UN Geneva - Multimedia Newsroom : UN Geneva Press Briefing

[Other language spoken]

Welcome to the press briefing of the UN Information Service here in Geneva.

I would like to start immediately this press briefing with our guests from UNDP.

But just before giving him the floor, just wanted to announce a a last minute press conference press take out as you requested on Friday.

We have been able to organise a stakeout today at 1:00 PM with the Under Secretary General of the United Nations and High Representative for Disarmament is Umina Kamitsu.

She will be addressing you at the stakeout position in all 14 on the 22nd meeting of the state parties to the Convention on the Prohibition of the use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti Personnel Minds and on their destruction.

And we've sent you the speech of the Secretary General to the meeting yesterday.

I just start with this so that you all know upfront.

And I'd like to thank Mrs Nakamitsu because that was really a request from the press corps and she was happy to to to talk to you.

So that will be a 1:00 PM at in all 14 at the stick out position.

The meeting the the stick out will not be live webcast live.

It will be recorded and then it will be made available on UN Web TV.

OK, so let's now go to UNDP.

We have the pleasure to have with us the chief economist for UNDP Asia Pacific Regional Bureau can calling in from Bangkok and I've named Philip.

Sorry, Shillicans, who to whom?

I'm giving the floor now to tell us about AI.

[Other language spoken]

Thanks for the opportunity.

[Other language spoken]

We just launched this morning a report in Bangkok called the next great divergent.

Why AI may widen inequality between countries?

Are we actually here to sound an an alarm?

The world is risking to repeat the great divergent of the 19th century, where industrialisation split the world into a wealthy few and the impoverished many.

But this time it's going to be driven by AI.

That is our our conjecture.

Now, the narrative that you often hear is that AI can be a great equaliser, a tool for leapfrogging, and it can AI can have a democratising effect, It can help narrow gaps.

But our analysis in this report, which came together as a collaboration for of about a year between MIT in, in in the US, Max Planck and LLC in in Europe and and two Indian think thanks Hapti Institute and Digital Futures Lab and two Chinese institutions universities, Tsinghua University and University of Science and Technology in China.

So crossing the geopolitical divide, we put this report together and the analysis shows that without deliberative corrective action, AI is actually on track to be a great diverger, widening, widening the gaps between nations.

And I'd like to tell you a couple of things and provide a little bit of data to support this.

So now this is a global message.

We launched a report from Bangkok, but it's really a global message.

But we we'd like to, we'd like to illustrate it with a couple of numbers from the Asia Pacific region, just to make the point we're not starting from a level playing field in this region.

In Asia Pacific, the income gap between the richest and poorest country is 2 hundredfold, that is between Singapore and Afghanistan.

So this is the most unequal region in the whole world according to this metric.

And this is the fractured foundation upon which AI is landing.

2nd innovation is hyper concentrate.

Just a few economies are accounting for most of actually global AI investment.

China alone currently holds about 70% of global AI patents.

And and there is also a huge usage gap in many low income countries.

Fewer than one in five rural residents can use a basic spreadsheet.

You know, so you can't build an AI economy if your workforce cannot use the digital basics.

And then there's also a huge gender divide, the divergent as a female face, woman's jobs in the region are twice as exposed to automation demands.

And in South Asia alone, woman are up to 40% less likely than men to even own a smartphone.

[Other language spoken]

Why does this matter?

And now I'm going back from Asia to the world.

Developing nations around the world are facing a double whammy.

And this sort of inequality is manifesting itself in two ways.

First of all, in a capability gap.

So we are concerned that the gains of AI will arrive much faster in countries equipped to harness them.

And these are the richer countries.

These are the countries with stronger digital foundations, skilled talent, agile regulation.

They could realise estimated annual productivity gains of 5% in sectors like finance and health, but countries with limited connectivity and weak governance risk missing most of this upside.

So there's a lesser ability for the poorer countries to participate in the gains from AI.

And secondly, there's also, in addition to the capability gap, there's a vulnerability gap.

The disruptions will strike the hardest where resilience is the lowest.

And these disruptions will be real.

We already see right now the three in four firms around the world are expecting job losses due to automation alongside also jobs being created by 20-30.

We also see another type of disruption which is that AI data centres will double their water use and triple their electricity use and this is creating massive resource stress for countries that are already climate vulnerable.

So even where the exposure varies, poorer countries tend to lack the physical buffers and the safety Nets to withstand the threats ranging from these disruptions going from outsourcing drops to deepfakes destabilising fragile institutions.

So these two gaps, the capability gap and vulnerability gap, are in our view 2 drivers of greater inequality between countries in the future.

But this is not inevitable, and I'd like to conclude with three quick points on what can be done about this.

First of all, we need to think beyond heart infrastructure.

Let us stop thinking that dropping in a technology solves development.

We learnt this the hide the hard way with A1 Laptop per child initiative, where we were giving a child a device without a teacher or a Lesson plan and realised that this often leads to the device simply gathering dust.

And the same risk really applies to AI.

Hardware alone does not ensure usage.

If we invest in data centres but we fail to train teachers, we fail to support local curricula, or we integrate these tools wrongly into a local context, we're just building digital white elephants.

So we also need that soft infrastructure, the skills and the institutions that make the technology actually work for people.

And the second point on policies is that regional cooperation.

We need the small economies cannot build sovereign AI alone.

You know, if every country tries to build its own infrastructure from scratch, the poorest will fail.

We need regional and global public goods.

We need shared data centres and pooled computational power.

This will allow countries to share the cost while maintaining sovereign partitions for their data.

This is the only way to ensure that smaller nations aren't locked into opaque black box systems owned entirely by foreign tech giants.

And then finally tailored Rd maps.

We need to stop using single templates for AI development.

A strategy for Singapore will not work in Papua New Guinea.

And our report, and that's I think the distinguishing feature of this report is it outlines differentiated policy recommendations according to starting conditions, according to capacity levels, according to timelines and also according to sectors.

And just to give you one couple of examples, for lower capacity settings like Cambodia or Papua New Guinea and several other countries around the world, the goal isn't really to build that next frontier model.

It is simply to prioritise offline capable AI like simple voice based tools for frontline health workers and farmers that work even when the Internet is down.

For transition economies like Indonesia or Vietnam, the focus is really on scaling.

You know, these countries have the basics.

Now they need to move from pilot projects to system wide adoption and also rigorously avoiding vendor lock insurance so they don't become dependent on a on a single provider.

So these are the key messages from our report.

We think that AI is heralding a new era of rising inequality between countries following actually years of convergence in the last 50 years.

But that convergence was really selective.

Not many countries and not many regions participated in Latin America, for example, for the last 100 years has been at roughly 25% of the per capita income of the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

sub-Saharan Africa has continued to slide down over the last 70 years and only in South Asia.

Only recently South Asia started to converge.

It's only in a couple of regions and within those regions only a couple of countries.

We saw that convergence happening.

So Divergent has been the dominant featured feature of history and we would really like that to turn it around that AI is going to contribute to the narrowing of inequality between countries rather than than those centrifugal forces dominating the potential of the democratising effects and leapfrogging effects of AI.

Thank you very much.

Thank you very much, Philip, for this interesting presentation of your report.

I'll open the floor to questions now, if any.

I don't see any in the room.

Let me see on the platform.

John, 0 Costas Francois Mancat.

[Other language spoken]

Can you hear me there?

[Other language spoken]

Thank you for this update on your report.

It would have been nice if the Geneva Prescott received one as well.

My question is, Sir, in your research, did you examine the impact of artificial intelligence in warfare and especially increase in the use of artificial intelligence in civil wars and conflicts like we've seen recently in Sudan, in Ukraine, in Gaza and today it's World Disability Day.

How much are they contributing to heavy casualties in in war zones?

[Other language spoken]

Not that much, But we did cover that in a limited way in the sense that as you know, in the in the policy part of the report, we argue that the deployment of AI should be grounded in value based principles and we do need to govern AI responsibly.

So there's a whole part of the report that goes into into depth on that.

And there we do examine the, the role of AI in warfare and for military applications and the importance of, of, of strict oversight in, in if in if you have the risks, whereas other applications obviously can attract lower levels of oversight and where we can allow AI to flourish.

But you are alluding to to something that that is a very prevalent feature of the discussion on AAI right now.

There is on, on the one hand, a sense that AI presents an existential opportunity for for for humankind to solve existential threats like climate change, advanced medical research to be even faster in pandemics.

But quite clearly, there is also a very dark side to this and where AI in itself poses an existential threat and can be a negative force for humanity.

And I, I think the, the issues that you mentioned regarding military applications are certainly areas of concern where AI could provoke mask casualties.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you very much.

And I see that Sarah wants to add something.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you very much, Philip for the for the presentation.

And John, I've seen the the press release and the summary of a report on Friday, so it might have ended up in your spam.

For those of you who want the full report or wants me to re share the the press release, just send me a message and I'll follow up.

Thank you very much.

[Other language spoken]

Yeah, this is Jamie from Associated Press.

[Other language spoken]

Mr Shellicans.

[Other language spoken]

You mentioned at the outset that that so the, the there's a sort of a, a, a divergent with in developing countries that are that that run the risk of being left behind by AI.

Obviously a lot of the development for artificial intelligence is being done in developed countries.

So how do you convince those countries and those companies that are doing this work that they have an interest in seeing developing countries also take part?

Because at the end of the day, they're just, I mean, from, you know, you're somebody you used to work for, for the World Bank, if I'm not mistaken.

I mean, you, you understand what it's like for, for, for these richer countries.

They, they need to see, they need to see some sort of interest for, and if, if they want to try to see a need for, for that to be shared, the, the technologies to be shared.

So how do you convince them that, that they should be sharing, sharing the, the knowledge, so to speak, in this space?

Well, I think there's a stick in the carrot, right?

The carrot would be it's in everybody's interest for developing countries to do well.

And we have seen the the global's centre of economic gravity shifting eastward and southward.

And for example, 80% of global middle class growth between now and the end of this decade will come from from Asia and the Pacific, mostly from, from South Asia.

And also the deepening of the middle class in China and elsewhere and Indonesia will continue to contribute that.

So it's clearly in the in the interest of everyone if the the pie of global economic activity continues to grow and then should trade and other linkages we can all benefit from that.

I know that's not a appealing message perhaps in today's climate of, of geopolitical tensions and and receding interest in multilateralism, but that is still the fact we we benefit.

We have benefited broadly speaking, from the era of globalisation.

[Other language spoken]

To the extent that AI will bring efficiency gains, the middle classes will we'll, we'll gain real incomes and we'll, we'll, we'll demand more goods and services from from everywhere around the world.

So that is that is a clear benefit.

But there's also the stick approach to the extent that is, if this great Divergent is really going to happen and we, we hope actually our recommendations will will become obsolete and, and the messages of this report will become entirely wrong.

If they are going to be followed, the great Divergent will not, will, will not happen, umm, But if it does happen and we do see a, a further widening and a lack of progress, not necessarily umm, umm, a receding of progress.

We don't necessarily need to see, umm, a decline in the prosperity of, uh, for example, Africans or, or in Latin America or other parts of the world.

But if in relative terms, those inequalities around the world keep on widening, it is going to be unsustainable.

And in today's world, but it's now fundamentally different compared to previous eras where new technologies were rolled out, is that the world today is much more connected.

So if inequality continues to rise, the spillover effects of that in terms of the security agenda, in terms of undocumented forms of migration will will also become more, more more daunting.

So, so that will be my response.

There's both a stick and, and, and, and, and the carrot.

And finally, I think everybody will benefit from competition in the innovation space.

We are in uncharted territory.

There are new applications of AI being developed.

Developing countries can benefit from the innovations in rich countries, but conversely, richer countries can also learn from the innovations in in in the poorer countries.

For example, even in a country as poor as Papua New Guinea, AI is being used to monitor biodiversity.

In Fiji, AI is being used to to to predict cyclones, lessons that could be exported to other parts of the world.

[Other language spoken]

Yes, hello, it's John once again.

[Other language spoken]

Indeed, I had gone into the spam.

[Other language spoken]

In your press release you mentioned 70% of the I, I patents are being held by Chinese companies.

Is that correct?

And which of the six economies where these patents are being held the majority of them.

OK, but let me go to my notes for just one second.

Take it for me a little bit of time here.

[Other language spoken]

Would you mind if I get back to you in writing on that and perhaps I can respond to any other question while I'm for that information?

[Other language spoken]

There there are no other questions, but I'm sure that through Sarah or that you can, you can send these numbers to to John.

Thank you very much.

This was your last the last question for you.

So thanks again for for briefing us on the report.

And yes, please, Sarah will do the follow up.

And now let me go to my left where?

[Other language spoken]

Philip, where I have Eugene with us from UNHCR.

Eugene, you brought Savvy Creek, who's the UNHCR representative in Mozambique?

There are.

There are a very important number of displaced people because of the violence.

Is there?

You won't introduce your colleague.

[Other language spoken]

Good morning, everyone.

Thank you for joining today's briefing.

Just to open this briefing, last December UNHCR briefed about the devastating consequences of a Cyclone Cheeto, if you remember, which brought the widespread destruction and also forced the family flee from their home.

This December, unfortunately, we are facing another wave of displacement caused by intensifying violence, which is a very important reminder that the what Mozambique people, like a people from Mozambique is a suffering at the moment.

So we are glad to bring Xavier, our representative in Mozambique, who is actually on the way from Nampula.

He just finished his mission in Nampula in Erati.

So he's on the way going back.

So welcome, Xavier.

[Other language spoken]

Good morning everybody.

[Other language spoken]

I'm still in Yarati in Yarati in northern Mozambique and has just said where 100,000 person have arrived over the last two weeks only.

They all come from the district of Mumbai, which is a neighbouring district in the province of Nampura.

They face several, multiple attacks from armed groups.

They have seen attacks at night, their home being burned, many civilians have been killed, some even beheaded.

They had to flee, as you can imagine, in a very Celtic manner, through the Bush.

Many children got separated from their parents, was fleeing and have followed whichever adult they could drive here to Iraqi.

You have to remember that it's close to 1.3 million person who have been displaced in Mozambique since the beginning of the conflicts in 2017.

But regretfully we have seen in the last 3-4 months a real, very worrying intensification of the conflict with multiple simultaneous attack hitting different district at the same time.

As a result, the collective response, I would even call about the collective efforts of all of us, humanitarian actors, UN agencies, NGOs, committee based organisation, but also the authorities, the governor of nonpulicia as well as the private sector.

Despite our corrective effort, the response is largely insufficient.

We are unable to meet the needs of the people.

Humanitarian assistance is missing, People are sleeping in overcrowded community centres, schools, many, many we men sleeping outside under a tree.

The rainy season has started and I would say mostly remain very challenging to meet in terms of wash food of course.

And all these give rise to increasing number of correction concern.

People had to flee under very difficult circumstances.

So most of them don't have their documents with them.

[Other language spoken]

But I would add to that that these overcrowded classroom and community centres expose children, women, girls to very serious form of gender based violence.

Every day we have more and more cases in the morning, women coming to see us explaining the sexual abuse they have been victim during the day or during the night whether and same thing.

This unmade needs made the IDP population exposed to various form of abuse and expiration here, extremely vulnerable people.

So it was very sad today, this morning to see some people deciding to return, to return to very unsafe areas because the response was not able to meet their needs.

So they made the very difficult decision to go back this morning.

So I'm really here calling for support, a very significant increase, support for all humanitarian actors to support the authorities in order to meet the need and to offer the people the production that they serve.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you very much.

Thanks, Xavier.

Let me see if there are questions for you in the room.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you for taking my questions for everybody.

Maybe it's better in English now.

[Other language spoken]

You're talking about 1.3 million displaced since the beginning of the conflict and you're talking about the surge those last three months.

Do you have a figure of the number of displaced people those last three months?

And the other questions concerned the the number of people who had to return to unsafe places.

Do do you have an estimation of the number of those people please?

[Other language spoken]

Thanks for the question.

So the number of figures over the last three months is a minimum of 287,000.

But I would say this figure is only the people who have been registered and who have gone to IDP site.

Many more have gone to some families have not been identified although fled towards urban centres and last but not see some are still hidden in the Bush.

So I think we can talk approximately of a minimum of 300,000 displaced over there since July.

So July must be a bit more than three months, must be four or five months.

[Other language spoken]

And now people who have returned this morning.

So it's approximately I would say 200 to 300 people who have returned this morning.

It's the first time we see this movement here.

So very difficult to say how long it will last.

But what is the most difficult for us to hear is why do they return?

They don't return because they feel safe.

He is waiting for them at home or they don't return because they can.

They return their life.

They return because they lack assistance, they lack support.

They have been there on the different side for two weeks.

And us humanitarian actors, despite really lots of effort collective for the game.

I want to mention the provincial authorities and the help of some private companies to provide food.

We have not been able to meet their needs and many are, I mean many, some have started to return home.

What I should say is that we also have people crossing because why some are returning this morning, we still see people arriving and telling us about new attacks.

Thank you very much.

UN Geneva Press Briefing - 02 December 2025