So let's start the press briefing.
This morning is Tuesday, 9th of September here in Geneva at the United Nations.
We have a series of guests who are connecting from the field with my I'd like to thank.
But I'd like to start immediately with Ocha, with Indrika Rathwater that we had the pleasure to host at the last briefing to tell us to give us an update on the situation in Afghanistan.
The IFRC colleague, Harman Nadeer, who is the acting deputy head of delegation in Afghanistan, unfortunately had the last minute problem and could not join.
So if she can join later on, we'll have her.
But for the moment, we'll concentrate on Mr Ratwater.
But before giving you the floor, Sir, I'd like to give the floor one second to Jens to introduce the subject and then we will come to you.
Yes, thank you very much and and welcome to the briefing.
Mr I just want to say, tell you that we have a press release which will go out to you in a minute where you will have the numbers and some of the the key data of what the human chain coordinator is going to brief you about.
I want to point you to that, to photos and video footage that we have from Afghanistan.
So just wanted to say that and then over to you, Sir.
Colleagues, can you hear me?
So colleagues, as we discussed last week and I was briefing you, since the last eight days, there's been frenzied activity on the ground.
And as we speak, regrettably since our last briefing and you've seen the numbers, some 2200 Afghans have perished in this earthquake along with about 303,640 who got injured.
We also see tremendous destruction of over 6700 houses completely destroyed and about 900 further severely damaged.
In addition to this, we also see that critical infrastructure, roads, bridges, health clinics, school and other infrastructure.
It is very, very remote, hard to reach areas have been also either completely destroyed or seriously damaged.
As we speak, around 70 teams, what we call rapid response teams, are out there focusing primarily on the key districts and villages that were in the high impact zones, as we call it, plus 6 + 7.
In terms of the seismic shaking that has impacted them, there are around 411 villages overall that have been impacted, but we're trying to prioritise it obviously in terms of the high intensity impacts, predominantly also in the Kunar province, we are looking at around 499,000 people impacted in this so-called high intensity impact areas.
As we alluded to potentially last week.
Regrettably we are reaching that number and things have not been helped by two aftershocks we had on the 2nd and 4th of September.
Quite serious, shallow again, 2.5.35.6 scaled aftershocks, so quite serious again.
And since we've had quite serious rain before the earthquake, the fragility on the slopes and areas is quite precarious and there have been more landslides and as a result also of the aftershocks.
But access remains very challenging and in many areas still we are using the air assets of the defector authorities because you can only reach some of these places by helicopters.
The authorities in the meantime have continued with a lot of Rd clearance to reach some of the other villages which have been good.
They have waived MOU requirements for partners and others to work because this is an emergency situation which is the usually the protocol and also customs requirements for humanitarian relief in kind and otherwise coming into the country.
I think at this point of time I want to acknowledge and really a shout out to all the Member States within the region and beyond who have supported us with a lot of in kind goods, medicine, shelter, food and other requirements, including from the from the EU and others further afield in substantial numbers and speed.
Really thank you for that because that really is life saving for for people in exposed to the elements of this critical time.
And I think as winter is fast approaching, it's really a race in a sense against time.
And as I was mentioning last time, this particular earthquake and emergency response comes and impacts Afghan communities, which have already been severely impacted by other shops, including high numbers of returnees to the eastern region as well.
So far, 1.8 million Afghans have returned this year and counting higher numbers we've seen from Pakistan in August and increasing.
And many of these also come to the eastern region, which has been impacted by the earthquake and a severe drought in other parts of the area.
So multiple shocks impacting the communities.
In that context today really it's important for us to focus on the earthquake emergency response plan that has been just launched.
And as the guns were saying, you will have more details in the press release, but let me share with you some top line numbers for us to look at.
So in the high intensity impact areas, we're looking at 499,000 individuals and planned reach of that is to try and impact and reach 457,000 people in these areas.
The response plan, as it usually is in such emergency responses, is focused on life saving critical needs in the key sector, education, emergency shelter, food security and agriculture, health, nutrition, protection services, water, sanitation and hygiene and obviously coordination and common services to enable efficient joined up response by all partners and the UN together.
The overall cost around this, the funding required is $139.6 million and this will span the period from September till the end of December.
It will be an integral part of obviously the existing humanitarian response plan, but this will be the requirements to respond for this particular emergency.
Anything beyond December will be looked at in the 2026 response plan and we will see as more information comes through.
This has been done very fast.
Obviously given the needs and depending on what evolves in the next couple of weeks as the more access is the enabled, as more teams reach out to these remote areas, we will obviously fine tune the needs.
But this is the quick diligent multi sectoral appeal that looks at the key needs.
I think it's important to look at it also that with September in here almost midterm of the month, we are looking at another three to four weeks before temperatures really starts dropping in these mountainous areas.
So it's incredibly important that this appeal will be funded with the speed because time is not on our side.
At the same time, the emergency relief coordinator, as I mentioned last time, released $5 million from the Central Emergency Fund.
That has been matched by me by releasing another 5 million of the Afghanistan Humanitarian Fund.
So a total of 10 million has been already dispersed and allocated as we speak to enable emergency response and in particular also to be able to use on Haas helicopter to take us to these remote, remote places.
Because right now so far we've been relying on road and the heli heli facilities from the defector authorities and there's many areas yet to be reached which cannot be reached because road conditions are bad or people are walking assessment teams for five to six hours to reach some of these remote villages.
One more development that we are seeing by people desperate to also reach assistance where they have nothing in the areas which are cut off.
We've been informed that in the Kuna province we are now seeing 3 internal displaced sites propping up which about 2600 plus families in the Kuna Province.
As I said and these are individuals who are moving and gravitating to these centres for easier logistical access and to get critical life saving needs.
The authorities are are setting up these locations as temporary points.
We will coordinate very closely on how how that response goes forward.
I think a couple of final points also on the response plan.
The critical emergency shelter, food, health, nutrition, water, sanitation and protection is, is I think of top, top priority as we speak for the reasons I mentioned before.
We are indeed coordinating also very closely with our teams.
And so far we have reached over 43,000 individuals with ready to eat meals and high protein biscuits, over 1000 family tents, 900 shelter kits and repair kits.
Additionally over 900 and non food items and winter blankets, clothing and plastic sheeting etcetera has been distributed.
Around 33, sorry, 3000 individuals have been reached and communities with freshwater trucking where there was no freshwater and obviously water sanitation as well with hygiene teams.
Some 22 hygiene teams are out there trying to support the communities.
In addition, also importantly, is a livestock with about 14 mobile veterinary teams out there disposing of livestock that has died and perished and caucus disposal to avoid contamination, which remains incredibly important.
The challenges remain, dear colleagues.
As I mentioned, the topography and the challenges, extremely difficult in some places to get to these communities.
Apart from having heavy access, comms infrastructure is being slowly but surely put back in some places where there's been major disruptions.
And on top of that also we got to be conscious of unexploded ordinances, the land mines also because of the earthquake, some of these UX OS get exposed with the rain and soil shifts.
So to be very, very careful again, we are working in a context which in communities that are conservative culturally.
So we are reaching out, trying to have a women of stuff in our partner teams and other teams and we are working consistently to have that balance, particularly in the remote areas.
It's still challenging, but we're working on that as we speak.
And at the same time, I think more assessment teams are trying to be deported in some of these places.
But you have to also keep in mind the fact that there are no places for these teams to stay out there.
So often it's going in for the day, coming back to some locations and going back again to conduct this assessment.
Lastly, I think again to really make a shout out and an appeal to all the international community to step up and come with resources that are flexible and unear marked for this response.
It's incredibly important that we are resourced for this resource, for this response, as I said, because right now lives are at stake.
Two more weeks and the winter temperatures are going to be reaching these high altitude communities.
And what we want to do is have the ability to reach and respond to the communities affected with this terrible tragedy that struck us 2 two weeks ago.
Thank you very much for this extensive update.
Before I open the floor to question, I'd like to give it to our colleague Christian Niemeyer from The Who for now.
Also, he has some update on the health situation.
Yeah, thank you very much Alessandro, and thank you to the humanitarian coordinator.
To add a bit on the health response here, yesterday a new consignment of more than 35 metric tonnes of life saving medical supplies landed in Kabul to enhance the World Health Organisation emergency response to the devastating earthquake that struck eastern Afghanistan on 31 August.
With this shipment, WHO has now prepositioned and delivered nearly 80 metrics tonnes of emergency health supplies to the country since the disaster.
The newly arrived cargo mobilised through WH O's logistics hub in Dubai includes trauma and emergency surgery kits, primary healthcare kits, non communicable disease kits and essential medicines.
These supplies will be dispatched to health facilities and mobile teams in the hardest hit areas following the ongoing needs assessment.
This will enable doctors and nurses to provide the urgent treatment, perform emergency surgeries and help prevent spread of diseases.
The earthquake as mentioned left a huge path of destruction across Kuna, Nagahara and Laghman provinces, killing more than 2200 people, injuring 3600 and destroying almost 6800 homes.
More than 10% or about 10% of the victims are children under five years old.
10s of thousands of families remain displaced while 20 health facilities have been damaged and referral hospitals continue to struggle with hundreds of trauma patients.
The the well-being of the healthcare workers is also a huge concern for us.
Many have been working tirelessly around the clock since the first day of the earthquake, even though they themselves are affected and continue to face logistical challenges in the remote areas.
Probably Joe is deploying technical offices to reinforce the local capacity and reactivate previously trained staff in community mental health and psychosocial care, helping to expand service and reach more affected communities.
W Joe has mobilised its resources from the first hours of the crisis to deliver life saving care, expand psychosocial support and keep the health services running in the affected provinces.
To maintain and further scale up these efforts, urgent financial support of more than four million U.S.
Thank you, Christian, for this complimentary briefing.
I'll go now to our journalist Nina Larsson, AFP.
Yeah, thank you for the for the briefing.
I was wondering if could say something about the situation for women a little bit more about that and the difficulties you might be having in reaching women in this situation.
And also I think there was a mention of trying to have women on teams.
Is, is that being stymied in any way or is it possible to have women on teams?
If you could just explain a little bit more about that.
And then also on the winter temperatures, you talked about two weeks before we're going to see very cold weather coming in.
Do you think it's it'll be possible to prepare or get people the aid they need before that?
Yeah, thank you very much.
Nina, Let me start with the the winter temperatures first.
I think yes, it gets terribly closed up in the mountains and depending on the elevation of some of these villages, it's it's it requires winterization.
SO3 kind of emergency response points here.
In terms of assistance, one is trying to look at winterized tents to be sent to the higher altitudes, blankets, heating utensils and other things.
And in locations where we see that this is not possible, we will have to look at how best these families potentially, I think some of them have moved to these IDP camps as well temporarily.
Usually what what we've seen in earthquake responses previously, the ones in Herat and in the Eastern region before in the last couple of years is with the shelter repair kits, people try to make one room shelter very quickly with, with Thatcher and the mud and the wood to make it their primary stay space.
So the shelter repair, it's also be really, really important because that's much better than a tent in that sense.
So depending on elevation, depending on access, there'll be 3 different responses, the providing tents, providing shelter kits where tents will not do and then potential potential relocation if these are isolated communities in which everything has been destroyed.
However, I think if you'll know more in the next week because as I said, many of the teams are out there reaching these communities and trying to see what exactly would be the the material and the response of winterization that they would need.
This flows on top of the non food items, blankets, etcetera that would be provided to them as the as we know the context in Afghanistan is of a conservative Islamic country.
And emergency response always has been from the UN and partner perspective to ensure primarily that girls and women are reached as and the disabled because these populations are the most vulnerable always in any emergency.
That remains our focus in the more remote cut off areas.
It has been challenging to get up there, but we are our endeavour is to try and have at least one, one female worker in, in every team.
That's not being possible right now for all the teams, but we're working on it.
And as I was saying before, staying on location in some of these D field locations overnight is a challenge for everybody, including all the responders.
We're working with the authorities to say that it is their responsibility to consistently enable operational environment in which we can work, particularly to be able to reach and deliver for women and girls and health teams particularly have more women aid workers obviously needed for distribution, support and monitoring, but also for the assessments.
This is an important part, but I want to also say that it still is a challenge given the remoteness, the context and the operational environment in which we work in consistently, or with the restrictions on women staff for NGOs and UN that have been there for a couple of years.
Thank you very much, and I have the pleasure to have with us Sophia Caltrop that, as you know, is the head of the UN Women Office here in Geneva.
Sophia has something to add on this particular point now.
Thank you for that question.
And actually as we speak, our country representative is up in the affected areas and we wanted to have her on link, but but given the connectivity issues that's not possible.
But she will hopefully come here on Friday when she's back in Jalabad and and give a full briefing.
But, but we has heard, of course, to have women, women, women deployed as part of the joint assessment teams is key.
As UN women, we have 15, we work with our local standby partners in Afghanistan and we have deployed 15 of those into the teams.
But as we have heard it, it is this is a challenge and, and, and again, a representative is on the ground to to make sure that that we can, can really contribute to the assessments, but also, of course, support women and girls in their specific needs.
We, I mean, the the women and girls are so far bearing the brunt of this conflict.
Many of the women headed households that we are talking to, they talk about the lack of shelter, food, clean water, clothing, then then of course, health and medical care as as as primary concerns as as we have heard, given the the cultural context in Afghan, this is this is an issue where we really do think that we can contribute and we need to have a specific focus.
So we'll come back on Friday with a full briefing from our mission up there.
Thank you very much, Sophia, for this information.
And yes, we will welcome your colleagues on Friday.
By the way, Friday we have a briefing, as many people have asked me, but we will be here.
Maybe some of you will be away, but we will have a briefing and we will be happy to welcome your colleagues.
I just wanted to ask if if there's been any indication, I know that there were, there were talk, there was talk about women being left and men being pulled out of the rubble by male aid workers.
And I, I was just wondering if there's any indication that women have died, if you have any numbers of women who may have died because they've been, they've been left behind because men couldn't save them.
Don't know Sophia or yeah, maybe Sophia can compliment.
But from the from the reports we have from our assistant teams, we don't have that information.
And I think the mortality usually is because as I was explaining last week of the walls and the roofs that collapse on individuals because this was a very shallow earthquake.
The magnitude was also not not small, but it is shallow.
And yes, in in these very challenging circumstances, trying to launch a search and rescue, which was done including also from the authorities, but also with support from Agar Khan and other other partners has been quite challenging.
And I think we don't have disaggregated numbers.
And it'll be very difficult I think also to see how and what were the circumstances under which individuals perished in this kind of situation.
Our advocacy has consistently been that search and rescue should happen immediately, as soon as possible, deploying to the top critical areas #1 #2 that wherever possible to mobilise and deploy female colleagues to, to support girls and women.
And #3 that access the enables to all our partners in the UN at all times.
For our female colleagues who are very experienced and also from a cultural context, it can access, monitor, deliver for particularly single female headed households and other groups which require essentially female colleagues.
And this is something, this is something we have reiterated always in the Herat earthquake in the previous years and last year as well in the flood response.
And we have been able to mobilise and have colleagues on the ground.
But as you know very well, the restrictions overall and the space for for women to be first responders and be in that space does impact our ability to mobilise and put female colleagues on the ground.
But they are there working tirelessly and we will continue to push for that access.
So I think that's that's enough for Nina.
OK, so let's go to another journalist, Isabel Sacco FA Yes, good morning to Mr Atwood.
I would like to know in complementing the your previous response on the presence of women, you said in the in the teams, you said that you your objective was to have at least one women by team, but it was that it was not possible in every team.
So I would like to know if this is it has been partially possible or not at all possible to have women in teams.
What kind of teams exactly with what purposes and how many teams you're talking about OSHA teams, I suppose.
So if you can be more precise on the on this issue also.
And what is the cost, excuse me?
And what is the the the why you could not have women in every team exactly as we can imagine.
But if you can say tell, tell us also on the on the on the lack of funding if and the the the fact that they we are very close to to very low temperatures.
What is the potential consequences of not having enough money to to continue with your operations?
I mean, what is the you could work until what time?
I mean, what they decline if you still being having so much some so few money to to work in this context.
And also finally, if you could tell us on the collaboration that the the defect authorities in Afghanistan give to the humanitarian response by the UN.
If they are able to give something, I mean, any kind of also to any kind of aid or help to people or they are completely reliant on the on the UN international help.
Sorry before you start because we have got three questions.
Just if you wanted to say one thing and then I come to you.
I mean on on the issue and and then Ricky will will talk about the composition of the teams.
But as you and women we are working with women LED organisations that are on the ground and they are deployed.
And as we have heard that the aim has been to have one, one women in each assessment team and it has not been possible.
And we will for for various different reasons.
But, but again, our, our team is up there as we speak.
And it's really, you know, because that is of course, crucial in order to assess the needs, but also respond to the needs of women and girls.
So, so we'll hear more on that once once our team is is back from, from the field.
That is also my starting point.
I think the multi, multi dimensional teams, multi sector teams, which is the usual way the UNN partners response to emergencies is small teams looking at multiple sectors in a given area where a disaster has stuck for example.
And that's the composition because the we don't have the luxury of going again and again.
So these are very remote areas, very difficult to reach.
So it's multi dimensional, multi sectoral teams, one, two.
Traditionally in any context historically globally, the reality is that the vast number of first responders are in sadly if you look at the Syrian earthquakes and everywhere in the world.
So that that requires I think more systemic changes to to really have first responders trained and available for this kind of situation.
However, as Sophia was saying, it's incredibly important to recognise and acknowledge the very important work being done by women LED organisations on the ground, NGOs, partners, then others were also in this effort to respond to the crisis.
So there are female colleagues on the ground.
They are, they are doing three things, assessing, distributing, providing protection, psychosocial care and trauma care in the health teams and also importantly monitoring to ensure that we all collectively do that.
The resources and the aid goes to the most needy and there's no a diversion and there are risk mitigation issues.
We always have in any context to ensure that those needy directly get the assistance and resources provided to the UN partners go directly to communities.
It doesn't go through any official frame through authorities.
It goes directly to individuals and remoteness, as I said, overnight stays, long journeys by foot would challenge many access teams and for some female colleagues those are very challenging circumstances in any, any environment.
So these are some of the challenges we deal with and we will continue when we have also the helicopter options that we can actually fly into areas.
This would enable more female to go to some of the more remote areas.
But it is very integral to the way we move forward on that.
On the authorities, as I mentioned before, the three elements that have been there, they have, they've been the first responders and they have mobilised air assets, particularly helicopters, which our security teams and others also use to access some of these areas because we do not have the helicopter we used to have due to funding cuts.
I'll come to that in a minute.
They have responded with essential services, food and enabled also local communities, private sector and others to deliver a food and assistance including with the through DFA stocks to communities.
On the operational side, they have facilitated apart from providing fear of charge air assets, helicopters for us to go into some of these areas.
They have simplified procedures by waving customs clearances for humanitarian assistance and goods, waving the normal medical cheques of medicines that come into the country that to make sure they are of the right quality and and standards.
And finally, also they have waived the memorandum of understanding, which usually are required for partners and others to work on the ground because this is the emergency situation.
So these are standard operating procedures and protocols we have developed over time with the de facto authorities.
And that has enabled the response, including allowing flights to come directly from Member States in the region and beyond and the EU coming and landing directly in in Nangarhar, which is the main airport closest to the epicentre and the villagers affected.
So there are logistics and assistance.
They have been mobilising their own resources and enabling the work and it has not been only reliant on international support.
To answer the your second question.
The third question I think Isabella is, is it's been trifling.
As I mentioned last year, the funding cuts have been dramatic for Afghanistan.
We have lost over 35% of our overall resources that we had last year.
For example, 47% of the humanitarian appeal was funded by the US government.
And as you know, with the review and the freeze, we have lost those resources.
And it's not just the US also, other donors also have been impacted with competing global humanitarian crises.
And the the US review of humanitarian and basic human needs and development assistance has deeply, deeply impacted the ability of the UN and partners to reach communities.
And the multiple shocks, as I said, the drought, the huge returns, we have seen 1.8 + 1,000,000 Afghans returning to these countries go back to existing communities, which are extremely vulnerable already.
So all these new shocks need additional resources.
We are unable to spread in the resources we already have, which as I said is 35% less than we had last year.
That's why I think the, the, the earthquake emergency response really needs fast mobilisation of resources because we are at a breaking point.
Thank you very much for the extensive answer.
Yeah, just yeah, quickly because we have many guests waiting and I still have more questions for.
I guess that how many beyond the fact that houses destroyed, how many people are has not been able to be accommodated by families by intense there are people that are in in outside and that could suffer more in the next few weeks for the for the low temperatures.
As I said, we have reached some 70 of the high intensity impact areas and if you take a look at the satellite imagery, you see how remote these places are.
So we are in the process of responding as best as we can.
And as I said, the fact that we didn't have helicopters of our own, we used to have a helicopter that is not available anymore due to the funding cuts.
If we had that, we would have reached maybe double the locations because right now we are spending hours that go by Rd to access the spaces.
I am sure as we have more access and hopefully by the end of this week with the resources released by the emergency relief coordinator and myself, we have already UNHAS is deploying pilots to to use this helicopter that has been sitting to basically reach some of these communities.
So the bottom line in the next couple of days, we will reach many more locations that we couldn't reach weather permitting.
And that will help us have more granular information of who's been impacted where, where are the displacement communities.
But as I was mentioning, the fact that they're coming to IDP locations and camps is also a sign that people are moving to locations where they can access assistance or they are unable to survive where they are.
So we may see further internal displacement if we cannot ramp up our assistance to the remote, remote locations of this the affected communities.
We have two guests coming from to us from Kiev and from Port Sudan.
I'm also told that IFRC colleague is now joined.
I don't think we'll have the time to hear the whole presentation.
Maybe she has some answers to give to our journalists.
But I like really to, to, to have two more questions on this and then go to the next subject.
So I'll take Emma and I'll take Christiane, who has been waiting patiently online.
So Emma, if we could just shorten a little bit the answers, that would be great.
A question about the difficulties with funding in the context of the earthquake.
I mean, how much of this is because there are reservations on the part of donors about giving money to a country run by the Taliban?
Are people bearing the brunt of those political choices?
And on US aid, my understanding is that they actually haven't given anything yet in the context of this appeal.
Is there any sign of that changing?
Second part of the question, first, we have not received any resources from the US government.
There was the precedence of support being provided to Myanmar when they had a devastating earthquake earlier this year.
We hope such a exceptional approach could be taken given the crisis, but we haven't received any resources.
And 1st part of the question, two elements that have impacted the the the diminishing resources.
One is the bigger global crisis.
From Gaza to Sudan to Ukraine, the international community has been pulled into these crises and many more needs.
But Afghanistan remains the second largest humanitarian situation globally in terms of needs, 22 million people in this country, almost 51%.
Of the population is in need of assistance, so yes, that's part of the issue, but some governments do have reservations because of the policies of the defector authorities and that also impacts funding.
But our appeal has always been to focus on the people and the UN and partners make every effort to deliver in an accountable, transparent, risk managed manner where resources go directly to affected people.
Sorry, indicate I didn't introduce her MI our correspondent of Reuters, Christian and then I'll I'll briefly go to Homer Christian, you have a question.
The German news agents briefly.
And and just one question, Mr Rudd, what has the Taliban, have the Taliban authorities specifically prevented OCHA from providing help to women or have OCHA teams specifically witnessed women deliberately not being helped by teams?
To our knowledge and our report, that hasn't happened.
Christian, you want to add something to that?
Yeah, there's just a few little detailed figures here from the initial, initial 2000 more injured people in Telton health facilities.
The ones received at the health facilities were about 60% men, 40% women.
I cannot tell you whether this reflects the the the percentage of the really injured one because there's no way to compare that, no way to see.
We only get the official figures.
But again, 40% women and girls in the hospitals initially, 60% men and boys.
I'd like to give the floor to Oman Nader, the IFRC Acting Deputy Head of Delegation in Afghanistan.
So since we have already heard a lot about Afghanistan, if you have anything to add on the questions of our journalists, otherwise, I am here with your colleague from Geneva.
We will distribute your, your presentation, your initial presentation.
So if you just want to add something to the latest question that you've heard, yeah, sure.
I mean, I guess I wish to emphasise, you know, a critical and unique aspect of our response, which is the inclusion of female aid workers.
So I think those are some of the questions that we're hearing in this very conservative regions where male and female interaction is restricted.
Their presence is obviously essential.
There's been a lot of claims that we hear that women have been banned from receiving humanitarian assistance after the earthquake.
The conditions are definitely not ideal, but as we all know, emergency humanitarian work rarely is in the affected region, a highly conservative and traditional mountainous area.
As we've heard that gender segregation is really on more and there are multiple restrictions, as we all know, imposed upon women's social interactions and opportunities.
This does not impact what is possible around service provision, but to counteract this this this and ensure everyone receives humanitarian assistance, we at the IFRC have supported the Afghan Recusant Society to deploy 220 female community based health and first aid workers to the affected areas.
We also have 14 mobile health teams that have been sent and our MIX member mixed standard teams.
So there's with midwives, nurses, nutrition advisors, MHPSS support, of course, with their male guardians and modems.
This, you know, culturally very sensitive approach for women and girl.
It ensures the access to women and girls and making sure that the support is given in a safe and dignified manner.
Also, maybe just to add that in this very isolated mountainous areas, the Afghan President Society teams are often only accessible source of care for women, making really their presence quite essential.
As you know it, the the volunteers that come from the Afghan President Society come from those very communities.
So the volunteers that have been dispatched in Kunad and support in Kunad are very much from Kunad province, which makes it easier access.
Our commitment to women's inclusion is obviously long standing.
In the recent years, we've delivered cash assistance to 26,000 widows, female headed households through the Afghan Crescent Society's Madestone Safe Shelter programmes.
They have 6 state shaped shelters around all of Afghanistan.
And of course, our operations are guided very much by the fundamental principles, the principle, the emphasis on the neutrality, impartiality and independence.
So female humanitarian workers, it's not optional.
They're indispensable in the the earthquake crisis.
And as I said again, you will distribute the the presentation, OK.
So thank you very, very much to everyone and in particular, thank you to Indrika Ratwater, the Humanitarian Coordinator in Afghanistan for the UN.
Indrika, thanks so much for this important information and you keep us informed, yes, on the evolution of the situation.
And please come back anytime because we will need to continue following this very closely.
Let's go to the other big sorry topic of our meeting and I'd like to thank Christian to bring us Doctor Yarno Habitsch.
I don't think we need to introduce you, Doctor Habitsch.
You have been, we've been seeing him a lot since the conflict in Ukraine, the full scale invasion of Russia, of Ukraine started.
But he has now something to tell us to about the preparation for the next winter.
Just before I, I give you the floor, you know, I just would like to remind you that on the 8th of September, they, we have distributed a statement attributable to the spokesperson of the Secretary General on Ukraine about the as the Secretary General's strong condemnation of the attacks by the Russian Federation on 7 September in Ukraine.
And you have the full statement in your mailboxes.
Thank you and welcome from Kiev.
And first of all, I want to wish the strength and stamina to all the aid and humanitarian workers in Afghanistan.
As we heard, the situation is devastating.
Let me now come to Ukraine and welcome from Kiev.
And as you mentioned, there is a statement of Secretary General.
We have seen more attacks on infrastructure and just few days ago we witnessed the attack in Kiev with more than 800 different missiles and like loitering ammunition.
So this is a reality what many aid workers, humanitarians, but most importantly millions of Ukrainians are living day and night and already more than 3 1/2 years since the Russian Federation invasion and full scale war that we are witnessing and have been reporting.
Let me now come more to the health sector and to give an update where we are and we have been as awho monitoring, validating and reporting attacks on helps.
As of now, we have more than 2600 attacks on helps.
And if we compare to the same period of last year, we have 12% more attacks on helps.
That means that we have more attacks and the Healthcare is not safe to deliver.
And that puts many of the healthcare workers in risk as well as civilians who are seeking care for their chronic diseases or acute ones especially also after the strikes.
I like to remind that every 4th of the attacks, 25% are against ambulances.
So it is not only about primary care and hospitals, these are also the essential transportation and reaches out to those who need to have care in their acute situations.
If we think about non war environment, when anybody calls an ambulance, this is for a reason.
This is for a reason of life and death.
This is the reason for close ones.
But in Ukraine, the ambulances are under attack and all those attacks over these years has resulted to 215 fatalities and 810 patients and healthcare workers injured.
So that's an environment.
So when we look at attacks across the whole country, to the civilian infrastructure, energy, we need to also remind ourselves of those attacks in health.
And AS I have been travelling across Ukraine in the past months, my feeling is very strong when I talk with the governors, with healthcare workers.
We need to prepare for a winter in war because we don't see the peace insight, at least for many of the civilians, many of the healthcare workers who are providing that Care.
Now let me thank also for many of the partners.
As a health cluster coordinator, we have more than 110 humanitarian partners who are providing care across the country, but we have less partners it has sown than in some other outlast.
So that means also that we have inequalities and we need to ensure that there is a funding available and the support available for humanitarian partners to provide their care.
Last night I came back from Zaporiza, 31 kilometres from the front line, where shelling is daily, and let me share some of the elements that I took away.
Having discussions with authorities, healthcare workers and walking through the facilities and seeing the patients.
First, They are preparing for winter in war.
That means that we need to ensure heating stations are open, we need that energy is available, we need a clean water to be available in the healthcare facilities where the people need to go and everybody prepares for a winter that will be at the ward time.
Second, the strikes are continuous.
So from WHO side, we constantly deliver medical kits as we do in other humanitarian settings that we thought that we don't need in 2025.
Do the facilities to take care of those wounded and with trauma because we have daily injuries.
Unfortunately across the Ukraine and Zaprasia is not different.
And I'm very thankful for those surgeons and doctors who are doing their work.
The third, the Primary Health care, the services to be available now.
Many primary care facilities are attacked, but we need to bring back the services and what was told me by authorities yesterday in Zaprasia.
This is important because it brings back hope to the community.
Health service, when available, allows the people to be resilient and to provide the services they very much need.
And primary care needs to be accompanied with the medicines available to manage the chronic diseases.
This brings back the hope that we have seen so important since the beginning of the war.
4th mental health and rehabilitation.
We have been talking about huge toll of mental health's burden but let me remind that it will stay for generations when we look mental health and for generation when we look to rehabilitation.
What our role has been is we have trained the rehabilitation teams, aerotherapist, physiotherapist in two hospitals as we'll build rehabilitation centres in the front line.
Some colleagues have been asking why we need rehabilitation in Zaparegia, but when I was working yesterday in the wards, I saw those 60 plus men and women who need rehabilitation after a stroke and care.
So all the other diseases are continuing at the time of war and that's why we need to provide that care.
So these are the elements.
And then I walked to the hospital, which is just rebuilt, and that showed that at the time of war, the recovery cannot wait until the end of the war because there are cancer patients, heart diseases and other diseases which need also care.
So we have a very specific situation where we have ongoing war humanitarian needs and the recovery is happening.
So it's a story that has a mixed picture.
But I wanted to bring this to you, just coming back from the project, driving back, going 1000 kilometres back and forth just to talk and see what is there in the front line and to understand how resilient actually the healthcare workers are.
I'm not talking today about sumi Erson Mikolaev Arki Donetsko Blast, where we just delivered healthcare in the front line to ensure that there are supplies available because each of these oblast has their own specific response needs and the respond we are providing as a double HO and other partners.
And when I have been talking two years ago, three years ago and the last year, I thought that maybe in 2025, I don't need to follow up.
But my feeling is we go to the winter and the war continues and we should not forget what we as a humanitarian need to do.
Now let me come to an end.
We are sometimes talking about money and the resources and I look now that we need actually resources as a WHO for the longer term.
So those who are willing to support health sector and WHO our ask is 100 million until end of 2026 to continue this supporting this resilience to ensure that the response recovery and the reform efforts that Ukraine so tirelessly takes also further can be supported.
Because if we invest to health, we invest to hope that people need to have.
Thank you very much, Yarna.
Thanks very much for this very important and dire description of the situation.
Let me open the floor to question first in the room if there is any.
I don't see any hand up and online.
Oh, Christian, sorry, you wanted to say something first.
Sorry, no, not first just logistically.
So I we may have notes from Jana a bit later today to share, but importantly, the latest pictures from from his mission and from other missions recently are being put onto the WTO photo library.
For those would would like to have them.
Please log on to the library soon and or write to us to get the access and you'll have some latest which you haven't seen from on social media.
So I'll ask again if there's any other any question for, for Yano habits in the room or online.
I don't see any hand up Yano.
And we really following this preparations that you've described.
So don't hesitate to come back and let us know more about it.
I would like now to and thanks, Christian, for, for both your briefing on Afghanistan and for bringing us here.
Now let me now go to another very dire situation, which is the one of Sudan.
We have the pleasure to have with us Kennedy, but also Mohammed Rifat, who's the Chief of Mission, IOM, Sudan.
So you're coming in from Port Sudan, if I'm not wrong, And you would like to brief our journalists on the IOM resumed operation in Khartoum?
I don't know, unless, Ken, do you want to start first or we go directly to him?
Just give me a brief introduction.
But now you should have received a press release that basically highlights the return and the resumption of operations for IOM in Port Sudan, where we are already seeing an increased number of returns trying, of course, matching IOM already being in, in, in, in Khartoum itself.
It's really important to be able to support the increased number of returns that we have been seeing starting from from earlier this year.
I'll move it over to a colleague who is the Chief of Mission in Port Sudan to give you a clear picture of what this really means and how the situation is like on the ground.
I hope you can hear me not too strongly.
If you can raise your voice a little bit, that would be better.
Yeah, our connection was really hectic this morning.
But let me start by sharing convolucence for our colleagues in Afghanistan and Ukraine and all the support for humanitarians who are risking their lives in everywhere but definitely Afghanistan, Ukraine and Sudan.
Ladies and gentlemen, I'm joining you today from Khartoum Centre, from our old office that was, let's say, evacuated as part of the whole UN evacuation that happened in April 2023.
And I'm gladly joining you from the same place after reopening the office again.
As you are all aware, years ago, Khartoum, a year ago, Khartoum was a city and Gulf was war.
Today, what I have seen is that it is a city of return in April, as we all saw, 2023.
The whole UN has to evacuate suddenly as escalation of violence erupted in cartoon.
Last month's IOM returned and reopened its premises in our old office in the capital city, also aiming to function as interagency hub enabling operations for other UN agencies as part of our collective UN efforts to work together.
But this is only part of the story.
The greater story is the resilience of many Sudanese families making their way back to rebuild what was lost.
In recent months, we counted more than 2 million Sudanese have returned and started their journey back to their own towns and cities all across Sudan.
In Khartoum alone, over half a million Sudanese have returned and have entered this year into Sudan, out of which 5 million out of 5 million who have fled during the peak of the fights.
Across Sudan, families are returning to over 1600 localities between Al Jazeera, Khartoum, Sannar 29, White Nile, River Nile and Westerfour.
They are not returning because conditions are better or services have been restored, not because life has become easy or safe.
They choose to rebuilding neighbourhoods scarred by shelling.
I saw children are playing outside houses without roofs.
Teachers are reopening classrooms in buildings where windows are shuttered and bullets are swept to the corner.
Communities that never left are sharing what little they have with those who have came back, and with that they are also sharing the trauma from the days of active fighting in the city.
But we all know that resilience has its own limits.
Families are arriving to find their homes looted, damaged or destroyed.
Electricity is unreal, reliable or non existent.
Clean water is scarce and the risk of cholera is imminent.
As we all know, unexploded ordnance lies hidden everywhere, near schools, along roads, threatening to claim more lives.
Yesterday, actually, this morning also marked as a stark reminder of the conflict in Sudan, as drone attacks returned to the city after almost 2 1/2 months without drone attacks targeting key infrastructures throughout the night, mainly electricity and communication.
But IOM is here to stay and deliver.
We are here to work in hand, hand with hand with Sudanese people every single day.
We are coordinating with partners to restore essential services including safe water, healthcare, emergency shelter and protection for those most at risk.
This includes children separated from their families, older persons and people with disabilities.
But the need far exceed our resources.
Even as million returns we must not forget those who cannot violence to continue to rage in Cordovan Darfur and in Al Fisher a siege lasting more than a year has created famine like condition for those trapped inside.
And Khartoum alone, we are appealing for 29 million U.S.
dollar in predictable and flexible funding to help sustain the lights of those who return and those who I stayed or hosting communities around.
Before I close, I want to leave you with the image and a story I just of a lady I just met yesterday during the opening ceremony of our office.
Young mother, university graduate returning to her tomb with her seven years old daughter.
The war has taken away the job, her savings, her sense of stability.
Yesterday walked into IOM Khartoum office with nothing left in hand.
She did not ask for any aid.
She asked for a job, for the chance to rebuild her life with dignity.
The termination I saw in her eyes was stronger than the destruction I can see all around me in the city.
This is a true story of Sudan and Sudanese today.
We have failed earlier to cover the needs of millions of Idps, either due to the lack of resources or access.
Today, we collectively could be catalyst for more durable and resilient return, but only if we act now.
Our responsibility is to ensure that courage, that Sudanese courage is met with solidarity and support, not with silence or inaction.
Thank you very much, Mohammed for this extensive information and really a dire situation here.
Let me open the floor to questions, if any.
In the room, I don't see any and on the platform, I neither.
So thank you so much for for telling us about this operations and I look at Kennedy maybe if it's possible to distribute the the notes to the to the journalist.
Thanks again for coming to the briefing here in Geneva.
And I'll now turn to my left.
Definitely last but not least Ricardo appearance as a as an announcement for UNICEF.
Tomorrow, UNICEF will release its flagship child nutrition report focusing on the growing threat of childhood overweight and obesity.
Worldwide, millions of children and adolescents are growing up in environments where sugary drinks, salty and sweet snacks and fast foods, including ultra processed foods and beverages, are highly accessible and aggressively marketed.
These unhealthy food environments are driving nutrient poor, unhealthy diets and a surge of in overweight and obesity among children and adolescents, even in countries still grappling with child undernutrition.
Obesity, once regarded as a high income problem, is now rapidly increasing in countries and low and middle income countries, a surprising trend in child malnutrition.
You should have the embargoed press release, an executive summary.
I've I've shared it with the media list for the Palais and this includes the latest trends in overweight and obesity relative to childhood underweight.
Evidence of how cheap unhealthy foods and beverages are flooding shops and markets everywhere, including in conflict affected areas.
Details of how children's exposure to aggressive marketing of unhealthy foods and beverages at home, school and play are impacting their lives, unethical policies and practises among the food and beverage industries, and how globally we're failing to protect children and adolescents due to gaps in public policies.
The report will provide examples of countries taking positive policy action and will present UNICEF's recommendations on what is needed urgently to protect children and adolescents from unhealthy food environments.
If you have any questions or if you wanted to to speak to one of our technical experts as of tomorrow, please reach out to me.
My e-mail is r.peters@unicef.org.
If you haven't received any of the materials, please let me know.
Just want to make sure I get the the press release right.
You're saying that one children out of five is overweight and one out of 10 is obese.
So that means that 50% of the children who are overweight or considered to be obese, is that what I what I got?
But that's correct from from our press release.
Just to reinforce that, that data is under embargo until until tomorrow, 0001 GMT.
And the follow up question is, and can you tell me where does Europe stand in all of that?
I would have to look at the data.
I'm not aware from the top of my head, but the the high income countries as as I've said now are becoming increasingly impacted and disproportionately impacted by obesity and overweight due to aggressive marketing and and weak policies to prevent the spread of such unhealthy diets.
See if there are question online, I don't see any because of the thank you very much.
They and also for distributing the the information.
Speaking about children, sorry, speaking about children, just like to remind you that today the international community commemorates the 6th UN International Day to Protect Education from Attack.
This is going to take place with a number of events around the world.
In Geneva, as you may have seen, I think we have circulated the invitation.
There are two events organised by the Permanent Mission of the State of Qatar and the first one was already taking place.
It was this morning and there is another one at 12:00, a Youth hub debate in Room 21.
And also you have quite a few resources that we have distributed from the UN on the on in your mailboxes.
A few more announcements on from me.
Let's look at the press conferences.
We've spoken about Sudan at 1:00 PM here in this room, though you will be briefed by the Chair and the expert members of the Fact Finding Mission on Sudan who are launching their latest report that says I said is at 1:00 PM here.
Also, press conferences, I'd like to remind you are the one on Monday 15th September at 2:30, organised by Unidir for the launch of the Cluster Munition Monitor 2025 report with a number of speakers.
You have also received the invitation for this Tuesday 16 of September at 1:00 PM.
You've definitely seen that the Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian territory, including, E Jerusalem and in Israel, is going to brief you on the Commission of Inquiries, latest report launch.
And you will have Navi Pillai, the chair of the Commission, and Crisidotti, the Commissioner here.
And we may announce more press conferences for next week on the same subject.
Just the Conference on Disarmament is holding this morning a public panel meeting, and the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights will begin this afternoon at 3:00 PM, the review of the report of the Russian Federation.
Two more announcements that are more concerning New York, but that you can follow online.
First of all, today at 10 AM New York time, as I told you at the last briefing, there will be the launch of the Secretary General's report on the security.
We need rebalancing military spending, spending for a sustainable and peaceful future.
This is one of the reports which were mandated by the Pact for the Future.
The Secretary general will launch it himself, and then there will be question and answers with Izumi Nakamitsu, the Under Secretary General and High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, and how Liang Shu, acting administrator of UNDP.
This is all going to be, of course, webcast online.
And I think if I'm not wrong, we've already distributed to you some embargoed material.
If you haven't received it, please let me know.
And the last point, I just wanted to remind you in case you have forgotten, that today we are closing the 79 session of the UN General Assembly and opening the UN General Assembly session #80 and there will be a stick out at 11:30 to New York time.
Also, of course, webcast with an Elena Berbock, who is the new President of the General President for the 80th session.
I know it's been a long briefing, but given the events in Gaza City today, I'm just wondering if any of our briefers could take a question on displacement and the humanitarian situation there.
What I mean, good to have the question early on because I don't know if they're gone.
Jens is not in the miss it outside, see if he could come.
Otherwise, I don't know if you have anything because.
I just think he was wondering essentially where, how many people have fled, where are they going, what sort of conditions await them wherever they are going to.
I was actually recently in Gaza City about a month ago and I saw with my very own eyes that that the very dire condition children especially are, are living or we're living at the point in, in Gaza City.
We have about 450,000 children there, nearly half of the entire population in Gaza City.
They are everywhere you look, you know, playing in the rubble, trying to get some sort of normality out of out of that chaos.
We know that displacement due to forced evacuation orders have started severely in in Gaza City, within Gaza City itself, but also now because of the offensive increasing, moving to the South.
The conditions are catastrophic.
I would describe children and families have been pushed around way too many times and that's why they went up north hoping that they wouldn't have to move again.
And yet as we've seen this morning, the order is for the entire population to leave and go towards Al Mawasi, which is the so-called humanitarian safe zone.
But as we know from from previous similar circumstances, there is no safety for for children and families anywhere in Gaza right now.
So we're very concerned obviously about this new development and the impact that it already has had on children in terms of casualties, injuries, children being killed and and separated from their families.
Hospitals are crowded with child injuries.
And of course, famine has been declared in in Gaza City and continues to ravage with malnutrition spiking in August compared to to the previous month.
And that's the 6th month in a row where the the number of children with acute to severe acute malnutrition is, is is growing in a, in a very concerning trend.
But just a really quick follow up.
I didn't realise you'd been in in Gaza City.
We'd heard some reports about people leaving Gaza City within the last few weeks and actually going back because they had they couldn't find anywhere.
Have you heard those reports?
You know, if that's true, sorry, it is true.
I heard from colleagues on the ground whom I speak to every day, that indeed families are trying to find alternatives.
And following evacuation, forced evacuation orders, they're looking at places to go outside Gaza City.
But when they try and do some sort of recce of whether that would be a safe option or not to move their families, they find out very quickly that the risk of trying to move out is, is amazingly enough, often greater than actually staying where they are.
So I don't have exact figures on, on how many families are actually looking at that and, and seeing that their options are very limited.
But indeed, I have heard reports and stories from colleagues on the ground.
And Ricardo, we were saying maybe next week we could have tests on the on the briefing because she is in Gaza at the moment.
Yens, do you have more on this matter on Gaza?
Sir, I can you introduce yourself, please?
Just as you mentioned, you've been in Gaza and you mentioned the exactly the Moasi.
So it's like very tiny how those people can survive and they can, you know how in in the real condition.
Can you just explain to us what you see there?
Yeah, very answering very directly to your question.
They are at the edge of survival really.
They are crowded in areas, as you said, that are very condensed.
So the, the, the conditions, especially with the temperatures that they've had over summer are very, very, very dire in, in terms of hygiene, access to water, sanitation, obviously food.
So you, you see day in and then day out the, the immense human, human suffering that is impacting the civilian population in Gaza, especially children who make half of the population.
It's always good to remind people of that.
You see children everywhere and, and the risks that they're being exposed to are increasing as as the war continues to ravage.
So it's very difficult to, to witness and you feel very powerless in a way.
And when we speak to families and to children and, and mothers impacted by nearly two years of, of conflict, all we can say to them is and, and is how sorry we are to have failed them.
And and yet we're trying to to provide the humanitarian aid that they so desperately need.
But right now, it's very difficult to get aid in in in enough scale to change that situation, to change that that scenario for them.
So what what we continue to see is a war on children really that has persisted for over 700 days.
I guess Christian had also something to add.
No, not really to add, there is expected.
Just saw the note on that there's a country team UN statement expected soon on this all and we will only react later as of course the UN here as the whole country team should, should go first.
I don't see other questions or really.
Thank you very much for following this long briefing.
I think it was really interesting and, and, and thank you for being with us until now.
And at 1:00 soon back in this room for the press conference on Sudan.
And Friday, Thursday, the parade is closed as you know.
But Friday we will be here with the press briefing.
