UNOG Bi-weekly press briefing 07 August 2020

Good morning everyone and sorry for the slight delay.

Welcome to this briefing of Friday the 7th of August.

We are going to start off with Roslyn.

Yard from ILO has a very quick announcement.

So if Roslyn is online, OK, so I am, and apologies, my camera, I had an issue with my camera.

[Other language spoken]

OK this morning.

[Other language spoken]

So good morning, everyone.

On Tuesday 11th of August, ahead of International Youth Day on the 12th, the ILO will be launching the results of a survey on the impact of COVID-19 on youth.

Focusing on the impact on young people's education and training during lockdown.

The study analysis how learning has been affected by the transition from classroom to online and distance learning and how this may affect future career and job prospects.

The analyst analysis includes breakdowns by region and this study is a follow up to the findings highlighted in the fourth ILO Monitor report, which showed that one in six young people were out of work due to COVID-19.

We'll be holding a virtual press briefing at 1400 on the 11th with experts from HQ and the regions.

And we'll be sending out a media advisory to you later today with all the details.

And you'll be receiving the embargoed report and press release by Monday, if not earlier ahead of the press conference.

And the embargo will lift at 2000 Geneva time on the 11th of August.

If you do have any questions, please contact me or any media requests.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you very much, Roslyn.

Are there any questions for Roslyn while she is with us?

I don't see any.

[Other language spoken]

And journalists will get in touch with you directly if they have additional questions on this.

Turning to the news, of course, Lebanon, what is happening in Lebanon?

We are all extremely preoccupied by the situation there and what's happening.

So we're monitoring this very, very closely.

Of course, you will have seen the statement by the Secretary General immediately after this tragedy occurred earlier this week, expressing his deepest condolences to the families of the victims, as well as to the people and the government of Lebanon.

He wishes, of course, a speedy recovery to the injured, including several United Nations personnel working in Lebanon.

the United Nations, of course, remains committed to supporting the country in this very difficult time and is actively assisting in the response to the incident.

And yesterday, our colleagues in New York, of course, offered the following information.

the United Nations Resident that Humanitarian Coordinator and Deputy Special Coordinator for Lebanon, Najat Rushdie, said that the crisis following Tuesday's explosion requires the support of all to surmount the devastating impact of the crisis on the Lebanese people and the country.

She reiterated, of course, the Secretary General's commitment to support Lebanon at this difficult time.

She also announced that that they were releasing $9 million from the Lebanese Humanitarian Fund and the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Mark Lowcock will release additional funding from the Central Emergency Response Fund to address immediate needs and help strengthen the capacity of existing hospitals.

This will include expanding and establishing additional intensive care units where needed and providing trauma kits, ventilators, medical supplies and medicines on the health front.

And I believe Christian Lindmeyer will be joining us shortly to give you a little bit of information from The Who perspective.

But we know already that the organisation is providing assistance to cover 1000 trauma interventions and 1000 surgical interventions for people suffering from burns and wounds.

They've also reported that the blast had rendered 3 hospitals inoperable and two more had sustained substantial damage and the equivalent of about 500 hospitals hospital beds had been lost due to damage.

Further assessments, of course, are being coordinated with the Lebanese Ministry of Health to identify available capacity, material needs and operational gaps in the health sector.

And OCHA, of course, has deployed surge teams, which include experts from the International Search and Rescue Advisory Group and the UN Disaster Assessment and Coordination to assist with the emergency response.

And of course, our United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon.

UNIFIL is also assessing the damage caused to the Maritime Task Force ship and has offered any assistance it can provide to the Lebanese authorities dealing with this this crisis at this moment.

To give you some more perspectives from the humanitarian agencies, we have a number of spokespeople with us this morning.

So I'm going to turn it to Elizabeth Beals from the World Food Programme who will update you on what their organisation, how their organisation is dealing with this this crisis.

[Other language spoken]

Good morning everyone.

WFP is concerned that the explosion and the damage to the port will exacerbate an already green food security situation that has worsened because of the financial crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Lab as Lebanon imports nearly 85% of its food.

The severe damage to the Port of Beirut could limit the flow of food supplies into the country and push food prices beyond the reach of many.

A recent WFP survey on the impact of the economic crisis and COVID-19 outbreak shows and revealed that food has become a major source of concern for 50% of Lebanese, saying that they felt worried they would not have enough food to eat and this was prior to the blast.

WFP will be allocating 5000 food parcels for families affected by the Beirut blast.

We remain committed to stand by the country and the people of Lebanon during this challenging time.

Each food package is enough to feed a family of five for one month.

The food baskets include rice, pasta, lentils, beans, chickpeas, tuna, vegetable oil, sugar, salt and tomato.

Past WFP is planning to import wheat flour and grains for bakeries and meals to help protect against food shortages across the country.

WFP also stands ready to offer supply chain management and logistical support and expertise to Lebanon.

WFP is actually rapidly evaluating the situation on the ground and stands ready to provide emergency support for thousands of people in Beirut.

WFP is in close discussion with the Government of Lebanon to coordinate emergency response and determine where WFP can best support given its existing cash and food programme in Lebanon and its logistical and supply chain expertise.

WFP of course is coordinating with the UN country team in Lebanon to consolidate this emergency response and with OCHA in particular and other agency.

Currently, 1,000,000 people in Lebanon are living below the poverty line.

I will give you now an idea of our current operation.

Prior to this horrible tragedy, WFP has been planning to provide emergency food assistance to 50,000 vulnerable families up to 250,000 people affected by the economic crisis.

WFP currently provide to food ecards to over 100,000 lemonis through the Government National Poverty Targeting Programme to support the most the poorer family.

We also partnered with the Education Ministry to distribute food package to the family of 13,000 students.

Now I will say a word in French for colleagues of UN Radio le programme Alimonte armodial a particle more preoccupe Parli consequence do explosion situation deja dramatic developing economic consequence dukovic samil ration alimonte polyfami sola puranuel de famili de centre son poramois avec le produ de Bascom de paduri de la toma duto le pan egel Mon Eva aporte de la farin Ed Cereal Purely Blonde 3.

Experience on logistic?

[Other language spoken]

Set tragedy news apporto asutia financier Agra Verde carte electronic aprudo Sami Lebanon noni programme the continent scholar a actual Mont nuzalo apporte in assistance Ali monter A predo docent second mil family affected by like his economic.

We're going to now maybe give the floor to Christian Lindmayer from WHO, who has some information to add on the health situation.

Can we unmute Christian, please?

[Other language spoken]

I hear you very well.

I don't know why my video is not coming up.

We seem to have a video issue this morning.

[Other language spoken]

Maybe the camera kicks in.

It's anywhere more the words than my face today.

Thank you very much.

[Other language spoken]

So on a way more serious topic, of course, our hearts and prayers are with all those affected by this tragic event in Lebanon.

Even before the blast, Lebanon was facing civil unrest, economic hardship, coronavirus outbreak and the Syrian refugee crisis.

We call for regional solidarity to support all people in need in Lebanon.

Given the additional challenges now faced, WHO is leading the health response together with the Ministry of Health, airlifting urgently needed supplies from Dubai, identifying gaps in needs and coordinating health the health response by partners on the ground.

On five August already, WHO delivered emergency trauma and surgical supply kits containing essential medicines and medical supplies needed to immediately support trauma interventions at the local hospitals.

Those trauma and surgical supplies were delivered to Beirut from the hub in Dubai and are supposed to cover 1000 trauma interventions and 1000 surgical interventions.

More than 50% of the total population are vulnerable and below the poverty line.

The blast happened in an area that is very poor.

Already 100,000 vulnerable people, Syrians and Lebanese are across the country.

The already weak health system in Lebanon due to the refugee crisis to COVID, the economic and political crisis and the lack of personal protective equipment for health workers is a huge issue.

Vulnerable vulnerabilities are now increasing due to the blast.

Many people are still missing.

As we know we're not able to access the area properly.

Focus on search and rescues ongoing of course and the challenges in managing COVID positive cases injured in the blast is also ongoing.

Hospitals are all overwhelmed with injured patients as a result of the blast.

As we all just mentioned, three hospitals in Baywood are non functional with a total beds of 402.

Hospitals are partially damaged about 100 bed capacity.

So we have a total of 500 bed capacity lost.

Casualties have been moved outside of Beirut even as far as S Sada and N Tripoli.

[Other language spoken]

Due to the blast, 17 containers of WHO essential medical supplies were destroyed, with personal protective equipment items completely burned.

Healthcare workers treating COVID-19 patients lack this PPE and hospitals receiving injured patients are overwhelmed in the need of urgent medical supplies.

As the number of COVID-19 cases in Lebanon was increasing prior to the blast, WGO is also focusing its efforts on ensuring that all pillars of the response remain active and that there's reliable supply of PPE and other supplies to replace the lost and damaged materials.

In this context, as the public health impact of Baywood Blast becomes clearer, WHO is calling for $15 million to cover immediate emergency trauma and humanitarian health needs and ensure the continuity of the response to COVID-19 across the country.

There are two press releases out on this already by the East Mediterranean Office for WHO and I will share the links with the transcript now over from me.

Thank you very much, Christian for this update.

And as you mentioned, of course, Lebanon is a, is a, is a country that hosts a huge amount of of refugees.

So let's go to to Charlie Yaxley from UNHCR, who also has information to share about the situation there from their perspective.

Good morning, Charlie, could we unmute Charlie, please?

There we go.

Good morning everyone, good morning.

UNHDRUN Refugee Agency and other humanitarian partners in Lebanon are rushing to support the government LED response following the deadly and devastating bath that ripped through Beirut this Tuesday.

Given the impact of the massive explosion, we fear that the casualties and injured may also include refugees living in Beirut.

Some of the areas severely affected by the powerful blasts include neighbourhoods that hosted refugees.

And while we continue to assess the situation, we have received initial but yet unconfirmed reports of several deaths among refugees in Beirut.

We're working with the rescue teams and other humanitarian workers to help with identification and support to grieving families.

All UNHCR staff are accounted for.

Our immediate humanitarian efforts are focused on three key areas, shelter, health and protection.

UNHCR is working closely with the Lebanese Red Cross to establish temporary shelters for those who lost their homes and is supporting relocation efforts to others.

Hundreds of thousands of people have had their homes completely or partially damaged in the explosion, so the need for shelter is massive.

UNHCR is making available it's in country stocks of shelter kits, plastic sheets, rub halls and 10s of thousands of other core relief items including blankets and mattresses for immediate distribution use.

Unhcr's ongoing health response for COVID-19 is continuing in this latest emergency and a first phase of expanding hospital beds and ICU capacity, including with medical supplies and equipment, ventilators and patient beds, was completed last week.

The second phase is being expedited in light of the saturation of hospitals, and this support will help decrease the pressure on the currently overwhelmed hospitals and allow more patients to be treated promptly.

These additional capacities are available to all those in need.

Protection is another critical area of intervention in the current emergency response, particularly mental health and psychosocial support.

Unhcr's reception centres across the country, including in Beirut, are open for critical and emergency cases, with all COVID related social distancing measures in place, and the national call centre as well as regional hotlines across the country have been fully manned to respond to requests for assistance.

The massive explosion adds to the already severe economic crisis that had pushed many Lebanese and refugees there deeper into poverty, further aggravated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

And UNHCR calls on the international community to stand by Lebanon, to show solidarity and to provide timely and meaningful support to Lebanon and the Lebanese people who have been generous hosts to refugees.

Thank you very much, Charlie.

And of course, children have not been spared by this tragedy either.

We have Malici Mercado from UNICEF to give us an update on on the situation from their their perspective as well.

[Other language spoken]

Good morning everyone.

[Other language spoken]

Yes, perfectly.

[Other language spoken]

So we have some very preliminary numbers and findings from assessments that are still underway.

At least 80,000 and up to 100,000 children are among those whose homes were damaged or destroyed and were now displaced.

Many households have very limited water and electricity.

The Assami Birth and Beyond paediatric unit in Carrentina Hospital, which had a specialised unit treating newborns who require critical care, was totally destroyed.

16 other primary healthcare centres serving some 160,000 people have sustained some damage.

10 containers of personal protective equipment, including hundreds of thousands of gloves, gowns, masks that were just procured by the Ministry of Public Health for the COVID response, were destroyed.

UNICEF is working with WHO to immediately replace these supplies.

5 out of 7 cold rooms at a warehouse in the court, whose maintenance is supported by UNICEF, were destroyed.

All of the vaccines were safely moved to other cold rooms the very same night of the blasts.

Supplies of diluent were destroyed, but it's not yet clear how much.

We have initial reports of over 120 public and private schools that have sustained damage, ranging from windows blown out to more fundamental infrastructural damage.

These schools serve approximately 55,000 children and it will be crucial to rehabilitate them before the start of the new school year.

The air is suffused with dust and there are concerns that this may be toxic, especially for children.

And finally, just a word on COVID there.

There has been a significant increase of COVID infections in the past couple of days.

Yesterday saw a record number of infections, 255.

There have now been a total number of 70 deaths and total number of cases is 5672.

The areas around the blast are those with some of the most active clusters and community transmission.

It is impossible for those affected to practise safe distancing and there's a desperate need for masks.

But for most people right now, COVID is not top of mind.

UNICEF's immediate priorities are to replace damaged PPE and other medical products and to procure critical supplies the health services require right now.

To distribute water and hygiene materials to reunite children separated from their families and provide psychosocial support for those dealing with shock, trauma and bereavement.

To work with volunteer youth to provide affected families with support for cleaning and cooking.

Emergency cash assistance for the most vulnerable families, including health and logistics workers is needed, and damaged healthcare facilities and schools will need to be rehabilitated.

The needs are immediate and they are huge.

UNICEF's preliminary, and I stress preliminary funding appeal is for $8.25 million.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you very much, Marixi, for this update.

And last but not least, we're going to bring in Rupert Colville from the Office of the **** Commissioner for Human Rights, who also will add something to this topic.

And then we'll take some questions.

If we could unmute Rupert, please.

[Other language spoken]

Francois, could you unmute Rupert already?

Well, it shows him muted.

OK, how about that?

OK, there we go.

There we go.

[Other language spoken]

Yes, I just really like to sort of underline and back up some of the comments that the other agencies have made, especially by the underlying situation in Lebanon, which was already So this week's horrific blast in Beirut has brought into sharp focus the need for the international community to step up and to help Lebanon and its people in this time of terrible crisis.

Only a swift and huge international response and sustained engagement will prevent many more lives being lost.

Four weeks ago, almost exactly I think 4 weeks ago, the **** Commissioner issued a stark warning that the situation in Lebanon was fast spiralling out of control and that was of course before this, this horrific blast.

She urged the government, political parties, leaders to enact urgently needed reforms and to address the essential needs such as shelter, food, electricity, health and education.

In that statement on the 10th of July, the **** Commissioner pointed to the situation of the most vulnerable and today of course, the number of the most vulnerable which was already very, very large is is hundreds of thousands larger.

Today every Lebanese is weighing how they will manage going forward after the triple tragedy of the socio economic crisis, COVID-19 and the ammonium nitrate explosion.

With large swathes of Beirut unfit to live in the country's principal port all but destroyed and the health system on it's knees.

The situation is really dire.

And dire was actually a word we used a month ago before this happened.

Victims calls for accountability must be heard, including through undertaking an impartial, independent horror and transparent investigation into the explosion.

And you can hear the call for that very loud and clear on the on the streets in Beirut, in the reports coming out of there.

As the city and the country tries to rebuild the need to protect the rights of the poorest and most vulnerable, and that would include migrants and refugees, of course, through collective action and reform will be more important than ever.

And this is a tragic event.

Must be a turning point for the country's leaders to overcome the chronic political stalemates and address the grievances of the population that were being aired largely in clearly during the protests that started past October.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you, Rupert.

[Other language spoken]

The UN, as you've all heard, is on on site trying to assist the victims and the authorities as best as possible.

There is still a lot of things being assessed and my understanding is that there are efforts being made for a full briefing to member states at the beginning of next week in New York.

So we hope we have more information on this.

Maybe later today we will take some questions.

Catherine.

Catherine Fiorentambo conga yes, good morning, real good morning.

I'd like to know how do UN work with the countries.

We've seen that French President Macron went to Beirut yesterday, that he promised some help.

Other countries are offering their help and support, technical and other.

And I would like to know how you guys are in fact managing all that, because we've seen during the Ebola crisis in West Africa that when there's too much help and that it's not coordinated, it's not helpful.

[Other language spoken]

Well, Catherine, I, I, I think you know, as I said in the, at the beginning, OCHA has sent a couple of teams have been deployed.

There's the, the, the experts from the International, International Search and Rescue Advisory Group, they've been sent over there to, as I understand, to, to assist with finding people who may still be lost under the rubbles or who have been displaced and are not being people are still looking for them.

And then there's another team called the UN Disaster Assessment and Coordination.

And my understanding is that this team is there really to to help coordinate, coordinate the response, to manage the information and continue doing the assessment.

So I think OSHA, you know, as the Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance, is playing the role that it must play in this in this crisis, trying to coordinate with the various humanitarian agencies, but also with the authorities on how to best react to to this crisis.

Other other, I think, you know, the UN continues also to work very closely with the NGOs on site.

Everybody is doing its bit to bring the most appropriate response to this, to this tragedy.

Do you have a follow up question, Katherine or I don't know if someone else from the group would like to intervene, but yes, raise your hand if you do, you hear me?

[Other language spoken]

Also regarding the food, we know that more than 83% of the food capacity of the country has been destroyed, if I understood well.

So I would like to know how WFP is going to manage the distribution between the citizens and also the refugees because we know that there's a **** population of refugees in Lebanon.

[Other language spoken]

OK, Maybe we can bring in Elizabeth Bills from WFP for this question.

Just a moment that is that we don't hear you, we'll just voila.

OK, OK, yes, WFP has already operations in in Lebanon for both Lebanese and the Syrian refugee.

In fact, since the Syrian crisis in 2012, you know that Lebanon is hosting approximately 1.5 million refugee in the country and to help 1000 of Syrian to the host WFP assist approximately 755,000 severely vulnerable refugee through cash cards.

Each month he cards and by families are loaded with 70,000 Lebanese Lira per person to cover that food needs.

The most vulnerable household receive an extra 400,000 Lebanese lira per family for non food needs.

In fact, we are we are ready to scale up our operation and try to develop this e-card system.

There are over 400 accredited shops by accredited by WFP in across Lebanon and we will definitely use them.

And those for the moment, I would like to point out that we are in the assessment phase.

We are evaluating the situation, coordinating with the UN country team in order to bring emergency food assistance of course.

And we had already planned to scale up our operation because of the consequences of the COVID-19.

So all together now, it's a coordination, a plan which is discussed now with the other UN agency in order to respond to this grim situation.

Thank you very much, Elizabeth.

I see we have a question from Nick *******.

[Other language spoken]

A question to WHO and UNICEF, you mentioned how much PPE and COVID related supplies have been destroyed in the blast.

I didn't quite gather whether you've got replacement supplies actually on route.

So if you could just terrify what's being done to to replace that.

And then Elizabeth, from WFP's perspective, but I understand it, the grain supplies and those silos that we all saw were hugely destroyed is more or less ******* now.

And there was something like 3 months of supplies of grain there.

Have you got replacement supplies of grain already on route?

Are they going through another Lebanese portrait?

How's it going to get there and how quickly will it get there?

OK, maybe we can start with WHO and UNICEF, if we can bring back Christian and Marixi.

[Other language spoken]

First, thank you very much, Nick, for this.

Yeah, so did AWHO warehouse what's which was badly damaged.

Their roof is about to collapse.

They say the medicines analogue to what Marixi and what UNICEF just said were removed and moved to a warehouse in the Rafik Hariri Hospital.

But of course the the building as such needs to be fixed before people can be moving medicines again.

All the fridges, which were apparently also still unharmed, were moved to an army warehouse that has electricity.

So that's that's set for the immediate supply.

And of course, we're working together with our logistics hub in Dubai and the regional office to support and replace protective equipment, at least in in original or initial capacity as soon as possible.

They're working on that.

And of course, all this needs to be replenished.

Hence also the call for 15,000,000 in support to both the immediate recovery in emergency trauma and humanitarian health needs and of course, to ensure the continuity of the response to COVID-19 across the country.

[Other language spoken]

See, did you want to add something?

We're just going to unmute you just to hold on.

[Other language spoken]

As what we know so far is that 10 containers of PPE material that was procured by the Ministry of Public Health have been destroyed.

This these contain hundreds of thousands of masks, gowns, gloves, all critical for the COVID response.

We have already placed orders to replace some of this material and we have prioritised the delivery of pre-existing orders of PPE for Lebanon now.

OK, very clear.

WF Elizabeth Bills on the question for, for for doable UFB.

[Other language spoken]

Bruce, have you got replacement supplies?

And in fact we have stocks in the country.

I do not have the the exact location, but we have supplies in the country and we are right now assessing the situation.

The logistic department of WFP is discussing has been discussing since yesterday and to find out how it would be the would be the best way to transport the, the, the supplies for the, the population.

And I will certainly have more details in the coming days about this the new route or the way to transfer the the, but what Christian said with who the Dubai herb and the overall logic UN logistics system will be put in place very soon.

But I will have more details soon for you.

[Other language spoken]

Ahmed, Good morning, Christian.

I have a question for Christian actually.

Is it on Lebanon?

[Other language spoken]

Christian, do we have a clear image now how many exactly The Wanted people and how many between them have a severe injury?

[Other language spoken]

But the picture is unclean as it's rising.

So the latest figures I had were from yesterday.

Still we're wait, I'm waiting for the update for this morning, yesterday.

And that's important that they counted 150 dead and more than 5000 injured.

But I I've seen in the evening reports already from media that the numbers are higher.

And no, we don't have precise numbers.

This is a typical event where the numbers unfortunately keep rising.

You see search and rescue teams going through the rubble and looking for wounded, looking for survivors.

So unfortunately, these numbers can be expected to rise.

OK, Ahmad, I see your hand is still raised.

[Other language spoken]

Christian, how much The Who concern about any toxic consequences of the of the blast.

[Other language spoken]

Yes, the report there's also mentioned by colleagues from other agencies, by the Ministry of Health showed that there was an increase of toxicity.

But there are also reports that the level of toxicity decreased already 2 hours after the blast.

So this needs more intensive study now with the toxicity, with the environmental impact and so on so forth.

So this is we're only at the beginning of this.

The immediate focus now is on the trauma care, on the search and rescue.

Of course, still that's very important.

There's still people under the rubble and there's still people alive under the rubble to what what we can see in various media reports.

And that is the first priority now.

And of course, bringing in supplies, food, shelter, also medicines, medical equipment for the trauma situation.

But then of course, for all the other diseases which cannot be treated now immediately in hospitals, emergency medical teams are on standby from WHL partner partners to come into the country to help as requested, as needed and as possible.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you, Christian.

[Other language spoken]

We'll take these last three questions and then close on this topic.

[Other language spoken]

It's just a factual question about the numbers around these containers of, of, of PPE because Christian, I think you said 17 containers and Marixi, I think you said 10.

Are these the same containers or is it 27 all together?

Some from UNICEF and some from WHO.

Just just so I get the figures right, who would like to answer that?

Christian, are you?

Well, if we were all sitting in the Pele now, I would to look at Marixi to see if she has a clear answer on this one.

So I'm trying that and staring to the screen.

[Other language spoken]

I'm I'm not sure if that's a cumulative number and it's all been in the same warehouse.

Because that would not be a surprise or or not.

Marix, if you have more, please clarify.

Otherwise I would have to see for this.

Or you can maybe.

[Other language spoken]

My understanding is that these 10 containers were Ministry of Public Health supplies.

So I and I and I Imogen, I don't know whether these are the same as The Who 17 containers.

I'm really sorry, but we can try to find out.

[Other language spoken]

Now why don't you see with the Christian and see if you can come back to, to Imogen with the number.

[Other language spoken]

We're going to go to Gabriela Sotomayor.

My question is for Rupert, are are you, do you hear me?

[Other language spoken]

Question is for Rupert on on the investigation.

I know that the priority now is to find people and you know, to to take care of the people.

But how, how fast should be this investigation?

And if you are asking for international independent impartial investigation, because I know that this ammonium nitrate, nitrate I don't know how to pronounce is used as a fertiliser, but can be a bomb ingredient.

So there's a lot of things around this amount of of explosive.

I mean, so how fast should be this this investigation while the evidence is there, how important is to to take it right now?

[Other language spoken]

Wait a second, Rupert, we you're muted still well up.

I think Gabriella, obviously it's important to be fast, but it's, it's equally important to be thorough.

So you have to and, and all the rest of it impartial and transparent and so on, not necessarily international.

What's key is it is impartial, it's transparent, it's thorough, it's really good investigation.

And I guess into all aspects of this, you know, why some elements have been aired extensively.

You know, we know apparently the origins of the ammonium nitrate, how it got there and so on.

And then big question marks as to why, why it's been in that warehouse for for seven years.

So that's, that's important.

I mean, and it's important investigation satisfies the public because you, you know, the anger in the streets in Beirut is understandably, you know, intense.

And you saw that yesterday with President Macron when he was walking in the streets and what people were saying to him and also what people are saying in general about about the situation.

So I think it's it's really important and it's perhaps bringing to the surface some of the really chronic underlying problems that also reach their tentacles into the socio economic situation, which, as we said, you know, even if if Lebanon was in a in a healthy economic situation, this would be absolutely devastating this blast the country that was in such a a poor state anyway.

You know, we don't make many public statements on broad sort of socio economic issues in countries.

And we we made one, you know, just a month ago sounding the alarm.

The word, the words in the title was bachelor sounds the alarm on Lebanon economic crisis.

So I think, you know, the investigation into the actual event of the explosion is important on the one hand.

But perhaps even more important is that is the the state of the country, how how it's being governed, how the economic situation is and how to amend that as fast as possible.

Because there are millions of Lebanese now in deep, deep trouble.

And it's going to take a massive and really serious effort both locally and I think internationally with international support to to try and rectify the issues and bring bringing aid is one part of it.

But again, it's only one part of it.

And to solve this layer after layer after layer that underlines the the current disaster and everyone.

Thank you, Rupert.

[Other language spoken]

We'll take the last question from Jamie Keaton.

[Other language spoken]

Actually Imogen asked my question, but I had another one as well about the numbers that are not really stacking up.

Marixi, I think if I understood you correctly, you had mentioned that there were 250 cases, which is a record.

Is that just for children or and, and the number of and because the, the, the sit Rep from WHO overnight mentions 350 new cases.

So where are those numbers from?

Are those WHO numbers, are they your numbers?

[Other language spoken]

I mean, can you just kind of elaborate cause and what makes you say that that's a record?

[Other language spoken]

Jamie, the number I that the number is 255 cases yesterday.

That is a record.

It is not for children and that's the number I just got from our health person in Lebanon this morning.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you very much, Marici.

We are going to close on the topic of Lebanon and continue with our agenda.

Rupert is still with us and we're going to move to him as he has some information to share on about Jordan.

Thank you, Ralph.

Yeah, we're deeply concerned at the decision by the Jordanian authorities to close an independent trade union, to suspend its board for two years, and to replace its leaders of the government appointed committee to run the union's affairs in the interim.

These measures, which were ordered by the country's Attorney General on the 25th of July, represent a severe restriction on the right to freedom of association and undue interference in the work of the Jordan's Teachers Syndicate as an independent labour union.

The arrest of the Syndicates 13 board members on criminal charges after they criticised government policies and outlined plans for a possible further strike over pay is deeply disturbing.

There are also worrying reports that security forces used unnecessary or excessive force against hundreds of demonstrators who gathered outside the Prime Minister's office on the 29th of July to protest against the arrest and suspension of the Syndicates leaders.

We also have serious concerns about what appear to be severe and unjustified curbs on the right to freedom of opinion and expression in Jordan.

On the 26th of July, the Attorney General issued an order banning all news stories, posts or comments about the Teaching Teacher Syndicates closure and the arrest of its board members in all media and social media platforms apart from official authorised outlets.

The actions against the Teachers Syndicate, which has over 100,000 members, and its supporters are emblematic of a growing pattern of suppression of public freedoms and the restriction of civic and democratic space by the Jordanian Government, including against labour rights activists, human rights defenders, journalists and those who peacefully criticise the government.

This raises deep concerns as to the commitment of the Government to uphold its obligations with regard to the rights of freedom of association, peaceful assembly and expression and opinion, as well as the rights of workers and trades unions.

We call on the Jordanian authorities to promptly review their decisions regarding the Syndicate and to immediately review and decide on legal applications calling to the arrested union leaders and other detained teachers to be released.

We understand all of the 13 council members have been on hunger strike since they were arrested on the 25th of July.

The Jordanian authorities should immediately release any individuals who are currently arbitrarily detained and pending their release, takes steps to ensure adequate medical assistance is available.

The government and the Teachers Syndicate have been engaged in **** profile public disputes since the union was formed in 2011, primarily over the issue of the salaries of teachers in the public schools.

Low pay means most teachers have second or third jobs in order to make ends meet.

In October 2019, the last year after a four week nationwide teachers strike, the government agreed to salary increases ranging from 35 to 74% depending on the teachers professional level.

But in April 2020, tensions resurfaced with the syndicate after government froze all public sector pay rises until the end of the year as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

While Jordan is clearly facing an economic crisis like many other countries, partly because of the COVID-19 restrictions, we encourage the government to engage in good faith negotiations with the Teachers Syndicate about their concerns, rather than imposing measures that unlawfully restrict the rights to freedom of association, peaceful assembly, opinion and expression.

And we also encourage, of course, all those protesting to do so peacefully and would urge them to respect hygiene measures to mitigate the risk of contracting COVID-19.

Thank you, Rupert.

I see we have a question from Lisa Schlein.

Good morning, Rael and everybody else.

Hi, Rupert, good morning to you.

Apropos of the problem with the teachers and COVID-19, I'm curious to know what is the situation of the students.

I mean, there's a lot of hoopla going on around the in the United States and other countries in the world regarding children going back to school during this pandemic.

Is that an issue that even comes up in Jordan?

What is happening with the children in this time of coronavirus?

[Other language spoken]

Yeah, that's, that's a very good question is I don't know the answer, to be honest.

I mean, clearly when you have such a drama going on between the teachers and, and the government, it's going to impact the, the students one way or another in terms of actually what the policies are in relation to COVID-19 and return to schools and so on.

I can't tell you at this point.

I mean, of course, still in the hottest months of the year, which would normally be a school vacation period.

But I'll, I'll try and get something on that for you.

If we have some sort of pertinent information on that.

Maybe Madrig C from UNICEF can also contact you with information.

Lisa, she's, if she's heard the question, but I can transmit it to her if she's had to, to go.

Are there other questions for Rupert on this topic?

I don't see any.

So Rupert, thank you very much for for being with us this morning.

And we'll move on then to Charlie Yaxley again from the refugee agency, who is going to talk to you about the flood drive, how the floods have driven over 650,000 Somalis from their homes in 2020.

[Other language spoken]

Thanks, Rael.

Good morning again, everyone.

More than 150,000 Somalis have been forced to flee their homes since late June, including some 23,000 in the last week alone, due to flash and riverine flooding in the southern regions of Somalia.

Rapid assessments indicate that communities in Hershabel and Southwest states are amongst the worst hit and this year has seen extreme flooding, displacing over 650,000 people across the country since the beginning of the year.

Many of the newly displaced are now living in overcrowded makeshift shelters constructed from old clothes, plastic bags, cardboard and sticks and already dire sites for internally displaced people.

And such shelter provides little protection from the harsh weather and leaves families exposed to increased risks of crimes like robbery and ****.

Food is in short supply and many are going hungry, with rising malnutrition in children leaving them at risk of starvation.

In some areas, basic food items, particularly milk and vegetables, have increased in price by between 20 and 50%.

Sanitary conditions of poor and access to medical care is scarce and health partners warn of a risk of diarrhoea, vector borne diseases, respiratory tract infections and other communicable diseases rapidly spreading amongst displaced population.

While there has been no major reported COVID-19 outbreak, testing remains extremely limited, and congestion and unsanitary conditions are risks for widespread transmission.

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, has been providing core relief items such as blankets, Jerry cans and plastic sheets, as well as shelter and cash to thousands of the affected families.

Distributions will continue in the coming days and weeks, reaching a total of some 70,000 people facing heightened vulnerabilities, including women, households headed by single mothers or children, disabled people, the elderly and ill and vulnerable members of the host community.

Unhcr's assistance is reaching some of the worst affected regions across Banadir, SW Hershabel, Jubiland, Puntlad and Galmaduk.

The Federal Government of Somalia has also responded to the floods, including in recent weeks setting aside 500,000 U.S.

dollars to address the floods in southwest state.

But despite these interventions, more humanitarian support is needed to address insecurities in food, water and sanitation, emergency shelter and health services.

More people risk being displaced as flooding is likely to continue in certain regions.

According to the latest flood advisory report by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, the Shabelle River's water levels will continue to rise due to heavy rains that are expected.

The latest floods point to a worrying pattern where extreme weather conditions are increasing in frequency and in intensity.

Prior to June 2020, flash floods and riverine flooding caused by seasonal rains displaced more than 450,000 in the country with floods in 2018 and 2019 displacing 281,000 and 416,000 people respectively.

The flood based displacement figures demonstrate a rising year to year trend and Somalia's reoccurring climate related emergencies are resulting in a devastating impact on communities who rely heavily on farming and livestock for their livelihood.

The surging flooding and displacement takes place against the backdrop of Somalia's ongoing fight to curtail the spread of COVID-19, which has a disproportionate impact on the most vulnerable, including the displaced.

The Government of Somalia, UNHCR and humanitarian partners continue to work in IDP settlements across the country to provide displaced communities and vulnerable hosting communities with medical equipment, protective personal equipment, hygiene and sanitation support and cash assistance.

UNHCR is urging landlords in Somalia to uphold a moratorium on evictions in these extremely challenging circumstances and urgent support is needed from the international community to support the relief efforts.

So far this year, UNHCR has received just 33% of the 154.4 million U.S.

dollars needed for our humanitarian efforts in Somalia, including for an estimated 2.6 million ID, PS and 30,000 refugees and asylum seekers being hosted in the country.

Thank you, Charlie, I see we have questions from Jamil and Lisa.

[Other language spoken]

There we go.

[Other language spoken]

Sorry.

[Other language spoken]

Actually, my question was for Double HO.

So maybe it's not for now.

So OK, let's hold on to that and go to we'll come back to you, Jamil.

[Other language spoken]

Let's take the question from Lisa.

[Other language spoken]

Nice to hear from you.

Ever talk to you again anyway?

Yeah, Sorry.

Your question is for you, Charlie.

Yes, it's for Charlie.

[Other language spoken]

Good morning to you, Charlie, about the part of the the warning regarding disease outbreaks.

Does your staff and others have access to these people?

What measures are being taken and is this a particularly risky situation regarding the COVID-19 pandemic?

What sort of protections are there for the people and for your staff?

I mean, it it, it does sound like a pretty awful situation.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you, Lisa, and good morning to you as well.

This is an extremely difficult situation we have here.

In many places, internally displaced people have very little access to clean water.

In some, in some situations, they have barely enough to clean water to drink, let alone to implement effective hand washing measures.

The way these sites are set up, many of the shelters are built in very close proximity to each other.

Many families and households, you know, we're having multiple occupancies inside these makeshift shelters.

So, you know, social distancing is extremely difficult, this there's very little sanitation infrastructure in place.

So conditions are ripe for transmission of viruses, including COVID-19.

And, and this is exacerbated even further because in in some areas, we're not able to access some of the affected communities.

In some areas, particularly in the southern parts that are controlled by armed groups and militias, UNHCR and humanitarian agencies are simply not able to reach the those people to deliver aid and assistance.

And so people are being almost being left to, to fend for themselves.

In some places we are trying to deliver medical equipment, PPE, we're doing hygiene awareness campaigns where we do have access to sites to to make people aware of how they can mitigate against COVID-19 and other diseases.

But ultimately, across the board here, the needs are massive and humanitarian agencies right now, we're only able to do so much.

So there's a a real urgent and dire need for more support from the international community to try and meet some of the of the needs that are in that are there.

Thank you very much, Charlie.

If there are no other questions for Charlie and I don't see any.

Thank you very much for being with us, Charlie.

And we will go back to Jamil for his question to WHO can we unmute Jamil, please?

[Other language spoken]

Just a very small question to our friend, question regarding vaccines.

How has been the dialogue between Double HO and the Chinese labs regarding vaccines?

Thank you, Jamil, for small questions.

There's constant dialogue with all the vaccine developers in some shape or form.

As you heard yesterday, the yesterday's briefing was pretty extensive on the topic of the ACT accelerator and on vaccines.

So whoever is interested in that and didn't listen in yesterday, please pull out the either the transcript or the the audio files from yesterday's briefing where the doctor Tedros and Mike Ryan and Maria van Kyokova gave quite some insight in that in that topic again.

So communications are ongoing.

We have currently a list of in tunnel total 165 vaccines in that in that draught landscape of the of the vaccines of the candidate vaccines, of course, 26 out of which are in advanced stages.

That means 26 are in clinical trials out of which six are in phase three trials.

And there's always back and forth to coordinate with the laboratories or the science institutes through the country office, through the regional office this on, on any new developments and to see and hear about the efforts in their trials.

But there's not a specific way how to deal with one specific institute over.

Thank you, Christian.

[Other language spoken]

So of all these vaccines which are in production, 26 in advanced stages of 165 in total, how many of them are actually sharing data and information amongst themselves in, in the way that The Who would like or you know, or how many of them are, you know, just just going it alone and and not sharing?

Thank you, Robin, I don't think I have a precise information on this.

I mean, the, the website or this, this draught landscape is typically updated twice a week on depending on the information that is available.

Some institute share or some researchers share regularly.

Some countries do, others not so much.

But I don't have a precise number or any, any, any further information.

Let's not forget there's not a standard terms of reference or anything like this which says you have to report on X amount of days or on certain time frame.

This is all depending on the progress and the experiences and the yeah, the the the steps that these researchers are doing over.

Thank you very much, Christian.

I don't see any other questions, so we will close the briefing portion here.

I just have one a couple of things to tell you regarding meetings.

The 101st session of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination is ending today.

The committee will hold it's a last virtual meeting at 4:30 PM this afternoon.

And then just a reminder that in two days, 9th of August, it's the International Day of the World's Indigenous People.

And this year it is dedicated to COVID-19 and Indigenous people's resilience.

The theme focuses on the innovative ways Indigenous people continue demonstrating resilience and strength in the face of the pandemic, while confronting gave grave threats to their survival.

The aim is to highlight how the preservation and promotion of Indigenous peoples traditional knowledge and practises can be leveraged more fully during this pandemic and build back better.

For your information, if you're interested, there's going to be a special virtual commemoration on Monday 10th of August from 9:00 to 11:00 AM New York time and it's going to be webcast live.

I believe it's also going to be broadcast on Facebook Live and we, I believe we have a message from the Secretary General, which if we haven't already shared with you, we will be sharing shortly.

And so and that's it.

I don't have any press conference announcements to give you unless there are any questions.

We we'll end the briefing here and I wish you all a very nice weekend.

[Other language spoken]

Apparently it's going to be a very hot weekend, so stay inside or stay where you can.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you very much everyone.