Welcome to the press briefing of the UN in Geneva.
Today is Tuesday, 25th of March and I have the great pleasure to welcome on this podium the UNDP Resident Representative in Chad, Francis James, who is here to brief you on the humanitarian situation of women and girls at the border with Sudan.
Susan P Thank you, Alexandra.
Hope everyone is having a good Ramadan.
To those that are that are participating, listen, a pleasure to be here this morning.
My name is Francis James, I'm the UNDP resident representative for you in Chad.
I just want to talk a little bit about the context of Chad, Chad surrounded by Libya, Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger, Sudan, Central African Republic.
It's kind of an island surrounded by a lot of instability and a lot of challenges.
It's the, I would say it's the 4th, 4th and the human development index.
I think we're a, we're a little bit better than Somalia and, and South Sudan, Asia and, and not much more.
But, and we're also buffeted by the refugee crisis on the eastern part of the border.
There are currently, as of Sunday 769,000 refugees and displaced persons and about 170 of those are returnees, estimated to probably top 1,000,000 by the end of the year.
So it's, it's very much a humanitarian crisis on the border.
There are about 18 refugee camps and and installations and it's a very, very challenging situation.
That's on the eastern border.
On the western border, we have the Lake Chad region.
We have about 750,000 displaced people fighting a lot of insecurity from Boko Haram, Islamic State and Western Africa.
In the South, you have about 200,000 returnees and refugees from Central African Republic.
So again, a very challenging situation, but there is hope and that's the message that I want to say today.
There's a a new government that has taken hold.
There is a series of five elections over 10 months.
There's a new young president, 40 years old dynamic.
There's a plan national de development.
There's a Duchantier sans action.
There is a road map for development.
So the period of transition is over as they say.
And we're now on blend water development.
We're really into our development plan.
And so that's where agencies like UNDP, like UNICEF, like FAO and others are really putting the stress on the development angle, notwithstanding the fact that there is a humanitarian crisis going on, certainly on the border areas.
One of the emphasis that we're doing is, and I'll take up a particular example, is this creation.
We had the visit of Amina Mohammed last August and she committed to building a women's support centre, a women's centre in Adre, which is literally on the border.
It's it's a, it's a small village on the border with Sudan.
And asked UNDP, UNICEF, UNFPA to contribute to building a women's centre, a women's support centre that would address the concerns of refugees and returnees and also the locally displaced.
Let's not forget that you have with this influx of 700 or so thousand.
If I could just put that in context, the population of Geneva, Zurich and BAM is less than the refugee population on the eastern border.
So that's, that's something to to think about.
You're also the refugees are also displacing a lot of the local populations and causing tensions.
And so the idea was to have this creation of a women set or a platform for women that are subject to violence, to violence, SGB and, and, and other psychosocial context.
And so the idea was to offer a platform for these women and girls to develop skills, work on social cohesion, interact with local communities and have opportunities for vocational training and to build a, a, a better life lifestyle and a better and, and hope.
So I guess my call today is we need to invest in social protection for women and girls.
We need to invest in development and investing in development as a surefire way and particularly in women and girls of combating the humanitarian crisis.
And it really pays off in the end.
I don't know if there are any questions or any observations over.
Thank you very much, Merci Boku Francis Pusseta introduction.
I'm opening the floor to questions if there is any in the room don't see any hand up.
Let me see on the platform.
I don't see I'll leave you one more minute see if there's any anybody who wants to ask a question.
So thank you very much for this for this update.
I think it's very important to highlight things that are not necessary on the headlines set as important of mercy book with that that passing over a look as in the word visitor.
Geneva will continue as you.
So let me go now to James.
Can you Yes, James is coming to the podium.
James, she brought us today Peter Hawkins, who is the UNICEF representative in Yemen.
And Peter, I understand disconnecting from SANA to tell us about the situation of children there after so many years of conflict.
You want to start or I give the thought to very briefly.
Thanks so much, Alessandra.
Yeah, Peter has been in Yemen for years now, is a very experienced hand.
Obviously we are at the 10 year mark, if you can believe that, 10 years.
Imagine what that means to a 15 year old.
So it's overdue to give a sense of where this what the situation is for children now.
So over to the Head of office, Peter.
Thank you very much and thanks everybody.
It's great to see you today from SANA here.
As the previous speaker says, you know, sometimes it's very difficult to get these countries on the agenda, but Yemen is on the agenda, but all for the wrong things, signalling different elements to different ways of working.
But today here we're really talking about the impact of 10 years of conflict in Yemen, which has reached a tragic milestone.
This unrelenting conflict, while it has had periods where we have had fragile but reduced hostilities, those periods have not really allowed women, girls and boys to reassess, reorganise themselves.
These constant threats, these constant risks that they're faced with has really diminished their ability to become resilient.
Today is about the women, girls and boys.
One in two children under the age of five are malnourished in Yemen today.
This is statistic that is almost unparalleled across the world.
Among them are over 400, five, 140,000 girls and boys who are severely and acute malnourished, a condition that is agonising, life threatening and entirely preventable, especially for those children who are in the 30th percentile away from service delivery in the most remote areas, up on the mountains and down right deep down in in the in the valleys of northern Yemen.
Malnutrition weakens immune systems, stunts growth and robs children of their potential.
Equally alarming are the 1.4 million pregnant and lactating women who are malnourished that is perpetrating A vicious circle of intergenerational suffering and degradation.
This catastrophe is not natural.
Over a decade of conflict has decimated Yemen's economy, healthcare system and infrastructure.
Even during periods of reduced violence, the structural consequences of the conflict, especially for girls and boys, have remained severe.
More than half the population lies on humanitarian assistance.
Externally driven food prices have soared to over 300% over the past 10 years.
Critical ports and roads, life lines for food and medicine are damaged and blockaded.
Despite these incredibly difficult and often dangerous operating environments, we as UNICEF and the UN remain on the ground delivering life saving assistance to girls and boys.
In 2025 we continue to support as UNICEF 3200 health facilities.
These are life saving facilities to provide MNNCH immunisation and nutritional support, the treatment of over 600,000 malnourished children, 70 mobile teams and 42,000 community health workers in 27 therapeutic feeding centres.
For this to continue we need sustained funding over time.
Our 2025 appeal is only 25% funded.
Without urgent resources we cannot sustain even the minimal services we're able to provide.
In the face of growing needs.
To be able to achieve this we need to move fast.
I was in Hudaida over the past three days.
At the port city I have went through the the western lowlands where there are people on the streets, on the side of the roads, begging and looking for assistance.
In the last month in Thais, for example, in the South of Yemen, I met a three-year old girl called Amina.
A mother walked 12 kilometres in search of a clinic, clutching Amina's skeletal frame.
Today, following treatment in that centre, Amina is recovering.
But her future hinges on whether we can sustain that support or not.
This hinges on 2 critical things.
One funding the response fully, we need an additional 157,000,000 for our response in 2025.
This is urgently need life saving response.
We need sustained investment in fighting the forms of malnutrition into 2026.
We cannot stop at the end of 2025 and say inshallah get on with it.
We need to continue that assistance.
The lack of education and other forms of suffering children in in Yemen are forced to endure is unparalleled.
Second, protecting humanitarian access all parties to the conflict.
And I saw for myself yesterday an enormously damaged property which injured in the bombing of yesterday, injured three children.
Eight children have died in the most recent air strikes across northern Yemen.
Yemen must be allowed unimpeded delivery of aid and allow humanitarians to do what they do best, which is at this point in time, all we can do is save lives.
We call for the release of the detained UN staff and other humanitarian workers and importantly, for all to move towards a position where Yemen can look at peace rather than respond to the conflict.
Yemen, Yemen's children, cannot wait another decade.
They need peace today and tomorrow.
But above all, they need us to act now.
Thank you very much and over to you.
Thank you very much for this briefing.
I'll open the four, two questions.
So on the platform, Musa ASI almaydin.
Yeah, regarding the recent US and UK bombing of Yemen, is there a direct impact on your work and the work of others, other organisation, humanitarian organisation and the humanitarian situation in general in Yemen?
We ask, we answer every question interview style.
So if you can go ahead the, the, the current air strikes are very targeted, so they don't have wider impact.
But for those immediately around them and we have staff who have been impacted, it is incredibly traumatic.
As I said in my thing, we've verified eight children have been killed in these air strikes, but it doesn't necessarily impact the operation itself.
Where it does have an impact, and this is more general, is access to ports, access to, I mean, both seaports and airports, access to be able to move freely.
And those two things are integral to any humanitarian assistance.
And obviously any conflict has an impact on a population as a whole, especially a disproportionate impact on girls and boys.
Musa, I see your hand still up.
I don't know if it's follow up.
Maxi says OK, Anas Anas Pedreiro ASP yes, thank you.
I have questions to one question to UNICEF, but do you hear me?
I hope Peter is better than it's a question to UNICEF more more generally.
So I don't know if I can ask now and one other about not for them.
No, not only OK, just wait because there are many other questions.
So I'll give you the floor later on.
Nick Kaimingruz, The New York Times.
Could you just confirm, is the port infrastructure, particularly her data, but any of the ports that are servicing imports of humanitarian assistance, is that all functioning normally?
Has there been any damage to that in the course of recent air strikes?
You mentioned eight children were killed in what?
What part of Yemen were those eight children killed?
Thirdly, to what extent is your nutritional programme affected by recent USAID cuts?
I think I'll take the latter one first.
I think the, the, the issue with the USAAID cuts is that it's diminished the capacity overall here in Yemen quite extensively.
We we have been able to continue our programmes but a nutritional programme needs to be complemented by food assistance and in turn complemented by cash assistance that allows for a better response to a nutritional crisis.
It is the second and third part and especially the multi sectoral response that is compromised and therefore it makes our job much more difficult in in terms of sustaining and being effective in that.
In the terms of the air strikes and the damage to infrastructure, as everyone knows, the air strikes have been going on for pretty well just over a year.
I suppose the most recent air strikes in December where the ports were November and December where the ports were excessively attacked.
That diminished the capacity of Hudea deport by about 50%.
The tugs were were destroyed, which is compromising the large shipments coming in and out and then everyone would have heard about the strike on the airport.
I was actually there myself where the, the, the, the issue about international humanitarian law and safeguarding the access to civilian infrastructure is, is, is critical.
The airport is still functioning, but it shows the fragility of, of that sort of thing.
Our next question is from Olivier Le Poisson, Reuters.
Thank you for this briefing.
My question is that recently last week, MSF said that malnutrition is growing in Yemen and that the needs are, are outpacing current treatment capacity.
And they say they've also seen, you know, a constant kind of increase in admissions for, for, for, for malnutrition.
Are you able to share your commentary on that?
Are you seeing the same thing?
And maybe you can give, you know, a few so few numbers in terms of types of numbers of admissions that you're seeing.
And I don't know if you can give us and indicate any kind of shape in terms of if this is the if the numbers are steadying or are getting getting worse.
And then my follow up question to that will be, you're saying all your programmes are continuing as normal, but how concerned are you in terms of the potential impact in terms of malnutrition by those other programmes that you mentioned food and cash assistance being cut and the impact that could have on your work?
Olivia, thanks a lot for that.
And MSF and UNICEF worked very, very closely together and I followed their PLD on, on last Thursday, I think very closely.
And I was hoping they would be with me today.
But they think the consequences of the failure of being able to deliver assistance, especially in that 30% area of the very remote areas and that's what we are focusing on.
So what we've agreed with, with, with the MSF to take the pressure off them, we will extend mobile teams into the most remote areas with our community workers so that the plumpy nut, which is the commodity we use to alleviate severe and acute malnutrition is, is delivered in the, in the homestead, in the community itself, preventing children from becoming too malnourished and therefore having to be referred to MSF centres or our own TFCS.
And, and we're working very closely to, to ensure that that combination works well.
They're doing a fantastic job as Indeed our mobile teams and the teams working in the 3200 primary healthcare centres across the country.
How will it impact the the shock of the lack of food distribution in 2024 I think is quite severe on this population.
We saw mortality rates of 41 in 1000, which had meant that it had dropped slightly over the past three years, four years, which is a good sign that our interventions have had an impact.
But that resilience with any shop shows a **** degree of fragility and the lack of general food distribution.
WFP have managed to reach 2.1 million people already this year.
UNICEF was able to reach with cash in 2024, 1.45 million families, 9.6 million people.
All of that is is helping to build or sustain the situation.
But if any of that goes, then there, there will be a dramatic fall in malnutrition or an increase, sorry, in in malnutrition and in **** risk man and severe and acute malnutrition to an extent.
I mean, we've seen figures of 33% severe and acute malnutrition in certain areas, especially along the West Coast, which is where I was in Udaida.
And that is on the verge of, I mean, a catastrophe.
It's not humanitarian crisis, it's not an emergency.
It is a catastrophe where thousands will die.
Jamie Keaton, Associated Press.
Thank you, Alessandra, for for taking my question.
I wanted to just come back to the situation of strikes that that Moussa had brought up earlier.
Sir, could you tell us what your reaction is to this information about U.S.
officials chatting about air strikes that were conducted in in Yemen?
And if you could, what the human rights or, or civilian death implications might have been for that?
And, and just your reaction to reading about that and, and any from Yemenis that you regularly speak with might have how, how they might have reacted as well.
Obviously it's, it's beyond my competence to to, to react to what those reports.
All I can say is the all air strikes in in Yemen diminish the infrastructure and increase the fear that is taking place across northern Yemen.
Luckily, the most recent air strikes have not been targeted to infrastructure like the ports or or other areas that that directly affect us.
And we just call for everyone to now is the time when the Yemen to Yemen peace agreement should be at its peak.
That is the only thing that that is available to Yemen for peace.
And, and one hopes that all the protagonists can come together and say, OK, the situation for the civilian population in Yemen is acute.
Let's try and bring about peace and let's try and invest in that peace through a response to the humanitarian crisis, which is evolving all the time.
Thank you very much, Sir.
I don't see the specific question on this.
So I'll give the floor to a yes.
I don't know exactly on which matter, but we're here.
So I have some questions.
But first a follow up on on Yemen, You, you mentioned that the food and the cash assistance were compromised.
Does that mean effective cuts or if you could clarify that point and OK with the risk?
So more globally with UNICEF, I see that the you have published a report on the impact of the budget difficulties and the fact that more children will die.
But we were wondering if you have more specific examples, concrete examples of how vaccine programmes will be impacted maybe totally stopped or interrupted.
And the other question is to the other spokesperson in general on the strike, just a second on the strike in in Sudan, if you in North Darfur, if you have any information about this strike and about the details about the toll.
OK, so maybe I'll, I'll ask Peter to answer your question about Yemen, James the 2nd and I'm looking at Yance, if you have anything on done no or other or Margaret rather or maybe you have something, James.
But let's start with with Peter for the question on on Yemen.
Sorry, I haven't introduced you.
And yes, he's our correspondent of AFP.
OK, I'll be very quick and then hand over to James.
In 2024, for various reasons, there was a pause on general food distribution.
WFP have done an exceptional job to make sure that 2.1 million people have received food so far in 2025.
We at UNICEF that intensified our nutrition response in 2024 and we've increased that OR and retargeted that to the most vulnerable.
We're also retargeting our unconditional cash transfer.
So it has greater impact on the more, more vulnerable populations in the geographical areas where it is most in need.
And we hope to be able to continue that, as indeed we did in 2024 with two payments in September and in December this year.
I mean, specifically on vaccines, we are still unpacking how much damage is being done.
Obviously reducing funding around immunisation, you know, risks undermining decades of progress in public health and it's it's critical that we put all this in the context of where children are right now, the worst global displacement crisis in history, persistent acute malnutrition, a global learning crisis.
So we have this perfect storm for children and scaling back, you know, immunisation programmes is going to compromise our collective ability to, to, to work for the most vulnerable.
This is about the most vulnerable.
And I think that's why we need to, and UNICEF is being very clear on the the damage being done by these aid cuts.
You know, we owe it to children to be honest about what's at stake.
We owe it to partners on the ground, the local organisations who are confronting these crises every single day, whose programmes for children and women are being cut.
So, you know, UNICEF is streamlined, UNICEF is the biggest supplier globally of immunisation and we have made enormous gains.
We heard that last Friday from our deputy executive director.
We have made historic gains.
The most, the biggest gains in child survival in the history of recorded data have been made.
And that speaks to, you know, the idea that nothing defines us more than how we defend those who can't protect themselves.
Children today there is a great risk that those most vulnerable having, we are turning our backs upon them.
On your third question, maybe we'll come back to you.
And yes, on Sudan, Gabriela Sotomayor, processor.
I'm sorry, I just I mean, in the in the briefing, I don't know if you already spoke about Ukraine and the children in Ukraine.
No, we don't we don't have an item on Ukraine today.
But if you can, if you want to ask your question to run over the spokesperson.
Yes, yes, my question is on, on, on the announce of, of Trump to to, you know, to stop the aid to Ukraine.
And also there are a lot of children that were kind of kidnap Ukraine children into Russia.
So I don't know what what is going to happen with the children.
If you have any update on the situation and the, the, the you know, the announce of, of Mr Trump to stop the aid on on to Ukraine.
I I think the best would be to to give a straight quote from UNICEF's executive director from the Security Council briefing a couple of months ago in December, which is that quote.
UNICEF remains deeply concerned about the number of children who've been separated from their families in Ukraine.
We urge parties to prioritise family tracing and reunification and refrain from taking any actions that would alter a child's nationality or make it difficult for them to be reunited.
All parties, all stakeholders must focus on solutions that are in the best interest of the individual child.
Thank you very much, James.
I'd like to thank Peter very, very much.
Stay safe, Peter, and thank you very much for briefing us on this, on the situation there, Macy.
So let me now go to, I'm not sure everybody knows you my, so maybe I'll introduce you.
Claudio Merkina is the Head of Communication of UNIDIR.
Some of you may have already crossed her, but I just wanted to introduce you to her.
You have her contact details on the list of spokespersons and she's here to tell us about Unity Scorpa Conference on Artificial Intelligence.
Yesterday I will be briefing you on our global conference on AI Security and Ethics, which will take place on 27 and 28 March here at the Pele in Geneva.
This event is part of our Round table for AI Security and Ethics, a multi stakeholder platform dedicated to fostering dialogue on AI governance and security and defence.
AI is no longer a technology of the future.
It is already shaping today's security landscape.
From defence applications to intelligence operations, AI is transforming decision making processes and operational strategies.
As its use expands, so does the need to ensure that AI enhances security, upholds international law and promotes stability.
The increasing role of AI in security and defence presents both opportunities and challenges.
While AI can enhance situational awareness, crisis response, and operational efficiency, it also raises important ethical and legal considerations.
Ensuring responsible use requires clear frameworks, shared principles, and international cooperation.
Currently, there are no universal rules governing AI in the military and discussions remain fragmented.
The Global Conference on AI Security and Ethics therefore provides a unique platform to bring together experts from diplomacy, defence, industry and academia to build consensus and advance responsible AI governance.
The conference will explore critical questions including how can AI be used responsible in security and defence, what accountability frameworks are needed to govern its use, and how can international cooperation keep pace with technological advancements.
It will feature a message from the Secretary General in support of the conference, which will be read during the opening by the Under Secretary General and **** Representative for Disarmament Affairs.
It will present insights from over 50 global speakers selected from a diverse call for contributions, and we'll have keynotes from leading voices in diplomacy, defence, technology and humanitarian sectors.
The conference will also facilitate interactive discussions, including **** level panels with UN and tech leaders on a IS role in peace and security.
Sessions will explore AI induced destabilisation and security risks, as well as include presentations on AI and UN peacekeeping.
There will also be a regional perspective panel that will explore AI governance across different geopolitical contexts in this conference, building the momentum of the recent UN General Assembly resolution on military AI governance, which calls for international cooperation to address a IS impact on global security.
It is also informed by key research from UNIDIR, which includes a policy brief outlining 6 priority areas for AI governance in the military domain, covering transparency, accountability, human oversight, data integrity, life cycle management and stability risks.
Other relevant unity of research includes draught guidelines for national AI strategies in security and defence and a briefing note for states on AI governance in the military domain.
These resources provide policy recommendations, governance models and risk assessments to guide national and international efforts on AI security.
We hope that this conference will provide will foster meaningful collaboration and actionable outcomes on AI, governance and security and defence.
You're all welcome to attend the conference in person here at the Pele or via live stream.
For more information on the programme and the list of speakers, I invite you to visit our website.
And also, in case you have not received our press release that was issued earlier this month and you have an interest in learning more about Unidir's work, please do reach out to me so you can be added to our media list.
Thank you, Claudia for this information.
Any question to UNIDIR in the room?
I was wondering if you will be kind enough as to send out to the members of the press through Alexander's office the list of participants public, private and from industry.
And I was wondering what is the position of Unidir companies, software companies that are involved in software in military systems, Are they considered dual use companies that fall in the civilian and military domain or just in the civilian, many of of the software's using guided systems for missiles and drones etcetera?
Thank you for the question.
So in terms of the list of participants, yes, I can double check to share this following the conference.
And in terms of the software companies, I would have to double check with the I would have to double check with our team in terms of the, the, the categorization that you just asked.
So I'm happy to write down your information and get back to you.
I see there's a question from Yuri, but I don't know, is that for Unidiri Yuri?
Hello Alessandro, good morning everybody.
My question is regarding the fact that Poland and the three Baltic countries say that they are withdrawing from the Ottawa Convention on the anti personal minds.
I just wanted to know if Unitia has any comments on that because I didn't so and if I missed it, I'm so sorry.
I'm sorry, I don't think I heard the beginning of the question.
It was about the Ottawa Convention.
You want to know if you have any comment?
I do not have any comments on that.
I can again double check with the relevant team so that we can provide a more informed position on that question.
I think this there are no other questions for you.
So thanks for this announcement.
I know Gabriella, you have a question for James.
But before asking James to come back to the point where I'd like to give the floor to our last speaker today, who's also for UNICEF, but part of UNICEF that is launching a a great contest.
And I gave him the floor.
We have with us Daniel Jean Xiamung, the Coordinator of the International Photo Contest of UNICEF.
Daniel, thank you so much.
Photography, when amplified by the Internet, is a powerful tool to connect us to the world.
That is why I'm here to speak about the Giga Photo contest on the theme The Joy of Connection.
GIGA, established in 2019, is a partnership between UNICEF and ITU that has mapped over 2.13 million schools in 142 countries, connected 24,000 schools and reached 11,000,000 students.
Yet nearly 1.3 billion children lack Internet access at home.
Half of the world's 6,000,000 schools remain unconnected, affecting 500 million children and young people.
To advocate for universal Internet connectivity as human rights, we invite youth, students, professional photographers, photojournalist globally to submit visual stories on topics such as the impact of Internet on education, on healthcare, in bridging the digital divide, accelerating participation of women and girls and in emergency situations.
This photo contest will be launched on the 1st of April with an in person event in Geneva at the Olivia Veron Gallery with Sonde LA Photography, Geneva from 6:00 PM onwards.
The timeline for submitting the photographs are 30 days, the 1st to the 30th of April.
These images will be judged by professional jury members on the 6th and the 7th of May in collaboration with Hedge and F, the University of Arts and Design.
And finally, on the 12th of June, in collaboration with the City of Geneva, we will have an outdoor exhibition and award ceremony at Park de Bastion to celebrate the winning images.
Again, join us for the contest and we look forward to participation of Photojournalist on the 1st of April.
Daniel, any question on this contest?
I don't see any, but please participate especially among those, those among you who are video photographer and media journalist.
It's it's really a great occasion to speak positively for once.
Thank you very much, Daniel.
And we have or we are going to distribute the media advisory so that they will have all their information.
So just a little bit of housekeeping, Gabriella as a question for James.
So James you can come to the podium.
Yuri has a question for Katherine.
So if you can come to the podium.
And then John, you have a question for whom?
OK, OK, we are listening hopefully.
So, Gabrielle, let's start with your question to James on Poppity.
Thank you very much, Alessandra.
Thank you for giving me the floor.
James, I have two questions.
Mr Trump is playing with the with the idea of sending all the, the population of Palestine to other countries.
So I don't know what do you think?
What, what is your office is if it's a, you know, worry about the situation because we know that the majority of the population are under 18.
So what is going to happen with these children?
And, and what is this idea of Trump to is, is this ethnic cleansing or how do you, you know, how do you refer to the situation?
I mean, this is not a game.
And then I another question, why don't you ask both?
Why don't you ask both together?
It's if they're for James, so they can answer to both.
No, my other question is for the unit, unit here for if, if she, if she has a, you know, an update on Russian land mines or cluster bombs in Ukraine.
Look, I see Claudia's saying no with her head, so maybe she'll come back to you also on this.
And I give the floor to James Gabriel.
This may be a question for, for OHEHR.
But as you know, the, I mean, we have to frame these discussions consistently in international law and we can't obviously as a humanitarian organisation respond to political statements or to consistently made, but we frame it around international law and that is very clear on the forced removal or displacement of people.
The Geneva Conventions is incredibly clear on that front.
So while at the moment what we are focused on is, is repeating, unfortunately the same statements we've been making for 16 months, which is this must stop.
And as we've seen in the last few days, the nightmare has has doubled down or doubled back upon civilians, children, women.
And so here we are, Gabriella.
We are, we are repeating truths that do not need repeating.
You know, we are counting trucks of life saving aid on the wrong side of the border.
We are counting countless bodies of children in in in Gaza.
So at the moment the focus has to be on a ceasefire has to be on not no more, no more evacuation orders, no more displacing a population who are on their knees and of course an end to indiscriminate attacks upon children and getting that life saving aid which was actually making a a sizeable difference to a population under historic stress until the last three weeks where it has been a blanket denial.
Thank you very much James.
Indeed, we are against any forceable displacement of populations against international law.
So I guess this gives the floor to Yuri for Katrina Mercy.
Bonjour, Catherine, so we can.
I don't do transformation.
I don't need Let's see logic TV assured, let's see who very corridor public protection the the fertiliser security.
So John, Catherine General, yes, my question is to any of the press officers that might be tuning in with reference to meetings taking place this week in Geneva on structural adjustment of UN ages in light of the financial crisis.
Can we get some of the agencies to brief the press on the latest developments?
Some agencies as we speak are briefing Member States if they can brief the press on how big are the cutbacks, how much it affects your programmes in the field, headquarters, etcetera.
Logistics, we're we're a bit like a broken record trying to Get the facts here.
Look, I'll, I'll give the floor also to my colleagues.
This is a question that has already been asked and the last briefing and I brought to the, the, the, the, I brought the information to my colleagues.
But it's the, the reality is that some agencies are already doing that, John.
We've heard yesterday UN AIDS, we've heard other agencies, the UNICEF Deputy Executive Director spoke here on here virtually, but here on Friday and we are we are doing that for what concerns I can speak about UNOG.
We have we are taking some cash conservation measures.
Some have been taken in the past, some are continuing.
And yes, indeed we are informing member states.
Happy to answer question that if, if if you have any specific, of course, I can speak for the others, but I think we are all more or less giving you information whether it's, you know, focused on one country or in general.
Some other agencies have done press releases.
But yeah, I'm happy to to again ask, but I think we are, we are talking, I don't know if anybody wants to, well, UNICEF has been very, very clear on that, but I don't know, James, if you want to add something just to supplement.
So Wong Taed is part of the secretariat of the UN.
So the same applies to to the organisation.
We don't have any precise details now about what's going to happen, but it's it's going to come.
If I might follow up, Catherine, you just mentioned you don't have specific details, but agencies telling their donor countries, the blueprints, the road map ahead, how many likely jobs have to be cut at headquarters or in the field if the funds don't flow in?
Or are you still in the process of evaluating the potential cuts?
Some agencies last week mentioned, for instance, one agency mentioned the cutting 250 jobs in Geneva and about 6000 worldwide.
I mean, it could be nice for us to get the breakdown what it means in the humanitarian context.
You ever come only John that it's, it's, it's what everyone is focused around everywhere.
The as we heard on Friday, the the cuts there is not perfect clarity.
So we're continuing to assess that, you know what those termination, termination notions notices look like, particularly for UNICEF, for children, for our partners and yes, for staff.
I mean, it's it's impacting millions and millions of girls and boys in roughly half the countries where we work.
And this has prompted more hands up in the platform.
I would like to bring your attention to, to Mexico and well, human rights is not here.
But last week they found in Mexico a camp of exterminium, I mean extermination camp with crematorias with a, you know, a, a forced recruitment of young people.
I mean, it, it was a tragedy.
So this is not the, the only one.
Maybe they are more in Mexico.
So the situation in Mexico is turning really bad.
And I don't know, I mean, Baja, they don't have human, human rights division.
Here is a human rights division.
And you know, nobody talks about these that are huge violations for human rights and you know, maybe refugees because there's a lot of migrants there.
So I just wanted to to ask why you don't talk about Mexico.
I'm sorry if I contradict you here, Gabriela, but just 10 days ago, Liz Trussell was here talking about the recent discovery in Mexico, burn humour remains and hundreds of personal items such as shoes and clothes at the camp reportedly run by a drug cartel.
And she said it was deeply disturbing reminder of the trauma of disappearances linked to organised crime across the country.
It's a long briefing that she gave on this occasion.
But I don't know if they would have any, you know, further comments on more recent discoveries and events.
But obviously as as Liz said on that, on that particular briefing, the discovering is absolutely very much disturbing.
And she said at that point that they called the office, called on the Mexican authority to guarantee that there are thorough, independent, impartial and transport investigation into crimes committed.
And she was referring to that side.
And I'm sure that would apply also to a terrible and and unfortunate new discoveries.
But happy to other ask her to for a new comment or maybe you can do that.
Is that a new hand, Gabriella?
Yes, yes, yes, because yeah, there are there are new, new, new new things about this.
And also, I mean, they've got the Army, the Guardian National was involved.
And then the, all the evidence inside the shoes, the, the, the, the, that, you know, the, all the things that the backpacks, everything disappear.
So there's no more evidence inside.
So yes, this is a huge problem.
And I hope the Office of **** Commissioner, they, they talk again about this, because this is not, you know, Yeah, this is really, really huge thing in Mexico.
I'm happy to also ask them and please contact them, can contact their colleagues again.
And they will surely come back to you with with these, with comments on this terrible discoveries.
If there are no other questions, I'd like to thank everyone.
I've got quite a few announcements for you.
So if you bear with me, first of all, I have an announcement on behalf of the Office of this Special Envoy for Syria that reminds you that the Special for Syria will brief the Security Council at 10 AM New York Times, which is 3:00 at the moment in Geneva.
And of course, they will distribute the remarks after the briefing.
Speaking about human rights, I'd like to remind you that the Human Rights Committee will close Friday it's 140 third session and the committee and enforce it disappeared is today Speaking about Malta, the other in in which is the last country on their list.
Human Rights Council continue.
I don't need to tell you Pascal is informing you regularly.
2 more information for you.
One is, let me take it if I can find it now, of course.
As you know, the Conference of the Parties to the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions are meeting in 2025 here in Geneva.
That's going to happen between the 28th of April and the 9th of May.
These three meetings, which will, as you know what happened back-to-back in Geneva, are preceded now by three briefings specifically for you, for journalists.
That's will take place on the 27th of March at 3:00.
That's Geneva time that will be in English to gain key insights into the various cops and learn how to engage effectively.
There will be another one the day after on the 28th of March, also at 4:00 in Spanish, and one on the 1st of April in French, also at 4:00.
These briefings are online.
The information is being distributed to you by asked, but also by the colleagues of UNEP.
And I think you can you can find the all the details in order to participate in this.
And then if I can find you, you have a question on this, John.
So I'm looking for my address, Alessandra, on this very issue.
These the secretariat of these agencies are based in Geneva and the Geneva UN Press Corps are asked to tune into online briefings prepared for correspondence in Madrid, Paris and Brussels.
It would have been nice for them to organise a briefing at the Palais where they did in the past.
With many of us covered negotiations on the Basel Convention and transboundary pollution in the Palais, it's just not right for us to be chasing online briefings.
Plan for other capitals when we're accredited here.
I personally think it's nice to have briefing in the three languages.
But yeah, point was taken about an in person briefing.
I'll, I'll report it to them.
My last point, my last announcement is that we have just distributed an invitation to you to an event to mark the 50th anniversary of the Biological Weapon Convention, the unit which is organised by the Geneva branch of the UN Office for Disarmament Affairs.
It's a series of panel discussions with international expert to discuss the present, past, present and future of the convention.
There are very a great number of interesting speakers and of course you have the list in the in the invitation to the event will take place tomorrow, Wednesday 26th of March from 3:15 to 6:00 O clock in room 21 of the Paladin.
And I think there in there are also a couple of international days.
We've sent you the statement of the secretary general.
One, is there an International Day of Remembrance of the victims of slavery and the transatlantic slave trade and the other one, the International Day of Solidarity we detain and missing staff members to whom and whose family we think at this particular moment.
If there are no other questions, let me see.
And this is just a question for everybody listening in.
I just wanted to get some more details on the announcement yesterday from the Secretary General that the UN will reduce its footprint in Gaza following the tragic deaths of five staff members.
I just would like to ask if any of the relevant agencies listening in have any details that they're able to share in terms of which operations will see their their footprint, footprint reduce, how many and how soon and what impact will that have on operations?
Yes, indeed, the Secretary General issued yesterday a statement where he said that.
As you know, the the past week, I've seen diversity strikes on, on, on Gaza.
And based on the current terrible situation where no humanitarian aid is being allowed to enter into the Gaza Strip, the Secretary General has taken the difficult decision to reduce the UN footprint in Gaza.
As you said, even if the humanitarian needs are soaring and our concern over the protection of civilians, it intensifies.
The kind of details I have is so the the idea is, is it has to be very clear.
We're not abandoning Gaza.
We are in Gaza, the UN remain in Gaza.
What we're trying is reducing the number of international staff members by about 1/3.
And, and this is really because the Secretary of General doesn't have the power of guaranteeing the safety of UN staff, in fact, whether they are international or local.
So since in Gaza, we currently have about 100 international staff, this is about 30 people that we're talking about.
And from what I understand, the agencies that are impacted would include Archer, WFP, UNICEF, UNOPS, UNFPAWHO and UNDP.
So I don't know if there's anybody who has further details on this.
Yes, Margaret, please come as you are among those agencies.
So we have Margaret Aries for WHO but while, while Margaret is coming, I really would or maybe just go go ahead and conclude just very, very, very quickly.
I don't have numbers, but I do have a clear message from our emergencies team that we will remain operational.
But as Alessandra said, the critical thing is getting aid in getting access.
So even though we remain operational, what we can do is massively limited by the lack of ability to bring in aid and, of course, no safety.
And, And this is exactly how the Secretary General concluded his statement yesterday by saying that all parties must comply fully with international law at all times.
Civilians must be respected and they must be protected and the denial of life saving aid must end and the hostages must be released immediately and unconditionally.
And he made an appeal to all states who have an impact and influence on the situation, on the floor, on the ground, to use their leverage to stop the conflict and ensure respect for international law.
And of course, calling for the restoration of the ceasefire to bring an end to this terrible situation.
So I don't see any further end up on the platform or in the room.
So thank you very much for following the briefing.
Thanks to all the colleagues who have participated, and I'll see you on Friday.
