The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
STORY: Update situation in the OPT - UNRWA
TRT: 2:41”
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 30 April 2024 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
- Exterior med shot: UN flag alley
- Wide shot: Speaker at the podium during press conference with journalists
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner-General, UNRWA: “We believe that that much more needs to be done. It is true that there have been more supply entering during the months of April, but this is still far from enough to reverse the negative trend we have seen.”
- Wide shot: Speakers at the podium, with photographers and journalists in the room
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner-General, UNRWA: “Hostages are still in captivity with the Hamas and that both, the Secretary-General, myself but other UN officials keep asking for the unconditional and immediate release of the hostages. But I have also shared this morning our deep concern regarding the Gazans detained by Israeli security forces.”
- Med shot: speakers at the podium with journalists in room
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner-General, UNRWA: “People have told us that they are routinely rounded up when they were arrested, they were routinely rounded up, stripped to the underwear and loaded into trucks, blindfolded and bombed. Most of the time, once arrested, these detainees, remain incommunicado and they are subjected to shocking, inhuman treatment. Among the inhuman treatment they have described to us waterboarding, severe beatings, attacked by dogs.”
- Med shot: Journalists in the press room
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner-General, UNRWA: “Up to sixteen countries suspended the contribution to the Agency (UNRWA). The good news is that, as of today, most of the donor countries have resumed their contribution to the Agency. We just have a hand full of country who still need to take a decision. We know that the main contributor, the US, has indicated that they will not be able to support the Agency before March 2025.”
- Med shot, journalist listening in press briefing
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner-General, UNRWA: “If really today there is a genuine commitment to reactivate and bring back the two- state solution on the table, the Agency can retrieve its temporary nature and supporting the transition leading to the two- state solution, the transition leading to the day after.”
- Med shot, cameraman filming with speaker on screen
- Wide shot, cameramen filming with journalist listening
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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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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.
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“Some glacier loss is inevitable, but total loss of glaciers is not yet inevitable,” she said, pointing to emissions reductions as central to limiting future losses.
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Mr. Jenkinson said governments need to prepare for “moving baselines” as historical patterns become less reliable.
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