Very good morning to you and welcome to the Pallet for this briefing today, the 1st of May Happy Mayday to all of you.
We have a fairly brief but very important agenda for you.
As always, we have the situation in the Middle East on Cambodia and also an announcement pertaining to upcoming World Press Freedom Day, which as you all know is is coming Sunday the 3rd of May.
I'm very pleased to introduce you to Carlotta Wolf, who is not entirely new to the UN refugee agencies, but she's this is a first time briefing as a UNHCR spokesperson.
So welcome to you Carlotta.
Thank you for being here and I'm going to turn immediately to you for an update on the Middle East.
Thank you so much, Rolando and good morning everybody.
Lovely to be with you today.
And yes, from Unit 0 we're going to talk about raise the attention on the situation of the Middle East crisis and it's ripple effect on supply chains globally and particularly how it's affecting humanitarian aid delivery for for Unit 0.
So we got some new statistics and information from our supply colleagues.
The Middle East crisis has generated far reaching ripple effects well beyond the region, with growing consequences for global humanitarian supply change and the delivery of aid.
Spikes in transport costs and freight disruptions are forcing UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, to adapt its delivery strategy.
Heightening security and instability around key Gulf routes, including the Strait of Hormuz, are driving up prices of basic goods and delaying the delivery of critical UNHCR supplies.
Rising transport, food and fuel costs disproportionately affect people who are already living in emergencies, including millions of refugees and displaced people who are among the hardest hit, while also reducing the ability of aid agencies to deliver timely assistance amid severe funding constraints.
To mitigate disruptions, UNHCR has adapted quickly by rerouting sea cargo, for example, most recently around Aqaba and Jordan, and increasingly relying on alternative land corridors, including tracking across the Arabian Peninsula and to Kiev from Dubai, where we have one of our global stockpiles.
The closure of key maritime routes has forced greater use of longer and more expensive alternatives, leading to increased transit times and operational complexity.
Freight rates from key sourcing countries have risen to nearly 18% since the start of hostilities, while the capacity of some of our global transport providers has dropped from 97 to 77% from the start of the year.
For some shipments, costs have more than doubled, such as transfer costs for relief items from unit CRS global stockpiles in Dubai to our Sudan and Chad operations, which have increased from around 927,000 to over 1.87 million.
Congestion at major ports, including currently Jeddah and Mercin in Turkey, carrier suspensions, rising fuel prices and higher war risk.
Insurance premiums, which are currently estimated between 0.5 and 1.5% of cargo value for Gulf transits, are further adding pressures.
Increased reliance on land routes is also leading to truck shortages and higher inland transportation costs.
We're particularly worried about the situation for Africa, where many overlapping displacement crisis are ongoing, often tragically neglected.
In Kenya, where one of the units are global stockpiles is located, a recent fuel price increase of around 15% triggered delays and reduced truck availability for ships shipments to Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Sudan, which collectively host over 16 million people forced to flee.
In Sudan, where as you know, the brutal conflict has entered now it's fourth year and which is currently the largest displacement crisis in the world, the cost of delivering aid has doubled in recent months, while rerouted shipments around the Cape of Good Hope add up to 25 days in delivery times.
Amid the challenges, UNHCR has so far maintained the continuity of life saving assistance thanks to our strong emergency preparedness systems and sound global supply network.
These includes 7 global stockpiles that we have in strategic locations in Dubai, Termets, Copenhagen, Accra, Dwalla, Nairobi and Panama City which are capable collectively of supporting up to 1,000,000 people forced to flee at any given moment.
Along with more than 160 country level warehouses as well as standby arrangements for global procurement of in kind support as well as delivery of financial assistance directly to people forced to flee.
Globally, UNCR retains stocks of over 31,000 metric tonnes or 135,000 cubic metres of relief items.
These are important items such as 10s for families forced to flee, blankets, sleeping mats, mattresses, really life saving items when people are uprooted by conflict and persecution.
And the value of our stocks is approximately 130 million.
Since the onset of the Middle East crisis, UNHCR along with our shelter partners has delivered relief items, for example, to over 200,000 displaced people in Lebanon, mostly using items already prepositioned in the country thanks to our emergency preparedness.
Additional support also to Lebanon has included three airlifts with emergency supplies donated by the European Union, France, Ireland and Italy, as well as 40 trucks carrying over 317 metric tonnes of critical aid from our global stockpiles in Dubai, which are supporting up to 100 thousands more people.
If instability though in the Middle East persists, rising costs, delays and limited transport capacity are likely to constrain humanitarian operations further, while UNHCR continues to adapt through rebooting stock redeployment and donor supported logistics.
Prolonged disruption risk reducing the scale and speed at which assistance can reach people in dire need, with serious consequences for the lives of millions of refugees and the space people worldwide.
Thank you very much Carlotta.
You will have seen the press remarks we shared with you yesterday from the Secretary General.
He delivered a, a short, some short remarks specifically on the Strait of Hormuz and, and echoing many of the messages you just heard from Carlotta.
He, the Secretary General spoke of the curtailment of navigational rights and freedoms in the area of the Strait of Hormuz, disrupting energy, transport, manufacturing and food markets, how they're strangling global economy.
So of course, we're Speaking of the economic impact here, but also we we continue to speak about the human toll of this crisis and obviously calling for maximum restraint.
But do take a look at the remarks we shared with you yesterday, which complement with Carlotta just said.
So let's turn to you now for any questions, Olivia from Reuters.
Thank you for this briefing.
If it's possible just to have an understanding of the actual real world impact for people on the ground in terms of refugees and displaced people.
I appreciate the details, really useful in terms of how you've been rerouting and your warning of potential impact down the line if this persists.
But in terms of real life impact now, are you seeing that actually impact directly refugees and displaced people, be it kind of shortages of items they need or having to reduce rations, things like that, measures in the interim while you try to adjust?
But so basically, what we are most worried right now is 2 things.
First of all, with rising costs of transportation, what we're able to give to each additional dollar that is spent on transportation.
I mean, they're already a very severe underfunding situation.
Just to flag that UNHCR operations globally are only 23% out of the 8.5 billion that are needed means that each and every dollar that is spent additionally on transportation is a dollar less that we can provide to people forcefully on the ground or less people that we can support.
So really the human impact for the people that we serve is already there and it's very much what's what's worrying us.
The second thing is how increasing food prices, for example, of prices of very basic, you know, goods on the ground are also because of inflation and because of the fertiliser issues are also rising.
Meaning that people who are very fragile contexts, as in emergencies, are able to buy less of their basic needs and to cover their basic needs with more challenges.
We mentioned Africa in particular because of course that's a region that it's already affected by several emergencies at the same time.
And for example, the crisis of fuel that I mentioned, increase of fuel prices in Nairobi has affected specifically the availability of trucks for containers of emergency supplies that we were ready to send to three main operations that are there, you know, Ethiopia, the DRC, Congo and and South Sudan.
So meaning that people in dire need are receiving things are ready later than what's needed as unit CR.
Of course we have a strong emergency.
You know, we are a leading emergency response organisation and we have system, we are used to work in challenging environments so we're not worried that we won't be able to deliver anything to people.
But yes, delays are already happening and especially the cost, increasing cost of transportation is having an impact on how many people we can support.
And as I mentioned, just in those three countries, you know, 16 million people are forced to flee, including over 13 million internally displaced and the rest are refugees in the region.
So it's really already an impact on the lives.
Thank you, Carlota, Robin, AFP, thank you.
If you could send us your notes, I'm sure we'd all be very grateful.
In terms of shortages of what you need in the field, where is the situation the sharpest at the moment?
And and secondly, on your stockpiles, are you having trouble restocking your stockpiles?
Is that something that's a concern looking ahead?
On the stock restocking, I mean, I mentioned we have already an almost 18% average increase of freight rates from the three main source country where we're sourcing our emergency supplies, which are India, Pakistan and China, for example, which are affected by the current situation.
So currently, we have sound stockpiles.
As I mentioned, we have 7 global stockpiles and over 160 country level warehouses, which are.
So the stocks are solid and are able to respond.
But it's more in the longer term how much and how costly it will be to deliver more or restocking more of the, of the supplies that we have.
And of course, as I mentioned, we also have the the possibility of locally producing, but that also can come at higher costs sometimes.
And we're complementing in kind support with financial direct support to people force to flee whatever it's possible.
But yeah, in that case it's more in the longer term where we're worried about and especially in in key stores countries like as I mentioned India, Pakistan and and China, we're already we're seeing an increase in terms of shortages.
We don't have immediate shortages.
It's more delays of items that they're able to to arrive and also the fact that at least two of our global transportation providers between quarter one and quarter 2 of this year already had a decrease of their capacity to respond to our request for transportation services, which went down from 97% capacity to 77%.
So of course, this is worrying and it's a trend that can continue down the line.
We'll take a further questions in the room before we go online.
No, I don't see that's the case.
So we'll take a question from Jeremy Launch from Audio France International.
Orlando, can you hear me?
That was kind of a follow up of the previous questions.
I was I was wondering if is there any situation where you cannot reach actually people any specific crisis where you haven't been able to to reach refugees since the start of the war?
For the time being, we have been able to continuously providing life saving assistance to people in need in all our operations globally.
What we are concerned about is the delays as mentioning as well as in the longer term what we will be able and the cost of reaching these people, which again with the rising cost means that less people will be able to be assisted compare because as as mentioned, we also have limited resources.
Just to give you a further example on, on the level of funding in the countries that are most affected by the current Middle East situation.
So for example, of course Iran, Lebanon, but also Afghanistan, our operations a country level are funded only between 11% and 30%.
So it's really limited meaning that with that level of funding, if we have to spend more on transportation, what we are actually able to do for the people that we serve will actually unfortunately decrease.
So that's our our main worry indeed.
Another question, Nick, New York Times.
You mentioned that the average transportation costs have gone up 18%, but the cost of delivery at aid to Sudan had doubled.
And I just wondered if you could unpack what are the specific factors affecting Sudan so badly?
Sudan and and I mean East Africa in in general is affected because of several reasons.
First of all, the region overall relies on many supplies coming from through the Gulf and from Asia as, as countries.
And then in our case, so we have 7 global warehouses and Dubai is one of them, which of course is affected not in terms of the of the supply, the stocks themselves, but of course of transportation from Dubai, which is usually taken because of re routing longer.
But we also have stockpiles already in Nairobi, for example, which of course is critical for delivering to to Sudan, but they're also with the increase of fuel prices.
For example, the latest statistics we were given was 15% increase of fuel price in in Kenya caused a strike and lack of availability of trucks.
So that one delayed further shipments of via land to countries in the region.
And then for Sudan, for example, we have a shipment towards Port Sudan from Dubai, but we had to reroute it several times because also the ports that are being used as rerouting ports, for example, Merstein in Turkia or Jeddah in Saudi Arabia are also getting congested.
So now we're using Aqaba, for example, as you know, rerouting Hap, but of course, that can also get congested.
So that's the worries that we are facing now.
It's it's immensely important angle colleagues.
If you stay here with us, I know Jeremy's here initially to brief on Cambodia, but he wanted to add something from the rights perspective on this crisis as well.
That was very useful from UUNITR.
And listen, it's an opportune time just to remind what we've said in the past not to forget the human rights impact, particularly when it comes to the, the, the lack of fuel.
So when how is that impacting people on the ground?
Unfortunately, it always impacts the most vulnerable first.
So for instance, it could be so a, a, a small farmer in Africa or Asia or Latin America somewhere can't operate his machinery on his small plot of land.
And he's got that small plot of land is got to sustain his family and sometimes an extended family.
Then just think of think of the bigger picture here.
So what about the kids who have to get to schools, so they need to get on a bus, if that, if the buses, if the services can't be provided because there's no fuel, they're deprived of an education.
Then think about the generators.
Many in, in these some poorer countries where they don't have access to electricity to power, they rely on generators.
That what power is a generator?
We've been there and then think about the, the, that's just on the diesel side.
What about the fertiliser that's not there?
That going back to that, that, that farmer who's operating his small plot of land and he can't, you know, fertilise his, his crop.
These have real impacts on, on, on the lives and livelihoods of, of everyone.
And particularly, sadly, as he's always the case in these sort of situations, it's the most vulnerable.
A very important human angle to this as well.
And, and let me just remind you, do look at those the the press remarks we shared with you yesterday.
The secretary general speaks of inflation.
I mean, in best case scenario, he notes that the global economic growth will stop, will still drop from 3.4 to 3.1%, while inflation will climb from 3.8 to 4.4%.
And this is a best case scenario of course, and conversely, the the worst case is inflation skyrockets past 6%, global growth plummets at 2%, oil prices rising further.
So these are really dramatic sort of scenarios.
And thank you both colleagues.
I think that does it for the Middle East.
Yes, no further questions.
So Carletta, thank you very much.
I think you will be sharing your notes and we will be sharing your contacts with our colleagues and we welcome be back here anytime.
So Jeremy is with us to speak about Cambodia.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volcker Turk is deeply concerned by the upholding of the conviction of form of Cambodia's former opposition leader Kem Sokha and the convictions of 33 other opposition activists, human rights defenders and social media users.
The Phnom Penh Appeals Court yesterday upheld the conviction and 27 year sentence against Kamsuka, the former leader of the now dissolved opposition Cambodian National Rescue Party, for treason, espionage and conspiracy in connection with a speech he gave over a decade ago in Australia, precisely in 2013 and four years before his arrest on these charges.
In a separate case on Wednesday, the Phnom Penh First Instance Court imposed on 33 other sentences ranging from 18 months suspended to two years in prison.
They face charges of incitement to cause social chaos over public comments they made in 2024 about the Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam Development Triangle Area Project, an issue of major public interest.
These convictions and sentences are clearly inconsistent with international human rights law and risk further deepening the already considerable, considerable, excuse me, chilling effects of broad, vaguely worded criminal laws and their arbitrary enforcement on civil society, journalists and the broader population in Cambodia.
Kem Soka and the 33 individuals were all exercising their rights to freedom of expression.
Their trials also raise concerns about violations of due process and fair trial rights.
The High Commissioner urges Cambodia to ensure that legitimate criticism and expression are protected rather than criminalised, to safeguard civic space to to guarantee the independence of the judiciary and uphold fair trial guarantees.
The authorities should promptly quash these latest convictions and sentences and unconditionally release Kamsuka and all others arbitrarily detained for exercising their rights.
They should also halt any further such prosecutions and and review Cambodia's criminal legislation to ensure it is fully consistent with international human rights law norms and standards.
OK, let's see if there are questions for you on this.
Could you say a little bit more about the, the numbers of people who might find themselves in this situation of arbitrary detention and and also what does this say about the, the wider situation of human rights in Cambodia?
I I'll have to get back to you precisely on on numbers.
It's a, it's a message we've consistently raised the human rights office vis A vis Cambodia on general repression and particularly on freedom of speech, expression, association and assembly.
These are all fundamental freedoms, as you know.
It's, as I say, it's been an issue which we have addressed with the, with your authorities in Cambodia.
Thank you both for the questions.
On Cambodia, no, I don't see that's the case.
So you have a second item for us on Press Freedom Day, which is this coming Sunday, the 3rd of May.
Exactly this morning, the High Commissioner has issued a statement at marking World Press Freedom Day, which falls on Sunday.
He pays tribute to the courageous reporters and photographers who document horrific atrocities, expose corruption and scrutinise business operations.
By uncovering truth and making space for diverse perspectives, they promote transparent, inclusive and democratic governance.
By sounding the alarm on abuses, they advance accountability and strengthen prevention efforts.
Despite all this, journalism today has become an insecure and at times dangerous profession.
Media workers are being bombed in their cars, abducted from their officers, silenced behind bars and dismissed from their jobs.
This year alone, at least 14 journalists have been killed.
Over the past 20 years, only around one in 10 killings has led to full accountability.
Local reporters are often the only people conveying the dreadful reality of war.
They themselves may be hungry, frightened and stripped of everything but their voice.
Even away from the front lines, virtually no country is truly safe for those who speak truth to power.
Investigating corruption, environmental harm or organised crime carries grave risks for journalists, their sources and sometimes their families.
Our office will continue to monitor and report on violations against journalists and media workers, advocate for their safety and support national protection mechanisms.
You can read the full statement by the High Commissioner.
You should have received it by now.
Excellent, thank you so much.
I take this opportunity, ladies and gentlemen of the press, to pay my respects and our respects to you for your immensely important work that you do to really raise the alarm bells and, and just really putting your putting our words into action on the ground.
It really, it really makes a big difference and our partnership with you is obviously immensely important.
I also take the opportunity to highlight the Secretary General's message to mark this important day, which will be shared with you in multiple languages.
He speaks to a number of important issues, of course, as you just read from Jeremy, how far too often journalists risk everything to report that truth.
He speaks about not obviously not only in war, but wherever there are those in power, fierce scrutiny, censorship, surveillance, legal harassment and even deaths.
I think you mentioned the 14 this year alone.
Last year was obviously a horrific year.
In Gaza alone, hundreds of journalists have been killed.
One of the most deadly conflict for journalists.
So obviously very important messages.
And thank you again for your own work you're doing.
Let's let's take questions, if any, on this important subject.
Reporters Without Borders says the press freedom has fallen to its lowest level in 1/4 of a century.
What do you put that down to?
And secondly, are there any countries of particular concern where press freedom is backsliding?
It's sadly it's, it's to identify 13, 20 countries.
There are there are so many countries where it's difficult for a reporter to do their work and has become increasingly so.
As Rolando just said, you only need to look at what's happened in the past three years in in conflict zones, whether it be in Sudan, whether it be in OPT so Gaza, or whether it be in most recently in Lebanon with the with the tragic case just at the end of last month of a journalist killed.
As a former journalist myself, I am, it's galling to think of the strain that the reporters are under, not only in the environment that they work in, whether it be a war zone or just going and reporting a local case in a, in a, in a local court and feeling under pressure from, from sources from people who are defending may be an action.
The work has got more difficult.
It's, it's, it's a sad fact of life.
And we as, as the High Commissioner says, we're there, our office is there to support the UN, is there to support the, the, the journalists in their work because of the critical crucial role that they play in particularly the world that we live in today.
Thank you very much, Jeremy, And thanks for the question, Robin.
Further questions online, perhaps in the room.
No, I don't see that's the case.
So thank you as always, Jeremy, for joining us here.
Just a couple of more announcements from me.
I mentioned SG remarks yesterday on the Strait of Hormuz.
I mentioned the World Press Freedom Day.
There is another important day today.
In fact, in addition to May Day, we have the day of Vesak.
Ladies and gentlemen, I'm sure you knew this.
This is a day where Buddhists around the world commemorate the birth, enlightenment and passing of the Buddha.
And in his message to mark this important observance, this year Vessek comes at a moment when the human family is embroiled in geopolitical tensions, division and conflict, the secretary General says.
So we did share these remarks with you.
So happy a day of Vessek to all around the globe.
We have also a couple of meetings which I'd like to highlight, namely which we've already highlighted, but just to note that the Committee against Torture and the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, both sessions will close today for the Committee Against Torture.
The final observations on the report submitted by Gabon, Italy, Pakistan and Tajikistan will be issued shortly.
I'm not sure specifically when, but the the session is underway.
It started at 10 AM for the third, the Committee on Elimination of Racial Discrimination.
It'll close this afternoon after having observed and issuing its final observations for Burkina Faso, Cuba, Cuba, Cyprus, Serbia, Slovenia and Uzbekistan.
Another human rights related meeting coming up, the Universal Periodic Review under the auspices of the Human Rights Council.
It's 52nd session starts on Monday, that's the 4th of May.
It'll last for two weeks until the 15th.
We have a number of states to have their human rights records reviewed, namely Namibia, Niger, Mozambique, Estonia, Paraguay, Belgium, Denmark, Palau, Somalia, Seychelles, the Solomon Islands, Latvia, Sierra Leone and Singapore.
So I don't know how many of that is I didn't count, but I'm sure you can recite those countries back to me.
You've seen the media advisories that were shared with you.
And then lastly, a press conference which I think we are about to announce.
It's a so-called prequel to ahead of this press briefing on Tuesday, the 5th of May, starting at 10 AM, we will have the Special representative of the UN Secretary General for Disaster Risk Reduction and the head of the the UNS Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, Kamal Kishore, will be here to brief you along with the Deputy Secretary General of the ITU, the International Telecommunication Union, Thomas Lamanowskos.
And this is to launch a joint report by ITU and the UNDRR, which is titled When Digital Systems Fail, the Hidden Risks of our Digital, The Hidden risks of our Digital World.
So that's at 10 AM on Tuesday the 5th, a press conference here.
Any questions from you to me?
So there is something of somebody online, John.
Firstly, on the proposed press conference CIRC, could you please reach out and ensure that reporters get an embargoed copy of the report before the press conference so we can ask some relevant questions?
And secondly, to the comments earlier by Jeremy.
Jeremy grateful if it's possible to send to reporters the latest information that you the High Commissioner's Office has that you've triangulated and confirmed journalists detained Orchard and killed worldwide.
That would be helpful ahead of World Press Freedom Day.
Thank you very much indeed.
As far as the report that I mentioned from ITUUNDRRI, believe that's the plan is to share that with you under embargo and I'll certainly Jeremy has left the room, but I will make sure he gets that message loud and clear about the statistics ahead of this important observance Sunday.
So think that does it no further questions On that note, I wish you a good afternoon and a nice weekend.
