Welcome to the press briefing of the Information Service of the UN in Geneva.
Today is Friday 28th of February.
This briefing closes a very busy week.
Thank you very much for having been with us over the opening of the Human Rights Council.
The other important event took place at the Palais this week.
So let's start this briefing with Anktad.
David Vivas was the chief trade, environment and sustainable development branch of Anktad to tell us about the upcoming Ocean Forum in the Palace.
Yes, just give you the the logistics about that.
Anktad will organise as of Monday until next Wednesday and the 5th UN Ocean Forum in Room 19, as well as a very interesting Expo and displayed on the third floor of the building.
Ocean is essential to life, we all know that it sustains biodiversity, regulates the climate and generate oxygens while supporting food security, creating jobs and driving global trade.
But oceans are threatened by climate change, overfishing and pollution.
600 million people worldwide rely on fisheries and other ocean related activities for their livelihoods.
This forum is a collective effort to align trade and economic policies with ocean sustainability and the sustainable use of marine resources.
We are in front of an ocean of opportunities.
But I will give now the floor to David, who's David Piras, who's the expert, the ocean expert at Hunton and organising this event.
And I hope we can see you.
So in the building room 19.
Late light, street light syndrome.
Basically, the important for us is that 2025 is going to be a very blue year.
We have the UN Ocean Conference in Nice.
What is going to happen in in Geneva?
Is this the Geneva is the road, the highway to Nice?
Regardless of all the uncertainties we see today, the ocean economy or activities in the ocean are growing much faster than the real economy.
The ocean economy is growing 2.5 times over each 20 years when the normal economy is growing 1.9.
Just to give you a number, the amount of exports of ocean goods and services reach 2.2 trillion in 2023.
So it's growing very fast, it's providing for livelihood, and it's changing the way the economic flows normally work.
As demographics is changing, the patterns of trade and the patterns of interaction through the ocean are changing.
One example is that SS trade is growing very, very fast.
It's growing depending on the type of product, for example of fisheries and aquaculture.
He's going at the rate from 40% on primary products to 83% in processed products, reaching about 40 billion in exports.
Because the South, for example, in this case, is becoming not only the supplier but the demand there of the products.
So flows in trades are going to change very quickly.
Also, as you know, the ocean is essential to protect the planet from climate impacts.
It regulates temperature, it absorbs carbon, it generates oxygen, It's under ****** due to biodiversity loss, overfishing and pollution.
And ocean activities in the ocean, this is a new number, are estimated to be generating 11% of all carbon emissions, mainly driven by maritime transport, oil and gas extraction, tourism, etcetera.
So the contribution of oceans will be essential for mitigation and adaptation in the new iteration of national determined contributions under the Paris Agreement in 2025.
Another important element for this is that this is a very surprising fact.
While the oceans represent 70% of the biosphere, we are putting all together only $4 billion annually for conservation and sustainable use.
The estimated amount needed to shift just shift from unsustainable to sustainable is 175.
Four billion to conservation of the ocean is nothing less than peanuts.
So basically, politicians are not putting their money where their mouth is.
So this is an important element because this huge part of the planet is being totally invisible in terms of sustainable use conservation for future generations.
Thank you very much, David indeed.
Let me see if there is any question in the room.
I don't see any hand up on the yeah, if I may just add.
So sure, we will add the link to the notes and you have the list of speakers.
Of course we can help you talk to them.
There are many experts on the different aspects of the the oceans opportunities.
So it's up to you, but we are ready to help.
So I have a question from Catherine Fiancong Bokong.
I was our correspondent of France, Van Kat, Catherine Bourgeois.
Thank you for being there.
Yeah, I'd like to come back on your numbers.
You, if I'm not mistaken, you spoke about $4 billion invested in ocean every year.
And the amount needed is 175 billion.
Could you please be precise and correct me if I was wrong?
The amount of four billion investment mentioned there includes official development assistant, philanthropic support and private investment is only four mission or 4 billion annually, which is very, very low.
If you compare, I'll put it this way, this is less than 1% of all the official development assistant worldwide.
So again for 70% of the biosphere you're putting 1% of your money.
Yes, thank you for giving me the floor back.
I'd like to know who is The Who are the the biggest investors, who which country region is taking the best care of the ocean?
When we talk about official development assistance, this is mainly developed countries and some emerging economies such as China.
The amount is about given of all governmental support is about 2.42 point 5 billion and the main recipients are developing countries.
I would say that there are also an amount of about half a billion by philanthropic foundations like Bertarelli Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation and others that also support projects, especially again in developing countries.
John Zaro Costas also Franco and cattle by English Channel and the Lancets.
It's a follow up to my colleagues question the private sector of that 4 billion, these are private foundations or is it the private ship owners?
And I was wondering of this 4 billion that spent, how much of this ODA goes towards assisting environmentally sound ship breaking?
We've seen horrific documentaries of people dealing with asbestos in ship breaking in many parts of the world, especially in the poorest countries.
What I would say of the private sector component is it's mainly the biggest share is basically private sector financing about again half a billion.
That is also a component of philanthropic foundations, mainly nonprofit for conservation projects, etcetera.
The first group, it's also to support activities on the oceans, but not necessarily always sustainable.
We estimate that of those 4 billion, about 60% go to sustainable activities.
Some money may go to normal business activities like maritime transport or fisheries, but not necessarily to make it fully sustainable.
I don't see other questions for you.
Catherine, you wanted to say something else?
So good luck with the Ocean Forum and I'd like to ask James to come to the podium now.
Thank you very much, David, and thanks, Catherine.
So James says to two items today we are going to go to Haiti and then afterwards to Lebanon and for Haiti things you brought us Git.
I'm sorry, I don't know if I pronounce that Gita, Gita Anjali Nara Narayan, who is UNICEF representative in Haiti.
Thank you very much for being with us.
Madam James, you want to start or just very briefly glad Geeta is here.
We spoke on Haiti earlier this month, one of the world's worst and least covered humanitarian crises.
And of course, as we listen to Geeta now and then Lebanon, there'll be a common theme running here, which is just the the dire state of support for children going forward amid increased funding cuts.
In just one month, January this year, armed groups destroyed 47 schools in Haiti's capital, with 284 schools destroyed in 2024.
The relentless attacks on education are accelerating, leaving hundreds of thousands of children without a place to learn.
With violence worsening across Haiti, education, which is a last hope for many children and a top priority for parents, has never been more at risk.
Just yesterday, we received reports of yet another attack.
Videos capture piercing screams of children lying on the floor, motionless with fear, a chilling reminder that these attacks do damage far beyond the classroom walls.
A child out of school is a child at risk.
Last year in Haiti, child recruitment into armed groups surged by 70%.
Right now, we estimate that up to half of all armed group members are children, some as young as eight years old.
Without access to education, children are more vulnerable to exploitation and recruitment by armed groups.
Education is one of the most effective tools we have to break this cycle.
No one knows this more than Haitians.
Despite systemic challenges, literacy is a highly valued achievement in Haiti, and families take great pride in investing in their children's education.
From the spotless way that children go to school in their uniforms with braids in their hair for the girls, to families dedicating a significant portion of their income to schooling for Haitian families, education remains A vital lifeline.
And UNICEF is at their side, delivering formal and non formal education interventions to ensure children impacted by the crisis pursue quality learning, including by rehabilitating schools that were damaged during attacks, by setting up temporary learning spaces, and by reintegrating displaced children into schools.
UNICEF and partners are conducting catch up classes to compensate for the time that children lost during school closures.
I had the opportunity to attend a graduation ceremony in December for about 300 children who had completed these catch up classes and the look on their faces as they received their certificate of the catch up class was something that honestly inspired me for for weeks afterwards.
It was really something so extraordinary to to see and to be part of.
UNICEF is also providing school kits and cash transfers to help families cope with the financial strain posed by their children's education and coordinating mental health and psychosocial support interventions as well as awareness raising activities on gender based violence.
This support however, is minimal compared to the scale of the needs in the country.
UNICEF is asking for 38 million U.S.
dollars to ensure 600,000 children can continue their education despite the crisis.
This would finance everything from the establishment of temporary learning spaces in displacement sites to more catch up classes and both formal and non formal education initiatives.
UNICEF and our partners, we also aim to rehabilitate schools and provide children with the necessary school supplies.
And yet these critical interventions are just 5% funded as of now.
And so, yes, peace and stability is desperately needed in Haiti, but so are funds.
Presently more than half a million children are not getting the education support that they need and that UNICEF and our partners that we can provide, not only due to armed groups, but due to a lack of donor support.
Thank you very much, Gita.
And I'd like to go to the questions now.
Yes, Robin is our correspondent, ASP English.
Could you tell us a little bit more, being in an armed group at the age of eight, what sort of damage does that do to a child?
Thank you for the question.
The damage is in some ways it's indescribable, frankly, because at that age, the child's brain is still forming.
They haven't developed their understanding of the world.
And so to be to be part of an armed group where you are surrounded by violence at all times and where you yourself may be forced to commit acts of violence, has a profound effect on the child.
And being in an armed group also means that you are not in school by definition.
So you are not exposed to learning, you are not exposed to the normal socialisation that children experience when they play with their peers and other children.
And that's how they learn to, for example, resolve conflict without resorting to violence, Right.
You have a disagreement with your friend in the schoolyard.
You, you work it out in an armed group that is not available to you.
You are also not with your family.
You are not surrounded by your loved ones, your parents, adult caregivers who are role models.
So you're not witnessing what it means to behave in a way that is that is morally and ethically correct.
So these are some of the impacts.
Of course, there's the lack of access to health services.
You are constantly on the mood, on the move.
You are exposed to danger, some conflicts with the army, the police, etcetera.
So incredibly long lasting impacts on a child's mental, physical, social well-being.
Thank you very much, Olivia.
Thank you for this briefing.
You were saying that that peace and stability is is desperately needed, but so are funds in the context of this announcement for the Trump administration looking at 90% cuts to foreign aid funding.
Can you just describe the challenge that you now face, obviously in the context of the fact that you're now asking for for further $30 million?
So I can speak to that from the perspective of the work we do in Haiti and then I'll ask James to speak to it for UNICEF globally, if that's OK.
Certainly in Haiti we are very much the United States have been, has been a major supporter of the country, but also UNICEF's work in Haiti.
And so the current situation is having a devastating impact on thousands of children at the moment in Haiti.
We have seen, we are seeing services are being cut, reduced.
When I was in the north of Haiti about at the end of January and I visited a primary healthcare centre where UNICEF and our partners, we've been providing primary healthcare services.
I talked to the nurse and the people doing the the weighing of the mother and the baby and doing the malnutrition screening.
Those are activities that we have been supporting through support from the United States government.
Those activities will will, will no longer be able to continue.
And it's not just UNICEF in Haiti that is affected.
It is it is all of our partners.
It is civil society organisations that have benefited from US support.
So the impact in Haiti, certainly in a country that is so stricken by conflict and violence and poverty is extreme and it's immediate.
So we have received termination notices for UNICEF grants and they'll include humanitarian as well as development programming.
Some grants had previously received life saving waivers.
We continue to assess the impact of those termination, termination notices on our programmes for children.
But we already know that the initial pause has impacted programming for millions of children in roughly half the countries that we work now.
In terms of the termination of funding for specific programmes, I'm not in a position to go into details of that at the moment.
What I can say and what UNICEF staff have seen for many, many decades in these countries is that time and again those most at risk have found ways to adapt, to rebuild, to push forward despite unimaginable hardships.
But even the strongest can't do it alone.
So with without urgent action, without funding, more children are going to suffer malnutrition, few will have access to to education and preventable illnesses will claim more lives.
So it's very clear that reduction in any funding during these exceedingly difficult times for children is putting child lives at risk at a time where they need support more than ever.
If there are no other, yes, Robin, I've got more on the platform.
James, would would you be able to publish the list of what's been terminated, how many people it affects and how much money is involved?
It's certainly something that the headquarters is working on now.
I mean, this is so fluid.
But I think short answer is, is yes.
I mean, UNICEF discloses all our all our funding and all our programmes.
So once we have that clarity, then yes, thank you very much.
Let me go to the platform Antonio Brotto Spanish News agency.
I would like to ask if you know the percentage of children that cannot go to school due to the violence?
And also you mentioned that half of the of the fighters in the in the arm gangs are children.
Do you know what what's that in, in number of children?
How many children's are are fighting in the conflict?
Thank you for the question.
We estimate that about half a million children at the moment are not able to access education learning due to the armed violence in in the country.
So that's in response to your first question.
The second question about the exact number of children in the armed groups, we don't have the absolute number.
It's very difficult as you can imagine to do a survey and, and, and to get the number accurately.
The the estimates that we have are that it is, it is certainly in the the hundreds.
There are over 300 armed groups in Haiti to our knowledge.
And so if you multiply that by, you know, they're all of different sizes etcetera.
So we don't have an absolute number.
We know that the number has increased, as I mentioned, by 70% in the last year and that children now make up up to half of the members of the armed groups.
Thank you, John 0, Costas, Francois and Catherine Derancet.
Thank you for this briefing.
I was wondering if you could give us an update on what UNICEF is doing to combat the cholera outbreak.
I was looking at some figures and I saw quite a large number of deaths in January and more than 10,000 cases of cholera announced.
What are you doing since I think you're responsible for WASH and how much of the water is safe to drink in Haiti at the moment?
So cholera, as you know, in Haiti, unfortunately remains an ongoing concern with regular outbreaks.
UNICEF, together with our partners, we continue to to respond and also to work on prevention.
Our main partner, of course, is always the the government of Haiti, the Dinipa, which is the the national entity responsible for for clean water provision.
We work very closely with communities as well as with national authorities and with civil society partners to make sure that communities are able to access clean water.
In the sites where we have thousands of displaced persons, UNICEF and partners are trucking in clean water, so clean water is available.
We are ensuring together with DINEPA that the the site is connected to the municipal water point.
So again, there's a constant regular supply of clean water for drinking.
We also work with communities around hygiene practises, hand washing, ensuring that latrines, sanitation facilities are in place and are being used by by children, by their caregivers.
This is ongoing work again at all levels and all around the country.
Yes, I was wondering if given the **** number of deaths in January, if UNICEF with WHO and PAHO, if you're looking at vaccination as a precautionary measuring in **** incidence areas, if you can elaborate on that.
I think we're looking at all the options to be honest with you, together with our partners, including WHO and the government of Haiti authorities.
Given the the significant impact that cholera outbreaks can have on on on mortality and morbidity, we need to make sure that we're looking at all of the options including vaccination against cholera.
And I'm looking at Tariq, but I think he'll send you information later on on on on that programme because he I think he doesn't have it with him.
Yes, thank you, Alessandro.
Yeah, wait, because we also have another colleague of James was waiting on line.
Then we will go to the colleague waiting from Beirut and then I'll come back to you promised Yuri.
Thank you for the briefing.
Just coming back to the role of the children in in armed violence, is it your understanding that they're playing a significant part actually in acts of armed violence or it's mostly used for kind of, for want of a better word, support services?
And secondly, do you have any kind of mechanism for rehabilitating children when when they come out of these armed gangs?
What are what are monitoring shows is that the children are used in different ways by the armed groups.
So the younger children, the 810 year olds for example are used in terms of messengers or informants and and so they play as you as you termed IT, support roles.
The younger girls tend to do more of the domestic labour, the cleaning, the cooking, the washing that is needed to support the armed groups.
However, yes, the children are playing more and more active roles in terms of, of participating in, in acts of violence, including carrying, carrying weapons and, and, and carrying out killing etcetera, attacks.
So it is, it really depends on the age and, and to some extent the gender of the child.
Yes, UNICEF is working actively to support the release, the demobilisation and the reintegration of children who have been in the armed groups.
We started this work already last year.
One of the most important things that we did last year was we signed a handover protocol between the United Nations, including UNICEF and the government of Haiti, where we were able to identify what do you do when you encounter a child coming out of the armed groups?
What is the, what are the steps?
What are the, the, the, the procedures that need to be in place to ensure that this child is treated first and foremost as a child and not as a criminal.
And so this, as you can imagine, requires the interventions of many different actors and partners across the government of Haiti, such as justice, education, social affairs, Humanitarian Affairs, etcetera.
And we have been successful in releasing demobilising and reintegration, reintegration, reintegrating over 100 children last year.
And our plan is to is to continue this work this year.
It is absolutely critical to the peace and stability in Haiti.
Imogen Fox, BBC Hi, thanks for taking my question.
It's just a bit of clarity about your numbers and methodology because you say that the recruitment into of children into armed groups has increased by 70%, but you, you don't know how many children are in the armed group.
So I'm just wondering how you where you're getting that figure of increase from how you worked it out.
UNICEF participates in monitoring and reporting on grave violations of child rights in Haiti together with a number of partners.
We have monitoring taking place at the community level.
I can't go into too much detail in terms of the specific methodology, but the information that we have is, is, is is received from different partners on the ground and then it is aggregated and it is based on quantitative as well as qualitative observation and other, other sources of, of inputs.
Presumably running these armed groups is not cheap.
Where are these gangs getting their money from?
Who's who's ultimately paying for this?
For these gangs which are, which are running, you know, armed gangs half filled with child soldiers, I think it's very complicated.
I think they are funded or they receive, they receive funds from multiple sources, both inside Haiti as well as outside.
Many of these armed groups control populations and territory as well.
And so part of their revenue stream comes from the population, the people they control and, and that they terrorise in terms of looting and pillaging and stealing and, and, and, and kind of extorting money from these populations.
It's also the case that that the, the region has a general sense of, you know, trafficking is, is certainly on the rise across the Latin American Caribbean region.
And so there are bigger sort of regional dynamics that are certainly contributing to, to the situation in Haiti as well.
It was really interesting and and, and important to talk about the situation of children in AED.
Thanks for taking the opportunity to come to, to for your visit in Geneva, to come here and brief the journalist and keep us updated, please.
And we'll stay with with James and go to Beirut.
We have ET Higgins on the line, I think who's the UNICEF Deputy Representative in Lebanon to tell us also about the alarming situation of children in that country.
Etti, I'll give you the floor.
I'm speaking to you from Beirut this morning and to share the alarming findings of the new UNICEF survey that we conducted in January 2025.
After more than a year of war and bombardment, this child focused rapid assessment exposes the profound toll of war on children in Lebanon, revealing the collapse of their support systems and the escalated escalating risks of exploitation and deep emotional trauma.
So I just wanted to share some of the findings with you this morning.
Firstly, that the assessment has revealed a very grim picture of children's nutritional status, particularly in the Baalbek and Becca governors, which remains densely populated when they were repeatedly targeted by air strikes last year in these regions.
In the east of the country, more than half of children under the age of 2 are experiencing severe food poverty, more than double the number a year ago.
Nearly 72% of the caregivers that we spoke to and their children were anxious or nervous during the war, while 62% said they were depressed or sad.
It's perhaps important at this stage to re share a little bit of the background that hostilities in Lebanon escalated very sharply in September of last year after 11 months of cross-border strikes following the declaration of a ceasefire in November.
We saw that over 310 children had been killed and over 1500 have been wounded and continue to this day to live with their wounds.
The conflict also compounded Lebanon's very challenging education situation after years of economic strife, teachers stripes, and the impact of the COVID pandemic.
There are now more than half a million children who are out of school.
And even with the ceasefire, school attendance remains very low.
One in four children, 25%, were still out of school at the time of the survey.
And this is on top of the half a million children out of school that I just mentioned.
Schools were also destroyed or heavily damaged in the war and hundreds more were used as shelters for some of the 1.3 million people who were displaced due to the conflict.
The assessment also shows us that nearly 80% of the families that we spoke to urgently needed some form of support.
Almost half of households were forced to cut spending on health and 30% on education to afford just the basic necessities.
31% of households did not have enough drinking water and therefore increasing the risk of disease in many of these very vulnerable communities.
33% of households did not have access to the medications that their children needed, while at least 22% of households did not have any heating source for the winter.
As the humanitarian situation is worsening with more children going hungry, we see children as young as five being forced to work.
We're seeing early marriage increasing, especially amongst girls, and we're seeing at the same time that the donor funding is declining.
Despite these multiple and continuous crises that the country has gone through, UNICEF and Lebanon has seen a decrease in humanitarian funding over the past number of years and currently we are only 26% funded.
Chris Kilt also notes that the report that I'm speaking about too this morning was collected in early January this year, just as several governments announced further aid cuts.
This means the reality of many children is even more dire than these figures suggest.
More than half a million children and their families, for example, risk losing critical subsistence cash support from UN agencies this month.
These cuts will strip the most vulnerable of their last life lifeline, leaving them unable to afford even the most basics and necessities and putting them even deeper into desperation.
Thank you very much, Etti for for this briefing.
Thank you, Eddie for this briefing.
I just wanted to start by clarifying one thing when you say about more than half of children under 2 experiencing severe food poverty is that across Lebanon OR specifically in Baalbek and the Bekar and and second, you're talking there about a decrease in in funding.
Does that mean right now and going forward there are programmes that are suspended?
And are you able to give any more more details going forward, particularly in light of the latest announcements from the US on aid funding?
Yes, the rates that I referred to specifically in Baalbek and Becca, the rate in Becca for example was actually worse.
It was 45%, so almost a half, but it was the trend as well as that.
What we're looking at is that it's a very large increase from the 2023 days, which was 2328%.
So a lot of the children in these areas in Baalbek and, and in that I spoke about, many of them didn't have the means to, to leave the area and were forced to, to kind of shelter in place.
And so we're very, very hard to reach.
So a lot of the aid agencies, including UNICEF did have a lot of access difficulties during the intensification of, of the war last year, late last year.
And as we know that children under the age of 2 also are the most vulnerable when it comes to their foods groups be and their food and nutritional status, they would be the most vulnerable to suffer malnutrition the most quickly.
So and that's bringing me to answer your second question, which is that indeed we have been forced to suspend or cut back or drastically reduce many of our programmes and that includes the nutrition programmes that we were, that we were working, that we have been working on across the country.
It also includes very important water trucking, essential delivery of medications, of vaccines and it also has major repercussions for our child protection and education programmes, which have also been caught.
And it's not just the US, uh, cuts that we have been seeing, but it's, uh, right across the board, umm, where it's seeing huge cuts.
And, uh, that is why even last week when, when uh, I was on one particular field mission, I'm referring to children working as young as the age of five.
So really huge levels of desperation that we're seeing amongst families.
And many of them had not yet received the message that they're the cat assistants.
They were relying on, uh, had not yet reached those families.
And they said that they were just waiting for that SMS to hear that they were getting the cat, the monthly cat assistance.
So unfortunately, we're not seeing the full impact of of these cuts yet.
Just to complete clarify.
I just really want to be precise and thank you for explaining that.
So the more than half of the children under the age of 2 experiencing severe food poverty is just in that region or that's actually across Lebanon.
And Becca, thank you so much.
With the press complete more they call the phosphor.
I'm not sure that I fully understood the question, but I'm having some simultaneous translation here.
So my understanding is correct about the number of children that were injured and if we have been working with them in in the country.
That was the first question.
And the second question about the use of white phosphorus, you say in English, OK.
So indeed UNICEF is working on supporting and tracking the number of injured children in the country and we're working with several, with the Ministry of Health and with several different specialised NGOs to offer a full package of support to these children with their long term injuries.
Some of them have suffered severe burns, injuries, loss of limbs.
Many others are, have lost family members and siblings, uh, so, and in many cases, unfortunately, they have been the last surviving family member in different attacks.
So it's very, very important that we have a holistic support to them, not just for their health, but also for their, the overall protective environment, umm, and to provide them with the, the psychosocial support and psychological support that they will need for many years to come.
Umm, and medically as well.
Many of them may need a dozen or more umm, uh, operations, uh, so.
UNICEF is, is committed to supporting this case of children, which is, uh, as I mentioned, over 1000 children, not all of them require that intensive long term support, but uh, definitely, um, making sure they have access to safe, uh, locations, uh, to, to live in, umm, and access to medical services and education services, psychological services is, is, uh, part of what we're working on, umm, with these many children, umm, on in terms of the phosphorus, uh, we have not seen, uh, currently in the case though, that we're supporting, uh, injuries from phosphorus.
Umm, but what we have, uh, intensified is our work on water quality testing, umm, to make sure that the water systems that we hope to rehabilitate and reconnect once we have sufficient funding that we, this water is, is, uh, is safe to use.
Uh, yesterday I was in the South of the country in, uh, tier, uh, where I visited Albas, umm, the Albas, uh, water pumping station.
Uh, which is, uh, unfortunately, two of the water engineers who who operated there were, were killed in the attack.
Umm, and uh, this will require massive, uh, massive multi $1,000,000 investment to connect 35,000 people to, to, uh, to water again.
And umm, what we're concerned about is that no reconstruction or uh, large amounts of reconstruction funding has been received by Lebanon yet to restart.
It's very important, uh, reconstruction so that families can return and communities can return to their, umm, neighbourhoods and, and villages in the South of the country.
So we are seeing returns and we are supporting them as best we can with the resources available, but much, much, much more is required.
Uh, and it's, that will of course feed into the long term, long, long term stability of, of the South and other parts as well as the east of, of Lebanon.
And Christophe from AFP is asking on the line if the report is accessible.
It's been made public in Lebanon already.
OK, Jeremy launch Radio France International.
Jeremy, maybe you can ask your question in English, please.
Thank you AT and just a quick one on the do you manage to disaggregate between Lebanese children and Syrian children who are refugees in in in Lebanon?
Yes, we can, I can share that data in the chat.
Do you mean the number of children that have been impacted in by some or just the number of children that are in the country?
I mean, generally speaking about what you said, especially about the Baker, when you think that approximately 50% of yes children and the two are in food poverty situations, does it mean that I guess that in Baker you have more Syrian children in that area?
So that that will be in the report as well.
But we will share that with you also.
And I'm looking at Jamie James, if you can make sure that they get the the link to the report, I think.
Thanks for for briefing us on on this situation.
But James, don't go because we have a question from Yuri for you.
And then we will go to WFP and then WWHO.
And thanks colleagues for their patience.
I think he was on DRC, if I'm not wrong.
The first one is, is UNICEF still able to work there?
Because we had the Prime Minister that came to Geneva these days and when we I spoke with her yesterday or two days ago, I don't remember, she told that UNICEF is one of the K partner that they have in GFC.
But because of the end of USAID, maybe they may have troubles to steal have the same intensity of help from your side.
So just to, to know if you have the funds to continue to work in DRC.
And the second one is, as you said on, on Haiti, for example, that more than the half of the fighters or the the gangsters are children's.
Do you saw an increase of the children's in M23 or in the eastern of the country in the same way as you saw that in Haiti, for example?
I, I can't, I won't compare DSC and and Haiti in terms of numbers of children in, in armed groups in Haiti or or M23.
I will ask colleagues on numbers in terms of child recruitment within M23 or any other groups in DRC.
What we've certainly seen is dramatic rises in DRC among sexual violence of children, around abductions, around killing and maiming.
All those things are up to 35 fold.
I'll I'll share the I'll share the exact numbers.
Your other question around around our access.
Yeah, you, I mean UNICEF is very much a stay and deliver organisation.
This is this is a very clear part of the the backbone of the United Nations.
Now obviously these funding cuts make it difficult for everyone on the ground, not least of all our very brave partners who are who are in frontline positions.
And as we've said many times from this platform, the people really on the front lines are mothers and children.
Now, what this means in terms of cuts, what it means in terms of staffing is something that we're going to continue to unpack over the coming days.
But yes, certainly in terms of DRC, we have not left.
James, thanks for this update.
And if you can share the information that we have discussed with the journalist.
So let's go now to the World Food Programme.
Lenny is the World Food Programme communication officer for Sudan.
She's reaching out from Nairobi to tell us about the food distributions in Sudan's Zam Zam camp, where we heard in the past that famine had declared.
So Lenny, you had to force, you had that you were forced to post the food distribution there, right?
So thank you so much for having me.
Intense fighting in Zamzam camp in Sudan's North Darfur region has forced us to temporarily pause the distribution of life saving food and Nutrition Assistance.
And over the past two weeks, escalating violence has left our partners with no choice but to evacuate their staff safely.
The recent violence in Zamzam has also left the Central Market destroyed and this means that the residents of the camp, which is around half a million people, are even further away from accessing food and essential food items and other supplies.
Even before this recent spate of violence, the situation in Zamzam was extremely dire and it has been for months.
As you mentioned, famine was confirmed last August and people are resorting to extreme measures to be able to survive eating peanut shells, grass, leaves and and what's leftover of from animal waste.
Without immediate assistance, thousands of desperate families in Zamzam could starve in the coming weeks.
People, particularly children, are already dying of hunger in Zam Zam camp and the fact that we are forced to suspend operations will make that even worse.
In February, WFP and our partners managed to provide 60,000 people with food vouchers before this heavy shelling forced the pause of our aid operations.
The food vouchers allow families to purchase essential food supplies such as cereals, pulses, oil and salt directly from local markets, which WFP helps to keep stocked through our local private sector retail network.
As WFP, we've been trying every possible way to get vital aid into the hands of people whose lives **** in the balance.
We are continuously having to overcome barriers and obstacles due to the ongoing violence and insecurity.
Finding alternative ways, ways of providing support to communities who are cut off by conflict when we are unable to transport food supplies into hard hit locations like Zamzam.
WFP recently launched an online Reg self registration link which will enable us to provide cash based assistance in some remote locations like N Darfur.
We have done it in other parts of Sudan like Khartoum and we have received an overwhelming response from communities.
It does work well despite the patchy communications networks.
Through this, people will soon start to receive digital cash transfers via a mobile money app, providing them critical assistance until conditions permit the safe passage of humanitarian personnel and convoys.
We must resume the life saving.
We must resume the delivery of life saving aid in and around Zamzam safely, quickly and at scale.
And for that, the fighting must stop and humanitarian organisations must be granted security guarantees.
In 2024, two out of every three people in famine or at risk of famine received WFP assistance.
But this is far from enough.
Regular monthly deliveries to starving communities is the only way to push back famine in Sudan right now.
Access to these areas that are the hardest hit remains sporadic and inconsistent.
2 million people in 27 locations across Sudan are currently experiencing or on the brink of famine.
Thank you very much and over for any questions.
Thank you very much, Lee, for telling us about this really dramatic situation.
I also would like to mention that yesterday, the Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Sudan, the UN, Clementine Quetta Salami, also shared her extreme concerns about the situation in this country.
We reiterate once again that international humanitarian law must be respected across Sudan and elsewhere.
Civilians, including humanitarian workers, must be protected and humanitarian operations must be facilitated by your parties.
All her words are, of course, available online.
I'd like to open the floor to quite of quite to questions now if there are in the room.
If if WFP is not able to get food into Zamzam camp, are there any other operators that are able to get food into the camp?
Is is any food going in there at all?
So up until now, WFP has been working with local retailers who have a supplier that's bringing supplies into Zamzam and now the market is also destroyed and the so it's very and also the connectivity in Zamzam at the moment is cut.
So to understand what's actually happening on the ground is in right now in terms of how that market is and recovering is very, very difficult.
There are traders on the ground through which we had been providing assistance to 60,000 people before this intensification of fighting.
I have a question from Antonio brought to the Spanish News Agency.
On the whole of Sudan, how many people are affected by famine or may be affected in the future?
Yesterday, Mr Tark said hundreds of thousands.
I don't know if you have more accurate figures.
And also you mentioned that you had to cancel the, the, the the work in Samsung because of the insecurity.
But is WFP affected also by the cuts on a by the US in Sudan?
So to your first question, in their total of 27 areas in Sudan that are either facing famine or at risk of famine, and the population in those areas is close to 2 million people, and that's just famine or risk of famine.
Beyond that, the scale of the hunger crisis in Sudan is enormous.
25 million people are facing acute hunger.
That's one in two Sudanese and that's a population equivalent to the population of a country like Australia.
These are immense numbers and Sudan really is one of the largest hunger crisis in the world today.
Then in terms of your question on USAID funding freezes, so two weeks ago in kind food assistance to WFP, which is purchased from US farmers with Title 2 funds, the the that freeze was rescinded.
So we've been able to resume our regular operations under all the existing USA grants that we have.
And we continue to work working with our NGO partners who play a vital role in distributing emergency food assistance across Sudan.
And as Lenny said, these are incredible numbers.
So I'll remind you of the incredible unprecedented demand and mobilisation for international support that the UN is asking for in this unprecedented scale of the needs of this country.
And so the UN is seeking 4.2 billion through the 2025 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan to deliver life saving aid to almost 21 million vulnerable people, restore basic services and scale up protection and 1.8 billion to support 5 million people primary refugees in seven neighbouring countries.
You remember that USG Fletcher has launched the plan recently here.
So thank you very much, Lenny.
I mean, I really, we really all hope that you'll be able to resume your operations.
Keep us informed please of of the situation, especially in the Zam Zam camp.
And thanks for being with us today.
And now I move to our last but definitely not least Speaker of the day.
She has brought us the to Shelley Chattiner, who is the technical lead for ear and earring care.
We know her well because she's already spoken to us.
I remember about the situation on the occasion of World Hearing Day, which is also coming up again.
And so we have an update.
Thank you for the introduction.
And, and I'm going to bring you some more Monday news after that fairly grim to the tablet.
So many of you here probably have children or nieces and nephews and can relate to me when I tell you that, well, I have two children.
And when my son was all of 14 years old, I noticed that he started spending a lot of time with his headphones and his earphones on, listening to music on the way to school, playing well, video games online with his friends, and even sometimes sleeping with his headphones on.
And what disturbed me most was that sitting next to him, I could sometimes even hear what he was listening to, which indicated clearly that the volume at which he was playing it was too loud.
Then I also started noticing the same in people I sat, sat next to on trains and buses that I could sometimes hear their, you know, whatever sounds they were listening to.
And this, this concern has been validated through scientific studies and publications and research.
And WH OS own analysis has shown that over a billion young people today face the risk of hearing loss simply by listening to loud sounds in leisure settings, sounds heard over headphones, earphones and also in music venues, at concerts and in clubs and so on.
And while such damage hearing damage that is caused by listening to loud sounds is irreversible, it is also completely avoidable through safe listening practises and through hearing protection.
So to promote these practises and to change listening behaviours, who has developed the Make Listening Safe initiative?
As part of this initiative, we work on one hand to raise awareness about the safe listening practises amongst adolescents and young adults.
At the same time, we have developed technical standards that recommend evidence based safe listening features for for inclusion in smartphones, in music players, headphones, also for music venues, clubs and concerts, etcetera.
Some of you may be receiving from time to time notifications on your phone or your smartwatch about the **** volume at which you're listening or that you have exceeded your sound limits.
And this is really the outcome of the work that WHO and the International Telecommunications Union have been doing and the implementation of the global Standard for Safe listening Devices and and systems.
The standard which was launched by us in 2019 following its successful uptake and implementation.
Today we are pleased to bring to you the the new standard which we are launching along with the along with International Telecommunications Union, which addresses video games and the devices on which these games are played.
So the global standard for safe listening video gameplay and E sports.
This aims to promote safe listening practises amongst nearly 3 billion people that play video games across all types of different gameplay scenarios over there phones, over consoles and and also over PCs etcetera.
It includes separate recommendations for the devices over which games are played, like the consoles etcetera that I mentioned, as well As for the gameplay software.
Features that this standard includes are a way to track your sound usage when one is playing games on these devices, so that the device itself can keep track of how much sound you're consuming and provide individualised information and messages when you exceed those limits or or are about to exceed them.
It also includes a friendly a user friendly volume control.
It includes recommendation regarding a headphone safety mode as well as independent volume controls for different types of sounds that are included in gameplay, for example, chat sounds, background music, etcetera, etcetera.
In addition, the standard also includes a list of optional features that safe, that promote safe listening and that game developers can include based on the genre of the game.
So for example, in some type of games it's important that the user can reduce tinnitus inducing sounds.
So these are features also recommended within this standard.
And today, just before World Hearing Day 2025, we are drawing attention towards the need for safe listening.
We're providing clear messages about how music lovers and video game players can continue to listen, but without putting their hearing at risk.
And we are calling upon governments and manufacturers to heat these standards and implement them so that people can keep enjoying listening without putting their hearing at risk.
So I thank you and I pass back to you and open for any questions.
Thank you very much, Shelly.
Indeed, a little bit of good news is welcome.
Any question in the room, let me see online.
Do you have any question for WHO And on this initiative, I don't see any questions.
So thank you very much and thanks for being patient and waiting for the other speakers to talk.
So if there are no other question, let me give you my little announcements.
We have a lot of press conference to record to remind you are So The first one is on Monday, 3rd March at 1:00 PM.
We will have the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment with Doctor Alice, Jill Edwards, who will brief you on hostage taking as torture, an automatic report to the Human Rights Council of the Special Rapporteur that will be embargoed until the 4th of March.
The time is exactly to be confirmed that it is until the 4th.
On the 4th at 9:45, as usual, we'll have Martin Chung Kong, the IPU Secretary General, together with Mariana Mutzenberg, IPU gender Programme, they will come to brief you on the new report on women in Parliament that IPU is traditionally putting out the week of the International Women's Day.
So they'll be here just before the briefing to brief you on this.
On Wednesday, the 5th of March at 3:00 PM, another special reporter, the one on the right to adequate housing, Balakrishnan Rajagopal, will brief you on who benefits from a manufactured migration crisis and what has that to do with the housing crisis.
They embargo on these press conferences until the 7th of March.
At 1:00 PM today, a couple of committees that conclude their work, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which is concluding this afternoon, it's 77 session.
And the Human Rights Committee, sorry the no, it was only this one that is closing.
On the contrary, the Human Rights Committee which will open next Monday at 10 AM.
That's the 143rd session and will last until the 28th of March in Palliwilson.
The countries to be reviewed under this session are Montenegro, Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe, Mongolia, Albania and Haiti, which we spoke today.
The Committee on the Rights of Person with Disabilities will also open next Monday at 10 AM.
It's 30 second session and which will last until the 21st of March.
Countries to be reviewed are to value Dominican Republic, Vietnam, Canada, the European Union and Palau, and of course, on the Human Rights Council, which is continuing.
I have a last announcement here from our colleagues in Vienna.
The International Narcotics Control Board Annual Report 2024 will be launched on Tuesday, 4th of March at 11 AM in Vienna.
But this is a launch that you can follow online.
We've sent you the media advisory and you can get the report under embargo upon request to our colleagues.
The contact details are in the media advisory.
Just the last point for reminding you or informing you that today at 10:30, so it's 4:30 here in Geneva, 1030 New York Times.
The Secretary General will give a stake out in New York and that will be available, of course on UN Web TV.
Notice that the secretary general has shared a message on the occasion of the beginning of Ramadan.
The message is that it of today sending his warmest wishes as Muslim around the world begin observing the holy month of Ramadan, which is as the secretary general says, the which embodies the values of compassion, empathy and generosity.
And on this occasion, if I can find my notes here, the Secretary General has announced that he will be going to Bangladesh from the 13th to the 16th of March.
As every year he would break the the fast with Muslim population somewhere in the world.
This year he will be in Bangladesh.
He will travel to Cox Bazar to join an Iftar and meet with Rohingya refugees who has been who have been forcibly displaced from the homes in Myanmar and of course also with the host Bangladeshi communities which have been generously hosting the refugees from Myanmar.
He will also meet with government authorities during this trip, in particular Professor Muhammad Yunus, the chief advisor for the interim government.
So this is from the 13th to the 16th of March.
If there are no other questions for me, I will wish you a very good weekend and we'll see you on Tuesday.
