Let's start this briefing of the UN Information Service.
Today is Tuesday, 3rd of March and of course we are immediately going to speak about the unfolding situation in the Middle East.
We have a few colleagues joining in here in Geneva and from the field.
I'd like to start with reiterating the position of the Secretary General that he has expressed over the weekend in the Security Council and remains very much valid.
What is needed now in the region more than anything is a way out.
To that end, the Secretary General again calls for de escalation and immediate cessation of hostilities and genuine dialogue and negotiations in line with the Charter of the United Nations.
He's particularly concerned about the growing number of civilian being killed and the expansion of the conflict to countries that were not involved in the initial attacks.
We are also worried about the negative impacts that the military activities in the region are having on the world economy, which will hit hardest on those who can afford it.
And then I'll now start our briefing.
The list of our briefing guest with Samer Abdel Jaber Samir is coming to us from Cairo and he's the WFP Regional Director for the Middle East, North Africa and Eastern Europe.
And Samir, you're here to tell us about the humanitarian impact of ongoing military activities in Iran and the region.
I'll give you the floor for your initial remarks, please.
Thank you very much and good morning and Ramadan Mubarak to all of you.
Well, the situation is evolving very rapidly and and often little warning that we're coming our way driven by the security developments that are fast-paced.
We remain as WFP operational, ready to scale and at the same time position to respond to the growing needs in in the region.
We have activated our emergency protocols in, in a number of countries and we're working very closely with the local authorities, with the partners to make sure that we're able to respond and also to monitor the displacements that might be arise from from this situation.
Those include countries like in Iran itself, Turkey, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Yemen and Palestine and Armenia.
Those potentially are countries that could be impacted and, and you will hear later from my colleague in Afghanistan because that will have an impact also on the corridors that are reaching Afghanistan.
Lebanon, I would say is the first country that we, we started to be responding to the, the, the immediate displacement.
So on Monday we, we got from the government activation of shelters and that meant for us that we needed to start the ready to eat and, and, and hot meals and in, in the shelters to support the people who got displaced.
Of course, we are also worried about the, the, the shipping lines and air travel because that will have a direct impact on our operations, whether it's the supply chain routes, but also on basically the rotation for the humanitarian staff that have been working in difficult situations over the last period of time.
If the crisis escalates, I think we're looking at the potential $200 million that are needed to be able to respond for a period of three months.
This is initial figures that we're we, we're mentioning because of course we don't know when the escalations will, will will start calming down Lebanon of course, like started the population started on the move mainly from the southern part of Lebanon, Beka Valley as well as the southern part of Beirut city.
21 shelters were opened by the government, 30,000 people displayed so far.
We believe that this number will grow much higher.
We are in discussions with the authorities.
We're ready to start cash assistance for 100,000 people through the cash safety net programmes that we're doing.
I'm also so very worried because we already have a vulnerable caseload of Syrian refugees that we have been supporting inside Syria and we will continue to advocate for that programme to make sure that we are supporting them despite the difficulties at the moment.
So we already have, like I said, hot meals, ready to go food and bread production that is ongoing at the moment in Lebanon, Gaza.
We were worried because the borders to Gaza, the crossings have been closed since the escalation.
We got the good news today that actually the crossings will be opened and that is timely for us and we need to get in aid as fast as we can.
We have wheat flour that is sufficient only for 10 days and food parcels that will maintain our programmes only for 2 1/2 weeks.
So we need to make sure that there is continuing flow, continuous flow and scalable flow of food, food into the Gaza Strip.
Of course there is commercial sector that was going in and we're trying to scale up our cash assistance in the in the Gaza Strip.
If closures continue to affect, our delays continue to affect, we expect that we will have to reduce our general food assistance the ration size to almost 25% to support 1.3 million people with wheat flour and and and food parcels.
On the logistics side, in general, I would say that humanitarian supplied routes across the region are under are going through a strain.
Disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz is something that we're monitoring the Red Sea as well because that will complicate maritime routes and basically delays and driving costs for most of our operations that depend on those routes.
With seas contest and airspace closing, we're looking at adapting and relying our suppliers and use the our supplier networks in in other countries like Turkey, like Egypt, like Jordan and and Pakistan to support overland corridors and Egypt ports and Suez Canal are still functioning and that that is a key hub for us to support our operation in Gaza, but also in Sudan.
I'll stop here and happy to answer questions.
This is very precious information.
I'll continue with the colleagues here on the podium.
Start with The Who wants to start.
Ravina, you want to go first, Then we go to, we have UNHCR in UNICEF.
They are not on your agenda, but colleagues have got something to to say too.
So they are here with me.
We start with Ravina for OHCHR.
The fear, the panic, the anxiety experienced by millions of people in the Middle East and beyond is palpable and was entirely avoidable.
The situation is worsening and widening by the hour, playing out our worst fears.
UN human rights chief Oka Turk says he is deeply shocked by the impacts of the widespread hostilities on civilians and civilian infrastructure since the conflict erupted on Saturday.
With Israel and the United States of America's attacks on Iran, Iran's response against states across the region, as well as Hezbollah's subsequent entry into the conflict.
The laws of war are crystal clear.
Civilians and civilian objects are protected.
All States and armed groups must abide by these laws.
The High Commissioner calls on all parties to exercise maximum restraint, prevent further escalation and take all feasible measures to protect civilians, including migrant workers, as well as critical infrastructure.
Returning to the negotiating table is the one and only way to bring an end to the killing, the destruction and the despair.
So far, besides Iran and Israel, the hostilities have impacted 12 other states, destroying or damaging private homes, offices and businesses, airports, energy infrastructure, among other civilian infrastructure.
The Iran Red Crescent Society reports put the death toll at 787.
In the single deadliest and devastating incident, dozens of girls were reportedly killed and injured when their primary school in Minab, in the South of the country was struck during the school day.
The High Commissioner calls for a prompt, impartial and thorough investigation into the circumstances of the attack.
The onus is on the forces that carried out the attack to investigate it.
We call on them to make public the findings and to ensure accountability and redress for the victims.
The Iranian military has responded to the US and Israel attacks and deploying hundreds of missiles and drones, among other weapon systems, against states across the region, killing civilians and causing damage to civilian infrastructure.
In the central Israeli city of Beit Shemesh, nine people were killed when a missile struck a residential area.
We're also gravely concerned by the escalation of hostilities in Lebanon after Hezbollah fired barrages of projectiles into Israel and the heavy counter strikes of Israel, including in Beirut.
We urge both parties to immediately end this major escalation in violence and to return to the agreed ceasefire.
Reports say there have been civilian casualties and damage to civilian infrastructure and significant re displacement as a result of the Israeli strikes in the South of Lebanon and in the southern suburbs of Beirut.
Information received indicates that nearly 30,000 residents had fled the affected areas overnight, on top of the 64,000 already displaced.
The international humanitarian law spells out that any attack must comply with the fundamental principles of distinction and proportionality and for precaution to be taken to protect civilians.
Attacks directed against civilians or civilian objects, as well as indiscriminate attacks, are serious violations of international humanitarian law and may amount to war crimes across Iran.
We have grave concerns for the welfare of the population given the government's record of cracking down with lethal force on broad scale against those who oppose their rule and the new threats of senior officials against any expression of dissent.
The authorities are reminded of their obligation under international human rights law to safeguard Iranians fundamental freedoms.
We're also concerned that many Iranians are again unable to access the Internet and hence we have limited access to essential information, including that that that is necessary for them to seek safety from ongoing hostilities.
We call for the immediate restoration of telecommunication services.
We're also concerned for the welfare of hundreds of political prisoners who continue to be arbitrarily held in Iran.
Every effort must be taken to ensure their protection and we urge their prompt release.
Human rights must not be instrumentalized or used as a bargaining chip by any state.
We know from painful history what the results of the use of brute external force can mean for human rights.
Human rights need to be central to Iran's future.
The High Commissioner implores all parties to come to their senses and to end this violence.
He calls for states to uphold and defend the UN Charter, international human rights law and humanitarian law.
Let me go to for Unit CR Thank you, dears.
I'll first read our statement and some population updates and also something on people on the move that we have been observing.
Unit CR, The UN Refugee agency is deeply concerned about the escalation of conflict in the Middle East, its impact on civilians and further displacement in the region.
Many affected countries, as you know, already host millions of refugees and internally displaced people.
Further violence risks overwhelming humanitarian capacities and placing additional pressure on host communities.
We echo the UN Secretary General's urgent calls for dialogue and escalation, respect for human rights, the protection of civilians, and full adherence to international law.
Unit CR is ready to scale up its humanitarian response as needed.
Inside Iran, Unit CR is the largest UN agency with presence in Tehran and other field offices we have.
Apart from Tehran, we have offices in Mashad, Kirman, Shiraz, Isfahan and Dohoran Unit CR.
According to our updated figures, Iran hosts 1.6 million refugees and other people in need of international protection.
In Iran, Unit CR works to support the government in maintaining inclusive services such as health, education and social protection, promoting self-reliance of forcefully displaced people and providing individual support to the most vulnerable.
Unit CR continues assisting and supporting refugees, however with some reduced operational capacity.
Unit CR is closely monitoring developments at this time.
In terms of population movement, there's no significant movement across the border with Turkey or along the Islam killer border between Afghanistan and Iran.
Just to compliment of what colleagues were saying on the situation in Lebanon.
Heavy displacement is being reported across parts of southern Lebanon, the Bekaa and southern suburbs of Beirut after Israel issued evacuation warnings to the residents of more than 53 Lebanese villages and intense air strikes across all three parts of Lebanon.
As of yesterday, the conservative estimates suggest that nearly 30,000 people were hosted and registered at collective shelters.
Many more slept in their cars on the side of roads or were still stuck in traffic jams on the roads leaving the South to Beirut.
Many families are leaving by car and by foot within with limited belongings and seeking safety in other areas, while many have spent their night in their cars, as mentioned, remaining uncertain where they will stay.
Unit CR has since early morning mobilised its resources to be able to respond to the emerging needs in coordination with the Lebanese Government, including their Disaster Management Unit and our humanitarian partners.
We are prepared to scale up assistance as needed.
As you heard the call, civilians must be protected at all times.
We reiterate the urgent need to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure to ensure safe access for those fleeing and facilitate safe and unhindered humanitarian access to people in need.
Unit CR is closely monitoring the situation inside the country and coordinating and collaborating with the authorities there.
On the Lebanon Syrian border, some increase as has been witnessed in terms of population movements, a few 100, 100 more people, which was observed in the number of Syrians who are refugees inside Lebanon crossing into Syria from Syria into Lebanon.
Our staff have been present.
We have a contingency plan for any possible influx from Lebanon in in case things develop and in terms of our preparedness.
Unit CR's emergency supplies are available for rapid deployment from Unit CR's global stockpiles.
We have our centres in Dubai, thermies in Uzbekistan and Copenhagen, as well as from regional hubs in Lebanon and Syria.
These include emergency relief items whenever a humanitarian crisis happens.
Thank you very much, Babar.
Let me go to my right, Ricardo, for UNICEF.
UNICEF is, of course, extremely concerned and alerted by the military escalation in the Middle East.
The situation is deteriorating rapidly.
And as we see time and again in conflicts, children are the ones who suffer first and who suffer the most.
A descent into deeper conflict must be avoided at all costs.
In the last four days, we have received reports of children killed and injured in Iran, Israel and Lebanon as hostilities intensify.
In fact, the reported number in Lebanon is now at 7 children killed and 38 injured since the weekend.
Continued missile fire and air strikes are placing children in immediate danger, forcing families into shelters and disrupting access to schools and essential services.
Each new escalation expands the circle of harm.
Residential areas, schools and critical infrastructure are being affected.
Hospitals are under pressure or being hit.
Children who have already endured months of instability are now facing renewed trauma, fear and displacement.
The military escalation in the Middle East is also severely disrupting vital supply routes, which impacts our ability to deliver for children in need.
UNICEF is working with partners to identify alternative routes, maintain supply chain operations and prevent stock outs, while continuing to deliver life saving supplies to meet the most urgent needs of vulnerable children.
We reiterate, of course, the SGS call for an immediate cessation of hostilities in the escalation and all parties to return to the negotiating table.
Failing to do so risks A wider regional conflict with grave consequences for civilians, children and regional stability.
Children must be protected at all times.
Children must never be targets.
UNICEF urgently calls for immediate de escalation and for all parties to uphold their obligations to protect children wherever they are.
Thank you very much, Alessandra, and good morning all.
As you know, you may know from the statement we shared last Saturday, the International Federation of Red Cross and Eric Crescent Societies is following closely and is deeply concerned about the recent escalation of hostilities in the Middle East as the situation is changing faster.
We still don't have the full picture, but we would still like to brief you on the action we have taken so far and the teams of the IFRC network are on the ground and responding as needs arise.
We are working with the affected National Societies to support a timely humanitarian response and ensure we can augment their capabilities.
The safety and protection of humanitarian workers must be prioritised above all during this challenging time to ensure that they can safely carry out their humanitarian mission.
The IFRC has activated every level from global to regional and local.
To ensure coordination and readiness to respond, including IFSC logistics, pipeline and prepositioning of humanitarian goods, we have immediately activated our Disaster Response Emergency Fund, the IFRC REF allocating 1.5 million CHF to support the response in Iran.
The Iranian Recrescent Society has mobilised its network of volunteers and staff.
Emergency medical teams were immediately dispatched to impacted sites to provide on site triage and first aid, stabilisation of injured individuals and medical evacuation to referral hospitals.
Red Crescent pharmacies and medical facilities nationwide have been placed on full alert to ensure continuity of access to medicines and emergency medical supplies.
The National Society is also supporting search and rescue operations.
The fund allocated from the IFC aims to deliver life saving assistance for 200,000 people through a nine month operational time frame.
The budget will cover the procurement of items to support emergency health services like trauma, kids, splints, defibrillators and evacuation shares.
All national Red Cross and recrescent societies in the region are on high alert for any possible response needed.
And since we are talking about Lebanon this morning, the Lebanese Recross, as always I would add, has already activated all the emergency health services across the country.
In Israel, Maguen David Adom has mobilised staff and volunteers across the country.
All 39,000 staff and volunteers are mobilised together with the entire fleet of ambulances, mobile intensive care units, intensive care buses and rapid response vehicles.
Again, Davida Domine Israel teams treated 121 people as of one first of March, including trauma, shrapnel injuries and anxiety cases.
They're also supporting evacuation from impact sites.
And finally, the MDA launched a national blood donation campaign with drives in secure location to maintain emergency readiness.
Thank you very much, Tomaso.
And to conclude this series of briefing, I just would like to tell you that we are going to distribute the statement that came from Jorge Moreira da Silva, the UN and the Secretary General and Unop's Executive Director.
You will have it in the mail immediately.
So let me open now the floor to question.
Jeremy, Radio France International.
I've got 2 questions for you.
The one for WFP first, I think the, the person from WFP mentioned 2425% cuts, ration cuts.
I didn't quite understand if it was only in Gaza or if it was globally if the the airline is not going back to normal.
And the second question would be to Ravina.
Ravina, you, you, you mentioned the attack on the on the school in Iran.
So if I got that right, if it was proven that it was an Israeli or US missile that did struck, did strike a school, a School for Girls in Iran, it will be a war crime.
Yeah, thanks Jeremy for the question.
Yes, 25% of daily needs of food for the people inside Gaza that we would be forced to reduce to if we're not able to get the the food levels up to the level required in Gaza Strip.
So when the ceasefire happened, we were able to provide 1.6 million people with 100% of their daily food needs.
And now gradually we're decreasing to almost 50%.
And now if the the access is not fully back as required, we will go back to 25% of the daily needs.
What, what is clear is that this attack that hit the the girls school was absolutely devastating.
I mean, children, little girls in the middle of the school day at the beginning of the school day being killed in this manner, backpacks with, you know, blood stains on them.
This is absolutely horrific.
And I think if there's any image that captures the essence of the destruction, despair and senselessness and cruelty of this conflict, those are the images on international humanitarian law and what it says.
International humanitarian law spells out that any attack must comply with the principles of distinction, proportionality and precaution to protect civilians.
If attacks are found to be directed against civilians or civilian objects or indiscriminate attacks, they are serious violations of international humanitarian law and may amount to war crimes.
On this specific incident, we don't have enough information to make a factual determination of what happened.
And as I said in my statement, the owners is on the parties that carried out the attacks to properly investigated and not only if investigated, but to make sure that the results of any investigation are made public and that there is accountability and redress for the victims.
Other questions in the room.
I was wondering on on the death toll for Iran, which you mentioned Ravina, since it's coming from the Red Crescent.
Tomaso, is that something that that you can confirm actually?
And also on your office, the Iranian ambassador yesterday at the Human Rights Council was talking about an attack on your office.
Could you just clarify exactly what happened in Iran, what was hit and what was the damage and who did it?
A question for WFP, please.
On Gaza, I believe you mentioned crossings, plural for Gaza that will open again.
Can you just say which ones and when they will open?
And could you elaborate a little bit more on the supply chain challenges with the disruptions to shipping routes and air travel and so on?
How could that impact other people suffering from hunger around the world?
Thank you, Thomas, you want to start?
Thank you, Emma for for your question.
Unfortunately, as I said at the beginning of my speech, we still don't have the clear picture.
So we are still clarifying all the different information with the national society colleagues and relevant colleagues.
And we need also to take in account that communication is a huge, immense challenge at the moment in Iran.
So what we know is that Iranian Crescent teams, for instance, were deployed in the site where the the girl school was, was attacked.
But then we still don't have all the proper information to talk about the different incidents.
I mean we saw a video where basically I mean, I think that is public domain and maybe you also saw it with some Iranian Crescent colleagues and Iranian Crescent emblem in the in the building with some smoke behind the building.
We know surely that I mean we understood this morning in a in a very short communication that we had with our head of delegation that they had some issues to the office, like windows broken, so basically not being able to to enter and to work from the office.
But this doesn't mean that we are confirming that there was an attack or not.
We are still verifying all the information.
You can hear me now on, on the Gaza one, it's one crossing I'm aware of that was announced today.
That's the only one that today we got the news from the Israeli side that they will allow humanitarian aid and and we'll be checking with the team if the manifests and then the trucks pulling forward will will happen starting today or tomorrow.
So that's the only crossing I'm aware.
On your point on the impact, I think it's it, it has impact across all the operations that we're running.
There is a need for predictable funding, especially in times when growing needs are coming into the additional caseloads of people that we need to serve.
We're already underfunded in the majority of the eight or nine countries that are impacted now.
We already have, like a colleague from Unity has said the refugee populations that we were announcing actually this week that we have to suspend operations for them in place places like Jordan and potentially Lebanon.
So we are strained with funding resources.
The other thing is of course the the length and civility of this crisis and of course how it will impact people, movements and the numbers of people that will have to leave their homes will have a direct impact on us as as humanitarians and with the access to the the, the Strait of Hormuz or the Red Sea, we saw it previously.
Those impact on supply chain and supply chain routes have immediate impact on the prices because definitely the markets will be affected not just by the fuel, but the food prices will be affected.
Insurance for actually moving of commodities across continents will be affected.
So we'll be really putting additional pressure for us to really support those people that we need to serve.
I, I was wondering, I see Tariq in the crowd, if there is any information from The Who country rap in Tehran.
They've been reports that nine hospitals have been hit, five in Tehran and four in regional cities.
And Tommaso, they've also been reports that the IRCS rehabilitation centre was hit in Tehran.
Do you have any confirmation?
You want to start answering Thomas and Terry, can you come please?
Yeah, thanks, John for the for the question.
We, I, I think my answer is kind of the same as as as before.
We have been seeing some photos and videos also about this rehabilitation centre, but we still cannot confirm how, I mean, what has happened and how is the situation there?
Thank you Thomas, indeed the the national.
Thank you John for the question.
The the National Emergency Medical Organisation stated that several hospitals and emergency posts, medical emergency posts have been damaged and that one paramedic had been injured.
You've seen that on May 1st, the Tehran Gandhi Hospital was reportedly damaged during the bombardment of the Iranian capital.
No casualties were reported, but patients were advocated to another hospital.
Just to give a few more details that we had from from the Ministry of Health.
According to the Ministry of Health in Iran, the provision of health services is continuing without interruption.
Medical equipment, medicines, vaccines and blood products stockpiles remain stable.
There is no shortage of medicines, medical equipment, devices or infant formulas.
The supply and chain and distribution of drugs are functioning so far.
Normally WTO has not been asked for the assistance, but we stand ready to provide if needed.
Just to really repeat that protection of health is not negotiable.
The protection of civilians, health workers and health facilities is an obligation under international humanitarian law.
And then the most immediate public health impact of this escalation is not only new casualties, but it's also a regional shock that disrupts care delivery, supply and chain, staff safety and humanitarian access across multiple crises that have already overstretched local health systems.
Thank you very much, Tariq.
If there are no other question in the room, I go to the platform.
My question is for summer regarding logistics again on this issues.
I apologise if you already answered this or you addressed this at the beginning, but not sure I understood regarding your, your, your hubs in Dubai and in that region.
So if I understand they these are working, they're they're functioning correctly or is there some disruption there?
What's the what's the landscape there?
Yeah, our hub in Dubai is functional.
Of course, we're looking also at others like the one in Egypt where we're supporting Gaza and Sudan, but also we're looking at how to actually use land routes, which will actually increase the cost on us to move commodities out from the the humanitarian hub in in Dubai.
So, but also we're looking at and the potential extension of times that it will take actually to move those commodities from there to other locations.
We also have hubs and other areas across the globe.
So we're actually looking assessing where the needs are and, and, and see what's the fastest way.
And Turkey is one of our main food procurement hub that we're operating out of.
And about Turkey, the next question is Mohammed Arzad, the agency.
Alessandra, my question is for Ravina.
Ravina, you said because of unable to access the Internet, you have limited access to essential information.
I wonder do you have any team in Iran now?
If not, how you get the information from the ground?
We, we don't have a team on the ground.
We have not been able to access Iran and the Internet restrictions have further restricted our ability to to collect information.
We do rely on credible sources on the ground to corroborate information.
Is there any other question on the Middle East, the situation in the Middle East?
Yeah, go ahead, of course.
Just as you have been asking about movements into Turkey, just Emma, building up on your query yesterday, we as units here understand that procedures and authorisations on both sides of the border between Iran and Turkey have been adjusted between 1st and 3rd of March.
Unishar has staff present in the area and is monitoring the situation with regard to cross-border movements and we are in contact with relevant authorities and partners.
We understand that on average, daily crossings at the Turkey Iran border are typically in the range of 2500 to 3000.
The buses that have been reported are present at the border are part of the regular logistics arrangements to facilitate onward transportation from the border areas.
At present, based on what our teams observe, moments at this crossing point remain within the usual range.
Thank you very much for this complimentary information, Babar.
So I don't see any other hand up.
I'd like to thank all the colleagues who have participated or briefed on on this matter.
Go ahead and then thank you.
Just I, I take your point about within the, the normal range, but just what are the adjustments that you referred to on that border crossing?
What has changed since February 28th?
I can double check on that.
I, I understand the procedures that were earlier in place to allow people move both ways that those are the ones that have been adjusted since 1st of March to, to the 3rd of March.
This topic is very important topic.
I'd like to thank very, very much Samir Abdel Jaber to Colleen from Cairo to tell us about the work of the World Food Programme in this dire situation and also all the other colleagues who were here with me and Junops to brief the journalist here in Geneva, please.
Of course, we'll continue monitoring and and briefing you on on the situation in the Middle East as it unfolds.
And I'd like to ask about to stay on the podium because we remain with WFP, but we go to another subject, which is Afghanistan.
And again, Samir, thank you very, very much for briefing the journalist in Geneva.
So I'll now go to John ILF, who is the World Food Programme country, the writer for Afghanistan.
John, you are coming in from Bangkok, if I understand well to tell us about the impact of the violence, escalating violence at the Pakistani border and Gulf instability on your operation in Afghanistan and then we will hear from UNHCR.
It was not on your agenda but but also has something to say about Afghanistan.
So let's start with you, John, Thank you.
I'm calling you from Bangkok because I was stranded when Dubai closed down.
I'm fortunate to be getting back tomorrow to to Kabul.
We're obviously following the situation in the Middle East with great concern, but the most immediate threat in Afghanistan today is the intensification of hostilities with Pakistan.
This is a conflict which threatens to push Afghanistan's most poor and hungry communities beyond the tipping point to which they were all to which they are already precariously close.
On the eastern and southern borders, then, we estimate that 20,000 people have been displaced for air strikes and ground offensives which have now affected 46 border districts.
For the last week, the World Food Programme has been forced to suspend ongoing programmes in those areas and as a result, 160,000 people are waiting for assistance at a critical time.
Of heightened hunger and heightened malnutrition within this number of survivors of the devastating earthquake quake, which you'll recall took place on the 31st of August last year in Nangarhar and Kunar provinces.
These people have lost loved ones, homes and livelihoods to the earthquake and now they sit within the strike zone and are being forced once again to move.
The challenge here, as we see it at WFP, is that the districts now experiencing the bombardments were already facing heightened levels of acute hunger, more than half of them at emergency levels.
Four of the border provinces are also experiencing critical levels of acute malnutrition.
This is the epicentre of acute malnutrition in Afghanistan, these these provinces bordering Pakistan.
And so we foresee that acute malnutrition will be driven up further by the conflict as people are prevented from accessing health services and this will place 10s of thousands of children in incredible peril.
Moving quickly to Afghanistan's western border, obviously the explosion of violence in Iran is sparking fears of a further surge in Retinese.
As our colleague from UNHCR said, we haven't seen those influxes picking up yet, but there is fear that they will come.
Last year, 2.5 million Afghans were forcibly expelled from Iran and Pakistan.
For too many of them now coming back to Afghanistan has left them, has meant unemployment, has meant destitution and has meant hunger.
Now they will also face the added challenge of conflict and instability.
A couple of weeks ago I had the privilege of meeting one of these returnees, a really nice chap called Saeed Aziz.
Saeed was working in a factory in Iran and was expelled a few months ago In Iran.
His wage wasn't good, but he was able still to feed his family back in Afghanistan.
Now he has found himself with no home, no work and having no more than a meagre meal a day to offer his wife and children.
But Saeed is one of the lucky ones because he has managed to be included in one of WFP's food distribution programme, at least for now.
WFP rations have been reduced amid cuts.
So what we're providing him with does not cover the needs of his family.
And in his inside own words, during the holy month of Ramadan, we barely have any food to break out fast.
I do worry about Said and his family, but I worry more about the four to five Retinese that WFP could not afford to assist last year amid the dramatic aid cuts which have decimated our humanitarian programme in Afghanistan.
So as 2026 progresses, Afghanistan is now caught, as we see it, between 3:00.
Crises, Hostilities with Pakistan, the explosion of violence in Iran are the two we've talked about briefly.
But the third is an unprecedented acute hunger and malnutrition situation, one we've been dealing with for over six months now, and we've been unable to contain it.
But now with the conflict added, adding fuel to the fire, it will undoubtedly intensify further.
Hunger will be driven up and so will malnutrition.
We need your help to remind the world that Afghanistan remains one of the world's most severe hunger hotspots, with one in three Afghans, 17.4 million people, in other words, in urgent need of food assistance.
Acute malnutrition among children is soaring.
Last year we saw the highest surge ever recorded in Afghanistan, and this year a staggering 3.7 million children will need malnutrition treatment this year alone.
These numbers are high enough in themselves, but what makes this crisis in Afghanistan unprecedented this year is WFP's inability to respond at a level which is anywhere near adequate This winter, a time when hunger peaks and child mortality peaks.
WFP is unable to feed 9 out of 10 Afghans experiencing acute hunger.
And what worries me even more than that is that we're turning away three out of four children who desperately need treatment for acute malnutrition simply because we do not have the funding to assist them.
And WFP, the largest humanitarian organisation on the ground, has the capacity and frankly we have the grit to step up and respond in these new challenging circumstances.
But what we don't simply have is the funding to do so.
We're really urging the international community to recall its promises, the promises made to the Afghan population, particularly as women made in the aftermath of the change of power in 2021.
We urge the international community now to stand up and deliver on those promises.
Thank you very much for this update.
It's so important to remind us of the situation in this region and Babar, as also something about that.
Just to update on the number of returns that have happened from Iran and Pakistan so far in 2026 or 232,000 of ones have returned back to Afghanistan and majority of these 146,000 are from Pakistan and 86,000 from Iran.
And as mentioned, when we kind of taken take a look at all the numbers last year, the updated figures showed that nearly 3 millions of ones who returned to to to their countries and many of them not from their own will and choice.
Our UDCRS capacity to assist returnees has been significantly reduced due to funding cuts.
As it was mentioned earlier too, we are also worried about the hostilities between Afghanistan and Pakistan that continues.
As mentioned, this is displaced people in the Kunar and Nangarhar provinces but it also has impacted our ability and the returnees that were coming through Iran and through Pakistan.
UNICIA and our partners have been forced to temporarily paused operations and one of the transit centres as as the tensions are on the rise on Pakistan Afghanistan border.
But even as we looked at the conflict now in the Middle East and Iran, even before this, refugees were amongst the most affected by the dire economic situation inside Iran.
It was a high inflation and rising cost of living have eroded already fragile incomes for refugees who are limited access to formal employment before the crisis started.
We are closely monitoring as mentioned developments but also one bit in terms of our work in Iran.
Refugee reception centres that we run are open with limited attendance while all we had to cancel previously scheduled appointments for refugees who were coming.
We do maintain Unit CR helplines that operate providing counselling and information to refugees and others who need our support.
As funding situation was mentioned, Unit CR needs 454,000,000 U.S.
dollars to protect and assist all the displaced populations in Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan and Central Asia.
And so far we by the end of February, we've just received 15% of this amount.
We do need more resources to respond to the evolving situation in the region and for refugees and displaced population.
Thank you very much to both briefers.
I'll open the 4th question, if any in the room or online.
Nick coming, Bruce, New York Times.
Thank you for the briefing.
You said 10s of thousands of children are in incredible peril.
I wonder if you could just enlarge a little bit on what is the, the scale of of need among children and the broader population.
And you referenced child mortality rising.
Do you have any indication of, you know, how many children are dying as a result of this crisis?
Thank you for the question, Nick, in terms of the scale of needs for children when it comes to malnutrition, as I mentioned last year, 2025, we'd already seen the highest surge in malnutrition year on year ever recorded in Afghanistan.
And in 2026, the numbers have risen further by by another 200,000 children.
So this year 200 thousand children more will face acute malnutrition than they did even in 2025.
So just to repeat the total number of children who will need treatment for acute malnutrition, the total number we expect to to suffer from acute malnutrition this year is 3.7 million children.
Mortality is very difficult to in many countries, including Afghanistan, to to get a hold of.
The statistics are flawed because we can only collect them at the health centres and WFP did a mortality study recently which did had had tracked in the last quarter of last year 500 child deaths from malnutrition.
But the fear is not children dying in the clinics.
In a way, once you've come to a clinic, at least you have chance of receiving health care and assistance from organisations like WFP.
The fear for me and the ones I worry about more are the ones stuck in highland areas of of Afghanistan that have been cut off by the snow.
In some places six months is the period of snowfall and and and roads blocked by by by snowfall.
People confined to their villages and not able to access health centres.
And so most children, unfortunately, in the winter, traditionally in Afghanistan, die during the winter, and they die at home silently.
What I fear this year, given the overall economic situation, which going into winter was dire, given the drought, the returns, the loss of remittances, given the massive cuts in food assistance which we had last year, and given the fact that during this winter, WFP is only able to reach 2 million of the 17 million people who need food assistance.
Given all of that, what I fear is when the snows melt at the end of March or in April, we will find that have been a very high toll of child deaths in the villages.
Thank you very much, John.
Let me see if there are other questions for you online or in the room.
So thank you very much for putting the spotlight on on this crisis too.
Thanks to John from Bangkok and to Barbara from here in Geneva.
And yes, please continue updating us on this crisis too.
And now let me go to our last, but definitely not this speaker from WHO.
We have the pleasure to have with us, Tariq and Dr Shelley Chada, who is The Who team leader for I Ear and our health.
And while they are coming to the podium, I'll ask Rolando to come and replace me.
Unfortunately, I have another meeting.
I'll leave you in row on those capable hands.
And I give Doctor Chada the floor.
Thank you for coming every year to tell us about the situation of this pathologies.
Let's say you want to start.
It seems a strange time to be talking to you about hearing health and and the problems of children who are deaf and hard of hearing, but I assure you that they are no less real than all the really serious issues that you have been discussing over the last almost one hour.
So I'm sure that many of us who are here have have met or know a child whose teacher keeps complaining that the child doesn't pay attention in class or that he's struggling and she's falling behind in her studies.
And I wonder if we've ever stopped to think that perhaps a reason for this disinterest is really because the child is not able to hear very clearly and not able to make out what the teacher is saying and what other children in class may be saying.
Actually, WH O's latest estimates show that around 95,000,000 children across the world, they live with unaddressed hearing loss.
So hearing loss and and this hearing loss effects more than just their ability to listen well, it also effects it can affect their speech and language development, hinder cognitive development, limit social interactions, and lead to poorer academic outcomes.
As a result of all of this, children whose hearing loss is not treated, they will they often have poorer educational outcomes, have poorer employment opportunities and face financial issues later in life.
The fact is that majority of childhood hearing loss, 60% in fact can be prevented.
Conditions that are avoidable and treatable such as infections such as glue, ear otitis media, exposure to sound, loud sounds heard through headphones, earphones in sounds of artillery and shelling and bombs falling.
These are what pose the most major risk to hearing in children and those who do develop hearing loss, they can benefit from if effective and cost effective treatments that are that are available such as access to medicines to surgery, ear surgery, hearing aids, implants therapy and and very required sign language.
But one of the challenges that we face in making these these interventions available to children with hearing loss is the fact that there is not always the systematic screening and diagnosis of hearing loss in children.
The majority of children in the world will go through their entire childhood without getting a single hearing test.
And even in countries which are developed and which have very strong newborn screening programmes, children who develop hearing loss after that first initial screening will often remain undiagnosed and therefore unaddressed.
Well, governments, civil society and partners both in the health and education sector can take a number of actions to address this issue.
And I would like to point out three actions here today.
Firstly, you can include simple information about ear care, how to take care of 1's ears, how to listen safely without putting your hearing at risk as part of school health programme, so that a lot of hearing loss can actually be prevented from happening.
The second action is ensuring that children can have their ears and hearing checked by systematic integration of hearing screening into school health programmes and, where applicable, also into community health programmes that target children.
And thirdly and very importantly is to to establish the clear referral pathways so the children who are identified in school as having a potential hearing problem can then be referred for those interventions that I already mentioned.
I can tell you from having worked for a couple of decades in my home country in India before I joined WHO that I have seen at first hand the impact of these interventions.
I can recall very well young boy whom I met when I was doing a school hearing screening project as part of my work there.
And this young boy, one of his teachers brought him to, to us when we were doing the screening, my colleagues and I, and said that, well, he's something you, you need to check his ears because since the last 10 months, he's just not paying attention in class.
His scores are going down and he's just not engaging and interacting.
And when we examined, it was clear that that child had severe hearing loss due to an infection that he had contracted almost a year back.
So to cut a Long story short, this child, we could identify him, diagnose him, treat him and as a result of which over time, well, he he improved his engagement improved, he got he could hear interact better.
And of course that also led to improvement is in academics course what I think was a success story, but one which is not repeated as often as it should be.
So therefore, WHO today is shining a light on this issue and it has to support countries in this effort made a wide range of materials available, including materials for awareness, technical guidance on how hearing screening can be done as well as practical tools.
A simple app to check hearing in children as well as training materials for how school nurses and health workers can do that.
We believe that communities and schools provide a natural and effective platform to read children and.
Given that we have practical, affordable and effective solutions that are available, it's important that no child be left behind because of unaddressed hearing gloss.
And to all of you, I would like to invite you on World Hearing Day to show a bit of care for your own ears.
You can go to your app stores and download a free WHO app called Hear, who hear for ears and who for WHO, Easy to remember and in 5 minutes you can get well a measure of how well your own hearing is doing.
So thank you for the opportunity to speak with you and happy to answer any questions if they are.
Thank you very much, Doctor Shadda, and thanks for the invitation.
You said right, OK, very much, very good.
Thank you very much for that.
Any questions for our colleague from WHO in the room online?
Well, I think you were very comprehensive and very clear.
And as you say, shine a light and this is something that we'll endeavour to do as well.
So thank you very much for your intervention.
I think, Tarek, you wanted to mention something just to add to this that we are sending you opening remarks of, of, of Doctor Chadha, but also a link to a news piece that has been posted on a, on, on a, on a website of the department where Doctor Shelley is, is working.
So you can, you can have that also in that briefing notes, you will have my notes on, on Iran.
Thank you very much, Tarek, and thank you once again, Doctor Chadha.
Tommaso, I'm going to call you back up.
We'll have an announcement from Tommaso from the IFRC on a different subject concerning a report.
Yeah, thank you, Rolando.
I again all I only would like to remind everyone that this Thursday, 5th of March, the IFRC will launch its flagship World Disasters Report that this year is titled Truth, Trust and Humanitarian Action in the Age of Harmful information.
Drawing on verified research data and case studies from across the across the Christian network, the report examines how harmful information is undermining humanitarian response efforts and putting lives at risk during crisis.
Journalists are invited to attend in in person press briefing in our headquarter here at 9:00 AM.
Two year key findings from the report and participate in AQ and a session with our Secretary General, Jagan Chapagain and the editor of the report, Charlotte Lindsay.
We already sent the full report and the press release that are both under embargo until 9:00 AM on five March.
And of course, if you want to have more information or to set up anyone on one interviews, we are fully at your disposal and we hope to see you all soon in on Thursday in our offices.
Very well notice of five March for the report.
Thank you so much for that.
Any questions to Tommaso?
So thanks again for joining us for the and for your previous interventions colleagues.
Just a few comments from from us before we wrap up.
Just to mention that we have a couple of committees meeting this week.
The Human Rights committee concludes this morning it's review of Andorra, which it began yesterday, and this afternoon it will review Canada.
That's the human rights committee.
As you know, the Human Rights Council continues its 61st session, which it began last week, to consult the agenda that Pascal has shared with you.
As far as press conferences are concerned, there are three that I'd like to announce, one starting in just over 20 minutes in this room with the Special Rapporteur on torture.
Jill Edwards will be briefing you on her report, which speaks to Charter of the title is Charter of Rights of Victims and Survivors of Torture.
So that's Miss Edwards shortly, who's going to be joining you at this podium on Thursday, the 5th of March.
We have the special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing, Mr Raja Gopal, who will be briefing you on his latest report, which will also be presented to the Human Rights Council titled Housing in Crisis, an Urgent Call to Action on Domicide, Resettlement, Reconstruction, Affordability and Climate.
So that's at 11 AM this coming Thursday, the 5th of March with adequate housing rapporteur.
And then lastly, on Friday, this Friday, the 6th of March, we have the Secretary General from the International Parliamentary Union, Martin Chung Gong, who will be briefing you on a new IPU report on women in Parliament.
And that is at 3:30 this coming Friday.
That there was a time change.
I think initially it was at 9:45.
So it's at 3:30 this coming Friday with IPU.
Maybe just to mention that this Thursday, the 5th of March is the International Day for Disarmament and Non Proliferation Awareness, which I felt compelled to mention.
We usually share with you the Secretary General's messages on these key observances.
This one is rather pertinent.
So we will indeed share that with you in multiple languages ahead of this observance on Thursday.
So I wish you a good afternoon.
