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UNOG Bi-weekly press briefing 27 March 2020
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Press Conferences | OHCHR , UNHCR , OCHA , UNOG , WFP , UNCTAD , ILO
UNOG Bi-weekly press briefing 27 March 2020 - audio
COVID-19 pandemic
Humanitarian impact
Jens Laerke, for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), expressed concern about the potential impact of COVID-19 on millions of people across Syria, in particular the over 900,000 internally displaced persons in the north-west. There were currently over 6 million internally displaced people throughout Syria. Health preparedness and response in the country was considered low; only half of the public hospitals and public primary healthcare centres were fully functional at the end of 2019, while thousands of health professionals had left the country.
In Libya, the COVID-19 outbreak could overwhelm the already stretched humanitarian aid capacity. The United Nations was supporting Libyan authorities in COVID-19 preparedness and response efforts, but additional funding was urgently required to implement the national and the UN health sector’s response plans. Hostilities continued in and around Tripoli despite the announced humanitarian pause.
Sudan had announced a national COVID-19 response plan with a budget of $76 million. The UN and partners continued to assist the Government in COVID-19 response. In Iraq, 382 cases of COVID-19 with 36 fatalities had been confirmed as of 26 March. Humanitarian clusters had developed initial guidance for COVID-19 preparedness and response in internally displaced persons’ camps.
In Afghanistan, where COVID-19 cases had been confirmed in 12 provinces, key concerns were border crossing areas, lack of social distancing and movement restrictions.
Iran was severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemics and suffered a “conspiracy of humanitarian crises”, as parts of the country experienced flooding and locust invaded crops in six provinces.
The United Nations in Ukraine had issued the COVID-19 humanitarian response plan to support response over the next nine months and mitigate the humanitarian consequences of the virus transmission.
Responding to questions, Mr. Laerke said that cases of COVID-19 had been reported in Syria and that the World Health Organisation had started health preparedness and response activities. OCHA was very concerned for the six million internally displaced persons, especially the 900,000 in the northwest where the access was very difficult, and people were exhausted. Delivering support where possible to prevent that the situation spiralled out of control was a race against time, Mr. Laerke said. Drawing attention to the Global Humanitarian Response Plan COVID-19, he stressed that there was still time to apply prevention measures and called upon donors to support the Plan.
Alessandra Vellucci, Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, said that the WHO had issued a statement on their activities to strengthen the capacity to respond in Syria.
Andrej Mahecic, for the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), emphasized that in several countries, the COVID-19 crisis interposed on the existing critical refugee situations. The virus knew no borders and boundaries and UNHCR advocated for the inclusion of refugees, asylum-seekers and internally displaced persons in the response plans.
Elisabeth Byrs, for the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), announced the launch of a ground-breaking digital map that showed the terrible impact of COVID-19 on school meals around the world. The Global Monitoring of School Meals during COVID-19 School Closures provided daily updates on school closures and the number of children not receiving school meals as a result. As well as displaying global totals, the map showed how many children were affected in each country, with real-time data indicating both the scale of the challenges and the need for solutions. According to the latest data, more than 364 million schoolchildren were now missing out on school meals. Partial or country-wide closures of schools had been reported in 48 countries, where nearly 11 million children were no longer receiving WFP school meals. That number was set to rise in the coming days and weeks.
Responding to questions, Ms. Byrs said that malnutrition could aggravate the vulnerability to infections and stressed that meeting nutritional needs and consuming the adequate quantity of micronutrients such as zinc and vitamin A fortified the health and immune system. WFP continued to identify the population at risk of COVID-19 and provide nutritional support. In developing countries, it was prepositioning the supplies and coordinating with governments to ensure the continued and interrupted supply.
WFP was also boosting its logistic capacity to serve the wider humanitarian community and global response to COVID-19 pandemic. It had asked for $350 million for this purpose in the Global Humanitarian Response Plan COVID-19. The logistical centre in Brindisi, Italy was fully operational and was not affected by the crisis.
United Nations Secretary-General Ceasefire appeal
Asked about positive reactions to the Secretary-General’s appeal for a global ceasefire to focus on ‘the true fight of our lives’, Alessandra Vellucci, Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, said that there were several good news from the field to this appeal. The Office of the Special Envoy for Yemen had issued a statement in which it welcomed the positive responses to the Secretary-General's call for a ceasefire from both the Government of Yemen and Ansar Allah. There had been also been positive signs from Syria and from the Cameroon conflict, where temporary ceasefire had been announced on 24 March.
COVID-19 and human rights
Rupert Colville, for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), noted that Hungarian Parliament was due to pass a bill to extend what was termed a “state of danger” declared earlier this month in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The bill appeared to give the Government practically unlimited powers to rule by decree and bypass parliamentary scrutiny with no clear cut-off date. It could negatively affect the legitimate work of journalists and have a potentially chilling effect on freedom of expression in Hungary. Under international human rights law, emergency legislation and measures should be strictly temporary, limited to addressing the situation at hand and contain appropriate safeguards. Briefing note in full.
In Ethiopia, OHCHR remained very concerned by the continued communications shutdown and called on all countries to ensure that everyone had ready and unhindered access to the Internet and phone services, all the more in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, when
fact-based and relevant information on the disease and its spread and response must reach all people, without exception. Read more.
Asked about the human rights-based responses to COVID-19, including in the context of housing and the rights of elderly people, Mr. Colville said that the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to housing had issued a statement on 18 March. The governments had an obligation to ensure access to housing for the people, especially since in many countries people had been ordered to stay home. They should also exchange best practices on the issue and pay special attention to the homeless, especially new homeless.
On the human rights of the elderly in the current epidemic, Mr. Colville said that COVID-19 was indeed a humanitarian crisis and human beings must be the starting point in the response. The governments were facing something unprecedented and there were vulnerable groups and individuals who could be made more vulnerable due to lack of means to apply social distance or wash hands. The impacts could be devastating. “We are all in this together because if the virus is not eradicated globally, it would continue to re-emerge.” National human rights institutions, non-governmental organizations, community-based organizations and self-help groups had a crucial role to play in raising the alarm and increasing awareness and it was incumbent upon the governments to ensure that they could freely work and speak, Mr. Colville stressed.
Answering another question, Mr. Colville said that the World Health Organisation (WHO) was facing a massive problem and needed the cooperation of governments. WHO was doing an incredible job and it was not constructive to criticize their relationship with individual governments at the moment, as they had an enormous task to guide the world through the health crisis the best they could.
On Libya, where the first case of COVID-19 had been confirmed, Mr. Colville said that OHCHR was concerned about the potentially catastrophic impact of COVID-19 outbreak, given the difficult security situation in the country and its impact on the functioning of the health system, overcrowding in migrant detention centres and lack of access to reliable information.
Alessandra Vellucci, Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, reiterated the concern of the United Nations by the confirmation of the first COVID-19 case in Libya. The United Nations Secretary-General spokesperson had stated that the United Nations was supporting Libyan authorities in COVID-19 preparedness and response efforts. He had called for the funding to be provided for the implementation of the health sector response plans and the sustained funding for the Libya Humanitarian Response Plan for the COVID-19 pandemic.
Andrej Mahecic, for the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said that for now, there had been no identified COVID-19 cases among refugees in Libya. UNHCR advocated for the release of all detained migrants and asylum-seekers into the community, where they could receive better care.
The situation in Italy and the global response to COVID-19 by the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement
Francesco Rocca, President of the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, speaking on behalf of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement by phone from Italy, briefed the Geneva press corps on his visit to the epicentre of the COVID-19 epidemics in Italy – Bergamo, Lodi and Codogno. On 26 March, the Movement had launched a revised emergency appeal for 800 million Swiss francs to help the world’s most vulnerable communities halt the spread of COVID-19 and recover from its effects.
Responding to questions, Mr. Rocca noted that the COVID-19 crisis was a social bomb that could explode at any moment as marginalized people in several Western countries were excluded from social protection networks and were not receiving support.
In those difficult times, many people were supporting the Red Cross with concrete actions, including volunteering. In Italy for example, some 20,000 temporary volunteers had joined the existing 160,000 permanent ones. The hospitals in the most affected regions in Italy were focused on supporting COVID-19 patients and needed disposable materials and ventilators. Mr. Rocca also emphasized the need to ensure psychological and emotional support to health workers.
Mr. Rocca urged countries that were not yet fully impacted to act now and prepare for the crisis – upgrade hospital facilities and procure ventilators. This was not the time for optimism – thinking that the crisis would bypass any country - but for contingency plans. One lesson learnt in the current crisis, he said, was the lack of global procurement policy to govern the purchase of the necessary medical equipment and materials, which allowed the highest bidder to purchase first.
It was too early to say whether the outbreak in northern Italy had reached its peak; there were some positive signals, such as a decrease in the calls for ambulances, but everyone should wait for the data at the end of the week. Southern Italy was making contingency plans but more needed to be done, especially to address the lack of ventilators.
COVID-19, economy and the world of work
Rosalind Yarde, for the International Labour Organization (ILO), said that the following week, the International Labour Organization would issue several briefs that would outline the impact of COVID-19 on the world of work, including the updated employment impact statistics, and on inequality and protection of health workers and persons with disabilities. A virtual briefing would be held as well. Further information could be found on ILO COVID-19 pages.
Catherine Huissoud, for the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), announced a new study on the financial shortfall in developing countries in addressing the pandemic. The governments had announced trillions of USD to fight the pandemic and mitigate the economic contagion, which would attenuate the extent of the shock physically, economically and psychologically. Still, the world economy would go into recession this year, with a predicted loss of global income in the trillions of dollars. For developing countries, the consequences of a combined health pandemic and global recession would be catastrophic and for many, the 2030 Agenda was already a lost dream.
Multilateralism at its best: countries coordinate efforts to guarantee the delivery of medical supplies, including oxygen
Jean Rodriguez, for the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), said that in the European Region, the COVID-19 pandemic had caused an unprecedented demand for medical gasses, especially medical oxygen, used to provide respiratory assistance to patients developing acute respiratory symptoms. In response, countries were coordinating efforts to guarantee the delivery of medical supplies, including oxygen, and to ensure their safe transport. Olga Algayerova, UNECE Executive Secretary commented: “This is an example of multilateralism at its best: adopting coordinated solutions to common problems. Only by working together will we overcome the COVID-19 pandemic leaving no-one behind.” Briefing note in full.
OHCHR “troubled” by presidential pardon to the convicted perpetrator of atrocities in Sri Lanka
Rupert Colville, for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), said that his Office was troubled by reports that the convicted perpetrator of the Mirusuvil massacre in Sri Lanka had received a Presidential Pardon and had been released from jail. Former Army sergeant Sunil Ratnayake had been sentenced in 2015 for the murder in 2000 of eight
civilians, including a five-year-old child. Pardoning one of the sole convicted perpetrators of atrocities committed during the Sri Lankan conflict further undermined the limited progress the country had made towards ending impunity for mass human rights abuse. Briefing note in full.
Mounting civilian displacement in western Myanmar and in Yemen also increases risk to COVID-19 outbreak
Andrej Mahecic, for the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), briefed the journalists on mounting civilian casualties and growing displacement triggered by the latest escalation of clashes in western Myanmar. The authorities estimated that more than 61,000 people were newly displaced in Rakhine State as of 16 March, representing an increase of some 10,000 people as compared to the previous month. UNHCR reiterated the appeal by the UN Secretary-General António Guterres urging warring parties across the world to cease their fighting in support of the bigger battle against the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic. Civilians in areas ravaged by conflict, in particular those displaced, were especially vulnerable in this global public health emergency. More.
In Yemen, after five years of conflict, families continued to flee their homes. An intensification in fighting across Al Jawf, Marib and Sana’a governorates in northern Yemen since January had displaced more than 40,000 people to Marib governorate, joining the 750,000 internally displaced persons already hosted there. UNHCR was worried that displaced communities and their hosts would be at heightened risk in the event of a COVID-19 outbreak, given their precarious situation and dire living and sanitary conditions. Press release in full.
Asked about Syrian refugees in Lebanon, where the health and economic situation was worrisome, Mr. Mahecic stressed that the country had been a generous host for nine years. According to the current data, there were no COVID-19 cases among the refugees. UNHCR was strengthening its preparedness and response capacities in collaboration with the Government, to ensure that all refugees and humanitarian support personnel received the necessary health care without competition over resources.
United Nations virtual briefing to the Member States on COVID-19 pandemic to focus on mitigation, response and plan for global recovery
Alessandra Vellucci, Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, said that, due to the unprecedented challenge posed by the COVID-19 pandemic to the work of the United Nations, the Presidents of the General Assembly, Security Council, United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and the Secretary-General would convene a joint virtual briefing for the Member States on 27 March 2020, from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. EST (15:00 to 17:00 Geneva time).
The briefing would focus on outreach to the Member States and other stakeholders, including the measures taken to mitigate the impact of this pandemic on the work of the Organisation, as well as the activities of the Principal Organs of the United Nations during this crisis. The Secretary-General would update the Member States on efforts across the United Nations system to respond to the crisis in its multiple dimensions and plan for the global recovery.
Ms. Vellucci said that to date, 78 cases of COVID-19 had been confirmed among the United Nations staff worldwide.
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The webcast for this briefing is available here: https://bit.ly/unog270320
Teleprompter
Good morning everybody can you I hope you can hear me welcome to the press briefing of today we have a long list of speakers and I am sure the briefing will be particularly interesting I hope you are all hearing me well and that you have all received the preview of the briefing so we will have a substantial part of the briefing dedicated to the COVID-19 pandemics.
And then we will have a couple of other speakers one point I would like to underline we have the great pleasure today of having with us the president of the International Federation of the Red Cross speaking on behalf of the movement of the Red Cross and Red Crescent he will be connecting with us at 11:00 o'clock from Milan lombardia where he is making a a field visit.
So we will try to juggle with the speakers and the time in order to accommodate his connection at 11:00 so I will ask for your indulgence if I will have to play a little bit with the with the organisation of the of the times and the speakers.
Otherwise I would like to also well I I have a couple of announcements related to the COVID-19 but maybe we can start immediately with the first speaker and I'll do it at the end and the first speaker on my list is Jens lerke for an update of the coronavirus situation in the humanitarian sector Jens you have the floor thank you.
Yes hello everyone could you just confirm that you can hear me we can hear your light and clear thank you go ahead the the briefing I have to today is a little bit of a right round up of what we have issued in the in the past few days so I will just give a few top lines from from from that.
And then in my note I will put the deep links to the various documents that I'm referring to so people can go in if you are covering particular countries and see what also has issued about that country so let me start off with with Syria where the UN is DB concerned about the potential impact of COVID-19 could have on millions of people across the country and particularly the over 900,000 people that remain displaced in the country 's northwest overcrowding.
In the camps and settlements there make them particularly vulnerable they also face physical and mental stress and deprivation due to lack of housing food and clean water the health preparedness and response in the country is considered extremely low across the country only half of the public hospitals and public Primary Health care centres were fully functional at the end of 2019 also thousands of health professionals have already left the country.
In Libya we fear that a possible outbreak could overwhelm the already stretched humanitarian aid capacity the United nations is supporting the Libyan authorities in preparedness and response effort to this pandemic but additional funding is urgently required to implement the national plans and the UN health sector 's response plans we're also quite alarmed that hostilities have continued in and around Tripoli despite the recently announced humanitarian pause.
In Sudan the federal Ministry of Health has announced the national COVID-19 response plan with a budget of $76,000,000.00 other state level plans are currently in development we know that authorities in West Darfur state have officially closed the border with Chad for some time.
They've also implemented bans on bus travel between the states that does exempt humanitarian and technical shipment they've closed international domestic airports until the 23rd of April again luckily with exception of humanitarian and cargo shipments we continue as the UN to assist the government in its response in Iraq humanitarian clusters in Iraq have developed initial guidance for COVID-19 preparedness and response planning for camps.
In the country and this guidance has been very widely disseminated in Afghanistan our key concern are the border crossing areas but also lack of social distancing and and movements the virus has been confirmed in 12 provinces in Afghanistan and most of those who have been confirmed they do have a travel history outside of Afghanistan and are now moved inside the country in Ukraine.
The the UN resident humanitarian coordinator there has issued a humanitarian response plan for that country covering the next 9 months that plan defines the response efforts by the UN frontline humanitarian actors and National Health Service providers finally I want to mention Iran which has been very severely affected by this pandemic.
Iran continues to deal in fact with 3 simultaneous emergencies of course the the spike in COVID-19 but also ongoing flooding which has killed at least 11 people there are flooding at heavy rains across 11 provinces and also the locust invasion locust swamps ****** farm lands in 6 provinces.
In Iran so really a conspiracy of various humanitarian assets there in Iran various UN agencies in Iran are of course aiding the government in response so I just wanted to give you some of our highlights and I will put it in my note to go out later thank you thank you very much Ian and I would like to go straight into the second speaker.
And as we have few people speaking about the COVID let's go ahead and then I'll take a round of question so if Elizabeth is connected I will go to Elizabeth and I can see her she is.
Good morning Elizabeth go ahead OK WFP would like to draw your attention on the new tool we have launched today it's a map it's an interactive map digital map this map is showing how the COVID-19 found the link is disrupting children 's school meals and you can click on the link you have received it's a press release we shared with you a minute ago.
And it provides daily on screen updates on school closure and on the number of children no longer receiving school meals as a result as well as displaying global totals the map shows how many children are affected in each country with real time data indicating both the scale of the challenges and the need for solution according to latest data but they can change they can change by day.
More than 360 4,000,000 school children are now missing out on school meals on which they depend partial or countrywide closure of school have been reported in 48 countries where WFP implements school feeding programme this means that nearly 11,000,000 children are no longer receiving WFP school meals and that number is set to rise in coming days.
Is enwick over thank you very much Elizabeth for this briefing the next speaker on my list also on COVID is Rosalind I see she's connected Rosalind hi can you all hear me yes we can OK so we just wanted to let you know that the ILO is planning to publish an update next week to its report on the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on global employment?
These will include new figures and a regional breakdown and we'll be having a virtual press briefing and we'll be able to confirm the date and time early next week and as you're aware in addition to the ****** to public health the economic and social disruption threatens long term livelihoods and well-being of millions of people so we'll be publishing a number of papers looking at the impact of the pandemic across a range of worlds of work themes.
So for for instance today we have a piece from one of our wage experts looking at how the pandemic is exacerbating already existing inequalities particularly affecting vulnerable groups such as women informal workers part time and temporary workers we also have a paper on international labour standards and this examines how key provisions apply in the context of this crisis.
And these cover for for instance Occupational Safety and health the payment of wages discrimination privacy and teleworking among others other content we'll be producing will include conditions of work for health workers social protection the impacts on women small businesses and people living with disabilities.
So we'll be updating you regularly on all our planned content for our COVID-19 pages and experts will be available for interview so please contact me or newsroom@ilo.org if you have any requests thank you thank you very much Rosalind I'm told by the some journalists that your sound was not very clear so maybe but they will ask you to repeat a few a few issues.
But for the moment I think we can go ahead and connect to our next speaker who's Catherine miso for angktad also on COVID Catherine we thank you we will issue a new report next week I'm sorry I can't tell you exactly when and if we will be able to have a press conference on that but I will keep you posted over the weekend.
It's a report which will be published by Richard kosov right by the director of the division on globalisation and development strategies I will read the the the short text he sent to me this morning over the course over the last few days government packages to the sum of many trillion have been put forward the to fight the health pandemic and mitigate the economic contagion Chennai is expected to announce something on a similar scale in the coming days and the G 20.
Has stepped forward as coordinator in chief this represents an unprecedented response to an unprecedented crisis and while there remain a lot of details to be fixed the this will stimulate economic activity and will attenuate the extent of the stroke physically economically and psychologically?
Even though the world economy will go into recession this year with a predicted loss of global income in the trillions of dollar of as we put in our precedent update of the trade and development report for developing countries lacking the monetary fiscal and administrative capacity to respond to this crisis the consequences of a combined health pandemic and global recession will be catastrophic for many the 2030 agenda is already a lost dream.
The urgent task facing the international community is to mitigate the financial damage facing developing economies provide a pathway for their recovery and rethink the way the multilateral system is ordered in the short term that means a 4 pronged strategy I will stop here because it the report will be on this 4 pronged strategy so we'll you will receive this text under embargo soon and I will keep you posted on and I'll stay at your disposal for any details thank you.
Thank you very much Catherine and yes we will be waiting for the for the information and my last speaker before we go to the ICRCNFRC is Jean Rodriguez Jean are you connected can you hear us do you hear me yes go ahead yes good morning everybody so we're releasing today.
And information saying that in response to COVID-19 countries coordinate efforts to guarantee the delivery of medical supplies including oxygen a variety of products used or produced daily by hospitals need to be handled and transported with special care because they are infectious hazardous or radioactive substances the United nations have developed recommendation for the transport of dangerous goods to ensure they're safe and efficient transport.
These recommendations are applied worldwide for all modes of transport by direct integration into national and international regulations and ensure safety and harmonisation of provisions across the modes among these substances are gases which are used to to provide respiratory assistance to patients developing acute respiratory symptoms.
The European industry your gases association has reported that due to the COVID-19 pandemic it's members which are the primary suppliers of medical gases in the European region are facing an unprecedented demands in particular for medical oxygen demand has been between 5 and 10 times higher than usual as well as medical gases all the products used or generated in hospitals.
It must also be transported with special care these include healthcare hazardous substances infectious substances biological specimens hospital samples radiopharmaceuticals for nuclear medicine clinical waste including used surgical instruments transported to central decontamination units.
The transports of these products in Europe is governed by harmonised provisions under 3 international agreements covering road rail and inland waterways transport in order to ensure continued safety of operations these scatter among other aspects for periodic inspection of vehicles and materials and regular refresher training sessions for drivers and safety advisors every 5 years.
In light of the COVID-19 pandemic these training sessions have been suspended in most countries due to confinement and social distancing measures in view of ensuring the smooth flow of critical medical supplies several ADR contracting parties agreed to extend the validity of the training certificates of drivers and safety advisors transporting these materials by road ending between first March and first November will be extended then to 30 November 2020.
This extension has taken the form of a multilateral agreement in accordance with ADR procedures another such multilateral agreement has also been prepared to allow delays for the periodic or intermediate inspections of tanks and extend the validity of vehicle certificates of approval ending between first March and first of August which will be extended to 30 August Luxembourg initiated the corresponding multilateral agreements.
On 18 March and 19 March respectively likewise for inland waterways contracting parties of the ADN agreement have prepared a multilateral agreement to compensate for the cancellation of refresher training sessions and in their countries as a result Netherlands initiated corresponding multilateral agreements on 19 March our executive secretary Olga algayerova commented on these developments.
This is an example of multilateralism at its best adopting coordinated solutions to common problems only by working together will we overcome the COVID-19 pandemic leaving no one behind UNEC is fully mobilised to help member states address the challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and prepare for the recovery in all its areas of work.
The exceptional provisions introduced by these measures come as a necessary response to the current emergency the stringent requirements set out in the UN agreements and recommendations will ensure continued **** levels of safety for the transport of vital products during this. I will add that the press release that we've shared.
Contains a lot of background information so that if there's questions on this please feel free to to ask just one more comment these agreements are agreements that cover for the international transport but in the EU and in Switzerland these dispositions also apply to the national transports which means the transports and the provision of hospitals today in the EU and in Switzerland is governed at national level also by these dispositions and the flexibility that has been introduced will apply there.
Thank you thank you very much and I will now go into the question but before doing that I just would like to remind you that due to the unprecedented challenge posed by the COVID-19 pandemic to the world of the United nations.
The presidents of the General Assembly Security Council echosok and the secretary general will convene a joint virtual briefing for member states this afternoon Geneva time 3 to 5 Geneva time 11:50 a New York time the briefing will focus on on outreach to member States and other stakeholders including measures taken to mitigate the impact of the pandemic on the work of the organisation and the secretary John will also update member states on efforts across the UN system to respond to the.
Crisis in its multiple dimension and planned for the global recovery I have sent you yesterday the link to this briefing which is public and I hope you will be able to attend it if you haven't received the briefing the list of the connections please let me know so I'm now waiting to see your little hands raised on my participants list anybody has questions for the speakers who have been speaking until now.
I wait a few seconds to let you raise your hand for those who are not familiar with the system if you remember you click at the bottom of the screen on the image that says participants a list of participants will appear on the right and at the bottom of it you have a button that says raise hands in order to ask for the floor and ask questions.
I don't see any question being asked at the moment OK so if there are no questions and then I see none if there are no yeah I can see a first one coming OK Paula Paula duprise you have the floor just one second OK you are on now OK can you can you hear me yes we can.
OK is this question Ashley it's for Elizabeth maybe there's no one from WHO right now there no no we will have later on IFRC and SCRC on the line but we don't have if Elizabeth can answer this it's regarding the children and you know until now the frequency of cases of of COVID amongst children has been very low.
But the as the the virus is starting to arrive at you know in developing countries is there anything that's that's perhaps the WFP in its distribution of food in these countries that that you mentioned is observing as far as the how malnutrition is affecting.
Cases amongst children are they are they considered you know amongst the vulnerable populations with regard to like pre-existing conditions Elizabeth.
OK here go ahead go ahead I have no details about the the rate of infection and not WHO person but I can tell you in general about nutrition during an infectious disease outbreak like COVID malnutrition rates can increase sharply leading to even higher mortality rates pregnant women young children the chronically ill and the elderly often have compromised.
Immune function making them vulnerable to infection and at risk of death meetings one 's nutritional needs can maintain health and fortify the immune system to fight off infection this involves consuming adequate micronutrients like zinc.
And vitamin A that play an important role in the functioning of the immune system in addition a person dealing with an infection requires more micro micronutrition to fight off the infection and replenish body reserve WFP continues to evaluate and identify population vulnerable to COVID-19 and adjust nutrition support this means supporting those most at risk.
And those who are at risk due to overstretch health services and disruptive food system young children pregnant nursing women and people living with HIV and TB.
WFP is working to ensure the uninterrupted delivery of life saving nutrition food to vulnerable communities at risk of infection we are prepositioning food supplies and coordinating with government and partners to ensure that supply chains of specialised nutritious food are not disrupted by transport and cross-border restrictions thank you.
I have another question on the line by from Catherine fiancon yes good morning hello good morning good morning to you hello I just would like to ask a question to Elizabeth Spears WFP we know that in the fields WFP has a very broad logistic capacity so I would like to know.
What you are going to do or if there are any plans to use that logistic capacity to help out also the other agency to help them you know the the to help the the refugees the migrants and all the other people that are now affected by COVID-19 because we know that the normal logistical?
Capacities of the world are on hold so it's not only UN but other maybe partnerships with private donors in order to able will be able to use the WFP logistical capacity to reach the most vulnerable people in the world thank you Elizabeth.
Yes Catherine WFP is boosting its logistic capacity you probably notice in the ocha appeal that WFP is asking for 350 $1,000,000.00 it to boost its logistic department WFP is extending its supply chain infrastructure asset and partnerships to serve the wider humanitarian and health community providing the.
This particular logistic support to the global response we work already closely with WHO and health partner providing support in logistic information management supply chain planning and supply chain services building on its global network strategically placed humanitarian response depot you know that we have response depot already in the world in brindisi Dubai Accra Panama Kuala Lumpur.
And Las pas mas and we will build on these already logistic and humanitarian hubs to extend a kind of network and to create regional staging areas to facilitate the dispatch of essential cargo on behalf of partners we will also set up air transport links and contract charter vessels where a shipping has been.
Disrupted we will also provide passenger air services for humanitarian staff Elizabeth thank you very much next person who's asking for a question is Jan Jan eberman yeah can you hear me.
Yes young sorry I think Katherine has a follow up OK just one second please hi young yes hi there go ahead Katherine my my follow up is asking Elizabeth to repeat please slowly the different cities and brandisi I is is in Italy no so very much so.
Is brindisi affected by the the outbreak in Italy and could you please slowly repeat the cities I remember brindisi Dubai AKA so please thank you babette Elizabeth OK yeah OK so brindisi is not affected everything is working as usual the WFP has taken all precautionary measures?
To have the staff the precaution for the staff and a green disease is up and running we have green disease Dubai Accra Panama Kuala Lumpur and Las Palmas is that clear yes thank you thank you so thank you very much now let's go to Jan.
Yes now you have the floor OK can you hear me yes very well OK great that's a question basically to all of you and it's on the ceasefire appeal by the secretary general yesterday or the day before yesterday we got the information that on the Philippines the fighting might stop and I was wondering have you received any more.
Chances or or news of of the stop of fightings in any other theatres of war around the world.
Yes on this particular point you may have seen that has there has been that we have circulated the statement by the UN special envoy for Yemen who was heartened to see the positive responses to the secretary general 's call for a ceasefire from both the government of Yemen and Ansar Allah and this communicate that we have sent you goes on with the other consideration for Mister Griffiths about this commitment toward.
It's a a provisional ceasefire and if you haven't received it Jan we can send it again to you there has also been a not a correspondent by the spokesperson 's office welcoming the statement by the secret the Syrian democratic forces I'm sorry yes this is not time that I'm not sure if it came from.
No no it's it's from the spokesperson sorry so as I said it's the from the spokesperson and he it welcomed the statement of the Syrian democratic forces on 24th of March expressing support for the secretary general 's appeal for an immediate global ceasefire to facilitate the global response to COVID-19 so there have been also good positive signs from the Cameroon conflict.
Where the statement this statement of the spokesperson said that the UN welcomed the temporary ceasefire announced by the southern Cameron 's defence forces on 25th of March following the secretary general 's call for a global ceasefire so there are quite a few good news from the field following the appeal of the secretary general?
And now I have a request for the for the floor by Moussa Moussa ASI Moussa the refugee capacity and propagation the the coronavirus mercy.
Yes thank you very much for for that question it's it's a bit difficult for me to answer that question either or yes or no we have seen we have official confirmation from the from the government of of of Syria that they have recorded cases confirmed cases of COVID in in the country we also you will have seen that who has has said that they have capacity to test.
In in some of these trouble spots what I will say is that there are there are 6,000,000 internally displaced people spread out across across Syria we are very concerned for all of them of course we are particularly concerned as I mentioned earlier for the 900,000 which are in the northwest because access is still very difficult they are already very weakened and one can only imagine the horror.
Of an outbreak in those settings so we are of course in a race against time to try to support where we can and make sure that this does not spiral anyway out of control.
So that is that is what I can say at this point but it is frankly it's an excellent question because this is exactly this setting and this situation in Syria and elsewhere that we are warning against we have seen when we launched the appeal the other day the global humanitarian response plan which is exactly to focus in and zoom in on these these very vulnerable situations around around the world we we do see the pandemic.
Move into these areas little by little we still have a bit of time we think there is a window right now where we really need to ramp up prevention measures ensure that tests are available and so on and so forth so again a call from us to to the donor community to support that plan thank you and I also would like to invite you Musa to have a look at what The Who said about Syria.
They clearly said that they were responding across Syria to the crisis The Who is prioritising prevention preparedness and risk communication by supporting health responders to detect diagnose and prevent spread surveillance of entry points provision of protective equipment and training of health workers I'm sure that if you talk to WHO colleagues they will send you the whole statement.
So that I think it was Oh no we have a a also request for speaking by Andre maybe Andre can add something to this Andre you have the floor just very quickly because this is a pandemic that's global and it's a it's a global emergency and it comes on top of existing refugee emergencies.
The efforts by us together with other UN agencies is already partly partly reflected in the appeal that was launched earlier this week the UNHCR portion of that appeal amounts to about 250 $1,000,000.00 and it is very specifically looking at addressing the critical situations.
In in a number of critical countries where obviously the refugee issues are far bigger it's not only Syria we you can go from Asia to Latin America and find critical refugee situations on all continents so obviously there is a lot of concern around that because the virus knows of no borders and boundaries.
And it affects everybody and we argue that an advocate for the refugees and displaced and asylum seekers to be included in the plans managed by the national governments.
Under the guidance of WHO and obviously with with our support there is a lot of concern about about this among the displaced people because often they live in situations where there is no possibility for preventive measures there are very little possibilities for social distancing for keeping the basic hygiene and these are the areas where the the current preventive measures are being taken the preparedness the prevention and ultimately when we come to the phase of response.
And our activities we hope to be able to report in a bit more detail happening generally across the world we have 100 and we have presence in 134 countries and as I said obviously the focus right now is on those developing nations where 80 more than 80% of world refugees are hosted by those countries thank you thank you very much Andrei.
I see now we have another request for question from Katrina hello do you hear me yes please go ahead my question is for a report because I saw report at the beginning yes he's here with us hi report hope you're doing fine.
My question is regarding the homeless people we've seen that some countries are taking measures to allow these people to have access to the basic needs in order to be protected by COVID-19 like water running water soap and some countries are even putting these people in hotels but we've seen also that in other cities particularly in France.
They're leaving them alone in the streets and because the everyday life has stopped I mean they don't have food anymore access to showers So what is the human rights commissionery doing for that are you in contact with those countries and reminding them the basic needs that everybody has the right to health and also to home.
That is a question for Rupert and after Alessandra I have one second Rupert one second Rupert she's she has a second question Catherine but this is for you after Alessandra OK OK so Rupert is indeed with us as you have seen from the briefing preview he has a few points to brief us upon but maybe we can give him the floor straight away to answer questions related to the code the code 19 Rupert if you can answer Catherine 's question.
You have the floor yeah can can you hear me very well great Catherine you might see the special rapporteur on housing put out a press release on the 18th of March so raising some of these issues so obviously you know given that people are being urged to or or indeed commanded to stay home or stay indoors it's vital that governments really take urgent measures to to help them with adequate housing so in practical terms.
That's of course very hard and it's it's very hard for people living in very overcrowded conditions especially in you know extremely poor slums and so on to do to practise physical distancing it's next to a possible So what what we would propose and I think the special rapporteur also proposed is government share good practises we're asking them to do that on all sorts of issues.
But one of those might be using vacant or abandoned housing to provide emergency accommodation for people living in those kind of conditions it's also extremely important to to pay attention to the homeless and there may be new homeless because of people losing their jobs and and so on and and having no income and and perhaps not being able to continue living where they are at the moment.
Or being not able to pay mortgages or rents or so on so again we've we've called for sort of good practises on that front and some some countries are already making announcements on those lines so halting evictions that's very important you evict people where do they go in the in this environment and and deferring mortgage payments in in countries where that's an issue.
Thank you very much and I see that Gabriella Kathleen bear with us because I think Katherine Gabriella has a question for Rupert too and then I come back to you for your question to me Gabriella you have the question for Rupert I guess yes yes thank you yeah I have the question for Rupert hello everybody it's so nice to see you all.
My question is regarding I saw the the press release that you sent that your office sent about the elderly the old people the human rights of old people in this crisis and the other day doctor tedros W Cho said in a press conference that he was appalled because he saw a moral decay.
Saying that some governments you know they are down grading the the severity of this virus because it's only touches very old people so my question is if you can elaborate on human rights of all people and also there was a comment in a news channel in USA and they said that grandparents will be very happy to give their lives to save the economy of their grandchildren.
If you can elaborate on that too thank you Rupert you have the floor Rupert I think we've lost OK no no I was sorry I was muted I was muted?
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Actually I'm just wondering after this question, maybe because I have important COVID, COVID related topics, so on Hungary and on Ethiopia, but I don't want to interrupt.
So maybe maybe we make this the last question now and then you we can deal with all the other human rights issues on COVID if you want to get into them.
In terms of the elderly, well, elderly people are people and they have exactly the same rights as other people, but they are however potentially very well, they are a very vulnerable group in terms of the disease.
Although as as WH OS make very clear, it's, it's not totally confined to old people at all.
And you know, it's extremely important, particularly for very elderly people living alone, elderly people who have other conditions, who have disabilities, who have Alzheimer's, you know, they're in an extremely difficult position.
So it's essential that the authorities, I think very much this is where community groups, where human rights institutions, NGOs and so on play an absolutely vital role in flagging, you know, where such people are living, ensuring they're getting the help they need and then not simply abandoned.
And yes, it's, it's absolutely criminal to, to abandon somebody, somebody who's, you know, infirm, helpless, unable to move or so on under these circumstances.
So, you know, the elderly are one group, but of course there are many other very vulnerable groups as well.
So it's it's not simply the elderly, but they have rights like everyone else.
OK, Rupert, I'm afraid that when we received the list of your points wasn't clear that you were also speaking about COVID.
So apologies if I haven't given you the floor before, but I think you can go ahead now and and, and brief on the COVID the 19 two on the various aspects and then we will have more questions.
I just would like to know to tell you that I am in the same at the same time in connection with this spokesperson of President Rocca of IFRC who will be speaking from Milan and he is late.
So it's just perfect timing.
If we can go ahead with briefing of OHCHR and then we will go back to IFRC when the President is online.
Rupert, you have the floor.
OK, Thank you very much, Alessandra.
So yes, I have three items today of which to relate to to COVID.
So I'll begin with actually, I'd just like to begin with a real tribute to, because I haven't been in the last few briefings to the colleagues, all the colleagues at WHO, because I can only guess that the sort of stress and strains that WHO staff are going through.
And they've been doing a simply fantastic job in keeping the world informed and providing clear guidance and really showing the the important role the UN can play in a, in a huge crisis like this.
So really a warm tribute to to WHO colleagues on 1st item would be on Hungary.
We're following with with concerned developments in Hungary where the government is pressing ahead with a bill to extend what they term state of danger that was declared earlier this month in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
And we understand that legislation is expected to go again before the Hungarian Parliament.
And I've just heard that is most probably on Monday and that it is likely to pass in the parliament.
The bill appears to give the government practically unlimited powers to rule by decree and bypass parliamentary scrutiny with no clear cut off date.
Under international human rights law, emergency legislation and measures should be strictly temporary.
It should be limited to addressing the situation at hand, in this case the COVID-19 crisis, and it should contain appropriate safeguards and they must remain subject to meaningful legislative and judicial oversight.
Among our concerns, we understand that this bill stipulates that those who spread false or distorted information that may interfere in the government's response to the health crisis could face a prison term of up to five years.
Now, disinformation clearly risks undermining efforts by authorities to combat the spread of COVID-19 and needs to be addressed, including by working closely with social media platforms to identify and flag dangerous messages that impede effective measures to protect public health.
However, we're concerned that the legislation as it is currently reported to be framed could negatively affect the legitimate work of journalists and have a potentially chilling effect on the freedom of expression in Hungary.
We encourage all governments to ensure that credible information on the pandemic and the best responses to it is quickly and reliably available as a means to counter misinformation.
Being open and transparent helps to encourage people to accept and participate in measures designed to protect their own health and that of others.
Responding to the COVID-19 crisis requires the participation of the whole of society.
Governments, including Hungary, have to take difficult decisions in response to COVID-19.
We recognise that.
But international law allows emergency that measures in response to significant threats, which COVID-19 clearly is.
However, these measures need to be proportionate to the evaluated risk.
They need to be applied fairly with a specific focus of duration, and they should be used to achieve legitimate public health goals and not used for other purposes.
So to this end, we urge the Hungarian government to ensure the measures it takes are in line with its international human rights obligations.
Thank you very much.
Would, would you like Rupert to continue or we take questions on Hungary first, If, if the the Red Cross Red Crescent is still not available, I could maybe go on to maybe go on to Ethiopia.
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And I will take questions for you.
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Because this is this is also COVID related.
So on Ethiopia, we're very concerned by the continued communications shutdown in parts of Ethiopia and more broadly, call on all countries to ensure that everyone has ready and unhindered access to the Internet and phone services.
All all the more important in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ethiopia imposed an Internet and communication blackout on the 7th of January, citing security concerns and blocking Internet access and phone services in areas under federal military control, namely the Western Oromias, Kelemwilega, W Walega and the Horogudru Walega zones.
The shutdown coincided with government military operations against the armed wing of the once banned Oromo Liberation Front.
Over the course of the last year, the Ethiopian government has shutdown the Internet on a number of occasions, affecting the lives and human rights of The Ethiopians resident in particular areas, hampering their ability to share and access information or simply to maintain contact with family and friends and other loved ones.
Ethiopia is not, of course, of course, not the only country to shut down communications link.
We urge all governments to immediately end any and all blanket Internet and telecommunications shutdowns.
Everyone has the right to receive and impart information, and blunt measures such as blanket Internet and telecommunication shutdowns, sometimes for prolonged periods, violate the principles of necessity and proportionality and contravene international law.
Now, amidst the COVID-19 crisis, fact based and relevant information on the disease and it's spread and response must reach all people without exception.
That's incredibly important.
Authorities, medical professionals, relevant experts must be able to share accurate and vital information with each other and with the public about the pandemic.
And it's also essential that information on the disease is readily available in understandable formats and languages.
And you know, you know, if you're talking Ethiopia, you're talking a country where there are a lot of different languages and information is adapted for people with specific needs, including the visually and hearing impaired.
So that's a major issue.
How do you get the information to them?
And it also needs to reach those with limited or no ability to read or no access to the Internet or technology.
So the whole issue of information sharing during the COVID-19 crisis is of paramount importance.
And Internet shutdowns clearly run completely in the opposite direction.
Thank you very much, Rupert.
As soon as you can share the written notes with the with us or with the journalist directly, it would be appreciated because sometimes people don't have that perfect sound at preferred audio.
So that would be appreciated.
So I have now questions for you, Gabriella.
I don't know if your hand is raised from before or if you have a new question.
I think she has already spoken.
So the next No, no, no, no, OK, sorry, go ahead.
It's hard to say, please, it's hard to say, go ahead, please.
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No, Rupert, just just a follow up on my other question.
You didn't answer quite well about this moral decay.
And it's very important because I mean, countries are putting economies, I, I mean, it's very important, of course, economy of a country, but they are putting above of, of the, of the human people of the humans.
And secretary general said this is not that human, this is not that economic crisis, it's a human crisis.
So it's important for me if you can elaborate on this.
And then I have another question in the context of, of the, the right to be informed is, is it a crime of, I mean, in this context not to hide, to hide information about number of cases, for example, and be the government's be really, really transparent about, about the, the, the the magnitude of the, of the, of the pandemia in each country.
Thank you, Rupert.
Yeah, I mean, absolutely it's a human crisis.
But of course the economy also effects humans hugely.
So I'm not sure you can delink the two.
But, and I think you know, you, you talk about moral decay, I think that's a bit sweeping.
And also we're, we're at the early stages of a very, very difficult situation.
And I think every government, we have to recognise, every government is facing, virtually every government is or will shortly be facing something fairly unprecedented.
And everyone is struggling to know how to best respond.
They're getting great guidance from WHO we're trying to provide guidance on the more sort of socio economic sides of it.
Also the civil and political rights that may be affected.
But yes, you're, you're absolutely right.
Of course, this is all about humans and that that should be the absolute starting point.
So when you're talking about the economic and social effects of shutdowns and so on, that's affecting people and it's particularly affecting the poorest people.
And of course, in many countries you have huge numbers of very poor people who are really going to struggle in ways that you and I don't face.
So and lots of vulnerable groups who could easily be left out, who could easily be exposed to great risk by the virus simply because they don't have the means to to do physical distancing.
They don't have the means to wash their hands with soap.
They don't have the means to do all sorts of things.
So, you know, these are massive problems in in the poorest countries when COVID-19 takes root in, in very poor areas, you know, it's potentially going to be devastating.
And, and we're all, as you know, as secretary general said, as, as, as Ted Ross has said many times, you know, we're all in this together because unless COVID-19 is defeated globally, it will re emerge and it will continue to spread and spread back to areas where it's even, you know, been dealt with.
So everyone is going to need to help out.
They're going to need to help the poorer countries deal with some of these massive problems with the poorer sectors of their of their society.
And I think another really key point here is, is community help.
You know, governments need to let national human rights institutions, they have networks across the country, NGOs, community groups, local communities, even St you know, self forming St communities and so on play absolutely vital role in ringing the alarm bells in bringing to the attention of the authorities, the the the people who are in the most honourable situation and working out measures how to deal with it.
We're seeing lots of fantastic initial, you know, individual or or group initiatives to help out in many countries.
But governments, you know, obviously play a very important role in letting that work and, and not and not, you know, suppressing free speech, not suppressing civil society, making sure journalists can report accurately on the situation and so on.
OK, I have two people who have asked for the floor to ask question to Rupert.
I would like to ask you if we could be a little bit brief.
The president of FRCIFRC is connecting now.
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My question is, is for long is for Jens and Andrew.
Actually, Jens in fact has gone and so I can, I can, I can ask Andre if he's ready to Andre is on the line.
So I can, I can go on then.
Well, look, the I understand the president of IFRC is, is good to be always already on the line.
Can we just ask the questions to Rupert, please?
And maybe I can, I don't have questions.
I, I will ask then Jamie to ask his question to Rupert.
And then then because Andre has a whole briefing to do so, you will have the chance to ask him a question.
So Jamie, I'll come to you now.
If your question is to Rupert, you should be activated in a second, just one second.
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Mark, if you can activate Jamie, please, can you hear me now?
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Yes, this question is for Rupert.
Rupert, you had some nice things to say about WHO.
You also mentioned the situation in Ethiopia and the connection between Internet shutdowns and the the as you know, the director general of WHO is from Ethiopia and some of the criticism that's been levelled against WHO is that it is not finger pointed individual countries that have made questionable decisions on on coronavirus.
So my question to you is, what would you say to the Director General of of The Who that he could, could or should say to authorities in his own country to help alleviate that problem that you just raised, Rupert?
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You know, WWHO is facing, you know, an absolutely massive problem.
It needs the cooperation of governments.
It's giving guidance on on what to do.
It's tracking the disease.
It's trying to work out the best measures.
It's obviously not particularly helpful for WHO to start getting into into conflicts with particular governments on a lot of issues which can be raised by others, including us, for example.
So maybe this is a good example of it.
So we're raising the issue of Internet and phone services cuts in Ethiopia.
I don't think WHO it's doing a fantastic job.
I think Ted Ross has been amazing.
He's out there every single day.
So I don't think it's really helpful or constructive to criticise WHO for not picking on individual countries and individual issues.
This can be raised by many others.
They need to guide us through this crisis the best they can and they're doing, I think, a superb job at that.
So finger pointing for them.
I can understand why they don't necessarily do it and I'm not sure it's quite fair to say they haven't done it at all.
They have raised some issues, but as I said, we and others can, can play that role.
OK, thank you very much.
So I still have Catherine Fianco who wanted to ask a question to Andrei and to Rupert.
So in any case, both of them still have to to brief.
But we have now President Rocca of IFRC on the line and I would like to go to him as he's waiting connecting from Milan.
President Rocca, can you hear me?
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Do you hear me very well?
Thank you very much.
So today, first of all, welcome.
Thank you very much to speak to our Ginger Prescore.
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You are speaking on behalf of both IFRCICRC and the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement.
You are in Milan and you would like to brief our journalist on the appeal that the movement has put out so to respond to the pandemic, plus maybe say something to us about your field visit in Northern Italy and the humanitarian situation there.
So we also just for the benefit of our journalist, we also have Evan Watson on the line.
As you know, he is the spokesperson of ICRC was also able to answer question after President has spoken.
So I would like to give you the floor, Sir.
Thank you, thank you, thank you very much.
I'm this moment, I'm here in Milan.
Yesterday I spent my time in Bergamo and Bresha, Codono and Claudi.
So the very first epicentre of, of, of my, my country.
And maybe later I will spend a few words.
I have a little, very, very brief statement about our appeal.
The International Red Cross and Red Cross and Movement yesterday launched A revised emergency appeal for 800 million Swiss Francs to help the world's most vulnerable communities help the spread of COVID-19 and recover from its effects.
The International Red Cross and the Question Movement is uniquely placed to respond to this global emergency with expertise as both health and humanitarian actors, local presence and domestic response in more than 160,000 local branches, 192 countries.
The Movement is collectively scaling up it's COVID-19 global response network to protect the vulnerable communities ahead of the worsening crisis.
And it's all being carried out by almost 14,000,000 volunteer worldwide in particular the IFAC is appealing for 550 1,000,000 Swiss francs to support national Red Cross and Red Crescent societies in healthcare repositioning of goods risk communication lesson learned from global network of local response cash grants for families and mitigating impacts of large outbreaks out of 550 1,000,000 Swiss francs 150 is for IFAC to support.
National societies in need while the remaining 400 1,000,000 will be raised by national societies domestically the icsc is appealing for 250 1,000,000 Swiss francs to respond in places of conflict and violence to support medical facilities in place of detention of the spread among and ensure medical access for displaced people and detainees and to support national Red Cross and repressing societies in their response in the difficult countries.
The COVID-19 pandemic is a global crisis which needs a global response a team effort no one agency organisation can manage your response of this magnitude alone and our across the Crescent national society and they volunteers are best placed to respond and there is no need to deploy people from abroad because our women and men are already there and they are coming from their own local communities knowing very well the needs and the most vulnerable people and I experienced here in Italy first hand.
Yesterday I spoke with the mayors of codonio as I mentioned the first so-called red zone where the fashion number one was discovered and also with the mayor of bergamo and they underlined it without the support of the Red Cross volunteer they couldn't match the the the impact of the crisis in their in their areas.
The the volunteers here in Italy and everywhere they can make the difference in dealing with the local communities first in disseminating good practises in prevention second supporting the health emergency of the of the of the communities.
A 3rd working with the most vulnerable as a example that we are working here in Italy but not also in Italy in in Spain in many other countries we are supporting the elderly because the social the the the physical distance and the and the fact that they cannot go out we we provide them with the drug prescription now with the.
Providing them the good we're going for them on the on the to the grocery so we are avoiding that the most vulnerable those who are immunodeficiencies avoid to to go out when I think about the impact in my country as also president of the Italian Red Cross and I think on places like **** bazaar on the other places I think that we have to really scale up our activities and to and to try as much as we can to.
Support these vulnerable communities because if the COVID-19 will reach as there is a **** risk that areas it would be really a disaster really a disaster here in Italy in Spain in other countries like ours and the western so-called the western world we thought that we had a very good health system.
And this is the impact that we're having this is how you are experiencing you are watching what is what we are passing through think what's will could happen in other countries in the most vulnerable countries if we don't start to support their health system and the and the and the local actors and this is the time also to support the local actors to make the difference if not now when this is this is the moment to support.
The national societies and the local NGOs to to work with their own communities to make the difference for their own people and so I'm maybe maybe there are questions and I'm ready and I'm ready to answer but my my concern is this and if I can add another aspect that I didn't mention I'm sorry is the psychosocial support it's terribly needed.
So the the national society can also play another important role even on this aspect we open at the different line telephone line to support the health workers because health workers are dealing some something unprecedented and and they and they they are experiencing something that they've never seen in our western country.
Think about again what could happen in a vulnerable country so we we are supporting the the health workers we are supporting those who are isolated we think and we are experiencing that the risk of suicide is increasing in the with the isolating isolating the people those who are drug addicted now are are.
Are using alcohol and alcohol and this is something that that we have a lot of evidences of this so the psychosocial support is something badly needed to support our communities and because we are missing and I I want to repeat it and with this I'm going to finish this what we are missing and and I discussed with the volunteers in the past days?
And it's not rhetorical and I don't want to become emotional but it's the hug hug yesterday I was in codonia and a volunteer that was working there came close to me he said you know what Francesco I lost my mother this morning and the only way to.
Hope with this was to go in the branch and do its own services because if not she had to stay alone at home without the possibility to mourn her own mother and they couldn't hug she was crying in front of me to me that's far from me she was hugging desperately and they couldn't hug we we are missing and we are going to miss all over the world what we are what we are growing with.
We born with the hug of our mothers and fathers we grow up hugging when we mourn something even even when we we we we we pass through terrible experiences in the past like earthquakes but even in the conflict areas we can hug each other if we are afraid.
The terrible thing of this is the is the lack of the the the human touch the physical human touch I mean and This is why it's so important the psychosocial support OK.
Thank you very much president rocca thank you for highlighting this very very aspect so dire of of the situation we have on the line also Iwan Watson and I don't know if Iwan wants to compliment anything that has been said by the president also on behalf of the movement.
Thank you very much Alessandra for the moment I think I I would leave that there president rocca has has summarised it perfectly I'm happy to take any particular questions that we have quite a few on the on the list so I would like to start with Catherine fiancon who has a question for president rocca Catherine introduce yourself please and rocca my name is Catherine fiancon boconda I work for Franz van katra.
I have 2 questions for you first it's the one you mentioned the difficulties of the national societies in the Western countries that are facing the huge COVID-19 outbreak now like Italy Spain.
I would like you also to elaborate a little bit about what's happening in France Prime Minister edouard Philippe just said that they're reaching the edge they don't know how to cope with what's happening in all the hospitals in France so I would like to know what's and how the national society in France is in fact helping out what's happening there and.
My second question I forgot so OK OK let's let leave the president answer I'm here I will not escape so when when it comes to your mind I'll be here to answer you go ahead you want to answer the first question yes about France I spoke with the president of the French Red Cross just one week ago more or less.
Of course they are supporting with the ambulance system and and this is one second they were deploying the volunteers in supporting what I just mentioned and what we are doing also as Italian Red Cross and Spanish Red Cross to support the elderly to support the people in need and to avoid the the the that they go out for the to the grocery to the shop for goods so that we provide we provide them to our volunteer system the the the goods that they.
They need to to survive I want to mention another aspect that I think a few weeks you will we will experience here in the Western countries I don't want to be a Cassandra but this is my my feeling we have a lot of people who is living very marginalised that we use a wall in the in the black in the so-called of the black hole of the society.
You know with the daily jobs or other way to live and they in few in few in the in the most difficult neighbourhoods of the biggest city I'm I am afraid that that in few weeks we will have social problems this is a social bomb that can explode in every moment because they don't have any way to to have an income or to find an income people that normally live with the €2025.00 per day.
You know without with these little jobs on a daily basis and maybe they have 2 children now or a family and and they have no income in this moment and they are not in the system of the social assistance in their own municipalities because it's these people normally they are people that normally live marginalised things about the Roman camps.
This is something that for me is a reason of concern thank you very much president I will now go to Christian Erich Christian Christian are you online yes please go ahead introduce yourself and and ask you a question Christian you're on can you hear us.
She has a problem with the audio she's real sent me a message before so maybe let's go to Jan heberman now yes can you hear me yes very well go ahead OK yeah first of all greetings to Milano and to to the president and I have a question on the volunteer as you were mentioning earlier.
That you have about 14,000,000 volunteers all over the world and I was wondering is there at at the moment is there an increase in in people who want to join you as a volunteer and if so how do you handle this have you sort of introduced the fast track training for people in order to make them fit for this pandemic president Many thanks OK.
Looking at the experience that we are having of course the number can increase because normally in this moment of difficulties there is we find that a lot of people that want to support the Red Cross with concrete actions in Italy in in few days.
Or less 20 thousands more we have 160 thousands volunteer stable volunteers of the Red Cross we opened our our system to the temporary volunteers in in few days 20 thousands reached and offer their service to the branches we we with these new volunteers we only brief and teach them how to use the disposals how to protect themselves.
And then we ask them to support only with the with the very simple services but they are vital in this. Like for example the drug prescription of the elderly so they go and they they go in the houses of the elderly they take the prescription they go to the pharmacies and they and then they go back providing the drug to the to those they need.
Vital drugs to to survive the same with the food so they don't need you to drive the ambulances because this is something very delicate and of course we cannot involve in this kind of support but for example medical doctors and nurses that are offering their services so we are deploying them to support the hospital in bergamo to support the activities in in bresha and the same is happening in in the other countries that now are on the frontline this is that always happening in our in our.
Our system so when I talk about 14 this is the more or less is the stable number of volunteers amongst our 192 national societies but yes normally it increase but I cannot give a percentage at the moment but we can match a lot of generosity.
Thank you very much thank you very much and now I have received president the question from the correspondent that could not put on his mic he is she says this is Christian Erich from DPA in the German press agency and she's asking has Mister rocker been to the hospitals and if yes can he explain a bit what the most urgent needs are in these hospitals.
Yes I in this moment in Italy especially here in this in this region you don't then we we don't think anymore as we are used to the to the normal Western Hospital very well separated for surgery neurosurgery cardio surgery.
Unfortunately everything is focused on the COVID-19 so even the cardio surgeons are working in the world for COVID-19 and this is this is think about the physiotherapist physiotherapist in the hospital in bergamo now is dedicated to treat the dead bodies so we are reinventing ourselves.
And this is when we talk about the needs it's about the to give a relief for medical doctors that are working around the clock and and they need to to to have a relief even a psychological relief because they are confronting themselves with the defeat.
So if you tell what is most needed of course we can talk about disposals we can talk about that this is a global crisis about the the disposals of course there is a global crisis also about the ventilators which are badly needed because the the issue is that more or less one patient in in intensive care spend from 15 up to 20 days in intensive care here in Italy as average.
So every day we need more ventilator and some and this is not this unfortunately is happening some are are dying in the in their own houses.
So again for me of course the technologies and and and this is this is something that are are needed but psychosocial support psychological support for the health workers is something another another little story I don't want to bore you but because these are impressive so it's maybe it's also a way to elaborate for me because I'm receiving all all these input.
Think about the my people the volunteers that are working in the ambulance system they go in a house to because there is a crisis of a passion maybe this is a passion 75 8 years old and they have to accompany they are all covered with these white disposals so they they they don't they are missing the human touch again.
But also they are experiencing that again the hug the the their relatives of this person cannot hug him and they know that there is an egg probably that this is the last time that they're going to see them so we are leaving and we are passing through something that's very difficult and in the hospitals this is what they are passing the medical docs the nurses 24 hours a day.
President thank you very much so I have still on my list the last 3 questions from Nina Larson Gabriella Sotomayor Ahmad and there is a hand up from Jamie but I don't know if it's still there from before and then we will have to wrap up because we have 2 more speakers that need to to talk I'll give the floor now to Nina to ask the question to president rocca Nina hi Nina Larson from AFP.
I had a can you hear me yes I hear you OK so I wanted to ask you mentioned the fear about an increase in suicides and depression and I was wondering if you have any numbers or any indication of where specifically this is the the biggest problem if you could give us any data president.
No it's too it's too early we are collecting to our centre for drug addiction in Rome here in here in Italy but we are in touch with several of our passions and and we know that this is this is the the the trend unfortunately is not so.
Use the the app for the psychological support visa V with the with the medical doctor here here in Italy and I think that this is another need that maybe we can set up.
For free but in this moment even those who are normally having the the touch with the medical doctor with the psychologist that they cannot have it so this is another is another issue but at this moment I don't have any kind of figures I'm sorry it's only it's only something that we are feeling in discussing with the with the doctor with the nurses and and.
Being aware about that about the our social dynamic in in our few days ago and an old nurses suicide because she thought that she could be in the vector of her infection because she was positive.
So maybe in the very fragile people, there are a lot of consequences in being isolated because these nurses was found positive and after a few days, is she she she committed suicide.
Thank you very much.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
Thank you very much.
Thank you for your testimony And I'm Gabriela Sotomayor, Mexican journalist.
A big hug for you and and for all the people there.
My question is if you have enough equipment to protect your personal.
There's a lack of equipment and and I would I would like to know about that issue.
And also if you have an advice for countries that are not that are beginning with this big virus, with this coronavirus and they have not more than 1000 cases or something like that.
Do you have an advice for them?
What, what should they do?
[Other language spoken]
Thank you, Gabriella President, thank you for the hug.
Look, I'm to protect my optimism because as humanitarian I must be optimism.
I must say that my only advice to the politicians and those who have the responsibility to run a country that this is not the time to optimism.
They have to prepare recovery plan, contingency plan, they have to prepare the hospital dedicated to COVID-19.
They have to look for ventilators.
They even if this is an expenses, they don't have to wait.
The time to act is now.
If some country is so lucky that they are not experiencing the crisis as we are experiencing here or in France or in Spain, now it's time to prepare.
There are no excuses now, no excuses, no, no, no president and no minister Roberta, no one has the responsibility to run a country to be optimistic it will not hit my country.
They must prepare contingency plan and clear plan about the disposals.
Yes, this is we badly need is a global crisis.
[Other language spoken]
This is, this is because we cannot stop the speculation.
We cannot stop the speculation.
As a Red Cross, I can give you my experience.
Since the, the start of the crisis, we have 4 contract that has been delayed by our contractors because maybe they found someone else that paid more by the N 95 masks.
Because we, we contract maybe just as an example 350 or €400 for each and maybe someone else is going to pay 5.
And and this is there is no global policy on this and and this is a lesson learned in this crisis about about but they are badly needed.
Prepare the health system, make enough escort of masks and disposals because normally the use think about this in a region like like Lombardy, the use of the masks were more or less 300 thousands each year per year.
Now is 300,000 per day per day and and the the arrivals are enough only for to survive one day or two days.
So we are leaving day by day, day by day.
[Other language spoken]
Oh, I have another one which I said that, but then I'll close here because we, we really need to go to finish the briefing.
So the next question is from Ahmad Arun Ahmad, can you introduce yourself please?
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
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I'm Ahmed from the United Arab Emirates news agency President, Do you have any impression through your visit to the northern part of Italy that they are closure closer somehow to reach the containment of the virus?
And do you think that the preparation in Roman other parts in the South is much better than the surprise the the the north part?
Thank you, President.
[Other language spoken]
My impression look is too early.
Looking at the data of the last 3-4 days is too early.
Maybe they're a little signal, but it's too early.
If you read them to today at 6:00, when we will receive them, we will collect the data from all Italy could be something completely different.
So let's wait till the end of the week and then we will maybe can read a bit better about the preparation in the South.
Historically, unfortunately in the country, the South is less prepared.
They are making contingency plan, but still I think we have to do to do more because there are a lack of ventilators in the still in this loop.
There are lack of ventilators are here in Lombardy too, so far.
Think about in the region, in the South.
So here if we are in the middle of a crisis and what I told you before about what my advice is for other countries, we are still living now.
So unfortunately there is this lack in the market and we are paying the consequences of this.
Last question is from Byram Altuk, Anadulu Ansi, the Turkish press Agency.
Byram, good morning, Mr Roka, I hope you are doing well in Italy.
Last week, officials of the World Health Organisation have said they expect the peak of contagions in Italy to be reached by next week.
It was a hope for millions of Italian people.
So I really agreed on that point.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
Thank you, President.
Look, they said the the last week, last Sunday should be the peak.
[Other language spoken]
What we do know now is, is that that we have to work hard every day, every day.
I forgot to tell you the little signals that I received visiting Bergamo, visiting the the most affected areas, is that my colleagues, the president of the local branches told me that the call for ambulances are decreasing.
So maybe, and This is why I'm telling you, let's see, because maybe we don't, we must not read the number of deaths that were infected the days ago.
Let's see in the next days little signals we are on.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
We are receiving the little signals, but it's too early to to read it.
President, thank you so very much for having been with us today.
I would like to ask maybe Tomaso and anyone if they can share the appeal with the Geneva Press Corps, because I am told now that not everybody has received the copy of the appeal, so we would appreciate if that could be shared with the Geneva Press Corps.
Thank you very much and good luck with your work with this so difficult work and thanks for having briefed our journalist.
Now I will go back to Rupert Colville, who had another point of briefing to the journalist and then we will go to Andrea.
And thank you very much for your patience.
Rupert, can you go to your last point?
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
Yes, the last point is on Sri Lanka.
So we're troubled by reports that the convicted perpetrator of the Mirasuville massacre in Sri Lanka has received a presidential pardon and was released from gaol this week.
Former Army Sergeant Sunil Ratnaika was sentenced in 2015 for the ****** in in the year 2000 of 8 civilians, including a 5 year old child.
His trial took more than a decade.
5 defendants in fact were brought to trial in all, but only Sergeant *** Nayaka was convicted.
The conviction was confirmed by the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka in May 2019.
This is one of the rare human rights cases from the decades long conflict in Sri Lanka that had ever reached conviction.
The presidential pardon is an affront to victims and yet another example of the failure of Sri Lanka to fulfil its international human rights obligations to provide meaningful accountability for war crimes, crimes against humanity and other gross violations of human rights.
Victims are such violations and crimes have the right to a remedy, and this includes equal and effective access to justice and to reparation.
And the perpetrators serve a punishment that is proportionate to the seriousness of their conduct.
Pardoning one of the sole convicted perpetrators of atrocities committed during the Sri Lankan conflict further undermines the very limited progress the country has made towards ending impunity for mass human rights abuses.
That's it.
Thank you very much.
I see Gabriella has raised their hand if it's not a remaining from before.
Gabriella, you want to ask a question to Rupert on this?
[Other language spoken]
My question is why?
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
Why did they released this person?
Why they pardon.
Do you know, do you know the reason?
[Other language spoken]
Rupert has disappeared from my screen.
Are you there?
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
So sorry.
The the the unmuting takes a while sometimes.
Yeah, that's right, Gabriella.
[Other language spoken]
No, we don't know why, but it's deeply, deeply regrettable.
And this is a very serious crime.
Eight people killed.
Took years and years and years to to get the case through the courts, to get the conviction, to get the conviction confirmed by the Supreme Court.
And now he's pardoned.
So, you know, the message that sends in Sri Lanka is is truly troubling.
Thank you very much, Rupert.
I don't see any other question for you.
[Other language spoken]
Oh, sorry, Katrina has a question for you.
Sorry.
[Other language spoken]
She had asked before.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
OK, Hi again report question regarding Libya, we we know that there is one identified COVID-19 case that has been identified on March 24th.
What are you guys doing there?
Because we know that the situation is is quite awful in already in normal, normal world.
[Other language spoken]
And the question is also addressed to Andrei of UNHCR, if Andrei is on the line too.
[Other language spoken]
I'll start with Rupert.
Thanks, Catherine.
Yeah, no, that is that is very worrying.
I mean, thankfully one case, but you know, of course there could easily be more.
And in countries like Libya where the security situation is, is so, so difficult, that's, you know, the potential is, is, is really horrendous.
You know, it's very, very hard for unlike in in many other countries, it's very hard for medical services and so on to function properly in countries where the security situation is so dangerous.
So I don't really have more information on that at the moment.
I'll try and ask, but I think probably the medical agencies operating in, in Libya would be a better 1st, 1st order call for you because they can give you a more accurate view than I can of, of what the risks are, what the medical situation is, what the limitations are.
Of course, we, we know about the, the crowded detention centres and so on, which we've highlighted many times.
And again, if COVID-19 gets into these type of institutions, institution is maybe too grand a word for them.
It's it could be, you know, catastrophic for the populations in those places.
So and that goes for any kind of places where people are penned in together in large numbers with completely impossible to do a physical distancing.
The other issue in a country like Libya, again, would be the information, you know, how good is the information the population are getting about the risks, about what measures they can take, if feasible and so on.
There is also Katrina.
I will call your attention also to what Stefano Jarik said yesterday about Libya and the fact that the UN, of course, are very worried by what could happen there and the confirmation of the first case.
He said that the United Nations is supporting Libyan authorities in COVID-19 preparedness and response efforts, but funding is urgently required so that the national and UN health sectors response plans can be implemented.
And in particularly called for sustaining funding for the Libya humanitarian response plans for the COVID-19 pandemic as critical to ensure that existing building net abilities are not exacerbated and life saving needs are addressed.
And he said also that the UN is very alarmed that the hostilities have continued in and around Tripoli despite the recently announced humanitarian polls.
So, Andre, do you want to add anything specific on Libya?
I, I, I will need to hear the question again.
I, I didn't hear the question.
And also my battery is about to run out.
This is over the going on for an hour and a half.
So I hope we can get through the items we have that that was the last question that I had on my line.
So if you want to to add anything, what was the question was asking was asking about Libya, the fact that the first case had been confirmed there and what we could say about what was going on there.
And, and Rupert answered in terms of yes, vulnerability of the country and information, but I don't know if there is anything specific you want to say for right now, right now in Libya, in Libya, in Libya currently there are no reported or suspected cases of refugees, asylum seekers being infected by, by COVID-19.
But obviously we as I was mentioned yesterday as as well elsewhere in the world, we are conducting a number of activities in terms of procurement, in terms of preparedness, prevention and and response measures.
And obviously all of this is coming on top of extremely volatile situation with only the critical, critical staff being allowed to travel.
The issue of access to the various detention centre is also problematic.
We had to temporarily halt those and and obviously the detained asylum seekers are particularly vulnerable and exposed given the poor health and overcrowded conditions.
And we are we are advocating for their release of all asylum seekers and migrants into into the community where their where their needs might be far better addressed.
I'll stop there given the given that Rupert already and you have provided quite a bit of detail.
[Other language spoken]
So thank you very much, Andre and yes, thank you for your patience.
I think Rupert has finished.
There are no more questions.
So you can go ahead with your briefing hoping that the battery holds.
Thank you, Andre.
Be muted.
[Other language spoken]
Thank you very much, Alessandra.
[Other language spoken]
We have two items for two for you today.
The first one is on the situation in western Myanmar.
We are concerned at the reports of mounting civilian casualties and growing displacement triggered by the latest escalation of clashes in western Myanmar.
According to recent local reports, at least 21 civilians have lost their lives in a series of clashes that hit their villages along the border between two Myanmar states, the state of Rakhine and Chin.
This was earlier this month.
Losses among the civilian population have become frequent and_the human cost and heavy impact of ceaseless conflict on the local communities.
Fighting between the Myanmar Armed Forces and Arkan Army has continued since the rise in tensions in late 2018.
A sharp upward trend in civilian casualties has been observed since February this year.
We reiterate our calls to all sides to the conflict in western Myanmar to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure.
We are all.
We are also adding our voice to this week's appeal by the UN Secretary General, urging warring parties across the world to seize their fighting in support of the bigger battle against the ****** of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Civilians in the areas ravaged by conflict, in particular those who are displaced, are especially vulnerable in this global public health emergency.
Myanmar authorities currently estimated more than 61,000 people are newly displaced in Rakhine State.
This is as of mid March.
This is an increase of about 10,000 compared to previous month.
They are scattered across 133 sites.
In addition to that, there are another 4800 people displaced in Qin State across 34 sites.
This latest displacement comes on top of more than 130,000 people already displaced in Rakhine State, most of whom are Rohingya and who have been displaced since 2012.
The number of people people affected by the conflict is likely to be higher as population movements continue and there are frequent reports of new arrivals at some of the displacement sites.
I would like to point out that speaking to the UNHCR teams on the ground, the displaced families clearly indicated their primary concerns, which is water, shelter, food, sanitation and hygiene.
The breadwinners have also been cut from their livelihoods and affected families are becoming increasingly dependent on humanitarian assistance.
The return is obviously hindered by the fighting.
The newly laid anti personnel mines and improvised explosive devices also pose additional risks.
There is also critical lack of fresh and reliable information as Internet blackout remains in nine townships across Rakhine State.
So far, we have been able to assist some 57,000 people and there are more details in the briefing note.
[Other language spoken]
Briefing note that it has been sent by Solange before the briefing.
Thank you very much for providing us with it.
So I have a question from Annes on this subject.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
Hello, Andre.
Thank you very much for sending the briefing note before.
This is really really helpful.
I have one question on the figure, the 61,000 figure of newly displaced in Rakhine states.
So this figure is from beginning of March until 16th of March and that means that for the February it was 51,000 people, is that correct?
Andre?
Yes, that is correct.
The the estimate of the Myanmar authorities for the Rakhine state is 61,000 as of mid March, so an increase of 10,000.
So the February, the increase from February to to March was was 10,000 people.
And then there is additional displacement in Chin State where 4800 estimate are estimated to have been displaced.
Thank you very much, Andrea.
I'm waiting to see if there's any other request for the floor from the journalist on this.
Ahmad has a question for you on this issue.
[Other language spoken]
No, it's not for on this issue actually.
OK, just wait because I think Andrea has another point of and then I'll give you the floor for question.
Andrea, you want to go to the second one?
There are no other questions.
Yes, yes, thank you very much.
The other the other item is in relate is in relation to the situation in Yemen where after five years of conflict, Yemeni population this the suffering of the Yemeni population is only continuing and the protracted conflict has displaced thousands from their homes in recent weeks and prolonged displacement is exacerbating the hardship and risks faced by Yemeni families across the across the entire country.
There was an intensification of fighting across Aljaf, Marif, Marib and Sana governorates in northern Yemen since January with more than 4000 people who fled.
They fled to Marib city and the surrounding area.
This is east of the capital Sana.
And this is according to the data shared by IOMB International Organisation for Migration.
A number of those fleeing, including women and children, have told the UNHCR that they had no choice but to escape on foot, walking for days without food or water across open desert.
The new arrivals among are among 750,000 displaced people now being hosted hosted in Marib Governorate alone.
After years of protracted conflict, these displaced communities and their hosts are struggling to survive.
Thousands continue to stream into Marib City and nearby areas in search of safety.
Humanitarian needs are fast growing and basic services and assistance are overstretched.
Public services, including hospital and schools, are struggling to cope with the growing population in Marib.
Many displaced people live in overcrowded makeshift sites, with some families sharing just one tent between them.
Others are sheltering in unfinished buildings.
People have trouble accessing clean water and proper sanitation.
One family told UNHCR they share latrine with 60 other families.
We are very worried that displaced communities and their and their hosts will be at the heightened risk in the event of a COVID-19 outbreak, given the precarious situation and dire living and sanitary conditions.
Despite the tremendous effort by the humanitarian partners on the ground, owing to the magnitude of the crisis, food also remains a critical need for displaced families.
Some mothers said that they are considering sending their children to work or beg on the street in order to get by.
And I would just like to stress that we continue to work with the rest of the UN community in Yemen on addressing these and other humanitarian needs in the country.
[Other language spoken]
And again, more in the news in the in the notes that we've sent out.
So I'm looking now for questions.
Any question on Yemen to Andre.
I can't see any, so maybe I'll go back.
Oh, yes, I'll go back to Ahmad that had a question, something else.
We don't have question on Yemen.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
Yeah, if you can just elaborate on the situation of the refugee Syrian refugees in Lebanon as a situation, the health and the economy situation in the country is really worsen.
If they can, if they are able to reach the health facilities or not.
What about the tests for the COVID-19 and so on?
[Other language spoken]
OK, So very quickly, Lebanon has been a generous host to, to nearly 1,000,000 Syrian refugees for now nine years.
Regarding the question about the the the pandemic to date and, and based on on available evidence we have there are no confirmed COVID-19 cases among refugees in Lebanon.
Nevertheless, we have strengthened are overall preparedness, prevention and response measures to account for for the health and the well-being of refugees and the humanitarian personnel working for them all over the country.
We are working very closely with the concerned Lebanese authorities to support the expansion of the existing capacity for hospitalisation and intensive care.
This is being done so that all COVID-19 infected persons in need of such assistance can be given treatment at the timely manner without creating competition for care between individuals.
This is really important that there be 1 coordinated response under the leadership of the government, and we are all joining hands to end this in.
In short, this is a global pandemic that can affect anybody.
And in order to keep all of us safe, it is important, but it is really critical to to keep everybody safe.
Thank you very much.
Thank you, Andre.
Looking at the list here, don't see any other requests for the floor, so I would like to thank you very, very much.
I have two small announcements to.
It was announcement and information to give you.
I've been asked about a collective number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 among UN staff worldwide.
Counter yesterday was at 78, so this is UN staff worldwide, 78 cases.
The other question that had been asked was how many journalists were coming to the Paladin and sorry, not how many people were coming to the Paladin and soon at the moment, compared to the numbers that were there before the crisis.
So obviously, as I explained to a couple of people, it's very hard to say how many people were on any given day at the Pali because we can count the stuff, but it's very difficult to know because of the meetings.
There are days when we have big meetings, others when we have short meetings.
But we calculated that there is an average of 4000 people coming to the Pali daily on an any given day.
And at the moment we have gone down this week to 65 on Monday, 55 on Tuesday, 44 on Wednesday and 73 yesterday.
So these are the numbers that you had asked me for.
If there's a need, we can send them by e-mail.
Otherwise, I think I have said everything I want to say.
I just wanted to add that now we are getting on full speed with the new, with this new system of briefing.
There are quite a few organisations, agencies and programmes that are asking for support to have a similar system to the briefing for their own press conferences.
So we hope that for next week we will start having a a new activity again.
We've already some requests in the pipeline and with a little bit of luck, we will be able to have this system.
I've been working for all the agencies and programmes.
I'm seeing now that there are two more hands on Catherine and Ahmad, I don't know if you have questions for me.
Catherine.
[Other language spoken]
Alessandra, one question to you is concerning the briefing that the UN Secretary General is going to today for the member states.
I mean, what is the what is the the target?
[Other language spoken]
The the the target is really to first of all, you've seen it's not just the secretary General is the Secretary General together with the President of the General Assembly of the Security Council and of ECOSOC.
This is an extraordinary briefing.
It's a joint virtual briefing for member states.
All the heads of all the main of the UN will be there to brief the member States and the idea is really to tell them how the organisation work is going on with the situation, with the current situation.
And then also to tell the member states what are the efforts that the UN system as a whole is doing, are doing as to respond to the crisis in all the different dimensions and also the plan for the global recovery.
These are the scope, the main objective of the very exceptional thing we're going to have today.
[Other language spoken]
Alessandra, thank you very much.
Did you say 78 cases of UN stuff around this is right?
That's correct.
That's what has been announced yesterday from New York, 78 confirmed cases among UN staff worldwide.
[Other language spoken]
Can can you send us some details about where and, and, and things like that or not?
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
Maybe we can, we can ask, but for the moment this has not been published in details.
OK, Thank you very much.
Thank you very much to you.
Thank you to you all.
And I look forward to see you next week with the virtual press briefing.
And good luck for those who are going to organise the first press briefings virtually next week with our support.
[Other language spoken]
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