UN Geneva Press Briefing - 08 July 2025
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Press Conferences | IFRC , OHCHR , WHO , UNCTAD

UN Geneva Press Briefing - 08 July 2025

-ANNOUNCEMENTS-

WHO, Christian Lindmeier with Shagun Khare: 
• First meeting of the Intergovernmental Working Group (IGWG) on the WHO Pandemic Agreement – 9 - 10 July 2025
• WHO EPI-WIN Webinar: managing the heat: strengthening public health preparedness for mass gatherings in a warming world - 9 July 2025 13:00 – 14:15 CEST
• Update on Avian Influenza in Cambodia


-TOPICS-

IFRC, Tommaso Della Longa with Sami Fakhouri, IFRC Head of Delegation for Afghanistan
• The Red Cross Red Crescent response to intensifying population movement as Afghans return from Iran 

OHCHR, Ravina Shamdasani
• Situation in Kenya  

UN GENEVA PRESS BRIEFING

8 July 2025

 

Impact of United States Tariffs 90 Days after Pause

Pamela Coke-Hamilton, Executive Director, International Trade Centre (ITC), said a lot had changed since the United States announced a 90-day pause on so-called “reciprocal” tariffs on imports from dozens of countries. While the pause offered some relief compared to the reciprocal tariffs, a 10 per cent levy was added to existing duties, meaning countries—mostly developing countries—faced higher costs to export goods like apparel and agricultural products to the United States.

While the reciprocal tariffs would no longer go into effect tomorrow, as originally announced, but be extended for another few weeks until 1 August, this move extended the period of uncertainty, undermining long-term investment and business contracts, creating further uncertainty.

Economic uncertainty had real-world consequences on countries and sectors. One telling example of the current uncertainty in global trade was the fluctuation in gold and precious metals flows. In anticipation of higher tariffs, there was significant outflow from Switzerland to the United States since December. But that trend reversed after it was announced that gold and other precious metals were exempt from the reciprocal tariffs announced in April. According to United States import data released last Friday, trade flows had now rebounded, with imports into Switzerland up by 800 per cent, year-on-year, in May.

These changes in the trade landscape were part of a bigger trend. Since the beginning of the year, ITC had tracked more than 150 restrictive trade measures that had been introduced globally. These measures, layered on top of a general decline in world trade since the onset of the war in Ukraine, with its related supply chain disruptions, insecurity and rising commodity prices, had put strains on all economies.

All these factors hit those with the most to lose the hardest. The countries facing the highest reciprocal tariffs were also the least developed, with Lesotho, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Madagascar and Myanmar facing rates between 40 and 50 per cent. Lao People's Democratic Republic and Myanmar now both faced a 40 per cent rate, among the highest announced thus far. Lesotho, which sent close to 60 per cent of its apparel exports to the United States, was set to face a 50 per cent tariff, overriding the duty-free access provided by the African Growth and Opportunity Act, which could in any case expire in September. The future of the country’s top industry was in question, and up to tens of thousands of jobs were at risk.

Viet Nam, one of three countries that had negotiated a new rate with the United States and a developing country which sent more than a quarter of all exports to the United States – now faced a 20 per cent tariff. Viet Nam’s auto and auto-related exports to the United States totalled around 937 million United States dollars last year, so the newly agreed-upon tariff could reshape trade between the two countries, with implications for other countries in the region. It was also announced over the weekend that countries aligning with certain policies of BRICS countries would face an extra 10 per cent tariff.

Adding to the uncertainty created by the tariffs and related trade measures were deep cuts in development aid, which were creating a dual shock for developing countries in the worlds of trade and aid. G7 countries, which together accounted for around three-quarters of all official development assistance, were set to slash their aid spending by 28 per cent next year, compared to 2024 levels. This would be the biggest cut in aid since the G7 was established 50 years ago.

In today’s context, a “perfect storm” was brewing—just as trade was becoming more unpredictable, external support through aid was also shrinking. There were three actions developing countries could take to restore a sense of stability and predictability, and even find new opportunities to grow.

The first was to strengthen relations with neighbours. Countries could invest in building up and strengthening regional value chains in key sectors, from critical raw materials and electric vehicles to pharmaceuticals. Ms. Coke-Hamilton highlighted the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which was the redefinition of Africa's relationship with the world, with the potential to change the terms of trade. Intra-African trade stands at 14 to 16 per cent, but if that figure increased to 40 or 50 per cent, intraregional trade could accelerate and revolutionise economic growth, as had been seen in Europe and Asia, where intraregional trade made up 75 per cent and 60 per cent of total trade, respectively.

The second action was to double down on value addition. Countries needed to commit to processing goods in-country before export to retain more value at a time when external factors put pressure on export revenues. Commodities made up 59 per cent of exports of least developed countries. This share was around twice as high as the share of commodities in exports of other developing and developed countries.

Least developed countries had strong export potential in manufacturing. Some 43 per cent—amounting to 109 billion United States dollars—of the export potential of least developed countries in manufacturing in 2029 was currently untapped. Countries could use ITC’s Export Potential Map, relaunched last week with new data, design and functionalities, to find new markets for priority sectors.

The third action was to make the small business agenda a political one. The United States’ tariffs were influencing the trade landscape from the top down, but stability could come from the ground up. When small businesses of developing countries were able to continue and even scale operations, they helped bring about stability, as they made up 90 per cent of all companies and two-thirds of jobs worldwide.

For small businesses to participate more meaningfully in global markets, their insights, innovations and pain points needed to be reflected in policies. That was why ITC was partnering with South Africa to convene more than 50 ministers to raise the political importance of the small business agenda at the global level, through the first-ever Global SME Ministerial Meeting in Johannesburg on 22 to 24 July. There was no better time to host this Ministerial, as South Africa held the G20 presidency this year, prioritising themes like inclusive economic growth, financial stability and climate change.

Although uncertainties lay ahead in both the trade and aid landscapes, developing countries could still find ways not only to navigate these challenges, but to take on an active role in bringing about greater stability.

In response to questions, Ms. Coke-Hamilton said that if a business was not clear on the costs they needed to pay and where they could export, they could not plan or decide where to invest. Some countries had received letters outlining several different levels of tariffs. There was no clear ground; the sand kept shifting and there was no way to make decisions for businesses across the world.

Things had changed over the past 90 days. There had been attitudinal shifts regarding engagement on regional integration. Canada and the United Kingdom were recalibrating relationships with Europe. There was recognition by countries, especially in Africa, that they needed to turbocharge regional trade agreements. If the United States’ African Growth and Opportunity Act were to be withdrawn, it would be devastating for economies. However, there were also positives to the situation: it was promoting diversification, regional integration, and self-investment. China had announced that they would give tariff-free access to Africa. This was a major development, and it could swing things in a new direction. These changes would soon be reflected in trade flows.

Ms. Coke-Hamilton said she was not aware of what the long-term plan was, but she said she believed that, in the long run, these moves would have a negative impact on the United States economy.

Investors looked to gold in times of volatility, and Switzerland was the largest refiner of gold in the world. Flows in gold investment shifted from the United States to Switzerland once it was clear that tariffs would not be applied to the metal, and since then had increased by 800 per cent, demonstrating investors’ desire for stability.

The United States’ policy in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region was not clear. The United States was driven by the idea that it had lost competitiveness due to Asian countries, and its moves were an attempt to pull back some of this perceived loss.  ASEAN countries were more nuanced in terms of their internal trade mechanisms and how they would respond. The 25 per cent tariffs on Japan and Republic of Korea were onerous and sent a signal that countries should be concerned about. Asian countries needed to consider how to protect their products and find new markets. Most of the trade between the United States and ASEAN countries was based on the United States investing in the region. It was not clear what the implications would be for these companies.

Julia Spies, Chief of Trade and Market Intelligence, International Trade Centre (ITC), said that tariffs imposed on competitors in other countries were important for businesses. Viet Nam had made a trade deal with the United States, but Viet Nam’s competitors had yet to receive tariff announcements. ITC was waiting for all tariffs to be announced to assess the situation.

 

Intensifying population movement as Afghans return from Iran

Sami Fakhouri, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) Head of Delegation for Afghanistan said that last week, he visited the province of Herat the Islam Qala border area with Iran, and what he saw was heartbreaking. Busloads of people were arriving at the border, where it was extremely hot. These were families who, a few days before, were sitting in their homes in Iran leading normal lives. The next thing they knew, they were placed on a bus and sent to a country that many of them had left many years before.

In June alone, over 135,000 people returned to Afghanistan from Iran, and since the beginning of this year, over one million persons had returned to Afghanistan. It was anticipated that a further one million people would return this year. Mr. Fakhouri said that he had spoken with a woman at the border who said that she was coming to a country where she did not really know. Her story was one of hundreds of thousands. Many of the people returning did not know where they would be lodged. The common theme for the returnees was that it was very difficult to start over in a new country. Parents were worried about safety and security for their children, specifically education and safety for their daughters. IFRC was calling for returns to be conducted voluntarily with the utmost respect and dignity.

Afghan Red Crescent Society staff and volunteers were doing a remarkable job, distributing over 6,000 hot meals a day and are providing essential primary healthcare medical services to returning people, including psychosocial support, temporary shelter, and water. IFRC was doing the best it could with the resources it had, but the organisation did not have sufficient resources on the ground to cover even the average amount of people who crossed into Afghanistan. This came on top of the large number of people already returned from Pakistan.

There was hopelessness and desperation in Afghanistan, which came from the broken health system, mass unemployment, freezes on Afghan assets, and limitations on girls’ education. Many people were stuck in their homes with nothing to do and no sense of purpose.

This weekend, the province of Nangarhar, next to the Pakistan border, was hit by extreme floods. Many returnees from Pakistan who were trying to rebuild their lives in a country they barely knew were now losing their homes again. Over 250 houses had been destroyed, yet very few news outlets outside of Afghanistan had mentioned it. Sadly, the flooding was expected to continue.

People in Afghanistan were being deprived of the chance to dream. Action was needed now to get Afghanistan out of this situation. Action was also needed to prevent Afghanistan from falling into a deeper crisis that would be impossible to emerge from. The IFRC was appealing for 25 million Swiss francs to support Afghan Red Crescent Society operations at the border crossing, transit camps and final provincial places where Afghans are resettling. This appeal was currently only 10 per cent funded. If it did not receive these resources, the Afghan Red Crescent Society would need to make hard choices about who they could continue supporting. To tackle the many challenges Afghanistan was facing, swift and coordinated action was necessary.

In response to questions, Mr. Fakhouri said authorities had a plan for reintegration of returnees – they were preparing some areas to receive these families - but resources were limited. It was not easy to reintegrate these people in a country with high unemployment. Some of these people would have to leave again if they could not find a job. The IFRC was providing shelter to whoever it could and was trying to scale up efforts, but resources were limited.

Funding for Afghanistan in general was low. The economy was not doing well, and authorities had limited capacities. There were concerns of famine, and the millions of returnees would only increase the severity of the situation.

Most of the returnees did not have a say in coming back to Afghanistan. Many had mental scars; they had left Afghanistan for a better life and had found it in Iran, but now needed to start from scratch. Between three and four million Afghan people were living in Iran. The economy in Iran was suffering and the Iranian Government wanted to keep jobs for Iranians. The conflict with Israel had also impacted the decision to return Afghans.

Babar Baloch for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said more than 1.5 million people from Pakistan and Iran had been returned to Afghanistan since 1 January, and more than 1.2 million from Iran alone. The highest daily average of Afghan returns this year came last week on 4 July, when 50,260 persons arrived, and the number did not seem to be slowing down. Arrivals from Iran had picked up since June this year; more than 600,000 had arrived since 1 June. Most were families with children, many who had never set foot in Afghanistan.

In response to questions, Mr. Baloch said that many returnees were talking about experiencing detention and harassment. The profile of this population was very urban; many had never seen Afghanistan. The large number of returnees was making the situation chaotic.

Psychological scars would stay with Afghans who had been forced to come back. Family separation was a big concern for returnees; 41 per cent of returnees who UNHCR had spoken to had mentioned family separation. The future of returnees’ children was also a big worry.

Iran had been a generous host for Afghans for over 40 years and Afghans were thankful for the role that Iran had played, Mr. Baloch noted. The returns were not a new development; returns from Iran had happened before, but no one had imagined that they would be conducted to this scale. UNHCR was repeating its calls for the voluntary, gradual return of Afghans, as the situation was dire and returns of Afghans in these large numbers were unmanageable.


Concerns over Deaths at Ongoing Protests in Kenya

Ravina Shamdasani for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said that the Office was deeply troubled by the killings yesterday of at least 10 people, as well as looting and destruction of property in Kenya as police and other security forces responded to violent protests in the capital Nairobi and at least 16 other counties. Lethal ammunition, rubber bullets, tear gas, and water cannons were used.

Police had reported that at least 11 people were killed, 52 police officers injured, and that 567 arrests were made. The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights reported at least 10 fatalities, 29 injuries, 37 arrests and two abductions. OHCHR had also received reports of looting and damage to public and private property by unidentified individuals in multiple locations.

Ms. Shamdasani said it was very concerning that these latest incidents had come barely two weeks after 15 protesters were reportedly killed and many more injured in Nairobi and other parts of Kenya on 25 June. United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk renewed his call for calm and restraint, and full respect for the freedoms of expression, association and peaceful assembly. It was essential that legitimate grievances at the root of these protests were addressed.

Police had announced an investigation into earlier incidents. The High Commissioner repeated his call for all reported killings and other alleged violations and abuses of international human rights law, including with respect to use of force, to be promptly, thoroughly, independently and transparently investigated. Those responsible needed to be held to account.

Under international human rights law, intentional lethal force by law enforcement officers, including with firearms, was only to be used when strictly necessary to protect life from an imminent threat. The Office stood ready to support the authorities in Kenya in addressing these challenges, including in the investigations, Ms. Shamdasani concluded.


Israeli Offer of Voluntary Movement of Gazans

In response to questions on reports of Israel offering voluntary movement of persons from Gaza to other countries, Ravina Shamdasani for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said that the reports raised concerns of forcible transfer. The concept of voluntary transfer in the context of the current situation in Gaza was very questionable.


Update on Avian Influenza in Cambodia

Shagun Khare for the World Health Organization (WHO) said that this year, Cambodia had reported 12 human cases of avian influenza - or bird flu - H5N1 infection to WHO. There was one new case reported yesterday. Eight of these cases had been reported since June. While this was a marked increase, based on available information, all these cases involved exposure to sick poultry or contaminated environments. WHO continued to assess the risk to the general public to be low, and low to moderate for people like farm workers, who were exposed to the virus through their work.

WHO was supporting Cambodia in responding to this outbreak. In addition, it routinely monitored the risk these viruses posed and published a monthly assessment of zoonotic influenza viruses, and also conducted in-depth assessments of the pandemic risk of these viruses. WHO was working with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) to conduct a joint risk assessment.


Announcements

Christian Lindmeier for the World Health Organization (WHO) said that a WHO Information Network for Epidemics (EPI-WIN) webinar was scheduled for tomorrow, 9 July, from 1 p.m., entitled “Managing heat, strengthening public health: Preparedness for mass gatherings in a warming world”.

Tomorrow, the first meeting of the Intergovernmental Working Group (IGWG) on the WHO Pandemic Agreement would be held. In May 2025, the World Health Assembly adopted the agreement to strengthen pandemic prevention, preparedness and response. Through this resolution, the Assembly established a working group to draft an annex to the agreement on a pathogen access and benefit sharing system, to enable safe, transparent and accountable access and benefit sharing for materials and sequence information. The outcome of this work would be submitted to the Assembly in 2026 for its consideration. The group had one year to go, and tomorrow was its first meeting. The opening sequence of the meeting on Wednesday and closing sequence on Thursday would be live streamed.

Catherine Huissoud for United Nations Trade and Development (UNCTAD) said UNCTAD would soon release the July issue of its Global Trade Update, which would focus on the latest facts, figures and development in the global economy, mainly over the first quarter and with nowcasts for the second quarter of 2025. The first part of the Update would show that global trade had continued to expand in the first quarter of 2025, led by an increase in imports in the United States and exports from the European Union.

The second part of the Update, entitled “Policy Insights”, focused on the risks posed to competition and consumers by the highly concentrated digital market. This was published in the context of the ninth United Nations Conference on Competition and Consumer Protection, which was being held this week in Geneva. The Conference was reviewing United Nations principles in these fields and discussing how to implement them in different countries. This was a very important conference and an opportunity to highlight what was happening in the digital context.

Rolando Gómez, Chief of the Press and External Relations Section at the United Nations Information Service (UNIS) in Geneva, said the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres had wrapped up a short trip to the BRICS summit, where he delivered, on Sunday, an important statement on artificial intelligence, saying that the technology could not be a club for the few but needed to benefit all, and in particular developing countries, who needed to have a real voice in governance of artificial intelligence. Yesterday, Mr. Guterres delivered a statement on the issue of the environment and global health, warning that our environment was being attacked on all fronts. During the summit, he also held several bilateral meetings, including with the Foreign Ministers of Türkiye and Iran.

The Secretary-General had issued a statement expressing deep sorrow regarding the flooding in Texas, where the death toll was rising. He would deliver a statement today at 5 p.m. Geneva time to mark the thirtieth anniversary of the Srebrenica massacre.

The Human Rights Committee (144th session, 23 June-17 July, Palais Wilson) was concluding this morning its review of the report of Viet Nam. Next Thursday morning, at 10 a.m., it would hold an informal public meeting with States parties.

The Human Rights Council was continuing its fifty-ninth session, which was due to close tomorrow, and was voting on pending resolutions.

The third and last part of the 2025 session of the Conference on Disarmament would officially begin on 28 July. The date of the next public plenary meeting of the Conference, still under the presidency of Malaysia, would be announced at a later stage.

The AI for Good conference led by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) was starting today at the Palexpo conference centre and would continue until 11 July.

[Announced after the press briefing] UNAIDS’ new report, “AIDS, Crisis and the Power to Transform”, would be launched on 10 July. The report showed the impact that the United States funding cuts were having globally on the HIV response. UNAIDS estimated that if the world did not act, there could be an additional six million new HIV infections and four million AIDS-related deaths by 2029. The report highlighted the measures some countries were taking to fill the gaps and sustain the response into the future. However, for many, that future remained uncertain.

An online launch event would be held on Thursday 10 July 2025 on 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The event can be accessed here (Meeting ID: 940 3779 4528; Passcode: 222800).

***

Teleprompter
[Other language spoken]
Good morning again, colleagues, welcome to this regular press briefing here at the UN office at Geneva today, the 7th of July, very important agenda for you.
Today we have Tomasso of the IFRC who's going to introduce in a minute a colleague who's joining us from Kabul who will speak to the situation of movement of Afghan returns from from Iran.
We also have colleagues who will join us shortly from the Human Rights office on situation to speak to the situation in Kenya.
And we have colleagues from the World Health Organisation with a number of announcements.
So without further ado, I'll turn over to Tomaso to introduce his colleague in Kabul.
Thank you very much, Rolando.
[Other language spoken]
Today we have with us our IE 40 head of delegation for Afghanistan joining from Kabul, Sami Fakhuri.
And he will speak about the, as Rolando just said, an intensifying population movement crisis as Afghans return from Iran.
He has just come back from the Islam Khala border, Herat province and met many families crossing that border in 40 plus degrees heat with all their belongings.
For any follow up interviews, we can of course organise with Sami or wherever other several spokespeople in Afghanistan available for you.
And we also have some strong AV material and human interest stories available for you in case you're interested.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
Hello everyone and thank you for joining today's press briefing on the situation of the returnees from Iran in Afghanistan.
So as Thomaso mentioned, last week with colleagues, we visited the province of Heirat, the North Eastern Province and we went to the border area with Iran.
What we saw at the Islam Kala border crossing was really heartbreaking.
We saw bus after bus arriving loaded with people arriving to a border where the temperature is is 40 plus sun hitting very strong.
People exhausted.
Those same people families, one day or two days before they were sitting in their home in Iran leading relatively normal life and next thing they knew they were on a bus heading for the border and then asked to get off at the at the border.
They will be they're returning to the country that they left many years before.
In terms of numbers, just in June alone over 135,000 people returned to Afghanistan from Iran and since the beginning of the current year, the number now is over 1,000,000 according to the list, this figure from UNHCR and for our member the Afghan Red Crescent, they are anticipating that an additional 1,000,000 people, possibly more, maybe may return from Iran to Afghanistan by the end of this year.
While while being there and and walking around among the the returning people who were basically sitting on the ground.
One conversation is still fresh in my mind.
I spoke with colleagues with with a with a woman sitting on top of her 2-3 suitcases with her children under the sun.
She was waiting for her husband to went to collect some food from an Afghan at present point that was distributing food to the nearby.
Basically, she, she, she, she was dazed.
That's my impression of her.
But then she told us that she's coming to a country that she left young, that she doesn't know very much.
She's coming to a country where she doesn't have a home in her case and, and luckily for her and her family, she has family in a province close to Kabul.
And they were, they offered to lodge her and her family.
Unfortunately, that is not the the case for many of the people returning.
They don't know where they're going to go, where they will be lodged.
So, so that story of this woman and her family is really just one from hundreds of thousands of of families and people.
The common thing that all these stories have is how difficult it is to leave everything behind, live your life from one day to another and start over without notice in a new country.
And especially this for for parents.
The parents are worried about the education and safety of their children specifically, especially their daughters.
So a very, very dire picture for us at the IFRC, we believe that returns should always be done voluntarily and that people should be treated with the utmost respect and dignity.
After visiting the border area, I especially want to acknowledge the incredible work of the Afghan with present their staff and volunteers have been distributing daily 6000 hot meals to those people.
They've been providing primary healthcare, medical services to the people returning, including psychosocial support.
They're providing temporary shelter and water.
But when you see the number of people arriving which peak that over 30,000 in in one day, you realise that even all what they're doing is is not enough for food.
This means less than one meal per person.
We are doing our best with the resources we currently have, but the truth is we don't have enough resources as a humanitarian actor on the ground to cover even the average amount of people who cross into Afghanistan daily.
And more worrying is the continuation of services we need to provide in the medium and long term to help those Afghan people returning to rebuild their lives and establish livelihood.
It is a stark reminder we are providing help but the needs are much, much higher, so we are falling short.
All this comes on top of more than 1,000,000 people who have already returned from Pakistan in a country where half of the population relies on some level of humanitarian assistance.
And underneath all of the visible crisis, there's another one that's harder to see.
Hopelessness, depression and a deep sense of desperation present in this country.
It comes from broken health system, massive unemployment, the freezing of Afghan assets and limitations on girls education.
The people in this country, a lot of them young and old, are stuck at home all day with no real sense of purpose.
After decades of conflict and trauma and natural disaster after natural disaster, it just keeps building quickly.
This weekend in the province of Nangarhar, it is next to the Pakistan border, It was hit by extreme floods.
Many returnees from Pakistan who are trying to rebuild their lives are now losing their homes again.
Over 250 homes have been destroyed and none or very few media outlets outside of Afghanistan has carried this news or mentioned it.
And sadly, the flooding is expected to continue.
We all know and appreciate that there are so many global emergencies going on simultaneously in in the world.
But we cannot forget that these extremely high numbers represent people.
People with different stories, Children who deserve a chance to live a life they are dreaming of.
And that if they haven't get the chance to dream, therefore action is needed now so Afghanistan doesn't fall into a deeper crisis that will be possible to come out from.
The IFRC is appealing for 25,000,000 francs Swiss francs to support the Afghan Red Crescents operations at the border crossings, at transit camps and at final places where these Afghan returnees will settle.
At the moment, and very sadly, our appeal is only 10% funded.
What this may mean is that we will need to further scale down our support if we do not get the right resources and Afghan Red Crescent will need to make hard choices on whom they can continue supporting or not.
The Afghan people are in urgent need of continued support, not just today but the for the month and years ahead.
The IFRC is committed to sustain Afghan Red Crescent safe shelters for women and their children.
These centres offer trainings that empower women to rebuild their lives.
In closing, to tackle the many challenges Afghanistan faces, swift and coordinated action is essential and that can only happen if there is greater awareness, media visibility and increased funding.
I thank you for listening and I'm happy to take care of any questions.
[Other language spoken]
Thank you very much, Sammy.
Very important messages indeed.
So before we take questions, I just want to throw out quickly to Babar of the refugee agency.
I think you wanted to add a note on the numbers.
[Other language spoken]
Thank you very much and huge thanks Sami for updating from your trip on on the border just to compliment what you were saying and the updated numbers that we have received from colleagues.
[Other language spoken]
So in general, as you were speaking, total returns from Iran since 1st of January this year have exceeded as you mentioned 1,000,000.
The exact figure is more than 1.2 million.
And we saw on Friday when our colleague Arfat Jamal was briefing, that was the day that we saw the highest number in in one day.
And that figure was more than 50,000 that were arriving.
And as was being mentioned, Islam Kala and Dauran are the border point where majority of Afghans are coming back into Afghanistan.
And that figure is 77% of Afghans are using that border point to enter further in the South.
We also have Zaranj, that number is at 22%.
But as it was mentioned, a huge number of Afghans from Iran are being deported and that number is more than 635,000 so far this year.
And majority, as we have been talking, the one arrivals have picked up since June this year and we have seen more than 600,000 that have arrived from 1st of June till now.
And still colleagues at the borders are seeing big numbers that are arriving and mostly, as it was mentioned, are families, families with children also.
And many of them have never set foot on the Avalon soil before being uprooted from Iran.
That's it, Back to you.
Thanks very much for that additional context, Babar, and appreciate if you could share those notes.
Lots of numbers are important.
[Other language spoken]
And thank you once again.
[Other language spoken]
We have a question from Anadolu of Turkish News Agency.
Thank you, Rolando.
[Other language spoken]
Uh, thank you, Sammy for this briefing.
I just wanted to ask, you say that there is not enough resources.
So does that mean under the current conditions, sustainable reintegration of the return is not possible?
And also, do you think that host countries should stop the voluntary or forcible returns immediately?
And my second question is, what are the protection risks being observed among returnees, especially about women, children or unaccompanied minors and how these are being responded?
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
Sammy, thank you for for the question.
Thank you for the question.
The reintegration of of the people returning, that is really where, where, where we have on clarity, let's say in terms of support because the the authorities have a plan, but the resources also are limited at the authority side.
They are preparing some areas towns to receive some of those families.
But when you're looking at, you know, 70 or thousand person crossing per day, as Babar mentioned very recently last week, it is, it is a tremendous effort and a lot of resources are needed to reintegrate all those people also in, in to, to in the economy in, in normal life.
So they have livelihoods.
It is not easy.
It's it's a country with high unemployment.
These people left a lot of them because to look for economic opportunities elsewhere and they have, some of them have jobs in Iran or in Pakistan.
And now they're coming back to some of them, the country they left because they didn't find a job and they might have to leave again.
Some of them in terms of protection.
I mean, we, we, we see young people coming back alone.
We see women with their children coming.
They're they're being received as, as best they can In terms from the Afghanistan side, we are trying to provide shelter for those we can, but we have very limited capacities.
We have psychosocial support to mechanism at the border, but also with limited capacity.
We're trying to scale up, but at the same time our, our resources are very limited.
[Other language spoken]
Thank you very much.
Sami Babar, if you have anything to add, of course, to chime in maybe on the protection issue, but no, OK, for the moment it will.
[Other language spoken]
Rolando, just to add to what was being said.
Also, many arrivals are mentioning family separations at the border as well as some of them have been either left inside Iran or others that also have have arrived or gone to other places inside Afghanistan.
That's a big worry as as well.
And also those who are returning, they talk about detention, they talk also about harassment.
And also as it has been mentioned, Avrans in majority inside Iran live in the cities.
So it's a very, the profile of this population is very urban and that's why we are seeing that majorities who move away are either going to Kabul or in Hirathas.
These are two major urban centres and many of them, as being mentioned, have not seen Afghanistan before.
They have been born as refugees in exile and as mentioned, resources are a big worry moving on from here.
What's going to happen to this population?
This is a big question that Avrans have in their mind who are returning, but also the situation at the border point as we saw on July the 4th, 50000 returning in just one day is very, very chaotic for us as humanitarians as was being mentioned, but also for all those Afghans who are being uprooted and and have to arrive into Afghanistan in this way.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
Babar and Tasami, we have questions in the room starting maybe I think Emma had her hand up first.
So going to Emma of Reuters, Thanks.
I was wondering if the gentleman from the IFRC could, could give us some of the ideas, an idea of some of the stories are people specifically saying they've been forced back and, and what are they telling you about that?
And secondly, on humanitarian planning, presumably you hadn't factored in having this many people coming back to Afghanistan in such a short period of time.
Does that raise concerns about very severe hunger in the months ahead and how are you planning for that?
[Other language spoken]
Thank you for the question.
I mean, the, the people we spoke to, the majority they had, they were, they didn't have a say in it coming back.
So they came back to Afghanistan, they were put on buses and they were driven to the border.
That's the the sad reality, all the funding.
And the the second part of the question, you know, potential hunger crisis.
So right now funding for Afghanistan in general is low.
It's been not a good year for the UN system, for the Red Cross system.
[Other language spoken]
The authorities of course, the economy is not doing well.
They have limited capacities.
What will this mean?
[Other language spoken]
It will mean definitely already before the returnees crisis, there was concerns of famines of of of hunger and and I think the UN system had a few reports on that.
But now when you add in manufacturing millions of returnees definitely that will will only increase in severity.
Thank you very much.
Tammy, we will take a question now from Nina of AFP.
[Other language spoken]
I wanted to ask about you talked about family separations at the border.
Do you have any estimate or how have you seen sort of the how big a problem it is with children having been separated from their parents being unaccompanied and what kind of measures are in place to help them is there?
And also when it comes to psychosocial support, could you sort of say what kind of things you're seeing there?
I, I assume maybe there would be a lot among girls especially, but maybe you could tell us a little bit more about that.
[Other language spoken]
Maybe I I can start and then bye bye.
If you want to compliment please.
So the, the, the returning people were for for the children.
They are some of them you see a lot of young males as well returning.
So, so they have been working in Iran, living in Iran and, and they are returning to, to, to Afghanistan in terms of, of psychosocial support.
I mean, you, you see all the people, they have mental scars from this experience of returning to, to Afghanistan.
You, you know, you have to, to, we have to put ourselves in their shoes.
So basically I am an Afghani.
[Other language spoken]
I got a job and now I've been sent back to Afghanistan and the situation is probably worse than when I left.
And now I have to, to, to start from, from scratch or maybe look at leaving again, you know, maybe to another country because I might not find anything in, in Afghanistan.
[Other language spoken]
I think also a lot of them, you see them at the border, they haven't computed all the problem that they have because it's very fresh.
[Other language spoken]
Now they are on the border and they don't even know what's going to happen later today or tomorrow.
So, so even, you know, it didn't sit in for them, those people.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
If you wanted to jump in, just raise your hand or just let us know.
[Other language spoken]
Thank you, Orlando.
[Other language spoken]
Indeed, the psychological scars are going to stay with Afghans who have been made to come back to their country in this way.
Deportations or pressure applied anywhere in the region or beyond, it's going to affect them and it's going to affect many really badly.
What we have been hearing and what my colleagues at Unity are and with other humanitarian partners that we have been documenting, family separation is a big issue and a concern for returning Afghans.
The figures I have in front of me is 41% of returnees that we spoke to and we were talking to, they were mentioning family separation.
So they are worried.
We don't have account in terms of how many Afghan children have are coming back unaccompanied, but it is a worry even people who have earlier come inside Afghanistan or those who have been left behind in Iran, it is a big worry for for all those Afghans who are coming back.
And also, as mentioned, I mean, the future of their children will also be a big worry as this is another humanitarian crisis on top of an existing one.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
Thank you very much.
[Other language spoken]
We'll take any additional questions in the room or online.
Yes, we do have a question online from Isabel of FA Spanish News Agency.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
Thank you very much and thank you for this information, this briefing.
I, I would I I've I've not been following closely this issue, so I allow him to allow me to ask maybe things that you is already known, but what are the reasons given by the the Iranian government to expel Afghan people and this is 1.
Secondly, do you have any breakdown of the Afghan popular Afghan people in Iran that have a regular migratory status?
Because I maybe I understand that this at least in the officially is targeting people that has no regular status.
So how, how many of them or what is the, the ratio of people having regular or and not regular status, immigratory status in, in, in Iran?
And also do you have any channel of communication with the Iranian government to, to, to, to convey them your, your, your concerns and what are their, their obligations in, in terms of international humanitarian law And the same with the, the authorities of Afghanistan.
What is the cooperation or communication that you have with them?
Thank you, Sami and and once again Babar, if you have anything to add, please jump in.
But Sami over to you first.
[Other language spoken]
I think on on the numbers and and more information breakdown probably Babar has been replaced for that.
But what I can say is that the the statistics I think is between 3 and 4 million Afghan people in Iraq.
So a lot of them have irregular status and some of them has some form of, of identification or, or residency or, or or refugee status.
So I also, I think Babar will, will have more information on that.
The reason that the countries or or Iran is, is, is saying for for returning those people.
I think many reasons that the economy in Afghanistan in Iran is suffering.
So they also want to keep job for, for, for their people.
This is, you know, increased competition.
Recently also some of you maybe read in the news also after the, the conflict with, with Israel, there's been a lot of talk of, of people sending information to to Israel and others.
So that was another reason why they increased also getting some of the Afghan people back to Afghanistan.
Thank you very much, Sami Babar.
[Other language spoken]
Thank you, Orlando.
Indeed, the numbers in terms of the refugee population in Iran, Iran is world's largest refugee host, and they have been a generous host not only for Afghans, but many other refugee populations.
And Afghans have been in Iran for over 40 years since the Soviet invasion and many cycles of displacement that Afghans have seen and, and they're very thankful for, for, for that role that Iran has played.
This episode is not new.
On March 20th this year, Iran announced that undocumented Avrans or they wanted a portion of Avran population to, to leave and also come through a regular way.
My understanding is they've been asked you go and then you you can apply.
But in this mix, we've seen there are many, many Avrans who are caught up in in these movements.
And no one was imagining a movement of this scale happening as as we, we keep giving you the numbers, which are really big numbers.
I mean, if we talk from the beginning of this year, 1.2 million that have returned from Iran.
Not only that, as mentioned, there are a big number of Havans who have been coming back from Pakistan as well, which is also has traditionally been a very kind and generous host for them.
As we are seeing at the borders inside Afghanistan, the number is in 10s of thousands.
That's why the the latest movement we saw was of 50,000 people who arrived on 4th of July, on Friday, last Friday.
And the number, it does not seem that it is slowing down in, in, in terms of our appeals you have heard, I think we have been coming to this forum to raise our concerns, but also in terms of repeating our calls for a voluntary gradual return of Afghan because the situation in Afghanistan is already dire and we cannot afford to see Afghan returning in, in, in this big numbers bacterial.
Well noted.
Thank you very much, Babar.
OK, so I'm going to check to see if we have further questions for either of you either in the room online.
I don't see That's OK.
So once again, maybe I don't know if Tomaso had anything to add or no.
I'd like to thank you very much, Sammy, for joining us.
Keep up the mentally important work.
And thank you for again for joining us here.
And to you, Babar, for adding very important context to the situation in Afghanistan and of course in the neighbouring Iran.
[Other language spoken]
Ravina of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights is making RIP to the podium and she is going to we're going to switch to the situation in Kenya where she'll address the the situation of the protests which are going on in Kenya.
So thank you very much for joining us here.
[Other language spoken]
Thank you, Rolando.
Good morning everyone on Kenya.
We are deeply troubled by the killings yesterday of at least 10 people, as well as looting and destruction of property in Kenya as police and other security forces responded to violent protests in the capital of Nairobi and at least 16 other counties, lethal ammunition, rubber bullets, tear gas and water cannons were used.
Police have reported that at least 11 people were killed, 52 police officers injured, and that 567 arrests were made.
The Kenyan National Commission on Human Rights has reported at least 10 fatalities, 29 injuries, 37 arrests, and two abductions.
We've also received reports of looting and damage to public and private property by unidentified individuals in multiple locations.
It is very concerning that these latest incidents come barely two weeks after more than 15 protesters were reportedly killed and many more injured in Nairobi and in other parts of Kenya.
On the 25th of June, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Walker Turk renews his call for calm and restraint and full respect for the freedoms of expression, association and peaceful assembly.
It is essential that legitimate grievances at the root of these protests are addressed.
We note that the police have announced an investigation into earlier incidents.
High Commissioner repeats his call for all reported killings and other alleged violations and abuses of international human rights law, including with respect to the use of force, to be promptly, thoroughly, independently and transparently investigated.
Those responsible must be held to account under international human rights law.
Intentional lethal force by law enforcement officers, including the use of firearms, should only be used when strictly necessary to protect life.
Our office stands ready to support the authorities in Kenya in addressing these challenges, including in the investigations.
Thank you very much, Ravina, for this important update.
Colleagues, I go over to you for questions Room online, go to 2nd.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
Yeah, I think maybe on that case, I think it was very comprehensive, very, very clear.
So thank you very much.
If it's OK, we'll entertain another question before we take our announcements since Ravina, since we're on the podium.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
It's a question on Israel and Gaza, please, and displacement.
There's reports that Netanyahu is working with other countries along with the United States to offer to residents of Gaza a better future by moving to other nations.
I'm just wondering what your reaction to this is.
Is there any way that this could be an acceptable outcome?
And, and if so, what would, what would those conditions need to be?
[Other language spoken]
The short answer, Emma, is no.
We have seen these reports which raised several concerns regarding forcible transfer, possible arrests of young people and men in relation to possible, in addition to possible killings due to the kind of force that we have seen in recent days, large numbers of people would be confined to even smaller spaces with movement restrictions.
So no, this is certainly not acceptable.
All right.
Just to clarify, I think you were talking about within Gaza.
So this idea is actually to work with other nations to potentially assist with so-called voluntary movements of Palestinians outside of Gaza.
Could that be acceptable in any way?
Thank you, right.
[Other language spoken]
Sorry about that, Emma.
Again, this raises concerns with regards to forcible transfer, the concept of voluntary transfers in the context that we are seeing in Gaza right now, it's very questionable.
[Other language spoken]
Do we have further questions for Ravina before we release her?
No, that's not the case.
So thank you again, as always, Ravina, for joining us here.
Colleagues who Christian and Shagun, please join us here.
And I think Catherine, you also wanted to if you want to jump up here as well, Catherine, Catherine, Ivanka also had a announcement.
So in addition to the agenda, but you all know Christian, of course, WHO there's a new colleague, Ishigua Kare, who is joining us for the first time.
She's a media colleague, hence the the nameplate so that you know who you're speaking with.
But we have some announcements starting maybe with you first.
Christian, over to you.
Thank you, Rolanda, and thanks for introducing our colleague.
As Rolanda just said, new colleague in the media department, currently so happy to have her first time here with us today.
Two quick announcements from my side tomorrow.
While the heat is giving us a bit of a break right now, we don't think this might be the last time then.
Hence there's a webinar scheduled for tomorrow.
Not because of the heat wave that was anyway planned.
It's called the Managing the Heat.
Strengthening public health preparedness for mass gatherings in a warming world should be really interesting.
It's from 1:00 to 1:00 to 2:15 tomorrow as a webinar.
It's an online opportunity.
The link has been sent.
If not otherwise, we'll we'll can share that.
Again, another really interesting has happened.
Start seeing tomorrow the first meeting of the International Intergovernmental Working Group on the WTO Pandemic Agreement.
You recall that in May 2025, the World Health Assembly adopted the pandemic agreement on the the article of the Constitution of the World Health Organisation to strengthen pandemic prevention, preparedness and response.
And through this resolution, the Health Assembly established an open-ended intergovernmental working group to undertake several tasks.
And let me just remind you of of some of those tasks.
These include as a priority, drafting and negotiating an annex to the to the pandemic agreement on the Paterson Access and benefit sharing system to enable safe, transparent and accountable access and benefit sharing for materials and sequence information.
The Assembly decided in May that the outcome of this work should be submitted to the 79th World Health Assembly in 2026 for its consideration.
So they have one nearly one year to go and tomorrow's the first meeting.
As per habit, the opening sequences and the closing sequences would be live streamed.
Opening is on Wednesday tomorrow and closing then on Thursday.
Thank you from me and over to Shagun.
Thank you, Christine.
Thank you for this opportunity.
We would like to ensure that you know how to follow us on updates around the avian influenza outbreak that's affecting Cambodia.
We published a disease outbreak news that was shared with the press on Saturday.
But since it's an evolving situation, we already have updates to that.
This year, Cambodia has reported 12 lab laboratory confirmed human cases of avian influenza or bird flu, H5 N 1-2.
WHO when we sent out the disease, disease outbreak news on Saturday, that figure was 11.
So there, there was one new case reported yesterday, 8 out of these 12 cases were reported since the start of June.
So it's it has been quite an intensification of the numbers recently.
Based on the available information, all of these cases were exposed to sick poultry or to contaminated environments.
WHO continues to assess the risk to the general public to be low and the risk for those who might be exposed at their workplace, such as farm workers?
We assess the risk to be low to moderate who is supporting the country of Cambodia in responding to this outbreak.
But I'd also like to mention a few other things that we do and some related resources to that.
So we routinely monitor the risk that these viruses pose.
We publish monthly risk assessments.
We'll share the links to those in in an e-mail that's just gone out to you.
But one of the other things that we do is assess the pandemic risk of these viruses.
That's a separate ongoing work along with the Food and Agriculture Organisation and the World Organisation for Animal Health.
We do carry out some joint work and there is a assessment that is being updated as we speak.
So the disease outbreak news that went out on Saturday and these assessments, you'll have the links to those in your e-mail.
And then if there is interest in this topic, we'd be happy to organise interviews with the experts.
[Other language spoken]
Thank you, Shagun and Christian as well.
Any questions for our colleagues who I think it was very, very clear.
No, OK, So no, no, thank you again and welcome.
And of course we'll share your contacts with our media, our press corps here.
So thanks again and thanks to you, Christian.
Got that And over to you then.
[Other language spoken]
Thank you for giving me the floor at the very last minute just to announce you that we are going to publish the July and global trade update with all the global figures, facts and figures about the global trade which induced policy changes and Geo economic risk.
There's nothing new in this announcement, but we have details for the first quarter the the nowcast for the second quarter of 2025.
Global trade continue to expand led by imports in the US and exports from European Union.
You have all the details in the in the document.
It's a short one.
And the second part, so it's national with the main economies, the regional trends and the the imbalances in the in the market in global market.
And the second part of of this global trade updates will it's called the policy insights.
We'll focus on a highly concentrated digital markets and the risk on competition and the consumers that are of course at risk to in this in this highly concentrated market.
We have this week it's been announced in the list of events, the 9th UN conference on the exact title is on the competition and consumer protection.
So it's been held in the room 19 and they are reviewing all the the UN principles on in these fields and how to implement them them in the in the different countries.
It will celebrate the 45th anniversary of the adoption of the UN set of principles and rules on competition and the 40th anniversary of the adoption of the UN guidelines on for consumer protection.
So it's a very important conference and this is the occasion in this global trade update to highlight what's happening in this in the digital, in digital markets.
Sorry, globally.
[Other language spoken]
That's it.
It will be issued today or tomorrow morning at the latest.
[Other language spoken]
Catherine, thank you so very much for that.
Any questions for Catherine?
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
So thanks once again.
[Other language spoken]
OK, colleagues, just a few announcements from me to keep you on track.
As you know, Secretary General Antonio Guterres wrapped up a short trip to Rio de Janeiro where he attended the BRICS summit.
We issued, We sent to you a couple of statements that he delivered at important meetings.
Firstly, dealing with artificial intelligence in his statement emphasise that AI cannot be a club of the few but must benefit all in a particular developing countries which must have a real voice in governance of artificial intelligence.
[Other language spoken]
So that was a statement that he delivered on in fact on Sunday.
Then yesterday, Monday, he addressed a crowd on the issue of the environment and global health, and he warned that our environment is being attacked at all on all fronts.
She also held a number of bilateral meetings, in particular with the Foreign minister of Turkey and Foreign minister of Iran.
We shared those readouts with you.
And then we had a statement, of course, on the horrific situation in Texas with the floods.
So I just want to make sure you saw that statement which we shared with you yesterday in the afternoon and we know to the media that the the sadly the civilian loss of life, the numbers are going up.
So horrific situation in Texas.
I wanted to give you a heads up.
Later this afternoon, we'll share with you a statement from the secretary General on to mark the 30th anniversary of the atrocity in Srebenica.
Of course, many of you remember this.
It was actually July 1995 when this massacre, this atrocity unfolded.
There's a secretary general statement that he will deliver this afternoon at 11 AM New York time.
So that's 5:00 PM our time.
We'll make sure to share that important statement with you.
And then last couple of notes.
The Human Rights Committee this morning is concluding its review of Vietnam.
And this Thursday morning there will be a public meeting with states parties and the Human Rights Council.
Of course, you're following closely the proceedings there.
They're scheduled to wrap up their 59th session tomorrow after having adopted all the resolutions.
I don't know exactly where they are right now in the programme, but I'm sure you're looking at the updates from Pascal.
They have quite a number of resolutions pending.
And then we, oh, I should also mention that the, the conference on disarmament will officially begin the third and last part of its 2025 session on the 28th of July.
And this is under the presidency of Malaysia.
And beyond that, as you all know, the AI for Good conference kicks off this morning at PAL Expo.
We had the wishes yesterday and today, the AI for Good conference, you have all the information.
Our colleague David was here last week to brief you on that.
So I will not go further, but obviously important gathering just up the road.
That's it for me.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
I wish you a good afternoon and see you here on Friday.