Welcome to this information briefing of the UN in Geneva.
Today is Tuesday 4th of November and I would like to start immediately by welcoming our colleagues who are connecting for the World Food Programme from the Middle East.
So we have with us Abir Etifa, that you know, well, I'm a senior spokesperson for the World Food Programme for the Middle East, North Africa and Eastern Europe from Cairo.
And we also have Nour Hamad, communication officer for the World Food Programme country Office in Gaza.
And Abir and Nour are going to tell us, update us on the food assistance operation in Gaza.
Well, thank you so much for having me one more time.
So we have some operational progress in the, on the ground that we would like to update you on.
At the moment, we and, and basically 3 1/2 weeks into the ceasefire, uh, in Gaza, we have distributed uh, food parcels to around 1,000,000 people across the Gaza Strip.
That's part of the broad operation to push back hunger in um, in, in, in Gaza.
But to continue to expand operations to the level required and the level that we have committed to, we really need more access, more boarding border crossings to be opened and, you know, more access to key roads inside Gaza.
So let me start by the latest updates on WFP operations and, and then we can move into some of the challenges and the food security situation.
Then Nord will come in to give you the, you know, the colour and the eyewitness account to what she's hearing and the families that she's been talking to in Gaza.
So on the operations, again, as I mentioned, 1,000,000 people have been reached across the Gaza Strip with family food parcels.
That's against a target of 1.6 million.
Supplies are still limited, so each family is receiving a reduced food Russian, which is 1 parcel and that's enough food for 10 days.
It was the first round of regular food parcel distributions since April.
Right now we have 44 food distribution points that are active across all of Gaza against a target of 145.
On the provision of daily fresh breads, around 700,000 people are receiving fresh bread on daily basis through 17 WFP supported bakeries, 9 in the South and central Gaza and eight in the north.
So happy to report progress that we started the bakeries also in the north.
The goal is to get 25 bakeries up and running on the digital cash payments to the most vulnerable families so that people can come, come can complement the food basket with fresh food.
We had 200,000 people now receiving the digital payments, digital vouchers enabling them to get food and essential goods, goods from local markets.
This is 100% of the monthly targets.
So on that front, I think people are moving ahead and getting their needs from local produce.
Pregnant and nursing mothers, 150 thousand women and children as well as children under 5 have received vital nutrition supplements in October and that's almost half of WFP's targets.
We continue to lead on the logistics support for the broader humanitarian system, helping to provide emergency telecom and coordination for food security for maximum reach.
Now on the operational challenges, we still have only two border crossing points that are operational.
This severely limits the quantity of aids that WFP and other agencies are able to bring in to stabilise the markets and to address people's needs.
Getting food into the north remains difficult or a major obstacle is the continued closure of the northern crossings into the Gaza Strip.
Aid convoys are obliged to follow a slow, difficult route from the South.
So, you know, rather than coming directly from these northern border crossing points, we have to drive all the way from the South and going through difficult territories and and damaged roads and infrastructure to be able to access the north and across the rest of Gaza.
The quantity of food arriving is still insufficient.
In 3 1/2 weeks since the ceasefire, WFP has brought 20,000 metric tonnes of food assistance.
That's roughly half what we need to be able to meet the food needs of the people in Gaza.
To deliver at scale, WFP needs all crossings to be open, especially those in the north.
Full access to key roads across Gaza is also critical to allow food to be transported quickly and efficiently to where it is needed.
Damage to the infrastructure during the this conflict has also severely impacted our ability to do warehousing, storage capacity and we have 50% of our capacity for storage and warehousing completely destroyed.
On the food security in Gaza, after two years of war and a two-month of blockade and months of insufficient food supply, we're still families are still struggling to put food on the table.
In October, hundreds of thousands of people have returned to northern Gaza, many of them to homes that are in ruins.
The access to food is severely limited.
Their access to food is severely limited.
Most displaced households remain in the South, often living in pens and without access to food and services.
So by mid-october food consumption has showed slight improvement because of the humanitarian aid and the commercial trucks that are going through, but it still remains way below the pre conflict levels.
I think the majority of households that we've spoken to are only consuming cereals, pulses, dry food rations which people cannot survive on for a long time.
Meat, eggs, vegetables, fruits are being consumed extremely rarely.
So there are you know relative improvement or drop in the prices of most food items with the ceasefire announcement compared to September and the first week of October.
But more price decreases were expected.
However, it still remains higher than February of 2025 and the pre conflict levels.
So I think the anticipation of food inflows when the ceasefire was announced drove the food prices down.
But liquidity and the constraints, you know, the, the, the inability of people to earn income and to have money, it's really making food inaccessible to a lot of these families.
So that's basically the operation that we are in right now.
Today in Gaza, we will have a news release, operational update that will come out shortly within the next hour.
And with this, there is a link to a video news release with most recent footage that we have our teams have managed to acquire from in Gaza.
I'll, I think I'll hand it over to Noor to give you, you know, eyewitness account from the ground and then you know, we can open it for questions.
You're calling in from Gaza, as I said, so please go ahead.
Thank you, everyone, and good morning.
I'm speaking to you from Gaza, and today I'll be sharing what I see and what the people I meet in Gaza are telling us.
Amid the apocalyptic scenes we see across Gaza, we also witness on people's faces the joy that the guns have fallen silent after all this time, and the fear of whether or not the silence will last.
And the shock, of course, and the destruction that they described to us as the aftermath of an earthquake.
And every distribution point I have been to across the Gaza Strip over the past couple of days, people tell me one thing.
This assistance matters and after months of surviving on vets and cases, racial and food stretching one meal over, these Palestinians finally are receiving fresh bread, food persons, cash transfers and nutrition and support from WFD and other humanitarian partners.
And this is where the journey to recovery starts.
2 days ago in Tan Lunas I met a couple of families.
I met Mazuna who is a mother and a grandmother taking care of her extended family.
She described WFC Food parcel as a gift from God and if this is how people are seeing the basics, this should speak volumes of the level of needs and what they had to endure to put food on the table before the ceasefire took place.
I've also met families who have been the space over 15 times and still even on their 16th move back to the ruins of their homes.
They are worried about food and that's why WFP's food is following people wherever they're going.
And at the moment, we're trying to set up our distribution points, our hot meal kitchens, our nutrition sites, wherever people are heading.
So we are following people across the Gaza Strip and different accessible areas.
We are also making sure that assistance reach people in a very dignified way.
And this is one of the encounters we're hearing from people first hand.
I met a father in Malossi San illness 2 days ago and he was telling me that what matters most is that food is reaching them with dignity and respect after all this time.
I'm also seeing markets, this movie reopening across the Gaza Strip.
And like Habib said, food is slowly coming back to the shelves, but prices are still beyond the reach of families.
They are considering, of course, that they have depleted their resources to survive two years of war.
Today, for example, I buy 1 apple at the coast of a kilo before the war.
So imagine how many folds basic food items have gone and areas that are northern Wadi Gaza, in Telenhalla, for example, in Gaza City and under the debris of their homes, a lot of families are going back to set up their tents.
I met a mother who's also a teacher, Her name is Samia, and she returned to her destroyed home with nothing in hand but hope that humanitarian assistance would come back, would flow again into Gaza City and help her and her family live a decent life.
Tanya told me that she can't afford what's in the market these days.
Although we are seeing more and more food items going back to the shelves, she simply does not have the resources for it and she has exhausted whatever resources she had over the course of 24 months or more.
She, among many people, received cash transfers from WFP and this is enabling her to put a little bit more than just food on the table for her family.
People speak of holding on to every flicker of home when we meet people in the field on missions.
There is hope, but there is a lot of uncertainty and this uncertainty continues to shape their lives.
In Gaza City, for example, assistance is beginning to reach more people as WFP pushes food from the South to the north.
And I've met mothers who are receiving fresh bread from WFP supported bakeries.
I met a mother a couple of days ago who is displaced inside Gaza City, and she told me that even though she's receiving assistance, she is telling her kids not to eat until their home because she's not sure.
She cannot trust that tomorrow will bring food too.
And this uncertainty is unfortunately disturbing people's loves and the course of normalcy in their days.
The home that was born with the ceasefire is very fragile and needs remain immense despite whatever is coming in and, and, and the humanitarian cargo or commercial cargo.
Families invite us into their tents most of the time in the field and their tents are worn out by winter cold and summer heat.
And they want to show us the reality.
And the reality is that people need food, people need shelter, people need warm clothing because when there is around the corner and they need continued support, they need a helping hand.
And this is exactly what the humanitarian community is doing and what WFP is trying to do.
And like Abir mentioned, to scale up and meet these overwhelming needs, more border crossings into the northern areas of the Gaza Strip in particular are urgently needed.
The resilience I see every day shows that amid all the suffering, amid all the challenges, the ceasefire and humanitarian action can do a lot.
The ceasefire opened the way for the humanitarian community to restore dignity, to support health and to help rebuild lives.
And I believe that we all Palestinians a long lasting ceasefire and paving the way for recovery.
Thank you very much, Noor for this additional information from the field.
I'll open the floor to questions now.
Let me see if in the room there is any end up.
I don't see any, so I'll go to the platform.
Thank you very much Abir and Noor for your briefing this morning.
Just just a few questions from me on the, the food situation.
I, I recall Abir, when you last gave a briefing, it seemed like there were some quite positive messages about less restrictions and, and ease getting food aid in.
But from what you outlined really comprehensively there, it does seem like on a number of indicators that the WFP isn't meeting its targets due to this, the issues that you outlined there.
Does it kind of seem accurate from what you're saying that the, that the picture seems to be kind of stalling when it comes to the amount of aid you're able to get in due to these kind of wider the, the, the logistical restrictions?
That's my first question, but also just really keen to get an understanding of what exactly the picture is like in northern Gaza.
I know you said the key crossings are still closed, but maybe you can give a sense of just kind of proportionally how much less getting there.
And also I'm just very conscious that, you know, this area is the famine struck part.
I mean, do you have any sense of whether the conditions there are just getting worse and worse and that quite an alarming scale or is there any early sense of things stabilising there?
And just more broadly, yeah, if you have any kind of broader comment on the actual and malnutrition situation and those kind of specific supplies that you're trying to get in, that would be helpful too.
I don't know if Noor or if I want to start answering Noor, we will take this one there.
So few things on, on the when I first came to Geneva, which is probably 2 weeks ago immediately after the ceasefire, you know, of course we're everything is relative and we were you know, with the first few days of the ceasefire, you know, we, we it was, we have signs that things are improving that we're getting into distribution points, which was like didn't happen for many months or many weeks before.
So if we are to describe the situation now, I think it is, you know it, it is relatively much better than where we are where like you know, few weeks before the ceasefire.
Is it at the scale that we need?
No, we need to get to the 1.6 million people with full Russians.
We need everything to be moving fast with we are in a race again this time, you know, the winter months are coming.
You know, people are are, you know, still suffering from hunger and the needs are overwhelming.
So in terms of, you know, where we are today, it's it's, it's 1.
And This is why we would like to have the access to the and the urgency of opening the northern border crossing points because that will get us fast to the north of Gaza where we know that the food needs are high and the secure and the food security situation is acute.
In terms of your your other question about the situation of food security in the northern, in northern Gaza?
We know that food is slightly going into the markets.
Yes, it's beyond people's reach.
You know WFPI mean as I mentioned, we have the some of the bakeries.
But again it's not up to the level where we would like to see it.
It's the relative, there's relative improvement in the food security situation, in the access of people to food, but it is not to the point that we are, you know, flooding the north of Gaza with food supplies so that all families can have access to it.
We're going to have, I think there are food security assessments that are under way.
So we'll be in a better position to let you know exactly and scientifically how is this going and what's the food security levels are in the areas that we now have access to in the north of Gaza.
I can't remember the third question, but in terms of yeah, it's you asked also about the nutrition situation.
That's also is going to be, you know, we're going to see this more when we have, you know, the assessments that are under way.
And if then when, when, whenever you want to intervene, put on your also put on your hand because I I can't see you or.
So let's go to the second question, my plans debrief.
Yes, thank you very much for taking my question.
Let's stand there and thank you both for all the work you are doing on the ground.
My question is related to the funding situation.
You say 1.6 million people are in dire need of of food, the security and much more, of course.
But what do you see the funding situation panning out to be like?
Is the funding, are the funding levels adequate?
I don't know if if there's a technical problem.
We can't hear you anymore.
On the funding situation, I think the we we do have of course it's it's important to have more funding coming in with before the ceasefire.
We have stocked up to three month worth of food supplies to be able to respond quickly to be able to deploy food assistance into the different parts of Gaza.
So we our supplies will take us for another three months.
But after that, of course, we continue to count on the donors support because we're 100% voluntarily funded and we will continue to need to raise money so that we always have food stocks at least for few months because of the complexity of the situation in Gaza and the fragility of the food security situation.
So, you know, always proactively raising funds, no red flags now in terms of of donor support.
But as I mentioned, we're always appealing and working proactively with donors ahead of time.
Yes, thank you very much.
We have seen the news that the the Israeli military forces still keeps bombing Gaza since the ceasefire took effect.
And my understanding more than 260 Palestinians are already killed.
So could you talk about how the constant violations of ceasefire is affecting your operation on the ground?
And secondly, could you talk about the the difficulty to bring the shelter items into Gaza?
What reasons have the Israeli authorities given for denial?
I want just to take this up Abed, go so on the on the ceasefire, this is a fragile ceasefire.
I mean, it's, it's and, and we've, we kind of suspected this from the early days.
So and we, we continue to see these violations.
We're worried because we would like to, I mean, we, we really want to continue to have access to those people.
We are in a race to save lives and that's important now in terms of the and you know, and and I think it is extremely important for families to continue to see that even with these violations that there is still a commitment to continue with the ceasefire.
Now in terms of the access, I think or the restrictions on certain items so far, food items are getting in.
I understand from other colleagues and I know Jens is on the call and and and and there are other colleagues, but there are definitely limitations on other items before be beyond food and and I think my colleagues will be better in a better position to respond to this.
But from the especially that you will use material food items that we haven't had, you know, major issues in in certain items of food.
Things have been getting in not at the not the quantity that we need, but at least the food items.
We haven't had restrictions over that and not in every place.
As as you said before, yes, you are indeed on the line.
And in case you want to add anything, just raise your hand.
Nick Cummin, Bruce, New York Times.
Hi, Abya, Thanks again for your briefing.
And this is a question for you and and perhaps for Yens.
I just wonder if you can shed any light on what is actually holding up the reopening of Rafa as well as Eras crossing.
And whether you have it's your understanding that this is explicitly linked to progress on the return of of of hostages or, or are there any clear kind of milestones that need to be reached to to allow this to happen?
Maybe afterwards Yance, if you want to also answer Abeer, we we actually haven't been given clear answers on why these Doorden crossing points have been are still closed.
We've given we've been like the last time I briefed in, in this forum two weeks ago, we were told that, you know, in few days they will reopen.
So no clear explanations, no clear, you know, reasons of why it has been reopened.
We haven't, they have not shared with us the conditions and we understood from day one and we advocate that, you know, we need to separate the humanitarian elements of, you know, of, of, of this whole of the negotiations from the political and the requests between the all the parties.
We just need access to everyone who is in need, including people, families, civilians in the north of Gaza.
And that's, that's basically our position on that.
Let me see if there are other hands up on the platform.
I don't see any, any other question in the room for WFBI, don't see any.
So thank you very, very much there.
Noor, please come back regularly as we have discussed to update our journalist.
And Noor, thank you for the work you do in the field and stay safe.
And I now stay in the Middle East.
A few briefing ago, you had asked Christian to talk to you, to get somebody to talk to you about the situation in Syria and the transition gap.
So we have Christian today with Doctor Christina Bethke, who is The Who representative at the interim in Syria.
And I would like to, I don't know, Christian, you want to start and then we go to Christina.
Yeah, Thank you for having me or for having us today.
Just a few words be the notes for Christina were already shared.
So you should they should be available and happy to have Christina Bitka, our acting WTO representative in Syria today with us.
Thank you so much, Christian.
And good morning, colleagues there in Geneva.
And good afternoon from Damascus, where I'm speaking to you at a moment of very fragile hope, but also rising risk.
We're seeing as Syria moves from emergency to recovery that a transition gap has opened where humanitarian funding is declining before national systems have the necessary capacity to take over.
And in the case of health, that gap is measured in missed care, not percentages.
For example, since the mid year, we've seen 417 health facilities affected by funding cuts, with 366 of those actually suspending or reducing services.
And 7.4 million people have already seen their access to medicines and treatment shrink in just two months.
This is meant 210 referrals that could not take place, 122 trauma consultations that did not happen, an estimated 13,700 births that were not attended by a skilled person and 89,000 mental health consultations that people in need could not reach.
Today, only 58% of hospitals and 23% of Primary Health care centres are fully functional and chronic shortages of medicines, power and equipment mean that the services on the ground remain very fragile.
And I must acknowledge, despite the very high level of government ownership that we see in a prioritised 2 year National Strategic Plan for health needs are still rising.
Drought, unsafe water, poor sanitation are all fueling outbreaks of diseases like diarrhoea, leishmaniasis, licenced Gabies, while power shortages are compromising cold chains, water pumping and also the ability of hospitals to operate.
Nearly 3,000,000 returnees are coming back to areas where medicines, staff and infrastructure are limited, and that's adding pressure to a health sector and a health system that is already under immense strain.
You're seeing some immediate flashpoints that I'd like to flag to you.
For example, in the northeast, Hesseka National Hospital, which is the only comprehensive public hospital for more than 300,000 people, faces the end of donor support at the end of December.
And that places ambulances and referral systems also at risk, as well as round the clock primary care, especially in several IDP camps out in that region.
We've also received reports from partners this week that support Elkistra General Hospital, which is located in one of the most challenging districts.
The resort has been suspended and it's forcing most departments to halt their operations.
Today, only dialysis and physiotherapy are continuing and this effects over 700,000 people living in that area.
And I think we all know the funding picture is stark at the moment.
The health sector has received just 20% of its 565,000,000 funding requirement for the year.
Likewise WH OS appeal for 2025 is 141.5 million with a current gap of 77 million as of October.
Unfortunately, without predictable and multi year support to ensure the continuity of these life saving services, the health system could unravel just at this moment when recovery is within reach.
And so today our message is simple, not just for the health sector but also beyond, because many, many other sectors in Syria will tell you a similar story.
There's a need to bridge the transition gap to sustain essential services now so that recovery financing can take hold and to prioritise services in those areas of return so families who are going home will find a functioning clinic rather than a locked door.
Keeping health services alive today is the pathway to Syria's recovery and also stability tomorrow.
Thank you so much and I'm happy to answer any questions.
Thank you very much, Christina.
Let me open the floor to questions first in the room.
If there's no, let me see if there's any question for For Christina 1st and then we'll keep.
Jeremy launch Radio France International.
You you, you're talking a lot about the, the money issue.
I would like to know if it's the only reason why Syria now doesn't have the capacity to treat its people or do see something else, mainly blockades and the yeah, I mean, is it is it only about money or not?
Thank you for the question.
Of course the challenges that we faced in Syria prior to political transition at the end of last year are skilled present in the country.
We still continue to see shortages of healthcare workers, for example, and the conditions to to enable return of those skilled health professionals are still not necessarily in place.
Most people would prefer to come back with their families, for example.
So if you are contemplating a, a return to your your beloved Syria, you'll want to know that there's a school there, that there's shelter there, that you have electricity and connectivity, that you have water, etcetera.
So there's, there are barriers to having sufficient healthcare professionals.
Additionally, supply chain issues do persist, although we are hopeful that the continued move from a lot of different entities to relax sanctions in the country has been an enabler and we are seeing slow but steady return to market activity inside of Syria.
But as of now, obviously certain sanctions do remain in place and are continue to challenge things for example like spare parts, equipment.
But increasingly we are seeing the ability to overcome those logistical and political challenges, but without the necessary resources to actually meaningfully invest, it is difficult to to overcome.
And I think the other thing to remember is we've seen recently last week I believe it was a World Bank report that quoted the the need for the rebuilding of damaged facilities close to 300 million.
Those are the damaged facilities.
But also this is 14 years of crisis and and many decades of chronic underinvestment.
So we also have many health facilities that are are have not been maintained that are out of date, obsolete or in states of disrepair.
So the infrastructure question looms large as well.
And then finally, I would say that Syria, because of the crisis, hasn't had the opportunity yet to benefit from many of modern medical interventions, current protocols.
We have many HealthPartners that are working hard to address those gaps in capacity, but it takes time.
There's no magic which by which you can you can just raise everyone's collective capacity and you of course need those modern equipment and technology in hospitals and primary healthcare centres for healthcare workers to use.
So we are facing a number of challenges, but there's no doubt that having the necessary amount of resources first to keep those essential services running while the country works to rebuild, but also the necessary investments to make systems level changes and systems improvements are, are both needed at the same time.
And that is a tough, a tough sell at a moment where people are very hopeful for Syria's recovery.
But at the same time, we we do see that those humanitarian needs persist in this intervening.
You, you, I think you, you're, you're in Damascus right now.
I've been hearing from people in Damascus that power shortages and and water shortages are actually worse than it was under the the previous regime.
So I'd like to know how does it have an impact on on the health facilities in Damascus itself?
Yes, it's, it's a critical issue for I think most sectors and health is not immune to that.
So with water, obviously it's needed deeply for the operation of health facilities and also critical services like dialysis where you not only need reliable water, but then also we have filtration systems inside of hospitals to ensure clean water for dialysis and other purposes.
So whenever there's not reliable water or power, those are impaired.
Likewise water, sorry power is essential for all health facilities and whether it's critical services like incubators, ventilators, etcetera, but also just the general operations.
So we do see a very heavy reliance on alternative non network shall we say supplies, whether it's heavy dependency on fuel for generators and or delivery of water through water trucking.
And so I don't think that Damascus alone is, is, is, is facing this crisis.
We do see this across the country.
We are also seeing, however, I would say intentional efforts by the Ministry of Energy and others to try to increase the predictability and reliability of electricity services in the country.
That's not my sector, of course, but we have seen announcements over the last week plus of really of the, the Ministry of Energy and others trying to ensure that there is more predictable supply, that there is resource recuperation for those supplies and also that there is potentially development of other energy sources across the country.
But I think this highlights and thank you for your question that it takes time and those investments in the energy sector and then water sector will require significant resources.
And these are, you know, to repair a power station or a water pumping station.
That's not, that's not a small price tag and we see it across, across the board and.
And so yes, obviously the interdependency of those enablers like water and and power are key.
The last point I'll mention is whenever we don't have necessary networked water that is clean and safe, people do rely on other sources.
And in a resource scarce environment where families are trying to make every, every Syrian pounds count, their ability to procure adequate safe water for the, for the necessary household needs is always at risk.
And so people may find themselves utilising unsafe sources of water for household needs or even drinking.
And obviously that presents the risk of outbreaks of disease.
We are supporting at WHO surveillance, of course, together with the Ministry of Health to ensure we detect any issues as soon as possible in terms of outbreaks or alerts.
But it is it is a big job for for the Ministry of Health, but also the other ministries which support the enabling factors.
Thank you very much, Christian.
I wonder, do I understand that, that there's a lack of donor money?
And if that is the case, what do donors tell you why they are reluctant to step forwards?
Does this have to do with the lack of confidence in a government that might or might not be able to pull it all together?
There are problems in the in the Kurdish regions, there are problems with Islamic State.
We've had all the other problems in the country.
This is what diplomats are saying.
It's very difficult to invest and to give money if maybe this is going to all fall apart in no time.
And what would you respond to that?
Thank you for your question.
So I think we have different kinds of donors, of course, interested in Syria right now.
We have the traditional humanitarian donors who have stood, stood beside Syria through some of its toughest moments.
And I really want to acknowledge first of all, that that humanitarian support has made it possible to sustain health services in one of the most difficult and protracted crises.
Those humanitarian donors are, of course, facing the overall global contraction of those humanitarian resources.
But also, I think an increasing question from their headquarters, their government saying is Syria, isn't Syria moving out of its humanitarian space into early recovery and development?
And do we really have the same level of need as we used to?
So I think everyone is facing that question of priority of what phases Syria and what's the right funding instruments to apply in this moment.
So that's on the humanitarian side from other donor sources, as you mentioned, there's I think a number of questions and I do think we tend to act collectively.
And so there's really I think a need for for collective risk sharing amongst the donors.
I think people are willing to make smaller investments in early recovery and and development.
But as of yet there hasn't been sort of a, a big collective decision that's that perhaps the things are ready to be invested in the country.
But I will make note of a couple things.
There is already a World Bank investment, investment in electricity repair and we're starting to see a number of conversations between the Syrian government and IF is globally.
And I think slowly but surely we will start to see that confidence build.
The reluctance from each individual member state I wouldn't necessarily want to comment on, but collectively I think there's a number of concerns about not just can the government pull it together politically, but also, and I, I don't think I'm overstepping to say that at the moment the government itself is, is building its own capacity for, for actual governance itself.
So we just saw, for example, a tender launched for millions of barrels of fuel, which is actually encouraging to see the government launching its own tender for a very large purchase.
But it's understandable that member states will want to be sure, and other instruments will want to be sure, that the ability to manage those resources, to be firm custodians of those sources is also in place.
And I think there are some sincere efforts to get there.
But as I said, there's no magic switch.
So beyond the political concerns that you mentioned, there's also I think capacity gaps that many are trying very hard to help to, to bridge.
And I will say also that just having seen in the health sector specifically, there is a very encouraging level of dialogue happening at least between the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Finance around budget planning, etcetera.
So I do see at least within my own sector, a welcome change from from the past to see different ministries, line ministries talking amongst each other and really trying to support one another in the process of governance.
And so there are very encouraging directions, but obviously it it, it is not an instantaneous process.
Emma, you have something on this Sudan will take afterwards, Yes.
Or maybe for UNHCR, since I I see they're online, the genius there.
You alluded to this being a consideration for families returning to Syria.
I'm wondering if you think that this gap that you've described will be an important factor in in determining whether they come home or not.
Could it be a deterrent for the many millions still living overseas?
And maybe UNHCR who will have spoken to some of those Syrians thinking about this might also have some thoughts.
It's wonderful to have you on HDR with us.
So I will only speak briefly and happy to turn over the floor to them just to say that I think the essential basic services are always an enabler of return.
And the UN here in Syria has a long standing approach, an area based recovery approach to try to Co invest across multiple sectors so that it's not health alone that will be the difference maker.
Of course, it's it's the array of basic services, education, shelter, etcetera.
And I think you and each year probably can speak even more expansively about this, but certainly the ability of families to receive the essential services like healthcare will be an enabler.
Eugene, thank you so much for your question.
So as our colleague W2 just mentioned that of course that because of decades of a displacement that the Syrian refugee suffer and then also destruction level inside of Syria, that of course that a lot of Syrian refugee want to wait and see as well.
They want to weigh that to the basic services inside of Syria available including education and health system as well as the normal life that the the normal life they enjoyed before.
So we really have to understand and then we have we have put emphasise and our High Commissioner also repeatedly advocate that a lot of country who is hosting Syria refugee also has to still protect them until the Syria refugee have the basic services they need inside of country.
And then we are calling again and again an international community, not just to protecting your refugee while in their asylum and also that the the rebuild their life inside of Syria so that they can return and then their return can be sustainable.
So thanks to the colleagues and Christine.
Christine in particular for this briefing on the situation in Syria.
Christian, I'm looking at you, if you don't mind to wait.
And then I think Emma has a question for you on Sudan, and I think other colleagues can also speak about Sudan.
So Christian, is that OK with you?
Again, thank you, Christina, for this briefing.
And let me now go to another region of the world, Afghanistan.
As you know, unfortunately in another earthquake has hiten this country at this time it was a 6.3 magnitude earthquake that it near Mazar E Sharif in the Valk province in the country's north.
The initial reports, well, the the amount that I have I think has been already changed.
And we will hear now from our colleagues that Tommaso has brought us Mr Hosam Faisal with the IFRC head of delegation for Afghanistan, who's reaching out from Kabul.
And I would like to welcome him.
Just before giving you the floor, Sir, or to Tommaso.
No, I got this straight to you.
I just wanted to read this statement about our work in Afghanistan.
The UN is working with local and national disaster management authorities to assess the situation and coordinate the delivery of humanitarian assistance.
Even prior to this earthquake, as you very well know, people in the region were already experiencing draft and limited basic services.
Following the return of over 2 million people to Afghanistan this year, as well as chronic poverty, the UN continues to call for support to address humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan.
Our appeal remains severely underfunded with just over a third of the 2.4 billion Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan funded, leaving a gap of more than one point, 1.5 billion.
And now let me go to IFRC for their update on the situation.
Mr Faisal, you have the floor.
Good morning and thank you for the opportunity to speak to you today.
As briefly mentioned on the earthquake situation, 6.3 magnitude earthquake hits the northern region of Afghanistan and the epicentre was near Kollam and Hazarat Sultan districts in Albal Province, which is just 28 kilometres southeast of Mazar Sharif.
The impact has been devastating for local communities in those areas.
And within that, the recent updates we got in terms of figures through our colleagues from the Avogadro Crescent Society, we are talking about 24 fatalities and almost 960 people injured and almost 2000 houses were destroyed either fully or partially.
And we are talking about the beginning of the winter season.
Families has been displaced looking for open spaces to spend the rest of the night when the earthquake happened.
Those families are in urgent need for humanitarian assistance.
And of course, the numbers are are likely to to to continue raising.
We are dispatching already our assessment teams on the ground and we are looking to get more updates soon from them.
Of course, the challenges are immense in that context.
Search and rescue operations are Hanford by difficult terrain and difficulties to access those areas due to the poor road conditions and other infrastructure challenges.
And winter is already contributing to the complexity of the situation and approaching very fast in those areas, noting, of course, the temperatures are already dropping, making it critical to provide shelter, warm clothing and also healing solutions and heating solutions immediately to those people affected without urgent, without sorry any delay.
The risks of health and other respiratory diseases are high because of the situation in those areas and other 100 Crescent Society teams.
More than 50 colleagues were on the ground from the first hour of the earthquake, providing vital humanitarian services from search and rescue, first aid, shelter support, medical support and distributing essential food and non food items.
The FRC has been already contributing to this ongoing operation through the provision of non food items and other items, enough for 500 households.
We are scaling up our response to support with additional items as we speak.
As we speak to you now, we have trucks next to our building being loaded with additional NFIS non food items.
We'll be heading to the affected region.
As you know, Afghanistan is already facing multiple humanitarian crises.
The recent earthquake, the number of the increasing number of return of Afghan to Afghanistan, the climate change impact among other humanitarian crises and situation in the country.
We mentioned, of course, the food insecurity among other challenges.
And yet we must continue delivering and supporting those people in need.
Our next steps, as I mentioned, include scaling up delivery of temporary shelters, winter kits, clean water and sanitation services, hot meals and cash assistance to help the people finding alternative housing solutions until the recovery support arrives.
These are life saving interventions and they cannot wait.
To the people of Afghanistan, we stand with you, we grieve with you, and we will continue to walk beside you and this recovery and resilience journey.
To our partners and the international community, your support is more critical than ever.
Together, we must ensure that no one is left behind in this complex situation.
Thank you very much, Hossam, for this, for this update.
Let me see if there are questions for you in Afghanistan.
Thank you for this update.
Are you still in the process of getting people out from under the rubble?
And do you have any idea of how many are are missing or thought to be maybe there?
And last time there was an earthquake, which was, sadly, very recently, aid agencies complained about restrictions on their ability to work imposed by the Taliban, especially on female aid workers.
I was wondering if that is proving to be a challenge this time.
Thank you very much, Emma.
I'll give the floor to Hossam and then also to Christian, who has a little bit of further information in Afghanistan.
Hossam, of course, to put things into perspective, yesterday afternoon the number of fatalities was 20.
This morning we got the update of 24.
So that gives the indication that still people being looked at and looked after into those efficate areas, the road conditions as I mentioned, handling the response operation.
So we expect the number 20 years, We hope not, but this is the reality on the ground.
In terms of female humanitarian workers, we have our operations colleague, she's a female and she's on the ground and was doing assessment and accompanying the teams.
In terms of access, we have additional teams dispatched yesterday and also this morning.
So access, we hope that it will continue improving.
Of course, the situation we need to keep in mind and predictable what could happen and what kind of changes can come at the last step.
Maybe just on the issue of the female workers, what I can also add is that the UN are talking to the authorities to the factor authorities to make sure that women can participate.
The the discussions are ongoing with them regarding the engagement of humanitarians were critical to the earthquake response.
Indeed, the de facto authority placed the restrictions.
And we have been saying repeatedly that this is unfair and it's damaging our humanitarian work.
Yeah, thank you and thank you to a colleague from FC here in just a few points to add from WHL side as you just heard the updated figures this morning, at least 23 deaths and over 860 injuries.
The 860 are still from yesterday evening.
So that definitely might be more by now have been reported across these the affected areas and Samangan and bulk being the most impacted over 400 patients have received in private hospitals for quake related injuries.
And of course in the we have to always think the first days are always emergency relief and our immediate search and rescue operations and the immediate injuries are the trauma and the crush injuries.
That's the first days typically after an earthquake.
But we do have to focus also on the mid and long term effects on the destruction of facilities of other medical facilities of medical aid of any, any diabetes and whatever else.
So first the crush and trauma injuries, rescue efforts and then other operations to follow.
Partial damage has been reported to in several health facilities including the Bygali Primary Health Centre which is a double HL supported one.
In Samangan, the Samangan Provincial Hospitals laboratory has collapsed, which of course makes it difficult to any any further testing, destroying critical medical equipment there, in addition to the Higher town private Primary Health care centre in the Park Province, which is also supported by the health and emergency response.
So the the emerging responses are ongoing and that's to your question.
With health teams, rescue units and communitarian partners mobilised to provide life saving medical care and supplies.
W and partners are coordinating closely with the local health authorities to support the assessment employed the emergency supplies and ensure continuity of care.
Maybe some of the immediate response.
Critical medical supplies were dispatched already in the first hours to strengthen the emergency and trauma capacity.
This included four trauma and emergency surgery kits.
That is enough to treat around 200 trauma patients and one.
In the agency emergency health kit with this is enough to treat 10,000 people for a period of three months.
These supplies were distributed strategically across these key health facilities in bulk in coal and then Samargam.
Thank you very much, Christian.
Anya Spito from AFPA question to IFRC on Afghanistan.
How do you explain that the the, the toll is so far much down than lower than than the one the earlier one which did more than 2000 killed more than 2000 people, even if the one of which was in September was higher in, in in force.
So is it because the region is different?
The the geography is different because there is less people in the region?
How could you explain those two differences?
So the magnitude of the earthquake itself is different.
Also the density of the population in those areas is different as well.
So this contributed to the different numbers and each earthquake, it's unique by its nature in terms of the impact at local community level.
So those are the basic reasons behind the different intensity of casualties and injuries in those different areas.
I don't see other questions on Afghanistan.
Let me see to the platform.
So thank you very much for for this update.
Hossam, good luck with your important work in Afghanistan.
And we will stay with our last invitees.
Are the colleagues also from my FRC that are on my right, Nini Ekalek Neiman with the IFRC climate change lead and Mary Feel, senior officer, humanitarian policy and diplomacy.
We had to have a little input also from Claire on because we're now going to speak about environment and the Corp, but she had to leave.
So please have a look at the platform.
Maybe I'll read it at the end for those who are here in the room about air updates, but maybe you want to start on this and then I'll complete.
Thank you for this opportunity to brief you today.
And so as the world is preparing for COP 30, we want to emphasise that the climate crisis very much remains A humanitarian crisis.
Every day we're seeing that Red Cross and Red Crescent teams on the front lines of this emergency responding to more frequent floods, droughts, heat waves and storms.
This has a direct impact on people's health, their food security, water supplies, their lives and livelihoods.
And we also know however, that this investment in early action and preparedness for such climate related disasters can save many lives and we urgently need to scale this up.
Just recently, we had a potent reminder of this with Hurricane Melissa, where preparedness and early action gave our teams on the ground valuable time to evacuate people out of harm's way to provide shelter, preparation, aid and prepare communities to weather this unprecedented Category 5 hurricane.
And effectively this lead to directly to saving lives.
The IFRC has already launched emergency appeals for both Jamaica and Cuba, the two most heavily impacted countries by Hurricane Melissa.
However, more support is urgently needed to scale up these efforts as the countries move from emergency response to recovery.
Hurricane Melissa's violent and rapid intensification needs to be a wake up call for us all on highlighting how climate change is making cyclone stronger, more unpredictable and the humanitarian consequences more inevitable.
Just recently in Pakistan, we saw how the Pakistan Red Crescent teams have been responding to the monsoon floods of June, September which displaced thousands of families, destroyed homes, infrastructure and crops.
And Somalia, we have been responding to the climate driven drought which has deepened an already dire humanitarian situation where the IFRC and Somali Red Crescent Society has directly been supporting communities.
And we launched a recent emergency appeal in October this year to help Somali Red Crescent Society scale up life saving and early recovery thoughts.
In Europe This summer we witnessed devastating wildfires, for example in Torquia, which caused loss of life, mass evacuations, widespread damage to homes, livelihoods.
And again we saw Red Crescent teams delivering essential relief to firefighters and displaced families.
Without urgent action to strengthen local resilience, humanitarian needs will continue to rise.
And so as we head into COP 30 in Belem towards the end of this week, we are calling for urgent action focused on free priority areas.
First, health and well-being.
Climate change is already driving a health crisis.
Global temperature records are being broken month after month, year after year.
As heat waves already a silent and deadly killer, I am, they're growing more extreme.
Risks of vector and water borne diseases exacerbated by climate change are posing further risks.
And we're already seeing that heat waves are killing more than half a million people each year and at the same time only 0.5% of climate finance is going into health programmes.
We need investment in climate resilient cities, in health systems and in local action that protects people from heat and other climate linked health risks.
Second, investment in people and communities.
A critical ask at COP 30's more ambitious investment to strengthen health, food, water and livelihood systems that can build true climate resilience.
People remain on the front lines of a climate crisis, in particular those in fragile settings, small and development states, and living in displacement.
And these are also the people and countries bearing the greatest cost of climate change.
At the same time, we're seeing that adaptation finance is largely not reaching them, and less than 10% of adaptation finance is going to the local level.
The global pledge to double adaptation finance ends this year and the gap is still widening.
Adaptation finance needs to be massively scaled up to meet growing needs.
We can and must act before crisis strike.
Early warning and early action can save lives and livelihoods.
We see the results when this works.
As I said at the outset, some of the early warning early action work with Hurricane Melissa which helped to save lives.
Yet half of the world's countries still lack adequate early warning systems.
Investing in being prepared before climate and weather related disaster strikes can not only save lives, it also saves money.
Without stronger investment in disaster preparedness and adaptation, climate related loss and damage will continue to rise and much of this remains unavoidable.
These are the types of priorities we will be highlighting at COP 30, together with the work of our Red Cross Red Crescent National Societies who are everyday responding to the climate crisis.
Thank you and I welcome any questions.
Thank you very much Nini for this update in relation to the couple starting, as you said very soon on the 10th.
Claire has written to you that she apologises because she had to leave another to another meeting.
But she says that remove will send the embargoed report on state of the global climate update today.
This is embargoed until the Secretary General speaks at the Berlin Climate summit.
The the deadline, sorry, the deadline there embargo has been fixed at 3 GMT on 6th November.
And she also asks me to remind you that there will be a press conference on Thursday, 6th November at 4:00 PM with the Deputy Secretary General Cole Barrett and the the BRIMO Chief of Climate Services on the state of global climate update.
And I think you've also been receiving information from your net on the, on the report that they are publishing also on the occasion of the COP 30.
So I'll open now the floor to question to foresee on climate asks.
No, it looks like it was very much clear.
Nini, thank you very much.
You you want to stay with me because of Sudan?
I haven't forgotten about this.
And Christian is also on this.
But I'd like to give the floor to David Yersh because he's been patiently waiting his turn.
He only has a brief announcement.
Then we will ask Emma to give us a question on Sudan.
On on Friday 7N I too release the next edition of its annual Facts and Figures report.
Every year, Facts and Figures provides the estimates of the number of people that are connected to the Internet and this is in support of advancing universal and meaningful connectivity.
Facts and Figures will report on the progress that is being made to bridge the world's digital divides with focus on factors such as affordability, connectivity, quality, gender, urban and rural living.
We hope to have an embargoed version of the report to share prior to leap to the release.
We also hope to have a senior eye to official at the next briefing on Friday to present the report as the embargo lifts.
And maybe just as a quick side note, as we'll be in touch with the spokesperson's office about this, we hope to have that as the early part of the briefing on Friday, if we can.
So that would be aligned with the embargo time.
So more to come on that and look forward to being in touch with colleagues.
Please do if when we do send out the embargo night, if you're able, note if you're able to reply so that we can confidently send that material under embargo, we would appreciate it.
And we appreciate that you tell us this, David, any question?
Christian, can you, can you ask him there?
Mike, could you just repeat the date and the time of the embargo lifting?
So, yeah, So that'll be Friday this coming Friday 77N, we'll get more clarity on the time.
We're going to try to coordinate that with the presentation at the briefing.
We're hoping that that would be on or about 10:30 Central European on Friday, but I don't want to be presumptuous with Ali and the and the line up for for Friday.
No, no, it's OK Christian.
OK, other question IT you know, I don't see any.
So David, thank you very much.
We'll definitely end it up on Friday.
Ricardo, you want to come on to the point let's let's touch upon Sudan before we close.
So Christian is there, Emma, I've got also tomato.
I've got something to say on Sudan and Ricardo for UNICEF.
So let me let me maybe just start by recalling the fact that the humanitarian coordinator, Dennis Brown continues to warn of ongoing violence against civilians, including women and children in and around Elfasher following the Rapid Support Forces takeover of Northern for state capital last week.
We continue to receive credible reports of summary executions and sexual violence.
And more than a week after the takeover, the city remains barricaded and civilians are unable to leave.
Maybe you want to ask your question and we then let's colleagues answer.
I had one question on attacks on health please for Christian and then one on Al Fashir more generally.
I saw Doctor Tedros tweeted last night about attacks at a paediatric and a maternity hospital in North Defer four, sorry, which resulted in at least 4 deaths.
Were these patients, were these even newborns?
And how do you know what you know, given the difficulties of getting communication and testimonies from there?
And secondly, more broadly on Sudan, I'm wondering if any of the UN agencies have something to say about what they fear for the missing hundreds of thousands in in Al fascia, there was about 250,000 people there.
In the besieged city, only about 70,000, as I understand, have actually arrived in Towila and neighbouring areas.
What are your concerns for them and how do you plan to reach them?
So let's start with the Christian and maybe since we're speaking about true, then maybe you will have also something to add Ricardo Christian.
All right, thank you very much, Emma for this.
No, I don't, we don't have any any I don't have any further information at this point.
It's similar as the DL fascia situation.
So we get eyewitnesses report, we get sometimes media reports, sometimes it's NGOs or other colleagues on the ground.
Of course, ideally eyewitnesses from within our own system, I mean the The Who, which we do not have in that particular place.
So, and when then we culminate various reports and triangulate them as we say and and then they get reported out.
So we can't just rely on a single single incoming report.
But let me use this opportunity to remind everybody that yesterday the IPC, the integrated Foods security face classification came out with a new classification or estimate for, for Sudan and the acute food insecurity situation for September 2025 and the protections projections for October until January and then also the second projection for February until May.
And it's, it's just confirming the, the, the grim situation.
And that's important to to highlight that the the state's, the latest analysis released shows that El Fasha and Kaduli Kadug towns in Sudan confirmed the famine there.
20 more areas in Greater Darfur and Greater Colaban are at risk of famine.
Let me just look, look at the figures there.
In September 2025 at the peak of the season, an estimated 21.2 million people that's 45% of the population faced high levels of acute food insecurity that's IPC phase three, 6.3 million people are registered in IPC four that is emergency and a stunning number of 375,000 people are classified in IPC 5.
That's, that's an, an immense new estimation by the IPC and the, the food.
While they say that food security conditions will improve after the harvest in some areas leading to a decline of of these figures and especially the number of people IPC 3 and above to only 19.2 million people.
This they will estimate that this will increase again later.
So just to leave that with you as this was just coming out yesterday.
Thank you for this reminder, Christian.
Extremely important and very dire figures, Ricardo.
Just to add to what Christian was saying, indeed, Sudan remains the world's largest food crisis and the IPC yesterday just again confirmed that and only a ceasefire and unimpeded humanitarian access can prevent a further deterioration and and save lives.
The famine IPC Phase 5 is ongoing and expected to persist through January 2026 in Al Fasher and Kadugli towns and 20 other areas across Greater Darfur and Greater Quarterfront, which are already which are also at risk of famine.
More specifically on children, this year we know that more than 3.2 million children under the age of five in Sudan are estimated to suffer from acute malnutrition.
This includes over 772,000 children with severe acute malnutrition, which is of course the deadliest form of form of malnutrition which requires immediate treatment, adequate prompt treatment.
Otherwise, these children are are at high risk of of dying.
While the lack of comprehensive mortality surveys prevents accurate estimates of child deaths, we do know without a doubt that children are dying every day from preventable causes, not only from hunger.
Children are dying from a combination of factors including disease like measles, malaria and cholera, unsafe water, lack of access to health services, in addition to the direct and devastating impact of ongoing conflict.
These conditions reinforce one another directly and indirectly, making already vulnerable children even more susceptible to death.
So this is indeed very dire, especially in Alfasher, as we've seen last week.
Horrible images coming from what will be surely investigated as, as you know, more potential war crimes in in the area and, and it's very concerning.
And it's a conversion, conversion against again of conflict displacement and restricted humanitarian access.
Even though UNICEF to a certain extent is managing with our partners to to serve and and reach some of these communities that are continue to be at high risk, including many children.
Just to add on what colleagues have said, a couple of updates that we got from Sudanese Crescent teams this this morning.
Of course, I mean, just one first to echo that the situation in Alfasher and in general in most of the part of Sudan, it's really unacceptable.
And you know, Alfasher in particular catastrophic what we've been seeing in the videos, but also in some of the testimonies of the people that are arriving in Tarila camp in other areas are really.
Shocking and we want just to remind to everyone that civilians must be protecting and respected at every time whether they stay or whether they leave saying goes with the humanitarian workers And I just want to remind everyone that sadly on last 27 October, five of our colleagues, volunteers of Sudanese Crescent were killed during a food distribution, what they called a community kitchen in North Kordofan in the city of Barra.
Three were missing at the beginning after the incident one and now it's safe and other two are still missing and we don't have any information about them.
And of course this also is unacceptable.
And then in term of updates, Sudanese Crescent told us this morning that they do their utmost to arrive in the area of Alpha Share and they've been asking to get access for body management, for state support and needs assessment to understand how also to move forward and get the absolutely needed humanitarian aid in the area.
And then the other update is the Sudanese Crescent is giving support to the people arriving in Al Dhaba in northern state were moving from Alpha share and they are assisting with first aid assistance and distributing of food and non food item.
And still the testimonies that they're reading are really shocking and it's something that I think we will never forget for the level of violence that we're reading in the testimonies of the people who have survived.
And maybe just to add two things, I don't know if it's the same population but the numbers seems to correspond.
I saw that the International Organisation for Migration reported this 71,000 people that fled Alpha Share and surrounding areas since 26th of October, most towards the locality of Tahwila where camps are already overcrowded.
Many new arrivals have reported witnessing or facing killings, abductions and sexual violence along the way.
Maybe you can ask Kenneth more information on that.
And last point, I think it's very important to underline that as usual.
I mean, as usual, we need to, to, to speak about that.
The crisis in Sudan is huge, is devastating and the funds are not following with just two months left in the year.
The 2025 humanitarian response plans for Sudan is only 28% funded in the face of these overwhelming needs that we have heard about with 1.17 billion received to date of the 4.16 billion needed.
So that I think and I speak under it's control of course, but it is so important to remind we cannot help.
We cannot help at the scale of this disaster without financial support.
Is there any other questions done and yes, yes, it was a question to to Thomas or to what he said before and the three persons colleagues missing in Sudan and that one is now safe.
What can you tell us about the circumstances in which they they were missing and how you have found the the one of the of the third of the three?
Did he was he able to to explain what has happened in information on that incident, please?
Thank you for the question.
Of course, the situation is very complex and is particularly sensitive given the fact that two colleagues are are still missing.
What we heard from Sudanese Crescent colleagues is that the team was in in the city of Bahrain, N Kordofan, to organise this community kitchen as they've been doing for for a while.
And then five were killed and some others were able to escape in the moment.
So the the group was was bigger and then actually we don't have a full picture and clear information about the the the one of the three missing then was found and on the other two missing, we don't have any other information.
And and when was the the one which is now safe when he was found the day after the 28th of October.
And how he was found This we don't have the all the details.
Umm Alithia from the Spanish news agency.
Umm, could you give us an update of the numbers of the emergency situation in Jamaica and Cuba after the you reckon if you have anything.
Thank you for the question.
So if you're talking about emergency relief on the 2nd, on the 2nd of November, we reached the 74 tonnes of humanitarian into Jamaica.
The first batch was delivered by C because as we all know the airport was closed.
And then the first day that the airport was reopened, we were able to deliver humanitarian also through a flight from our hub in in Panama.
We are talking about of course the shelter kids, solar lamps, non food items, all the items that will we needed to for the people who lost everything during Aric and Melissa on Cuba the day after.
So 2nd of November again another flight reach Cuba with 20 tonnes of humanitarian aid for the people affected by Aric and Aric and Melissa.
And in the car this cargo includes kitchen hygiene and bedding kits, blankets, mosquito Nets, solar lamps, shelter tool kits and plastic sheeting.
And the Cuba Red Cross will distribute this in the yard, just hit areas.
And then meanwhile, the IFSC has deployed different teams in both countries, of course to continue working in Jamaica across Cuba across and assess the situation in both countries.
And of course our call continues to be first to continue speaking about Aric and Melissa, This will not be short intervention, will be a mid long term intervention.
And the second and the second one is on global solidarity because of course we will need as well as another context the financial supporters to continue our humanitarian operation.
Thank you very much, Ricardo.
Yeah, I have some information.
It's from the 30th of October when we put out a media product highlighting the number of children impacted in Cuba, Jamaica, but across the Caribbean 700,000 children have been impacted by Hurricane Melissa and in Haiti as well.
We have started the the response in in in the countries with the distribution of pre position supplies.
In Jamaica where the hurricane made landfall as as category 5.
We have allocated $1 million to support immediate emergency response.
The fund will help deliver urgent assistance to children and families affected by the devastation and we are supporting the government to reach more than 280,000 to 84,000 children, including with access to safe water and sanitation and hygiene and mental health support in Cuba.
We're working to ensure that children have access to essential essential services as well prioritising safe water supply, sanitation and hygiene.
They will benefit, benefit from our supplies including 1300 hygiene kits, 213 recreation kits which support children who've been displaced or or they can no longer go to school and can help them with psychosocial support, help them the children a little bit while they cope with the disaster.
80 school supply kits, 209 early childhood kits, 1900 roofing sheets, 5000 cubic metres or square metres of waterproof tarpaulins and two portable water purification plants.
So that's very specific, but that's what we have managed to deliver in Cuba.
In Haiti, where we know the tropical storm claimed 20 lives, including ten children.
In the country's southwest region, UNICEF deployed 2900 hygiene kits and emergency health kits to meet the needs of 20,000 people and ensure treatment for 400 cases of acute watery diarrhoea.
In addition, we provided cash to 7500 households at risk in the South of Haiti to mitigate the impact of the hurricane and almost 500 U reporters, which is a very innovative platform that UNICEF has to engage young people.
These U reporters have been mobilised across across the Grand S region with over 137,000 awareness messages sent via SMS and WhatsApp reinforcing reinforcing community mobilisation and preparedness efforts ahead of and during the storm.
I can also update you on the Dominican Republic with where 60,000 people were affected and we delivered 750 hygiene kits and ensured appropriate sanitation and hygiene conditions for children in the most affected communities.
We are also supporting the government to ensure that health and nutrition services reach more than 20,000 children, women and caregivers.
Thank you very much to both colleagues.
Just wanted to add that the Central Emergency Response Fund has released 4 million to scale up the response response.
The funds will focus on providing support in the areas of food, health, water, shelter, logistic and sanitation and hygiene.
Turning to Cuba, the UN has finalised an emergency action plan.
We should have more information today focusing on the eastern part of the island, which was severely impacted by the hurricane.
And we've just sent you a readout of the secretary General's meeting with the Prime Minister of Cuba in Doha.
I'll tell you a little bit more about the presence of the secretary general there.
But the readout says that they have discussed the impact of climate change in the Caribbean and the devastation left recently by Hurricane Melissa.
The Prime Minister commended the United Nations to response and support to Cuba in this difficult circumstances.
The Secretary General assured the Prime Minister of the UN solidarities and continued help to Cuba in this regard.
Yeah, If there are no other questions, I'd like to thank everyone, my colleagues on the podium and online.
I have a few additional announcements.
As I said, one is to give you a little bit more on the presence of the Secretary General at the World Summit on Social Development.
He has participated this morning in the opening.
We've sent you the speech, the statement of the secretary General, where he alighted, the progress made since the first social summit that took place in Copenhagen in 1995.
And he also_underscored the major challenges of today, including deepening equality, inequalities, unemployment, poverty, conflict and widespread human suffering.
He also participated in a press conference and we've just sent you the transcript where the Secretary General answers several questions on the issues that we have touched upon this morning, including Gaza, including Sudan and other other subjects.
And so I would like to invite you to have a look at census because they are very, very interesting.
Speaking about disasters, the 6th of November, sorry, the 5th of November is World Tsunami Awareness Day.
We've sent you the statement of the Secretary General.
And as we have spoken also about environment, the 6th of November is the International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflicts.
I also wanted to remind you one press conference, which is the one organised by the UNECE, they are launching the report on forest of North America, Europe and the Cocos, Caucasus, sorry and Central Asia with Paula Deda, the director of the division and a professor of World Forestry at the University of Hamburg, together with the President, CEO of the Sustainable Forestry Initiative.
I also wanted to, I think that's, that's what I have for you.
Yeah, no, I just wanted to talk to you one minute about our upcoming Young Activist Summit.
As you know, every year we celebrate activist, young activist who have made difference in their communities.
This is the 7th edition, 6th edition.
Past 6th edition we've touched upon 84,000,000 young people.
It is a massive exercise which really touch upon so many young people and this year's lorry.
Today we have a really nice list of of lorries from various countries, in particular from Candy War, India, Lebanon, Japan and Brazil.
And the theme of this year is from a hashtag to action.
So we are looking at young people who have made a difference in the life of their community through digital tools and on the digital platforms.
You have the press release in your mailboxes.
We hope you will be there numerous on the 20th of November from 11:50, when we will celebrate the the activists themselves.
They will be here, of course, and they will be available for interviews more online.
We will give you all the details.
I think I've really given you all the information.
So if there are no other question, I thank you all very much and I'll see you on Friday.
