Welcome to the press briefing of the UN Information Service in Geneva, Tuesday 8th of December.
We have a long list of announcements today and I will start straight away with the activity that we have organised today with our colleagues from UNESCO and EBU on the occasion of 2020 U 2010 TB Day, which as I told you last time, it's already passed.
But we are going to commemorate it now and to speak about this event.
I have with me on the podium Vanson de Fudni, the Director of the Liaison Office of UNESCO here in Geneva and Online Leeds Co being head of news at EBUS while start maybe with Lanson and then move to lease.
OK, Thank you, Alessandra in in fact this year is very weird, is very special.
And we somehow we will celebrate in December, something we should have celebrated in May because we as of tomorrow, we will be holding the word Press Freedom Conference 23rd 20, which will take place in Denhegue and online.
It is organised this year jointly by UNESCO and the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
And it will be, as I already said, it will take the form of a digital conference and it will be streamed live from the World Forum in Denhegue.
The theme of this year celebration is Journalism without Fear or Favour and the event will explore issues related to the protection of independent journalism around the globe, overcoming the obstacle of media capture and guaranteeing journalism that provides reliable information and diversity of youth.
It will jointly commemorate the word Press Freedom Day, which was supposed to take place, I mean, which took place on the 3rd of May and at the same time the International Day to End Impunity for Crime crimes again, journalist.
It was on the 2nd of December and somehow also the the, the TV day, the UNTV day, the World TV Day, which was some weeks ago in November.
The event will take place in an innovative format, merging digital and in personal demand.
It will get a journalist, media companies, human rights defenders, members of the judiciary, policy makers, academics, youths, NGOs and everyone who's interested in the press freedom worldwide.
Participation of of course free, but online slots are limited, so it's important to register and reserve the the spot.
The full programme is online at wpfc2020.com and a dedicate, A dedicated press conference will take place today at 1:30 in the same room or online for those who would like to follow.
But as I already said, I mean the press freedom is directly linked also the with the public service media and we are partnering also with EBU who's launching a report.
So maybe now it would be good to, to, to listen to what's EBU is also 111 willing to say about this report.
Thank you very much Liz, you have the floor.
Thank you very much and hello everybody.
Thank you very much to UNESCO, to the UN for this opportunity.
So as some of you will know, the European Broadcasting Union publishes it's news report every year.
This year it became very obvious very early on what the subject of this year's report would need to be.
And this afternoon session starting at 130 Geneva time, and you'll have the opportunity to hear from one of the authors of our report, which we've called Fast forward Public Service Journalism in a Viral Age.
It's about what we've learnt as journalists and as editors from this pandemic so far, just as journalists worldwide are well known for running into disaster zones, just as everybody else is running out.
This time, of course, as everything closed down, it was newsrooms that started producing more content.
We saw young people who've never watched ATV News Bulletin in their life suddenly start watching the Evening News.
What was all of that about?
We know that digital transformation has been accelerated in this time and no less so than in the traditional media.
So you'll be able to hear about the success stories there.
And the pandemic quickly became not just a health emergency, but also a political football.
So what was the role of public service media in that?
But often, of course, we found it very difficult to get to what the truth was, and even it was even harder to make sure that the public heard it and understood what that was.
So in this report we hear from leaders of 20 of the biggest and most influential newsrooms in Europe.
We hear what they thought were the most challenging and difficult parts of this year, and we think this is the most detailed and contemporaneous study of public service journalism in 2020.
So we do believe this is an important report for for everybody to hear and we'd love to share that knowledge with you.
There are plenty of lessons to be learned for 2021 and beyond.
So I'm very pleased to have this opportunity to share it with you and hopefully we can see you this afternoon.
Liz, thank you very much.
And I see that Jamie, Jamie Scheeder for for Liz is our correspondent, Brazilian correspondent have studied Sao Paulo.
Jamie, do you want to ask a question about this or you want to reserve it for this afternoon's?
I asked this question already last week.
My question is whether any of you have invited Brazil and if you're not bothered by the fact that perhaps the delegation of Brazil will be in the room, a delegation not representing basically a government that systemically and wide in a widespread way attacks journalists in a daily basis.
Are you going to, for example, impose some kind of a restriction?
Because otherwise it will become an event that will be used by governments that censor the press to tell the world that actually they don't censor the press.
Jamil, I understand, sorry.
I understand your question is not about the event this afternoon or the report, but about the conference that UNESCO is organising.
So I'll give the and I'm pretty sure he will sponsor it to you this afternoon conference if Preso was invited and if there's any criteria for the for them to participate there.
There is no, no criteria for participating in the World Press Freedom Conference is always very open to journalists, to NGOs, to all kind of actors defending the, the, the fundamental human rights and in particular the freedom of expression.
So we, I, I will check, I don't get the whole details of the, the people invited, but there will be several very important speakers during the, the, the conference, during the three days, the, the three days conference.
Just, I can already tell you that for example, the, the, the, the, the, the, the research and fiance of Khashoggi will be present.
Amal Clooney, Christiane Amanpour and several other very **** level people will be participating.
And you know, these people are not, I mean they, they do not silence.
They'd say their, their commitment for freedom expression.
And I will check and maybe if you can come back the for the press conference at 1:30, I will give you more details about the Brazil participation.
Thank you very much, Vanson.
I don't see any other question for this.
I hope everybody's keeping the question for this afternoon at 1:30.
We'll see you here and online for this press conference.
And I would like to thank this Vanson to be here with us today and this afternoon.
Before we leave completely the issue of journalism, I would like to just remind you, you have received a press note from Royal yesterday about the process of accreditation.
We have been asked by many of you what's going to happen with the accreditations for the year to come.
And so now you've seen we have a new system.
Wait, because I think there are more questions.
Just just to finish this point, I've seen a few hands raised.
The issue is that we are going to go towards a new system for accreditations, a new in the ecosystem.
That's why which is going to be roll out in the month of January.
That's why we don't do the usual permanent accreditations process.
You will be able to start it in January with real, real.
We'll let you know when and that means that your budgets will be valid until the end of January.
But please start already preparing your documentation so that when the time comes, you're ready to go for the request of renewal of accreditation.
Jamil, I think is a follow up from your questions right before for an organisation of announcements.
We got a press release by WHO announcing a press conference tomorrow at 11:00 and we do have Bachelor at 10:30, which is quite astonishing.
The double HI would have to check this because I don't have it on my list of press conferences, which surprises me because they always coordinate with us.
So I would love to check with this and maybe we'll come back to you with the time it is called new WHO global health Estimates.
And also we were not sure about the presence of anybody from WHO.
Let me see if anybody's connected.
In the meantime, I'll give the floor to Lisa.
First, thank you Jamil for bringing up that point.
I was thinking the same thing myself.
It's an important WHO report and be ashamed to miss it.
My question is, oh, she disappeared quickly.
Your report sounds interesting.
Do you have a press release that you have that you could send us?
Lisa, I would like to Liz, also answer, but the link to the press release has been sent to you with the media advisory.
So the link is in the text, but maybe Liz, you want to say something about it.
That's exactly, that's exactly what I was going to say.
But we've sent you a link to the report itself if you need a summary.
But actually the way the report is set out allows you to flick through it and go to the bits that you need.
So look through the contents and, and, and go from there.
So yes, let me know if you don't have the link, but we can certainly make sure that's shared with you and Liz and Lisa.
There is also the link to the report itself.
So you can from there you can find both information.
I don't see other questions for our colleagues of UNESCO, NIBU.
So with pleasure, we'll find them again here at 1:30.
Thank you very much and I'll go to my right Mr Nobel Prize.
Thank you so much, Alessandra.
On a very good note, today the the World Food Programme is honoured to accept the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize on December 10 at 1300 hours Central European time, 1:00 PM on Thursday, December 10th, in a ceremony that recognises this is our role in fighting hunger and fostering peace in conflict affected areas.
Now WP Executive Director David Beasley will receive the award on behalf of the urgency and it's 20,000 staff in a virtual ceremony that can be viewed worldwide on the Nobel site.
WP is also hosting a Facebook Life event which we are calling the People's Prize.
I have circulated a media advisory yesterday that is all the links on how to watch, how to follow proceedings.
But the ceremony will basically be a celebration of the remarkable history, the people, the partners who are behind WFP winning the Nobel Peace Prize, as well as reactions from WFP staff around the world.
Sadly, the Nobel Peace Prize comes at a time when the world is again facing issues.
In some countries, 2021 threatens to be a very difficult year, particularly in priority countries that we have been talking about for for some time now.
Countries like Yemen, South Sudan, the North East of Nigeria and Burkina Faso are teetering on the brink of famines amid an alarming conventions of conflict, hunger and the COVID-19 pandemic.
There are a couple of media resources and all these are reflected in the media advisory circulated yesterday for information on double of peace work as a first step to peace.
There is broadcast quality footage as well on the Nobel as well as from our operations that you can access.
And we have great people in some of the most interesting places who are available for interviews, not only spokespeople, country directors, regional directors and staff who are often on the front lines of hunger and conflict.
I will stop here and see if there are any questions.
Thank you very much, Thompson.
Let me see also if there's any question, don't see any.
So have a very good ceremony and congratulations again.
I'll go now to my left today.
I've got a lot of colleagues on the podium and for the floor to give the floor to Jens on his announcements.
Jens, thank you, Alessandra.
Congratulations again to WFP.
Once more I want just to announce today's event, clenching event for the Central Emergency Response Fund, the SURF.
It is a **** level clenching event is the official name of it.
It is mostly a well, it is virtual.
It is the in broadcast on your web TV.
It will start at 4:00 PM Central European time.
It will last for a few hours, actually about 3 hours, during which the the the participants will discuss and highlight the achievements of the Central Emergency Response Fund in 2020 and pledging funding for 20/21.
As you know, the the SURF has been around for 15 years now.
So it is a fund by all, it's for all.
It is an instrument that is critical in pushing in money very fast in new emergencies or emergencies that deteriorate very rapidly.
So it's really a front runner in the response.
The ambition is to get it to $1 billion fund.
It is not quite there yet, but let's see in the course of the day if we can get pledges that get us closer to that overall time.
SO4-O clock PM Thank you.
And you have a question from Emma.
Am I allowed to ask a question on Ethiopia to Yems, please?
I was wondering if there's an update on the situation at the Shamelba refugee camp.
Overnight, there were reports that Aun team was actually shot at.
Can you give any clarification who were they shot at by and have they been detained or what is the situation now?
Maybe also one for UNHCR, but putting it to Yen since he's on the podium.
Yeah, let's start with the ends and then I go to a bar who is connected.
But I also would like to start by reading you a couple of lines from the statement that the spokesperson for the Secretary General issued yesterday on Ethiopia, where he said that the Secretary General is very concerned about the current situation in the province.
In Ethiopia, he feels that it is essential to restore quickly risk the rule of law in full respect for human rights, to promote social cohesion and inclusive reconciliation, as well as to re establish the delivery of public services and guarantee unfettered humanitarian access.
He said that the UN remains totally committed to supporting the African Union initiative and to mobilising the full capacity of the UN to provide humanitarian support to refugees, displaced people and all populations in distress.
The Secretary General has also been conveying these messages in the numerous conversation he has had with United Nations representatives on the ground and regional leaders, as well as Prime Minister Abbey Ahmed of Ethiopia, with whom he spoke yesterday.
And maybe, yes, could compliment this.
And then I go to the back.
Sorry, and thanks so much for the question.
We are aware of the reports that are circulating regarding an alleged incident involving UN staff in Tigray.
For the safety and security of our teams on the ground, we will not be commenting on these reports for the time being.
Babar, would you like to add something on the situation in Tigray?
Well, nothing further in terms of what Jens was saying on, on the security, just in terms of our concerns.
I mean now, more than a month since the fighting began, the humanitarian situation integrity is increasingly critical and it is vital that humanitarians are able to urgently assist people in accordance with the globally agreed principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality and operational independence.
Sadly, so far, the badly needed access is not there.
And I see your hand is still up.
Yes, if I may, since Baba's on the podium, can you please just give us an update on the situation with the, the refugees that are inside Tigre?
We, you mentioned before that they were going to run out of food.
What is the situation according to the the few pieces of information you're getting from the ground and how concerned are you about those people who are are trapped there?
Thank you very much, Emma.
We remain really concerned about the safety and security of civilians in general and also the Eritrean refugees who who are there.
I mean, we have received that refugees may have moved internally inside Tigray Lake of access means that we cannot reach refugees and others in need wherever they may be may have found shelter.
We have reports of refugees looking for food and safety in Michele and other areas inside Thigray.
We also have reports of Eritrean refugees reaching a location called Gondar in Amhara region and we are also assisting some of those who have reached these Ababa.
But the broader concern for refugees is still there that the numbers we have had was 96,000 Eritrean refugees in the region and lack of access means that we are not able to reach them.
And otherwise you are not able to verify what has happened or what is happening there.
Thank you very much, Lisa.
Good morning and good morning, Babar.
I'd like to follow up on Emma's question, please.
First in regard to the Eritrean refugees in in Ethiopia.
The last time you spoke to us, you were talking about your fear of many of them having fled the refugee camps.
You have any more information about that as to how many actually have fled, whether any of the camps have emptied out, where they may have gone and what their situation is?
And then turning to the refugees fleeing to Sudan again, last time we spoke, I asked you, well, first of all, if you have an update on the numbers and you, you indicated that many of them seem to be blocked or prevented from actually easily fleeing out of Ethiopia to Sudan, that there were a lot of checkpoints.
If you could elaborate upon that and tell us a bit more information about the situation there and how critical it is inside Sudan, which is overwhelmed with refugees as it is.
Yeah, thank you very much, Lisa.
Thank you for the question.
In terms of what is happening inside the grey and with the refugees, we don't have access in terms of to bring the real time information from the ground.
And and this is an issue of great worry for us.
We have seen reports that Eritrean refugees have been on the move in the other parts of the thick Ray region.
There are reports of a small number who have arrived inside Sudan with the Ethiopian refugees.
And also now we have reports that some of them have moved into other regions, specifically in Amhara region of of Ethiopia and and some have arrived in Addis Ababa in the capital.
So our our hope is that once we get the much direly needed access to, to the region, we will be able to assist people and see what has happened in the past one month.
And now it has been a month since we have lost access to to the Eritrean refugees.
On the other side, inside eastern Sudan, Ethiopian refugees continue to arrive.
Since the last briefing on Friday, we have received more than 1200 Ethiopian refugees who have arrived in Sudan.
The numbers are going down.
We saw a peak last week and now, as far as I understand, the numbers are 400 to 600 in terms of their average latest arrival.
There are concerns about refugees who want to leave and flee and seek safety in in Sudan and may have been prevented.
Refugees who are arriving are reporting increasing number of checkpoints, very hard for them to to reach, but they're still making it to Sudan.
The problem is it's very hard to establish what is happening inside the Thigray region at this point.
Let me see if there's any other question.
Lisa, is that a follow up?
You still, your hand is still up?
Just very quickly, first, what is the global number now of refugees that are in Eastern Sudan and then you say that the numbers are going down.
Do you attribute this mainly to people being prevented from moving or from people somehow?
Not so many people actually fleeing, wanting to to go to eastern Sudan and taking their chances where they are.
The overall number of Ethiopian refugees arriving in Sudan since the beginning of November has now crossed 49,000.
The numbers have been going up and down.
Uh, even last week when the numbers on average were 6-7 hundred, we saw a peak, uh, wherein one day it crossed 1000, uh, who arrived.
Now, since then, the number is in hundreds, but it is still that the refugees are arriving there.
And we continue to work with the Sudanese authorities want to try to make sure to assist whoever is arriving.
It's a challenge in terms of a humanitarian response, but we keep moving refugees away from the the border points.
Many of them have been hoping that hopefully peace will if peace is established soon, they will be able to go back home.
Many have been separated from their family members.
We have moved more than 11,000 Ethiopian refugees from close to the border points to a location called Umirakuba settlement.
We're we're working with the Sudanese authorities.
But in terms of what is happening inside the Thigray region without access and and security, it's very hard to say what is preventing them.
I don't see, I don't see other question, any other question for you or again.
I have a number of messages and, and, and information to share with you.
Just wanted to let Jamil know that we will look into the issue.
I've, I've, I've texted Cecile.
We'll have to look with The Who about the issue of the press conference for WHO you didn't have it in the in the list of attendance, but Margaret's connected also if you have any question for her as well as representatives of ICRCILOIOMUN habitat UNHCROU know and WMO.
So these are the people who should be connected with us.
If you have any further question on my side, Katrine we saw have asked me has asked me to read the to you the following announcement and that will publish it's annual Handbook of Statistics on 9th December and on the occasion we'll publish it's latest now casts on 2020 global trade in merchandises and services.
It is an online publication and a press release will be sent to you on Wednesday.
Katherine is obviously available by e-mail for any request for comments or clarification interviews.
I also would like to inform you that today at 3:00 PM N Southern time, the Spotlight Initiative regional programme for Central Asia and Afghanistan will be officially launched.
I will bring together dignitaries and senior leadership of the European Union and the United Nations, governments of Central Asia and Afghanistan, and invoice of women's movements to give a start to the programme designed to deliver on gender equality commitments.
This initiative is founded by the European Union with an initial budget of more than $4.3 million for Central Asia and Afghanistan.
This initiative is brought to us by UN Women.
There is a link to for registration for you to attend the launching event.
We have send it to you with the attendance list this morning.
Cecil, send it to you with the attendance list.
So if you would like to attend this event, just connect, register and connect.
You have all the information on the media alert that we've sent to you, including some more information on the Spotlight initiative.
And this is, as I said, brought to us by UN Women.
2 press conferences, UNDP latest figure from UNDP Climate Promise covering 114 countries, National determined contributions, what has been achieved since 2015 and now to keep up with the climate ambitions.
The press conference is today at 2:45.
This is the virtual press conference.
Sarah is available for questions.
The speaker for the press conference will be Cassie Flynn, UNDP climate advisor.
And tomorrow, as Jamil has reminded us at 10:30, **** Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bleschler will speak to you on the eve of stay on the need to recover better and stand up for human rights.
Reflections on 20/20 and looking ahead to 2021 for the press conferences today.
As we have told you at the last briefing, the annual UN International Media Seminar on Peace in the Middle East will be held virtually.
That will start at 10 AM New York time until 11:45 and then Wednesday from 10:30 to 12:00 noon, also New York time.
You have the programme and the media alerts that we sent to you on Friday.
Just let me know if you need any further information.
And just last but not least, we've sent you 2 messages of the Secretary General for the two international days that the international community commemorates tomorrow, 9th of December, The one on International Anti Corruption Day and the statement on the International Day of Commemoration Dignity of the Victims of the Crime of Genocide.
You have both statements with you.
I think I have told you everything.
Let me see if there's any question.
Lisa, you have a question.
I apologise, Alessandra, I think I missed what you said about The Who press conference tomorrow morning.
Maybe Margaret can elucidate that because it's it would be a shame to have to miss it.
And if I mean, I'm, I'm going to listen to Bachelet and I'd like to be able to play catch up if I'm going to, if I can't attend the press conference it well, virtually myself.
So I, I'd like a clarification upon that, whether press releases will be sent and whether the audio would be sent immediately afterwards.
I mean, you know, we're all a bit schizophrenic these days.
No, I didn't see anything about the, the press conference.
I said we will look into it with WHO?
And I just informed you that Margaret was connected because she was not in on the attendance list.
The information came a little bit too late.
So I just don't know Margaret, if you want to say anything about that or, or if we want to, to, to look at this afterwards.
I think Margaret is now connected.
Margaret, sorry, this is, this is a, a virtual press conference, a global virtual press conference on our regular release of those statistics.
I've checked with my colleagues to see why there's a clash.
I I think this was set up because that's when our global speakers were available, but the materials are available now under embargo.
So the main interest, one of the main interests of course will be the statistical data.
Now if you want a specific interview, look at the speakers and put a request in for me today because I know all three of them are pretty good about making themselves available.
So let us know and we if you can't attend the press conference, we'll see what we can do about a separate interview for you.
Thank you for clarifying.
Margaret, I've got Jamil who wants to ask you a question.
I understand that this is due to international speakers and this is a global event etcetera.
But it does not help us when we have a day before the Human Rights Day with a press conference that only happens once a year or once every six months clashing with your press conference, which basically could be perhaps debated with the UN in a way that we could cover.
Otherwise it it will get very tricky if if each of you will try to put their press conference first.
Yeah, that's why I was saying maybe we should have a look at this with the colleagues of WHO maybe separately to me.
And indeed, and I think Margaret said that she will look into it.
So Margaret, I don't know if you want to add anything otherwise I'll give the floor to Emma and then we will come back to you on this issue.
No, nothing I agree with.
But do remember at the moment, the other issue for us is that we are incredibly pushed for just finding a moment to do this press conference is so really super apologies, but we we really are stretched.
Margaret, I had a question on vaccines.
Since the first people are being injected today in the United Kingdom, would you be able to say, given that Europe is going to be apparently the first region to get the first COVID vaccines, do you think that these vaccines come in time to prevent a third wave in the region?
Well, you know, if you've listened to me before, I don't call things third waves.
We are in a constant situation where we have widespread transmission, but vaccines are a great tool.
They will be very helpful, but the effect of the vaccine in increased, providing some kind of immune barrier is still far off.
The things that must be done to prevent an increase, an uptick, A surge, whatever you want to call it, are the public health measures, the distancing, the hand washing, the identifying every single case, identifying every single contact backwards, the people tripping in contact there, but also forwards who led to you being infected.
Those things must be done with great ever greater rigour to stop this intense transmission.
I don't see any other question for you.
So we will look into the issue of the overlapping and and revert.
Otherwise, if there's no other request for the floor and it isn't, I hope I'll see you at 1:30 for the press freedom press conference.
Thank you very much to everybody.
