Welcome to the press briefing of the UN in Geneva.
Today is Tuesday, 24th of September.
We have quite a heavy list of briefers connected to what's happening in the Middle East.
So I've asked the colleagues who are on the podium with me to give you their announcements.
And then we go into the topics.
I start with Ed, who has to leave.
Sorry about that morning, everyone.
Before you jump into your very long and sombre agenda, just a few more words on the launch, the Global Innovation Index.
The embargo will be dropping at 9:30 on Thursday.
We have a press briefing tomorrow.
I'll be sending around all of the materials this afternoon.
You know about the GII, It ranks 130 countries around the world and the state of innovation, but also gives a lot more information on the state of innovation, which helps stimulate human ingenuity.
So expect the press material later this afternoon.
Embargoes for 9:30 on Thursday morning.
That was really perfectly fast and clear.
Do you have any question for Weibo?
I don't see any on the room.
Maya, you have the floor.
Thank you, Alessandra for taking my question.
Harris, my question is related to the methodology.
If you can actually give us more information about the methodology.
And you said 30 countries only are examined.
The methodology is quite interesting.
It measures a mix of innovation inputs, which can be venture capital activity, research and development, as well as outputs, which is, you know, IP filings and others.
There are 78 indicators and it's brought into five different columns that kind of create this matrix through which you can understand the level of innovation in 130 economies around the world.
But I ask you, Maya, please join tomorrow and hear from our experts.
And that was the only question for you.
If you need to leave, please, Adriana, I'll go to you.
I am not sure everybody knows you.
So Adriana is the director of the UN Women Liaison Office in Geneva.
And head of human rights and development representing UN women's work in the Human Rights Council.
We're very proud today to welcome indigenous women human rights defenders from Guatemala who have worked for 30 years to achieve justice from sexual related gender based violence in the armed conflict.
Over 25 years they have struggled to get the only sentence existing in the world for sexual violence.
With 18 measures of reparations for this delegation.
They are coming the indigenous women themselves who speak their Mayan languages with a **** level delegation from government.
There will be two **** level events tomorrow, Wednesday at 2:00 PM in Room 22 of the Palais.
We will hear their testimonies as it is our goal as UN Women to bring the voices of women and girls and to institutionalised the lessons learned of victim and survivors approaches to justice.
Her Excellency Ambassador Michelle Taylor of the US Mission will be the moderator for this event, along with the participation of Spain, Sierra Leone, the Special Rapporteur on Indigenous Peoples, and the SIDO Committee.
Also on Thursday, we will have an exhibition in the Palais of Pictures of their trajectory in the search for truth, justice and reparation.
Adriana, any question to you and women in the room?
Gabriella has one for you on the platform.
Yes, thank you very much.
And I'm happy that Adriana is here because she, she should come more often.
My question is if we, is it possible to, to interview these women, indigenous women that are coming, Are they going to be available?
Yes, we will have them here until Friday morning.
So we will welcome any opportunity to, to disseminate their voices and all that they have to contribute to justice, reconciliation and peace.
Thank you very much, Adriana.
And as Gabriela says, come more often.
Thomas, you also have an announcement by the meeting of the mayors.
Next week, city leaders from across the globe will come together for the 4th Forum of Mayors here at the Pelly.
This will take place in Room 17 from the 30th of September to the 1st of October, with over 45 mayors and deputy mayors attending the forum from all world regions, Europe and North America, from New Orleans to London, Vienna, Italian, Sofia and Mikolaev in Ukraine, to also mayors from other regions including Buenos Aires, Dhaka, Freetown, Lusaka, Rabat and and several others from the Middle East, from Latin America and from Asia.
Mayors will be discussing the implications for local governments of the Pact for the Future, which was agreed upon at the Summit of the Future over the weekend, as I'm sure you know.
And at the Forum Cities will draught an outcome statement on the future of cities, aiming to strengthen the engagement of local governments in the work of the United Nations and UN intergovernmental bodies and processes.
And the Forum of Mayors, we remind you, is an example of that division in practise.
It's a pioneering initiative in the UN and there's certainly a lot of interest from the cities in being involved in this and shaping, shaping the dialogue and and discourse and intergovernmental work.
We will share with you a full list of participating cities shortly, so please look out for that.
We will facilitate contact with cities as as desired following the forum.
Just a quick note that there'll be a full day meeting on housing affordability, the housing affordability crisis affecting Europe and North America.
This will be informed by a report that we'll be releasing on housing stress which is experienced by many households in the region with with many exceeding 40, with many facing housing costs exceeding 45% of their income, which is much greater than the 30% rule which is advised.
Just to remind you there that the right to adequate housing is a human right to recognise an international human rights law as part of the right to an adequate standard of living.
We'll share that report with you under embargo and of course, stand ready to facilitate contact.
Thank you very much, Thomas.
Any question to you NECE in the room or on the platform?
And I turn to another Thomas, Thomas Fitzsimmons from IPU.
Thank you very much, Alessandra.
Another Thomas, another conference to announce, this time for parliamentarians, that the 149th IPU Assembly will take place from 13 to 17 October in a few weeks time at the International Conference Centre Huda Vaambe.
Just down the road, we're expecting hundreds of parliamentarians and experts from some 150 countries.
The overall theme is harnessing science, technology and innovation for a more peaceful and sustainable future.
So on the back of the the report, which is, which was announced by my colleague from WIPO, there will be a particular focus on artificial intelligence, how to regulate, how to legislate to mitigate the risks of AI while at the same time reaping the benefits.
You should have received a media advisory in 4 languages this morning with more details.
You're most welcome to come to the assembly, which is open to all UN accredited media and journalists with AUN badge.
It's a good opportunity, of course, to meet some of the leading parliamentarians and politicians, including from countries at war or in conflict situations and the many countries who are in the news today.
We have delegations already registered from Russia, the Russian Federation, from Palestine, and we're also expecting delegations from Ukraine, Israel, Lebanon and many other countries around from around the world.
We'll also have both the speakers of Parliament from Armenia and from Azerbaijan, who will also meet for the third time under the good offices of the IPU as part of the overall peace and reconciliation efforts in the region.
Thank you, Thomas, thank you very much.
Questions to IPU in the room on the platform there is Yuri who wants to ask you a question.
Just to be clear, do you know which day the the head of the Parliament of Azerbaijan and Armenia will meet?
Thanks that, that definitely they will definitely be here on the 18th of October, which is just the day after the the assembly.
But I, we expect them to arrive a few days before, but I can get back to you with the specific dates.
And maybe for everybody's information.
So thanks to our colleagues for this brief briefings.
And now let's go indeed to our main subject of today.
Just for housekeeping reasons, Please remember that at the end of Lebanon, we also have a guest from Nairobi who speak, who will speak to you about Sudan and the food situation.
She comes from the World Food Programme, Lenny Kinsley.
But let me go now into what's happening at the moment in Lebanon.
Yesterday evening, you probably have received the statement of the spokesperson for the Secretary General, who stated that the Secretary General is gravely alarmed by the escalating situation along the Blue Line and the large number of civilian casualties, including children and women, being reported by the Lebanese authorities, as well as thousands of displaced persons amidst the most intense Israeli bombing campaign since last October.
The Secretary General is also gravely alarmed by the continued strikes by Hizbollah into Israel.
He expresses grave concern for the safety of civilians on both sides of the Blue Line, including UN personnel, and strongly condemns the loss of lives.
The Secretary General notes the ongoing efforts by UNSKULL and UNIFIL to reduce tensions and reiterates the urgent need for an immediate de escalation and that all efforts be devoted to a diplomatic solution.
The Secretary General reiterates his call for all parties to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure and ensure they are not put in harm's way.
He also reminds all actors of their responsibility to ensure the safety and security of all UN personnel and assets.
The Secretary General urges the parties to recommit the full implementation of Security Council Resolution 17, O1 2006 and immediately returned to a cessation of hostilities to restore stability.
And on this, yes, indeed, very, very grave dire situation.
We'll hear now from Ravina for the Office of the Human Rights **** Commissioner, and then we will have online AT Higgins the UNICEF deputy representative in Lebanon to understand better what is the impact of the situation on children.
We'll have also Doctor Abdi Nasir Abubakar, who is the WTO representative in Lebanon, who will connect from Beirut.
And Margaret should be in the room, although I don't see her, maybe she's connected.
And then we will hear from Matthew so much on the situation of the refugees in Lebanon.
We are extremely alarmed by the sharp escalation of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah and call on all parties to immediately seize the violence and to ensure the protection of civilians.
Yesterday marked the deadliest day of violence in years, with reports of at least 492 killed and 1645 injured following a series of Israeli airstrikes across Lebanon.
Lebanon's health ministry said that 35 children and 58 women were among those killed, as well as a number of medical workers.
On a personal note, one of our UN human rights colleagues in Beirut lost seven of her family members yesterday, including two children aged 8 and one, in an Israeli air strike in South Lebanon.
Roads in southern Lebanon are crammed with people in cars fleeing the violence.
This latest violence follows last week's deadly pager and two way radio attacks in Lebanon and Syria and the firing of hundreds of rockets by Hezbollah into Israel from Lebanon.
International humanitarian law is very clear.
All parties to an armed conflict must at all times distinguish between the civilian population and combatants, and between civilian objects and military objectives.
Constant care must be taken to spare the civilian population and civilian objects.
The laws of war also oblige all parties to observe the principle of proportionality.
Incidents in which any civilians, including children and medical workers, are killed or seriously injured, potentially in violation of international law, must be subject to independent, thorough and transparent investigations into the circumstances of the attacks.
The UN **** Commissioner for Human Rights, Walker Turk, calls on all States and actors with influence in the region and beyond to avert further escalation and to do everything they can to ensure full respect for international law.
And now I give the floor to Etti Higgins, UNICEF deputy representative in Lebanon.
Welcome to the press briefing in Geneva.
And and it's a very, very difficult morning here in Beirut indeed.
As my colleague has just mentioned, we're seeing tragically the, the first hand and as my team are currently on the ground, the UNICEF team are currently on the ground, uh, supporting, uh, children who have been displaced and injured.
Umm I would like to really draw the highlights of the terrible and dangerous escalation that the situation has had and the adverse effects on, on children's physical and overall mental well-being.
So as we have heard yesterday, at least 35 children have been killed reportedly, but this is more than the number of children killed in Lebanon in the past 11 months, which was 22.
In addition, we still have more children who are missing under the rubble and this is 11 months in one day.
35 children killed in one day among close to 500 killed, 492 as reported by the Ministry of Health.
We also have unfortunately, almost 1700 people who were injured yesterday, including children and women.
That's again according to the Ministry of, of Public Health.
And countless more children are in danger as I speak today.
They're exposed to ongoing attacks.
They're displaced from their homes, in some cases multiple times, and they're unable to rely on an overt, stretched and very much under resourced health system.
If we return to a conflict like those dark days of 2006, we really fear as UNICEF that this time it could be even worse for the children of Lebanon.
Lebanon has recently been devastated by a protracted economic and political crisis and the massive Port of Beirut explosion, the impact of COVID-19, and the fifth year of a crippling economic downturn that has sent poverty rates soaring.
Many families are already at the brink.
And now this conflict is making every one of those factors many magnitudes worse.
So we're warning today that any further escalation in this conflict will be absolutely catastrophic for all children in Lebanon and especially families from towns and villages in the South and Bekaa in eastern Lebanon, where they've been forced to leave their homes.
These newly displaced adds to the 112,000 people who have already been displaced since last October as of this morning.
And the numbers are changing by the minute.
We have 87 new shelters that have been opened.
Many of them are in schools accommodating the increasing number of displaced people in the South, in Beirut, in Mount Lebanon, in Baalbek, Karmelbeka and the northern governors, Umm.
So of course, because many of the shelters are now schools, schools have been closed today across the country, and in fact, the public schools have not yet even had the opportunity to reopen for the new school year due to the conflict.
And this is leaving many children at home or in shelters in total fear.
We're also getting reports that hundreds of children are caught on route across dangerous roads across the country and their caregivers are themselves very afraid of the uncertainty of the situation.
And this fear cannot be overstated as a barrage of shelling and air raids continue and increase daily.
UNICEF has worked to support and protect the children of Lebanon for the last 76 years and we are ramping up our response as we speak.
We're preparing to deliver food, water and essential supplies such as mattresses, blankets, hygiene kits to displaced and shattered families, especially those in collective shelters.
We have already procured and delivered 100 metric tonnes of emergency Medicare supplies to hospitals facing severe shortages and supply stockers and have more Medicare supplies set to arrive by air, hopefully later this week.
UNICEF urgently calls for an immediate de escalation and for all parties to uphold their obligations under international humanitarian law to ensure the protection of civilian infrastructure and civilians, including children, humanitarian workers and medical personnel.
This includes facilitating the safe movement of civilians and especially children seeking safety.
Yesterday was Lebanon's worst day in 18 years.
This violence has to stop immediately or the consequences will be unconscionable.
Thank you very much indeed.
And I like to go now to Doctor Abdi Nasir Abubakar, The Who representative in Lebanon.
And Margaret is indeed with us, but online also ready to answer your questions.
Doctor, you have the floor.
I think he, since the crisis started October 8th, WHO has been working very closely with the Minister of Health to prepare for the Liberty Health System for the management of possible mass casualty event while maintaining the delivery of essential health services.
We have now seen how much this preparedness was needed and how much return that we have received.
I think it's only September 17.
Some of my colleagues have alluded that the Minister of Health have reported approximately 592, you know, deaths including children, but also for healthcare workers and we have a close to 6500 people injured in total, including 16 paramedics in total.
Also, I have to say that 2078 surgeries has been performed only for those who have wounded on the 1718 and the 20th of September.
Currently, we have almost 1000 people that are still receiving treatment in the hospitals across the country and that is overwhelming the health system.
And of course we have thousands of displaced people who are in need of services.
I have to say that the hospitalists have been greatly challenged in managing the number of injuries since last week and with thousands of wounded to bandages and surgery to perform.
Over 90% of the major wounds are in the face and limbs, especially hands and many people had have both eyes and hand injuries.
With the required two different sets of operationists and I have visited one or two hospitals during after the the the patient explosionists and I have seen how the healthcare break.
Healthcare workers are really working around the clock to help and serve for the people who are wounded.
But all I've seen how the hospitalists are managing, you know, this crisis, some of them have overwhelmed and they have separated into that.
But at least the Minister of Health has really played very important role to coordinate and how they are referring.
The patient is from one hospital to another hospital and almost 100 hospitalists were involved with managing those wounded.
Patient is for October, in September 17 and 18.
WHO has been supporting with the health system for main 4 main areas rather 5 One coordination of the national response continue to essential health services through the primary healthcare and secondary healthcare, mass casualty management, disease surveillance and also proposition is essential supplies for the hospital as well as other locations.
WHO continue to support the Minister to establish the and operationalise the Health Emergency Operations Centre which has a primary responsibility to coordinate and support the emergency response.
7th October 8 Last year, WHO has provided over 60 metric terms of essential emergency medical supplies, including surgical supplies, essential medicine, medical consumables, laboratory and blood transmission supplies and personal protection equipment for healthcare workers.
We deliver more over the recent days.
WHO also has delivered the blood bank supplies to the Lebanese Head Cross in the first quarter of this year.
WHO has earlier work with the ministers to conduct mass casualty management training and those trained were providing to more than 5500 in surgical and nursing staff and over 118 hospitals across the countries.
These staff and their skills have proven to be critical in recent days, especially yesterday and also October, September 17 and 18 during The Who also is working with the Minister of Health in updating the GIS data for better coordination and referral services and for better mapping of hospital capacity and occupants during the times of war and necessity.
Mental health and psychosocial support services are also priority and is very critical and WHO has worked with the partners and the Minister of Health to integrate these services into the hospital, make it easier for people to access the mental health and psychosocial care.
Finally, we call, we call the healthcare to to be protected.
And yesterday, several health respondents were killed.
Unfortunately, and this is a strategy upon tragedy, not only for the loss of the their family, friends and colleagues, but also the entire health system and health sector in Lebanon.
WHO stress again that healthcare workers, facilities and supplies and the transport must be protected at all time and always.
And I go now to our colleague of UNHCR, Salmarsh, for an update on the institution of Refugees.
Thank you, Alessandra, and good morning, everyone.
Very much like our colleagues, as you've heard, we are gravely concerned about the serious escalation in the attacks that we saw yesterday.
10s of thousands of people were forced from their homes yesterday and overnight, and the numbers continue to grow.
This is a region that has already been devastated by war and a country that knows suffering all too well.
The toll on civilians is unacceptable and the protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure in Lebanon is paramount.
International humanitarian law must be upheld and into the hostilities is urgently needed and now is the time for the international community to step up it's support for Lebanon and it's people.
UNHCR is working tirelessly to provide urgent assistance and protection to all those affected, whether they are Lebanese or refugees.
Even prior to the latest escalation, over 100,000 people had been displaced from the southern regions of Lebanon and UNHCR had intervened to support them, whether they be Idps or refugees, including with up to 120,000 emergency relief items and cash assistance for around 60,000 people.
That was as of over a month ago.
Also, we've been supporting collective shelters and ensuring safe access to healthcare and psychosocial support.
Now more recently, UNHCR is the lead on what's called the basic assistance sector, and as part of that, we are conducting assessments of potential shelter sites.
That's already begun in Mount Lebanon and in Beirut to look at the ability for people to stay there and the water and sanitation access to those sites.
We're on standby to move into other areas around Beirut and Saida and in the Bekaa Valley.
We've been working with the government to assess different collective shelters in those regions and when we have the green light from them, we're ready to move in core assistance items and also provide cash assistance as is required.
We're also working with the Health Ministry on the procurement of trauma kits and of course we will make available to them the supplies that we have for health and for to support Lebanese and refugees.
In terms of the refugees in the country, I'm sure most people are aware it has for many years been a generous host primarily to Syrian refugees.
The government estimates there is now currently 1.5 million Syrian refugees in the country, as well as 87,000 refugees in the southern area before the latest events.
They now, of course, those refugees face displacement once again.
And that double displacement of course exacerbates their vulnerabilities.
And indeed those vulnerabilities were already very acute, having come through COVID, the economic downturn and the impacts of the Beirut blast.
There has been some movement of refugees into the northern areas.
We don't have exact figures on that as we don't have exact figures on the movement of Lebanese from overnight, but we can update those hopefully later in the day.
Since the start of the crisis back in October 2023, we are aware of 33 Syrian nationals who have been killed by aerial strikes and 113 who have been injured, and like our colleague at UNICEF, we expect those figures will climb in the coming days.
In terms of health coverage for Syrian refugees, we will continue to cover injuries sustained by Syrian refugees and hospitalisation costs.
Overall, we stand ready to further support the people of Lebanon, their government and the refugees that they have so generously hosted for so many years.
Thank you very much, Matt.
And now I will open the photo question before you are asking.
Ravina's notes are in your mailbox, so she's sending the UNICEF ones.
And I count on sorry, oh, Margaret and Matt, if they haven't done so yet to send theirs.
See, for our colleagues in the field, Moussa is the correspondent of Almaydin.
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OK, maybe just for our colleagues, a quick translation for doctor, sorry for Doctor Abubakar, The colleague is asking whether what are the capacity in the Lebanon hospitals?
There have been so many wounded people.
The hospitals, have they got the capacity to manage these flux of wounded people and also in view of the next possible next fighting?
And for Matt Bant, you understand French, right?
I don't need to translate for you.
So you will answer about the people fleeing N Lebanon's people fleeing north and this elderly people that were caught in today in their cars, as I understand.
So I'll give the floor to Doctor Abubakar first.
Well, thank you very much for the question.
I think in Lebanon, you know, of course, the country has been going through a very difficult time for the last few years.
And I think in that crisis, financial crisis, you know, the Beirut plus the, you know, the pandemic and many others have impacted the health system in general.
But I have to say that the, you know Lebanon has 165 hospitals in total and with 8900 in bed capacity and majority of them are the private sector.
But both private and public sector actually have been responding to the currency crisis.
And I think capacity wise they are adequate number of hospitals, they are healthcare workers.
But of course, they're lacking the means to facilitate, you know, the to support the, you know, the patient that's been wounded, for example, the supplies, for example, the operational cost and the fuel for the hospitalists to run.
As you know that in Lebanon energy is the major, major challenge to have.
But WHO as well as other partners, we've been trying to see how we can, you know, prepare for the uneventuality.
And that's why we train the healthcare workers, we enhance the capacity of the hospitals to to manage.
And I think what we have seen in September 17th was unprecedented where all where almost 3000 injured patients were actually, you know admitted to the hospitals and that has overwhelmed almost 100 hospitals across the countries.
So that kind of a major event, it can overwhelm any health system, even developed health system.
In the case of Lebanon, I think we manage to respond for that crisis as well as the one for yesterday.
But I have to say that in order for us to prepare in the future, we really need to do more to capacitate some of those hospitalists where they need staffing, they need emergency supplies, the energy and many other things that they need into that, especially including the blood transmission that we really need to provide the testing as well as the blood bags into that in in summary, the capacity is there, but there is a support to complement so at least they can deal with an eventuality, especially like what happened for the last few days.
Thank you very much, Matt.
I think Moose's question was, was around people who are stuck in transport trying to get out of the South move, move N it's it's difficult to.
And the fact that some people, apparently, especially elderly people, got sick in their cars and cannot get to safety.
And I can't provide really specific details on those cases.
Of course, we work with the Lebanese authorities and we provide access where we can and support to refugees, but we also also support the Lebanese authorities where we can.
We're ready to step up and do that.
We have contingency planning for the country that is now just starting to to roll out.
And we really are in that initial assessment phase where we're supporting the government both in terms of access to health facilities, but also in assessing collective shelters and how we can can bring in support there.
So I think it's quite early days in that regard, but we're ready to do as much as we can to support the government, the Lebanese people and of course, refugees and ensure that refugees have access initially now to health support and other essential items.
Matt, I was wondering if you could elaborate a little bit more on on the contingency plan.
And do you have any exact number on how many have fled?
I know you said 10s of thousands, but do you have, do you have account and for the representative from The Who, what type of injuries?
Sorry, you mentioned that you were seeing injuries to the eyes and face.
Can you just explain why there were so many of, of those types of injuries?
Well, there's a contingency plans.
You know, we've been working with the authorities, with other UN agencies for just this eventuality and you know, the time has come now to to start rolling that out.
It's around the provision of supplies that are in country core relief items, the protection assessments and then protection interventions.
Obviously, the immediate priority is shelter.
It's healthcare, it's going to be water and it's going to be food.
I can give you a little bit more detail later on in the day, Emma, on that.
At the moment, that's what I have.
And in terms of the displacement of people, we just know what we see from the government at this stage, which is that, you know, we're looking at 10s of thousands, but we expect that those figures will start to rise.
And as I said earlier on, there was already significant displacement from the South even before this latest escalation.
So the situation is extremely alarming.
And we are doing what we can to support the government.
Yeah, as I said earlier, you know, the wounds, we are referring to the events that happened on September 17 and 18.
So most of those, you know, injuries were related to the hands and the face and the head actually.
And the reason why being is because of the pictures and the and the handheld devices people were using actually either to look the the number that has dialled or maybe to speak to the to the VHF radio.
And that's why most of the wounds actually are related to the eye and the face.
And I think subsequently most of the people who are still in admission in the hospital, these are people who are still waiting for surgery, but also waiting for amputation and related element in the hospital.
And, and, and, and, and Please note that this is one of the unprecedented incidents because we have never seen so much of injuries related to the hands and face and nerves and requires more specialised doctors actually to handle into that, into that.
And that's why many of them are still in the hospital waiting for this surgery.
Thank you very much, Mohammed, our correspondent from the Turkish News Agency.
Thank you so much, Alessandra.
My question is for Ravina.
Robina, you, you all of the mention Israel has intensified its attack on the South part of Lebanon.
You know these attacks carry the risk of Lebanon turning into NIV Gaza.
How do you evaluate this possibility and can the region which is already the tense handle this action by Israel?
Everything that you've heard from our colleagues about the impact on health care, on children, on people who are already refugees, who are already displaced, having to be re displaced, We're seeing schools turning into shelters.
We're seeing churches turning into shelters.
Have we not learned anything from what has been happening in Gaza over the past year?
We are extremely concerned about this, this spillover.
This is extremely abnormal when you have people losing their eyes and when you have hospitals not able to cope with the the amount of amputations that they need to carry out.
We've heard all this before, haven't we?
Last year and throughout the past year.
This is not normal and this needs to stop.
The **** Commissioner is calling for an immediate de escalation.
the United Nations General Assembly is meeting, world leaders are gathering in New York.
They need to prioritise bringing this conflict to an end.
There needs to be a ceasefire in Gaza.
The hostages need to be released and this new front of the conflict, it, it needs to be stemmed.
The, the escalating rhetoric and the escalating attacks need to stop.
And the international community and all states with leverage over the parties to the conflict need to exercise this leverage.
We did really the message is we need to come back from the brink.
We need all the parties, the conflict to come back from the brink.
We need everybody to push them to do so.
I think the secretary general has been extremely adamant on that also in his messages, several messages.
So first for Robina, I was wondering about the the messages that were sent out to Lebanese yesterday or that they reportedly received from the Israelis warning them to move away from Hezbollah target, potential Hezbollah targets.
It's been described as potentially psychological warfare given that people don't necessarily know where those targets are.
So I was just wondering if you could say a little bit about that, that use of of sending messages like that.
And then I for Matt, I just had a question.
I think you mentioned the Syrian refugees in Lebanon.
I was also wondering about the Palestinian refugees who have also been obviously following what's been going on in Gaza to other Palestinians there.
I know that UNHCR doesn't, it doesn't have Palestinians under its mandate, but maybe you could say something about them as well.
As you pointed out, these, you know, 10s of thousands of messages that arrived on people's cell phones spread panic, fear and an absolute chaos.
There was the assumption that civilians know where where any weapons may have been stored and to be clear, international humanitarian law, if you warn people of an imminent attack, that does not absolve you of the responsibility to protect civilians.
The obligation to protect civilians is paramount, so whether you've sent out a warning telling civilians to flee doesn't make it OK to then strike those areas knowing full well that the the impact on civilians will be huge.
All feasible precautions must be taken to spare civilians and attacks have to remain proportional to the wider damage that they inflict that they inflict.
And it is also important to note that those who may be members of a particular group but are not actively taking a direct part in hostilities cannot be targeted The at their core, the rules of international humanitarian law are there to effectively protect civilians and thus our our common humanity.
What we are seeing here raises fundamental questions about respect for international humanitarian law.
And then I also saw the doctor putting his hand up.
So if you want to intervene, Dr, no worries.
Just just keep your hand up and I'll, I'll give you the floor, Matt.
So in, in terms of our role, Nina, as you mentioned, you know, we don't formally have the mandate to assist Palestinian refugees, of which I believe there are some 400,000 registered in the country.
However, normally we would make our available assistant, our assistant available across the country to those most in need.
So that's our position right now.
If there's any, if there's any update on that or any or any further development on that, I can get back to you in the course of the Today.
But that's the position as far as I know.
So, Doctor, No, it's, it's Mrs Singing.
So who wants the floor Etty, please.
I just wanted to maybe say a few words on the Palestinian camps because, uh, UNICEF is working closely with the, with the, UM, with Unrah in particular on the Palestinian camps and on the population that are impacted there.
And what I can say is that we have seen a huge crisis over the past six months and since the beginning of the war on children's mental health in particular and on their access to to services as well.
We've had a lot of forced displacement of people coming in and out of the Palestinian camps.
And we've seen real increases in tension there also.
And seeing that this psychological goal is really having an impact and triggering really overwhelming levels of stress, anxiety and fear across the community.
And so we've mobilised large numbers of psychologists and frontline workers and we provide psychosocial first aid in the Palestinian camps.
But there is of course, intergenerational trauma of them having been displaced and now seeing what is happening, of course, in in Gaza and the West Bank to their extended family members.
And now in addition, with the increase in violence in Lebanon, we're really seeing the children that are coming to our kindergartens and our nurseries in the camps to be showing signs of a lot of trauma as well as their mothers and caregivers and family members, extended family members also coming for support to our centres that we that we operate across Palestinian camps.
And in fact, we were due to release depending on the situation here as a report on the situation on mental health, in particular of Palestinian residents in the camps over.
I don't see other hands in the room.
So I'll go to the platform.
There are many questions.
OK, So I'll start with Yuri, who's been patiently waiting.
I'm sorry, Yuria, sorry, I'm not everybody knows all the correspondent Yuria Preref is the correspondent of Free University.
Yes, thank you, Alessandra.
My question is for, I think Ravina almost for them.
The first one is that your office have access to Lebanon.
So are you already investigating these bombings?
And during your opening remarks, I noted that you didn't name directly Israel in in the statement I mean that you made.
Can you why just to understand why is it a political reason or why?
And certainly my question is about the fact that with at least 500 death dead, about 1500 and 1600 wounded in a single day, can we talk about war crime in this situation and the the last, But I think maybe it's more for WHO, but I'm not sure if someone have this information.
Do you know if the majority of these dead and wounded are civilians or members of Hezbollah?
Because this is quite hard to understand when you are talking about death and injured, if we are talking about combatants or if we are talking about civilians.
And maybe then I'll ask WHO if they can complement.
Thanks, Yuri, on our presence in, in Lebanon.
Yes, we have 7 international staff in Lebanon and some national staff as well.
They have very limited ability to, to be able to monitor the situation.
But indeed they are, they are producing regular monitoring reports to, to inform us to, to inform the office on, on advocacy on, on reaching out to, to member states, speaking publicly about the issues.
It is a limited capacity though.
And they, what they are also trying to do is to try to verify civilian casualties.
But again, this will, this will take time on your misunderstanding that we didn't name Israel, Well, of course we did.
The Israeli Defence Forces themselves have made it clear that these are Israeli strikes, and our note makes that clear as well.
We speak of a series of of Israeli strikes across Lebanon and on whether this would amount to war crimes.
As I said earlier, the methods and means of warfare that are being used raise serious concerns about whether this is compliant with international humanitarian law.
The the fact that there is a large number of of casualties and a large number of injuries, large number of displacement, some civilian facilities also that have been hit raises serious questions about compliance with international human rights and humanitarian law.
Doctor, do you have any more detail on the debts and wanted?
I think first of all, I think we don't have the breakdown of who is civilian and who is the competent and that's not our role and a mandate actually to to classify, you know, the wounded vision where they belong to.
I think we rely on the Minister of Health reports.
But what's important is under the international humanitarian law, all injuries have the right for treatment and our job is to save lives.
And I think that's the most important element that we are dealing with.
I think we are working with the Minister of Health and I think the report that we're getting from the Minister of Health is majority of these people, you know, likely to be civilian, as we have seen the 35 children and also there are a number of women actually included into that.
So based on what we have, the Minister of Health, I think what we can see there are more civilians open wounded and those who had died.
But according WHOI think our, you know, position is that all injuries will come to the hospital.
They have the right to be to be treated as part of international humanitarian law.
Thank you very much, Jeremy Launch, correspondent of Radio France International.
I'd like to go back to what Ravine has said about the the fact that you cannot strike members of a group that are not active combatants.
I'd like to know if you can elaborate a bit more on that.
Basically what we're seeing in Lebanon is, is do you fear that what we're seeing in Lebanon is actually what we saw in in Haza, meaning that Israel consider it OK to strike any building that as long as you have a Hamas or a Hezbollah militants in the building.
Is that what we're heading to?
The first question and maybe a second question of on, on the closure of Al Jazeera Bureau in in the West Bank in a territory that is normally under the control of the the Palestinian Authority.
Do you have a comment on on that particular subject?
Thank you, Jeremy on the law, first of all, armed force can only be used against a legitimate military target to achieve a valid military objective.
Even when you do identify a valid military objective, A legitimate military target, the fundamental distinction between civilian and military targets needs needs to be front and centre.
And even where you have identified a target, all feasible precautions need to be taken to ensure that civilians are spared.
The attacks have to be remained proportional to the wider impact that they inflict on civilian lives and civilian infrastructure.
And people who are not exercising A continuous combat function in an armed group can only be targeted when they are taking direct part in hostilities.
So international humanitarian law is, is very clear on this and the interpretation has to first and foremost place the protection of civilians at its core.
That was the the, the basis, the spirit of international humanitarian law.
What we are worried about is that we are seeing a stretching of these boundaries and an expansive view of the interpretation of international humanitarian law, which is straying from the spirit of the law.
And This is why the **** Commissioner, when he spoke to the Security Council on Friday regarding the situation, expressed serious concern about the erosion of international law and, you know, to its core.
And he stressed that the preservation and protection and respect for international law is a matter of international peace and security.
So it should raise alarm bells for every member state that's that's part of the United Nations.
And then sorry on, on your separate question on Al Jazeera, you know, of course, we're, we're very concerned about about what happened.
Our office in, in our Palestine office, which is based in Amman issued a tweet on this yesterday.
And, and I will share with you our concerns.
We are deeply alarmed by Israel's misuse of counterterrorism laws to close Al Jazeera's office in Ramallah, which is one more measure in the systemic suppression of freedom of the press and expression in the occupied Palestinian territory.
And on this particular issue, I will also refer you to the state with what the spokesperson, the secretary general said yesterday, the noon briefing, where he also spreads the extreme concern about this event.
He said that this probably placed, he think, I think this place, he says, to a bigger picture in limiting media coverage of what is going on in the region, including in Gaza where we see that new international journalists are allowed, are allowed in unless they come in with the idea from the north.
It's also a reflection of a trend that we are seeing globally, which hampers the work of journalists.
And he underlined the importance of having free and and impeded work of the press, especially in conflict areas.
I'll go now to who's the next John, John Zaragostas, our correspondent of Francois Carter.
My first question is to The Who representative.
I was wondering, Sir, if you have details on reports that the health facilities and ambulances have also been attacked?
I've got a question from Matt, the if you could bring us up to speed.
Do you have the number of Iraqi refugees that are still in Lebanon?
And if if they're protected as well and the procurement of the medical supplies, are you doing it through The Who as the lead in the health cluster or independently?
And to Raveena, if, if you could send us the links to the relevant international humanitarian law that you mentioned is being breached in this situation, because there's so many agreements, it'd be nice to send us a fact sheet of which clauses you're referring to.
Let's start with Doctor Abubakar.
Yes, Well, yes, thank you very much.
I think he you know the things the crisis is started.
We have witnessed A repeated attack of healthy facility and healthcare workers and ambulances as well.
And that's why the as mandated as part of the we are collecting that information.
We have a very effective surveillance system to monitor and also to comment and what happened, you know yesterday and I think what we have seen is 16, four healthcare workers were killed and a 16 paramedic is mostly working in ambulances were attacked actually not to mention the healthy facilities that has been attacked as well.
So I think yes, we have some evidence and we have some documentation that shows that at least there were some attacks of healthy facilities, you know, the, the, the, the ambulances as well as the healthcare workers.
And this will impact, you know, the overall health sector because we cannot afford to lose any life in this conflict.
And that's why WHO is advocating that the protection of healthcare workers and healthy facilities is a paramount.
And we have to protect and we have to always advocate the protection of those because it's very critical, especially in the context of Lebanon when we have a crisis of the healthcare workers, you know, the number of healthcare workers, the shortage of healthcare workers.
So we cannot afford to lose anyone in in the crisis and before and after.
On the Iraqi refugees, yeah, to John's question on Iraqi refugees, yes, there are still Iraqi refugees in the country.
We currently have 4850 registered in the country and indeed other nationalities as well.
And all of those nationalities are included in the interagency response programme.
In terms of John's question on the procurement, we are the Co lead and Co coordinator in the health sector and we are maximising our efforts to respond to the current needs.
In terms of the details of how the procurement is done.
I'll, I'll check on that John and let me get back to you.
I don't have details right now, so I wouldn't want to give you some misinformation.
Yes, John, definitely we can share with you the relevant excerpts on the law.
Gabriella, I know you had another question for Robina, but I understand this one is on Lebanon, so I'll give you the floor now.
Yes, thank you very much, Alessandra.
We saw in Gaza that Israel does not have much respect for civilians.
I would say that they don't care at all.
But my question is if in Lebanon Hezbollah is protecting civilians, That's one question.
And the second one to Adriana of UN woman, if she's if she's still there or UNICEF.
What is the situation of women and girls in Lebanon?
No, unfortunately Adriana has left.
But I'll give the floor to Ravina.
Maybe then it can answer on this, on this issue.
She also put a note in the chat.
Maybe you can also say it's live because people not, not everybody has access to the chat.
So let's start with Ravina.
Hezbollah has been firing hundreds of rockets into Israel.
So there are serious concerns there as well regarding the the conduct of of the means and methods used in warfare, the indiscriminate nature of the attacks as well.
Let's be very clear on that.
And our calls for the respect for international humanitarian law go to all parties to the conflict.
And this, of course, includes Hezbollah.
And the secretary general has also spoken about both warring parties, Maybe at the you want to say something about women and girls and and then read what you put in the chat.
2 points that I put in the chat.
1 is that we have as of this morning and the last half an hour, 16 1/2 thousand displaced as per the government figures.
And this is likely to increase drastically in the in the coming hours.
On, on medical supplies, I think somebody asked about Medicare supplies.
As UNICEF, we've procured and delivered 100 tonnes of emergency medical supplies to hospitals who are facing severe shortages and supply stock outs and have more Medicare supplies set to arrive this week.
That's depending on the airport remaining open and our ability to actually have aircraft to come in and deliver the goods.
What I will also say is that as of this morning as well, we're getting reports as I've been speaking to you of children arriving with basically only the clap closet there that they left in, in a hurry, that there many children slept in cars and on the side of roads last night across the country in Beirut, but also in Saida.
We also, I wanted to flag, it hasn't come up, but uh, a lot of the first frontline responders in Lebanon have themselves, uh, suffered.
So our NGO partners and our own staff and their own family members have also been injured, killed, impacted and have been displaced.
So it, what will really complicate the response in Lebanon is that, umm, the scale of the displacement, uh, last night speaking to some of our umm, NGO partners and frontline workers, they themselves were fleeing and looking for areas of safety.
They said that the bombardment was all around them.
When I spoke to one in, uh, in Baalbek, umm, I wanted to mention as well that, uh, we're getting reports as well of, of, of young women and girls who have lacking access to things like sanitary pads and hygiene kits.
And as well as that in the shelters that have been open and operating for quite some time since the start of the crisis, we really witnessed an increase of DBV cases and a lot of girls getting involved in child labour and really putting them at higher risk of sexual harassment and sexual ***** as well in the shelters.
So this is something that we're very, very highly aware of as well, that these shelters need to be made safe from the very beginning when families, vulnerable families arrive with nothing, that we put the safe, that we put the prevention of sexual exploitation and ***** mechanisms in place immediately, given that these families and especially women and girls are at their most, their most, most vulnerable.
See Jamie Keaton, Associated Press.
Thanks, Alessandra, I had a question, I guess this is for either Doctor Abu Baker or Miss Higgins, about the impact of the pager and walkie-talkie strikes last week.
Is there any sign that you have seen that the evacuations or other communications in Lebanon after yesterday's events were impeded because of the strikes last week?
In other words, did those, did those attacks on the communications devices award or impede people from being told about what was happening yesterday in the military action?
Doctor Abubakar or ATI or I don't know who would like to, to take this one from the ground, from the field.
Well, I have to say that unfortunately, I'm not in a position to answer because I'm not the one managing the patient transportation from the field to the hospital.
These are the emergency medical services and the Lebanese Petcos who are dealing with that.
So I think he may be the Minister of Health and those emergency medical services will be in a better position to, to, to answer that question.
Do you have anything to compliment?
No, I mean you talked about the, the question was about the impact on on, on children.
Of course, I mean I can talk about the children that were injured in the attack last week.
One of the cases was a little girl who was handing, um, and I think it was widely reported in the media when she was handing the device to her, to her father and it exploded and killed her.
Um, but we also have cases that have not been covered by the media where um, children have lost their sight and have, um, have sustained severe damage to their hands, as Doctor Abdi has mentioned as well.
And these are really life threatening in some cases and life changing disabilities that they will have to live with for the rest of their lives.
And and of course, as Doctor Abdi has also mentioned, the health system is just not set up to deal with the severity and massive influx of these influx of these of these cases of severe injuries and also deaths.
UNICEF has a, as I've mentioned, a long standing support to the Ministry of Health.
But for the first time yesterday, we were asked to provide refrigerated trucks and we were asked to provide a storage space for the for the remains of those who were killed, including the women and children, 35 children at least killed yesterday and and I had reports this morning.
Of course, unfortunately we weren't able to support with a with a mobile martyr or or cold storage vehicles for the remains of those who were killed.
But we also have, we have family members who are who staff members who are trying to find family members that are still buried on the rubble.
One staff member this morning has lost over seven members of her family.
And we expect that number to rise in the in the hours ahead.
I'm really sorry for that.
So I have a last question and then Gabriella, we will go to Sudan, but but Robina would stay to answer your question on another subject.
Oh, sorry, I see Yuri as well.
OK, let me give the floor to Nick and Yuri and then we will go to Sudan because our colleague has been patiently waiting.
And then I go back to Robina.
Nick Amin Bruce, our correspondent of The New York Times.
I wonder if you could just give us more details specifically about the deaths of the four healthcare workers.
Were they working in fixed sites in medical clinics at the time?
And were these struck by shells or aircraft or were they out on the road?
Was there any evidence that you said that there had been some healthcare facilities that were hit of these clinics?
Could you give us a bit more detail on this, please?
Doctor Abdulbakar, thank you very much, Nick.
Nick, I know that, you know, you know, some of those healthcare workers actually were in the ambulances and they were actually doing the emergency services.
But the details of how and where and why I think I would be able to provide you in written to that because I need to get more detailed information from the from the Minister of Health as well as the our team who are doing the surveillance.
Thank you very much, Doctor.
OK, so as Yuri's question is not on Lebanon, I will now close this item of the briefing.
I would like to really thank everyone who has spoken, has intervened, especially our colleagues in Lebanon to whom we really wish well for for the next days and in this very dire situation.
I'll like to go now to our colleague of the World Food Programme, Lenny Kinsley.
Thank you very much for your patience.
Lenny, you have an update on the food situation in Sudan and it's been very tragic to hear everything that's been happening in Lebanon.
But it's just as important that we keep also attention on Saddam as the situation is extremely critical there, especially after now 18 months of fighting.
And today, the United Nations World Food Programme is announcing that we're in a race against time to save lives in the war-torn country as 1.5 million people are either facing famine or at risk of famine.
And without urgent assistance, hundreds of thousands could die.
And we are working tirelessly to get aid into the hands of people who are facing starvation.
But we are saving thousands of lives every single day.
In Sudan, so far this year we've supported 5.4 million people with life saving food and Nutrition Assistance and as we speak we are urgently getting basic staple foods into the hands of 180,000 people facing famine in Zam Zam camp.
In North Darfur, vulnerable communities are receiving a package of wheat flour, lentils, oil and salt, and meanwhile in Khartoum, WFP is supporting community kitchens to provide 175,000 hot meals on a daily basis.
We've also just started in kind food distributions for around 155,000 people in Karate and Onduman neighbourhoods of Khartoum, where people will receive 2 month rations.
And 16,000 people in the metropolitan area received mobile money transfers in July and August, as WFP plans to increase this number throughout the course of this month.
We've also launched self registration pilots to expand mobile money transfers to North and South Darfur, S Kordofan and Jazeera State.
And WFP is also taking advantage of the reopening of the Audrey border from Chad into the conflict rattled Darfur region.
Trucks carrying vital food and nutrition supplies are crossing that border every single day, despite facing delays due to flooded seasonal rivers and muddy road conditions where aid convoys are getting stuck.
Since Audrey reopened one month ago, we've transported 2800 metric tonnes of food and nutrition supplies into the Darfur region and that's enough aid for over 250,000 people.
Of that 100,000 people in risk of famine.
Areas in West R4 have also received emergency food and nutrition supplies.
Even though we are doing everything we can, it's just a drop in the ocean compared to the needs.
Not just in Sudan but regionally, around 36 million people have been pushed into hunger because of this ongoing war.
I was recently an Andre Chad where around 800,000 people have fled to.
After enduring unimaginable violence.
People are only met with hunger and destitution.
Despite receiving food assistance, many are struggling to get by, eating once a day if they are lucky, like a teenage girl I met called Toraya who lost her parents and is taking care of her younger siblings.
Sometimes she's only able to offer them water instead of a meal.
If that is the situation for people in a comparably safe and stable place, it is hard to imagine what people facing famine or at risk of famine in Sudan are going through.
I did get a glimpse though, speaking with women who recently fled from areas of risk at famine, like a woman I met called Najwa.
She, along with other new arrivals, risked their lives to get to safety in Chad because there was nothing to left to eat and all their crops had been destroyed by floods.
Others said they could not even farm because it was too unsafe to go to their fields, which is also why they fled to Chad.
Health and nutrition workers in the Andre camp told me that over half of their malnutrition cases there were from new arrivals coming from risk of famine areas in Sudan.
It is exactly for people like Sudhaya and Najwa, who are among 10s of millions bearing the brunt of the brutal war in Sudan, that world leaders need to pay attention and step up for during this **** level week in New York.
WFP and other agencies cannot tackle these challenges alone.
We are doing everything we can, but we cannot stop widespread starvation and hunger related deaths without the support and attention of the international community.
World leaders need to give this humanitarian catastrophe the attention it requires.
That attention then needs to be translated into concerted diplomatic efforts at the highest levels to push for a humanitarian ceasefire and ultimately an end to the conflict.
We also need the international community to step up and demanding that the warring parties guarantee safe and unfettered humanitarian access and adhere to international humanitarian law.
Lastly, we need a surge in funding to address the extraordinary level of need, over 600 million in the coming six months to provide urgent aid to people in the most severe levels of hunger across the region.
We would require even more to help all those millions who need help.
For over 500 days, the Sudanese people have been bearing the brunt of this war, feeling forgotten and abandoned by the world.
They are still hope, holding on to the hope that one day they can return to their lives together.
We owe it to the Sudanese people to step up collective action and prevent mass scale starvation.
The hopes of the Sudanese people, their future are riding on what we do next.
Thank you very much and over to any questions.
Thank you very much, Lenny.
We need to keep focusing on crisis so important like Sudan.
And I'm looking at the journalist now.
If there's any question for you on this very dire situation, I don't see any in the room and I don't see any in the platform because Gabrielle and Yuri are waiting to ask other questions.
But please share your, your notes with our correspondents and or we will do it for you so that this important information is is kept and and used.
You have a question for Ravina.
Yes, thank you very much, Alessandra.
My question is on militarization of public security in Mexico.
It's kind of complicated.
I will try to explain it.
Last week, the National Guard was transferred to the army to Sedena.
That is the Ministry of of the Army in Mexico.
When it was created, it was said that it would be led by a civilian and the nature of Guardian National would be civilian, but that was never fulfilled.
On April 2019, the government signed a collaboration and advisory agreement with the Human Rights Office of the United Nations, with the presence of Michelle Bachelet, former UN **** Commissioner for Human Rights, and the President of Mexico, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.
This this agreement was signed.
Civil society said that a military commander was in charge of Guardian National and not a civilian as had been agreed.
So Lopez Obrador reiterated the National Guard promised to maintain a line of respect for individual guarantees.
But integrating the National Guard into Secretary of Defence increases human rights violations.
That is what civil society say.
So my question is, are you concerned of this?
What will happen with your memorandum with the government?
Is your office supporting militarization of public security in Mexico?
And if UNICEF is there, are you concerned that militarization will affect especially women and girls?
Thanks to you, Gabriel, for this long question.
I give the floor to Ravina on UNICEF.
I'm not sure that we have because James is travelling to the Middle East.
So I think maybe you wouldn't want to ask this in writing to to him.
Gabriella, are we concerned?
As you know, we have been addressing this issue for a long time.
We are office as well as other UN human rights mechanisms have consistently cautioned against expanding the armed forces role in security tasks.
And we have pointed out that this approach has not sustainably reduced violence and instead it has led to serious human rights violations.
We reiterate the importance of ensuring that the civilian nature of the National Guard is is prioritised and that there are robust accountability mechanisms.
And we remind that the armed forces should only be deployed temporarily for security tasks in exceptional circumstances, subordinate to civilian authorities and always under the effective supervision of independent civilian bodies.
We acknowledge Mexico's complex challenges in addressing violence, but it is important that our consistent caution against the expanding the armed forces role in in security tasks is is respected.
So what will happen with your agreement with the government of Mexico on Guardian National?
I mean, I, I can't get into any details on that.
We, as you know, we have an office in Mexico that's, that's been long standing and working on a variety of issues, including this one.
So yeah, on that I, I won't be able to go any further.
This is a question so far not on Lebanon.
This morning, one of the representative of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Rodion Miroskin, I told that Russia has a nominative list of civilians from the Kursk Oblast who has been arrested by the Ukrainian army.
He said also that between 70 and 120 civilians were also detained in the building in Soja.
I just wondering if you have any information on that or if you are working to to know what is happening and just to verify this information.
I'll have to check with my colleagues if this list has been shared with our office.
Our office has of course reached out to to the Russian authorities on the situation in Korska and elsewhere.
So I'll just have to check if we have received this list or not and we can get back to you.
Satoka Dashi has a quite a humidishin boon has a question for Margaret.
I just wondering could you give us some update on the polio campaign in Gaza, specifically the the second round of the campaign?
Yes, the polio campaign is there is in the planning stages.
It is hoped that it could be done mid-october and just as with the previous round, and it's really important that we do do the second round, but just as with the previous round, we need for the pauses important fighting to hold.
Ideally of course, what we all want is a ceasefire, but it is essential and it can't go ahead unless we also get those pauses in fighting that.
Currently, we don't have the date, but we're hoping for mid-october.
Thank you very much, Margaret, and please keep us keep us updated on on this issue.
There are quite a few journalists who have asked questions about that.
So thank you to everyone.
I just have a few announcements for you.
First of all, very quickly, 2 international days, I think quite important ones.
On the 22nd, 26th of September, the message, the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons.
And also on the 26th, the World Maritime Day, we've sent you this statement, the messages of the Secretary General on these matters, the Human Rights Committee, we have the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which will conclude Friday it's session, and the Committee on Enforced Disappearing Disappearances, which is concluding this morning the review of Ukraine.
And this afternoon we'll start the consideration of the report of Morocco.
Just very quickly, a word about what's going to happen today in in New York.
At 9:00 AM New York time in the General Assembly Hall, the general debate of the 79th session of the General Assembly will begin.
The theme for the 79th session is Leaving No One Behind, Acting together for the advancement of peace, sustainable development and human dignity for present and future generations.
The Secretary General and the President of the General Assembly.
There will be a very long list of speakers, including many presidents, heads of states, governments.
And today on the first day, among other participants, we see the President of Brazil and the United States.
All the debates, as you know, are webcast on UN Web TV and there are also a list of **** level events which are organised by the General Assembly, which is available on the Internet.
Don't hesitate to ask us in particular the SDG moment.
There are, there are three **** level meetings that I wanted to mention, the one on sea level rise that's tomorrow on Thursday, the **** level meeting on antimicrobial resistance and I'm sure that Margaret can answer a question on that.
That will be with the the Director General of WHO Tedros Adanuma braces among other speakers and the **** level meeting on support for UNRWA, which will also happen on the 26th at 1:00 PM New York time and will also be available for you on the web.
And finally, the **** level meeting on the International Day of Total Ammunition of Luka Weapons that I've just mentioned.
Just also to remind you that this afternoon, the Security Council, this afternoon New York time will hold a debate on the situation of peace and security in Ukraine.
And a very last point to remind you that I think we've sent you an information on that, that the Secretary General has convened the SDG Moment 2024.
This is going to happen today at 1:30 New York time and it will show how transformation is not only possible but essential, building on the momentum from the 2023 SDG summer and the outcomes of the summit of the future.
Again, everything is on UN web TVI see Gabriella has a question.
She was hoping to to leave, but she comes back on the way.
Maybe to you as well, Alessandra.
Why Human Rights Council is at the same time that General Assembly, It could be more to October or something like that.
I mean, we have to cover sometimes New York and Human Rights Council at the same time.
And it's, it's really hard.
As you know, Gabriella, the Human Rights Council meets three times a year and forever longer periods.
They are expanding slowly, slowly but steadily.
I don't know if we can make any difference to that.
But you know why it's it's just two different locations, two different sets of delegates.
And you are right, maybe it can be a little bit difficult sometimes for the press, but maybe you can bring this to the attention of the Human Rights Council colleagues.
I can certainly bring it to Pascal's attention.
I'm not sure how much power he has over the scheduling of these meetings either.
Gabriella, just to to share your frustration.
We are completely overwhelmed.
There's a lot of demands on the UN human rights office and we just hope that member states will give us the commensurate funds to be able to cover all the requests, increasing requests that are coming through the increasing meetings of these bodies.
Gabriella, do you have an idea of how much money do you need to work properly?
We have, yes, we, we have various appeals that the **** Commissioner has made to member states on the the budget shortfalls resulting from the liquidity crisis and also generally.
But we'll be happy to share the figures with you and I can do those by e-mail.
Any other question for me, Ravina or anybody else in the room or on platform.
It's time to tell you bon appetit and, and tell you and, and, and I'll see you on Friday.
