Welcome to the press briefing of the UN Information Service here in Geneva.
Today is Tuesday, 22nd of July.
We have a few colleagues who are going to brief us on Gaza and OPT and on other subjects, but I would like to give the floor first because he has to leave to Thomas Fitzsimons.
So, you know, Thomas is the Director of Communication of the Inter Parliamentarian Union here in Geneva and he's going to give us a brief outline of the meeting, an important meeting, this meeting here in Geneva next week at the Paladinacion, a conference that comes every five years.
Thomas, thank you very much.
Thank you very much, Alessandra.
So I'm here to announce that the 6th World Conference of Speakers of Parliament, organised by the Inter Parliamentary Union in close collaboration with the United Nations, will take place next week from the 29th to the 31st of July at the Bally Denacion right here.
The Speakers Conference will be preceded by the 15th Summit of Women Speakers of Parliament, which will take place on the 28th of July at the International Labour Organisation.
Established in 2000 by the IPU, the World Conference of Speakers of Parliament brings together the world's top legislators and the United Nations every five years.
Next week, Geneva will be the capital of parliamentary diplomacy and multilateralism.
The Speakers will be taking the floor in the newly renovated Assembly Hall.
So I believe this is the first time since the hall was renovated that we will be having a big meeting to address the theme of a world in turmoil, parliamentary cooperation and multilateralism for peace, justice and prosperity for all.
There will also be 5 panels in parallel on different themes including gender equality, peace building, digitalisation, anti discrimination and the Sustainable Development Goals.
We're expecting over 1000 members of Parliament and experts and UN leaders, of which some 110 speakers of Parliament.
You should have received the list of participants which I sent this morning.
And as you'll see, we're expecting the participation of many countries that are currently in the news, including Israel, Iran, Palestine, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of Congo.
We're expecting the speakers from both the Koreas and the Russian Federation and Ukraine.
So lots of interesting personalities for you to meet and possibly interview.
I also sent a media advisory this morning with details for the media concerning access and let me know if I can help you facilitate access to the to the conference and to those participants.
Last point is next week at the same time at 10:00 or just before at 10:00 on the Tuesday, the 29th of July, there is a press conference here, an IPU press conference with the IPU Secretary General, Martin Chung Gong.
Yeah, just before the the weekly briefing.
Thomas is I see Christian, you know, good morning.
It's Christiana with the German Press Agency.
It's fascinating how many people you get together in a in a meeting like that.
But can you give us a bit more of a flavour how a discussion on peace is happening with the parliamentary president from Belarus, Russia, North Korea, Congo and the likes?
What exactly is it is happening?
Are they all making statements or are there are there working groups?
And is there a concrete outcome that you expect other than paying lip service to peace from the likes of the countries that I just mentioned?
And just to, to note that we have both presidents from Germany coming from the from the Bundestag and from the Federal Council, as you might have noticed.
So the conference, yes, I mean it's a good example of parliamentary diplomacy and dialogue.
The speakers will all be addressing what we call the general debate in the Assembly hall.
So there'll be a succession of statements and speeches from, from the individual countries.
The panel discussions will be a bit more interactive between the, between the presidents, but also other experts and members of civil society, academia.
And at the end of the the conference on the 31st of July, they will be, we expect them to adopt the final declaration, which will be a statement on, on the current state of the world and how parliaments can be part of the solution in addressing some of those challenges.
So that's the formal programme.
But of course, what's interesting is what's going to happen in the corridors, what's going to happen at the CAFE, the, the bilateral meetings, the informal discussion.
So of course the IPU, our role is to facilitate that and to try and encourage those slightly more informal meetings between those those countries that are currently in conflict.
There are hands in the room, Robin, morning.
Are there are there any scheduled meetings on the sidelines between the speakers of countries which are in conflict?
There's no formal meetings.
But as I said, we're hoping, we're trying to encourage informal meetings and if we can communicate on those meetings, you'll be the first to know.
Good morning to all of you.
My question was also the same as Robin.
Are the meetings bilaterals organised already scheduled for, for this meeting?
And my second one was more a practical meeting.
I can you did reach out yesterday in order to know how the correspondence can have access to ILO because the meeting the summit of women speakers is taking place on Monday at ILO.
So how can we have access to it?
AS or UN badges don't allow us to access ILO premises.
Yes, I mean, so as I said, for, for the moment, there's no formal bilateral meetings that that are on the schedule.
If that changes, we'll, we'll let you know.
And for the, for the Women's Summit at the International Labour Organisation.
So I'm in touch with our, our counterparts.
We would very much encourage them to give access to all the accredited media because it will be an interesting meeting with the women.
We were expecting about 35 to 40 women speakers of Parliament.
It's a smaller meeting, but at the same time with some big personalities.
So I hope we'll be able to give, or the ILO will be able to give you access to that summit on the Monday the 28th of July.
Katherine, maybe I can add this to what Thomas said because you had written to me yesterday too.
So I spoke with the colleagues at ILO.
First of all, let me say that the Director General of UNOG will also participate in the Women's Parliament leaders meeting at the ILO.
What concerns the access?
What I understand is that while indeed, as you say, the UN badge doesn't let you go into the ILO, which is also for us.
I mean even me as a staff, if the UNI cannot get into the ILO with my badge, there will be some facilitation.
So that's when the journalists go to ILO with their UN permanent accredited journalists badge.
I think it would be converted.
They they are trying to see if they can convert it into very simply into a, a ILO badge so that you can get in.
But they were working on it.
So they were are not, they don't have yet 100% clear solution, but they said they will come back to you very, very quickly with a solution.
So, Katrine, you have a follow up and then I go to Gabriella.
Yes, my follow up is concerning the programme of the summit women speakers.
Maybe I missed it, Thomas or have you sent something a detailed programme for the summit of women speakers?
No, you haven't missed it.
I'll send it to you there.
There is a programme for the Women Summit and this morning I sent the programme for the World Conference of Speakers.
So I'll send you as well the the Women Summit.
Yes, thank you, Alessandra.
My question is you, you mentioned Thomas about dialogue between parliamentarians, but for example, Mexican parliamentarians, the, the chief of the of the Parliament, he doesn't have any dialogue with a position in Mexico with nobody.
I mean, this is a person that only prays more in the party on, on, on power.
So how do you expect to have dialogue between, you know, people that is not thinking the in the in the same way?
It's difficult for me to comment on, on the specific personalities, but of course, you know, our, our objective, our mission is to encourage dialogue both within the parliament itself and with neighbouring parliaments and and parliaments from the region.
So what's interesting at the IPU is that we often have not just government parliamentarians, but opposition.
So you have cross party delegations coming.
And so there's also that dialogue between those parties and, and intra parliament as well as inter parliamentary dialogue.
So that's what I can say on that, on that question.
Thomas has to leave and we have Juliet waiting from Aman to quickly please Robin.
Will Michael Douglas be attending or any other special guests and will they be addressing, addressing the Speakers of Parliament?
That remains to be confirmed.
But yes, we are hoping that Michael Douglas will be here and he will be the keynote speaker as the UN Messenger for Peace, but that remains to be confirmed.
So talking about dialogue is is going to be dialogue between parliamentarians and the press because sometimes we just, you know, get there near to them and they run.
So we're organising a press conference, as I said, with the the IPU Secretary General Martin Chungong next Tuesday.
What we've also organised with our colleagues from the Information Services is a media stakeout, a self-service media stakeout area, which will be in Hall 14.
So Hall 14 is also where the speakers will be entering on the Tuesday afternoon.
There'll be a meet and greet with the IPU and the United Nations leadership.
And in that space there's also that media stakeout self-service area where you're very welcome to organise media briefings or media interviews with those parliamentarians.
Q And just to confirm that Room 5 will be turned into a press centre for the visiting press?
And of course, you can also use the facilities there.
There will be an overflow.
There will be a screen with the with the signal the the image from the assembly Hall.
I've seen that there's no delegation of Syria, the Syria's assembly.
I don't know, Thomas, if you could quickly brief us on, on what's happening there, because usually you, I mean, before with Assad, President Assad, you had some representatives and interesting exchanges here in Geneva.
What is the situation for the moment?
And, and by the way, Alessandra, it has been a very long time that we haven't been briefed on Syria and the situation is regarding human rights is quite, I mean, I would say terrible.
Let Thomas answer please on Syria specifically, I'll, I'm I would like to ask you to have a look at what Stefan Dujaric said yesterday on the situation in Syria at the noon briefing.
But definitely I don't know what is the question on the IPU conference turn to you.
So for Syria, I mean nothing to to mention specifically, Catherine, but just to say that we reach out to all countries that are currently in transition.
I'm thinking especially about the countries in in Western Africa and the Sahel.
We reach out to encourage the authorities to to call on the IPU when it comes to rebuilding the institutions, of which of course the parliament is is key when it comes to democracy and organising elections.
So we have reached out to the authorities to offer our good services to help them rebuild an institution and a parliament which is representative of all the component parts in Syria.
So that's what I can say on Syria.
Thank you very much, Thomas.
I think this is more or less what people wanted to ask you.
Keep us informed with the further information who's coming to this important conference.
We're really happy to host you and to inaugurate the assembly hall with your with your big meeting.
So let's now go to the first topic we have on the programme, which is the situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
Juliet, thank you very much for being with us.
You have an update and then it's not on your list, but then Tariq Yasarevich will read a statement on behalf of WHO?
So let's start with Juliet and then I go to Tariq and then we will open the floor to questions.
Thank you for being with us.
Thanks and and good to see everyone, including also Tariq.
I'm very sorry from from all of us here at Andra for for what happened to to the colleagues at WHO yesterday.
I'm going to give the latest from the Commissioner General who's asked me to convey a statement, including on our staff in Gaza.
I'll say also a couple of words on the situation of visas for Andrea staff and then also conclude with latest on either humanitarian situation, the needs and the calls for for access and then look forward to your questions.
The the Commissioner generally issued a statement to raise the alarm on the dire situation of caretakers and humanitarian workers in in Gaza, including under staff.
This is following dozens of SOS messages that we've been receiving from Andreas staff who are living across the the Gaza Strip over the past 4872 hours.
Gaza has become hell on earth and no place is safe.
In his statement, the Commissioner General said that no one is spared.
Caretakers, including the Andre colleagues in Gaza are also in need of Care now.
Doctors, nurses, journalists, humanitarians, among them Indra staff are hungry.
Many are now fainting due to hunger and exhaustion while performing their duties, reporting atrocities or alleviating some of the suffering.
Meanwhile, seeking food has become as deadly as the bombardments.
More than 1000 starving people have been reported killed since the end of May.
The so-called DDHF distribution schemes is a sadistic death trap.
Snipers open fire randomly on crowds as if they're given a licence to ****.
It's a massive hunt of people in total impunity.
Commission General adds this cannot be our new norm.
Humanitarian assistance is not the job of mercenaries.
The UN and its humanitarian partners have the expertise, the experience, and available resources to provide safe, dignified and upscale assistance.
We have proven it time and again.
During the last ceasefire, he finally called for an end to this abomination.
That was the statement from the Commission generally, which I can put in in the chat box.
And then on visa, just a couple of words.
We've learned this week that the visa renewal of the head of OCHA in the OPT was denied by the Israeli authorities.
We wanted to put things in perspective in case it's helpful for you.
Reporting, while this is the latest of such decisions from the Israeli authorities, is certainly not the first.
We've noticed that Andrea a pattern of visa restrictions and denials preventing our staff members from doing their work.
We at Andrea have been in particular affected.
If we go back to March 2024, the Andrea Commission generally was denied entry to Gaza by Israeli authorities.
He has not been let back into Gaza since March 2024.
In addition to that, his visa to Israel, which would normally allow him to visit the occupied West Bank, including E Jerusalem, has not been renewed for over a year now, since June 2024.
And for Indra international staff in general, since January this year.
It's been almost six months for us now.
We have not received any visas from the Israeli authorities for international staff, which means at the moment Indra does not have any international staff across the occupied Palestinian territory.
This has been the case for more than six months now.
We have our local Palestinian staff who continue to hold the Fort.
In the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, they're doing a stellar job under very, very difficult circumstances.
We do hope that we would be granted visas to go and support our Palestinian staff in the humanitarian mission that they're undertaking.
And a couple of words on living conditions and, and the the impact of lack of basic supplies a little bit away from food and the risk of famine that continue to be looming in in Gaza.
We received stories from people in Gaza about diapers, diapers for babies, given that there is no diapers or there is very, very little around and they're very, very expensive, what is available on the market?
And many, many people cannot afford it.
So, Andrea, staff have been speaking to mothers in particular, and they're telling us that they're resorting to desperate measures to replace diapers for babies and children.
This is very similar to the story I shared with you earlier this year when we interviewed a father who said that he had to cut one of his last shirts to give his daughter sanitary pads.
So now it is similar with diapers.
Mothers are using plastic bags instead of diapers.
We remind that we have we at Andrea, we have stocks of hygiene supplies including diapers for babies and for adults waiting outside the gates of Gaza just to get into Gaza and help babies and older people.
We have 6000 trucks that continue since the last time we've updated you on the situation.
We continue to have 6000 trucks that are in Jordan, that are in Egypt waiting for the green light to to go in.
They are loaded with food, with medicines, with hygiene supplies, including sanitary pads and diapers.
And we call again for a deal that would bring a ceasefire that would release the hostages, that would bring in a standard flow of humanitarian supplies into Gaza under the management of the United Nations, including Indra.
This is really a precious update.
And I'll go on now, as you have mentioned to WHO for a statement on what happened to our colleagues in the field for which we are all in solidarity, as Juliet said.
Tariq, thank you very much, Alessandra.
And, and, and, and it's really heartbreaking to hear what Juliet was describing.
Now we have issued a statement last night, but just in case have not seen, but also to have it on the record, I would like to to read it.
WHO condemns in the strongest terms the attacks on a building housing WHO staff in there, Albala in Gaza, the mistreatment of those sheltering there and the destruction of its main warehouse following intensified hostilities in Dar al Ballah.
After the latest evacuation order issued by Israeli military, The Who staff residence was attacked 3 times yesterday.
Staff and their families, including children, were exposed to grave danger and traumatised after air strikes caused a fire and significant damage.
Israeli military entered the premises, forcing women and children to evacuate on foot toward Al Nawazi amid active conflict.
Male staff and family members were handcuffed, stripped, interrogated on the spot, and screened at gunpoint.
2 WHO staff and two family members were detained.
Three were later released, while one staff member remains in detention.
32 people, including women and children were collected and evacuated to The Who office in High Risk Commission once access became possible.
The office itself is closed to the evacuation zone and active conflict.
WHO demands continuous protection of its staff and the immediate release of the remaining detained staff member.
The latest evacuation order has affected several WHO premises as the United Nations lead health agency.
WH OS operational presence in Gaza is now compromised, crippling efforts to sustain a collapsing health system and pushing survival further out of reach for more than 2 million people.
Most of WH OS staff housing is now inaccessible.
Two nights ago, due to intensified hostilities, 43 staff and their families were already relocated from several staff residences to The Who office under darkness and a significant risk.
WH OS main warehouse located in Der Al Balach.
Is it within the evacuation zone and was damaged?
Yes, yesterday after an attack caused explosion and fire inside and this is a part of a pattern of systematic destruction of health facilities.
It was later looted by desperate crowds.
With the main warehouse non functional and the majority of medical supplies in Gaza depleted, WTO is severely constrained in adequately supporting hospitals, emergency medical teams and health partners already critically short of medicines, fuel and equipment.
WHO urgently calls on Member States to help ensure A sustained and irregular flow of medical supplies into Gaza.
The geographical coordinates of all WHO premises, including offices, warehouses and staff housing, are shared with the relevant parties.
These facilities are the backbone of WH OS operation in Gaza and must always be protected regardless of evacuation or displacement orders.
Any threat to these premises is a threat to the entire humanitarian health response in Gaza.
In line with the UN decision, WHO will remain in their Al Bala and deliver and expand its operations?
With 88% of Gaza now under evacuation orders or within Israeli military militarised zones, there is no safe place to go.
WHO is appalled by the dangerous conditions under which humanitarians and health workers are forced to operate as the security situation and access continue to deteriorate, red lines are repeatedly crossed and humanitarian operations pushed into ever shrinking space to respond.
WHO calls for the immediate release of WHO staff member detained yesterday and the protection of all our staff and its premises.
We reiterate our call for the active protection of civilians healthcare and its premises and for rapid and impeded flow of aid, including food, fuel, health supplies at scale into and across Gaza.
WHO also calls for the unconditional release of hostages.
Life in Gaza is being relentlessly squeezed and the chance to prevent loss of lives and reverse immense damage to the health system sleeps further out of reach every day.
A ceasefire is not just necessary, it is overdue.
And to conclude, I would really like to also highlight what the Secretary General said yesterday in a statement that we have distributed to you, where he really is say he is appalled by the accelerating breakdown of humanitarian conditions in Gaza.
He strongly condemned the ongoing violence.
He mentioned the vacation order in their Albala and he said UN staff are remaining in their Albala in spite of the two UN guest houses which have been impacted.
We've heard from colleagues.
He reiterated that UN premises are inviolable and these locations must be protected regardless of equations orders.
The Secretary General reiterated this urgent call for the protection of civilians, including humanitarian personnel and the provision of essential resources to ensure their survival, while also calling for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages.
As he said, the Secretary General, the time for ceasefire is now.
And I'll open the floor to questions now.
I'll start with the room as usual, Olivia, and then Jamie.
I have a question for for Tarek and also for for Juliet.
Yeah, she's she's she's ready to answer your questions.
Maybe I'll start with Juliet.
I just want to confirm that figure.
You, you're saying there in the statement that more than 1000 people, starving people have been reported killed since the end end of May.
Could you kindly just explain where that figure comes from as that strikes me as as a new figure that I personally haven't seen elsewhere.
And then for Tarek, a few questions, if I may for, for you.
I just wanted to understand what the latest is for the staff member who is detained and if you have any details as to why they were detained?
And are they are, are they a local staff member or someone who was sent in to the enclave?
And also in terms of going forward, is, is, is The Who going to stay in Dara Bala or are you having to rethink that?
And the main warehouse there, I I assume that was full with of medical supplies, but just any detail on that would be helpful.
And sorry, one more question for Tardik.
We understand from sources at the Schieffer Hospital that the kidney department went out of operation due to a lack of fuel.
I'm just wondering if that's been notified of who and if you have any more details on that.
Thank you very much, Olivia.
Juliet, just if you could share your statement with Solange because for the journalists who are in the room, they don't have access to the chat during the the press briefing.
So Solange could send it to everyone, please.
So go ahead if you want to answer a Reuters question.
A this is a estimate that we've done at Andrea based on what OHCHR gave last week, just over 800 plus in addition to the casualties on on the weekend, including the incident from a couple of days ago.
And so these are estimates.
But that's plus minus the the death toll is since the end of May of people who have been killed while seeking humanitarian, sorry, food while seeking food.
And I'm so starving people seeking food.
This, of course, does not include the number of people killed in bombardments and and air strikes and, and the such.
And sorry, just because I didn't have the statement in front of me.
Is it more than 1000 or roughly 1000 that that you're asking?
Yeah, we said we said reportedly 1000.
So like I said, these are not verified figures.
They're based on the death toll from OCHR last week, plus reports that we've been getting from open sources.
These are estimates, like I said, and it's around 1000.
I'll send the statement, Tariq.
So, you know, we don't know what what are the reasons behind this detention, but we demand for the release and, and that that everyone, no one should be hold without, without the charges and without due process.
We are going to stay and we will do everything we can and everything we are allowed to do as we have been doing so far.
We, every time we had opportunity to visit hospitals to provide support to health workers, we were doing that and we will continue to do that.
Fuel is a major issue in in Gaza, not only for health facilities and hospitals, It's also necessary for bakeries, for Desalina tion plants.
We managed to bring some fuel a month ago to, to, to, to Shifa Hospital to prevent exactly what you are saying about.
But again, as long as we don't have this unimpeded access, all of us as humanitarians, we will be struggling with this.
Just to remind you that 94% of health facilities have been damaged, that half of hospitals are not function at all and others are working and providing really minimal bare services that health workers under huge pressure.
We heard from Juliet that that everyone is is struggling right now.
So everyone needs everything and and it goes it goes for for health sex.
We really need this somehow this this is horrible situation for everyone there to stop.
We hope that our appeals will be will be finally heard.
Yeah, go ahead and and sorry, Sir, Are you are you able to confirm that on on she found the on the on the kidney department or just hit The Who not have details yet on that.
I I will need to check on on that precise information with my colleagues and there.
Tarek, could you just following a little bit up on Olivia's question, what communications have you had with the Israeli government in response to what has happened at Tara Abala and particularly with The Who employee who is apparently still being detained?
What, what, what have they told you and what have you done to reach out to them?
I, I don't really have any information on that, on any communication.
And what was the response at this stage?
Juliet, I see your hand is up.
Is that something you wanted to add or?
Just on colleagues in detention and again in in the spirit of putting things in, in perspective.
Since the the war began in October 2023 at Indra, we had more than 50 colleagues detained by the Israeli authorities.
The vast majority of them have been released, yet we continue to have 12 of them who are in Israeli detention in centres.
And they, if you recall those who were released, we've interviewed some of them and they told us horror stories about the treatment that they've undergone in those detention centres.
We've issued a paper, a short paper on this a while ago.
But currently we continue to have 12 staff at Andrea who are in detention.
Yeah, indeed, I, I remember that.
And thanks for for telling us about the UNRWA staff in detention to which we express our solidarity.
Any other question in the room or I'll go to the platform.
OK, So the first one is Dina Abisab.
Thank you for the opportunity.
The UN staff is still using malnutrition to describe the situation of, uh, hunger in Gaza.
What is the level of malnutrition, uh, today in Gaza?
Uh, is it a famine or not?
Maybe Tardik can answer this and another question about Syria.
It's so strange that nobody's talking about Syria today.
We have seen images during the weekend which was killing hundreds of people, slaughtered, thrown from balconies, burned alive in Al Swayda region, but nobody's talking today.
This is so strange for me.
Maybe who can brief us about the situation the the situation in a Sueda.
And another question for Tariq, WHO have a big presence in Syria and Damascus.
Are you working in the region of a Sueda during those days?
Are we assisting somehow the the minority there?
I give the floor to to both my colleagues.
I just wanted to Dina to point you to the to what sorry, the World Food Programme senior official Ross Smith.
I think he's the director of Emergency preparedness and response at WFP.
What he said yesterday to the media, to your media colleagues in New York about the situation of food in Gaza, but I don't know if Juliet or Tariq wants to.
Yeah, maybe on your second question, I understand from our colleagues in Damascus that as other humanitarian partners, we are trying to reach Suwayda and to to see how we can provide assistance there.
So I will, I will reach out to colleagues in Damascus again to see where we are when it comes to malnutrition.
The situation is horrible in, in Gaza.
So, you know, to declare a famine there is, there is this procedure for that.
But but, but we know that, that, that people are hungry, that children are malnourished.
We've seen all the images.
And this, this really has to stop.
I mean, there has to be a way to, to, to get to get the food in.
And Mr Ross spoke about 1/4 of the population who is facing famine like condition and almost 100,000 women and children were suffering from severe acute malnutrition and need treatment as soon as possible.
Juliet Yeah, thanks Dina to your question.
Last week I briefed the the parley on findings of the assessments of malnutrition among children.
And according to Andrea, one in 10 children who have been screened in our clinics is is malnourished.
And I also mentioned that before the war in October 2023, malnutrition among children is non existent.
We've had confirmation from the other UN agencies that dozens of children have died of malnutrition.
I'm afraid that if the situation continues and if the trucks are full of aid, continue to be blocked and banned from going to Gaza, we will see not only children but increasingly adults, especially the most vulnerable, also dying from malnutrition.
That would include people with underlying conditions, chronic diseases and older people.
And this is exactly why food and other humanitarian assistance, including hygiene supplies, must go into Gaza as soon as possible.
And we will have maybe more, a little bit more from OCHA on Syria in a moment, But I will also, you know, from colleagues Tarek, if look if you can do some kind of briefings and we will also ask the other humanitarian colleagues lots of more questions.
Thank you for the briefing.
And I'm going to follow up a bit on the on the hunger situation in Gaza.
AFP has has stringers who we've been alerted are also risking to starve to death in Gaza.
So I was wondering if you could say, you know how broad this is and if you could, if we have any indication of how many people have actually died of malnutrition.
You know, the extent I, I, I guess there probably aren't exact numbers, but if there's certain extent of, of how big this, this problem is, we've, we've seen the pictures which are quite horrific.
So if you could just say a little bit more about that.
There's also been a call today from France's foreign minister for again, for foreign press to be, have access to Gaza to actually see what's going on on the ground.
I don't know if you have any, any comments on that.
And just finally for Tarek on WHO, if you have any more details on on the raid yesterday and sort of the handcuffing and the treatment of of your staff and their family members, that would be of interest.
Yeah, thanks Nina, I'm good to hear you look on the number of people who are dying of malnutrition adults.
We saw something from the police, cinema, Ministry of Health that you may want to cross check with your colleagues.
I I don't have a very fine figure on, on that front.
And we are in touch with colleagues from WTO to work together on, on a number in also with UNICEF on the number of of kids.
The the last update that we had issued mid-May said 57 children died of malnutrition only since the siege began.
So that's say likely an outdated figure that we need to, to update.
And so we'll come back to you also, Tarek, just to say I'm in touch with you colleagues in, in Gaza on, on, on that one.
What's been happening, Nina, is like I said, for the past 4872 hours, we've been receiving SOS messages from from staff who are hungry themselves, who are exhausted themselves, who are supposed to be taking care of others and providing humanitarian assistance, except they are exhausted.
We've had on a number of cases our own staff fainting while they were on duty.
And these are staff who work with Indra full time.
They receive salaries from from Indra so they have some cash, except there is nothing to buy on the street.
We had one colleague who had to walk for hours before he could get into a place and buy a bag of lentils and and some flour and and paid almost $200 for for it.
The prices of basic commodities have exponentially increased by around 4000% over the past while.
So if it is happening to Indrea staff, if it is happening to people who who are working, who are, who have some cash, then I can't imagine how it would be for the less privileged among people in Gaza.
On international media, I couldn't agree more, Nina.
We've said it more than once and there was a statement from the Commissioner General of India just a few days ago.
I can also share with Solange.
He's been calling Tyre tirelessly for your access into into Gaza, for international media access into Gaza, acknowledging the great work that the local Palestinian journalists are doing at a very, very heavy price.
And it certainly is time, if not long overdue, for international media to go into Gaza precisely to look into the facts and to help with reporting first hand information on the horrors that people in Gaza are living through.
No, I don't need to have more details than than what is in the in the notes.
But you can imagine how how traumatising it must be for everyone.
But, and as Juliet says, you know, if this is happening to, to, to, to you and stuff, you can only imagine what's the life of, of other people.
Just to remind you when we talk about the detained and killed people, according to the Ministry of Health, since October 2020, three 1500 health workers have been killed in Gaza and 330 are detained.
So we can only imagine also what is the mental health burden that, that that is affecting people of Gaza, people who have been displaced multiple times and who are now hungry and, and once they try desperately to get some food, they are being they are being targeted.
And Solange has sent the link to the statement.
So you have it in your emails.
Dina, sorry, I, I forgot to give you the floor back for your follow up.
And then I'll go to Imogen.
Yes, thank you, Alessandra.
Actually my follow up is about Syria.
I received lists of detainees and disappeared people, more than 100, mainly women from Azuaida and more than 1000 person was reportedly killed during the clashes.
Since he is listening, can he give us any information about the humanitarian situation there?
Actually he was going too.
So thank you very much, Dina for this.
I also call your attention on the briefing of OHCHR Ronald three that who who was done here on Friday.
I think also your NHC has spoke about that, but we will listen from Jens in a moment.
Let's keep on OPT because there is there are many more questions and we also have another colleague from WHO who has to brief.
Hi, thanks for taking my question.
Tarek, you said you're you WHO would stay and do everything it could do or everything it's allowed to do.
Juliet, you say you have thousands of 6000 tonnes into it weighting of of stuff to get in because we had it quite interesting press conference from the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation yesterday who were appealing for UN agencies to work with them.
But at the same time basically suggesting that the UN had just stopped work and wasn't, wasn't doing its job.
And I mean, I'm sure you're aware that increasingly we are fed a very, a very divergent narrative from this foundation.
So I just wonder if you could respond because this, this messaging is coming from the foundation every single day.
Now imagine I, I give the floor to our colleagues, but I think the UN have said several times that we are happy to work with whoever can help the desperate people of Gaza as long as the humanitarian principles are respected.
So I'll, I'll give the floor to Juliet on this and maybe Derek, if you want to add something afterwards.
Imagine, just to clarify, we have 6000 trucks for lorries of food in medicines.
They are in Jordan and in Egypt.
We haven't been allowed at Indra to bring in any humanitarian assistance for 4 1/2 months now since 2nd of March.
And meanwhile, we have over 10,000 people who work for Indra who are on the ground who would be ready to receive those supplies and distribute them just like we did together with other UN agencies and humanitarian organisations during the ceasefire on the, the the foundation.
We've issued several statements.
Imogen happy to do a bit of a round up on to why we can't work with them in not just from and around, but from across the board, including from the secretary general.
So we can put those together for you and and send them to you.
I think having about 1000 people reported killed while waiting for the assistance.
That is just food, by the way, this this foundation only brings food and only dried food.
They only have two to four distribution points on the UN and the humanitarians had 400.
They go around with a bunch of armed people and people get killed quite often whenever there is a distribution.
When we were doing this, none of that has been happening.
The time when we were bringing massive amounts of humanitarian aid during the six weeks of the ceasefire, we've not had any incident of people being killed simply because we don't work with mercenaries.
I hope that answers your question back to you.
Thank you Tarek, you wanted to add something and then give the floor to Jens who also has a comment on what?
Well, from our side, I think we will leave leave to Jensen.
We do our centre to answer how we operate with with this entity.
WTO since June 25th managed to get in 24 trucks carrying trauma supplies, medical items like syringes, bandages and surgical gowns, some essential medicine, assistive devices, antibiotics, diagnostic kids and others.
But this is nearly not enough for the hospitals.
And what hospitals really need is fuel and fuel was not coming in.
So what we, we have supplies ready to move in, but we need that access and, and, and again, hospitals need need fuel.
Patients and health workers need food as well.
I, I was also asked about that yesterday, that this DHF spokesperson said that the UN had stopped working.
And that's just manifestly incorrect.
And I will refer you to the Security Council briefing that Tom Fletcher gave on the 16th of July, where he said that between the 19th of May when limited aid entry resumed and the 14th of July.
So that two months stretch, approximately 1630 trucks were authorised and reach Kiram Shalom and Sikkim crossings.
And of those you know, you know about the issues there are the crossings of those approximately 1600 Palestinian trucks could collect that aid for distribution inside Gaza.
So that is just numbers that we continue to work.
Having said that with the numbers I have given, again, this is a drop in the ocean.
If you do a quick back of the envelope map, that's approximately 2627 trucks a day where we're talking about 6 hundred 650 trucks that needs to reach people on a daily basis just to meet the minimum, minimum requirements.
And as the Secretary General said, even in places like the Albala, we are staying and continue working.
Juliet, is that a hand on this or?
And then I'll I'll go to Imogen for the follow up.
Thanks also to confirm what what Ian said and and just in our hope to divert the story from reporting on number of trucks because it's not just about trucks.
That's kind of last year's story.
Andrea continues to be on the ground in Gaza.
For example, our clinics, our medical points continue to be open.
On average, we give 15,000 health and medical consultations through a team of over 1000 health workers who work for Andhra on the ground in Gaza, including in places like Delhi, Bala, but also in other parts of Gaza.
We also still manage shelters for the displaced.
Hundreds of thousands of people live in Andhra shelters.
And then our teams are those who are collecting the garbage, the work that no one else wants to do, let alone this a foundation.
They collect the garbage and they collect the sanity, they do the sanitation work.
So they collect also the the sewage.
They continue to give whatever is, is left in our stocks in terms of medicine and and basic is supplies.
And we continue to give water to nearly half of the population in Gaza.
So just given 5 examples on the fact that the United Nations continues to work inside the Gaza Strip.
Yeah, thank you very much.
I mean, I think probably all the journalists here at this briefing today know quite a lot of the detail that you've given.
And I'm sorry if I'm making you repeat it.
I guess I'm just getting more to the point of this.
The spokesperson then for for the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, is he lying or is it is he just mistaken even though he's there?
What is the question she's asking whether the spokesperson of the foundation is lying?
I think we are not going to characterise what other people are saying.
I think facts speak by themselves and facts we have given you this morning, Gabriella.
And and Imogen, like we said on a number of occasions at the event we don't go into, he said, she said they're lying.
We tried to give you the facts on the numbers based on first hand information that we get from Gaza.
And like I said last week, if you'd like to find out who is lying, I suggest you guys go to Gaza as international media.
I know you're not allowed, but perhaps more can be done to allow you to go into Gaza so that you can find out yourself what's happening on the ground.
There would be the very good solution.
Thank you very much, Alessandra.
Not not too many to, to Juliet you, you said that your personal in, in Gaza, they are also in the brick of famine.
So could you explain, could you elaborate a little bit on that, how many they are, if there are children and, and and that's it.
And then to, to, to Tariq on the vistas or maybe Juliet, it's not clear to me, for example, if Doctor Tedros of Mr Guterres wants to go to Gaza, do they need a visa that, that, that is a question.
And then according, well, this is a little bit according to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
And I think Israel is part of this declaration.
He, they sign it because it began because of them of the, of the Holocaust.
So the first, the first article says that everybody has the right to live.
So Israelis is violating Declaration of human rights and and according to philosophical principle, what is obvious doesn't have to be proved.
So we saw that is any video or anything that can prove that Israel just **** all these people in the points of food.
Just to be precise, I didn't use the word famine.
I spoke of severe hunger and starvation among our own colleagues at Gaza.
These are colleagues of, of, of mine.
So they are adults, they're not children.
And we received reports that several have fainted while in the line of duty.
So that's what we have on hunger and starvation in in Gaza, on the visas I can speak on to and what we've been facing.
Like I said, the commissioner General of India, who is an Under Secretary general, he's been denied entry to Gaza in March 2024, so a year plus ago, and he hasn't been allowed back into Gaza since.
He's also not received a visa from Israel to go to the occupied West Bank, including E Jerusalem for more than one year.
The last visa that he got expired in June.
Now overall for international staff at Indra, unlike other UN agencies working in the OPT, we do not have any international staff at the moment at Indra anywhere in the OPT.
That includes Gaza and the occupied West Bank, including E Jerusalem.
We however, continue to have 14,000 local Palestinian staff who hold the Fort for Indra and continue to undertake their humanitarian mission serving their communities.
Just when it comes to to visa issue, as you know, we've been speaking, WTO is coordinating the deployment of emergency medical teams.
So these are mainly foreign medical teams that are willing to operate and to help provide health services in Gaza.
Currently there are 28 emergency medical teams deployed across Gaza working in in in 10 field hospitals.
Now the issue of visa is that the, the, the, the, the rate of denial of visa for these emergency medical teams has has gone up and since March 18th, 58 international staff for the emergency medical teams, including surgeons and critical medical specialists were denied access.
Last question from Nick from New York Times.
Thanks for taking the question.
Yeah, two, Tarek, I just wanted to follow up on your statement.
You talk about 3 attacks on the staff premises in Gaza.
Was that three air strikes on, on those premises or were there grand attacks there?
And was the attack on the warehouse, was that also an air strike or was that grand combat?
And then I just also wanted to check what was the loss in terms of supplies in in the damage to the warehouse, Was that was that severe?
And I wondered also if you had any word on the staffer who was detained.
Is he a doctor, a nurse, a technician, a driver?
What if you could tell us anything more about him?
Annika, I don't really have have have any details on the, on the attack itself.
You know, we are not specialised in a military affair.
So we, we can't really speak about the nature and what has been used and what was intentional and, and what was not.
But what we know is the impact such attacks on healthcare, not only on WHO but also on hospitals and ambulances and health workers has further availability of health services.
And I can just, you know, pull out the, the, the, the, the, really the attacks on health.
So we had, we had 746 attacks in Gaza and 863 attacks in a West Bank since October 2023.
And I don't have the further details on the on the on the, on the stuff.
Yeah, I think, I mean, what was lost in the, in the, in the warehouse attack, though, was that a, was that a significant blow to your remaining stocks of medical supplies?
I don't have details on what was it we had like this was the main warehouse there.
We, I understand we have two other smaller ones, but what we we were not really able to replenish our warehouses for a long time.
So, but what has been there and I really don't have details on what was it and the quantities unfortunately has been destroyed.
You know, the the statement from late last night says, you know, the The Who following the latest evacuation order issued by Israeli military, The Who staff residents was attacked 3 So and, and you say staff and their families, including children, were exposed to grave danger and traumatised after airstrikes caused a fire and significant damage.
So I think what he's trying to find out is whether or not those air strikes were close to where the residence was, because that's the first thing.
And then second thing, you're using the passive voice.
We in journalism don't always like the passive voice.
Can you say flat out this these were strike that instead of saying The Who staff residence was attacked 3 times today, it was the Israeli military that was cut.
So the attack happened by by Israeli military who went to the premises later and then, you know, put put in danger the the WTO staff and their families.
OK, I do have another, I have another question.
It's for both, both of you picking up on the issue of of visas, could you please indicate the last time that either Ted Rose or Mr Fletcher had themselves requested a visa to go into Gaza?
And then I have another question for Yens.
Sorry, it's important subject.
The Yens just two things the as picking up on what Imogen had said earlier GHF says that it's ready to work with anyone with with with the UN.
Have there been any contacts with the UN at all with with GHF or is there still no communication at all with them?
Is there is is the UN in any way open to that?
And yeah, and then finally, I noticed on the video from the this suddenly new seemingly GHF spokesperson on online that the crews on the ground seem to be wearing blue vests, dark blue vests.
How concerned are you that that people, beneficiaries may be conflating this GHF operation with blue helmeted, blue dressed UN staff on the ground and that there may be some misconception among the people that are receiving the aid?
And then if Juliet wants to add something, I really don't have the answer.
When, if, if and when Doctor Tatos asked for visa.
I think I remember when Fletcher was last in, in or was in Gaza.
I, I, I have to, to double check he's constantly applying for visas to all kind of places around the world.
I know when he goes and then we report on that.
On communications with with GHFI, don't think that we have ever said that we will not communicate with them or we, we haven't.
We, we have communicated, we have been in meetings with them and our door is open.
There are reasons that are well known to all of you why we cannot collaborate with them with this way, this model that they are losing that they are using, which are evidently killing people on a daily basis.
On, on the blue Bass, I, I don't have any, any comment on that?
I I don't know how people in Gaza perceive this.
OK, so that was the really last question.
Juliet, before I close this subject, is there anything you want to add?
Many thanks for for having me and for all the questions.
Thank you for being here.
Thanks to Tarek who came.
Actually, there were questions from the statement and other.
Before we go to the other speaker from WHO, can you just read your briefing on Syria?
Yeah, that you had requested.
Yes, thank you and apologies.
It's a bit cobbled together because I wasn't planning on this, but there were requests on that.
On Sunday, more than 93,000 people have been displaced.
As of Sunday, more than 93,000 people have been displaced due to the escalation of hostility in Syria's Ausweda governorates, both within Ausweda and towards neighbouring the Iraq Governor Governorate and rural Damascus.
In A Sweda, most displaced people are being hosted by local communities and in at least 15 reception centres.
Some 30 collective shelters have also been opened in Daraa.
Partners on the ground in southern Syria indicate that humanitarian assistance is urgently needed in A Sweda.
A number of hospitals and health centres are reportedly out of service.
Water infrastructure in A Sweda has been critical.
Dam critically damaged, disrupting services for over a week.
Significant cuts to electricity have also been reported, as well as disruptions to food and other supplies.
On Sunday, again a first aid convoy deployed by the Syrian Arab Red Crescent reached Azwaida city and Salkat district, where the majority of displaced people have sought safety.
The 32 trucks were carrying aid provided by our colleagues at WFP and UNICEF as well as other partners.
Teams are delivering vital food, water, medical supplies and fuel to affected people.
When they were there, they also did a rapid needs assessment and we are waiting for the results of that which should be coming today.
And based on the results of this needs assessment, Syrian Arab Crescent and OCHA are coordinating with humanitarian partners for a second convoy of supplies.
The loading for the second convoy will be today and most probably the convoy will move tomorrow.
The priority in this second convoy is for food, wheat flour, fuel, medicine and health items.
In neighbouring Daraa, the UN and our partners are also delivering food, nutrition, health boards of protection and other critical items to newly displaced people at reception centres.
And finally, the UN continues to urge all parties to protect people who have been caught up in this violence, including by allowing them to move freely, to seek safety and to seek medical assistance.
Thank you very much, Terry.
Yeah, I also got something from colleagues as I, as I, as I asked quickly, what's the latest?
So as as I said, we don't have access to the National Hospital in Soraida, but there is obviously a need to get that access.
We hear reports that hospital is overburdened from the mass casualty incidents.
There were also attacks on healthcare, including on staff.
Reportedly, several doctors and other staff are being killed and that hospital staff has been intimidated.
WTO continues to support hospitals in neighbouring provinces where many patients are being referred due due to access constraints and hospital overcapacity, including in Daraa which supplies where we send emergency medical supplies.
But again, what we need is access to to Savaida National Hospital and deaths indeed.
OK, don't see specific questions on Syria, but thank you very much for this update.
And Tarik, Tarik, you stay with us on the yes.
And I'd like to ask your colleague to join us here for her briefing.
And thanks very much for your patience.
So Tarik, you brought us Doctor Diana Rocas Alvarez, who is The Who team lead on Arbo viruses at WHO for an update on the global Chikungunya viral diseases situation.
Doctor, you have the floor.
OK, thank you very much and and good morning.
Well, Chikungunya is a disease that is not very widely known, but it has been detected and transmitted globally in 119 countries.
About 5.6 billion people live in areas at risk for for chikungunya and for other viruses.
Chikungunya can cause very rapid and large outbreaks, infecting up to 3/4 of the population when there is no enough immunity and it puts intense pressure on healthcare systems.
This virus is mainly spread by 80s mosquito species and one of the one of those mosquitoes is commonly known as the tiger mosquito and that can also transmit dengue, Zika and urban yellow fever.
The symptoms of chikungunya are mostly acute and very high fever, severe joint pain, muscle pain, skin rash and severe fatigue.
And the joint pain is usually debilitating and usually can last for a few days.
But up up to 40% of the people who are infected with chikungunja can develop long term disabilities that can last for a few months or even years.
And that places the that's where the heavy burden of chikungunja is and it affects countries, economies, workforce, and of course the quality of life of the population.
In rare cases, but specifically in the streams of life in the elderly population and also in newborns, chikungunja can be deadly.
So about 20 years ago, from 2004 to 2005, there was a major Chikungunja epidemic that swept across the Indian Ocean affecting a large population in small islands territories before spreading globally and affecting almost half a million people in that short period of time.
So today WHO is seeing the same pattern emerge since the beginning of 2025 where the the same islands that were affected 20 years ago have a very large outbreak such as La Reunion, Mayotte and Mauritius.
And about 1/3 of the population of La Reunion has been estimated to be infected with Chikungunja.
And just like 20 years ago, the virus is now spreading further to other countries such as Madagascar, Somalia and Kenya.
And there have been a epidemic transmission also occurring in Southeast Asia in India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and and more.
There are some important cases that continue to be reported in Europe and associated with the outbreak in the in the Indian Ocean.
But now also local transmission of chikungunya has been reported in France and a case was detected last week in in Italy.
Because these patterns of transmission we're seeing in from 2004 onwards, we are calling for urgent action to prevent history from repeating itself.
It's still not too late to prevent further transmission and the spread of the virus.
So there is the onset of winter in the in the Indian Ocean and cases are beginning to decline.
However, we are seeing still cases in, in some of these islands.
Countries that are now seeing their first cases where the mosquito is is present must have quickly and ensure that these outbreaks are detected and brought under control as soon as possible to limit the number of people infected and avoiding having long term health problems.
WHO is currently supporting Member States by deploying this and strengthening laboratory diagnosis, a risk communication and community engagement, training healthcare workers in clinical management of chikungunya and strengthening surveillance and mosquito control activities.
So how can people protect themselves?
There is no specific treatment for chikungunya.
The use of insect repellent, wearing lock sleeve and and trousers and installed screens and in windows and doors if possible and removing standard water from containers like buckets, tyres and flower pots as these are mosquito breeding grounds.
So that's it from my side.
Thank you very much, Doctor.
I'll open the first question first in the room.
Olivia Reuters, thank you very much for this.
Are you able to stick on the spell out?
Like what is kind of making you so concerned about this and if anything has kind of changed in recent weeks on that?
And also just in terms of global vaccine availability, you're saying there's no cure per SE, but the kind of other options available to people?
So as I said, we are seeing history repeating itself.
So what we what happened 20 years ago is that chikungunya spread really quickly also not just in the Indian Ocean, but affecting continental Africa and Southeast Asia.
So we are raising the alarm early so the countries can prepare to early detect and strengthen all the capacities to avoid a going through very large outbreaks as we usually see with with Chikungunja.
On your question about vaccines, there are actually 2 Chikungunja vaccines that are available.
1 is a live attenuated and another one is a virus like particle.
But they have received regulatory approvals in specific countries and is current.
They are currently mostly used as Travellers vaccines.
Because there is not enough evidence to come up with global recommendations.
However, WHO is monitoring very closely the the situation of of Chikungunja and looking at the evidence that is emerging and post marketing data so we can WHO can inform potential recommendations coming up soon.
We are also putting together a strategic advisory group for to advise the recommendations for this vaccine and he will meet in the next few weeks.
Thank you and yes, yes, hi.
Anne Esper, the hall from AFP.
Thank you for taking my my question.
One thing is about the, the, what you mentioned the history for those who were not here 20 years ago, could you, could you remind us, uh, what has happened exactly 20 years ago?
So we understand that there was a, a large number of countries and, but, but could you remind us if, uh, what was, what were the figures?
Uh, how many people, I don't know died or, umm, why 20 years ago, what was the, the, the, the toll of this epidemic and, and how it was countered and, and then today you are calling for a urgent action.
You, you talked about avoiding mosquito bites, repellent use repellent, removing standing water, all those things that now people know.
So what is the really urgent action that that should be taken?
I don't know by countries or yes, what do you concretely ask for?
Thank you very much for your question.
So 20 years ago, about half a million cases were reported just in the in the Indian Ocean and in some of the countries in Southeast Asia.
The population in these islands are are a few hundreds of thousands.
So for example, in La Ronion, almost a third of the island was infected it yes, 1/3 of the island was infected back then.
The same with other, with other countries.
And right with these outbreaks, we understood which was the potential of large epidemics of chikungunya because before that there were so some transmission, but we really didn't understand the the potential for large epidemics and potential regional epidemics.
Right after that, chikungunya was transmitted causing very large outbreaks in in Southeast Asia, causing millions of cases in India, Singapore, Bangladesh and, and other countries.
And in 2013, this virus emerged in the Americas in the IT was first detected in an island San Martin, and since then it's in few months.
It spread throughout most of the countries with the mosquito causing millions of cases from 2013 to 2014.
And now it has endemic transmission in these areas.
Also during 20 years ago it was characterised to have the long term disabilities.
Also the the case fatality rate when you look at it is is less than 1%.
But when you start counting millions of cases, that 1% can be thousands of cases.
So we need to make aware of that.
And this virus will affect younger populations or people that are completely healthy before being infected with this virus.
And when I talk about disabilities, it affects the joints mostly the hands and feet.
And people won't be able to hold the pen or won't be able to type on a, on a, on a cell phone or even type on a laptop or cook, for example, if it's a woman won't be able to even hold a knife.
So it has a huge impact in the quality of life.
And about 40% of the people who get infected with this disease can have disabilities up to up to few years.
So I mentioned what people can protect themselves.
And yes, we, we, we could say that people know that they, they should be protecting themselves, but it's, it's the, the current situation.
And even if people are aware that they should be protecting themselves, most of the people don't use mosquito repellent, right?
Most of the people have still the standing water in their buckets, in the tyres.
So it's just reminding because the same activities that we currently do for Chikungunja is what we recommend to do for dengue, for yellow fever and and for for Zika virus for the countries.
We we advise to strengthen the healthcare system so the doctors can early detect and treat the cases early, improve the lab capacities to confirm infections quickly.
So the quicker the infection is confirmed, then the contact tracing can be can start and then we can prevent further spread, scaling up the disease surveillance to rapidly track and control the outbreaks and do the integrated mosquito surveillance and of course the control of the mosquitoes.
I hope I answered your question over.
Catherine Tienko Yes, thank you, Alessandra.
Thank you, doctor, for this briefing.
There are 119 countries where shikungunya has been detected and transmitted.
So could you please give us some countries that are in Europe, because I suppose that they are countries in Europe.
And also the difference between the fact that people in infected people are more and more, if understood well, people that have not travelled, that means that they've been infected by a mosquito staying in, in their in their, in their country, country that might be in Europe.
And also, could you please give us a little bit more details about the spreading by the same mosquitoes that they can transmit dengue, Zika and yellow fevers also in cities.
What do you advise people to do in order to to be protected and are doctors that are not who are not in tropical regions used to detect Zika or or yellow fever?
So most of the countries that that are part of the tropical area, they have the these, these mosquitoes.
So in the Americas we can say Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela, like all of Mexico and it goes from from the South of South America up to Central America.
Even now cases or the mosquito has been found in Florida and in some other states in the in the US.
Then the same in the tropical area of of Africa, Southeast Asia, most of the countries have the mosquitoes and the same with the with the Western Pacific.
So when I when we mentioned Europe, Laguna Mayot are a, are French territories that are based in in, in in Africa, but they are considering a they are part of of of France.
There is currently as I, there have been about 800 imported cases of chikungunya in continental France from since May 1st up to up to date.
And when you have the, what happened with this virus is that when you have the mosquito and the environmental conditions, which now is the summer.
So the temperature is ideal, the humidity is ideal and the mosquitoes are, are there, then people can come back from holidays if they, and if they are infected, they can be bitten by mosquitoes and it can start a cycle of, of transmission.
So currently in continental France there have been 12 transmission episodes detected.
So it means that the the case haven't travelled anywhere and they are diagnosed with with Chikungunja.
Some twelve of those have been detected in several of the southern states of of France and these episodes can go from just one isolated case up to 13 cases, which is a small cluster of of Chikungunja.
And there is also a likely I'll talk to a transmission in Italy where a case was detected last week and the person has not travelled to an endemic area previously.
So the there is chikungunya transmission somewhere else in endemic areas.
But if the virus is introduced at the right time with the right temperature and the right humidity and where the mosquito is, as is the the current situation in, in Europe, then it can start further transmission and, and large, very quick and, and large outbreaks.
You also mentioned about the the doctors.
So yes, unfortunately in endemic areas, people are not, doctors are not used to detect these diseases, these tropical diseases, because it's, it was not, it's not part of the usual burden of disease in these areas.
However, our European office and the European CDC, they have been working closely training the healthcare workers throughout we do it throughout the world in endemic areas, but now with an intense with the with the current transmission, there are several trainings ongoing for healthcare workers in in Europe and non endemic areas.
So these cases can be early detected, contain and and and control.
I think Katrina has a follow up and then I understand Gabriella was trying to ask a question then John.
No cases detected in Switzerland, first question.
And southern countries like Spain, Portugal, Greece, where you have seen temperatures and humidity as Italy and how many people can one mosquito in, can one mosquito infect?
Thank you very much for your question.
So no, no cases detected yet in in Switzerland and no cases reported yet in Spain and and other European countries.
However, we have the mosquitoes and the risk is there.
So the alert is, is there and that's part of the the what we want to, to do here to raise the alarms.
So people are alert and they can early detect a Chikungunja cases.
Also the mosquitoes are they are quite abundant during the summer.
So we need to we need to be aware and healthcare workers need to be need to be aware about how many people a mosquito come by is.
I don't, I don't have the exact number.
It's usually the female mosquito the one who who bites and it will depend how how hungry the the mosquito is.
However, once they they their span of life is up to 30 days.
So if a female mosquito is infected in the first few days of life, it can and it can infect for up to a month.
So that's why a vector control activities are key to prevent the adult mosquitoes from transmitting.
But also it's very important that the community controls the breeding sites that I mentioned before because the the eggs can stay in those breeding sites for months.
And once they get in touch in contact with water, they will hatch and then we will have more adult mosquitoes.
And that's how the the whole cycle is.
Thank you very much, John.
Sorry, Gabriella, I was trying to ask a question, but apparently her hand doesn't work.
So I'll give her the floor and then we'll we'll close to you.
Yes, I had a question if you have details on Mexico and chicken goulla, if you have something to say about that or Latin America and also what was the other question?
Well, if you can answer and then I ask the other question and if there are cases in USA.
Thank you very much for your question.
So well Mexico as as you're aware it's endemic for these 80s borne diseases.
So the the virus that is mostly reported from Mexico is dengue.
But since mid the mid the previous decade like 2015, 2016, there have been reports of of chikungunya mostly in the South in in the state of Yucatan and Cancun and that area but also in some other endemic areas.
The numbers go to a few thousand of cases that are suspected and Mexico is strengthening the capacities to do lab diagnosis as Mexico has the the three viruses Co circulating at the same time.
So with Mexico is one of the countries with the, with the strong entomological surveillance and lab surveillance and an integrated management of of these diseases.
However, given the environmental conditions there, there are usually thousands of cases reported every year.
So it's an endemic country for for chikungunya, that's for the US.
For the US, no cases have been reported this year, but the cases have been, few of them have been reported in Florida.
I close with John Sarocosta.
Yes, yes, Firstly, can you please give us the location in Italy where the case was reported?
And secondly, this vector does it is active during daytime and unlike some vectors that are only by that night?
Thanks for your question.
So it was reported in the PSN CHA province.
The the case in Italy, it hasn't been confirmed yet.
It's currently under follow up, but this person hasn't travelled outside of of Italy.
And yes, thanks for for bringing the the point.
This mosquito usually bites during the day.
So people need to take precautions and that's why we don't we, I didn't mention about the bed Nets as a as a prevention, as a way to prevent the mosquito bites by these mosquito because this is used for other diseases where the mosquito bites at night.
But these mosquito usually bites during the day, mostly early in the morning and in the lay around 5:00 PM.
So is the mosquito that is biting us what we are having dinner in a terrace or what we are at home having breakfast or walking from home to, to, to work.
And these mosquitoes are are you can find them in your household, in your workplace, in schools.
And the bed Nets are just recommended for people who are infected because they will be in the bed and then they might be getting beaten during the day.
A the bed Nets are just used for people who are currently infected and of course, patients who are in healthcare facilities, so will prevent further transmission inside the hospitals.
Doctor, thank you very much.
That was really interesting and important to underline.
If there are no other question for WHO don't see any.
So thanks again for for this briefing.
This leaves me with two announcements only only between announcements for you today, but important ones as today will be a very busy day in New York and we want to call for your attention to this two important events happening there and being webcast on UN Web TV.
So the Secretary General today at 9:00 AM New York Times.
So if I'm not wrong, it's 3:00 here at the headquarters.
He will deliver a special address entitled Moment of Opportunity Supercharging the Clean Energy Age.
This will be a landmark speech outlining the economic imperative and opportunity for the transition to renewable energy.
The Secretary General is expected to highlight that the clean energy future is no longer a promise, It's a fact, and no government, no industry and no special interest can stop it.
Although unstoppable though, the energy transition is not yet fast enough or fair enough, as he is expected to tell you.
He will also share new data from a specialised technical report prepared by his Climate Action team with the support of various UN agencies, funds and programmes, as well as leading international institutions.
This report will be released today too, and it shows the latest available science evidence on the progress, opportunities and benefits of the emerging clean energy economy.
As I said, this will be webcast on UN Web TV.
And it follows, of course, the moment of truth speech that he gave on this matter earlier on everything it was last year.
Also today at 10 AM New York Times, so 4:00 here, the Secretary General will deliver remarks at the Security Council open debate on maintenance of international peace and security, promoting international peace and security through multilateralism and the peaceful settlement of disputes.
The Secretary General is expected to know that around the world we can see another disregards for, if not outright violation of international law, including international human rights law, international refugee law, international humanitarian law, and the UN Charter itself.
And all of this without any accountability.
The secretary general is expected to highlight that diplomacy may not have always succeeded in preventing conflicts, violence and instability, but it still holds the power to stop them.
And he may also say something about the situation in.
Gaza, so all both events on UN web TV and that is what I had for you.
If yes, Jamie, I have another subject.
Pardon me, I have another subject.
There's a report that's just been posted in AUS newspaper just a few minutes ago saying that President Trump is pulling the United States out of UNESCO.
Did you see this coming and do you have a comment?
No, I, I actually haven't seen these reports.
I would suggest that if you want to to ask, we have a UNICO office here and Arisa Thompson Flores is the director and she might be able to give a comment.
Otherwise we can also try to reach her.
But if I mean, I haven't seen the report, so I don't know exactly what are the terms of it.
But in that I'm, I'm pretty sure we will have a statement soon.
But if you want to have a comment quickly, maybe you want to address yourself to Anna Luisa, we can give you the e-mail.
Maybe maybe just frame it a different way.
How concerned would you be about AUS pull out of UNESCO and what would the impact possibly be?
Of course, I mean any, any, I think withdrawal from any UN agency is a worrying in terms of support to multilateralism.
But I don't want to comment on this specific thing because I don't know the terms of it.
So let's, let's see what, what has been announced and what UNESCO is going to say.
But of course, we, we really our strongest wills, which is really to work with all member states in all our agencies to support multilateralism in all the fields We work with anybody else.
And I, I, I love you, Jamie, if you can send me the link to that.
So thank you very much to everyone.
Bon appetit and I'll see you to the next press briefing.
