PRESS BRIEFING BY THE UNITED NATIONS INFORMATION SERVICE
31 January 2023
Announcements
Sarah Bel, for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), informed that on 6 February at 2:30 p.m., there would be a hybrid press conference to launch new UNDP report on violent extremism in Sub-Saharan Africa and Arab States - Journey to and from Extremism: Pathways to Recruitment and Disengagement. Speakers would be Achim Steiner, UNDP Administrator, and Nirina Kiplagat, main author and Regional Peacebuilding Advisor. The report, the most extensive research on this topic, with some 2,200 interviewees, would be under embargo until 7 February at 6 a.m.. One-on-one interviews with the authors could be organized. Ms. Bel explained that the reported focused on eight countries: Niger, Nigeria, Mali, Somalia, Sudan, Chad, Burkina Faso, and Cameroon, in which most incidents of violent extremism were taking place. The report concluded with policy recommendations for countries under threat. A key message was that the money going into prevention was a tiny fraction of overall sums spent to tackle the phenomenon.
Alessandra Vellucci, speaking on behalf of the Human Rights Council (HRC), said that the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) was currently reviewing the report of Japan, which was being webcast live. UPR would then review the report of Sri Lanka on 1 February.
Ms. Vellucci, for the United Nations Information Service (UNIS), stated that the Committee on the Rights of the Child would have a meeting with States Parties on 2 February at 3 p.m.. The Committee would then close its session the following day, 3 February, after at 5 p.m..
The Conference on Disarmament was holding this morning a public plenary meeting, still under the presidency of Egypt.
Ms. Vellucci reminded that 1 February would mark the second anniversary of the coup in Myanmar. On that occasion, the statement by the Spokesman of the Secretary-General had been shared with the media. UN Special Rapporteur for Myanmar Thomas Andrews would hold a press conference today at 8 pm Geneva time, which could be followed at webtv.un.org.
Finally, Ms. Vellucci informed about the Education Cannot Wait (ECW) High-Level Financing Conference event in Geneva on 16-17 February, which would be hosted by ECW and Switzerland and co-convened with Colombia, Germany, Niger, Norway, and South Sudan. A curtain-raised press conference was foreseen at the Palais des Nations. More information is available here.
Responding to questions, Tarik Jašarević, for the World Health Organization (WHO), said that the IHR Emergency Committee had advised the Director-General that COVID-19 still represented an emergency of international concern. The Director-General had concurred with this recommendation and urged countries to continue with a measured approach to address the pandemic. Numbers around the world had been on the rise again, stressed Mr. Jašarević.
Ms. Vellucci shared the sad news of the untimely passing of a dear UN Geneva colleague, Olga Cheremisina, at the age of 38. Ms. Cheremisina had worked at UNIS for several months and would be fondly remembered by all.
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Press Conferences | HRC , ILO , UNCTAD , WHO , FAO , ICRC
Alessandra Vellucci, Director of the United Nations Information Service (UNIS) in Geneva, chaired the hybrid briefing, which was attended by spokespersons and representatives from the World Health Organization, Food and Agriculture Organization, International Labour Organization, Human Rights Council, United Nations Trade and Development and International Committee of the Red Cross and Red Crescent.
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Edited News , Press Conferences | OCHA
More than 280,000 people have been uprooted in northwest Syria in a matter of days following the sudden and massive offensive into Government-controlled areas led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which is sanctioned by the Security Council as a terrorist group.
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Press Conferences , Edited News | OCHA
Multiple unending conflicts, climate change and a glaring disregard for long-established international humanitarian law are set to leave a staggering 305 million people in need of lifesaving assistance next year, the UN’s top aid official warned on Wednesday.
Embargo Wednesday, 4 December 2024 at 0600 CET / 0000 ET
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Press Conferences | UNRISD , UNHCR , IFRC , OHCHR , WHO , OCHA
Alessandra Vellucci, Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva (UNIS), chaired a hybrid briefing, which was attended by representatives and spokespersons for the World Health Organization (WHO), the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD), and the International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC).
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Press Conferences | FAO , ITU , OHCHR , WHO , UNHCR
Alessandra Vellucci, Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva (UNIS), chaired a hybrid briefing, which was attended by the Deputy Secretary-General for the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), representatives and spokespersons for the World Health Organization (WHO), the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
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Press Conferences , Edited News | ITU
An estimated 5.5 billion people have access to the internet in 2024, an increase of 227 million people based on revised estimates for 2023, the UN specialized agency for telecommunications, ITU, said on Wednesday.
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Press Conferences | FAO
Media launch of the FAO State of Agricultural Commodity Markets (SOCO) 2024 "Trade and Nutrition: Policy Coherence for Healthy Diets"
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Press Conferences , Edited News | UNAIDS
Launch of World AIDS Day Report 2024—Take The Rights Path
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Press Conferences | UNECE , ITU , OHCHR , WHO , IFRC , WFP
Michele Zaccheo, Chief, UNTV, Radio and Webcast Section, United Nations Information Service (UNIS) in Geneva, chaired the hybrid briefing, which was attended by spokespersons and representatives from the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, International Telecommunication Union, World Health Organization, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and the World Food Programme.
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Press Conferences | OCHA , WHO , UNHCR , IFRC , ILO , UNCTAD
Alessandra Vellucci of the United Nations Information Service (UNIS) in Geneva, chaired the hybrid briefing, attended by spokespersons and representatives of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the World Health Organization, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the International Federation of the Red Cross, the International Labour Organization and the United Nations Trade and Development.
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Press Conferences | ITU , OSE , UNIFIL , UNICEF , OHCHR , WHO , FAO
Rolando Gómez of the United Nations Information Service (UNIS) in Geneva, chaired hybrid briefing, attended by spokespersons and representatives of United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the World Health Organization, the Food and Agricultural Organization, and the International Telecommunication Union.
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Press Conferences , Edited News | UNRWA
The head of the UN agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA, confirmed on Monday that a large convoy of humanitarian aid was looted inside Gaza at the weekend, amid a near-total a breakdown in law and order and harassment of the agency’s staff by Israeli soldiers.