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UNOG Bi-weekly press briefing 29 January 2021
Humanitarian situation in northwest Syria
Jens Laerke, for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said that heavy rainfall and floods in north-west Syria in recent weeks had had a devastating impact on displaced people living in self-made camps, and the situation was going from bad to worse.
Mark Cutts, Deputy Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Syria Crisis, said in a statement that more than 120,000 people living in some 300 displacement sites had been badly affected, when torrential rain and strong winds had damaged or destroyed the tents in which they had been living. Humanitarian staff were now struggling to reopen access roads to reach the displaced in the north-west with emergency shelter, food, clean water and other supplies. It was a massive undertaking, and the work would continue for months. Unfortunately, less than half of the USD 49 million needed for winterisation had been received thus far.
The full statement by Mark Cutts is available here.
Responding to questions, Mr. Laerke said that the ceasefire was by and large holding, but there were sporadic breaches and hostilities going on.
Displacement in the Central African Republic
Boris Cheshirkov, for the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), said that, as insecurity in the Central African Republic had displaced more than 200,000 people within the country and in neighbouring states in less than two months, UNHCR was warning that tens of thousands were facing dire conditions. Refugee arrivals to the Democratic Republic of the Congo had reached 92,000 according to local authorities and some 13,240 people had crossed into Cameroon, Chad, and the Republic of Congo, since the eruption of violence in December 2020, ahead of CAR’s general elections. Refugees continued to arrive.
Some 100,000 people remained internally displaced inside CAR, informed Mr. Cheshirkov. The continuing volatility had hampered the humanitarian response and made access to the internally displaced more difficult. The main road used to bring supplies had also been forced shut. Armed groups were reportedly present in the Batangafo and Bria sites, where displaced communities were sheltering. Such presence posed a grave protection risk for those displaced, from risk of forced recruitment to restriction of movement to extortion or threats.
Most refugees were living in dire conditions in remote, hard-to-reach areas close to the rivers without basic shelter and facing acute food shortages. They were dependent on catching fish and on what the local villagers could spare. UNHCR was urgently appealing to the international community to mobilize funds, so humanitarian organizations could deliver life-saving assistance to the Central African refugees and their hosts.
Press briefing note is available here.
Responding to questions, Mr. Cheshirkov said that at the start of the new situation around the 27 December 2020 elections, some 185,000 people were estimated to have moved within the country; many of them had subsequently returned home. He explained there were currently some 105,000 refugees from CAR in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Cameroon and other countries. UNHCR was reiterating its appeals for the violence to stop.
Displacement in Darfur, Sudan
Tomson Phiri, for the World Food Programme (WFP), said the WFP was ramping up assistance to displaced people following a spate of inter-communal violence in West and South Darfur, forcing over 100,000 people to flee in search of safety. An estimated 70,000 of the displaced people were gathered in over 70 centres across Geneina city in West Darfur. Additional gathering points had been identified as people continue to arrive where the WFP and Sudan Humanitarian Aid Commission joint population assessments were being planned.
WFP had started distributions of emergency food assistance to people inside Geneina so far reaching 40,000 people in 30 of the 71 centres. Food distributions to reach the remainder of the affected population were currently ongoing within the city, while food distributions outside of Geneina would start upon completion of the verification exercise. WFP was extremely concerned with the continued violence, as even a momentary burst of violent disruption of livelihood activities could have a long-lasting impact. The biggest loser were the poor households whose food security situation was further compromised.
In response to questions, Mr. Phiri said some people were moderately and others severely affected by malnutrition. The UN renewed its calls to the parties to stop the violence, which was having severe adverse effects on the local population.
Essential diagnostics list
Adriana Velazquez Berumen, Senior Advisor at the World Health Organization (WHO), said that the third edition of the WHO essential diagnostics list would be published today. The WHO put the list together based on evidence; a group of experts, through an established process, had reviewed all the inputs submitted to the list. The purpose and format of the test were looked at in the process, among other factors.
This year, the list included a total of 175 tests, including newly added tests, such as sickle cell test, made possible by new technologies. Every year technologies were evolving, and the list was accordingly updated. Donors, governments and insurance companies could refer to this authoritative list. Two COVID-19 tests – PCR and antigen test – had been added to the new list, for example. On the other hand, some older tests, such as for HIV and tuberculosis, were no longer included in the list.
Ms. Velazquez, in an answer to a question, said the essential diagnostics list contained types of tests, while individual manufacturers could then produce their own specific tests. Not all submitted requests were accepted, she explained. The essential diagnostics list was a policy document primarily targeted at national health ministries. The list would be published online as well. Safety and quality came before anything else when preparing the list, said Ms. Velasquez.
COVID-19
Margaret Harris, for the World Health Organization (WHO), responding to questions, said Dr. Tedros would be addressing the World Economic Forum’s Davos Agenda after 5:30 pm today. She elaborated on the quarantine regulations in China and said she expected that the WHO investigative team in Wuhan would continue to work over the weekend, looking for all the relevant evidence. On the COVAX meeting the previous day, Ms. Harris explained that countries had submitted their requests and were getting ready for the rollout. The selection and use of essential in vitro diagnostics - TRS 1031
Geneva announcements
Rhéal LeBlanc, for the United Nations Information Service (UNIS), informed that today at 4:45 p.m., there would be a hybrid press conference in Room XVI by the Office of the Special Envoy for Syria, following the conclusion of the fifth round of the Small Body of the Syrian Constitutional Committee. Geir O. Pedersen, UN Special Envoy for Syria, would address the media. Live webcast at webtv.un.org, with Arabic interpretation, would be provided.
Rhéal LeBlanc, speaking on behalf of the Human Rights Council (HRC), informed that the Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review continued to meet at the Palais des Nations and would today adopt reports for Myanmar, Rwanda, Georgia and São Tomé and Principe. The session would carry over to 2 February to review Nauru.
Mr. LeBlanc said the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum (LPDF) would convene in Switzerland next week from 1 to 5 February, with the facilitation of the Acting Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Stephanie Williams. During the meeting, the LPDF would vote on the positions of a three-member Presidency Council and the Prime Minister in accordance with the roadmap adopted by the Forum in Tunis in mid-November. This new interim, unified executive authority would be primarily tasked to lead Libya to national elections set for 24 December 2021 and to reunify state institutions. More details were provided in UNIS’s note to correspondents.
Mr. LeBlanc also informed that The Conference on Disarmament should have its next public plenary meeting on 4 February, at 10 a.m., still under the presidency of Ambassador Marc Pecsteen of Belgium, to discuss a revised version of the draft package proposed by the President.
The Committee on the Rights of the Child, currently holding its virtual 85th session, was not reviewing any country reports. It would hold its next public meeting on 4 February, in the afternoon, around 5 pm, for the public closure of its session.
Responding to a question about UN Geneva’s operations during Covid-19, Mr. LeBlanc explained that the general directive to UN Geneva staff was to telework as much as possible, and that the presence at the Palais des Nations currently stood at around 20 per cent. UN Geneva would continue to follow current health measures and guidelines.
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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:
- 2025 was one of driest years for river discharge in 35 years
- Past seven years have seen abnorfmal river flows
- Water storage on Earth’s land surface has decreased in past decade
- Widespread glacier loss across all regions for fourth consecutive year
- Asia and Africa are regions most affected by water-related disasters
- Water data availability has improved, but gaps remain in hard-hit areas
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.
“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.
Preparing for moving baselines
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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