UN Geneva Press Briefing - 24 May 2024
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Press Conferences | OHCHR , UNHCR , WHO , WMO

UN Geneva Press Briefing - 24 May 2024

UN GENEVA PRESS BRIEFING 

24 May 2024

Alessandra Vellucci, Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired a hybrid briefing, which was attended by the spokespersons and representatives of the United Nations Human Rights, the United Nations Refugee Agency, the World Health Organization, and the World Meteorological Organization.

 

Growing human rights crisis in Rakhine state in Myanmar

Elizabeth Throssell, for the United Nations Human Rights (OHCHR), stated that the OHCHR was receiving frightening and disturbing reports from northern Rakhine State in Myanmar of the impacts of the conflict on civilian lives and property. Some of the most serious allegations concerned incidents of killing of Rohingya civilians and the burning of their property. Tens of thousands of civilians had been displaced in recent days by the fighting in Buthidaung and Maungdaw townships. An estimated 45,000 Rohingya had reportedly fled to an area on the Naf River near the border with Bangladesh, seeking protection. Over one million Rohingya were already in Bangladesh, having fled past purges. The High Commissioner called on Bangladesh and other States to provide effective protection to those seeking it, in line with international law, and to ensure international solidarity with Bangladesh in hosting Rohingya refugees in Myanmar. Testimonies, satellite images, and online videos and pictures indicated that Buthidaung town had been largely burned. OHCHR had received information indicating that the burning had started on 17 May, two days after the military had retreated from the town and the Arakan Army claimed to have taken full control. OHCHR was corroborating information received about who is responsible.

The High Commissioner called for an immediate end to the violence, and for all civilians to be protected without any distinction based on identity. Prompt and unhindered humanitarian relief had to be allowed to flow, and all parties had to comply fully and unconditionally with international law, including measures already ordered by the International Court of Justice, for the protection of Rohingya.

James Rodehaver, head of the United Nations Human Rights (OHCHR) Myanmar Team, connecting from Bangkok, informed that his team had spoken to many sources on the ground and reviewed numerous source materials, many which were deemed to be credible. The Buthidaung town had been burned, as corroborated by many victims. Information indicated that the burning had started on 17 May, but there were different claims on where the burning had originated. OHCHR corroborated information further in order to establish who were the perpetrators of the burning. 

Survivors described seeing dozens of dead bodies as they were leaving town, while others spoke of being blocked from leaving town by the Arakan Army, thus having to choose more perilous exit routes. The Arakan Army had reportedly abused the survivors and taken money from them, informed Mr. Rodehaver. Rohingya individuals spoke of sheltering with families who lacked sufficient food for themselves. He further said that at least four cases of beheadings by the Arakan Army had been confirmed, as well as multiple enforced disappearances of individuals. For a long time, the military had imposed draconian restrictions on the Rohingya. They had historically needed special permissions to move from their localities, which was why they had been reluctant to move this time. They also remembered previous experiences when leaving their home often meant not being able to return there ever again.

Responding to questions from the media, Mr. Rodehaver said that there had been several instances in recent weeks with lot of misinformation and propaganda on social media sowed with the purpose of spreading discord between the Rohingya and other Rakhine communities. The head of the Arakan Army himself had spread on X some ethnically motivated conspiracy theories about the Rohingya. So far, most interethnic clashes were being seen between armed actors rather than local civilian communities. He explained that there were many reports about conscription, and many conscripts had been promised various benefits by the military, which showed a level of desperation, as the military continued to lose ground, including in Rakhine. The military knew that the Rohingya men were overall poorly prepared to fight and malnourished and were often sent to the frontlines as the cannon fodder. A variety of pressures were reportedly used on the Rohingya to join, explained Mr. Rodehaver. The military targeted civilians because they could not fight back; when they fought organized armed groups, they frequently lost ground. 

Mr. Rodehaver explained that the Arakan Army was an ethnic armed group, part of the “Three Brotherhood Alliance”, which had started coordinating attacks against the Myanmar military and driving them back across the country. The Arakan Army had begun fighting the military in earnest in 2019, with some intermittent ceasefires. They were building alternative administrative structures in Rakhine and had gained a lot of credibility among the local community, said Mr. Rodehaver. There were some 600,000 estimated Rohingya left in the country, he explained, and about one million were displaced in Bangladesh and elsewhere. 

Russian attacks in north-eastern border areas of Ukraine

Elizabeth Throssell, for the United Nations Human Rights (OHCHR), stated that testimonies gathered by the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU) highlighted the terrifying impact on civilians of the recent escalation in hostilities in the north-east of the country, where Russian armed forces had seized control of several villages. People who had fled from these areas along the Kharkiv region frontline described having to shelter for days in cold, dark basements, with no electricity amid intense aerial bombardment, strikes by drones and missiles, and artillery shelling. There had been massive destruction of people’s homes and other civilian infrastructure. Entire communities had been uprooted and destroyed, with more than 10,000 people displaced to date. According to HRMMU, at least 35 civilians had been killed and 137 injured in the Kharkiv region since Russian armed forces launched their cross-border offensive on 10 May. 

OHCHR called again on the Russian Federation to strictly respect all the rules of international law relating to the conduct of hostilities, and to cease its attacks on Ukraine immediately. In the third year of the Russian Federation’s full-scale armed attack on Ukraine, with no end in sight, lives, homes, and futures continued to be destroyed. The long-term impact of this war in Ukraine would be felt for generations, with the task of rebuilding shattered communities, already a massive undertaking, growing larger with every further day of violence and destruction.  

Full OHCHR statement is here

Impact of the Sudan crisis on the health situation in Chad

Dr. Blanche Anya, World Health Organization (WHO) Representative in Chad, speaking from N’djamena, said that Chad was at the centre of the refugee crisis resulting from the conflict in Sudan. About 45 percent of Sudanese refugees, close to 600 000 people, were being hosted in Chad, while some 170,000 Chad nationals had returned from Sudan since the start of the violence in April 2023. Every week, an estimated 5,000 new arrivals continue to stream in. Some 88 percent of refugees and 93 percent of returnees were women and children. Many women and young girls had been raped. Malnutrition among children was widespread. Combined with measles and other epidemics, and overcrowding in under-resourced camps, there was an ongoing, serious health emergency.

Dr. Anya said that Chad's already fragile healthcare system was under immense pressure; it was now grappling with a dual challenge: supporting the refugees while not neglecting its own citizens' health needs. The health challenges in the refugee camps were serious; every week, 1,500-2,000 cases of severe acute malnutrition are registered. Along with malnutrition, there were outbreaks of dengue fever, measles, chickenpox, and hepatitis E. Malaria, acute respiratory infections, and diarrhea diseases had been consistently increasing week-on-week.

She stressed that the outbreak of Hepatitis E in refugee camps was particularly concerning. By the end of April, some 2400 cases and seven deaths had been reported. Mental health needs were also significant. An estimated 15,600 refugees required mental health support, but the resources were simply not enough.

To sustain its work, and to do more, Dr. Anya said that the WHO urgently needed increased international support. Funding for the humanitarian appeal in Chad remained critically low: in 2023, the humanitarian appeal for Chad had been only 30 percent funded, leaving a significant gap in resources needed to avert a public health catastrophe. The Sudanese refugee crisis was not just a regional issue but a global humanitarian emergency that requires our united efforts. The health impact on Chad is profound, and swift, decisive actions were needed to provide the necessary support. 

Answering questions from the media, Dr. Anya said that Sudanese refugees were still coming into Chad. William Spindler, for the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), added that the situation in El Fasher in Sudan was getting worse and the humanitarian situation was deteriorating. The few remaining operational hospitals had been affected by fighting. People continued to flee the region and cross into Chad, he said. The conditions in Adré, Chad, were deteriorating, and the camps were congested. The rains would now make the already dire conditions more miserable and make the delivery of aid more difficult. He appealed to donors to continue supporting Chad and other countries affected by the crisis in Sudan. Elizabeth Throssell, for the United Nations Human Rights (OHCHR), reminded that the High Commissioner for Human Rights had repeatedly expressed his horror at what was happening in Darfur; he had spoken to the leaders of the two main military groups in the country and asked them to take the necessary steps to cease hostilities. It was for courts to establish whether what was happening in El Fasher was genocide. Christian Lindmeier, for the World Health Organization (WHO), stressed that the health system was collapsing, with only 20 to 30 percent of health facilities functioning. Some places in Darfur had not received medical supplies in over a year. Mr. Lindmeier listed numerous WHO activities to support people with medical care both inside Sudan and in the neighboring Chad.

Situation in Gaza

Responding to questions, Elizabeth Throssell, for the United Nations Human Rights (OHCHR), said that the Israeli operations had been intensifying in Rafah, but also in north Gaza. There had also been evacuation orders in north Gaza, the situation in which was concerning. About 800,000 people had moved from Rafah and some 100,000 had been displaced from the north. Regarding the International Criminal Court’s warrants, Ms. Throssell said that the process ought to be allowed to go ahead without interference. Aid had to start entering Gaza in massive quantities in order to avoid hunger, added Alessandra Vellucci, for the United Nations Information Service.

One month since start of the floods in Brazil

William Spindler, for the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), said that, almost one month after the start of heavy rains in Brazil’s southern state of Rio Grande do Sul, UNHCR was expanding its response with national authorities to meet the needs of the most vulnerable, including 43,000 refugees and other people in need of international protection, mainly Venezuelans, Haitians, and Cubans along with communities hosting them.

The floods were the biggest climate-related disaster in Southern Brazil and had caused 163 deaths and displaced 580,000 people. More than 65,000 were still in temporary accommodation centres; 93 per cent of the cities and towns in Rio Grande do Sul had been affected. An estimated USD 3.21 million was needed to support UNHCR’s response, including financial assistance to affected individuals and essential relief items. UNHCR and the International Organization for Migration were visiting shelters to survey refugees, those in need of international protection and migrants to assess their needs and support the most urgent cases. Refugee-led organizations in Rio Grande do Sul had been collecting and distributing donations and volunteering at emergency shelters. According to government data, Rio Grande do Sul state hosted more than 21,000 Venezuelans relocated from Roraima state on the Venezuela border since April 2018.

Mr. Spindler stated that extreme weather events in Brazil had been more frequent and devastating in recent years, including droughts in the Amazon region and severe rains in Bahia and Acre states, all of which UNHCR had responded to. But funding to address the impacts of climate change was insufficient to address the needs of those forcibly displaced and the communities hosting them. Without help to prepare for and withstand these impacts, to include them in national adaptation plans and to recover from climate-related shocks, they risked displacement. 

Speaking of other crises, Mr. Spindler said that in Afghanistan, flash floods and heavy rains, which had begun on 10 May, had caused extensive damage and loss of life in the north, north-east and west. Thousands of homes and hectares of farmland had been damaged or destroyed, and more than 300 people killed. The situation across East Africa also remained of great concern. In Kenya, for example, more heavy rains this week had flooded parts of Kakuma camp, affecting shelters and public facilities including health clinics and schools. In Burundi, UNHCR, with the government and partners, was assisting the most affected through relocations to temporary sites, provision of clean water, cash assistance for urgent needs and distribution of school learning materials for children. Mr. Spindler stressed that climate change disproportionately affected refugees and other people in need of international protection, who were already living in vulnerable areas prone to the effects of extreme and recurrent climate events. In April 2024, UNHCR had launched its first-ever Climate Resilience Fund to build the resilience of refugees, displaced communities and their hosts to the increasing intensity of climate-change-related extreme weather events.

UNHCR statement is available here.

Clare Nullis, for the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), said that the Brazilian national meteorological service was posting constant updates on its website. A cold front was now passing through, slamming into the warm and humid mass of air, which would intensify the rainfall. Added to that was a tropical cyclone, which would make the situation even worse. Huge amounts of rainfall were witnessed in Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catherina, which would exacerbate the already terrible situation. 

Regarding East Africa, a new study released today looked at the role of climate change and rapid urbanization in destructive floods. The extreme rainfall in Kenya and Tanzania was becoming more intense with the climate change as a major driver. The study conclusions applied not only to East Africa but to the world. More information is available here. 

Responding to questions, Ms. Nullis, for the WMO, said that the science and the national meteorological services needed to be listened to. It really paid dividends to invest in national meteorological and hydrological services, as well as early warning services. It was not just the weather and climate change, but also rapid urbanization, loss of ecosystems and the damage to the environments, which were jointly creating a perfect storm. William Spindler, for the UNHCR, said that over USD 400,000 had been received in response to the floods in Brazil, mostly from private individuals in Brazil, the Netherlands, and the USA. 

Northern hemisphere hurricane season

Clare Nullis, for the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), informed that high ocean heat content and the anticipated development of La Niña were expected to fuel an above average hurricane season in the North Atlantic this year, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration (NOAA). NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center forecast a range of 17 to 25 named storms (average was 14); of those, 8 to 13 were forecast to become hurricanes (average was seven), including four to seven major hurricanes (average was three). A major hurricane was category 3, 4 or 5 on the Saffir Simpson, with winds of 178 kmh/111 mph or higher.

It took just one landfalling hurricane to set back years of socio-economic development. For example, Hurricane Maria in 2017 had cost Dominica 800 percent of its Gross Domestic Product. Early warnings by the WMO community and improved disaster risk management had dramatically reduced fatalities. Sea level rise, worsened by storm surge, increased the potential risk for coastal communities. In recent years, there had been more rapid intensification of tropical cyclones, which posed a significant challenge when it occurred near land, such as Hurricane Otis.

More details are available here.

World Health Assembly 

Christian Lindmeier, for the World Health Organization (WHO), replying to numerous questions, informed that the discussions on a pandemic treaty were still ongoing and were tentatively expected to finish by 9 pm today. The mandate of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB) was to present an outcome, or the lack thereof, to the World Health Assembly (WHA), which would then advise on the next steps. It was difficult to prejudge on either outcome at this stage. 

Mr. Lindmeier reminded of the Walk the Talk event on 26 May, which would start at Place des Nations at 9 am. At 5 pm the same day, a celebratory event would be held prior to the formal opening of the World Health Assembly. The event would be opened by WHO Director-General and attended by High-Level Representatives of Member States, with live performances by internationally acclaimed Egyptian opera singer Farrah El Dibany. There would be statements of commitment to WHO from Member States and other supporters. The Grand Prix winners of the Health for All Film Festival would be announced by Indian actor, filmmaker and social advocate, Nandita Das, a member of the distinguished international jury.

On another question, he explained that the next WHO Investment Round would encourage Member States and other donors to finance the estimated gap. He reminded that the WHO Investment Round was a new approach to mobilizing resources for WHO’s core work for the next four years (2025-2028). Working with existing donors and other partners, the Investment Round also aimed to attract new donors through an inclusive engagement process that would culminate in a high-level financing event in the fourth quarter of 2024. More details are available here

The formal opening of the 77th World Health Assembly would be held at the Palais des Nations on 27 May at 9 am, reiterated Mr. Lindmeier, while the official Director-General’s main address would take place at 2:30 pm. All details on the 77th WHA are available here; all official side events would be listed in the Journal. Photo opportunities were planned, but there was no space for additional cameras setup. 

Alessandra Vellucci, for the United Nations Information Service (UNIS), said that the accredited journalists would be allowed to stay at the Palais des Nations as late as needed to cover the WHA and the negotiating process. During the WHA and the subsequent International Labour Conference, working hour limitations at the Palais would be reduced. As a high number of vehicles were expected during the WHA, all parking slots would need to be used, and the security service might impose certain limitations. She explained that in order to receive a media accreditation to access the Palais des Nations, journalists would need to have a travel document issued by a country recognized by the United Nations General Assembly. Media requesting accreditation also had to be registered in a country recognized by the General Assembly.

On another question, Mr. Lindmeier, for the WHO, said that the list of the high-level speakers would be shared tonight or the following day. Taiwan’s observer’s status was a question for the 194 Member States to consider and decide on. Decision in this regard should be taken on 27 May between 11 and 11:30. 

Announcements

Alessandra Vellucci, for the United Nations Information Service (UNIS), informed that the previous night World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Member States had approved a groundbreaking new treaty related to intellectual property, genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge, marking a historic breakthrough that capped decades of negotiations. More details could be found here. A press conference would be held at WIPO today at 1:15 pm, with media presence preferred in person.

The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women was reviewing today the tenth periodic report of Rwanda. 

The Conference on Disarmament had the previous morning held the last public plenary meeting under the presidency of Iran. The next plenary of the Conference, under the presidency of Iraq, had not been announced yet.

Teleprompter
Let's start the briefing. Good morning. Today is Friday, 24th of May.
We are here in Geneva, the United Nations,
and, uh, we are going to start this, uh, press briefing with
the office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
who's coming on with two subjects.
And we start with Myanmar, the situation in Myanmar.
And for that Elizabeth
brought us James Rod, He
that, you know well, we have had the pleasure to hear from you, James.
In the past
you are the head of the
army and my team and you are calling in from Bangkok.
But I'll start by giving the floor to
Liz. And then we will go to you and we'll open the floor to questions.
Thank you very much.
You have
the floor? Yes.
Good morning, everyone.
We are receiving frightening and disturbing reports from northern Rakhine
state in Myanmar of the impacts of the conflict on civilian lives and property.
Some of the most serious allegations concern incidents of killing
of Rohingya civilians and the burning of their property.
Tens of thousands of civilians have been displaced
in recent days by the fighting in bid
and Mang
DAO
townships,
an estimated 45,000 Rohingya have reportedly fled to an area on the Naf
River near the border with Bangladesh seeking protection.
Over 1 million Rohingya are already in Bangladesh having fled past purges.
The high commissioner calls on Bangladesh
and other states to provide effective protection
to those seeking it in line with international law
and to ensure international solidarity with Bangladesh
In hosting Rohingya refugees in Myanmar,
we see clear and present risks of a serious
expansion of violence as the battle for neighbouring Madog
town has begun,
where the military maintains outposts and where a large Rohingya community lives,
including hundreds of displaced Rohingya who moved
to the town from villages seeking safety.
In
this appalling situation, civilians are once more victimised, killed,
their properties, destroyed and looted,
their demands for safety and security ignored and they are again
forced to flee their homes in a recurring nightmare of suffering.
The high commissioner calls for an immediate end to the violence and
for all civilians to be protected without any distinction based on identity.
Prompt and unhindered humanitarian relief must be allowed to flow
and all parties must comply fully and unconditionally with international law,
including measures already ordered by the International Court
of Justice for the Protection of Rohingya.
Now I'll hand over now to James Rode
he
who, as Alexandra said,
is our head of our Myanmar team and is just back from a visit to Cox's Bazaar.
James, over to you.
Thank you very much, Liz.
And, uh, good afternoon or good morning to you all.
Uh,
we over the last week have, uh, talked to many sources on the ground.
We have reviewed satellite imagery.
Uh, we've, uh, received online videos and pictures,
Some from sources on the ground.
Some from, uh, open sources. Uh, but we have, uh,
been able to review and see that many of those, uh, source materials are credible.
And they indicate the Buddha Don
town has been largely burned.
Uh, this, uh, of course is is very, uh,
it is corroborated by many of the testimonies that we've taken from, uh,
victims and and eyewitnesses to some of the events that occurred inside, uh, budong
town. Uh, beginning, You know, last, uh, friday afternoon and evening there.
Uh, we have received information indicating that the, uh,
the burning did start on the 17th of May.
Uh, there are I will say there are conflicting reports,
Some saying that the the burning started at three.
In the afternoon
at the high school in Ward four of Bong
Town
and some saying that began at 9 p.m.
at the hospital ward one.
Uh, now, this was two days after the military had retreated from the town
and had withdrawn largely back to their bases just outside of
Mal.
And the Arakan army claimed to have taken full control, Uh, of the village.
Now, our our office is corroborating information further, uh,
particularly in order to establish who were the perpetrators of the burnings?
Uh, we do have some information already.
Uh, but it has not been verified to our legal standard of proof.
One survivor described seeing dozens of dead bodies as he fled the town.
Another survivor said that he was among a group of
displaced persons numbering in the tens of thousands who attempted
to move outside of the town to safety along the western road towards Mongol.
Uh, but they,
uh, were blocked by the
Arakan army from going in that direction.
Uh, so this large mass of people had, in some cases, to go different ways.
So in the last few days, we understand some people have gone south to sit way
And while it whereas others have have, uh, been able to,
uh, to to move in, a more secure
this route, uh, towards the north, Uh, and towards the the Bangladeshi border, uh,
and the
Naf River, which is, uh, one of the traditional crossing sites
survivors recounted that the American army had
abused them and extorted money from them
as they fled the town and moved through villages.
Uh, where there were a A checkpoints,
particularly in the in the area of 10 to 15 kilometres south of the town,
uh, where they had, uh, previously shot No
shelter.
Uh,
the Rohingya individuals in these areas have for
weeks described sheltering with families they do not know
without enough food to feed their families.
In the weeks leading up to the burning of
bong,
the Myanmar team of the UN Human
Rights office has documented renewed attacks on Rohingya
civilians,
uh, both by the
army and by the military,
uh, in northern
Aine state.
Uh, of course,
many of these were as a result of airstrikes
perpetrated by the military as well as other attacks,
uh, perpetrated by unmanned aerial vehicles.
So drones
and we've also received reports of shooting at unarmed, fleeing Villagers.
Uh, we have confirmed at least, uh, uh, four cases of beheadings,
um and, um, multiple
enforced disappearances of individuals as well as several
villages and homes that have been burned.
Uh, now, for years,
the military has targeted the Rohingya and
have actively enforced draconian and discriminatory restrictions
affecting all aspects of their lives That has to be taken into account.
Um, and it's one of the reasons why the Rohingya, whenever they were asked to leave,
Mong
and other villages have been very reluctant to move
because they've needed special permission to move
outside of their township of residence.
Uh, they also have nowhere else to go.
And, uh, they, of course, have learned very hard lessons since 2017.
Uh, knowing that,
the, uh
you know, whenever movement starts,
usually ends by them leaving their homes never to see them again.
Uh, so I'll just stop there. Um, you know, I?
I was just in Cox's Bazaar where I was able to talk to many people who had,
uh, either been in Myanmar or, uh, who had spoken to family, uh, in Myanmar.
So, um, it's, uh it's been a very busy and fruitful week of investigations.
Thank you.
Thank you very much. James, Uh, for this comprehensive report,
I'll give the floor to the journalist now for questions. If there is any
in the room,
let me see.
I don't see any hand up,
so let's go to Maya on the platform. Maya plans the UN brief.
Thank you very much for taking my question.
Good morning to all. Um, my question is related to the Rohingya
massacre.
Uh, a couple of years ago, where most of it happened through, um,
social media platform, Facebook.
And, uh, my question is, regarding if
you have, this has been very well documented, including by the UN
um, the office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Um, are you are observing two movements in terms of the platforms
as the company in case Facebook now called meta, uh,
has been, um,
doing something about it, Or,
um, can you tell us a little bit? How do you surveil that?
Uh, the usage of social media platforms to disseminate hatred
that spill over into real life. Uh, violence.
Thank you very much. James, do you want to take this?
Uh, sure.
Uh, I would just, uh I would indicate that that yeah, that right now there are, um
there have been several instances in recent weeks where you've had, uh,
a lot of disinformation and propaganda placed on social media,
uh, clearly with the intent to,
uh,
sow discord between the, uh, Rohingya and the Rakhine communities.
Uh, there have been conspiracy theories promoted.
they're, uh, including by some very prominent individuals, Uh, in
including the the
aan army commander in chief who has, uh, who has, um, in some cases been
promoting the idea that,
uh, some of the Rohingya are members of extremist, radical Islamic groups.
Uh, and, uh and then on the other, on the other hand, he's been retweeting.
And and I would say that a lot of the activity that we've observed has been on Twitter,
um, or X. Uh uh.
You know,
since you clarified Facebook is now meta then that
I have to clarify that Twitter is now X,
even though I think it's ridiculous,
But, um,
the,
uh and and this these conspiracy theories have been about, uh, you know,
kidnappings and that are ethnically motivated and so forth.
The one thing I will say is that whenever we
you know, look at this kind of material,
um, you know, we do.
First of all, check with our other UN agencies because, you know, a lot of this is,
of course, in a variety of different Myanmar languages.
So, uh, my team has very limited language resources.
So we do check with UN agencies that do have more resources dedicated to
monitoring social media.
Uh, and then, uh, we also, of course, check with the double.
I double M because I'm I'm sure, as you will see, a few weeks ago, they put out a report,
uh, on hate speech, um,
and and how it was used in 2017 and and and in other instances as well.
And, uh, so we do know that they are tracking that as part of their investigation. So,
uh, it is something that we take very seriously.
I will say that the one sort of, uh, hopeful sign that we have seen is that,
uh,
so far at least a lot of the sort of inter ethnic tensions that
seem to have arisen as a result of of these efforts to sow division
between the Rakhine
and the Rohingya
communities,
which I will say has been one of the major tactics of the military going back, Uh,
you know, years and years,
Um and and we do think that by enacting the
conscription law and by promoting
certain disinformation and conspiracy theories,
they are trying to sow those divisions,
uh, to divide
right now, one of their primary opponents.
And, uh, But one of the hopeful signs, as I was saying before, is that
right now, a lot of the inter ethnic,
um
uh, flash points that we're seeing
are between armed actors.
We're not seeing this being repeated by civilians in
in local communities and in split inter ethnic settings.
And
and that's important because in 2017,
uh, you know, the violence really was magnified.
Uh, by you know, the whipping up of of anger and hatred in local communities where,
you know, civilians were sort of pressed and taking part
and, um, and duped into taking part.
So, uh, we're not seeing that sort of dynamic yet,
So that's a hopeful sign.
Thank you very much. Lisa.
Slain
Voice of America.
Uh, yes. Good morning. And thank you.
Uh, first James, where are you talking from? You left caucus
Bazaar. But I'm not.
I told
you,
I'm in
Bangkok. OK, thank you.
Questions,
uh, in in regard in
regard to, uh the, uh, conscription into the army. I mean is,
uh uh, isn't this counterintuitive? On the one hand, what the army seem, uh,
and the general seem to want to,
uh, kind of get rid of the massacre, the Rohingya.
And at the same time, are they actively
trying to conscript the Rohingya into the army? Is this working?
I had read reports that
a lot of the Rohingya were fleeing as a consequence of that.
And, uh, what is what do you know in regard to the the, uh, war that is going on?
There are reports that, in fact, the generals are losing in many instances,
And is that, uh,
providing greater impetus on the part of the generals to go after the Rohingya?
Uh,
regarding this genocide Seems unfortunately to be the word
the word of the day in too many,
uh, crises that are erupting around the world
Is there any indication that this is
perhaps
in the minds of the generals that this is
happening? Uh,
I mean,
what is it that they want from the Rohingya? They want to get rid of them.
How do they do that?
Thank you.
Teams.
I Well, let me just say that first of all,
you know that that we when I when I when we talk about conscription,
we've received many reports on it,
and we have talked to some people who have been conscripted.
Uh, we've actually talked to a few people who, uh, who
were taken into, uh, and and and given their military training,
uh, with the the Myanmar military, along with, uh, many of their comrades.
Uh, now
they have been, uh, promised many things by the military. Uh,
you know, some of them have been promised that, you know, uh,
additional food rations for them and their family.
They've been promised money. Uh, land.
Uh, some have been promised citizenship
if they serve in the military.
And we think that there are many reasons why, you know, this is being offered.
First of all,
I think that it shows the the degree of desperation in the military because,
as you say,
uh, the conflict they're doing very badly in the conflict. Um, they are in retreat
enormously, uh,
all of the 9 to 12 different fronts that they're fighting on right now.
Um, and they've probably only had I think one marked success in the last 3 to 4 months.
Uh, which was retaking Mayawati
back from, Uh
uh,
the the E A is working down in the southeast of the country.
But in Rakhine, they've been steadily,
uh uh, having to retreat or withdraw.
They've had there have been several instances where their forces have
retreated or had to flee into to India or Bangladesh.
Uh, because, you know, they were they were soundly beaten.
Uh, that's one of the reasons why they continue to rely on airstrikes because,
at least with airstrikes, you know,
it's it's, you know, there is no surrender involved.
It's, uh it's conflict from from above. But the conscripts
there's a couple of different things there that makes this far more insidious. One
is that
they know that these Rohingya men are ill prepared to to fight.
First of all, you know,
they've been deprived of humanitarian access for for months
and months dating back to last year's cyclone.
They have been existing on very few rations.
So a lot of these, these men are very poorly nourished.
Uh, secondly,
most of them have have never had any
sort of combat training or self defence training.
So they're largely being sent to the front lines,
Uh, as human shields or as cannon fodder. Uh,
and so you can say that the military knows that very well.
And so why not get rid of some of the your young Fighting age opponents,
Uh, by co opting them?
They've also been involving other groups to
help them convince and conscript people.
And including ar
sa
um, ar sa is a group that, um,
is, uh, you know, it's it's it's a it's it's sort of an armed group,
but it's also a criminal gang.
Uh,
and clearly they're in the money making business. And so it's very,
uh, uncertain.
You know what their motives are in this case,
but they've been helping recruit people for the military and in some cases,
through kidnapping them
and then taking them to a military, uh, training site.
Um and so you know, the military has also told the Rohingya that Look, if you run away,
if you don't serve,
uh,
we will arrest you,
uh, or we will cut the rations to your family.
So they've used a variety of pressures to convince
the Rohingya to join, and we don't know fully the the full numbers.
But we have We've had reports of anywhere from 1500
to 2000 that have been recruited at this point,
and, uh, and those are, you know, and and those aren't reports,
I will stress that this is not information that we have confirmed,
but the reports are out there,
and, um and I think that it's indicative now these armed groups, of course,
that are operating in a variety of areas.
They
they are also forcibly recruiting people. So right now it's kind of open season, and
the Rohingya are are
are,
you know, recruit, you know,
they're they're they're trying to pressure their
own people into fighting for different actors.
And it's, uh
it's and that that's contributed to the whole mess.
And then on on genocide, I mean,
I think you just have to look at the provisional measures,
uh, that were ordered by the I CJ,
uh that are supposed to be in force in Rakhine,
which are essentially, you know,
stop committing acts of violence against the Rohingya
community.
Stop. You know, hiding evidence. Stop putting Rohingya at risk
of the impacts of violence.
You know,
these are the things that these that that these groups are supposed to be observing.
And that was to prevent a future or a continuing genocide.
And yet those provisional measures, at least seem to be
being flagrantly violated. Right now.
I'm not the i CJ, so I can't make that determination for them.
But I would say that if you look at it from a common sense perspective, that seems to be
the state of affairs.
We've got quite a few more questions. Gabriel.
Tru,
Reuters.
Um, just to to clarify is is there is it possible to
say, um, who might be the perpetrators of this?
This violence,
these frightening and disturbing reports of the killings and burning
Can we attribute those to the Arakan army itself?
Um, is there any evidence suggesting
that, um, just to clarify? Thank you.
All right,
well, right now
the you know, if we could clarify In all instances, we would
we would say that, you know, we have been able to verify some
incidents. Like, you know, as I said, we have
multiple incidents of of killings that have been perpetrated both by the
Army and by, uh, the military of Rohingya civilians and and, frankly,
of other civilians as well.
This is not just an issue of Rohingya.
Uh,
there have been a number of incidents
that have targeted the Rakhine ethnic Rakhine,
uh, civilians, Uh, and Hindus,
Uh
uh, in in, uh, Rakhine state.
Civilians are getting
the the worst of the violence there.
Uh,
and that's because the military targets the
civilians because they can't fight back.
It's far easier to fight civilians
than it is
the armed groups, because every time they fight the armed groups, they lose ground,
and, uh, but the civilians don't fight back.
And if they kill civilians, then frankly,
what that does is send a message that these
armed groups that say they're fighting for you,
uh, they can't protect you.
So it also damages the credibility of these armed
groups in the eyes of some of these communities.
So, uh so So that's sort of the game. The military is playing the A
army. Uh,
you know, it's very hard to know why these different incidents have happened.
Uh, many of them the men killed are fighting age male civilians.
Uh, and as I say,
we have confirmed at least four incidents in which there were beheadings.
Now, the the the violence in budong,
uh, we do have some strong
suspicions of of who the perpetrators are.
We have some information, as I said,
but we have not confirmed it to the point where we can announce firmly.
Uh, you know who the perpetrator is.
Thank you. Uh, Nina Larson a FP.
Thanks. Uh, yeah. You know,
our
NP I had a few, um, just some follow up questions
on the, uh, the beheadings that you just mentioned.
Um, are are those attributable, uh, specifically to the Arkan army.
And then also on the
social media question, I was wondering,
uh, in the the hate speech that you have seen, uh, circulating.
Uh, are there any actual, um,
instances of violence that have been attributable to those, uh, so far?
Thank you.
Excuse me. Could you just repeat the last part of your question?
Yeah, sorry.
Uh, on the social media question that you received earlier,
I was wondering on the the more recent hate speech,
uh, that you were mentioning that you've seen on Twitter.
Uh um and elsewhere,
if there are any actual instances of of violence
that you think could possibly be attributable directly to
to, um that, uh, hate speech on social media. Thank you.
Uh, well, in the latter part of your question, I'll answer that first.
And just to say that, you know that that's something that we are still like,
connecting the dots on.
So I you know, I can't
II. I certainly could not make those connections at this moment.
There are there are several, as you say,
several instances of things being said and promoted different, you know,
stories that have been reported in different media sources in the region
and then amplified by retweeting or or REBROADCASTING those
claims or the stories themselves that really alarm us.
And so
we are trying to find out more.
We are trying to also engage with some of these parties to find out why.
Uh,
you know, the they're doing these things. Um,
so, you know, we are you know, these are areas of of concern.
Now, uh, the the you know, some of the violence, as I say is, is attributable to the A A.
And of course, a lot of it is attributable to the to the military.
And, uh,
the the instances of these beheadings in in this case,
Um yeah, in those, you know, four cases or four instances.
Um, it does, you know,
I, I I'm fairly confident in saying that Yes, uh,
we have confirmed that that it was the a a acting in those instances.
OK, we've got to
elements of the A A.
We've got two more questions and then we'll go to the next item. So Christian
Erich
Deutsche
Thank you, Alexandra, for the introduction.
James, um,
can you let, uh,
can you tell us how many Rohingya are left in Arakan state or in Myanmar?
Um Total
And could you characterise the
Arakan army for us a little bit more? Who are these people?
Do you have contact with any of the commanders or are you exchanging uh,
views with them?
And a question that is poss possibly impossible to answer. The Rohingya are hated
by everyone and are discriminated by everyone, including
Aung San Suu
Kyi and her followers. Uh, what is a real
solution?
Uh, that goes beyond, uh, asking the unrealistic question of the military powers to
let them be and allow them to stay and not attack them.
Thank you.
You know, well, the the American Army, it's a it's a you know,
it's an ethnic armed group or an ethnic armed organisation.
Um, that, uh
is, uh, essentially it is. It is
both rakhine
based, but it also has operations more widely.
It's part of the three brotherhood alliance.
that, uh, was formed in 2019.
And, uh, the three members of that alliance are the A
army, uh, the the TNL A or the Tang National Liberation Army and the MNDA A, uh,
which is the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army.
And, uh,
those are the three armed groups that started this whole turnaround of events
in Myanmar back in late October last year,
this started a series of coordinate attacks in northern Shan
State.
Uh,
that really put the the military on the back foot and started driving
them out of many areas in the ethnic states and then Of course,
those tactics were so effective.
They've been repeated
pretty much all over the country by ethnic armed groups working with, uh,
the people's defence force.
You know, militia forces.
Uh, and
so the
aan army is one of those three major armed groups, and now, you know,
they are based primarily in in
Arakan, Uh, or in Rakhine state,
uh, they are an ethnic rakhine,
uh, largely, uh, organisation.
They have a political wing, which is the UL A.
And they also have a humanitarian wing.
Uh, now, in, uh, they they began, you know, fighting the military, uh,
in earnest back in, uh, 2019.
And, uh,
there was an There's been a sort of an ongoing an
on and off armed conflict with the military in Rakhine state
since 2019,
there have been, um, cease fires. Agreed that have lasted different periods.
Uh, one that that took hold in, uh 2020 late 2020 Right, uh, around the elections
in Myanmar,
and it lasted about a year.
And then it was broken.
And then there was fighting again for about four or five months.
And then, uh, a new cease fire was established that held until last, uh, November
and, uh, the their kind of army.
Basically,
they've always lobbied for either an independent Rakhine
state or an autonomous Rakhine state within Myanmar.
And, uh, they have been incredibly effective.
Particularly, uh, in the periods where there were cease fires,
agreed with the military
because they built up a Democratic or AAA civilian governance apparatus
as part of their,
uh, operation.
So they they started promoting.
They started, uh, creating their own courts, their own judges,
their own police forces.
And, um and
they built up a lot of credibility
with the the Rakhine communities all over Rakhine state.
And,
uh so that's effectively how they are.
Um uh And yes, we do have, uh, an ongoing conversation with them,
uh, both with their humanitarian wing and with, uh,
elements of their political office.
We've We've been trying to establish AAA
discussion with the their military wing,
and, uh, because we want to talk about these incidents that we are investigating
and then, uh, in terms of the number of rohingya left in the country,
it's around 600,000.
Uh, that's the Those are the estimates,
Um, and with you know another 1 million plus in in
Bangladesh and
and then, you know, a few 100,000 spread out in the region.
Thank you very much.
I'll take the last question from
Mussa Musa,
Asi and mad.
You have to
OK, so
still has another briefing item. So if this is the case, let me thank
our colleague James
Rod
Heber for this very extensive and very interesting briefing.
Thank you very much for being with us to brief the journalist in Geneva.
I
let you go and turn to Liz.
Maybe before we take Musa's
question, I would like
to give you the floor for the second and last
item that you have this morning which is on Ukraine.
Maybe I'll just
start by saying that
Denise Brown,
as you know, leads The UN's effort in Ukraine
has condemned the deadly attacks on Cardiff City,
which follow two weeks of attacks on the region.
And
while the UN are of course continuing to support
evacuated people and those impacted by the strikes,
I think you have more on the human rights side.
Yes, that's right. I do. Thank you very much, Alexandra
Testimonies gathered by the UN Human Rights monitoring mission in Ukraine
highlight the terrifying impact on civilians of
the recent escalation in hostilities in the north
east of the country where Russian armed
forces have seized control of several villages.
People who have flared from these areas
along the
Kiv region front line
described having to shelter for days in cold, dark basements with no electricity.
Amid intense aerial bombardment,
strikes by drones and missiles and artillery shelling,
there's been massive disruption of people's
homes and other civilian infrastructure.
Entire communities have been uprooted and destroyed,
with more than 10,000 people displaced to date.
According to our monitoring team,
at least 35 civilians have been killed and 137 injured in the Kharkiv region
since Russian armed forces launched their cross border offensive on 10 May.
Of those killed or injured in the northern part of the region,
which has seen the heaviest fighting, more than half were over the age of 60 Now.
This reflects the disproportionate number of older people
in border and front line areas who in many
cases were either unable or unwilling to leave their
homes even amid a fast deteriorating security situation.
Since the 10th of May.
Our monitoring teams have interviewed 90 displaced civilians
and have visited several sites that were struck.
Some of those interviewed were unable to reach shelters or even get to a basement.
People described seeing their neighbours killed or injured.
Some said the situation was so bad they decided to
risk walking for several kilometres to reach an evacuation point.
Local authorities and volunteers have taken major risks
to help vulnerable people to get to safety.
As an example.
On 16 May 2 medical workers,
two ambulance drivers and a local official were injured while
they were trying to get civilians out of the village of
On the morning of 19 May,
Russian armed forces struck a recreation centre in the village of Chehaa
Loso
near Kharkiv City.
Less than 20 minutes later,
the site was hit again when police and medical workers
were already on the scene to assist the victims.
Our
monitors visited the location and documented the deaths of
at least six civilians with dozens of people injured.
Many of those who have been evacuated from
Fof Chak
and other areas have arrived in Kharkiv City, which as Alexandra just read out,
also remains under attack
in Kharkiv There were multiple missile strikes on Thursday,
reportedly killing seven civilians and injuring 21 others.
And having spoken to colleagues this morning, they indicate that
Kharkiv has again come under attack. This morning
we call again on the Russian Federation
to strictly respect all the rules of international
law relating to the conduct of hostilities and
to cease its attacks on Ukraine immediately.
In the third year of the Russian Federation's full scale
armed attack on Ukraine with no end in sight,
lives, homes and futures continued to be destroyed.
The long term impact of this war in Ukraine
will be felt for generations with the task of
rebuilding shattered communities already a massive undertaking growing larger
with every further day of violence and destruction.
Thank you.
Thank you very much. Let me see if there is any question in Ukraine.
I don't see any
any on the line too. So if you're OK, I'll give the flus
for his question.
I suspect he's not on Ukraine either,
USA.
So we see the past election.
Uh, good morning, Liz.
I ask if you have a comment on the decision of the International Criminal Court
regarding the request to arrest Israeli and Hamas leaders. Thank you.
Thank you, Mia.
Obviously, we're aware of what the ICC
did this week.
The High Commissioner has called for respect for the legal process.
As we know, the matter is now before the pre trial chamber.
And this must be allowed to undertake
its work free from external pressure or interference
laws,
norms and the institutions so painstakingly built to
advance them must be fully respected and defended.
Thank you,
Nina.
Um, thank you. So on, Um uh,
on Gaza. Uh, I was wondering if you had any, uh, any indication of the situation
in Rafah now? Um,
the numbers of people displaced, um, if you if you have any
thoughts on on the the rights implications for for
people who are now fleeing again from Rafah.
Yes,
I do have some information on that.
Obviously, as you highlight, there's been a lot of focus on Rafa.
Understandably,
we know that while the Israeli defence force
military operations have been intensifying in
Rafah,
it's also important to underscore that attacks by
the IDF in North Gaza have increased,
resulting in further displacement,
killing and maiming of Palestinian civilians who were already
extremely vulnerable so we're very concerned about the situation in
in north Gaza as well with regard to the numbers displaced from Rafa.
This has been ongoing and I think that's partly that there
are sort of has been a lot of people moving out,
trying to get away,
going back to
the situation in north Gaza. There also been evacuation orders
earlier this month on 11 May, according to information our colleagues have,
the IDF issued an evacuation order to residents in areas in
Jabaliya
and Beit
Lahiya
to move to locations west of
the city.
And this was followed by intense airstrikes, shelling and ground operations,
especially in and around
Jabaliya camp.
There have been other evacuation orders issued as well.
So obviously we're concerned about Rafa.
But we're also stressing it's important to keep
sight of what is
happening in north Gaza as well.
Do you have any idea of specific numbers of people who fled and also
the rights implications for the people?
Yes, I think the numbers that we have about 800,000 people have gone from Rafa
and about 100,000 from the north.
Thank you, Lisa.
Uh, yeah. Liz I. I don't have a question for you.
Now, I just would like to ask you to stay around, please,
because WHO is going to be talking about Chad.
And I would like to ask you a question about
that in Sudan. So I if
perhaps you could
stay around and I'll hold my question for now. Thank you.
Thank you very much. And this is a good transition, actually to. But
before doing that, I John has his end up,
and then we will actually go to Christian and his invitee John.
Yes. Uh, good morning. Uh, Liz, I was wondering if you had from your
monitoring office, uh,
in the OPT,
uh, any, uh, up to date information.
Since we don't have anyone briefing from, uh, World Food Programme
on the number of, uh, trucks
with food
that have been allowed into
the Gaza Strip in the last 48 hours. I've seen some
disturbing reports by some humanitarian NGO S,
uh, that the situation is really dire.
I've got something. No, you don't.
No, I thank you for the question, John,
but I think precisely because it is relating to humanitarian aid,
I think it's better coming humanitarian colleagues.
It's something that our colleagues obviously do follow
and co operating with colleagues, but I don't have specific information.
John.
The only thing I have is a line from the World Food Programme
that says there are no food distributions taking place in the
South except for some limited stocks that are being provided to commun
community kitchens for hot meals.
And
that's about and of course, they say,
O
said that
warned that if aid doesn't begin to enter in
massive quantities, desperation and hunger will spread even further.
The closure of the Rafah crossing a limited functionality of Karem
Shalom
in the south have choked off the flow of life saving supplies.
But I'm pretty sure we can get something more during the day from.
So
if you want to stick around, yes, we will definitely go now to
Christian Christian. Good morning.
You indeed have a point on the Sudan crisis and
its impact on the health situation in Chad. And there is Dr
Blanche
Anna,
who is the
representative in Chad who is talking to us from
Jamina,
who is also briefing on this subject. I don't know if you want to start
Dr Anna or,
um
maybe let me say a word before.
we just We just shared the briefing notes on what Doctor Anya will talk about.
I'm very glad to have her here with us. Um,
as we all know and we talked about many times, the spillover effects are massive.
and over to you, Doctor. Yeah,
Thank you very much. Uh, can you hear me?
Yes, we can.
Maybe you cannot hear me, but we can hear you, madam, if you want to go ahead.
Do you hear me?
I don't think she hears me.
We we can hear you. Well,
ok, thanks a lot.
So the conflict devastating the neighbouring Sudan is putting Chad
at the centre of the resulting refugee crisis
with a profound impact on health.
And since the start of the violence in 19 in 2023
about 43% of Sudanese refugees that is Around 600,000 people
are being hosted in Chad
and about 170,000
Chad nationals have also returned from Sudan
Every week. An estimated 5000 new arrivals continue
to enter Chad, converging at 32
points in the east.
And this number may further rise as important attacks are anticipated. In Darfur,
the majority are women and Children,
representing about 88% of refugees and 93% of returnees.
Many of the women and young girls have been raped.
Malnutrition among Children is widespread, combined with needles
and other outbreak facilitated by overcrowding
an under
resourced camp
and creating serious ongoing health. Emergency
Child's already fragile health care system is under immense pressure.
With this situation
and with limited resources and stretch infrastructure,
the health system is facing AD
challenge
supporting these refugees while not neglecting its own citizens
health needs at the rainy season. As the rainy season is approaching,
the access to affected population will really become very difficult
and more difficult. The health challenges in the refugee camps are numerous.
Every week, around
1
to 2000
cases of severe equip malnutrition are registered
and since the start of the crisis,
320 have been
cases. 320 deaths have been reported among
both the refugees and host population,
and the majority of these deaths, that is 184
are among my nourished Children.
Along with malnutrition,
there are other diseases such as malaria, acute respiratory infections,
uh, diarrhoea, diseases as well, as well as outbreaks of dengue,
measles, chickenpox and hepatitis.
The outbreak of hepatitis in the refugee camp is particularly concerning,
and as of 15 June,
around 402,000 cases
around 2400 cases and seven deaths have been reported in four health districts
of we have, we are observing now a decline of the overall trend,
but the situation is still there.
So the poor living conditions, inadequate health care
infrastructure,
limited sanitation and clean water create ideal
conditions for the virus to spread.
Hepatitis is especially dangerous for pregnant women
with a high mortality rate among those in the third trimester.
This is war
worsened by the lack of specialised healthcare services in the refugee camp.
Mental health needs are also significant.
This population, as you know,
have experienced stressing things and a human being can witness,
and an estimated
1500 refugees requirement has support.
But resources are simply not enough.
Among these numerous challenges, WHO,
in collaboration with the Ministry of Public Health and the
Health Cluster Partners, have provided
750,000 medical consultations in refugee camps
They are also delivered 200 tonnes of medicine for malnutrition, cholera,
trauma and other diseases,
and assisted around 13,000 women in delivering their baby safely.
The
efforts to combat the hepatitis
E outbreak in the forehead disease and the chickenpox outbreak in the
Ache
Prison in Wadeye province are ongoing.
There has been a national vaccination campaign against measles, yellow fever,
polio coupled with vitamin A and warming
where
this was also conducted in the camp.
But all these efforts cannot be sustained alone.
We urgently need increased international support.
Funding for the humanitarian appeal in charge remains critically low.
In 2023 the humanitarian appeal for charge was only 30% funded,
leaving a significant gap in resources needed
to avert a public health catastrophe.
The
Sudanese refugee crisis is not just a regional issue. It
is a global humanitarian emergency that require
united effort.
The health impact on child is profound and we must act swiftly and
decisively to provide necessary support to
not jeopardise countries' efforts to move towards
SDGs. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Doctor Anna. I will open the floor to questions.
I don't see any in the room, so I'll go to Lisa. Lisa
Schlein was of America.
Thank you. I have several questions for several people.
Uh, first to you. Uh uh, uh, Doctor Anya,
are, uh,
are people actually fleeing now as we speak from,
uh, Al Fasher, which,
which seems to be the
really serious crisis point right now in
in, uh
in Sudan.
I don't know. Perhaps, uh uh, I.
I think, uh, William Spindler is there, too, And he could speak about the
situation.
Yeah, so? So I'm wondering whether,
uh, you are seeing people, uh, actually continuing to flee from Darfur
into china, whether this is even possible
and, uh, whether, since you are on the spot, this may not be your issue, but whether it
is possible to get any kind of humanitarian aid
delivered from Chad into Darfur or whether that pipeline has essentially dried up
And then, um,
to perhaps you Christian, uh, if you have, uh, uh,
sort of some latest information about
the health situation in Sudan itself. Perhaps you do as well, Doctor.
Anya, I really don't know. I don't mean to cut you short,
but I I'd like to know something about the health situation. in Sudan.
And then Liz, uh, if you could,
uh, give your, um,
OK,
I mean, what what does the High Commissioner say? Or has he said or
has your organisation said about what is happening in, uh uh, in Al
Fasher? And there is a lot of talk about,
uh, a genocide
which is occurring there. The noises about that are very strong.
And so I'd like to have your, uh, response to that. Thank you very much.
Um, thank you. I'll start with Doctor Anna.
this is one of the priorities in the country. Now,
as I said earlier, the government is, uh,
has a dual challenge
not only to address the needs of this population,
but also to address the needs of these refugees.
And, uh, with the RC, all the UU UN country team is really working together
to see how we can better support the government to address this.
And, uh,
what we did with the U, the UN country team, and, uh, the, uh,
the development partners, for example.
We had issues of human resources. Which human resources do we send there?
Because, as you know, China had a critical gap in human resources for health.
So the World Bank funded,
uh, to to support for with human resources. This is now, uh uh,
uh The the funding is now, uh, stopped and so we don't have any funding anymore.
But so we are constantly working together
with,
uh at the UN C as a UN city country team to really
see how we can mobilise additional resources under the lead of the RC.
So this is one of the priority of us. But we need to make sure that
we are not only supporting these refugees,
but we are also continuing to address them to support the health
and in Chad, because at the end of the day,
we have to to to to to to tender towards achieving the SDGS.
So the SDGS is not only for the refugees, but also for the, uh, the local population.
So this is a direct challenge we are really having here.
But I can assure you that this is on top of the priority of the authorities here,
the UN county team and even the partners.
Now, regarding the field, we have teams in the field from the information I have,
uh there are still refugee comings there is.
There are still the corridors that are that
for which you can provide, Uh
uh,
uh items to the to the Sudan.
Uh, but, uh, we are really, uh, uh Afraid that with the rainy season coming,
this corridor might not be operational.
Uh, thank you.
Maybe on the issue of Refugee will you want to add something, and then I will go to the
statement.
Yes. Thank you, Alexandra.
Uh, yes. The situation in Al
Fashir seems to be getting more and more
serious with continuous fighting going on there.
The situation.
The humanitarian situation is deteriorating with serious needs and for
humanitarian aid, food, shelter.
The few operational hospitals in
Al Fashir
have been affected by the fighting.
On Sunday,
19 May shelling damaged
Saudi obstetrics and Gynaecology Hospital in
Al
Fashir, resulting
in the wounding of nine civilians who were passing by the hospital at the time.
Reportedly, the shelling has damaged the hospital's main water tank,
part of the solar energy system
and the electricity generator.
So the situation in El Fasher
is very serious.
As you know, there have been many
calls for the fighting to cease because of
the impact it is having on the civilian population
and we continue to see people fleeing this region and crossing into Chad,
particularly to the ad
region, which is about 400 kilometres from Al
Fasher
in Adra,
is in Chad
and about 600 people
are crossing on average every day.
The numbers continue to be relatively small,
but we think that
we have received reports that there might be impediments
for people who would like to seek refuge in Chad
and they are not able to do that because of the fighting
or because they are being prevented by armed actors to travel.
We also have received very worrying
reports that some people who intended to either go to al
Fashir from the surrounding countryside or cross into Chad have been killed.
the situation inside Chad as doctor Anya has
already described at length is very worrying as well
because uh particularly in
Adri conditions, are very difficult.
Uh, Chad is already hosting over 600,000 Sudanese refugees,
and the conditions, particularly in Adri, are deteriorating as well.
The camps there are severely congested
and that's why
has
identified a new site
in
DUI where we would like to evacuate or to transfer these refugees who are in
a very close also to the border
to this new site where conditions are better and it
will be easier for us to provide assistance to them.
It's a race against time because the rainy
season has already started in eastern Chad.
We had on Tuesday
the first
rains in ad.
These rains are going to make conditions that are already dire,
even more miserable for the thousands of refugees who are in ad.
And
they will also make it more difficult the delivery of
aid because roads will become impassable during the rainy season.
That's why we need
to move people as soon as we can to
site where they will be safer and where it
will be easier to provide assistance to them.
But in order to do that, we need funding. As
Dr Anna
said, the humanitarian appeal for Chad is very badly underfunded,
so we make an appeal also to donors to continue supporting Chad
and the other countries that have been affected by the crisis in Sudan.
Thank you very much, William. And yes, indeed.
Lisa, you also asked about the statements
and
I
just would like to remind you that
the secretary general threw a statement attributable to his spokesperson
said on 13 May
that he was gravely concerned by the outbreak of fighting in Al Fasher,
which puts over
800,000 civilians at risk. As we have heard,
he was alarmed by reports of the use of heavy weaponry in densely populated areas.
He recalled that civilian
in the area are already facing a looming famine.
That's also something we have heard and the consequences over a year of war
and urged all the parties to immediately stop the
fighting and resume ceasefire negotiations without further delay.
I think
High Commissioner Turko
also expressed himself on this and I will give the floor to
yes, absolutely. The high commissioner has repeatedly
stressed his deep concern, his horror at the situation in Sudan.
You may recall that last week
he spoke of
the fact that he was horrified by the escalating violence and he did in fact speak to
Lieutenant General Abdel Fattah al Borhan,
the president of the Transitional Sovereignty Council
and commander of the Sudanese armed Forces.
And he also in a separate phone call, spoke to General Mohammed Hamdan
Dallo,
commander of the rapid support forces.
And in those calls, I think as a ravine highlighted last week,
he basically called on them to put aside entrance
positions and take specific concrete steps to seize hostilities.
So
you've heard very powerful information from colleagues in who
and from
UN,
the UN refugee agency, on the real impact it's having on
civilians this fighting. So, of course, that underscores the deep, deep concern
that we do have
what is unfolding.
So just to reiterate,
the high Commissioner has called and continues to call
for an immediate de escalation of tensions in and
around Al Fash and others have said we are
concerned because it does appear that the fighting is
intensifying
in al Fasha.
He's also of course,
calling for an end to the wider conflict that
has ravaged Sudan for more than a year now.
The important thing from the human rights point of view, of course,
is that the High Commissioner, our office,
has called for investigations into all alleged
violations and abuses of international human rights law
and violations of international humanitarian law.
And that, of course, is with a view to ensuring accountability and victims' rights,
to truth, justice and reparation.
Now,
given the situation, Lisa,
you did make a reference to what real concerns we have from the point of view.
What we would say is that the conflict clearly has exacerbated pre
existing ethnic and tribal divisions and
increased polarisation and ethnically motivated violence,
particularly in the Darfur
region.
So that is incredibly concerning.
So I think, Yes, absolutely. The high Commission is concerned
he and his staff are continuing to monitor and to
make calls with regard to what is happening in Sudan
and to the appalling, horrendous impact it is having on civilians. As I said, as who
and UNHCR
have clearly outlined Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Liz.
I see your hand is still up. If it's for the notes from William, I think William spoke,
um, out of his heart and knowledge, but he will send out something.
Is there anything else you wanted to ask?
Uh,
yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, Yeah. That at first. Thanks so much, William.
That was great what you said. And if you do have your notes, send them.
But I also have just a couple of, uh, quick clean up questions.
One first for you, Liz, uh, I asked about whether you think what's happening, and,
uh um, I I
Al Fasher is genocide. People are talking about it. I know that,
uh, you're probably you don't have the expertise to say what it is, but, you know,
just your reflections on that.
And if Christian is still there, I did ask, uh, whether he could perhaps
give a a kind of quick overview of the health situation as
that exists right now
in, uh, in in Sudan.
And, uh, the, uh, the ability
for WHO to get, uh, medical care to people or whether you know,
too many places are out of reach.
Thank you.
Let's start with Liz.
Yes,
thank you, Lisa.
Well, as I said, the high Commissioner in his phone calls with the two commanders.
Basically,
we reminded them of their obligations under international humanitarian law
to ensure strict compliance with the principles of distinction,
proportionality and precaution,
and to put an end to any ongoing violations,
as well as to ensure accountability
for violations of international humanitarian law
and international human rights law committed
by their respective forces and allies.
So it's clear that the High Commissioner
is really concerned about what is unfolding
in Sudan
with regard to making a determination on the question of genocide.
As we say, that is for a court. Thank you.
So I don't know if Doctor Anna or maybe
Christian want to answer the other question from Lisa
on the situation, the health situation in Sudan
itself.
Yeah, I can I can thank you, Lisa.
I can repeat a few messages that were shared earlier,
but just to flag the situation there, too, as it's of course, not Chad,
but in Sudan. So the health system in Sudan is collapsing, especially
in the hard to reach areas with health facilities destroyed,
looted or struggling with acute shortages of staff, medicines, vaccines,
equipment and supplies.
Only 30 to 20% of the health facilities remain functional.
Uh, and even so, at very minimal levels,
the medical supplies in country are meeting only 25% of the needs. Ws
warehouses
or warehouse singular in
Al
Jazeera state has been inaccessible already since December 2023.
Some states, such as Darfur,
have not received medical supplies for the past year.
Medi
uh, people suffering from diabetes, hypertension, cancer or kidney failure.
Um, may experience complications or die
from the lack of treatment.
Disease outbreaks are increasing, with over 1.3 million cases of
malaria,
11,000 cases of cholera, 4600 cases of measles and some 8500 cases of dengue.
Outbreaks of malaria, measles, dengue
and hepatitis E are also spreading
over to neighbouring Chad as Doctor Anya just referred to
UH Wo
has reached close to 2.5 million people through direct
support to services and delivery of emergency supplies.
That's good news.
Around 50,000 people received care in mobile clinics.
433,000 Sudanese refugees were treated in mobile clinics
in eastern
Chad.
WO has delivered vital medical supplies
through cross border operations as outlined
Um
In the past few months, W
and partners efforts have led to a decline in the number of cases of cholera.
Dengue
malaria
4.5 million people over one year of age received the Oral Corolla
vaccine in six high risk states.
Uh and we have delivered supplies for the treatment of 115 so 11,
515,000 Children suffering from severe acute malnutrition
with medical complications.
That's what I can offer.
Thank you very much.
Um, I'm just concerned about the time because it's almost 1140.
We still have two item brief items,
so I'll give the fruit to Robin, and then maybe we'll move to Brazil.
Uh, Robin,
thank you. Uh, I have a couple of questions for Christian on other topics.
Uh, can can you tell me which topic is that?
The World Health Assembly. And
because yeah, that's that's why I was asking,
because Christian is going to have some announcement
at the end of the briefing on that.
And I also have AAA breaking news announcement from
So we give this to you in a moment. But let me stay on the line.
Robin,
I like to thank very much Liz for this morning's briefing and also for bringing us
and, uh, thank you very, very much, Doctor Blanche
and,
uh, uh, calling in from
Jena
for updating us on the situation in Chad.
I'll turn to William now for an update on the floods
in Brazil and maybe ask Claire also to come to the
POUM.
Uh, to also tell us about that.
Thank you. Uh, start with William
please.
Thank you. Alessandra.
Uh, so, uh, I have an update on the situation of, uh, various, uh uh,
regions that have been experience, uh, floods in recent weeks.
Uh, they have all been, uh, covered already, Uh, in this briefing and elsewhere.
Uh, so this is just an update on on what is happening in all this.
Uh uh, various, uh, places starting with Brazil.
Almost one month after the start of heavy rains
in the southern state of Rio Grande to
Soul
UN
AC.
R is expanding its response with national authorities
to meet the needs of the most vulnerable,
including 43,000 refugees and other people in need of international protection,
mainly Venezuelans, Haitians and Cubans,
as well as the communities that host them.
The floods are the biggest climate related disaster in southern Brazil
and have caused 163 deaths and displaced some 580,000 people.
More than 65,000 are still sheltering in
improvised collective centres.
93% of the cities and towns in Rio Grande do Sul have been affected.
An estimated $3.21
million is needed to support
a
response including financial assistance to affected
individuals and essential relief items.
A team specialised in shelter management documentation and the prevention
of gender based violence has been mobilised to the disaster areas
and is coordinating the reception of relief items dispatched by
the team is also providing technical assistance
to improve the running of shelters,
especially in Puerto Alegre,
the state capital.
The first refugee housing units and sleeping mats
arrived in the affected area last Monday,
coming from UN HC R's warehouse in Boa
Vista.
Other items like Jerry cans, backpacks, adult diapers, tarpaulins, solar lamps,
mosquito nets, sanitary and hygiene kits are on the way to Rio Grande do
so
More items are being dispatched from Eun
Asia stocks in Colombia and Panama.
UN.
And I
are visiting shelters to survey refugees,
other people in need of international protection and migrants
to assess their needs and support the most urgent cases.
Those interviewed have expressed concern about their future,
especially where they will return to and when.
UN, AC, R and its partners
are also prioritising the re issuance of lost documentation,
which is needed by people in order to have access to services,
even reduced rainfall and the drop in the UH in river levels.
The situation in Rio Grande do Sul is very worrying.
The weather forecast for the next days indicates rain and strong winds,
electrical storms and possible hail in several parts of the territory.
Today,
a cyclone is expected to bring more rains with constant
winds to the coast of Rio Grande do Sul.
I think Claire will have something to add to that as well.
Um
According to government data,
the state hosts more than 21,000 Venezuelans who have been relocated
from Roa
state on the border with Venezuela since April 2018.
Meanwhile in Afghanistan,
flash floods and heavy rains which began on the 10th of May,
have caused extensive damage and loss of life in the north, north,
east and west of the country.
Thousands of homes and hectares of farmland have been damaged or destroyed
and more than 300 people killed.
UN AC R has been responding with other agencies,
assessing needs and distributing emergency tents,
non food items and clothing kits
with partners.
UN AC R is also monitoring protection concerns,
including reported cases of family separation,
and is delivering psychological support.
UN AC R trained community outreach volunteers
have disseminated information about available services.
Fresh flooding is still being reported and large
areas remain cut off due to damaged roads,
bridges and culverts.
The situation across East Africa also remains of great concern
in Kenya. More heavy rains this week have flooded parts of the Kakuma
refugee camp, affecting shelters and public facilities,
including health clinics and schools.
UN, AC,
R and partners are distributing relief items as well as helping
to evacuate the most affected to safe areas and rehabilitating damaged shelters
in Burundi. UN
continues to work together with the government and partners to
assist the most affected through relocations to temporary sites,
providing clean water,
cash assistance for urgent needs and
distributing school learning materials for Children
in south Sudan, Sudan and Somalia.
More rains are expected and rivers will continue to overflow in the coming weeks.
Large numbers of refugees and displaced people are
hosted in sites that could be severely impacted.
Our teams are working with partners on preparedness.
However,
the funding shortfall is hindering
significant investment in mitigation measures.
Climate change disproportionately affects refugees and
other people in need of international protection
who are already living in vulnerable areas prone to
the effects of extreme and recurrent climate events.
Thank you.
Thank you very much indeed. Claire.
You want to tell us more on the weather situation?
Yes, I can indeed. So
morning, everybody, literally.
In Brazil, it doesn't rain. It's pouring.
The Brazilian National Meteorological Service
on its website is posting constant updates.
The most recent update warned of a new instability event
which started this week, and it is strengthening
yesterday and especially today
you've got a
and it's being made worse.
So you've got a cold front passing with a strong mass of cold air of polar origin.
This is slamming into a warm and humid mass of air from the north,
and this will intensify the rainfall.
Added to that, you've got an extratropical cyclone
which is developing in the ocean
at the height of the coast of Rio Grande do
Sol, and this will obviously make the situation even worse.
We're talking about huge amounts of rainfall on what has always already been very,
very heavy rainfall.
So
in Rio Grande Do
and Santa Catarina today, rain totals of
up to 100 millimetres per day
and
very, very high totals per hour. So that will
exacerbate the already terrible, terrible situation.
And to add insult to injury,
we'll get the cold front moving in today and that is going to lead to a pretty
rapid temperature drop.
So that will worsen the hardship and the misery that all these displaced people are
suffering.
If I could just go on to East Africa,
there's a new study out released this morning from the World Weather ATTRIBUTION
Group.
It's not it's not W,
but it does bring together many scientists who are
affiliated with the WMO community
and that looked at the role of climate
change and rapid urbanisation in the destructive floods.
And
just to I won't read out the full press release, but just to give you a couple of
headline takeaways.
The extreme rainfall that led to destructive floods in Kenya,
Tanzania and other parts of East Africa
is becoming more intense with climate change. As one of the drivers,
the study highlights that East African cities
face a double pressure from rapid urbanisation rates
and changing climate risks,
with climate models projecting that heavy rainfall will
continue to increase in the region with further warming
so I can
send you the link to that study. I can recommend it
as reading. And the conclusions of this study on rapid rainfall
don't just apply to East Africa. They do apply to other parts of the world. Thanks.
Thank you very much to both of
these starts. From the room.
Any question to any of the agencies or
two questions now. So I'll go to Jamel.
Yes. Uh, can you hear me?
We can
Yeah. Thank you. Uh, two questions. First to William, uh,
from the 3.2 million that you have requested. How much have you gotten?
And from whom?
Uh, second question also to you, William.
Um, uh, How many people are being, uh, hosted in these, Uh um
um
sorry. What do you call them? Uh, tents or or
houses that you brought them to to, uh, Puerto
Alegre. How many people are there?
And what is the percentage of refugees or local people?
Um, and to clear, um,
the, uh, the governor of, uh, hi. The
Su uh said that, Yes, they get these alerts,
but the agenda of governments are different.
Uh, and that's why basically nothing was done for so many years.
Um, is this a pattern of, uh, of
of, uh,
behaviour that you see around the world.
Uh, because it's not lack of information, obviously. But what would you say
to governments that claim that, Yes, we get this these kinds of information, but,
uh, our agenda is different.
I was turning to the left, but I turned to the right clap.
OK, thank you. That's a very, very, very good question.
So the World Meteorological Organisation Celeste Saulo,
who took office the start of this year
that is one of her
main priorities, is really to
increase the standing of national meteorological
and hydrological services within governments.
You know, we have made huge scientific advances. Our science is there.
We know what's happening with temperature increase with climate change.
We need to be listened and taken seriously
and certainly what happens within within many countries.
And I'm not saying that Brazil
is the case. But
in many countries,
national meteorological services don't have much
standing within within the government,
they
sometimes they're embedded in the Transport Ministry.
And so obviously the need to
build roads improve infrastructure takes priority over
the meteorological services. So the strong message from
W
is it really
pays dividends to invest in national meteorological hydrological services.
For every dollar of investment, you get much, much bigger returns.
And that same principle applies for
early warning services. If we
invest more in forecasts in early warnings,
you get disproportionate benefits in terms of in
terms of reductions in terms of saving lives,
et cetera.
But it's only part of the equation. It's.
And
as this study in
East Africa highlighted, it's not
just the weather, it's not just climate change. There's a whole
a whole range of other issues as well, including rapid urbanisation,
the loss of ecosystems, destruction of the environment,
which is it's combining to the perfect storm.
Thank you.
Now, William,
that gave me a bit of time to find the information.
So, Jem,
I think your first question was about donations,
and so far we have received over $400,000 in response to the floods in Brazil,
the top countries where these are individual donations,
not state donations.
But these individuals are mostly within Brazil, about 60 per cent of them
and followed by individuals in the Netherlands and in the USA.
We have also received donations from private companies in Brazil,
Sweden and the USA,
who have made both financial and in kind donations.
And, uh, uh, we are also receiving support from our partner, Latam Airlines, uh, to,
uh, transport,
uh, items from our warehouses in various countries in Latin America,
um, to, um
to to where they are needed
now in terms of, uh, the, uh, refugees that have been affected.
there are 43,000 refugees that have been affected.
The main nationalities, as I said, are Venezuelans, Haitians and Cubans.
I've got the actual number of people who have been of those nationalities,
which are, uh, 29,000 Venezuelans, 12,000 are Haitians,
and around 1400 are Cubans.
We don't have the number of people who are in shelters of different nationalities.
These are all the kind of overall figures
that have been provided by the authorities based on
the number of people who have been registered
and records of people by nationality and status.
But we don't know how many of them are in each individual shelter.
I think that was one of your questions.
I believe so. Um, yeah, I
don't see other hands up,
on the platform.
OK, so thank you very much, William, for this update. Claire.
Yes.
Hurricanes,
high ocean heat content and the anticipated development of a La Nina event
are expected to fuel a very, very, very active hurricane season this year.
The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration yesterday issued
its predictions for the coming season.
It forecasts a range of 17 to 25 named storms. The average is 14
of these, 8 to 13. Our forecasts become hurricanes, the average is seven
and this includes 4 to 7 major hurricanes. The average is three.
So you can see from the
statistics very above normal. Activity is expected.
There have now been eight consecutive years of above average hurricane activity.
The last below normal season was in 2015,
it only
as we know from the past.
It only takes one landfall hurricane to set
back years and years and years of socio economic
development. Just to give you an example.
Hurricane Maria, which hit in 2017, which was a very active year in the Caribbean
that cost Dominica 800 per cent of its gross domestic product
Early warnings
have helped save lives. They've really cut the death toll dramatically.
But even so, the small island developing states in the Caribbean
suffer disproportionately, both in terms of economic losses and losses to life
in the Caribbean next week. And I don't know if you're talking about that.
There is the big Small Island International
Conference on Small Island developing states,
and there will be a WMO delegation at
this conference basically pleading the need for
better early warnings for more targeted investments,
more co ordinated action
and this forecast from Noah just bears out the need.
Why we really do need to be vigilant.
So
what's causing it?
As I said, near record Ocean Heat, the anticipated development of La Nina
and W
will be issuing its update on La Nina, hopefully next week or the following week.
So this is creating conditions for the perfect storm.
But obviously as we've seen, sea level rise worse and worsened by storm surge
increases the potential risk for coastal communities.
And in recent years we've seen a
trend towards more rapid intensification
of tropical cyclones and this is really a major major channel challenge
when it occurs near land, as we saw last year with Hurricane Otis, which literally
blew up overnight and just smashed into Acapulco
and caused a huge amount of damage.
We've posted a news item on the web. We've sent you the briefing, the briefing notes.
If you've got any questions, please let me know.
Absolutely. Any question to Claire?
Don't see any hand up.
I don't
so thank you very much. That was really clear
and important.
I I've lost track of all the people who wanted to ask questions.
Uh, Christian, I think we started with Robin, but there were other hands up.
So maybe Robin, you wanna ask your question,
maybe. Sorry, Robin.
Just one thing, because I think there are quite a few questions I just wanted to tell
you because it's getting late and I think you want to plan this.
It's about the
a new treaty on intellectual property,
genetic resources and associated traditional
knowledge that was adopted last night
at
and it's a groundbreaking new treaty related to these issues,
which is marking an historic breakdown, a couple of decades of negotiations,
and the news is that they are giving a press conference today at 115
at
in person. If possible,
there would be also a possibility to follow from a distance. But
you are really encouraged to go there because
you will have the director general of,
but also Ambassador,
Patriot of Brazil, Patriota
of Brazil, who has been the president of the diplomatic conference.
They will be there to answer
questions, and you can also have interview opportunities. I think
has just sent you the information.
But I just wanted to stress it at the briefing so that you can do your planning.
And that's again. As I said today at 115
and I'm sorry for that Christian, I cut you and Robin.
I'll give the floor to Robin now for questions. I think
had a question, too. I don't know.
Let's start with Robin.
Yes, thank you. So, Christian.
Firstly, if you can give us an update on the state of the pandemic agreement talks
where they've
got to
and are they expected to reach a successful conclusion today?
You're asking
Yeah. Yeah. You're asking me the crystal ball again.
Um, but Robin, not well understood,
and then let me just run through a few updates because
I assume many questions now are on several topics here.
And I'll try to cover a few, and then we'll see what's remaining. So
I and B discussions are ongoing.
Um, that's important.
The schedule for today is until I think nine o'clock in the evening.
But as you know from, uh, previous experiences that's not written in stone.
Um, but that's the deadline which
they had for themselves for today. Again,
any the member states are are running this.
Hence they can change as they see fit and as they need
important, the mandate of the IMB
is to present the outcome or an outcome
for consideration at the World Health Assembly.
And any consideration, um,
at the World Health Assembly would then result in advice or action
for next steps.
And at this point, it's impossible to prejudge what
a either the outcome of the IMB will be or what?
Then, of course, in a in a follow up, the WH A will decide.
That's that's, um,
what's what's going on for today?
Well, let's keep it at that.
And then we'll see for further questions,
because I have further updates and also on on the Sunday events on the
opening of the Assembly on Walk to Talk events on the investment ground on
on Sunday, But let's first see if there's anything on INB.
John, I know Robin has a follow up. Sorry.
Sorry.
I was I was gonna ask on the on the World Health Assembly, actually, um, if you could,
uh,
if you could, uh, just sort of walk us through the overall schedule and, uh,
perhaps give us some some pointers on the key things to watch for.
Thank you.
Maybe in this case, let me ask John if this is a question in the treaty discussion
negotiations. John?
Yes, it is on the treaty negotiations.
You can go ahead. Can I go ahead?
Yes. Uh, Christian,
uh, I was wondering if, uh,
WHO are gonna update on their website the current draught text of the, uh, uh
agreement.
Because what you have on your website is a few months old to what's being circulated
and shared, uh, publicly with stakeholders.
It's very confusing when stakeholders are posting stuff.
It's not shared with the press corps here.
All right, so So let me take you one by one.
on the last one. I mean, as this is the document under
review and under works right now, so I don't think they will update every day.
Um, it's not good. Of course, if the the last one is still up there, which is so old. Um,
but,
I mean,
we should expect whenever these negotiations are over to
have a bit more final version of it.
Um, but thanks for flagging it.
We'll see with the colleagues if there's anything we can do to at least note that and
make it clear that it's an old version.
before you go into the assembly, I think Maya
has raised her hand. Maya, is that on the treaty?
Um, yes, actually.
And also,
if Christian could tell me if there will be any special
event related to the traditional knowledge medicine that they had the,
uh,
summit last year will be there a special event or something you'd like to highlight.
Uh, and if you could send us in written oh, and then related to nutrition
because I know your head of the division is leaving.
So if someone has been appointed and if there is someone I could interview,
if you can send me that via
email,
thank you very much
on
the on
the
as well, Of course. Thank you
OK?
And
sorry. Go ahead.
Go ahead.
On the first two questions, you had my I'll ask you to please, uh,
write to to media inquiries because that's very specialised,
which I don't have any answers for you right now
on the IMB.
Whatever there is happening tonight or whatever the outcome,
we will definitely send out a press communique in some shape or form
if there is still time at the end of the day.
And it ends in a way that we, uh that it merits, and then we would do more. But
look out for a press release. That's I think, as much as we can
do today.
If you look at the previous experiences you saw
that this goes way into the nights and,
uh,
it would be difficult to organise anything
else without any any warning beforehand.
And the
good
thing.
I'm sorry.
No, I just wanted to add that the good thing is, uh,
following the request of some of the journalists
we have asked security at the Palais
to authorise the journalist to stay as long as needed
at the Palais for the end of the negotiations.
So you will have access.
Of course, you will have access to your offices during the day, but
you will be able to stay in
at the Palais.
Security is informed as long as needed to cover the conclusion of the treaty,
which I understand.
Yes. Could go quite late into the night. And, you know, we normally
close at 7. 30 with an exit for the journalists at 8. 45 tonight. You can stay.
Christian. Sorry I got you.
Yeah, thank you. That's that's important. Of course. Um, so, yeah,
Then we go into World Health Assembly.
Now, first of all, let's let's start with Sunday on Sunday. As you know,
uh, we start the day with the big Walk the talk event.
And it's really a big event which starts even before eight o'clock, um,
at the
plus, uh plus
de
National,
with the main event kicking off at at nine o'clock.
But all the pre events there already and it's
really for those of you who have ever attended,
it's a really bring your family and friends event with many, many, uh,
celebrities and important groups being there from
a global scrub choir, which is really interesting.
So some quite some sports celebrities.
Kenyan running legend Paul TGA
Uh, the dual Olympic champion, Dera
Tulu.
Um, the, um,
dance and Development advocate uh, Sheri Silva
will will lead the crowd. Then there's another, uh, dance sensation.
Um, we'll have, um
uh, participants from Geneva. Seve
will have, um, basketball stars, football legends
and and other people joining us here on on the floor at the, uh,
the the
drop bar, for example,
And others joining for the for the walk to talk so really important.
That's in the morning. Then they have a bit of a break.
And then the afternoon at,
uh from five o'clock on starts the launch of WH OS
investment round at the announcement of the winners of the 5th,
5th Film Festival.
And that's that's an important event. Uh, the event will be opened
by
WJ
the General, of course. But Dr Ta
and it's, uh,
it's an informal celebratory event prior to the
formal opening of the World Health Assembly.
So that's important.
The formal opening of the World Health Assembly is on Monday morning at the
Pale.
Nothing changed that, but that Saturday Sunday is a really a big event.
It will be opened again, As I said
and attended by high level representatives from
member states with heads of states.
We have ministers,
live performances Um uh, from the Egyptian opera singer Fara
Danni,
um, and other statements. And it is important
this this investment round is a is a new
approach to mobilising resources for WH OS core work for the next four years.
So it's a four week year plan from 2025 to 2028
working with existing donors and other partners. This
investment round
aims to attract new donors. Hence, this is a very important event,
Uh, from 5 to 630
then inside that same event during that time, um,
there will be the announcement of the winners of the Health
All Film Festival. This film festival now goes into its its fifth round already,
and the the grand prize winners, the Grand Cleveland,
will be announced by various actors and,
uh, and, uh, uh, distinguished members.
The winners of the four special film prizes
on the themes of universal health coverage,
emergencies, refugees and migrant health,
better health and physical activity and short films will be announced
and interesting to note more than 900 filmmakers from over 100
or from 100 and 10 countries have submitted short films.
So this has really,
um, developed into,
um, and quite a quite an event. And quite an interesting thing.
Not important for you. For those who want to come.
All those who have, um, excess badges,
the the the accredited Uno
accredited badges do not need an extra badge,
but
because of limited space at the event, Um, because that will be held at WHO.
Um, we would require you any way to register indic
O. And I think
fella is about to send out
the advisory for exactly that with the link for the
Inco. I know it's an extra pain.
And, uh, normally your your ID pass should be enough. But it's a space question.
Hence, please register
so that we get an overview.
then let me go into Monday's openings. So that was Sunday at WHO. Monday
at the Palais, and we'll start
at nine o'clock in the morning with the
official opening of the 77th World Health Assembly
at 9. 40. The high level welcome
with welcoming remarks, as usual, of course. Uh, by by the Swiss confederation.
Um, then we have a round of special guests of honour, um, and high level guests,
including SG.
Antonio Guterres.
not in person as I know, but still other members of this high level guests and the the
the the VIP SI cannot tell you yet.