Good morning everybody here in Room 3 and connected on the platform.
Welcome to this briefing of the Information Service in Geneva.
Sorry, I have a technical glitch.
Sorry for all these issues, we are still learning with this hybrid format.
So let's start our briefing.
First of all, let me say that.
Let me remind you that 75 years ago today, the 50 countries freed from the horror the Second World War that gathered in San Francisco to sign the UN Charter and create the United Nations, had wanted to preserve the world from scourges of war.
And And 75 years later, the Secretary General yesterday gave a press conference where he said that 75 years later, we are marking this anniversary at the time of colossal global upheaval and risk.
The Secretary General made the long declaration on the occasion of this commemoration declaration that we have shared with you.
So I won't read it all, but I would just like to to to mention that he said as we mark Charter day and look ahead, we must reimagine the way nations cooperate.
And he said he look forward to discussing the matter of the future of multilateralism with world leaders in September, in whatever format it will be done.
And he concluded by saying we absolutely must come together to reimagine and reinvent the world we share.
And on this particular day, I would like really to invite you all to take yourself and spread the the word about the survey that the UN75 initiative has put online.
This is un75.org/online and you will find it that only takes one minute.
And it really give the possibility of everybody to have its voice, his or her voice heard.
And with this happy charter day, and I'll start now with Rolando.
Yes, I can see you, Rolando.
Thank you, Alessandra, and this happy Charter Day to you too and everybody.
So my briefing this is in a sense of follow up to the press conference that the President of the Human Rights Council held yesterday that some of you might have attended.
As noted by the President of the Council, the 44th regular session of the Human Rights Council will begin on Tuesday, this coming Tuesday, 30 June, not Monday.
It's another massive session of the Council, which comes at the heels of another Council session which is concluded this week.
In fact, this in and of itself is highly unusual and unprecedented.
Yet I suppose one could say that this is consistent with these unusual and unprecedented time precedented times that we're living in.
So I don't want to take up much of your time this morning simply to note that the session does begin, as I mentioned, 10 AM on Tuesday morning in the Assembly Hall.
And this is obviously to allow for the social distancing vis a vis the the COVID-19 measures.
The meeting will begin initially with opening remarks by the President of the Council, Elizabeth Teehee Fisselberger, and will be followed by a presentation from the **** Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, who will be presenting an update on the activities of her office in recent human rights developments around the globe.
And I'll discuss with Rupert.
I see Liz is online as to when we could share that statement of the **** Commissioner with you.
The statement should be delivered at approximately 10:15 on Tuesday morning.
The **** Commissioner will then present an oral update on the impact of COVID-19 on human rights.
Now, as you might recall, this update was requested by the Council through a President's statement that was adopted by silence procedure on the 29th of May.
Now, through that same decision, the Council asked the **** Commissioner to present a further update to the Council at its next session, as well as a written report at its 46 sessions.
So 2 sessions from now, some to take place sometime next year.
And simply to note that COVID-19 and its impact on various human rights will indeed be one of the dominant themes for the upcoming session.
After this update on COVID-19, the **** Commissioner will present another report on the human rights situation in the Philippines.
This report, as you might recall, was issued earlier this month, I believe it was 4 June.
And this presentation will be followed by an interactive discussion with States and NGOs, which we'll start off with a statement from the concerned country, Philippines.
Perhaps I'll just stop there.
And just to add that I will send you an e-mail with Tuesday's programmes complete with details, timings, links to reports, etcetera later today.
And maybe just last note is to draw your attention to another e-mail that I just sent you this morning, which contains links to key background documents, including the provisional programme of work.
And as I commented yesterday, this is indeed a moving target and we will send you revised versions as necessary.
Also in the e-mail I sent you this morning is a link to the A-Z guide, and there it is, the A-Z guide, which some of you are familiar with, which spells out the themes and country situations to be addressed.
The e-mail also contains links to the background press release that you received yesterday and a list of draught proposals, resolutions that will be considered during the session.
These are, I think, 19 in total, and they have been announced by states already, so they're in a public domain.
So I'll stop there and take any questions if you have them.
Thank you very much, Rolando.
And before I give the floor to the journalist, and since it's a new beginning, even if it's not business as usual, I would like to also remind you that next week we have two committees, 2 human rights committees that are going to start their work.
One is the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, which will open next Monday, 29th of June at 12:30.
This is a public meeting, and it will last two hours.
They will inaugurate in this way their remote 76th session, which will last until the 9th of July, and whose meeting will mainly be in private.
But they will hold a public meeting in the afternoon of the 7th of July from 4:00 to 6:00, which will be devoted to an informal briefing for state parties on the draught general recommendation on trafficking in women and girls in the context of global migration.
And you'll be able to follow this by live webcastingwebtv.un.org.
And the other committee which is going to open on Monday is the Human Rights Committee.
They will open at 4:00 PM on Monday for one hour.
And this will be there 129th session, which will be online also, but there will be several public meetings devoted into the review of its general comment #37 on Article 21 of the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
So these are the new meetings.
We are starting again the committees next week.
I see quite a few questions for you, Rolando.
Well, maybe next time and next week I can go there to, to, to be in, you know, life.
Rolando, I would like to ask again if it's possible, if you can organise with a special rapporteur of freedom of expression press conference like the assume maybe because there, I mean, in the context of COVID-19, there have been a lot of attacks against journalists and it's, I think it's very important to have his views, especially he's leaving.
So yeah, it's just what I wanted to ask.
We and Gabby, we know very well the very profound impact on the enjoyment of freedom of opinion, expression and safety of journalists etcetera with COVID-19.
And in fact, I could tell you that Mister Kay's report will touch upon this issue among others.
He's presenting his report on the 10th of July.
We can certainly put it to him.
And certainly we could try to make that available if, if, if there is several of you are interested and we could try to make that happen.
That's just a general note for any rapporteur who you want to reach out to as normal contact myself or Jeremy or or colleague John who working with Liz and Rupert and company, we could try to make these encounters happen.
OK, good morning, everyone.
Rolando, I'd like a couple of points here.
The **** Commissioner's report on the on COVID-19, the impact on human rights.
I was wondering how extensive that report was going to be, whether it was going to be speaking rather in general terms about the impact, you know, stigmatisation and that sort of thing or whether it would be more specific in terms of country examples.
I don't know whether perhaps Liz has more information on that particular issue or not, but, but I'd be interested in knowing that.
And then on the other interactive dialogues that followed during the course of the day, Rohingya, Nicaragua, Venezuela, et cetera, will representatives from all of these states governments also be speaking after the **** Commissioner presents the initial report?
As you know, yeah, maybe Liz is better placed to talk about this substance of the **** commissioner's update and COVID-19 for Monday, but as you will Tuesday, sorry.
As you well know, she's been very outspoken on this issue given the the the huge human rights dimensions to this pandemic and how it affects various rights.
So maybe Liz might have a little bit more insight as to what she might say specifically.
But just to underline, this is one of a series of updates that will come that will come over the next several months.
So you can say this is somewhat of a quasi standing item for for some time to come in the Human Rights Council maybe before Liz can respond to that.
Maybe just a note that as as always, Lisa, whenever a state is singled out and through a country report, through an update, the they have the opportunity to speak as a concerned country.
As I mentioned, the Philippines, for example, will speak.
We have Myanmar who's also slated to speak on on Tuesday afternoon following another update on the Rohingya people situation of the human rights of Rohingya, which I didn't mention earlier, simply because it may actually be pushed to the following day.
But as a as a general note, yes, these states always have that opportunity to speak immediately after the expert or the **** Commissioner in this case delivers her address.
Liz, would you like to say something while we are unmuting?
Liz, just to remind you that we will hear more about the Rohingyas today by IOM and UNHCR, but maybe Liz, if she can be unmuted, just trying to see if she would like to add something.
I don't think she's been unmuted.
I'm saying this for our colleagues.
I think we have a problem in the unmuting Liz.
If we manage to do it a little bit later on, we will.
So I'll give the floor to the next question, Catherine and then we will try to go to Liz if she has anything to add.
Catherine, good morning, good morning.
Alessandra, good morning to all of you.
I have a follow up on the question of Gabriela regarding David Kay.
David Kay, his reports, will we have the reports in advance or how does it work, Orlando?
And if I understood well, there will be a new rapporteur appointed during that session.
And will we only know who is going to be appointed at the end of the session, that means the 17th of the 20 of July.
And my other question is regarding the side events.
If I understood well, there will be virtual side events.
Please give us more details about that.
So the report as usual, and I'm glad you asked because we still have in place a nice system.
I think it works well, which I refer to the hot report system.
Whenever we get reports where I know that you inquire about, such as this for example, and others, we have our colleagues alert us when they're about to be posted.
I then inform you this one is not yet online but will employ this system for this particular report.
So as soon as I get word on that, I'll send you all an update.
Indeed, Mr K has been on the job for six years.
He's done an outstanding job and now he's stepping down.
This is his last encounter with the Council and he will be replaced.
I'm just looking at the calendar.
Indeed, on the 20th of July for the moment, it could be the 17th whenever they the last day of the session, let's say the list, there is a short list that is public with three names.
There's a longer list attached in that document.
But the the President of the Council, the way it works for the appointments of these rapporteurs, to remind you, is the President of the Council receives these short lists, these recommendations from the Consultative Group, which is made-up of five ambassadors working in an individual capacity.
And then she draws from that those recommendations and makes her own decision, which is always announced at the the last day of the Council session.
So the Consultative Group report report is public, The President's list will only be publicised just before she announces it on the last day.
So I can't tell you who that appointment will, which that appointment will be.
You had another question about remind me please.
My second question was on side events and I I take the opportunity a follow up on what you just said.
Would it be possible for David Kate to give his last press conference as asked by by my colleague, you know just before he leaves that we have a virtual press conference with David Kate, Would it be possible?
Well, well noted, Catherine, indeed.
And we'll put that to him and obviously we'll try to schedule that at a convenient time for all of us.
So yes, well noted on side events, right.
So there are no side events per SE taking place at the Palais.
The only side meeting, parallel meetings, I should say, that will take place parallel to the main session in the Assembly Hall are virtual, or rather are informal consultations on resolutions.
We have a few designated rooms for these to take place and they are normally public.
You can attend those actual side events and we usually accommodate up to 200 of these.
NGO side events usually will not take place at the Palais for the obvious reasons of the COVID-19 measures.
However, there may be some taking place outside the premises.
If Ng OS come up to us, it's it's they're not obliged to do so.
But if they do inform us, if they want to advertise it, we'll do our best to do so.
But these are not official council events, I should underline.
But again, in the spirit of transparency and working together with our civil society partners, we will do our best to publicise those to you.
Now I told we can open the mic of Liz.
Liz, would you like to add something on the President question on the report from Lizza?
In a way the technical difficulties allow me to get a little bit more information from the speech writers.
As Rolando flagged, the **** Commissioner has spoken on a lot of different issues related relating to COVID-19.
So what I can say is that a speech will will be global as you as you can well imagine, it will look at links to conflict tensions.
And also I think this is very important, the setbacks to development and just as important ways to build back, build back better.
So it will be a very global statement.
And before I go to Yens, no, I think we have done told us, told everything we needed to say, unless Rolando, you have still something to add, but I don't have.
OK, let's go to yes then.
Rolando and Elizabeth, stay with us because we have more from you.
Yes, Michael, Alessandra and good morning everyone, both online and in the room.
The 4th Brussels Conference on supporting Syria and the region, which is also the main pledging event for the Syria crisis, will take place next Tuesday.
Hosted by the EU in Brussels and Co, chaired by the United Nations, it is of course a virtual event which will be live streamed the the conference has in fact already started with wide online consultations with civil society organisations from Syria and the region.
These recommendations will feed into the **** level ministerial event on Tuesday.
So the event will start at 10:00 Geneva time, there's an online press conference at 12:30 and the final pledge announcement will be around 5:45 in the evening and we will send around a table with a breakdown of the pledges at that moment.
There is currently confirmation from 83 delegations which include 58 countries, many represented at foreign minister level, 12 regional organisations and international financial institutions and 13 UN agencies.
The E US **** Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Joseph Burrell will Co chair the conference on behalf of the European Union.
From the UN side, the conference is held under the auspices of the Secretary General who is represented there by Emergency Relief Coordinator Mark Lowcock, accompanied by the Special Envoy for Syria, Kia Peterson.
Other UN names include **** Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi, UNDP's administrator Ahim Steiner, and the executive director Henrietta Foe from UNICEF.
The conflict in Syria has now lasted longer than the first and Second World War combined.
A generation of children has known nothing but hardship, destruction and deprivation.
There are over 11 million people still inside Syria who need aid and protection.
The economy across the region is imploding in Syria.
It is imploding not least due to the impact of COVID-19.
Half of the pre war population, so that's a total of over 13 million people are either internally displaced or scattered across the world as refugees.
So the stakes in Brussels next weeks are very ****.
The civilians in Syria need us to continue the aid operation.
And of course, the next, next Tuesday is the opportunity for the world to show that we care.
And let me see if there are any questions.
And also in Syria, Elizabeth.
Katrina has raised her hand.
Is there any question from the room?
I'm not asking every time, but please raise your hand down if if you need me to give you the floor.
So Catherine and then Lisa.
I'd like to know if the humanitarian advisor, Najat Roshdi is going to attend that meeting as she has been appointed by the SG in another position.
And also when will she be replaced?
When we we know who is going to replace her.
Catherine I Najad is, is actually within the office of the special envoy.
So I cannot really answer that question.
We have all seen the, the the the appointment of her by the secretary general to, to another position.
But I, I'll have to ask you to, to go to, to Jennifer for more details on on that.
Yes, I've been asked this question, Catherine already.
And we have been consulted, of course, the office of the special envoy.
But basically for the moment, there is no announcement to make.
And you will be the first to know when it is announced.
I'm sorry, I I zoomed out for a moment while you were speaking.
How much money are you seeking at the pledging conference?
The humanitarian response, humanitarian response plan for the operations inside Syria is asking for $3.8 billion this year.
We're about 30% funded at this point in time.
Of course, the regional response plan for, for, for the neighbouring countries for, for, you know, mobilising resources for, for the refugee response, for the resilience response in those host countries will also be pledged.
Again, however, the, the, the countries that that are pledging are not limited to, to these two plans.
Those are of course the the biggest plans for for Syria, but there are there are other plants such as the Red Cross, Red Crescent and bilateral support that they can also pledge.
So there are no limits, limits to that.
But from from our side, humanitarian response plans 3.8 billion Musa we want the SQL programme the city of Syria wanted affected parallel American Cesar.
Yes, what what we are saying is we're, we're kind of reiterating the, the, the message from the secretary General that was made in in the context of COVID-19, but it's certainly, it's certainly relevant for this one as well.
Is that all all sanctions from whichever state or organisations take into account that it should not impede in any way should life saving humanitarian response.
Already most sanctions, not only the the most reasons, but most sanctions do have exceptions, particularly pertaining to humanitarian response.
Let's go to the next our still Syria.
We have another announcement from Elizabeth.
I would like to follow up on what Yan say about this pledging conference on the eve of this donor pledging conference for Syria.
Syria today is facing an unprecedented anger crisis as the prices of basic foods reach level unseen even at the aid of the nine year conflict.
Food prices are more than two 100% higher in less than a year.
WFP estimates that 9.3 million Syrians are now food insecure, with an increase of 1.4 million in the last six months alone.
Food prices are 20 times higher than their pre crisis level.
With the price of a basic food basket that cost 4000 Syrian pounds.
Pre conflict now is 76,000 Syrian pounds.
This give you an idea of the difficulty the families are facing.
Families in Syria are exhausted, they cannot cope anymore.
Each month, WFP provides food assistance to Four Point 8 million vulnerable people across all 14 Syrian governorates.
WFP urgently requires $200 million to continue to provide food assistance in Syria until the end of the year.
Unless new funding is available by August, WFP will be forced to drastically caltration as well as the number of people reached with food as of October 2020.
Food from WFP is a lifeline for these families.
We are grateful to donors, but they didn't have to do more urgently as these people cannot wait.
You will find the press release and a video link so you can use the video from the the.
And since I'm not seeing any question for you, stay with us because you also have a another item.
And OK, so Musa maybe want to ask you something.
Continue reporting assistance element there Lepan continues from Travi News espero cassette conference de Bayer the phone vapo report programme on a fellow situation.
This Syrian press enough, I need to conflict continue economic economy you wanted to ask something more or is that?
Merci Bucu, Elizabeth Jean Cornanos de la Parde Rosalind from Rosalind Yarde for a yellow Rosalind.
You should have all received the media advisory that we sent out yesterday about the launch next Tuesday, 30th of June of the 5th edition of the ILO Monitor and COVID-19 in the World of Work.
And this tracks the impact of the pandemic on workers and businesses worldwide.
And this new report includes revised estimates on the extent of labour market disruption created by the pandemic in the first half of 2020.
And it also offers 3 scenarios for the recovery phase in the second-half of the year.
So there'll be an embargoed virtual press briefing with ILO Director General Guy Ryder on Tuesday the 30th from 1400 to 1500 Geneva time.
And we'll be sending you the press release and the report on Monday.
That's the date the day before.
And the report on all associated materials will be under embargo until Tuesday at 1500 hours, Geneva time.
And we'll be sending you the audio of the briefing straight after and the video a short while after that.
And this launch of the Monitor takes a takes place ahead of an ILO virtual global Summit on COVID-19 in the world of work.
And this takes place between the 1st and the 2nd of July online and the second and the sorry and the 7th to the 9th of July.
And this will be the largest ever online gathering of workers, employers and governments.
And they'll be discussing how to address the economic and social impacts of the pandemic as well as measures for the post pandemic recovery.
They'll be examining a range of issues, including how to promote and productive employment, what needs to be addressed, what needs to be done to address the massive vulnerabilities in the world of work that's been exposed by the pandemic, which workers require particular support and attention.
How to place the reduction in elimination of poverty is essential objection of the recovery process.
And also how the international community can come together to really kind of re rededicate itself to the delivery of the, of the 2030 Agenda.
So as I said, the regional events take place online between the 1st and the 2nd of July.
On the first, there will be discussions in the Arab States and Europe, and on the second, Asia Pacific, Africa and the Americas.
And that's followed by the three days of global discussions from the 7th to the 9th of July.
And you'll be able to follow all of the discussions online live and we'll be sending you a media advisory today with more information and links to the page where you will be able to follow the discussions.
Rosalyn's questions for Rosalyn for a yellow Catherine.
Rosalyn, if I understood well, if you said you mentioned 1st and 2nd July and the seven and the 9, is that correct?
7 to the 9th, that's right.
The the 1st and 2nd of July, the regional events that are taking place and the 7th to the 9th, that's 7th, 8th and 9th are the global discussions.
OK, so a last announcement on my side, as I told you before, I will start up with that.
Today is the UN Charter, 75 years from the signing of the UN Charter.
There are two events that are organised online by our colleagues at the headquarters to which you can in which you can participate if you wish.
The first one is the very first UN 75 all female panel on megatrends.
This is going to happen at 2:00 PM New York time today and above all starting 9:00 AM New York Times.
So it's 3:00 if I'm not wrong, Geneva time, the official UN Charter Day event with the participation of a number of very **** level speakers.
And what we will do is that we'll send you this information by e-mail, but in person today in here at the Paladinacion you will have the possibility to join us for a an event organised by the Swiss Mission.
Who is going to donate to the Paladin?
Assume to the UN office at Geneva a beautiful ephemeral work of art that you may have already seen on the lawn in front of the Palais.
So that will happen at 5:00 and you are kindly invited to join because we will have the possibility to give you the floor.
You will be able to ask questions to the Director General and to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Switzerland, Mr Kassis.
Mr Kassis will also give you a press conference, a hybrid press conference from this room and online at 4:00 PM, so just before the event on Switzerland's commitment to the United Nations.
So we hope you will see you here and online numerous.
So I thank you very much.
Let's go now to COVID issues and I'll start with Elizabeth, again online.
Elizabeth Dears, you have the floor.
OK, I would like to talk about the the impact of COVID-19 on food security in Afghanistan.
The COVID-19 has turned from a health emergency to a food and livelihood crisis in Afghanistan.
The socio economic impact is eating the most vulnerable communities hardest both in urban and rural area.
We can see now the new face of anger shifting from rural areas to urban areas because of this COVID-19.
An estimated 12.4 million people are facing acute food insecurity which is between the phase three and four due to conflict, **** food prices and impact of course of COVID-19.
Out of this number, 4 million people are facing emergency level of food insecurity which is phase 4.
You know that there are five faces and the last face is unfortunately funny and this 4 million people need urgent assistance.
The shocks imposed by pandemic will be particularly hard for more than one in four Afghan 29% who rely on day labour and low income jobs to sustain their lives.
While the upcoming harvest promises some relief, lockdowns and other measures to stop the spread of the virus threaten to push vulnerable community deeper into despair.
Many farmers are already borrowing money to survive and will be left with nothing to plant in the next season.
Rural communities are still recovering for the worst drought in 2000, 2018-2019.
In urban centres, the negative economic effect of COVID-19 are likely to counteract, unfortunately, the positive impacts of their arms.
Rising food prices are putting food out of reach for many families.
To ensure food for vulnerable Afghans is available and affordable, WFP calls on government to keep borders open to allow the flow of food between Afghanistan and its neighbours.
Afghanistan is facing a deficit of 1.5 million metric tonne of wheat grain in 2020.
Similar to past years, it is crucial that the northern border with Central Asia country remain open.
An open border with Pakistan is equally important, as it is through here that most commercial and humanitarian cargo reaches landlocked Afghanistan and congestion at Crosspoint is already impacting WFP supply chain.
WFP urgently requires an additional $53,000,000 in the second-half of 2020 to provide assistance for an extra 3 million people impacted by COVID-19.
The United Nation Humanitarian Air Service is also critical to enable the entire humanitarian community to respond to the COVID-19 crisis in Afghanistan.
Additional funding of 7.4 million is required to sustain the service until the end of the year.
You have more details in the notes that I sent.
And on the same subject, I'll give the floor to Marik C to talk to tell us about the child malnutrition numbers in Afghanistan.
Can you hear me very well?
I just wanted to add one or two stats to what Elizabeth has said with the in terms of what this is doing to children.
So our latest data show that the number of children below 5 years old suffering from life threatening malnutrition has risen from 690,000 in January to an estimated 780,000 in May.
This 13% increase over the short period of time is incredibly alarming.
Children suffering from severe acute malnutrition, especially those with other complications such as measles or diarrhoea, are at death's door.
They require specialised treatment.
So Elizabeth has talked about the points on food security, prices and access.
It means that coping strategies have been stretched to the limit.
Hospitals are struggling, and even where services are available, families are afraid to bring children in for inpatient treatment because they're afraid of contagion.
We fear the worst is yet to come.
It is vital that nutrition services both at the community and the facility level are scaled up to prevent more children from slipping into severe malnutrition and to make sure that life saving treatment is available for those that do.
Thank you very much, Merixi and Elizabeth Tamer.
Merixi, I wonder if you have a different e-mail address rather than yours?
M Mercado at UNICEF because I send you 5 emails without any answer from your part.
Therefore I doubt that I have a wrong e-mail account.
Could you please verify your e-mail address please?
My e-mail address is correct, Tamara and I have not gotten an e-mail from you that I have not responded to.
Yes, the last one was today at 10:00.
And yes, and it's a 5 emails without any answers.
Manixi will check on this.
And Lisa, do you have a question on Afghanistan?
Just very quickly here, Elizabeth, you were talking about your need for $7.5 million for the UN Humanitarian Air Service.
I mean you you gave an alarming report last week which I covered among other things.
And have you received no contributions since then?
I mean that that would report was really terrible and you know, wondering whether you have received anything and if not, are you going to go through with your ****** to what is it to to close down actually the the most of the service and then very quickly for you.
Marixi, could you please send your notes to us on what you just said on Afghanistan?
So you'll have the notes.
Elizabeth Lisa, so far I haven't received an update on the funding regarding the common services budget, which requires 909 hundred and $65 million for the all the logistic aspects.
Of course we are we, we hope and we are confident that the donor will respond to, to our urgent call for to fund these services.
The humanitarian Air service is really critical in all this country.
And for instance, the Humanitarian Air service in Afghanistan has set up an international air bridge connecting Kabul with Qatar three times a week to allow the humanitarian community as well as member of diplomatic mission to rotate their staff for business continuity and rest and recuperation among other needs.
So this is badly needed despite the challenges we have and as continue flying to domestic location across Afghanistan with strict precaution to minimise risk of infection and tech passenger.
We said that if we have not received funding by the end of the first week of July, we will have to ground the the flights.
But so far, we still hope that donors will respond swiftly.
And I, if I have some figure about the funding, I will share with all of you.
Thank you very much, Elizabeth.
OK, so now let's go to Elizabeth Russell to Liz Trussell and Marixi will send you the the notes.
I hope I'm now properly unmuted and you can hear me very well.
We issued a press release about 20 minutes ago that you should have received on Mali, where some 580 civilians have been killed so far this year in central Mali.
As a deteriorating security situation and widespread impunity undermine efforts to protect civilians, violent disputes between the Pearl and the Doggone communities have increased in recent months.
Community based militias, initially formed to defend communities, have become increasingly violent and involved in attacks against other communities.
From the 1st of January to the 21st of June, the Human Rights and Protection Division of the Multidimensional Integrated Stabilisation Mission in Mali Munusma documented 83 incidents of violence across communal lines in multi region in central Mali.
Militias from the Pearl community, who are primarily herders, were responsible for at least 71 of these incidents, leading to the deaths of 210 people.
Those from the Doggone community, who are mainly farmers and hunters, carried out 12 attacks, leaving at least 82 people dead.
Individuals were also abducted, forced to join militias or displaced.
Attackers were clearly aiming to inflict major and lasting damage on the communities, looting houses, properties, granaries and killing or stealing cattle.
These attacks across community lines have also been fuelled and instrumentalized by groups such as Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghrib, the Islamic State in the Great Sahara and the group to Support Islam and Muslims.
They've used the intercommunal violence to recruit members into their ranks.
These armed groups have increased their presence in the central region as they continue to be challenged in the north of Mali by national and international armed forces.
According to information documented by the Human Rights and Protection Division, since the start of the year, these groups have been responsible for 105 human rights abuses in the Mokti region, including 67 killings.
Members of the Malian Defence and Security Forces sent to the area to counter community based violence and armed groups have themselves been involved in human rights violations, mostly targeting members of the Pearl community.
So far this year, the Human Rights and Protection Division has documented 230 extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions attributed to members of the Malian Defence and Security Forces in the central regions of Mopti and Segal.
47 of these killings, which occurred in five incidents in March 2020, are attributed to the Malian Defence and Security Forces presumably acting under the command of the joint force of the Group of Five for the Sahel, the G5 Sahel.
Instances of enforced disappearances, torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, arbitrary arrest and the destruction of several properties have also been documented.
All these violations and abuses have been perpetrated in a context of overwhelming impunity.
The lack of accountability continues to erode the population's confidence in state institutions, with people relying on militias and armed groups to provide security, The **** Commissioner, Michelle Bachelet, has said.
The vicious cycle of retaliatory attacks between Dogon and Pearl militias, coupled with the violations and abuses committed by Malian defence and security forces and armed groups, has created a situation of chronic insecurity for the civilian population who were not able to count on the protection of the Malian forces.
She said the government and national forces should restore state authority across the country and deliver peace, security and protection for the for the people.
This protective environment can only be possible if impunity ends and all perpetrators, including some members of the defence and security forces, are held accountable for their actions.
People need justice, redress and reparations.
The **** Commissioner is calling on the Malian authorities to establish prompt, thorough, impartial and independent investigations into all alleged human rights violations and abuses and to ensure proper accountability processes and are established.
This is, she says, the only way to reverse this trend of continuing violence.
Thank you very much, Liz.
Let me see, is there any question for Liz in the room online now?
Claire, you are in the room with me and that's nice changes social distancing.
The World Meteorological Organisation has today issued its annual airborne Dust bulletin.
It gives details on the incidents and the hazards of sand and dust storms.
These obviously have been highlighted by a massive Saharan dust plume which has blanketed many parts of the Caribbean.
We've all seen the photos of, you know, day turning into, Into Darkness.
Even the rainwater has turned, you know, has turned a muddy colour.
It's, it's, it's very dramatic.
The dust plume arrived from North Africa into the Eastern Caribbean on the 17th of June and it's since affected a wide area of the Greater Caribbean area area.
In addition to the you know to to disrupting transport and and daily lives, sand and dust storms obviously have a major, major impact on people's health.
Martinique, Guadalupe and Puerto Rico classed air quality levels in the hazardous category with record values of PM 10, which is a particulate matter which can penetrate into the lungs causing respiratory problems and and heart issues.
Martinique and Guadeloupe reported PM 10 concentrations higher than 400 micrograms per cubic metre and Puerto Rico higher than 500 micrograms per cubic metre.
This is the highest observed in the last 20 years of data.
We're collaborating with two experts in the region on this.
They're part of our sand and dust storm warning and advisory system and they both say this dust event is of truly historic proportions.
There's more details of this in the briefing.
Note that we've that we've that we've sent out sand and dust storms obviously are not a new phenomena.
They are major, major hazards.
Every year, about 22000 million tonnes of dust enters the atmosphere.
Much of this is a natural process, but a large part of it is the result of poor water and Land Management.
You'll get, as I said, more details in the note that we've, that we've sent, we've sent out.
But as I said, you know, in the Caribbean at the moment, it's, it's been described as an event of historic proportions Last night and apologies, it wasn't issued under embargo.
Last night we issued a press release on 2 new world records for a single flash of lightning.
We call them mega flashes.
We've never been able to measure them before to this extent.
They're verified with with new satellite lightning imagery.
So the first world record, which is, which is absolutely mind boggling, the world's greatest extent for a single lightning flash in terms of distance covered 709 kilometres across parts of southern Brazil on the 31st of October 2018.
This is the equivalent of the distance between Boston and Washington or between London and the border of Switzerland in, in, in Basel.
It's it's, it's, it's, it's, it's phenomenal.
The greatest duration for a single lightning flash is 16.73 seconds.
And that was a flash that developed over northern Argentina on the 1st of March 2019.
The new records effectively double the old records which were observed in Oklahoma and France.
It's not so much that, you know, lightning is getting worse, it's, it's more the fact that we can measure it.
We now have the technology to measure, you know, these incredible mega flashes in what are quite often fairly remote areas.
As I said, we issued that press release last night and the if you've got any questions, please let me know.
Claire, I have two questions for you.
The first is that at the last press briefing, you mentioned that you were trying to verify a record temperature in the Arctic of 38°.
I was wondering if you had been able to verify that.
And the second one concerns the sandstorm.
Are the sandstorms only moving westward because you know, you said they've moved over to the the Caribbean.
The first question, yes, we have received information from the Russian meteorological service Ross Hydramet.
They're saying, you know that, that it was a temperature of 38°C.
As to whether this is a new record for north of the Arctic Circle, that will take some time to evaluate.
And the reason, the reason that it does is, you know, we want to get it right.
We have to set up a committee of experts.
We have to look at all the evidence.
We have to make sure that the instruments that they were measuring with, you know, conform to international norms.
As I said, it's because we want to get it right.
Just to give you an indication, the investigation into the new lightning extreme that took about a year.
And as I said, you know, we, what we don't want to happen is that we've announced a new world record and then it's overturned, you know, because there's a dodgy measurement or something, or something like that on sand and dust storms.
It's, it's, it's a global problem at the, at the moment, you know, the, this dust plume has been carried across the Atlantic by, by very strong winds.
It's something that happens every year.
This year it's particularly bad, but it's not just in that direction.
You know, we see major sand and dust storms in, in, in all parts of the world.
For instance, in in Switzerland, you know, there are occasions when you might go outside and you, you know, you see that your, your car or an object outside has got a thin layer of dust on.
So that is dust which has come up from this Sahara northwards.
There are major sand and dust problems in in many parts of Asia.
Iran is is a country which is particularly badly affected.
So it's, you know, all directions depends, depends on the winds.
But the the important thing is, you know, it can they, they can sand and dust is carried, you know, hundreds, if not thousands of miles.
Thank you very much, Claire.
Thanks a lot for this briefing.
And I'll turn to Christian in person on our podium, Ebola in the Congo.
Actually, I'll, I start with ACT accelerator if that's OK.
Start with what you want.
So it's good, good to be back here again.
Interesting for everything.
So first you should have received the invitation for a technical update and followed by virtual press briefing today on the ACT Accelerator.
That is the accelerator, which deals with diagnostics, theropolitics, vaccines.
The technical briefing today will be moderated by Doctor Bruce Aylward.
He's WHO senior advisor and head of the ACT Accelerator Coordination Hub.
It's supposed to start at 2:00, and the virtual press briefing is then starting at 2:30.
So there's a bit of confusion in the announcements.
So the technical update starts at 2, the virtual briefing right at 2:13, but I think you can log in for both.
The pillars will the couple of **** level speakers, of course, Dr Tedros will be opening.
Then we have an overview by Sir Andrew Witty, Special Envoy for the ACT Accelerator.
The four pillars or the pillars will be represented in diagnostics by Doctor Peter Sands, Executive Director of the Global Fund.
Therapeutics are represented by Doctor Philip Dunton, Executive Director at the interim at Unitaid.
Vaccines represented by the Sumya Swaminathan, Chief Scientist of WHO and the Health Systems Connector represented by Doctor Mohammed Patti, Global Director for Health Nutrition Population at the World Bank Group.
And there are a couple of other speakers including Doctor Seemao, Assistant Director General for access to medicines, vaccines and pharmaceuticals.
And interesting programme today, please tune in for more on diagnostic zeroportics and vaccines in relation to COVID-19.
Bear with me a second because due to the semi virtual version, I'm also doing WHO breed here.
Yeah, yes, interestingly, as you should will have noticed yesterday from the press release, the media, the the Ebola outbreak in Eastern DRC is too busy considered over as of yesterday.
This is something which I think went fairly unnoticed and in the in the in the hype around all the other events which are ongoing right now.
The full incubation periods have passed.
These were 42 days since the last person with Ebola recovered and tested negative for the virus.
This means transmission has been stopped.
It was the second largest Ebola outbreak in the world and the first in an active conflict zone.
There were 3470 cases, 2280 deaths and 1171 survivors counted.
But the response is not over.
We expect flare ups and we must continue supporting the survivors.
The declaration of the end of the outbreak does not mean that the job is done.
We must be prepared for flare ups by keeping rapid response teams and support systems in place.
It is also imperative that ongoing survivor support continues so that survivors have good medical care support to reduce the stigma many face in their communities and to mitigate the risks of reintroduction or relapse events from this community.
One last sentence maybe on this.
The credit for ending this outbreak goes first and foremost to the affected, affected and affected communities.
The outbreaks begin and end in communities.
It was the engagement, acceptance, hard work, and leadership from communities that ultimately ended this outbreak.
The sacrifices made by these communities stopped Ebola from spreading globally.
We owe them our gratitude and we owe them support to build on the gains made in this response to address other health challenges.
At the height of the outbreak, 16,000 local frontline responders were working alongside WHO on the response, in addition to many other people working with UN and national and international partners.
Thank you very much, Christian.
I just have a quick question on the ACT accelerator briefing later on the update.
Does that mean you'll have like any results from the drug studies or what exactly are we to expect from the update?
I mean, is it like new studies that are launched or changes in protocols just to get an idea, It would be a bit premature for me to speculate on what they will be talking about today.
And there's an embargo set until 3:00, you might think on a on a press release, which is supposed to come out.
But at the same time and up, we expect updates on all fronts.
That's all I can say at this point.
And it would be interesting to tune in to get the, the, the, the best knowledge and where we are at this point in time.
Gabriela, yes, thank you, Kristen, Hi, very nice to see you.
There's a confusion and I know that you, I mean, WTO has been talking about testing a lot, but once again, there's a confusion in Mexico because they say that testing is not recommended by WTO, like massive testing.
So can you explain and can you clarify what do you expect in a country like Mexico in testing is laboratory testing?
You know, how to whom do you have to test?
I mean, what is your recommendation in this issue?
Surveillance is of utmost importance in this coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak.
The the better you survey, the better you test, treat and trace every single case there are contacts, the better you you you follow up with the contacts, quarantine them if necessary, or isolate positive tested people.
The better you do this, the less stringent measures may have to be that the that governments will have to put on their population.
It's a very simple picture.
If you if you can see where where the virus is, you can respond with very targeted measures and don't have to put a blanket response or blanket lockdown measures, for example.
The better you survey, the better you know the picture.
You can respond with individual measures.
So testing, surveying, treating and tracing is of utmost importance.
The first one is regarding the Ebola and it, it is the end of the 10th outbreak, but the 11 outbreak is still going on if I understood well in the region of Bandaka in Ecuador.
That is my first question that you I would like you to confirm.
And the second thing is yesterday when the the press conference took place with the the people from WHO Afro and the the people from DRC, the Minister of Health of DRC said that DRC Congo was the country that was sharing the largest number of sequences of COVID-19 with the world.
And also this gives me an opportunity to point out that today also is an emergency committee meeting, the IHR emergency committee meeting today on Ebola viral disease in the Democratic Republic of Congo, due to start at 1:00, shortly after we finish here and schedule until 1600.
The role of this committee today is looking into the question whether the events in North Kiwi, Ituri Province still constitute a public health emergency.
And 2nd, if that was so, what would be the recommendations?
So that's the key issue today.
We will issue a statement or we'll send out the statement by the emergency committee once this is finished and done.
So we expect this to be still in the course of this afternoon slash evening, yes, But you're right, of course we have a new outbreak unfortunately in the West in the Ecuador province.
We have had another ray of hope from Ecuador province actually with a second Ebola survivor discharged from an Ebola treatment centre in Columba health zone there.
We are building on the lessons learned in previous outbreaks.
Obviously W Joe is supporting health authorities to conduct ring vaccinations with people at **** risk of Ebola.
This is extremely important, as it has been before, as from previous experiences we know that the vaccinations help to create a firewall which prevents the spread of Ebola.
Due to expertise that built up during the past two years fighting Ebola in eastern DRC, we have been able to ramp up the ring vaccinations rapidly and in just three weeks have managed to vaccinate more than 5000 people.
So this is really important.
We have moved quickly to fill the gap in vaccines with 9200 vaccine doses arriving in Kinshasa from Geneva on 17th June and as of 24 June, more than 6000 of these vaccine doses had arrived in Mandaka from where batches are being sent to the affected health zones.
On the COVID questions, I don't have information on how many percentages or reports were coming from there.
I don't have that with me.
I just wanted to see if you could give us a reaction.
The at The Who Europe briefing yesterday, Doctor Kluga listed 11 countries that are facing pretty accelerated growth in transmission and it lumped in Sweden among a bunch of countries from Eastern Europe in particular.
And this this morning, the chief epidemiologist of, of Sweden is, is now lashing out at WHO, calling it a mistake, a total mistake to put to put Sweden on the list with those other countries.
The he went on to say that it's a misjudgment of the Swedish data.
So could you just respond to that?
I mean, just give us a flavour as to whether or not you think there could be some mistake in evaluation of that of that data.
Yes, I've seen these reports or these updates, but at the same time, I have to refer to the colleagues in the European Office in Copenhagen who are dealing with these with this question.
I have no update on that for you.
And then we go to IOM and HCR.
After the restrictions are lifted in Switzerland, we see any increase in the number of cases.
For example, yesterday we saw 52 cases and day before over 40 cases.
We see the same trend in some other European countries, like my home country in Turkey.
So do you think in Switzerland we are under the risk now after the restorations are lifted?
Well, let's not forget this.
This is something we have been warning against already in the in the steps we described on how to slowly go step by step in easing a lockdown.
So we have always been saying that when countries ease lockdowns, we can expect a rise in cases again.
But of course, the critical point here is to monitor these these rises.
And if you recall what we said in the very early stages or what we've been saying for months actually, when these strong measures were implemented around the world, is that the measures are meant to flatten the curve.
If you remember that that that famous term and to bring it under a threshold where the health systems can cope with the influx of patients, not only on covet, but that hospitals remain able to deal with all the other health emergencies and normal health cases, health cases in the just as well with, with broken legs and with heart diseases and anything.
So the health system must be able to cope with it.
Most of these countries brought the level down below this threshold.
It was not like a faucet at what turned off the daily increase of cases went under a certain threshold.
And that's when starting countries started to ease the lockdowns or the measures on their.
The lockdown is, I don't like that term started to ease the measures on their population because it's also after months of being under strong pressure, it is important for people to start mixing again, go about a fairly normal life, to interact as good as possible, but always respecting the safety measures like we have them in this room here we can meet and we can discuss, but we have to respect certain measures from the hand hygiene, mouth hygiene, sneeding hygiene and so on and so forth.
So, but back to the cases, once the health system is able to cope with a certain expected rise in cases, then we should be good and the every National Health system will make their own individual assessment where their threshold is, how many cases a day of rise they can cope with and when they will have to reinstall measures or do something else.
It's is in the responsibility of his country and coming back to what we said before, the surveillance is therefore of utmost importance.
When you know what your picture is in your country, you may be able to only put a measure on a certain place, on a certain company, on a certain town, in an area or in certain restrictions, without putting a blanket measure over the whole population.
That would be the target as long as we have to bring down the community transmission to only clusters of cases or only individual cases or sporadic cases, we will not get completely rid of as long the COVID-19, as long as this outbreak still lasts, as long as we don't have a vaccine or anything.
So this is this, we will have to learn to live with it under normal circumstances.
So in terms of what you say, what I understand, it's everything's under the control in Switzerland.
So not in the world because they haven't reached the threshold.
That's that's totally up to the Swiss authorities to measure where their where their tolerance of, of renewed increases are and what their measures and response would be when, when, when they see a certain amount of rises of rising cases.
So that's something again with all the guidance coming from the World Health Organisation, what the national authorities will have to look at.
Thank you very much, Gabriella.
I'm sorry I'm we are very late.
We've got still 3 speakers and the room is to be freed in a little while.
So I will ask Gabriella to then send you a question to Christian directly and I'll turn to my left.
Babar, it's nice to see you in room 3 again.
So Babar and Paul for HCRNIOM will brief you on the Rohingya migrants rescued by Indonesian fishermen.
Thank you very much, dear Alexandra.
It's so great to be back here.
There's after a long while hope.
All of us have been staying safe and doing all we need to do to prevent COVID-19.
Today we're trying to join voices with our colleagues at IOM about both disembarkation in Indonesia Ache province.
Some 99 desperate presumed Rohingya refugees were rescued and brought ashore, and these included a large number of women and children.
The group may have been at the sea for months.
As you're aware, we have seen the movements of of desperate Rohingyas in the region.
Unisia was present at the disembarkation point, having been in close coordination with the local and central authorities on the boat movements for the last weeks.
We are monitoring situation closely, monitoring the situation of the refugees, working in coordination with the local authorities in North Ache and E Ache to provide any assistance needed by the group.
We are deeply concerned for the safety and health of the refugees on the boat.
That's why UNICIA is very grateful to the Indonesian government, local authorities and fishermen for allowing safety disembarkation to the group.
We are present to assist the authorities in providing immediate life saving assistance and we and our partners stand ready to lend our support to the government in providing any assistance for quarantine processes to the refugees in line with the international standards and public health protocols.
As vulnerable women, men and children continue to undertake these risky journeys in the Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea, we with our partners emphasise the urgent need for states to work together towards a regional solution to irregular maritime movements.
UNICIAR reiterates It's call for the states in the region to come together on the principles of solidarity and responsibility sharing to address the protection and humanitarian needs of refugees and asylum seekers at CI.
Yes, Paul, you have the floor from IOM.
So the dateline is North Hachi, Indonesia.
The International Organisation for Migration has joined the coordinated efforts to help 99 Rohingya, mostly women and children, rescued by local fishermen on Wednesday after being stranded at sea for more than 120 days.
By our count, we have 49 women, 33 children and 17 men who are allowed to disembark yesterday with the agreement of the local community who are concerned about the welfare of the children.
Now IO Ms four person advance team is currently providing medical and operational support with registration and the initial assessment of the group as well as much needed food, water and hygiene packaging speaking.
To an IOM staffer via an interpreter this morning, a spokesperson from the group said that they just set off from Balukhali camp in Cox's Bazar in Bangladesh four months and 10 days ago.
He said that they were all originally from Rakhine state in Myanmar.
He added that one woman died on the journey, leaving behind two children.
Three children, two of them siblings and a 10 year old girl were unaccounted.
The group also includes one pregnant woman, their spokesman said.
Quote We set off on foot through the hills to Cox's Bazaar from where we took small boats that brought us to a bigger boat at sea.
Captain of the big boat was a man from Myanmar.
Our original destination was supposed to be Malaysia, where we were supposed to pay 10,000 ringgit, which is roughly 2300 U.S.
Upon arrival, he said that the boat was arranged by a Rohingya who lived abroad.
Rapid tests for COVID-19 conducted last night revealed that all were clear, which is good news as we're very mindful, of course, of community concerns over public health issues and we're providing ongoing support to the authorities through our medical teams alongside UNH Press registration team.
Roughly 1400 Rohingya found themselves stranded at sea during the 2002 thousand 20 sailing season, which typically ends with the arrival of the monsoon early June.
At least 130 people have died.
Malaysian officials report at least 300 are on a vessel off the coast of Kodong Island in Thailand now.
During the 2015 Andaman Sea crisis, Indonesia agreed to accept several stranded vessels loaded with migrants on humanitarian grounds.
A total of 1820 Rohingya and Bangladeshi nationals were absorbed into islands caseloads at that time.
I'm happy to take any questions you may have.
Thank you very much Paul.
Lisa has raised her hand.
Good morning and nice to see you still.
Sorry for, for both of you.
I, I I'm sort of confused.
I mean, they've been stranded at sea for 120 days now.
Were there attempts by these refugees to disembark in any ports?
And were they refused the right to disembark or I mean, surely people must have known that they were stranded somewhere.
And if you could send your notes, Bubba.
In, in terms of the situation these desperate refugees have been, we are now focusing on their welfare.
Really the effort is to stabilise their condition as, as it was mentioned, you know, if you're out at the sea on a rickety vote for months, you must be in, in a desperate situation.
So the, the immediate efforts as as were mentioned, we, we are trying to look after their, their welfare, trying to offer our assistance to the authorities on on the ground and the local communities also who helped us and, and, and these desperate people to disembark.
So that's the focus right now.
And, and beyond that, I mean, we, we, we have seen reports of other desperate people being out there.
2015 Andaman crisis was out there.
We don't want to see a repeat of these episodes where desperate people are stuck at the, at the sea, stranded without any rescue.
So that's why the call on the region is to come together and repeat some of the good examples they have set in terms of saving desperate lives in the sea.
So UNICR is present there.
We have access to to these individuals who will try to find out more in the coming days.
Paul, do you want to add anything?
Paul, do you want to add anything?
I mean, look, right now the focus is on making sure that that the the basic needs of these of these people are met.
And it's support is provided, of course, to the community because I mean, these are, you know, relatively modest fishing communities along the, the coast of Avache hard up on the, on the, the Malacca Strait, the busiest shipping lane on, on the planet.
What I can tell you, we don't know the, the entire back story, but what we, what we do know, of course, is that June 8th, we had the 269 migrants who were individuals who were arrived in Malaysia by boat, in a, in a rickety boat.
And we know that at least on at least three other occasions since the month of March, the Malaysian authorities have allowed vessels to land.
We know from past experience that the destination for Rohingya in that area is to go to Malaysia.
That's their target destination.
And working with our friends at HCR, I'm sure in the coming days, we'll get a much clearer picture about what what was going what, what did the journey that this vessel took, how they managed to survive for 4 / 4 months.
And of course, you know, just to reiterate the what Babar was saying, I mean, we are deeply concerned there remains at least one other vessel off the coast of Thailand.
Last month, on the 28th of May, IOM issued a statement, our director general asking for safe embarkation mechanisms to be engaged and for people to be allowed to get to safety, particularly as the monsoon season is now started in the Bay of Bengal.
Thank you, Mick, can you hear me?
I just want to check this latest boat that you're talking about came from Cox's Bazaar.
Did the June 8th one come from Cox's Bazaar?
Are we seeing all the Rohingyas who are leaving now essentially coming from Cox's Bazaar or are we also still seeing boats leaving from Rakhine State?
Nick, in terms of the rescues, what that tells us people who have been rescued and brought ashore, we know that some 700 were rescued by Bangladesh in, in last couple of months or or weeks and 400 of them went back to their families in, in Cox's Bazar.
In terms of exactly knowing where people are moving from is is very, very difficult.
But the reality remains that vulnerable women, men and children are on the move, on the move at the sea.
And we quite often see desperate situations where the need of to save a life is is urgent.
And these people, as they come in, in contact with authorities in the region, in a desperate state, they need to be rescued and disembarked and and given access to safety.
I mean, the unpacking the backstories on some of these cases is very difficult.
And knowing specifically where people departed from is is more difficult than you than you would expect.
I mean, I think personally, I think one of the there's two striking elements about this particular case.
The first is the response of the Achanese fisherman.
Now there's a history behind this 2015 with a similar kind of circumstances where vessels for those of you who'll recall the Andaman Sea crisis, the vessels at enormous risk, thousands of people trapped up from the Andaman Sea.
And again, it was, it was actually fishermen who adhered to A, to a traditional, what they call Ada hukumlaout traditional value system on the sea that it compels them to step into these kinds of situations and rescue people who are, who are at risk.
Just clearly a very admirable and humanitarian action on their part.
So that's one of the striking features, the striking feature, but the space, of course, is the **** number of women and children.
And I think our friends at UNHCR ourselves are, are looking at that and trying to determine how it was that you have only 17 men on the vessel for those of you who've seen the who've seen the videos and so on as many young children there.
And so these details will, will, will unfold in the coming minutes.
Thank you very much to both of you.
And I go now to Jean, Jean Rodriguez, you have a briefing on Ghana.
We're glad to announce today that to announce Ghana's accession to the convention on the protection and use of transboundary water courses and international lakes.
The so-called water convention are serviced by UNECE and also to the Convention on the low of the Non Navigational uses of International Water courses also called the Water Courses Convention and this happened on 24 June.
Ghana is the third African country to join our water convention after Chad and Senegal who joined in the 2018.
Several other countries in Africa including Cote d'Ivoire and Togo which share share water baskins with Ghana.
Also Cameroon and the Central African Republic are in advanced stages of the national accession process to the convention.
Ghana's transboundary river basins, namely the Volta River basin, which it shares with Bena, Bocina, Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Mali and Togo, is home to over 23 million people and with a population that is expected to more than double by 2050.
It also shares other the Baya and Tano rivers shared with Cote d'Ivoire and the Todzier AKA basin shared with Togo.
All these shared river basins cover approximately 75% of the country's land surface and generates around 80% of freshwater flow.
These shared water resources provide water for drinking, sanitation, agriculture, which accounts for approximately for between depending on the country's 54 and 85% of employment in the Volta Basin countries hydropower and industrial needs.
The basins link the population across borders, creating socio economic interdependencies between the requiring countries.
Transboundary cooperation in these shared basins is therefore critical to ensure sustainable development and preserve regional stability, especially in the context of rising water stress linked to climate change.
It is also crucial to ensure access to safe water and sanitation which is vital for hygiene in the face of the current COVID-19 pandemic, the Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources of Ghana, Her Excellency Cecilia Abena Dapa commented.
Ghana encourages the other repairing countries also to accede to both the conventions in order to strengthen our international cooperation and national measures for the sound utilisation, management and development of transboundary surface waters and groundwater resources.
And our Executive Secretary, Olga Al Gairva also commented, thanked and congratulated Ghana for exceeding and said this important step signals the mounting political momentum for water cooperation in Africa, harnessing the two United Nation Water Conventions as a foundation for sustainable development, conflict prevention and climate change adaptation.
UNEC will continue its collaboration with countries, regional and sub regional organisations to promote and implement the two global water conventions.
I call on all UN Member States sharing water resources to join and make full use of these instruments.
Entry into for the accession is the entry into force of the accession by Ghana is will happen 90 days from now on the 21st of September this year.
Jean, I think Katherine has a question for you.
Salut a question regarding the accession process of Cameroon and Carr, when do you think that they will complete the the process?
The process will be completed for our income rule.
I have no details available now, but I will check if we have more.
As you know, this is quite a lengthy process in all countries involving very different steps of drafting and then putting this into table tabling that for to Parliament for accession.
So that's usually takes a year and a half, two years.
But again, I don't have specific details on the two countries you asked.
I'll need to check with the colleagues if we have any any more details on the timeline and and regarding regarding car what did is it going to bring them practically because the country, as you know is in a very desperate situation.
So, well, the, the immediate benefits are obviously depending on the, on the, on each situation, what we see as a clear sign.
And this is what the the interest in, in Western Africa is showing water, shared water is already a very, very acute problem in, in most of these countries, access to water for agriculture, but also for human consumption.
And the convention brings a framework for cooperation with the neighbours.
And this is, this is the core of the matter, having tools to sit down and organise to the best extent possible and to the most sustainably possible manner the use of these and the access to this shared water resources.
So I don't have specific details on the car situation, but the, the, the peace and security angle of water cooperation is obviously very evident for these countries.
So discussing with the neighbours and putting in place robust frameworks is, is very important.
I don't see any other questions.
So thanks to all our speakers.
A few final announcements before we close.
First of all, Peter had asked me last week about the conference on, sorry, the last briefing on the Conference on Disarmament.
And I'm happy to announce that the conference will hold 2 plenary meetings.
So those who had been cancelled for technical reasons, they will hold them on next Tuesday, 30th of June from 12:50 and from 3:00 to 6:00.
And that will be in room 17 of the Paladinacion under the presidency of Robert Mueller of Austria.
So Peter, you have your answer here.
Also would like to mention that today is not just the chatter day, as we've said at the beginning, but it's also the International Day against Drug ***** and Illicit Trafficking.
We've sent you the message of the Secretary General and also the message on the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture that we also commemorate today.
So we have these two messages we've sent has been sent to you.
Just two reminders for the press conferences of last next week we have one on Monday 29th of June at 2:00 PM.
This is a press conference given to you by UNFPA to present their new report, State of World Population Report 2020 Against my will.
Defying the practises that harm women and girls and undermine equality.
This report is under embargo until Tuesday, the 30th of June at 6:00 AM, six O 1:00 AM at Geneva time.
So you have this press conference and the other one on Wednesday, 1st of July at 3:00 PM.
It's on COVID-19 and tourism, assessing the economic consequences with Pamela Koch Hamilton, Director of the Division of International Trade and Commodities of Anktad, and Ralph Peters was the lead author of the report.
The UNFPA briefing is hybrid.
The Anktad briefing is virtual and I think I've told you everything.
If there are no other questions, I will just say have a nice weekend.
