The United Nations Office at Geneva
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PRESS BRIEFING BY THE UNITED NATIONS INFORMATION SERVICE
01 November 2022
Health update on Pakistan
Dr. Richard Brennan, Regional Emergency Director at the World Health Organization (WHO), speaking from Cairo, said that over the past few weeks, flood waters had begun to recede across Pakistan. However, the economy was deteriorating, and some eight million people needed assistance. Public health risks were increasing, being accentuated by stagnant waters and damaged infrastructure. There were malaria outbreaks in several areas, in addition to dengue fever, cholera, diphtheria, and measles. Access to safe water and sanitation remained limited. The needs were massive, stressed Dr. Brennan. WHO was working to provide essential services to those affected by the floods, undertaking vaccination campaigns against measles and cholera, and providing access to clear drinking water, among other activities. Dr. Brennan emphasized that many more people could die from diseases in the coming weeks and months if the international community did not scale its response rapidly.
Responding to questions from the media, Dr. Brennan said that around 1,600 people had died during the floods, but there was no effective mortality surveillance throughout the flood-affected areas. Malaria, cholera, and other diseases in the floods’ aftermath could lead to tens of thousands more casualties. Malnutrition, which had been an issue even before the floods, remained a huge problem, and managing severe acute malnutrition was a priority. WHO needed USD 81 million to do everything it needed to do, specified Dr. Brennan. The overall humanitarian response was only 16 per cent funded as of today; it was a tough time to mobilize humanitarian funds, given several simultaneous emergencies around the world.
Cholera in Lebanon and Syria
Answering questions, Dr. Richard Brennan, Regional Emergency Director at the World Health Organization (WHO), said that cholera was a problem in Lebanon, with over 700 registered cases in the country until now. Cholera was spread by contaminated water and food, and the water infrastructure in some areas was disrupted. WHO was taking all the necessary steps from the public health perspective, including surveillance and vaccines, but until the water, sanitation, and hygiene challenges were addressed, this would be an uphill battle.
Cholera was believed to have spread to Lebanon from Syria, where at least 20,000 cases had been recorded since August, across all governorates. Syria was facing the same challenges as Lebanon. As there were 29 cholera outbreaks across the globe, there was a huge demand for vaccines, the WHO needed to ration vaccines, and a single dose regimen was being implemented instead of the standard two doses.
Public hearings by the Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory
Rolando Gomez, for the Human Rights Council (HRC), said that the Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel, would hold a first series of public hearings from 7 to 11 November, in Room XVII at the Palais des Nations in Geneva. The hearings would be broadcast live in English on UN Web TV. Media without UN Geneva media credentials who wished to attend needed to register on UNOG · Indico. Mr. Gomez would be sending daily updates to the press corps.
Responding to questions, Mr. Gomez explained that commissions of inquiry had held similar public hearings in the past. The objective was to collect testimonies from witnesses in a public manner; roughly three testimonies were expected per day. Diplomats and NGOs would not participate in the hearings. The witnesses had agreed to testify publicly, and both Israelis and Palestinians would participate. Mr. Gomez stressed that the Commission of Inquiry was different from previous ones because it was looking into violations in both Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. The three commissioners were independent lawyers appointed by the Human Rights Council. He said that the Commission had reached out to the Israeli Government for its comments and to be given access but had received no response.
Announcements
Rolando Gomez, for the Human Rights Council (HRC), announced that the Council’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) would start its 41st session on 7 November and would last for two weeks. This would mark the beginning of its fourth cycle. Fourteen States would have their records reviewed; more information is available here.
Rhéal LeBlanc, for the UN Information Service, said that the International Media Seminar on the Peace in the Middle East would be held in Room XXVI of the Palais des Nations on 3 and 4 November, in the presence of the Under-Secretary-General for Global Communications, Melissa Fleming, and others. More information about the Seminar and its three panels, which can be attended in person or watched online, is available here.
Clare Nullis, for the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), provided information about the WMO’s pre-COP27 and COP27 activities. On 2 November, the WMO would release its State of Climate in Europe report, and the State of Global Climate report on 6 November. A press conference with the WMO Secretary-General would be held in Sharm El Sheikh on the eve of COP27. On 7 November, the opening day of COP27, the UN Secretary-General would unveil his action plan on early warning systems, informed Ms. Nullis.
Karima Cherif, for the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD), said that UNRISD was releasing its Authentic Sustainability Assessment: A User Manual for the Sustainable Development Performance Indicators, which stressed that sustainability required contextualization, and addressed the challenge of “greenwashing”. She explained that a lot of companies measured their progress towards the SDGs, but without proper contextualization. The publication looked into economic entities rather than governments. UNRSID, being an independent entity, was also working to improve the UN’s own performance in this regard.
Press conferences
Fadéla Chaib, for the World Health Organization (WHO), informed that on 2 November at 2 p.m., the WHO Regional Office for Eastern Mediterranean would hold a virtual press conference on the cholera outbreaks in the region, with Dr. Richard Brennan and other speakers from the region.
She said the next WHO Director-General’s weekly press conference would be held on 2 November at 3 p.m., with a focus on climate change and health, ahead of COP27. Dr. Tedros would be joined virtually by Martin Griffiths, UN Humanitarian Relief Chief, and two NGO representatives.
Ms. Chaib also announced that a COP27-related press conference would take place on 3 November at 2 p.m. Two speakers would be Dr. Maria Neira, Director of the Department of Environment, Climate Change and Health at the WHO, and Dr Diarmid Campbell-Lendrum, Head of Climate Change and Health Unit at the WHO. More information about the WHO’s participation at COP27 is available here.
Rhéal LeBlanc, for the UN Information Service, said that on 2 November at 10 a.m., at Palais Wilson 1-016, there would be a background briefing by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk.
The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), will hold a hybrid press conference on 3 November at 11 a.m. to present its Least Developed Countries Report 2022, embargoed until 6 p.m. that day. Speakers would be Rebeca Grynspan, UNCTAD Secretary-General, and Paul Akiwumi, Director, Division for Africa, Least Developed Countries and Special Programmes at UNCTAD.
The Human Rights Committee would hold its next public meeting on 2 November at 10 a.m., to review its report on the follow-up of views concerning communications. On 3 November, at 1:30 p.m., the Committee would hold a hybrid press conference to presents its observations on the Philippines, Kyrgyzstan, Japan, Ethiopia, Nicaragua, and Russia.
The Committee Against Torture, which had started its 75th session the previous day, was beginning this morning its review of the report of Chad.
Mr. LeBlanc informed that on 2 November would be the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists, on which occasion the Secretary-General had issued a message, in which he stressed that a free press was vital to a functioning democracy, exposing wrongdoing, navigating our complex world, and advancing the Sustainable Development Goals.
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As world’s water reserves change, countries must prepare for a new reality: WMO
New data showing that rivers were at their lowest level for decades last year provides further evidence that the climate crisis is real and countries must act immediately to protect themselves from the increasing threat to communities and livelihoods, the UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Thursday.
The key findings from WMO’s State of Global Water Resources 2025 report covering the hydrological cycle and extreme events in the five-year period to last year:
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Highlighting the long-term decline in the Earth’s freshwater storage and glacier melt, WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo explained that the planet’s water reserves used to act as a planetary “savings account” that absorbed the occasional dry season, avoiding a water crisis. “One of the central stories of the 2025 report is what is happening to that savings account? And the simple answer is that we are depleting it,” she told journalists in Geneva.
Groundwater reserves are equally stretched and have been in decline since 2014, WMO’s report states, with nearly two-thirds of monitored wells worldwide showing levels lower than the historical norm and indicating a shift “further toward deficit…not recovery”.
“At the same time, we are seeing more water-related disasters,” Ms. Saulo said, while also stressing that the currently strengthening El Niño “will increase the risk of drought in some areas, and flooding in others”.
Glaciers disappearing
In 2025, for the fourth consecutive year, every major glaciated region on Earth lost ice mass, leading to short-term hazards including floods and long-term water insecurity, according to WMO.
Responding to a question about whether the changing global water cycle might have contributed to the deadly Nepal-China flooding disaster, Ms. Saulo explained that melting ice and rock was just one factor in the chain of events that ultimately sent a massive and deadly wall of water and debris downstream on 26 August, killing at least 1,367 people.
“You asked if it could happen again? Absolutely; the problem in this region is that there’s 63,700 glaciers at the last count,” she told a Press Conference in Geneva. “Even if you’re looking with remote sensing with satellites at these glaciers, you might see some faults, you might see some slight shifting, that does not mean necessarily catastrophic collapse. So, in order to plan for this, it’s very, very difficult. But the international community is looking very hard at ways in which we can bring people together to solve some of these monitoring issues.”
Data indicates that glaciers shrank between 2023 and 2025 with cumulative losses of 1,400 gigatonnes of water – or about one third of annual fresh water needs.
Every major glacier region on Earth lost ice for the fourth consecutive year.
“All 19 glacier regions around the globe lost ice; in Central Asia, Iceland, the Russian Arctic and western Canada and the United States, it was among the three worst years on record,” said Wayne Jenkinson, WMO’s Director of Hydrology and Cryosphere.
Some regions with smaller glaciers such as Central Europe, the Caucasus, the western Canada and the United States may already have reached “peak water”, Mr. Jenkinson warned.
“After this point, the glacier gives less meltwater each year simply because there is less ice left to melt. That matters for every community downstream that relies on water during hot, dry summers,” he explained.
Narelle van der Wel, WMO’s Head of Cryosphere Monitoring, Predictions and Services, stressed that while some further glacier loss is unavoidable, the eventual scale of the decline is not predetermined.
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The report does not attribute every observed change to climate change alone. WMO says pressure on water resources and natural variability also contribute.
Mr. Jenkinson said governments need to prepare for “moving baselines” as historical patterns become less reliable.
“The situation 30 years ago is not where we are today,” he said. Countries, he added, need to prepare “for those changes that have really already arrived”.
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