OK, let's, uh let's start this press briefing. Today is Tuesday, 15th of October.
We are here in Geneva, at the United Nations
at the briefing of the Information Service.
We have a long list of speakers today, so I will ask everybody's indulgence to be
and try to be quite brief
and lots of external guests. And I'd like to start
straight away with Sara, who is on my right
resident representative from Ukraine
who is calling in from Brussels.
You would tell us about the mine action ahead of
the conference that will take place in Lausanne next week.
Thank you very much, colleagues. And it's really a great privilege to be here.
Um, as was mentioned also, uh,
we are launching a U NDP report to coincide with the Ukraine
Mine Action Conference that will take place from the
17th to the 18th of October in Luanne.
It's indeed a very large scale conference that will look at the
demand challenges in Ukraine
can be done both in terms of innovation but
also new ways of looking at the challenges,
Uh, that, uh, mine clearance.
Uh, the mine clearance challenges that will be faced in Ukraine.
Uh, maybe let me just say a little bit more about why this is such a big challenge.
Uh, and why this report that we're launching is also so important.
So, first of all, just to say that, uh, approximately 157,000 square kilometres
of Ukraine were suspected about a year ago of being
either contaminated by mines or unexploded remnants of war or,
this is approximately four times the size of Switzerland and quite a significant,
It is about a quarter of the territory of Ukraine.
Um, that that figure has been reduced to about 100 and 39,000 square kilometres, Uh,
at the moment, which is quite a significant reduction,
but still quite a lot in terms of the
damages and economic challenges that is faced for Ukraine.
With these areas being demined,
maybe just to mention that, uh, it means that basically,
that farmers can't grow the crops and work the land
that they need to in many areas of Ukraine.
It means that rescuers can't go and
restore the energy systems that have been damaged
because there are unexploded ordinances from the attacks
and the missiles that can't be cleared.
And it also means that civilians can't really return to their homes,
which is a massive challenge for returnees
and also bringing people back to Ukraine.
Uh, so mines and unexploded remnants of war, uh, cost Ukraine.
billion in gross domestic product.
This is a report that was launched by the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change
the damage needs assessment that was jointly done, uh, by, um by the United Nations.
The World Bank, the government of Ukraine
and the European Union estimates that about $34.6 billion will be record
to finance um, demining efforts in Ukraine, which is a significant amount,
keeping in mind that the country is already going through a lot
in terms of its recovery efforts.
So what does this report say, or what is what is captured in the report?
I'll just very quickly summarise it because the report is trying
to say and come up with alternative mechanisms of how,
mining efforts in Ukraine can be financed
and looking at innovative financing mechanisms.
The report had a significant
study both, uh directly in Ukraine, uh, online studies,
but also interviews with many stakeholders, including the
demining community in Ukraine.
And it basically came up with two innovative financing mechanisms that can be used,
uh, also to fund some of the de mining efforts.
The first is sustainability linked bonds, or SLSS,
and the second is outcome based public private partnerships, Uh, which, uh,
which basically means two things.
One is, uh these efforts and these financing efforts will combine mine action with,
actually the Ukrainian transition to sustainable agriculture.
Uh, specifically, uh, under the the outcome based public private partnerships,
it will look at organic wheat production
how these bonds can also be used to fund uh, not only, uh, organic wheat production,
but also no no till farming,
allowing the soil to basically stay intact to protect soil
by leaving the crop residue on on the soil surface.
these bonds is anticipated that it
will also significantly increase agricultural um,
agricultural production in Ukraine,
while also looking at sustainable farming practises
areas that have been demined and that can be used for agricultural use.
Uh, the second is really, uh, also to look at, uh, outcome based, uh,
public private partnerships.
And this is really integrated mine clearance.
Uh, by looking at areas that can be used for solar,
solar energy development and these financing mechanisms really combine
new opportunities to generate energy, obviously much needed now in Ukraine,
to also in areas that have been cleared and through private investment and public,
uh, financing mechanisms that will be utilised.
Uh, we can really kind of develop and and and generate, uh, solutions that can,
that can construct a large solar solar power plants that
that funding can then be ploughed back into the government.
Uh, if loans and other guarantees,
uh what it really means from these two financing perspective
is that there will be further studies required for this.
Uh, there will be significant sector wide diagnostics, uh,
done to path the way forward.
It will include various stakeholders
including the government, um, investors, finance institutions,
the mine action community,
but also people from the energy and agricultural sector. Um,
it will really also significantly help Ukrainians in
terms of the need to address mine action,
but also the energy and agricultural sectors which will
be vital for the economic recovery of the country.
it really will require broad based political
support and interdisciplinary collaboration across these actors.
But the financing mechanism is just one of the ways that these
innovations will also be used to also accelerate the demining efforts.
That is really challenging the country in so many ways.
Let me leave it at that. Thank you very much.
Thank you very much. Jiao,
for this, uh, for this, uh, briefing, I open the floor to questions.
Is there any question for your NDP
I don't see any hand up, so let me go to Emma.
is the correspondent of Reuters.
I was wondering about the reduction, uh, of the area that was mined. Was that due to
mine clearance, or was there a reassessment to show that it wasn't as bad
as you previously thought?
Um, I'm also wondering if sometimes the same areas have had to be
demined a few times, given the shifting front lines. Thank you.
Yeah, It's a very good question, actually.
the the the the surface area that I
mentioned originally was 100 and 57,000 square kilometres.
Uh, those are sus suspected,
or have areas where either fighting or the war has occurred, where there might be,
uh, mines, or there might be unexploded ordinances because of the war.
So these are often areas which have been under under, you know,
fighting or where where there have been lots of ammunition
used that have exploded or not exploded in certain areas.
Now what the government has started to do is
to reduce that number as quickly as possible,
and basically to focus on the areas that they can
identify as being contaminated or having mines or unexploded ordinances.
about only we estimate that about 10% of that territory
would be demined or would be affected by unexploded ordinances.
So the government has done is actually very innovative mechanisms.
U NDP has also supported them with that,
uh, they've used satellite imagery.
They've also used drones and new sensor technology that looks at how to, um,
how to detect mines on the surface,
which can much more quickly clear some of the areas,
or at least the areas that don't contained mines can
be much more quicker identified through some of this,
actually large computer networking mechanisms that they've also installed
the the land area has been significantly reduced.
This reduction is actually one of the sharpest
reductions ever recorded through any demining efforts globally.
So it's quite significant how much land have already been,
uh, re reprogrammed for effective use,
either for agriculture or other industries.
Thank you very much. Lisa Schlein, Voice of America.
Thank you, Alessandra. Good morning. Yes.
Um, uh, I'm curious to know whether, uh,
land mines have been laid in the Russian occupied territories.
I don't imagine that this is, uh that, uh that, uh,
the mine clearance is involved in those territories regarding your financial
But I would like to know whether this is a fact.
And also, when do you anticipate that landmine clearance could go on?
Uh, it it seems as if as long as the war is going on,
there will always be landmines unfortunately, planted
Yeah. The observation is is 100% right. It's quite challenging at the moment.
So there's basically two forms of the mining.
The one is military de mining that is done on the front line where the
fighting is occurring and that's done by
the military and military forces of Ukraine.
Obviously a lot of mines are planted yes,
throughout the war affected area and the lands
of Ukraine where the fighting is occurring.
Uh, the humanitarian demining is done by, uh, by national agencies,
but also through the humanitarian community
and development organisations that are actively involved in
demining efforts. And that is done usually away from the front line but
maybe been reoccupied by Ukraine that they were fighting before
so many areas even close to Kiev, where the initial
were also suspected of having unexploded ordinances, so those had to be cleared.
Houses that have been destroyed
either through mortars or other ammunitions have to be have
to be demined and also looked at for unexploded ordinances.
So there's a there's mines and unexploded
ordinances which are both throughout the country.
But usually the humanitarian demining is not done on the front line,
where the fighting is occurring,
where there definitely are a significant amount
of mines and unexploded ordinances as well.
look at traditional ways of, uh demining through, You know, through human Demis
It's estimated that it can take up to, uh, you know, uh, up to a long,
You know, even decades. Many, many decades,
uh, is what the demining efforts can can can take.
with the introduction of new technology and new efforts that the
government is also bringing in that we are also supporting through
it is anticipated that it can take up to a decade if everything goes well
to demine the areas in Ukraine that have
been affected by unexploded ordinances and mines.
Thank you very much. Um, any other question?
Yeah. Jamie Jamie Keaton, Associated Press.
Hi, Mr Chilis. Thank you very much for speaking to us,
I just wanna make sure I mean, this is still a very active war, and the, uh,
and the areas that are cleared of mines,
you know, they could still be relevant.
I mean, we're still seeing movements and territory, as Emma alluded to earlier.
is there any concern that, uh, the humanitarian, uh,
clearance of mines may be a little bit
premature because the lines may actually shift and
those mines actually could be useful to prevent
further incursions later on in the conflict.
So I think there's two factors you know, it's not only mines that is being cleared,
but also, uh, you know, unexploded ordinances.
these are mortars that have been shot at
houses or at certain buildings that are exploding.
These are the missiles that are
still coming into Ukraine,
so it's not only mine that is being cleared.
It's also unexploded ordinances which often,
we've we've we've had to have education
programmes for young people because young people in
affected villages and towns and areas where the war was before often pick up,
These unexploded ordinances, not realising that they are still can still explode,
and a lot of people actually lose their limbs
and lives often through these actions as well.
Yes, there's still a lot of minefields being cleared,
even from the from the from the liberated areas of Ukraine.
But it will be an ongoing challenge to clear this space,
especially if the war ends and those areas you have access to those areas.
It will take a significant amount of time
to clear where specific mines have been laid on the front line.
Those demining efforts, as I mentioned at the moment,
is mostly done by the military and not by humanitarian demining.
But it's important for people to return to the country
that effective demining efforts occur throughout the country wherever possible.
Christian Urich, German news Agency.
Uh, I, I think the question was still open.
Have there been areas that, um,
were demined and have been reoccupied and had to be demined for a second time?
I think that was open from, uh, Emma.
And my question is, do you have figures on how many people have been
or killed through unexploded ordinance and mines? Thank you.
The figure for the second figure is about 1000
600 people have either been maimed or killed.
Uh, there's about 380 that have been have been killed.
The others are, you know, people affected and and, as you mentioned,
and have become become disabled. It's really a massive challenge.
We see this throughout different parts of
Ukraine where this number keeps on increasing,
uh, as I mentioned for a number of reasons.
Education campaigns are so important that it has to be done
on the previous question again, Uh, you know, as the front line moves back and forth,
um, you know, there, um, there is a number of changes that actually happened, uh,
Um and, uh, you know, mind areas, obviously, as the front line moves across,
those areas will either be
demined if it if it has been, uh, but if it's recaptured again,
So that's just the reality and unfortunate situation of
the challenges that the country is faced with.
Uh, while the war is still continuing and active,
there's a huge amount of weapons being fired Every time these explosions happen,
there is dangers of contamination
of war will continue to be a big part of the Ukraine, clearing our process.
don't know how to thank you for having taken time
for your meeting to brief the journalist in Geneva.
as we said of the Ukraine Mine Action Conference that will take place on 17th
will be represented along with other UN agencies. So thank you very much.
Good luck with your important work. And Sara
told me that you should have his notes or are going to have his notes very quickly.
Thank you very much. So let's move now to our second
cluster of invitees. I'd like to ask them to come to the
and we have some who are connected.
So now let's move to Lebanon and Madrid. Please come. Come, come to the
introduce you. First of all, I have the great pleasure to have on my right.
director for the Middle East.
you are here, of course, for the executive Committee. And yesterday
I have to say the Nansen Award ceremony was extremely touching and
in this very dire landscape. And
so we have taken the opportunity. Even
colleagues have taken the opportunity to bring
Rima here to tell us. I think you have been there very recently in Lebanon.
So you will tell us about what you have seen and also
in general how the crisis is intensifying with the airstrikes.
he has brought us Lotte. Rupert, who is the
head of operations in Lebanon and Lotte is connecting from Beirut. So we will hear
the two colleagues, and then we will open the floor to question.
And I'll start with Rima here on my right, please.
Good morning, colleagues. Uh,
I know you've assembled here on many occasions recently
to hear about the situation in Lebanon and Syria,
And so we're compelled to continue to ring the alarm and share with you the latest,
uh, as the situation continues to escalate and deteriorate.
Um, as you know, the High Commissioner was in Lebanon just last week.
He was there as an expression of solidarity with the Lebanese
people and to really shine a spotlight on what's happening there.
The massive escalation has had dramatic humanitarian consequences,
And so maybe that's where I'll start with Lebanon just to correct.
I was not in Lebanon, but I was in Syria, So
not a problem. Also last week, and I'll come to that shortly.
as you're all aware the death toll in
Lebanon continues to climb as the situation becomes more
dramatic and we see continued Israeli airstrikes and
people on the move seeking shelter and safety.
Over 2000 people over 2200 rather
have now been killed by Israeli airstrikes
and we have over 10,000 people who have been injured as a result of the conflict.
Over 1 million people have now been displaced in Lebanon
and I just want to stress that in a country
of that size which is relatively small and
a population that's estimated around 5 million people,
you can imagine how dramatic it is that over 1 million people are
now without shelter and on the move or not rather without shelter,
because they are being housed in in collective centres but
are being forced to flee their homes in search of safety
Israeli airstrikes and Israeli evacuation orders
continue to increase the areas impacted.
So now that we have over 25% of the
country under a direct Israeli military evacuation order,
just yesterday we had another 20 villages issued with
an evacuation order in the south of the country.
People are heeding these calls to evacuate,
and they're fleeing with almost nothing.
Uh, many of them are being forced out into the open.
They're sleeping under the skies as they try to find their way to safety and support.
we also have challenges as humanitarians reaching people
who are in need of our assistance.
Uh, for the last three days running, we've had to
endorse and approve and reapprove, uh, an interagency convoy movement,
which is now scheduled to take place today to deliver it to deliver urgent, uh,
food assistance and other items,
so hopefully that will proceed today as scheduled.
But it is a very dangerous situation,
and and our staff at a very high risk conducting these movements.
Shelter is obviously a big concern. As people are forced to flee their homes.
We have over 1000 government assigned collective shelters,
and over 800 of those have now reached full capacity.
we are working as UN HCR with the authorities to rehabilitate
and equip these areas to receive these large numbers of people.
As you can imagine, it's, uh, it's quite an, uh,
an intensive movement and a lot of pressure on these facilities,
most of which are actually schools that have been now used for this purpose.
So we're working on things like water and sanitation
and maybe for if I say a word about schools, over 70% of them have now been used, um,
as shelter spaces to house people who are displaced.
So you can imagine that means Children are
not in school and education is being interrupted.
health care facilities have likewise been directly impacted and
over 200 of the over 200 primary health care
centres we have in conflict areas over 100 have
been forced to close their doors to people.
So we are trying our best along with other humanitarian partners,
on the ground to meet the immediate needs in shelter and
basic relief items that people need when they flee conflict,
cash assistance and other things.
But the needs are immense.
They are growing daily and we need
the international community to now rally around the
people of Lebanon and to be there for them in their hour of need.
The only way this nightmare will end is if we have a ceasefire,
and that is what the entire world is now
hoping will happen in hours and not days because the
people of Lebanon cannot afford it and the region cannot
afford a further spill spill over escalation of the conflict
quickly. Just turning to Syria. I was there last week with the High Commissioner.
The latest count is that we have over 283,000 people who have crossed from
Lebanon into Syria seeking safety, fleeing Israeli airstrikes.
About 70% of those people are Syrians. Roughly 30% of them are Lebanese.
The situation is is quite critical at many border crossings,
but I'm going to pause for a moment just to describe what's happening
at the main artery that connects the two countries. Uh, that's called MAS
That area was hit by an Israeli airstrike, uh, just over a week ago,
and it left a massive crater in the road
and we visited this area last week where we
saw people disembarking from vehicles or walking towards the crater
and literally scrambling over this area with Children in tow with very little
belongings and trying to to get across this area to then enter into,
uh, Syrian territory and seek safety.
The scenes were nothing short of of dramatic.
Uh, you had women, many women with several Children. You had the elderly.
I was stopped by one woman
who was hobbling along with her cane, Um,
calling to me to see if I could help her husband, who was trailing behind her,
Having difficulty keeping up, carrying their belongings.
We saw, um, women with two women with
about nine Children between them, who described their journey on foot for 10 hours.
they had, uh, seen directly the impact of the violence.
An airstrike had hit a home 100 metres from their own,
and they fled literally with just the clothes on their backs.
And you can imagine how gruelling a 10 hour journey would have been, uh, for adults,
let alone having nine Children trailing behind you.
Now our colleagues are on the ground there, and they are there with, uh,
representatives of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent.
Who are there meeting the needs. They are literally the people carrying the bags
and helping people across this crater,
carrying babies, trying to help shepherd them to safety.
we're present there. We're also present at four other border crossings.
We're providing immediate humanitarian relief
and we're also providing legal assistance
and support there and further AFI as Syrians continue their journeys.
Now, it must be said, when we we spoke to people and asked them what their plans were
understandably, they had no plans.
Um, they couldn't determine what they were going to do in the next few hours,
let alone the next few days and weeks.
But the one thing that was very clear was that they were coming with almost nothing.
And they were being hosted mostly by extended
family and friends who had almost nothing.
So it it is a dire situation,
one with layers of crisis that's accumulated over the years,
and the vulnerability of those hosting the people is as
acute as those who are seeking safety and shelter there.
we are doing our best to meet those needs, But again,
we need the support of the international community
because we are talking about a situation of desperation
that has over the last 13 years become chronic and critical, and now, on top of it,
you have a massive influx of people seeking safety in Syria.
That also needs support. So maybe I'll leave it there.
Situation we'll hear more from
lot. Now, please go ahead.
Good morning, everyone. And thank you for being here.
we have hundreds of thousands of people displaced in
Lebanon since the escalation of violence last month.
And these people are really broken. They're devastated,
and some of them are now staying along the seafront of Beirut, Uh,
which is normally a place where people go to enjoy the sunset.
And this is also where I usually would go for my afternoon run.
But when I walk there now,
I see families sleeping in in tents or on mattresses on the street.
And it's really inhumane to see Children,
the elderly, lying on the ground without care,
without sanitation and without a roof above their head.
And as we just heard from you in HR,
this is important to say that Lebanon was already going through really
difficult times with an economic crisis leaving more than half of the population
living below the poverty line.
And this latest escalation of violence has left people even more uprooted,
And it's really pushing their resilience to the limit.
This is why I am very grateful personally
to be working closely together with volunteers from the Lebanese Red Cross,
whose work on the ground is essential to relieve the burden as much as they can.
So since since last month since Mid-september, the situation in Lebanon,
as you know, has worsened significantly and we're now seeing widespread attacks,
and immense humanitarian needs,
and with hundreds of thousands of people on the move, uh, amongst
the need for protection, shelter,
food and medical assistance is crucial.
we're currently facing barriers to procure or
to transport humanitarian goods into the country,
which is leading to severe shortages.
And as we just heard from UN HR,
the attack on the main border crossing between Lebanon and Syria
has further hindered our ability to transport
it's becoming more and more challenging for the Red Cross to
reach all people in need because of the deteriorating security situation.
And one of the major concerns is the increase
in attacks that's impacting directly our humanitarian work.
And last Sunday I received a call from our teams
that two of our ambulances were hit
and that four of our Lebanese red
crossers were injured in the in the strikes. Fortunately, minor injuries,
but things could have easily turned out much worse.
And for us, this is an unacceptable situation and humanitarians,
including our ambulance teams,
need safe and unhindered access to perform their life saving work
be protected at all times.
I think it's important to highlight to all of you
that the Lebanese Red Cross has been in the
front line of this response since the very first day
because they are the primary provider of emergency medical
services and blood transfusion services in the country.
So in the past year alone,
their ambulances have responded to more than 60,000 calls from people in need,
and that includes people who are injured because of the conflict,
or people who call us because they need to be
evacuated from conflict zones and and need to reach safety.
we are also distributing food and essential supplies
to all the displaced families in collective shelters.
So we've handed out 270,000 meals, 100,000 water bottles
and many more blankets, mattresses and hygiene kits.
Nevertheless, the challenges are immense
and we are facing severe shortages of medical supplies, ambulances,
fuel and essential items to support displaced families.
And we are also facing a severe um shortage of funding.
We are bringing in a lot of international goods
into the country like mobile health units and ambulances,
and we're also releasing some emergency funding
from our Global Disaster Response emergency fund.
But the funding situation is is really bad in Lebanon and
we currently only have 13% funding to for our appeal.
And moreover, as just mentioned by U HR,
the impact of this conflict is also felt across the
border as more than 280,000 people have fled to Syria,
where the Syrian Arab Red Crescent is providing all types of critical support.
And this also includes psychological first aid to help people who are in distress.
So to continue our operations in Lebanon and in Syria,
the IFFC urgently asked for international solidarity.
But what we need most of all is for this violence to stop.
We need pressure from governments on those able
to introduce some restraint to end these hostilities
we call on all parties to the conflict to respect international humanitarian law.
Because humanitarians and civilians should never be a target.
And safe and unhindered access must be granted
to our volunteers and to all humanitarian staff.
So the Lebanese Red Cross and the Syrian
with the support from I for seeing,
will remain committed to provide critical humanitarian assistance
under incredibly challenging circumstances.
But our response cannot continue without international support.
Thank you very much. And I'm happy to take any questions.
Thank you very much. Thank you. Anne
for this briefing. I'll open the floor to questions.
There are quite a few and we have got so many speakers afterwards.
So I'd like to ask everybody to be brief
So I go to the room first. I had seen hands there. No, they are down.
Ok, good. So let me go to the PLA. The platform
Uh, that was targeted by Israeli airstrike yesterday in that, uh, village of
What is the nature of the, uh residents in the, uh in this building?
Are they, uh, displaced or, uh what exactly? Thank you.
Thank you for the question.
Uh, I saw those reports myself this morning,
but don't have any further information beyond what was reported in the press,
Thank you. Emma Farge. Reuters.
I was wondering if the lady from IFRC could elaborate a bit more
on the barriers to getting humanitarian goods into Lebanon at the moment.
Is it like Gaza where, um,
Israel is actually turning back convoys or the other types of, uh, barriers?
Thank you. No. I don't think it's comparable
to Gaza. It's It's different type of barriers.
Um, one of them is just the fact that the demand now is so high.
So there's not enough suppliers in Lebanon
to meet the growing demand.
Another barrier is related to the border
crossing with Syria That was already mentioned,
which means that if we use land transport,
we have to choose a longer route if if it comes from Jordan or from Dubai
is related to the airport and the fact
that there's less and less commercial flights,
arriving in Beirut and we are have severe concerns
that if the airport were to close fully,
it would have a big impact on our supply chain.
Mossa, you have a follow up. Maybe for Rima.
uh uh uh. In fact, the same question for your guest in Beirut. Maybe,
uh, you have, uh, uh, some, uh, Or more information about, uh, that,
what we do know is that our Lebanese Red Cross teams
are usually the first teams on site to do urban search and
rescue and to to get people from the rubble so we can
try to get more information from you on on this incident.
Yeah, that would be great. Maybe Thomas.
So if you have anything, uh, you can, uh, you can share with the with the journalist.
so, um, let me see. Because I OK, OK, maybe we have an answer from Liz. Liz Russo
For the office of the Human Rights
High Commissioner is connected, Liz.
That's nice. I've got Liz names and and And Jeremy connected.
So whoever wants to speak on OCH,
Thanks, Alexandra, and we'll say yes, we're we're aware of these reports. And
And what we're hearing is that amongst the 22 people who
were who were killed were 12 women and two Children.
we understand it was a four story residential building that was that was struck.
with these factors in mind, we have real concerns with respect to IIHL.
So the laws of war and the principles of distinction,
precaution and proportionality.
this case, we would our office call for a
prompt, independent and thorough investigation into this incident.
Thank you very much for coming in. Uh, Jeremy,
I had seen several hands in the room, but I don't see them anymore.
So that means that there are no more questions on Lebanon.
I think that's the case. So
Thanks for coming here on the occasion of your visit to Geneva.
Thank you very much, Tomaso,
Keep us informed, please, on the developments of the situation.
And I go now to our next cluster which is
Um we are going towards the the commemoration of Watford Day on the 16th of October.
And we have a few colleagues here
to talk to you about that and online. So
introduce. Well, I don't need to introduce Dominique. You know Dominic Boon,
Geneva office, And I have the incredibly
incredible pleasure to say hello again to Tomson
and that you will all remember from his time in Geneva. We are so happy to have him here
to tell us about the food situation in southern Africa
is connected from Nigeria with Ian
who is the head of the delegation for Nigeria
to tell us about the situation of malnutrition
rates among Children in North east Nigeria.
So we have, as I said, the World Food Day coming up.
The Secretary General has issued a message on World Food Day.
I think I could start from that before giving you the floor.
Dominic, just to say that as the secretary general points out,
something is very wrong with the world in which hunger
and malnutrition are effect of life for billions of Children,
So on this particular day which, as you know, is commemorated on 16 October,
we remind ourselves is the Secretary general of the 733
million people who are short of food because of conflict,
climate change, poverty and economic downturns.
And we will hear more about some of these people from our speakers today,
and the secretary general concludes on World Food Day.
Let's step up the fight against hunger and malnutrition.
Let's take action to uphold the right to food for a better life and a better future.
And you have the complete message in your mailbox and I give the floor to Dominic
Alessandra, As you said tomorrow, 16th October, which is the day
was established 79 years ago. We will celebrate the
the right to foods for a better life and a better future.
As you know, of course, food is a basic human right, like air and water.
And this year we really want to highlight the importance of the right to food,
which is realised when every man,
woman and child alone or in community with others has physical and economic
access at all times to adequate food or means for its procurement.
The right to food encompasses not just freedom from anger, which is, by the way,
Constitution when it was established,
but also the access to safe,
nutritious and culturally acceptable food that meets dietary
needs for an active and healthy life.
Unfortunately, as Alessandra reminded us,
world farmers produce more than enough food
to feed the global population,
we continue to witness severe imbalances across the world.
people, which is one in 11 people in the world,
go to bed hungry every day.
Over 2.8 billion people cannot afford a healthy diet,
meaning that even if they have enough
energy calories for their life, they don't have the
We have also the issue of standing and wasting,
basically where we have in the world as we speak.
About 148 million Children and five being too short for their age and 45 million
Children being too thin for their age.
So which is a rare issue with all the cognitive impacts that you know about
and then, on the other hand,
we have about 890 million adults living in the world today with obesity.
there is no one size fits all in terms of what needs to be done in this complex world.
But some of the I would say big orientation that can be followed relate to
the role that the government should play in integrating the right to
food into agrifood system policies ensuring equal access to an adequate,
diverse range of safe, nutritious
and affordable foods for all, particularly for vulnerable populations.
Also, second, that government and relevant
state stakeholders should foster global co-operation and
ensure something. I am sure
Thomson has repeatedly mentioned to you
and ensure safe and unimpeded access to human
aid for population in needs
and by humanitarian agencies involved in the delivery of life saving assistance,
food assistance or emergency agricultural assistance
that meets people and nutritional needs.
have a role and should play their role and positively influence
the food environment by prioritising a diverse range of nutritious food,
investing responsibly in sustainable agriculture
and ensuring decent working conditions,
creating truly inclusive,
accountable and transparent business models and markets.
Consumer organisations also overall need to channel consumer
needs and rights into negotiations with the food industry
and government and engage with national initiatives for food security,
nutrition and food safety.
Consumer organisations should also be reaching
out to consumers in the most vulnerable
situation to ensure that they have a voice that their voice is heard
and finally very important.
And this week in Rome we have the World Food
Forum where really the youth is at the centre and
we must therefore engage the youth in advocacy
and make sure that we fully mobilise their ideas and passion
for driving right to food at the forefront of global efforts.
In short, basically, this is a whole of society.
We all have a role to play in building a future where everyone can enjoy
the right to food by challenging inequalities.
Speaking up about anger and engaging decision makers,
making healthy food choices,
reducing food loss and waste and caring for natural resources.
And this this year's World Food Day call,
there will be an event all across the world celebrated this week.
As a matter of fact, more than 100
events will be taking place around the world
and please relay those efforts
and we will hear more now about the situation, food and hunger in southern Africa.
Thank you so much and it's good to be here and good to see you all. I hope I
had better news, but sadly I don't
well, millions of people, thank you.
Millions of people risk going hungry as Southern Africa enters lean season
The United Nations World Food Programme is today calling for urgent assistance
to prevent a widespread drought triggered by the El
Nino phenomenon from deepening into a full scale humanitarian catastrophe
The West food crisis yet has devastated more
than 27 million lives across the region.
Some 21 million Children in southern Africa are malnourished.
For many communities, this is the worst food crisis in decades.
October in southern Africa marks the start of the lean season and each month
is expected to be worse than the previous one until harvest next year.
crops have failed, livestock has perished
and Children are lucky to receive one meal per day.
The situation is dire and the need for action has never been clearer.
A record five countries Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, Zambia,
Zimbabwe have all declared their hunger crisis a state of disaster and called for
international humanitarian assistance.
Angola and Mozambique are severely affected as well. At
the request of governments,
the World Food Programme has started to provide
food assistance and critical support in transport,
logistics and food procurement
against soaring global needs.
We have only received 1/5 of the 369 million
needed to provide assistance to millions in southern Africa.
While the funding received so far has allowed
WP to begin relief food distributions,
a significant funding gap remains,
which threatens to jeopardise plans for a full scale response through
to the end of the lean season in March next year.
We had been hoping to have scaled up seasonal
relief operations in the coming months with distributions of food
to more than 6.5 million people in the seven hardest hit countries until March.
Our plans now hang in the balance due to massive funding shortfalls.
Unless we receive additional resources,
millions of people risk going through the
Westling season in decades without assistance.
Thank you, Thompson, Thank you for being here. And unfortunately, we have to hear a
the head of delegation for Nigeria of
Who is going to tell us that the situation is
also very dire in northeastern Nigeria for Children in particular?
Yeah, Thank you. Thank you very much for having me.
I just want also to to to inform that the Secretary General of the
Nigerian Red Cross is is is together with us today listening to us,
in another room. But, uh uh, very much. Thank thank you.
As you know, the consequences of the protracted armed conflict
in the region of the lake Chad,
compounded by the effect of climate change, continue killing people
and especially the most vulnerable the young Children.
doctors and nurses in health facilities we support in northeast Nigeria
receive and treat severely malnourished kids.
Desperate mothers tell us every day how healthy Children
become weak and fall sick
and how putting food on the table has turned into a daily struggle.
Admission of severely malnourished Children
in health facilities supported by the International
Committee of the Red Cross in northeast Nigeria
between the third quarter of 2023 and 2024.
Humanitarian organisation
estimate that nearly 6.1 million people across the Lake Chad
outages in the coming months.
This is the highest number in the past four years.
tell us how the rampant insecurity due to the conflict
prevents them from accessing their farmland and planting crops.
Tension between headers and farmers have also increased after armed violence
confined them to smaller spaces in areas with dwindling resources.
The climate shocks damaged crops,
contributing to a food crisis
in Cameroon, in Chad, in ***
in northeast Nigeria. The harvest season conceded with heavy floods
that washed away seeds and the hope of harvest after an
This will unfortunately increase the number of people in
need of food for the coming months from 3.6 million
We boosted our efforts to curb malnutrition by extending
our support to two additional health centres for malnourished Children
Adamawa states in the northeast Nigeria, bringing the number of centres the ICRC is
supporting in Nigeria to nine.
We are helping local medical team provide key services like consultation,
between June and October.
Together with the Nigerian Red Cross Society.
We also distributed cash and seeds to almost 187,000 people to help them survive the
We also supported the resilience of herder communities by vaccinating cattle.
will continue going hungry
we see a decrease in the violence
and better respect for the principle of international humanitarian law.
It is the responsibility of the parties to the conflict to
ensure that people living in the territories under their control can meet
their essential needs including food, water, medical care
and that they can access life saving humanitarian aid,
allowing access to fields and pastures,
transhuman corridors and commercial routes,
protecting natural resources and civic infrastructures,
and serving the removal of land mines and explosive remnants of war.
These measures can make a true difference for people trying
to survive the combined strain and conflict and climate change.
I would I would add that if you allow me
that all this is reflecting the situation of the conflict.
This rise in the number of people without enough food mirrors
which has severely impacted communities, ability to grow crops
Violent incident in the Lake Chad region in the first half of 2024 rose
compared with the same period
and I'm very happy to answer a question. Thank you very much.
Thank you very much. And indeed, as you said, Abu
Ken, the secretary general of the Nigerian Red Cross,
is also connected in case you have questions.
So let me ask to the room if there is any hand who's going up, I don't see any
on the platform. I see that Lisa Schlein
is asking to all the speakers if they can share
especially because we have heard a lot
of figures and the journalists have not necessarily
So thank you very much to all the speakers. It's been
extremely interesting and timely, as we said
before the World Food Day,
love to see you back again.
Uh so let me go to our next speaker. Who is Liz? Liz
Pacu. You are online not in the room.
And we are happy to welcome you. Thank you.
We are happy to welcome you for a briefing on the situation in Tunisia.
Liz, Sorry, we can't hear you,
As I was saying, as I was saying, Thank you very much, Alexandra and good morning,
as you may have seen earlier this morning, we issued a press release on Tunisia
and I'd like to highlight a few points from that if I may
Turk today called on the Tunisian authorities
to protect the country's democratic processes and uphold fundamental freedoms
after a presidential campaign marred by a crackdown on the opposition
independent activists and journalists.
In the weeks leading up to the election which was held on the sixth of October,
over 100 prospective candidates,
members of their campaigns and other political
figures were arrested on a variety of charges
ranging from falsification of electoral paperwork
to charges related to national security.
Out of 17 prospective candidates,
the Independent High Authority for elections only accepted three
a number of presidential hopefuls have been arrested
and received lengthy prison sentences on various charges.
Such cases are troubling.
Their trials indicate a lack of respect for due process and fair trial guarantees.
In another concerning development,
the electoral authorities refused on the second of September
to apply a ruling by the administrative court to readmit three can
three excluded candidates.
Subsequently, in an extraordinary session just days before the election,
parliament passed a law removing electoral
disputes from the court's jurisdiction.
The rejection of a legally binding court decision is at
odds with basic respect for the rule of law.
This development comes within a broader context of increasing
pressure on civil society over the past year,
targeting numerous journalists,
human rights defenders and political opponents as well as judges and lawyers.
Tunisia had been a pioneer in efforts to
ensure accountability and redress the past abuses,
including through the work of the Truth and Dignity Commission.
However, a number of these gains have been lost,
of which the recent arrest of the former head of the commission is an example.
We strongly urge Tunisia to recommit to
transitional justice in the interests of victims
and to embark on much needed rule of law
reforms in line with international human rights law,
including with regard to freedom's expression, assembly and association.
We also call for the release of all those arbitrarily detained.
Thank you very much. Liz, Uh, for this briefing. Any question to OHC HR
Good morning, Liz. Thank you.
Um, could you just tell us exactly what the you say?
You urged Tunisia to recommit to trans transitional justice?
Ca Can you tell us what communication you've had with, uh, the government?
Well, we have an office in Tunisia. And, of course, we have been engaging
years on a number of subjects with the government.
we have been engaging regularly,
highlighting our concerns with the Tunisian authorities,
and that is something that we will continue to do.
I was keeping, uh, we still have to hear from the colleague of UN EE CE.
And then I know there are some questions
for some of our colleagues, so please stay tuned.
Uh, I'll give the floor now to
Uh uh for some announcement for UN E CE.
Hello, colleagues. I have two events to draw your attention to.
They are coming up next week,
the first major event. Where
is organising with you and women?
convention actually meeting on Beijing 30
the progress in the region on gender equality.
We can call this event historic because it is
happening just one year ahead of the 30th commemoration
of the Fourth World Conference on Women and the
adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action.
So this meeting is going to take place next week in Geneva here at the Palais
on the 21st and 22nd of October,
ministers, senior officials,
regional organisations and international organisations,
together with academia and civil society,
will gather here in Geneva to deliberate on the
priorities for improving gender equality across the region.
Some of the themes that they will focus on
will be primarily accelerating women's economic empowerment.
women in leadership and their full and equal participation in decision making
ending violence against women and girls will also be one of the
priority themes of discussion as well as leveraging financing for gender equality
closing the gender gap that is deliberating on effective policies to deliver on
SDGs and on gender equality across the region,
the full press release actually the link to
the full press release on this event is included
in the briefing notes that I shared so you
will be able to consult more figures and trends
across the region in terms of women's empowerment.
important event that we are organising with the government of Slovenia,
is also taking place next week.
It is a three day event from 23rd until 25th of October in
It is a meeting of the parties to the UN Water Convention.
This meeting comes at a time where it's
respond to the devastating floods in central and Eastern Europe
as well as a drought emergency in southern Africa.
So water cross border water management obviously comes
a pressing issue on the global political agenda
against this backdrop of the meeting of parties in
will consider some of the key issues which are
mainly to do with leveraging water for peace,
responding to the global environmental crisis.
Participants will also focus on topics such as climate change, adaptation, water,
food, energy, ecosystem, nexus.
And we've just also heard from our colleagues from FAO
about the problems we have in global as well
as regional food production and distribution and procurement.
One of the key outcomes expecting from this expected from this meeting in
Ljubljana is the adoption of an innovative work programme for the next three years.
That's the period of 25 to 27
as well as including more financial stability for the convention
just for your information.
Since the adoption of the UN Water Convention more than 30 years ago,
55 countries have ratified the convention,
out of which 12 from Africa.
Since this instrument has been open to accession to all UN member states in 2016,
we had mostly countries from Africa joining this convention,
and we have more than 20 others in the process of accession
again. Full press release on this event is available in the briefing notes.
sorry. Thank you very much. Uh,
uh, any question to you NE CE in the room. I don't see any on the line.
Thank you very much. And thanks for the notes.
And I think I have exhausted my list of speakers, so I'll give the floor to Emma Now,
who wanted to ask a question?
I understand. On Gaza, right,
Yes, that's right. I had questions for WHO and for WHO. I think
and James are connected. Yes, go ahead.
so the first one was Has Israel actually violated the terms of
the humanitarian pause for the polio campaign in the central areas?
Uh, given the strikes on Al
a message saying that it has been the worst month for Children of the war so far.
Um, what gives you grounds to say that? Why is it so bad right now? Thank you.
I'm afraid we've lost James in the meantime. Oh, no, he's there. He's there.
Go ahead. OK, so let me start with Tarik. Tarik, please.
Hi. Thanks. Uh, thanks so much. Thanks, Alexandra. So I can give you the
numbers of Children vaccinated. Yesterday it was the first day of, uh, a
second round of vaccination, and you will remember how we did, uh,
in September for the first round.
We started with a three days,
uh, vaccination in the central area,
uh, of Gaza, then south area,
came in the second in second place, and then the at the at the last.
It was in north Gaza. So we plan to do the same,
Uh, same way this this time for the second round.
So yesterday, uh, the vaccination has started in a central area.
And according to preliminary reports,
92,821 Children under 10,
the second dose of, uh uh, no
oral polio vaccine. Uh, now, the the the estimated target,
uh, for the central area is something over 179,000.
The overall, uh, estimated number
for all Gaza is over 590,000. So what we have received from, uh,
from from colleagues is that, uh, the vaccination went, uh uh, without, uh,
And we hope it will continue, uh,
today and tomorrow, but also that this humanitarian pose, uh, will, uh,
and in north of Gaza in next, uh
uh, 6 to 8 days because you will remember, after three days,
we always have one extra day to do any catch up activities and also to
do, uh uh to do a monitoring of of what has been done over.
Thank you very much, James.
Thanks, Alexandra. Hi, Emma.
in the most simple sense,
we are now at a point of a cumulative effect on Children.
Now we are more than 12 months of let's go
back 13 months where Children were living in homes,
living in high rises and going to schools every day and having all the
free access to food, water, medicine.
Now, of course, every single day. Those deprivations increase that alone
to the situation of Children
what Children need, though, of course,
to try to ameliorate these things in a war zone is two things.
One is for the attacks to end. That has not happened.
The other is for the amount of humanitarian
aid and commercial aid commercial trucks rather um,
the lifeline come into Gaza to to increase, to try to meet their needs.
August was the lowest amount of humanitarian aid that came into the Gaza
Strip of any full month since the war broke out.
And over several days in the last week, no commercial trucks,
no commercial trucks whatsoever were allowed were allowed to come in.
So Children now have had multiple deprivations.
Having M moved many times now, living in, uh, 85% of the Gaza
Strip is now into some form of an evacuation order.
So now, living in conditions that are essentially unlivable,
in that context and with the strife continuing
and with this now continued forced or deprived lack of aid, as we say, no,
there seem to be now no constraints, no limits.
This is why, day after day, the situation for Children
becomes worse than the day before.
And that's going to continue so long as we see, uh, ongoing strikes.
And so long as we see now what is
probably the worst restrictions we've seen on him
uh, there was so much discussion around this
in March and April when the I PC came out with those imminent famine,
And then there was a real push to have to have new routes and access points open.
We've seen an absolute reversal of that ever since Rafa
closed. Uh, in May, we've seen consistent, uh, entry points blocked.
We know now the North hasn't had food, any food aid at all coming in all of October.
there's a great lack of access routes and roads and security in Gaza.
cumulatively, today is worse than any other day.
And as it, if it continues like this,
continue to be placed by the occupying
power and the bombardments continue tomorrow.
As hard as it is to imagine, tomorrow will be worse for Children than today.
Thank you very much, James. And I see that Bayer
Uh, thank you, Alexandra. Good morning.
I also wanted to ask on Gaza, uh, to James E, especially, uh,
we already mentioned about the Alexa,
strike and we saw tens tents were on fire
and especially there were some videos saying, uh,
showing that a family of three burning alive, including a kid
I wanted to ask James like,
Do you have any words on that specific event. What would you like to say on that?
Yeah. Hi. Um, Well, yeah. So
there are. There are multiple horrors befalling Children.
I know I like the hospital have hospital complex very well.
And there are hundreds and hundreds of families
who seek shelter there who have been told,
you know, that it is a bad, safe, safe zone.
Now the United Nations has made it very clear from the onset of this
one party cannot unilaterally declare a safe zone.
And we have tried to explain now for for almost 12 months that two
The first thing is ensuring that there is enough food, water,
medicines and protection for civilians.
That's the role of the occupying power Israel. That has not happened the second.
Of course, you wouldn't think it would need to be stated.
The second, of course, is that such zones uni
unilaterally declared as they've been, would not be bombed.
who have been in that space have actually come from Jabalia
So we've seen three forced evacuation orders in the past five or six days from
Jabalia, Office of High Commission of Human Rights has spoken very clearly about
the conditions with people in which people are fleeing.
People are being shot at whilst they flee. We've seen water wells destroyed.
um, to speak to Emma again. About why? Why? This is now the worst time for Children.
On average, one school per day and every every day of October has been struck.
Um, well this month. So families have fled from
a great force not wanting to go to the
South because they are well aware of the unlivable
situation to which people have been crammed into the
South and some of those families found themselves at Al
Um And then, of course, Al Aqsa
Hospital. That hospital complex is struck.
Ah, that is a hospital complex that cannot possibly endure more casualties.
There is probably not a time I've been there,
and I think I've been there more than 10 times
where there are not wounded Children on the floor.
Despite the the best, bravest efforts of tireless Palestinian doctors,
it's simply overflowing, heaving with the casualties of war
and There are far too many Children there with
burns and with burn wounds that simply need that.
That to which that hospital does not have the medicines
and the antiseptics and the painkillers that it requires.
On my last mission to Gaza earlier this month,
I discovered such a thing as fourth degree burns.
I met a little six year old boy, Hamid H AMI D Hamid with fourth degree burns.
So what we saw last night will have again been large numbers of people,
including Children with horrendous burns,
to which that hospital simply doesn't have the resources to treat.
Thank you very much. Jamie. I saw your hand up.
Thank you. Uh, Alessandra, my question is for Tariq.
Um, I just you mentioned the 92,821 Children. Um, in central Gaza.
Um, could you just tell us?
Um, and you said that you hope that you'll get access to North and South as well.
Um, first of all, 92,000.
Is that roughly on track for what your projections were for the first day?
And, um, or or right on target. And then the second is
for the moment. Do you see any potential obstacles in either the north or South Gaza?
that have appeared in terms of continuing the campaign in those areas. Thank you.
Hello? Uh, yeah. So sorry.
So so, yeah, as I said in central area of Gaza, we estimate, uh, that, uh,
uh, Children. So the number of 92
falls within this category for the first day, we hope that, uh uh, parents will keep,
We always try to stress that having polio vaccination is important,
but polio is just one of many threats and that that
people of Gaza are facing when it comes to help.
And and and, uh, James was just talking about, uh uh, people, uh,
cannot receive medical care.
There is more than 15,000 people who should be
OCD outside Gaza to receive, uh, to receive the necessary medical care.
Uh, we estimate that there is a, uh, more than 24,000 people, uh, who, uh, who had,
need for long term rehabilitation.
that is not available, uh, in Gaza and we had a press conference on that, uh,
you have seen that on Sunday we finally managed to get after nine failed attempts,
north of Gaza to deliver some supplies and fuel to Kamal Adwan
a hospital. So we, you know,
No one wants to see any any child paralysed.
But there are so many other problems that people in Gaza are facing,
and we need sustained access.
We need to be able to move from point A to point B and do our best.
Ministry of Health of Gaza reported that 1000 health workers have been killed
that's that's That's a huge loss,
and and and it's really difficult to replace a trained doctor or trained surgeon.
So So really again, we do what we can.
But what need what we need is the access, and this has to stop.
And there has to be as we as we keep repeating the cease fire.
sorry. Thank you very much.
Are there questions at sin? Another
Nick had raised his hand, but I don't see it anymore, so
OK, so thank you very much. Just before we leave completely the issue of, uh,
the Middle East. You should have in your mailboxes
I see people nodding. So you have received
an invitation to the International Media Seminar on Peace in the Middle East.
is a mandated meeting organised every year
by our Department of Global Communications.
They normally do it around the world.
This is the second time they come to Geneva recently.
The last one was in 2022.
I don't know how many of you participated, but it was incredibly important.
And of course, in the current context, international
context is even more important.
It's a one day seminar. It's going to be held on the first of November.
You are all invited to eat together with other media professionals, diplomats,
civil society to discuss two key issues that should be really important for you.
Safety of journalists, key tenet of press freedom
behind the headlines of Gaza media challenges and perspective.
So we really hope you will join us for this seminar.
It's going to be held in room 26 and we will send you
the detailed programme as soon as we have it. It would be appreciated.
You don't need, of course, to register
badge. But it would be appreciated if you could let my colleague Peter Heckler
know that you are planning to come. It's just for organisational purposes.
Otherwise, I do have a couple of other announcements one from
to inform you that to remind you that on Thursday 17 October at 1030
there will be the hybrid press conference on
the publication of the Trade and Development Report
The title of the report this year is rethinking development in the age of discontent
and everything is embargoed until 17 October at noon.
So you will have the secretary General of
Rebecca Greenspan and Anastasia
Macroeconomic and Development Policies branch of
To brief you on this report,
is of course available for questions if you need her.
And the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women
is reviewing today the report of Chile
next to be examined will be Canada, Japan, Cuba and
and the Human Rights Committee will begin this afternoon the review
of the report of Iceland to be followed by Pakistan,
Greece, France, Turkey and
very, very last announcement to remind you that on the 17th of October,
the international community will commemorate
the International Day for the
You have the secretary general's message in your mailboxes
ends up. So thank you very much for being here at the briefing today.
And I'll see you on Friday. Thank you.
