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UNOG Bi-weekly press briefing 10 July 2020
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Press Conferences | OHCHR , WHO , UNOG , WFP , WTO , WMO
UNOG Bi-weekly press briefing 10 July 2020
Human Rights Council
Rhéal LeBlanc, Chief of the Press and External Relations Section at the United Nations Information Service (UNIS), speaking on behalf of the Human Rights Council, informed that this morning an interactive discussion on the freedom to peaceful assembly and association was taking place, to be followed by a discussion on the situation in Belarus. In the afternoon, an interactive discussion would continue on human rights and transnational corporations. Finally, David Kaye, Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, would present his report on the information amidst the pandemic and his mission to Ethiopia.
More information on the forty-fourth session of the Council can be found here.
COVID-19: impact on food security in Yemen
Elisabeth Byrs, for the World Food Programme (WFP), stressed that the international community had to act now in Yemen. If we waited for famine to be declared, it would already be too late. In 2019, thanks to a massive scale-up, the WFP and partners had been able to pull Yemen back from the brink of famine; this time it could get a lot worse if humanitarian action was delayed. WFP needed USD 737 million to the end of the year to keep this vital safety net for the millions in Yemen who relied on humanitarian assistance to survive.
Ms. Byrs said that Yemen was facing a crisis on multiple fronts. Imports had declined and food prices were soaring, the riyal was in freefall, and foreign currency reserves were nearing total depletion. There had also been an escalation of fighting, and coronavirus was sweeping unchecked across the country. Prices of imported foods had already increased significantly since the start of 2020, remittances were down, with economists predicting a decline of up to 70 per cent in the next few months. Over 20 million people were food insecure, of which 13 million received humanitarian food assistance; nearly 10 million people were facing acute food shortages.
Responding to a question, Ms. Byrs said the WFP needed USD 200 million per month for Yemen. The country was currently importing close to 90 per cent of all food. Three national staff members had been lost to COVID-19, added Ms. Byrs.
Rhéal LeBlanc, Chief of the Press and External Relations Section at the United Nations Information Service (UNIS), said that UN Special Envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths was working with the parties on the text of a Joint Declaration covering a nationwide ceasefire, economic and humanitarian measures and the resumption of the political process. This process and the Special Envoy had the full support of the Secretary-General, who urged the parties to continue engaging constructively.
COVID-19: questions for the World Health Organization
Answering some questions, Margaret Harris, for the World Health Organization (WHO), said that two members of a WHO advance scoping mission to China were on their way to Beijing. The two-person team would work out a scope for a future, broader mission. One issue to investigate was from which animal species the virus had jumped to humans. Whenever a WHO mission went to any country, explained Ms. Harris, they needed to discuss with the national authorities on the details of access and agenda.
On the newly announced independent commission of inquiry, Ms. Harris said the two co-chairs would select their own secretariat; no WHO staff would be involved. The commission would manage their own media relations as well.
Update on the common services by the World Food Programme
Elisabeth Byrs, for the World Food Programme (WFP), also gave an update on the logistics services provided by the WFP. Some USD 183 million had been confirmed out of the budget of USD 965 million needed for common services and logistics. There were enough funds to deliver 56,000 cubic meters, out of 79,000 in the pipeline. A total of 490 flights had been operated so far, and 7,530 passengers had been transported; 197 organizations had used the service.
Iraq: killing of Husham Al-Husham
Elisabeth Throssell, for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), said the shocking murder this week of leading researcher and security analyst Hisham Al-Hushami in Baghdad had made obvious the risks faced by people who dared to challenge powerful militias in Iraq and were vocal about pervasive impunity and corruption. The killing of Al-Hushami, who had been shot dead by unidentified attackers outside his house on 6 July, had sent shockwaves through the country. He had been an expert on terrorism, violent extremism, and armed groups and non-state actors in Iraq, including ISIL and militias. He had been a vocal critic of the militias and had also voiced public support for the demonstrations that began on 1 October 2019 against state corruption and impunity.
OHCHR welcomed the pledge by Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Khadami to hold Al-Hushami’s murderers to account. Hushami’s killing, which was the most high-profile in recent months, followed a pattern of killings targeting individuals who had been linked in some way to the demonstrations or who had voiced public criticism of the Government, political parties or militia groups. The UN Mission in Iraq and the UN Human Rights Office had verified the targeted killings of 23 people linked to the demonstrations from 1 October to 9 May, with a further 13 people being injured. OHCHR called on the government to ensure accountability – through thorough, independent and transparent investigations and prosecution – for all violence perpetrated in relation to the demonstrations, and for targeted killings.
Full statement is available here.
Floods in India and East Asia
Clare Nullis, for the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), said that June 2020 was only marginally cooler (0.01°C) than the record-breaking heat of June 2019, according to the Copernicus Climate Change Service, with temperatures in Arctic Siberia a huge 10°C above the long-term average. Russia’s meteorological service Roshydromet had confirmed a temperature reading of 38°C in the Siberian station of Verkhoyansk.
In South Asia, devastating flash floods were currently affecting several countries, and even more heavy rainfall was expected. Flooding had also caused much loss of life and damage in recent weeks in both China and Japan. The situation was expected to be aggravated by further rain. More than 200mm of rainfall could come down in 24 hours in some mountainous regions of Bhutan/Bangladesh, northeast India, Myanmar and Nepal, according to the SE Asia Flash Flood Forecast System. Additional similar amounts could be possible for the following four or five days. In China, severe flooding had reportedly affected millions of people, with dozens of casualties. China's State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters had upgraded the emergency response for flood control from level IV to level III on 7 July, as incessant downpours continued to wreak havoc across vast stretches of the country.
“Global warming is a misleading phrase. Most impacts of climate change are felt through water – drought, flood, disaster and coastal inundation. There is a need to invest more in disaster risk reduction, climate adaptation and resilience,” said WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas.
Selection of the next head of the World Trade Organization
Fernando Puchol, for the World Trade Organization (WTO), said that 8 July had been the deadline for receiving applications for the next Director-General of the Organization. Eight candidacies had been submitted: Jesús Seade Kuri (Mexico), Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (Nigeria), Abdel-Hamid Mamdouh (Egypt), Tudor Ulianovschi (Moldova), Yoo Myung-hee (Republic of Korea), Amina C. Mohamed (Kenya), Mohammad Maziad Al-Tuwaijri (Saudi Arabia), and Liam Fox (United Kingdom).
The following week – on 15, 16 and 17 July – the candidates would make brief presentations before the General Council, to be followed by questions and answers. After their presentations, the candidates would have a chance to individually meet with the media at the WTO building. Given the pandemic, journalists would need to register for press conferences 48 hours in advance. Further details on the exact schedule of presentations and which candidates would be physically present in Geneva would be provided shortly.
Responding to a question, Mr. Puchol said it was too early to say whether the new Director-General would be selected in time to take over by 1 September. Voting was considered as a last-resort option for selecting the new Director-General, if the General Council could not reach consensus.
More information on the WTO DG selection process is available here.
Geneva announcements
Rhéal LeBlanc, for the UN Information Service (UNIS), informed that a hybrid press conference by David Kaye, the outgoing Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, would take place on 13 July at 4 p.m.
Mr. LeBlanc also informed about the Secretary-General’s message on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the Srebrenica massacre, the worst atrocity on the European soil since the Second World War.
Teleprompter
Hi, yeah, good morning, everyone.
Welcome to this press briefing of the Friday 10th of July.
Let's start off.
Rolando Gomez is not with us this morning, but you have all received, I believe, last night, the latest programme of work for the Human Rights Council today in the Assembly Hall.
I may just recall that this morning the interactive discussion with the Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association is continuing.
Then there will be the report by the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Belarus.
This will be followed by concerned country statement and an interactive discussion.
And this afternoon the interactive discussion will continue with the Working Group on Human Rights and Transnational Corporations and other business enterprises.
Finally, later this afternoon, the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, David Kay, will be presenting his report focusing on disease pandemics and the freedom of opinion and expression and on his mission to Ethiopia.
It will be followed by a concerned country statement and an interactive discussion.
So that's what's on the agenda for today's 44th session of the Human Rights Council.
And I'll leave it at that for the moment.
I'll are there any questions at the for the time being?
If not, we will move right into our agenda.
So we have first on our list Elizabeth Beers from the World Food Programme.
There we go, I see Elizabeth.
Good morning, Elizabeth.
If you would like to brief us on the impact of COVID-19 on food security in Yemen, please go ahead.
Good morning.
The humanitarian situation in Yemen is deteriorating at an alarming rate.
We must act now.
If we wait for famine to be declared, it will be already too late and people will already be dying.
In 2019, thanks to a massive scale up, WFP and partners were able to pull Yemen back from the brink of famine.
The warning signs have already returned, and with coronavirus pandemic added to the mixed, it could get a lot worse if humanitarian action is delayed.
WFP has had to reduce emergency food assistance at the time when Yemen needs it the most.
We may have to reduce further.
WFP needs $737,000,000 to the end of the year to keep this vital safety net for the millions in Yemen who rely on humanitarian assistance to survive.
Yemen is facing a crisis on multiple fronts.
Imports have declined, food prices are soaring and the royal is in freefall.
Foreign currency reserve are nearly total depletion.
Added to that, there has been an escalation of fighting and coronavirus is sweeping unchecked across the country.
WFP targets 13 million people for emergency food assistance and nutrition treatment for women and children.
For 1.6 million women and children, the cost of food has risen and the people have to reduce the number of meals they eat and the diversity of food.
For instance, at breakfast they used to have beans and bread, now they only have bread.
At dinner they had rice and vegetable, now they have only only rice.
So the situation is really alarming.
WFP started distributing food assistance on alternative months in some part of Yemen in April to stretch the limit resources, but we may have to reduce in other areas too.
That's why this funding is really badly needed.
To sum up the situation, nearly 10 million people in Yemen are acutely food insecure.
They face a daily struggle to find enough food and it's extremely difficult to them for them to stay at home.
This is is a situation we are seeing in many countries with large number of daily wage labourers.
Just over 20 million people in Yemen are food insecure, of which 30 million, I repeat, receive humanitarian food assistance.
We are concerned about people slipping into more severe levels of food insecurity and requiring humanitarian support.
Gervais gustamo en Francais doce le programe elemente armondi ale particular Mont preocupe palace situation humanitaro Yemen quiso deterior E quita de nievo de security elemente estremo al armour mudovo ajir matnon ajirvit si nuvo revitechen famine swat de claretis swat.
The problem?
Asset population millions of dollars who every take the person don't you know situation dramatic and not only if they do million don't found or Yemen Socrate for malnutrition.
We.
So far we have $183,000,000 confirm out of a budget of $965 million for common services and logistic.
There are sufficient funds to deliver 56,000 cubic metres out of 79,000 cubic metres in the pipeline.
So far we have we have passenger services and cargo services.
So far we operated a total flight of 490, total passenger transported 7530 and there are 197 organisation have used the service of WFP regarding the cargo services.
Total cargo dispatch 27651 cubic metres sending organisation 39 and total destination countries 140 over.
Thank you very much, Elizabeth.
And of course, the the humanitarian situation in in Yemen reminds us of the importance of coming to an having this conflict come to an end.
And on this, I might just give you an update on where things are at in Martin Griffiths, the special envoy for the Secretary General's efforts to come to a negotiated settlement there.
He's been negotiating with the government of Yemen and Ansar Allah, of course, the text of a joint declaration.
He's been receiving comments and feedback over several rounds of discussions.
As you know, he was travelling extensively in the last few weeks.
Once the parties agree on a text, the joint declaration will commit the parties to a nationwide ceasefire, critical economic and humanitarian measures and the resumption of the political process.
So he is very active in trying to make sure that this joint declaration is agreed to.
The Secretary General, of course, reiterates his full confidence in his special envoy and calls on the parties to continue engaging constructively with him and with the negotiation process on that.
We have some questions online.
Lisa Schlein, could we unmute Lisa, please?
Sorry, will it?
Let's take a call from from No.
I'm unmuted.
Can you?
OK, very good.
Go ahead, Lisa, and then we'll take questions in in the room.
Yeah, Thank you.
Nice to see you.
Raya.
Elizabeth, Hello.
Pay attention.
Good morning.
I'm listening to you.
OK.
All right, just a couple of points.
How many people are on the brink of famine?
When?
If you do not get the money you need, when will you have to start cutting rations?
And how many people will be affected by that?
I mean, will these be draconian cuts half the quantity that they need or you could just elaborate a bit upon that?
Thank you.
For Yemen operation, we need $200 million per month.
We already limited our operation in some part of Yemen.
We distribute every alternate month instead of every month.
We hope we won't be obliged to do it in other part of Yemen.
That's why we need this funding quite urgently.
There are 10 million people who are facing acute food shortage and we have the, the, the signals, the alarm bell ringing for those people because their situation is deteriorating because of escalation of conflict, of course, and because of the lockdowns and the constraints of the and the socio economic impact of the coronavirus.
Those people cannot go to find work, they have to stay home.
They cannot feed their sender and their families.
We have those two million children requiring treatment for malnutrition.
Of course we continue to treat them and we are quite concerned about the 360,000 children who would be at risk of dying without treatment.
That's why this funding is badly needed.
We just need those $200 million every month to continue.
We WFP is doing its best to avoid a more dramatic situation in this country, that this is an an urgent call for donors to not do not forget Yemen.
We must act now and we may have to reduce the prevention programme which provide blanket supplementary feeding to all children under 2 and to pregnant and breastfeeding women, and we would prioritise areas with the highest prevalence of malnutrition.
But we hope we won't have to do that.
We hope to be able to continue to provide assistance to these people.
The coronavirus is having a very real impact on WFP's operation in Yemen and so far we have lost three national staff members.
They have died after contracting COVID-19 and many more have fallen.
I'll that's why with movement restriction, curfews, 14 days quarantine introduced to vessels at ports, they are creating delays in food assistance in West food assistance supply chain and that's why we are particularly concerned.
Thank you, Elizabeth.
Let's see if there are questions in the room.
Peter, did you have a question?
Please go ahead.
Yeah, Elizabeth, it's Peter Kelly here.
You partially answered my question.
But the question is about COVID-19 and Yemen, which is having the bigger impact on your work there, the overall COVID-19 situation in the world which is diverting funds from you or the COVID-19 situation within Yemen.
Thank you.
The COVID situation within Yemen is very worrying.
As I said, it provoked delays into the WFP food assistance supply chain.
We have the two parts of Odaida and Salaf, the two main entry point for goods into Japan continue to decline.
The imports continue to decline.
And Yemen is importing 90% of the goods, in particular food.
That's why the food is very expensive.
Prices are soaring.
And the the, the, the royal, the money.
The Yemeni royal has lost 17% of its value since the start of the year year.
We we can see that the weak economic situation, which is also worsened by by the COVID.
But the, the the constraint of the COVID has dramatic effect on those people who have daily wages because as I said, they cannot stay, they have to stay home and they cannot go out to find a job.
And they cannot feed their family because the price of the food basket is too ****.
And also the remittances are down with economics predicting a decline of up to 70% in the next few months.
So with prices of important food who have already increased, the cost of food was risen and the spiralling economic crisis, plus the COVID itself.
I mean, it's, it's a toxic cocktail, as we, as we say, perfect storm.
Do you have a follow up there, Peter?
No, that's OK.
OK.
I think we have also a question from Musa ASI Musa if.
We can.
Mercy hello Porsky concern le le programme de montermondial le le boswa financier congioli diso de de san milion promised contribution effective more organisation in distribution.
The.
The facility that say in situation economic Ravi villain Terre de bayo de fon E **** reagis sequi comprende la situation.
Mercy, Elizabeth.
We have also a question from Nick *******.
Bruce.
Hi.
Nick.
Yeah, Nick, please go ahead.
Thanks.
Yeah, Elizabeth, just to clarify, I'm not entirely clear how COVID is impacting your supply chain.
What is it?
Is it the, the port workers are are are dying of it or suffering from the disease or they're not showing up to work?
Or is it your own staff who are particularly affected by this?
No, it's more of course our own staff is affected of as I said, we lost three national staff and some other are ill.
And this is a concern, of course, but I mean the economic situation, the bad economic situation is also a consequence of the restriction and the lockdowns.
And as I said the the imports via the the two ports of data and Salif which.
Are the 2 main entry points for goods into Yemen.
They continue to to decline because of course of the, the, the weak economic situation, the depleted foreign currency reserve and it's also impacted by a reduction of global trade flows as a result of COVID-19.
So it's an overall situation economic, a dramatic economic situation due to, you know, the, the delays in our supply chain and we have to for instance, to have another cargo vessels to bring food assistance, for instance.
So it's additional funding for for WFP and we have to to compensate this situation, this economic situation, those lockdowns and constraints.
Thank you, Elizabeth.
I don't see any other questions in the room or online for you.
So thank you very much for being with us this morning.
And we will move on to Elizabeth Throssell from the Office of the **** Commissioner for Human Rights, who has information to share on Iraq.
Liz.
Liz, do you hear us?
Yes.
I hear you loud and clear.
Al Prashant, please go ahead.
OK.
Good morning everyone.
The shocking ****** in Iraq this week of leading research and security analyst Hisham Al Ushami in Baghdad has brought into sharp relief the risks faced by people who dare to challenge powerful militias in Iraq and a vocal about pervasive impunity and corruption.
The killing of Al Ushami, who was shot dead by unidentified attackers outside his house on the 6th of July, has sent shock waves throughout the country.
He was an expert on terrorism, violent extremism and armed groups and non state actors in Iraq, including ISIL and militias.
He was a vocal critic of the militias and had also voiced public support for the demonstrations that began on the 1st of October 2019 against state corruption and impunity.
We welcome the pledge by Prime Minister Mustafa Al Qadimi to hold Al Hoshami's murderers to account.
A Hoshami's killing, which is the most **** profile in recent months, follows a pattern of killings targeting individuals who were LinkedIn some way to the demonstrations or who had voiced public criticism of the government, political parties or militia groups.
The UN Mission in Iraq, UN Army and the UN Human Rights Office have verified the targeted killings of 23 people linked to the demonstrations from the 1st of October to the 9th of May, with a further 13 people being injured.
These victims included political and human rights activists, people who were vocal on social media in support of the demonstrators, and local community organisers, and many were killed in a similar way, often outside their home.
There are credible, credible reports that in nearly all these incidents, criminal investigations were started, but we've neither received nor obtained information indicating that any alleged perpetrator has been identified or arrested.
We therefore welcome the state of commitment of the new Iraqi government, which was formed in May, to establishing the number and circumstances of all casualties arising from violence linked to the demonstrations, including the deaths of some 490 people during the demonstrations or near protest sites.
We call on the government to ensure accountability through thorough, independent and transparent investigations and prosecution for all violence perpetrated in relation to the demonstrations and for targeting and for targeted killings.
It's vital that those responsible for ordering, planning or perpetrating such killings are held to account.
Victims and their families have the right to justice, truth and reparations.
Thank you.
Thank you very much, Liz.
Let's see if there are any questions.
I don't see any hands in the room.
Are there any questions from journalists following us online?
And I don't see any hands raised, Liz.
So thank you very much for this briefing and for being with us today.
I understand you'll still be on the line if should there be other questions coming up.
Thank you.
OK, let's move on now to Claire, Claire Nellis from the World Meteorological Organisation, she's going to brief you on floods in India and East Asia.
Do we have Claire?
I see she is with us.
Can we unmute Claire?
There we go.
Yes.
Claire, good morning, unmuted.
Thank you.
Thank you, everybody.
Welcome and good morning.
As you know, much of our focus in recent weeks has been on heat and rising temperatures.
We thank you for all the interest.
You showed yesterday in the press release that we are inching towards the 1.5°C global temperature increase, which is the lower level of the Paris Agreement.
We saw figures earlier this week that June 2020 was only marginally cooler.
Nought point nought 1°C in the record-breaking heat of June 2019.
Temperatures in Arctic Siberia, as we've said, huge 10°C above the long term average.
And we've had a lot of media enquiries.
And yes, Russia's meteorological service Ross Hydramet has indeed confirmed the incredible temperature reading of 38°C in the Siberian station of Berko Yanks, which is within the Arctic Circle.
That was on June the 20th.
Because of the heat and dry soil conditions, the Arctic is facing its second consecutive very active summer of fires.
So that's something that we at WMO are going to be keeping a close watch on in the, in the, in the, in the coming weeks.
It sadly does seem to be part of the new reality that we're now facing.
But that's enough for for heat and fires.
Today I want to talk about floods, which is the other side of the coin.
Devastating flash floods are currently affecting the number of countries in Asia and even more heavy rainfall is expected to to to occur countries.
We're talking about North East India, mountainous regions including in Bhutan and Myanmar and Nepal.
So more than 200 millimetres of rainfall could fall in 24 hours.
This is in addition to what has already fallen with further similar amounts falling in the falling in the coming days.
So this is a lot of rainfall falling in a very short space of time.
The inevitable consequences will be floods, flash floods and landslides.
So meteorological services in the region are issuing a lot of, you know, a number of warnings.
The Indian meteorological departments issued red alerts for the northern part of India for the next couple of days.
Bangladesh is issuing flood warnings, as are the meteorological services in in Bhutan and Nepal.
Now all of this is coinciding with what we've got.
We've called a training session on flash flood guidance.
We take that's taking place in being held virtually right now, but it's it's organised by the Indian Meteorological Department.
And after the briefing, I'll share with you the maps of the areas which have been shown up in this training session to be currently at risk of of, of flash, flash floods.
Moving on China.
China has seen severe flooding since June, affecting millions of people, causing dozens of casualties and obviously major, major disruption.
China's state flood Control and drought relief headquarters upgraded the emergency response to Level 3 on Tuesday.
And level 1 is the top level.
So Level 3 is not quite the top level, but it's pretty serious.
Since June, continuous downpours have, you know, really lashed large parts of southern China and the waters of many rivers, including the Yangtze River, have, you know, exceeded exceeded warning, warning levels.
This rainy weather is set to continue.
The China Meteorological Administration is issuing yet more warnings of heavy rainstorms in the in the coming few days.
Japan more than a week flooding has accepted parts of Japan again with several dozens of fatalities and the Japan Meteorological Agency continues to issue many warnings and and advisories for heavy rainfall and and thunderstorms.
So the question we always get is, well, what about climate change?
We need to stress it's the monster, It's the South Asian monsoon season in you know, in India, parts of East Asia.
This monsoon, it's vital.
It's the economic backbone of the region.
Without it would be, you know, huge, huge, huge hardship.
So we need the monsoon.
It's also the rainy season in China and Japan.
But what we are seeing as a result of climate change is more extreme rainfall events.
So you get this very, very, very heavy rainfall patterns within a very short space of of time.
Yesterday in New York there was a **** level session on how to accelerate, accelerate progress towards the Sustainable Development Goal on water and sanitation and WMO.
Secretary General Petrie Thomas was one of the speakers and he said global warming is a misleading phrase.
Most impacts of climate change are felt through water, drought, flood, disaster and coastal inundation.
There's a need to invest more in Disaster Risk Reduction, climate adaptation and resilience.
And that's all from me for today.
Great.
Thank you very much, Claire, for this update.
Are there any questions for Claire in the room?
I don't see any and I don't see any hands raised online either.
So thank you very much, Claire.
You've been very thorough and people know where to find you if they have additional questions.
Thank you very much.
Let's go to Fernando Puschol from the World Trade Organisation, who is with us to give you a bit of an update on the selection process for the Director General of this organisation.
I believe the candidacies closed a couple of days ago, so he's here to tell us a little bit about how things are going to move forward.
Do we have Fernando?
Yes, hello.
Hello, Rio.
Yes.
Good morning, Fernando.
We hear you.
Please go ahead.
OK.
Well, thanks very much.
You are right.
On Tuesday, the deadline to submit candidates for the post of Director General was closed after the decision of Roberto Acevedo to step down on the 31st of August.
The slate of names is the following Jesus, EA de Curie of Mexico, Ngozi Okonjo, Iweala Nigeria, Abdel Hamid Mandu, Egypt, Tudor Ulanovsi, Moldova, You Munhi of the Republic of Korea, Amina Muhammad of Kenya, Muhammad Maziad Al Tuwaiki of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Liam Fox of the United Kingdom.
A special session and this is the the following steps of the General Council for members will be convened and it's scheduled now for next week, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.
It's candidate will be invited to make a brief presentation lasting no more than 15 minutes and this will be followed by AQ and A of no more than one hour and 15 minutes.
During the last five minutes of that Q&A, members will have the opportunity.
To make a.
Concluding statement of 5 minutes if they so wish.
Immediately after each presentation, the candidates will have the opportunity to meet with the media in the WTO building and each candidate will hold 1/2 an hour press conference.
Of course, journalists are invited to attend these press conferences, which will be held if candidates can be in person in Geneva, in room as one at WTO headquarters.
Journalists wanting to participate remotely will also be able to do so.
Please be aware that because of the ongoing COVID-19 situation and to ensure safety, journalists will be required to register at least 48 hours in advance for the briefings and follow distancing and health security measures while in WTO premises.
The final schedule of both the candidates meeting with members of the General Counsel and the press conferences will be provided once it has finalised and we expect to make an announcement with further details later today through our website.
Thank you.
Very good.
Thank you very much, Fernando, for these explanations.
Let's see.
We have a question in the room from Peter Kenny.
Peter.
Yeah, I'm mine.
Fernando.
Peter Kenny here.
I was just wondering, would you be able to send that statement that you read to the journalist please?
Fernando, did you get that if you would be able to send your statement that you just read to to the media?
Yes, of course.
Thank you.
And we will also be summarising it in our in our summary briefing.
Let's see, we have questions also online.
Catherine Fiancan, Good morning.
Can we unmute Catherine Fiancan please?
Hello, do you hear me?
Yeah, we hear you, Catherine.
Good morning, Fernando.
Thank you for all these details.
And would it be possible if you know which candidates will be in person in Geneva among the the candidates at #1 and #2 you, you announced that we'll have more infos maybe at the end of the day, will it be details about the process?
Because how will the the the the the choice be be taken because is the new candidate supposed to take his position on September 1st or you still were waiting for a decision of the general counsel to to know the the process?
Thank you.
Thank you, Catherine.
Regarding who what candidates will be in town for the meetings with the General Counsel, this is something that we still need to, to confirm.
Hopefully we'll have confirmation, final confirmation in, in the coming hours of the beginning of, of next week.
Regarding the, the process after the the first meetings of the candidates with the membership, then it will be the opportunity of the chair of the General Counsel in coordination with the chairs of the dispute settlement body and the trade policy review body, which is called the the Troika to reach out to members and try to narrow down which of the candidates seem more likely to gather consensus.
As you know, the final decision will be taken by consensus.
And what it's likely that we will see is that the the number of candidates from 8 is narrowed down to a certain number.
This is still to be decided and confirmed, but the process will be clearly explained from the beginning how it worked out and regarding the the dates and exactly when these next steps will be taken.
We still need to wait for us as decisions from the general counsel.
So this is all still to be confirmed.
These are details that we will probably know.
As you know, meetings of members play out in in the coming weeks and months.
Thank you, Fernando.
We have a couple of additional questions.
Freddy Molongo.
Can we unmute Freddy Freddy?
Bonjour.
Contact the director now, Freddy, Alex said.
Question.
Can we unmute Catherine again?
Yes, do you hear me?
Yes, we hear you.
In fact, it's a follow up about what just Fernando just said.
I know that normally the choice of of the DGS with consensus, but we've seen in the time with Super Chai and Mike Moore that there was a vote at that time when they unable to to to in fact found find consensus.
So Fernando, do you have a little bit infos on that or it it you, you, we have to wait for the chair of the general counsel to announce the process, I mean the details of the process.
And can you confirm us or it is also the chair that is going to tell us if the new DG is going to take office on September 1st or they will take the time to to shortlist the candidates and to find a consensus?
Thank you.
Thank you, Katherine.
Yes, after the presentation of of members, there's another meeting of the general counsel schedule for the 22nd and the 23rd of July.
We might know further details on this and it will be the the chair, the one that will be looking ahead and and trying to narrow down exactly the the dates of how this will proceed.
It's early to say to if it would be possible at the end will be a decision taken by by members if they can agree and reach an agreement to find a new director general before the 31st of August.
So that's still to be decided.
And on voting, as you were mentioning and you remember well the situation in 1999, as a result of that situation, the the general counsel adopted procedures for the appointment of Director general to make this procedure more clear.
And, and there's a reference to voting as a last resort.
If I if I can read the the what?
It says that the procedure says that if after having carried out all the procedures, it has not been possible for the General Counsel to take a decision by consensus by the deadline provided for the appointment, members should consider the possibility of recourse to a vote as a last resort by a procedure to be determined at that time.
Recourse to a vote for the appointment of Director General shall be understood to be an exceptional departure from the customary practise of decision making by consensus and shall not establish any precedent for such recourse in respect of any future decisions in the WTO.
So this is what the the procedure says.
So it contemplates the this possibility, but we we're not there yet.
Great.
Thank you very much, Fernando for these additional details.
We will be following this this race very closely.
I don't see any other questions for you.
So thank you very much for being with us.
I'd just like to note as well that we have with us not briefing, but they are here listening.
We have in the room Jenslar from Mocha, Baba Baloch from UNHCR and online we have Paul Dillon from the IOM, Maritzi Mercado from UNICEF and Margaret Harris from WHO and I think Adriano Timosi as well from FAO and then Tingo from Muktad.
So they also are with us.
Catherine, you have a question.
Go ahead.
I see you're unmuted.
OK, you hear me, I suppose.
Yes, go ahead.
Yes.
Thank you.
This is a question for WHO regarding Yemen.
Apparently, there are cases of COVID-19 in, in, in, in Yemen.
Could Margaret elaborate a little bit on that one, please?
And also about first cases reported in the northwestern part of Syria.
And this has been announced by some doctors that it is a ****** for refugees.
So I I suppose that it is Margaret that can answer that one.
Or maybe completed by by UNHER.
Thank you.
Thank you, Catherine.
Margaret, can we unmute Margaret if she is there?
Yes, I see.
Margaret.
Margaret, good morning.
Do you hear us?
Yes, I'll, I'll stop my video.
OK, all good.
There we go.
On Yemen, I'm sorry, Catherine, I don't have the specific numbers.
So I'll have to get back to you on the specific numbers in Yemen, on northwestern Syria there we've we've been hearing reports, but we don't have, I don't have the specific detail again.
So I have to get back to you on both of those.
OK.
Thank you.
Margaret, you take note of those questions and you'll try to to get back to Katrin with some answers.
I don't see any other questions.
Just yes.
Sakoto from Yumiuri.
Good morning.
Sakoto, could we unmute?
Yes.
Good morning.
Do you hear us?
Yes.
Can you hear me?
Yes, please go ahead.
Yes, I have a question regarding a WTO.
So to Fernando, well the the press conference, I just wonder each candidate would have a press conference separately or 8 candidate would have one single press conference.
Yes, good question.
I also had that question.
Fernando, are you still with?
Yes, you are still with us and I see you're unmuted.
Will the candidates hold separate press conferences or it will be 1 big press conference all together?
I expect separate ones.
Yeah, the this will be separate press conferences, press conferences and they will take place right after the presentation of each one of the candidates before the General Counsel.
So yes, separate press conferences.
So 8 press conferences of 1/2 an hour each.
That's going to be a long afternoon, I.
Mean there's there's sorry real, there's three days allocated for this so.
So it could be over the course of three days.
We won't have the the 8 in just one day, but they they will be spread out in three days.
OK.
OK.
I'm sure many people are relieved about that.
Thank you for that clarification.
Jamil Shade has a question.
If we could unmute Jamil.
Yes.
Can you hear me?
Yes.
Good morning, Jamil.
Go ahead.
Quick question to Margaret, sorry Margaret, two things.
First of all, have you sorted out the the the clashes between PAJO and WHO press conferences this week was very was very complicated.
Have you dealt with that?
Are we, are we going to have separate days?
Yes.
And secondly, so, yes.
So I've been in contact with my colleagues in power, hope my colleagues in all the regions so that we can make sure our press conferences align and, and, and meet your needs, meet the global media needs.
Sure, Thanks.
And the substantive question maybe you want me to ask later today, but President Bolsonaro is taking chloroquine and says it works.
Does it work?
That's one for this afternoon.
Definitely.
We'll have that scientific people there so you'll get a good answer.
I'll put that on the list, please.
Thank you.
Thank you to both.
James Keaton from Associated Press also has a question.
Oh, he was, he had his hand raised is but he has disappeared.
So I think maybe not.
I don't see any you are there James.
Sorry.
Oh yes, he OK, you are in muted.
Please go ahead.
Nobody else unraised my hand the for Margaret.
Hi Margaret.
Can you tell us about two, just two things Doctor Tedrus IAS this afternoon, when is he going to be speaking to the International Aid Society?
And secondly, can you give us any more details about this child mission when they're leaving this what?
Sorry, the China mission, the new China mission.
OK, I'll start the China mission there in the air right now.
So that was easy.
The I who's on the flight, sorry, the two, there's the, the members of the scoping team.
So the members of the scoping team are going, I don't think we've released the names at this point, and they're on their way.
They, yeah, well, should be in Beijing by, well, they'll be there for the weekend, but they'll be most of their nationalities a lot longer than the weekend.
So it's a good, good point.
To clarify.
Some of the media reports have said something like it's a weekend trip.
No, no, no, This is just the beginning.
Can you tell us the nationalities of the the two people and what they're special?
I don't even have that information.
Their specialities Animal health specialist epidemiologist.
OK.
Thank you very much.
I had a question also about Doctor Tedros.
The IAS yeah, so I've just got the schedule now this is an international aid Society meeting.
It's not US.
And as yes, definitely Doctor Tedros is is listed to open that the the timing I have on the opening is 1030, but I'm doubly checking to see is that a Geneva time or is that AUS time?
But it's listed under their it's, as I said, it's totally organised by the International Aid Society, not US.
So double check with them.
But it's either been at 10:30 or it's later today if it's US time.
Great.
Thank you.
Let's go to Stephanie Nabi from Reuters.
If we can unmute Stephanie.
Can we unmute Stephanie Nebay please?
Sorry.
Yeah, sorry.
I'll start again.
Good morning.
Thank you.
Hi, good morning all.
That was exactly my question.
Do you have any more information about the rest of the team, how many people, what their time frame is?
So time frame is quite some time.
So we don't actually have a specific time frame because it's a scoping meeting.
They're there to set everything up, work out where you can go, etcetera, etcetera.
Initial meetings with Chinese counterparts, but there is no set time frame.
OK.
I see.
John Zaracosta also has a question.
We'll just wait for him to be Here We go, John.
John, please go ahead.
Hi.
Yes, good, Good morning.
Margaret.
I was just interested to know in the coming mission to China, will they be given a green light to travel wherever they want or will it be subject to coordination with Chinese health authorities?
If I recall rightly and correct me please, but in the mission in February, only three of the delegation of about 14 went to the province of Wuhan, which was at the epicentre at the time.
So will they be able to go wherever they want?
And will more experts travel to what was perceived the epicentre?
Let's have a follow up.
Sure.
So, so John, that's exactly the point of the scoping mission to to identify where it will be good to go, how you get them, what what sort of logistics you can do.
And of course, as you know, when we go into any country, any country, whether it be the UK, Australia, the US or, or China or Africa, we have to discuss with the authorities where we go, what we do, how we do it.
So that's exactly the point of sending two people with these two different kinds of expertise, animal health and epidemiology, to say this is what we need to do.
This is the questions we need to answer.
How are we going to answer them?
These are the experts we want to bring in and, and, and do all that sort of negotiation.
So that's what's going on right now.
You asked something else.
I.
Sorry, can we unmute John again please?
So we I think he has a follow up and he can maybe answer.
Can you hear me now?
Yeah, yeah.
What was your second question, Margaret?
Concerning the contacts between WHO and Chinese authorities in January, according to a Chinese timeline, the head of Chinese, China's health Commission spoke with the head of The Who.
Was it the head of WHO in China or the head of WHO at headquarters Geneva in mid January what you're talking about?
Margaret, you were muted a little bit.
I don't know if you can start again please.
OK.
So John, we have had, you know, as you know a lot of contact throughout that.
So could you kindly send me what you're referring to specifically in the Chinese timeline by e-mail so I can make sure I get you the most accurate answer back?
Thanks.
All right.
Thank you.
We have a question from Gabriella Sotomayor, Gorilla.
Let's unmute Gabriela.
There we go.
Hi, Margaret.
Hi, Gabriela.
Yeah, I have a question on Mexico, but I don't know if maybe it's better to ask it in the afternoon, but it's about there's a lot of it's a big percentage of people dying outside the hospitals in Mexico and some some about the situation, general situation in Mexico.
So if you can, if I can ask this afternoon.
Okay, I've written it down and it's on the list.
Okay, yeah, and then I have another question on Co chairs of a Commission of inquiry that were announced yesterday by Doctor Tedros.
Are we going to have a press conference with them or how are they going to work?
Are they work?
Are they going to work inside The Who or outside?
How can we reach them?
I mean all those show and and good questions because they are going to be absolutely independent and they will actually select their own secretariat.
So this is quite a new new territory for all of us.
You know quite often when we've had these inquiries, yes, they've been independent, but you've usually had a secretariat within WHO in this Case, No.
So essentially the only kind of WHO involvement was to, to canvas the member States and so on and to set up the two Co chairs so that they could then take it forward because somebody's got to actually start the process.
And the member states asked us to do that in the resolution they passed at the WHA in May.
So essentially from now on, it's completely hands off.
They will manage their own media.
They will manage their own selection of not just the other panel members, but also their secretariat.
So we won't, there won't be any WHO staff members in their secretariat.
Nothing.
They choose them all and they will.
I, I've had this question from quite a few media, how can we do the interviews?
How can we set up the interviews?
So on your behalf, I will contact them and find out who would should be their media contact points so that you can indeed organise interviews with them because they're, they're amazing people.
Good.
Thank you very much.
OK, We're going to take one last question.
Robin Millard from AFP, if we could unmute.
Robin, there we go.
Please go ahead.
Hello, Robin.
You're not coming through.
I've actually got 2 questions if I can sneak.
OK, You're coming through very with a bit of difficulty.
Please go ahead.
Let's run.
Go ahead.
No, you're not coming through.
Maybe you can.
Some I, some.
You're you're, you're cutting, you're cutting up Robin.
Maybe what I can suggest is that my question is the.
First question was.
Yeah, we're having some technical difficulties.
Robin.
What I would recommend is that you e-mail your question to Margaret directly and she will, I assume it was for I was, I assume it was for her.
So if you could maybe contact her directly?
Yeah, I'll answer, I promise.
OK, very good.
OK, James, I see you have your hand raised again.
Last question, since we couldn't take Robin James, go ahead.
Thank you.
I don't quite understand why it needs to be the last question because this is an important subject.
But anyway, Margaret, could you just please?
Thank you very much for your answers, they've been very informative.
Could you just give us very succinctly?
You said a lot of things, a lot of different times.
Could you just say very succinctly what this mission is that's going and exactly how long they're going to be there and exactly what the purpose of this mission is?
I mean, are they looking into the origins of the outbreak?
Are they looking into, you know, the responses from Chinese authorities?
I mean, could you just like in a, in a concise way, just tell us like the whole purpose of this scoping mission as you put it?
Thanks.
So the, the operative word there is scoping.
So you're, you're, you, you repeatedly said exact.
Now when you're doing scoping, you're setting the exact parameters, but you don't have them when you start.
So that's the whole point now.
Yes, one of the big issues that everybody's interested in and of course that's why we send an animal health expert is to to to look at.
Whether or not it jumped from species to a human and what species it jumped from, did it, we know it's, it's very, very similar to the virus in the back, but did it go through an intermediate species?
So this is a question we all need answered, but while you have a mission going, it's good to look at whatever kind of information, whatever kind of questions you can reasonably and reliably ask and answer during such a mission.
So that's why you're not getting the, you know, 10 questions that will be asked, 10 questions that will be answered.
That's why you're not getting an itinerary.
That's why you're not getting names because all those things have to be determined by this scoping, by sending the advance team to do the scoping, to do the discussion, to look at what's possible, to start going through all the materials and start going through all the discussions and fine it down to what we can get.
We, the world, we China, everybody can get out of this to get the maximum benefit out of this.
And so as I said, they've gone, they've they're in the air now and they are the advanced party that's to set to, to work out the scope.
And then later, when the nature of the mission, the scope, all those exact bits of information you want, when that's determined, you'll be informed.
Thank you, Margaret.
And your press conference is at 5:00 PM this afternoon, as usual.
Yes, yes.
And again, you can ask further details, so I don't think you'll get much more than, but you could certainly ask, yes.
OK, I see we have Stephanie Nebe on the line.
Stephanie, is this for Margaret or for someone else?
Can we unmute Stephanie, please?
Stephanie.
Thanks.
Yes, no, I was just circling back because yeah, I was very much going in that same direction.
My earlier question as to how large this, this might be and are these two experts who have gone both WHO staff or are they from Gorn or I mean, are they WHO from WHO official?
Yeah.
And you don't have anything further on the potential size or composition of a larger mission.
No, that's the point of the scope.
That's exactly the point of that all of that to come and and we're not being evasive.
It's just not determined yet.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Good.
Thank you very much, Stephanie.
Thank you, Margaret, for your time on all of this.
OK, we're going to close this press conference.
James Keaton, do you have a question for someone other than WHO?
We have closed with WHO?
Margaret didn't answer my question.
How long is this mission to last?
Sorry, ma'am, it's an important subject.
We don't have a day.
I, I did it.
I, I, you know, I can't answer.
Sorry, but I did go.
Go ahead, don't.
Have an exact date or time?
I think you've been very clear.
Thank you very much, Margaret.
OK.
Just to conclude what I wanted to remind you and you've been informed just this morning of a press conference on Monday by the Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression, David Kay, who as I said was giving his report to the Human Rights Council this morning.
His press conference, which will be a hybrid press conference is going to take place at 4:00 PM on Monday.
So, and you've been informed of that just this morning.
Also I want to remind you and you will have received the message of the secretary general yesterday that we issued.
But Saturday we will be marking the sad 25th anniversary of the Skabenitsa genocide.
There will be an official commemoration but I think it's going to be held virtually with officials from abroad through pre recorded video addresses.
In his video message, the Secretary General has said that the Srebrenica genocide was the worst atrocity crime in European soil since the Second World War.
He notes that 25 years later, we must pay tribute to the thousands brutally murdered and pledged to never forget them.
1/4 century ago, the United Nations and the international community failed the people of Srebrenica.
The Secretary General added For him, confronting the past is a vital step towards rebuilding trust and that reconciliation must be underpinned by mutual empathy and understanding.
And you will also have received yesterday the latest policy brief by the Secretary General, which was issued, the policy brief looking at the impact of COVID-19 on the Latin American region.
We've issued all of the material to you yesterday.
The next brief, I understand that will be coming out, we'll be focusing on the Arab states region, and I think that will be coming out next week.
So we'll give you more information and probably embargoed copies of that brief in due time.
I see.
We have a question from Catherine Fionncon.
Yes.
And yes.
Ariel, this is regarding the press conference with David Kay.
It's a hybrid one.
Does it mean that David will be in Geneva?
Thank you.
Good question.
I assume that if it is a hybrid, yes, I would take it to understand that David Kay would be in the room.
I will check with Orlando, but I I expect that would be the case.
Let me check on it OK with.
Do you have any information about the UNI terms United Nations Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan established on for June by Security Council?
Well, you mean just a general information?
I need more information about this mission.
Oh wait, I can try to get you some.
So the the mission.
Unit terms.
Unit terms, OK.
And regarding Libya, can somebody give us more information about what's going on in Libya, humanitarian situation and COVID-19 situation day Libya?
On the you're, you're asking specifically about the COVID-19 situation and the humanitarian situation.
Well, I see that Yen's has just left the room.
Let me let me look into this and on the COVID-19 also also see if we have any information.
I don't have it just offhand, but let me look into it and see if we can provide you with any information.
And if not, I'll contact WHO and see if Margaret has specifics on sorry.
OK.
I will look into these questions for you to have and and try to get back to you.
OK, I think we can call it a day.
Thank you very much for being with us this morning and I wish you a good weekend until next week.
Thank you.