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Press Conferences | HRC , UNHCR , WFP , WMO

UN Geneva Press Briefing - 13 September 2024

UN GENEVA PRESS BRIEFING

13 September 2023

Alessandra Vellucci, Director of the United Nations Information Service (UNIS) in Geneva, chaired the hybrid briefing, which was attended by spokespersons from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the World Meteorological Organization and the United Nations Human Rights Council. A representative of the World Food Programme briefly participated in the briefing but had connection issues, so he could not deliver its statement.


Thailand Withdraws Reservation to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child

Babar Baloch for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said UNHCR welcomed the Royal Thai Government’s decision to withdraw its reservation to Article 22 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which related to the rights of refugee children.

The withdrawal fulfilled a key commitment Thailand made at last year’s Global Refugee Forum in Geneva. It also strongly reaffirmed that refugee children needed to be recognised as deserving of the same rights to access education, healthcare, legal protection, family reunification and other essential services as any other child under the Convention.

While this move was commendable, its implementation would be key. Thailand’s existing legal frameworks, including the 2019 Memorandum of Understanding on alternatives to detention, the country’s “Education for All” policy and its National Screening Mechanism, which established a formal process for recognising and protecting asylum-seekers, were all designed to offer protection to refugees. They reflected Thailand’s commitment to upholding refugees’ rights and well-being despite, not being a party to the 1951 Refugee Convention.

By strengthening legal protection and expanding access to essential services, Thailand was moving toward a more inclusive environment for refugee children, aligned with international standards. UNHCR hoped that, continuing on this path, Thailand would one day be detaining no refugee children.

This important development came at a time when the world faced unprecedented levels of forced displacement, with children disproportionately affected. Thailand currently hosted over 81,000 refugees from Myanmar across nine temporary shelters along the Thai-Myanmar border, and more than 5,500 refugees and asylum-seekers from over 40 countries who lived outside the temporary shelters.

Read the briefing note here.

Floods Inundate Nigeria

The following statement is based on a World Food Programme press release on the topic of floods in Nigeria. A live statement on this topic could not be delivered in the press briefing due to technical difficulties. The statement has subsequently been distributed to the media.

The World Food Programme (WFP) said it was on the ground in Borno State providing emergency food assistance to communities affected by massive flooding that had displaced over 230,000 people in northeast Nigeria. WFP was working to provide hot meals to 50,000 of the worst affected children, women, and men who had lost their homes in what had been described as the worst flooding in northeast Nigeria in 30 years.

The devastating floods occurred as a dam near Maiduguri collapsed due to torrential rains, forcing the river water to overrun 50 per cent of Maiduguri, the capital city of the Borno State. The State Government had issued evacuation orders to residents in the affected areas, while appealing for humanitarian support.

“Maiduguri was facing a crisis within a crisis, with conflict, record food price inflation and now floods displacing hundreds of thousands of people, most of whom were already cut off from their farms,” said David Stevenson, WFP’s Country Director and Representative.

WFP had established food kitchens in three camps - Teachers’ Village, Asheikh and Yerwa – to provide meals to flood-hit people over the next two weeks. The kitchens provided nutritious cooked rice and beans to affected families. Specialised nutritious foods were also being provided to children, pregnant women and nursing mothers to cover their nutritional needs. However, additional assistance was critical to restore stability and support recovery.

WFP swiftly dispatched UN humanitarian air service (UNHAS) helicopters to conduct an interagency aerial assessment of damage in Maiduguri and its surroundings. The rapid assessment showed that the immediate needs of the affected people include food, shelter and clean water.

“What we have seen from the air is just terrible. Thousands of people are on the streets or staying with friends and relatives. The city has been hit by massive destruction to properties and livelihoods. We need urgent global support to save lives,” Stevenson added.

In Nigeria, over 800,000 people in 29 states had been affected by floods as of September 2024, and over 550,000 hectares of cropland had been flooded. Some 32 million people in the country were already facing acute hunger, according to the March 2024 Cadre Harmonisé food security analysis.

To ensure continued support to flood-affected people in Maiduguri and other food insecure people in the northeast for the next six months, WFP urgently required 147.9 million United States dollars.

Video from Maiduguri is available via this link, and photos via this link.

Human Rights Council

Pascal Sim for the United Nations Human Rights Council said today, the United Nations Human Rights Council was holding dialogues with three experts: Claudia Mahler, the Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons; Alena Douhan, Special Rapporteur on unilateral coercive measures; and Peggy Hicks, Director, Thematic Engagement, Special Procedures and Right to Development Division, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, who would present the Secretary-General's analytical study on climate change.

On Monday, it would hear from three more experts: Pedro Arrojo-Agudo, Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation; George Katrougalos, the new Independent Expert on international order; and Aua Balde, Chair of the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances.

The United Nations Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela would hold a press conference in the Press Room of the Palais des Nations on Tuesday, September 17 at 9 a.m. Geneva time. The three experts of the Fact-Finding Mission would present the findings of their latest reports, which would be presented at the Council on 19 September in the afternoon. A separate call would be held with Spanish speaking media in the afternoon on Tuesday, 17 September. The report on Venezuela would be shared under embargo on Monday.

Mr. Sim reported that United Nations Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Iran had released an update saying that, two years after the “Woman, Life, Freedom” protests began following the unlawful death in custody of Jina Mahsa Amini, the Government of Iran had intensified its efforts to suppress the fundamental rights of women and girls and crush remaining initiatives of women’s activism.

A “Hijab and Chastity” Bill was in the final stages of approval before Iran’s Guardian Council and was likely to be finalised imminently. The Bill provided for harsher penalties for women who do not wear the mandatory hijab, including exorbitant financial fines, longer prison sentences, restrictions on work and educational opportunities and bans on travel.

The Fact-Finding Mission also expressed deep concern about an apparent new pattern of sentencing to death of women activists. It reiterated its call to the Government to immediately halt all executions of protesters and put in place a moratorium on the death penalty, with a view to its abolition; immediately and unconditionally release all persons arbitrarily deprived of their liberty in the context of the protests, especially women and children; and end all repressive policy and institutional measures taken and designed to repress women and girls and perpetuate violence and discrimination against women, including the “Hijab and Chastity” Bill.

Inquiries related to the Fact-Finding Mission’s update could be sent to Todd Pitman, Media Adviser for the Human Rights Council’s Investigative Missions, at todd.pitman@un.org.

Mr. Sim also noted that the UN Group of Independent Experts on the Human Rights Situation in Belarus was inviting all individual groups and organizations to submit information and documentation relevant to its investigation into all alleged human rights violations and abuses committed in the country since 1 May, 2020. The deadline for submission was 30 November, 2024. The Group of Experts would present its first oral update during this Council session on Friday, 20 September.

Alessandra Vellucci, Director of the United Nations Information Service (UNIS) in Geneva, said that on Monday, 16 September at 1:30 p.m., several Human Rights Council Special Procedures mandate holders would hold a hybrid press conference on escalating violence and human rights violations in Gaza and across the occupied Palestinian territory. Speaking were Francesca Albanese, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian Territory occupied since 1967 (online); Tlaleng Mofokeng, Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health (online); George Katrougalos, Special Rapporteur on the promotion of a democratic and equitable international order (in-person); and Pedro Arrojo-Agudo, Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation (in-person).

Announcements

Clare Nullis for the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said there were many floods in different parts of the world at the moment. In West Africa and the Sahel, there was very heavy rainfall and the vulnerable were suffering the most, as was too often the case.

Next Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. at the Press Room of the Palais des Nations, WMO would hold a press conference with its Secretary-General Celeste Saulo to launch the annual multi-agency United in Science report, which was a collation of the latest science. This year, WMO’s focus in the report continued to be the alarming state of the climate, including greenhouse gas emissions and the greenhouse gas emission gap. There were also new features this year, including on the potential revolution in weather forecasting and climate prediction from artificial intelligence, machine learning and satellite technology developments. Information on the report would be sent out under embargo by Tuesday morning at the latest.

Monday, 16 September, was World Ozone Day, which celebrated the success of the Montreal Protocol in protecting the ozone layer. The United Nations Environment Programme(UNEP)’s Ozone Secretariat was leading commemoration of the day and had planned various activities to mark the day. On the day, WMO would be releasing its annual Ozone Bulletin, which would look at data on the ozone layer in 2023 and the role of the Montreal Protocol in helping to combat climate change.

Later today, WMO would send out a note on the latest figures on global temperatures. Figures were released overnight by the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration confirming that the extraordinary streak of global temperatures continued in August. The year to date had been the hottest year on record. This confirmed an earlier report from the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service which said that the world had the hottest summer and winter on record from June to August. Europe had its hottest summer on record, due to very high temperatures in the Balkan area in Eastern Europe.

Alessandra Vellucci, Director of the United Nations Information Service (UNIS) in Geneva, said that the Committee on the Rights of the Child would conclude this afternoon, at 5 p.m., its ninety-seventh session and issue its concluding observations on the six countries reviewed during this session: Bahrain, Turkmenistan, Mexico, Argentina, Israel and Armenia.

The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights was concluding this morning its review of the report of Kyrgyzstan. Next week, the Committee would review Albania, Cyprus and Malawi.

Ms. Vellucci invited interested parties to attend the 2024 edition of the Geneva PeaceTalks on 19 September 2024, the International Day of Peace, and Interpeace’s 30th anniversary, from 3 to 5 p.m. in Room XVII at the Palais des Nations and online on UN Web TV.

Register to participate by following this link: https://indico.un.org/event/1008322/

Under the umbrella theme of The Future of Peace, this year’s Geneva Peace Talks would feature powerful personal stories from people on the frontlines of peace, linked to the past, present and future of peace. These would be short, eight-minute inspirational talks and there would be the possibility of interacting with the speakers.

Teleprompter
Good morning.
Welcome to the press briefing of today, Friday 13th September, here in the UN in Geneva.
We are going to hear first and first of all by the colleagues of the World Food Programme.
Today we have the pleasure to have with us Emmanuel Bikini Mama, who is the WFP head of the Maidu Maiduguri area office.
So he's calling in from Maiduguri to tell us about floods in Nigeria.
I understand that we are connecting.
Hopefully we have the image.
Yes.
Good morning, Sir, you're on.
Please go ahead.
Hi, good morning.
Can you hear me?
We can.
There is some noise behind, but we can.
Mr Mr Bikini.
Mama, we have lost you.
I'm looking at my colleagues.
OK, so he probably is trying to reconnect, so maybe I'll ask Babar to join me on the on the podium, see if we can get.
Oh, he is.
He is back.
Emmanuel, Bonjour.
Please go ahead.
We, we, we listen.
Yeah.
Good morning.
Sorry.
I'm in the middle of an IDP camp, so trying to connect with some distractions.
My name is.
What we will do, Emmanuel, is that we maybe ask you to disconnect and reconnect while you're doing this.
We will listen from the colleague of the UNHCR and we will try to get to you as soon as Barbara is finished.
Thank you for your patience.
Bye, bye.
Thank you.
Good morning, dears.
Wishing you all a happy Friday.
Today we are welcoming Thailand's full adoption of International Convention to Protect Child Rights.
UNITIA, the UN Refugee Agency, welcomes the Thai Royal Thai Government's decision to withdraw its reservation to Article 22 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which this reservation was linked to the rights of refugee children.
The withdrawal fulfils a key commitment that Thailand made at last year's Global Refugee Forum in Geneva.
This move reaffirms that refugee children must be recognised as deserving of the same rights to the to access education, healthcare, legal protection, family reunification and other essential services as any other child under the CRC unit.
CR notes that while this move is commendable, its implementation will be the key as the changes will take effect from the August has taken effect from 30th of August.
Thailand's existing legal frameworks, including 2019 Mou on alternatives to detention, the country's Education for All policy and a new national screening mechanism which established a formal process for recognising and protecting asylum seekers, were all designed to offer protection to refugees.
By strengthening legal protection and expanding access to essential services, Thailand is moving forward to a more inclusive environment for refugee children aligned with International Standards Unit.
CR hopes it will bring us closer to the day when no refugee children will be detained in Thailand.
This important development comes at a time when the world faces unprecedented levels of forced displacement, with children disproportionately being affected.
Thailand currently hosts more than 81,000 refugees from Myanmar across 9 temporary shelters along the Thai Myanmar border, and there are more than 5500 refugees and asylum seekers from all 40 countries who live outside these temporary shelters.
Thank you.
Thank you very much, dear Babar.
Let me see if there are questions in the room.
I don't see any on platform.
No hands up.
No, I don't see any.
But thank you very much for this good news and let's try and go back to Nigeria and see if Mr Beginning is connected again.
I can see your name Sir, but I can't see you.
Probably the image is too complicated to get.
Should we go for the audio?
I'm looking at my colleagues behind the the glass.
Can we try to get the the audio list?
I don't see anything happening.
So maybe we have.
Really.
Sir, I I see you.
I see you're connected.
I know we lost audio as well.
OK, So then we we cannot help it, I'm afraid.
Can I ask Ishita, who is online, maybe to send the notes to the journalist?
Because Mr Beginning Mana was going to tell us about the floods in Nigeria, I think is a very important subject.
And if if Shita could distribute the notes to the journalist, that would be very useful.
So let me go to Claire.
Claire is connected.
Oh, sorry, I see you again.
So let's, let's try it last time.
Maybe it will work.
I can see you.
And with a little bit of luck, we can also hear you.
OK.
Can you hear me now?
We can.
We can.
Let's hope it goes on.
Please go ahead.
Yeah.
Sorry for the Internet disruption.
No, I think there is really a basic problem on your back, Sir.
Let's.
Let's try again.
Yeah, let me try.
I'm in the middle of a crisis basically where Internet towers have been disrupted and we are trying to to connect.
My name is Emmanuel Bigenimana and I am the head of.
It's too difficult really, I think.
I think it's, it's really too difficult.
Sir, We, we will ask, we will get the notes of what you wanted to say from from Ishita, and I'm sorry for that.
Maybe what we can do is if you want to come to the next briefing from the office, it will probably be better and we can hear you better and you could answer the the questions from the journalist.
But it would be useful to have your notes today.
Sorry for that.
Yeah.
So let's go to Claire and see if we can get an update from her on the, I think on the ozone bulletin, Right, Claire?
Plus your press conference.
Yes, good morning.
Good morning everybody.
Just to follow up on the the previous speaker who unfortunately couldn't, couldn't join.
There are many, many floods in different parts of the world at the moment.
Certainly in, in, in West Africa we are seeing and the Sahel we are seeing very heavy, very heavy rainfall.
And as is too often the case with these events, it's the vulnerable who who suffer most.
Moving on.
So next Wednesday, well, the World Meteorological Organisation will be having a press conference at 10:00 in the press room with our Secretary General, Professor Celeste Salo.
And the theme will be our annual United in Science report.
This is a report we issued every year to coincide with the UN General Assembly and it's a collation of the latest, the latest science, hence hence the title.
And it's a multi agency report.
We have a lot of partners this year.
We are focusing on, as usual, the state of the climate, which we all know is, is, you know, pretty alarming greenhouse gas levels, the greenhouse gas emission gap.
We've also got some new features this year and notably the potential revolution in weather forecasting in and climate prediction from artificial intelligence from machine learning, you know, rapid advance advances in in satellite technology.
So Wednesday we'll be exploring the report with you.
We'll send out information under embargo hopefully by Tuesday morning at the latest if not before.
So stay tuned for that with with Celeste Salo Monday, the 16th of September is is actually a good news story for the for the environment.
It's World Ozone Day, which celebrates the success of the Montreal Protocol on on in protecting the ozone layer.
WMO, we're not the lead agency on this day.
The UN Environment Programme is the Ozone Secretariat based in Nairobi, but I know they do have a lot of activities for the day.
We, from the perspective of WMO, will be releasing our annual ozone bulletin, and this will look at the date of the ozone hole, the ozone layer in 2023.
We'll look at the role of the Montreal Protocol in, you know, helping us to combat climate change.
And this is indeed very much the theme of World Ozone Day.
And the UN Secretary general's message, which possibly Alexandra might have.
If not, I can, I can send it to you.
So that will be coming on Monday and today, later today, we will send out a note to all of you on the latest figures on global temperatures.
We had the figures overnight from the US National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration confirming that the extraordinary streak of record monthly temperatures did in fact continue in August.
The year to date has been the hottest year on record and this confirms an earlier report from the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service, which said that, you know, the world had the hottest summer slash winter on record.
Europe, even though, you know, you might have thought in Switzerland, it was, it was a bit chilly at times.
And it it's, it certainly is at the moment.
Europe had the the hottest summer on on record.
And this was, you know, because of very **** temperatures we saw particularly in, you know, in the Balkan area in, in Eastern Europe.
So we'll send out the details of that later today and that will hopefully set the scene for the press conference on Wednesday.
That's the all from me.
Thanks.
Thank you very much, Claire.
Let me see if there are any.
We definitely can help with the speech of the with the statement of the Secretary General.
Of course, no questions for them.
Limo, did she speak 10:00 or 10:30?
Jimmy's asking if you said 10 or 10:30.
[Missing Subtitle]
1010 o'clock OK 10:00 because apparently your schedule says 1030.
That's where they the let's let's show this because I think.
We sent my limitation.
It's 10:00.
Yeah.
Let let us let's let's check.
OK.
Thank you.
Yeah.
Thank you very much.
So no question for you, Claire.
It's OK, Claire.
I thought there was, but I'll ask Pascal to come and update us on the human rights.
Bonjour.
Excusing Mojilai Vuan Hobe.
Today the UN Human Rights Council is holding dialogues with three experts.
First, with Claudia Mallard, the independent experts on the rights of older persons, and with Alina Duhan, the Special Rapporteur on unit unilateral coercive measures.
And we will end the day and the week with Peggy Hicks, a director at OHCHR, who will present the Secretary General's analytical study on climate change.
On Monday, we will hear from three more experts, Pedro Arroyo Agudo, the Special Rapporteur on water and sanitation, to be followed by George Katrugulos, the new independent experts on international order.
And we will conclude the day with our birthday, the Chair of the Working Group on enforced disappearances.
I have a few notes for you regarding HRC mandated investigation.
First, it's a programming note, the UN Independent International Fact Finding Mission on Venezuela.
We'll hold the press conference in this room on Tuesday, September 17 at 9:00 AM Geneva time.
The three experts of the fact finding mission will present you the findings of their latest reports, which will be presented at the Council on the 19th of September in the afternoon.
I also have an update from another Human Rights Council mandated investigation that I will read.
Now.
Two years after the Women life freedom protests began in Iran following the unlawful deaths in custody of Jinnah Masamini, the UN independent international fact finding mission on Iran one that the government of Iran has intensified its effort to suppress the fundamental rights of women and girls and cross remaining initiatives of women activism.
The Fact Finding Mission notes that I quote Hijab and Chastity bill, end of quote, is in final stage of approval before Iran's Guardian Council and is likely to be finalised imminently.
The Fact Finding Mission says that the bill provides for usher penalties for women who do not wear the mandatory hijab, including exorbitant financial fines, longer prison sentences, restrictions on work and educational opportunities, and travel ban.
The Fact Finding Mission also expressed deep concern about an apparent new pattern of sentencing to deaths of women activists.
The Fact Finding Mission reiterate its call on the Iranian government to immediately out all executions of protesters and put in place a moratorium on the death penalty with a view of its abolition.
The Fact Finding Mission, also immediately and unconditionally released, called for the release of all persons arbitrarily deprived of the liberties in the context of the protests, especially women and girls, and also to end all policies and measures taken and designed to repress women and girls and perpetrate violence and discrimination against women, including the hijab and chastity bill.
So the update of the Fact Finding Mission was shared with you earlier today.
And if you have any question, please contact Todd Pitman.
And the last note regarding another investigation is that the UN Group on Independent Experts on the Situation of Human Rights in Belarus invites all individual groups and organisation to submit information and documentation relevant to their investigation of all alleged human rights violation and abuses committed in the country since May 1st, 2020.
The deadline for this submission is November 30th, 2024, and the Group of Experts on Belarus will present the first oral update during this session on Friday, September 20th.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Please come any question in the room.
Yes, Emma.
Just a housekeeping question, sorry.
The Venezuela report.
When will we get that, please?
I think I should.
We should be able to share it with you under embargo on Monday.
Yeah.
Mary Alexandra, This is also Venezuela.
Yes, Alessandra, it was the same question.
Thanks very much.
Just to add that the expert of the fact finding mission will also hold a separate call in Spanish with Spanish speaking media in the afternoon of Tuesday.
Yeah, OK.
Thank you very much.
No other question to Pascal.
Please go ahead.
How will you let us know about the Spanish speaking press conference?
I mean, are you going to send us a Zoom or how's that going to be done?
Well, it will be a series of calls that would be organised with media based in South America.
So the the the press conference obviously will take place in the morning and the experts will address you in English.
But we ask those who want to interview or ask question in Spanish to participate in the call in the afternoon.
But for more details about the afternoon call, please let me know and we can put you in touch with them.
So maybe just before we close the issue of the Human Rights Council, you have seen that we have announced a press conference on Monday, 16th of September at 1:30 PM.
This is the press conference given by a series of Special Rapporteur to the Council on the escalating violence and human rights violation in Gaza and across the occupied Palestinian Territory.
Francesca Benise will be there to brief you, but online will be online to brief you also online telling **** King, the Special Rapporteur on the rights of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health.
While two other rapporteur will be here in the room, George Catrugalos, the Special Rapporteur on the promotion of the of the democratic and equitable international order and Pedro Arrojo Agudo, the Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation.
So for people to brief you to online and to in person here in the room.
And Pascal has told you about the other press conference of the fake family nation.
Is there any question?
Oh, sorry, Jeremy, is that a question for Pascal?
None, Regionalist.
OK, Pascal, I just wanted to confirm Clara's qualified in the chat.
The press conference is well at 10:30, Jamie, the press conference of WMO.
And so according to what we have announced that Solange sent out, that was correct.
I also have also on the issue of human rights, there are a couple of committees, as you know that are meeting at the moment, the Committee on the Rights of the Child that will conclude this afternoon, it's 97th session, and the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which is concluding this morning, the review of the report of Kyrgyzstan.
Next country to come up are Albania, Cyprus and Malawi.
And I think this is all we had to announce.
You know, I just wanted to give you another information, but maybe you also have a question here.
So I just wanted to invite you to the conference, the edition, the 2024 edition of the Geneva Peace Talks that we are organising together with Inter Peace and the Geneva Peace Building Platform.
That's going to happen on the 19th September, Thursday from 3:00 to 5:00 in Room 17 here at the Palace.
This is organised, as you know, the International Day of Peace and also this year in the Peace 30th anniversary.
It will be followed by a reception at the Barsepan, to which you're also kindly invited.
You just have to record to the link with the link that we are sending out to you.
The theme of this year is the future of peace.
We will listen to powerful personal stories from people on the front lines of peace linked to the past, present and future.
And you know, this talks are real talks.
I mean the people tell you about their stories.
And then there is the possibility it's, it's very short talks of 8 minutes.
And then there is the possibility of interact with the with the speakers.
That's is that is what I had for you.
If there are no questions, I don't see any hand up also on the platform.
So thank you very much.
And I, I hope that you will be able to get the notes from Ishita and have a nice weekend.
We'll see you next week.
Thank you.