A very good morning to you and welcome to this press briefing at the UN office at Geneva today, the 5th of September 2023.
We have quite a number of items on the agenda today.
We'll start off and meet it with Yens Lark of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, who has an update.
Rather, he will speak to a press release he we issued shortly about the USG Griffiths releasing $125 million from the multi donor fund, the SURF to underfunded emergencies.
Today the United Nations Humanitarian Coordination Office, OTIA is announcing an allocation of $125 million from the UN's Emergency Fund to ramp up poorly funded humanitarian crisis around the world.
The support from the multi donor Central Emergency Response Funds underfunded emergencies window will with this allocation reach the largest annual amount ever allocated, that is $270 million this year and to the highest number of countries.
Humanitarian organisations in 14 countries in Africa, Asia, the Americas and the Middle East will benefit from this latest injection of funds.
The humanitarian plans for these countries.
The 14 are currently all between 18% funded in Venezuela and 36% funded and that is in Central African Republic.
Afghanistan and Yemen top the recipient list from the allocation today with $20 million each.
Other recipients include Burkina Faso, Mali, Myanmar and Haiti.
In addition, funding will go to Venezuela, as I mentioned, the Central African Republic, Mozambique, Cameroon, the Occupied Palestinian Territories and Malawi, and refugees operations in Bangladesh, the Rohingya and Uganda are also included.
Releasing the funds, UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffith said that it is a cruel reality that in many humanitarian operations, aid agencies are scraping along with very little funding, right at a time when people's needs compel them to scale up.
Thanks to the generosity of a vast range of donors, we can count on the Central Emergency Response Fund to fill some of the gaps.
Lives are saved as a result, but we need also individual donors to step up as well.
This is a fund by all and for all to remind you, this year, global funding requirements have surpassed 55 billion U.S.
This is to support 250 million people affected by conflict, the impact of the climate crisis, natural disasters, disease outbreaks, displacement and other issues.
Faced with these record needs, less than on average 30% of the funding required has been received.
Questions for Jens starting in the room.
I don't see any questions from the room.
We do have Catherine from Franz Foncat online.
Catherine, if you want to unmute yourself.
I have to wait for the unmute sign.
For this briefing, I'd like to come back Yens on Sudan, as you mentioned I think last week about the statements of Martin briefly, if I remember well served did support already and and finance some programmes in Sudan, but I'd like to come back on that as we had the statement and the appeal of UNHCR yesterday.
Is there any improvements regarding in fact the financial appeal that was only founded, 2026% founded.
Have you seen an improvement since the the the appeal last week?
And thank you for for your answer.
Thank you, Catherine for this particular allocation.
The 125 million that we are announcing today, the Sudan, Sudan is not part of that.
Because Sudan has already received a total of $60 million this year alone in three separate allocations.
However, the, the global overall funding of, of Sudan is still lingering down there around 1/4 of what is requested.
So I would almost, you know, repeat what, what what Martin Griffiths is, is, is saying today that SURF, of course, is a quick injection of funds.
And it also is a signal, a message to other donors, individual donors to also step up their funding levels with the frankly much larger pots of money that they have available than we do with the SURF.
Thanks very much, Jens, for the questions.
Catherine, is that a follow up or?
I'd like to to ask a question to Jens and to the other humanitarian agencies that are listening.
What about the reallocation of funds?
We know that some of the funds have been reallocated to Ukraine at a certain moment and you you haven't received new funds.
So what is the situation regarding OSHA and could the spokespersons of the other UN agencies like UNHER and others comment that situation?
First, just for clarification, what?
What when I speak about the global funding levels, this is this is not funding to Orcha.
Orcha is a relatively small coordinating organisation.
One of the things we coordinate other response plans where all the agencies put in their their requirements and that's where we get into the the buildings at.
At this point in time, 5055 billion globally.
What we have seen is that funding generally is growing in absolute dollar terms and the main issue is that the needs are outpacing that growth.
So the funding gap generally widens.
Regarding where funds are allocated to which crisis, that is uniquely a decision of the individual donors, except when they put it in a multi donor fund like the Central Emergency Response Fund where they a vast range of donors put their money there and then they ask the emergency relief coordinator to allocate that based on inputs from the individual countries.
Now that's a long explanation to say that we have the SURF which allows us to step in purely on the humanitarian criteria.
And there's about 70 or 80 if I remember correctly.
It's actually in, in the press release, how many criteria that these crises have to go through before they can even apply for, for SURF funding.
So it's very rigorous process.
The the, this pool fund is of course a brilliant tool.
We have a target of having a $1 billion SURF.
We are not there yet, but we think it's a very valuable tool.
But to your direct questions about allocating funding here, there or other places, it is strictly with the with the donors themselves who decide where to put their money.
Of course, we like it to be channelled through the multilateral system, through the humanitarian response plans and other kinds of response plans that we have, refugee response plans, flash appeals and so on and so forth.
What we have also seen since the crisis in Ukraine was actually not a tendency to take money from one crisis and put it to Ukraine.
It was actually a tendency to increase funding for Ukraine, which were already applying for for money since 2014 when the crisis began.
But the funding levels for the other appeals were relatively unchanged.
And of course, Needless to say, the Secretary General has appealed loudly to that, to that vein.
And of course, your much needed reporting helps us also in that regard.
I'm not sure if any of the colleagues online have anything to add anyone in particular?
If so, just please raise your hand.
If not, perhaps you can liaise.
Catherine, you can liaise with colleagues after this briefing.
If that's not the case, do we have further questions for Yens?
No, I don't see that's the case.
So on that note, I'd like to thank you very much, Yens, for joining us here.
I'd like to call our colleagues from the Human Rights office, Ravina and Marta, who have updates.
Ravina Shamdasani update on racial justice and Martha has an update on the Darien Gap migrants.
And then back to Ravenna on Bangladesh.
We'll start with Ravenna, please.
And just to for the record, Martha and I did not coordinate our outfits this morning.
It just so happened we have sent you a report on racial justice this morning, so I'll just read out what was already sent to you at 10 AM in the press release.
So this morning we issued a new report on racial justice, which states that people of African descent continue to face immense challenges to meaningful participation in public affairs in many countries due to systemic racism, marginalisation and exclusion that is often rooted in the legacies of enslavement and colonialism.
The report finds that systemic racism continues to affect negatively people of African descent in all aspects of their lives.
Deaths of people of African descent during or after interactions with law enforcement continue and the report finds that little progress has been made to address impunity, despite the protracted struggles by families that have been seeking accountability and effective redress.
The UN **** Commissioner for Human Rights, Walker Turk, stresses that if systemic racism is to be overcome, a critical starting point is for states to ensure that the needs, the experiences and the expertise of people of African descent are central to policy making, implementation as well as evaluation.
And this can only happen through meaningful, inclusive and safe participation of people of African descent in every aspect of public affairs, Nothing about them without them.
Data disaggregated by race and ethnic origin is critical to ensure that the efforts to address systemic racism are grounded in evidence.
Yet many countries still do not collect, publish or use such data to inform policy making.
The report highlights illustrative examples of measures in some in place in some places, to facilitate the participation of people of African descent in public affairs, But it also laments persistent challenges and the lack in many countries of a safe and enabling environment that would empower people of African descent to participate and share their lived experience.
Racial ***** and discrimination, surveillance, harassment, intimidation, arrests and violence against people of African descent and civil society actors of African descent hinder meaningful, inclusive and safe participation.
The **** Commissioner has also issued A guidance note to states on effectively implementing the right to participate in public affairs.
He calls on states to unveil multi pronged, comprehensive evidence based legal and policy institutional approaches to dismantle systemic racism in all areas of life, including in law enforcement.
There has been, as I said, insufficient progress towards accountability and redress.
States need to take firm action to ensure that justice and redress is delivered in these cases and to put in place strengthened and independent oversight mechanisms.
It is essential that they examine what role racial discrimination, stereotypes and biases play in law enforcement and in accountability processes.
The report will be officially presented to the Human Rights Council by the **** Commissioner on the 5th of October.
Thank you very much, Ravina for that.
We have questions for Ravina on the racial justice.
Yes, Christophe Crystal Vocht, FP thanks for taking my question.
It's about police violence and in the in the report on police violence and people of African descent, there was question of Adama Tawi and the gendarmes.
The three gendarmes that that were involved in the case have been recently.
So they're basically there's not going to be done anything against them.
So I was just wondering if you had any reaction to that, any comment?
Thanks for your question, Chris Christophe.
In fact, there are a few cases that were covered in the report where there have been updates since the cut off period of the report.
As you know, we have been raising the case of Adama Traore since the previous report that we had put out in 2021.
This was one of seven illustrative cases, illustrative of the challenges that families of people of African descent face in seeking truth and justice promptly.
We do take note of the recent decision that there was no ground for prosecution.
Non Liu, as you, as you pointed out, with regard to the gendarmes as well as the family saying that it will appeal the decision, and we continue to follow this case very closely.
We have to note that seven years after his death, the family is still waiting for the full truth into his death to be formally established, for corresponding responsibilities and for appropriate measures to be taken to ensure that justice and effective remedy are put in place so that such an incident cannot occur again.
The report also does highlight allegations of online smearing messages and threats, including from Twitter accounts of two professional police unions, against ASA Traore, Adama Traore's sister, following her cooperation with the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination last year.
In January, the government of France noted that it remained attentive to the safety of Miss Trowery and her family and that the Paris prosecutor's office had opened a criminal investigation into this matter.
As I said, we will continue to follow this closely, and so as the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.
Thanks very much, Ravina.
I was wondering if Volcker Turk or the UN Rights Office has a view on whether reparations for slavery of the type envisaged by Barbados and CARICOM are the appropriate form of remedy for people of African descent.
In fact, there is a report coming out and to be presented at this Council session as well.
It's a Secretary General's report on reparatory justice.
So we will also be speaking to you about that report when it comes out.
So, so bear with me a little bit on a more detailed response to that question.
Having said that, the **** Commissioner has insisted, you know, on on several pillars of the response to systemic racism and one of them is redress.
So confronting the legacies of the past, including through accountability and redress.
And what he has insisted is that states need to recognise that behind contemporary forms of racism, dehumanisation and exclusion is a failure to acknowledge the responsibilities for enslavement, for translate the the the the transatlantic trade in enslaved Africans and for colonialism, and to comprehensively repair the harms.
Now what form such redress should take?
He has said it needs to be again the the process needs to be informed by people of African descent so there needs to be wide-ranging meaningful initiatives including formal acknowledgement, apologies, truth telling processes and reparations in various forms.
Again, how this should be structured is through the effective participation of the people of African descent, themselves and their communities.
I will reply in English because I'll be able to give a better reply.
There has been progress and if you read the report you will see that we've indicated several areas in several countries, including the US where they have been welcome steps that have been taken.
And of course these are long term measures.
So we are looking where we are following the implementation of these measures closely.
However, it is important to note that the problems continue.
We are seeing continued reports of the deaths of people of African descent in police custody or in interactions with law enforcement in many different countries in the world.
I think this report sets out some 44 countries in which, you know, we've we've examined the situation.
So the problem remains very much there.
There have been measures taken, but we are calling for a much more comprehensive, transformative approach, again with the full participation of people of African descent in countries, including in the United States.
There have been, there has been research done showing the many barriers to the participation of people of African descent.
And again, this is outlined in the report both in the electoral space, in the online space, in the ability of civil society organisations to be able to get funding to do their work and their advocacy for people of African descent.
We've had cases in many parts of the world where people of African descent or people who are speaking about these issues are vilified and they are subjected to threats, hate speech, violence, and this needs to stop.
So in summary, lots of positive measures that have been taken.
We need to see much more of that and we need a comprehensive strategy to address this issue with the full participation of people of African descent.
And maybe if I, if you don't mind me adding the director consequence of the horrific events with George Floyd.
The Human Rights Council, as you recall, had an urgent debate shortly after the incident and afterwards they created this expert mechanism which deals specifically with racial justice in the context of law enforcement.
This working group will actually present an oral update this upcoming session.
I don't have the exact date.
And as you might know, they also undertook a visit to the US and met with various police officials in various cities throughout the US.
So they'll be able to brief you on progress that has been made since since the George Floyd incident.
So just wanted to add that further.
No, I don't see that's the case.
So in that case, I turn to my right to Marta, who has update on the Darien Gap migrants.
We are worried about the risks and vulnerabilities faced by an unprecedented number of migrants and refugees who are crossing the Darien Gap, the dense tropical jungle that separates Colombia and Panama, on their journey towards North America.
So far this year, more than 330,000 people have crossed the Darion Gap, the highest annual figure recorded to date.
One in five were children.
By comparison, some 248,000 people are estimated to have passed through this region during the whole of 2022.
Migrants and refugees are exposed to multiple human rights violations and abuses during their journey, including sexual violence, which is particular risk for children, woman eligibility, bi people and people with disabilities.
There are also murders, disappearances, trafficking, robbery and intimidation by organised crime groups.
The limited humanitarian attention both in Panama and Costa Rica worsens the precarious sleeping conditions there and increases people's vulnerabilities.
The risks are all the greater given the dangers of crossing this jungle of some 575,000 hectares.
In the dry season, people walk on average for four to seven days to cross the Darring Gap.
During the nine month long rainy season, this can take up to 10 days.
The government of Panama has the support of the international community built to migrant reception centres in Daiyan province and one at the border with Costa Rica to provide shelter, food, healthcare and water and sanitation.
However, the large number of people on the move has stretched the capacity of the Panamanian authorities on the ground to continue providing protection and to attend to the humanitarian needs of refugees and migrants, as I witnessed myself when I visited the Darien Gap in May.
We understand the challenges and recognise the efforts of Costa Rica and Panama to meet the humanitarian needs of people in the context of Clarks Meeks movements and borders.
We call on all the states to promote human rights based solutions to migration government challenges and ensure border governments in line with international law and standards.
We also recall the need to avoid discriminatory anti migrant narratives.
Addressing migration challenges demands collective efforts and solutions at the regional international levels, which is why we're also calling on the international community to strengthen its support to the States and the Americas to address these protection gaps.
We further encourage the states of the region to address a structural factors that are forcing people to leave their homes and embark on perilous journeys in search of safety and a more dignified life for them and their families.
No, I don't see that's the case.
OK, on that note, well, wait, I'm sorry.
We do have a question from we'll start maybe Chris in the room and then we go to Jamil.
The question is not from matter, it's on something.
Yes, actually it's a question to Ravina on, on the racial justice report, one of the countries most mentioned in the report is Brazil.
Why so and what are your main worries about the situation in the country?
Indeed, Brazil is mentioned in in several respects, some positive, some not so positive.
As you know, one of the cases in Brazil was one of the emblematic cases that we've been looking at over the past few years, and this is the case of Luanna Barbosa dos Rey Santos from 2016.
And now we understand that in August, the Superior Court of Justice ruled in favour of the appeal by the family to reinstate aggravating circumstances to the criminal charge of homicide in that case.
In other regards, I mean, we have in the report, as you will see, we've documented several incidences, for example.
I mean, I'm just going through the report now to to help you through it.
In paragraph 21, we speak about concerns raised on the constricted space for dialogue between the government and people of African descent and the Kilambolas.
We also speak about continued vilification of human rights defenders of African descent in Brazil and continued interactions with law enforcement officials where there are serious concerns that racism, racial discrimination, and racial profiling play a role.
We have in paragraph 39 of the report content on, you know, in Brazil, while the overall number of deaths in encounters with police fell in 2021, for the first time in nine years, the number of deaths of people of African descent actually rose.
So clearly this is cause for for immense concern.
If, if you'd like more, we can talk offline as well and I can talk you through more of the information in the report.
I have, Gunilla, is your question pertaining to racial justice or a different subject and yours is also in a different subject?
Yes, let's just exhaust questions maybe on racial justice, the Darien gap, if there are no further questions on that, maybe then we have Bangladesh as well.
But let's with your indulgence, colleagues, there are two, one more item that Ravina wants, a brief on Bangladesh and then we can take other questions.
So let's go to Bangladesh and then then to you for your questions.
On Bangladesh, we are very concerned by the continued intimidation and harassment of human rights advocates and civil society leaders through legal proceedings in Bangladesh, including Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunis, who is known of course, for his work on poverty alleviation through the Grameen Bank, as well as against two leaders of the respected human rights organisation Adhikar.
The UN **** Commissioner for Human Rights, Walker Turk, calls on the Bangladeshi authorities to create a safe and enabling environment for human rights defenders and other civil society representatives to carry out their essential work for the welfare and the protection of all the people of Bangladesh.
Eunice has faced harassment and intimidation for almost a decade.
He currently faces two trials that carry potential prison sentences, one on charges of violating labour laws and the second for alleged corruption.
While Eunice will have the opportunity to defend himself in court, we are concerned that smear campaigns against him, often emanating from the highest level of government, risk undermining his right to a fair trial and due process in line with international standards.
We've also been following closely the cases brought against the leaders of the Adhikar Organisation, Adilur Rahman Khan and Nasiruddin Ilan, in which verdicts are due to be delivered on Thursday, the 7th of September.
The criminal charges relate to a fact finding reports that they compiled 10 years ago on extrajudicial killings.
Both have faced harassment and intimidation and their organisation licence was not renewed.
The legal harassment of civil society leaders, human rights defenders and other dissenting voices is a worrying sign for civic and democratic space in Bangladesh.
These cases also represent an important test for the independence of the judiciary in Bangladesh.
The **** Commissioner urges the judicial authorities to ensure the most rigorous review in these cases to ensure that the rights to due process and fair trial are strictly and consistently applied.
We are also studying closely the new cybersecurity law which has been presented to Parliament to replace the problematic Digital Security Act.
The new law will replace imprisonment with fines and increase the scope for bail for several offences.
But it is very important that Parliament address the remaining concerns to prevent any further arbitrary use of the law to suppress the freedom of expression.
Thanks very much, Ravina.
Questions on Bangladesh for Ravina Maya I is your hand is up?
Is that on in Bangladesh?
No, actually it is for regarding the Darien Cross.
We'll go back to Darien Cross if that's OK.
And then for Ravina Chu, it's also What does the racial justice report says about the situation?
Maybe we'll start with Martha, if that's OK.
Pose your question to Martha and then we'll go over to Ravine afterwards.
Yes, thank you for taking my question.
Yes, it is regarding the situation, how are you collaborating with other UN agencies like UNICEF?
Hello, thank you for for that question.
We collaborating not only with UNICEF but with all the other UN agencies in what it's called a super regional strategy of on migration in Central America and North America.
And then we have our offices in Panama, which covers Central America and the Caribbean, our office in Honduras, in Guatemala and in Mexico.
And then alongside the other UN agencies, we have regular meetings to coordinate our action and to meet the authorities along the path, not only in Panama but all the way up to the US border, to coordinate our actions and our advocacy with the government.
Thank you very much, Marta.
Report says about that region where the Darien Gap is, Costa Rica, Panama and so on and so forth.
Is there anything related to the?
Question of for these migrants that are suffering unspeakable conditions.
Maya, would you mind restating your question?
It was not terribly clear to us.
If you don't mind, please.
The racial justice report, what does it say about countries in the region?
Maybe you can pick one or two, you know Panama, Costa Rica, countries that are affected or where this migrants are moving from towards safety is the racial justice does the racial justice report.
Yes, the racial justice report does make reference to the situation of migrants and it does cite in particular you mentioned Panama and Costa Rica.
So yes, there, there is information in there about Panama and Costa Rica.
It speaks about in fact the situation.
Of course, this is a report that focuses on the situation of Africans and people of African descent.
So it speaks about the situation of these migrants, refugees and asylum seekers in Australia, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, the UAE, the UK and the US.
It also, you know, that the **** Commissioner has has often expressed concerns as well about the situation in the Central Mediterranean.
I don't, I mean, I can't right now walk through and go find the exact citations on Panama and Costa Rica, but perhaps I can send those to you later by e-mail.
And if I may, I can add as well that in the last few years, both Costa Rica and Panama have been reviewed, but by several UN committees, the UN Human Rights Committees, SIDO, the Committee on them for disappearances.
And all of them have issue recommendations on the migrants and the situation of refugees in general.
But as well highlighting the racial profile that many of these migrants not only are migrants or refugees and as well people of African descent, and this applies to people from Venezuela, from from Colombia, but as well from from Haiti that most of them are of African descent.
Many of the people crossing the jungle currently, and this is as well highlighted in the numbers provided by the government, are Asians, people that flee violence and and insecurity crisis in Haiti and that make their way to South America to afterwards cross the Darian Gap and follow the the route towards North America.
Reminder, I don't think I mean the right list for the United Nations Office of the **** Commissioner for Human Rights because I haven't received this report and nor the press release from Marta.
And I'm sure they'll make sure to put you on that list.
I see we have a few hands in the room.
I'm not sure if it's on other subjects.
OK, in that case, let's start off with Christophe and then Gunilla and then to you, Musa Christophe.
I had a question on Elon Muskie and several posts overnight where he was accusing the Anti Defamation League of being responsible for exes ex Twitter financial woes and basically was.
Which has been seen by most observers as anti-Semitic posts and basically asking accusing the Jewish people of being responsible for what happens to X and not having nothing to do with what he has done to the company.
So I was just wondering if he wouldn't have a reaction to that.
Yeah, Christophe, on this specific set of tweets, let me get back to you.
Generally, as you know, the the **** Commissioner had written an open letter to Elon Musk raising a lot of concerns about the proliferation of disinformation and of, you know, hate speech as well on these platforms.
In fact, the secretary general also had issued a report on this.
It is very important that social media companies take responsibility for this.
Of course, it's the responsibility of states concerned, but also of social media companies to take steps that they can to to try to curb incitement to hatred, incitement to violence on these specific tweets.
Let me check with colleagues and get back to you.
And Rivina as Rivarina rightly mentioned, so combating misinformation, disinformation is indeed remains a firm priority of the Secretary General.
They're OK Gunilla question in the frontier to.
I'd like to know your reaction to the news about the Swedish citizen and EU diplomat that is being held arbitrarily in prison in Iran since more than 500 days.
Your reaction also your your concern about his safety and well-being as he's being held reportedly in the Evin prison.
Perhaps also if this is a sign of a growing number of arbitrary detentions and what is called a hostage diplomacy by Iran.
No, of course we've been following this case.
I don't have a specific analysis from the office on this at the moment.
So I'll have to again get back to you by e-mail on this.
Generally you, you asked about arbitrary detention in Iran.
I mean, I've got, I've got a list of concerns here on Iran, obviously with the use of the death penalty, complete lack of accountability following Masamini's death as we approach one year since then, continued arbitrary detentions of large numbers of people.
And we all know that the situation in Evin prison has been subject to many communications by the Office of the **** Commissioner for Human Rights by various UN human rights treaty bodies and special procedures.
There have been serious concerns about due process rights, about conditions of detention, about the use of torture and I'll treatment as well.
But on this specific case, please bear with me.
I would rather check with colleagues in case there have been interactions on a bilateral basis that we need to be aware of.
No, in fact, I don't know if you received a tweet that we issued last night about this.
We are concerned about the large number of casualties that were reported.
I believe there were more than 150 people reportedly injured in Israel in the context of clashes between Eritrean pro government and anti government supporters.
We understand that force was used by law enforcement authorities.
We understand that hospitals are reporting that there are people who suffered gunshot wounds as well, so live ammunition was used.
We are alarmed at the **** number of injuries and we insist that it is crucial that investigations take place and that hate speech is avoided, including by the authorities, and that the principle of non refuel more is respected fully.
William of UNHCR has something to add.
Yes, on this point I believe.
Just to add to what Robina has said, we are also concerned by the violent clashes that took place in South Tel Aviv on Saturday.
Not sure if you if you got the first part of what I said, yes, if maybe just for the benefit of everyone, if you can just start from the beginning again if you don't mind.
We are also concerned by the violent clashes that took place in South Tel Aviv on Saturday.
UNHCR extends its sympathy to all those affected and condemns any acts of violence.
UNACR calls for calm and restraint and on all parties to refrain from taking any steps that could aggravate the situation further.
The vast majority of asylum seekers living in Israel are peaceful and law abiding.
The incidents on the 2nd of September are deeply regrettable and do not reflect the behaviour of the broader Eritrean community in Israel.
Refugees and asylum seekers are legal residents of Israel.
They are obliged to respect the law of their host country and are subject to the same procedures as any other resident or citizen, including in the case of any criminal conduct.
While it is important to establish accountability for what happened on Saturday, any decision impacting all Eritrean asylum seekers or instances of prefol Mont would contravene international law and could result in dramatic human consequences as the situation in Eritrea remains unchanged.
Thank you very much, William, for that comment.
Do we have questions for William maybe before we end this portion of the briefing?
Well, thank you again, William for that and of course to Ravina and Marta for their very thorough comprehensive updates on three very important subjects.
Plus, on this note, I'd like to invite our guests from the World Trade Organisation, Mr Javier Gutierrez, who is WT OS counsellor.
And Mr Gutierrez is going to be joining us in a minute.
Mr Gutierrez has an update on the WTO public forum.
It is time for Action Code.
Really nice to be in this beautiful room and really happy to introduce you to Javier Gutierrez, who's WTO Councillor.
He's the person in charge of the WTO public forum, then the brain and the soul, I should say, behind this event which is taking place next week, between the 12th and the 15th.
As you said, it is time for action.
It's going to be focusing on environment and how trade can work towards having a greener and more sustainable future.
Events that we think they can be of interest for, for you journalists.
And Javier will run you through the main events.
I was just checking if I had to say good morning or good afternoon, but good morning everyone.
I am Javier Gutierrez, I am the coordinator of the public Forum and I wanted to share with you some highlights of what's happening next week.
So for a bit more of context, the Public Forum is the WT OS largest outreach event this this year.
It's happening from the 12th to the 15th of September in the WTO, down the hill from here.
And the Public Forum is basically a platform for interested stakeholders from around the world where they meet over 3 1/2 days to discuss the latest developments in global trade and propose ways of how the multilateral trading system can be enhanced.
The event usually attracts over 2000 representatives from civil society, academia, business, government, other international organisations and the media.
This year, however, we have exceeded previous year's numbers and we're expecting almost 3300 people to attend over the 3 1/2 days of the public forum.
Although registration has closed for participants, media can still be accredited for the for the forum.
Like Fernando said, this year, the public forum will examine how trade can contribute to a greener and more more sustainable future.
Particularly, the Forum will explore how trade can facilitate access to environmental goods, services and technologies and help achieve the Paris Agreement's Nationally Determined contributions and most importantly, keep the ambition of limiting global warming to 1.5° above pre industrial levels.
The WTO Director General, Doctor Angolcio Conjuela has repeatedly said that the future of trade is green, services, inclusive and digital.
This year the Forum will explore how the services industry, inclusive trade policies and digitalization can support the greening of trade.
The Forum will open on the 12th of September at 4:00 PM with a Presidential lecture delivered by former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
His lecture will provide insights into the convergence of trade, technology and inclusive development.
Brown will sit for a frank face to face conversation with the Director General of the WTO on the global economy and the challenges facing global trade.
This conversation will be moderated by the Canadian Permanent Representative to the WTO, Her Excellency Ambassador Nadia Theodore.
There will be over 130 interactive sessions which are organised throughout the set throughout the forum and participants will also have a chance to explore various exhibitions that shed light on the role that international trade can help in achieving environmental sustainability.
Amongst other highlights that will be happening during the during the public forum is the launch for the World Trade Report, which will also be broadcasted live at 2:00 PM on the 12th of of September.
There will be sessions on the decarbonisation of transport and steel and the role that trade has to play for this.
And we will also be showcasing net 0 industries, particularly cement, solar, fuel, hydrogen and steel.
The full programme is available on the WT OS website and they are in the programme.
You can see which sessions will be broadcasted live.
I think in a nutshell, that's what the forum is.
And if I may add, of course, your usual UN badges will grant you entry into the WTO if you want to attend any of the sessions, sessions of the of the public forum.
And with regards the launch of the World Trade Report, we are aiming at publishing an ad in under embargo in our media newsroom the day before.
We don't know exactly the time, but we will send you an advisory when we know exactly the time.
The embargo will be lifted at the time of the press conference by the chief economist, Ralph OSA on the following day on the 12th at noon.
Looks like you have a lot of work cut out for you.
Think very exciting days ahead.
We have a question for you from Maya, the UN brief.
Yes, the question is for Papierre.
Thank you very much for taking my question, Rolando.
It is regarding the participation of Doctor Ngozi at the Africa Climate Week where lots is being discussed around finance for development and finance for addressing the climate crisis.
What aspects of the programme will be touching open?
Can you highlight some of those these aspects because I know there are, do you have anything that you can highlight right now and in terms of also of who is participating from the African continent, anyone who comes to mind or you want to send me this later?
Thank you for your question.
With regards to finance for development, I don't think we can pinpoint to a specific session on where this will be issued.
The way that we have constructed panels is we construct them around a certain topic.
So for example, if we're talking about inclusive trade policies, we are in, we are looking at inclusivity from a myriad of angles.
We're looking at what's the role that it can play for promoting youth engagement in trade, How can they support further integration of women into global value chains?
We're looking at, for example, other companies that are actually having successful integration policies.
For example, we're we're looking at how Volvo is going into vulnerable communities in Sweden to try and help integrate otherwise marginalised communities.
So I cannot pinpoint to any specific session that could be dealing with with finance for development, but it will be treated in several from different perspectives in several, in several of the sessions we are also having the participation of two of the presidents of the development banks, we're having the participation on video of the Asian Development Bank and of the Inter American Development Bank.
So we expect them to touch on these issues and you can have a look at the programme and if you need more information, you can reach out directly to me or Fernando.
I mean, not, not related to the question, Maya, just another brief announcement.
As you know, there's this exhibition of the PAC de Bastion Geneva about making trade war for people and the Plat in 2023.
There's going to be a launch event on the 14th of September with the Director General Ngozio Conjuella, with Beatrice Ferrari, la Directories de de Zafir International du Canton de Zenif, and we will be showing a group of 40 panels in the Parque de Bastion in both French and English.
They will feature the 17th Sustainable Development Goals, the Fishery Subsidies agreement and the decision to eliminate agriculture expert subsidies as part of the contribution of the WTO to the SDGS.
I think maybe you had one part of your question that.
It's regarding the participation of Brazil in some of the events.
A delegation from Brazil is coming, I understand.
And can you tell us a little bit about that?
Yes, Brazil is having, I, my memory serves me right, two or three sessions that they're organising APEX.
Brazil is quite involved in this, so is the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
They will also be having an exhibit.
It escapes my memory now what the exhibit is about, but it's going to be on the 13th of September during the morning in the atrium.
OK, thank you once again.
Do we have any further questions for WTO?
No, I don't see as the case.
Well, good luck to you in the coming days.
Thank you very much for joining us here.
Last but certainly not least, Claire Nullis of the World Meteorological Organisation has a announcement for us on Zoom.
Now I can't see anybody anymore.
First of all, deepest apologies for having to cancel our planned press conference yesterday on the state of the climate in Africa.
This was due to the sudden ill health of the report coordinator, Omar Omar Badour.
So, you know, we really regret the inconvenience that that caused.
You hopefully won't repeat it tomorrow.
The World Meteorological Organisation is having a press conference in the press room on air quality and climate and focus on heat waves.
The bulletin is COVID 2022, but obviously given all the heat waves that we've seen this year, the wildfires that we continue to see, you know, it's very, very pertinent for for this year and unfortunately for the years ahead.
So we'll have two experts speaking on that.
We've sent out the information under embargo.
If you haven't got it, please let me know.
And I, you know, I've been hearing from quite a few of you that tomorrow is a very busy day with, with human rights.
So if you do need any interviews under embargo ahead of time today, just just let me know and I'll try and I'll try and facilitate them.
And just one other thing, at WMO we work very closely with the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service.
You recall that we've had several joint press briefings with them on, you know, temperature, temperature figures.
So it's just to give you a heads up that Copernicus Climate Change Service tomorrow will release its figures on global temperatures in August and global temperatures in for the whole of summer.
So we will relay relay that information to you and if you've got any questions, you know we can, we can certainly help facilitate interviews on on that.
So that will be tomorrow morning as well.
And for that information looking forward to receiving.
Yes, we have two questions for you.
OK, let's start with Jeremy first, or Jeremy is deferring to who's?
The the regarding Copernicus, do you know when the information will be released tomorrow?
Will it be ahead of your own briefing or not?
So this is on the temperatures, yes, from what I understand from Copernicus and we are obviously in their in their hands on this.
I think it should be released at about 10:00 AM Central European Time tomorrow.
The same question, Claire and I was just wondering too, is it on embargo?
Would it be possible to get it before him on embargo?
This is the Copernicus data.
As as I said, I, I think as we speak, they are still busy crunching the numbers and and laying it out.
But as soon as we, as soon as we get anything, I can, you know, I can certainly share it, share it with you.
But I think it'll probably be knowing the way they operate, they normally do try to sort of send it in the in the in the afternoon, the afternoon before.
Then we will get it possibly in the afternoon with the embargo tomorrow at 10.
As I said, you know, it's, it's, it's Copernicus rather than WMO, but yes.
No, I don't see that's the case.
OK, Before we wrap up, I just have a few announcements of my own You should have in your inbox by now a statement that was delivered a short while ago by the secretary general, Antonio Guterres, to the Africa Climate Summit in Nairobi, where he is.
He arrived here yesterday.
And in his message to this summit, Mr Guterres notes how the African continent accounts for just 4% of global emissions, yet it suffers some of the worst effects of rising global temperatures.
Speaking to the point we just heard about, he calls for greater climate ambition, including ambitious renewable energy goals in line with the 1.5° limit for climate justice and for making Africa a world leader in renewable energy and green growth.
Mr Gutadish also drew attention to the Climate Ambition Summit taking place on the 20th of September in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, which, as you know, is starting the week after next.
Also to flag that, we shared with you last night a note concerning the visit of the Personal Envoy of the Secretary General for Western Sahara, Staffan de Mistura, someone you know well, to Lyon for a visit to the territory.
The Secretary General in terms of Mr Guterres travel plans, as I mentioned, he's in Nairobi yesterday and today.
He's leaving for the ASEAN Summit in Jakarta later today.
He'll be there tomorrow and on Thursday, the 6th and the 7th.
And then later this week on the 8th through the 10th, the Secretary General will be in New Delhi, India for the G20 summit.
So just wanted to put that on your radar.
Should there be any press conferences, we'll share that with you.
In terms of human rights treaty body meetings, we have the Committee on the Rights of the Child, which opened yesterday, its 94th session here in Geneva.
It's concluding this morning its review of the report on Albania.
And we'll begin this afternoon the review of the report, its review of of the report on Dominican Republic.
The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities will close its 29th session this coming Friday, the 9th of September, at which time it will issue its concluding observations for the reports it reviewed during this session.
It's 29th session for the following countries, Malawi, Andora, Mongolia, Austria, Israel, Mauritania, Germany and Paraguay.
And lastly, in terms of meetings, a conference on disarmament is having this morning a public plenary which is still under the Presidency of Hungary press conferences.
We had one this morning here in this room from UNIDIR on cluster munition, the It's Cluster Munition Monitor 2023 reports.
So that was already taking place this afternoon in this room At 2:00 PM, the UN Environment Programme will hold a press conference again, 2:00 PM, UNAP on the Marine Sand Watch launch, we have the Director of the UNAP's grid, Geneva, Pascal Peduzzi, and Mr Arnaud van der Velpen, who is the analytics officer for sand industry in Dana Data.
And tomorrow morning in this room at 10 AM, the President of the Human Rights Council, Ambassador Vaslav of Balik will be here to give you a sneak preview of the upcoming council session starting on Monday.
It's a five week session, as you know, starting on the 11th of September for five weeks to the 13th of October.
So Ambassador Balak will be here to give you his traditional pre session press briefing.
And as Claire just mentioned in the shortly after that, at 11:30 in this room, we'll have the WMO presser on Annual Air Quality and Climate Bulletin.
Just before I wrapped a couple of observances, I wanted to highlight tomorrow, No, not tomorrow, the 7th.
On Thursday, the 7th of September, we have the International Day of Police Cooperation.
This is an inaugural observance.
The first time this was just recently declared by the GA is on this inaugural day.
Secretary General, through his message, commends law enforcement from around the world for their dedication to peace, security and justice.
He's notes the principles that underpin police cooperation, that is, accountability, transparency and respect for diversity are essential to renewing a social contract anchored in human rights.
We also highlight the invaluable impact of women in policing.
He's notes women in policing actually is the theme for this observance.
Women's participation promotes access to justice for all, including for victims of gender based violence who may be more likely to seek help from women officers, he states.
Another observance on Thursday is the International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies.
In his message, the Secretary General notes that air pollution is a global emergency.
99 or 9099% of a typo here.
99% of humanity breathes air laced with soot, sulphur and other toxic chemicals, with low and middle income countries suffering the highest exposures.
Every year, 70 million people die prematurely as a result, and air pollution is intimately linked to global heating.
The SG concludes his message on this important day by saying that our air is a common good and a common responsibility.
Let's work together to clean it up, protect our health and leave a healthy planet for generations to come.
If you have any questions for me.
I don't see that's the case.
So on that note, I wish you a good afternoon and see you here Friday.
Thursday, as you know is a holiday.
However, we will have our press briefing here on Friday.
Despite some people may be bridging a long weekend, we will be here in form on Friday for the press briefing.
