Very good morning to you all.
And since I haven't seen many of you, a happy New year, as happy as we could hope for it's it's nice to see you here and thank you again for for your continued excellent reporting.
So today we have another very important briefing.
We have two subjects which we will brief proactively on.
I also have a few announcements to share with you afterwards.
I'm very pleased we'll have Ukraine and we have a colleague joining us from WFP who will speak to the situation in West and Central Africa.
But first, we'll start with Ukraine, very pleased to introduce our colleague here from UNICEF, Munir Mamazzi Mamazzadeh, Who's UNICEF Country Representative in Ukraine, who is based in Kiev, but is very, we're very grateful to have him here.
And of course Ricardo's with us.
We also have Tomasso on the podium who's going to introduce a guest and momentarily from the IFRC who will be joining us from Kiev.
But let's start off with you, Munir, for a brief update on on Ukraine.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for having me and and thanks for the for the interest on the situation of children in Ukraine, which is dramatic because children in Ukraine are under fire and and freezing right now and endure the hardest winter of war.
So I think the winter scenario in Ukraine has been there for since the beginning.
We kept talking about what is expected and what is on the way for children and families.
But what we feared for almost 4 years is now a reality in in Ukraine.
So within, in, in intense strikes, devastating vital energy, water and and hearing system at the time of the extreme sub zero temperature is, is something that we are of course increasingly worried about right now in Kiev.
It's -15 it, it might go even further down next week.
And, and millions of families across the country are again enduring days without hearing.
As I mentioned, electricity and water supplies.
So children and families are in constant survival mode because of that.
It is basically a crisis with within a crisis.
So with, with no heating and again with -18 in some of the parts of the of the Country, Life at home, especially in the high rise apartment is about staying safe from incessant attacks and, and surviving extreme temperatures.
Because when we were talking about the the war and, and a full scale invasion in Ukraine, primary focus of humanitarians, including UNICEF has been on the frontline areas.
But now with the winter and and increased attacks on energy infrastructure across the country, there is no place for children in, in, in Ukraine where they can be saved.
But also it is shifting the focus from rural areas and frontline areas into urban areas and capital, particularly like for example, on the 10th floor of one such building in Kiev, Left Bank Svetlana is doing what she can to care for her 3 year old daughter Adina.
So she told us that she had no heating or electricity for more than three days.
And that was in the first week of disruption.
We're already on the second or almost third week.
And many families continue to go without, as I mentioned, or have sporadic access to key services.
So cold water comes only intermittently.
So families have actually reverted to stuffing even soft toys to their windows to get windows blocked to some of the freezing cold.
So sweet Lana can even bathe arena or prepare hot food for her.
So she wraps her child into multiple layers of clothes and takes her through the dark stairwell to reach a tent.
So Ukrainian state emergency services has created kind of spaces outside the residential areas to help families to survive with, to get warm up and, and get hot wood food, charge devices and, and speak with the psychologist.
So, and this is where UNICEF has been supporting such efforts to make sure that children and adults can cope, especially with the psychosocial support and others.
So basically what we are worried and concerned about is that darkness and freezing temperatures intensify fear and and stress of but also can lead to exacerbation of the physical and mental health of children and families.
Hypothermia is one of the concerns we have for the newborns right now because also capacity of the social infrastructure including maternities and and health facilities at the at the edge.
So and and we are seeing that it is becoming quickly life threatening element in terms of absence of warmth and medical care.
Education has been further disrupted.
So you know with COVID and then the war, we have already children that deprived face to face education in many parts of the country.
And now there was a declaration of the emergency and all the functioning schools, face to face schools went to online education.
But you can only imagine with no electricity and no connectivity what it means for children's education.
But with all that, we see also great remarkable work of the energy and water technicians on the ground, support from humanitarians, including ourselves and and other partners.
So it is basically a race against time to restore services and UNICEF is supporting that.
Maybe to conclude by mentioning couple of numbers of what UNICEF is, is, is doing.
So we're assisting 1.65 million people including 470,000 children with our winter response.
This is this also work started month ago because we understand that to respond to winter challenges, we need to start early and and we see that our pre investments are paying off in places like the Parisian NEPRO and and Kiev like after damage to central heating station, we immediately set up generators from prepositioned stocks in Kiev to help the the heating kind of company to make sure that there is no shutdown of essential life saving services.
So we have also decided to and and procured 79 high capacity generators to send to water and heating utilities to cope with the stress.
But also most importantly, we are implementing winter cash assistance at at scale covering 183,000 people, including 6086 thousand children in frontline regions and and will be also providing cash support to schools, 1500 schools and kindergartens so that children can continue educating.
We're talking about almost half a million students.
So let me stop by highlighting that nearly four years into this relentless war, children's lives are still consumed by thoughts of survival and not childhood, unfortunately.
And then winter threat follows A tragic also 11% increase in verified child casualties during 2025 comparing to the previous year, with at least 92 children killed and 652 injured in total.
According to the UN Human Rights Mission.
Since the start of the full scale invasion by Russia, there were 3200 children that have been killed or injured and it is only in Ukraine government control area.
So UNICEF once again calls for one and two attacks on civilian areas and on the infrastructure that children rely on.
Thank you very much, Manu.
It's a very sobering information is indeed.
But thank you very much for sharing what UNICEF is doing in response.
Tomaso, shall I just we go if you want to go ahead and introduce Jamie perhaps?
Thank you very much, Rolando.
We will also brief on the situation in in Ukraine.
We have with us our Deputy Head of delegation in Kiev, Jamie Wah, that will brief on the Red Cross response and the situation in Ukraine.
And then for the journalists interested, we also have AV material available about the Red Cross response across the country.
This is the hardest winter since the escalation of the conflict.
Punishing cold temperatures and lack of heating and electricity are affecting millions who are already pushed to the edge by years of violence and economic strain.
Attacks on heating and energy infrastructure are leaving communities without essential services during some of the most coldest days of the year.
In Kiev alone for a week now, around 200,000 people, myself included, are currently without heating and electricity's as temperatures fall to -18°C at night.
Hundreds of residential buildings remain affected and a state of emergency in the energy sector was declared 2 days ago.
Similar conditions are unfolding in many towns and cities and other parts of the country as well for families who are already struggling with a consequence.
With the already struggling, the consequences are severe.
Without heat, people are at high risk for hypothermia, frostbite and respiratory illnesses.
Unpredictable power cuts are disrupting water supply, healthcare service, public transportation, even in including communication networks and isolating people who might not be able to call for help or reach their loved ones.
Older people, children, people with disabilities and those with chronic illnesses face the greatest risk.
It's unbearable to live in apartments with no heating or electricity's.
Families are resorting to consider leaving the city and hoping that the situation improves in the near future.
At the same time, many families we speak to have almost no capacity left to cope.
Our research with thousands of households across Ukraine show that 10 people that 7 out of 10 people have no more savings.
Rising prices for food, fuel and medicine mean that many family are being forced to choose between heating their homes, buying food or accessing essential healthcare.
These are choices that no one should make.
The Ukrainian Red Cross Society, with support from the IFRC network, continues its response.
Volunteers are working around the clock at several heating points and the hardest hit regions in and around Kiev city, distributing hot meals, warm drinks, phone charging stations and offering psychosocial support.
Across the country, nearly half a million people are supported by the IFRC network and its partners with winterization assistance.
This means restoring access to heat, water and energy and helping people meet their most urgent needs.
We must protect civilian infrastructure essential for survival.
Unfortunately, while humanitarian needs are growing, international support is declining.
The IFRC appeal for Ukraine and impacted country is only 13% covered for 2026 and 2027, leaving a funding gap of over 200 million Swiss francs.
This is a critical moment.
Without urgent and sustained investments, millions of people will be at risk without life saving assistance during the coldest months of the year.
Thank you very, very much for that perspective as well.
Incredibly important to hear you.
Yeah, thank you very much for the briefing.
I was wondering first the mention of, of hyperthermia and the danger for babies.
I'm wondering if there are any statistics or numbers of, of children who may actually have died from, from a cold.
And then on the, on the funding, how is that impacting your for, for both of you?
How is it impacting the services you're able to provide and, and the situation on the ground?
Thank you for your question.
We don't have any reported cases at this stage.
We're in the regular contact with the Minister of Health and, and I was interacting with the Minister recently.
So the social infrastructure has been prioritised by the Ukrainian authorities and, and all the support is, is targeted to make sure that this basic life saving services are uninterrupted.
But what we also know, like in places like Chernya that I recently visited in the frontline areas, like governor was telling us that we, for those facilities we need already back up for backup because with the prolonged blackouts, we, we cannot rely on on, on only on solutions that were there and, and organised for the last winter.
So therefore funding is particularly flexible funding and predicted funding is important for us to be able to lead on anticipatory and preparedness work so that we can handle the situation better.
It is starting from solarization, looking at alternative solutions for those social infrastructure.
And unfortunately we we feel that it will not end this winter, right.
So we need to already think about what is coming our way in, in the foreseeable future.
So because that was something that we from the beginning of the war were thinking that, OK, maybe it is last winter, we're going through under war situation will improve and, and we, we, we can breathe and, and go back to normalcy.
But unfortunately we don't see it happening yet.
And, and therefore, we'll need to not only think how we respond to the current emergency, but look at the like ahead of us and, and prepared better in the future, especially for places like Kiev and urban areas.
Because as I mentioned, the primary target was on rural areas and, and looking at solutions like solid fuel and others, which doesn't work for the high rising buildings and apartments.
This is where we are facing major challenges now.
Jamie, did you want to add something from your IFR CS perspective?
Yes, in terms of the funding the we have a lot of pre positioned items.
We've been resourcing and stockpiling some things in case there is a big emergency.
Now these stockpiles have been constantly tapped into due to various regional emergencies and this winter also our stockpiles are less than than they have been in previous months.
So the funding will help us replenish those stocks, but also also ensure that we are able to adjust and and adapt the response that's needed.
You know, the, the, the heating concern right now is, is really the biggest concern and being able to have a flexible funding to be able to make the procurements to reinforce the stocks of generators that we've already have and distributed.
These ones have been in stock and in circulation for a number of years now.
But the further funding of our appeal will ensure that the preparedness response is available to respond immediately and also continue the existing response and meet those needs as they occur.
Just a follow up on the funding for both of you actually, but for UNICEF, I'm sorry, I may have missed it, but I didn't hear what your funding situation is like right now.
And given the, the, the global picture of, of cuts to, to assistance, I assume that it's lower than it has been.
How is that impacting what you're able to, to provide?
And, and also the same for IFRC, you said the funding was, was that there was a big gap in funding.
How is that impacting are, are there, what kind of services are you unable to provide that you would have liked to?
So we're just at the start of the year as every year in in humanitarian context we launch an appeal.
So there is a humanitarian appeal for Ukraine as well.
So our request for this year is 350 million U.S.
We right now in in the process of looking at primarily focusing on winter response.
Our winter response plan is actually has been revised recently because of the kind of escalation and and dire situation.
So our winter response plan is 100 million request and it is right now funded 60%.
But we will need to reassess the situation because again this 100 million request was put forward before significant scale of blackouts including in, in, in the capital.
But what we are seeing is of course we're trying to be realistic with our asks.
So our last year budget was 400 million as a request.
The the year before was 450.
So we're trying to look at hyper prioritise and prioritise interventions that are life saving and unfortunately have to make tough choices as well, both geographically, but also in the areas that we engage because of the funding constraint.
For the Federation and for the Ukrainian Red Cross Society, the the effect has been that the stockpiles, the emergency stockpiles are at our the lowest level and in in some cases we are not able to supply some of those needs there.
The winterization stocks that we had planned are also not fully funded.
So we don't have the number of generators that we would like to have or the capacity of the generators that would like to have or the emergency battery backup systems that we would like to have.
So we are we are going without some of those things.
We're also closely working in close collaboration with the State Emergency Service of Ukraine and our resources support their activities as well.
So it is quite a bit of a partnership.
We do support each other in terms of our volunteers working, we want to make sure that they're working in in good environments, that they can have heated rooms and things like this.
But the reality is then in many of the regions visited, they have to choose to heat one room instead of the whole office.
That that's an example of some of the effects of not being able to, to have the the funding that we would like to have.
But this is also the reality for a lot of the Ukrainians here as well.
I think that's a very grim picture, but very, very clear.
Thank you so much for painting that.
And then we have a question online.
I wanted to ask if there are some regions in particular in Ukraine that are more affected by the cuts and the winter, maybe because they are more affected by the war, I don't know.
Or maybe because you are having a problems giving the eight there and for how long have they been suffering this?
And in terms of how long people were suffering, I think it is obvious that since the start of the war and and of course war itself and continuous air attacks is is devastating.
But now everything is much more complex and complicated because of the winter situation.
So they're of course frontline regions that are affected directly.
But in in some instances, we feel that those frontline age regions are better prepared to cope with the situation because there was the primary focus of humanitarian community and the state to ensure that those regions get required support.
And again, as I mentioned, because of the lack of resources, we kind of abandoned many geographies in terms of preparedness work.
And now this is what we are seeing and witnessing again in the capital and other urban areas.
Adassa is one of the examples.
It has started much earlier.
And in my recent visit there, we were also looking at how we support most vulnerable categories of the population.
So it's really like that shifting focus of the crisis within the crisis to see how we can handle the the situation.
But again, I refer to the Parisian NIPRO areas that are also attacked on regular basis and, and where they're facing challenges.
These are also urban areas.
Yesterday, last night actually there was a major attack and I was receiving updates that many residential areas became without electricity and heating as well.
So it is becoming also kind of national scale emergency that yesterday government has discussed and probably will declare emergency nationwide emergency in relation to winter in on top of the war situation already.
Yeah, the sorry I lost Internet for a little bit.
That was one of some of the realities of not having electricity.
I think Kiev is and Kiev region has been right now is the urgent need.
This is also reflected in Zelinsky's declaration of emergency in this region.
This is the the exacerbating factor for that is because the power outages and the heating outages have been for many days.
The car cube region hit last night was also hit quite hard.
Also Edessa region around Christmas time.
There were a couple days where they had no electricity and no heating.
But I think in those areas, the restoration of those systems took a matter of days for the systems to become at least partially functional.
I think in Kiev we're facing a situation for sustained outages and also a higher population affected because of it.
Olivia from Reuters has a question for you both.
Jamie, to starting with you.
You're talking there about emergency stockpiles being at the lowest level.
I just wanted to clarify, is that because of the rising need that they're being depleted quickly or actually a lack of funding?
And in both instances, could you just quantify that in terms of lowest level since when is there any kind of figure on what that on what's that stockpile number it really normally should be and what it currently is now?
That'd be really helpful.
And and just also just a refresher, if I may, on what those emergency stockpiles contain.
And then just this question, if I may please, for UNICEF, I just wanted to clarify you the support you're offering in terms of generators that to to generate the electricity for buildings for heating or is that for to generate set up for heaters just.
Yeah, I just wanted some clarity on that and all.
So you mentioned the difficulty between responding to rural versus versus urban areas and mention something about the type of fuel.
And if I could get a bit of more detail on that, that would be really helpful.
Thank you so much to everybody.
Maybe we'll start with Jamie this time.
Sorry I also my internet's not very good, so I'll I'll answer the question that I heard and if I missed anything please let me know.
So the emergency stockpiles, what we have are two mechanisms part of that one is the Ukrainian Red Cross has the emergency pooled funds that are used to respond quickly to emergencies.
They also have a pre position stock so that both in kind and in cash they can move quickly in response to large emergencies.
So I don't have figures, facts and figures on hand right now.
I know that the funds are about 50% depleted.
The emergency pool funds and the stocks are we've, we started those stocks around in 2023 and they were fully stocked around 2024.
They weren't used in 2025 so much.
But starting at the end of last year and and beginning of this year, we're starting to use those stocks that we were pre positioned for large scale emergencies because the regular resources and we normally have stockpiles that are in the different regions that can respond to needs.
As people come to if they've been evacuated and they need to access resources, they've been able to access it there and not touch the more pre position stocks, but we've been needing to use those in the in the recent weeks.
Thank you for the question on on generators, We as UNICEF prioritising water and heating facilities and social infrastructure because that children and families rely on particularly hospitals, schools, kindergartens and and social protection and child protection facilities.
We also, as I mentioned the same as IFRC and Red Cross Society closely working with national emergency services for coordination purposes to complement their efforts and as first responders.
But what we have been witnessing there were information that country has enough generators to cope with the with the situation.
But when we dig into what is happening with key utilities like water companies and and heating companies, we have realised that they were not adequately supplied with the support.
So this is therefore our primary target especially for Kiev and and urban areas.
As I mentioned, we're planning to distribute 79 generators specifically to heating and and water utilities.
And this is the area that UNICEF is also coordinating and leading on behalf of all humanitarian family.
On your question related to rural and urban areas, the differences that in urban areas families that have houses and and can have stoves that can cope with the situation better through solid fuel and other arrangements.
You have been maybe seen the news or appeal from the Kiev mayor suggesting that people from urban areas and and multi Storey apartments move to kind of like rural areas or or outside of the town to better again handle the situation.
So this is basically the difference.
We know that with high rising buildings, of course water supply is a challenge, heating is a challenge and and this is where we see all the complexity.
But let me conclude by saying that with the funding situation we're seeing, it's not only the reduction in the funding, but also the fact that it is getting increasingly earmarked and and doesn't allow us to have that agility and flexibility to react to newly kind of emerging situation on the ground.
So therefore multi year, multi sectoral and predictable funding, including on the prevention, not only in response, because now when humanitarian reset, we're increasingly talking about life saving interventions and and you don't see prevention or anticipatory actions are kind of visible enough in in discussions and and investments by donors.
So it is key to have that predictable and flexible and again, resources to allow us to better respond to the needs on the ground.
Absolutely Think Olivia has a follow up, but I think this may we'll need to wrap it here because our next briefer will have to lose him if we don't go to him soon.
So Olivia, follow up, just wanted to figure on on the for the emergency pool fund and how much is that?
And just the stocks and kind, if you could just precise what that actually means?
So the for the in kind, the stockpiles are mostly sleeping kits, non food items, generators.
There's also repair materials including OSB boards to replace windows and tarpaulins as well.
The emergency pooled funds is, is something that Ukrainian Red Cross has, but we also have the regional emergency appeal for Ukraine and impacted countries.
And this is a little bit more broad and, and the the facts and figures I think I shared a bit earlier.
So it's that one is 13% covered with a funding deficit around 200 million.
That is for the federation wide.
The Ukraine Red Cross has their own internal mechanism.
So I'm not going to speak on their behalf, but I can speak to what the Federation has and that's the the regional appeal.
Thank you very much for that supplementary information.
Jamie, thank you also very much for joining us.
I know it's it's difficult circumstances there.
Thank you very much for taking this time to brief our journalists.
I know you're heading back there soon.
Thank you for the excellent work you're doing.
And then please join us again as as often as you like.
So thank you, colleagues.
And of course, Tommaso and Ricardo will be in the room, but we will now shift gears.
As I mentioned, we have a briefer who will need to leave soon.
We're very grateful to you, Jean Martin Bauer, who you know well, who is our WFP Director of Food Security, Nutrition Analysis, who's joining us from Rome, who will speak to the food insecurity situation in West and Central Africa.
I'm here to brief you about the food security situation in Western Central Africa.
According to the last numbers we have from the Catalan monizer, which is the regional equivalent of the integrated food security face classification, A staggering 55 million people will be facing acute food insecurity in the upcoming lean season between June and August of 2026.
Let's get into some detail here so that when we talk about acute food insecurity in the IPC and the Catarama monize, what it what we're talking about is a 5 point scale for vulnerability.
Phase one being normal, 2 being stressed, three crisis, 4 emergency and phase five being catastrophe.
So we have in phases 3-4 and 555,000,000 people in in in the lean season under those conditions.
But the numbers also tell us what the latest release also tells us is that we're going to be facing in West and Central Africa about 3 million people in emergency conditions in phase four.
That number's grown quite a lot in the past few years.
Back in 2020, it was about 1.5 million people in West Africa under those conditions, compared to 3.
So it's doubled in just a few years.
And in this latest release, we have, unfortunately, for the first time in in 10 years, a population in IPC 5, the population facing catastrophic food security conditions in the northeast of Nigeria in Borno State.
More specifically, that again, is, is is indicative of a very stressed food security situation for that group.
And this is a group that's one step away from famine.
Now what I'd like to explain here, the the causes of this need to be understood.
The last rainy season in West Africa, which which ended in October was relatively favourable.
The crops are doing fine overall in the region.
There was even flooding in some areas.
So this is not a due to the climate.
The vulnerabilities we're seeing in West and Central Africa right now are really due to violence.
They're also due to the fact that there have been large funding cuts to essential systems that support the population.
And to give you some examples, just last year WFP had to curtail its assistance.
We have stopped providing assistance to about 300,000 children in Nigeria as a result of these funding cuts.
In Cameroon, we might need to cut a half million people off beneficiary rules next month for lack of resources.
And to go back to Nigeria, we are planning on providing assistance to about 72,000 people next month.
And that's compare that to a monthly reach of about 1.3 million in in 2025 S the the funding cuts are are exacerbating the problem.
Humanitarian aid in West and Central Africa is an essential element to stabilising the region to, to providing some amount of certainty to very vulnerable populations.
And that's very much at risk at present.
And when we do have the funding, the World Food Programme has been able to, to work with governments and communities to make, to make things better.
Food insecurity in West and Central Africa is a phenomenon that didn't begin this year.
And it's, it's, it's been there for, for, for quite some time.
And we've been able to work on the root causes of acute food insecurity in West Africa through resilience programmes, through school feeding programmes, by building assets at the community level, working with governments on, on social protection systems and the like, or resilience programmes in, in West Africa, for instance, between 2018 and, and today, we've been able to rehabilitate over 300,000 hectares of degraded land, turning what was a moonscape into arable land and and thereby protecting about 4 million people from a climatic stressors.
We, we are able to to do things that turn $1.00 of investment into $30.00 of benefit through these programmes.
So the solutions are known.
Unfortunately, they're not being funded right now.
I'd like to close by explaining that over the next six months, the World Food Programme needs $453,000,000 to be able to implement its programme of work in the region.
Again, 55 million people facing acute food and security in West Africa as a result of violence and humanitarian funding cuts.
Thank you very much, John Maupin.
Yes, hi, thank you very much for the briefing.
Pretty staggering numbers.
I was wondering if you could say a little bit more about what the situation means in terms of, I mean, if you've, if you're seeing or expecting to see people starving to death, but also in terms of what such, you know, malnutrition among among children will mean going forward If this isn't addressed.
And you, you say that you need, I think it was 453 million or so for the next 6 months.
Do you have any indication that you will get that money?
What's, what's the situation like with the funding there?
Now you're, you're asking about the details on the O on the situation and that's very much a welcome question.
We believe that about 13 million children are at risk in the region in 2026.
And that means that nutrition programmes, programmes that prevent and treat malnutrition need to be prioritised.
When we talk about IPC 5 and this is the case for 15,000 people in Northeast Nigeria in a specific local government areas of Borno State, that does mean that people are dying.
Unfortunately, it means that mortality is way above normal levels and to put it in plain language, people are starving and that's a place where we need to be able to ensure that assistance gets to children and gets to the people who are happy, who happen to be the most vulnerable.
The funding situation in West Africa has gotten very difficult for the World Food Programme and other essential humanitarian partners has gotten so bad that in some places we can talk about a humanitarian vacuum as humanitarian agencies have withdrawn from the front line.
The WFP remains engaged and the $453,000,000 that we need in the next 6 months are what we need to to do the essential prioritised plan of work.
Again, if these programmes are not funded, what we see is a very quick decline in food consumption indicators at the household level and we start seeing.
Problems that include children, children's dietary diversity are declining as soon as funding cuts hit, food security indicators get worse.
We see a dietary indicators in consumption of, of of fresh foods, protein decline, increasing nutritional risk.
I think it's a very clear.
OK, further questions in the room online.
So Jean Martin, as always, thank you very, very much for for dialling and joining us here in Geneva.
Keep up the excellent work as always.
And and colleagues, of course, you're part of the solution.
Thank you for your reporting.
Immensely important that we get the sound, the alarm bell.
So thank you very, very much, Jean Martin.
OK, colleagues, I think that that wraps up the the agenda items.
I just have a few announcements before we wrap up this press briefing wanted to make, oh, you have a another issue.
Maybe it may be among the announcements I have, but go ahead, Nina.
Sorry, it's it's just on Iran.
I was wondering if any of the spokespeople who are listening might have information about the situation there, the health situation, what kind of injuries, if it's WHO, what kind of injuries are being reported?
Also UNHCR, if we have any indication of of people leaving the country and what kind of planning is being put in place to address that, I don't know.
It's, it's a very worrying situation in in, in Iran.
Of course, maybe a colleague from WHO and Euniciar could add comments.
What I can tell you is that there was, as you probably have seen, the Security Council held an urgent meeting yesterday.
Our assistant Secretary General Martha Poby did brief this this meeting.
She echoed much of what the secretary general's been saying since the onset of this crisis.
She voiced alarm over the public statement suggesting the possible military strikes.
Military strikes in the country, of course, among other things, she the secretary general himself, of course, she remains convinced that all concerns regarding Iran, including those related to the nuclear issue and ongoing protests, are best adjusted diplomacy.
Of course, maximum restraint is always is always urged.
We regret any loss of life for the protests.
Of course, the the crackdown of the protests are worrying, worrying, worrying the situations.
It's a very fluid and deeply concerning situation which we remain on top of.
Of course, we have staff in the country who are reporting back to us.
But perhaps I can turn now to maybe either colleagues from maybe Christian and or Matt who are connected.
If you have anything to add, just please raise your hand.
And OK, Matt, I see you're turning your camera on, so maybe you have something to add in from the UN Refugee Agency's perspective.
Thank you very much, Rolando, and thanks for the question.
We don't have a huge amount to update at this stage.
Of course, the situation is incredibly fluid.
We would echo those calls that you just heard for a calm and a ratcheting down of the tensions.
We're not aware of any impact on the refugees in Iran at the moment.
As you know, the country does host some 4 million Afghan refugees.
But there hasn't been any impact so far as far as we're aware now on the refugees in the country or indeed on our staff.
Our offices in the country remain open and we are interacting with refugees and displaced people in in the country at the moment.
As you know, the communications have been very patchy and very difficult in the country.
And at the moment, we haven't reported or been able to register any significant movements within the country or two borders.
That's all we have for the moment.
We'll keep you updated though.
Thank you very much, Matt.
Of course, we will continue to keep you updated as well as the situation develops.
It is, as just noted, fluid and deeply concerning.
So fluid, I'm not sure if Christian has anything to add.
Of course, if not at the moment, we'd be grateful for any, any statements or updates that you could share with us, with our journalists.
So maybe a few, a few other questions before I go to my announcements.
We have somebody from the China Media Group online, Xin Yi.
My question is also to Christina, the spokesperson of WHOI don't know if he's online.
My question is ask the United States is said to formally withdraw from The Who in the coming days.
How does WHO plan to maintain the continuity and the effectiveness of its work?
Could him give me an example, For instance, if the United States withdraw from a certain area, how did The Who reorganise its resources to maintain operations?
And this is the topic of the week.
When it joined W Jo, the United States of America reserved its right to withdraw from the Organisation on a one year notice.
Provided, however, that the financial obligations of the United States to the Organisation shall be met in full for the Organisation current fiscal year.
the US, as you all know, gave notice of withdrawal on 22 January 2025.
This matter is on the agenda of the upcoming Executive Board meeting and the Secretariat will act on advice and guidance of our governing bodies accordingly, and we will keep you updated when we have more information.
Thank you, Christian, thank you very much.
How much money does United States owe to The Who?
So as of today, the US has not paid the invoiced amounts for its assessed contributions for 2024 biennium 2024-2025 on the information on the outstanding assessed contributions for all WHO Member States can be found on our website in the various forms and portals.
This may also be available on EB documents coming up soon.
So check the websites regularly for any new documents and upcoming information.
Yeah, this information is very transparent.
So thanks very much for pointing us to that.
Thanks for the questions.
OK, if there are no further questions, let me just make a few announcements before we wrap up.
And wanted to make sure firstly that you saw a very important address of the Secretary General, Antonio Guterres yesterday on his priorities for the year.
It's actually was his final address addressing outlining his priorities as he will end his mandate at the end of this year through the through this important statement that was delivered yesterday to the General Assembly.
Mr Guterres warned that the world is quote brimming with conflict, impunity, inequality and unpredictability, even as international cooperation is fraying at the moment it is most needed.
The statement, and I really encourage you to read it, outlines 3 priorities.
1 to uphold the UN Charter to the peace, peace between nations and peace with nature.
And the third speaks to unity in an age of division.
So quite a far reaching important speech which talks not just about what we do but why we do it here at the United Nations for the last 80 years.
The Secretary General is currently in London to attend very important event, the 80th anniversary of the first General Assembly held in London.
Up for you history buffs.
I'm sure you all know that it was in January 1946 the first General Assembly was held in London, not New York, and the Secretary General is there to to deliver a keynote.
We will share that with you tomorrow.
He's actually in London today, but the event is tomorrow, so we'll make sure to share that important statement with you.
After London, the Secretary General will move to Switzerland, our host country, where he will have a retreat with his special and personal representatives and envoys.
It's private meetings and then afterwards he'll be moving to Davos, as many of you will probably be doing yourself, to the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting.
He will be delivering a special address focusing on dialogue at the 56th annual meeting taking place in Davos under the theme of A Spirit of Dialogue.
Now he's expected to speak to outline 4 priorities.
Investing in peace amid record global conflicts, advancing justice and opportunity by tackling extreme inequality and reforming the global financial system.
Securing A livable planet through accelerated climate action, and ensuring that technology, particularly artificial intelligence, serves humanity through global governance and capacity building.
So another far reaching, incredibly important speech that he'll be delivering on Wednesday next in Davos and we'll make sure to share that with you in a timely manner.
Just another a few other statements which we shared with you last night after hours.
Just wanted to make sure you saw those.
One speaks to the the launch of the phase two of President Trump's 20 point plan for Gaza.
And the secretary general notes this as an important step.
And in the statement, he notes that any initiative that contributes to alleviating the suffering of civilians, supporting recovery and reconstruction, and advancing A credible political horizon is a positive development.
So there's more in that statement which we shared with you last night.
A second statement also on the OPT speaks to the unauthorised entry into the UNRWA Jerusalem Health Centre on the 12th of January, just a few days ago.
So there's a statement which speaks to that, noting that yes, there are hundreds of Palestinian refugee patients which rely on this health centre and, and this is really the only possibility for them to, to seek remedy many of the ills that they have.
So this is something that we condemned this, this this unlawful entry on the 12th of January.
I mentioned the SG trips.
So let's just talk about a couple of meetings here before we wrap up.
We have the Human Rights Council's universal periodic review.
The 51st session starts next week.
It's a two week session, 14 states to be reviewed as follows, Mauritania, Nauru, Rwanda, Nepal, St.
Lucia, Oman and Austria and then the second week it'll be Australia, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Georgia and Sao Tomei in Principe.
So those are the 14 countries that will be reviewed over this important human rights review process.
Treaty bodies, Committee on the Rights of the Child.
It's session started this Monday as we announced earlier this week, very important meeting.
Of course, we have a number of countries that are being reviewed today.
The CRC, the Committee on the Rights of the Child, they're reporting a reviewing the report of Pakistan and there's more information in the media advisory shared with you earlier.
Last but not least, a press conference to announce a week from well this coming Thursday, the 22nd of January, the new composition of the Commission of inquiry on the occupied Palestinian territory, including E Jerusalem and Israel.
They will the new members of this Commission will be briefing you.
This is at 10 AM on the 22nd of January.
I believe we already sent out the media advisory.
We have Chris Sidoti, who's returning member or commissioner, as you well know.
And then we have other colleagues, Shriven San Mural Dhakia, chair of the Commission and Florence Mumba, another new member of the Commission will be here physically in the room on the on the 22nd.
If you have questions for me, no.
And that note, I wish you a good afternoon and see you here on Tuesday and a nice weekend.
