UN Geneva - Multimedia Newsroom : UN Geneva Press Briefing

[Other language spoken]

First of all, let me apologise for this delay.

The previous press conference just finished and we needed to reboot the machines.

And now we are online for the press briefing, the regular press briefing of the UN Information Service in Geneva.

Today is Friday, 24th of April and I would immediately like to go to the colleagues from UNICEF, World Food Programme and Food Agriculture Organisation who are going to present us.

We're going to launch the Global report on Food Crisis 2026, which is releasing today just after they have spoken at 11 O clock.

We have with us and it's a real pleasure and an honour to have with us Beth Bechtel, who is the FAU deputy director General.

[Other language spoken]

I don't need to introduce you to Jean Martin, the WFP Director of Food Security, and Ricardo Pierce, our UNICEF Deputy Spokesperson in Geneva for UNICEF, as I said.

So I'll start by giving the floor.

I don't know if Mrs Bechdel, you want to start.

[Other language spoken]

I know that the three of you have got very little time, so let's make it great.

[Other language spoken]

Thanks very much and good morning everyone.

We know it is a very busy Newsday for all of you, but I am pleased to be with you representing FAO and alongside WFP and UNICEF colleagues as we launched the 10th edition of the Global Report on Food Crises, actually here in London, in person with our friends from FCDO and ODI hosting.

This report reflects a decade of consensus based multi agency analysis under the Global Network Against Food Crises with 18 partners contributing data analysis and review.

And I think that's what makes this global report in this moment in time so important.

It's a neutral, jointly validated reference point that ultimately is in place to help decision makers focus on where needs are most severe and most persistent.

I'll go to the bottom line and let colleagues sort of fill in with some of the very, I think, notable data and analytical points.

But the bottom line message of the the year's report is quite clear.

Acute food insecurity is not improving.

It is becoming more entrenched, more concentrated and more predictable.

In 2025, the year that the report covers, 266 million people faced high levels of acute food insecurity across 47 countries, levels that sadly, have remained consistently high and nearly doubled compared to a decade ago.

More than 80% of those affected are in protracted crises and the burden is increasingly concentrated in a number of small and a small number of countries, including Nigeria, DRC and Sudan.

We are also seeing a deepening of severity.

Around 39 million people are now in emergency or IPC 4 conditions, with major increases in countries such as Afghanistan, VRC, Myanmar, Gaza and Yemen.

But as I wrap up, let me also draw your attention to another group of individuals that needs our attention.

Nearly 370 million people are in stressed conditions, IPC 21 shock away from crisis and if we fail to support them early, they will become the next wave of need.

It is also really important to note, as some of you who are looking at the numbers will see, that the decline in total numbers compared to last year's 295 million persons does not reflect improvement, but reduced data coverage and limited surveying on the ground, which masks the true scale of need.

So as I close, let me just again say that the report highlights, I think, a very simple reality.

These are protracted crises and they require different ways working and financing.

So for you, I hope that the message from the report is not just about scale, but it's also about trajectory.

We are not keeping pace with how food crises are evolving and unless we act earlier and differently, we, we will continue to see the same crises deepen and repeat.

Let me with that turn over to Jean, Martin and Ricardo for their perspectives and additional insights on the report.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you very much, Madam, and thanks for this very, very clear message.

And Martin, it's a pleasure to have you here.

[Other language spoken]

I'd like to follow up from Beth's inspiring message and get into some other detail.

The message we have for you today is a message of concern.

10 years of data on acute food insecurity is showing us that unfortunately, as Beth said, we're not keeping pace with increasing acute food insecurity worldwide.

I'd like to highlight a few key statistics in 2025 and the report goes into some detail about this.

For the first time there were two famines confirmed in in the world, one in Sudan and one in Gaza.

This shows that the situation is getting more severe, that food aid needs are becoming more severe.

The number of people invite PC 5.

So this is the again the highest level in the five point scale that we use to monitor and analyse food security worldwide.

That number has increased by a factor of 9 in the past 10 years, reaching 1.4 million in 2025.

Again, quite, quite a matter of concern for us.

And as Beth said, food and security is becoming more entrenched.

And of all the countries that are analysed in this report, that yeah, 47 for which we have data, 33 of these countries have been in the report every single year.

And this cause for thinking around investments that are needed to avoid this and the investments needed to get out of our recurring food prices.

So the asks that we have for, for, for, for the public are really around 3 different themes #1 access to data.

Without data, we're not able to deal with this predictable and preventable problem that is hunger.

We need access in the world's most vulnerable communities.

And finally, we need funding.

Remind you in closing that hunger is preventable.

It's something that we can do.

And hopefully this report equips us with the knowledge, with the data that we need to to take on this task.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you very much, Merton Ricardo, Good morning.

[Other language spoken]

Thanks colleagues for for your briefings.

I'll, I'll try and be short From a children's perspective.

And the findings of the report show that shows that in 2005, an estimated 35.5 million children under the age of five were acutely malnourished across 23 affected countries.

Nearly 10 million of these children are suffering from severe wasting, a condition that is life threatening but entirely preventable and treatable.

Children with severe wasting are too thin for their height, their immune systems weaken to the extent that ordinary childhood illnesses can become fatal, and their risk of dying increases by 12 times compared with well nourished children.

At the same time, 9.2 million pregnant and breastfeeding women were acutely malnourished last year.

When women cannot meet their own nutrition needs, their babies face a higher risk of low birth weight, illness and death.

This from the very start of their lives.

Last year, for the first time, as was mentioned by colleagues, in two decades, we had two famines declared at the same time in Gaza and Sudan.

In both contexts, children experienced far more than hunger.

They face the collapse of health, nutrition and water systems, severe disease outbreaks and extreme constraints on humanitarian axis.

In Gaza, the report notes on the fastest deterioration in town nutrition, child nutrition, ever recorded, with the number of acutely malnourished children more than doubling in a matter of months.

These are not just number, these are young lives.

I was there personally on mission exactly when famine was declared in Gaza IN2025I.

What I saw inside health facilities is something I will never forget.

Clinics were overflowing corridors, waiting rooms, even stairwells filled with mothers and fathers clutching children whose bodies had been hollowed by hunger.

I met infants too weak to cry, their skin stretched thin over fragile bones, nurses weighing them again and again, hey, hoping for a sign of improvement that rarely came.

Parents were pleading not for comfort, for the simplest things.

A sachet of therapeutic food, clean water, chance for their children to survive.

Health workers were doing everything they could, working without cause.

But they were overwhelmed.

Short of supplies, short of space, short of time.

This is what famine looks like in real life.

Not statistics, but a slow visible collapse of childhood unfolding in overcrowded rooms where hope is rationed alongside food and Sudan, famine was confirmed in areas where families were trapped, services had broken down and children were increasingly cut off from life saving care.

As you know, these are not isolated cases or places.

Gaza, Sudan, Myanmar and South Sudan are classified as facing severe nutrition crisis where children are exposed to a deadly convergence of poor diets, eye disease burden and their lack of basic services.

These are not inevitable.

Again, the they are the result of choices across most nutrition crisis.

In the report, acute malnutrition is driven not by food shortages alone, but by the simultaneous failure of ensuring safe, unimpeded humanitarian access to food, healthcare and nutrition services and supplies, and of course, safe water.

This is why children are becoming dangerously malnourished even where food is actually available.

The outlook for 2026 is deeply worrying.

Rising conflict, climate shocks and global market market disruption threatened to push more children into acute malnutrition, just as nutrition services are being scaled back and axis is becoming more restricted for children.

Timing is everything.

A child with severe acute malnutrition can die in weeks.

With timely treatment, they can survive and recover.

We've seen it happen over and over.

But the growing risk of famine requires investing in prevention in addition to treatment for children.

UNICEF's message is clear.

Famine prevention must start earlier, before children risk the brink reach the brink of death.

We must invest in systems that enable early warnings response efforts must prioritise multi sectorial life saving action combined with sustained political, diplomatic and operational action to prevent further deterioration and to secure safe, unimpeded humanitarian access again.

And children, pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers must be, must be at the centre of prevention and response efforts that link nutrition with health, water, sanitation and social protection programmes.

My colleagues, finally, this response, this report is also a warning on data.

Early warning enables early action.

Yet attrition data systems themselves are on the threat from funding cuts and access constraints.

Protecting these systems is essential to saving lives.

If we fail to act now, the cost will be counted not just in reports, but in children's lives and their lost futures.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you very much to the three speakers.

I think we still have a little bit of time for question, if any in the room.

Let me see if there are hands up or online.

[Other language spoken]

I don't see any hand up, but there is a question about the distribution of the material.

I don't know who can help us with this.

Maybe I look at the colleagues from the three organisation which are connected to make sure that the journalist have got the access to the whole report.

Yes, Nina Larson, AFP sorry on that.

[Other language spoken]

This report I think was supposed to be embargoed until 11 as it now has embargoed been lifted.

I I guess that is what I understand, but I'll ask confirmation to my colleagues of the three agencies.

I don't know who wants to answer Nina on that.

I don't know if Jean Martin, Ricardo or OK, so I have an answer here from the World Food Programme that the press release is coming out in 12 minutes with the report.

But can we assume that the embargo has been lifted now that it's been presented here at the briefing?

I see Ricardo nodding and WFP confirms Yeah, so you can go ahead, but you will get the material as soon as it is issued in a few minutes.

So thank you very much.

Thanks to our colleagues for the presentation of this very important report.

The number are staggering, really impressive and I wish you all the best for the for the for your launch now in in a few minutes of the reporting events.

[Other language spoken]

Let me now go to the Middle East.

We have several speakers who will tell us about the situation in various countries in the Middle East.

And I'd like to start with WHO Tariq has brought us a Doctor Raynie Alde Van de Vert, W2 representative for the OPT.

I'll give you the floor in a moment, Tareq.

And to Doctor Raynie, Alde Tomaso is here with Christian Cortez Cardoza, the IFRC Deputy Regional Director for MANA, who's speaking from Beirut about his recent mission to Iran.

And then Tamim here in the room will give us AUN report on deaths and displacement in Lebanon.

So let's start with WHO.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you very much, Alexander.

And it's a really pleasure to introduce our new representative for the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Doctor Grenier van der Vert, who joined the OPT team in January, succeeding to Doctor Rick Peeperkorn that you remember very well.

Now Doctor, Doctor Grenier is, is bringing really extensive experience in global health, in Emergency Management, in maternal and child health.

She worked on in many, many countries.

I can't really know, I list them all, but she worked with MSF, she also worked with the UNFPA, she worked with UNICEF and she is back to WHO since 2017, while she also worked with us previously in a polio programme.

So extensive experience and we are really happy to have her.

This is her first time to speak to you here at at Ballet and just giving her the floor to tell us more about what's happening right now in Gaza.

Thank you very much.

Thank you very much, Renee, welcome.

And you are calling in from Jerusalem.

[Other language spoken]

Exactly.

[Other language spoken]

And just making sure that you can hear me OK in Geneva.

We can and we can see you.

[Other language spoken]

So as my colleague Tarek said, thank you for having me.

This is my first time at the Pali and indeed I took on my function as the WTO representative to the Occupied Palestinian Territory in January.

Since then I've had the pleasure, if that is the right were to visit the West Bank, including E Jerusalem and Gaza.

Seeing first hand the scale and complexity of the challenges that Palestinians are living through and the extraordinary resilience with which they faced in has been generally humbling.

I just spent my first week in Gaza earlier this month and really nothing prepares you for the scale of the destruction.

You can read the report, study the numbers.

But standing in the streets and the middle of ambulance, metres high piles of rubble is something else entirely.

[Other language spoken]

They live in towns amidst the rubble, dependent on humanitarian assistance for the most basic of their needs.

And despite the ceasefire, air strikes, shelling and gunfire continued.

On April 6th, as I was leaving Gaza, I was informed that the driver contracted by WTO to transport my colleagues between the different location in this trip was killed.

As a manager, as a mother, as a human being, having someone being killed on my watch was extremely difficult to process and manage.

And as it was for the entire team, this incident and many others are the stark reminder that Gaza remains unsafe, regardless the ongoing security reassurances.

But despite the horrific conditions, what struck me just as forcefully are the people of Gaza, my WHO colleagues, the directors from the hospitals, the nurses, the doctors, the humanitarian workers.

They stay positive.

They find ingenious way around impossible constraints.

They continue to deliver care for the communities day after day.

And that contradiction, devastation and determination existing side by side is something I won't forget.

And it's honestly unlike anything I've seen in my more than 30 years of humanitarian work.

I hope you have all seen the Gaza Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment, which was conducted by the World Bank, the European Union and the United Nations, and which was just published.

It puts the devastation in Gaza in perspective and the numbers are astounding.

Damages to the health sector alone are estimated at 1.4 billion U.S.

[Other language spoken]

More than 1800 health facilities are partially or completely destroyed and it ranges from big hospitals like Archip and Gaza City to smaller primary healthcare centres, clinics, pharmacies and laboratories.

Total recovery needs for the health sector in Gaza are estimated at ten billion U.S.

dollars over 5 years.

This includes reconstruction, restoring health services, managing increased health needs and this includes in particular the thousands of children and people that live with the consequences of this world, children that are paralysed from gunshot wounds, amputations and just the man's mental health needs.

The destruction in Gaza is not only devastating the health system and increasing the needs that need to be addressed, it is also generating unfortunate new health issues.

The environment in which people in Gaza live is just unacceptable.

Destroyed buildings and mountains of accumulated waste have created ideal breeding grounds for rodents and pests.

Families are living in severely overcrowded towns, makeshift shelters surrounded by debris, with limited access to water and sanitation services.

A rapid assessment by the site management cluster in March of this year covered more than 1600.

The placement sites found that 80% of these sites have frequent visible rodent and past present the effects more than 1.5 million people.

Over 80% of these displacement sites report skin infections such as rabies, lice and bed bugs.

And according to our health parties, more than 17,000 cases of rodent and what we call actoparasitic infections have been reported so far in 2026.

And this is just the unfortunate but predictable consequence when people live in a collapsed living environment.

Supplies are being deployed but pest control measures need to be brought in at scale for WHO and the HealthPartners.

We need to have a better understanding on the diseases that are affecting the people in Gaza.

We therefore need laboratory equipment and supplies to anti Gaza.

As many of you know, those equipment and supplies do not enter Gaza, which leaves us blind with all the living conditions that I have just mentioned.

And of course, the rubble needs to be removed, the water, the sanitation infrastructure needs to be restored and waste needs to be management managed.

But despite these enormous challenges, efforts to boost the health system in Gaza are moving forward.

And one of the last milestone I was really happy to see as WTO, we completed a 128 BAT extension at Al Shifa Hospital, which is meaningfully increasing its inpatient capacity.

However, for saving life to have an impact, things need to change.

Health and healthcare workers need to be protected.

Essential medicines and supplies must enter Gaza.

Bureaucratic processes and access restrictions on these globally recognised essential medicines and supplies must be removed.

Spare parts for medical equipment and generators need to answer enter.

I was at NASA Hospital where the generator is in urgent need of repair.

A breakdown of these generators that provide life saving connections to this hospital will have fatal consequences.

And bringing in more medical supplies also reduces the reliance on complicated medical evacuations on the Strip.

If patients need to be referred for specialised care, they need to be treated in hospitals in the World Bank, including Jerusalem.

WTO and all our amazing partners remain fully committed to supporting Gaza.

But we need the conditions and the environment that will allow us to scale up further, to move beyond immediate response and to begin addressing the longer help their needs.

Without these, even the most dedicated response will fall short of what the people in Gaza need and deserve.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you very much.

Thank you very much for this very extensive briefing.

I'll open the floor to questions now in the room first, Nina Larson, AFP.

Yes, thank you very much for the briefing and very nice to to see you.

I was wondering if you could say a little bit more about medical evacuations.

How are they going and what are the conditions for access there?

And also on unexploded explosive ordnance in Gaza, we were just hearing that it's it's completely littered, obviously.

Could you say a little bit about what kind of impact health impacts you're seeing from that?

[Other language spoken]

Rene, can you hear me?

[Other language spoken]

We can because there was an issue with the unmute.

Thank you for your for your questions and the unexploded devices and I let experts talk about it.

But we do indeed continue to see patients in hospitals that need drama care.

Of course, the numbers have reduced, but the cases are still there, what we call mass casualty incidents.

They occur on a weekly basis in Gaza as we speak.

Thank you for asking the question on on the medical evacuations, this is a very, very complicated and complex process from a security point of view, from a logistics point of view, but first and foremost from a patient's rights point of view.

Patients, I suppose many of you in the room have family patients and their families have the right to be treated where they live.

That means medical supplies need to enter Gaza.

The proportion of the patient that we currently transport to other countries can and should be treated in Gaza.

In addition, before the war, patients would leave Gaza and be treated in hospitals in East Jerusalem and the West Bank.

That referral needs to be opened.

And then of course, we thank all the countries that have been generous in supporting patients that will need specialised care to leave Gaza, that the conditions on these crossings are dangerous.

They are complex and complicated.

So the more we can reduce the need and the reliance on medical evacuations and ensure people are treated where they should be treated, the better it is for the Palestinians that we have.

We say indeed, thank you.

[Other language spoken]

Yes, thank you very much.

On the medical evacuations, I was wondering, do you have the latest numbers of how many you've managed to to do?

And also what are the restrictions that you're still seeing at the to to be able to evacuate people who actually need urgent and significant care outside?

And also, are they going, are they able to go to the West Bank or the as they did previously or as this all going out through Egypt and to other countries?

[Other language spoken]

So the West Bank referral is not open.

Patients cannot leave Gaza to go to hospitals in East Jerusalem where I'm sitting, or in the West Bank.

So patients leave via the famous Rafa crossing going into Egypt and perhaps from there onwards to other countries and now recently also back to Jordan.

So the last medical evacuation happened on the 23rd of April via the Rafa crossing.

This includes 47 patients with what we call 86 companions, because you can imagine these patients are critically, critically I'll.

So, since October 23, we have in support, of course, to the Health Ministry of Health, evacuated more than 11,000 patients, about 6000 children and more than 13,000 of what we call the companies.

But unfortunately, since the critical incident that I mentioned when somebody who worked for WTO got killed, unfortunately the armoured vehicles that we need to be protected so that we can safely make sure that patients can leave Gaza, they have not been arriving yet.

So the road conditions need to improve.

It's very, very tricky to, as you can imagine, we live in one armoured vehicle, then you have ambulances with patients, then you have a bus with the people that accompany and then you have an other armoured vehicle behind that.

We just need more security for all staff to be able to make sure that we make sure that these patients leave.

And again, anything we can do collectively to make sure that the referrals to the West Bank, including E Jerusalem open are much appreciated.

Thank you very much.

I don't see other hands up.

So I'd like to thank you very much Renee for for your first briefing here with us.

I hope you'll come back regularly to update us on the situation of health in the occupied Palestinian territories, in particular in Gaza.

I like now to go to my right to to Mazu de la Lunga, who brought us Christian Cortez cards.

Cardos, as I said, the FRC deputy regional Director for Mina region.

So you're speaking from Beirut, I understand on your recent mission to Iran, please.

[Other language spoken]

I have just arrived back from a four days mission to Iran where I saw for myself the scale of the humanitarian need, the capacity of the Iranian Recreation National Society and key challenge handed in humanitarian assistance.

I want to start with a simple but important point.

A ceasefire doesn't does not mean the conflict is over.

The announcement of a ceasefire early this month was a welcome relief.

The reality on the ground, however, is very different.

The impact of weeks of intense conflict is deeper than what headline suggests.

The consequences are still unfolding and will continue to be felt by Iranian society for months and years to come.

Hundreds of health facilities, business and education and institutions have been damaged or destroyed.

There are growing concerns about access to a specialised medical equipment and supplies that's a dialysis machines as well as prosthetic devices, particularly where factories and supply chains have been disrupted.

I visited the Iranian recreation factory that produce and supply 60% of the contradialysis philtres and supplies and equipment.

And due to the conflict, the raw materials required to continue to manufacture these philtres are only available for the next three months.

That this, no, just study this.

[Other language spoken]

At the same time, what it stands out is the extraordinary capacity and reach of the Iranian Crescent Society.

Their presence at community level across the country is remarkable, with 7000 halal houses which are regressing community centres.

They provide services ranging from psychosocial support, first aid and support for shelter and livelihoods for those in need and are widely respected across the country.

While they are well trained to deal with disasters, the team had to quickly adapt to a completely different type of emergency.

[Other language spoken]

Teams arriving rapidly to carry out search and rescue, provide emergency care and support families in distress during the conflict.

They were also able to respond to 7 million hold line calls to provide psychosocial support.

Behind this force are ordinary people working under immense strength while risking their own life to save others.

I was particularly struck by conversation with rescue teams, knowing the risk of the recent operate operating environment, one marked by constant insecurity and the fear of double tap attacks on the same type and rescue mission began.

We met the rescue team that arrived at the site where one volunteer had been killed.

The team had been due to change chief, but this was not possible.

One colleague lost their life and several others were injured.

It was very difficult to help their account.

Our women and men must be respected and protected and all time.

Tragically, we have recently seen the loss of four volunteers, with eighteen others injured while responding to help those affected, the International Federation of Red Cross and Redressing Society is scaling up its support.

These include a revised emergency appeal of 120 millions a share to serve 10 million people, meet increasing needs and enable practical steps to overcome access challenge such as the recent cross-border delivery of critical medical supplies into Iran in partnership with the Turkish Red Crescent.

Currently it is only funded that less than 4%.

This is a critical moment.

Vital funding must be ensured so that organisations on the ground can continue their life saving work and help communities begin the process of rebuilding their life.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you very much, Tomas.

[Other language spoken]

First of all, in the room.

[Other language spoken]

So Olivia Leopold down Reuters, thank you.

Thanks again for this briefing.

Just a just a question, you were saying that about concerns about access to specialised medical equipment and I think he pointed out about dialysis that dialysis machines.

Can you just explain exactly what the impact therefore would be in terms of you're concerned about supply, But I mean what would that mean for people trying to access that care on the ground?

Is this, are some people having to be turned away or appointments being delayed for the treatment or are we not quite at that stage?

Is that something you're foreseeing if the if the situation were to continue in the next months?

[Other language spoken]

I will give you an example.

We will be sitting the Iranian Crescent factory that produce 60% of the dialysis philtres.

The country need 1 billions philtres per year and the national society is able to provide 600 million of these philtres.

Unfortunately, the factories that produce the raw material where they were damaged or destroyed and considering the situation, the Iranian Crescent only can continue producing for the next two to three months.

So meaning that after 2-3 months, we will have a 60% of the people that need dialysis without these supplies.

Thank you very much.

Is there any other question for our colleagues who I have here?

See, I don't see any.

So thanks a lot, Christian, for for coming and reporting on this mission to Iran.

Thanks to Maso.

Thank you very much.

Sure, you'll send or we have send the notes already.

So I'd stay in the Middle East and go to Tamim to my left.

I mean, you have a report on the death and displacement in Lebanon.

[Other language spoken]

Good morning, everyone.

[Other language spoken]

Alessandra Aun, Human Rights report, published today on deaths and displacement in Lebanon during the first three weeks of the recent escalation of hostilities between Hezbollah and the Israeli military, documents the significant ongoing impact on a wide range of human rights.

These include the rights to life, health, education, food, housing, work, a safe environment, freedom of movement and freedom of religion or belief.

Our analysis of the large scale attacks, shelling and ground incursions found that operations by Israeli forces in Lebanon involved cases of direct attacks on civilians, including medical personnel.

We also documented several incidents in which Israeli strikes hit and in some cases levelled multi Storey residential buildings, killing entire families.

Such strikes may constitute serious violations of international humanitarian law.

Similar incidents have continued beyond this.

Even after the present ceasefire was announced, Hezbollah fired reportedly unguided rockets into residential areas in Israel, damaging buildings and other civilian infrastructure.

These strikes may also constitute serious violations of international humanitarian law.

In many of the Israeli strikes, no warnings or no reasonably effective warnings were given, preventing many civilians from evacuating safely.

Israel's vaguely communicated blanket evacuation warnings and displacement orders covering almost 14% of Lebanon's territory have led to the displacement of over 1,000,000 people, according to the Lebanese authorities.

Given the breadth and circumstances of these orders, they may amount to forced displacement prohibited under international humanitarian law.

55 localities in southern Lebanon, near the border with Israel, remain under such orders today.

All displaced civilians who wish to return to their homes must be able to do so safely.

We have continued to document frequent deadly attacks on healthcare workers, particularly first responders, and on journalists.

On Wednesday, an Israeli strike killed Lebanese journalist Amal Khalil in the South and injured photographer Zainab Farage.

Rescue teams, including the Lebanese Red Cross attempting to reach them, reportedly faced obstruction by the Israeli military.

This included the use of a sound grenade and live target and live fire targeting an ambulance, delaying access to the site.

Medical personnel, whether military or civilian, and other civilians, including journalists, are protected under international humanitarian law.

Deliberately targeting them would amount to a war crime.

Civilian objects, including health facilities, schools and religious sites, have been entirely destroyed or severely damaged.

Israeli attacks have burned or contaminated farmland and disrupted or destroyed livelihoods, undermining the rights to food, work and to a healthy environment.

There have been reports that the Israeli forces have used ammunition containing white phosphorus, which has particularly incendiary effects.

We are concerned about rising communal tensions and discriminatory practises preventing displaced people from accessing housing and other essential services.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights for Couture calls for prompt, thorough, independent and impartial investigations into all incidents involving allegations of violations of international humanitarian law.

Findings must be disclosed and those responsible held to account.

We urge all states to cease the sale, transfer and diversion to any party of arms, munitions and other military equipment where there is a clear risk that they could be used to commit or facilitate the Commission of serious violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law.

We also call on all parties to ensure the ceasefire becomes a permanent cessation of hostilities and bases for a lasting peace.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you very much.

Thanks, Tamim, for this important report.

Let me see if there are questions in the room.

Mohammed, I mean, thank you so much for the briefing.

As you mentioned, the journalist Amel Khalil was killed in the recent attack in Lebanon.

As you remember well, we witnessed a similar situation in Gaza, where over 200 journalists were killed in since 7 October.

These people are just trying to do their job over there in Lebanon and Gaza.

My question is, what is your call to countries and the international communities to prevent Israel from deliberately killing journalist?

Thank you for that, Muhammad.

Obviously, as I said, this incident where Amal Khalil was killed yesterday and photographer Zina Farage is, is horrible and we echo the Secretary General's condemnation of this.

The situation for journalists and media workers have been horrible, whether in Lebanon OR, as you said, in Gaza.

We have reports that some 290 media workers have been killed in Gaza since the 7th of October 2023.

The figures of the Lebanese government say that 27 journalists were killed in Lebanon also over the course of this conflict since 2023.

These people are our eyes and ears on the ground.

International humanitarian law requires that parties to an armed conflict take all necessary measures to minimise the impact of military operations on civilians, which includes journalists and media workers in war zones, journalists and media workers perform a particularly vital function by informing the public about what's happening, and by doing so they highlight the impact of the violence on civilians and the humanitarian and other protection needs for civilians.

They promote compliance with with the international law, rules and the application of these rules and they support accountability by documenting violations.

This is why they must be protected and there must be accountability for all incidents where they are targeted.

[Other language spoken]

Let me reiterate the condemnation of this, of the killing of this Lebanese journalist expressed yesterday by the spokesperson of the Secretary General.

We do condemn this killing.

We extend our condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of Amal and we express our hopes for a full and swift recovery of the second journalist injured in the same incident.

And let me see if that yes, Antonio FA thank you.

[Other language spoken]

So Tamim you, you mentioned that the attacks on journalists and healthcare workers could amount to war crimes, but what about the rest?

These attacks on residential homes, the forced displacement, this could be also consider war crimes, for example, if they are proof that they are deliberate or or other crimes that you mentioned.

Thank you, thank you for that.

Definitely, these incidents are very much concerning because we have seen many attacks that occurred in in residential areas on civilian infrastructure and many cases where civilians have lost their lives.

And that is why we are calling for prompt, independent and impartial investigations into all these incidents to determine which how, how international law can qualify them and which measures of accountability are needed.

But of course, accountability here is paramount.

[Other language spoken]

Sorry, I didn't know this was good.

So thank you very much.

Again, timing for this important report and briefing.

[Other language spoken]

Zoe, you brought us Brian Kelly, who is the IOM Somalia Senior Programme Coordinator.

[Other language spoken]

Well, do you want to start or we go directly to Brian?

Yes, I believe that Brian should be online.

[Other language spoken]

I've seen him.

Yeah, we can see him and hopefully we can hear him.

[Other language spoken]

I'll give you the floor for your remarks.

[Other language spoken]

Just checking everyone can hear me can hear you very well.

[Other language spoken]

So today I'm talking about Somalia and and the drought.

Somalia is facing a worsening drought crisis and new IOM data shows that nearly 62,000 people have been displaced by drought since the beginning of this year.

Just within 5 districts in in Somalia, we think that the total figure would be around 300,000, but we only have the data for the five districts as as of today.

In that area, drought now accounts for three out of every four new displacements within that section of of Somalia.

At the same time, 6.5 million people, that's almost one out of every three in the country, are facing high levels of hunger, while more than 1.8 million children are expected to suffer from acute malnutrition this year.

You know, these figures point to a rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation in the hardest hit areas.

Drought is driving crop failure, livestock losses and water shortages, forcing families to leave their homes in search of assistance.

Many are moving to urban areas in displacement sites that are already overstretched, where access to shelter, water and basic services remains limited.

Families are arriving in places like Mogadishu and Baidoa, which can't support them, arriving often after their water has run out, crops have shrivelled and livestock have died.

While rural to urban migration is as old as time, this forced displacement is affecting the most vulnerable.

Health facilities in affected areas are also seeing rising cases of malnutrition, particularly among children.

They've also become gathering points as they're quite often the only places with access to water.

For example, a story about Edo from Baroma district.

She used to see water deliveries to her village but since they stopped, she now walks 5 kilometres to the nearest clinic to access water.

Asha, who's 15 kilometres away from the same clinic, has made the five journey five times over the past month.

Without rain, she says crops can't grow and families are left sharing what little they have.

Sophia, who spoke at an IOM protection centre in Baidoa, was forced to leave her village when water trucking stopped.

The nearest shallow well is nearly three hours away and women along the route to face serious safety risks.

Unfortunately, stories like these are becoming increasingly common as more families are forced to move and conditions may worsen.

IOM projections indicate that drought related displacement of approximately 125,000 more people between April and the end of June, despite some forecasts of rainfall.

You know, when IOM and partners, we're responding with emergency support, including shelter, water, essential assistance for newly displaced families.

But the needs are rising faster than available resources.

Collectively, UN agencies and NGO partners have only received 14% of the total appeal for 2026 for humanitarian funding to respond to the absolute most vulnerable IOM.

We recently concluded a hyper prioritisation of needs and are urgently seeking $10 million to save lives and provide a basic level of dignity to the most vulnerable.

That amount will not address all needs.

It'll deliver critical life saving support to those most at risk and help expand data collection in other severely affected areas beyond the five districts.

Though really what is needed now is urgent support for life saving assistance, alongside greater investment in drought resilience and measures that help communities withstand future shocks.

Without swift action, drought will continue to drive displacement in Somalia, as well as hunger and vulnerability growing in the country.

So thank you for your time and appreciate the opportunity to discuss the critical needs in Somalia.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you very much, Brian, for this briefing.

Thanks for all this data information.

Let me open the floor to questions if any don't see hands up in the room, but Olivia Leopard van Reuters has a question on online, please.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you very much.

Brian, just a question in terms of you've outlined there that the the kind of increasing number of people being displaced as a result of the drought.

I'm just wondering about the other side in terms of then providing help and aid to those people.

I'm just wondering given the context, context that we were in with ongoing supply chain issues caused by the Strait of Hormuz and wider war in the region, what issues you're seeing there in terms of them being able to bring in the kind of supplies and aid help these people who are suffering droughts, who are being displaced and obviously need a fresh shelter, water, food, etcetera?

Ryan yes, thank you.

Olivia, I didn't hear the exact beginning of your question, but I think I got the gist of it.

Please let me try to respond and let me know if I didn't, if I didn't answer your question.

Yes, supplies have become restricted or for for all of the reasons that you have.

You have mentioned some specific data that I that I have is that, you know, rising inflation.

It's it's estimated around 6% in early 2026.

But this is with sharp increases in fuel prices due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, and it's compounding the impact of drought and reducing the household ability to cope.

Fuel prices have more than doubled from around 60 US cents per litre to $1.50 cents per litre in Mogadishu.

And that of course, drives up the cost of food, water and transport and accelerating displacement.

So that's the specific information I have I have on that topic.

[Other language spoken]

I hope that answers your question to the best that I can.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you very much.

And she hasn't raised her hand again, so I guess it was a good answer.

[Other language spoken]

Thanks for the briefing.

I was wondering if you could say a little bit more about how you guys reached the estimate of the 300,000 number.

And also on the 10 million that you're seeking, what time frame are you seeking that for and how much have you received and if you could say what the impact will be if, if you do not receive the money you're seeking?

[Other language spoken]

Thanks, Nina, Brian, super.

Thank you for that question, Nina.

So we have our overall stock figures for for displacement in in the country.

And, and then we had looked at the percentage which had been sorry, we looked at the percentage which had been attributed to drought.

And, and that was approximately and, and I'll, I'll, I'll get back to you if, if, if the number it's either 43% or 47% as far as the percentage that were attributed to drought.

And then we had extrapolated that to other drought affected areas within, within the country.

So it's, it's that, that 300,000 it's, it's an imperfect number, which is, which is why the only number that we can say with with surety is the is the 62,000, which is for the five, for the five districts and for for the 10 million.

You know, we have our broader HNRP, which is the interagency prioritisation of, of humanitarian need and, and, and within that, of course, IOM is, is represented what we, what we looked at within, within that document are what are the greatest priorities that, that we have that we would like to see most immediately, most immediately addressed.

And that focuses on data collection because we do want to expand it beyond those, those five districts as well as site management where, where we're working in 617 different IDP, IDP displacement sites throughout throughout the country, as well as some water sanitation, hygiene programming and, and NFI, NFI kits.

You know, in the impact that of, of, of not being able to receive the funding.

And it, it, it just means that, that, that the coverage is, is going to continue to remain extremely low, including for, for the most vulnerable.

You know, we work closely with, with partners within the UN, within international local NGO members.

And so, so we look at, we look at the gaps that, that still that still remain, including the contributions of many of these other very good organisations.

And then based upon that, we tried to try to identify the the highest need and highest priority that we knew we could quickly address within a six month period, which which I think was another part of your question.

And, and that's how we came up with, with that figure.

And, and I know that there's, there's a document that either has been released or will be shortly released that gives more detail on it.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you very much.

I don't see other hands up for you for IOM.

So thank you very much.

[Other language spoken]

Thanks, Brian, for reaching out to our press.

[Other language spoken]

And now let me go to my left.

[Other language spoken]

You have brought us Wilfram Mufuna Okia.

[Other language spoken]

You are the head of climate prediction at WMO and that is about the El Nino.

[Other language spoken]

Good morning everybody.

This is a word I think you'll be hearing much more of in the coming months.

The World Meteorological Organisation has this morning issued an update saying that an El Nino event is expected to develop from mid 2026.

As we know, El Nino has a major impact.

On rainfall patterns, on temperature patterns and tends to increase global temperatures.

This is based on the latest monthly global seasonal climate update.

It's a monthly report that we issue and it's ahead of a fuller more comprehensive El Nino update, which we expected issue at the at the end of May.

But you know, we, as my colleague will, will shortly explain, we, you know, we are seeing a clear shift in the Equatorial Pacific sea surface temperatures are rising rapidly.

And this is pointing to a likely return of El Nino conditions as early as May to July of this year.

So without further ado, I will pass this this news item.

It's now on our website, and we have translations in French and in Spanish for those who are interested.

[Other language spoken]

Good morning everyone from Geneva.

So our latest update by the Word Meteorological Organisation signal the return of a linear event.

This is marked with a shift toward warmer surface temperature near the the Equatorial Pacific, and this will have an impact on the global temperature, but also it will reshape the rainfall pattern worldwide.

So traditionally with El Nino, although every El Nino is unique in terms of impact and pattern, we have some commonality.

So in general, with El Nino, we tend to see in some part of the world some excessive rainfall, for example, the greater owner of Africa, the southern part of South America, Argentina.

And On the contrary, we also have region, large region where we see drought condition.

An example could be a large part of Australia, Indonesia, Southeast Asia.

What we are saying is that the El Nino is likely to happen and this event will be strong.

Now the magnitude of the event is still uncertain because we are facing a phenomenon we call the predicted spring predictability barrier, which is a kind of natural way which hamper our ability to anticipate the evolution of the magnitude of El Nino through spring.

But when we will have our next update, we are likely to refine the magnitude of the the event and we can provide the policy maker, the decision maker, the humanitarian community with more credible or refine information about the alinear impact.

One thing to say also is that alinear also lead to a spike in the global temperature.

If we remember the year 2024, which is in our record the warmest year on record, this year followed an Elino event and the temperature at that time was up to 1.55°.

So what we are expecting is that in 2027 we will have high temperature and depending on the intensity of the Elino event, we might reach or breach temporarily the 1.5 like we did in 2024.

Both here.

Thank you very much.

Thank you very much to both.

Let me see, I see that Christian Erich German news agency has a passion.

[Other language spoken]

Normally you give a percentage of how do I explain that?

Normally you say with a percentage of 60, seventy, 40% you expect the engineer to develop in a certain time frame.

Does that exist with this prediction also?

And if I understood correctly, you said it will be strong or what are the indications today that make you say it will be strong?

[Other language spoken]

Thank you very much for your question.

So first of all, regarding the strength of the the event, so the tool underpinning our report which are model, all the group involved in producing the model, the forecast show a strengthening of the El Nino event at the end of the year.

So from the model side, the second question you raised is the percentage we are providing.

The actually the percentage we are providing will happen at the end of next month because this is a temporary or intermediate report where we didn't provide all the statistic.

But in May we will have all the probability or the chances for any new to happen.

But what is clear from the different tool is that the event will be strong.

Is that OK, Christian, I don't quite understand from the forecasting tool, is that based on the temperatures that are being measured now or what exactly gives you the confidence to say it's going to be strong?

What are the indicators today?

[Other language spoken]

So basically the model, the tool used for predicting the El Nino have some metrics.

One of them is the anomaly of temperature.

So the model will calculate that value.

So the different model calculating the value high.

Now, the one thing we need to bear in mind is that usually at this time of the year, in spring, it's very difficult to have confidence.

So that's why we're waiting for May to come up with a clear picture because also the model are indicating high value.

We don't know whether it will be 1.52 and so forth.

But again, we have to wait for the centre to refine that information.

I hope that helped clarify the situation.

[Other language spoken]

Sorry, Olivia, just sorry, could we just clarify?

I think just to clarify, it's the models, it's for sea surface temperatures in the Equatorial predict Pacific.

So it's not it's not land surface temperatures.

[Other language spoken]

Hi there.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you for for this explanation.

I just noted we had some reporting that forecasts kind of predicting the strongest El Nino in a decade and a couple of sighting of Japan's weather Bureau, also some forecasts from China and just would be help.

I appreciate your point that you are wanting to wait until after April for a more certain prediction.

But I'm just wondering are those forecasts, I mean, do you share that potential concern that it could be the strongest in a decade?

You said it would be strong, but just wondering to what extent you agree with that assessment that it could be actually the strongest in a decade?

Thank you for your question.

So currently what we can say for certainly that the Nino will be strong.

The one thing we do at the World Meteorological Organised Organisation is to find a consensus statement, Our consensus, meaning the agreement of all the different player will happen next month.

So some of the centre have indicated this situation for very good reason.

But what we are waiting is to have all the consensus, all the different because with El Nino we have different way of measuring the intensity, whether you locate it in a region close to El Nino in the Pacific or somewhere else.

And what we will do at the end of the month is to gather all the perspective and try to come up with a refined statement on the intensity.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you very much.

So if I could just give a little bit of background on, on that.

So when we issue the full El Nino update, it is quite a lengthy international process.

It goes through, I don't know how many people contribute, but it's a very extensive pro process.

It takes a couple of rounds of reiteration, you know, to make sure that we do get full consensus on, on the models and also expert opinion as as well.

So it's, you know, that's why we only do it four times a year.

OK, Antonio, just a comment because usually this El Nino update is sent to us under embargo, but I think it was not the case this time.

So please, if you can keep that good tradition next time it help.

[Other language spoken]

Yes, point noted.

When we issue the full update we do and that is when we sort of give the percentage likelihood then we do send that under embargo.

This was a product which we issued based on the monthly global seasonal climate outlook and it was really in response to the media questions that we've been getting.

So it you know, it was it, this is really an interim update and it is in response to, you know, to media, to media questions and to you know reply to some of the the questions that we are getting but noted and the next one will be on the embargo then.

Thank you very much.

I don't see other questions for you.

So let me thank you both very much for this briefing.

I have just a couple of announcements very quickly on the Committee of the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, which is examining this morning.

The review finish in the morning, this morning in the review of the report of Cuba.

This was the last country to be examined under the session.

And the Committee will also have a meeting with state parties on Thursday on the 30th of April from three to six, while the Committee Against Torture will hold a public meeting devoted to the follow up to Articles 19 and 22 of the Convention and the question of reprisals.

And that will be on Monday at 4:00 PM at Barry Wilson.

I wanted to draw your attention on the fact that in New York, sorry, the 11th Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty of Non Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, the MPT as it is known.

We'll meet at the United Nations headquarters from the 27th of April to the 22nd of May.

The review conference will assess the implementation of the treaty since 2022 across it's 3 pillars, nuclear disarmament, non proliferation and the peaceful use of nuclear energy.

The conference will also seek to identify the areas and means through which further progress can be made.

Our Office of for Disarmament Affairs invites you to join a hybrid press press conference, press briefing by Under Secretary General Zumi Nakamitsu that will be held in New York today at 1:15 PM in New York time.

So that would be about I think 19 hours, 15 in Geneva.

This will be of course, webcast on UN Web TV.

Just for your information, the President of the conference, Ambassador Do Hung yet was the Permanent Representative of the Social Republic of Vietnam to the UN in New York.

We'll also hold the press conference on and that will be on the 27th at 2:00 PM New York time after the opening session and that will be also on webcast.

There are a number of meetings at this press conference as as this at this conference, which will be open and there will be broadcast live on UN Web TV.

There is a calendar there and schedule if you want to have a look on that.

And otherwise, my last point is that as you may remember, 24th of April is the International Day of Multilateralism and Diplomacy for Peace, something that we really need to stress in the current geopolitical context.

And I wanted to call your attention to a video that our library and archive colleagues have put on today on their platform on multilateralism.

So that is all I had for you.

If there are no other questions and I don't see any, I wish you a very, very good weekend and I'll see you next week on Tuesday.

[Other language spoken]

UN Geneva Press Briefing - 24 April 2026