UN Geneva - Multimedia Newsroom : UN Geneva Press Briefing

Good morning. Welcome to the press briefing of the UN Geneva.

Today is Friday, 11 October

and we have the great pleasure to start this briefing with two guests from the UNHCR,

the UN

refugee agency. We have with us Rven

RNI

Mini

Dia,

the assistant High Commissioner for Protection

on my right

and

gang Long time Nepalese stateliness campaigner and

nanson as a winner.

So I'll give the floor to our colleagues immediately for their initial remarks.

Missus M.

Thank you, Alessandra.

Um so today we actually here because we're releasing a very,

very important report to mark a decade of action,

uh, to address, uh, statelessness,

Um and I'm sure you all know this, but UN HCR is not just the UN refugee agency.

We also have a global mandate to prevent and end statelessness.

And 10 years ago, our then High Commissioner, Antonio Guterres,

who's now the Secretary general, actually initiated this campaign called I belong

and the objective of it was really

to mobilise governments to pay global attention to

this issue and to try and bring an end to this really devastating problem.

Well, 10 years down the road, unfortunately,

we have not succeeded in eliminating statelessness.

It is a serious human rights violation.

Everybody has a fundamental human right to a nationality.

Everybody has a fundamental human right not

to be arbitrarily deprived of their nationality.

And most stateless people live in the margins of society. We all know that

they tend to be stripped of all the legal rights and protections that

stem from citizenship and make them even

more vulnerable to exploitation and abuse.

And many of the things that you and I take for granted.

Whether it's renting an apartment, sending our kids to school,

accessing medical care when you are sick.

All of these things become almost insurmountable problems for stateless people

when they have absolutely no documents to show that they belong.

And this is certainly something that, uh,

deep T will be speaking to much more extensively from her own personal experience.

So I think one of the things that we really want to highlight here is that

really statelessness is a solvable issue.

It is.

I mean,

there are lots of things in the world today

that we could consider to be completely unresolvable,

but this is not one of them.

All it takes is political will and a commitment to enact change, for example,

by introducing laws and regulations

addressing the gaps and inequities that actually lead to statelessness.

All it takes literally, sometimes is a stroke of a pen

and the report that we are launching today actually does it show some of the progress

that has been made and there has been

quite significant progress and some notable achievements.

I won't list them all. They are pretty lengthy, but I will highlight a few of them.

One is, of course, that since the start of the campaign,

over half a million stateless people have acquired citizenship.

We have countries like Kyrgyzstan that have resolved the

case of every known stateless case on their territory.

We have Turkmenistan that is on track to do the same.

We have countries like Kenya that have provided

citizenship to ethnic minorities on their territories.

We have countries like Liberia,

Madagascar and Sierra Leone that have introduced legislation that

allow women to pass nationalities on to their Children,

and we have over 20 plus countries that have introduced national plans of action

to end statelessness.

So I think those are huge achievements that we really do

want to mark as well with the launch of this report.

But

I'd like to also provide some other critical data and that is, As of last year,

there was some 4.4 million stateless people who were registered.

But I do want to underline, though,

that this data covers only half of the 193 member states on this planet.

So the real numbers are significantly higher

and obviously much more difficult to grapple with,

since we actually don't even know the dimensions of the problem.

And the other sobering statistic is that 1.3 million

of stateless people are actually forcibly displaced as well,

and this relates principally to the Rohingya ethnic minority from Myanmar.

I'm sure you all know that there are over a million Rohingya refugees,

principally in Bangladesh but also in other

asylum countries in the Asia Pacific region,

and that we have hundreds and thousands of Rohingya who are

displaced internally within Myanmar as a result of the conflict.

Now, to mark the closure of the I belong campaign this 10 year campaign,

we will be convening a high level event next Monday,

uh, during our annual

unit

or executive committee sessions

and It will include some around 100 governments and

over 50 representatives of international organisations and civil society.

So they will all be there to mark the

or to commemorate if you like the achievements of the

Iong campaign.

But this event will also serve to launch the global alliance to end statelessness.

And this is an alliance that includes member states,

private sector, importantly,

stateless people themselves and the organisations that they represent

academia, faith based groups, other UN agencies, you name it.

We will be having all of these stakeholders working together

with the principal objective of maintaining the momentum

and building on the achievements already generated by the

Iong campaign.

So

and the end objective, we hope is that at the end of this,

every single person would have citizenship and a legal identity.

That is really the objective that we're working towards and, as I said, a

very, very easily implement objective. If there's political will to do it

but and I'd like to conclude by saying this, um also very importantly,

on Monday evening we will be having a ceremony to to honour uh, this year's

Nanson Refugee Medal Award winners,

and we do have the immense privilege of having one of the regional winners here.

Alessandra just mentioned it.

Deep

de

Gurung,

who has been advocating sty

on behalf of stateless people.

She will speak much more compellingly about her own experiences than I ever could.

But her

work really stemmed from the fact that her own Children, her two daughters,

became stateless.

And she has worked tirelessly to reform ne

Nepalese citizenship laws

to ensure that this does not happen. And by doing this, she has really managed to,

uh, help not only her daughter's situation,

but also thousands of others in a similar situation.

So without further ado, I'd like to

hand the flow over to, uh,

deep

over to you.

Thank you very much for this opportunity and platform

for me to express, it means a lot coming from all the way from Nepal.

Oh,

Well, um

good morning, everybody. Um,

it is a

I hope it's OK if I read it out.

it

just

put

it here.

So it is a profound privilege to address you today. I am Deep

Gurung, co

founder and executive director of Citizenship Affected People's Network Nepal.

Cap,

My dedication to this cause is deeply personal.

I faced a long and painful struggle to secure citizenship for my daughters, Ne

and Nikita

and my now husband,

Dakar,

and was able to receive his citizenship at the age of

45 after decades of hardship because of gender discriminatory citizenship laws.

These challenges drove me to advocate for the rights of all

mothers seeking to pass on their nationality to their Children.

One story that stands out to

Sangita

khaki. Orphaned at the age of age at

the young age and raised by her grandmother,

Sangita fought for over 10 years to secure her citizenship.

Despite her success, many other youths continue to face this issue,

depriving them of education, employment and basic rights.

Without citizenship, they became vulnerable to human trafficking,

exploitation,

illegal activities and drug abuse.

Tragically, some have even taken their own lives.

These young people who could be contributing

to Nepal's development and instead of left

instead left marginalised.

For a developing country like ours, this one,

this loss of human potential is catastrophic.

Gender discriminatory citizenship law is not just a legal issue.

It is a human rights crisis,

denying citizen

citizenship strips individual of dignity and opportunity.

This issue is often

overshadowed by political narrative,

but it is a fundamentally it is fundamentally about justice and equality.

Every child deserves the right to belong,

regardless of whether the their nationality comes from their mother or father at

Cap. And we are working to change this reality.

One of our key initiatives,

the Safe Haven project provides employment

to people impacted by citizenship laws,

enabling them to earn a dignified living and helping fund

our broader advocacy efforts.

Through this initiative,

we demonstrate that we are just not individuals without citizenship and also who

are treated as threats but valuable

contributors to society.

While we have made progress,

this work would not be possible without the support of organisations that we have

that have stood by us despite the

challenges they face in garnering sufficient resources.

I would like to express my deep gratitude to institution institutions like

stitching Institute for Statelessness and Inclusion,

nationality for all global campaign for equal nationality rights

and the Global Movement against statelessness,

which have been pillars of strength for us.

Despite their own struggles with funding, financial support

and with capacity building as well, we also like to deeply thank

we are also deeply thankful to

UNHCR

to

foundation Finland

and an ongoing partner, partner and Juliet fund U

A which have helped us a lot.

However, despite these efforts, statelessness remains unfunded globally.

We could achieve so much more if this issue

receives more financial help and political will it truly deserves.

As we gather here today

at the United Nations,

I urge both global global community and our government to view statelessness

or people without citizenship through a lens of humanity and inclusion.

Nepal has made some progress and I appreciate these efforts. But we still know

that the gender discriminatory citizenship provision exists

and it exists because of the patriarchy prevalent

and

the intent needs to be determined and firm more.

We must enact reforms that ensure no child is left stateless and

no mother is denied the right to pass on her nationality.

Together we can build a future where every child in Nepal and around

the world is given the chance to participate fully in society and contribute

to their communities. Thank you.

Thank you very much for opening the floor to question matters An announcement

and

just very briefly to follow up.

The press release has been sent on the I belong report,

so you should have that in your inbox.

We have also sent an advisory for the full week of events

next week that is ex

our annual executive committee meeting

and there are details there on media access and broadcast opportunities.

As Reuben mentioned, there will be a high level segment on statelessness on Monday

that will be followed by the Nanson Award on Monday evening,

to which media can have access if they approach

UNHCR's press office

and then throughout the rest of the week there

will be a number of sessions here in the Palais

including, of course, the General,

all debates at Ex

as well as individual sessions on the situation in the Middle East,

the situation in Sudan, climate change, the Cartagena

process

and several other sessions.

So do approach us if you have interest in covering those thank you, Alexandra,

Thank you to the three speakers and I open the floor two questions,

so I'll start with Isabel.

Isabel

Saco is the

correspondent of the Spanish News Agency.

Good morning.

Thank you, Alexandra, Just to know if we will receive a detailed programme of the Ex

com next week

because it would be useful and to know also if you

are expecting the participants, some ministers

to come to Geneva for this meeting.

We have sent an advisory Isabel,

and there is a link there that has all of the sessions that are available.

There are a number of ministers, ambassadors, partners,

NGOs and so on. Who will be present?

Gabriela Sotomayor,

Um, from a Mexican processor.

Hi. Hello.

And I didn't have the opportunity to read the report.

But what do you think about the regime of the Ortega Murillo in Nicaragua

that took away the nationality of some members of opposition intellectuals,

some priests and other personalities?

Thank you,

Mrs

Miela. We answer every question. It's a press conference style.

Please.

I think I won't go into the individual circumstances of each of these situations.

But suffice it to say, as I underlined earlier on,

it is one of the

fundamental human rights for any person not

to be arbitrarily deprived of their nationality.

And that's a position we would take in situations where we believe that

people have been stripped of their nationality for,

uh, for political purposes or any other purposes.

Are there other questions to an HCR in the room.

Let me see if there's any on the platform.

I don't see.

Yes. Lisa

Schlein. Sorry, boys of America.

Uh, good morning on, uh, statelessness,

uh,

when

you were talking about the situation of Myanmar as we know,

they're very resistant to,

uh, dealing with this. Among other issues. Uh,

what does it take?

Uh,

what sort of persuasive arguments do you have in

order to get countries to listen to you,

actually,

and to consider, uh, giving citizenship to the stateless people.

And then I was wondering whether you have, uh, been able to measure

the

positive impact of, uh uh uh, uh, countries that have, in fact,

ended statelessness.

I'm looking at the press release which talks about Kenya, which, uh, I guess gave,

uh, uh, citizenship to a number of,

uh, minority groups. And what that has done for the societies that

have actually granted citizenship to,

uh, these stateless people.

Thank you.

Thank you for that question.

Um, in terms of the Rohingya situation and the issue of citizenship for Rohingya,

uh, members of the Rohingya ethnic minority,

this is a long standing issue.

As, of course, you know,

and some of the initiatives that we have undertaken

is obviously to lobby with governments in the region to

and try and persuade the

de facto authorities in Myanmar and previous governments

as well in Myanmar to address this issue,

this very vexed question of granting citizenship or

the full rights of citizenship to Rohingya,

the Rohingya populations.

But we are also and this is one of the things that

this global alliance that we are launching on Monday hope to do.

It is

not just to use the persuasive powers of governments,

but also other sectors of society, like civil society, like people like

the private sector. As we all know, sometimes

some of these very powerful corporations tend to have more leverage than

we in the United Nations may have with certain governments,

then other sister agencies, academia, faith based leaders, faith based groups.

We hope to use all of these in this in the

context of this global alliance to try and mobilise public opinion,

but also to try and convince these governments to

look more positively at granting citizenship

to stateless persons on their territory.

In terms of the positive impact, Um, there is recorded evidence that Of course,

when people are granted full rights of citizenship and become

wage earning members of society,

they do contribute to the communities in which they live,

not least through the payment of taxes

through the payment of other you know, for other services as well.

And that they do become contributing members of the

economies and the communities in which they live.

And we do have data on that. Thanks.

Thank you very much. Musa.

Asi

almain

Peru. Um, I have a question about the Lebanon.

Uh, the situation, uh, of, uh, uh,

displacement, uh, displaced, uh, in Beirut from the south.

The situation today, uh, because I see always, uh, the image from Beirut.

Uh, the people sleep in the street, in the garden, in the public space.

Uh, how you can, uh, give us some details about, uh, the situation today. Thank you,

Moussa.

You are not specifically speaking here

about refugees because otherwise we will have

a whole section in Lebanon as soon as we finish with this.

So just to clarify, are you asking this to

or in general, we can talk about it in a moment?

No. And, uh uh, uh, The UN CR

Uh

uh

Or maybe I can wait.

Let's do it like this because Matt will stay with us. I

think

there is one more question.

But then we go to Lebanon to the situation in the Middle East,

and Matt will also be there to answer your

questions after we have heard from our speakers.

But I think Catherine

F

Francois

K

has a question too.

Is that for

Yes. Good morning, Alexandra. Good morning. And thank you for this briefing.

I'd like to have your opinion about governments that are removing nationality

of

people that have been involved in fights in Syria.

They removed most of the time they removed the nationality of the former fighters

and their family.

OK,

I am not aware of the situation in which you

are referring to the situation which you are referring to.

But again,

I do want to underline that there are international human rights instruments that

clearly say that no person should be arbitrarily deprived of their nationality.

And I would really like to just underline that provision

rather than commenting on individual situations where

I certainly don't have the knowledge.

Thanks.

Thank you very much. That was our last question for our guests.

Thank you very much for being here. Congratulations again

and have a great event next week. But you stay in the room.

I'll ask

Ravina to come to the podium

and we have with us. I like to make a little bit of

a

series of presentations on

the situation in the Middle East. So we have

Ravina to speak

about it on the

human rights perspective. And we also have Ri pkn

me to introduce.

He is the

representative for the

opt

of

who

he is connecting from Jerusalem and Jean UN

Special Representative in the State of Palestine for

UNICEF. So we have updates on Gaza on polio.

But I would like to say Rick has to leave us at 1130. So we have a hard deadline there.

Christian will stay on the line if you have other questions for

But I think I'll I'll start maybe with, um Ravina here. Then we will go to Jerusalem

and then we will hear um

also from Matt. If you have questions

uh Ravina

Let's start with you.

Thanks, Alexandra. Good morning, everyone.

The situation for civilians on the ground in Lebanon, Gaza,

Israel and Syria is getting worse by the day.

The densely populated capital of Beirut is

increasingly being hit by Israeli air strikes,

hundreds are dead and over a million people

have fled their homes throughout the country.

Hezbollah and other armed groups continue to fire rockets into Israel,

resulting in the first civilian fatalities in the north since the

most recent escalation of hostilities between Israel and Lebanon last month.

Just last night, Beirut was bombed again

in the heaviest strike yet on the central part of the city.

At least 22 people were reported killed and over 100 injured,

according to the Ministry of Public Health.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker

Turk,

reminds all parties of their obligation

to adhere to international humanitarian law

or the rules of war with respect to the protection of civilians,

civilian objects and infrastructure.

Any alleged violation must be subjected to a prompt and thorough investigation,

and those responsible where violations are found to

have taken place must be held to account.

The Lebanese people are bearing the brunt of this latest phase of the conflict.

The Ministry of Public Health says that almost 400 Children and

women are among the over 2000 people killed since October 2023.

There are recurring reports of essential

civilian infrastructure having been struck,

including hospitals, clinics, ambulances and schools,

along with the destruction of housing.

In all,

over 100 medical and emergency workers have been

killed across Lebanon since October last year.

Many of those displaced have fled to Syria

from the 23rd of September to 9 October.

It has been reported that over 310,000 Syrians and

nearly 110,000 Lebanese citizens have crossed the border.

On the ninth and the 10th of October,

Hezbollah said it had launched at least

360 missiles from southern Lebanon into Israel.

Two people were killed in a rocket attack on the border town of Kiryat

Mona on the ninth of October,

a day after five others were injured in a rocket attack on Haifa.

Amid this escalating violence,

we are appalled by the sweeping inflammatory language on multiple sides,

recent language threatening Lebanese people as a whole

and calling on them to either rise

up against Hezbollah or face destruction like Gaza

risks being understood as encouraging or accepting violence,

directed against civilians and civilian objects

in violation of international law.

Ongoing denigration of the UN

in particular UN R A

is unacceptable.

This kind of toxic rhetoric from any source must stop.

It is important that we also keep the spotlight

on the frightful human suffering continuing in Gaza.

Over the last week, the Israeli military has intensified operations in north Gaza,

further severing the area from the rest of the Gaza Strip

and risking af freshh the lives of civilians in the areas.

Intense strikes, shelling,

quad copter shootings and ground incursions have occurred over the past days,

hitting residential buildings and groups of people, causing numerous casualties

and once again, mass displacement of Palestinians in the area.

Attacks on hospitals also continue.

One strike on Al Yaman al Sayed Hospital, serving as an ID P shelter in

Jabaliya camp, killed 17 Palestinians, including Children and women.

On the ninth of October,

the Israeli military ordered the evacuation within 24 hours of Kamal Awan

Hospital in Beit Lahiya,

the largest operating hospital in northern Gaza,

impacting hundreds of injured other patients and medical workers,

as well as residents that rely on the hospital.

Meanwhile, in other parts of Gaza. A strike on Ruaa

school, sheltering

in the west of Deir

al Bala

on the 10th of October reportedly killed 28 Palestinians,

including Children and women.

We have recorded at least 14 schools struck this October alone

at a rate of more than one school a day.

While the Israeli military continues to order Palestinians in north Gaza to leave,

many are trapped and cannot safely move.

Our office has received reports that those most vulnerable,

including people with disabilities and their families,

are especially struggling to evacuate.

The High Commissioner stresses that now, more than ever, political courage,

leadership and compassion are needed.

The killing,

destruction as well as the bellicose posturing by

those in positions of power must end.

There is no alternative to resolution of

this conflict than at the negotiating table.

Widening conflict and progressive escalation put the lives and

well being of potentially millions of people across the region

at risk.

I

thank you very much for this comprehensive briefing. I go now to Rick

Porn

from Jerusalem to update us on the situation of the health situation there.

Yeah, good morning, Uh, to all of you and, uh, greetings from, um Jerusalem.

Uh, I wanna focus on two updates one on the health situation. So both focused on Gaza

one an an an an update on northern GZA and the other one on polio.

So on northern Gaza.

So we as WHO we we remain and we

are actually greatly concerned about the safety of patients.

Health workers

amid these intensified facilities and and the current evacuation wards

and then also very much affecting the

hospitals mentioned Kamal at one Al

a,

an Indonesian hospital in northern Gaza.

So we also appeal for every possible measure

to be taken to protect civilians health care,

including patients, health workers, hospitals and ambulances.

So health care

should never be a target.

So WHO was requested by the Ministry of Health

and respective hospitals to support the evacuation of

critical non walking patients from this hospital.

We immediately planned this mission. We were regressed on the seventh.

On eighth of October. We were ready.

The mission to Kamala one. That's where the patients would be

gathered and they would be brought to non walking critical patients.

They would be transferred.

That was the plan to

oif a hospital and Al

Ain

and a few

to Sahaba.

So 8 October

The mission was ready,

and those missions are incredibly complex,

an enormous time called

to prepare. It's not just WHO.

It's with UN partners like O,

but also

with our counterpart, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society,

with the staff and ambulances,

cars, et cetera, with a string of ambulances.

So 8 October

mission impeded

89 hours at checkpoints, et cetera. Rolling Points Mission Impeded 9 October.

Similar planning

Mission. Impeded similar reasons. Yesterday at 10 October

they

the same, uh,

they passed the checking points, but upon checking point is very close to

one.

They could not continue, and they had to abort a mission late

in in in the evening. They were back very late in the

in the evening.

Other missions from WAO as well to re

supply Osa

have a

hospital, for example, with fuel blood

units. Medical supplies

were also the 9th,

1/9 October and impeded on the 10th of October.

We are

we are always ready and we're still planning. Now.

We are now again planning with the team in Gaza

to when it's still needed to have this mission to transfer these critical normal

occupations either tomorrow or on Sunday, but we need to be properly facilitators.

So as of yesterday, it's estimated there are 19 patients still in Kamala

141 patient in Al Ada

and 28 patients. Indonesia.

Kamala

Awa

and al

Ada

remain partially functional and we cannot

say that Indonesia is functional anymore.

They struggle due to

shortage of supplies. So Kamala

one and

ADA,

including blood trauma, disposables, medication for patients with

nonchronical disease and fuel,

and the latest report.

Indonesian Hospital is no longer able to

provide services or accommodate new patients.

So and I want to stress this point. Kamala

one

or

other Indonesia, where the only three hospitals will remain partly functional

in the north of Gaza

it lacks

in the north of Gaza primary healthcare facilities,

we get this.

Most of these reports from the hospitals of many other

hospitals in the north now are ruling out a few.

Most of the UN and humanitarian missions were not happening to the North.

They're rolling out a few specific medical supplies

and we are one year in this crisis

and this is a kind of

I don't get it, that we can still not have these humanitarian corridors to make sure

that these missions can continue. So we we request again

starting request this

humanitarian missions to the north, wherever to the south. They need to happen

on polio.

So maybe a little bit more positive here.

The second round of an emergency polio vaccination campaign is

is scheduled to start on coming Monday

with

Octo

in Gaza to vaccinate an estimated 591,007 other Children.

Thats target under 10 years of age

with the second dose of the Novo

oral

polio vaccine Type two NLBV two vaccine.

Again, This is similarly organised by the Ministry of Health,

together with WHO, UNICEF

and

Run,

and many partners

by

a will be added. I'm sure that my UNICEF colleague will

allude to that uh, process

the second round. We will have a similar approach. Three phases.

Focusing on three zones the middle zone, the southern zone

and a northern zone

each involving at least three campaigns,

with an extra day for capture where needed and a day in between to prepare

hundreds.

Hundreds of teams are ready for to to to

populate the fixed and mobile teams will be deployed.

Community engagement awareness raises on the proprietor.

During the campaign,

local teams will be deployed in areas that need special coordinations outside

so called polygon to reach the Children.

Uh,

you know, which are not as part of the the the agreed polygons

and to receive the vaccine as we did in the first round,

it's critical that they are rich as well.

So once again, a humanitarian poll will be a pre witnesses

to implement a successful second round,

particularly to ensure that all polio workers can operate in a safe,

secure environment and community and families can

obtain vaccination for Children without fear.

So we

renew our request,

uh, for for all parts

of the conflict,

to implement this necessary humanitarian policies in Gaza for the second round,

particularly critical as new evacuation orders

in the north of Gaza are threatening

access to hospitals and protection of health

facilities and health and community workers.

The vaccination teams, the parents, the Children.

Of course, the Children must be protected and allowed to conduct, uh,

to make sure that the campaigns can conduct safely,

and I want to close that we we really sort of small positive.

We really appreciate this committed commitment

to this area specific humanitarian policies.

We would like to see this, however,

that this is not just for polio.

We appreciate that this we can do this with polio, but

it should not be just for the polio bubble.

I just raised the other

enormous challenges and and and the lack of supplies

being available specifically in the north of Gaza.

It doesn't only apply for health. This applies for food.

It applies for water and sanitation and applies for shelter.

Applies for for many humanitarian items.

So it's great to have this polio level.

But I think one year in this crisis we should have proper humanitarian corridors

and a functional a functional deconfliction mechanism, which is adherent to

thank you very much.

Thank you very much, Rick. And let me give the floor now to Jean

Go,

a

un

special representative for Palestine, also from Jerusalem.

Uh, good morning to all there.

In addition to what Rick has mentioned. Thank you, Rick. I wanted to emphasise

the logistical challenges that such a vaccination campaign represent.

The first around successfully roll out

in September Presented humanitarian workers with over

difficulties included operating amid devastated infrastructure.

For example 75% of Pre-existing

Cochin,

critical for any immunisation campaign was destroyed over the last year as war

ravaged the entire strip.

In order to solve the problem,

in addition to the 1.6 million doses of vaccine,

UNICEF

had to bring in refrigerators,

freezers,

ice

boxes and vaccine carriers all equipment required to maintain the

stock at the temperature between two and eight centigrades.

Another important challenge has been the endless population movements

in the north of the Gaza Strip.

Several displaced orders has been issues affecting thousands of Children.

Once again,

it will be absolutely critical

that not only the localised humanitarian pauses are respected in the north,

but also that people are not forced to move from one area to another.

This will be essential for us to be able to vaccinate at

least 90% of Children under the age of 10 among the population

in all the Gaza Strip.

During the second round,

we will also take the opportunity to administer vitamin A to Children.

This helps to reinforce their immune system.

It is a simple measure,

but critical to support the health of thousands of Children

who are living in extreme dear hygiene and sanitation conditions.

Making sure that families are properly

informed about this second round of vaccination

is also a very important element.

More than 800 social mobilizer will reach out to the families to

raise awareness of the importance of taking the second dose as well

as to where the dates

and locations of the campaign will take place,

as we did in the first round.

We will also broadcast radio spots,

S MS message and use all digital channels

available in Gaza to amplify these messages.

This

will continue until the second round concludes.

Once again,

local teams will be deployed in the areas that need special coordinations

to reach Children,

including those who could not receive the vaccine in the first round.

I want to reiterate, as my colleague Rick has said,

the importance of localised humanitarian pauses as a prerequisite

for a successful second round of this campaign.

We need all polio workers and nutrition workers to

be able to operate in a safe and secure environment

and all parents to be able to bring their Children to the fear.

We call on all parties to respect this.

The first round of polio campaign has shown to the world

that when everyone lines up,

it is possible to bring critical aid to Children

in Gaza included in the north of Gaza.

It is not only critical crucial that this happens again in the second round.

We should also be able to do more of this

on other aspects for Children in the Gaza Strip that don't need so much. I thank you.

Thank you very much.

In fact, thanks to all the speakers, I know that Rick has a hard deadline.

So I'd rather ask you, if possible, to start with questions to him.

But of course, we

will take them one by one.

So I have seen first Emma, Emma far Reuters.

Hi. Good morning. I have one question for Rick and one for Ravina.

Should I go with both?

Start with Rick, please.

Ok, uh,

for doctor

peppercorn. Um,

what are your fears?

If you don't get access to these hospitals in the north,

why is it important and what will happen to the patients?

And could you just clarify

how many times now have you been thwarted on

that mission to the hospitals in the north?

And then I'll go for Ravina later. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Rick, if you can refund,

we'll try to take your questions first.

Yeah, by the way, I have time until 1230. So, uh,

I think we have enough time. Relax. So I think first of all, the

the,

uh, the number of missions. So

we have had three missions

which has not been successful

over the last week. So 89,

and, um 89 and 10, October

2

to assist

with transferring those patients. And it's not just WHO.

I wanna really stress that point.

Uh, we manage, we organise, etcetera. We do this, of course, in Coin

Nation on request, the Ministry of Health

and respective hospitals.

And we do this together with the was

uni,

as was involved

was also assisting.

As specifically, I would mention the

policy

in Red Crescent Society with a strain of ambulances and

kos. These are massive

operations. We've done this many times now.

Unfortunately to transfer patients to medevac patients within Gaza,

they were supposed to go to, uh, uh,

uh from

collector the Kamala one and then to, uh uh

to, uh to Shea

and alah.

So every day it is changing.

You heard this also from my colleague and And I

think J was also referring to that every day.

That is changing initially. So we planned

for 40 patients, 40 patients to be collectors

and to be brought to, uh,

Shifa

and Al

Ahli Hospital.

Now, with the evacuation orders,

we we get constantly different informa information.

We know that a lot of non walking patients

they have been moved already.

Don't know the exact figures. I gave you some of the figures Now,

uh, as of yesterday, there were 19 patients in Kamala 1, 41 in all

other

and 28 in Indonesian

hospitals.

Now we

we do this on request

of the hospital directors.

We don't like to do this kind of thing because

hospitals should be able to take care of their patients.

But we know that when hostilities get close

to the hospital and we learned this over the

last year, what happens?

There will be

a hostilities. There will be fighting close to the hospitals.

Patients cannot come to the hospitals.

Patients cannot leave, staff cannot come and leave.

And W HR and partners cannot bring supplies and equipment so very quickly hospital.

It is partly functional, becomes nonfunctional,

then often there's problems with electricity, et cetera.

Treas.

Will go

no fuel,

uh,

will be problems with water

and food, All the basics.

So yeah, of course, we are deeply concerned

about these patients, but also about staff. And we also understand

that there is

a, um a number of people who actually ID PS within northern Gaza,

who probably moved a number of times that

they are also sheltering around that around those hospitals

they might move. I mean, people who are able to to

to walk, etcetera, they might have left already. We have to check out.

I want to stress again. The way a show is ready, we are. Now again, we have another

meeting with our team in Gaza, uh,

to plan for either tomorrow or Sunday

to hope to ensure that we can assist.

Because if there is indeed, like, active fighting around these hospitals,

we know that

patients are of course really worse off.

And not only the patients, but also the staff.

We hope, of course,

that they can return as quickly as possible

to those hospitals and that you remain functional.

I want to stress this point. It has been an enormous resilience of the health workers

and in everywhere in Gaza. But also, I would say

in northern Gaza,

uh, that every time we we saw that hospitals, because of the active fighting,

became from partly functional nonfunctional.

They bounced back.

They bounced back. Uh, because of their resilience.

Health workers, together with support WH

and partners

Indonesian hospitals, was out of, uh,

function for a long time. It's functioning again

and rehabilitated. Shea

well, almost destroyed very much damage, et cetera. And you all see the pictures.

It is.

It is functioning partly again as trauma and trauma wards and

OTs, et cetera, OP DS, et cetera. It's amazing.

And all those hospitals went through the same Kamala

one has been out of service for a couple of weeks and bounced back Al

Ada, Al

Ahli, et cetera. And even in the solid national medical complex.

So we hope that and we expect that this can

happen again because they should not be a target.

So

at

all,

on your

so that is on the on the missions and on on and all

those

did I address all your questions over to you.

Thank you very much. Can we have we have a long list of questions, please?

Can we have short questions? Short answers? Uh, Nina And then Gabriella.

Thank you, Um, for for doctor peppercorn first.

And then I've I've got a question for rovina later, if that's OK.

it was just on the polio. Uh, campaign I.

I was wondering how confident you are that, uh,

it will be possible to to carry out the the

second round of vaccination in the north of Gaza,

given the the current situation and the siege there,

Uh,

if you could talk a little bit more to that Thank you.

I'm sure J wants to add on this one as well. But let me say from my side,

the technical committee, which is the Ministry of Health in Gaza.

The Ministry of Health. Uh

uh, WHO UNICEF

and won.

And many partners. They are already

They're ready. They prepared for this. And I think,

uh,

I think it was a major achievement in the first round. A

massive achievement from all everyone involved.

Everyone who was held there, especially the team on the ground I will move.

Will also go to Gaza again

on on Monday to assist the guide as good as possible.

But I think, yes, I have confidence very much in the teams,

the technical committee and all the partners on the ground.

Hundreds

in some of those areas in the central and the south and the north.

We talk about foreign teams which are ready to go

and deployed.

Uh, communities will be informed, et cetera.

I am, of course, concerned

about the developments in the north, and specifically, uh,

we know that within within this evacuation orders, we talk about,

um a total of 61 health facilities 20 in the north of Gaza and 41 in Gaza,

Uh, including the 10 hospital, 90 primary health care centres,

and 32 medical points are within the evacuation orders.

And the zone announced on the sixth over. Now,

yes, we are concerned about that. And I think you heard this also from a you

a colleague,

and and we

expect

that this

specific,

uh, Unitarian areas, uh, this disposes for this,

uh, for this, uh,

for specific areas where we conduct a public campaign that will be adhered to, uh,

by all all parties

then I'm convinced then I'm actually confident that they

board because I think there's so many challenges.

But I'm hopeful

that we can implement this in the in in the right way and in a in A in a proper way,

that we move forward.

Thank you,

Thank you, Jane. You wanna add something to that?

Just to add that we also have confirmation from Col.

God that they have received that it will happen

and we will have another meeting today. We will have another one on Sunday

and every day during the campaign

we coordinate and make sure that the the hurdles that we have that they are so

so is is difficult. But it's possible. And I think the collaboration of

everyone on the ground.

We are concerned in the North these evacuation orders that have been happening.

The displacement

also brings that we need to adjust our micro plans as Rick said,

and keep planning each day to make sure that the campaign

takes place and it takes place to the best quality possible.

I think the teams on the ground are very motivated, and that encourages us

to keep pushing

because with their support and only with them we'll be able to do it.

So the the people on the ground.

You should see the level of motivation in the last round,

and we are hoping in this round. But we are concerned

because the conditions on the ground are really more complicated this time.

But we are working to

ensuring that and be rest assured that

with hope that everything will be able to move forward. Thank you.

And I wanna add on this gene set in the micro plan. It's incredibly important.

It's incredibly time consuming and complex,

and I think what Gene just raised is probably the most critical.

Every time there's changes, there's changes, evacuation order, changes in the

security environment, et cetera. We will have to adapt our micro plans.

And that will, of course, have an impact an impact on the cor.

So that's why

uh, the

the urgent request to all parties to to stick to this necessary Unitarian policy,

you

know.

Thank you very much. Gabriel. Leon.

So the question for Rick

Yes.

Uh,

11 question and one clarification there.

Could you clarify if Hamas is

preventing Palestinian Children from being vaccinated?

I didn't understand that part.

Is it the Israeli army, or is it both sides responsible?

And second question,

What is the situation of your personal and UN personnel in Lebanon?

Thank you.

Um, I didn't get a complete question, but I think for us,

it's it's it's we as Gene said,

we we we coordinate and we plan together with the Ministry of Health,

WHO,

UNICEF

and run

and many other partners.

And and and And, of course, we we discuss and and the

we we have this, uh,

daily meetings to

to move forward and to make sure

that what went right, what went wrong,

how can we improve?

So yeah, I think, uh,

everyone is on board.

That's this second round of polio

that that should be become a success. So,

uh,

if you ask me if I am I really confident. Yes, I'm confident in that.

And I'm hopeful in that if we of course,

stick to the plans and stick to the agreements.

Oh,

OK,

Isabel, you also have a follow

up?

Yes, very short. Thank you.

Um, just on the missions,

these missions were exclusively for evacuation of patients

or there were there were some other components,

like providing, uh, medicine or other medical materials

or assessments.

And secondly,

you said that some of the patients had been already have been already moved.

Who moved them?

Yeah, OK, all good questions.

So first of all, these missions are indeed it's always a combination.

We try to do as much as possible. So it's

the

the missions to Kamala

One or

A

and and and Indonesian. And it would be focused on Kamal

at one because that's where the patients would be moved to

to be evacuated to

oif

and Al

Ali.

that was definitely, um um um

um mission to

what we call transfer

can say internally.

Medevac those patients, the nonwalking patients,

the critical nonwalking patients.

We also would help

the

the emer,

Uh, the the EMT. The emergency medical team

is working in Indonesia, and I think there was also one in command one

to help them move out.

That was the other thing.

Now

the other.

We were also wrote, uh,

on request of the hospital and the Ministry of Health to take out an, um,

a few medical equipment, uh,

specifically and then to bring something to Al

Sahaba

to, uh, take care of for the I think for the for the neonatal care,

uh, intensive care units

from one hospital to the other hospital first to make sure that

you know that that we bring in the the that that specific equipment

where it's most needed etcetera and also that they will not be,

uh, damaged.

So that was all focused on the

other missions. And I think I mentioned that, I mean, for example, to

To

Asa,

uh, where

we were supposed to bring fuel

units and medical supplies, which were,

which was the night, the ninth of October, and then appear the 10th of October.

And this is I really want to stress.

So we get from our staff in the north as well, but also from the hospitals. If it is she

by

if it's

not,

if it is,

if it is alsa

haba,

the

Kamala one.

All those hospitals,

uh, constantly are short on fuel.

They are short on specific medical supplies. Uh, for example, um, anaesthesia and

blood,

uh, blood, Uh uh, et

cetera.

And

and And this is the our our key request. Those missions,

they should just go on. We should have

a number of missions every week to the north of Gaza

to make sure

that we can bring in those supplies. We are ready.

We have the supplies

that we have the fuel,

et cetera.

So it's

it's kind of unacceptable

that we still struggle

with this kind of what I would What I

call should be routine humanitarian missions by now.

And it is not just for health. I want to stress that it's also in the other areas.

Thank you. Thank you very much, Rick. And I know you have to leave us now, so

thanks for that.

I'll go back now to, uh, before going to the people on the on the platform.

I haven't forgotten you, but I'll go back to the room first.

Emma, you were willing to ask your question to Ravina.

Uh,

thanks, Ravina.

It was just,

um I was hoping for a bit more information

about the 100 medics and emergency workers killed.

Can you give any details of how they were killed and who killed them?

And might you be able to say how many of those have been

in the last few weeks when things have really escalated in Lebanon?

Thank you.

Thanks, Emma. Yes, I do have some more detail on that.

Um so on the ninth of October,

the Israeli air force reportedly hit the civil

defence centre of the Islamic Health Organisation in Wadi

Jil

Waddi

Tyre

district, killing two paramedics and wounding others.

On the same day,

at least five rescue workers were reportedly killed

when a strike hit their civil defence centre

in

and previous to that, we have I mean, we have a whole list of attacks

on the fifth of October. Um,

well, on the fifth of October, the Ministry of Public Health reported that, uh,

96 primary health care centres and clinics have been closed.

Um, we've had several reports also of airstrikes targeting other, um,

medical centres, um, and of paramedics as well as firefighters.

Uh, being killed.

Christian, I see your hand up. So

Eric has left us. But maybe you want to add something?

Yeah, indeed. Thank you very much. Uh, Alexandra.

Thank you,

Ginna. Um,

the, uh just just to flag, Or to add a few points since 8 October alone.

And we are on 11 October. So that's three days ago.

Since 8 October 34 attacks on health have been verified by WHO in Lebanon,

which resulted in 94 deaths and 74 injuries alone. That's only since 8 October,

and as the number of displaced people increase

in the population is left with limited access

to emergency and trauma care, as well as access to essential health

services,

including routine vaccination, essential child and maternal health care

and whatever cancer treatments and dialysis.

we are facing a situation where there is much higher

risk of disease outbreak such as acute watery diarrhoea,

hepatitis A

and the number of vaccine presented with diseases. Um,

I'll leave it at that. Thanks. Thanks. Christian

Gabriela.

Yes. And if Rabi

and maybe Christian could answer what is the situation of UN personnel in Lebanon?

If you are concerned about your own personal

on that, maybe what you want to read. There is an extensive briefing yesterday by US

G

Carlo and us

who have been speaking at length

about the situation of the UN, especially the UN

forces in Lebanon. UNIFIL

and they themselves have issued a

statement

where they have spoken about these two

peacekeepers who were injured after an attack.

I think we have distributed to you the notes that the transcript.

Otherwise, we can do it now.

They are available.

I think it's really a complete assessment of the situation in the country.

But the bottom line is that they are there.

They are really working in a very difficult situation,

but they are fulfilling their mandate,

and we will continue to do so as much as they can.

But really, there is a series of events incidents that they have listed. So I will

refer you to these two interventions to the Security Council first. Thank you,

Nina.

Thanks. Um, yeah, Rubin. I had just a couple of questions for you.

Uh, first of all, um,

I was in, uh, so in Lebanon, the the attacks on UNIFIL, uh, that have continued today.

Just just now,

um, if you could say something about the

from a human rights perspective about, uh, how that's viewed, and

there was also, um,

there have also been reports this is, uh, not in Lebanon, but in in Israel,

there's been reports of a US journalist who's been,

uh, arrested for, uh, endangering national security.

Um, over reporting where some of the Iranian missiles fell.

Um, if if you're aware of that. And if you have any comments on on that, Thank you.

Yeah, sure. Thanks, Nina.

Um, I'll just actually go back to to Gabriela's question a little bit.

I mean, Alessandra gave you the, you know, the the fuller answer.

Um, but just to speak a little bit about impact on our staff as well, uh,

we still of course, do have staff in Lebanon.

Um, and they are trying to do what they can to cover the situation to report back to us.

Um, but of course, they're terrified. Um, and they're very, very tired.

Um, this is what I heard from two of our colleagues. We are so tired

because they have, of course, been supporting and covering

the situation in Gaza and in the occupied Palestinian territory over the past year.

And now, in addition to that, they're being personally affected.

Hearing the sounds of drones of strikes of bombings,

seeing explosions take place not very far from where they are.

It's a terrifying situation

on the, uh, UNIFIL, Um

uh uh, troops, um, Who were there? Um,

it is clear that, um, states have an obligation, um, to ensure that they are not hit,

um, that they are protected,

and the the the the primary obligation with that, of course,

lies on the state of Israel.

Um, to ensure that the recent statements that were made were unfortunate, uh,

implying that, um, their safety cannot be guaranteed.

Well, of course, it is the responsibility of the state

to,

uh to ensure that they are protected and they are able to carry

out their work that they have been mandated to do by the United Nations

on the

journalist. Yes, We've seen the reports.

We are aware we're actually checking with colleagues because we don't

have enough information to be able to comment on that yet.

But once we get more, I can get back to you on that.

In general, of course, we've seen a lot of attacks against journalists, lack of

access for journalists,

raids of journalistic offices in the context of this conflict.

And that's unacceptable.

In in

the midst of a conflict, there is so much propaganda,

so much misinformation that is spreading that the

work of journalists is more important than ever.

But in this context,

we have seen almost unprecedented levels of attacks against journalists

and we we call for any such

threats, attacks, violence against journalists to be thoroughly investigated

and maybe just in more general terms.

We really have to remind the fact that all parties have obligations

to ensure the safety and security of the UN personnel and property

and respect the

inability of UN premises at all times. It's very important to

reiterate this every time, and our people, of course in the field, is doing that

and following up with the belligerent on this.

It's extremely important to remind everybody of their

own responsibility towards UN staff and UN premises.

And I see Christian raises and maybe also to speak about the

staff.

Uh,

no, Alessandro, but I need to make a very, uh no.

I have a very important clarification before this, uh, creates, uh, problems here.

The the figures I mentioned were since October 2023.

So 8 October 2023. So that's one year to be now

coming back to this year since 17 September,

So that's this year,

18 attacks on health care have been recorded,

leaving behind 72 deaths and 40 injuries among health staff.

Health facilities have also been impacted,

but important 96 primary health care centres and health facilities were

forced to close to the South due to rising hostilities.

Five hospitals were reported nonfunctional due

to physical or infrastructural damage,

and four hospitals partially evacuated.

Uh, and requiring the transfer of patients, including

all those with, uh, various other diseases dialysis, cancer and so on and so forth.

So important. The figures I mentioned before

not to confuse anything worse since one year ago.

Thanks. Christian I. I see the faces of our colleagues here.

Maybe it would be good if you could put this in writing,

but Nina has a question on this.

Thanks. Um, yeah, for Christian.

Um, So it wasn't three days then, um, I was just wondering then if you if you know the,

uh, number of, uh,

healthcare workers who've been killed since the increase in in hostilities,

uh, 23rd of September,

for instance, Uh, if you could Or or the attacks on health care since then.

So since 17. September

18, attacks on health,

um, leaving behind 72 deaths and 40 injuries among

health staff.

without specifications now. So

since 17 September 18 attacks on health.

Thank you.

Um, OK, So we have more questions, but not in the room in the, um, on the

platform. Uh, mat, I see your hand up. Is that something you wanted to add? No.

OK, so let's go to ravikant

the terms of India.

Hello? Can you hear me?

Yeah, go ahead.

Yeah. Thank you, Alexandra.

Just one simple clarification. I don't write for times of India.

I write for wire and other Indian publications.

That's what you put in the in the in the platform. That's why I read it.

But anyway, go ahead.

Yeah, yeah, thanks. Uh, so

my question is to Ravi,

uh,

that, uh, given this large scale killings, uh, indiscriminate

killings from, you know, dropping big bombs and also, uh,

continuing ethnic cleansing of sort.

Are we actually witnessing a 21st century phenomenon?

Uh, which was witnessed in the second half of 20th century

in Poland?

Uh, because in many ways it has gone well beyond,

uh what the genocidal

killings that were discussed in the past.

I hope I'm clear about my question.

Thanks, Ravi.

It's It's clear, you I.

I believe you're you're talking about just the

magnitude of what we are seeing today.

Um it,

it's

Gosh, I'm having trouble finding the right word today to to just describe

how terrible this has been.

Um, for civilians.

First and foremost, um,

this is going to have an impact that will reverberate across many generations

of people in the Middle East. Um, Children who have been out of school for so long,

Children who have had their limbs amputated,

who will be living with lifelong injuries, the trauma of families,

the impunity that has marked this conflict,

which means that it is going to continue to feed cycles of revenge, injustice,

revenge, injustice.

It's so difficult to see it is we have been calling the

international community has been calling with one voice for a ceasefire,

for the release of the hostages for a return to some kind of peace.

Every military escalation takes us further away from that.

The right to peace for the people of Palestine, for the people of Israel,

for the people of Lebanon, for the people of the entire Middle East,

and the disregard for international law that has been demonstrated

in the course of this conflict is also just horrifying

and again, what we need to do in response is to double down

to double down. You hear me coming here?

You hear the high Commissioner speaking constantly about

the need to respect international humanitarian law,

and it is easy to get cynical about it.

But in these circumstances,

it is exactly when we need to double down

on insisting that respect for international law is crucial,

that it is a matter of international peace and

security and human rights for the region and beyond.

Um, Musa,

we,

uh uh

me

uh uh

uh

That,

uh,

he

health worker or health centre

or

a,

uh

Oh, the OE

in in, uh, in,

uh,

zitoli

Uh,

maqueda, uh,

do so.

Devo

and

feno

men

de

PJ men

a la

le

de

ma

uh, se

of

bomb.

Uh

uh

uh uh uh uh

No. Uh, no. Uh,

no.

Uh uh.

Uh

uh A

MS

uh

uh. Enco

secure.

Uh

uh West

de

la

Capital

la

So,

uh, the

Beirut,

uh uh is O

VA?

I,

uh uh

uh

uh.

Sure. Thank you for your for your important question, Musa.

Now what international humanitarian law requires it requires that

each party to the conflict must give effective warning

of attacks which may affect the civilian population

unless the circumstances do not permit effective advance warning

even where a warning is given to civilians of an impending attack.

That does not absolve the party to the conflict

of its responsibility to ensure the protection of civilians to

ensure that they respect the attack is carried out

with full respect for the principles of distinction proportionality.

So again, first of all, a warning is compulsory.

Um, unless it is absolutely impossible unless the circumstances do not permit.

But secondly, even with a warning,

it does not absolve the state of its responsibility to protect civilians

generally, on your more general point. Indeed, a number of incidents

that have occurred in the in the past few weeks do raise

serious concerns about compliance with international

humanitarian law by all parties.

Maybe on the issue of the hospitals in Lebanon.

I don't know if Christian you want to clarify.

I don't see his, um,

Mike going on. So yeah,

thank you.

Just one thing. Sorry. Jean has to leave us. Is there any specific question for

UNICEF, which is still pending Before

we let her go?

I don't see in the room John. Lisa,

can I ask you just to tell me if you

have any questions for Jean and then we will continue.

John

is your question. To gene

to UNICEF.

You have to mute yourself, John.

Hello? Can you hear me there? Alessandra,

is your question to

to

UNICEF

perhaps partly linked to my question because

I was wondering if UNICEF is involved in repairing

the health facilities that have been damaged. I think the number is standing at 26

and I think

is part of the cluster on wash

if they are doing something with other agencies to repair

the water facilities,

which are a risk for potential water borne diseases if not repaired.

Yes. Thank you, Jean.

Let's see if

Jean can answer this.

Yes. Thanks, John. Uh, we we are involved in the repair of hospitals.

Uh, water and sanitation supplies. We have done it for the NASA

hospital.

We repaired all the sanitation. Uh uh,

situation for the NASA hospital. So any hospital that needs water

sanitation, we are involved in it.

So, uh, we will, after each of these incursions, we go back and see what is damaged,

and we do repair them for water and

sanitation for hospitals and primary health care over.

Thank you very much. Lisa, have you got a question for Gene, or should I

go back to John?

Yes. No, no. I have a very quick question for J

if

I

Yeah, uh, back to the polio campaign,

I get the sense that you have not

received any ironclad guarantees about a humanitarian pause.

So I am wondering, uh, will you go ahead with the, uh, polio vaccination campaign?

Even if you don't get these guarantees in the hopes that

in fact, they will materialise. Thank you.

Uh uh uh uh.

Thanks a lot for the question. Yes, we do have guarantees that we have had meetings.

Um, when it was Wednesday, we had the last meeting with them,

and they have guaranteed that we will have humanitarian pause.

As Rick also presented. We do it in three phases. We do the middle area first.

Uh, that's the

ballad. Then they do canes

and then we go to the north.

So each of these is is area specific humanitarian pause.

So we will do that middle area. We will have a humanitarian pause there from six.

In the morning. till two in the afternoon.

And this worked in the last round.

And we are confident that they will, uh, work in this round.

So we do have reassurance from KO A

that this humanitarian process will take place.

KOG is in coordinating with the Southern Command

That is the operational part of the ID F.

So that's we we do have from and we are from all parties to the conflict.

So we are hoping that it will happen again. This time

Today we have another call with them to keep reassuring,

making sure that everything is in place. We'll have another one on Sunday

and every day during the campaign, we do have meetings to make sure that

any issue that comes up is resolved.

So, uh, we are confident that they will continue and work for the wrong one.

And we are confident they will work for wrong too.

Thank you very much, Gina, I don't see other questions for you.

So thanks again for briefing us and I'll go back now to John,

who had a question for Ravina.

Yes. Uh, good morning, Ravina.

Uh, I was just following up on my colleague's questions.

Your human rights monitoring team.

Are they based in in in Lebanon or in neighbouring countries?

And, uh, how many are still, uh, operating monitoring, uh, on the ground.

And if you, uh, have by any chance, uh,

any data the way you do for Ukraine on number of civilians

killed and injured or the or the situation doesn't permit for that.

Thank you.

Hm.

Thanks, John.

we have So we have a regional office for the

Middle East and North Africa that's based in Beirut.

And we have colleagues there who monitor, um,

Syria as well as covering the rest of the region.

Um, some have left. Some are still there.

Um, II,

I don't want to get into exact numbers because

those issues can sometimes be a little bit sensitive.

But we do still have staff in Lebanon.

Um, on, um, civilian verifying, uh, this whether, um,

casualties are civilian or other.

The work is ongoing. Um, but as you recognised, it is very difficult.

Um, at the moment, um, the work has begun. We are verifying,

but it would be misleading for us to put out any figures at the moment.

Um, because they'll most definitely be a very clear. Underestimate.

Um, so the work is ongoing.

Thank you very much. I don't see other. Yes, Gabriela

was going

to say I don't,

But

I have a question for rabina on another subject. Go ahead. Yes. Um,

in the last six years, uh, there have been 150,000 intentional homicides in Mexico

and an average of eight femicide per day.

Uh, several states in Mexico are living with the terror of cartels.

The government is not guaranteeing the right to peace of the population.

So, uh, the country there's no war in the country.

So, uh, are you observing this situation? Are you concerned about this?

And on top of that, the government wants to reform the judicial system.

So what do you think about the situation in Mexico? Thank you.

Thanks. Gabriela. Um, as you know, we we have an office in Mexico.

And of course, we have been following

this very worrying situation regarding the number of homicides,

the number of femicide,

as well as the large number of people

who have been subject to enforced disappearance.

These are all issues on which we we continue to work with the government.

We continue to try to monitor, um, to the extent possible.

Um, and we continue to raise our concerns. Uh, where it comes to,

our worries about institutions, um,

and and measures that are taken to resolve the situation.

It is, of course,

important that all measures are taken in line

with Mexico's obligations under international human rights law.

Thank you very much. Can I let Ravi a

go?

I don't see other hands up. Thank you very much.

Yes, I haven't forgotten you. Can you come to the board while you do? So

I'll give quickly the

to Kathlyn

for an announcement because she also has to go. Thank you very

much.

Any question?

Don't see any. So thank you very much

for

you.

Let's go back to

the last of our topics today. Which is the humanitarian situation in Myanmar with

Jensen

the floor.

Thank you.

Thank you. Uh, Lisandra.

But just one thing, isn't it striking that

at

the same time the same morning as we are looking to Oslo

and the celebration of peace there. We once again

hear about the horrors and the inhumanity

going on in the Middle East.

And one wonders if there were such a thing as the opposite of a

Nobel Peace Prize. I think there would be no shortage of candidates.

Myanmar,

the humanitarian community in Myanmar co ordinated by OA,

is raising concern about the lack of humanitarian access and

insufficient donor funding as millions of people face acute needs

caused by escalating conflict, Catastrophic floods or both

over 3 million people are displaced across the country,

predominantly due to conflict

since early September 1 million people, many already displaced,

are also affected by torrential monsoon rains and the aftermath of Typhoon

Yagi.

The flooding has been deadly,

with over 360 people reportedly killed and

many more injured across multiple regions.

The floods have ravaged crops, farmland and livestock,

destroying the livelihoods of vulnerable communities.

Local volunteers are cleaning up areas where floodwaters have receded,

but persistent rains and swollen rivers threaten further flooding.

Immediate response priorities include ensuring access to clean water,

sanitation and hygiene services to prevent disease outbreaks

as well as food and health assistance.

Reconstruction efforts are critical to restore

safe housing for families whose homes

have been destroyed and to allow Children to return to schools.

Support is also needed for small businesses,

farms and livestock owners whose livelihoods have been shattered

so far.

The response has included food assistance to more than 150,000 people in the south,

east, north, west and Rakhine

state,

with plans to reach an additional 73,000 people in the south east,

Over 80,000 people in the north west have received water,

sanitation and hygiene assistance,

and thousands more have received shelter, non food items,

learning materials and other types of aid.

However,

armed conflict in Myanmar is widespread and

generates immense humanitarian needs and displacement,

particularly in the north, south east and Rakhine.

State

aid organisations face continuous challenges in reaching

those in need because of insecurity,

checkpoints and restricted access in conflict

zones as well as flood related damage

to roads and bridges.

Yet in the first half of this year,

40 per cent of the 5.3 million people targeted in our response plan

received some form of humanitarian assistance.

Local and national partners are on the forefront of this response,

working closely with communities and providing a lifeline of support.

However, a lack of funding

as I mentioned at the beginning is

impeding the necessary scale up in humanitarian aid

10 months into the year,

our $1 billion response plan remains critically

underfunded at less than 30 per cent.

Thank you.

Thank you very much. Jan's questions to O.

Uh, don't see hands in the room or on the platform.

Katrina,

Uh, in fact, it's not for aha.

It's another question related to Gaza. So I'll wait.

I don't see any question for Jens, but

oh, no pardon.

Pardon? Pardon? We have Chris. Just one second. Catherine.

Sorry.

It took me a while to react. Do you have a new boss? When are we going to see him?

What are we

going

to see?

Oh, you can. You can google him and see him.

And there's plenty of videos and articles And what not?

He, uh no start date

has been set yet.

So for now, the acting USG remains George Musa.

OK, Catherine, go ahead.

Thank you. Thank you so much. Uh, Alessandra, uh, my question is, in fact, for IO.

They were supposed to release

a report on the employment in the West Bank and Gaza on Monday.

They sent us a message to say that it was postponed to Wednesday

and we don't have any news from them.

Uh, I don't know if someone of ILO is connected.

I'm afraid not. So the only thing I can do is take your questions to them

to Zaina.

But no, unfortunately, we don't have anybody from a

so I'll ask.

Thank you. Thank you, Alison.

Anybody else

has any other question?

OK, and of course, we congratulate the winners of the

Nobel Peace Prize.

that's, uh,

that

Jens

has mentioned

as you've surely seen, the Nobel Peace Prize has gone to the Japanese organisation

Ni

IK, a grass roots movement of atomic bomb survivors from Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

I see you have a question indeed. Yes. OK, So I'm happy that I'm saying this

and maybe I can also ask Ravina

There are questions.

There are requests for comments.

So I just wanted to Of course, we congratulated the winners of the Nobel Peace Prize.

It's a very important cause and

it's a cause which is close, as you know, not only to the un heart, but to the un

altogether. Because we were born on

the ashes of a war and we are here

also foremost to avoid wars and particularly nuclear conflicts.

So this is an extremely important cause.

And I have

underline also the fact that it's an important cause for Geneva.

The presence of the Conference on Disarmament here

and the discussions that take place here are fundamental

for our for the world.

And this particular association

is this particular movement has been working with the UN I remember

a

few years ago, I think it was 2018. They came to the US

for disarmament

Izumida

kitu

presenting a

petition of 8 million signatures requesting the end of the

A

nuclear arms race and a nuclear conflict. Nuclear weapons.

So that is really a cause that we are looking at.

We really congratulate the winners and we

expect a statement by the Secretary General,

of course today

that we will immediately transmit to you. But maybe you also have a comment

on this.

Sure, tha Thanks, Alessandra.

I know to us it's a It's a

recognition of the importance of of grassroots organisations,

Um and in particular,

you know, survivors, um, of horrific violations,

uh, for their tireless and persistent work, um, often away from the spotlight, Um,

without much recognition

with a lot of,

um with not always, Uh, the the the the you know,

tremendous amount of resources at their disposal.

But for them to keep going in spite of the horrors they themselves experienced

to try to make the world a better place for all of us.

So we welcome this recognition of the tireless work of grassroots organisations.

Absolutely. Gabriela?

Yes.

What is your, uh, thinking about that Israel is in a war and they have, uh,

nuclear weapons?

Do you think there is a, uh,

a danger

that

that can use again?

Well, of course,

I think that the problem is exactly that.

That is what we are discussing here in Geneva

the whole year long.

The issue is there is absolutely no way that

any war can be fought with nuclear weapons.

Today we have seen the effects of the bomb

in the second World War we have got now weapons that are so many more times

is more powerful than those that were used in Hiroshima

and Gazi.

I

think that the work of this grass roots movement to fight against that I'm

not even speaking about the probability but even the

idea that such a work could be fight again.

It's absolutely critical.

And that is why I think this Nobel Peace Prize is so important today.

I

don't know. Maybe you want to add something.

I think Alexandra covered it very well and we're still

dealing with the impact of the nuclear legacies of decades ago

in terms of environmental damage in terms of the impact on individuals as well.

In fact, we had put out a report recently on the impact of the nuclear legacy.

I might just forward that to you all as

this might generate more interest in the issue.

Thank you very much,

Ravina.

So if there are no other questions and thanks

to

Ravina for this

follow up to the briefing,

I just wanted to remind you that the

Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women

will have a public

meeting next Monday afternoon to hear

a civil society organisation on the implementation

of the Convention on the Four countries to be reviewed next week,

which are Chile, Canada, Japan and Cuba.

The Human Rights Committee will open next Monday at 10 a.m. its 142nd session

until 7 November. There will be meeting at Palais

Wilson, the countries to be reviewed under these sessions are Iceland,

Pakistan, Greece, France, Turkey and Ecuador.

And just a reminder that today is the international day of the girl child.

We have sent you the message of the statement of the Secretary General

for this International Day

and just let me remind you tomorrow. For me, it's a very, very important day, its

migratory birthday. It is a

fundamental aspect of biodiversity and environment,

and it is important to remind it here

and on 13

October, very timely International Day for disaster risk reduction.

And I believe we have sent you all to the state

Secretary General on that international day.

So thank you very much for following this briefing and bona petit.

And I'll see you on Tuesday and one weekend.

Thank you.

UN Geneva Press Briefing - 11 October 2024