The United Nations Office at Geneva
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UN Geneva Press Briefing - 16 July 2024
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GENEVA PRESS BRIEFING
16 July 2024
Alessandra Vellucci, Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired a hybrid briefing, which was attended by spokespersons and representatives of the World Health Organization, the United Nations Human Rights, the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, and UNAIDS.
Health situation at the Chad-Sudan border
Dr. Shible Sahbani, World Health Organization (WHO) Representative to Sudan, calling from Port Sudan, said that the previous week he had been to Adré, in the Chad-Sudan border area, as part of a high-level WHO mission. The Sudan crisis was currently the worst displacement crisis in the world, with close to 13 million people in Sudan now displaced: more than 10 million of them dispersed in locations within the country and over two million were seeking shelter in neighbouring countries. The needs Dr. Sahbani had witnessed were heartbreaking: women and children spoke of hunger, illness, violence, and loss, exposed to the elements and with scarce supplies of basic necessities. The refugees he had met said there were multiple reasons why they had fled Sudan, but it was primarily hunger.
The Chad government and the people of Adré had been welcoming, but this system was overstretched. Arriving refugees said that whatever they used to produce locally in their communities had been taken by fighters. The Government of Chad and the host communities were all very welcoming, but the system was truly overwhelmed. Chadians who had welcomed Sudanese refugees in their homes often did not have anything left to share with them. Dr. Sahbani explained that the Darfurs, Kordofans, Khartoum and Al Gezira states were all but cut off from humanitarian and health assistance due to the relentless fighting. The situation in Darfur was particularly alarming, where in places like El Fasher, over 800,000 people were besieged and cut off from access to food, health care and medical supplies.
Access was crucially and immediately needed in order to avert the disastrous health situation, stressed Dr. Sahbani. Urgent action was needed to bridge the huge funding gap – the Humanitarian Response Plan for Sudan was only 26 percent funded, and the health response plan was 36 percent funded. The rainy season in Sudan and neighbouring countries, which had just started, would further exacerbate challenges in accessing healthcare for affected populations, and it would also impact the ability of WHO and its partners to deliver humanitarian assistance. Urgent action and a ceasefire are necessary to contain the unfolding humanitarian catastrophe. Open access from Adré was immediately needed. Protection of civilians, respect for international humanitarian law by all parties, and unrestricted access were all required.
Replying to questions from the media, Dr. Sahbani said that there were good signs from the parties regarding access, but this was not consistent, and continuous advocacy with all warring parties and international partners was necessary. Ceasefire would be the best solution, but in its absence, a humanitarian corridor should be established. OCHA staff were doing their best negotiating with various belligerents to gain access to El Fasher, informed Dr. Sahbani; for the time being, signs were not indicating that the situation would improve soon. The Geneva talks, which were currently ongoing, gave some promising signs; protection of civilians and humanitarian access were two main objectives, explained Dr. Sahbani. There were reports of 500 to 700 Sudanese refugees still arriving to Chad every day, and the resources were woefully inadequate despite the good will by the Government of Chad and local host communities.
Regarding the talks in Geneva, Alessandra Vellucci, for the United Nations Information Service, said that Ramtane Lamamra, the Personal Envoy of the Secretary General, had interacted with both Sudanese delegations in Geneva over the previous weekend, and the proximity talks were continuing this week. Also answering a question, Ms. Vellucci confirmed that the Personal Envoy was working closely with the African Union, and their efforts were complimentary.
Institutionalized forced labour in North Korea
Elizabeth Throssell, for the United Nations Human Rights (OHCHR), informed that the OHCHR had released a report on the institutionalized use of forced labour by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) against its citizens, which raised a broad range of serious human rights concerns. The report was based on various sources, including 183 interviews conducted between 2015 and 2023 with victims and witnesses of forced labour who had managed to escape and now live abroad. The testimonies in this report gave a shocking and distressing insight into the suffering inflicted through forced labour upon people, both in its scale, and in the levels of violence and inhuman treatment.
People were forced to work in intolerable conditions, often in dangerous sectors with the absence of pay, free choice, ability to leave, protection, medical care, time off, food and shelter. They were placed under constant surveillance, regularly beaten, while women were exposed to continuing risks of sexual violence. The report looked at six distinct types of forced labour: labour in detention, compulsory State-assigned jobs, military conscription, the use of revolutionary “Shock Brigades”, work mobilizations (see below), and work performed by people sent abroad by the DPRK to earn currency for the State. The report called on the North Korean Government to abolish the use of forced labour and end any form of slavery. It also urged the international community to investigate and prosecute those suspected of committing international crimes, and it called on the UN Security Council to refer the situation to the International Criminal Court.
James Heenan, OHCHR Representative in Seoul, speaking from Seoul, stated that perhaps the most concerning was forced labour extracted from people in detention, be it education camps or prisons or political prison camps. Detainees were systematically compelled to work under the threat of punishment, including physical violence. They did so in inhumane conditions, with no choice, little food, scarce health care and disproportionate work quotas. OHCHR had also found forced labour in the system of military conscription. Military conscripts were required to serve ten years or more and were routinely forced to work in agriculture or construction – usually with little or no link to their military duties. Work was hard, dangerous and exhausting, with few health and safety measures, a lack of adequate food and water, and insufficient healthcare. A former nurse working in a military hospital reported that most soldiers with malnourishment also came down with tuberculosis. After people left military service or schooling, every North Korean was assigned to a workplace by the State. The Workers’ Party of Korea had full and exclusive control over all job assignments, which included assignments to factories, mines, and construction facilities.
Mr. Heenan explained about the other type of forced labour discussed in the report, the so-called “Shock Brigades”, which were State-organized groups of citizens forced to carry out arduous manual labour that were sent often far from their homes to complete particular projects under State supervision. A project could last for months or even years, during which workers were required to live on site, with little or no remuneration. The conditions described in the Shock Brigades were alarming: little concern for health and safety, scarce food, even scarce shelter in some cases, with punishment for failure to meet quotas. The report also looked at the situation of overseas workers: those North Koreas that the Government sent abroad to earn valuable foreign currency for the State. Workers sent abroad reported harsh conditions and hard, dangerous work, as well as losing up to 90 per cent of their wages to the State, being under constant surveillance, with no freedom of movement.
Full report is available here.
Responding to questions, Mr. Heenan said that it was impossible to estimate the percentage of people affected by forced labour. It could be said that forced labour affected most people in the country, and the OHCHR wanted to put spotlight on both the scale and institutionalization of it. Historically, many North Korean workers had worked in Russia, but it was not known how many might still be there; a number of workers in some countries had been converted to people with student visas. It was more likely than not that forced labour in DPRK was also used to manufacture arms. As per established practice, the report had been shared with the DPRK authorities, but no comments had been received. The laws in the country provided quite a lot of protection against forced labour, but they were simply not implemented. North Korean workers going abroad, primarily to China and Russia, had been an established practice for many years; other workers included construction workers in the Middle East, medical staff across Africa, etc. Following the 2017 international sanctions, some individuals had been stuck in their destination countries, lost their jobs, but were still expected to send money back to their home country.
Cote d’Ivoire joins the UN Water Convention
Thomas Croll-Knight, for the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), stated that, faced with increasing water stress and climate change impacts on the water resources it shared with its neighbours, Cote d’Ivoire had joined the United Nations Water Convention, a UN treaty to improve joint water management across borders. It was the 53rd Party to the Convention and 10th African country to join the 1992 Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes, known as the 1992 UN Water Convention. This further consolidated the strong momentum for water cooperation in Africa, where over 90 percent of water resources were in 63 basins shared by two or more countries.
Cote d’Ivoire, the 9th largest economy in Africa and 5th fastest growing economy on the continent, shared eight transboundary river basins with its neighbours. Meeting the water needs of the country’s population of some 30 million people, which was growing by 2.5 percent annually, brought significant challenges: its water resources were threatened by urbanisation, climate change impacts including drought and flooding, while water quality was deteriorating due to pollution from agricultural, industrial waste, illegal gold panning, and untreated wastewater.
Mr. Croll-Knight stressed that cooperation was indispensable to address Africa’s water challenges. He reminded that, since the global opening of this treaty to all UN Member States in 2016, Chad, Senegal, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Togo, and Cameroon had become the first African nations to accede, before being joined by five countries in 2023 – Nigeria, Namibia, and the Gambia, in addition to Iraq and Panama who had become the first Parties in their respective regions. Over 20 more were in the process of joining, the majority of which are in Africa. According to the African Development Bank, one in every three people in Africa currently faced water insecurity, and only 58 percent of Africans had access to safely managed drinking water services, and 72 percent of people lacked basic sanitation services. Water, however, also had huge transformational potential, considering less than 5 percent of cultivated land was irrigated today and only 10 percent of hydroelectricity potential in Africa was utilized.
More information about the Convention is available here.
Global AIDS Update Report
Ben Phillips, for UNAIDS, informed that the Global AIDS Update Report would be launched on 22 July on the State of the epidemic with new global data. The report “The Urgency of Now: AIDS at a Crossroads”, just ahead of the 25th International AIDS Conference in Munich, would demonstrate that ending AIDS as a public health threat was achievable by 2030 but that success was being threatened by pushes to reduce funding and to restrict human rights. The report and all data could be provided to the journalists under embargo in advance.
The HIV response was at a crossroads: success or failure would be determined by which path leaders took. The report would show that the decisions leaders made this year would determine whether AIDS was ended as a public health threat by 2030. Taking the wrong path, by limiting resourcing or clamping down on human rights, would lead the pandemic to continue to grow, costing millions more lives and undermining global health security. Mr. Phillips stressed that this was the critical moment in the HIV/AIDS pandemic, but everything depended on leaders taking the necessary action this year.
Press launch of the report would take place at 10 am on 22 July at the International Press Club at Marienplatz 22/IV in Munich. This press conference would be immediately followed by another conference focused on Eastern Europe and Central Asia, the region where AIDS deaths were going up. For journalists wishing the join, here was the link, and Zoom details:
Meeting ID: 831 3456 8680; Passcode: 004056. Materials would be available in English, French, Spanish, Russian, and German.
Individual briefings with interested journalists in Geneva could be organized, said Mr. Phillips responding to a question.
Announcements
Alessandra Vellucci, for the United Nations Information Service (UNIS), reminded the media that the second meeting of the Preparatory Committee for the 2026 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) would be held in Room XIX of the Palais des Nations from 22 July to 2 August. The Chair-designate of the second session was Ambassador Akan Rakhmetullin of Kazakhstan. At this second Preparatory Committee meeting, States parties would consider specific matters of substance relating to the implementation of the Treaty and relevant decisions. The opening meeting would start in at 10 am on 22 July. The Chair-designate would hold a press conference the same day at 1:15 pm.
She also informed that on 18 and 19 July, the Human Rights Council would hold an intersessional meeting to discuss concrete ways to enhance the participation of Indigenous Peoples in the work of the Council. The meeting would gather UN entities, international organizations, Indigenous Peoples, and civil society organizations. Another intersessional meeting on the same subject would be held on 17-18 October. Following these two intersessional meetings, the meeting co-facilitators would work with OHCHR to prepare a report that would include specific recommendations.
Ms. Vellucci said that the Human Rights Committee was continuing this morning its review of the report of India.
This morning, the Committee against Torture was reviewing the report of Côte d’Ivoire.
Teleprompter
Good morning.
Welcome.
Today's Tuesday, 16th of July here in Geneva.
Let's start the press briefing of the UN Information Service.
And I like to go straight to, we've got quite a few guests today and I'd like to start with WHO Christian is online.
He brought us Doctor Shibley Sabani, who is The Who representative to Sudan and who is connecting from Port Sudan.
Christian, I don't know if you want to start with Doctor Sabani.
You are here to update us on the health situation at the Chad, Sudan border.
I don't know who would like to start.
Christian, I see you have open your mind, Mick.
So maybe you want to go ahead, but we can't hear you.
No, it's OK.
OK.
So let's start directly with Doctor Sabani.
So you have the floor for your introductory remarks.
Thanks.
Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen, Good morning from Port Sudan where I'm now.
I want just to give you an update about the findings and also some facts and thoughts with regards to the outcome of my visit to the borders between Chad and, and, and Sudan, where I was last week with the delegation from the African region, WHO African Regional Office, but also the Eastern Mediterranean, Mediterranean region, Emerald during during that that visit, the objective was to assess the needs of the refugees, the Sudanese refugees who are based on the borders between Charter and Sudan.
But also to through the discussion with these refugees, to understand better the situation in their force and inside Sudan in general.
And to understand better how we can help them, how we can support them in terms of of basic health services, but also the protection of the health facilities, the health care in general and protection of civilians.
As a reminder, Sudan crisis is the worst displacement crisis in the world now with around 13 million people displaced, over 10 million are internally displaced populations and over 2 million are seeking refuge, refuge in neighbouring countries, including Chad that hosts over 700,000 refugees.
So the objective of this mission was also to see how we can scale up, scale up our response, not only as WHO but also with with our partners there in terms of providing additional supplies through cross-border.
Also to assess the situation of the disease outbreak, including the measles, because we got reports about certain infectious diseases and and the increase was reported by different partners.
And also to coordinate better the service delivery inside Sudan in the Darfur's mainly, but also in the court of funds in Khartoum, in Al Jazeera, which are completely cut off from humanitarian assistance due to the escalating violence inside inside Sudan.
So during, during our our mission, I, I had the opportunity to meet with different refugee refugees coming Sudanese refugees coming from from the Darfur's and the court of funds.
And what's what I saw mirrored exactly what I witnessed before while talking with some ID PS inside inside Sudan.
They reported deaths, loss of lives, loss, loss of belongings, hunger, diseases, a lack of access to basic services, but also violence, including sexual violence.
And all this led to a massive influx of refugees in the neighbouring countries included, including Chad.
But one common thing that I, I saw that there when I discussed with different categories of refugees is that the main reason they left Sudan now is hunger is famine.
And this is the main reason why they left.
They said it's not insecurity, it's not lack of access to basic services, but because we have nothing to eat there.
And I was really shocked when I was discussing with one woman who said that whatever we use to produce locally there to eat was taken by fighters.
So we have no choice either to, to leave the country.
And she, she flew the, she flew Darfur to come to Chad.
She worked for three days with her children with no food during the three days.
And this is something that was really shocking, shocking for me.
So of course, the, the, the host community in Chad and also the Chad government, they were very generous.
They welcomed the refugees.
They opened their, they opened their homes, their systems, but you know, the systems were already over, over stretched and they tried to share whatever they have.
But at a certain point now the system is really overwhelmed.
I talked with some some Chileans on the borders who said that they welcomed the families in their homes, but at a certain point they have nothing to share.
They were already in a very bad situation even before, before the the crisis.
So the, the, the situation is therefore for the fans in Jazeera.
Khartoum is really bad and it's even worsening.
And without access to very urgent humanitarian access, it will be a disaster there.
So our call is to to advocate more for allowing access of humanitarian aid into this this areas.
And here I want to highlight the situation in Alfashire where around 800,000 people are completely besieged there with no access of humanitarian, humanitarian aid, including the the health urgent health, health assistance.
So the the second, the second issue that we are facing, you know, now we are almost mid-july, meaning that almost seven months since the beginning of the year and the funding for the humanitarian response plan is only at 26% and for health is 36%.
It means that this humanitarian response is really underfunded and we need to make more efforts, more advocacy with our partners, with our donors to get more attention for this crisis that again, it's one of the worst crisis in, in the world.
And to mention also that the rainy season has just become just started, sorry.
And the, the access will be even worsening.
And here the, the, the, the cross-border operations from Chad will be really a big challenge for us if the authorities cannot allow us to go through ADRE now, the only access that is allowed is through teeny, but it's not enough.
It's not enough.
With the rainy season, it will not be possible to go through that way.
So we need to advocate more to have Open Access from ADRE to be able to respond to the needs of those who are affected by this crisis.
Just in terms of summary, we have four or five tasks.
The first one is protection of civilians.
The second one is the respect of the international humanitarian law, including the respect of the health care, the health facilities, the health, the health, the health workers.
And we noticed recently an increase on health attacks.
We are asking also for an increase of the humanitarian response funding.
And the last one is access, access and access.
Again, without allowing access of humanitarian aid, the situation will not be better in in, in Sudan.
Thank you very much.
And I'm ready for your question.
Thank you very much, Sir.
Thanks.
I'll open now unless Christian wants to add something, but I don't think so.
Let's open the floor to questions in the room.
Any question to the doctor.
I don't see any hand up.
So let me see on the platform I see Lisa, Lisa Schlein, Voice of America.
Lisa, you have the floor.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Good morning.
OK.
I understand your plea for access, but how do you get that?
I mean, do you have any kind of interaction, any dialogue at all with the warring parties?
I my, my assumption is that it's members of the Rapid Support Forces who are mainly an obstacle to the Axis.
Is that correct?
Could you elaborate upon that?
And if you do not get this access, then then what?
I mean, what are the consequences, Doctor Semani?
Yeah, thank you very much.
This is a very valid question, very relevant question.
You know, a few weeks ago, we were in the same situation and we tried to do advocacy.
I was personally in Geneva where I met with different, different partners there, including Sudan Minister of Health and his delegation and with other parties.
We got, we got good signs.
As we speak now, I have 7 trucks moving from from port of fans towards Darfur.
They were released just yesterday.
They were stuck in a depot for almost, I mean for a few weeks there for almost one month.
And I just yesterday we got the approval to have them move in towards, towards that.
We have good signs from the other side also for cross-border operations.
And we have the deputy humanitarian coordinator who is now in Darfur was able to cross the borders between Chad and, and and Sudan.
This means that we have good signs from the different parties, but it's not enough again, because we have to deal with the cases on ad hoc basis.
But this is not the best way to do that.
We need more advocacy in the country with the different belligerents, but we need also advocacy with the big, big countries, with those who have a certain influence on, on, on, on, on the situation in, in, in Sudan.
Now to, to answer also your question.
I mean, there are always other, other solutions.
Ceasefire is the best one, of course.
But if we cannot get ceasefire, at least we need to open the humanitarian corridors to be able to deliver.
If not, we have to think about alternative solutions.
Sometimes it can goes till the air drop of the supplies, but it's not the best solution for the time being.
OK, I'm sorry, Jeremy, Launch Radio France International.
You just want to to go back to the situation in El Fascia.
You you mentioned that the the place is besieged.
800,000 people are besieged in El Fascia.
Can you elaborate a bit more?
What does it mean exactly?
Doctor Sabani, go ahead.
We answer every question in press conference mode.
Yes.
Should I go ahead?
Yes, please.
Yeah, Yeah.
Thank you very much for for your question.
Yes, the situation in Fisher is really concerning for all of us.
And this is not something that happened yesterday.
I mean, for a few days or even few weeks, the the fights between SAF, RSF, but also with other belligerents made access to Al Fisher completely impossible.
Fortunately for for WHO we had some supplies which were stockpiled inside the freshers.
We were able to to deliver certain supplies to some hospitals there.
But it's not, it's not enough and it's not sustainable.
Now of course our colleagues from Ultra are doing their best to negotiate with the different belligerence to have access there.
But again, it's it's on ad hoc basis.
The 800,000 people there lack access to health services, but also they lack access to other basic needs like food, water, protection and, and everything.
So, So we don't know what would be the the situation in the coming in the coming days.
But for the time being, the signs that we have is that the situation will not improve in the in the short term unfortunately.
But we are trying to negotiate.
As I said, we have now 7 tracks going towards Darfur, including Alfascia.
But again, we have to negotiate on case by case basis.
Thank you, Emma Farge, Reuters.
Good morning.
Since you mentioned the Geneva talks, I was wondering if you could elaborate a little bit more on what you were asking for at the talks and are you hopeful how promising that they're looking?
Thank you.
Yeah, thank you for this question.
Yes, Geneva talks are on a good one as we speak now and we have, as they say them, based in Port Sudan now.
But we have our daily updates regarding the discussions that are going from yesterday.
There are few promising signs.
What we are asking for are two main things.
The first one is protection of civilians.
The second one is humanitarian access.
Of course, when we talk about protection of civilians, it includes also the protection of our respect of international humanitarian law, including opening access to, to basic services and the protection of healthcare.
Now, I'm not sitting there, I cannot give you much more details, but the, the, the, the daily updates that we are getting is that it can be promising.
Let's wait for the coming hours days and we hope that we can get if we don't get ceasefire at least we can get the protection of civilians and opening of humanitarian be doors for you monitor and access of our aid.
Thank you very much.
Lisa, you have a follow up.
Yes, I do.
How many refugees are arriving on a daily basis approximately?
And I'm wondering whether I think there have been reports in the past that a number of them are being prevented from leaving, being out of fascia.
Is that the case?
And what about the situation with the communities?
Is hostility growing as sorry resources are are getting scarcer and sorry about that.
Lastly, I have read reports that because the refugees weren't getting the aid they need and Chad, that they were going to other countries further afield.
Could you talk about that?
Thank you.
Yeah.
So thank you for the question.
First of all, with regards to figures, again, I'm I'm the WTO representative in Sudan.
I gave you the the general figures which are over 10 million who are displaced internally and over 2 million who are, who are either refugees or asylum seekers in the neighbouring countries.
In chart, there are over 700,000 people.
During my mission in chart last week, we met with different authorities who mentioned between 500 and 700 refugees on daily basis who are arriving to to charge.
Still not a lot of them they are they are registered as refugees.
The process is ongoing there including provision of certain services.
But to answer your second question, now, the resources are very scarce as they said are the Chad and the Chad government and the local authority.
It is they were very generous.
They opened their system, their houses and so on to share whatever they have.
But the situation there is not much better than than other places.
I cannot talk about the other countries that I didn't visit, but I can tell you that last year I was also in Central Africa Republic that is also hosting part of the refugees coming from Sudan and the situation is not better there.
Umm, I mean, the situation is really, really bad and it's heartbreak to see, uh, the situation of refugees, umm, uh, now with regards to the situation in Sudan, yes, when we met with the refugees, umm, we discussed also the situation, what led them to flee Sudan and what's the situation in Sudan in general, but also with regards to access to health services and all of them, they, they say that the situation is worsening day after day.
But we can understand that if we don't have humanitarian access to these areas, we cannot improve the situation.
We are ready to move either from from Farshana Adre to cross-border or even from Port Sudan through across line.
But again, if we are not granted access to these areas, we are very limited in terms of improving the living conditions of these populations.
Thank you very much.
So then, yeah, I don't see other questions for you.
So thanks for this update and good luck.
I hear some voices.
Is that Christian?
No.
OK.
So thank you very much and good luck with your work.
Thank you very much for briefing us here in Geneva.
And now I move to my right.
I've got with me Liz Throssell for OHCHR.
Liz has brought us her colleagues colleague James Henan, who's the representative of the UN Human Rights Office in Cebu.
So he's calling in from Cebu and this is about a report on the situation for said labour in North Korea.
Do you want to start, please?
Yes, I will.
Oh, sorry.
Just before we start, Catherine, is that a question for Doctor Sabani?
I saw your hand before and then he disappeared and he came back again.
But before we start with North Korea, is that something you wanted to ask?
I can't hear you.
I'm sorry.
Maybe you want to put this in writing?
Excuse me, Yes, go ahead.
Now we can hear you.
What did you say?
And, and also the fact that UN organises proximity talks in Geneva and that other talks are organised by the African Union at the same time in Addis Ababa.
What does it mean?
Is there a problem of coordination between African Union and the United Nations?
I think there's no problem with Kardashian.
Can you repeat the first part of your question?
We didn't hear it at all.
Hello.
Do you hear me?
Maybe there's a problem of can you, do you hear me?
Hello.
OK, Katherine, I think we have a problem of audio and I'll ask my colleagues to maybe we, we can take this offline because we, you can't hear us and we, we don't hear you well.
So let me go back to, to Liz and I'll take Katherine's question afterwards.
And maybe Liz, let's start with the North Korea and thank you very much to your colleague to be for being with us.
OK, yes, good morning everyone.
The UN Human Rights Office has today released a report on the institutionalised use of forced labour by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea against its citizens, which raises a broad range of serious human rights concerns.
The report is based on various sources, including 183 interviews conducted between 2015 and 2023 with victims and witnesses of forced labour who managed to escape and now live abroad.
The testimonies in this report give a shocking and distressing insight into the suffering inflicted through forced labour on people, both in its scale and in the levels of violence and in human treatment.
People are forced to work in intolerable conditions, often in dangerous sectors, with the absence of pay, free choice, ability to leave protection, medical care, time off, food and shelter.
They're placed under constant surveillance, regularly beaten, while women are exposed to continuing risks of sexual violence.
The report looks at six distinct types of forced labour, labour in detention, compulsory state assigned jobs, military conscription, the use of revolutionary shock brigades, work mobilisations and work performed by people sent abroad by the DPRK to earn currency for the state.
The report calls on the North Korean government to abolish the use of forced labour and end any form of slavery.
To ensure accountability, The report urges the international community to investigate and prosecute those suspected of committing international crimes.
It also calls on the UN Security Council to refer the situation to the International Criminal Court.
As the **** Commissioner said, economic prosperity should serve people, not be the reason for their enslavement.
Decent work, free choice, freedom from violence and just and favourable conditions of work are all crucial components of the right to work.
They must be respected and fulfilled in all parts of society.
For more on the report, now over to James Heenan, who is, as Alessandra said, the representative at the UN Human Rights Office in Seoul, which focuses on human rights in the DPRK.
James, over to you.
Thank you, Liz and good evening from from Seoul.
Let me let me briefly go deeper into the forms of forced labour that we've identified in DPRK, North Korea.
As we say, perhaps the most concerning is the forced labour extracted by people in detention, be it education camps or prison camps or political prison camps.
Detainees are systematically compelled to work under ****** of punishment, including physical violence.
They they they live in inhumane conditions with no choice little little food, a scarce health care and disproportionate work quotas.
One woman who was subjected to forced labour as a pretrial detainee said if I failed to meet my daily quota, all 8 persons in my cell were punished.
We might be punished with additional work hours or a bigger quota to fill, unquote.
Within this context of detention, given the almost total control of the state over the lives of detainees and the widespread extraction of forced labour in these prisons, it in some instances reaches the level of effective ownership of these individuals, which is an element of the crime against humanity of enslavement.
We also found forced labour in the system of military conscription.
Military conscripts are required to serve up to 10 years in in service and are routinely work forced to work in agriculture or in in construction.
Industries are usually little or no link to military activity.
Work is hard, dangerous, exhausting, with very few, again very few, health and safety measures, a lack of food, and sometimes even a lack of shelter.
A nurse who is working in a military hospital told us that most soldiers came into the clinic malnourished and then came down with tuberculosis because they were so physically weak and tired from this work.
After leaving military service or, or for most women, leaving school.
Every North Korean is assigned a state, a state assigned job.
The Workers Party of Korea has full control and exclusive control over all job assignments to factories, mines and so forth.
Again victims reported an absence of free choice obviously, but also a lack of ability to to to collectively bargain, a lack of ability, a ****** of imprisonment or violence for failure to attend work or or if they were complaining about the non payment of wages and this effects millions upon millions of North Koreans.
Moreover, state state assigned employment is also a means for political coercion and education the population through through indoctrination sessions and self criticism sessions.
Another form of forced labour we looked at were the shock brigades, which are state organised groups of citizens forced to carry out carry out arduous manual labour is a sort of idea of heroic labour for the state.
These people are often sent very far from their homes to complete projects from the state supervision.
It can go on for months, It can go on even for years during which workers are required to live on site with little of no remuneration.
The conditions described in the shop brigades are indeed shocking.
Little concern for health or safety, scarce food, scarce shelter and punishment for failure to meet quotas.
This also occurs more locally in towns and neighbourhoods in in more localised forms of work mobilisation, which again effects almost every person in the country.
I'd also say about the, the, the, the shock brigades.
One person said to us, if I didn't run away, I would have been left there for years.
Finally, we looked at the situation of overseas workers.
DPRK has for decades sent North Koreans abroad to earn valuable foreign currency for the state.
Those workers who are looking for this sort of work because of the hardship at home, go abroad and discover very harsh conditions, hard and dangerous work, and they lose.
They've reported to us losing up to 90% of their wages to the state while being under constant surveillance with no freedom of movement, passports confiscated, cramped living conditions, no time off.
Most of them would tell us that they had one maybe 2 days off a month.
The report also looks at the gender impact of these these forms of forced labour.
For example, women who are often the primary breadwinners in North Korea when they're drafted into forced labour.
The forced labour comes on top of the of their caring responsibilities and the sort of gender stereotype society and also their responsibilities to bring money into the home and also on children.
There's a very, very worrying, I would say appalling situation of child labour in DPRK facilitated through the school system.
Children as young as 10 drafted into forced labour and the report calls makes a number of recommendations but obviously calls for the eradication of all these forms of forced labour in DPRK.
Thanks Liz.
Thank you very much for this polling information.
James.
I'll open now the floor to questions.
Jeremy launch Radio France International Hi you you, you mentioned the scale of forced labour in in in North Korea.
Can you give us, do you have any idea how big this is?
How many people in North Korea are subjected to, to false labour?
Can you say like it's 50% of the population less, more like do you have any idea, James?
Yes, we've, we've, we've had this question.
It's, it's impossible to, to come up with that figure, particularly now because the country is essentially hermetically sealed.
There's, there's very few people with access to the country.
But historically we would say that overseas workers, there were 10s of thousands of workers in foreign countries in Asia and Europe and Africa.
But then at home, when you when you look at the forced labour aspects of state assigned employment and you remember that every North Korean has state assigned employment, I think it's fair to say that forced labour touches the lives of almost almost everyone in the country.
We're also, when you take into account the size of the armed forces of almost half a million.
I'm not saying that all of them are subjected to forced labour, but a large number of them are.
So it's the scale of it that we're drawing attention to today and the institutionalisation of it.
The fact that there is, it's part of the way in which the state is organised.
Yeah, I'm Afarge, Reuters.
Morning.
Thanks for that.
There have been reports about North Korea exporting arms produced from forced labour and also forcibly sending workers to Russian occupied territories in Ukraine.
Have you had any signs, Do you have any signs of North Korean labour being exploited by by Russia or other countries?
And do you have any reaction to these reports circulating?
Thanks a lot.
So, so those those reports are recent because the country has been closed since COVID, since 2020.
It's very difficult to verify those reports.
Historically, we know that there were many workers working in Russia under a work agreement.
They were supposed to return to DPRK with the 2017 Security Council sanctions.
Many of them were stuck in in Russia and in many other countries because of the COVID closures.
We're not really aware of what's happened to those workers and we're not aware of new workers having been sent.
What we are aware of is that a number of workers were converted or anecdotally were converted to student visas in some countries.
But in terms of that's in terms of the overseas workers, in terms of the manufacture of armaments, we, we, we don't have specific examples of people who could say that they were working in an arms factory.
But the way in which the system works institutionalised, we would have to say that it's more likely than not that forced labour is also used in in the manufacture of armies.
Thank you very much, Emma.
Is that a no?
OK.
So let me go to Lisa Schlein.
Thank you.
Yes, good morning.
Do you have any communication at all with any of the officials in North Korea?
I was wondering whether you have actually sent them the report, whether they have well read it or at least made any kind of a, a response or reaction to that.
And then I think you have a whole list of recommendations.
I don't know what are what are some of your principal ones and what what is your position on sanctions?
Do they work or do they make the situation even worse for the people inside North Korea?
Or from the way you describe it, maybe nothing.
Nothing can get worse anyway.
Thank you.
So our reports are always sent to member States when they are the, they are the concerned state.
This report was sent to DPRK.
They didn't comment.
They they said that they don't recognise the mandate of our office.
Our office here in Seoul was specifically set up to monitor even rights in DPRK after the commissioner inquiry 10 years ago.
But my colleagues in Geneva and other parts of the UN, particularly my colleagues in Geneva, do do talk to DPRK.
And the UN, as just as with every member state, takes A2 track approach in human rights.
We, we, we monitor and we report that we also engage and we hope that engagement will improve some of these issues.
Now there's quite a lot of issues here, but for example, the laws of the DPRK are that bad.
The laws on the books provide quite a lot of protections against forced labour, but they're just not implemented.
And that that potentially gives an opening for some, some, some, some joint approach with the UN, which is what we hope.
But for now, they're fully aware of these concerns that have been raised.
And the the strength of this report is that it is based on a large number of interviews and based on first hand information.
We don't base it on other information on the recommendations.
There's a large number of recommendations because there's a large number of types of forced labour.
We, we, we call for essentially for the eradication of these practises.
We call for the ability of people to complain.
We call for accountability for those involved potentially in criminal behaviour.
We call for referral to the ICC where it amounts to a crime against humanity.
But we also call for, you know, things like supply chain due diligence on the international community to make sure that based on the guiding principles on business and human rights, you know, member states are are careful not to be complicit in in these violations by having goods essentially made using forced labour.
It's a very difficult process, made more difficult by the fact that the panel of experts and DPRK was shut down in April.
That was a panel on the sanctions community that gathered information on, on, on, on, on exports and so forth.
But it's still incumbent on member states to exercise this due diligence.
I would say that's a very key recommendation on sanctions.
I mean, multilateral sanctions are agreed by the international community.
The impact of sanctions is very clear from the Committee on Economic and Social Rights that member states have an obligation to, to, you know, respect to, to, to respect the rights that they've signed on to, not just in their own countries, but when they apply sanctions towards other countries.
And that's the position, that's the position of, of, of the office.
Do they work or not?
I mean, that's a very complex question because we see that DPRK is is is is essentially devoting quite a lot of resources towards creation of weapons and so forth.
But we still have these levels of poverty and discrimination, which I haven't mentioned much today, which, which are still subsisting in the country.
So there's clearly a link there between, you know, peace and security and the human rights situation in the country.
Thank you very much.
Robin Millard, Agence France Presse.
Thank you.
I was wondering if you could say a bit more about these overseas workers, which countries specifically are they, are they going to, does the host country profits in any way from that labour?
And how, how are those workers stopped from fleeing once they're there?
Thank you.
So in terms of where, I mean this is a very long standing practise and historically going back decades we've had we've had workers in dozens and dozens of countries.
Obviously there's a lot who go to China because it's next door, it's the longest border, it's the easiest place to go to.
We had many in Russia, particularly in Siberia, in the forest, in particular in construction and logging industries.
We have particularly women in the service industry in many capital cities around the world.
There was a North Korean restaurant and, and often it was, it was staffed by, by, by women sent from DPRK to work.
They were overseas workers as well.
They tell terrible stories of having passports confiscated and one day off a month and and, and extreme surveillance by by the security services of DPRK.
We have doctors in Africa historically still maybe we have a workers, construction workers in the Middle East.
We had workers in Poland, we had workers in the Netherlands in the past, in the distant past.
So it really was a very large programme.
At the moment it's much more difficult to tell what the situation is because, well, as I said, because the 2017 sanctions called for all countries not to accept and to send back, sorry, not to accept and to send back DPRK workers.
So many of them were stuck.
And we are particularly concerned about their situation, those individuals who are stuck.
And we know that those individuals who are stuck, if they were out of a job, they would still be required to pay the equivalent of 90% of their wages to the state.
So they became relatively desperate to try to find work and cash to be able to send that back to the state.
And the control that the state has over them is not just the risk of repatriation.
What happens to you when you go back?
It's also.
What can happen to your family back home?
That's a very strong lever of control.
Do host states profit?
I mean, again, historically speaking, host states often they were states close with close relations to DPRK, but not always.
They would have sometimes have looser labour laws, but ultimately no, there was no profit there.
It was a money making exercise for DPRK.
So the, you know, the typical situation would be someone would be sent abroad, they would, there would be a company in that other, in that other country that would be the one that gets to work and supervises them and then gives them the 10% of their wages or sometimes 0% of their wages on a monthly basis.
So no, we didn't have any strong indication of host states benefiting except that the labour host states who needed labour that was relatively cheap.
But I mean, that's a much bigger issue than than than DPRK.
How are they stopped?
How they stopped escaping?
Well, you would have an agent from the MSS or the MPs, the security services assigned.
And and where there was a lot of lot of people in one country, they would not be able to have one agent to each workplace.
So then that agent would also responsible eyes is probably a nice way of saying it.
The, the, the more senior person in the work group who would then be responsible for maintaining surveillance and reporting, essentially spying and reporting.
And then if they escaped, they, they, they in some countries where there were a lot of these security agents, they would be, they would essentially be sought, be sought after.
But in many countries they weren't.
It wasn't so much that they would escape and they would be captured.
It's more that if you escape, it's what happens to your family back home, the fact you can never go back, you don't know where you're going.
You've got very limited knowledge of the world as a North Korean.
So, so it's it's more of a psychological prison in many ways that they're not quite sure what they're getting into.
But we have had quite a lot of overseas workers come ultimately to the Republic of Korea.
And that's the basis on which we've written this report.
Thank you very much.
Tim said no, Lisa is a follow up, I think.
OK, we have Lisa.
Yeah, just following up on this that is there, there are always reports about people who have escaped from from North Korea and have gone to China.
And when China catches them, they are then returned to to North Korea, which I believe is a violation of international law.
Have you expressed your concerns about this to the Chinese?
And if so, what sort of response have you received?
Sorry, yes, I didn't answer that.
So what I've been talking about are people who are sent by DPRK abroad, so legally sent, but there are a number of people, as you say, who leave DPRK illegally across, across the Yalu or Tumen River and enter China and, and, and end up working in China.
Those individuals are at risk.
They, they, it's a very mixed group.
Some are there just to earn some, some money and go back.
Others are trafficked.
Most of the women are trafficked for marriage or, or or or other things and some some eventually are actually wanting to escape and and and make a new life in another in a third country.
So very different treatment for all different types.
Yes, the **** commissioners on record, including Security Council, we have raised this issue saying that these individuals where there is the risk of reformal particularly under the Convention against Torture Article 3, which says that anyone who's returned to, you know, a real risk of of serious violations including torture must not be refilled.
We say they have a a compelling claim on protection in in in those countries in China and in other countries.
Thank you very much, James.
I see Catherine has again her end up but I think it's about done unless mistaken.
Yeah, Catherine, the question about Sudan.
So I think we can yes.
Yeah.
So we can thank.
Good morning, Good morning.
Just good morning again.
Let me let me say thank you to James and to Liz.
And I think the notes have been already sent.
I saw.
So Liz, is anything else you want to add?
No.
OK.
So thank you very much, James, for this important briefing and for the report.
And yes, Catherine, ask you a question and then we'll go to UNIC.
You hear me now?
Yes, OK.
You couldn't hear me at the end of the my previous question because I was muted, muted.
So my question is related to Sudan.
I'd like to know where do the talks, the proximity talks stand in Geneva?
And I'd like to know also.
My question was also related to the fact that they are also, I mean, a talks on Sudan that took place in Addis Ababa led by African Union and all stakeholders were attending that meeting.
And I think that the meeting in Addis Ababa ended yesterday or will end this morning.
And it's also to launch a political dialogue to resolve the conflict and they found an agreement.
So isn't there coordination between UN and African Union or I don't understand exactly what's the purpose of having two meetings with the same goal and the same topic?
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Katherine, first of all, as an update on on the talks that you've asked for, what I can tell you is that the personal envoy of the Secretary General, Ramtan Lamhamra and his team had several interactions with each one of the delegations throughout the weekend.
So that talks have been continuing during the weekend.
The teams engaged intensively on the two key items discussed during these talks that, as we have heard also from Doctor Sabani, humanitarian assistance and protection of civilians.
And the discussions are continuing this week.
On your question about the African Union talks, what I can tell you is that the UN team and especially the personal envoy works closely with the African Union and with all other partners.
These efforts are complementary and not just one-on-one side, 1 on the other.
They are complementary.
They work together.
Thank you very much.
Katherine, you have a follow up.
That's what I have.
Thank you.
Could you kindly send us the notes that you read?
That would be very nice of you.
And also, when you said that the representative had talks with everyone, does does it mean that he had also the possibility, the opportunity to speak with the the the persons that the representatives that did not show up, that are in Geneva and did not show up?
Yeah, yes, absolutely.
I can confirm that that as you know, was the situation last week.
But now the personal envoy is engaged with both delegations, both of them are in Geneva, you remember from from last week and at the beginning, as we told you, one of the two delegations didn't engage, but now they are fully engaged, both of the delegations and these are proximity talks.
So they, the personal envoy is speaking with one and then with the other alternatively.
So with each delegation he has engaged during the weekend several times.
Emma and I'll send you the notes.
Sorry, we're going to go on for No, sorry, we don't have a calendar.
We don't have a calendar.
We'll keep you updated.
As Doctor Sabani said, we have daily updates.
We'll keep we'll keep you updated if you ask and but we don't have now a calendar for for the next days.
Musa.
We mercy Bonjour, Alexandra Escoli do do they keep in mercy?
Hello.
Let's go back to, to Thomas and I'll send now Katherine Hui Mercy back to Sudan.
So the talks are going to take place as long and as necessary.
It means that if they they they have to stay in Geneva two weeks, they're going to stay.
They are going to stay two weeks.
Or is it, Is there a kind of deadline or as is there anything?
Could you give us a bit more details?
Because it's quite puzzling to to not to know what's happening here in Geneva.
Even in the Palais, we see the cars, we know that there's movement and we are unable to cover it because we have no info.
OK.
As I said, Katrina, I cannot give you an idea of the timing because we don't have a calendar at the moment.
I'm doing my best to inform you daily.
If if people ask, we try to get answers to you.
But I don't have a deadline.
I'm sorry.
And the most important thing is that this is this is engaging and continuing.
OK.
So thank you very much.
Thomas, go ahead.
You have an update on the human Water convention.
I understand.
Indeed.
Thank you, Alessandra.
Good morning.
Faced with faced with increasing water stress and climate change impacts on the water resources it shares with its neighbours, Cote d'Ivoire has joined the UN Water Convention.
This is a treaty, I remind you, to improve the joint management of water across borders.
God d'ivoire is the 53rd party to the Convention and the 10th African country to accede to the 1992 Convention on a Protection and Use of Transboundary Water Courses and International Lakes to give its full name.
This further consolidated the strong momentum for water corporation in Africa, where over 90% of water resources are in 63 basins shared by two or more countries.
So water corporation is essential underpinning the management of those water resources.
I'll deliver a quote here from the Executive Secretary of UNECE, which services the convention.
Cordevoise Accession is a milestone for multilateralism and reaffirms the role of the UN Water Convention as a tool to support water corporation for peace, sustainable development and climate change adaptation across borders.
I encourage all countries worldwide to join this proven instrument for water diplomacy and I reconfirm our commitment to support them in this process.
End Quote.
Cote d'Ivoire is the 9th largest economy in Africa and the fifth fastest growing economy on the continent.
It shares 8 transboundary river basins with its neighbours, now meeting the water needs of the country's fast growing population.
Now population growing at 2.5% annually, currently standing at some 30 million people brings significant challenges and these include urbanisation, climate change impacts, drought and flooding and water quality impacts from pollution.
Now this is not only a story about Cote d'Ivoire on World War.
Today, back in March, we came here to brief you on why water cooperation matters more than ever.
And today we have a clear demonstration of that.
This is not just the story of Cote d'Ivoire.
It's the story of a large scale trend as more and more countries legislate to shore up the foundations of sustainable development.
It means ensuring water quality and quantity for fast growing populations.
And we're talking about millions, indeed billions of people.
It's about improving access to water, sanitation and hygiene.
It's about reducing the risk of disasters.
It's about reducing the risk of conflict over increasingly scarce water resources.
And it's about improving the bankability of climate change adaptation projects and infrastructure investment in shared basins.
In short, it's about strengthening foundations of peace and for the entire sustainable development agenda.
Since the global opening of this treaty to UN member states in 2016, Chad, Senegal, Ghana, Guinea, Bissau, Togo and Cameroon became the first African nations to exceed before being joined by 5 countries in 2023.
Nigeria, Namibia, The Gambia, in addition to Iraq and Panama who became the 1st in their regions to join.
Now over 20 more countries are in the process of joining this treaty and those include Zimbabwe and Sierra Leone which are in the final stages of accession.
The four largest economies in West Africa, that is Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal and Cote d'Ivoire are now parties to this treaty.
Reinforcing transboundary cooperation helps address disaster risk.
To put that into perspective, in Africa, flooding, drought and other climate related events cost countries between 2 and 9% of their GDP.
According to the African Development Bank, one in every three people in Africa currently faces water insecurity.
Only 50%, Fifty 8% excuse me of Africans have have access to safely managed drinking water services and 72% of people lack basic sanitation services.
Water however, is a great source of potential considering less 5%, less than 5% of cultivated land is irrigated and only 10% of hydroelectricity potential is exploited.
With sub-saharan Africa's population forecast to double by 2050 and climate change impacts set to intensify, strengthening cooperation across borders is crucial to addressing climate change impacts.
Now I want to reiterate again the call of the Secretary General made earlier this year for all nations to join and implement this treaty to address a growing water crisis.
And also flag the upcoming 10th session of the meeting of the parties to the Convention to be held in Lubiana in Slovenia, 23rd to 25th of October as an opportunity to catalyse this momentum.
Thank you very much.
Thank you very much for this update.
Thomas, is there any question in the room or online?
I don't see any.
I don't know if you want the host of today's first briefing in New York, right?
Yes.
Yeah.
I don't know if you want to speak about that.
No, no, there's no update on this point.
OK.
Katherine, is that a question for Thomas?
Yes, it is.
Go ahead, please.
Yeah, maybe ****** question, who's head of UN water?
Because I know that it's it's supposed to be a head of an an agency.
It was a yellow and who's head of UN water now?
Thank you.
The person, the colleague name is Federico Property.
He is the head of the Secretariat of UN Water, right.
The the current head of the, the presidency of UN Water, the chairing is a rotating basis.
As you say, ILO was the previous, the previous organisation.
Now it's Efed who has The Who has the president.
I think if you if you are asking for questions, I think Federico and his team can answer.
I understand he is also the guest of the noon briefing today also to update on the issue of the water of the UN Water Convention.
So you could also listen to him when he speaks.
But today after the no briefing of Mr Dujaric, I can send you the the timing or the link.
And as you know, the Secretariat is here in Geneva.
So if, if you if you need to ask more questions, don't hesitate.
Anything else for Thomas?
No, I don't see any.
OK.
So thank you very much.
Maybe if you can send out your notes, you're done.
Done.
OK, great.
Fantastic.
And let me go to our last guests today from UN AIDS.
I think they are online.
Ben Philips, as you know, is the communications director of UN AIDS.
He is here with Charlotte on Zoom to give us some supreme information about the Global AIDS update reports.
I don't know who wants to start.
Ben.
Hi.
Yes, can you hear me OK?
Very well.
Great.
Really pretty pleased to join you.
We would like to invite everybody to the launch that is taking place on Monday of the Global AIDS Update Report.
This is the flagship report that reveals the latest data on the HIV response.
The largest AIDS conference in the world, the one that takes place every two years, is taking place from the 22nd of July to the 26th of July in Munich.
That is all across next week just before the conference opens.
So at 10 AM Central European time, at the Munich press conference, we will be launching the report and the data.
We can also provide all of the journalists on an embargoed basis that data, the fact sheets, a copy of the report, the press release, video materials and more, as well as opportunities for interviews.
So all those will be available on an embargoed basis if you contact us through Alessandra and the usual channels that will, the press conference will be held at the Munich Press Club, but will also be accessible to all of the media online through Zoom and will also be broadcast publicly on YouTube.
So for access to the Zoom link again, you can get through US first a bit about the report and then about some of the speakers.
The report is called The Urgency of Now, AIDS at a Crossroads.
And the reason for that is that the data that we will release on Monday will demonstrate that it is the decisions that leaders make this year that will determine whether the world ends AIDS as a public health crisis by the year 2030 or fails to do so.
Millions of new infections, millions of deaths are at risk if the world fails to end AIDS by 20-30, as well as it undermining global health security.
And yet the opportunity exists for an extraordinary legacy for leaders to say that they are the ones who ended the world's deadliest pandemic, left behind a safer, fairer world, a world better prepared for the pandemics to come, and 1 much more secure.
So that data, which is figures that have never been seen before, that will tell the story of progress, of challenges and of opportunities and possible directions, will all be released at 10 AM at that press conference on Monday.
And you, as the media can also get hold of embargoed materials that all of you need in advance of that.
Immediately after that press conference will be a special focused press conference in the same venue and the same link that will be on Eastern Europe and Central Asia.
Eastern Europe and Central Asia is one of the regions in which the HIV crisis is making the least progress.
In fact, it's a region where, as we will reveal on on Monday, AIDS deaths are in fact going up now.
First then, to let you know about some of the speakers.
So Winnie Biannima, the executive director of UN AIDS, will be joined by Doctor Sharon Lewin, who is the president of the International AIDS Society, by Doctor Sabine Ditma, who's the parliamentary state secretary, the Federal Minister of Health of Germany, Archbishop Dr Thabo and Coba from South Africa, the Archbishop of the Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town, who's been a leader for global justice, a leader for action on debt and development, and also an inspiring faith leader, making the case for equality and human rights for marginalised communities, including LGBTQ people.
And Friedel Dausab.
Friedel Dausab is an amazing man.
You'll be really fascinated to meet with him.
He is the Namibian activist who successfully challenged the law that made it a crime to be gay in Namibia.
He took that law to the **** Court and had that law struck down.
So that's a a fantastic and inspiring story of an ordinary person challenging power and succeeded.
And that event will be moderated by Peter Weissner, who is the head of the NGO Action Against AIDS Germany.
People will be able to ask questions in English and in Russian because of the focus on Eastern Europe and Central Asia, and in German because the event is being held in Munich.
And we will be able to provide you with materials in English, but also in French and Spanish and, and Russian and German.
And we will be delighted to provide you with anything that you need in order that you can cover this vital event.
So please be there and do get in touch with us for the information that you need.
It's extraordinary moment in the 8 pandemic when finally the end is insight.
But it's totally contingent on what leaders do now.
So to find the latest facts and figures and to find out what it is that leaders need to do that they can be the people that ended AIDS this decade, then do join.
If they don't make the actions necessary this year, then we are guaranteed to fail.
If they do make the actions needed, then there is a proven route to success.
Thanks.
Thank you very much, Ben.
And unless Charlotte wants to add something now.
OK, so let me go to questions either in the room.
No, I'll go to the platform.
Katherine, Ben, I don't know if you know confusion concert.
Good morning, Ben.
Thank you for for this short briefing.
Do you plan to organise an briefing under embargo in Geneva as UN AIDS headquarters are based in Geneva and if we could have interviews under embargo before?
Because otherwise what you said is more for correspondence based in Germany.
So we are happy to organise individual bilateral briefings with interested journalists as well as to provide you with all the materials that you need.
So you don't need to come to Germany.
And in addition, the press conference that is in Germany will be accessible online.
Just as you're engaging with this press conference online, you would be able to do the same on, on on Monday.
So you'll be able to access some materials from today by connecting with us to seek a briefing and an interview.
And you will also be able to to access the event on Monday.
You don't need to be in Germany to access it.
You can access it online through a a journalists only online link which we will provide for for you for that day and in addition, the public will be able to watch the whole event on YouTube.
Ben, sorry, can you repeat the time of the press conference?
Yes, 10 AM Central European time, OK.
If people are coming in person to the Munich press conference, which for which case they would need to contact us in advance, they they should arrive by about 9:30 because we go and we seat everyone and we go, we go live at 10 sharp.
So 10 AM is when that takes place and then it will be immediately followed at about 11:00 AM or 11:05 AM by the focused event on Eastern Europe and Central Asia.
Thank you.
Katrina, you have a follow up?
Yes, I have a follow up about the Geneva opportunities for a press and embargo interviews.
Is it possible to have the Executive Director because we haven't seen her for many years in the Palais and it would be nice to have her under embargo for interviews or the authors of of the report?
Yes.
So I'm offering you individual connectivity for an interview and briefing on the report individually to you, Catherine.
And you would not leave to you would not need to leave Geneva in order to to do that.
I had seen John's hand, but I don't know.
It's gone now.
John Zaracos does for the floor, but I can't see him now.
Let me see.
Yes, John, go ahead.
John Zaracos is The Lancet and Francois Cat.
Yeah.
Ben.
Ben, good morning.
The update, it's not the biannual global assessment of AIDS.
It's just an update of the last global assessment.
Is that correct?
So the conference, the major conference happens every two years.
The data is updated every year.
And so it's the, it's the latest annual data.
It happens to be on the eve of the biannual conference.
But the data we gather every year, and what this year's data reveals, is that this year is the fork in the road moment, the crossroads moment for leaders to take one path or the other.
It shows extraordinary progress that's been made, but also shows significant gaps and shows some dangers ahead that pose a risk to the HIV response, but signals to leaders what are the decisions that they need to take in order that they can navigate those those dangers.
So it's completely new data.
No one has will have ever calculated or released these numbers prior to Monday.
This will be the most recent global data that anybody has anywhere.
And this is the data that really sets the direction.
The director of of PEPFAR, John and Kengasong said that it's this data by UNAIDS is the North star of the global HIV response for everyone working on the HIV response.
So this is the the most important, most significant and most recent global data that anybody has anywhere in the world coming out on Monday.
But we will be able to get to you on an embargoed basis that data even before Monday in order to help people prepare their pieces.
That's very clear, Ben.
Thank you very much.
Good luck for this important conference and for the launch of the update.
And so that brings me really to the end of our briefings.
I've got Oh, John, sorry, you have an update and a follow up for for Ben.
It's not for Ben.
It's related to to the what you mentioned earlier about today's briefing in New York by the president of Vifad.
It's not on.
I was going to clarify just John.
Sorry, before you hear.
Yeah, go ahead.
I understand he's, they're also going to unveil the new data on the, a global report on on poverty and hunger.
And that report is meant to be launched on the 24th of July in Brazil.
I don't understand why they're going to unveil the key points to an embargoed report, the state of food and nutrition in the world.
So it's a bit confusing.
Is that report not embargoed or will it be launched in Brazil on the 24th?
Because they're releasing the data in New York today.
Look, I can only tell you for the moment here from this podium, I can only tell you what I have, but I can ask about the embargo.
What I know is that today the guest at the noon briefing will be both Alvaro Lario, who is the President of IFAD, which is also the chair of you and Waters.
As Thomas mentioned.
He will be joined also by Frederico Proprezzi.
The person I was talking about was the chief of UN Water and Technical Lead and they will be there to launch indeed the first ever UN system wide strategy for water and sanitation.
In addition to that, they will unveil the latest figures from the upcoming State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2024 report, which I think is the report you're mentioning now.
So I don't know about the embargo.
This is the information I have.
Let me check if this report, I would tend to say it's not embargoed because they they were presented today.
But let me check for you John.
And in any case, you will be able to follow all this on UN Web TV.
But let me get back to you on with the information.
This if I think it's the report you're referring to.
Yeah.
So I don't see other question.
Let me give you the few announcements that I have one on.
First of all, you should have received, but with all the information it may have gone a little bit unnoticed.
You have received the media advisory by our colleague of the Office of Disarmament Affairs about the Preparatory Committee for the 2026 Review Conference of the Parties of the Treaty on the Non Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.
This is the second meeting of the committee and it's going to be held at the Paladin assume in room 19 from the 22nd of July to the 2nd of August.
The chair designator of this second session is Ambassador Akan Rachmetulin of Kazakhstan.
So as you know, the the the next review conference of the NTP will be held in 2026 and they are going to meet in the three years leading up to that meeting with preparatory committees.
So this is the second one.
It convinced, the preparatory committee convinced annually to consider principles, objectives and ways to promote the full implementation of the Treaty as well as its universality and also to make recommendations to the review conference.
In particular, this second preparatory meeting, the State parties will consider specific matters of substance relating to the implementation of the treaty and relevant decision.
The opening meeting will begin exactly as at the same time then Ben's, only that this is here.
So it will start at 10 AM on Monday, 22nd of July in Room 19, as I said, And you are cordially invited for a press briefing with the Chair Designate, Ambassador Rachman Tooling at 1:15 PM in this room.
So 10:00 the opening and 1:15 the press briefing here.
And you will also be able to follow all this on web.
TVA few announcements on the human rights side.
We have been asked to tell you that on 18 and 19 July, the Human Rights Council will hold an intersession and meeting to discuss concrete ways to enhance the participation of Indigenous people in the work of the Council.
This meeting will take place in Room 20, will be webcast.
It will gather UN entities, international organisation, indigenous peoples and civil society organisations.
There will be a second intersession and meeting on the same subject on 17 and 18 October.
Following these two intersession and meetings, the meeting Co facilitators will work with the Office of the Human Rights **** Commissioner to prepare a report that will include specific recommendations.
And also on the human rights committees, we have the Human Rights Committee which is continuing.
This morning it's review of the report of India and this morning the Committee against Torture is reviewing the report of Kodiwa.
And I think I've told you everything I had.
Yes.
So if there are no further questions for me, I thank you very much.
Bon Appetit.
And that's your friend.
If it's about Sudan, we've already discussed that.
I've sent out the notes.
I have sent them.
OK.
Thank you very much.
And I'll see you on Friday.
Thank you.