UN Geneva - Multimedia Newsroom : UN Geneva Press Briefing

[Other language spoken]

Thank you for joining us here at the UN office at Geneva today, Friday, the 29th of May.

As usual, we have a very important agenda for you.

We have the situation in South Sudan, in Gaza, in Lebanon, which is a last minute edition.

Happy to have Ricardo who will be joining us shortly on the podium.

We also have updates from our colleagues from the World Health Organisation on the Ebola outbreak in the DRC and in Uganda, as well as from The Who World No Tobacco Day announcement.

And lastly, Zaina.

I think Zaina is in the room or soon will be in the room.

We'll have an update from her with the upcoming International Labour Conference.

So without further ado, I'll throw to our colleague Mutinta Chimuka of the World Food Programme, who is the World Food Programme's Country Director.

First, South Sudan, who's joining us from from Bor in South Sudan.

[Other language spoken]

And thank you very much for joining us.

Thank you and good morning.

Thank you very much for the opportunity to update on the situation in South Sudan and particularly in Akovo.

I am currently in Bora, in John Glay State, where Akobo is.

Also, I was in Bora yesterday with colleagues who are working on the ground.

So I saw for myself the situation there on the ground.

The World Food Programme launched its emergency response there three weeks ago and we're in a tight race against time to scale up our response.

Since the beginning of this year, Akobo E has experienced relentless conflict.

Approximately 142,000 individuals from Alcobo and surrounding areas have been displaced, with 100,000 approximately crossing into neighbouring Ethiopia.

The latest Integrated Food Security face classification IPC update reveals an alarming situation.

Parts of Alcobo County are confronting IPC 5 catastrophic stage and this is one of four counties at imminent risk of famine should conditions deteriorate.

Hundreds of thousands face acute food insecurity with 12,000 currently in phase five catastrophic through to July.

Malnutrition levels have escalated to IPC Acute Malnutrition Phase Five which is extremely critical, triggered by displacement, loss of livelihoods, disrupted health services, an increased disease threat due to overcrowding.

Particularly concerning is the sharp rise in severe malnutrition among children under 5 and breastfeeding mothers, heightening the risk of famine like conditions.

Despite ongoing insecurity, damaged infrastructure and the looming rainy season, WFP continues to deliver vital food and Nutrition Assistance.

In only the last three weeks, we have reached over 60,000 people, including pregnant and breastfeeding women with nutritious commodities and provided specialised nutritious food to children and mothers via supplementary feeding programmes.

Together with partners, WFP has conducted nutrition screening for 15,000 children and admitted 3000 for treatment of moderate acute malnutrition.

The arrival of the rainy season challenges humanitarian logistics.

Mixed commodity transport relies heavily on air transportation.

To date, over 60 WFP aviation flights, including air drops and on house passenger services, have moved 430 metric tonnes of assistance and transported over 200 aid workers.

While access has recently improved, the rainy season limits Rd usage, making air deliveries crucial for maintaining uninterrupted support.

[Other language spoken]

Sustainable and secure access is essential for aid recovery and restoring livelihoods.

Just want to stress on the access, We at WFP had about 33 trucks that were on route and spent about more than two weeks on route instead of normally a three day route because of the very, very difficult road conditions.

So just an example of how difficult it is to to move in the rainy season here in South Sudan on access and insecurity.

The risk of renewed fighting is real.

We need hostilities to end and humanitarians must have continued secure access to ensure civilians are able to safely receive vital assistance.

The World Food Programme is deeply concerned about the most vulnerable populations in in inaccessible areas where hunger and malnutrition risks will worsen during the imminent Lin season.

To save lives, WFP urgently requires $266 million in funding in places such as Akobo and many others across the country.

Akobo is an important part of where WFP and other partners would like to deliver in South Sudan, but it remains a Part 1 area.

We are talking about 7.2 million people who are in urgent need of food assistance that require our support and that of other partners.

Thank you very much for your attention.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you very much.

It's a dire situation and thank you very much for keeping us abreast of it.

So let's start off in the room for any questions.

[Other language spoken]

Jean Franz PES Yeah, Hi.

Thank you very much for the briefing.

Nina Larsen AFP I was wondering if you could, if you have a more precise figure on the, you said hundreds of thousands face acute food insecurity, if you have a more precise figure on that.

And then there was mentioned last week, I think from MSF that that aid is being diverted for military use.

Is that something that you're also seeing on the ground and, and when it comes to the insecurity in the country, how concerned are you about the drawdown of the number of peacekeepers that the UN has decided?

[Other language spoken]

Over to you, Mutinta.

Thank you very much for the question.

So the entire population in Sudan, South Sudan that needs food assistance is 7.2 million, which is a huge number, which is about 50% of the population of, of South Sudan.

In Akobo itself, we're looking at about 160,000 who may be in need of food assistance.

When it comes to insecurity, insecurity remains a serious challenge.

A lot of territory in South Sudan goes between different different armed armed groups and as you I think are aware, Akobo itself was under different hands until just a few few weeks ago as I was on on the ground.

We did speak with the county commissioner there who is very much appraised of that situation.

However, it is really concerning because even our our trucks, the trucks of other agencies need to apply the the people at Boko Rd, Akobo Rd with escort from from Onmess.

So they've been very, very supportive to the World Food Programme and others on providing escort.

And we're definitely concerned about about their drawdown.

But for for now, we'll continue to be engaged with with Onmess and ensure that they worked together with the humanitarians to ensure that we can provide food assistance where we are not experiencing at the moment issues with military.

Where is a concern right now is the fact that we have a number of of incidents that could be considered as criminality whereas and commodities are at risk of being looted by by armed gangs, gangs and the and the like.

And that's why we really urge the government of South Sudan and other parties that can be involved in the dialogue regarding security to ensure that there is peace, safe access for humanitarians to be able to deliver our cargoes.

Thanks indeed.

[Other language spoken]

Yes, Olivia, Reuters, sorry for the very ignorant question, but what unmiss is that the UN mission in in Sudan?

And can we just have some detail on what, sorry, what, what has the impact been?

What's the drawdown impact been?

Just a bit of context be helpful in in what we're referring to there.

[Other language spoken]

Do you wonder it's maybe a better place here in country.

[Other language spoken]

And apologies.

Sometimes we we speak in, in acronyms in the, in the UN.

So yeah, this is the the UN mission for South Sudan.

Due to a number of I guess resource constraints, some of the troop size has been has been reduced over the last couple of of months in a Kobo.

It definitely affects us directly.

There is an Indian battalion in a Kobo that is the battalion that is helping us to move to secure the the area and supported us with the movement of our, our, our trucks, the 33 trucks that I had mentioned.

This is one of the bases that was planned for foreclosure and the closure date was supposed to be early next month.

But yesterday we heard from the commander on ground that they will be extended by another, another month, which is essential for us.

Like I said, the situation of insecurity is is really very volatile here.

So having peacekeepers and forces on the ground that can protect humanitarians is something that's really critical in order for us to to deliver in our Kabul.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you so very much.

Maybe just, I mean, having worked myself in the country, it's a terribly logistical.

It's a massive challenge to get things from point A to point B and on mess has been there since 2011, you know, after the independence of the new the new country, the latest member state.

Thank you very much.

And Mutinta for that.

[Other language spoken]

Oh, sorry, Nina, go ahead, AFP.

[Other language spoken]

Just on the funding you, you mentioned that you needed 266 million.

I assume that's this year and how much of it have you received?

How likely is it that you'll actually receive that amount?

And what are is will the impact be if you don't?

[Other language spoken]

Well, we have a number of generous donors that continue to to support us and we continue to be engaged here in in South Sudan on the ground with them.

And of course, this is also an opportunity for us to advocate for our, for the needs through, through you and your messaging, through your different, different outlets.

Right now, the situation that I would say we are not fully certain of receiving the 266 million that we, we require.

What it would mean then is really doing drastic, drastic measures, which means already reducing Russian sizes, which is something that we've already started to do.

It would mean deprioritisation, which is a horrible, horrible word to to use.

It means that certain people will not receive assistance and if they are not able to receive assistance and they do not have access to food commodities because they do not at the moment.

We just talked about how a number of places are facing imminent pockets of famine like conditions.

We don't have the luxury not to continue to raise this money, but what it would ultimately mean is that we may see people who are actually in famine like conditions, which is something that we want to we want to avoid.

Already we are doing reduced Russians in many parts of the, of the country to, to try and spread the resources as far as, as we can.

I would like to just stress that in some parts of, of Sudan, South Sudan, there is the ability to, to grow food, which is something that the people of South Sudan would like to do.

However, because of, of conflict, some of the, the resources, the, the crops that people have have grown have been, have been destroyed.

And that's why, again, the need for peace and stability is critical for livelihoods to continue.

And yes, in some pockets we do need humanitarian assistance, but we're also looking to see how we can do more long term sustainable work where people can stand on their own 2 feet.

But at this present time, we need to have resources in order to do air drops, do Rd where we can, which is just a short window.

And our, our window is really is really, really very, very tight.

And so we need resources as soon as possible.

[Other language spoken]

Message well received.

[Other language spoken]

Do we have further questions in the room or perhaps online?

I don't see that's the case.

So on that note, I just want to thank you again for joining us, Mutinta.

It's it's immensely important that your messages are conveyed to us here to create this massive, massively needed response to this situation there.

So thank you very, very much and please do join us anytime.

Mutinta and I note that Thompson, our our friend Thompson is also connected online as far as far.

So if you have any questions, you can also just reach out to Thompson and or as far.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you all.

[Other language spoken]

OK, moving to the north to the situation in Gaza, Ricardo of UNICEF is online and maybe I'll ask you to introduce our guest who's joining us from Gaza.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you, Rolando.

Good morning, everyone.

[Other language spoken]

Yes, Salim OS, our Communication Specialist for the regional office in Amman has been in Gaza for over 10 days now and is joining us today to speak about the situation on the ground, which is very, very dire for children.

Over to you, Celine.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you, Ricardo.

Thank you Rolando.

[Other language spoken]

The failure to meet children's basic needs is trapping them in an endless cycle of suffering.

The experiences of the desperate parents I met this past week can illustrate this better than I could.

Hint.

Hasn't slept since her four year old daughter NASA was bitten by a rat during the night.

Like many families, they sheltered wherever they could.

In their case, the second floor of a building block with sewage water leaks through the ceilings and rodents scrolls through the cracks in the building and climb the exposed pipes.

Sorry Salim, we just lost your audio, but if you could repeat that last sentence again, Let's see if we have you.

[Other language spoken]

OK, so moving to has developed deep lesions and swords on her head, back and legs due to a bacterial infection and Manny tries to clean her wounds each day with the little heart to get clean wounds that she has as her daughter screams in agony.

Abdullah's mother told me that he had developed a skin infection as they lived in a tent next to sand contaminated with faeces.

His mother had spoken to doctors and desperately needs the medication and enough clean water and hygiene products to help him heal and protect him from exposure to more infections.

Abdul Alim said that his eight-month old son Ahmad and his pregnant sister in Rome were both bitten a couple of weeks ago.

They have layered sandbags around the outside of the tent to try to protect themselves, but the rats simply chew through it.

Stopping them is futile.

The comic read through of these conversations is the sheer heartbreak of parents who not be illegal to do the thing most innate to them to protect their Children's Health and safety.

One look at the conditions that people are being forced to live in is enough to understand why.

We know that Gaza has was already one of the most densely populated places in the world.

Now people have been crammed into around 40% of the space left to them, sheltering among broken buildings, rubble and mounting solid waste.

Families across Gaza do not have enough clean water.

They are forced to choose between drinking, washing and cooking with what little they have.

It is trying to reach as many people as possible with clean water, up to one and a half million people a month.

But there are significant obstacles.

First, deadly attack on water operations, including recently at Al Masura filling point where two years had contracted truck drivers were killed whilst trying to collect water.

Now this mean the filling station, which more than 1/4 of a million people rely on, is inaccessible.

Second, items needed to sustain persistence and repair damaged water infrastructure, including lubricant oil, water treatment, chemicals and spare parts, are not being allowed in at the scale needed.

Meaning we cannot repair systems as quickly as needed to reach more children with clean water, and existing systems risk risk failure due to lack of maintenance and overuse.

If we cannot repair systems then we have to rely solely on water trucking, which is much more expensive and doesn't reach populations as effectively.

Thirdly, storage waste is pining up by the day.

This, alongside struggle, needs clearing at a scale that is currently impossible because there is no accessible space left to clear it too.

The effects of this are now apparent.

Children, respiratory infections, acute watery diarrhoea and half of all households reporting skin diseases.

Fleas, lice and scabies are commonplace.

Increasing numbers of children are requiring hospitalisation, all without a single fully functioning hospital.

Across Gaza, the picture is similar.

Similar start when it comes to children's nutrition.

While we have managed to reverse the famine, the number of and vulnerable children remain extremely serious.

More than two years of food insecurity, poor housing, limited water, terrible sanitary conditions and regular disease outbreaks has lit the population extremely vulnerable.

Without enough clean water and fuel to cook proper meals, even children who recovered with treatment will quickly fall back in a cycle of malnutrition, the effects of which can last a lifetime.

No parent should be in a position where they cannot provide their child with the basic needs to keep them healthy.

No parent should have to watch as their child rides in pain from legions or buckle from weakness because of entirely preventable diarrhoea.

That this is happening should be to everyone, entirely unconscionable access to water, adequate nutritious food and healthcare should not be conditional for any child anywhere.

Incident is calling for safe, unfettered access to deliver Unitarian operations, the lifting of restrictions on items needed to quickly repair and sustain water and sanitation systems, and for international interior law to be upheld.

Only then children in Gaza start to break free from the cycle of suffering.

They are traffic.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you so very much, Salim.

Just if you could share your notes or maybe Ricardo, because the sound, we heard most of it, but there were from parts where it was a little hard to understand.

So we want to make sure every every none at all.

We understand and appreciate the situation you're in, but we also want to make sure we catch capture every word of your important message.

So I, I suppose, Ricardo, if you can share those notes.

So let's start off in the room, AFP and then Reuters.

[Other language spoken]

Nina Larsen from AFP, thanks for the briefing.

I was wondering yesterday Netanyahu said that Israel now wants to take take control of 70% of Gaza, which would mean even less space than what you were describing.

What's your reaction to that?

How do you think that will impact the situation on the ground further if you could have any comments?

Well, as I said, the situation as is is diet and cramming people in a very small portion of of a space is causing more problems than there already is.

We're talking about this crowding is creating more spread of diseases.

It's straining the systems and of course, cutting so many of services.

More of this will just mean that more children will suffer, more families will be challenged to meet their children's needs.

And and that honestly, we can't, we can't afford that at the moment.

[Other language spoken]

Reuters Hi Celine, Thank you very much indeed for this briefing.

You mentioned in remarks that there is an increasing number of children requiring hospital hospitalisation.

I just wanted to get some detail on what they are requiring requiring hospitalisation for.

[Other language spoken]

Secondly, why is that number increasing and do you have any figures just to just to help demonstrate that?

[Other language spoken]

Well, this is this is from my interactions with doctors and healthcare providers.

Mainly what I'm referring to here is cases of skin diseases of rodent spikes and, and the such.

And these are mainly due to sanitation and water issues.

And that was reported by doctors in, in Gaza and by parents.

A lot of children are developing, as I said, these infections and in the lack of water and, and sanitation, these infections are becoming more troublesome to deal with.

So that's why they they need hospital hospitalisation of course, add to that the the other diseases in terms of respiratory diseases and and diarrhoea and such.

We don't have a definitive number but but that's the reported trend among doctors and parents.

[Other language spoken]

Let me check if there are further questions for you.

Any follow-ups in the room online?

Yes, We have a question from Jamie of AP.

[Other language spoken]

It's Jamie from Associated Press.

[Other language spoken]

I wanted to just bounce back off of Nina's question.

We're also hearing some talk of advocacy groups and aid organisations responding to this talk of a 70% control of Gaza by Israel.

Could you just say how the news of that has affected your operations or your planning in terms of how you continue to operate?

[Other language spoken]

Well, unfortunately, for the past 2 1/2 years, we've been always forced to plan and replan our our response.

And that has been a real strain on the humanitarian response in Gaza, not only for UNICEF, but for the whole of the humanitarian Corp.

This means if it happens that we need to find another points of service providing as as what happened with the with Almansura water point, which now is inaccessible.

Unfortunately, more of the land being taken means that we will lose access to to some of the services points, but also for some hard to reach places that children families are living there.

And that means that it's going to be more complicated for us to to reach and coordinate, which is already a problem.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you very much Salim for the questions colleagues.

No, I don't see that's the case.

So Salim, I can't thank you enough for for connecting with us important to keep the spotlight bright on this situation, particularly of children and vulnerable people in Gaza.

So thank you very much.

And and yes, if the notes could be shared, that would be most helpful.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you, Orlando.

[Other language spoken]

Please, of course, we're going to stay with Ricardo, who has, as I mentioned, there is an update to the to the programme update on Lebanon, in particular on the children killed and injured over the past week.

So Ricardo, back to you.

Thanks, Rolando.

And just to reinforce that, I will share the the notes from Celine's briefing just now.

Indeed very dire what's happening in Gaza and moving to the neighbouring country.

I just wanted to share a staggering update from Lebanon, where according to the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health, 77 children have reportedly been killed or injured over the past week alone.

15 children killed and 62 injured in seven days.

That's an average of 11 children every 24 hours.

We understand the vast majority of these children were impacted by air strikes in South Lebanon.

Only yesterday, seven children were killed and 30 injured.

[Other language spoken]

Since the announcement on 17th 17th of April, 55 children have been have been killed and 212 wounded.

We we reiterate the call for all parties to fully respect the ceasefire and to comply with international law at all times.

Under international humanitarian law, children and civilian infrastructure must be protected at all times.

Humanitarian organisations must be granted safe, timely and unimpeded access to all affected areas, especially in the South of Lebanon, to deliver life saving aid.

[Other language spoken]

Thanks to you, Ricardo.

Shocking, shocking update, but important to share.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you, Ricardo.

Sorry, just a clarification.

An average of 11 children killed every 24 hours.

Is that since the hostilities began or since this?

[Other language spoken]

Sorry, just to clarify that now.

Just thank you for your question, Olivia.

Important to clarify the numbers because sometimes we we combine them and and this case, it's 77 children killed or injured.

So a figure on casualties, which is 15 children killed and 62 injured in seven days.

Eleven children killed or injured every 24 hours in the past week alone.

That's in the last seven days since the ceasefire was announced on April 17th.

[Other language spoken]

I don't know what the average average is there, but surely is a staggering one as well.

Thank you so much, Ricardo.

And of course, the secretary general is deeply, deeply concerned over the ongoing tensions in in Lebanon.

He calls on parties to exercise maximum restraint and avoid further escalation in that country.

So for the questions in the room online, I don't see that's the case.

So thank you, Ricardo for this update and do keep us informed of developments.

[Other language spoken]

We're moving to back S to DRC and Uganda for an update from our colleagues from the World Health Organisation.

Christian is joining me here, as is Doctor **** Lagande, who has briefed us before.

Doctor Legend is the high threats pathogens part of the High threats passage team at the WTO Health Emergencies Programme.

And we're very pleased to have you here.

I think you'll introduce in French and then also have some English comments.

But again, thank you very much for for being here with us.

[Other language spoken]

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[Other language spoken]

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[Other language spoken]

Don't ocote the this authority, Senator.

I don't know if you wanted to give it a short.

Yeah, yeah, I'll do that very, very briefly before we take questions.

So let me switch to English very shortly.

So to summarise the situation in the Republic Democratic of the Congo, as you know, on 15 May the Ministry of of Health of the Democratic Republic of the Congo notified WHO of a Wendy Boudio virus disease outbreak.

As of 28th of May, a total of 125 confirmed cases have been reported, including 1717 deaths in 13 health zones in provinces of Ituri, N Kivu and South Kivu.

16 confirmed case are healthcare workers.

There is a total of 906 suspected cases including 223 deaths that are currently being investigated.

Investigation are ongoing and this figure will change while testing capacities are being scaled up.

My main point here is WHO supports the Democratic Republic of the Congo health authorities to scale up Wendy Bundo virus disease intervention, but also support essential health services through partners.

And this includes maternal and child health, treatment of malnutrition, mental health services, trauma and wound care, support for survivors of sexual violence, routine immunisation and community health services.

This is to remind you that this outbreak is happening in a very complex context.

[Other language spoken]

Ongoing conflict and food insecurity are making the response more difficult.

Turning to Uganda, the health authorities of Uganda notified.

A confirmed case in a patient who had travelled from Italy to Democratic to from Italy sorry in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to seek care in Uganda on 15th of May.

As of 27th of May, a total of 7 confirmed cases including one death, has been reported in Uganda.

Three of these cases were imported from DRC and the other are linked contacts of those confirmed cases.

Moving to the the global aspect of this response, as you know, the emergency Committee issued temporary recommendation on 22nd May.

This recommendation highlights the importance of coordinated outbreak control, strong cross-border collaboration, sustained surveillance and solidarity.

Based on current information, WHO does not recommend any restriction on travel or trade with the Democratic Republic of the Congo or with Uganda.

WHO brought together experts to review candidate treatments and vaccines, and several products have been identified to be assessed in clinical trials.

For treatment of confirmed cases.

3 candidates therapeutic have been prioritised.

One oral antiviral therapeutics sorry has been prioritised for prevention for post exposure exposure among contact of cases within a clinical study.

My last word is for recalling that now we have this candidate therapeutics and vaccine, WHO is working closely with the government of both countries to support the assessment of this candidate medical countermeasure, while at the same time and urgently scaling up care capacities to ensure all patients in those affected communities can access optimised supportive care that can help save lives.

As we've seen in previous outbreaks, core public health measures including surveillance, contact tracing, early detection, isolation and care of suspected and confirmed cases, strong infection prevention and control in health facilities, along with safe and dignified burial are effective in stopping chain of transmission.

When communities are fully engaged and empowered.

These measures will be critical again in this response.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you very much, Merci Boku.

And this we start off with a question in the room from Christian German news agency.

[Other language spoken]

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[Other language spoken]

And on the whereabouts of the director general.

So the WTO director general, Doctor Tedros yesterday left for Kinshasa.

He's currently in Kinshasa and will during the next days meet local partners, the authorities and UN partners also in support of the Ebola outbreak of the authorities.

Any further travel arrangements?

We'll update when we have them.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you both very much for the questions in the room online.

OK, we have a couple of questions online.

Jeremy Lance, Audio France International.

[Other language spoken]

Rolando, can you hear me?

[Other language spoken]

Merci procede question les auvita truly le le's obstitution TI already the vaccine TI poured for a moment.

[Other language spoken]

Don't look at the set response for the benefits, the population.

[Other language spoken]

Yeah, thank you for the briefing.

So Nina Larsen, the FP.

I was wondering if you could say a bit more about the person who has recovered.

[Other language spoken]

What kind of hope does that give?

What recovery rate are you expecting to see?

And also I was wondering the numbers you gave.

I see there's a bit of an increase in the confirmed cases, but the suspected seem to remain the same since about a week or so.

[Other language spoken]

Why is that and when do you expect to have, how accurate do you think that is?

Because I guess that the number of cases is probably a lot larger, right.

I'll start with your own question around the numbers first and then conclude with the with the people really cover because it's very close to my heart in terms of numbers.

What you need to to understand is when we have an outbreak, the most important thing is to try and identify anyone who could have symptoms that is suggestive of a specific disease.

In that case, Bunzibunioviri's disease.

As you probably know, the symptoms are not necessarily very specific, especially at the beginning.

So it can be thought that it's malaria or or something else.

That's what we are going to call suspect cases.

The suspect cases to be will need to have a laboratory testing to confirm whether or not they are indeed infected with Pundi Brunio virus.

So the number of suspected cases by definition is going to evolve.

You will have the suspected cases that are tested positive and then become become confirmed case and then you have the suspected cases that will be reclassified as none case, meaning they have been tested, they they didn't test positive, they test negative for bundibunyovirus and will be cared for accordingly to their to their symptomology.

So I so that's why the number is evolving.

As I mentioned, there were initially some delays in getting the sample to the laboratories and the the laboratories in both Bunya and Kinshasa are actively working on testing all the sample that couldn't reach earlier the laboratories.

And based on this testing, a number of suspected case will be reclassified as non case for the one who test negative or confirm for the one who test positive.

I hope this clarify.

I know it's it can be changing on your second.

Actually on your first question, it's always something very positive that we welcome.

When people recover from disease that are very severe from previous outbreak of Bundibundio virus disease, the lethality that is the number of people who died among people who were confirmed for the infection ranges between 30 to 50%.

[Other language spoken]

So I think people who recover tells us two things.

Five people are likely also to recover and we can do more, we can do more.

We can scale up, optimise intensive care.

We can support the communities to recognise the symptoms early, to get early diagnostic so that they can receive the level of care they need.

And also, you know, this disease transmits through close contact.

It's a terrible disease because it's a disease that you get when you care for someone, when you care for your husband or your partner or your child or your mother.

You get it when you want to help someone with sick with symptoms.

And this is terrible because this disease, to avoid getting it, you have to have communities not to touch someone they love when they are feeling sick.

But this is critical.

And what's the most important thing is that we can support them to get early access to to care.

And when someone recovers, I mean, they go back to their community and there is a sense of hope showing that early access to care can help save life.

There is a life outside of this disease and what we've done in the past and what DRC has done at with with with really great success is setting up survivor care programme to follow any potential sequel that these people may have and keeping the support that these people may need after they recover.

And similar approach will be taken in this outbreak as well.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you very much.

That was a very thoughtful explanation, but I think Christian wanted to clarify one thing, maybe checking the 30 to 50% case.

Thank you very, very much for that explanation.

OK, we have lots of questions online and a couple in the room still.

So maybe a follow up from Nina then over to you, Olivia.

[Other language spoken]

I, I wanted to follow on the case fatality rate because the situation report that was published earlier this week showed that the fatality case fatality rate was at 24.6 or so.

I think for the suspected cases and then for the confirmed ones, it was much lower.

But, but I'm wondering what that says, if you expect that this outbreak actually has a lower case fatality rate than previous outbreaks of this species of, of Ebola or if that's just because of the lack of numbers.

And I had, sorry, just one final question on the, on the, you mentioned that you're not recommending travel restrictions.

Italy has just said that they want to to restrict access, tighten security around their borders.

the US obviously is says no one is going to enter the country with Ebola is really tightening the borders.

What do you say to those countries who are I guess not necessarily following WHO recommendations?

[Other language spoken]

Thank you for the case fatality ratio.

So again, this is very preliminary to have a good understanding and an anticipation of what it will be in this outbreak.

As I mentioned, there is still a number of suspected case that have not been confirmed.

There had been also reported deaths that couldn't be sampled, meaning that probably they were confirmed, but they are not including yet in the case content.

We will need further investigation to truly assess that.

We cannot, as a general matter just use numbers to define whether or not it's it's it's.

Sorry, I I will rephrase.

The case fatality ratio is always a multi factorial depending on access to care, depending on host population, depending on pathogen specific.

In terms of this virus, the sequences have have been released by both Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo and is similar to what we've seen in the previous two outbreaks.

So we are not expecting major change.

However, we hope that by scaling up all the interventions that are being implementing in the ground by getting people early access to care, early diagnostic, optimised supportive care, yes, we hope that this case fatality ratio will decrease.

Obviously on the on the travel, as I mentioned, there has been some temporary recommendations that have been issued by the emergency committee.

The recommendation is clear, people that are from the affected areas that are either contact of confirm or probable case or suspected cases should not travel.

The recommendation is also very clear.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda has to implement what we call exit screening border measures, sorry, which is currently being being done.

We encourage all countries to be in line with the international health regulation and to follow the temporary recommendation.

[Other language spoken]

Sorry.

Thank you very much.

OK, Olivia writers, hello, thank you.

Just on the case who recovered, So just one case that's been confirmed.

If somebody recovered, do we have any and that wasn't sorry.

First question is that was in DRC in the Congo.

And secondly, do we have any understanding of their age or profile or something that was it the kind of early access to care that you think and that to their recovery?

Just anyone or more details about that that, that that case would be helpful.

[Other language spoken]

So I'm sorry, I'm not here to discuss patient confidentiality data.

So I'm I'm not going to talk about that.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you very much.

OK, we'll go maybe to ask if if anything is to share tonight.

Still we're expecting a disease outbreak news coming out the dawn an updated one.

If there's anything to share that would you would find it in there.

[Other language spoken]

As Christian.

Well noted.

OK, turning online, we have 1234 questions starting with John Zaracostas, The Lancet and Francois Gatz.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you for the update briefing.

I was interested what's the latest in the field in increasing testing capacity given there was an infusion of funds from Tom Fletcher to towards the Ebola situation in the DR Congo and also there's funds that The Who has tapped into.

So how many new laboratories are you setting up in the field and will they have up to So the laboratory in Bunya is functional, up and running and is able to test on two different platform, able to differentiate Bundibunya virus from the other field of virus.

The issue that we have in the field is not necessarily an issue of resources, it's an issue of access.

You may have heard in the news that Bunya Airport has been closed and we thank the Republic Democratic of the Congo to allow humanitarian flights to still continue to go in Bunya, but access is not fully functional.

One day I got a call, a call from my team telling me there is no fuel or the flight couldn't leave because of the climate or any single issues.

All that is delaying timely and proper access.

The lab in Bunya has now been fully supplied with the different PCR kits and is able to do the testing, but then there is still security access from other health zones to bring the sample to Bunya.

So first we have we are working with the Democratic Republic of the Congo to fix these issues.

Also a close to patient point of care PCR diagnostic is currently being validated in the field.

If the data shows us that it perform well, there will be ability to decentralise the testing capacity as close as possible to patient care.

This is work ongoing.

[Other language spoken]

Maybe just a bit of broader context, colleagues had to obviously underline that the humanitarians humanitarian situation in Naturi has really been strained and remains deeply concerning.

And if you you might have seen reports of killings since early May, at least 150 civilians have been killed in Naturi province alone.

So this is really overarching sort of concern as we've been briefing you on, you know, compounding the situation of Ebola.

So we have more questions for you back in the room.

No, back online then in this case, we have Jamie of the AP.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you very much, Rolando and thank you Doctor Lugong.

I just wanted to follow up on the the situation in terms of when you expect the time frame of being able to get the results back on the number of suspected cases.

Because I think a lot of people as my colleagues have already been asking are going to hear that, you know, in four days we have not seen the number of suspected cases go up from 900, you said 906.

So that's going to raise a lot of questions.

And I just want to make sure that you know that you can be really clear about whether or not you think this means that you've said it before, but just kind of in passing, but you know, it does this mean that that there is, you know, there's still a way to go?

We're going to you expect to see higher numbers of suspected cases.

Could you just clarify, you know, where, where you what you think the trajectory of this, of this outbreak is?

[Other language spoken]

OK, I will re clarify because I think there are still some some confusion about that.

I'm happy to see, I will say it very bluntly and very clearly.

I'm happy to see the number of suspected case to increase.

[Other language spoken]

Because it means surveillance is working.

It means we have team in the ground that are able to early recognise patient who may have this disease and that's what we call suspected.

We, we think that while the testing is ongoing and for the exact timeline, I would defer to my colleagues of the Institute National Deutsche Bio Medical in both Bunya and Kinshasa that are working tirelessly as you say English to get all the sample being tested as fast as humanly possible.

We are hopeful that most of the backlog of sample that has been reported in the past will be proceed in the next coming days.

But then you need to understand that some work is needed to do the case reclassification.

So expect this number to change a little.

But again, if I see more suspected cases, it doesn't mean that more people have necessarily the disease.

We are talking about suspected cases.

It means the system work and we need to encourage that and to follow it as close as we can over.

I think that's very clear.

Thank you so much, Doctor.

A couple more questions, Alina of Tasmania news agency.

[Other language spoken]

Good morning, everyone.

Alena from Test News Agency and I thank you so much for the informative briefing.

However, my question is meant for Christian since I have an opportunity to catch him.

It does not related to the situation in the DRC, but I hope it's all right.

My question is concerning the US withdrawal from The Who.

There previously have been discussions about how the outstanding contributions of the United States for 2024 and 25 stand in the way of the process of withdrawal to be finalised.

From The Who perspective.

However, this question does not seem to have been raised during the World Health Assembly.

So my question is if your question could please give us an idea whether The Who therefore officially acknowledges the withdrawal of the United States from the organisation and considers the process of withdrawal to be finalised on.

Thank you very much.

Yeah, between Congo.

[Other language spoken]

So if you have followed the procedures, you will have seen that the Member States discussed that if the US remains further in arrears, voting rights may be stripped off in the next towards the next assembly.

That's what they discussed, that's what they decided.

That's why we are very clear.

[Other language spoken]

OK, I think down the Orchestron Moussa Al Mehdin, thank you.

It's not concerning the Ebola topic.

Another situation if I is it for OMS, it's for WHOWHO for concerning the situation, health situation in Lebanon for Kristen, I think.

OK, let me just make sure there are no questions for Doctor Legan.

And I think there's still one more question for Doctor Legan.

Let's hold on to that.

[Other language spoken]

Sorry, sorry to harp on this.

I just want just on the patient that recovered.

Is this is the first patient you're aware of that that has recovered and could you confirm that?

And do you have anyone else who do you expect more recoveries to come in the coming days?

I don't know what you're seeing in terms of how patients are doing.

Of course we expect more, more patient to recover.

That's why we are scaling up those intervention.

We hope that as many patients as as we we can will survive.

This is what is important about this patient is that is the first one was admitted to a care centre who was discharged following two negative tests of the IS.

I would say unfortunately of the person for which the lab results have not been received yet, probably some of them also recovered.

And that's why we need this investigation to be concluded to have the case classification to be concluded so that we can tell you.

But yes, we are expecting more people to recovered of course.

Thank you very, very much, Doctor Lagoon.

It's not doctor.

OK, well, I promoted you to doctor, but hold on a second because I think we do have maybe is this Satoko?

Is this for Anis?

[Other language spoken]

Yeah, yes, but not the above the Abola.

[Other language spoken]

So we can release you.

Thank you very much.

Really appreciate your update.

And this Christian, you're still on the on the hot seat there.

[Other language spoken]

I'm this is Moussa.

Your third question was on Lebanon, the health situation, but why don't you pose it and let's see if colleagues can could respond to your queries.

[Other language spoken]

Yeah, just if there's any update about the health situation in Lebanon, especially in South of Lebanon regarding the last update of the situation there.

[Other language spoken]

So Kristen, if you have some informations about that.

Yeah, thank you very much, Mussano.

Unfortunately, I have nothing with me on Lebanon today.

Sorry.

Thanks very much, Christian.

I mean, I don't know if of course Ricardo or Jens maybe, but Ricardo did brief on Lebanon as you heard earlier.

And if you have anything to add, just put your hand up.

In the meantime, what I would like to do is maybe go back to Satokosan before we go to our guest who's joined me on the podium, Satokosan.

Yo, Miyori, over to you.

[Other language spoken]

I just want to follow up the the US membership at The Who.

Christian, you said that the if US remains further in our race, their voting rights may be stripped in the next assembly and that's what they decided they is.

You are referring to the executive board or this assembly.

[Other language spoken]

That was the Assembly in in their discussions.

[Other language spoken]

OK, I think that's clear.

[Other language spoken]

Maybe Moussa, just going back to your question, it's an important situation which we of course have briefed on.

But for the moment, we'll just need to get some figures for you and feel free to liaise with Christian afterwards or as well with Ricardo Ormibiens.

There are updates from OCHA on the situation broadly in Lebanon.

So thank you very much Christian for everything I'm very pleased to have with us Doctor Prasad Vinyak Prasad, who's the unit Head of Tobacco Free Initiative at the World Health Organisation, who's going to speak about World No Tobacco Day for 2026.

Over to you.

Thank you and good morning colleagues.

Walnut Tobacco Day happens to be on 31st of May and just by way of reminder more than 7 million people died due to tobacco every year.

The theme for this year is Unmask the appeal counter tobacco and nicotine addiction and for those who have followed well known tobacco day.

Even last year we had this broad theme but this time is a more targeted focus on the nicotine and tobacco addiction.

The way the tobacco and nicotine industry have designed products to attract and add a new generation, largely targeting children.

And this is happening because the way sugars, cooling agents, flavours, they all mask the harshness of nicotine and gets promoted through digital marketing, lifestyle choices, almost glamorising the addiction of these products.

And so again, mostly happening because where tobacco consumption is now seeing declines in 140 countries, in some countries at very low levels.

So these products are being there targeted to get more of the addiction in the market again.

And the tactic is to use to see how younger the, the people and the young, the children can be addicted.

For those who are tracking, for example, city level progress.

And in cities like Rio de Janeiro and Brazil, we just did a case study today which shows how one city could take intensified enforcement, strong measures, coordinated inspections and awareness building at at that level in in plus smoke free legislation covering all these products.

Those are examples which we want to use in terms of how government actions can be taken.

A few weeks ago we released this nicotine pouch report and some of you had covered that, which was looking at how the industries use different marketing tactics to grab the attention of the young people on nicotine pouches, the fastest growing nicotine product at the moment.

And the report did find that nearly 160 countries have not done any regulation.

There are no regulation in places and with this due to the aggressive marketing of these products especially in the child friendly flavours and media influencers, we are seeing major epidemic situation in a number of countries.

On with the nicotine pouches, the possibility of action exists.

Some countries have started, but governments are lagging behind in terms of regulation of these both nicotine and tobacco products especially which are being targeting the new generation.

And these actions must be coupled with some more efforts to raise awareness, especially the local and regional government level so that they can take some actions to expose the industry tactics but also to take corrective actions.

But I think there's also hope because more than 60% of the 1.2 billion tobacco users, that's if 750,000,000 who want to quit.

And then we do have evidence based solutions to help these tobacco users quit.

And again, for this one tobacco day, that's where we are also emphasising that while there is addiction, one can get free of this nicotine and tobacco addiction.

And and that is something very crucial.

The tool kits exist and we really need to see how those can be benefit benefiting.

So the in closing, let me just say that our message is straightforward.

The industry is profiting from addiction and governments can act to and communities can act.

So it's important that every person understands that and gets that opportunity to get the support to quit.

So thank you and happy to look for questions.

Thank you very much, Doctor Prasad, important updates on this important occasion.

Do we have questions in the room online?

I think you were very, very clear in your brief.

So thank you so very much and thanks for your patience in this update.

[Other language spoken]

Before we go to our last announcement, I think Christian wanted to double back to this situation of health in the Middle East broadly.

Yeah, thank you and thanks, Doctor Prasad.

First, it's challenging to come here between all these emergencies, but thank you for that important update.

[Other language spoken]

So let me give you just a bit of an update on the health situation in Lebanon to note that yesterday and the the new situation reporting new set Rep #8 came out dated 28 made global situation report on the Middle East escalation of the conflict from WHO and now on Lebanon specific the despite the ongoing ceasefire in Lebanon, the security situation remains highly volatile.

There have been 1774 injuries and 608 deaths since 16 April.

The threat of expansion of military activities raises grave concerns for the health of the population.

Since the ceasefire took effect, a total of 27 attacks on healthcare have been reported, causing 25 deaths and 42 injuries.

To date in this conflict, a total of 16 hospitals and 13 primary healthcare centres have been damaged in attacks on healthcare.

3 hospitals remain closed.

Last week, the World Health Assembly adopted a decision on protecting protection of healthcare in Lebanon.

The resolution called for scaled up international and double Joe support to strengthen access access to health services in conflict settings.

Access to maternal health services and acute medical care remains critically constrained South of the Litani River, which patients with patients facing delays of up to 48 hours to secure clearance for movement to referral facilities, posing serious risks to patient outcomes, including increased maternal and neonatal morbidity and mortality.

Preliminary findings from a rapid health assessment conducted in May 2026 across 15 affected districts to indicate that access to healthcare remains severely constrained, with 60 to 80% of households unable to afford services, particularly medications and hospitalizations.

There are many outstanding needs.

Flexible and rapid funding is urgently required to sustain emergency health operations and ensure uninterrupted life saving services.

Enhanced access is critical to restore outreach services.

Expanded shelter and community based surveillance is required to ensure early detection.

Rapid response to communicable disease threats, expanded risk communication, community engagement are needed to improve awareness of available services, encourage early care seeking and reduce health risks.

Replenishment of essential medicines and supplies is needed to ensure service continuity.

Through The Who Coordinated Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network GORN, a request for assistance for the Middle East escalation of the violence in Lebanon was issued to support the response with epidemiological and surveillance expertise.

To date, WHO has distributed 120 trauma backpacks to ambulances and emergency medical services teams.

WHO continues to support trauma hospitalisation for non Lebanese patients.

For the current escalation of hostilities.

For the current escalation of hostilities that started since 2 March with a total of 101 individuals supported to date, the majority Syrian, complementing government efforts to ensure proper coverage for all affected populations.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you very much, Christian, for sharing this update with us here.

And of course, this compliments what Ricardo briefed on earlier, this very difficult situation with children in Lebanon.

As well as just to remind you that OCHA also shared an update, which I have here last night on the humanitarian situation overall in Lebanon.

So do we you have something else?

[Other language spoken]

To add on what Doctor Prasad just said about what no tobacco day there is, well, not tobacco.

The toolkit, which is available online with lots of material for all the follow up on on that also quite important topic.

Another pandemic indeed.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you so much, Christian.

I don't see further questions for WHO for you, Christian.

So thank you so very much.

Brings us to our last speaker, who I'd like to thank for your patience and for joining us.

Zena of ILO update on the International Labour Conference starting this weekend.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you very much and good morning colleagues.

Thank you for your patience with the today's briefing.

[Other language spoken]

I just a reminder that on Monday the International Labour Conference, the annual conference of the ILO will begin and it's going to be running until the 12th June.

As some of you are aware, this year it's over three different sites, the ILO building itself, the Geneva International Conference Centre, CICG, as well as the LA we committee discussions including Committee on Platform Economy on Gender and World of Work, Gender Equality and world of Work, social dialogue and the and the cast, which is the one of the functions of the standard setting of, of the ILO.

If you would like any questions on any of them, including the conversation, the the topics that will be discussed, please do feel free to reach out to us and we would be very happy to support.

Of course, in addition to that, we also have our opening at the the plenary, which is going to be at the Assembly Hall at the, at the Palais as well as the closing and a number of side events.

All the information is available on the website.

The website is being updated on a day-to-day basis.

So if there's any document that's missing, chances are it will be up before the actual event.

And if there's an updated document, it'll also be up on on on our website.

All information as well on accreditation is, is also available there.

Just to clarify that UN accredited colleagues will have access to the UN Pele to the CICG and we'll need that extra ILO badge to, to, to join the, the ILO building for if you are interested in, in joining us there.

And as last year and the year before, we have the engagement zone, which is the zone where we will be showcasing a virtual reality film.

This year.

It's on child labour in Nigeria.

We're also going to have our lunchtime conversations, which are informal, engaging panels discussing a number of important topics in the world of work and, and, and also the meet the experts, which is a corner where ILO experts on a day-to-day basis will be briefing on different areas of, of our work.

So please do not hesitate to reach out if you have any questions.

You've got my contact, you have our e-mail, which is newsroom@ilo.org and we are here to, to support.

[Other language spoken]

Thanks to you Sena.

We have a couple of questions for you.

Well, actually 3 questions for you starting with Nina.

[Other language spoken]

Do we have a list of high level participants and how many will be coming?

And also when it comes to covering the platform economy discussions, what can we expect when that, when are the those scheduled for?

And are we expecting sort of a vote?

Do you have a programme and for those negotiations?

[Other language spoken]

Thank you very much, Nina for your question.

So on the second question, the the expectation or the hope is that we will be able to adopt A new standard governing the platform economy and the world of work.

You may you may or may not be aware that the sitting the conversation gun letter and this year we are continuing the conversation.

The draft of the recommendation for this and convention text for this standard setting is already online.

And the process is 1 whereby the different delegates who are part of that discussion will be contributing to the draft.

And the hope really is that we will get a new, a new instrument governing, governing, I'm sorry, the world of work and the platform economy in terms of access.

Please do reach out bilaterally.

We're still having internal discussions about the different committees and they happy to keep you posted in terms of you know what, what the options are and what the situation is.

And the discussion begins during the the first week.

The schedule is also online and I can share it with you if you would like bilaterally.

It's basically a timeline, a table that has different day and the different discussions going on.

And in that table they also embed key, key documents relating to the different discussions that are taking place.

[Other language spoken]

I think the schedule would, I think most would appreciate that.

So if you could share that would be very helpful.

[Other language spoken]

Sorry, just on the attendees, my first, the first part of my question.

Oh, sorry.

Yes, at the moment we have not been briefed on, we know that there are a number of ministers attending.

I wouldn't be able to tell you right now who because we're still waiting for, for final confirmations.

But but yeah, but we haven't been, at least I haven't been notified of the head of state.

We'll watch that space, of course.

[Other language spoken]

I was wondering if you can give us a bit of summary.

What are the countries that will be reviewed for violations under the standards Committee?

And secondly, President Lula has been a regular to the ILO annual meetings.

Is there a prospect that he will be dropping in?

[Other language spoken]

Thank you very much.

[Other language spoken]

I don't have any information on President Lula, the other President, I'm afraid.

I'm sorry about the noise.

I'm working from home today.

[Other language spoken]

Also in terms of the standard setting committee, that's a good question.

I don't have the list of the countries that will be selected to, to be further examined.

However, we do expect to get that list in the first couple of days of the ILO of the I'm sorry of the ILC.

[Other language spoken]

Last question, Maya, the brief.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you for taking my question.

It's just a follow up on the question by Nina regarding also access to the ILO building.

Do we have to call someone or do we need to make a special badge when we are?

[Other language spoken]

Thanks very much and thanks for your e-mail as well.

We're going to be getting back to you on that.

But just to let you know, you do need a different badge for the ILO building and we'd be happy to support you with that.

[Other language spoken]

I think that does it for questions to you.

So thanks and good luck for this important ILC coming up next week.

[Other language spoken]

Just a few announcements to make sure you're on the right track.

We had shared with you earlier this morning a remarks from the Secretary General to the Security Council on the situation in Ukraine.

The Secretary General refers to the serious violations of international humanitarian law in Ukraine.

It mentions that the human toll is increasing.

In first four months of this year, the Secretary General says more civilians have been killed in Ukraine than in the same.

In 20/25/2024 or 2023, Secretary General says quote, what is needed now is de escalation, immediate and sustained.

What is needed now is full unconditional ceasefire.

What is needed now is more diplomacy.

What is needed is to create conditions for a just, lasting and comprehensive peace.

Secretary General's comments on Ukraine, So do take a look at that.

We also shared with you yesterday comments.

The Secretary General briefed the General Assembly yesterday on the UN80 initiative.

They're a very comprehensive update on this important initiative, which we shared with you.

We also have some facts and figures on on the initiative, the progress report on the UN80 initiative.

If you're interested, do let us know.

We can share or point you to where those are located.

[Other language spoken]

We have the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Family, otherwise known as the CMW opened in Polly Wilson yesterday.

The committee is reviewing this Monday the 1st of June and Tuesday the 2nd of June.

The reports, sorry, let me just reread that, excuse me, OK, sorry.

The report of Ghana will be reviewed on Tuesday the 2nd of June and Wednesday.

And going back, sorry, I'm not very messing this up.

So let me start again, OK, The Committee in the rights of migrant workers.

So Monday and Tuesday, Ecuador, it's clear.

Tuesday, Wednesday, Ghana, I think that's clear enough.

So thank you very much.

A conference on disarmament also is underway.

As you well know, on Tuesday the 2nd of June, the conference will hold a plenary meeting on effective international arrangements to assure non nuclear weapon states against the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons, which as you know, has been the subject of a very important meeting in New York last week.

Just to note that we heard about the situation in South Sudan at the onset of this briefing.

We have the Security Council meeting, public meeting on the situation of Sudan and South Sudan later today, 4:00 PM.

Our time for Tuesday.

The regular press briefing will start early.

As we mentioned to you in a small note that we shared on Tuesday the 2nd, the press briefing will start at 10:00 AM with the participation of Celeste Salo, the Secretary General of the World Meteor Meteorological Organisation, and Wilfrin Okia, who is the Chief of Climate Prediction.

They're going to be briefing you on their El Nino update.

So an important update indeed at 10 AM here ahead of our briefing on Tuesday.

Today is Peacekeepers Day, the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers, which is celebrated every 29 May Important moment to reflect on the sacrifice made by peacekeepers across the globe.

This year's theme is Invest in Peace and this year the UN office at Geneva will mark this important day.

This coming Tuesday, the 2nd of June at 3:00 PM at a ceremony in the Ariana Park, just behind me, there will be speeches.

Alessandra or Alessandra Bellucci will be delivering statement on behalf of the the office.

We'll have statements from the French and Indonesian ambassadors significantly given the situations they faced in Lebanon as we've heard about earlier.

So it's an important event to mark this important observance on Tuesday at 3:00 PM.

And we also have some press releases that were shared with us on New York on the recipients of the top military police peacekeeping awards, which we're happy to share with you.

And that is all I have.

So any questions, Maya, is that for me?

Must be because I'm the only one here.

[Other language spoken]

Yes, thank you very much.

No, it's just a follow up with Zena regarding the list, if she could send it to us when she has the attendees list and the also the calendar that she mentioned to Nina so we can pick and choose the meetings we can attend.

Thank you very much.

[Other language spoken]

Just a clarification, yes, I'll send the link to the calendar to the online timetable that I mentioned that explains which discussions are happening when and it has embedded in it a number of the relevant documents.

But I didn't quite understand the other part of your request.

A list of what?

What was the other part?

It was to do with the schedule that you alluded to earlier if I'm not mistaken.

My, that's the one.

Yeah, what I just mentioned now.

OK, Yeah, the the list of attendees, the ministers and head of state, once you have that.

So I wouldn't be able to send that.

However, we do have online a link with everybody who has been accredited, so I can share that because that's updated in real time.

So you'll have those and you can check on a daily basis, right, the government representatives and all that.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you very much.

Thanks to you, Maya and Dana and thank you all for your attention and your reporting and see you here on Tuesday.

[Other language spoken]

UN Geneva Press Briefing - 29 May 2026