OK, good morning everyone.
Monjour Atos it would be Ave at the point Chris Dumar de dis with I think we had a small technical problem this morning.
So I'm just going to rapidly tell you what we have on the line up today.
I'll say a few things and then we will move to Baba Balash from UNHCR who will be with us to talk about the UN **** Commissioner for Refugees visit to Lebanon and also about we he will talk about Mount Mounting violence, how mounting violence has forced 1,000,000 to flee homes in Burkina Faso.
Then we will also have with us from the World Meteorological Organisation, Claire Nullis, to give you more information on the extremely **** temperatures that have been recorded in Death Valley, CA.
I believe it was yesterday.
So without further ado, let me start off with a couple of things.
Several notes to correspondence over the weekend came out.
You will have seen, and I would like to remind you about that.
The Secretary General's just a moment, Just yes.
The Secretary General's concern for the condition of the SAFER oil tanker that is moored off the western coast of Yemen.
In a statement that was put out on Saturday, he urged the removal of any obstacles to the efforts needed to mitigate the dangers posed by the SAFER tanker without delay.
He specifically called for granting independent technical experts unconditional access to the tanker to assess its condition and conduct any possible initial repairs.
We've all seen what's happened in off the coast of Mauritius with a major oil spill wreaking Havage on, on, on, on the waters.
And we would like to avert a similar situation in the Red Sea because this tanker holds more some 1.1 million barrels of crude oil and having it spill into the Red Sea would cause catastrophic damage to the whole, to the environment and also to would have dire humanitarian consequences.
So you received the statement on Saturday.
Also on the weekend, we issued a statement from the Secretary General's Personal Envoy for Bolivia, Jean Arnaud, who also, similarly to the Secretary General, welcomed the agreement reached on Friday among the Executive Branch, the Pluri National Legislative Assembly and the Pluri National Electoral Electoral Organ regarding the 2020 general elections in Bolivia.
He also welcomed the the unanimity achieved by the political parties in the Pluriano Pluri National Legislative Assembly and the members of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal.
This consensus, he said, is fundamental achievement that provides guarantees regarding the date of the elections.
It helps to overcome political divisions and the uncertainty that worried many sectors of Bolivian society, mobilised or not, as well as the international community itself.
With this consensus, the path towards a reliable electoral process, whose results are respected by all actors, is effectively consolidated.
And, of course, the United Nations is determined to contribute to the holding of the elections.
And a number of measures or actions that the UN will take in collaboration with the authorities is described in the Note to Correspondence.
I see that there is a question from Christian Erlich.
Can we unmute the microphone for Christian Erlich?
Hello there, can you hear me?
Can you talk us through the exact timing and possibilities to cover the Syria talks next week?
Certainly we will probably have more information to share with you very, very shortly on this.
We will be talking with with Jennifer Fenton later today.
So we'll come back with, I hope exhaustive details about how things will be going next, next week.
But my understanding is that the the talks or the meeting of the Constitutional committee is still scheduled to to take place next week, the week of the 24th of August.
So more information to come, I hope very shortly on this.
Are there any other questions?
So let's then go right to the agenda with Babar Baloch.
Babar is with us from the UN **** Commissioner for Refugees.
And as I said, he will give you some information on Lebanon and also Burkina Faso.
This morning I'll start first with Lebanon.
The UN **** Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi is in Beirut today starting a four day visit to support and listen to the plight of all those affected by the devastating blast.
A fortnight ago, people of Lebanon, migrants and refugees alike, were affected.
This is the first field mission for the **** Commissioner since the COVID-19 first wave lockdown and it's a reaffirmation of Unit CR solidarity and commitment to standby Lebanon operations in support of Lebanese communities and refugees remain a top priority for UNHCR.
Relative to its national population, Lebanon hosts the largest number of refugees in the world.
Beyond the immediate and long term impact of the tragic explosion of 4th of August, UNHCR is concerned about the combined effect of severe economic crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic in the country.
These three factors together are harming the most vulnerable and poorest parts of the population throughout the country.
After seeing the ongoing response in the most affected neighbourhoods and meetings in the capital tomorrow, **** Commissioner Grandi will dedicate the next days to review Unit CRS overall humanitarian response in other parts of the country.
Unit CR is scaling up its response to all communities affected by the blast in Beirut to provide immediate relief, shelter and protection support.
Together with its partners, Unit CR is providing emergency shelter materials to those in need who are left in need by this large case devastating explosions in Beirut.
Unit CR is also conducting psychological first aid and other urgent measures for the protection of those affected.
Grandy will also visit Northern Lebanon and the backup and notably the expansion of hospital beds and ICU capacity that we have put in place in public hospitals to face the COVID-19.
Unit CR is further scaling up this programme given that local hospitals are overwhelmed.
Grandy will visit Syrian refugees who have been severely affected by the economic crisis and COVID-19 measures.
Living at the razor edge existence struggling to make ends meet.
And of course, the UN along with its partners continues to to conduct the the needs assessments on on site and to deliver emergency assistance to people most in need following the catastrophe in Bedwood Court recently.
Peter, are there any questions in the room?
No, Peter Kenney has his hand raised.
So Peter, actually I had wanted to ask you a follow up to Christian's question about Syria.
Is, is Jennifer Fenton going to be briefing us during this briefing or you?
Is she going to, you know, or she or are we likely to hear from her later today?
You know, could you clarify a bit more on Syria because it is impending.
Jennifer is not with us this morning.
But as I said, we are, we hope to have some more information, more clarity on, on things for next week, later today or later this week.
But we, we will of course be informing you as soon as we can.
I see Catherine Fiancan has her hand raised.
If we could unmute Catherine.
I'd like to have some more infos about the trip of Filippo Grandi.
How long is he exactly going to stay in, in Lebanon?
And could you remind us how many as Syrian refugees are in the country?
Good morning, dear Catherine.
The trip for the **** Commissioner is 4 days or so.
He will spend 4 days visiting the scene of the devastation, also meeting affected population.
Remember, the explosion did not leave anyone untouched with its large scale and and the devastation that it brought.
So our priority is to stand in solidarity with Lebanese people who have been generous hosts for, for refugees, especially for Syrian refugees and other populations who have been seeking safety in, in there.
In, in terms of of the number in Syrian refugees, we have more than 800,000 Syrian refugees in, in Lebanon and and many refugees were also affected in, in the blast so far.
Remember when we came with initial details now there are 13 confirmed refugee victims so far and 57 are still unaccounted for.
Lisa Schlein with Voice of America.
You electrified me this morning.
Following up on or continuing with what Catherine had to say.
Well, when you talk about the refugee victims, I, I assume these are deaths, is that right?
And you said that there were 13 victims and then of 57 unaccounted for.
So these are the deaths and presumed deaths of the people, right?
And now how much the UN had a multi $1,000,000 appeal recently for help, How much of that money is actually going to the UNHCR?
And if you could perhaps elaborate upon how refugees, I think were, have been living hand to mouth now well before this tragedy, this disaster occurred, how are they getting on now?
And what is the most immediate help that you have been giving them?
I assuming they need a great deal more, but how are they getting by and what is it that you're doing to help them, if you'd be specific about that?
And I suppose you'll send us the **** commissioner's notes soon, right?
We'll, we'll circulate the text as soon as possible.
Lebanon and the surrounding areas have over 200,000 refugees that reside in 200,000 refugees which reside in Beirut and its surrounding areas.
Oh, sorry, I stand corrected here.
And, and they have been affected with other Lebanese as well.
Unit CRS portion of of the funding appeal, which was shared recently is 35,000,000 per hour emergency response to the hardest hit and most vulnerable households in Beirut.
This package includes some 32.6 million for shelter interventions and 2.4 million for protection activities for the next three months.
Indeed, the economic crisis, COVID and now this explosion makes life very difficult for the Lebanese as well as As for refugees.
So our focus now is on emergency response, providing people with shelter where it is needed, but also try to make sure that those who need our immediate help even for day-to-day living, they receive that that help as well.
I would just wanted to get an overall picture from you of the total refugee population of Lebanon.
You mentioned that there are 800,000 Syrian refugees there and that there are 200,000 refugees in Beirut.
What is the country's total refugee problem according to your figures?
As I mentioned, Beirut and its surrounding areas have more than 200,000 refugees who who lived there and in those who were affected, there were 13 confirmed refugee victims.
We have 57 still unaccounted for and another 224 are confirmed with with injuries.
So they're being looked after in in terms of the total population of refugee of Syrian refugees, it's more than 800,000.
Peter has raised his hand again.
So I'll go to Peter and then go to Tamara.
Actually my, my, my question was what is the total refugee problem, refugee population of Lebanon?
That's why I said there are 800,000 Syrians.
But overall, how many refugees are there in total in Lebanon of the total population there?
I'll need to check that figure because there is a population of Palestinian refugees in there as well which come under UNRWA, so you can have a look at that and get back.
It's not a question, it's actually UNRWA responding and segueing into this because I represent UNRWA, there are there are around 200,000 Palestine refugees in 12 refugee camps in Lebanon right now.
They're registered are nearly 400,000, but those who are still effectively in Lebanon are nearly 200,000.
And so the plead by UNARWA, especially in the aftermath, in the aftermath of this explosion, is in the medium term plans for Lebanon to always make sure that Palestine refugees are included in the emergency response because even before the last explosion, they represented some of some of the most vulnerable communities in the country.
And thanks, Peter, for raising the question of all refugees, because the Palestinians sometimes tend to be dropped when we talk about refugee because of the magnitude of the Syrian crisis.
Just to add one more bit with the Syrian and Palestinian refugees, there are also Iraqi refugees in the countries as well.
But Peter, I can try to get the number for you in the breakdown.
Thank you very much, Tamara, for piping in there and providing this additional information.
I would like to know on the $35 million of the appeal, how, how, how much of this amount has do you already have to invest in shelters, in shelter and protection?
And I would like also to to have a broader idea on the, on how many refugees have lost their their their their apartments, their shelter where the the places where they lived because of the of the blast.
Thank you, thank you very much.
Sorry the first past was sorry.
Can we you you said the the shelter 35,000,000 for shelter and other things.
Yes, sorry, what's me Yes.
Now the question was on the appeal.
How much of the appeal is covered now?
I mean, how much of this money do you have now to to invest in shelter and protection And the the second is on the see how if you have now after the days.
How except more or less, how many refugees have lost their shelter, their apartments, I mean, without any place to to live?
I mean, UNICER already had its stocks, humanitarian stocks inside the country that we made available for those who were affected as we have been working with the Lebanese people and authorities for the refugee population.
So that has been made available for everyone who was affected.
The 35,000,000 we are seeking is for the upcoming 3 three months that were part of the appeal, which was just recently launched.
So we will need to check and go and check with colleagues how much have we received so far, if, if any money has come in hand.
But currently the work after the devastating explosions has had already started.
With the available resources we have had, our immediate support is going to some 25,000 vulnerable households and this is over 84,000 people who are already identified as having been severely affected by the blast and in need of urgent support.
Other assessments are are still being carried carried on in terms of knowing the full extent of of these devastating explosions.
If there are no more questions on Lebanon for Baba, let's move on to your next item on Berkina Faso.
Sorry, I see that Jamil has his hand raised.
Maybe let's see if there's a question on Lebanon.
We'll come back to you then.
In Burkina Faso, we have hit a great milestone.
Escalating violence has now driven more than 1,000,000 people from their homes in Burkina Faso 453,000 since the start of this year, according to figures published Monday night by national authorities.
5% of the country's entire population, an astonishing one in 20 people, is now displaced in the world's fastest growing humanitarian and protection crisis.
Attacks by armed groups in the north and east of the country have forced people to move multiple times and are set to push the numbers still higher.
Most of the displaced fled the northern and eastern regions of the country, often being forced to flee multiple times.
The two regions sank north and the Sahil hosts some 76% of all IDP's in the country.
Host populations are at a breaking point as they share the little resources they have while also facing themselves poverty, strained health services and rapidly disappearing livelihoods.
For people who have flat walls, persecutions and for communities hosting them, the additional impact of COVID is devastating.
They desperately need shelter, food, water protection, health.
Education also remains a priority as over 2500 schools have been forced to close after being targeted, thus affecting almost 350,000 students.
While facing record displacement, Burkina Faso has generously hosted Malian refugees since 2000.
12th The nearly 20,000 refugees still in Burkina Faso also find themselves facing insecurity.
Responding to the humanitarian and protection crisis in the Sahel, UNICIA launched in June an appeal for 186 million U.S.
dollars to mainly provide life saving protection and assistance to refugees, ID, PS returnees and the host communities in the Central Sahel region, which also includes Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger.
With funds available representing 53% of the appeal unit, CR is providing more core relief items and shelters to decongest the most overcrowded sites.
Teams are also working to prevent and respond to sexual and gender based violence, which has become widespread and aggravated by confinement and overcrowding.
We're also rehabilitating schools, classroom and provide distance learning opportunities.
I see Lisa's hand is raised and it's probably a question for you.
You're hired Babar on this awful story you were talking about the problems were mentioned COVID.
Do you have the latest figures?
And I'm wondering, considering the overcrowding conditions in the camps are are people actually getting the the displaced?
Is, is the coronavirus spreading in these camps and what if any precautions, measures are being taken in order to prevent this from happening for people protecting themselves?
Are they aware of what needs to be done?
And perhaps you don't have the the water and the other things that are necessary in order to keep them safe.
And also the humanitarian workers who are there who probably are at risk.
Indeed it is a concern for for all of us as COVID hasn't spared and there is a likelihood of all population being affected alike.
Luckily, so far we haven't seen a large scale outbreak in the displaced communities globally.
And we have been working in, in the case of Sahil and Burkina Faso, hand in hand with the local communities are trying to provide and maintain health and sanitation facilities wherever it's possible.
But the, the large scale of displacement in Burkina Faso and in, in Sahil makes it really challenging for all of us.
And also the remoteness of, of, of the locations and also the cycles of violence that has produced and displaced people many times.
It, it really makes it a challenge for for us to to keep up.
I can look into details in terms if we have any breakdowns in terms of the actual numbers.
Are there any other questions for, for Baba on this issue?
I don't see any hands raised.
So thank you very much for that, for being with us this morning.
And we'll go to Jamil for his question about WHO, which I just want to remind you, I understand they were scheduled to have a press conference or a press briefing yesterday and they've pushed it to today at noon.
So we'll make every effort to finish today's briefing in time to give you time to prepare for that that other event.
Well, first of all, it's on the Blade show.
The fact that again we did not have them on Friday and again we don't have them today in your briefing, that's the only possibility that many of us have to pose them questions contrary to what is the reality claim by the office, WH O's office that the press brief, the the briefing that they organise is the occasion.
The fact is that there we have to try to fit a question amongst thousands of questions from all around the world.
So the Geneva based journalists have only one option, which is, well, two options, which is which are Tuesdays and Fridays.
If they don't come to the briefing again, we go back to the same situation that we were a couple of weeks ago when we made clear that we would like them to be present because we do have questions.
The second point is whether we would like to know whether this is a new setting on Tuesdays or is it just for today?
How will this to happen since probably during the briefing today we will not be able to ask all these questions because each one of us only has one chance of a question, then we go to the substantive part of it and we don't ask the other questions.
So could you clarify all of that to us, please?
No, we've discussed this several times.
I, I don't know why our colleagues from WHO aren't with us today.
We'll have to ask Christian or Margaret.
So we'll, I'll take that to them and see if they can be with us this coming Friday.
And then we'll clarify, yes, about the new, the new scheduling of their, their press briefings during the week to see whether they have any fixed days and times that we can can work around.
Catherine Fiancon, you have a question as well.
Yes, in fact, two things.
That to say that Akanu feels very, very concerned about the fact that one WHO people are not showing during briefings and #2 the fact that Akanu made it clear through several letters exchanges that the Geneva members of the association are really keen in having special technical briefings organised in Geneva, allowing all our members to ask questions.
The webinars because they are webinars don't allowed us to ask proper questions.
Now this being said, I'd like to ask if anyone is from Human Rights is around today, Is there any representative?
I don't see anyone on our line up today.
Also again when you look what everything is happening in the world that at least one person of the team could attend your briefings.
It is the only possibility again for us to ask direct questions about situations, human rights situations and violations.
In Cote d'Ivoire, the Human Rights office closed their office and the Mission United Nation closed their office a couple of years ago.
We are going to elections.
The situation is very tense.
They are, according certain NGOs, violations of human rights.
It would be nice to to have some feedback on that and know the position of Madame Bachelet about it.
OK, thank you very much, Catherine.
No, our colleagues from Human Rights are not with us, but I'm sure they're they're available if you try to contact them.
I will again reiterate to Rupert the importance of participating when they can.
But of course, maybe there are days where they don't necessarily have something to share, but if they could be on the line, that would be appreciated.
I will communicate that to them.
I don't see any other hand.
So let's go to Claire Nullis from WMO, who will talk to you about record **** temperatures recorded yesterday.
Yes, good morning everybody.
The weather station at Furness Creek in Death Valley, CA reported a temperature of 54.4°C, which is 130°F on Sunday the 16th of August.
The World Meteorological Organisation will now set up a committee of experts to verify this temperature reading and if validated, it would be the highest temperature on Earth since 1931 and the third hottest temperature ever recorded on the planet.
WM OS Weather and climate extremes rapporteur.
He's a professor based in Arizona.
Professor Randall, 70, says that all the indications so far are that this is a legitimate observation.
The equipment at Furnace Creek is maintained regularly by the National Weather Service in Las Vegas, and preliminary findings indicate that it was in proper working order at the at the time of the observation.
To verify a new temperature record, the WMO committee of experts has to go through a fairly lengthy process of, you know, examining the equipment, the calibration, the observation practises to make sure that the reading was in line with temperature conditions in surrounding areas.
But as I repeatedly say, you know, we need the time to make sure that we get it, that we get it right.
The scorching commissions come amid a very intense and extensive heat wave on the US West Coast.
We haven't seen the last of it yet.
The National Weather Service in Las Vegas, which covers the Death Valley area, tweeted the small ball overnight.
We are in the midst of a long duration extreme heat event.
Another run at 130°F plus temperatures in Death Valley remains possible.
There have been many, many, many new temperature records in in the desert southwest.
The US National Weather Service has issued a great many heat warnings, heat health warnings because obviously heat is a major ****** to health and this has been accompanied by a **** fire risk and also very, very spectacular thunderstorms.
The heat and the run on, you know, cooling is putting a huge strain on local and, you know, local energy providers in the in the region.
The National Weather Service is forecasting that temperatures will continue to be widespread in the 100°F, but with also many temperatures in the 100 and 10s hundred and 20s, which is sort of the **** range of **** 30°C to the **** 40°C range.
As I said, our the WMO rapporteur, Professor 70, he lives in Arizona and he emailed me yesterday and said at 7:00 AM the temperature is already 38°C.
These extreme **** temperatures are part of a trend.
We're breaking temperature records more frequently in the past and heat waves are becoming more frequent and more intense.
July was the hottest July on record for the Northern Hemisphere and the Arctic sea ice was the lowest on record.
The seven month period was the second warmest such.
On record, as you know, last week, if you're here in Geneva, many parts of West and Central Europe witnessed another heat wave with a number of new station records.
Japan on the 17th of August tied its national record with 41.1°C recorded at Hamamatsu station.
And obviously, as we know, Siberia experienced A prolonged heat wave earlier on this year with a recorded temperature of 38°C.
Just to give you a little bit of historical background, according to the WMO Weather and Climate Extremes Archive, the hottest temperature ever recorded was indeed in Death Valley, Furnace Creek, back in the 10th of July 1913.
And that was a temperature of 56.7°C.
Thank you very much, Claire.
And yes, you have a question.
You say that it was the if it's verified, it would be the third ever highest temperature recorded in the planet.
Could you tell us what were the the 1st and the second one?
And so the first one as I just said was back in 191356 point 7°C in in Death Valley.
At that stage it was called the weather station was called Greenland Greenland Ranch.
They they decided to rename it for obvious, obvious reasons.
The other **** temperature was set in July 1931 in Kabili, Tunisia at 55°C.
We are getting oh, and just a couple of other temperatures of note and more recent ones, 54°C in Mitriva, Kuwait on the 21st of July 2016 and to about Pakistan also the same level on the 28th of May 2017.
There's there's quite a lot of conversation on on social media about whether the old historic records.
So the, you know, the 19131, the 1931 record the stance of WMO at the moment is that, you know, until we receive, you know, evidence to the contrary and compelling arguments to the country, those records do stand.
But having said that, we are obviously very, very willing to to set up, you know, a committee to to consider whether, you know, we need to sort of strip, strip that, you know, those weather stations of the of the record.
This this has happened once in the past.
Arun has his hand raised.
OK, I, I have my question for you real.
So I can wait my colleagues till they finish with Claire.
We'll come back to you, Ahmed.
This may be very naive of me, however.
Does anyone live in Furness Creek?
Is it possible for human beings to survive in the kind of temperatures that you are that you are naming?
I suppose that there have been victims, perhaps unsuspecting victims of people who have stumbled into Death Valley over the years.
I don't know whether you have any kind of figures on that.
I'm assuming that this is related to climate change, all of what is happening, this scorching heat, all these records around the world.
And can this be reversed or are we stuck with this situation?
And would you please send us your notes?
OK, so Death Valley, as you know, is National Park.
Furness Creek is the name of the web station, but also it's a post there.
You have the national parks authorities work there.
So there's obviously staff who work there all year round.
It's known to be the hottest place in the world.
It actually prides itself for that title.
And you get quite a few tourists who will visit the park so they can take a selfie, you know, to say, hey, you know, let's look, I'm here and the hottest place in the world.
And the temperature today is, you know, 50° or whatever it is.
The National Park authorities and the the National Weather Service and then in Las Vegas obviously very, very, very vigilant in warning people of the risks.
The National Park staff obviously spent quite a lot of time in indoors in air conditioned rooms.
So the risk to human health in that particular area is not as ****.
It's it's sparsely populated.
It's not as **** as say some of the desert cities where you have, you know, much larger population also living in, you know, very, very ****, **** temperatures there.
The ****** to human health is much bigger.
Just to give you an example, Phoenix in Arizona has had 110°F for the past for five straight days.
And, and as I said, the National Weather Service is saying that, you know, large parts of the desert Southwest, including cities with, with considerable populations are facing intense heat stress this this week, climate change.
They're starting earlier.
They're finishing later than in the past.
This is consistent with everything that we expect from from climate change.
So of all you know, of all the extreme weather events that we see, the relationship between heat and climate change is the one which is the the clearest.
Can we do anything about it?
Climate action is the hashtag that we always use.
We need to do it urgently, and time is running out.
Yes, I will send you my briefing notes.
My question is, has Death Valley been unusually cool for the last 80 years?
If the last record was in 1931, how do you explain that these very, very hot years of the last decade or two have not produced any records in that particular location?
The the, the temperature back in 1913, there were a number of factors which contributed to it.
And one of those factors is a warming wind.
So it was very specific meteorological conditions at at the at the time it was a one off.
What we're seeing in more recent years is that, you know, we are consistently at the edge of these records or break or breaking the records.
And certainly in the briefing notes, I'll, I'll, I can indicate, you know, just how many records have been broken in, in, in the US in the past, in, in the past week.
Death Valley, I think it was a couple of years ago, Death Valley came very, very close to, you know, to, to breaking its previous record.
And I think it's I think, you know, I think I think it's it's a matter of time.
As I said, the National Weather Service in in Las Vegas is is saying tweeted overnight that another run at 30°F plus temperatures is possible this week.
Any final questions for Claire Isabel, Isabel Sacco?
I you mentioned, Claire, that some cases in the last few days in Europe, in Japan, I think, and this case in, in the Death Valley of very, very ****, **** temperatures.
Can you establish a connection among these events?
Climate change, yes, I mean that way, yes.
I mean, you know, the world, the world is is is interconnected.
So, you know, some parts of the world will be warm and others might be slightly, slightly cooler.
What's happening over the US at the moment is that you've got an intense area of **** pressure.
It's heat, heat Dome, we call it.
But that does mean that, you know, other parts of the US will be, will be, will be slightly, slightly cooler.
But yes, they are connected.
There are, you know, there are Tele teleconnections as we call them.
But it is also the, you know, summer, summer in the Northern Hemisphere.
So we need to bear that in mind as well.
You know, we we should expect it to be to be, to be warm, but climate change is making it warmer.
Claire, I think that's the final question for you.
I don't see any other hands raised.
Ahmad, thank you very much for being patient.
Let's go back to you with your question.
Thank you real very much real today not not today in in some minutes on the we will listen to the verdict of the International Court for the assassination of ex Prime Minister of Lebanon Rafik Hariri before 15 years is the UN have any concern about the consequences could happen in Lebanon after this verdict and when we can expect a comment from any of the UN and if we can have a comment to from the **** Commissioner for Human Rights just after the verdict announced.
Thank you thank you Ahmed.
Well, as the verdict is about to be delivered, I think we'll, we'll have to wait to see what that is.
And then there, there may be a reaction from New York on it or, or more to say on it at the time.
So let's, let's wait to see what the verdict is and, and we'll come back to you with any statement that we might have about that.
And of course, I'll, I'll communicate your, your request to, to human rights, to our colleagues at Human rights as well, who may also deliver a statement on this.
But let's let's wait to see what happens.
First, just to conclude the the briefing, let me remind you that tomorrow is World Humanitarian Day.
As I mentioned on Friday, we will be having a ceremony here at the Paladinacion at 3:00 PM outside of Room 20, where DG Tatianavalovaya and the UN **** Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet will both be delivering remarks and laying a wreath in in memory of all the the staff that have been killed in the course of their duties there.
We we will also hear from the father of Lisa Mbeli Mbong, who was a former UN staff and victim of the earthquake in Haiti in 2010.
And there will be also representatives from the Permanent Mission of Iraq, EUNOG Staff Coordinating Council and OCHA at the ceremony, which you can also follow on webtv.un.org.
The OCHA has delivered, has sent you, I think just last week or Friday, a, a full package on World Humanitarian Day.
And if you haven't gone to their their wonderful website, worldhumanitarianday.org, I invite you to do so.
Where the focus this year is really on real life heroes.
And there are many, many of them with very interesting stories, very impressive stories to be told.
We've always had a fascination for superheroes.
But in fact, these are these people are fictional.
And yet we have real life heroes in our midst.
And it's, it's to these people that we pay homage and say thanks to tomorrow during World Humanitarian Day.
We there is also a message by the secretary General, which if we haven't shared it yet, we will be doing so shortly.
It's, I believe under an embargo until midnight this evening.
And he is also delivering a statement on the occasion of World Humanitarian Day.
And I'll just finish and then go back to you, Ahmad.
In terms of meetings being covered by Eunice, the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities opened its virtual 23rd session yesterday.
The only other public meeting of this session will take place at 3:30 PM on 4th of September for the closure of the session and you can follow it on UN Web TV.
The Conference on Disarmament as I said last last Friday as well has not given us an another date for the next meeting.
So we will give you that as soon as we have it.
Ahmed, can you go Yes, very short real is in embargo on the message of this character general regarding the victims of terrorism because I we received it, but I but I don't see in embargo.
I don't know if we can use it already or not.
Are you talking about the there's another international the in memory of the thing of the victims of terrorism.
Is that the the message you've received?
I don't think that one is embargoed.
It should say so clearly at the beginning.
I was talking about the secretary general's message for World Humanitarian Day.
If I recall, and I'll check as soon as I finish the briefing, I believe there was an embargo until midnight this evening, tonight.
And if you haven't received it, we will be sending it out to you very, very shortly.
No, I'm, I'm, I was talking about the victims of terrorists.
I don't have that message with me.
I think it was just sent out now.
The one that was just sent out to you is the message on World Humanitarian Day, and this one is embargoed until midnight this evening, but I believe we will be sending you another one on the International Day in memory of victims of terrorism, if I'm not mistaken.
Let me go back to my office and look into that and we'll send it out to you if we haven't done so.
And if there is an embargo, I'll call you directly.
So I think that's all we have for today.
Again, 12 noon WHO Global COVID-19 Press briefing.
So let's I'll just wish you a very good day and a very good afternoon.
