Welcome to the press briefing of the Information Service here in Geneva.
It's Friday, 7th of March.
We have two colleagues connecting from the field for UNHCR.
William is with me on the podium.
I'd like to start immediately with Celine Schmidt, who is the UNHCR Senior Communication Advisor and who is reaching us from Damascus.
You are going to tell us about the displaced in Syria and the fund appeal.
Yeah, I know, but I was hoping that they would.
I can see Celine on my screen, so hopefully we can see her also on the big screens.
So Celine, thank you very much.
If you could just unmute yourself.
We our connection, Internet connection was not very good.
So, excuse me, can you now see me?
Well, yes, now we can see you.
Well, it was more a problem in the room.
We we had another, another image on the screen.
But I can see you and we can hear you.
So I'm here in Damascus 1,000,000 internally displaced people living in camps and sites across northwest Syria intends to return to their areas already over routine within the next year.
600,000 of them before the end of the summer 2025 according to a new large scale intention survey carried out by UNHCR, which end the camp coordination and camp management cluster.
So between 26th of January and 23rd of February 2025, UNHCR and the partners surveyed 4800 households in 514 IDP camps and sites across northwest Syria.
The survey showed that 51% of the surveyed households intend to return to the areas of origin, with 93% planning to return within the next 3 to 12 months.
As of January 2025, more than 3.5 million Idps were living in northwest Syria, including 1.5 million residing in 1500 camps and sites across the region comprising the governorates of Iglip and Aleppo.
Intentions to return are particularly strong among Idps in Hitlib Governorate, where approximately 2 out of 3 households surveyed expressed the intention to return.
Former frontline areas in the Hitlib and Aleppo governorates are the primary intended areas of return, especially the AL Maha and Jebel Saman districts.
Should this return movement materialise, the population in Mahat and Humam and ***** Noble areas would rise from 3000 to 130,000 individuals.
Overall, 23 districts could see their populations at least double, placing additional strain on already overstretched basic services and infrastructure.
While the desire to return home is widespread among the surveyed households, ID PS said that the obstacles to return include the lack of humanitarian assistance, livelihood opportunities, and access to basic services.
During a recent visit that we did to the IDP camps and sites in Eclipse, but also in Aleppo, we heard the hope and determination of displaced Syrians to go back to their homes and rebuild their lives as they now feel safe.
For their returns to be dignified and sustainable, they would need housing, jobs, schools, hospitals, electricity and clean water.
They also need large scale support to remove the landmines as they cite fear of mines as their biggest security concern.
In Italy, for example, we met a mother who was living in a tent with her children, without access to water, without access to to to electricity, without a job.
The school was 2 kilometres away.
And she told us that she was really willing to go back home, but her home was destroyed.
And then she said that she was planning to take her tent and to go back home and put the tent next to her house just to be back home.
And she was asking for small humanitarian help to be able to restart, to rebuild her life.
And with that help, she would be able to restart her life at home.
We also visited a village, the village of Haiyan, which is outside of Aleppo, where we met people who had just returned to a village that was destroyed during the war.
They told us that only 40 people were still living in that village, but now 400,000 people, 400 sorry people returned to go back.
Even if the houses were destroyed.
They returned because they wanted to be home.
We asked them how do you live, what do you need?
They said that their houses were destroyed, but they they were living as they as they could because this is where they were.
Well, one dad told us that he was driving every day 50 kilometres by motorbike to bring his teenage daughters to secondary school because there was no secondary school in the area.
And he said how proud he was of the daughters and that education was extremely important.
So you can hear from those stories that access to housing is among the biggest needs.
The survey revealed that nearly all ID PS planning to return intent to move back to their former homes.
But 80% reported that these are severely damaged or destroyed, a percentage that rises to 95% among the 350,000 ID PS planning to return to the former frontline district of Almaha in Eclip and Suki Labia in Hama.
UNHCR and our partners, we are ramping up efforts to help the returnees rebuild their lives.
This includes providing transportation for them to be able to go back home, legal assistance, support in repairing damaged homes.
We also provide essential items like mattresses, blankets, winter clothing to help people through now the the tough months ahead.
Yeah, but we need support in order to be able to help the people who are asking us to return.
Nearly 14 years after the crisis began, Syria now stands at the crossroads, urgently needing the international community support for rebuilding.
While years of conflict has devastated the country's economy and infrastructure, leaving 90% of the population reliant on humanitarian aid, there is a hope and the historic opportunity in Syria.
We call as UNHCR upon the international community to make a firm commitment to support Syrians by supporting humanitarian actors and by investing in early recovery initiatives.
Returnees need shelter, livelihoods and opportunities to empower themselves and to become self-sufficient.
They also need legal assistance to obtain identity and property documents, and they need support to remove the land mines.
With an injection of support, the international community could contribute to bring an end to what is still the world's largest displacement crisis.
This is a historic moment and an opportunity not to be missed.
The international community must step up to meet these needs and support immediate as well as long term recovery efforts.
Celine, do you want to add anything here?
So let me go to questions.
In the room, I see Nina Larson, who is our correspondent of AFP.
Thank you for doing this.
Thank you for doing this briefing.
Nina Larson with AFPI was wondering if you could say how many returns you've seen so far?
And also you're talking about the need for international assistance for these people who are returning.
Could you, could you say how much money you is estimated to be needed for, for helping the number of people you think will be returning this year?
And also finally, given the situation for humanitarian aid right now in the world, especially after the US funding freeze, I'm wondering what impact you've seen of that in Syria and how optimistic you are that you'll actually be able to receive the funds you need.
Yes, thank you very much for for the question.
So in terms of returns that we have seen since the 8th of December and now 300,000 refugees have returned.
So Syrians have returned, have have gone back to the country.
So we've now crossed the 300,000 returns.
In terms of people internally displaced, we are now at nearly 900,000 ID PS who've returned since the end of November.
So in total it's 1.2 million people who returned since early December.
So these are the returns we have seen in terms of help.
We've, we've recently published an operational framework in which we were detailing the, the, the, the needs we have in order to bring that immediate humanitarian assistance both for refugees and refugee returnees and ID PS.
So in order to do that, it's 170 million U.S.
dollars that that we are asking for to really bring that first humanitarian help.
And so these are UNHCR requirements.
But then of course there is also a need for a longer term investment, including early recovery, including, you know, by development partners.
So, so in addition to our ask for funding to allow us to bring that first humanitarian assistance, we are also calling on development partners to to join the efforts.
We have talks, you know, with the development banks because this has to be planned also from now.
You, you, you heard from what I said that in addition to to the basic needs and that people who are telling us if you give us some help to repair our shelters.
So first repair, repairing the windows, repairing the doors, some help to set up a small business, some livelihoods activities we can start.
But then for the longer term, you know, they need access to all the basic services, water, health, electricity.
For now, very often people have access to electricity maybe one hour or two hours per day.
So it's very important that also development partners join the effort and, and, and we have welcomed recently as well the ease of sanctions, the, the EU Council decision to ease, to ease the sanctions, because this is going to have positive effect in terms of transport, access to electricity, access to water, because so far access to water is, is an issue.
And the lifting of sanction is going to, to be positive for the people because it will help increase the access to, to those basic services.
So far, we are less than 10% funded for, for the activities we want to implement.
So we really call on our donors, on the international community to help us because this is an opportunity and we can bring that immediate assistance that people are asking for.
In Italy, people were telling us, help us to go back home.
Now we have the opportunity that we have been waiting for since 13 years, 12 years to go back home.
Help us with that little first support.
Nina, you have a follow up.
Olivia Leopardan, Reuters Hi there.
Thank you for this briefing.
You said mines were a primary security concern for people returning home.
Can you just give a bit more detail about how widespread that issue is?
And if you know of are there any particular areas of concern?
But also in terms of broader security concerns, was that raised at all by anybody in your survey?
I'm just, you know, noting for example the clashes in the Takia yesterday.
Has that been cited in terms of people returning to communities, quite mixed communities or have maybe had different experiences and political involvement during the war war?
And then just my second question is just a clarification if I may.
You were mentioning about if these return movements do materialise, you would, I think you gave a figure about the rise in population in some areas of something around 3000 to 120,000.
But I don't, I wouldn't wish to misquote you.
So if you could just kindly restate that figure, I'd be most grateful.
And I apologise for my unstable connectivity.
We tried our best, but it's not very stable today.
So in, in terms of minds to give you precise figures, I, I would need to get back to you, but we we can do that after.
But it's an issue throughout the country and it is cited by people in the the majority of locations where we go that this is a major security issue.
Mines and, and, and I will send you the figures in including in terms of casualty because of mine accidents, because there have been some also survey on, on the on the casualties.
So if it is in Italy, Aleppo, but also Daha, southern parts of of Syria, mines are always cited by people as their main security concern.
So there is a a need to to, you know, step up the programmes to decontaminate to remove the mines.
But also what we do on top of that is that we do mine awareness sessions and especially for children.
So for example, we have 122 community centres throughout the country.
And in those community centres, among the activities that we do, we do mine awareness sessions, sometimes by children, for children in order, you know, to prevent the accidents.
And that's, that's extremely key.
And this is something that is very useful.
People are telling us that this is very useful for the for, for everyone, for the children to avoid accidents.
So this is this is something that we do and this is the main security concern that was cited by by people, you know, in the survey.
Of course, in some parts of the country, the situation is still volatile.
We are concerned also by the security.
Syrians are concerned, including Britainees.
And this is, you know, This is why it's also very important that this remains also, you know, an, an, a concern to make sure that all Syrians can live peacefully together.
And this, this is their wish.
This is the wish of, of people we are, we are talking to.
And then in terms of giving you again, the figures of the village, of course I can do that.
Let me just give you the exact figure.
So I said that if the return movement materialise the population so in Mahat Anuman and ***** Nobel in Italy areas would rise from 3000 to 130,000 individuals and overall 23 districts could see their population at least double.
So we will send you the notes and and this is linked to the fact also, you know, I gave you the example of Haiyan, some of the areas where nearly some of the villages were nearly totally empty because they were destroyed and now people are willing to go back.
So Haiyan, for example, the the local council told us that less than 40 people were still living there.
Already 400 people had returned, living in destroyed houses.
More were willing to return.
So This is why, you know, it's it's really key to invest in reconstruction because housing shelter remains one of the biggest need of the people because some areas and some villages are totally destroyed.
So it's not only shelter repair.
Some people can go back to their houses and we provide some initial help with windows and doors, but some houses are totally destroyed.
And, and I quoted the the woman we met in Italy who was willing to go back home, and she told us that her house was totally destroyed, but she was planning to go back with her tent just to be home and then to see how she can find help to reconstruct her house.
I think we have a last question from Musa ASI Almaydin.
Musa, I want to ask please about the situation, the movement of refugees in the border between Syria and Lebanon.
How many refugees return to Syria?
And in other side, if that exists, how many people from Syria go to Lebanon in the last weeks and 10 months?
So in in total there are some 300,000 refugees who returned from from the different neighbouring countries.
I would have to get back to you to give you the exact number of people who returned from Lebanon.
We, we have had figures of people who had been leaving Syria after the 8th of December.
So we, we had an initial figure of maybe some 60,000 who had left.
So this has to be verified.
Maybe people who had left because they were scared of the, of the events that happened on the eighth of the 18th of December or the 8th of December.
And the situation that, that, that, that will result after that Merci Boku, I don't see other hands up for you, Celine.
Thank you so much for coming and updating us on on this situation of the refugees there.
And William brought another colleague as I said before, thanks.
Another colleague who is connecting from Bujumbura 5, Cassina Faith is regional spokesperson for East and on of Africa and the Great Lakes.
You have an update on the issue of Congolese refugees getting in Burundi.
Thank you for this opportunity.
Connecting from Bujumbura at the moment, where, as you know, over 63,000 people now have crossed into the country.
Burundi fleeing atrocities and deadly conflict in parts of eastern Deer, Congo.
I am just from the border.
Was there a couple of days ago in a location called Rugombo where as you may have seen in in past reports, you know you have the bordering with season river and the situation in Rugomboa is absolutely dire.
Conditions are extremely extremely harsh.
At the local stadium where I was able to visit there, at least 45,000 people still sheltering in the stadium.
The stadium is literally busting off.
It seems there's no more space available within the stadium to put up additional shelter.
These are people who've arrived in the last two to three weeks in from different parts of Eastern JRC, seeking safety, seeking assistance, seeking just rest.
I think what I saw on, you know, and from my interactions, the different refugees, there's just a deep sense of exhaustion.
I met mothers, new mothers, that one particular one who struck me because she told me she gave birth 3 days before she, she had to flee and she had to cross the Rosizi River with, you know, her new, her newborn baby in her arms and four more by her side.
And, you know, she was seeing people's property and people's luggage and sort of go down the river and she was scared for her life.
But thankfully she made it across.
And now she's also among the 45,000 who are now waiting in Rugamba, waiting to be relocated to other refugee sites still in the stadium because this is where the bulk of people are at the moment.
As I said before, it's completely over capacity.
Many families now, as I saw, are being forced to put up in open fields just nearby.
There were some families who had sort of found shelter and, you know, within local schools and but you know, unfortunately they had to be moved away because schools have reopened and children need to go to school.
Others are putting up with well wishers.
The situation is extremely dire.
Aid efforts are ongoing, but needs are fast outspace, fast outpacing what is being provided.
Unit CR is there with the government of Burundi.
We're leading or we're coordinating and working together to register the new arrivals in the in Gombo.
We've just set up a protection desk because we are seeing a huge number of unaccompanied and separated children, children who had to come, who've crossed over, you know, separated from their families.
They have no point of contact.
And therefore, these protection desks are, are useful in terms of trying to identify them, trying to connect them or reunite them with close family members or, you know, other relatives or people that they may know from where they're from and as well as, you know, provide more sort of specialised and psychosocial support.
And I mean, it's a cycle of misery.
From what I saw, it's, it's people who are trying to just get by the day, exhausted from cycles of displacement.
I met this lady who was 45 years old and she told me, you know, this is not her first time being displaced.
She had been in Burundi, specifically in Rugambo in her teenage years.
And now she's forced back in the exact, almost the exact same spot now with six children.
And it's just as an unending cycle of displacement.
She didn't think that, you know, generations after her now children that she bears now have to go through the same experiences that she did in, in, you know, in her earlier years.
So 45,000 people waiting in the stadium.
Relocations are going on.
We currently have 3 convoys taking off, taking off from Gombo into the the one designated site for now by the government.
And this is in Musseni, South of the country.
It's 6 to hours, 6 to 8 hours drive one way.
There's not enough support or not not enough funding to hire more buses and that's why you're seeing a lot more sort of a backlog and people being relocated.
We're looking at about the figures as I understood yesterday about 3400 have already been relocated, but we're looking to move more people today's, you know, a few other buses are living for, for Museni.
And so we expect hopefully that, you know, as more resources continue to come in, we will be able to sort of fasten the relocation process so that people can live in better conditions and access more assistance in moving away from Rugamba and into Museni.
As I said, nearly 4000 people, 3400 to be exact have been moved.
We're working with our local partners there to set up shelters.
But when people, once people arrive in the site, they're now they're able to stay in communal shelters in a communal tent where they can access for meals, clean water, they have access to the local health facilities.
But even then there is a challenge because some of the refugees who are arriving have, you know, severe wounds from, you know, from, from their flight or from where they came in DRC and they require specialised treatment which is not necessarily available in the local health facilities.
So the situation is quite dire.
But aid aid agencies, including the units here, local agencies have really stepped up to help the people who are arriving.
But as I said, needs of fast outpacing the the the ongoing response.
And it's an important and urgent injection of funds that are required to make sure that people are able to live in dignity, to make sure that lives are not lost.
And also to help people who are arriving from DRC will continue to arrive.
And we expect more to arrive actually in the coming days and weeks.
Olivia, report the Reuters.
Faith, thank you for that.
A couple of questions from from my side.
You, your colleague gave a briefing a couple of weeks ago saying that UNHCR was planning to move the displaced people from that stadium that you spoke of and also that you at the moment they were kind of people sheltering in schools and churches which were overwhelmed.
What is preventing UNHCR from moving people from that stadium to other shelters?
Is it just deemed the best kind of situation right now to put people or are you facing kind of other challenges on the ground?
And and secondly, also a previous briefing that was concerned raised about also spread of disease and kind of sanitary issues.
If you'd kindly be able to, to give some details on that.
And I see that UNHCR is also distributed faith notes.
So you you have all the information in your e-mail box Faith.
So thank you for those questions.
I think the main challenge we have we are seeing in terms of relocating more and more people is just the logistics of it.
As I said, you know that it's a long drive from the from Rugombo, the stadium where most of the people are, to the Musseni refugee site, which is on the other side of the country, takes about 6 to 8 hours for, you know, transport one way.
And then we have to wait for the same buses to come back another 6 to 8 hours to Rugombo and make the trip and the cycle continues.
You know, the buses are not, they're few and, you know, not in great condition.
The roads are also here, not in great condition.
So we have to really work with what we have to also make sure that we're able to move people around.
I mean, I cannot_the the importance of humanitarian funding for this response.
It's 60,000 people who've arrived in a matter of weeks, the largest influx this country has seen in decades.
This country, despite its best efforts, was not prepared for this emergency.
Humanitarian agencies working round the clock.
My colleagues are working Monday to Saturday, 6 days out of seven at Gombo, making sure that people are registered, trying to fasten the process so that they're moved to the refugee sites.
But without enough or without more and sustained donor funding, this, I mean, the, the aid response is literally buckling at its belt.
And so we need more support to ensure that we're able to fasten this process and people are, are able to live in better conditions.
In terms of the, the sanitary conditions in the stadium, it's, it's entirely it's, it's very, the conditions are really, really harsh.
As I said, because of the space constraints in the stadium where many people are.
It's very difficult for people to move around this poor waste management.
There's just because of the, the sheer numbers of people around.
There's just not enough space to make sure that, you know, for example, trenches are dug where like what dirty water flows freely and away from people's shelters that the sanitation in terms of latrines and other other similar facilities that they're available but just not, they just don't match the number of people that are there.
I think I must have seen 10 to 15 stalls of latrines and we're talking about 40,000, forty, 45,000 people there.
It's hardly enough agencies are doing what they can, but the situation just because of the many people who are there and many more who continue to come.
Just on Wednesday, when we were in the stadium, we got word from our colleagues in one of the official unofficial crossing points around the Rosizi River, 300 people had just checked in or other had just arrived.
I mean, and this is these are people who will definitely come to the stadium because that's where the assistance is being done.
Again, numbers keep swelling every day.
And so it's basically literally I race against time just to save lives.
Nina Larson, AFP yes, hi.
Thank you for this briefing.
I was wondering if you could say a little bit more about the the children who are arriving.
And if you you mentioned that there are children who have been separated.
Do you have any numbers on that?
How many kids are coming in separated from their families?
And what is your biggest concern around around that?
We don't have numbers as yet.
We have been collecting information.
As I said, this emergency has been fast moving.
Our priority had been to receive them, to welcome them and to register them.
At the moment my colleagues at the stadium are sort of analysing and consolidating data.
We should be hopefully able to provide that number for you.
But from what in the coming days, but from what I saw, I want to say that it's just a huge disproportionate number of children who are, who are lacking around the stadium, children who don't appear to have any family around them.
Thankfully, other refugees have also welcomed them just to make sure that they're safe, that they're able to have a place to sort of lay their heads in terms of what particular support we are providing.
Again, the protection desk with our colleagues that we've set up are able to help them and get more information of where they're coming from.
We also are working or starting to work with other agencies to, you know, within the sort of gender based violence and child protection sector.
But we're able to, we were we're currently discussing on and trying to figure out how we can what specialised treatment these children have in terms of nutrition, in terms of psychosocial support.
We are trying to work out with the humanity, other humanitarian partners to really understand what more support we can provide for these children, even as we look into family reunification because that's something that's of major, major priority.
Thank you, Madam, for for your breathing.
I'd like to come back on on certain aspects.
How do you can you speak up a little bit?
I really it's really difficult to hear you.
I don't know if our comics can increase the volume.
No, I don't think we can.
Catherine, Maybe if you can get closer to your mic.
We can hear you well in the room, but I don't know if they can.
I'm gonna speak a bit louder.
Thank you, Madam Cassina, for the briefing.
I'd like to come back on certain aspects.
The first one is how do you gather your your data?
Are you registering the people arriving in the stadium or at the borders?
My second question is that you mentioned that the main problem is logistics, How much money is needed in order to do what you would like to do?
And could you explain the reason why so many children are crossing alone without parents?
Thank you so much, Faith, did you get the questions?
Yeah, I did get the questions.
So just coming off the last question, in terms of why are so many children unaccompanied, I think the only reason we have for that and from what the reports that we've had from those that we've spoke with is that they had to be separated because they were fleeing for their lives.
You know, when conflict starts abruptly or started abruptly where they're from, you know, it was very difficult for families to stay together.
People were telling us how they had to walk for hours under the cover of night, walking through traversing through difficult terrain, deep forests, trying to reach safety, you know, and, and you know, people in such circumstances because of the fear, because of trying to, you know, hurry and make sure that you're not caught up in the fighting.
It's very likely that people get separated.
Very normal for people to get separated at that point.
And those are the reports that we were getting from, from the, the, the few who were able to share the stories and ensure the experiences.
And and that's probably the the only reason that we have for now in terms of what, how UNICR gathers data.
Yes, we are in Grugombo Stadium where people are are coming in along the Rosizi River.
A lot of those crossing points are unofficial crossing points, but they're very, very close.
There's a few kilometres away from the stadium.
And what we've seen is that once people make the crossing local, the local community is able to usher them or is able to direct them to the stadium.
We also have border monitoring across regular border monitoring along those crossing points as well as other official crossing points.
I should also mention, well, you know, when, when people come in, they're received and, and, and directed to the, to the stadium where, where we do our main registrations in working in partnership with the government, taking people's details, giving them sort of some form of identification that will enable them to get assistance once they are, are relocated to the refugee site.
So units are in partnership with the government is doing the, the, the official registration at the stadium.
But at the crossing points, we are present just to ensure that people safely cross and are able to, to, to be directed to the necessary points where they can be registered.
I don't see other questions for you, Faith.
So thank you very much for this update.
Good luck with your work.
I'll ask Sophia to come to the podium.
But why we're doing that.
I'll turn maybe to Gabriella, who has been patiently waiting for a last question on another subject for William.
Yes, thank you very much, Alessandra.
My question is the Trump administration is preparing to revoke the temporary legal status of approximately 1.8 million of Ukrainian refugees.
This move is part of increased pressure from the White House on Ukrainian President Zelensky to accept a ceasefire agreement with Russia.
So President Trump emphasised that he's not looking to hurt anybody.
The potential revocation of legal status could fast track deportations proceedings for these refugees, so many of whom have established lives in the USA since fleeing the conflict.
So my questions are, do these violate the Refugee Conviction Convention of which the United States party?
And my second question is what is your reaction to this move that Washington is planning on Ukrainian refugees?
Thank you, Gorilla, for the question.
I don't think that this decision has been made.
So we are not in a position to comment on.
Policies that have not yet been implemented.
Thank you very much, William.
Thanks for this extensive UNHCR briefing.
And Gabriella has a follow up.
Yes, my, my, my question is, do you have any pressure from USA government to to not speak, I mean about issues regarding USA because all the questions that we well, not all, but some questions that we made last briefing or this briefing on USA you are not I mean UN is not not answering with an elaborate response.
I think that this is not a precise characterization.
At the last briefing, some questions were answered, some others we've said we cannot give all the precise answers that you were asking for.
But I also would like to underline that in the last two days, I have personally distributed to journalist statements of colleagues of other agencies that you had also received through those agencies where we were, I mean, where colleagues were making assessments of the impact of this situation, including, for example, WHO, if I remember well, even if PA said something, I can't remember the second one, but I can check in while I'm giving the photo.
But of course, I can answer for this, but I just would like to make clear that I don't think this is a precise characterization has been a lot which has been said.
Sometimes things happen and we can evaluate them.
Some other times we need to see what is happening.
We need to see what the decision are and evaluate the consequences before speaking.
Some other times we can speak.
And again, I'll remind you that the brutal, for example, sent something about that yesterday and I'll check for the other one.
But I'll I'll ask William to answer for UNFPA.
And of course, if Sophia wants to say something for UN women, it's she's welcome to go ahead, William.
Well, just simply to add that we have been working closely with the United States for decades.
The US is a leading has been leading in refugee protection and has been a generous contributed to UNACRS programmes and we are engaging actively and constructively with with the US government to continue supporting refugees and and people forced to flee.
Thank you very much and sorry is that corrected?
The one I was referring to is the UN AIDS.
They even have a blog on on these consequences so you can check on their website.
And WHO also sent 1 yesterday?
OK, So thank you very much.
And let me turn to my right.
As I said, I'm happy to welcome Sophia Carter.
She has a maybe just an announcement for this important event that we are going to hold today at the pallet I've told you about.
So good morning, everybody.
Today, 7th of March, we are all at the UN celebrating International Women's Day, 8th of March.
As you all know, this is a very special commemoration.
This year it's 50, the 50th anniversary of the International Women's Day and it's also 30 years since the adoption of the bidding platform for action.
That is very much a theme that we are working on along this whole year as you and women, together with our partners and as Alessandra Day today here in the Palais, we are hosting a very special commemoration together with our partners at EUNOG, the European Union and the **** Commissioner for Human Rights.
This commemoration is going to be an international intergenerational dialogue.
I'm quite excited about that.
So we will have the Director General of EUNOG, we will have the **** Commissioner for Human Rights, but we'll also hear young voices from from Peru, Afghanistan and Kenya talking about women's rights and the implementation of the Beijing Platform at this this very pivotal moment for woman's rights.
This will be in Room 19 at 1:00 today.
I just briefly mentioned that UN Women launched yesterday in in New York, our flagship report on women's rights in review 30 years after Beijing.
Happy to share more about that.
We're also launching a digital campaign where we invite young people really from everywhere to share their stories on how we can move forward, March forward for women's rights.
So please join us today in the celebrations.
And maybe just to add 2 things.
First of all, that we have created a page, a specific page on you and Geneva about this event and the anniversary of the the commemoration of the International Women's Day.
You will find interviews that some of my colleagues have carried out in Ukraine with UNICEF colleagues and in Lebanon.
And we also just distributed to you this the statement of the Secretary General for the International Women's Day, where he says when the doors of equal opportunity are open for women and girls, everyone wins.
And he recalls, as Sophia said, the 30 year of progress and achievement since the landmark UN conference in Beijing, which transformed the rights of women, reaffirmed those rights as human rights.
But the secretary general also make a long list of things that are not going well with women at the moment and called everyone for action.
And it concludes by saying together lists and firmly making rights, equality and empowerment a reality for all women and girls, for everyone everywhere.
Wait, Sophia, if there are any questions in the room?
No, I see Gabriella, Gabriella Sotomayor on the line.
Alessandra, my question is the event that's going to be today at 1, is it going to be webcasted or we have to go personally there?
And my second question is the fact sheet that you're mentioning, I mean, did you send, did you send it to us or because I mean to know how many women had abortions, how many, how many women are in gaol because of hate crimes or you know, all these issues?
Yeah, that those are the questions.
I'm checking for the website, the webcast.
Let me go ahead sure whether we have distributed, but I will make sure that we do it as I speak.
And this, this report includes many very interesting, important figures, as you mentioned.
I mean, for example, the proportion of women in parliaments have doubled since since the Beijing Platform for Action was adopted and the maternal mortality rates has declined by a third.
But as we also know, we see now backlash against women's rights.
And in this report, we note that 25% of governments are reporting a backlash in terms of the implementation of Beijing Platform and women's rights.
So, so happy to, to share the full report and also take any, any specific questions.
Thank you, Sophia, I just checked and yes, the event will be webcast on UNTV.
I'll put you the link in the in the chat.
Oh, OK, you're on symbol.
The you need those meals.
Thank you very much for that question.
Of course, the situation of women in conflict and and war is is 111.
Very, very, very sobering one.
Actually, we have noted that there is a 50% and let me just find the number so that I give you it correctly.
But there is there is there is a fifty 5050% increase of women and girls living in close proximity to conflict that we have recorded over the past years, which is of course putting all those women's, women and girls at increased risk.
We also see an alarming increase in sexual related conflict related sexual violence that's also been recorded in this report.
So happy to, to, to go more specifically into, into, into the situation.
This event, as I mentioned, will be an intergenerational event.
We have **** level speakers from the UN and we have young voices and, and, and I'm as curious as you to hear what they will highlight during their intervention.
This is a very lively and, and, and open discussion.
So, so look forward to that.
And, and, and I'm sure we have, for example, a woman coming from Afghanistan, and I'm sure that she will, of course, highlight the difficult situation of women and girls in her country in the midst of war.
And Sophia will be the moderator.
So she will summarise this for us during the the event.
I don't see other questions for you.
And Paulo has put the link to the webcast in the chat.
Thank you very much, Sophia.
We'll see you in a little while in Room 19.
I'll turn to my left to welcome Zaina Awad for ILO.
Zaina, you have an announcement about your governing body and then maybe Claire can also come to the pool.
Good morning, colleagues.
I'd like to let you know that the ILO will holding will be holding its next governing body session from the 10th to the 20th of March.
This is our 353rd session.
The governing body, of course, is the executive body of the ILO and it's the decision maker on budgets, programmes and the agenda of the annual International Labour Conference, which takes place in June.
The members at this governing body RGB are expected to discuss policy matters as well as issues that relate to specific countries under the ILO supervisory procedures.
The agenda will include discussions on strategic outcomes under the upcoming 20262027 budget and programme.
It'll also they will also discuss key issues around employment and the world of work, as well as policy areas.
And they're expected to put together a draught resolution for the upcoming World Summit for Social Development, which is taking place in the fall of 2025.
And this draught resolution will be put forward in June at the International Labour Conference.
Discussions include a discussion on supply chains, on the global framework on chemical and hazardous waste and the GP will also be looking at country specific developments in a number of countries.
Thank you Zaina questions, Nina.
How will it be possible for us to follow this?
And also you mentioned a number of countries situations, could you say something about which ones?
I said I was saying that it won't be live streamed online.
However, you and Pali journalists are able to watch it from an overflow room at the ILO.
Just reach out newsroom@ilo.org and and we'll support.
And in terms of the countries, the countries that will be that have that will be discussed for specific issues related to them are Bangladesh, Belarus, Venezuela and Nicaragua.
I was wondering if you were building out a press release ahead of the meeting and I was wondering why you're not webcasting the event, given it's a tripartite organisation, is at the request of one of the three parties, either government's employers or trade unions.
Everything else is webcast these days and you're one of the most transparent organisations.
I was just puzzled, that's all.
Yeah, no, thank you for the question John.
Because these are some of them are are basically internal discussions by by the body that governs the ILO.
That's the reason why it doesn't get webcast globally.
However, we will have representatives as exactly you said we're a try part organisation and governments, employers and workers organisations will indeed be represented at at the governing body discussions.
And I'm sorry, what was your first question again?
Do you mind repeating it if you could send the press?
In fact, right after today's briefing, we're going to be sending out the media advisory with all the information.
Thank you very much then and good luck with the meeting.
Let me turn to definitely not the least of our speakers and I don't know, maybe it's me, but I have the impression we haven't been speaking for of climate and glaciers and for a while.
So we're going to remember that.
March is, is quite an active month for the World Meteorological Organisation.
There are, you know, quite a few days of relevance to us.
So starting first and foremost, March the 23rd is World Meteorological Day.
The theme this year is closing the early warning gap together.
There's a ceremony at 3:00 PM.
All media are invited and we'll send out details in due course for the whole of this year.
In fact, it's the 75th anniversary of WMO.
So UN is 80, WMO is is 75 S.
We will be having a number of activities for for that.
March the 21st is the first World Glacier Day, and glaciers are also the theme of World Water Day, which is March the 22nd.
So you've got sort of 123, you've got 21st, 22nd, 23rd of March.
The International Year of Glaciers Preservation was launched at WMO in January and the main ceremonies for the day are in New York and at UNESCO headquarters in Paris.
So what will be happening here in Geneva is that WMO and the World Glacier Monitoring Service, we will be holding an embargoed press conference here in this room on Thursday the 13th of March.
It'll have new findings on glacier retreat and the impacts and implications of this.
We're doing it under embargo just because the following week is really, really, really busy with the UN Human Rights Council.
So we thought we'd, you know, do it under embargo.
It'll give you plenty of time to digest the facts and, and, and the figures in that.
And so that I'll send out the press notice of this, but it will be given by the director of the World Glacier Monitoring Service, which is based at the University of Zurich and by Stefan Ulenbrook, who's our Director of Cryosphere and Hydrology.
So moving on one of WM OS, in fact WM OS flagship report is the State of the Global Climate 2024.
And this we are planning on releasing on the 19th of March.
No press conferences is envisaged again, because you know, UNT VS is pretty solidly booked that time, you know, with, with human rights, but obviously there will be embargoed, you know, press materials for you.
It gives details of, you know, key climate indicators, including temperatures, ocean heat, sea level rise, glaciers and sea ice.
As we said, you know, earlier this year, we confirmed it, 2024 was the hottest year on record, many, many extreme weather impacts.
So this this report, it's the concluding report for 2024 and it gives you more, more details as to what this means.
Just to sort of bring us up a little bit more to, you know, to what's happening in in 2025 of the climate.
The European Union's Copernicus Climate Change service yesterday issued its February climate bulletin.
It's said that daily global sea ice extent.
So this combines sea ice extent in both polar regions.
It reached an an all new all time minimum for February.
So not all time minimum overall, but all time minimum for February.
Arctic sea ice reached its lowest monthly extent through February and Arctic Antarctic sea ice was the 4th, 4th lowest.
So this is obviously continuing, you know, what is a trend that we, that we have been been witnessing in recent months and which is a very worrying trend.
It was the 3rd warmest February on record.
20 February 2023-2024 were warmer.
And but you know, again, it's continuing the extraordinary spell of extraordinary heat.
And this was despite the presence of a weak La Nina event.
We WMO yesterday issued the latest El Nino La Nina update and said that we do have a, you know, La Nina influencing our weather and climate.
At the moment it is quite weak and it will be short lived.
So we expect that, you know, during the next three months.
So between March and May, we will, there's a 60% chance that we will shift back to.
Neutral conditions, so neither El Nino or La Nina and this increases to 70% for April to June.
That doesn't mean that we won't see extreme weather because we will.
I was wondering if you could say something about the, the US and the, I guess the mass layoffs at NOAA also apparently they're perhaps shutting down a very important premises in Maryland that deals with the forecasting.
How is, you know, what concerns you have around this and how is that going to impact also your ability with these these forecasts and overviews because you do rely, I think quite heavily also on Noah among others.
I'll talk primarily, you know, to the global impact.
We're obviously, you know, monitoring the the reports.
There's a, you know, daily developments backwards and forwards.
So I don't really, I'm not in a position to, you know, to comment on the cancelling of, of, of leases.
You know, there is a lot of comment on on social media today is stand up for Science Day, which is being marked in the US, you know, and a lot of scientists know a former no officials are taking part in in that.
We as WMO are not, it's not, it's not our own.
But you know, just to say, as I just mentioned WMO this year we are marking our 75th anniversary as AUN agency.
And for the past 75 years, we facilitated international collaboration, exchange of data for the global good.
We cannot do it without anyone individual country.
It's really a global effort effort and it has global benefits.
the United States is a vital valued, particularly important member of the WMO.
As we all know, you know, it does provide the vital weather, climate, water data and the expertise that we that we really need.
You know, we, we, we live in an interconnected world.
You know, satellite, you know, satellite data.
It's, it's, it's global observations are, are global and just to, you know, just to, to, to, to demonstrate.
So you know, every single meteorological and hydrological measurement and they're, you know, there are thousands of these every day.
They're collected by ground based stations, radars, buoys, aircraft, ships, satellites, and they are shared around the world within within minutes of of being collected.
You know, so this is a real time operation.
But the US is obviously a big part of that of that of that picture.
It's not the only part, but it's a very big, it's a very big part.
And the reason that we do this and as we've been, you know, saying probably for the last 75 years is that whether climate and water don't respect geopolitical boundaries, they don't respect electoral cycles.
So there is no way anyone individual country, be it the US, be it the UK, be it South Africa, be it, you know, Russia, there's no way that anyone individual country can do this on their own.
You know, we really are in this together.
Just to give you a few little bit of information and I can send you these in writing.
So the US provides on average 3% of globally shared land surface meteorological observations, 12% of up Air Radio Sunday profiles and 20 to 25% of the flow of meteorological satellite information.
So, you know, we really do value US participation, US leadership in meteorology and climate, in hydrology.
And NOAA operates, you know, numerous recognised WMO recognised global, global centres, which, you know, they're there to protect public safety, they're there to promote economic development, sustainability.
You know, tropical cyclones, for instance, you know, the National Hurricane Centre acts as the WMO regional specialised centre.
You know, US, you know, plays the leading role in, in, in global centres for, in sectors like aviation and, and, and, and agriculture.
It's a win, win for the world.
the US benefits, the world benefits.
As I said, we've had this cooperation for, for more, for more than 75 years, even at the height of the Cold War back in 1963, the between the, the, the US and the former Soviet Union, we set up the World Weather Watch.
And this, you know, this even today remains the gold standard for, for global cooperation.
So, you know, our message is one that, you know, we need global data exchange, we need, we need cooperation.
And the, you know, the US like other members, it's a very, very, very important part of that to that picture.
Sorry, just to follow up.
Just if you, I mean, you mentioned the hurricane watch, for instance, you know, what concerns are there when it comes to actually forecasting hurricanes coming and when you know, how much dangerous is it putting people in if, if those aren't functioning properly?
The, the National Hurricane Centre, it's, it's our regional specialised meteorological centre, you know, and, and, and National Hurricane Centre Miami.
So they do provide the, the forecast products on hurricane tracks, on storm surge, coastal inundation, you know, which are then, you know, valuable for the entire region.
There are a number of different models.
So the, you know, the US, the track model is not the only one.
So there are a number of, of different, different models.
But obviously, you know, the National Hurricane Centre is, you know, it, it, it, it is crucial.
Thanks to its work, we've, you know, really saved thousands of lives.
It's, you know, it's difficult to quantify, but you know, we've saved thousands and thousands of lives over the year.
And if you think of the 2024 hurricane season, we had hurricane barrel, which was, you know, the largest, the earliest tropical Category 5 hurricane on record ******* into the the Caribbean.
The the losses, the loss of life from that, the economic losses were big, but the loss of life from that was quite minimal.
And it was because of those advanced forecasts.
It was because of the preparedness in Caribbean states on the ground.
You know, they they did a huge amount of work.
Then you saw later on in the season, you know, you saw the immense economic damage in the US from both Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton, absolute devastation.
And you know, that really does underline, you know, we need we we really do need those warnings and and we need those warnings then to lead into action on the ground very much.
Jeremy Launch yes, hi, quick one for for Claire, you mentioned the the report that was in the Barber.
So the press conference is on Thursday, next Thursday, 13th of March.
I understand to, to, to make sure that I understand correctly the, the report is about until world vicious day.
And do you know already the, the timing of the press conference?
Because there's another one earlier in the morning.
So on, on the timing, we've obviously coordinated with Eunice on that.
And so it's, it's at 2:00 PM, I'm just trying to, I'm just sort of getting clarification on with our colleagues at UNESCO on the when the embargo will be lifted, whether it'll be, you know, on the 21st of March or, you know, whether we can do it, whether we can do it before.
It's not, it's not actually a new big report as such, but it's, you know, we are, we do have some new facts and figures.
And there was when we launched the, the international glacier year and in January, there's a lot of media interest then.
So we thought, and we did an online briefing.
So we thought, well, this is an occasion, I know you're busy with, with human rights, but we thought, you know, this is an occasion for you to, you know, get face to face with, with, with, with, with the experts and the World Glacier Monitoring Service.
They published a study in Nature a couple of weeks ago, which, you know, sort of sounded, you know, the alarm in quite a few circles about the retreat of glaciers.
So it will be a fairly detailed press, press release and the press conference rather than a new, a new report there will be UNESCO separately is issuing the World Water Development Report, which focuses on on glaciers.
They will, you know, be making that available to to journalists.
Chris, Vogue on the chat says we are very happy that you organise a press conference.
Claire, I don't see other questions.
I have a few announcements for you.
I'll start with the one that you've been writing us about, and it was announced 2 days ago in New York.
The Secretary General will convene the two Cypriot leaders and the Guarantor of Powers of Greece to Kia and the United Kingdom for an informal meeting on Cyprus at UNOG, which will take place on the 17th and 18th of March.
The meeting is being held in the context of the General Secretary General's Good Office's efforts on the Cyprus issue and in line with these commitments from 15 October 2024.
The informal meeting will provide an opportunity for a meaningful discussion on the way forward on the Cyprus issues as the UN remains committed to supporting separate leaders and all Cyprus.
Now I'm also adding to that because many of you have asked questions about it.
We will have a media accreditation process for that.
For non permanent accredited journalists.
We've already started receiving some requests so there will be a possibility of accrediting external journalists.
You of course as permanent accredited journalists.
You don't need to re accredit or anything.
For the moment, we don't foresee many press opportunities except for the OP, but there will be more information coming.
So I just wanted to confirm this because we've been asked by many of you about this, this talks.
Also, let me remind you that the Human Rights Committee, which is examining this morning concluding the report, the observation of the report of Zimbabwe, will continue on Monday with Mongolia and then Albania and Haiti.
The Committee on the Rights of Person with Disabilities is completing this morning the review of the report of Vietnam, and we'll continue then with Canada, European Union and Palau.
And last but not least, on Monday, we will have the pleasure to see again Commissioner General Ladzarini here with us.
He will give you a press conference at 5:00 PM.
Sorry for the late time, but before he's briefing the Member States, so at 5:00 we will have him here in this room for an update on the work of MUNRA across it's areas of operation Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, the occupied West Bank, including E Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip.
This is what I had for you.
Gabriela, you have a question.
Yes, thank you, Alessandra.
No, I just wanted to to to tell you that to said that I hope you recover soon from your arm.
I tripped here in the garden so sort of annoying, but thank you very much.
If not, I'll see you in very soon at 1:00.
I hope in the room 19 for the for the event on on International Women's Day.
Otherwise, have a nice weekend you all.
