Very good morning to you and welcome to this press briefing here at the UN office at Geneva today, the 17th of October.
Another very important briefing we have on the podium, colleagues from UNCTAD, we have joining online WMO and we have very pleased to introduce you to Abiri Atefa from the World Food Programme who will be briefing us shortly on and situation in Gaza.
And we also have Sophia Caltrop of the UN women who will be joining us shortly on the podium.
So we'll first start off with announcements starting with Amalia, who you know well from Anktad, who will speak to the upcoming conference of Anktad starting on Monday.
Good morning and thank you for joining us here today.
I take this opportunity just to share with you the latest update regarding Ontat 16.
As you know, it's the 16th UN conference on Trade and development, a major, major UN conference happening every four years on trade and development.
And it begins here in Geneva next Monday.
It will be rolling out throughout the week until Thursday.
We will be welcoming over 100 delegations from capitals across the world, mainly ministers of trade and finance, vice ministers and experts from across the world and also private sector leaders.
So a reflection of of the dialogue and the bridging role that Ungtat has between perspectives and interests.
And in a very, as the Secretary General, Rebecca Greenspan said in an earlier briefing in a very complicated global context for trade, we also expect, as the Secretary General of Ungtat said already to you, we expect to be welcoming the UN Secretary General in person.
This I think reinforces the role of ONTAD within the UN system.
And again, the critical issue of trade right now linked to development.
We will be making announcements throughout the week on concrete issues and deliverables related to trade, to finance and to debt.
So journalist colleagues, please be aware there will be regular stakeouts by Secretary General Greenspan with an opening address to media on Monday at 2:00 PM.
The media stakeout position for the conference is in in Hall 14, so the entrance to the Assembly Hall at the end of the conference.
She will also be speaking to media on the results, the deliverables and the agreements reached.
And there will be a daily media briefing at 8:30 AM, again in the stakeout position during the conference every single day.
So we are very much looking forward to this conference.
It's a conference that will also showcase renewed and very much aligned on that with the global context we are in of, of trade disruptions and critical issues of finance for development linked also to debt and of course, what the Secretary General, Greenspan has called the new frontier for development, which is the digital economy, AI and everything related.
So we're very excited at Ontad to be, um, opening the conference next Monday, hosted here in Geneva and the Palais only for the second, for the third time in its sixty year history.
And I hope you will join us.
And happy again to underline all sessions in the general debate where member states will be making statements and in the assembly hall will be streamed live so it can be followed across the world and of course by media.
And we are happy to support you in your job in any capacity.
And yes, we, we hope you will find it as interesting, as challenging and as exciting as we do.
Indeed, a wealth of information with lots of important media opportunities.
In terms of support, colleagues, maybe just mention that we will be sending you, we'll be reaching out to you in terms of pool arrangements, in terms of access, you all have access to the balcony on the 5th floor, as you know, in the Assembly Hall where we housed you for the various meetings in the last several months since since we shut down the E building.
So we'll, we'll be in touch with you on to maximise the potential for you to do your jobs best.
So yes, and yes, yes, this is a question I think more for you, but linked to young Tad concerning the participation of the Secretary General.
And I understand this will be also participating to a double MO conference.
So should we expect media either stake out or briefing from his side?
I mean, we're talking about our secretary.
We have two secretaries general.
But in terms of Mr Gutadish, of course, as as Amalia mentioned, we expect Mr Gutadish to be here.
I believe Claire is going to speak to that in a minute about his activities at the World Meteorological Organisation.
So as mentioned, as soon as we have a firm plans in terms of any media opportunities, we'll certainly share that with you as soon as possible.
Further questions for Amalia on UNCTAD.
Oh, sorry, there is a question online.
Rediff, Francis International.
Do you let's everything is OK on our side.
I think let's maybe try to reconnect and perhaps otherwise can you hear me now?
Quick one about the line up, you mentioned ministers of trade and and finance, any heads of state or government coming up?
Ministers of trade and finance, the full, the full line up, as you say, is available on our website and there you can find all the speakers in all the countries and all the ministers of trade coming both from Europe and from the global S, but no heads of state.
So do consult the website for that list.
Any further questions, colleagues?
OK, we'll turn now to Claire from the World Meteorological Organisation with another announcement.
And thank you, Rolanda for letting us make these announcements at the start.
So colleagues, you'll have to multitask next week because the World Meteorological Organisation is also having an extraordinary Congress.
It coincides with the halfway point of the UN Secretary General's Early Warnings for All initiative, which aims to ensure that everybody gets life saving early warnings again.
It's dangerous weather by the end of 2027.
So the extraordinary Congress will be assessing progress towards that goal and we have made a lot of progress, but we'll also be looking at, you know, where we need to go, what we need to get, what we need to do to, you know, to try to accelerate progress on on that we sent.
And the other main reason for the extraordinary Congress is to mark WM OS 75th anniversary.
We are 75 this year as AUN specialised agency, so we'll be looking back at achievements but also very much looking forward.
There's a strong focus at Congress on artificial intelligence, which, you know, does have potential to revolutionise forecasting and early warnings.
So, you know, we're not certainly not resting on our laurels.
We are very much looking looking forward.
We sent out a media advisory earlier this week and I will put the link in the chat to you.
So to just to refresh your memories, but just to a couple of the, you know, the main points that I think you'll be interested in.
Monday morning is the opening session at starts at 9:30.
Because of space limitations, it exceptionally will be at the World Trade Organisation, not at WMO.
This is just the Monday morning bit.
The rest will be at WMO but Monday morning will be at the World Trade Organisation.
We start with a high level opening on.
Early warnings for all confirmed speakers so far include His Excellency Daniel Francisco Chapo, President of the Republic of Mozambique.
We also have confirmed ministers from Spain, Kenya, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Azerbaijan and Slovenia.
So details of all of this is is on our website.
It could well, you know, change between now and Monday morning, then Monday lunchtime at 12:30, also at the WTO in the Atrium, we're going to have a special session looking at the World Beach Logical Organisation coordination mechanism.
This is a mechanism which provides weather forecasts to the humanitarian sector, to UNHCR in particular.
Well, this is a programme which is very, very strongly supported by by Switzerland.
We're really grateful to the Swiss for their support.
But also, you know, we get a lot of support from many other partners as well at that.
We're going to have speakers, we'll have the federal Councillor of Switzerland there and we'll also have speakers from India, South Sudan and many other countries.
Just, you know, if you're interested in seeing, you know, how, how do these early warnings work in action?
Please come to to to this session for media wishing to be at WTO, please, I'm going to sort of go there shortly just to check on arrangements, but please just notify me so I can make sure that you can get in.
But normally anybody with the UN accreditation badge should be should be able to get in.
But please do notify me separately with your with your name name so I can make sure there's no problems Tuesday morning And these are all everything is live streamed Tuesday morning.
I think might also be of interest to you.
We have a special event on artificial intelligence for weather forecasting with quite a few interesting speakers.
It's, it's a super rapidly developing area.
So, you know, we at WMO, you know, we're also trying to keep cat keep, keep up with the, the pace of development.
So, you know, please tune into that or come to it, listen to the speakers.
I think that'll be really interesting.
That is also in the media advisory.
And then obviously what you're all interested in, the UN Secretary General will be at WMO on Wednesday afternoon.
He will be making an address at 2O clock.
He will then go to, as you've heard, he will get then go and make a presentation to, to to.
So timing will be very, very tight.
And again, please, if you want to get into WMO, please send me your details there.
There should be no need for separate accreditation, but please send me your details because there will be additional security arrangements and if you possibly could be, you know, with a sort of at least 15 minutes ahead of time, possibly 30 minutes ahead of time, that would, that would facilitate things.
So I think that is that is all from me.
As I said, everything will be live streamed and I know it's a super busy week for you, but hopefully you can join some of us.
Lots of important information and also logistical issues there.
So of course, colleagues taking note of that.
I just wanted to know about any discussions that may take place regarding the state of finances at WMO, You know, given the situation with the US and its withdrawal also of to climates and weather organisations in the US that are I guess critical for your well global operations in that area.
And then also I wanted to know about the state of the climate to report whether you have any updates as to where that will be launched?
OK, so on the budget, I'm just going to have a quick look.
As far as I know, that item will come up on Wednesday.
It is on the Congress website and all this.
There are a couple of closed sessions, but most of them are open and will be live streamed.
And just taking a look now, but the primary reason of this Congress, it's not, you know, it's, it's, it's not the budget.
But on Thursday starting at 9 O clock, we have an item financial situation of the organisation and programme and budget.
So that is 9 O clock on Thursday the 23rd.
And then on the state of the climate update, it's still being discussed.
We the the the latest plan is that we will hope to release the state of the climate update on the 6th of November.
This is the first day of the leaders summit in, in, in Bellham in Brazil.
Obviously everybody knows the logistics are quite, quite challenging for, for this COP.
So what I am pushing for is that if we do go ahead and release it at the leaders summit in Velem, that I'm, I'm pushing that there should be a parallel press conference in Geneva with our deputy secretary general, Our secretary general, I think will be in Velem, but our Deputy Secretary General, Co Barrett and our climate director will be in Geneva.
So I'm, I'm hoping this, this is what I'm, I'm recommending that we should, you know, hopefully do something in, in Belem, but also have a parallel, parallel press briefing for you in, in Geneva.
But it's, it's a little bit out of, out of our hands.
But just stay tuned and I'll, I'll keep you, I'll keep you up to date.
In any event, you will get embargoed to embargoed material.
Thanks very much, Claire.
And thanks for keeping us updated in those efforts to do something in parallel here for the questions for Claire, they're in the room or online.
So I wish you very good luck for next week.
It's a bit of a challenge, I know, but then thanks colleagues for reporting on this.
So thanks for that again that that wraps up for our announcements.
We'll move now to the situation in Gaza.
Again, we have colleagues Sofia Caltra Pour know you know well from the UN women and we have, I'm very happy to introduce Abir Etefa, who you might know from previous incarnations.
You've been here before, but in this capacity as a senior regional communications officer and spokesperson for the Middle East, North Africa and Eastern Europe for the World Food Programme, who's going to brief us on as on WFP operations in Gaza.
And then we'll go immediately to Sofia.
Hi everyone, and thank you so much for having me today.
So, well, the World Food Programme, we're on the ground in Gaza responding to one of the most complex and fragile humanitarian situations in recent memory.
I think the ceasefire has opened a narrow window of an, of opportunity.
And WFP is moving very quickly and swiftly to scale up food assistance and reach families who have endured months of blockade, displacement and hunger.
So we're witnessing a moment of, you know, cautious hope.
We have the supplies, we have the systems and there is progress.
What we need now is the sustained access, multiple crossings, safe roads and a commitment to facilitate aid on the ground in Gaza without obstruction.
So the latest on our operations, let me start by crossings and access.
So right now in Gaza, WFP is able to use 2 crossings, 2 operational crossings.
These are Karam Shalom in the South and Kisufim, which is in the central part of the Gaza Strip.
So convoys have been able to cross safely over the past few days with no losses to commodities.
We are getting to our warehouses, to distribution points and getting closer to people.
That's a very positive sign.
We've also started using new routes to avoid congestion and to keep things moving.
But of course, we need more to happen.
I think we need more capacity at the crossings, especially with getting more truck scanning, processing the incoming supplies.
The faster we can move aid in, the more lives we can reach quickly.
We're also hoping for the reopening of the areas crossing points in the north as well as Zicim, which is West areas.
These routes are very critical for the communities that have been cut off for weeks because these get you into the northern part of Gaza, into Gaza City.
So WFP teams on the ground with on mass have cleared prime roads leading to both areas and Zicum, it's a big achievement.
It lays the ground for future opening of these of access to northern Gaza in terms of the cargo movement.
So yesterday we've had two convoys that arrived safely from Karem Shalom.
57 trucks arrived at the early hours of the morning to our warehouses.
They arrived intact with all the supplies on them and they are ready for the distribution.
They were carrying wheat flour.
That's the priority for us right now.
It's wheat flour and nutrition supplies since the ceasefire and that's went since the ceasefire went to into effect on the 11th of October.
We had 200 around like 230 in the vicinity of this number of trucks that has carried around 2800 tonnes of food supplies crossed into Gaza.
This number is as of 15th of October and they don't include the numbers from yesterday because we have to tally the numbers by midday the following day.
So with the daily average of around hundred, 560 tonnes of food every day, we're still below what we need, but we're getting there.
I think if we look operationally, we've had, you know, some progress.
5, we have right now 5 distribution points up and running, food distribution points closer to people, close to where they are open to vulnerable women, for children.
And our goal is to expand to 145 distribution points across all of Gaza.
That's basically from 5:00 to 1:45.
That's the scale we're aiming for, but of course that scale depends on one thing, which is trucks continuing to roll in consistently and communities need to continue to see that food is coming and that it will keep coming.
That means that we have to work closely with the local partner with the communities and above all, maintaining the ceasefire distributions have started with ready to eat food Russians.
These are critical for families who don't have access to cooking facilities.
We're also started food distributions, food parcel distributions at few sites this the the food parcel include the staple commodities like rice, lentils, beans and fortified, you know, oil.
All of the shelf stable items that can make a real difference for start for families who are going back, you know, to home mostly to rubble.
The top priority for WFP is bakeries.
I think as of 15 October we have nine bakeries up and running producing over 100,000 bread bundles.
That's two kilogrammes per bundle everyday.
We're working on scaling up these bakeries to get them to 30 across all of Gaza.
I think each bundle feeds a family of five for a day.
And we, we right now as we speak, it's around half a million people everyday.
Bread is extremely important.
It's, it's the smell of fresh bread in Gaza is more than nourishment.
It's a signal that life is returning.
And it's reassuring, reassuring that, you know, that that that we're scaling up and that we're getting the supplies as as quickly as as they need it.
The nutrition supplies are extremely important as we, you know, are trying to push back on famine, especially for families returning home in the north of Gaza, for people on the move because the needs are so urgent.
We've in the past days, we have also reached pregnant and breastfeeding women and children under 5 with preventive nutrition support.
I don't want to, you know, throw all these numbers at you.
But after the briefing, if you're looking into this, happy to support to, to provide these numbers.
And then in most importantly is that we're starting the distribution of these nutrition supplies in Gaza City.
And this is a critical milestone because it has the highest rates of malnutrition and food insecurity and was classified by the IPC as in, in, in phase five and famine conditions back in the, on the 22nd of August.
We're also moving into digital payments and, and, and getting electronic vouchers.
We're hoping the markets are up and running soon.
And this is very an, an important way to get people also closer to the, to, to food supplies and, and to provide fresh produce to complement what WFP provides, but also to be very close to the, the people that we are aiming to reach who are the most vulnerable.
The aim is that we get to 200,000 people with these electronic payments and that's 10% of the population.
And they are the most at risk.
I think with prices falling after the ceasefire, it's the right moment to scale up our voucher programme and digital payments so families can access these food supplies.
We move now into the operational challenges and I'm not going to take more of your time.
I think the biggest challenge that is, is that we still have two crossings only operational and the northern crossings are yet to be opened, which is limiting the access to the most vulnerable areas.
Roads are blocked and destroyed, which is, you know, a huge limitation to transport.
50% of our warehousing capacity has been lost because of the infrastructure damage and we're still not yet there.
We're in the early days of the ceasefire.
So of course, the amount of or the quantities are are not yet sufficient at the scale that we need.
But as I mentioned, we're in the early days and the WFP logistics machine is in gear.
If the ceasefire continues to hold, we will continue to deliver and get there.
And, and, and all the UN partners and, and, and NGO partners and the groups on the ground, everybody is, you know, on full speed to, if we stay on this path, we can pull communities back from the brink of famine.
I think the, the, the, the last thing that I want to mention is that because of the support that we've had from our donors, we're not starting from scratch.
We're scaling up with speed and purpose.
We've had stocks prepositioned.
We've had, we were prepared for this moment.
We have close to 60,000 tonnes of food supplies prepositions on between Egypt, Jordan and from inside Israel so that we can push quickly using and and taking advantage of the ceasefire.
We, we continue to hope for this donor support throughout the crisis.
That was immensely important.
Lots of information packed in there, that very thoughtful briefing, lots of numbers.
If you could share those, those notes that would be most helpful.
Colleagues, we're just going to shift before we take your questions.
We're going to now address the situation of women and girls in Gaza with Sophia of UN Women over to you.
Thank you very much, Rolando.
And as UN women in Gaza and across the world, we are in daily contact with women and girls whose voices must be heard.
And I would like to start today's briefing with one of those voices.
And I quote, we hope the ceasefire lasts.
We can't say we're fully at peace, but we hope they don't go back on the words this time.
We really can't bear it anymore.
These are the words of a 20 year old woman, a university student in Gaza, and her words echo what we have heard from so many women and girls across Gaza since the ceasefire began.
It is a mix of fragile hope, deep exhaustion and quiet strength.
They see this ceasefire as a moment of hope, hard won, fragile and long overdue.
And so do we as UN women, as humanitarians and as international community that now must make sure that this hope becomes a reality.
And over the past week we have seen the first times of progress.
We have heard from WFP that some food, medicine and water is now entering into Gaza.
And for many women and girls, for the first time in months, they can hope to seek care, to receive aid and sleep without the sound of air strikes.
But hope, as we know on its own, it is not enough.
The ceasefire may have paused the fighting, but it has not ended the crisis.
For two years, women and girls in Gaza were killed at the rate of roughly 2 every hour, 2 every hour.
This number only defines the scale of this war and it will haunt our collective conscience for generations.
And today, the needs of women and girls in Gaza remain at an all time high.
Over 1,000,000 women and girls require food aid and nearly a quarter million need urgent nutrition support.
This ceasefire, it is our window to deliver, to deliver fast and to stop famine.
Weight has began and prevented weight looms.
Most women in Gaza, they have been replaced at least four times during the war and this ceasefire is the first chance for them to stop running, to find safety and to rebuild.
But as we know, winter is coming and too many still have no shelter.
In Gaza today, one in seven families is now led by a woman, and they need aid that reaches them directly so that they can feed their children, access healthcare, rebuild livelihoods and restore some stability after losing everything.
But those numbers, they are not just statistics.
They are stark reminders that there will be no recovery without the women and girls who have kept Gaza alive through famine, fear and flight.
Women and girls, they must be the architects of Gaza's recovery.
In every crisis, women have shown that when they are given the means, they turn survival into recovery and they turn despair into rebuilding.
And Gaza today is no exception.
Every day during this war, women LED organisations, small businesses, health workers, teachers.
They have been working against impossible odds, holding families and communities together while the world were negotiating their future.
And for us, as you and women today, our mission it is crystal clear.
It is to ensure that this ceasefire translates into safety, recovery and rights for women and girls, placing them at the centre of every humanitarian and reconstruction efforts.
And this task is of course, immense.
But this moment demands more than simply stopping a war.
It demands that we start again and that we start differently.
As UN Women, we are coordinating closely with our UN partners and others to ensure that every clinic and every food parcel reaches women and girls safely and that they meet their real needs.
And for more than a decade, we as UN Women have been working in Gaza with women LED and women rights organisations.
Many of them never stopped.
Even in the darkest days, they kept providing care, protection and hope.
Every woman who rebuilds a bakery, a clinic or a classroom is rebuilding peace.
And every dollar invested in women LED aid, it is a down payment on hope.
The data is very clear on this.
When we invest in women, every dollar generates an $8 return for those communities.
Because it's not just about getting aid in and who it reaches, it is about how we deliver it.
If we do not put the needs of women and girls at the centre, and if we do not include women organisations in the response, in the recovery and in the work of rebuilding, the women will be excluded from the future of Gaza altogether.
So as UN Women, we are now working side by side with the rest of our UN partners on the ground, fully mobilised to scale up life living assistance.
All parties must uphold the ceasefire agreement fully and without delay, and Member States must step up funding now.
Because we are not true about hope, we must act on it.
And if we are true about peace, we must restore it through women.
And if we are true about our shared humanity, we must do it now, not when the headlines fade, but while hope still flickers in the eyes of women and girls in Gaza.
Thank you very much, Thank you, Sophia.
Another incredibly important briefing.
And colleagues, just to echo, of course, the UN stands ready and has been doing everything it can to rebuild these shattered communities which have experienced some unspeakable horror.
So thank you both very much for those briefings will turn out to you colleagues for questions And yes, from AFP and then Olivia afterwards.
This is a question for WFP.
You, you mentioned the the famine.
So in Augusta it was declared by the the group of expert and by by the UN.
What can you tell us now that you are more present in Gaza?
What can you tell us about the situation you are seeing with the people on the ground about this famine?
What do you see now and on the situation also of of water and then sorry if I May 2nd question about the trucks who are who are entering.
So you gave the figure for WFP, but either a global figure for all the the UN agencies about the number of trucks entering.
I think Yan's is listening online so maybe he knows that.
So on your first question on the situation on the ground, our team has always been there.
We, we have been there throughout the crisis in terms of, you know, the famine situation, it's always that when food supplies become available, there is, there will be an improvement in the food security.
But until the teams on the ground are able to do the assessments and the, you know, the, the, the, it's a very, the, the IPC is a very technical process and will not be able to, you know, reflect on the numbers on the, or on, on, you know, the progress until these numbers are actually in place and the assessments have happened.
But for now, the good news is that we're reaching the people most impacted by the severe malnutrition with the nutrition supplies, not at the level that we, we want, but it's the early days of the ceasefire.
And we need to push harder because that is going to be the true measure of how we, we need to move fast and quickly.
Because these, I mean, these children, pregnant and, and nursing mothers have been in, in, in a severe, you know, lack of food security for many months.
It's going to take some time to get to scale back the famine, but at least we're getting there and we're getting quickly the the the scaling up, getting the nutrition applies is the top priority for WFP bakeries and nutrition products are extremely important and they are the top priority as we speak.
Thank you very much, Abir.
And I see that Yance has flipped his camera on.
So let's turn to Yance, maybe to compliment the issue of trucks, perhaps.
Thank you very much, Rolando, and good morning, everyone.
And it's good to see your idea on the podium there.
Let me give you the numbers that I do have and I'm going to read them out to you, but I kindly ask you to be specific with the with the sourcing, how we source this.
So these numbers that I'm giving you are according to Co gap figures presented to the mediators and the numbers reflect trucks sent through the commercial sector, bilateral donations and our own UN coordinated system combined.
So the numbers for this week is on Wednesday, a total of 6 Hun sorry.
On Wednesday, a total of 716 trucks crossed into Gaza and that includes 16 fuel and gas trucks.
Most of those were through Karen Shalom as we've heard 623 and the second opening as we heard is Kisufim where we had 93 trucks passing on Thursday.
So yesterday total crossed 950 and that include eight fuel trucks and three gas trucks and through Kiranchelo 807 and through Kisufim 143.
Approximately 1/3 of these trucks are through the UN coordinated mechanisms.
The exact tracking of this is done by the UN 2720 mechanism as you know and they do have a website where they track this but there is a time delay, a time lag before those numbers are verified and posted.
But that would be the go to page to look for these numbers in the future.
Thank you very much for those updates, Jens.
I'll go back to and yes, I think you had a follow up maybe and then for clarification and then we'll go to you.
And yes, yes, if you could explain why it's going to take some time to to have more trucks inside and to have more distribution centres.
You mentioned you want you are at 5 and you want to go to 145.
I think why it's going to take time, is it because of logistic reasons of security reasons of others?
Maybe we'll turn to you first, then Abir could add.
I think this is an operational question for, for for WFP to, to to answer.
I think mainly that the conditions inside Gaza are extremely difficult.
The, as I mentioned, the, the road access, the warehousing capacity, the, the, the fact that the community is actually on the move and people are returning homes, getting the food supplies that we need at scale.
We consider this a breakthrough, but we're not yet at the level of around 80 to 100 trucks a day.
We, we, we think that, that just, you know, from, from the security situation itself, it's of course, it's like, you know, it's not, not nothing is back to normal.
Nothing will ever go back to normal in, in you know, few days.
So this is where we and, and also all the border crossing points.
As I mentioned, we need to have the five open so that we can flood Gaza with food supplies to be able to put together these distribution points quickly and to get people, you know, back to the systems that we used to have before the intensification of the fighting in Gaza.
Thank you very much for this briefing.
If I may, my first question is actually across the board for everybody listening.
So The Who, UNICEF, Yents Well Food programme and also UN women just particularly keen to get a sense of what is happening in Gaza City in the north.
You mentioned two key crossings still closed.
You're mentioning 560 tonnes daily get getting into Gaza, but how much of that aid is actually getting up to the north where famine has been declared?
And if you could just state their reasons as to why perhaps you are facing challenges getting the aid southwards N northwards, that would be very helpful, both on the food front, but also tatic in terms of medical supplies.
And also Sophia, you're mentioning started started with a very compelling case study at the beginning of your speech.
Would be keen as well to get any assessment that you've heard from people returning to Gaza City or who are still there and what conditions women are currently facing when it comes to trying to seek support.
Yes, If I may, a question for you, what conversations are you having with Israeli authorities about reopening errors and Zakim?
And could you explain why these crossings are still currently closed?
And also perhaps a words from you and Tarek about what difference the opening of Rafa, which is slated to happen on Sunday, although I appreciate it, it is a fluid situation, what difference that could have on the the movement of people, particularly in terms of medical evacuations.
I'll start there, but I'd probably have a couple of follow-ups.
If I my memory is right, I think we'll start with you Abir, then we'll go to Tarek.
I think Tarek is online and we have questions for you as well, Sophia.
But Abir, First off, we haven't started any distributions in Gaza City, only the nutrition supplies that I mentioned and in small quantities.
Still access to Gaza City and to the north of Gaza in general is extremely challenging.
We don't have the border crossing points to get into Gaza and and so far to Gaza City.
And so far what's happening is that it has to happen S to north rather than having these crossings getting quickly into the north.
You know, the challenges of, you know, again, logistics and the movement of convoys from the South all the way to the north is, is one of the biggest challenges and, and struggles.
But also, you know, the, the security situation itself with the movement of people, it's, it's still a challenge.
So we haven't had other than the nutrition products, which, you know, if you look at it, it's a small truckload you can put on a small truck, a lot of nutrition supplies.
If you are to bring, you know, wheat flour, ready to eat food parcels, it will need big convoys to get into Gaza City.
So the challenges of reaching the north of Gaza is still there except for these limited quantities.
OK, I'm going to throw to Tarek who has his camera on Tarek of WHO.
Thank you very much, Rolando.
Yeah, I don't know if you have seen the the post Doctor Tadros issued yesterday basically explaining what we are really trying to do.
And as I said that last time we spoke on Tuesday, we need to work on different health priorities.
One of them is to get as many supplies as possible to to to hospitals.
And this is for example what happened where we delivered 3 tracks of surgical and essential medical supplies to the central pharmacy in Gaza from our from our warehouse in Dagal Bala and, and, and this will then be distributed to a functional functioning health centres.
We also deployed international emergency medical team to boost the orthopaedic surgery and trauma care and setting up new operating theatres in Al Shifa Hospital.
And these theatres will will try to to to provide a surgical care to those who need and there will be additional 120 more inpatient beds.
So I can, I can send you this information also if, if you need, when it comes really to opening, I said it last time and we've been saying we need all the all the possible routes to be open.
We need to reconnect Gaza and these referral pathways of patients to, to Jordan, to East Jerusalem, to Egypt.
And we need more countries to, to, to take patients.
So, so and just in general, like everyone has said, the opening of any crossing is a is a good news and it will help help move in goods, but also may help in our case medical applications.
Maybe I'll just go turn quickly to Jens before going to Sophia.
Maybe more on the crossings if you have anything to add.
But really that's just to to to your question.
So they're closed because the Israeli authorities have not opened them.
The second one is, as we've heard with other crossings there, there may be a need for substantial Rd repairs and decontamination of unexploded ordnance before those roads can be used.
But the first thing is the first stop is if you like that the Israelis open them.
It is very important to have these openings in the north as we've heard, as you mentioned yourself, that is where the famine took hold and is still in effect.
If if you like in in some of these areas.
So to turn the tide on this famine which we are doing with the scale up that we are seeing now we are on the way to to do that.
It is very important to get these openings functional so we can get all the you know, hundreds, 10s of thousands of tonnes of aid that is pre positioned around to get that into.
And now over to Sophia on the assessment.
Yes, I mean we are intensively in an assessment phase together with our partners, of course within the UN system that we heard, but also with the women organisations on, on the ground that we are in constant touch with.
And and what we hear, I mean we hear two things.
One is cautious optimism about the ceasefire and that it will hold, but also, you know, overwhelming needs.
And of course, it's food, it's water, it's medicine, but it's also very much protection care.
I mean, basically everything that women need to rebuild their lives.
So we'll come back shortly with with our photo assessments and also plans forward.
Love you and sorry, just one quick follow up and thank you everybody for your for your answers.
Just a question to Jensen and Tarek on entry from the from the South.
I had heard one report of dual use items still being an issue, particularly when it comes to medical supplies.
Consciousness is in the context of the so-called unimpeded flow of aid into Gaza.
Just wondering if you're hearing that and that's continuing to be an issue too and what items that is proving an issue for you want to start maybe Yen's and then Tarek that order.
Yeah, I'll be very brief.
It's not something that I have details on at the moment.
Tarek, any update from you on that point?
I would need really to check if if we have anything on that.
So I'll come back to you.
Yeah, I mean, I appreciate colleagues, a lot of lots of interest in these, these, these details and we'll, we'll furnish those to you as soon as we get them.
Thanks very much for your patience and and understanding.
And yes, before I think, let me just be fair and go to John who's been raising his hand in the back and then I'll go back to you on yes, if that's OK.
I was wondering if the representative from World Food Programme could give us more details.
Have you been able to get deliveries to the therapeutic food centres?
I think there's only four operating at the moment for malnourished children with severe acute malnutrition.
And I've got a question for Yens.
Mr Fletcher mentioned that Archer, you have a 60 day plan, when is he planning to release that plan?
Is it in the next few days or at the conference in Cairo in in November on the reconstruction?
On the therapeutic centres, I think WHOWHO and UNICEF are in a better position to respond to that.
We we're providing mainly nutrition supplies to moderately acute malnourished children as and preventive methods.
So I think probably the colleague from WHO can help with that.
I just want to also mention one thing that we're issuing an operational update this afternoon which have a lot of the numbers that I have referenced and some of the, you know, detailed information on the operations and the development on the ground in the last few days.
Thank you, Abir and Tarek, if you have anything more on the malnutrition centres or on that front, please do just raise your hand.
I, I will send the details that that I have about this plan.
I don't have it in in front of me.
And then Tarek, maybe if you want to jump in on the previous point, My understanding John is that there are 4/4 stabilisation centres that are that are functional right now for cases of severe and acute malnutrition.
OK, No thanks very much again, colleagues, thanks.
We will provide as many details as we can once we have them.
So thank you very much for the interest as well.
OK, who had their hand up?
Some of my colleagues were telling me that seems that sitters were also impeding the the access for the trucks around the the roads going to to Karem Shalom.
So have you also heard about that or seen that?
If you have any information on that?
I think yesterday we considered that it was a good day.
You know, it was the first day since the since the ceasefire went into effect that we had 57 trucks going all the way to the warehouses, not just crossing but also moving inside Gaza, which is an important, a very important element for us.
So haven't heard yet that we're, as I mentioned, we're not yet at the scale where we would want to be, but at least we had some positive movement and food supplies going into our warehouses.
Thank you again for that.
Let's go to Musa from Almayadin, who's been waiting in the background.
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Let me let me get back to you on this Musa for so I need some guidance on this before I can respond to you.
But indeed we'll we'll take a very well note of this On your first question on the reconstruction of the hospitals, maybe I'll go to Tarek who may have something to talk about the timeline for that.
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Thank you very much, Tarek.
OK, colleagues, we have still a number of hands up online.
So I now turn to before I get to you, John, if you wouldn't mind holding just a minute because of colleagues been waiting Satoko of Yomiri.
Thank you very much for doing this.
I have a question to Jans on the 8 tracks.
You said that about 1/3 of those tracks are through UN coordinated mechanism.
Then could you tell us where the remaining 2/3 of the trucks will go through what mechanism?
So these are these are trucks that are sending bilaterally by bilateral donors and it is.
The commercial sector also sending in, which makes up for the remaining 2/3 using the same crossings, using the same crossings.
Let's take the questions online and I'll get back to you, John, momentarily.
Isabel of Spanish news agency FA Isabel, yes, good morning.
I just for WS3, I would like to know where are these five distribution centres that you mentioned that are running, running these days?
And if you can mention how, how many are the beneficiaries exactly people that are getting food vital supplies now in in Gaza today, for example?
Yeah, I don't have the exact location of the five distribution centres, but they are mainly in the South of Gaza, so Kanyunis der El Balach, so, but I can get you the exact locations if you're looking for that.
In terms of the number of people who have received food assistance up till now, I probably need to dig into this number if I have not mentioned it, but it will be also in our operational update this afternoon.
So let me get back to you with these numbers.
Thank you for that up here.
And then one further question, online e-mail of the Kuwait News Agency.
I have two questions actually for Tara.
For The Who, it seems that Israel continued its bombardment in Shujaya yesterday.
Do you have any update in on figure on how, how many people have been killed, killed by the Israeli army since the ceasefire?
This is the first question and the second one I don't, I'm not sure that you have the question.
You know that the ICRC manages the the the exchange, let's say of the bodies.
But do do you have any information about the condition of the 45 unidentified bodies of of the Palestinian that Israel handed over yesterday?
In which condition they they was in which condition they were this after the after the handover from the Israeli army.
Unfortunately, I don't have, I don't have information on on any of those two questions.
I don't think that we, we realise, you know, on the figures from the from the Ministry of Health and I haven't seen any on, on, on, on, on, on, on the recent casualties and on the on the bodies.
I think really your best would be to check with the colleagues from ICRC.
I don't have any update on that either, but, and I see that ICS is not connected, but let's maybe reach out to Christian who may be able to provide some comment on that point.
I think this may be the last question, John.
Coming back to the food aid, if you could elaborate a little bit, you mentioned you had some food stocks pre positioned.
We're hearing from Archer Relief leader Mr Fletcher that there's about 193 or now 200,000 tonnes of supplies in the pipeline.
How much of that is food that's been promised from donors to World Food Programme that is in the pipeline and will be going to Gaza and perhaps Yanz or Tariq?
And how much of the supplies is 200,000 tonnes?
If we can break it down, how much is it shelter?
How much is it other equipment?
Just on our, you know what we have prepositioned and ready for immediate deployment into Gaza is around 50,000 S 57,000 metric tonnes 57, Yeah.
And we've deployed some of these stocks stocks already.
So it's when we started on the ceasefire around on the 11th of October, it was 57,000.
It's and, and what the plan is to scale up to reach 1.6 million people inside Gaza over the next three month.
So slowly scaling up until we reach 1.6 million people.
In order to get this to, to get to this number, I think we, I, I will need to get to you exactly how many, how many tonnes do we need?
But also it's where the scale up is not only in the form of these food parcels.
Part of it is going to be on the digital or the electronic vouchers to allow the markets to run again, you know, to, to have to give people access to fresh foods, the bakeries.
So it's, it's going to, it's getting you the exact tonnage, you know, will require that I, I look at, we look with our team on the ground on exactly, you know, what the, the plan for how, how, how much for the bakeries and how much for the food parcel.
So I, I need to get back to you on that.
But I just want to clarify, the 1.6 million people will be reached by multiple ways, that's including the the nutrition products, the bakeries, the food parcels, the digital transfers, all of it combined.
Thank, thank you very much.
Abir, I, I don't believe maybe Tarek, you have a follow up on that.
Go ahead, John, of of this scale up to one point to reach 1.6 million people.
It will be beyond the 57,000 tonnes that you mentioning you have right now.
And my question is, are you getting commitments from donors, your principal donors for instance, like the United States of providing food aid, the EU and others to help you scale up?
What commitments are you getting?
We're hearing that there are positive vibes, but we're not seeing the commitments in writing.
I just had actually support from colleagues who are watching the briefing.
So as I mentioned, 57,000 tonnes prepositioned, but we have to do the scale up.
We need 170,000, which are already in the pipeline.
They are in the corridors to cover three months for 1.6 million people.
Now beyond the three month, we've already had support from donors.
Beyond the three month we need to continue to feed this pipeline to push food supplies to always be, you know have have at least three month stocks on standby so that we can continue the operation.
We've had support from donors, we've had and I and I we're hoping that it continues this way, even though, you know, so it it's if the situation continues to improve, you know that, you know, these emergency operations fade from head the headlines, but we do have the confirmation from donors and and it's the this is a long standing partnership with donors on all emergency operations, not just on Gaza.
We hope it continues to be a priority for them.
And I think that there there are conversations and discussions happening as we speak.
That's very clear, I believe.
And again, colleagues, I appreciate the interesting details.
We'll share those with you as soon as we get.
I think on this note, I will relieve our colleagues and thank you very much again, Abir, please do come back and join us here.
Sophia, as always, thank you so much.
And of course, Tarek and Jans, we're nearly done.
I just have a couple of quick announcements and then we'll wrap up.
And she saw this statement we shared with you last night on behalf of the Secretary General concerning Madagascar on the situation.
It is rather worrying situation as she condemns the unconstitutional change of government in the country Madagascar and calls for the return of constitutional order and the rule of law.
So there's more details in the statement that we shared with you last night.
And just last note, no, no meetings here of the human rights bodies.
We do have lots of meetings coming up next week, as you well know from the announcements we just heard from WMO and Akhtad on those.
We do have an observance today, International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, very important day, 17th of October.
The SG message was shared with you in multiple languages.
He starts off to say that too often people living in poverty are blamed, stigmatised and pushed into the shadows.
So this is an important, important reminder to do more than the SG and the UN has been doing more to address this scourge around the globe.
So I think that is it, unless you have questions for for me, I don't see that's the case.
So I wish you a nice afternoon, nice weekend and see you here on Tuesday.
