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UNOG Bi-weekly press briefing 02 October 2020
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Press Conferences | OHCHR , UNHCR , OCHA , UNOG , UNITED NATIONS , UNECE
UNOG Bi-weekly press briefing 02 October 2020
Human Rights Council
Rolando Gomez, for the Human Rights Council (HRC), said that today the Council was holding a dialogue on the human rights situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo; the High Commissioner was presenting her report, and the Team of International Experts on the situation in Kasai had also delivered his statement today. The situation in the Central African Republic would also be on the agenda this morning, whereas in the afternoon, human rights in Sudan and Somalia would be addressed. On 5 October, in Room XIX, the Fact-Finding Mission on Libya would present an oral update. Guinea-Bissau and Guyana would be on the agenda, to be followed by Cambodia, Georgia, and Yemen. Voting on 37 draft resolutions would take place on 6 and 7 October.
More information on the HRC schedule can be found here.
Situation in Sudan
Jens Laerke, for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said that Sudan was experiencing both catastrophic floods and surging inflation. More than 860,000 people had had their houses destroyed or damaged in the floods, while schools, health facilities had also been damaged, especially in North Darfur, Khartoum, West Darfur and Sennar. The UN and humanitarian partners continued to respond to the floods, and had so far reached more than 400,000 people with assistance, but a surging inflation, reaching nearly 170 percent in August, and the associated spike in local prices and shortages of basic commodities, was hampering the response in major ways.
Mr. Laerke explained that prices of some locally produced supplies had increased by 300 to 400 percent, severely affecting procurements. Organizations providing cash transfers to vulnerable families needed to continuously adjust the amounts transferred. The price of an average family food basket had increased by over 200 percent since last year.
Migrants arriving to Europe from Libya
Elizabeth Throssell, for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), said that the OHCHR was calling for urgent action to address the dire situation of migrants attempting to cross the central Mediterranean in search of safety in Europe and to tackle the shocking conditions they face in Libya, at sea, and frequently also upon their reception in Europe.
A team sent the previous week to monitor the situation of migrants transiting through Libya had highlighted a cycle of violence: people who had faced unimaginable horrors in Libya were left to drift for days at sea, had their boats dangerously intercepted and were returned to suffer arbitrary detention, torture and other serious human rights violations in Libya. Libya could not be considered a safe port for migrants.
Ms. Throssell stressed that the treatment of migrants in Europe was the result of a failed system of migration governance, marked by a lack of solidarity forcing frontline states such as Malta to bear the brunt of the responsibility. The High Commissioner was urging the European Union and its Member States to ensure its Pact on Migration and Asylum address those challenges head on.
OHCHR press release is available here.
Sexual abuse by aid workers
Responding to questions by journalists, Alessandra Vellucci, for the United Nations Information Service (UNIS), reminded that ever since assuming office, the UN Secretary-General had implemented a zero tolerance policy towards sexual abuse and exploitation, emphasized the importance of training and education, and supported efforts to have more women working in UN field operations. There were mechanisms in place to address such a scourge, including providing support to the victims. Within the UN Secretariat there existed a database of all abuse allegations, so that they could be immediately tracked and followed, along with respective UN agencies. Ms. Vellucci also referred the media to the statements by the World Health Organization and the International Organization for Migration on the issue. Ms. Vellucci also referred the journalists to the UN website dedicated to this problem.
Jens Laerke, for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), added that it was painful for everyone involved in humanitarian assistance with best intentions to see such news Nobody receiving humanitarian assistance anywhere in the world should be subject to that. OCHA applauded the courage of the women who had stepped forward.
Sustainable Cities Week
Jean Rodriguez, for the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), informed that the following week the UNECE would host its annual Sustainable Cities Week, to coincide with the World Habitat Day on 5 October, celebrated this year under the motto Housing for All: A Better Urban Future, an invitation to reflect on the state of cities and on the basic right to adequate shelter.
The Sustainable Cities Week would be structured around four main events:
-The Roundtable “In focus SDG11” (5 October 2020), organised in co-operation with the Geneva Cities Hub and UN-Habitat under the title Supporting city actions for a resilient future;
-The Forum of Mayors – a first in UNECE’s history – would gather cities to share their approaches to build back better from COVID-19 and beyond;
- 81st session of the Committee on Urban Development, Housing and Land Management, which would discuss the outcomes of the Forum of Mayors, challenges to housing affordability;
- The week would close on 9 October with the Annual meeting of the United for Sustainable Smart Cities Initiative.
Paola Deda, Director of our Forests, Land and Housing Division at UNECE, added that cities from all over the region would be participating and addressing sustainability in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Norman Foster, a globally known architect, would address the Forum of Mayors. Ms. Deda emphasized the importance of the Forum specifically dedicated to mayors and hearing stories of their cities. This unique UN Forum would culminate in the endorsement of the Geneva Declaration of Mayors. A penalty scoring game between mayors and ambassadors would take place on 6 October; the first team to score 17 goals would win.
Other announcements
Alessandra Vellucci, for the United Nations Information Service (UNIS), informed that today at 4 p.m. Geneva time the General Assembly would hold a high-level event on nuclear arms control and disarmament. The Secretary-General and the President of the General Assembly would address this plenary meeting to advocated for nuclear arms control and disarmament.
On 5 October, from 4 p.m. Geneva time, the OHCHR, UN Global Pulse, and AccessNow would be hosting a high-level side event entitled Protecting Human Rights During the Covid-19 Crisis and Beyond: Digital Pandemic Surveillance and the Right to Privacy. The event would cover implications of increased surveillance on human rights, during and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic, narrowing in on contact tracing, the use of biometric and health-related data, and other technological interventions. The event could be watched live here. [Later Ms Vellucci informed that the UN Deputy Secretary-General, not the Secretary-General, was expected to address this meeting].
Ms. Vellucci also informed about the publication of the Annual Report of the Secretary-General on the Work of the Organization 2020, available in all official languages and – for the first time – in two accessibility formats (e-books in six languages and Easy-to-Read in English).
The Annual Report showcased how the United Nations Secretariat translates resources into impact. Augmenting the traditional text-focused publications, this version of the Annual Report draws on data, infographics, maps and imagery to highlight progress of the past year through coherent and innovative “storytelling.” The report could be accessed here: www.un.org/annualreport.
The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which had on 30 September opened its virtual 68th session, would meet in private until the public closure of the session, on 16 October, 4 p.m.
The Committee on Enforced Disappearances would on 5 October hold its dialogue with Iraq, from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m, and on 7 October from 4 to 6 p.m.
The Committee on the Rights of the Child had closed on 1 October its 85th session and had planned to hold its next session from 18 January to 6 February.
Ms. Vellucci finally informed that on 6 October, the World Trade Organization (WTO) would hold a press conference on its revised trade growth forecast on 2 pm, virtually (Webex) or in Room D. Journalists can contact pressbriefing@wto.org for more details.
Teleprompter
Good morning, everybody.
Welcome to this press briefing of the Information System in Geneva on the 2nd of October.
We'll start immediately with the announcement, the usual announcement from Rolando Gomez, the last one of this session.
Right?
Go ahead.
Good.
Well, thank you, Alessandro.
Nearly the last briefing we'll give you for this current session of the Human Rights Council, the 45th session.
This morning, the Council kicked off with an enhanced interactive dialogue on the human rights situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which featured statements from the following speakers.
The **** Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, presented her report, which served as a basis for this discussion, which is ongoing.
The report itself contains an overview of the human rights situation in the country and the activities of the UN Joint Human Rights Office in the DRC, of which covers the period from June last year, June 2019 to June this year.
We also have a statement which was just delivered by the chair of the team of international experts on the situation in Kasai, the Kasai region province in within the country DRC that's back and die.
And this report, which to the group itself was established in July 2018, I should note, and the mandate actually it's being labelled as a final report.
But I should note that there is a resolution which is being considered, which will be considered next week.
And I'll talk about those in a second, which is requesting the extension of the team of experts for an additional year.
So the team did represent, did present their, their quote unquote, final report this morning.
We also have a statement from the Minister for Human Rights of the DRC, Andre Lite Asabaya here in person.
And finally, a representative from civil society in the DRC, Emmanuel Cabengele Kalonji National Corridor of the Network for the Reform of the Security and Justice Sector.
So those are the speeches that we heard are just about finished with those.
And then we'll have the interactive dialogue, which should last for about another hour or so.
And around 11:30, the council will hear from the independent expert on the situation of human rights in the Central African Republic.
That's Yao Agbezzi, who was recently appointed.
And this will be followed by a statement from the concerned country, as always, and then interactive dialogue.
So that'll complete the morning session.
This afternoon starting at three 3:00, we'll have a presentation of a written report from the independent expert on the situation of human rights in the Sudan, Aristide Nanzi, again concerned country statements and interactive discussion.
And then roughly 4:30 this afternoon, the Council will hear from an independent expert on the situation of human rights in Somalia, Isha Daifan, also a a new mandate holder whose report it was put online a little while ago and will be followed by concerned country statement and interactive dialogue.
Turning briefly to Monday, I should point out that the meeting will move to Room 19.
Room 20, the assembly hall is being occupied by another outfit.
So we will move to Room 19 exceptionally just for one day, where we will hear starting at 10:00 from the recently established fact finding mission on Libya, which to remind you was created by the Human Rights Council in June this year.
The experts to this three person mission were appointed by the **** Commissioner in mid August.
The Chairperson of the Commission, Mohammed Akhar, the former Minister of Justice of Morocco, will be addressing the Council on Monday morning.
And this will be followed by the adoption of the last two reports from the Universal Periodic Review Working Group, namely for Guinea Bissau and Guyana.
And then we will move over to the presentation of the last batch of country reports, the Secretary General's report on Cambodia, and then a **** Commissioner reports on Georgia and Yemen.
So that will be on Monday afternoon.
And just to be very clear, the voting on resolutions will take place on Tuesday and Wednesday next week.
Exceptionally, the Council's extended for a few extra days beyond the usual three weeks for the September session.
So Tuesday, Wednesday 6 and 7 October, we'll hear.
Well, the Council will consider 37 draught resolutions in total.
They cover, as usual, a wide range of human rights themes and country situations, and they are all available on the Human Rights Council extranet.
Thanks.
Thank you, Rolando.
So on Tuesday, maybe you will have a last update.
But I just wanted to remind everybody that because of the change of the room, Room 20 being having a smaller press gallery, we will have to maybe reduce the maximum number of journalists that will be allowed to follow the proceeding in person.
So please consider this when you do your planning for next week and maybe Rolando and us, we can help you planning on that and make sure that you have the possibility of getting into the room.
So thank you very much.
Is there any question?
Yes, I see already a question for Rolando.
Katrina, can my colleague unmute Katrine please?
Country fiancon.
Hello, Katrine, you're on.
Do you hear me?
Yes.
Good morning, Alessandro.
Good morning, Rolando.
Question.
Related to ADRC regarding the situation of the sexual scandal about humanitarian people, so I'd like to have.
The reaction of the human rights about it and I'll somehow just one second because we have Liz here and this is really, I just wanted to see if there was any questions specifically for the council.
Do you have any?
Questions.
I do have a question related.
To the Council too, go ahead.
I would like to know if the representative of the.
Special admission to.
Libya, the former ambassador of Morocco will be in person in Geneva.
Thank you, Orlando.
Thanks Catherine, though in fact, the former Foreign Minister of Justice will not be here in person, so he'll be delivering by video message on Monday.
Any other question in the room?
No, and online neither either.
So thank you very much, Rolando, and good luck for the last days.
And so I will now go to Liz and then we will take a twins question.
Liz, please.
For human rights, for the Human Rights office.
Yes, good morning everyone.
We have just issued a press release on the subject that I'm going to brief you on.
It's regarding the issue of migrants arriving in Malta from Libya.
So I'll just give you a few of the main points from the press release.
The UN Human Rights Office is today calling for urgent action to address the dire situation of migrants attempting to cross the Central Mediterranean in search of safety in Europe and to tackle the shocking conditions they face in Libya, at sea and frequently also upon their reception in Europe.
A-Team we sent last week to monitor the situation of migrants transiting through Libya has highlighted a cycle of violence.
People who'd faced unimaginable horrors in Libya were left to drift for days at sea, had their boats dangerously intercepted, and were returned to suffer arbitrary detention, torture and other serious human rights violations in Libya.
Libya, of course, cannot be considered a safe port for migrants.
Those rescued and disembarked in European shores are often placed at risk of arbitrary detention and conditions that may also amount to I'll treatment.
The situation has become all the more acute in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, with humanitarian search and rescue vessels prevented from continuing their life saving work and civil society groups having insufficient access to migrants.
Our team undertook a week long mission to Malta from the 2620 first to the 26th of September.
During the mission they spoke to government officials, UN partners, migrant community leaders, civil society organisations and 76 migrants from 25 different nationalities.
Migrants continue to undertake the precarious Central Mediterranean journey, often multiple times, due to the absence of sufficient safe and regular migration channels.
People describe the ongoing violence and insecurity they faced in Libya, including arbitrary detention, torture, trafficking, sexual violence, forced labour sale and other serious human rights violations and abuses.
Many reported being intercepted on previously crossings by the Libyan Coast Guard having their boats rammed or shot at, causing vessels to capsize or people to jump into the water in desperation.
There were also reports that on at least one occasion the Armed Forces of Malta attempted to push a migrant boat back to Libya and on another occasion attempted to push a boat with migrants in the direction of the Italian island of land producer.
Some migrants reported that commercial vessels did not come to their assistance, while others said commercial ships pick them up but returned them to Libya where they ended up in detention centres.
If true, these are serious allegations of failure to assist people in distress at sea and of possible coordinated push backs that should be duly investigated.
Some migrants said they've been detained for several months in Malta with little access to daylight, clean water and sanitation.
They reported severe overcrowding, poor living conditions and limited contact with the outside world, including lawyers and civil society organisations.
Migrants said they had been given only one change of clothing since they arrived.
One migrant told our team you're in gaol in Libya and now you come to Europe and prison again.
At the closed detention centre the team visited, there were multiple reports of self harm and attempted suicide.
There have also been several protests within detention centres in recent months, with security forces called to restore order.
The **** Commissioner has noted that the pressures on the reception system in Malta have long been known, but the COVID-19 pandemic has clearly made an already difficult situation worse.
She's also stressing that despite the difficulties, human rights must always be upheld and those who are confined out of sight, as it were, must not be forgotten.
The treatment of migrants in Europe is the result of a failed system of migration governance marked by a lack of solidarity, forcing frontline states such as Malta to bear the brunt of the responsibility.
The **** Commissioner is urging the European Union and it's Member States to ensure it's packed on migration and asylum, addresses these challenges head on and results in a truly common and principled approach that ensures the respect and protection of the human rights of migrants and refugees.
Thank you.
Thank you very much, Liz.
And let me see if there are question on this subject.
Otherwise I go to Katherine.
Yeah, Emma, let's start with you.
Yes, thank you.
Thank you for that.
Good morning, everyone.
Good morning.
Liz, on the coordinated push backs that you mentioned, could you give some context as to whether this is something that you think has happened before?
Is this something kind of a new development and if it is investigated, who would do it?
And if there are consequences, what would they be?
Thank you.
Thank you, Emma.
There have been frequent reports of of migrant boats being pushed back into Libyan waters.
For example, in this case as we say there, there were reports that the Maltese armed forces were responsible or tried to push the boat back into Libyan waters and on another occasion pushed it to land producer.
With regard to these two incidents, it, it didn't happen because the migrants did eventually reach Malta and spoke to our team.
I think it is something that is serious and it has been raised by, by ourselves and also by other UN agencies as a, as a very serious situation, which is why the, the **** Commissioner is saying that it is so important that there is a, a coordinated, principled approach to migration governance.
I think it, it is clearly something that needs to be addressed.
It needs to be investigated by by the the people who have oversight of of who may be responsible for these push backs.
I think we would always say that there needs to be very serious investigations into these kind of allegations.
Thank you, Liz.
And now it's Catherine Stern.
Yes, good morning.
Liz, this is related to what you just said.
In fact, first of all, I'd like to have your reaction about the multiple projects of UK to place migrants on islands or isolated locations and also studying ways to push them back away from UK.
This is my first question, then I'll come back to DRC.
Thank you.
Catrin, we are aware of that.
If I may, I do think that my colleagues from the refugee agency and from IOM may be better placed to actually comment directly on these reports about what the UK is reported to be planning.
We have in the past spoken about our concern when states do conduct what is termed offshore migration or refugee asylum reception centres, but I think I would leave more a more detailed analysis of the situation to other colleagues.
Paul, you are Paul Dillon, disconnected from his office and Shabia for Ultra for HCR colleagues.
If you want to intervene, could you just raise your hand on the Zoom platform if you would like to add something to what has been said, Paul or Shabia?
Hi.
Oh, Shabia is here.
OK, go ahead, Shabia.
Just just in response to your your question, we're not aware of those discussions, but if they reach the stage of a more formal policy proposal, we would firmly oppose plans to process and house asylum seekers, refugees and migrants and offshore facilities.
Offshore processing and hosting demonises and punishes people who need help and protection and firmly closes pathways to protection, recovery and integration.
Thanks.
Thank you, Shabia.
Catherine, you had another question.
Sorry.
My second question is related to the situation of migrants of Honduras.
Is there any official statement from human rights about the people that are crossing the border and and then arrested?
Thank you.
Thank you.
Catrine.
I'm not aware of what you are specifically referring to the situation.
We have obviously consistently monitored and followed developments of of migrants leaving Central America moving.
We have, we are aware of of sort of the human rights concerns.
But I think I would have to get back to you.
I'd have to consult with my colleagues on that to see what we may be able to give you more specifically.
Thank you very much.
Any other question for human rights, I don't see any.
So thank you, Liz.
Thank you very much for coming.
And I turn to Jensen now for an update on Sudan.
Yeah, thank you, Alessandra and good morning, everyone.
Yes, I, I want to talk a little bit about Sudan and what the situation there is these days.
Sudan is experiencing a double whammy of catastrophic floods and searching inflation, which at the same time drives.
Up the numbers.
Of people in need and the local cost of responding to those needs, more than 860,000 people have had their houses destroyed or damaged in the floods and more than 120 people have died, according to local authorities.
Schools, health, water and sanitation facilities have also been damaged or destroyed, especially in North Darfur, Khartoum, W Darfur and Sinha.
The UN and our humanitarian partners continue to respond as and we have so far reached more than 400,000 people.
But a surging inflation reaching nearly 170% in August and the associated spike in local prices and shortages of basic commodities is hampering the response in major ways.
The prices of supplies which are procured locally are rising every week.
According to partners working in water and sanitation, the prices of some locally procured supplies have increased by between 300 and 400%, and in some cases the services had to be stopped.
A related challenge is that in some cases, by the time the procurement process is finalised, the supplies have increased prices so that the original budgets are no longer valid.
Agencies have to restart the process from scratch, while there's no guarantee that by the time that that process is done, the prices will not have risen once again.
And they can.
Start all over.
Organisations providing cash transfers to vulnerable families must constantly adjust the amount dispersed, impacting their limited budgets.
Even with these adjustments, many families are no longer able to purchase what they need with the cash assistance that they receive.
Some humanitarian partners reported that they are now able to reach only one of every four people that they previously assisted, as increased prices and delays in procurements have drained their budgets for local communities.
At the same time, the average price of the food basket has increased by nearly 200% compared to last year.
According to the World Food Programme, most families in Sudan already spent around 65% of their income on food.
So these price hikes lead to increased hunger and less education, health and other services that families deprioritize as they try to cope with the economic hardship.
Thank you.
Thank you, Yens.
Questions to Yens.
Katherine, I see your hands is still up.
I don't know if it's for Yens or no.
It's for the FDC.
Yes.
Let me see if there's any questions specifically for Yens in the room or online.
I don't see any hints.
Thank you very much.
So Catherine, go ahead.
Thank you.
In fact, it's a question to you, Alessandra, and also of the different address to the different agencies that are online a reaction towards the sexual ***** of aid by aid workers in DRC.
And as as correspondence, we see that for more than 20 years now happening.
And I'd like to know if UN has a system to in fact punish these people because we have the impression that there's a kind of impunity when it's reaches a certain level of representants that are in fact behind these abuses.
It is not new.
So thank you to all of you to react on that.
OK, I'll start.
I would not at all characterise the situation as you're saying of, you know, some kind of known attention to these problems.
Since the Secretary General has started his tenure, he has been extremely strong and extremely active against this terrible acting, this terrible actions that indeed happen also in the UN environment.
He has a 0 tolerance policy about this.
And just to give you a very concrete information, of course, we follow up all the allegations, possible investigations and possible measures are taken according to the results.
But also it's not just the Secretariat or the peacekeeping missions, it's also the other agencies that are part of the UN system.
And among other things, we have now at the UN Secretariat a database in that to which the agencies report in real time any ***** allegation.
And so that we can really follow and track this together with the authorities of the of the sister agencies.
I would also turn maybe to my colleagues if anybody wants to make a comment on that or online otherwise.
And if you wish we can, we can send you more details on the policy of the secretary general on the sexual abuses.
You want to say something?
Yes, he's going to add something to that.
No, I just want to say that it's.
It is very, very painful, I think, for everybody involved with the best intentions in humanitarian assistance to see these cases emerge.
Our profound sympathy, of course, goes out to those who've been affected.
No one receiving humanitarian assistance anywhere in the world should ever be subjected to that.
No one who is working with the UN in whatever capacity should ever be ask for any favours of this kind to be able to to work with us.
So it is painful revelations.
I want to say it.
We applaud the courage of these women who have who have stepped forward.
We wish much more, much more, many more women who have experienced that should do so.
As Alexandra mentioned, individual agencies, the Secretariat and so on have put systems in place to try to facilitate such kind of reporting.
Clearly in this case, certainly it doesn't seem to have worked according to to the intention of that.
So clearly this is something that everybody's looking at, taking a real hard and honest look at these days.
And I would add that I would like to refer you also to the various declarations that the agencies involved in this particular situation have put out, IOM, UNICEF and WHO.
We can send you the declarations.
As Yan said, really we, we, our thoughts are really with the people who have denounced these abuses.
John, Yes, good morning.
Can you hear me?
Hello.
Can you hear me?
Yes, good morning.
Alessandra, you just mentioned you have this database where all allegations are presented and forwarded by UN agencies were and my question is to all the participating, participating agencies in today's briefings.
Did any of the agencies forward to this database the allegations made in February 2019 by a lot of implementing partners working on the ground in the DR Congo?
Do you have any information in that database that the UN agencies when told by the implementing partners?
Did they forward this information to the database and what was done about it?
I turn around and to my colleagues, but to the best of my religion, we, we have to look for this information.
I don't think any of us has this specific information here.
No.
OK, so we will come back to you on this and that will give us the occasion also to send everybody again the UN Policy 0 tolerance policy about this act to to all the journalists.
So thank you very much to my colleagues.
Oh no, I have more questions on the line.
Nick, your turn.
Yeah, sorry, just.
To follow up on.
On John's point, I mean, have there been other?
Allegations reported to this database from other countries in the course of the current year.
Nick, we we publish regularly a report on sexual exploitation and ***** every time which when we have had one of these reports, we have communicated normally the the office of the spokesperson communicate on this and we forward you the the comments they did the reporting.
So if you have a specific questions, I can I can ask and, and, and get that information for you.
But we normally report on this.
We have regular reports on this allegations.
Catherine again, and then Gabriella.
Yes, also a follow up on that, we know that there's a lot of reports that.
Are published, but I'd like to know the action taken because when there are investigations, I mean, usually at the end of the day, they say that there's not enough evidence and these people are staying in the system.
Why are these people not going under trial in the countries where they have committed these abuses?
Because usually they are, I mean, called back to the headquarters or to their original country.
And then we have absolutely no visibility about what's happening with them.
These people I think should, should not have the right to work again in, in, in institutions like United Nations or related agencies that are doing a wonderful work in the field.
And by their behaviour, in fact, they.
Are also putting dirt on on the wonderful work done by by.
Colleagues, what is the visibility about what happened in the past?
Absolutely.
I think that's what you're saying is absolutely true.
The most important thing here is really the accountability.
And the secretary general has always put the accent, accent on this.
People who do wrong, they have to be held accountable for their actions.
And I think that this is exactly what the investigation do.
Some investigation comes to the conclusion that there hasn't been *****, but some others come to the conclusion that it had and then we take the necessary measures.
So I would like to underline again that the reports also include the conclusions on the cases, not all of them because it's a it's a ongoing procedure, but they also include information about the conclusions of the investigation, including the actions which are taken.
And on that, I'll give the floor on Gabriel to Gabriela.
I have a question for Liz.
Is she still there?
She actually is about to stay.
Thank you, Liz.
Go ahead, Gabriela, thank you so much.
It's on Mexico.
It's some freedom of expression.
And the president of Mexico, in a press conference in Mexico, he did like an analysis about the press.
So he did like he said, I mean, 8 very important newspapers in Mexico.
So he made the counting saying that this number of notes are against me, this number of notes are positive this number.
Are neutral.
So he was complaining about the the notes that that are against his job and his government.
What are your your comments on on this?
Thanks.
Thanks, Gabriella.
Well, I think it's, it's common around the world for, for governments and for leaders to complain about the coverage that they get.
They will be happy with some of the coverage they get and then not so happy with some of the other coverage.
I think what is important is that one has the freedom of expression to, to say that you're not happy with the coverage.
But with regard to freedom of expression, clearly journalists should be allowed to, to go about their work, to be able to produce their reports, should be able to report on on all manner of instances.
So I don't think we have anything to comment on the fact that a political leader is unhappy with the media.
I I don't think that's something that we really would be appropriate for us to comment on.
As I say, that is quite common around the world that that governments and leaders do complain about the coverage they get.
Where it does become problematic is when they clamp down on the media, who are so important in the functioning of any democratic society.
And Gabrielle, I will also remind remind you that on the 12th of September, the Secretary General spokesman has issued a statement on attack against journalists, mentioning the case of Julio Valdivier Rodriguez in the state of Veracruz and condemning all attacks and killings of journalists and calling on the respective authorities to ensure that they are thoroughly investigated and that those responsible are held accountable.
I think you received the whole statement, but it's still with us if you need it, Robin.
Yeah, just just again a question about the situation in the DR Congo.
All the, all the.
Agencies, we've heard and I seem to say that there are systems in place for dealing with such cases when they arise and that there is a 0 tolerance culture but.
I I just wondered why?
Why these?
Systems do not appear to be working because this keeps happening and if perhaps the agencies could could answer to that.
Thank you.
OK.
I asked my colleague also if they want to intervene.
But Robin, I think that's unfortunately these things happen, happen in every society unfortunately.
And what we can do is try to put in place as many measures as possible to avoid that they happen.
And as I said before, if they happen that accountability is in place, it's, I think the problem is not just with the UN, but it's a problem with the UN.
So we have to face it where we are doing it.
And really the policy of the Secretary General is really a 0 tolerance policy, but it also comes to a number of measures that we are putting in place under the Secretary General is recommended, for example, training people that work in the humanitarian, in the peacekeeping missions.
Also, we have recommended that more women are recruited to do this kind of work because we see that this also helps this kind of situation.
We help the victims, we try to be with them and try to accompany them.
So there are things in place, but obviously this doesn't mean that nothing will happen anymore.
These things happen.
The most important thing is that we have have structure in place to deal with them and to deal with them effectively.
Catrin, I'll give you the floor for that.
We have still some speakers, so I'll give you the floor, but then we will go to the next speaker.
Catrin Thank you, Alessandra, for giving me the floor back.
I'd like to say that I'm quite surprised that you consider that this kind of situation happens everywhere.
Even if it happens in everywhere, it should not happen in the UN or in the UN among the UN system, because humanitarians are taking care of people that are particularly vulnerable and that most of the time don't know even whom to turn to because the people that are abusing them are the people they are turning to to get help.
Exactly.
That's why, because Robbie was saying that these things continue happening.
That's what I'm saying is that unfortunately, these things happen.
They should not happen.
That's exactly the point.
That's why we have a 0 tolerance policy that should not happen and we will do everything and we are doing everything we can not to, including as you're saying, helping the victims when they make allegations of *****, following up with them and trying to help.
And as Jens said, really trying to support them because that should not happen.
But when it happens, and unfortunately it happens in every society, we have and we do make all we can not to on one side not to, not to have this kind of behaviours again and on the other side to help those who are victims of those who have happened.
So that's exactly the .0 tolerance policy aims to that.
And when it happens, we have to take measures, and we do.
OK.
Thank you very much.
And now I'll ask our colleagues of UNECE.
John, I'll give you the floor later on.
Just let me have our last speakers, and then I'll come back to you if it's on the same subject.
Paula.
And yeah.
Jean.
Jean, you are connected by Zoom.
If my colleagues can give Jean Rodriguez the floor, we start with you.
You're going to tell us about the Sustainable Cities Week.
Go ahead.
Yes.
Exactly.
Do you?
Do you all hear me?
We do.
Hello, good morning everybody.
So yes, next week UNEC will host it's annual Sustainable City Week which coincides with World Habitat Day which will be celebrated on Monday.
And the theme this year of World Habitat Day is Housing for All, a better urban future and it is an occasion to reflect on the state of cities and on the basic right to adequate shelter for all.
Our sustainable cities Week will be structured around 4 main events.
On Monday we will start with a round table in focus SDG 11 under the title Supporting City Actions for a Resilient Future.
And this session will give.
This day will give a voice to representative of 11 city networks and 8 UN agencies and two research institutes.
On Tuesday, we'll have the highlight of the week, the Forum of Mayor, first in UNC history.
And Paula in a moment will give you all the details about that special day.
The week will continue on starting Tuesday up until the 8th.
From the 6th to the 8th with the annual session of the Committee on Urban Development, Housing and Land Management.
The committee will discuss the outcomes of the Forum of Mayor.
Of course, also a very important topic on the agenda of the discussion is challenges to housing affordability and the meeting.
We'll also hear the presentations of smart, sustainable city profiles that UNEC has prepared for the cities of North Sultan, the capital of Kazakhstan, and three cities in Norway, Trondheim, Alisund and Rana.
The committee is also expected to endorse guidelines on tools and mechanisms to finance sustainable smart cities projects and suggest approaches to conducting SDG local voluntary reviews for cities.
And finally, on the 9th, the week will finish with the annual meeting of the United for Sustainable Smart Cities Initiative, which will gather representative from 16 UN agencies, interested countries, cities, academia, NGOs and the private sector, and which will review the work of the initiative in the years 2019-2020.
We have sent you information with all the links and all the details about the four components of the week.
So if you've got some follow up for that after the, after the, the documents of the meeting, feel, feel feel free to come back to us.
And now Paula, the director of our UNEC Forest and Land and Housing Division and organiser of the forum will tell you more about the forum on Tuesday.
Thank you.
Thank you, Jean.
Paola Paola Deda.
For those who don't know her.
Paola, you have the floor.
Thank you.
Thank you so much.
And well, I think you have received already press briefing, so you are aware of what will happen next week at the form of mayors.
Just wanted to add two things.
First of all, it's quite clear from the news since the COVID-19 pandemic started that cities are really on the forefront of the battle.
And this forum actually adapted his title and his theme, which was originally focused on climate change to cover actually the activities and the action of cities in this last month to increase the resilience of the city and face the, the problems that the cities had to address for the facing the, the COVID pandemic.
We, we will hear in particular, and you've seen this from the agenda from the mayor of Milan, one of the hardest hit cities on COVID and the one that had to face the, the pandemic first.
But we will also have cities from all the region addressing the issue.
You also see in the just to talk about the, the, the opening.
Also the presence of a rather famous architect, I'm sure you all know is Norman Foster.
Lord Foster has been writing about this topic in particular and how the pandemic might accelerate the development in a sustainable way of cities and and how they the actions that cities have undertaken can be seen as an opportunity to improve the future of cities.
So we won't also want to give it, let's say, a positive spin to see what opportunities are ahead.
Why is also this form very important?
I would say from, and you know, from the point of view of multilateralism, so far, mayors have been participating in the meetings of the UN as part of the national delegations.
This forum is completely dedicated to them.
Is their voice we are going to hear and is their declaration, the Geneva Declaration of Mayors that they will be endorsing at the end of the session.
The meeting will continue.
The session of the Committee on Urban Development will continue the following days with the participation of Member States.
But the form is completely dedicated to them and to hear from the stories of their cities.
We believe that what we know, this is the first time in history of ECE, but I would say if they went in general with this type of participation and we believe that we are opening the door to a new type of multilateralism.
Many cities are larger sometimes than countries.
And I think again, to go back to when the COVID crisis, it, it seems pretty clear that it was cities that had to act the 1st and really identify solutions to, to face the crisis.
So we, we thought it was very important that they had a voice and they could let us know how they reacted to, to this crisis.
I don't know what to else, what to add else, but there might be questions.
I'll be very happy to take them.
Thank you.
Thank you, Jean and Paula.
Katrina.
Yes, good morning, Jean.
Good morning, Paula.
I'd like to know if there will be any opportunity to interview the mayors that will be in Geneva.
Do you?
Plan to organise something for for the press.
And Paula, if I read well also the programme, there will be an event with ambassadors that are going to play football.
Could you give more us more?
Details about that, who is going to participate?
Thank you.
Yes, thank you, Catherine.
Well, we have, we will have some mayors in the room.
As you know, most of them will not be able to travel to Geneva given the restrictions.
We will have them in the room and if there is an interest in organising a meeting of the press with them, will be very happy to do so.
As far as the event you're referring to, yes, we have organised what originally was supposed to be a soccer match, but again, social distancing has forced us to turn it into penalty kicks.
And there will be this game we will have ambassadors against mayors playing in front of the cafeteria at the UN, at the ballet, playing for the 17 SG goals.
The first team that reaches 17 goals wins.
Well, thank you for the opportunity to talk about that because it might seem like a light event, but in this, let's say, call them dark times.
We thought it was important also to send a positive message that the UN keeps going.
And we in particular, we want to raise awareness of SDG 11, which is about cities and SDG 3 is about health.
We will also be accompanied by the UN soccer team that will actually do the training, the horseshoe of our players.
You wanted to know the ambassadors.
I can tell you the ambassadors are playing our ambassadors or deputy ambassadors.
The captain of the team is the Ambassador of the European Union, Mr Walter Stevens.
We have then DD Shambovi of Switzerland, Michael Kaplan of the Czech Republic, Robert Mueller of Austria, Alexandra Alimov, DPR of Russia, Tom niece of Belgium, Dijon Zlatanovic of Serbia.
Mark Kasai is deputy of USA, Mayor of Elian Shahar and apologies if I'm not pronouncing the names correctly, of Israel, Hans Peter Hugo of Germany and also woman Miriam Sherman of UK.
For the for the Mayors United team, we call them Ambassadors United and Mayors United we have.
Sammy Kannan, of course, the mayor of Geneva as a captain.
We have the captain, captain of the castle of San Marino, Tomaso Rossini.
We have SFOS Slovenia, the Mayor of Maribor, Alexander, Sasha Arsenovich, and we have the mayor of Sarajevo.
And then she's in our Belgrade and Novomesto will not redo the names unless you you're interested and don't want to take too much time on this list.
And Paula, maybe if you can just specify if the journalist can follow this?
Or of course, the journalist are very much welcome to follow.
I mean, of course you want to have interviews in person.
You know where to find this.
We'll be in room 17, but you can follow by connecting online and also the event is covered by by web TV the of the United Nations.
So the UN web TV there is the link online is forum of mayors.unec.org.
If you go on the website, you will have all the connection details and you're welcome to follow it from there.
Of course, web TV will not allow interaction when online connection would allow that.
But again, we also have the possibility of meeting the mayors in person.
If you show up, there will also be as reception, socially distance and according to the rules right after the event around 4/4/30 at the Bardella Serpentine.
If you're also interested in meeting some of the speakers in person.
Thank you.
Paula.
Any other question for ECE, I don't see any.
So thank you very much and good luck for this important and also, as you said, positive event.
So I'll go back to John who had a question.
But before doing so, I just would like to refer to the conversation that we had before.
Just to give you the information that there is a website that contains all the information about the action of the UN on preventing sexual exploitation and *****.
Contains the report of the Secretary General.
It contains the database that was talking about before with all the allegations that are put that are that come to the attention of the agencies and this website isun.org/preventing-, sexual-, exploitation-, and- *****.
We'll send this link to you after the briefing.
But really everything we have been discussing until now finds an answer there, including the follow up to the allegations, including the protection and the support the victims, including the trust fund that has been created to support the victim and so on and so forth.
So I'll go now to John, who has been waiting to ask a question.
Yes.
Can you hear me?
Good morning.
Go ahead.
Yes, you can hear me.
Hello.
Yes, John, go ahead.
Good, good, good, good.
Yes.
Following up on Kathy's question about impunity, do you have any information from the Secretary General's office that you can share with us?
How many times in the last five years the Secretary General lifted diplomatic immunity for UN personnel so they could be prosecuted for sexual ***** related crimes wherever they're operating in the field or in in various countries?
Because I understand periodically that happens.
It would be very nice for us to have an update if that has happened recently with relation in relation to sexual ***** allegations, so authorities at the countries concerned could take up prosecutions of the alleged perpetrators.
Thank you.
Thank you, John.
Yes, I think I can ask this and you also asked another question before.
We will try to answer both after the briefing.
I'll ask my colleagues in New York.
Gorky Bonjour.
Bonjour, Alessandra.
New York.
The the, the the.
The the.
A.
I'm sorry, Suite Alajuni International as much as switch back to English.
So following the commemoration of the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons, which as you know is commemorated by the international community on the 26th of September every year, the General Assembly has organised and will hold a **** level meeting today at 10 AM New York time.
The Secretary General and the President of the General Assembly will address this, a **** level plenary meeting to advocate for resuming dialogue and negotiations for nuclear arms control and disarmament and to consider how states can return to a common path to nuclear disarmament.
You also have received last week the message of the Secretary General on this issue.
I would also like to to inform you that on Monday 5th of October, OHCHRUN Global Polls and Access Now have invited everybody to attend a **** level side event and type of the **** level side event of the General Assembly entitled Protecting Human rights during the COVID-19 Crisis and Beyond Digital pandemic surveillance and the right to Privacy.
This is a virtual meeting as the others organising the framework of the General Assembly this year and the focus of the discussion will be on the implications of increased surveillance on human rights during and beyond the pandemic in order to work towards the protection of personal data and the promotion of digital rights in the fight against the COVID.
The Secretary General will in address this this event.
I would also like to remind you of a couple of other points.
We have issued the annual report of the Secretary General on the work of the organisation.
2020 is now available in all official languages and for the first time into accessibility formats in books and easy to read format.
This report showcases how the United Nations Secretariat translates resources into impact and how we work on the Sustainable Development Goals, climate action, gender equality, etcetera.
But it's also the first time that we include in the report a sampling of the world of the work of the broader UN family and also the system wide efforts to help respond to COVID-19 and to build a more inclusive and sustainable world.
This is available on un.org/annual Report.
And lastly, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights will meet in private until the public closure of the session that finally opened on Wednesday.
So it will close on the 16th of October at 4:00 PM.
The Committee on Enforced Disappearances will resume next Monday and will hold it's dialogue with Iraq, as I told you on Tuesday.
And the Committee on the Rights of the Child has now closed yesterday it's 85th session and they've announced that they all that the next session will be held in January, on the 18th of January 2021.
Very last points.
Fernando Bushall asked me to read on his behalf the following announcement.
The World Trade Organisation is holding a press conference on 6th of October about it's revised trade growth forecast.
Journalist can attend in person at Room D at the WTO or virtually via Webex.
The press conference will start at 2:00 PM, but advanced copies of the press release will be available under embargo a few minutes beforehand.
You can contact the Address Press briefing at wto.org for more details.
And this is what I had for you.
And I see that Emma has a question.
Thank you so much.
I wasn't sure when the best timing was but it's for UNHCR.
Please if Chevy is still around, I was.
Thanks.
Yes, she is.
Go ahead.
Thank you.
Yes, after you.
She's there.
Perfect.
I I was just wondering if you had any reaction to the US administration's decision to let in just 15,000 refugees from 2021, which would be a record low please.
Shabia.
OK, I think I'm unmuted now.
Sorry it took a little bit of a while.
Yeah, go ahead, We can hear you.
Thank you.
Thanks, Emma, for your question.
We're aware of the proposed ceiling of 15,000 on refugee admissions to the US for the coming fiscal year, but the figure remains under discussion with the US government.
So we're awaiting a formal decision in any case in the form of a presidential determination.
But we do wish that resettlement saves lives at a time when more people have been forcibly displaced and uprooted around the world than ever before.
Resettlement is a precious solution needed today more than ever before for the most vulnerable refugees.
And we urge all countries, including the US, to make more places available for the people who need this protection most.
They include at risk women and girls, victims of tortures, and others who are vulnerable and need protection and not safe in the country where they first arrive.
The global COVID-19 pandemic understandably disrupted many aspects of life around the world, including in resettlement travel for refugees going to the US and other countries.
While this public health emergency temporary halted resettlement earlier this year, UNHCR supports the US and other governments as they resume safe and efficient resettlement, travel and procedures.
The vast majority of refugees live in developing regions, and only a small fraction of those are resettled to any third country.
They don't choose the country of their resettlement.
They undergo comprehensive vetting overseas before they travel anywhere.
Thanks.
Thank you very much.
And with that, we'll conclude this press briefing from Geneva.
Thank you very much and have a nice weekend.
And we will follow up on your questions later on in the day.
Thank you.
Bye.
Bye.