Welcome to the press briefing of the United Nations here in Geneva.
Today is Friday, 10th of October.
We have quite a complex briefing, so I will start immediately with Ukraine.
We have the privilege to have online Sabine Fraser, who was the UN women representative in Ukraine.
She's connecting from Kiev.
And then we will hear from Scott and Bobby Bishop Epson with the IFRC Regional Director for Europe.
Also on Ukraine on this important World Mental Health Day.
We will speak about it afterwards more extensively with the representative of WHO, who by the way, will also be available to answer questions on Ukraine as he has been there recently.
Welcome and please proceed with your introductory remarks.
Thank you very much for having me here today.
I'm here to to share an update about the situation of women and girls in Ukraine, drawing on my recent mission to the east to Nipro and Zaprasia, 2 regions that are deeply impacted by the war.
More than 3 1/2 years since the start of the Russian large scale invasion and 11 years since the start of the hostilities, the war continues to escalate claiming more lives, causing massive destruction, displacing millions, devastating the economy and turning vast areas of land into deadly minefields.
This morning in Kiev after new strikes we are left with with severe electricity and water cuts.
Massive strikes on energy continue to escalate claiming more lives, causing massive destruction and putting people into the darkness and cold as they face the 4th winter of the full scale war.
While strikes on railroads have cut vital life lines and blocked evacuations from the hardest rich regions in the north and the east of Ukraine, nowhere is safe.
The human toll is intensifying, with relentless attacks killing and injuring civilians, including women and girls.
Throughout 2025, civilian harm has increased sharply, with total casualties increasing by 40% compared to 2024.
Since February 2024, at least 4403 women have been killed and 313 girls have lost their life.
Behind the numbers there are the stories of the women and girls in the country and I would like to share with you a few a couple stories from Zapor Asia, a city of close to 1,000,000 people who are living less than 30 kilometres away from the front line.
UN Women, together with the Women's Rights Organisation UK poster, set up consultations with three different groups of women 2 days ago.
Women veterans, women women entrepreneurs and leaders of women's rights organisations.
Their stories were incredibly powerful and showed how women have specific needs in the humanitarian response and recovery, which need to be considered in our own planning and our financing.
These women do not easily fit categories of victims or heroes.
For example, Oljabielous, a woman of about 60 years old, is a war veteran, a wife of a deceased soldier, and a mother of a current soldier.
She has huge needs, especially concerning mental health, but at the same time she is continuing to organise.
She is particularly organising for the rights of women veterans in Zaparasia and beyond.
She used to have a business doing interior decoration which has been destroyed and as an IDP in Zaparasia, she has now set up her own company to create aromatic candles.
She is seeing candles as being a beautiful symbol of warmth, peace and light.
Amongst the fight, the amongst the attacks that are happening today in Zaparasia, these two women and the women that are living in places like Zaparasia are on one hand in desperate need of humanitarian assistance but on the other hand, they are also starting to lead the recovery.
Tomorrow, on October 11th, we will also be celebrating International Day of the Child, Girl of the girl child.
Yet in Ukraine, an entire generation of children is being deprived of education.
4.6 million children continue to face serious barriers to learning.
Ukraine is building underground schools, for example, in Zaparasia, But this is not enough to meet the need.
The crimes that are being perpetuated in Ukraine leave deep and lasting wounds not only on survivors but also on their families and communities.
This week we also celebrated the Women Peace and Security Resolution 1325 and commemorated the 25th anniversary of the Women, Peace and Security Agenda at the Security Council.
UNUN Security Council General Antonio Guterres said we need protection enforcing 0 tolerance for violence against women, peace builders and human rights defenders and accountability for those responsible for all acts of gender based violence included conflict related sexual violence.
In Ukraine today, women are on one hand continuing to suffer from the attacks but on the other hand they are playing a leadership role in the humanitarian and the recovery response.
Yet they face tremendous barriers and particularly barriers to financing.
Less than 1% of all recovery assistance coming to Ukraine is prioritising gender equality in women's empowerment.
Yet what we see in cities like Zapor Asia, which has an acting mayor who is a woman, we see that women are organising and that they greatly need additional support to be able to continue the work that they are doing.
Now is the time to stand up with women and girls in Ukraine with greater commitment than ever.
Together, we can ensure they endure this war with resilience and emerge as empowered leaders that can shape Ukraine's gender responsive recovery.
Thank you very much, Sabine.
That's really appreciated.
I give the floor now to Brigitte.
Thank you for having me and thank you for the former speaker also to talking about the situation in Ukraine.
And today the world is marking the World Mental Health Day.
And the theme for that is mental health in humanitarian emergencies, just what we have just heard about the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
The IFRC, together with our national societies across Europe, is right now launching a new new data that reveal a critical gap in how we prepare for and respond to crisis regarding mental health.
We have new data in that report, which we call the missing pillar in Europe's emergency preparedness.
It draws on no less than 150,000 voices from across the region, including Ukraine, and five countries within the EU, including Lithuania, Portugal, France, Ireland and Romania.
Mental health and psychosocial support are as essential as food or shelter, but it remains underfunded and poorly integrated into Europe's crisis and disaster preparedness systems.
This is important, and this is particularly stark in Ukraine, where the conflict has inflicted deep psychological wounds and where our research reveals that the scale of the mental health crisis.
So here are some numbers on that.
56% of the people say that they need psychological support, yet only 19 have been able to access that.
Four in five say that they or their loved ones have experienced traumatic events since the escalation of the conflict.
The pressure is especially heavy on more vulnerable groups, displaced people, older adults, children, survivors of violence and persons with disabilities that are all experiencing psychological strain.
People told us that safe spaces and childcare were critical to recovery, life lines that restore daily routine and can reduce stress.
These are the daily realities, and if you think about this night's latest developments in Kiev and many other cities in Ukraine, they are the daily realities for families facing uncertainty, but also for volunteers that are offering help and for communities that are still stuck between responding to ongoing bombardments and trying to recover to some kind of normalcy.
Across Europe, our findings also show that we are not mentally prepared for the next crisis.
Only one in seven people feel mentally ready to face a sudden crisis such as conflict or disaster.
In most countries surveyed, more than one in five, or very more accurately, 23% people said that they worry about crisis daily or weekly, a level of ongoing stress that affects the the well-being in itself.
On the good news side is that people really want to help.
Four and five respondents said that they would be willing to offer emotional support to someone struggling, but nearly half fear that they will be the ones to make things work worse.
For for for the ones that help, 6 in 10 said that they that with some basic training they would feel much more capable of helping others.
So those are the good news and what we've seen and we've seen what happens when we invest in critical mental health gap across Europe and Central Asia.
Last year, the IFRC network delivered 2.4 million mental health and psychosocial support services.
This is part of a 9.4 million receiving support around these services globally, in Ukraine and in neighbouring countries.
We launched the largest ever mental health initiative where our team supported millions affected by the conflict, including True help lines, counselling, group sessions and training in psychosocial first aid.
Sorry, that is psychological first aid.
We've also trained 10s of thousands of first responders, including our volunteers, teachers, health workers and civil protection staff to provide psychological first aid and basic psychosocial support.
These skills strengthen both immediate response and long term community resilience.
When people receive early practical mental health support, it reduces the stress.
It prevents escalation and helps families recover faster.
It also eases pressures on the health systems.
So our report offers a clear call.
Mental health should not be a missing pillar across Europe.
Indeed, it is a critical component to crisis preparedness and response.
And it's a gap that we urgently need to close.
And as the conflict in Ukraine continues, it shows what is at stake.
Behind every destroyed building, there is also this invisible ruin, the Tollan people's minds and heart.
And rebuilding must start there too.
Invest early, act locally and recognise that every conversation, every act of care helps societies with withstand the shocks ahead.
Thank you very much and very happy to take questions.
Thank you very much, Bill Gates.
And I'm just looking to the list of speaker.
I wonder if Christian, maybe Doctor Fami Anna would like to intervene now if isn't connected.
OK, maybe we can hear from Doctor Hannah as we have been speaking a lot about mental health, humanitarian response.
And then I'll open the floor to questions.
Madam Chair, would you like me to do an intervention related to Ukraine now related to the world?
So if you have, if you can do it.
And then we will open the floor to question on Ukraine and mental health or mental health.
So I'll complete your complete brief for me, please.
Colleagues colleagues today seem on on World Mental Health Day is simple and urgent, as kindly shared by my colleagues from UN Women and I foresee access to mental health and psychosocial support in humanitarian emergencies.
It's true the world is facing not only unprecedented humanitarian crisis, but also unprecedented mental health crisis.
Every emergency has two faces the shuttered buildings as well as the disrupted life.
One in five people in emergencies live with a mental health condition.
If we translate that into numbers based on people in need of humanitarian assistance in all emergencies today, that's 67 million people with mental disorders living in conflict, disaster or displacement settings.
Their needs are not marginal.
They are among the most affected.
With every emergency, we know that coordination and progress is real and possible.
In 2019, six years ago, fewer than half of all emergencies has an image pieces coordination mechanism.
Today it's 71% that proves that investment can make a difference in people care and better referral.
85% of emergencies report to WHO Mental Health Atlas that they're integrating mental health and psychosocial support.
However, quality and service coverage falls short.
WHO is supporting mental health and 40 plus emergencies today, backed by a global interagency search roster of 600 specialists that we have the pleasure and privilege to to culture together with our colleagues in I4C and the IAC.
Mental health and Psychosocial Support Minimum service package represent our gold standard for rapid coordinated action in any emergency response.
Colleagues in 2024 WHO provided life saving psychotropic medicines to 2.1 million people in emergencies such as in Sudan, Chad and Ethiopia and helped in building mental health system places such as Myanmar, Syria and Lebanon.
However, in 2025, these requests for life saving psychotropic medication has fall short by 94%, not because we have less people with mental health conditions in emergencies, but because there are competing priorities among emergencies and funding become more constraint and in some situations banished.
In 2024, Member States of WHO adopted a milestone resolution at the World Health Assembly, the 1st in history to call for mental health integration in preparedness, response and recovery of emergencies.
Colleagues, the most powerful aid can be a safe place to tell a story.
The most common condition in emergency is not a physical wound but grief.
A broken bone may heal in weeks.
A destroyed home can be built in months.
But mental health effects, if ignored, can last a lifetime or even generations.
People cannot survive, as my colleague in I first said, on food, water and shelter and all.
With mental health and psychosocial support, people can cope, recover and heal.
Access to numbers into neighbour, a parent who sleep again, a child back in class, a responder who can keep serving.
Measuring success by those who find care.
For all humanitarian responders, we need to integrate mental health into operations.
To all governments we need to invest in mental health preparedness.
It pay back in well-being and economic recovery.
And finally, to funders, mental health and psychosocial support is a life saving measure.
WHO World Mental Health Day page today include features, stories, resources, social media, asset videos and most importantly, stories from the front lines in Afghanistan, Syria, Myanmar, among others, showcasing work of scaling up and building back better sustainable mental health care during and after emergencies.
Colleagues, let's ensure together that we renew our commitment today for the value of mental health.
I wish all of you health safety and mental well-being on the World Mental Health Day.
And on the same note, I would like to also recall that we've just distributed the message of the Secretary General for World Mental Health.
There you have it in your mailboxes.
So I'll open the floor to question.
But I would like please, to ask you if you can prioritise the question on Ukraine.
And then also we will take mental health just after.
Robin Jean Franz Perez, please.
This is a question for Sabine Frizer.
The rise in in civilian harm this year that you spoke about, does that have a particular impact on women?
And secondly, what is that rise in civilian harm down to?
Is it just the volume of missiles and drones or is it the actual targeting of civilians?
Thank you very much for that question.
The what we're what we have seen is, yes, the increase of civilian harm in terms of casualties, but what we've also seen is the increasing targeted of targeting of energy infrastructure and other forms of infrastructure.
What happens when that occurs is that women are also disproportionately affected by that.
We carried out a study earlier this year about the destruction of energy infrastructure and how that affects women in particular.
And of course then women have different, it affects women differently than it does men because of course women are spending a lot more time at home.
So they are of course responsible for for the food in the house, for example, the electricity in the house.
And so when you have a tax, as you did this morning here in Kiev, where the household no longer has electricity and water, this has a huge effect on on women who are leading their families, while a large number of men are are fighting on the front lines.
I would also say that the attacks on infrastructure in terms of transport has a huge effect on women.
So also parts of the metro are not working today.
Women tend to use public transport more than men.
The effect on the trains, which we're also now seeing in the country.
So yes, the attacks on the infrastructure are having a predominant effect on women in Ukraine.
Thank you very much, Sabine.
Other questions, particularly on Ukraine from the room or on mental health?
Let me go to the platform.
So if that's the case, thank you very much to all our speakers.
And again, please have a look at this statement of the Secretary General.
And I'd like now to ask UNHCR colleagues to come to the podium.
Thank you very much, baby.
So let me welcome Eugene, who has brought with a yes, please, whether Abdul Rauf Unan Conde.
I hope I pronounce it well.
Who is the UNHCR regional director for West and Central Asia?
Eugene brought us up the roof in Non Conde, the UNHCR Regional director for West and Central Africa.
And you're here to tell us about the international support needed to advance protection and solution for the forcibly displaced in the Sahel.
Now good morning and thanks for having me this morning.
About 4 million people are now displaced across Bukina Faso, Mali, Niger and neighbouring countries around 2/3 more than five years ago, reflecting insecurity, limited access to services, a livelihood and effect of climate change.
While most displaced people in the region remain with within the countries, cross-border movement are becoming more frequent, pressuring host communities and national systems.
These onward movement highlights the urgent need to expand assistant and may people to remain closer to home and avoid dangerous journeys.
The insecurity across the region is exposing people to violence, false recruitment, movement restriction and arbitrary detention.
Women and children represent 80% of the forcibly displaced population in the region, and gender based violence remains a critical and pervasive concern.
According to the West and Southern Africa Interagency Protection Monitoring System, the number of people impacted by related incident has significant significantly increased this year.
Over four 14,800 school had closed in the region by mid 2025, leaving 3,000,000 children without access to learning or safe space.
Forcibility space youth face increased protection and livelihood challenges including forced recruitment, trafficking, unlimited access to job opportunities, increasing the risk of taking dangerous journeys beyond the region.
Across the region, over 900 health facilities have been also forced to close, leaving millions without critical care.
Food insecurity has become a growing driver of displacement.
The share of displaced people and host community members sitting food insecurity as a cause of the movement has doubled in recent years.
Climate related shocks further amplify risk, intensify intensifying competition over scarce natural resources such as land and water, creating additional barriers to peaceful coexistence and social cohesion with host communities.
UNACR priority is to strengthen protection, inclusion, resilience and solutions supporting states but also communities to manage displacement while fostering stability and self-reliance.
However, humanitarian access and funding are both strength.
In the Sahel, humanitarian needs have risen sharply, while resources have declined significantly since 2022.
In 2025, UNACL requires 409.7 million to cover humanitarian need in the Sahel countries, but so far as of today, only 32% have been raised.
Critical activities including registration, documentation, education, health and shelter have been drastically impacted.
Over 200 and 212,000 refugees and asylum seekers in Burkina Faso Maligny are not yet registered, limiting the access to essential services and heightening the risk of arbitrary detention and harassment.
Despite these challenges, communities across the Sahel demonstrate resilience and solidarity.
UN Asia data shows that in Mali, 90% of the displaced people feel a strong sense of integration with local communities generously sharing land and resources.
In Burkina Faso local conflict resolution, we can support coexistence between displaced and host population.
All Sahel countries are parties to 1951 Refugee Convention, It's 1967 protocol and have adopted national asylum laws that provide a framework, a legal framework for refugee status determination and inclusion, including the right to work and freedom of movement.
All have also ratified the Kampala Convention on Internal Displacement.
UNHI is calling for a renewed and strengthened international commitment to address the crisis in the central Sahel.
Countries in the region cannot face these challenges alone.
Protecting millions of displaced family families and securing A safer future demands more than words.
It requires unified, sustained international action and true solidarity with the Sahel people.
Thank you very much, Abdul Rauf.
And I would like now to open the floor to questions.
This is really an important situation and we don't put enough light on.
Let me see if there's any question.
Agence France Press, good morning.
Those 4 million people that are that are now displaced across the Sahel region, why, why is it that people are mostly staying within their own national borders?
Are there any patterns that you've picked up as to why people are not leaving the country and entirely that's staying within the country?
OK, now you're absolutely right.
Because I mean, if you take the 4th out four million individuals, it is true that 75% represent those who are internally displaced.
And we only have, you know, refugees and people don't want to leave because there is a lot of strains in terms of freedom of movement.
Getting access to borders within that region is becoming so complex, which is a new trend because we haven't seen this in the past, you know, 5 or 10 years.
So countries are also the states in the countries.
The, the neighbouring states are also afraid because of, you know, the terrorism activities.
How do you respond to the needs of, you know, those who are willing or trying to leave the countries of origin because of the violence, the level of violence, terrorism activities, but how do you deal with it at the same time protecting yourself and making sure that you know your country is also safe.
So it's not easy, but those are the kind of activities that you and Asia is working with the neighbouring countries.
And there is one process which is called loamy dialogue, where with the Togo government, we have been able to bring countries like Cote d'Ivoire Togo, Cote d'Ivoire Togo, Benin, Ghana together, including booking a Faso to discuss exactly, precisely just those kind of issues.
How do you link and connect security, but at the same time opening your borders to welcome, receive and then address the needs of those civilian population who are fleeing desired countries?
Other questions to UNHCR, Let me see you on the platform.
I don't see other hands up.
Yes, as you all know that we're closing the our Executive committee of this year today and then high commissioners will give a closing remarks.
And then as you all know that this is the last year of Philippo Grande's X com.
And then the closing remarks will be webcasted as well as you're welcome to the General Assembly Hall.
We'll be there to assist you.
Any questions to the units here colleagues?
Thanks for coming, Abdul Roof.
Good luck for the of the meeting and I'll ask Ricardo to come to the podium.
So if you have question, Tamim is is connected.
And then we will also, and in fact, we also have as we have put you in the agenda, Julia Tumah, who is connected.
She's there to answer questions, if any.
So I'll start with Ricardo.
Let me begin by sharing the reaction to yesterday's news of this agreement to secure a ceasefire and the end of war in the Gaza Strip from two children who UNICEF spoke to in Der El Balak, southern Gaza.
Their words are far more powerful than anything I can say today.
I felt happy the moment I heard the news about the ceasefire.
Finally, I will return to my city in the north because like all children, we are tired of war.
We want to live our childhood again.
What makes me even happier is that I will no longer suffer from hunger.
I will hug the soil in my city because I missed it too much.
Returning to my city means going back to school and to our normal life.
I miss my cousins and we want to go visit them in the cemetery in East Bureji Camp and we want to see our families in Gaza.
Since the ceasefire was announced, we have all been happy.
These are just two of the most of the more than one million children who have been waiting for this day for more than two years.
Two years of unimaginable suffering.
The news of an imminent ceasefire brings a much needed, long overdue glimmer of hope for them and their families.
This hope must be met with immediate, urgent action.
It is critical that all parties to the conflict do absolutely everything they can to ensure the deal it's implemented, sustained and leads to lasting peace.
In the hours until the ceasefire is officially announced and takes hold, children must be protected.
The ceasefire will bring hope that the killing and maiming of children might finally stop.
Over 64,000 children have either died or been injured due to attacks by Israel's military.
Around 25% of them have potentially life changing injuries.
Israel must open as many entry points as possible.
The situation is critical.
We risk seeing a massive spike in child deaths, not only neonatal but also infants given their immune systems are more compromised than ever before.
Nor have they had access to proper food for more for what it's now is to add to this cold winter without adequate shelter and clothing will be lethal.
We saw neonates die last year from hypothermia, but UNICEF knew the situation was coming.
It takes months to get these supplies from around the world and into Gaza.
We factored this and started ordering tarpaulins and winter clothes in July.
So we aim to give 2 winter clothing kits to every baby under 12 months and bring in 1,000,000 blankets for every single child in Gaza.
We have assisted devices for the many thousands of wounded children in the pipeline since we have been blocked for so long in getting children's items like wheelchairs and crutches into Gaza.
We're ready to support the restoration of water supply systems along with the drainage, drainage and sanitation systems, including solid waste management to serve all children and families in the Gaza Strip and of course, nutrition as an ultimate priority.
The deal should be used to avert malnutrition and the extension of famine across the Gaza Strip.
UNICEF has the capacity to swiftly improve the nutrition status of 50,000 children below the age of five.
We're at right at a high risk and 60,000 pregnant and breastfeeding mothers.
We have been doing it in the past months, but we need to be able to flood Gaza with nutrition supplies and treatment.
A genuine ceasefire must be more than words.
It must be sustained and respected, placing children's rights at the very centre.
This means opening all crossings for humanitarian aid and ensuring that every child from north to South is reached with the essentials for survival.
Humanitarian relief is only the beginning.
Children in Gaza also need schools reopened, play spaces restored and time to heal from unimaginable trauma.
The ceasefire must create conditions for both emergency and long term aid recovery so children like Mysada can reclaim their childhoods.
Thank you very much, Ricardo.
And I'd like to also call your attention on the media stick out that the Secretary General gave yesterday after the announcement of the agreement as well as the press conference by Tom Fletcher yesterday.
Sorry to your colleagues in New York, who has been very going into very many details on what the UN needs and what the UN can do.
So please have a look at those documents too.
And as I said, Juliet and Tamim are also on the line to answer your questions.
So I'd open the floor to questions to the room now first, Olivia Reuters.
Ricardo and Juliet, a fair few questions, if I may.
Ricardo, can I just get some clarity saying risk of seeing young children dying as we go into the ceasefire, which is soon to be finalised.
Can you just maybe give us some more detail on why that would would be?
And perhaps you could also just explain some of the logistical challenges you face now getting the the aid into Gaza in terms of, you know, unexplained ordinance, things like that on the ground.
And also just a question in terms of roles.
This is both for you and then and, and, and Juliet, you were mentioning the need for crossings to be open for full aid to, to play through.
But do you do either of you have any clarity on whether every UN agency will be involved in that effort?
And specifically question for Juliet, what is Unra's role?
Can you please spell that out clearly to us under this ceasefire agreement?
And also just an additional question, if, if, if I, if I may, we understand there's been some reports of GHF dismantling a couple of its feeding points in Gaza.
Just wondering if you had any further detail on that from what you've had?
I'll start with those, but thank you.
I'll start with Ricardo, then go to Juliet.
Let me start with the last questions.
I, I don't have any, any information about the GHF.
I think we'll, we'll see a lot of change across the Gaza Strip with this new ceasefire plan and, and how EU NS role will hopefully increase and go back to what it always was with the efficiency and sustainability that we, we've always kept across the Strip for many decades.
In terms of the logistics, it's still early days.
It we, we don't have enough details yet as to how UNICEF will be part of this new response on the ground with the ceasefire.
But we've seen earlier this year when we had a ceasefire what we can do just in a couple of months of peace and when the guns go silent.
All the numbers that we're concerned about now in terms of child malnutrition, children with preventable diseases going to the hospitals with very low immunity, the issues of protection, all the, all these issues improve very quickly.
And, and the Palestinians have a, a very quick way to pick up and, and use that, that resilience to start rebuilding their lives so that we will see changes coming very quickly.
But I, I don't, I'm afraid I don't have a lot of details in terms of the logistics.
But with the corridors open, as many as we can, even the ones that have been closed for, for way too long, that is an essential step.
And, and that is what we will continue to call for, for those crossings to be open as soon as possible so we can flood Gaza with aid that has been way below the, the, the needed scale for weight for too many months.
And finally, on the children at risk, as I said, their immunity systems are so low now because they haven't been eating properly and recently at all for, for way too long.
We're talking about many, many months, if not nearly two years of, of not enough nutrition supplies getting through commercial goods not being consistently allowed, allowed through through the curmsulum crossing or other crossing.
So children are not getting enough nutrients because it's not only about calories with children.
They need to have the right vitamins and the nutrients to, to develop and be able to cope with temperature change changes or just virus outbreaks, preventable diseases, etcetera.
And, and in the, in Gaza, they've been very vulnerable for, for the over 2 years now.
So specifically on, on malnutrition, the 50,000 children at risk have acute malnutrition, so they need to be treated immediately.
So with the ceasefire, we hope we can get the therapeutic treatment that they so desperately need.
Just yesterday, as an example, UNICEF had a successful mission to to the north, to Gaza City to rescue 2 babies who were incubators and fighting for their lives.
But luckily, with the hard work of, of colleagues and health workers on the ground, they survived and they got reunited with their families today after 15 hours yesterday trying to get the mission through.
Because, you know, the, the, the situation on the ground was still very, very unstable and connected activity was taking place, a lot of violence.
So I hope this is just an example of what will come after the ceasefire is fully implemented.
More children being treated, more children protected, less death, less, less horror for them.
And and that's what we're hoping.
And I really would like to welcome Juliet Tummer for on right.
Juliet, you have the floor if you would like to answer Reuters.
Olivia, thank you for the questions.
From our side there is little information available on the details or how the agreement will be implemented.
However, we call for all crossings into Gaza to be open immediately so that humanitarian supplies can flow into the war-torn enclave.
At UNICEF, we sorry, at Andrea, we have supplies that can flee 6000 trucks of AIDS.
They are in Jordan and they are in Egypt.
Since the last time I spoke to you, we've not had any progress to move those supplies into Gaza.
As a reminder, we have food that can be provided to the entire population sufficient for three months, and this is absolutely critical in controlling the spread of famine, which has been confirmed in Gaza City.
So this food from Indra is critical for averting and controlling famine.
On the role of Indra, we do not have any details.
We have been banned by the Israeli authorities from bringing in any supplies into Gaza since March 2025.
So that's more than seven months, Umm, the same supplies that I, I mentioned to you that also have medicines by the way, for the Indra clinics that continue to be open in Gaza and also for our mobile health points that are spread across the Gaza Strip.
So if we need those supplies to get in also because they have medicine, they also have other basics like a million bar of, of soap as an example.
We have hygiene suppliers including sanitary pads for women and girls and we all know that this has been in very, very short, short supply.
We also call for allowing our international personnel back into the occupied Palestinian territory that also includes the Gaza Strip, also includes the occupied West Bank, including E Jerusalem.
We have not had any visa from the government of Israel to any international personnel, Andrea, since January this year.
With regards to the GHF, we do not have any information like Ricardo said.
However, what we keep saying is that there is a system in place.
It is managed by the United Nations, including Andrea.
Andrea continues to be the largest humanitarian organisation in Gaza against all odds, despite all these challenges, despite the ban, and the Agency continues to have, as we speak, 12,000 humanitarian workers who are providing to the Palestinian community in the Gaza Strip, across the Gaza Strip, including in the north of the Gaza Strip.
All we're saying is let the UN, including Andrea, to do its work.
This is going to be very, very difficult, if not impossible to imagine doing, undertaking A humanitarian response at the level needed in Gaza without Andrea.
Juliet, have you had any indication with this agreement in the last few days that the status of UNRWA is going to be rethought by the Israelis so that you will be able to play a role?
I mean, if, if they do not change the policy, you would still not be allowed to move in or get visas.
Have you had any indication that there's a change in the pipeline?
Not just yet, but as any humanitarian would tell you, we we thrive and survive on hope.
And so we hope that pragmatism will prevail.
Also because of the role that Indrea can play in bringing children back to education.
You see, in Gaza there are 660,000 boys and girls who have not been to school for the third year in a row, and now before the war, half of them used to go to Indras schools.
We have, as an example, 7000 teachers among our cohorts of staff who are ready to help children return to education.
And so that is going to be absolutely fundamental, not only because children must go back to school to overcome the trauma and the shock and to reconnect with whatever is left with of their childhood, but also to get the education, the learning skills, the life skills that they are going to need, that Gaza is going to need when peace eventually comes back to the war-torn enclave.
These children are going to be key for rebuilding the future of Gaza.
Juliet, my question is will be about humanitarian aid as well.
As you mentioned humanitarian aid are waiting to get in Gaza and the ceasefire agreement started today and by you also mentioned that Israel has banned you, that's why you don't have contact with them so far.
Do you know that did any union officials have contact to Israeli authorities to rapid delivery of this aid, Juliet Yeah, thank you.
The short answer is, is no, I don't know.
And as far as we know, with regards to your first part of the question on, on the ceasefire, the air strikes have continued.
Based on an interaction I had with colleagues in in Gaza this morning.
And also as a reminder, since the war began, we can very sadly confirm that over 370 of my colleagues at Andrea have been killed, some of them in the line of duty.
This is also to confirm that this is the highest death toll in the United Nations since it was first established.
Thank you very much, Mankuna.
The first one is for UNICEF.
I understood that yesterday you succeed to, to, to bring to child from the north of Gaza.
Do you have any information if there is a still infant in, in the incubator in the north and and in Gaza City?
This is the first question and they have another one for all Norwa, go ahead.
And so Onurwa is not part of this aid plan yet, but is Onurwa doing something to the negotiation with the Israeli part or the Americans or other country to be part in in this in this plan?
Thank you so much, Ricardo.
Yes, we do have babies still in Gaza City in incubators waiting to be evacuated and and moved back to the South.
We had 18 babies at the beginning of the week with the two that got moved yesterday.
Thankfully we now have an estimated 16 babies still in in incubators waiting to be to be moved.
These two babies that we managed to move yesterday, they would, they were discharged so they didn't need any more medical care.
They could go back to their parents and they got separated in mid-september.
So this is a a very happy story because all the parents are alive as well, but the other 16 are still either under treatment or we don't have the green light or the security clearance in place to move them and we hope we will do very soon.
Shuliet yeah, thank you for for the question.
Just to clarify, I have not said that Andrea is not part of the plan.
We are a part of the United Nations in Andrea is the largest humanitarian agency like other UN agencies.
We do not have yet the details, but what I said is that we hope that our trucks of supplies are allowed to enter Gaza together with the rest of the United Nations family and that our international personnel are finally allowed back into the occupied Palestinian territory, including the Gaza Strip.
Are there questions in the room?
I didn't see, so let me go to the platform.
Thanks for for taking my question.
I guess this is for all of the UN agencies present and unfortunately, Otter doesn't seem to me.
But is what you're saying just wishful thinking or are there genuine discussions going on with the people who are hammering out this peace deal ceasefire about humanitarian aid?
Or are you just saying we're hello, we're here, we can do it.
Alessandra, I can take this if, if you like, please.
Great to hear you as always.
I don't really from from Andrea.
Let's let's let's let's say we have not been contacted.
And we, and we know that now again, it's going to be very, very difficult, if not impossible to implement a humanitarian operation, a humanitarian response at the scale needed in the Gaza Strip without Andrea.
Because we are the largest humanitarian organisation.
Because we have 12,000 people who are currently inside the Gaza Strip.
No other UN agency has this number of staff on the ground.
Because we have the infrastructure across the Gaza Strip to implement such an operation.
Because we have the trust of the community, which is something that is often under reported, but India and our staff, we have that in in, in the Gaza Strip.
So we call for pragmatism to prevail and for Indra to be allowed to bring those supplies in which we can, by the way, directly give to people in need.
We have no organisation between the agency and the communities that we serve.
Yeah, I do UNICEF also you Alessandra, I mean can you give us any information if have there been any genuine discussions about the role of the UN again or is it just we are here and we can do it, but you haven't discussed, it hasn't been discussed.
And I can then compliment.
Similarly to what Juliet just said, we, as I understand, we haven't been officially contacted or asked to join any discussions as to when and how the UN will be part of this plan.
But as as Tom Fletcher said yesterday, obviously this is something that will happen It it probably has already started, but I don't have any details as to how UNICEF is participating in those discussions.
Juliet, sorry, you have raised your hand.
I mean, there's a couple of things that might help with with this very critical question.
Imogen is a, first of all, if we look back at the last time there was a ceasefire in Gaza, that's January to, to, to March.
So we had a period of, of six weeks where the UN, including Andrea, were in charge of delivering humanitarian assistance.
And back then we were able to bring in on average 605 hundred drugs every day of supplies, not only of food.
Hence the big difference between US and the GHF.
And then on some days we were able to bring in 800 trucks.
So all we're saying is not just we're here.
We have done it in the past on many, many occasions and on several days.
In fact, this is the reason why famine was delayed, because thanks to the assistance coming from the UN and the rest of the humanitarian family, including from Andrea, we were able to avert famine from happening back then.
And the second thing, it would be very good for us to know what the the sides who are working on this agreement on the deal have in the pipeline.
So I don't know if you have the chance to ask those sides who are working on the agreement on to clarify the role of the United Nations, including Andrea, in such a deal.
Juliet, I think I don't have much to add to what you said except that Tom Fletcher yesterday gave more details about the contacts that they have with the Israeli counterparts who I referred you to that image and too and also to what Stefan said, answering the question exactly on this matter yesterday.
John Zaragostas, just one second.
Can I ask for your patience?
Just because Christian wanted to add something about the ceasefire From WHO, If you don't mind.
Maybe you your question will also concern him.
You just wanted to add something on WHO side.
Thank you very much Alexandra and thanks everyone and to to the colleagues already spoke.
WHO welcomes the announcement to secure a long-awaited ceasefire in Gaza and the release of the hostages.
After two years of relentless conflict, Gaza's health system shattered.
The Outstanding continues to serve its people with extraordinary resilience, thanks to the courage of healthcare workers and the unwavering support of WHO and all the partners.
Only 13 of the 36 hospitals and 62 of 179 primary care centres remain partially functioning.
The task ahead is immense, but W Joe is committed to helping rebuild Gaza's health system.
We are scaling up the delivery of medical supplies to address urgent needs as the burden on hospitals will not ease overnight.
We are also expanding medical evocations from Gaza.
At the same time, we are supporting the rehabilitation of hospitals and increasing the deployment of emergency medical teams to expand healthcare capacity, restore specialist services and make health facilities fully functional again.
As we expand our response, we call for unimpeded access across Gaza and unhindered entry of medical supplies through all possible routes, resumption of medical evacuation from Gaza to the West Bank, including E Jerusalem, flexible funding to sustain emergency response and drive the recovery, and last but not least and above all, a lasting permanent ceasefire and peace.
And John, thanks for your patience.
Can you hear me there, Alessandra, we can.
My question is to Ricardo and also to Christian.
I was wondering if the following up to what Imogen said earlier, if there is a plan meeting of the interagency Standing Committee at the principles level by Tom Fletcher to coordinate with all the humanitarian and international agencies on the humanitarian relief.
And Juliet, that's relevant, I think, to UNRWA as well.
Indeed, yesterday Mr Fletcher made a declaration on the indispensability of UNRWA in the living in delivering the operations across to get to Palestinian civilians.
And then maybe if Juliet wants to add anything more Christian.
Look, from our side, we are on, you know, full gear to make sure that we flood Gaza with aid, that UNICEF can do what we do best and at the highest scale possible.
And surely these discussions are happening at the highest level as well with other UN agencies.
I just don't have any granular information of when or where this these discussions are happening because this is all.
Very relatively recent, but indeed they're happening and we hope that solutions and actions will start rolling out very soon.
Juliet or Christian, if you want to add anything.
No, I don't see your hands up.
Yeah, no, just thanks for the question.
Just perhaps to repeat the the call from our commissioner, General Alessandra.
I don't know if the statement that we issued yesterday was was read or shared with with our friends in Geneva.
If not, I can put it in the chat box.
We re issue it on the UN Geneva web.
Sorry account, but please go ahead.
No just to answer the question.
It's also a call from from Andrea through the Commissioner General on all Member States to support the agency to do its work and to allow us to do our work, including in Gaza.
So it's a call on all Member States to support Andrea to do its work in in Gaza because like I said, Andrea is fundamental in the implementation of any agreement to be able to respond to the huge humanitarian needs in Gaza.
It is going to be very difficult to do this without Andrea.
And like I said, and I will say it again because it's an issue that is very close to my heart, it's about children and bringing children back to education, including through the staff of Andrea teachers who are currently in Gaza and continue to be in Gaza to help with other in agencies and entities on the ground in Gaza to bring back to learning 660,000 children who have not gone to school for the third year in a row.
Thank you so much, Juliet for coming to see us and nice to see you again.
Could you tell us, following up on the earlier question, Sir Imogen and John, we heard from Fletcher yesterday that there is contact between OCHA and COGAT.
I wanted to know what specifically Unrwa's connection is with COGAT.
How frequently are you talking to them?
Is there radio silence or are you actually coordinating with them specifically?
There is no radio silence from our side, I can assure you.
We continue to be in touch with the Israeli authorities at the different levels.
This has been the case since the Israeli Parliament bill came into effect.
That was at the end of January this year where according to the bill, there is a no contact policy between the Israeli authorities and and however, we continued to write and correspond at different levels of the agency with different parts of the government of Israel.
Thank you very much, Juliet.
Sorry, Olivia writers, thank you again.
I just would to seek your comment please, both of you, Ricardo and Juliet about I mean, we've, we've heard from one Israeli security source suggesting that around 600 trucks a day could be getting into Gaza.
Previously, Juliet, you were mentioning 800 trucks getting in under under Unwa's leadership.
So I'm, I'm just curious to know what you both make of that figure and, and roughly how much would you be expecting and needing to, to get in?
If you could give, give us a sense of scale of the need, that would be great.
Let me, let me have a stab on, on this.
So basically what we've been saying across the UN, not just at under, is that Gaza needs 500 trucks every day.
That's been our assessment since the beginning of the war.
And that's based on the trucks that used to come into Gaza before the war began.
Gaza was under a blockade, as you know, Olivia, for about 17 years and depended very heavily on imports coming from outside.
So the average at the minimum is 500 trucks.
Now going back to the ceasefire, Andrea was doing this not alone the 607 hundred trucks, 800 and I'll explain in a minute.
We did it together with the rest of the United Nations family, of course, with the Blue Cho, with UNICEF, with WFP and with other humanitarian agencies.
And that played a very big part in that.
And so on average, what was coming in during the ceasefire was from 400 to 800.
And then I please, I ask that we don't fall in the trap of counting trucks and how many trucks because we've all become sort of truck experts over the past two years.
And that's not the story.
The story is that there's loads of humanitarian needs in the Gaza Strip.
To respond to those humanitarian needs, you're going to need the United Nations, including Andhra.
People in Gaza, they've lost everything.
People have been displaced on average 9 to 10 times a day, including, by the way, our own staff.
So the there is no question that Gaza needs to be flooded with humanitarian assistance, and that must be done through the United Nations, including Andhra.
Yeah, just to do a verbal nodding as well.
Let's not forget the while we don't want to count the the trucks.
Here the 600 trucks mentioned before, many times they came in in peacetime, during to, to to Gaza.
They came into a practically perfectly functioning society, apart from the supplies that were needed on a daily basis.
Now we have a shattered Gaza, shattered lives, shattered buildings, shattered healthcare.
That's why we need to flood the place, as we have all been saying multiple times with supplies, medical, food, life saving fuel and have and so on and so forth.
So yeah, let's not count the individual trucks.
Let's just flood the place.
I think this was the last question.
I don't see their hands up.
So I'd like to thank you all very much.
Thanks, Ricardo Christian and Bobo Juliet for connecting from Aman to answer the question to our journalist.
That brings us to the end of our Yep, for whom after after Gaza.
I'm since this was our last subject, I'll give you the floor.
Christian, thank you very much.
I was hoping that the High Commissioner of of human Rights has a comment on the Nobel Peace Prize going to the Venezuelan lady.
I wonder what Tamim is Connected.
I of course we have, as I'm sure you've seen, the Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to Maria Corina Machado for her tireless were promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela and for a struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy.
And of course, we congratulate the winner of this year Nobel Prize.
I know we will have a full reaction a bit later, but I mean, maybe you want to already say something on it, please.
Thank you, Alessandra, and thank you, Christiane for the question.
We congratulate Maria Corina Machado on being announced as the winner of Nobel or the Nobel Peace Prize.
This recognition reflects the clear aspirations of the people of Venezuela for free and fair elections, for civil and political rights and for the rule of law.
The High Commissioner has consistently spoken out in support of these values.
So are there any other question for Tamim?
Would you be able to, to give us a, a broader overview of the, of the rights situation in in Venezuela as it stands to explain a bit more the, the context in which this in which this award comes?
Well, I think you have been following up on the work that our office has done on Venezuela.
We have been reporting on the situation of human rights in Venezuela.
We have been seeking to engage with all stakeholders including of course the authorities on different kinds of of situations.
The Human Rights Council has requested our office to provide regular updates and our recent report is based on careful documentation, following the established methodology, of course.
So we reiterate this willingness of our office to engage in good faith with the government of Venezuela and all the stakeholders based on mutual respect.
And we remain firmly committed to continue working to defend and protect the human rights of all Venezuelans, whether they are in Venezuela or abroad, and based of course, on information and, and, and with the victims in the centre of our work.
Thank you very much, Christian.
I wonder whether the question is about more about what is the situation in Venezuela, what is the problem with human rights in Venezuela?
Of course, it would not be very easy to resume the whole situation today in a few lines or in a, in a, in a short answer.
But the bottom line here is that we need more engagement with the authorities.
As you know that the the National Assembly of Venezuela voted in favour of declaring the High Commissioner persona non grata and this is something that we have regretted.
There are many human rights issues that need to be addressed in Venezuela.
We can, we can provide more details if you have any precise questions in this regard, but the bottom line is that our office needs to work and to engage with the authorities.
Let me see if there's any question for you on the line.
Hi, Tammy, and thank you so much for coming.
Just wanted to find out if your office has been in contact with Miss Machado recently.
Have you had any, you know, connection with her out of human rights concerns?
And if so, when was that and where?
I will need to get back to you on that specific point.
Of course, our office is in contact with many stakeholders in Venezuela, many Venezuelan stakeholders in the country and abroad.
But I will need to get back to you on this specific question about contact with Miss Machad.
I don't see any other hand up for you, Tamim.
So we come to the end of almost to the end of our briefing.
We have spoken at length about the World Mental Health Day, which is today.
We want to send you the message of the secretary General for the day, International Day of the Girl Child.
This is tomorrow, 11 of October, and we also sent you the message for the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction, which is on the 13th of October.
And as you know, our colleague of the Disaster Risk Reduction Agency here in Geneva are available for questions.
Just wanted to remind you the press conference on Mrs Greenspan, that's going to be the Secretary General of Ankta.
That's going to be on Monday, 13 October at 2:30 PM in this room.
She will be here to brief you on Act at 16, which is coming along, as you know, starting the week after on the 20th of October for four days here at the Palindencio.
And on Thursday 16th of October at 10 AM we will have a press conference by WMO on the WMO Greenhouse Gas Bulletin with Cole Barrett, who was the Deputy Secretary General of the organisation and Oxana Tarasova, WMO Senior Scientific Officer, speaking about the in the World, Sorry Mental Health Day.
I just wanted to invite you to a film screening and a panel discussion which is going to happen this afternoon at 4:30 in room 8 of the Paladinacion.
It's organised by the UNOG Working Group against Pre Season and we will be screening the award-winning documentary Colour, directed by Doctor Hannah Strommeyer to uncover how colonial legacies and institutional racism impact mental health in humanitarian workplaces.
This 64 minute film includes extensive research as well as testimonies of the working staff in Nairobi and call for more inclusive and supportive organisational structure.
There will also be a final discussion, including with messages from Doctor Stromayer after the meet the the film after the film screening.
Just wanted to remind you that the I'm sure you know that the Tricky Bodies sessions have been cancelled for their third annual session, so we wanted to still tell you about what's coming up on that side.
In accordance with Human Rights Council Resolution 5222 adopted on April 2023, the United Nations Forum on Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law will hold its fifth session next Monday and Tuesday 13 and 14 of October at temples here at the Palais.
The theme will be democracy and climate change, focusing on solutions.
At the opening of this session at 10 AM on Monday, the forum should hear opening statement from a series of very distinguished speakers is a very long least.
There will be 6 success successive panel, 3 per day devoted to climate change in a rule of lawless context.
Participation, accountability and fundamental freedoms on climate justice.
Another one on climate governance.
Then they will have legal clarity, democratic defence and creativity.
Interconnected solution for interconnected problems.
So we have, we are going to ask you to have a look at the website for more details on the panels and on the speakers.
And I think I've told you everything I had on my list.
So if there are no question, other question, I thank you all very much and wish you a very, very good weekend and I'll see you on Tuesday.
