Welcome to the press briefing of the Information Service here in Geneva.
Today is Tuesday, 18th of June.
We have a few points on the agenda and the first one is with UNHCR.
I have the great pleasure to welcome Dominic Hyde.
You know Dominic very well.
Dominic is the Director of External Relation of UNHCR.
And at my right we have Mrs String 2, who's the Managing Direct Managing Director of Ipsos ahead of World Refugee Day, Thursday on 20th of June.
As we all know, UNHCR and Ipsos have joined forces to conduct a survey on global attitudes towards refugees and to present and reflect on these results.
We have today our two speakers here.
You should have received this morning the press release and the report under embargo.
The embargo will be lifted at noon.
If you haven't, we have here all the team of the UNHCR.
And of course, you can let them know and they'll send them to you.
They'll send it to you straight away.
So I give the floor first to trim for the introductory remarks.
OK, good morning everyone.
I am from Ipsos and I'm really pleased to be here today to tell you about the survey that we have partnered with UNHCR this year.
So Ipsos has been doing a global attitude survey on refugees for World Refugees Day since 2017.
We normally do it in about 30 countries covering about 20,000 public citizens, but this year we've partnered with UNHCR to expand the survey.
So it is our largest survey to date covering 52 countries, 33,000 citizens and it's a representative survey of the public attitudes in these countries.
We've done it at the country level to allow us to have a look at the results because the differences by countries are quite significant.
So we have between 500 and 1000 interviews in each country.
The survey is conducted online.
So what that means is in a majority of the global N countries, the survey is representative of the population.
Obviously, the Internet penetration varies around the world.
So in some of the global S countries, the results are representative of the connected population, even though we still think that that is really, really important to be able to understand the best evidence that we have in a number of these countries.
So thank you so much, Trin.
I might be slightly, slightly longer, but first of all, we're really pleased with the UNHCR Ipsos study, which has shown a significant support for refugees and their ability to seek safety and their essential rights.
It's not all, it's not just a rosy picture, it's also a complex 1 and with growing scepticism as well as some concerns and I'm going to walk you to that.
But let me start with some positive.
So the survey that UNHCR and Ipsos did together reminds us that there is an enduring stream of support globally for the right to seek safety.
And it's, I, I guess I would say it's reassuring to see through data that there is understanding and compassion for refugees.
It's alive, it's kicking.
And especially when it comes to the right to seek asylum, which in unfortunately, is under so much ****** globally.
And as we have reached, as many of you know, a historic number of people forced to flee, over 120 million people who've been forced to flee since with our data from May 2024, as Trin explained, we did the survey in 52 countries.
The vast majority agree in principle with the fact that those that are fleeing war, that are feeling conflict, that are fleeing persecution, that they be able to seek safety from those different threats.
We, we know, and many of you here in the audience know that refugees are and have become a pawn in political games and often compliant media and social media play a role as well.
We hear about the walls, we hear about closed borders, pushbacks, externalisation.
But let's remember that most people are actually quite reasonable and practical and know that under other circumstances it could be them that would be asked to flee.
And so they understand that this need to actually open the borders and and open their arms in solidarity for refugees.
Look at whether it's volunteers, look at NGOs or people that are giving their time and place to support to support refugees.
There are people in Scotland who are coming out on the streets to block deportations.
Or the workers at Terre Desil in France, or the tireless staff at BRAC, Bangladeshi NGO, who are working day and night.
Or also workers that I met in Mexico who work on the relocation projects in an organisation called Aqua Agua Escalientes, where refugees are given a start, are given training opportunities.
This simply doesn't happen in a vacuum.
So I think these positives that are coming out of this survey really show that there is an understanding that refugees have the right to integrate.
And this is seen also throughout the survey when it comes to the right, at least half of the survey surveyed people thought that refugees should be given access and full access to education.
Many support the full access to healthcare, to job opportunities.
And the vast majority show support for policies that allow the reunification of family of families in the country of asylum.
Countries with a long standing tradition of hosting refugees and generous refugee policies such as Uganda and Kenya generally showed higher degrees of optimism about fully integrating refugees.
And and they also said in the survey that that had a positive impact on their own society.
Kenya, as you all know has generated a large number of or not, has not generated, has hosted a large number of refugees and asylum seekers over the years, decades.
It's one of the largest refugee hosting countries in Africa with over 6600 thousand refugees and asylum seekers.
And in these countries, everyone has met a refugee as a friend, as a neighbour.
And this proves that when there is daily interaction, this really helps pivot away from ignorance into more kindness and compassion.
And in some cases when I was in Uganda, for example, some of the people that I met there had actually been refugees themselves in South Sudan, had received support from the South Sudanese government as well as from UNHCR at the time.
And so you see with Kenya is really shifting its refugee management and transforming refugee camps into integrated settlements under the multi year Sharif Kapan.
So I think this gives us really encouraging foundations of solidarity and hope as we continue to strive for a world that welcomes refugees, find solutions and protects their rights.
I I'm not naive in saying that the whole survey is rosy.
We have seen support that has declined in major host countries as well as Western countries, and in some cases actually significantly.
We don't have the all the answers to why that is, but we know that the septicism is coupled with concerns about refugees ability to integrate and their overall contributions.
1/3 believe refugees will positively contribute to their country's labour markets, national economy and culture, but another half hold the opposite view.
The survey also showed concerns with the impact of refugees on national security and public services, notably in countries with large refugee populations.
So the stark global variation in sentiment shows we need to do much more when it comes to explaining to the sceptics why refugees should be embraced and not ostracised.
You, as I hope you know, today is the International Day of Countering Hate Speech.
The study comes at a time of increased instrumentalization and politicisation of refugees and people on the move, often depicted as a ******, according to the results of the survey.
Traditional media and social media remain A trusted source of information, so you all play an important role in responsibly shaping and reporting public perceptions to avoid feeding into discourse of fear mongering and misinformation towards refugees.
In recent years, there's been an increasing trend to target refugees on social media, including in dis and misinformation campaigns.
And we have seen these examples, whether it's in Indonesia, in the case of the Syria crisis, in Ukraine war and as well as in Ethiopia most recently.
We want to see urgently more people stand up to change the narrative and counter this misinformation and disinformation.
We want to see increased investment and leadership in addressing public anxieties.
That can be through calling xenophobia and racism, or in many cases just helping refugees directly.
Erosion of public trust and empathy is a huge barrier to creating a safe and welcoming environment for refugees.
World Refugee Day is coming up.
We want to celebrate refugees strengths and achievements.
Peace is sadly in short supply.
Lasting solutions remain a reality for too many, for too few.
It's understandable to feel helpless and overwhelmed, but we can't allow pessimism to over shadow the positives.
We can't afford to lose hope on World Refugee Day.
We must stand with the 43.4 million refugees for a world where there are where they are truly welcomed.
The results from this survey, which will help us inform our longer term campaign Hope Away from Home, tell us that despite this sober backdrop, many people are still taking action to support refugees through donations and awareness through their personal social media and channels.
I think this is heartening and I think we need to hold on to what's heartening these days.
Solidarity and hope is needed in this sometimes very Dark World we're living in.
Almost two people out of five surveyed believe that international aid for countries hosting refugees is insufficient.
This is, I'd say, reassuring to hear, especially for taxpayers, especially as we're seeing humanitarian financing running dangerously short with 75% of refugees living in middle and low income countries.
Stronger financial commitments are needed to support host countries and communities with the right to seek asylum under ****** for so many people around the globe.
We continue to advocate, to defend and on to call on global leaders to stick to their moral imperatives and legal commitments to protect the rights everyone that is forced to flee.
Thank you very much, Dominique, and thank you Trine.
And before giving the floor to the journalists, yes, Dominique has mentioned 2 international benefit.
There are three and one after the other.
I would say they are really important ones.
As Dominique said, today is the International Day for countering his speech.
Tomorrow is the International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict and on the 20s, As Dominique said, we all look at refugees with World Refugee Day.
We have sent you the speeches of the Secretary General both days, the World Refugee Day and the countering it's speech.
I just wanted to remind you that there is a a Hashtag No to Hate campaign, which is launched by the United Nations across media and digital platforms.
And this year's focus is particularly on the power of young people to counter head speech.
They have the first one being impacted by head speech, especially online, as the Secretary General remind us in his speech.
And therefore we also need to support them particularly.
And they can really be the actors of indispensable actors to to end this scourge.
So and, and, and maybe just to remind you also that today is also the five year anniversary of the UN strategy and plan of action on his speech.
We'll hear more about his speech in the next days, I'm pretty sure.
But I wanted to remind you all these informations so that you can take care of, think, take them into consideration in your coverage.
So I'll look at the journalist in the room and I see Chris.
Bob is our chief of Bureau of the French News Agency, Argent's first place, which is an international news agency.
I just want to make sure that we understand we're not just trying to I, I have a hard, hard time reconciling what's in your survey and what I see.
For example, recently with elections in Europe, decisions made by the president of the United States, the general sentiment that there are too many refugees, people putting into place systems and mechanisms to send them back to certain party countries.
So I just wonder where, you know, it's do they just say, oh, we love refugees are great and then they vote in another direction or are those is there a geographical explanation that in some countries they are more in favour or but you see what I mean, if you OK.
So the the findings are very, very nuanced.
So we see that across a number of countries.
So there are major variations by countries as well as by regions, but there is.
So the data that Dominique quoted to you today is a global average.
This is an average of all the people who've taken part across the 52 countries.
And the one theme that runs quite strong across the countries is this compassion and the, the, the, the right for refugees to seek safety.
So people across the globe generally feel very, very compassionate and they agree with this.
But underlying all of that, there are tensions as well.
So the, the tensions has always been there.
So our views are much more divided when you look at things like whether refugees will integrate well within the society, whether they will positively contribute to the society, whether they're genuine or not, and whether borders should close or not.
So those tensions have existed since 2017, they've always been there year on year.
But the overriding majority is the fact that people really want to feel this compassion, but they also have some kind of doubts and some scepticism as well.
And we have seen that change since 2017.
OK, so let's you have a follow up, Chris.
Jamil Shamil, can you introduce yourself, please?
Yes, I'm Jamil Chadem and journalist from Brazil.
I'm not sure if it is a problem with the e-mail that I received or with my computer with or with my ability technologically.
But when I click the, the report is not there.
So it could be a problem that I face, but I haven't seen the report itself.
So bear with me because my question is not only based on the release.
My question first, you do not, you do not show the data, the national data.
So that is the first question.
The second question, within these 50 something countries, have you done a survey in Brazil and what does it show?
And thirdly, you keep mentioning that you have seen a change comparing, comparing to 2017.
Can you explain in numbers what these changes were?
What was the support in 2000, 2017?
How much is the support today to be a bit more specific?
Maybe Trin can take the substantive part.
I just want to talk about the there's this issue of the link if I can, just on just on the link, Jamil, the link is a chat attached, but it will go live at 12 Geneva time when the embargo is lifted.
So in the oops, I keep forgetting to do this.
So in the in the report, you will find detailed breakdown for every country for every question.
So that will be available.
There will be an overall global average, country average as well as a country breakdown.
In terms of Brazil, Hannah, would you check for me?
I'm not sure whether Brazil was included this year because we do change our countries year on year.
In terms of the trend since 2017, obviously this year we've included 22 more new countries.
So the trend data is only available for the countries that we normally survey year on year, which is still quite substantial, still around about 202829 countries.
So in terms of the trend, you can probably group the trends into 3 periods in terms of the global events.
So in the run up to the COVID-19 pandemic, you see people's compassion increased.
So from about 70% on average globally to about 75%.
And then you but but alongside of that, you also see an increased in fear as well because during COVID, people started to feel more protectionist.
So things like closing borders started to increase.
People felt a little bit vulnerable and they wanted to close borders.
In the event of the Ukraine, which is the second major.
In terms of global events, compassion went right up to about 85% globally.
And the in terms of borders started to come down, people started to become less protectionist.
And some of that is because we came out of COVID.
And also it's all the outpouring of compassion for Ukraine.
And we saw that across a number of countries on a number of questions.
So people started to feel warm.
But don't get me wrong, people were still quite divided on things like whether people will integrate well or not and people's contribution.
But overall, the trend became much more positive after Ukraine.
And then the third period is obviously the global cost of living crisis.
And what we've seen in the last couple of years is that compassion started to decline again.
So we're now at similar levels to during the COVID-19 pandemic, which is still majority positive, but it has declined from its very **** in 2022.
And the, the, the borders feelings, protectionism has started to, to creep up again.
So they're the kind of like the trends divided quite simplistically into 3 periods.
But obviously, there are major differences when you drill down to the country level.
I see your colleague nothing.
I don't know if you want this.
So Tammy, do you have your answer and I see you have a follow up?
First one, you mentioned globally, it went up with the Ukrainians.
You mean globally in Europe or globally or did Ukraine affect for example, the perception of refugees in a country in Asia or in South America?
I, I don't see exactly how this globally could be applied when it was in a real, it was an European phenomena.
That is the first question and 2nd on Brazil since it was included.
So the the global average, so this is the global average increased in the I think it was 202829 countries that we did around that time.
It was mostly the the the countries included in our survey were mostly global N countries, but we did have some global S countries as well.
So obviously the sentiment was a lot more positive in Europe.
But around the world in the 2829 countries we surveyed, views did become more positive even though they weren't geographically as close to Ukraine.
In terms of Brazil, I don't remember off the top of my head in terms of the the exact data for Brazil, 52 countries, quite a lot to get your head round, but that data is completely transparent and included in our report.
So you'll be able to see the exact data for for Brazil for every question that we asked.
Launch Radio France International.
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OK, so let me go to the next question my plans that you in brief.
Thank you very much Alexander for taking my question.
My question is regarding the use of social media to so heavily by UN agencies.
And as you probably have seen the news today, the US Surgeon General is calling for a tobacco style warning label for social media because the mental health problem they are causing causing in teenagers and people in general.
So why is the UN still investing so much in social media strategies and teams instead of investing on press relations and creating press relations teams within the organisations and supporting the news media?
My, Are you sure this is a question for UNHCR and for on this subject?
Because they just mentioned that they are using social media for their speech, for the, the distribution and getting to reach out to teenagers to help them to understand and disseminate stories, good stories about the refugees.
But in fact, social media is, is a, is a burning trash, trash can for the information ecosystem.
So, and I see that the very little is done in terms of working with the news media in general.
And is that not only UNHCR?
So my question, yes, yes, I can, I can, I can try to, I can try to answer as as best as I can.
First of all, I'm maybe I was misunderstood, but we, we aren't actually investing much in social.
It's part of our broader communication alongside media.
But obviously our our big concern, and I guess this is what Alexander was touching upon, is our concerns when it comes to misinformation, disinformation and hate speech and social media obviously being playing a, a key role in this.
And when it comes to protection issues, this is really a call for of real concern for UNHCR and and it is causing and contributing to real harm towards refugees in many places.
So this is where UNHR is incredibly engaged as well.
And I would add, Maya, that I don't see the work that we do on social media, the kind of promotion we do on social media as being much more important than what we do with press.
We work with every means of communication when it comes to promote the UN values of tolerance, solidarity.
The Secretary General in speech for the International Day for Countering his speech.
I don't know if you'll receive it.
He says very clearly that we need to prepare to, to, to create an environment which is free from hate speech in all forms.
And he mentions, and that is why I was saying before that we will talk more about this issue.
The fact that we are preparing at the United Nations the global principle for information integrity, which will be launched very soon and which will guide decision makers around this issue.
So I think we are fully invested in tackling the problem of its speech, misinformation, misinformation whether it's on social media or on the in the tradition and media.
And I see you have your hand up Maya.
Yes, it is a follow up actually.
So how much do you invest in terms of dollar amounts in social media and how much do you invest in press relations teams within the organisation?
Because that would give us a good number, right, A reference number saying, OK, so how much you're investing because you're paying for social media advertising too, it's not just organic.
And then the other problem, problem is that social media, if you go look at the engagement level, which is the most important metric, you have only bots and, and really trolls responding to the posts.
There is not even real engagement with real people on the social media relationships you are creating, pretending to have on social.
I think, I think I got your point.
Look, I don't, I can't be 100% sure, but to the best of my knowledge, the work we do on social media is we, we, we launch campaigns that are going to go on media, on social media, on any kind of platforms that we have.
We don't particularly invest in advertisements in social media.
We're not a private company.
We don't know about other agencies.
But I think we are all using social media as you should use it.
That is a platform to spread, to promote these values we were discussing before, including a solidarity towards refugees.
I think that's something that we need to consider.
I can ask if we have figures on that, but to the best of my knowledge, they're not that much.
And I would definitely not oppose this to traditional media because the two things are not in opposition.
They're not investing on one media or on the other.
On the contrary, what we're saying is whatever you say on social media, on media, on traditional media, whatever has to respond to principles of information integrity.
And Maya, if it's still on that, maybe we can, we can stop this year and I can look if we have any, any figure to to share with you, unless wants to add something.
No, I, I guess the only thing I would add is, is you need to be able to find a balance.
And social media needs to be used to actually spread antique xenophobia messages.
It needs to be spread to actually show the hope, the solidarity in the case of UNHR for refugees, for internally displaced people.
But obviously we need to also be in, in balancing, strengthening anything that has to do with digital protection for refugees and displaced people, which is what I said before, which is a key priority.
And I know that we often get free credits on social for promotions from the platforms, but I think that's a larger question.
And I'd say that it's it's yeah, I don't have much else to thank you very much.
My I'll give you the floor if it's a question on the survey.
Otherwise, we'll, we'll take the other questions.
No, it's just a final comment that if you look at the engagement rates, right, the responses that after the post, there are only trolls and bots.
There is no real people responding to these social media campaigns.
And when you say they're for free, they're not for free because you're lending the United Nations credibility to these platforms that are made mostly profiting, profiteering from this.
I think we got your point.
Thank you very much for that.
So in the survey we do ask people the how they find out about refugees, what they rely most on.
So obviously the traditional media comes out first, but social media was a very close second.
So I think if we don't use social media, we would miss out quite a big chunk of the population in terms of responsibly influencing and informing people about refugees.
And when it comes to the level of trust, we also ask them about the trust gap, whether you trust the, the information that you, that you received from social media and from traditional media.
So obviously there's more trust in traditional media, but there is a, a, a gap in social media.
So people do understand they can't trust everything that they hear in social media.
But nevertheless, there is a chunk of the population who does rely on social media.
So if we cut that out completely, we would be missing outreach indeed.
And it's especially for young people.
This is particularly important.
That's why we are focusing on young people this year for the commemoration.
Thank you very much for this additional information.
Let me go back to the other question.
I see Jeremy has a follow up from LFE.
So in terms of the the European, the developed European countries, the trend that we have seen since 2017 is compassion still ****, though deteriorated after Ukraine.
Our concerns in the European countries, the developed European countries have have increased in terms of integration.
So there's definitely more concern now as to whether refugees will integrate well in society and contribution as well.
So people are a little bit more sceptical now than in 2017 in terms of the the whether refugees will contribute and whether they will integrate well in the European countries.
Thank you very much, Trina.
Jamila has a follow up and then we'll close.
You have to unmute yourself.
I see your hand up, but we can't hear you.
I don't know what's the problem.
Maybe we'll give Jamil a moment to unmute.
I'm looking at my colleagues in the regime.
Jamil, I don't think it's on our side, but we can't hear you, so maybe you can put your question in the chat and I'll I'll give it to to our colleagues and and Maya, thank you very much.
I see you the note that you've put into the notes, the the the reference to the to the information you were giving in the in the notes.
And maybe, Jamie, this one will come on the charts.
Otherwise, if there are no other question from other journalists, I'll close here.
Yes, please, Dominic, I'm certainly just one last thing, just to remind, you said it at the beginning, Alessandra, but just to remind everybody, on the 20th of June, around the globe, we'll be celebrating or marking a World Refugee Day and there'll be events all over, all over the world, from Afghanistan to planting trees in Kenya to picnics in Poland.
They sound frivolous, but I think that it is a day that we need to mark, to shine a light on the strength and courage that so many refugees are forced to live every day.
And we will tell you more about that.
Thank you very much, Dominique, and thank you very much, Trim, for being with us.
So the embargo will be lifted at noon and so that our reporters can go ahead and publish their stories.
And maybe next time you do another survey, please come and update us.
I see there is a lot of interest from the journalist.
So let's go to our next speaker, Catherine to Trevinia.
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Hello Catherine, thank you very much.
Can you tell me please in English, having my my notes will be in English.
I don't want to take too much time here, but you will have everything in English.
I can forward them to you by e-mail earlier than the the summary of the briefing.
Yeah, maybe to all the journalists that would be useful.
If there are no other questions, let's go to another survey that this time has been conducted by UNDP.
And I'll give the floor to Sarah for that once.
You have to only if you need balances.
Last second edition, the People's Climate Vote, it's actually do do sometimes represent potential realism, potential perception E attitude schematic should be fair and to resume or anglais so on.
On June 20th, this Thursday, UNDP will publish the second iteration of the People's Climate for 2024.
The survey has been conducted with Oxford University and Geopol.
As I mentioned in French, all material is under strict embargo till this Thursday 6:00 AM Geneva time.
So UNDP People's Climate Vote is the world's largest public opinion survey on climate change.
More than 75,000 people speaking 87 different languages across 77 countries were asked 15 question on climate change for the survey and question range from how climate change is is impacting people's day-to-day lives to what citizen would like the world to do about it.
Then we've got both global, regional and national data that are available in the folder.
And the result offer a country by country snapshot of where the world citizens stand on climate change and help us understand how people everywhere are experiencing its impact.
And we've got different spokesperson.
We can walk you through the findings before or on the day of a launch.
Sarah, is there any question to UNDPI?
So thank you very much for for this announcement.
And then we have with with me on the podium, Pascal, as you know, the Human Rights Council has started this morning, it's 56th regular session and we'll hear more from Pascal and press conferences also.
Yes, thank you, Alessandra.
**** Commissioner Volcker Turk presented his global update this morning to the Human Rights Council and as well his as well as his report on Myanmar.
The interactive dialogue on his global update will take place tomorrow afternoon and continue Thursday morning.
And today, around 12:30 PM, the Council will hold an interactive dialogue on the human rights situation in Afghanistan.
It will hear from Deputy **** Commissioner Nadal Nashif as well as from Special Rapporteur Richard Bennett.
And the Council will also hear from the Permanent Representative of Afghanistan to the UN in Geneva, as well as from three human rights defenders from Afghanistan.
In the afternoon, the Council will hear for the first time from the Fact Finding Mission for the Sudan.
As you may recall, the Fact Finding Mission was established last year by the Human Rights Council.
For this first intervention before the Council, the the the Fact Finding Mission will only present an oral update.
The report will be presented at the next session in September.
On Wednesday, we will continue the dialogue with the Fact Finding Mission on Sudan, but we will also hear from the Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including E Jerusalem and Israel.
The Commission of Inquiry will also hold a press conference in this room around 1:30 PM and continue his dialogue in the afternoon.
And on Thursday with the Council will hold 3 dialogues with three different Special Rapporteurs.
The first one is the Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Eritrea, Mr Muhammad Babi Care.
The second dialogue is with Graham Graham Reed, the new Special Rapporteur on sexual orientation and gender identity.
And the third dialogue will be with Paula Gevilia Betancourt, the Special Rapporteur on internally displaced persons.
And just to remind you that on Thursday, the Council's meeting, the morning meeting will start at 9:00 AM.
And this to accommodate presidential discussion, **** level discussion on the human rights implication of climate change, health security and food security.
And this **** level discussion will feature the participation of several head of UN entities and international organisations, including UNAP, WTOWMOUNHCR&OHCHR and IOM.
The question, Any question for the Council, Jeremy?
It confirms the press or how do you order a post de Janeiro partier de Trezorton or I sell the press very clear.
Any other question for the council?
And just on the committee's you will not hear from me announcements on the treaty bodies because there are no treaty body meetings scheduled until the 1st of July when the Human Rights Committee will open it's 141st session.
So no announcement for a while at the briefings on the committees, but we'll hear more from the Council I'm pretty sure.
Wait, John, is that a question for Pascal?
Yes, Alessandro, good morning.
The the list of speakers for the special session that you mentioned on climate change and food security and health security, who will be speaking from the World Health Organisation and the World Food Programme and FAO.
So far, I don't have any confirmed participation from the agencies that you mentioned.
We expect to hear soon from WHO and I will check about WFP and FO and get back to you.
But just to remind you that this is an informal discussion, so this is not officially part of the Council's programme of work.
So the rules of the council does not do not necessarily apply to this meeting.
But we'll try to share as many statements as possible with you.
The question is, are you aware of the state of, you know, freedom of speech in India and attempts to arrest Arundhati Roy, the novelist, for a speech she gave on Kashmir in 2010?
Has the council or Commission board has anything to say about this?
Well, as you know, the the Human Rights Council is a is an intergovernmental bodies and all the views and opinions of the councils are expressed in the decision and the resolutions that it adopts at the end of every of its session.
It's up to any member states to raise the issue or any other issue to the members of the council.
But so far it we, we haven't heard that India is on the agenda of the Human Rights Council.
But I like very much Arundhati Roy and I encourage you to read these books if you like reading.
But what I, I, maybe Ravi, what you want to do is ask the question to Liz or to Ravine and they might have a comment on the situation from the Office of the **** Commissioner.
Is there any other question?
So I think we have concluded here this brief but interesting press briefing.
Oh, Jimmy, sorry, you just raise your hand.
Is double HL in the room?
Not in the room online we have Tariq.
I mean, if he's still there, let me check if he's not gone.
Tariq, if you are the yes, he is.
You can ask this question.
My question is about abortion and the criminalization of women who undergo such a procedure.
In Brazil, the law is being proposed where the person the the the woman who's raped and who later looks for illegal access to abortion.
Because in Brazil, if you're raped, yes, you can have this legal access.
If that person goes ahead with the abortion, she may face a penalty that is including more than the the person who did the crime of **** against her.
So this is a law being proposed.
We have heard others in the UN system about this.
But my question to double HO, what is the position of double HO towards the criminalization of abortion and why is it important to decriminalise?
And I recall that my colleague Liz from Human Rights answer this question, I think last last week from their perspective and the perspective of human rights law, what we can say from WHO and our position was really clear and that's that unsafe proportion is is an important and preventable cause of maternal deaths and morbidity.
It leads to physical and mental health complications, but it also has implications and financial burden for women, but also for communities and and health system as well.
So so lack of access to save timely, affordable and respectful abortion care is a is a critical public health but also human rights issue.
So let me just give you some some figures around 73,000,000 induced abortions take place worldwide each year.
6 out of 10 of all unintended pregnancies and three out of 10 of all pregnancies and in a induced abortion.
And if this abortion is not done using a metro that is recommended by WHO in a healthcare setting, then then then there could be different complications, infections, MRG damages to the, to the vaginal tract.
So, so all these things make that that we advocate for safe abortion everywhere using methods recommended by by WHO.
Thank you very much, Tarek.
The criminalization of, of abortion is a health issue or is it obviously you're talking about from that perspective, but what is the implication of criminalising it?
What, what could be the, the consequences?
Well, again, colleagues from human rights may talk more about human rights law and, and what, what exact laws should be in place.
But it's clearly that, that, that there shouldn't be a legal, legal obstacles to have access to safe abortion, because safe abortion leads to complications.
It leads to increased costs in leads to that's basically of of of of of younger, young mothers.
As I said, infections, haemorrhagy, perforation, damage to genital tract and other complications.
So So what we need from the medical point of view, make sure that the whole system is supporting access to save abortion for everyone using using the approved methods.
So we basically try to save lives.
Thank you very much, Tariq.
Any other question to WHOI don't see any.
So I'll go back to say thank you to everyone and to conclude this press briefing.
I'll see you on Friday and thanks to everyone for participating and good luck with the Council.
