don't see any,
I thank you very much and wish you a
very good weekend and hope to see you this afternoon
for the peacekeepers ceremony. Thank you
