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Bi-weekly Press Briefing 24 September 2021
Human Rights Council update
Rolando Gomez, for the Human Rights Council, said that on 28 September, there would be two panel discussions, at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., on the situation of indigenous persons facing the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, with a focus on the right to participate, and on the deepening inequalities as a result of the pandemic. Speakers on the latter panel included the High Commissioner, Joseph Stiglitz and Gordon Brown. The Council would hear from the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples at 12.30 p.m. and from the Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples at 5 p.m.
The programme for Wednesday, 29 September, included a panel discussion on the tenth anniversary of the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Education and Training, from 10 a.m. to noon; the presentation, at noon, of the Secretary-General’s report on reprisals committed between May 2020 and April 2021 against persons who cooperated with the United Nations; and a panel on the promotion and protection of human rights in the context of peaceful protests, from 3 to 5 p.m.
Mr. Gomez recalled that the deadline for the submission of draft recommendations was 29 September; some 30 draft recommendations were expected for the current session.
World Food Forum
Adriano Timossi, for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), said that the first World Food Forum would be held from 1 to 5 October. The Forum was an independent global network of partners, tasked with helping to transform agri-food systems and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. The flagship event would bring together major youth groups, influencers, companies, academic institutions, non-profit organizations, Governments and the public to drive awareness, foster engagement and mobilize resources. Speakers included Pope Francis, the President of Costa Rica Carlos Alvarado Quesada, Queen Letizia of Spain, food entrepreneurs and philanthropists, as well as young global leaders.
For more details and registration, see http://www.world-food-forum.org/.
International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste
Nancy Aburto, FAO Deputy Director of the Food and Nutrition Division Economic and Social Development Stream, said that a high-level event to mark the second observance of International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste would be held at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, 29 September 2021. The event would highlight how reducing food loss and waste impacted nutritional outcomes.
No country was unaffected by food insecurity, hunger and malnutrition, and diet-related factors accounted for six of the top nine risks for the global burden of disease. The high cost of healthy food had put healthy diets out of reach for some 3 billion people, including in Europe – a trend that had increased considerably during the COVID-19 pandemic. At the same time, an estimated 14 per cent of food produced globally was lost, from post-harvest to retail, and the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) 2021 Food Waste Report documented that an estimated 17 per cent of food available to consumers was wasted. Furthermore, food loss and waste accounted for approximately 10 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions.
For more information and registration, see http://www.fao.org/international-day-awareness-food-loss-waste/en/.
Replying to questions from journalists, Ms. Aburto said that nutritional outcomes were a function of a multitude of complex factors, including conflict, hygiene and food systems, that affected the availability and accessibility of healthy food. It was also important to recognize the value of food and to empower people to take up healthy diets. It was no longer necessarily true that there was more food loss and waste in higher-income countries. Areas for improvement included shelf life, transportation and packaging to keep food in edible condition and better linking producers with consumers through apps.
World Health Organization updates
Margaret Harris, for the World Health Organization (WHO), said that, although the prevalence of influenza had been very low between February and August 2021, owing chiefly to COVID-19 mitigation efforts, what strains to include in the southern hemisphere vaccine had been decided following the technical consultations in September. A recommendation would be made in February 2022 as to vaccines that would be used for the northern hemisphere 2022–2023 influenza season.
Ms. Harris also said that the Essential Medicines List would be updated that week. An embargoed press release would be issued prior to the update, likely on 29 September.
In response to journalists, Ms. Harris said that the WHO Emergency Use Listing was data-driven and intended to assure States of the safety, efficacy and manufacturing process of vaccines submitted to WHO for inclusion in the list. Nevertheless, States had a sovereign right to choose whether or not to apply the list. She urged the journalists to consult the WHO website for comprehensive information on the election of the next WHO Director General. That afternoon’s press conference by the independent commission on the Democratic Republic of the Congo was being managed by the commission’s communications specialist.
UNCTAD Announcements
Richard Warren, for the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), said that UNCTAD15 would be taking place virtually next week, hosted by Barbados. The Secretary-General of the United Nations would be attending in person on Monday, 4 October. Further details would be forthcoming. UNCTAD Secretary General would be participating in the UNHQ noon briefing on Wednesday, 29 September, where she would outline her aspirations and expectations for UNCTAD15. She was eager to speak with the Geneva press upon her return from UNCTAD15.
He also said that UNCTAD would be holding a hybrid press conference on Tuesday, 28 September, at 3.30 p.m., to present its Digital Economy Report 2021 (under embargo until 29 September, at 7 a.m.). The speakers would be Isabelle Durant, UNCTAD Deputy Secretary-General, and Shamika N. Sirimanne, Director of UNCTAD's Division on Technology and Logistics.
Mr. Warren recalled that the embargo on the UNCTAD report on its assistance to the Palestinian people would be lifted at 7 p.m. that day.
Lastly, he said that, following the technical difficulties at the launch of the UNCTAD report on LDCs in the post-COVID world last week, the team of Mr. Paul Akiwumi of the Division on Africa, Least Developed Countries and Special Programmes was available for information requests.
Announcements
Rhéal LeBlanc, for the United Nations Information Service (UNIS), on behalf of the Office of the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Syria, said that Mr. Geir Pedersen would be briefing the Security Council at 4 p.m. that day. The briefing would be carried live on UN WebTV and the Special Envoy’s remarks would be circulated shortly after the briefing.
Mr. LeBlanc, for the United Nations Information Service (UNIS), said that the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, whose seventieth session would run at the Palais des Nations (Room XXIII) from 27 September to 8 October, would be reviewing the periodic reports of Kuwait on 28–29 October, Azerbaijan on the mornings of 30 September and 1 October, Bosnia and Herzegovina on the afternoons of 30 September and 1 October, Bolivia on 5–6 October and Nicaragua on 7–8 October.
The Committee on Migrant Workers, whose thirty-third session would run from 27 September to 8 October, first at Palais Wilson then at the Palais des Nations, would be reviewing the periodic reports of Rwanda on 27–28 September and Azerbaijan on 4–5 October.
The Department of Economic and Social Affairs would be holding a virtual press conference on Friday, 1 October, at 2.30 p.m., on the United Nations World Data Forum, being held in Bern, Switzerland, from 3-6 October. The speakers would be Stefan Schweinfest, Director of the United Nations Statistics Division, and Gabriella Vukovich, Chair of the United Nations World Data Forum Programme Committee and President of the Hungarian Central Statistical Office.
In connection with the General Assembly, a virtual high-level event on jobs and poverty alleviation, co-organized by the International Labour Organization and hosted by the Secretary-General and the Prime Ministers of Canada and Jamaica, as well as a high-level meeting to commemorate International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons would be held on 28 September and carried live on UN WebTV.
[Correspondents are reminded that tomorrow, 29 September, at 4 p.m. Geneva time, the High-Level Panel on Internal Displacement, co-chaired by Federica Mogherini and Donald Kaberuka, will formally submit its report to the UN Secretary-General. The event will be carried live on UN Web TV. The Panel was established by the UN Secretary-General at the end of 2019 to identify concrete recommendations on how to better prevent, respond to, and achieve solutions to the global internal displacement crisis.]
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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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