A packed agenda for you today.
We'll start off immediately with Pascal SIM for an update on the Human Rights Council, which began its 54th session yesterday.
Thank you, Rolando, and good morning, everyone.
Just want to let you know that the focus today of the Council is on Nicaragua with a presentation of the **** Commissioner's report this morning at 11:30 AM.
And we will also have an oral update from the Group of Human Rights experts on Nicaragua this afternoon.
The the interactive dialogue with the Group of Human Rights Experts is scheduled to take place at 5:15 PM.
If we're on time, a press release will also be issued at the same time.
And the **** Commissioner is currently in his interactive dialogue at the Council on the report of OCHR on Afghanistan.
And this afternoon at 3:00 PM, he will engage in another interactive dialogue with his oral update on Sudan with the participation of his designated expert Hadwin Nissaya.
And don't forget today at lunchtime, 1:00 PM, that the Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic will give a press conference in this room on its latest reports.
Tomorrow, the Council will hold a general debate on item two of its agenda with the participation of Member States.
And on Wednesday afternoon at 5:00 PM, the Council will begin item three of its agenda, which is dedicated to semantic issues, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights.
And we will begin an interactive dialogue with a series of Special Rapporteur on Wednesday afternoon, starting with Fabian Salvioli, the Special Rapporteur on Truth, Justice and reparation, who will discuss the issue of transitional justice as well as his recent visit to the Republic of Korea, Serbia and Kosovo.
He will be followed by the Special Report on Water and sanitation, Pedro Aurora Hagoudo, who will also present his latest visit to Tunisia and Peru, and the Special Rapporteur on unilateral coercive measures, Alina Duhan, who also present latest report and her latest visit to the Syrian Arab Republic.
So Miss Duan will also give a press conference in this room on Friday at lunchtime.
And unilateral coercive measures, excuse me, will also be the theme of the first panel discussion of this 54 session with a focus on the impact of Ucms on the right to development and the achievement of sustainable development goals.
Questions for Pascal on the Council.
All right, don't see that.
The case was very clear, Very busy agenda indeed.
Good luck to you, Pascal, and thank you for joining us here.
We'll now turn to the earthquake in Morocco.
We have a guest with us, Miss Carolyn Holt, the International Federation of the Red Cross Global Director for Operations.
Thomas so will also join us on the podium again for an earthquake, the earthquake in Morocco, the current emergency response priorities and present the next steps.
So maybe, Thomas, maybe you want to start off and introduce the speaker, then we'll go right to you.
Good morning, all and thanks a lot, Rolando for the space.
So today we'll have with us Carol Renault, who is our Global Director of Operation.
She will give you an update on our operation through the Marocora Crescent National Society.
Priorities at the moment, but also next steps in term of our emergency appeal will be launched today.
Thank you, Thank you, good morning and thank you for inviting us today.
As we all know by now, a powerful earthquake hit Morocco on Friday evening, causing extreme suffering to the people affected in the area of Marrakech and the Atlas Mounting range.
First of all, I'd like to start by offering from IFRC.
Our deepest condolences to the families of those who lost their lives and we wish a speedy recovery to all of those that have been injured.
As with every emergency, we work through our network of national societies, in this case the Moroccan Red Crescent.
Our teams were on the ground immediately, coordinating closely with the local authorities to provide help to affected people and to assess the situation.
They have been supporting local and national authorities in the search and rescue operation, the window of which of course must be coming to a close soon.
They've also been working in the remote and hard to reach areas.
They're providing first aid, psychosocial support, helping transport the injured to hospitals, evacuating people from damaged buildings and they are supporting with the provision of dignified burial management.
I want to stress at this time the importance of this psychosocial and mental health support.
Our experience has taught as well that we must support people immediately in communities because as well as coping with the devastation and loss that surrounds them with every aftershock, the fear of the earthquake returns and we'll stays for the and we'll stay with them for the days, weeks and no doubt months to come.
As we've seen from the TV screens, logistics are very tough, particularly since the earthquake has hit this remote mountain areas.
Challenges include roads blocked by debris, difficulty in accessing fuel for vehicles in these **** mountain ranges and broken water supplies, which brings with it the very real risk of disease and infection if people are unable to access safe and clean water.
Over the last few days I've been in discussion with the Moroccan Red Crescent colleagues on the current response and the next steps.
We currently have 230 volunteers responding in Taruddon, Marrakech, Chichawa and Haus provinces and other branches are on standby to support.
The Moroccan Red Crescent are also supporting a campaign for blood donation.
I'd like to commend the work of our volunteers and their commitment.
They were not only impacted by the earthquake themselves, but they immediately stepped up to support the communities impacted too.
This emergency response, as with many earthquakes, is a marathon.
The people affected by the earthquake will need support for the weeks and months to come and we will need to continue to show that solidarity and support not only now but in the future.
Such a vast scale earthquake with such devastation needs long lasting and sustainable report from our side.
Less than 24 hours after the earthquake, the IFRC approved 1,000,000 Swiss francs from our Disaster Response Emergency Fund, otherwise known as the IFRC DREF.
This was to directly support the Moroccan Red Crescent in their actions to provide immediate relief.
And today we are launching our emergency appeal to further scale up our action with the Moroccan Red Crescent.
In this appeal, we are seeking 100 million Swiss francs to be able to deliver on the most pressing needs at this time, which include health, water, sanitation and hygiene, shelter, relief items and basic needs, support to livelihoods, protection and community engagement.
We need to make sure that we avoid a second wave of disaster and therefore, at this particular moment in time, we're supporting Moroccan communities in their absolute priorities.
This includes health, shelter and access to clean and safe water and food.
The situation is still very complex and the needs are continuing to unfold on a daily basis, but we wanted to launch this emergency appeal to channel the support and solidarity that is coming from donors and from our membership.
We are part of a network of 191 National Red Cross and Red Crescent societies around the world, and this is our support to our our our Moroccan Red Crescent on the ground.
Through our actions with the draught and through the launch of this appeal, we asked partners and donors to continue to show the solidarity with the people of Morocco and to scale up our collective support to those communities hit by the earthquake.
Thank you very much, Miss Holton.
Of course, colleagues, you will have seen that we issued a statement immediately following this devastating earthquake.
Over the weekend, we issued a statement on behalf of the Secretary General, who expressed his profound sadness to learn of the earthquake that hit Morocco and which claimed many lives.
We were told that some 2500 people thus far have lost their lives.
The SG expresses his solidarity with the government and people of Morocco in these difficult times.
He addresses his most sincere condolences to the families of the victims and wishes a speedy recovery to the injured.
And of course, we reiterate, as always, our readiness to assist the government of Morocco in its efforts to assist the impacted population.
So we'll start off with a question in the front row, Christophe of AFP.
Thank you for taking my question.
Jean France Press I was just wondering and the Moroccan authorities seems to be very loath to get help from other countries for the time being.
They only authorised 5 if I'm not mistaken to bring in some help.
They say it's a question of efficiency.
I was just wondering if you think that's a good move or should they ask for more open up to to more countries.
Thank you for the question.
I think coordination and careful consideration at this moment in time is key.
And that's what I see, that's what I understand is happening.
With regard to the Moroccan, the Moroccan authorities, we know that this is extremely complex accessing these hard to reach areas.
The needs are still evolving and probably the full picture is no doubt unclear at this moment.
So I think that the Moroccan government is taking careful steps with regard to opening up, accepting bilateral offers of support from government.
And really, as we've seen focusing on that search and rescue window before, that window unfortunately closes, which is is certainly in the coming hours.
I think that time will tell as to how much the, the needs, you know, how much the needs start to unfold and how much support then ultimately will be, will be required.
We're working of course, as I say, with the Moroccan Red Crescent on the ground and really in full coordination and cooperation of course, with the, with the authorities, with the national agencies on the ground.
So there is work going on for sure.
But I understand that this is is is an issue of coordination to make sure that we don't introduce further chaos into an already chaotic scenario.
Thank you very much, Jamie AP Thanks.
Could you when there was an the earthquake in Turkey and in Syria, the Turkish government right away responded asking for help from a lot of different places.
Can you just walk us through the, the practical measures as to how a government might kind of make an assessment as to whether or not you ask for large amounts of, of assistance or small amounts of assistance, concentrated amounts of assistance?
Because there's a lot of confusion, particularly in Europe.
I mean, there's a number of different countries that seem to be having rescuers that are in case some cases waiting in the airport to go down to Morocco and can't get clearance to go down there.
So can you just kind of like explain to us why that would be the case and, and how concerned are you that, that this sort of concentrated response, this selective response might actually lead to illness, injury, maybe even death for larger numbers of people because there's not a broader response?
I'd love to hear what the UNS response is on this also.
Well, thank you once again for the for the question.
I obviously can't talk on behalf of the government of Morocco here, but I will talk from experience having worked fortunately or unfortunately in, in, in many earthquakes.
Now this is an overwhelming event.
I think that we shouldn't underestimate a 6.8 magnitude on the Richter scale and a fairly shallow depth and the, the size and the scale of the devastation.
There will be an element of shock.
Of course, there will be an element of, of coming together to understand exactly what the next steps are.
I think, you know, I've, I've seen reports that this was completely unexpected in terms of the size of it.
Now earthquakes are expected, but this size is somewhat extraordinary.
And I think that that will no doubt have caused the, the government of Morocco to have to carefully consider its next steps.
My understanding is this is about coordination.
As we said, one of the worst things to do in an already chaotic situation is to introduce further uncertainty and potential chaos by opening the doors and everybody coming in.
We know that the airports are still operating.
We know that access to Morocco is is, is fairly straightforward if one wants to go.
And I I think that a coordinated approach at this moment in time will allow us to work with the authorities to allocate the resources to the right places.
I also think that whilst there are, whilst there were challenges, should I say in terms of access as a result of the Torquilla and Syria earthquake earlier this year, in certain places there was also a lot easier and more straightforward access because urban centres were essentially hit.
What we have here, of course with this Atlas mounting range is a very hard to reach area in the best of times, which has created more and more confusion and complication, no doubt to those efforts.
So yeah, I think that that's, that would be my perspective.
But as I say, I don't speak on behalf of the government of Morocco here in terms of this the the the potential concerns about further injury and illness.
My concerns are always there with any disaster, whether it be earthquake or flood or or or tsunami.
It, it's, it's a potential and I think where we know that water supplies have been damaged as we know here, because of course the ground shakes and cracks those pipes, access to safe and clean water will be absolutely key because what we don't want is a disaster within a disaster whereby we see cases of illness that then that then spread.
We also know that again, this would have overwhelmed many societies and many nations.
We know that the medical facilities will be extremely stretched at this point in time.
We know that there are outdoor temporary medical facilities that are being set up.
They possibly are not able to have the same levels of sterile environment.
But I do think that we are working closely to make sure that those most severe cases are prioritised and sent to the medical institutions where they're still functioning.
Thank you very much, Miss Holton.
And just to be very clear that the UN stands ready to provide support our stand procedures that we wait, we remain ready as in all cases natural disasters or other types of disasters.
Of course, we do not have the capacity for search and rescue.
We do have a capacity to coordinate.
We have the capacity to coordinate much needed humanitarian assistance under these very complex circumstances.
If you inside something to add, of course, we welcome you to come up here.
Yes, but this is something that we've made very clear from the beginning.
Further questions, we have a question from Moussa ASI online from Al Mayadin.
Moussa, if you want to pose your question, Merci Orlando, we experience a sufisa mode that reveal the group, the soft Taj asset, asset catastrophe, the Kuala Lumpur counter the material experience don't say catastrophe.
Yeah, I mean, thanks, Thanks for the question.
I mean, I'm just thanks for Orlando for the airport translate.
I mean, I'm just echoing what Carolina just said that I mean, for us at the moment, the, the, the real priorities were through the Morocco Crescent.
And then of course, that this goes hand in hand with the national and the local authorities.
But I also believe that an assessment and a clearer picture on the situation in the field will arrive in the next coming hours.
Questions for the questions of Morocco.
No, I don't see that's the case.
We will therefore switch to yet another disaster, sadly, flooding in Libya will stay with IFRC.
Thomas, if you can stay here and if also, Carolyn, if you can stay here.
We do have a guest joining us from IFRC from Tunis, Mr Tamara Ramadan, who will speak to the flooding situation in Libya and the latest updates on the situation and Ifrc's response.
Good morning everyone and thank you very much for giving this slot to shed the light a bit on the situation in Libya, which is as devastating as the situation in Morocco.
As you all know, the Hurricane Daniel hit the eastern part of Libya 2 days ago and left behind the thousands and thousands of affected relation between death, stranded and and lost during the the hurricane.
We are responding on the ground through our partners from the Libyan Red Crescent.
The teams are were deployed immediately once the hurricane hit the the affected 5 cities.
Of course, they are doing their best in providing a first aid, evacuation, social supported body management and other humanitarian services.
However, the humanitarian needs are huge and much more beyond the abilities of the Libyan Red Crisis and even beyond the abilities of the of the government.
That's why the government in the east has issued the international appeal for support from their side.
From our side, as International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent, we are also launching an emergency appeal very soon, maybe later this afternoon, to try to accommodate the huge and increase in humanitarian needs in in Libya, in the affected cities.
The challenges are ranging between access to basic health facilities or health services, shelter and shelter management, food and non food items, first aids, social support and restoring family lengths as well.
Last but not least, management of the dead bodies and dignified management with with these bodies.
Unfortunately also the Libyan Red Crescent volunteers themselves were among the affected relation.
We do have confirmed three persons passed away unfortunately and a fourth one is lost and under confirmation if he's still alive, many other are we lost the communication with them.
Communication is a big challenge as well because electricity, Internet and mobile network are not working in the affected areas.
We are calling upon our international partners to refocus on Libya and and provide whatever support they can do to the emergency responders in the country to be able to overcome this devastating crisis.
Thank you and I'm ready to respond to your questions.
Thank you very much, Mr Ramadan.
We have a question in the room here from Christophe of Algonz, France.
Press Christophe over to you.
Thank you for taking my question.
I was just wondering if you could be a little bit more specific on, you just said that the situation in Libya was as dramatic as in Morocco in terms of loss of life.
Do you mean that the death toll could be as ****?
Are we talking about thousands as one of the somebody from the authorities said, but it has not been corroborated.
If you could shed some light on that on on the extent of of the victims that we can see or might see.
Yeah, actually our teams on the ground are still doing the assessment.
But from what we see and from the news coming to us, the death toll is huge.
It it might reach 2000s really.
But we don't have a definite number right now.
Maybe later today or or maximum by early morning tomorrow we do.
We do have definite numbers that will be ready to share.
Thank you, Mr Ramadan for the questions.
We have a couple of online.
We'll take Andalou news agency from Turkey in the room here.
Thank you for my question.
One, Libyan officials say that in the eastern Libya death toll number reached 3000 or almost 3000.
Can you verify this number and how the United Nations will help to Libyan people and maybe a discussion I can goes to OCHA.
I think you answered the question about death toll numbers, but if you can repeat that for the benefit, right.
So as I mentioned, the death toll is is huge and it might reach to thousands, but what we can confirm now that thousands of people have lost their lives, thousands of people has lost their homes and thousands of families are stranded or or lost.
So the total number of each of these will be finalised by our assessment teams on the ground.
And once it's ready, we will be happy to share with you.
The second question I think goes to OCHA.
Yeah, in fact, I don't know if Yens if you had anything to add, but again as echoing what I just said about Morocco, of course the UN stands ready to support any, any country in need provided they they, they give us the green light for that much needed support.
This is applies to Libya as well.
We have spoken out on on this situation already and we certainly remain ready to provide the much needed support.
But if Yens has any updates, please feel free to chime in.
Muhammad, thank you very much for your question.
We have a couple more online, but maybe before we go online, I think Jamie, is that Libya question?
Could you tell us, you mentioned a little bit about the needs, but can you be specific, a little bit more specific about what those needs are?
And is there any need for international assistance from other types of agencies from the United Nations, from outside rescue groups and whatnot?
And could you please just be specific?
I hear you saying there could be thousand 2000.
Could you just be specific as to, I don't, I can't tell if you're saying 2000 or if it could reach into the thousands.
So could you just be like a little bit more clear on that please?
I just realised that it can reach 2 or up to some thousands of of affected people and death, death toll as well.
So it's not true the number but it's up to to be specific about the needs.
As I mentioned, basic health services are now one of the biggest needs, as well as shelter because thousands of families has lost their homes and their home is now they need to be sheltered, they need to be fed, they need to be taken care of.
Of course, any support from international organisations will be very much welcomed.
Yesterday there was a meeting with OCHA and other UN agencies.
We were there, but unfortunately the Libyan Red Crescent, who are the main actors on the ground, were not there.
I I don't know if they were not invited or the invitation didn't go through or they were too busy to attend.
However, their presence was very important and we are in continuous contact with them to get the exact needs based on their assessment.
Once we have this, we can launch that another call with with UN agencies if needed and we see how can we coordinate our approach in supporting to this crisis.
We'll turn now to a couple of questions online.
Gabriella Sotomayor of El Proceso of Mexico.
If may I basically what is the message of IFRC and UN to the government of Morocco?
Thank you for the question, Gabriella.
We're working in coordination with the government of Morocco.
So not so much of a message, but a show of solidarity and coordination with them.
As I've mentioned, the Moroccan Red Crescent are on the ground.
They're part of the national response fabric.
Therefore, we do consider ourselves very present and part of the solution and part of the way to address those needs.
So the message would be continue to rely on our support.
We've launched this appeal.
Now we are channelling that solidarity that we're seeing through our own membership and also through our our donors and partners.
And really we we stand alongside to support with needs and of course, to continue to scale up as those needs continue and you to become apparent.
I would echo the same thing we that Carolyn just mentioned that what we've said, it's a question of message of solidarity, a message of condolence, of course, to the many victims of this this tragedy.
And of course, that we again, remain ready to support in any way we can.
We also heard an outpouring of solidarity at the Human Rights Council through member states.
Yesterday you held a minute of silence.
It was a resounding message, of course, in solidarity to Morocco.
And this is something that, of course, has been echoed in previous, sadly, in previous disasters.
So this is our clear message to the government and the people of Morocco.
Catherine Franz Foncat online.
Good morning to all of you.
I'd like to come back on on a question of Jamie and another colleague about the figures.
Authorities in the region of Derna reported between 5000 and 6000 missing people.
So I'd like if Doctor Tamara Ramadan could be also more precise, if possible, on the bottom, the bottom line that you could peak.
We understood that it will be in the thousands, but what is the bottom?
Do you already have figures on that?
And I'd like also to know with whom the different entities are in fact talking.
As we know that in Libya you have the government and you have also the armed forces that are based in the eastern part of the country.
We know that the, the, the tool is to save people and to help them and not to go into politics.
But I'd like to know on a very practical way how you you work.
And as Rolando said, a lot of people express their solidarity with Morocco yesterday at the Human Rights Council.
But unfortunately, Libya felt a little bit in the shadow because it's not the same situation.
And also I would like to know about migrants.
We know that there are so many migrants in Libya.
We don't know the exact figure.
So could you elaborate a little bit on that topic too?
Indeed, I should mention that Paul is in the room from IOM and he's on here for another subject.
But maybe on the migrants issue in terms of the missing persons in Libya, Mr Ramadan, maybe if you can enlighten us a little bit more.
Thank you, Catherine, for this question about the missing people, It it goes again like dead people and lost people.
However, the initial numbers we are getting from the Libyan Red Crescent about messed people all over the five cities.
It reaches up to or very close to 10,000 persons reported missing.
So it's very likely that the number declared from there.
Now authorities could be close to the correct number.
This is to be confirmed as I mentioned earlier, upon the finalisation of the assessment process.
However, the number would I, I would expect that the number would be very close to the correct one.
Regarding your question about with whom do we coordinate our approach, Actually the this political division is existing in Libya since some 12 years right now.
However, fortunately the IFRCD and the Libyan Red Crescent, we do have very good relationship with both governments over these years and we do have the trust and access from both of them.
So if we are working in the East, we do coordinate very well with the government in the east because they are controlling this this area.
We get the permissions from them.
Also, we are in continuous contact with the government in the in the the West who confirmed that they will be sending some medical convoys and medical equipment to affected areas.
So in terms of humanitarian coordination, I believe that in this very specific situation, the political dispute is put aside and all the hands are come together to support the vulnerable persons.
Thank you very much, Mr Ramadan.
Isabel Sako of Spanish news agency.
Excuse me, I would like to ask on the Morocco because I didn't have the the opportunity to raise my hand before and I please, I understood the comments made on the needs of of Moroccan authorities to have good coordination to avoid cows.
But I would like to to know from the experience, from the information that IFRC have received from the ground, why there are many remote places in Morocco affected by the earthquake that haven't received any, any aid and where there are many victims.
And we have the video footage, we have testimonies and we have media outlets getting to that places.
So it should be possible to get my road to that place, even if the road are also damages but are damaged.
But it's possible to get to that, to those places.
Why humanitarian aid is not getting to that, to those places?
Thank you very much for your question.
Yeah, I understand that yesterday, actually, the Moroccan army were able to use heavy machinery and clear a path up to some of those remote places.
So this just takes time, I think, in order for aid convoys to come.
And let's remember that those mountain roads would have been difficult for trucks and lorries to navigate even in the best of times.
And I think with the dangerous situation that is, that is no doubt facing those people who will be responsible for taking aid, it will also be necessary to make sure that we don't see further damage and further disasters in this.
But you're right, I've also seen those reports from journalists who've now started to reach those most remote places.
It's been a matter genuinely of of logistical challenges up to this point in time.
But I do understand that now that things open up.
And of course, as we saw the announcement yesterday that search and rescue specialists will be coming in, I think we can start to see that those remote mountain locations will open up.
And of course, I mean, echoing what you said, Miss Holt, of course, Rd blockages and and as is often the case in such disasters, the conditions in which rescuers and humanitarian delivery suppliers work are really gruelling.
So just be mindful of that.
And of course, it's also a question of aftershocks.
So lots of people are living outdoors, lots of very precarious conditions that they're working.
And so kudos to those who have come, the first responders and all those who are providing much needed assistance.
Do we have further questions on Morocco or Libya?
Jamie AP Hi, Mr Roman, I just want to make sure that I understood because at one point I was just going back over what you said.
You say that you know that you it might reach into the thousands and then you say I can confirm that it can reach in thousands.
So could you just be as specific as possible?
Are you saying that you can confirm based on your own independent information or you're expecting that it will reach into the multiple thousands in terms of the casualties?
And my second question is for Jens, if he could please take the podium because I really would like to know what communication that you've had UN OCHA or various other UN institutions have had with the Libyan authorities about their needs and whether or not the UN can participate.
I know that you stand to the ready.
Is, is Rolando mentioned, but could you be specific about what communications you've had with the with authorities in Libya?
Mr Ramadan, on the 1st question in terms of numbers, again, thanks again.
We confirm from our independent sources of information that number of missing people are is hitting 10,000 persons so far about the number of dead people and and other Itps.
We are still waiting the finalisation of the assessment process on the ground.
I don't know if Jens, if you want to join us up here in terms of communication with a government, I don't know if there's anything you could add on that.
No, OK, listen, Jamie, let's let's connect with Archer after this briefing and maybe we can provide some more insight.
Of course, this is a very fluid, a very precarious situation, as we've said throughout this briefing.
Do we have further questions on either Morocco or Libya?
No, I don't see that's the case.
So I'd like to thank you very much for joining us and for your important work you're doing.
Tomosa, as always, thank you for joining us.
Paul Dillon is with us with a guest on Zoom is Julia Black, who is missing migrants project officer at the IOM.
Speak to IOMS Missing Migrants Projects 2022 annual, 2022 annual report of migrant deaths and disappearances in the Americas.
Maybe before we go to that, I don't know if there's anything you wanted to add on the previous question, Paul.
Yeah, thanks very much for the question regarding the status of migrants in Libya.
There are roughly 600,000 migrants in Libya at this time.
Now, we're conscious that in some of the affected areas there are migrant populations, but it's at this early stage and with the many access issues that we and the humanitarian responders are facing, we don't have a clear picture about how badly they have been affected.
But as part of the general population, you would expect that the same impacts that the residents of that area have experienced over the last 24 hours will, of course, impact on the migrants who are living there as well.
Julia is a project officer with the Missing Migrants project based at IO Ms Global Data Institute in Berlin.
She's here to answer any technical questions you may have regarding the Missing Migrants project, the process of collecting data not just in the Americas, but globally.
The International Organisation for Migration documented the deaths and disappearances of 686 migrants on the US Mexico border in 2022, making it the deadliest land route for migrants worldwide last year.
The figure represents nearly half of the 1457 migrant deaths and disappearances recorded throughout the Americas last year, the deadliest on record since the Missing Migrants Project began in 2014.
The the data comes from the Missing Migrants Projects Annual Overview, which underscores the growing death toll and increasing risks that migrants face throughout the region.
These figures represent the lowest estimates available, as many more deaths are likely to have gone unreported due to a lack of data from official sources.
The alarming figures are a stark reminder of the need for decisive action to create regular legal migration pathways.
The data shows that deaths and disappearances on the US Mexico border decreased by 8% from the previous year.
However, to the 2022 figure is likely higher due to missing official data, including information from the Texas Border County Coroner's Office and the Mexican Search and Rescue Agency.
Now nearly half, 307 of those deaths on the US Mexico border were linked to hazardous crossings of the Sonoran and Chihuahuan deserts.
One of the most concerning trends that IOM has seen in the Americas was the increase in deaths on migration routes in the Caribbean, with 350 documented in 2022, compared with just 245 in 2021 and less than 170 recorded in prior years.
People from the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Cuba accounted for the largest number of migrant deaths in the Caribbean.
The Darien Gap, an inhospitable jungle border crossing between Panama and Colombia, saw 141 documented migrant deaths in 2022.
The remote and dangerous nature of this area and the presence of criminal gangs along the route means that this figure likely does not represent the actual number of lives lost.
4% of the people responding to an IOM survey said someone they were travelling with went missing in the Darien.
Now, while these surveys are not scientific, they are of grave concern considering that 250,000 people arrived in Panama via the Darien in 2022 and more than 350,000 people have crossed the same route to date in 2023.
Now, these numbers reflect the fatal consequences of the lack of safe, regular mobility options, and IOM works with governments and other stakeholders in the America and elsewhere in the world to develop regular, safe and dignified pathways for migrants.
Addressing the root causes of irregular migration, enhancing humanitarian assistance and providing better protection assistance to vulnerable groups are all keys to saving lives.
No, Julie will be take some technical questions.
Thank you very much, Paul, and thank you, Julie, for making yourself available for questions.
I should recall that last week, of course, we heard from the human rights office on the Darien Gap on the plight of the many who've crossed this precarious passage.
I don't see that's the case.
On that note, I'd like to thank you very much, Paul.
I might add that the press note that was sent out this morning contains links to the full report and to the missing migrants projects.
And we're happy to take any follow up questions you may have about this or any of the other project work.
We'll now turn to our colleague from the World Food Programme in Rome, Arif Hussein, who is WF PS Chief Economist, who will speak to the impact of WFP ration cuts on global food security.
Hi, good morning everybody.
Let me just start by first saying giving our condolences for what has happened in Morocco and the tragic loss of life there.
That also shows I mean you know there are disasters one after the other in pretty much all parts of the world and that kind of links us to what we do is it will food programme and what it would this is all about.
Right now we are in AI would say severe funding crunch.
Let me put that in numbers.
We have or we expect to have about $10 billion.
So that is about 60% shortfall.
We have never seen that type of shortfall in our in our history.
Basically usually we will be looking at in the shortfall of between 30 to 40% in a given year, meaning what we asked versus what we got this year, we are looking at a 60% shortfall.
The other thing which is important is that if we look at it to compare this shortfall today to to last year, we have at this point we have about 41% less money than we had last year.
And if you go to a year before, meaning 2021, we still have about eight 1718% less money than we had in 2021.
That means that we are looking at cutting Russians in fact in more than almost about 50% of our countries we have got rations or reduce the people who need assistance, not because they didn't needed assistance, but that's we just cannot provide.
And that includes tough places, I mean including Afghanistan, Syria, Somalia, Haiti, DRC, South Sudan and, and this list continues.
So as analysts, one question which then comes is that, OK, what would be the impact of these cuts?
What would that mean in place to place in terms of how, how people will suffer?
And we did an analysis of that.
And basically, we looked at 2 scenarios.
In one, we said, OK, looking at 2022 data, if we cut assistance by 30%, what would be the consequences?
If we cut assistance by 50%, what would be the consequences?
And and then globally, what does that mean?
So our basically the top line was that if we cut humanitarian assistance to WFP by 1%, that means that an additional or 400,000 people who were already in crisis level of hunger will fall into emergency level of hunger.
And also the people who are already in crisis level, their, their hunger will deepen.
If you do the 50% cut, we see that about 24 million people, additional people will fall into emergency category.
If we go with a 30% cut, about 13 million more people will fall into the emergency category.
And and what is the time frame for this about 12 months.
Looking ahead now, the issue right now is that we are currently as we look at it in our countries of operation, about 79 countries where we have operations, we have about 345,000,000 people who are in crisis level of hunger.
In our language we say IPC phase three or equivalent or above all those 345,000,000.
There are 40 million people who are already in emergency level of emergency levels of of hunger basically.
So this is what will happen to them in terms of their shift from crisis level of fund to emergency level of fund.
The second thing which is, which is important is basically 2022 was a record year for us both in terms of people that we reach.
We helped about 100 and 5800 and 60 million people around the around the world.
And it was also a year of record assistance, meaning we had the money to assist all of these people.
And what happened was if we were able to minimise famines, we were able to set stabilise situations to the point that right now the numbers of people who are in in crisis level or worse hunger situations is relatively stable.
And also people who are suffering from chronic hunger are relatively stable now.
This is what happened because there was assistance.
So if that assistance goes away in a drastic way, that means that we will start to see additional suffering.
That means we will start to see additional the what we call the cost of inaction.
You know, we, we, we start to see people resilience fail.
We start to see people starting to displace, displace.
We start to see instability growing.
All of those things happen.
So our ask right now is one that we need to meet this gap.
So, so we are able to provide reasonable assistance, assistance, adequate assistance with people who need that and we need that done as soon as possible.
But the second part of that equation basically is that we need to be changing lives.
We need to help people before they get into these type of emergency situations so they have the resilience, they have the capacity to to, to, to be able to deal with these situations on their own.
But unless we invest in that, we continue the cycle of emergency to emergency for the same people, we're saving the same life again and again again because we are not able to get them out of this.
This cycle of, of, you know, acute and chronic hunger and powered.
That's where we need partnerships because we're a food programme alone.
We have to come together to make sure that we truly do get to 0 hunger and it's just not a statement.
Thank you very much, Mr Sane.
Of course, we do need partnerships to overcome such plights.
We have a question for you, Sir, from Moussa ASI, our correspondent from Almayyadin.
What are the reasons for this reduction in funding and if the war in Ukraine is one of these reasons?
I think the basically needs have, you know, countries, donors, everybody, they have been dealing with increasing needs, not just now, but let's say definitely from the start of the of COVID-19 and 2020.
So from 20, so, so between 2019 and 2020 there was a huge jump, almost doubling of people requiring assistance because of forward then 21 was just about that.
You know, just to put in numbers, in 2019 we were looking at about 135 million people who were in the crisis level of hunger.
In 2020, 2020 because of COVID, that number jumped from 135 million to 276,000,000 and also funding increased to actually deal with that.
Then came the war in Ukraine, which jumped our number from, you know, 276 to to 300 and 340.
Forty, 5 million people and funding increased.
But now what we're seeing is that I think there is just donor fatigue.
You know, countries are maxed out.
Also, don't forget, whether you were a rich country or you were a poor country, you went, you know, you spent a lot of money to deal with the consequences of COVID, both the economic consequences and the consequences of disease.
And that also shows up in debt.
If you look around today in low income countries, the debt levels that are attracted.
So you have a situation of where needs are continuing growing, but resources at the international level by traditional donors are not enough.
So what we need is a broader donor base.
We need others to contribute.
We need private sector to come in.
We need and we need to be way more efficient.
We need to use our innovations to be efficient in order to reaching people.
But at the end of the day, it is about the root causes.
If we don't address the root causes, why should the situation change?
We must address the root causes, whether it is climate, whether it's political, whether it's war, because when we do that we create the base for development and studying more forward.
If we don't do that, that is just putting a Band-Aid on a problem on a day-to-day basis.
But the root cause is still there.
So the bottom line is whether it's a government, whether it's international community, it's not one or the other, it is both.
We need to take care of people right now, but we need to address also the root causes, why they are in pain, why they are in suffering.
Unless we do that, we will not get out of this rut.
Thank you very much, Mr Hussain.
Of course, very important message indeed.
If I could also ask you or maybe issued to share your notes that you read out previously, that would be very helpful for a journalist here.
Questions, further questions for Mr Hussain.
No, I don't see that's the case.
So again, thank you very, very much for joining us and for imparting this important information.
Turning now to World Health Organisation, Margaret Harris is online and she is joined by Doctor Alexandra Fleischman, who is a scientist of the Mental Health Unit to the Department of Mental Health and Substance Use, WHO they're going to speak to two new publications on suicide prevention.
Thanks very much for that.
And I'd like to also mention both of these questions which seem to suggest that the UN is not involved in the response to Morocco.
In fact, we have supplies already readied.
I think 41 tonnes of supplies are expected to reply arrive soon.
So the response is very much happening, but in coordination, in partnership very closely with the Moroccan authorities, in our case with the Ministry of Health.
So I just wanted to mention that.
And likewise in Libya, there's an enormous response going on because this is a calamity of epic proportions.
But yes, I'm being joined with by Doctor Alexandra Gleichman, who I probably needs no introduction.
She's our expert in suicide prevention, and Suicide prevention day was last weekend.
But today, we're launching some really important documents, including one that indicates how the media can be very involved in preventing this terrible, terrible cause of death.
So over to you, Alexandra.
But first for super side, globally, one in every 100 deaths is by suicide.
And each year, more than 700,000 people take their own life.
It is the 4th leading cause of death among 15 to 29 year old.
But suicides are preventable.
Proven interventions, including responsible reporting by the media, have a substantial role to play in reducing the number of deaths by suicide.
So as to the one resource we are launching, it's The Who policy brief on the health impacts of decriminalisation of suicide and suicide attempts.
A significant barrier to reducing the global suicide rate, as set out in the UNSCG 2030 target, is the fact that suicide and suicide attempts remain illegal in civil and criminal law in at least 23 countries worldwide, and suicide attempts are punished in some of them.
Criminalisation fosters blame towards people who attempt suicide and it deters them and their loved ones from seeking help due to the fear of legal repercussions and stigma, but it's the support what they need.
Criminalisation also makes it hard to collect accurate data on suicide and suicide attempts and to plan how to support people and to implement effective evidence based interventions.
So drawing on the experience of countries that have recently decriminalised, including Guyana and Pakistan in 2022 and Singapore in 2019, The Who Policy Brief sets out recommendations for policy makers, legislators and other decision makers who envisage following suit.
Key recommendations focus on budgeting for post decriminalisation, training for first line responders in how to respond to suicide attempts effectively and also on developing national suicide prevention strategies and establishing rights oriented community based mental health services.
So this was the first resource that's being launched and the other one is?
Preventing Suicide, a resource for Media professionals Update 2023 And we know that media reporting on suicide can lead to a rise in suicide due to imitation, especially if reporting is sensational, extensive, describes the method of suicide, or perpetuates widely held myths about suicide.
The risk is particularly pronounced if the story involves the suicide of a person who had **** social status, such as a celebrity, or someone who can easily be identified with, such as a person of the same age, gender or ethnicity.
The resource which is launched contains practical guidance on how to ensure reporting on suicide is accurate, appropriate and empathetic.
It also highlights increasing evidence that proactive reporting focused on stories of survival, hope and recovery can lead to positive, imitative and protective behaviours, including help seeking.
This highlights the important role of the media in suicide prevention.
The resource acknowledges that the ways in which we are exposed to suicide via social and digital media platforms has become more complex and dynamic.
But the principles for reporting on suicide in print media remain relevant to social and digital media platforms and the resource is addressed to professionals working in the media and also to journalists to schools for for education of young journalists.
So thank you very much for your attention and for consideration of these two new resources published by WHO.
Thank you very much Doctor Fleischmann.
Indeed, the media has an incredibly important role to play in suicide prevention.
So thank you for for mentioning this very eloquently.
Questions for our briefers from WHO?
No, I don't see that's you have a OK.
I think Jamie has a question for you Margaret.
40, you mentioned 41 tonnes of aid or being supplied into Morocco right now.
I have not heard that figure from OCHA can.
Is that pre positioned assistance?
Is that being shipped in by WHO?
Could you just give us a little more specifics about that?
Yes, that that's the system.
It's, it's, it's mostly trauma and emergency surgery supplies and it's coming from our Dubai hub.
You know, the humanitarian village there, the humanitarian city of Dubai, international humanitarian city in Dubai, which is where our hub is.
And the hope is we'll get it in very soon.
I haven't got an exact arrival time, but it's been organised and it's coming.
I think Jamie, do you have a OK Christophe, AFP, go ahead.
We have we have the same questions.
I was just wondering if you could give us anything on Libya, but where you stand there, what you can do, what's in the making.
We've got a lot of things going on in Libya.
And as I said, you know, we've been speaking with our country office and it's really a calamity of epic, epic proportions.
There's not been a storm like this in the region or said in living memory.
I'll just get my notes off.
And look, these are just estimates, but that, you know, it brought torrential rain to an area affecting at least 1.5 to 1.8 million people.
And we are doing but and you know, it's also damaged hospitals, it's left some wiped out, some hospitals left some partially functioning.
So the work now is really to get in supplies, but get in look at sadly some of those suppliers include things like body bags, but also trauma kits that we did have supplies that were pre positioned.
So they've already been deployed and more are now being readied in Dubai as well.
And of course, our second priority is to look at the needs of people who are displaced with what it's already mentioned that there are lots of people who are already living in precarious circumstances.
So and we have to look at what kind of field hospitals can be set up, what kind of mobile clinic.
So there's a great deal of work that needs to be done and is being mobilised as I speak.
Thanks very much, Margaret.
Of course, I won't repeat what I've said here earlier and then echoing what our briefers said.
But indeed, whatever updates we we do have on on these two crises, we will certainly share those with you as soon as we get more information.
Do we have questions on the suicide prevention reports before we let our briefers go?
I don't see that's the case.
I think you might have already done so.
But if you haven't, Margaret, if you could share those, those notes read out, that would be much appreciated.
Can I mention that it's come, it's going to come in.
It's come in an e-mail about an hour ago from Carla Drysdale because the PDFs are not up on the website yet.
So we attach the PDFs to that e-mail.
So look for an e-mail from Carla Drysdale.
It's got the the just what Alexandra said, but also the two actual documents are there as well.
We'll look out for that e-mail from Carla.
Turning now to Catherine from UNCTAD, who's got update on the World Investment Forum 2023 in Abu Dhabi taking place next month, 16 to 20 October.
You had the climatic, this energy prop, this one.
Rebecca Greenspan Hello Columonde confronted at the multiple crease pastel action de block de vantage Dufour sector Crucio.
Like you said, like accumulation decrease energy and that problem in the best pardon in the best the direct I'll mark de MI de familiar de dola parole transition energetic development.
So confronted and deficit de mil du so miliard de la paro polar transition Verde Verde energy and fable to normal carbon.
It had dotted shows and never had a clear ivic forum literature transformerating so happy ventre septum El rapport solo commerce El develop more a preview.
Yeah, Sibokua, lots of information there.
Big conference coming up with lots of important issues, no doubt.
And thank you for having shared the press release yesterday.
Yeah, I just wanted to know the figure of two 2.2 trillion needed annually in investments, is that are we talking about both mitigation annotation figures or what?
We're talking about the the energy transition in developing countries.
Thanks for the clarification for the questions for Catherine.
No, I don't see that's the case.
So thank you very, very much for joining us.
Few announcements before we wrap up, just to mention that the Secretary General, I mentioned, of course, the statement on Morocco earlier.
I just wanted to also flag that the Secretary General will actually be travelling to Havana, as has been announced.
He'll be travelling to Havana, Cuba later this week.
He'll be there on Thursday and Friday for the G77 meeting.
We have also just a few meetings here to announce.
The Committee on the Rights of the Child, as you know, began its session last week.
In fact, today it's concluding this morning.
Rather, it's concluding the review of the report on Liechtenstein.
In this afternoon, the Committee will review Kyrgyzstan.
The Committee on Enforced Disappearances, which opened yesterday, it's 25th session, is concluding this morning the review of the report of Mauritania and on disarmament.
The Conference on Disarmament is having this morning a public plenary meeting.
It's still under the Presidency of Hungary.
You heard earlier the various press conferences that Pascal announced pertaining to the ongoing Human Rights Council session, namely the one taking place at 1:00 PM today in this room with the Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic.
3 members, Mr Pinero, Mr Megali and Miss Welchman will be here at 1:00 PM in this room on Thursday, the 14th of September.
At 10 AM, we have the World Meteorological Organisation, who will be here.
Professor Dallas, the Secretary General of WMO, will be here to launch the United in Science report, which focuses on the Sustainable Development Goals and climate change.
So Mr Telus here the 14th of September at 10 AM and this Friday, as Pascal mentioned at 1:00 PM, the impact of unilateral chorus of measures on the right to health.
In the briefer is a special Rapporteur on the unilateral chorus of measures, Professor Alina Duhan.
Before we wrap up, just to mention that today is the United Nations Day for South South Cooperation.
In his message for the day, Secretary General Antonio Guterres says, in our world of deeply connected challenges, SS cooperation plays a vital role in shaping a brighter future.
The United Nations Day for South S Cooperation is a powerful reminder that when nations unite, they can overcome obstacles and accelerate sustainable development.
For climate action to poverty eradication to health care to education, trade to digitalization.
Solidarity and strong partnerships between developing countries can pave the way for a more equitable and sustainable world.
As we mark the UN Day for Southwest Cooperation, he he concludes, let us recognise this form of collaboration as an essential catalyst for change, embodying solidarity, innovation, and mutual support.
You have that message in your inbox.
And very last but certainly not least, David Hirsch from ITU was here earlier, but he had to leave.
So it's simply he wanted to let you know that he will provide a briefing note on the SDG digital event taking place on Sunday, this coming Sunday, the 17th of September, just ahead of the General Assembly and the SDG Summit in New York on the other side of the pond, I think.
Kathy, did you have something to add or?
I just want to add that Rebecca Greenspan will join the Secretary General of the UN in Havana, Cuba.
The creation of the Group of 77 was key in the creation of ONTAD.
So it's the 60th anniversary, which is very important for for the organisation and ONTAD will celebrate its 60th anniversary next year.
That's an important mention, of course.
Miss Greenspan joining us G in Havana end of this week, Thursday, Friday.
No, I don't see that case.
So thank you very much for joining us here and Bon Appetit.
