Thank you for joining us here at the UN office at Geneva for this press briefing today, the 25th of April 2025.
We have a very packed agenda for you.
We have the situation in Sudan, Burundi, Ukraine, Myanmar and Colombia.
So we have briefers from various agencies.
We're going to speak to those issues and we'll turn immediately over to a colleague from the World Food Programme, Samantha Chataraj, who is joining us.
She's WFP Sudan Country of Office Emergency Coordinator, who's joining us from Port Sudan for an update on the situation in the country.
My pleasure to be with you for this briefing.
I am speaking from Port Sudan and I will be briefing on wild food programmes operations in Sudan, undoubtedly one of the most complex and challenging humanitarian situations in the world.
In recent weeks, Wild Food Programme has made some access breakthroughs and reached population who have been largely cut off from aid.
In the past March alone, WFP assisted 4 million people across Sudan so far, the highest monthly figure since the conflict began in April 2023, and nearly four times the number of people we were assisting per month at the same time one year ago.
This includes 1.6 million people in areas that are classified as famine or risk of famine, meaning that in the last month we have assisted 4 out of five people in this extreme levels of hunger across all of the 27 localities facing famine or the risk of famine.
However, and unfortunately, this still represents just a fraction of the needs across the country, we have nearly 25 million people, or half of the population, which is facing acute hunger.
Nearly 5 million children and breastfeeding mothers are acutely malnourished and Sudan is the only place in the world where family is currently confirmed.
In this backdrop of the staggering numbers, WFP has demonstrated its operational reach and our goal is to assist 7 million people by middle of the year, focusing primarily on the 27 areas that are classified as famine or risk of famine and the areas where severity of needs are very ****, including IPC 4.
That's emergency and nutrition hotspot localities.
Earlier this week, I returned from a mission to Khartoum where I met with local authorities and communities to scale up our emergency food and Nutrition Assistance for up to 1,000,000 people across greater Khartoum that consists of seven localities, including localities that face risk of famine.
This can't happen soon enough as it includes many, many needs that we saw ourselves first hand.
Vast parts of the city are destroyed, levels of hunger and desperation are extremely ****, yet people remain hopeful.
We expect that many will try to return to their homes in the coming months.
However, their basic needs in which food is one of the top needs, as the communities themselves told us, need to be met within Greater Khartoum.
Jabalaulia is a locality which is of extreme need and I already mentioned that this is the locality which faces risk of famine and here we are giving special attention as we are ramping up assistance for 100,000 people with trucks with food already have started arriving and distributions have regard.
Additional aid deliveries on RAID are on route to Greater Khartoum over the coming days and weeks as we push to establish a stronger operational footprint that will allow regular deliveries to the capital but will also facilitate us to re establish our presence in Khartoum from May.
Let me now move to the Porto farm, specifically the Western Nuba Mountain.
We had a breakthrough just a couple of days ago where we delivered 800 metric tonnage of food supporting 64,000 people in two localities that are classified as famine.
These are the 1st in kind food deliveries to these localities since conflict started two years ago and since the time these localities were classified as famine.
Reports from the ground are shocking.
It is deeply disturbing that an estimated total of almost 450,000 people who were already facing famine and enduring horrific levels of violence have been forced to flee from Al Fashir and Zamzam camps in just a matter of weeks.
We are mobilising assistance to reach people wherever they have fled to and to Alpha Share as well, as well as different parts of Sudan outside of Darfur.
For instance, Frost carrying 1600 metric tonne of WFP food and nutrition supplies for 220,000 people have started to arrive in Tawila in North Darfur, where 180 thousand people have played from Alfashir and Zamzam camp in the last week alone.
Many of the recently displaced people have been trapped by conflict in Alfashir or Zamzam for months.
Therefore, WFP is doing everything possible to assist people while they face escalating violence.
Last month as well as in the current month, 270,000 people in Al Fasher and Zamzam received assistance from WFP and we are also sending another convoy from Port Sudan which is en route now into Al Fasher.
We have already received the hack clearances and facilitation and it's carrying thousand metric tonnage of food per 100,000 people who remain in the Bisid city.
We have also delivered mobile warehouses to Tavila.
These are being set up now to increase storage capacity as we pre stock food.
This is extremely vital ahead of the rainy season which starts in June and will leave many routes across Darfur impossible.
I cannot emphasise enough how important it is that we pre position assistance close to population in need now.
We have just a few weeks to do this before the rain starts and we will make it as otherwise we'll make it very difficult for large trucks carrying food assistance to travel.
However, all of this progress I have outlined today is fragile.
As we ramp up our response in the world's largest humanitarian crisis, we need two things.
Sustained humanitarian access to deliver a consistent flow of aid to needy population and additional funding to meet overwhelming needs of the Sudanese people.
Only then we can turn the tide of famine.
Thank you very much, Samantha.
And now we'll turn to our colleagues.
If they have any questions for you, we'll start in the room.
Yes, Olivia from Reuters.
Thank you very much for this briefing.
You're talking about 4 million people being assisted being that being the highest monthly figure since the conflict began.
Is, is that because you've been able to reach now more areas to, to to provide that assistance or is that just a reflection on, on the urgent need for for food assistance?
And you said you were able to reach Tawila, but have you faced any issues or kind of bureaucratic impediments getting getting assistance in to there?
And just more broadly, do you, do you have any issues in terms of funding?
Are you saying that that you know, it's a fragile kind of progress?
Have you seen any impact from funding cuts?
Is that harming the response in any way or can you operate as fully as you as you're hoping to?
WFP has been mobilising all possible options to ramp up our scale of our assistance and progressively we have been demonstrating our operational region capacity.
Last few months, we were consistently assisting 3 million to 3.5 million people every month and in March we expanded our access further to assist 4 million people.
This has been possible due to combination of factors.
For instance, we have combined various modalities whether it's in kind or cash transfer to reach effective population.
Therefore, we have triggered various corridors whether it is by Rd physical access or by digital corridor through bank transfer or digital cash transfers.
Secondly, we have also ramped up our engagement with various stakeholders for facilitating access, which includes regular engagement at various levels to ensure that the facilitation for sending aid is prioritised and and given in time.
Additionally, some of the change of control meant that there have been newly accessible areas.
This includes Aljazeera, this includes Khartoum and this includes some parts of Portofan.
And so that that is to answer the the SuccessFactors behind reaching the 4 million people in terms of sending aid to Tawila.
Our challenges are the standard challenges that we have been facing in Sudan, operations which relate to bureaucracy, facilitation, insecurity, long roads transporters and to put all of that in line and engagement with with the key intercolluters to reconflict the route.
Those have been made possible, which is why the aid in Tawida have arrived mostly with the last remaining trucks to be arriving in in the next couple of days if not sooner.
In terms of funding, we have a net funding requirement of $698 million from May to October and we are already going to face the shortfall, especially nutrition ideas starting from May and from our for other food commodities starting a little later from June.
And that's why we are stressing and emphasising on the need to make sure that the funding flows because we are at a very critical time where we are demonstrating our operational capacity and reach, increasing our numbers entering the rainy season, which is also the lean season or the hunger season in Sudan.
And additionally, at a time when conflict is escalating and displacements are increasing about the US funding parts, in terms of the funding gaps that WFFB faces for Sudan, we cannot attribute to the broader cards in US foreign assistance.
Fortunately, all allocations the US government has made to Sudan remain intact and we are very grateful for that.
However, more broadly, the global funding situation for humanitarian assistance is very concerning and that impacts Sudan as well.
The projected decline in aid funding comes across the whole world and this impacts all top donors.
Thanks and back to you to the room.
Thank you, Samantha very, very much for those responses.
Do we have further questions?
Yes, thank you for for the briefing.
I had a couple of follow-ups.
And then a separate question.
So on the, I think you said 698,000,000 that you need from May to October, you said you're already facing shortfalls.
Could you say how much you've already seen and what the impact specifically of that of those shortfalls will be?
And then on the US funding gap, if you say that all the allocations remain intact, I'm just wondering, so they've been part of the the waivers that have been granted.
Does that mean that the money is actually coming through also or is it just that you have a promise of money from the US?
And then finally, I just had a question about the situation in Khartoum and I've it, I was wondering if if you fear that there is a danger of or a risk of famine within Khartoum itself and if you could say a little bit more about the difficulties of bringing food into the into the capital.
Samantha, you need to unmute perhaps, sorry.
In terms of the funding shortfall, we will have pipeline break if we do not get the required funding in our bank very shown because we also have lead time to procure commodities and all the supply chain pieces and that's why we are already highlighting it for the past months.
And the the implication of the impact of that would be reduction of ration size, reduction of beneficiary numbers, reduction of geographical scope, which will have a very negative impact given that I already explained that we are entering the the rainy season, the lean season, as well as a time when conflict is escalating in terms of the US funding and the the funding that has been intact was the allocation that had been made until now.
And yes, the waivers were effective for us in that sense.
But when it comes to the funding projection beyond that, our appeal is to all top donors including US to ensure that we remain well funded to keep the critical, absolutely critical life saving assistance flowing throughout Sudan.
For Khartoum, Yes, Khartoum has seven localities and Jabalaliya is one of those 7 localities which was already listed as risk for family since last year.
I was there just a few days ago, I saw first hand that it's extremely cut off.
It did not receive assistance at scale although we had our hot meals running there and people really relied on those hot meals.
But now we are bringing assistance at scale through in kind deliveries and this is where the number I gave 100,000 people will be assisted.
It's what we saw was very emotional for us to be there and to engage with women and children who broke down were literally in theatres because they are seeing for the first time us, the UN staff, while for programme staff talking with them.
And then cholera outbreak is there basic needs, basically supplies are all cut off and we are hoping that through this newly established axis we will be able to bring that in.
But I also want to stress that it's not only Jabalalia, but also the other localities of Khartoum, which includes Umdurman, which includes Umbadda, Shark and Neil.
You know, all 7 localities are in extreme needs and we need to maintain assistance at scale and regularly to help them tide through this very, very difficult situation and, and ensure that we can put them on, on, on a pathway towards recovery and, and towards some elements of normalisation in the coming months.
And back to you in the thanks to you, Samantha.
Do we have further questions for Samantha?
Yes, Olivia, follow up from Reuters.
Sorry, just a question on the, the, the budget is, is, is that that you're, you're, you're it's underfunded right now or it's that you it's just not enough for what what you're trying to achieve in terms of assistance?
Sorry, just a clarification on in terms of that number there, if you may.
Yes, this is our net funding requirements from May to September.
We do have some possibility of funding towards that, but if we do not get this full funding, our aim to assist 7 million people, which is already a fraction of the staggering numbers I mentioned in Sudan, will not be met.
We are advocating to ensure that as we make access gain, the funding requirements are fully met.
I think we have another follow up from Nina.
Sorry, it's just a follow up on that issue.
I was just wondering if you could say how much of that requirement you've already received and how how big the gap is right now we can get back to you on that question.
Thanks that, that would be great.
I think that might do it for the questions from the room online.
So I'd like to thank you very much to you and your colleagues for the extraordinary work you're doing and and keep it up.
Thank you again for joining us here at the press briefing in Geneva.
Colleagues, we're going to stay on the continent of Africa.
We're going to have now a briefing from our.
I'm very pleased to welcome as he makes his way up here to the podium, Mr Ayaki Ito, who is UNHCR Director for Emergencies, who's going to speak about Burundi and staying on the subject of funding as well.
So Mr Ito will address that situation.
So thank you again, once once again for joining us here.
And of course, William, who you know well is on the podium with us, who's also here to take any questions should you have any for him.
Thank you very much and good morning.
Thank you very much for this opportunity to brief you on my recent visit to Brundy as a Director of Emergency Supply and Security with other three members.
We visited Brundy from 8th to 16th of April.
You know, Brundy doesn't really appear on headlines a lot of times, but next to Burundi, you have Democratic Republic of Congo, one of the largest, most severe humanitarian situations.
So I would like to just highlight the impact of the humanitarian crisis on a small neighbouring country, Burundi.
Just in terms of context, Burundi is a small country.
It's two third of Switzerland.
It's a very small country and one of the ****, the most densely populated countries in Africa.
In fact, the influx of refugees to Burundi starting mid February is the first UNHCR declared refugee emergency since the financial crisis started.
So it is also quite important for UNHCR and also the the international community.
It is a very fragile country, small and next to Burundi you have Democratic Republic of Congo.
Conflict is raising and economy is suffering with hyperinflation.
So there's a security concern because of the neighbouring country in in DRC and also fragile economy and a small country already Burundi even before this crisis had refugee population of 87,000 people.
On top of that, returning Burundian refugees are also arriving mostly from Tanzania.
So it's a very complex and fluid situation.
Then mid February, starting already January, because of the situation in DRCA, big influx started.
So 71,000 people refugees arrived in Burundi since January this year.
And at the beginning of the influx it was quite difficult to to to receive and take care of these refugees.
The government and local responders have a tremendous job and then a tremendous job to receive them with support of the humanitarian community.
Because of the large number of influx, the government would like these refugees to go to a settlement designated to these new arrivals to the east of the country.
So refugees arrive and to the West of the country just across the river and the government would like them to go to a settlement to the east of the country.
I also took that road is about 5 hours of a road trip, a fairly long trip.
The I saw also a new arrival and it was a family.
They're completely wet because they have to cross the river Rosizi River.
It's about 100 metres wide and exhausted.
And their belongings, not very many belongings, so many of them were there.
So some of them are ready to move to the settlement, others would like to stay in the community because they have a families friends just across the border.
So the same community, while the government would like to see the refugees arriving to go to the settlement, it's called Musane to the east.
Many of them are remaining with community and the community is taking care of them and we are also working with the government what we can do with those who remaining in the community.
And ideally we would like to see them remaining there.
And also the whole community is supported by the humanitarian community and also development partners as well.
Some of the stark needs that I saw was first, there's so many separated or unaccompanied children.
You know, 53% of newly arriving refugees are children under the age of 18 and amongst them they don't have the parents or they have their parents separated.
So how to address these with the partners?
It's it's one big challenge.
Another one is there are a lot of survival of gender and sexual violence and we have a system to identify them and refer them to specialist medical, psychosocial and social welfare support and it's a challenge.
It's really overwhelming needs now.
I went to also this settlement in Musane, 5 hours away from the border area and it's supposed to host fairly low number of refugees so that they can be integrated in the host community.
However, the pace of the new arrival really overtook the plan.
So today about we have about 16,000 people there.
The original resident was 3000.
So on top of that, 13,000 people arrived.
The food ration is already half of what it's supposed to be.
But because of the financial crisis, our partner the food programme is able to provide only half ration, but it only lasts until the end of June unless there is additional funding.
When I was there also, the area with the tents were flooded because quickly we had to expand the area where people can live.
So it's supposed to be agricultural land, lowland, but we had to erect tents.
So there was an emergency with an emergency flooding in settlement, access to education and health.
Before 3000, original residents were able to go to health facility and school outside the camp.
They're still able to do so, but the new arrivals, they're not able to do so just simply because of overcrowding.
So again, we need to support refugees but also host community because of this very fluid, unstable situation.
Yes, Burundian government received them with a proper legal status, so they don't have to be, They don't have to go through interviews to determine individually who is refugees.
So as soon as long as they come and say I'm a refugee, the government recognise them as a refugee.
So there's a legal status.
However, lack of humanitarian assistance, immediate support.
Often because of this, refugees make hard choice.
They sometimes go back to DRC to seek safety or support and they come back also to to to Burundi.
And I was at the border and the river, it's about 100 metre between Burundi and the DRC.
It's a rainy season, heavy currents and brown water.
And I saw this plastic sheeting ball, it's a female had it hit his household, 1 mother and three small children.
So what she did was she put this her belongings and wrapped it with a plastic sheet.
So make it sort of float.
And you can see from afar this float is coming and then coming towards this is border checkpoint very small 1 coming towards our direction.
So it's very, very perilous journey.
And I was told it's, it's a full of crocodile and then hippos and people are making this kind of trip.
It's a it's a coping mechanism.
This is the word term that our humanitarian use very lightly.
But this is exactly how refugees are doing.
So we really need to stabilise the situation with assistance and support and protection in Burundi so that they can actually take advantage of protection provided by the government of Burundi.
Just A2 takeaways to conclude one, as I said, Burundi, Burundian government and people open up the door for refugees.
Now it's up to us, the international community to support refugees there and the host community and UNHCR and 16 other part 15 other partners are about to launch a appeal of $76.5 million and this is opportunity for us to really share the responsibilities.
The second one is sorry to talk about us humanitarians.
I witnessed really how hard not only UNHCR, but our colleagues and other humanitarian agencies, especially first responders, government and local NGOs, civil society, how they are struggling.
They have to do 4 things in one go.
One, as I said, there are already refugees and returnees in that country, in that small country, they have been running their own programme.
And two, they had to respond to a sudden influx of refugees 71,000 and three, you don't know what's going to happen on the other side of the border.
So they need to be prepared contingency and for many of us including UNSIA had to reduce our programme because of financial crisis.
So we had to run the operation that we have been doing scale up while reducing some of the programmes.
This is a Spartan job and again, we are just appeal to everybody to remember Burundi refugees there and then hoping for really peaceful region.
Thank you very much, Mr Ito.
Painting a very comprehensive difficult situation, but indeed it is fluid and unstable situation as you as you rightly said.
So thank you very much for for sharing that update with us.
Do we have questions starting in the room?
Thank you for the briefing.
I was wondering if you could.
I was, it was a little unclear to me when you spoke about the separated children, you talked about 53% and I was wondering, I think that might have been just the number of the percentage of children among the refugees.
But do you have a percentage of the, OR the number for the children who have been separated?
And also I saw that at the beginning of the month, there was a transit centre that apparently was shut down in Burundi.
And how, how do you, how, how are you able to respond to that or how is the community able to respond to that?
With regard to the number, maybe I wasn't very clear.
So you're right, 53%, this is the percentage of children amongst the registered, the registered refugees, not the whole of 71,000 people are registered because some of them are still remaining in the host community and we have not been able to register them though.
Now the percentage of separated children, we don't have that figure, but we have the the total number.
I don't have it with me, but I can just give you after I check the total number of the separated children.
I mean, you, we have separated children, which are the children whose parents are somewhere, but there's some guardian but unaccompanied children, children on their own, as you know.
So there's a different, there are two different groups things.
I had a second question which was on the, on the closure of the transit centre.
Yeah, this was a Rugombo stadium and it was a really difficult situation at the time of mid February when there's a huge number of refugees arriving.
So there was indeed a very difficult, confused response.
And I must say the local community did a lot.
And then UNHCR and other humanitarians came in.
The government there really wanted refugees to go to this Musane settlement.
And some of the refugees, yes, they went to Mussaini.
That's why we have now a bit of overcrowded situation there.
Others went into the community of a surrounding community.
And I went to the stadium.
So you have a surrounding community.
And we also met with the community leaders and they confirmed that they're there, they're taking care of them, but their status remains uncertain.
So it is our we're working with the government how to identify these refugees and then also support them in their community along with host families and host communities.
Thank you, Sir, for the questions for Mr Ito in the room.
We're online, I don't see any.
So I'd like to thank you very, very much for joining us, and also shout out to the humanitarian workers who are doing extraordinary works and to you and your team.
Thank you very much, Sir.
OK, colleagues, we're going to head north to Ukraine, where we're going to connect with Miss Catalina Lindholm Billing, who is Unhcr's representative in Ukraine, who's joining us from the country for an update.
So Catalina, over to you and thank you again for joining us.
Thank you very much for the opportunity.
And yes, I'm joining from Kiev today where it's an official day of mourning because yesterday, as I'm sure you know, on the 24th of April, the Kiev residents woke up to another deadly Russian attack.
And we these have really intensified alarmingly since the start of of this year.
And just in Kiev, 12 people were killed as a result of of, of these attacks across the city and 84 were injured.
And more than 1000 people have been directly affected as their homes have been damaged or or or completely destroyed.
But civilians and infrastructure were also hit in several other regions yesterday, including in Kharki, where I myself woke up around 2:00 AM in the morning to the loud sound of explosions and apartment buildings, a polyclinic, a school where among the civilian objects hit in in Kharkiv.
And I visited one of those locations affected and saw again how families with children, retired couples were sweeping up glass from the floors in their damaged departments and collecting these plywood boards to distributed to cover their broken windows.
And just before visiting this location, I had been to another neighbourhood of Kharkiv, it's called Saltivka, where UNHCR has repaired windows in over 2600 apartments.
And this is what we see again, destruction, repairing destruction, but at the same time not breaking the wish and the determination of the of the people to remain in their homes.
And in recent weeks, these intensified large scale attacks on cities like Sumi, Kriveri, Kharkiv, Zaporizza, Odessa, Marinets and several other cities have killed and injured civilians and caused damage to residential areas and and people's homes, as well as medical facilities, schools and other infrastructure.
And the UN's Human Rights monitoring Mission in Ukraine reports that civilian casualties in Ukraine were in March this year, 70% higher compared to March last year, which is really striking and says a lot about how the war has has developed.
And with our Ukrainian NGO partners, UNHCR is on site alongside the authorities and the first responders immediately after these attacks and delivering critical aid.
And at the moment, the teams are still on the ground in several locations across Kiev supporting people after yesterday's devastating attack.
And one of the main things we deliver is part of this emergency response are emergency shelter materials that help people cover broken windows, roofs and doors.
And since 2022, we have supported around 450,000 people with such materials.
We're also as part of this emergency response, providing psychological first aid and that's one of the psychosocial programmes that we through our partners, support people with.
And around 280,000 people have been reached with psychological support since the start of the full scale invasion and 10s of thousands with legal support for people who have lost their documents in attacks or left them behind when they fled, as well as emergency cash assistance.
And while these attacks, aerial attacks on cities intensified, we also see attacks on frontline regions increasing.
And it's as always civilians that are bearing the highest cost of of the war.
And the escalation of hostilities along frontline areas has forced more civilians to flee and prompted the Ukrainian authorities to issue new mandatory evacuation orders.
And as an example, since January this year, more than 3500 people have transited through a centre in Pablo Grad in the Nipro Petrovsk region.
And in the past month alone, more than 4200 evacuees have arrived from frontline villages in Sumi region at a transit centre in Sumi city.
Where you in HCR and our partners are providing support to the newly displaced?
But these are only an indication of the number of people relatively newly displaced because more than 200,000 people have been evacuated or displaced from frontline areas between August last year and the start of of 2025.
And I met a few of them yesterday at the collective centre in Kharkiv, including Lubov, their husband Oleg, a couple in their 60s.
And they're now living in this collective centre after having fled their completely flattened village and destroyed home home in the Kubiensk region, which is close to the border with the Russian Federation.
And like most evacuees, they haven't arrived with little or or or no belongings and deeply traumatised.
But despite having been forced to leave everything behind in in the destruction, they express just this immense gratitude for having received accommodation and humanitarian support at the collective centre.
And I mean, the resounding message from all of these war affected people we work with and for and from the Ukrainian authorities that are efficiently leading the response is that support from humanitarian organisations like UNHCR and our NGO partners is, is crucial.
And it's really needed more than ever because it does save lives.
It sustains this resilience that Ukrainian people have become worldwide known for.
And it helps people impacted by these horrific attacks to recover, rebuild and, and realise that determination to remain in their homes.
And, and therefore we and the most importantly, the people we serve are incredibly grateful to our government and private sector partners who provide funding for these critical programmes.
But what we see is that more is really needed to sustain a timely and a predictable response to the calls from the affected people and the authorities, and I mean UNHCR and our partners.
We have the capacity and the reach to efficiently deliver, provided we received the necessary funding.
Thank you very much, Catalina.
And of course, colleagues, you will have seen the statement that we issued yesterday from Matthias Shmali, the Humanitarian Coordinator in Ukraine is a reaction to these latest attacks through which he strongly condemns these attacks from the armed forces of the Russian Federation and which have killed as, as you just heard, civilians and it's a secretary general's that's our priorities, protect civilians to end this war.
So thank you very much for that update.
Catalina, we'll turn to the room for questions.
We have one from Olivia of Reuters over to you.
Two questions from me, if you may just give a brief overview of the level of the need facing people both in cities like Kiev, but also those on the frontline.
You mentioned, you know, some displaced people leaving with with nothing, losing their documents, having really little with them.
I know previously there have been concerns raised about the level of humanitarian need to support people, particularly in frontline areas.
But given how intense a conflict is is becoming, I wonder that it's also going beyond just frontline areas now in terms of the level of need and also in terms of the funding.
You're saying you need more funding to sustain your operations in a timely and predictable manner.
Previously, your colleagues have spoken of funding cuts to Ukrainian refugee programmes in Europe.
But I'm just wondering if you're facing any funding challenges actually in Ukraine itself.
So in terms of the needs, you have the people who remain in the frontline areas who need really the basics for their survival, including assistance, humanitarian assistance to sustain themselves, hygiene items, emergency shelter, material to cover damages in their homes, which which are constant.
You then have the needs of those who are newly evacuated and displaced and first and foremost, they need somewhere to sleep and stay.
They need cash assistance because they've usually left everything behind.
So immediate cash to buy food, medicines, pay for rent somewhere and another essentials closed.
And then you have those who are victims of attacks like the ones that the residents of of Kiev faced yesterday and and residents of other locations.
I I mentioned like 3 very a couple of weeks ago, Sumi as on face on a regular basis who need also some who have had their homes completely destroyed need an alternative place to stay until they've been able to repair their their their apartment.
If it is repairable, they need psychological support, cash assistance again to address immediate needs when everything or a lot of their belongings have been destroyed.
And many also need legal aid to obtain documents because they've left their documents behind or they've been destroyed in the attacks, which means they can't identify themselves when accessing the authorities for social and other forms of support or claim compensation for destroyed housing.
So these are some of the needs that that that we have.
Of course the needs are highest among those living still remaining in frontline areas of the war.
But what we see with the newly displaced, especially those I mentioned, the over 200,000 who left since August last year, is that the majority are older people, people with low mobility or disabilities, families with a challenging socio economic situation and many children who have stayed until the very end because they didn't want to leave everything they had behind.
So you have these different layers of need.
Plus you have around almost 4 million internally displayed displaced people in prolonged displacement and many of them are still haven't been able to find affordable housing and a new job and so on.
So you have needs on, on multiple levels.
In terms of the funding situation, yes, it it is, We are feeling it very strongly here.
And therefore as a humanitarian country team, we have had to undergo a reprioritization of the 2025 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan and for the moment reduce the number of people we are prioritising as the response.
We are as of this date, 25 percent funded against our appeal for the year and are therefore really calling on on on donors to as much as possible provide timely early funding while we're still in the first half of 2025.
Because for example, yesterday I mentioned when I was on one of the sites that was affected in car give the car give mayor your Tedaco was there as well.
And he really called for more support to help people now repair again their windows in their damaged apartments and other needs that they have so that they can actually remain in their own homes and not be forced to leave and flee somewhere else within Ukraine or abroad.
Thanks to you, Catalina, in the room Before I turn online.
OK, So we have a question for you online from Gabby Della Sotomayor of Processor Mexico.
Thank you for this briefing.
My question is, what is the what are the reactions of Ukrainians after declarations of U.S.
President Donald Trump saying that he's not happy after Russia launched this deadliest wave of attacks in Kiev?
Is is that enough that the President of USA says that he's not happy And he asked, he's asking routine to stop.
But what about the funding of USA?
Is, is this, I mean, do you have more funding from them?
What is the situation of the funding from USAUSA concretely?
Thank you very much for the question.
So, I mean, I'm not in a position to comment on the political discussions around a ceasefire or, or a peace deal.
I mean, what I do know from very well from, from the people we, we, we serve and we support and we engage with is that they are devastated by these continued attacks and, and having to flee their, their, their homes where they've lived their whole life in order to search, you know, safety somewhere else with within Ukraine.
And they want a stop to the, to the, to the war and, and they want peace and they want to be able to return to their own homes and rebuild and restart their, their lives there.
On the funding, yes, I mean UNHCR is, is, is impacted like many other organisations of, of, of the funding suspensions.
We have received some funding from from the US government this year and we're very grateful for for that.
And we hope that more will will come later during the year as the needs are clearly there.
And this support does help save lives and it does help keep the people strong and resilient and able to remain in their in their own country and eventually rebound from from the effects of the war.
And let me just just add, you know, repeat what we've been saying for for more than three years now is, you know, the war must end and then any peaceful settlement must respect the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine.
And and as I've just said, you know, protection of civilian remains EU NS priority, as just eloquently said by Carolina as well.
She she spoke to the horrors that we're continue to witness.
You know, this war has taken, you know, untold cause untold destruction, displaced millions, traumatised a generation of children.
So this is really what must end and what must end now.
So I do have a follow up, Gabby once again, yes, thank you.
Rolando, my question is to you, if a Secretary general or you know that the the people that are handling the situation from the UN, are they asking to include in the peace, in the peace agreement or, or somewhere that Russia should should, you know, they invade Ukraine?
You, you see, I mean, they have to go back from, you know, that that is the beginning of the war.
So what are you, what do you think is Secretary General asking Russia in any way to go, to go back where?
You know, again, the, the war must end.
We, the, the settlement must respect sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine.
If that's what we're referring to, that that is of paramount importance.
That's the UN's position, which we've been stating very, very clearly since it's the beginning of this conflict.
So that's, that's really what I could offer you at this moment.
If you have any other specific questions on, on the peace process, of course, you know, I can always check with colleagues in New York, but this is really the position.
Catalina, I don't know if you had anything more to add on this, but of course, you know, the work that you're doing, the work that your colleagues are doing in country is of course paramount importance that is going side by side with the political discussions.
So I'll leave it at that.
Do we have further questions for Carolina or online or Nick?
Yeah, thank you for the briefing.
One quick question relating to the aid suspensions that you say you have had.
Could you just give an indication of what kind of projects, programmes, activities have been hit by the aid suspensions?
So some of the programmes that we previously used to, you know, implement with, with the generous support of US funding are part of them are the psychosocial support that I mentioned, which is still needed on a huge scale, emergency shelter material and and response repairing of homes.
Also cash assistance that is provided to people who are newly displaced, evacuated or, or victims of these aerial attacks and during the winter period.
So we've had to put some of the these on partially on, on on hold or we are basically prudent in the way we implement to make sure because we can of course not spend more than we have mobilised funding for.
But we hope that funding will resume at the level needed.
So we will be able to implement our plans that we have for this year by the end of the year.
But at the moment, these are three of the programmes where we have had to a bit suspend some of the, the, the reach we, we were planning to, to, to make.
But again, thanks to support also from, from from many other countries, we are at the moment able to respond to these attacks.
And we see that it's really crucial and it's all the time repeated by the local authorities on the ground.
They are leading the response, but they say we cannot do it alone because it's like putting out fires in so many places at the same time.
And if the people who are affected do not see that there is support immediately afterwards, it really further adds to to the pain and the suffering that they they are experiencing.
Thank you very much, Carolina.
So could you just indicate what sort of proportion of your funding was affected by these suspensions?
So last year the US funding accounted for around 40% of UNHCRS funding.
So, so far this year, we have received now recently a much smaller proportion than than that, but we are hoping that there will be at least more coming going forward.
But 40% of the funding we had last year came from the US.
OK, I think that's clear.
Any further questions for Catalina?
So thanks again Catalina for joining us and thank you for the important work you're doing in country.
And please do feel free to join us again anytime.
I am flanked by my two friends and colleagues from WHO and UNHCR who will speak to situations in Myanmar and in Colombia, opposite sides of the planet, but very important situation We'll start off with Margaret, do you want to introduce your guest or?
OK, I'll just go right ahead.
And thank you very much for joining us here.
Thank you very much, Mr Tooth.
Shara Fernando, who is WH OS representative in Myanmar, joining us from Yongan, who is talking about the nearly one month since the earthquake struck Myanmar and he's going to speak to the health needs in response since then.
Thank you very much for the opportunity one month into this power to the two powerful earthquakes which start the central region of Myanmar.
Over 3700 people lost their lives, about 5100 people were injured and 114 people still remain missing and 10s of thousands are still displaced.
Living in makeshift tents, many with no walls, only plastic sheets to cover.
We see them pitch along the pools of stagnant rainwater.
They eat, they drink in their tents, they don't have even a simple mosquito net to sleep under in the night.
I want to draw your attention to Mandalay, where our staff recently met few families sheltering under plastic sheets in a football field.
This is still not the monsoon rain season yet, but there had been a rain few days before and the ground had turned to thick, ankle deep mud.
When it rains, they can't sleep, and when the rain stops they still can't sleep because they fear the wind might have their only shelter away.
Some tents are shared by three or four families and many of whom have either lost their loved ones or homes or their belongings or their livelihoods.
And yet, even in this hardship, we witnessed the heart of the Myanmar people, neighbours helping neighbours, families building their tents together, sharing food, comforting each other and resilience.
However, many of them are not aware of the serious, serious health risks that they are exposed to.
The risk of infectious disease outbreaks is sharply rising.
With the monsoon season approaching, the ****** of dengue and malaria is becoming a reality.
Water sources are contaminated, polluted and the shared temporary toilets are overwhelmed.
Acute water diarrhoea has already been reported in few areas and we must not forget that in Mandalay that there was cholera had been reported few months back.
WHO has responded with urgency but the needs are immense.
WHO has delivered about 170 tonnes of emergency medical supplies which is sufficient for about 450,000 people for three months and there are 222 emergency medical teams that are being coordinated by WHO in these earthquake affected areas.
The W2 has launched A targeted dental prevention initiative in coordination with the national and local partners.
This includes the distribution of about 4500 RDTS, which is called rapid diagnostic test kits to the front line responders, about 6 tonnes of Tamifos which is a larvae site for mosquito breeding sites and 500 insecticide treated 10 Nets to protect the infants and children in the hardest hit areas.
WTO continues to work with the local partners with the delivery of essential care, trauma care, physical rehabilitation, mental health and psychosocial support, maternal and child health and non communicable diseases.
But all these are in very limited scale.
We are now at a very critical juncture.
Without urgent sustained funding, the risks of secondary health crisis will erupt.
WHO has appealed for $8 million in the immediate aftermath for the operations to prevent disease outbreaks and sustain their delivery of essential care in the immediate future.
The emergency is far from over as we see but and the strength of the Myanmar people is unwavering.
We have seen it in the eyes of pregnant women rebuilding their shelter with their along with their neighbours.
I have heard it in a voice where our father who lost seven family members yet showing up to support the community.
And I have felt it in the eyes of health workers who keep going because they know that they are needed.
This is the face of resilience.
This is the call to action.
We have a responsibility to match the strength of the people of Myanmar with the commitment of our own, not only to respond, but to restore, not only to deliver relief, but to stand beside them on their road to recovery.
Thank you for the opportunity again.
Thank you very much, Doctor Fernando, for that very important update on this important date.
Do we have questions for Doctor Fernando?
No, I don't see that's the case.
Your briefing was very comprehensive.
You might have, might have seen the comments made by the emergency relief Coordinator yesterday, Tom Fletcher, referring to this new phase of, of delivery and humanitarian relief as a humanitarian reset in that they have now that is our partners, including WHO have been able to reach areas which were harder to receive access in the past of as as of course, Dr Fernando could speak to areas in Saigon which were the hardest hit areas by the earthquake.
So this was a statement that the spokesperson made yesterday vis A vis the comments from Tom Fletcher, referring to it as this humanitarian reset.
So I'd like to thank you very much for for joining us here in in Geneva and please do so in future.
And thank you for the important work you're doing.
OK, so we're going to shift to the West, is that right?
The West of the country, rest of the the globe to South America, in fact to Colombia.
And we have William, of course, from UNHCR, he's going to speak about the protection and integration of displaced people in Colombia.
So yes, I'm going to talk about another very serious situation.
We have heard many humanitarian crises around the world this morning.
There are many other regions that are being affected by violence and where years of progress in protection and the integration of displaced people are at risk because of the funding crisis at the moment.
And I'm talking specifically about Colombia, a country that hosts one of the largest numbers of uprooted people in the world, including over 7 million internally displaced people, some 3,000,000 Venezuelan refugees and migrants, and more than 500,000 Colombians that have returned from neighbouring countries and who are still in need of assistance.
And for years, Colombia has been a pillar of stability in in the region.
It has been a country that has welcomed millions of Venezuelan refugees and migrants.
It has regularised over 2 million of them.
And that process is ongoing and key programmes to continue to support conflict affected communities and enable the same return of displaced people, whether they are internally displaced within the country, for people who are in living in informal urban settlements, because this is something that we need to emphasise.
Colombia does not have refugee camps or camps for the internally displaced.
The refugees, the migrants and the displaced Colombians live as part of communities, They are integrated into society and they live side by side with the host communities.
So many of the processes to regularise the situation are at risk because of the lack of funding.
So I will give you some examples that there is the recent violence in the Katatumbo region where 63,000 people were displaced.
This is the largest mass displacement ever registered in Colombia's history and the violence continues there despite of that.
UNACR has had to halt the distribution of life saving relief items such as blankets, mattresses, hygiene kits, solar lamps, mosquito Nets and so on because of the funding situation.
In addition, I have already mentioned the legalisation of informal settlements.
This is very important because many displaced people live in these areas so the work that is being done there to guarantee property rights and enable access to basic services like water, electricity and housing for over 100,000 people is at risk.
Another area that is of great concern to us is the child protection programmes that so far in 2024 benefited over 17,000 children.
Some of this projects need to be stopped now and this could put at risk many of these children of recruitment by non state armed groups.
And I mentioned the efforts that Colombia has done to regularise over 2,000,000 Venezuelans.
These efforts are continuing and also the documentation of over half a million Venezuelans is at risk due to the lack of funding.
So these are just some of the examples of the vital programmes that are at risk due to this situation.
dollars to continue its vital work in Colombia this year.
So far only 14% of this amount has been secured, I think.
I'm happy to answer any questions that you might have.
Thanks to you, William, that we have questions in the room first.
We have one online, but before turning.
Is it in order that if my question goes to Miss Margaret, it's about the it's a brief question or I can wait too, if you wouldn't mind waiting because we, I know we have other questions for Margaret.
That's why she's still keeping me company here.
But let's turn to Gabby online.
I think this is for you, William.
So, Gabby, yes, thank you very much, London.
Thank you, William for this briefing.
I mean, you, you mentioned 63,000 of refugees of, of people that arrived or what, what is it this number about and how many, how much funding do you need to tackle that situation?
And also, if UNHCR so that many Venezuelans arrived in El Salvador and now they are in the gaol, in gaol in Buckele's prisons and they are not, they didn't break the law in the USA.
So why they are in gaol in El Salvador and you know, under this treatment that is, is torture.
I mean, what what is your the opinion of your, of your office?
And if you have something to say about these Venezuelans?
So first on the number of of Venezuelans that have left the country, the latest figure that we have is 7.7 million.
These are Venezuelans that have left, the vast majority of them since 2015 and they are mostly in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Colombia has been the country that has received the largest number, but practically all countries in the region have received Venezuelan refugees and migrants.
So that's Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, Mexico, Panama, Chile, Argentina and so on and so forth.
Also the Dominican Republic in the Caribbean and so on.
Regarding the funding needed for the response to this, to the situation, I'll get back to you with the latest figures for our requirements.
These are pulled in the together with other agencies and and NGOs.
So I will have to give you the overall figure of the needs to respond to this humanitarian situation, which is what is one of the biggest in the world.
Regarding the issue of deportations, as you know there is a judicial proceeding or judicial procedures going on now in the United States.
So it would be, it would it's not possible for us to comment on this judicial procedures while they are ongoing.
OK, we have two more questions for you Paula of Geneva Solutions.
Well, actually I have a few questions for UNHCR, but then actually a quick one as well for the colleague in Myanmar.
So regarding I think, sorry, I think, I think just to, I think Doctor Fernando might have disconnected, but let's Oh no, no, he's still connected.
I see he's still connected.
But just pose your question first to, to William, go ahead to for UNHCR, OK.
So the, the regarding funding, I, I understand you're going to provide the information about general funding to for Venezuelan migrants for the region.
I guess that's the R4V platform, but generally how has the donor, have the donor cuts been affecting you?
Do you have some sort of global, you know, estimate in terms of the reduction percentage reduction that's been going towards Venezuelan migrants?
Then also I wanted to ask about the staffing cuts at UNHCR and when those are going to kick in.
I understand that there's 30% overall reduction in headquarters as well as 23 percentage cuts in the field.
And also have there been any contact between the agency and Swiss authorities on, you know, potentially re hiring or you know, benefiting from some of this expertise that you have here at headquarters?
OK, thank you for the question.
So I'll get back to you on the specific funding for the Venezuelan response on the overall funding and, and the measures that we are taking to respond to to this funding crisis.
As you know, UNHCR as well as many other humanitarian organisations, we have been talking about this for the last few weeks and months, has been severely affected by the funding uncertainty coming from our main donors.
And we have had to respond to the situation by taking drastic action and that means stopping a lot of the work that we are doing in the field.
We have been briefing you about today about our response in Ukraine, Colombia, Burundi, but in the past weeks we have been briefing you about our response in many other places.
So this is the most worrying aspect of of the funding crisis, the impact that it's having on the people we serve.
But of course, in order to minimise as much as possible the impact on refugees and other displaced people, we also need to reduce our presence.
In many countries that means closing some offices and reducing others and also reducing the number of posts both in headquarters and in our regional offices.
Again, this is to minimise the impact on the people we serve and on the work we do in the field.
The overwhelming UNACR staff, the vast majority of UNACR staff are located in the field.
But of course we have a number of people working here in headquarters and also in seven regional bureaus.
And that this review, a review is going on to reduce the number of posts in in those places.
And this is an ongoing process.
So this will mean cuts in our staff in, in headquarters and in in, in regional bureaus and unfortunately also in field locations.
But this process is ongoing.
Our goal is to continue to being a strong emergency response agency to continue serving the people that need us and to respond to new emergencies wherever they might happen, as well as finding solutions for, for refugees and other people we serve, whether it's through voluntary repatriation, resettlement, or local integration.
And we, I, I use this opportunity again to make an appeal to our existing donors and also to others to continue funding our work because it has an immediate and vital impact on millions of people around the world.
So yes, we have been in touch with many governments to see how we can secure funding to continue doing the, the work that we must do.
We are trying to do as much as we can to ensure that this work continues to to be done because millions of people depend on on us.
Thank you very much, William.
Colleagues, I'm mindful of the time.
We have a few more questions for you and for you, Margaret.
We have a press briefing that's supposed to start in theory in about 10 minutes, but let's maybe quick questions.
Antonio, then back to you Gabby, Antonio Vefe, thank you very much.
First one is I want to know if the US was the major contributor to to the programmes in Colombia.
And so, so that would mean that the cutbacks of aid of USA are directly related with with all the the problems you mentioned.
My second question is the the Spanish foreign affairs minister met with Grandy this week and he said that Spain is raising his contributions, but I'm not sure if this is an announce after the, the, the this funding cuts or or or or or was announced before.
So I I want to know if some other countries are raising already their contributions now that you you are losing probably the the aid from from countries like the US?
I'm trying to find the yes.
So yes, indeed the US has been a major contribution contributor to our operations in Colombia and to the rest of Latin America.
So by far it has been the main contributor to to to our operations in the Americas.
So this is obviously the uncertainty about US funding has had a very strong impact in Latin America, which where the US contribution is relatively bigger than in other parts of of the world.
But there are other donors as well that have been generously providing support to Colombia, Japan, for instance, Sweden, Korea and as you mentioned Spain.
So we are reaching out to them to press upon them the need to continue to provide this vital support and as well as in continued discussions with the US authorities so that we can also count on the support in the in the future.
Thank you very much, William Gabby.
Yes, thank you, Rolando, sorry for asking so much questions.
But I would like to ask if human rights office is there to say something on Venezuela's treatment on on Buckele's prisoners in, in, in gaols.
I'm afraid no, of course.
Thank you for the interest.
Important issue, no doubt, but they're not connected.
So if I could suggest you just reach out to them directly after this briefing.
And also I would like, I would like to ask if you have think on another way to receive funding because traditional way is not is not enough while Mr Trump is in the in the office.
So it is going to be 450.
Who is that question for us?
Is it just in general or I mean for, for, for, for you.
And listen, Gabby, we're as, as we've said here from this stand, you know, we're always looking for any forms of funding.
We're looking to reach out.
Of course, there is the regular budget through which member states pay their dues, which helps the funds many operations through extra budget funds, voluntary contributions.
And we're always looking for additional funding.
Whoever is generous enough to provide this, afford this incredibly important funds which as you just heard from William, which you know are serving the people that we serve.
So this is obviously important.
You know, we can go into some more granularity on this, but as a general comment, you know, we're always looking for additional funds and and as you've heard here, we're grossly underfunded.
We've heard, you know, you know, numbers and then we've heard this shrinking sort of percentages.
So this is obviously now we need this funding more than ever.
Thank you for the question and interest.
We have to move on, I think Antonio, and then we still have questions for Margaret.
So Antonio, is this for William?
Since you're already started, let's do that.
And then we still have a question in the room for Margaret.
OK, So I just want to know if Mr Tedros, Mr Stork, Mr Grandy, Miss Palobaya or some other UN official base in Geneva is going to attend the funeral of the Pope.
And I'm curious to know why the lowering of the flag is going to be next Tuesday.
So I think it's quite late actually.
I I was going to, if you just give me a minute, let's I will address that particular point in a minute.
But let's maybe take the questions for Margaret and then I I could come back to you on, on that concerning the late pontiff, but in the room first to Margaret.
This Tuesday we had honour of learning from your colleague Mr Tariq that in the upcoming WHA not only the historic pandemic agreement it's going to is expected to be adopted, but also a accompanying resolution is in the works to kind of accompany the proposal in his worth.
So my question is, is this resolution of formality that in the sense that every time AWHA adopts a an agreement, there is a resolution going with it or is it something that is designed with a special attention?
So it won't come into effect until it's adopted at the WHA.
OK, I have a question I'm going to read out for you, Margaret.
Jamie asks online whether we can get a comment from WHO about how measles is spreading in Canada, the US and Mexico and what could it mean for the countries or the region's measles elimination status?
And does WHO think that there is enough international cooperation to reverse the momentum of the viruses spread?
In fact, the vaccination week for the Americas starts tomorrow and the Americas is, is really facing a, a very big, a very difficult situation.
And they had done so well, they had saved 100 and they had reduced child mortality by 41% simply through vaccination.
But now they are seeing a big uptick, not just in measles but also in yellow fever.
But they are seeing now localised outbreaks across six countries in the Americas and with 2313 reported cases so far and that that's led to three deaths and one other is under investigation.
Was last year in 2014, they saw 215 cases.
So you can see that's a very, very big rise.
And I'd reflect what our regional director for the Pan American Health Organisation said yesterday where he pointed out that progress against vaccine preventable diseases needs a strong and lasting commitment to implement the appropriate public health measures.
So exactly what you said, Jamie, it does require international cooperation, a strong and lasting commitment.
I think that really answers your question.
And we will also be putting a disease outbreak news, we expect it to be ready by end of today, expect may not see it till later.
And that will be addressing specifically the situation in the US and Canada.
And while I'm speaking, I should also mention look out for a an announcement ideally which should happen tomorrow of the end of the Ebola outbreak in Uganda.
As you know, we countdown 42 days from the last known case, and once those 42 days are up, the country announces the end of the outbreak.
And if that wonderful thing happens, it happens tomorrow.
So we'll be putting out something on that.
Nice to end on a positive note.
Thank you very much, Margaret, for that.
And do be on the lookout for that.
Yeah, we have briefers in the room for the next press conference.
But just very briefly, thank you again, Margaret, William, and for all of those who briefed just really briefly to in response to Antonio's question, which I was going to announce.
In any case, concerning the, the the funeral of the late Pope, Pope Francis, the Secretary General will indeed be travelling to Rome later today where he will attend the funeral of Pope Francis tomorrow afternoon.
Now some of you have asked if he intends to meet with anyone whilst in Rome.
We don't have any bilateral scheduled meetings for tomorrow.
He's expected, that is the Secretary General, Mr Guttadish is expected to return to New York after the funeral.
On the related note, the UN flag will be lowered at half mast on Tuesday, this coming Tuesday, the 29th of April as a mark of respect for the passing of His Holiness Pope Francis.
And this is something that will be observed in all UN duty stations and offices.
So I hope that answers your question, Antonio, before I, I'm not sure if any other briefers or if anyone else heads of agencies are attending going to Rome.
If not, if so, we'll certainly communicate that to you because I know that's a question you asked.
In terms of the meetings here, we have the human rights, the Committee Against Torture wrapping up its 82nd session this afternoon after, I'm sorry, concluding the this afternoon, this review of Ukraine, the session will conclude next Friday.
So apologies Ukraine this afternoon at the Committee against Torture, Committee on Elimination of Racial Discrimination this afternoon is devoting its meeting to a general discussion on reparations for the injustices for the transatlantic trade of enslaved Africans.
So that's this afternoon.
Very quickly, the Universal Periodic Review under the Human Rights Council starts off its next session on Monday, 28th April for two weeks until the 9th of May, 14 countries being reviewed.
I'm not going to recite them all in that note which we shared with you, not me, rather Pascal, just to keep you on the loop since we've been talking a lot about situation in the Middle East.
The Security Council is briefing is going to be meeting on the situation in the Middle East this afternoon.
And also to mention that we will be sharing with you a statement from Mr Peterson, Garrett Peterson, Special Envoy for Syria, who will be briefing the Security Council as well today.
I believe it's it'll be shortly after 4:00 our time.
So we'll share with that statement with you.
And our guests are already in the room for the press conference, which I want to announce they're here.
And I apologise for this, the lateness of this briefing.
This is maybe it's unusual for me to announce that.
You can announce it yourselves in a minute.
But indeed, the press conference about to start here, it's the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Convention Secretary.
They're here and they will introduce themselves.
But we're very pleased to have you here for this important meeting coming up, this COPS meeting.
So I will relinquish the stand here, hand over to you.
And thank you for joining us here at this press briefing.
Oh, sorry, William, sorry before I cut it over over time.
Just to answer the question about the funding for the response to the Venezuelans, I will put this anyway in the in my notes when I send them to you, but just for the colleagues who were asking.
So the requirements for the response to Venezuelan refugees and migrants are 1.4 billion U.S.
dollars and so far less than 5% of that has been secured.
Thank you very much for that, for the record.
Have a nice weekend and thank you colleagues for in advance for this press briefing.
So I will step off and then please stay for the press briefing with the BRS.
