UN Geneva - Multimedia Newsroom : UN Geneva Press Briefing

So thank you very much for your participation in the first part of the briefing.

Now let's go to the second part with our list of topics.

So I'd like to start, as I said, with the conflict in the Middle East.

We have Ricardo with us, who has brought us Jean Cedric Moose, who is online from Mogadishu.

Jean Cedric is the UNICEF's chief of global transport and logistics.

[Other language spoken]

And then we will hear from angktat from Marcelo Rizzi also on the situation on a of a report on the situation in the Strait of Hormuz.

[Other language spoken]

Ricardo, you want to start or we go directly to Jean Siddique.

[Other language spoken]

Just a few words before I pass it on to Jean.

As we heard now from our colleagues at WMO, children are not short of ongoing crisis and upcoming crisis.

El Nino obviously is one that will impact them across the globe in areas where humanitarian delivery and operations are already very strained historically.

So, so we are at a sort of unprecedented times.

And we will hear from my colleague Jess now how this has also an impact on our ability to reach children at the pace that is required.

Over to you, Jess, and thanks for coming for joining.

Thank you, Ricardo.

I hope you can hear me Just one second.

We hear you very, very low.

I don't know if it's in the room or if it's online.

[Other language spoken]

If online, better now.

Oh, yes.

[Other language spoken]

I'm sorry for this and and thank you for this introduction and thank you for for for giving me the opportunity to speak about the crisis in the Middle East.

And I will come as Ricardo introduced and and great presentation from the Secretary General Saolo from WMO to some of examples of how does El Nino might further impact our our ability to deliver essentials like saving supplies in relation with the Middle East crisis that we are facing.

As as you know, we are now 94 days into the latest Middle East escalation and the fallout extends far beyond the region.

The disruption to the global humanitarian supply chain is impacting children across all the globe with continued congestion in global supply chain routes and higher cost at all levels at country level, offshore and etcetera.

Equity transport cost means less money for life saving commodities for children.

These pressure are rendering the margins for error for organisation like UNICEF precarious.

[Other language spoken]

Like a disruption from lanes into the the the the Middle East, the home of straits spiralled directly into humanitarian crisis.

For UNICEF, persistent delays and high operational costs, when they come into the context of global funding crisis, are already posing impossible choices.

[Other language spoken]

But which children do we serve?

The 1st transportation and logistics cost alone are having a tremendous impact.

Maritime diversion of the people of Good Hope now and adding more than two to four weeks of delivery lead times.

We know that now some of our air ocean carriers are using the Red Sea, but still it is a complicated route.

So air freight capacity has also tightened across the Middle East.

Some airlines have stopped serving some destination in Africa, while food congestion is spreading across Africa and beyond.

And behind this cascading disruption is a simple but brutal, brutal equation.

Every additional dollar UNICEF spent on transport is $1.00 spent on emergency essential supplies for children around the world.

The operation impact in the past few months is already severe.

Air freight cost for vaccines from India to from India to Nigeria and and and DRC have increased by 50 to 70%.

Trucking Trucking cost for delivery of ready to use therapeutic food.

RUTF from Canadian manufacturers to Somalia, South Sudan and VRC have climbed up to 30%.

Sea freight for education materials from China and to Yemen to Haiti and Mozambique has surged from up to 150%.

In Nigeria, we needed to reroute syringes which we normally send by ocean.

We needed to make sure to avoid interruptions of of vaccines campaign.

We needed to airframe them.

Desert was targeting more than 12 million children and has, of course, caused an increasing cost of 200 to $300,000.

It's like 50% of what we pay normally in Mali.

The international freight purchase saw a significant increase of 36% in the first quarter.

With the increasing cost of country office that that country officers is facing, they need to look at the difficult choices reducing number of carton of RUTF carton purchases which will have an impact on severe cold malnutrition activities in in certain countries.

In Afghanistan we had successive crisis, we had Pakistan crisis, we had the Indian crisis.

We rerouted supplies via Iran.

With the Strait of ***** blockage, we have to reroute them via Georgia which is increasing lead time and of course cost to deliver essential supplies to children.

The the Strait of ***** as I explained is impacting all different kind of ports.

Port in Africa, Mombasa, Dar es, Saddam, Abidjan, Conakry, Duana are being congested with betting the time increasing to two to three weeks and sometimes one month.

Ethiopia Djibouti corridor, the country primary humanitarian getaways for different destination is under growing pressure.

Meanwhile, millions of children are the sharp end of these challenges.

In addition, UNICEF has nearly exhausted annual transport contribution from logistics partner.

Every year we receive pledges and and donations in kind for air freight.

These have already been exhausted in the first quarter of this year.

Cumulatively, we estimate that this disruption would delay critical supplies up to four to six months.

We here in the news opportunities extension of of of of of ceasefire solutions that are brought up to the the the table.

We need to understand that if we come to an agreement and the Strait of Hormuz is reopened, the situation will not improve before the end of the year.

Despite all these challenges, UNICEF is maintaining the flow of critical supplies.

We are activating alternative air, land, transport, sea routes, making sure that our private sector vendors and partners are looking at all the different solution around the world.

Our global network which includes pubs in Copenhagen and Dubai and more than 300 warehouses worldwide is being deployed strategically.

Over the last decades, we have increased our localisation, our procurement of goods closer to the beneficiary and this has become really critical.

At the point we have more than 20 manufacturers of already to use therapy food in in Ethiopia, Kenya, Niger, Nigeria and Egypt.

These reduce the dependency of global shipping, but still local cost is still at at say here.

Additional UNICEF procurement strategy and market shaping work to strengthen the resilience of our supply chain, supply chain security and support prices stability, reducing the risk of shortages and price increase.

Together with WFP, at the onset of the emergency, we reach out to the industry, making sure that humanitarian supplies will be prioritised at the best cost possible.

That came out as a positive result from the ocean carriers waving the emergency surcharges, waving the the the cost surcharges for fuel.

And we could estimate at the moment that we have saved more than $2,000,000 since the beginning of the crisis.

But what I wanted to also say, following the intervention of the Secretary General, I am at the moment in Somalia.

Somalia experienced severe bloods every year.

Now with the ending your prediction, we can foresee floods in southwestern part of Somalia.

We will need to airfreight the supplies.

We will not be able to try to deliver essential supplies to the children in these affected zones.

The GT1 here 31 here is the fuel for airfreight has increased by 70 to 100%.

This will make it difficult for us to reach every children in Somalia.

The same thing for Ebola.

We are currently several organisations responding to Ebola crisis.

We need to effort everything because Mombasa in Dar es Salaam is congested.

So we will not allow these challenges to compromise the lives and well-being of children and we always find solutions to reach them.

But it has impacted seriously our cost in a supply chain.

Thank you for listening, Thank you very much and definitely we will not.

But let's as you've speak, and I've spoken a lot about this through the world, let's hear what Ankhbad is planning to do with their mandate on trade and maritime trade in particular.

Thank, thank you, Alessandra and good good morning everybody in the room and and online.

Today, Ontario Trade and Development is releasing a new edition of its monitoring series on the economic consequences of the disruptions linked to the Strait of Hormuz.

What we just heard from my colleagues from UNICEF is another example of it going way beyond, of course, the immediate headlines that many are familiar with.

The addition Strait of Hormuz Disruptions The Burden of Oil Price Shocks on Vulnerable Economies examines how rising oil prices are affecting least developed countries and small island developing states.

And this message is really straightforward.

A geopolitical shock is becoming a development shock for countries with the least capacity to absorb it, and vulnerable economies are on the frontline.

Our analysis covers 75 vulnerable economies dependent on imported oil.

Of these, 65 are net oil importers.

That means they import more than they export, and this makes them especially dependent on foreign supplies and particularly vulnerable when global energy prices rise.

UMTAD estimates that a sustained 50 percent, 50% increase in refined oil prices are not not crude.

But really, what we get at the gas pump, for instance, could increase the annual oil import bill by more than 20 billion dollars.

Least developed countries would account for roughly 16 billion of that extra cost, and small island developing states around 4 billion.

This goes beyond just the spreadsheet.

Together, these countries are home to nearly 1 billion people and more than 30% of their population lives on $3 a day.

This impact could exceed 5% of the GDP of many of these countries.

Mauritania, for instance, we estimate above 7%, The Gambia above 6%, Vanuatu, almost 6.

[Other language spoken]

This creates, we're talking about impossible choices.

We just served again from a colleague of from from UNICEF and this creates of course also impossible choices between financing essential imports and investing in development priorities.

So the burden goes well beyond of course energy and it's particularly important for many vulnerable economies who are already coping with external pressures.

We just heard climate related disruptions such as El Nino, debt burdens, food insecurity.

So it's overlapping shocks and the impact is amplified and smaller countries have less and less room to really absorb it.

So the story is not really about oil prices.

It's about how a geopolitical disruption translates into a development challenge.

And again, especially for vulnerable economies.

This publication is the #3 in the series of Hormuz.

It's part of our global broader monitoring effort by UMTAD.

If you followed our previous analysis, they highlighted the risks of trade, food, transport, financial shocks linked to the disruptions of the Strait of Hormuz and again this one specifically on the oil channel and its implications for vulnerable economies.

Future editions will of course continue tracking all these how these impacts evolve across all these, all these areas, well aware that whenever a ceasefire or even a peace agreement is reached, these impacts linger over time.

They don't fade away and some might become even even structural.

The the report is available online and on the website and being distributed through a regular channels, alerts, newsletters and we encourage everybody of course to follow up and contact us when needed.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you, Alessandro.

Thank you very much, Marcelo.

And I think Christian wanted to add 1 word about the supplies in the medical sector, but we will also hear a little bit more about that later on from WFP.

But Christian, just what do you wanted to say about that?

Hello and thank you, Alessandra.

I hope the camera works so I can.

[Other language spoken]

So we have been reported, WTO has been reported, continued deterioration in fuel availability, electricity reliability and health system resilience.

The most severe impacts remain concentrated in Cuba, Gaza, South Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia, Sudan and Yemen.

Refined fuel shortages, particularly diesel, remain the principal operational threat to health systems because of dependence on generators, cold chains, ambulances, water systems and humanitarian logistics.

Confirmed impacts includes include hospital generator stress, reduced surgeries, pressure on dialysis and neonatal care, vaccine cold chain vulnerability, reduced ambulance and referral transport, sanitation disruption, reduced outreach activities, and delayed humanitarian deliveries.

While there are yet no confirmed large scale vaccine cold chain failures, the risk continues to increase in South Sudan, Gaza, Cuba, Ethiopia and Somalia due to prolonged outlet outages, the diesel shortages, and transport disruption.

Cold chain continuity remains one of the most critical indicators for Monitor jet fuel shortages.

No, the the refined fuel shortages are increasingly affecting pharmaceutical supply chains as well.

Key concerns include higher transport costs, reduced availability of petrochemical input such used for example, in IV bags in syringes and the packaging, delays in pharmaceutical intermediates and active ingredients and increasing freight costs.

While no widespread manufacturing shutdowns have been confirmed yet, early warning signals suggest increasing risk of shortages of essential medicines and medical consumables.

Thank you very much for this addition, Christian.

Let me open the floor to questions now.

First in the room, don't see any hand up online.

Olivia Reuters, thank you.

Thanks very much for the briefing.

And yeah, just a couple of questions.

Just first of all, you, you were saying this is for UNICEF.

It was stated that UNICEF has nearly exhausted annual transport contributions.

And then you went on to say that we estimate that this disruption could delay critical supplies up to four to six weeks.

Do you mind just explaining how the kind of transport contributions being exhausted links then to delays?

Is that because you have to kind of wait to try and get more fundraising or money elsewhere.

It just wasn't too sure how the two link if you could have explained that.

And just a question and this is could be pleased for UNICEF and our colleague at the World Health Organisation.

Just in terms of Ebola, which was mentioned briefly, are you seeing any supply chain impact linked to the broader context in terms of the straight of formals and the broader disruption sparked by the war?

Is that causing what?

What issues is that causing supplies into the DRC, but maybe to other neighbouring countries as well, be it in terms of fuel prices or just the actual raw materials themselves?

[Other language spoken]

And we will hear also more about Ebola response later on from IOM.

But on this particular issue of the supplies, maybe I can start with Jean from UNICEF and then to Christian.

[Other language spoken]

So these are two different factors on, on, on, on the transport contribution, UNICEF has a a long term partnership with several commercial airlines every year.

One of the contribution is donation in kind meaning by this that they avail a number of space on the shutters or avail directly a shutter for us in due in view of the delays that we have by ocean freight, we had to trigger this donation in kind of air freight support much earlier than the previous years and these have been already close to be exhausted in the first quarter.

For this different destination, we organised the destination freight to Lebanon to to Gaza and and others that are complicated to reach by ocean or delayed by ocean.

And the ocean delays four to six weeks is basically if you look at the vessel coming from Asia, they're going to different ports up to Africa and the vessels need to upload some, some, some containers.

Now the ports are congested and that creates delays in ocean freight.

And then we need to go longer route via the Cape, South Africa and go back in the Mediterranean Sea to go to Romania, to Afghanistan, for example.

Afghanistan, we were going directly to Karachi.

Now we need to do a full circle and then increase the full delivery by four to six weeks.

Now on Ebola, one of the problems that we are, we are we're having is a really Christians intervention was crucial.

Despite the effort of the international community, UNICEF with support from Garvi, we have been, we have installed a lot of solar panels to, to, to organ to, to maintain the cold chain in different places.

But still many of this cold chain equipment are driven by petrol.

Secondly, what we are normally doing is we deliver first or second flight into the the the epicentre and now at the moment Entebbe.

The rest of the bulk supplies are sent by Ocean via Mombasa and Dar es Salaam, Mumbaisa and Dar es Salaam being unreliable to congestion, we need now to organise a third or in a fourth flight to to Entebbe.

Why we send also simultaneously by ocean is really to prevent the the the delays in this past response and the required emergency.

So these are the different impacts that we are facing because that the ripple effect as as it was said for a Nino, they are in this crisis.

There are so many ripple effect on the humanitarian supply chain.

Thank you very much, Christian.

Yeah, Specifically on on Ebola, what we see so far is that the fuel shortages and the the increased transport costs continue to to affect the alternative shipping routes as Trans Enrique said remain longer and more expensive.

Air freight costs remain high or elevated, reducing the purchasing power of humanitarian needs or the budget that such and delaying there for the delivery, delivery of medical supplies.

But so far it's it's the higher costs not yet the impact on on supplies as such.

Thank you very much.

Thanks to the briefer on on this particular subject.

Let's stay on the Middle East with Lebanon in a moment, but I'd like to thank everyone, in particular Jean Cedric.

And just to remind you that on the 4th of June, international community commemorate International Day of Innocent Children, victims of aggression, which is, as we have heard, a situation with our situation, so many children in the world.

So thanks very much, Jean, Cedric, Marcelo and Ricardo Penile, can you come to the podium?

And let's go now to Lebanon.

I have the pleasure to introduce permiles Brotas Andrew Saberton, who is the UNFPA Deputy Executive Director for Management.

So you're speaking from Cairo.

And also on Lebanon, we will hear from WHO, from Doctor Abdi Nasir Abubakar, whom you know very well, The Who representative in Lebanon also talking from from there, from Beirut.

So let's start with Andrew and then we will go to Doctor Abubakar and I'll open the first questions unless you want to start.

[Other language spoken]

Andrew, please.

[Other language spoken]

I just should actually clarify, I was told I was briefing on Sedan today on the women and protection crisis sedan, which is where I've recently returned from because there was a Lebanon briefing, I think in the midday briefing in New York today.

That so OK, so maybe we have, maybe we have because I, I was told that you were going to speak with on Lebanon and then we would have WHO and afterwards Sudan.

So can you talk to on Lebanon or you want to wait?

And we, we talk on Lebanon and then we go to you for Sudan.

I think you should tackle Lebanon and then I will come back on Sudan.

[Other language spoken]

OK, so let's have Doctor Abubakar directly to speak on Lebanon.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you very much.

I really appreciate.

Good morning, colleagues, and thank you for the opportunity to brief you again on the health situation in Lebanon.

Since the recent escalation beginning on March 2nd, actually three months ago, more than almost 3400 people have been killed and nearly 10,400 people were injured, most of them civilians.

These have been among the deadliest month actually for Lebanon since the start of the conflict in October 2023.

About 130,000 people are living in the shelters as they flee from fighting and this number could go up after recent operation order issued for part of the Beirut southern suburb, A densely populated urban district that is home to hundreds of thousands of civilians.

In just these three months, WHO has verified almost 190 attacks on healthcare.

These attacks have killed 128 healthcare workers and injured 320, thirty two others.

In the past week alone, we had 11 attacks that resulted in 4 deaths and 24 injuries among the healthcare workers, including attacks that took place on Sunday near the Hiram Hospital in southern Lebanon.

We are also in the process of verifying attacks that took place yesterday on the Jabal Amil Hospital, which is one of the few hospitals that's currently operating in the South, especially Interior.

According to the initial information from the Minister of Health, at least 86 people, including healthcare workers have been injured, and the strikes affected 3 buildings adjacent to the hospital and caused significant damage to the part of the hospital, including the emergency department and intensive care unit within the hospital.

Not only to these attacks killer and mine, they also deprive people of the health services they need when they need the most.

Interior district which is the most affected in the last few days, two out of the three hospitalists Jebel Amil and Hiram Damage also continue to function and the 3rd hospital is overwhelmed, that is dealing with the influx of increased number of injured patients.

Overall in the country, 17 hospitalities are partially damaged and three hospitals and 42 primary healthcare centres remain closed as of today.

Access to essential services is critical constraint, especially in the South.

Patients are facing delays for up to 48 hours to reach the nearest referral facilities.

6 Hospitalists have not yet resumed maternity delivery services are currently and are currently providing only emergency room care for pregnant women and newborn.

Delays in care can mean the difference between life and death.

Rapid assessment shows that up to 80% of households across 15 affected district cannot afford health service and they cannot access including medicine and hospitalisation.

WHO has been monitoring also infectious disease at the shelters and hostile communities.

While we have seen an increased trend of a cold water the area and remember that, you know, we are in the summer season and now the risk of potential cholera maybe you know, an increasing we are closely, you know, monitoring the situation.

Also, the the the figures that we've seen, they have not crossed at the emergent threshold.

WHO also is working closely with the Minister of Public Health and donors and partners to respond any potential.

WHO is supporting also the trauma care, training healthcare workers, providing essential medicine and sustaining health services for the most vulnerable, including those who have otherwise have not access to care.

We also have a strengthened disease surveillance and deploying international experts through the Global outbreak Alert Response and network gone.

But at the same time also we do have a standard partners who deployed for mental health experts.

But the needs are growing faster than the response.

That is what it needs now.

We need to sustain the funding to keep essential health services funding available at all times.

We need to we need safe and in handed access so patients can reach care without delays.

And we need also the attacks of healthcare to stop.

And we need active protection for healthcare.

Last month the World Health Assembly adopted a decision calling for the protection of healthcare in Lebanon and for scaled up international support.

This must be translated into action.

Finally, we need a sustained ceasefire and durable peace framework to enable reconstruction, create safe conditions for return and ensure that people receive the support necessary to rebuild their lives with safety and dignity.

Thank you very much.

Thank you very much, Doctor Abubakar.

I just wanted to also add that the United Nations are deeply alarmed by the escalation military activities across southern Lebanon and beyond.

We reiterate that civilians and civilian infrastructures may not, must not be targeted and we urge all actors to respect the cessation of hostilities and avoid further escalation.

And we condemn all the laws of civilian lives.

There is no alternative to a diplomatic solution to break this cycle of violence and to achieve sustainable stability on both sides of the blue line.

I'll open the floor to question now on Lebanon, if any in the room.

I don't see any hand up or on the platform.

I don't see any.

So Doctor Abubakar, thank you so much for for for this update.

And let's now go to UNFPA with Andrew again.

Then it would be on Sudan, if I understand well and you're speaking from Cairo and then we'll hear from WFP.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you very much.

And quite right.

I recently returned from a mission in Sudan, where I saw a country trying to return to life even while war continues.

While in Sudan, I visited hospitals and safe spaces in Khartoum and a safe space for women and girls in Sour Kan and the Red Sea state.

Prior to that, I'd also visited the refugee camps in eastern Chad, just across the border.

In parts of Khartoum, it feels like a ghost town.

Buildings are burned out and scarred by shelling and at night whole areas are in darkness and yet people are returning because no one wants to stay indefinitely in a displacement camp.

Whilst in Khartoum, I visited the Ibrahim Malik Hospital where UNFPA is working with Sudanese partners to rebuild maternity wards.

These were once functioning, very well equipped facilities, but now parts of them have been burned out and destroyed, with incubators no longer functioning outside the hospital's mines are still being cleared and I saw the grave of a child, the baby who had died early in the conf earlier in the conflict in the incubation unit and was buried there with the site left in place to reserve forensic evidence.

This is the reality of what Sudanese families are returning to.

Across Sudan, more than 800,000 pregnant women are in need, but with more than 213 attacks on health facilities recorded since the conflict began, healthcare workers have been killed or fled, leaving the system severely strained.

But I did see signs of recovery.

[Other language spoken]

UNFPA is helping to rebuild to staff and equip what will become one of the largest maternity hospitals in Africa, able to support more than 50 deliveries a day and for the first time free of charge, thanks to the government's investment.

Also in Khartoum, I visited the Onderman Midwifery School where UNFPA supporting the training of midwives.

These kinds of services make returns possible because when given a choice, people would always choose to return home.

The camps in eastern Chad provide temporary refuge to Sudanese who have fled, and the government and the humanitarians are doing the best they can.

But make no mistake, they are miserable places to live.

In one camp, a delivery room was delivering about 30 babies a day in squalid conditions and many without anaesthetic, and 10 of 10% of those births were C sections.

No woman should give birth in a situation like that.

I also visited women and girls safe spaces in Port Sudan and Khartoum, and for many women and girls, these are among the few places where they can speak to ask for help or to begin to recover.

And what struck me most is that women and girls described insecurity not as isolated incidents, but as a constant condition of daily life.

In a recent UNFPA assessment, three in four women aged 25 to 49 reported feeling unsafe.

Whether it be in camps, at water points, in markets and even walk into the toilets at night.

Women's in Sudan told us clearly what they need safety, healthcare, schools for their children and livelihoods.

Many are the sole breadwinners for the families.

I witnessed in so many ways how the women of Sudan are carrying their nation on their backs.

They do not want to be just fed.

They want basic healthcare and safety, the chance to earn an income and provide food for themselves and for their children and to send their children to school.

[Other language spoken]

First, it is clear to all that the starting point to recovery.

Recovery is a sustained ceasefire and lasting peace.

Second, once peace is a reality, the rebuilding can begin.

It will require large scale investment in Health Protection and other civilian services.

[Other language spoken]

We cannot stand by and let infrastructure be destroyed without taking responsibility to rebuild it.

Third, in the meantime, whilst we wait for this rebuilding, humanitarian assistance is a lifeline and appeals must be funded.

UNFPA and our partners are supporting mobile clinics, emergency obstetric and newborn care facilities, midwifery training and safe spaces.

But protection services are just 20% funded and health is only 14% funded.

Without urgent support, we will need to scale back further.

Women continue to give birth in war.

They cannot wait for a permanent peace agreement.

They cannot wait for every Rd, power line and hospital to be rebuild.

They need safety and care today.

Thank you, thank you very much.

And indeed, with Sudan being the biggest humanitarian crisis in the world, the UN in general needs more funding.

Just for your information, nearly halfway through the year, we've already received just 25% of the 2.9 billion that are needed under our humanitarian appeal.

So I'll open the floor to question if any now on Sudan, don't see hands up in the room or online.

So thank you very much, Sir.

Thanks for having reminded us about the dire situation of women and girls in Sudan.

[Other language spoken]

And let me call on the podium now, Ronnie at the Gash Camera.

[Other language spoken]

Madam Rania is the Assistant Executive Director for Partnership and Innovation of the World Food Programme.

And she happens to be in Geneva.

So she's come and see us, which I'm very happy about.

And I have somewhere a main place.

So Rania, you would like to tell us about the general situation of the global funding shortfall for WFP with all these classes we've just heard about, it is an important matter.

I'll give you the floor, thanks.

Thank you very much and good afternoon to all of you and thank you for making the time.

You know, I came to Geneva to discuss with many of our partners how we're doing on the humanitarian reset and the funding shortfalls.

And we thought it's a great opportunity that to meet with all of you to also discuss what is happening outside the walls of our buildings and what takes a lot of time internally.

You've already heard about many of the crises that are going on, but if we add the Middle East, global economic, the Middle East crisis, the global economic instability, the Ebola outbreak in DRC, El Nino, and what it could possibly do to Central America, to East Africa in the Sahel belt.

It really is taking a bit of a step back and looking at our funding situation, what it means for hungry people.

In November last year, WFP put out an ask.

We said we would like to reach 110 million people in the most acute need.

These are the ones most desperate and require our assistance.

And to do that we need $13 billion.

What is quite unfortunate is we have funding projections that are very close to where we were 10 years ago to 2016, but the need is double what it was in 2016, so for a lot less.

Like you heard many say today, we are trying to reach a lot more people and it is simply not doable.

The gaps are unprecedented and country by country we are making brutal choices about who to reach.

These cuts are about life saving work.

You know, this is not nice to have programmes.

These are families and children and mothers who go without food, who are hungry and whom we can't reach in these distributions, whether in cash or in food or it really means malnutrition.

Clinics are closing and in many places no food at all.

It's a real time experiment if I can put it that way.

And it basically is pull out the support and let's find out afterwards who is going to stay alive.

I was in Afghanistan not too long ago actually, and there's a mother who it took 4 hours to walk to a clinic and she was turned away because we had to close the clinic at about noon.

She's malnourished, her children are malnourished, and we could not help her.

She cannot yell, she cannot shout.

She cannot force us to turn back the distribution because when the system breaks, as it is now, she fades away and her children waste away.

And the only way that her message gets out is when I come here and speak to you.

You know, we cannot optimise a 75% shortfall in our funding.

We cannot buy the food needed, nor can we pay to ship and distribute it.

And even that is taking a lot more to do, a lot less, as we heard, because of the Middle East crisis.

So when we pull back in some of these places, there's no alternative system that is waiting to fill that gap.

There's nothing else that is at our scale, nor can it move.

There's just misery and hunger and destabilisation waiting.

I don't mean to be grim, but the situation is truly grim.

There is a big push for the private sector to step in and I think it's important that we clarify the private sector is essential in technology, in expertise and in resources.

But in our work, it is impossible to simply swap the commercial the work for the commercial sector for it to drop in and fill a gap.

We're extremely grateful to the governments who continue to fund us, without which you would see a more catastrophic picture across the world.

But perhaps this is a shock to the entire system.

And if you all recall at the end of last year we had two confirmed famines we had.

This year we're looking at famine like conditions or credible risk in Sudan, in Somalia, in South Sudan, in Mali.

And the likelihood is rising sharply because famine is the really the one thing we exist to prevent.

So in many ways, I come here today to just remind us of the scale of the crisis that we're looking at and how much support that we still require.

Our top 8 emergency operations, and that is Sudan, Afghanistan, South Sudan, Reza, DRC, Somalia, Lebanon and Mali require about 2 billion.

It's funding we don't have, and it doesn't have to be this way because when the money is there, we deliver, and we deliver fast in the hardest places on earth.

And the change is immediate and tangible.

You know when this Middle East crisis started.

And it has two sides to it.

As you know, there's the logistics component and what that implies, and you heard many speak to that today.

And then there is the displacement in the food security angle.

To that, we were able to respond in Lebanon within 24 hours, reaching hundreds of thousands.

We're still able to do so because of the generous support of many, but it isn't enough.

In Haiti, we're keeping the situation stable barely and we remain the central support pillar to the Ebola response in DRC, which is coming on top of a dire human hunger crisis.

So we support the interagency response and we are pushing for cross-border movement of personnel and supplies of course including a humanitarian air corridor in Takoma and Bukavu.

Internally, WFP has done massively.

We've invigorated and innovative aggressively.

We've cut ruthlessly, we've streamlined everywhere and we started in 2023, actually even before the funding crisis.

This isn't a plea for charity today, it's the same governments who've historically invested in us.

But we are asking for continued support to emergencies to hold back the worst.

And I stop there.

I thank you, right.

I thank you very much.

I think it comes, you can see it comes from your heart and and we've also heard about that a few couple of months ago from Carl Scow.

They just become Yesterday you were acting executive director on the retirement of Cindy McCain, who's the secretary general state has thanked and expresses deep appreciation for her dedicated service.

I think we hear your emotion in your voice and the importance to how highlights your appeal.

And I give the floor to Enyes Pedrero, AFP Yes, hi, thank you.

And yes, from EFP here in, in the room.

[Other language spoken]

So you say that the, the needs are increasing, but on the part of the contribution, could you say who are your top contributors?

Maybe the three or 5th, 1st and, and, and if they're paying their contribution, actually, if you could explain why, why you don't have the funding if there is some top donors who are not paying their, their contribution?

[Other language spoken]

Thank you for the question.

Our number one donor has always been and continues to be the United States of America.

It is still the generosity of the American people that carries the bulk of the response, but this has been and continues to be augmented by the European Union, certainly by Germany.

These, I would say, are our top three at the moment.

But across our top 10 donors, we have seen a significant pullback.

And I think it's important to qualify.

You know, I often get asked about what has the reductions from the United States meant for our response.

the US remains our top donor and whether directly to us or through the OCHA pulled funds, which they have also generously funded.

What has been a bit of a shock to the system has been the collective European pull back and cuts.

They are a lot more significant for the humanitarian sector.

And I don't think we speak to that as a collective because every country often asks separately.

But it's very important to know that the cuts that we are seeing from the Europeans are I think where the largest gap for us is at the moment and that we would like to see redressed.

[Other language spoken]

We have Member States that have been extremely powerful in their defence in support of the multilateral system of the humanitarian system that they invested in and built over decades.

And certainly we are working with the ERC and OCHA on tweaks and improvements to that system.

But at the moment the system is failing.

I mean hundreds of millions of people that we are not able to reach.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you very much.

[Other language spoken]

Do you have some figures to to explain the the decrease of the of the support of the Europeans?

I can share the figures with you.

Absolutely, Yeah, Shannon could do that afterwards.

Any other question for Rhina for WFPI don't yes, please go ahead.

The one figure I want to leave you with is in 2024, we received about 10 billion in contributions.

In 2025, we received about 6 billion in contributions.

It's a 40% reduction in contributions and that is 10s of millions of people that we are unable to reach as a result.

And I think that's the important figure.

It was 30 million less people that we could reach front of, as you said, incredibly more important needs.

[Other language spoken]

So thank you very much right now for for, for taking the opportunity of being in Geneva to come in and brief.

The Geneva press corps would like, I hope the appeal that you have made so heartily will be listened to.

It's important for millions of people, as you said.

[Other language spoken]

And now let's speak about Ebola on.

And yes, is that for Ryan?

[Other language spoken]

OK, so while I'm asking Zoe to come to the podium, we'll hear from IOM on the Ebola response.

And yes, you want to take the floor, Please go ahead.

Yes, if possible, I would like to ask a question to you in a chair and to IOM on if possible, I would like to ask a question to IOM and you in a chair on another issue.

They're both scheduled to brief, so let them breathe.

Also the bar has to brief and then I'll give you the floor for the question if it's not related to their subject.

[Other language spoken]

So let me welcome Zoe Brennan, who was here to tell us about the cross-border Ebola responsively DRC and we have an invitee and I have a somewhere here.

[Other language spoken]

I'm doing it's a one man band today, so thank you.

And we do have a colleague online that's correct.

You're Nancy or yes, she's changed.

She's female now, so that's better you do it.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you very much indeed, Alessandra.

So I'm briefing today for IOM and I have with me two colleagues who will answer questions after I read a statement.

So I have my colleague Kit Long, who is our senior migration health Advisor.

And then online from the field, I have our colleague Gaudia Ceroni who is IOMDRC Head of Mission, sorry, head of Migration Health.

So Gaudi, Gaudia will be joining online and she is in DRC currently.

So I'm going to read a short statement from IOM and then we can respond to to any questions.

The statement is headed.

IOM urges faster cross-border action to fight Ebola.

The International Organisation for Migration is warning that reactive border closures may push people towards less monitored informal crossing points, increasing the risk of further spread of the recent strain of the Ebola virus.

IOM is working to strengthen coordinated health screening at borders and high mobility areas to help contain the outbreak.

The confirmation of cross-border transmission of the virus in the DRC and Uganda is a stark reminder that disease surveillance is only as strong as the weakest point along a shared border.

Data from IO Ms flow monitoring conducted along key informal and formal crossing points between DRC and Uganda confirmed continued cross-border mobility despite border restrictions, including along informal routes, reinforcing the need for coordinated regional action rather than isolated national measures.

As governments and partners work to contain the outbreak, it is critical that response measures are guided by evidence and data.

cross-border mobility is normal between these countries, important for trade and livelihoods, and therefore closures only increase the likelihood of people opting for less known border points.

Border closures do not stop people from moving.

They often shift movement towards informal crossing points, reducing visibility, undermining health screening, surveillance and contact tracing, creating conditions that allow transmission to go undetected.

This outbreak has emerged in one of the most complex humanitarian settings in the world.

Eastern DRC is already grappling with the impact of conflict and growing humanitarian needs.

The country is home to the second largest displacement crisis in Africa, with 3.6 million people forced from their homes and nearly 1,000,000 displaced in a Tory province alone where the outbreak is centred.

People living in displacement sites, border communities and areas affected by conflict face heightened risks as access to healthcare, clean water and other essential services remains limited.

Early detection, strong surveillance systems, population mobility mapping, infection prevention and community engagement are the most effective tools available to prevent further spread.

To reduce misinformation, IOM is supporting communication with communities along key mobility corridors across the region with clear, timely messaging, including with travellers and border communities.

Population movement remains an important factor to consider in preparedness in response to this outbreak.

Understanding where people move, why they move, and how they move is essential to an effective response.

Public health measures must therefore be coordinated across borders, informed by mobility patterns, and designed to protect people without driving population movements out of sight.

Every missed case increases the risk of transmission and delayed detection raises the difficulty and cost of containment.

This is the 17th outbreak of Ebola in DRC, the third largest on record.

Having developed expertise during previous outbreaks, IOM is supporting governments and partners in the DRC, Uganda and across the region to target areas of high mobility.

Significant funding gaps continue to limit the scale and speed of the response, including for readiness across the region.

We are grateful to the United States for their swift financial contribution which will save lives.

Coordination with the African Union, Africa Centres for Disease Control and UN wide effort is proving essential.

The World Health Organisation has been very clear that Ebola is containable, but the challenge is the humanitarian context and the ability to coordinate the various actors.

Additional resources are urgently needed to strengthen surveillance, maintain border health operations, support community based prevention efforts and expand support in displacement settings.

[Other language spoken]

And of course Christian is also online if you have more medical wise questions.

So let me open the floor now.

If there is any question on on Ebola, the displacement don't see any hand up.

[Other language spoken]

So thank you very much.

But it's important that we we speak about the situation with Ebola in these countries.

Thank Oh Christian, you want to add something or it was a hand up.

I threw your hand.

[Other language spoken]

I just to 2nd what so I just mentioned and to reiterate WHO advises against restrictions on travel and or trade to ADRC or any of the neighbouring countries based on the available information for the current outbreak.

It's important that these measures, travel restrictions, make the response harder and they discourage the transparency that saves lives.

It's about surveillance, early detection, and possibly exit screenings.

That's important.

And again, no country should close it's borders or place any restrictions on travel and trade.

Most critically, these restrictions can also compromise the local economy and negatively affect the response from a security and logistics perspective.

[Other language spoken]

And I think that Olivia has a question.

Thank you so much for this really timely briefing.

2 questions actually, one for IOM and one for Christian.

Do you have any figures from that data that you mentioned in terms of the, the scale of the, the, of the cross-border flow between DRC and Uganda?

Are we talking hundreds or like thousands of, of people?

And have you seen any kind of spike since the latest outbreak was declared?

And secondly, Christian, do you have any updated figures for us this morning on cases or suspected cases and deaths for Ebola?

Thank you very much.

Grace of you.

[Other language spoken]

You want to start?

Yes, thank you very much, Olivia.

So I'll hand that one over to my colleague Kit, who can answer with some statistics.

Thanks so much, Olivia.

For the question, I will encourage you to go to the IOM website within the displacement tracking matrixitsdtm.iom.in T The reports are all publicly available, so you can check the specific data in terms of recent movements.

I should note the latest flow monitoring report reports up until the 26th of May IOM is working with communities, local authorities to continue to collect data on flow monitoring, which looks at mobility dynamics, reasons for movements, modes of transport.

And it's important to say that we've always seen large movements across these borders.

So that needs to be taken into perspective when reviewing the data.

Of course, since then there have been further restrictions on movements.

So we will continue to release data as it comes in together with our partners.

[Other language spoken]

On the the cases as of 31 May, that is we have in the DRC 116 suspected cases, 321 confirmed cases and 48 deaths and also important six recovered.

Uganda as of yesterday, one June has reported 9 confirmed cases and one associated death.

Thank you very much.

Thanks to both.

Before I let IOM go and yes, I've asked Babar to come to the podium too.

You had a question for the two agencies.

[Other language spoken]

Yes, yes and yes.

[Other language spoken]

I have a question to to you about the, the announcements made yesterday by the EU on the the, the deal reach on, on having migrant centres outside the territory of the European Union.

So, so far they have.

They haven't presented any specific project, any specific country outside the EU.

But but on the principle itself, if you have any reaction about that as UK has already tried in the past to do the same with Rhonda and what is your reaction today with the EU deal?

[Other language spoken]

Who wants to start today or about?

Thanks very much, Agnes.

We're obviously monitoring that closely, but I think I will respond to you bilaterally on that as we're specifically here on Ebola.

That is OK.

[Other language spoken]

So all I can say right now is that we're monitoring it closely.

But I can certainly, if you reach out to me bilaterally, I can come back with a further response.

[Other language spoken]

Got something in my notes?

I'll read it and in case needed I can share it also.

Unhcr's view is that the safe and dignified return of individuals found not to be in need of international protection is a key element of the effective functioning of asylum systems and the international protection regime more broadly.

The safe and dignified return of individuals found not to be in need of international protection through return hubs could be explored within certain parameters and in line with human rights standards as a complement to other efforts to enhance the effectiveness of returns.

In particular, they could be appropriately used for individuals who have had their claims for international protection finally rejected on the merits through a fair and efficient asylum procedure, who have no other form of legal stay, or who, despite adequate support, will not return voluntarily to their country of origin or cannot be forcibly returned to their country of origin directly.

That's what I have.

If needed, I can share it with all of you.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you very much.

[Other language spoken]

So if there are no further question, I'd like to thank our colleagues of IOM.

And with Marta's blessing, I'll let Baba also brief now and then we will hear definitely not least, but last from Marta.

[Other language spoken]

Thanks to you Alexandra and Marta also taking you back to Asia as colleagues have been mentioning another sad reflection in terms of on the situation of Rohingya refugees.

This year, 2026, the world will mark nine years since the large scale forced displacement of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar into Bangladesh.

With our partners unit CR, the UN Refugee Agency is calling on the international community not to forget 1.2 million refugees in Bangladesh, most of whom are in camps in Cox's Bazaar.

For decades, Rohingya people have been driven from their homes in Myanmar's Rakhine State, with Bangladesh providing protection to successive movements of refugees since the late 70's.

The largest influx came in August 2017, when some 750,000 Rohingya were forced to flee across the border.

The generous support from Bangladesh and the international community has been critical in meeting their basic needs and providing protection.

Unit CRS call comes amid growing global instability and rising humanitarian pressures which have forced us to make difficult choices, including adjusting the required funding levels and threaten essential services for some 1.2 million Rohingya refugees and their hosts.

Last month in Bangladesh, the United Nations, our partners with the Government of Bangladesh, renewed our call on the international community as we need 710 million U.S.

dollars for 2026 to meet the most urgent needs of Rohingya refugees and their local host.

Despite growing needs, this is adjusted appeal is 26% lower than the one we had the funding levels that we had required in the year 2025.

Since 2017, humanitarian funding for Rohingya refugee response has allowed Bangladesh to sustain life saving assistance and make major progress in refugee education, health and protection.

However, significant humanitarian needs persist and without continued international solidarity, the plight of Rohingya families will get worse.

Rohingya refugees remain largely reliant on aid.

A limited economic opportunities and reduced assistance continue to impact Rohingya refugees.

The situation is more acute for vulnerable groups, including women and girls and people with disabilities and older people.

And some 150,000 newly Rohingya rivals who fled, fled renewed violence in the Rakhine State since early 2024.

As targeted violence, prosecution and conflict inside Myanmar's Rakhine State continue, hopes for return to Myanmar are fading.

More refugees are faced with desperate choices, including dangerous and often deadly sea journeys in search of opportunities in the region.

The year 2025 was the deadliest year on record for such voyages, with nearly 900 Rohingya refugees reported missing or dead in the Andaman Sea and Bay of Bengal.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you very much, Babar.

And definitely important not to forget this very dire situation.

[Other language spoken]

Sorry, this is actually a follow up question for Christian just about the figures he mentioned on the very list.

Forgive me, it's not for this topic, albeit very important of course.

OK, just just let me see if there's any question, any further question for Babar, but I don't think it's the case.

So look, if if you don't mind Olivia, because Christian is here, but I'd really like to give the floor to Marta for OHCHR, who has been very patiently brief awaiting.

So thank you very much.

[Other language spoken]

Olivia, if you don't mind and Christian, you don't mind.

Just keep your your question for the end.

But we have two important points that Martha wants to brief us about, which are the situation of human rights in Nicaragua and in Nicaragua and Juan Inahiti.

So let's let's give her the opportunity to to do so.

And then I'll come back to you after questions.

Martha, thanks again for your patience.

[Other language spoken]

Good morning, everyone.

UN human rights chief Volker Turk deplores the death of the state custody of indigenous leader and activist Brooklyn Rivera.

He called the Nicaraguan authorities to conduct a prom, impartial and effective investigation into his death following protracted arbitrary detention and enforces appearances.

Relatives were informed on 30 May that Rivera, a prominent mosquito leader and president of the dissolved Yatama Party, had died after more than 32 months in a state custody.

We've ever participated in the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in New York.

In May 2023, after which the Nicaraguan authorities prevented him from returning to Nicaragua, he was recognised as a victim of reprisal for his cooperation with the UN, as per the UN Secretary General's 2024 and 2020 fifth reports on such reprisals.

Upon his clandestine return to Nicaragua, he was arbitrarily detained in September 2023, despite requests.

I'm sorry, I lose my YEAH here.

Despite requests, authorities refused to acknowledge his fate and whereabouts until his death, which amounts to enforced TS appearances.

The specific condition of his attentions over the years, including whether he had access to adequate medical care, and the exact sequence of events that led to his death remain unclear.

The UN Human Rights Office has reported over the years a continuing pattern of serious allegations of torture and mistreatment of inmates in Nicaraguan prisons.

Since August 2035, our office has registered three other cases of death in custody, also appearing related to poor conditions of detention and insufficient medical care.

The High Commissioner urges the Nicaragua's authorities to release all those arbitrarily detained and to ensure that detention facilities fully comply with international human rights standards, including the United Nations Standards Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, known as Mandela Rules.

This includes providing access to adequate healthcare, notifying family and ensuring access to legal representation and to an independent justice system.

He calls on the Nicaraguan governments to restore access of the Human Rights Office and other human rights mechanisms to the country and particularly to its attention centres.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you very much.

And let me add that the Secretary General is also saddened by reports of the death in custody in Nicaragua of Mr Brooklyn Rivera and extend his condolences to Mr Rivera's family and the mosquito community.

The Secretary General reiterates the need to respect human rights in Nicaragua, including due process and humane treatment in detention, and calls for a prompt, impartial and transparent investigation into the circumstances surrounding Mr Rivera's that that, as we have heard, are not clear at all.

So FF.

[Other language spoken]

So I want to ask if OHCHR has any doubts about the circumstances surrounding the death of Mr Rivera and whether you consider the information provided by Nicaraguan authority sufficient.

They announced that he died from complications related to COVID-19.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you, Antonio.

Indeed, we have very deep concerns about the causes of his death precisely because no one knew about his whereabouts until four days before before he the date of his alleged death.

[Other language spoken]

We all know that his family was informed on the 30th of May and we have concerns about serious concerns of possible mistreatment and incommunicado detention and in general, poor detention conditions and of course, denial of access to adequate medical care and detention.

And we know that because over the years since 2018, we've been reporting on these four detention conditions.

As I said, we have three other cases of people that died in detention and the circumstances of their deaths are not clear that precisely why we ask the authorities to conduct a prompt, swift, impartial, independent and especially effective investigation into his death.

And we also ask the authorities to allow the Rivera's families to bury him following he their traditions.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you very much.

Antonio, you have a follow up.

Yes, I would like to ask, what do you think are the legal terms on on these deaths under custody after years disappeared?

Is this a crime against it could be it could amount as a crime against humanity, serious crime What what are the the exact legal terms that may be attributed to this?

[Other language spoken]

People in custody of the state, their faith depends of the state that have them.

So the state is responsible for people that are under their custody and it the state who needs to do the investigation over the causes of death.

Without this investigation, without the results of a proper investigation, we cannot qualify it.

Having said that, I repeat, the conditions of detention raise serious concern.

It's been a pattern that we have highlighted over the years in all our reports.

Other UN human rights mechanisms and other entities have raised these concerns as well in the past.

That's why we call for the investigation in this case and other cases.

And we use opportunity as well to ask the authorities to release all those arbitrarily detained, which we have information because we don't have access to the country.

That's why we are asking to have access to the country and as well to places of detention.

But we have information that at least 47 people, including fourteen older people are currently arbitrarily detained in Nicaragua.

And out of those 11 are reportedly subjected to enforce disappearances as is the case of Mr Rivera that for more than two years and 1/2 was his appearance.

Since he was arbitrarily detained, no one knew where he was and which was its condition.

So all these contexts raises serious concerns and call for a full investigation into Riveras case, but as well into all the cases of people arbitrarily detained and enforced disappeared.

Thank you very much Marta.

I don't see other other questions on this.

So maybe you want to go to IT issue.

We welcome the opening of two specialised judicial units in Haiti, which marks a significant step towards tackling widespread impunity in the country.

Haiti has been facing longest standing significant challenges due to political instability, systemic corruption and widespread gun violence.

So far this year, gun related violence has resulted in at least 2310 deaths, 1106 injuries and 19 at kidnapping.

Kidnapping In addition, 699 people, not only woman and young girl have fallen victims to sexual violence and hundreds of children continue to be trafficked by gangs course have been attack, vandalised and occupied by gangs, while magistrates and justices officials have been the victims of attacks and death threats from these groups.

The two specialised units are expected to address complex corruption cases, including the illicit trade of arms, money laundering, as well as to deal with serious human rights violations and abuses like killings, kidnappings, sexual violence and child trafficking.

Child trafficking perpetrated by gangs.

These specialised units must be competent, impartial and independent, both institutionally and individually.

This is essential for enhancing public confidence in the justice system.

The safety of judges and the security, of course, must also be protected.

If functioning correctly, the units should be a stepping stone towards facilitating the accountability process, ensuring the victims have access to justice and reparations.

They should also help strengthen the rule of law, address corruption, and restore public confidence in the currently dysfunctional justice system.

UN Hammer Rights Taif Volcker Turk urges the Asian authorities to quickly implement these units in accordance with international human rights law and best practises with the support of the international community.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you very much, Martha.

Any question on it?

I don't see any.

[Other language spoken]

Thanks for being so patient until the end.

And now let me go back to Olivia and her question to Christian.

Then I have a few important announcement.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you so much and thank you to Christian as well for staying on the call.

Yeah, just just wanted to clarify on those Ebola figures, just I'm conscious that previously the World Health Organisation and the African CDC have said there may be up to about 1000 suspected cases.

And today you're saying in the DRC, there are now 116 suspected cases, 33121 of which have been confirmed.

So I'm just wondering what's happened to all those other hundreds of cases?

Is this like a case where the data has been reclassified, what people have been tested and those cases have been ruled out?

Is there delays in testing, which means there's maybe a kind of a lag in the data?

[Other language spoken]

Just kind of curious if you could help us explain why we're seeing that decrease?

Yeah, Thanks, Olivia.

And that's actually a really good point to to maybe explain those figures, suspected cases is anybody who gets picked up by surveillance or who presents themselves to the health facility with any symptoms that could be Ebola like and then they get tested and then ruled out in many cases, for example, in a couple of cases who had been malaria or meningitis case or others.

So they then of course drop off the suspected cases list and well, don't appear in that statistic anymore.

If you're confirmed, you've been added then to the confirmed cases.

Now the interesting thing about these two categories of figures is suspected cases is always a one point in time, right?

So you could have 500 suspected today and tomorrow only 300 left because 200 have been ruled out and others are still under testing of procedure.

The confirmed cases is a cumulative figure over time.

So every single case will be added to that statistic and this number will continuously slowly or not slowly grow.

So this might be including even this will be including people who have died or who have recovered.

So they will be not taken off that confirmed cases list.

So that list continuously climbs and the suspected cases will vary.

And actually I think it was Doctor Lagoon who said it recently.

She would like to see the suspected case figures high because this way we know many people are being picked up with symptoms or present themselves and hence afterwards get ruled out or confront.

[Other language spoken]

So now I'm a little bit confused because, yeah, the number of suspected cases apparently dropped quite extensively from the latest one which was given by the by the African CDC.

So could you repeat the figures, Christian?

So I'm also happy I will drop even here in the chat the link to the to the to the statistics.

But suspected cases 100 and 16116 and they are purely in DRC at this point.

Confirmed cases 321 three 21 confirmed deaths 4848 and recovered Good to see that too.

And that number hopefully rises much more 6.

And Christian, sorry, Antonio is saying if you could send it by e-mail because not everybody is on the chat.

[Other language spoken]

All right, we'll send it to the list.

[Other language spoken]

Oh, sorry.

And I forgot the the Ugandan.

Just to complete what I just said, Uganda has confirmed 9 cases and one death.

[Other language spoken]

That was incredibly clear.

I just have one final thing to serve.

We're really precise in our reporting.

So does that mean that essentially the kind of 700 or so suspected cases previous figure, you know, that's the gap in between previous figures and now have essentially been ruled out?

That's that's suggested.

[Other language spoken]

They have been cleared out and have either other diseases or have just had fever and nothing else.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you, Christian.

Just on the on the deaths, you gave a figure of confirmed deaths of 48.

Is there a separate figure for suspected deaths?

So people who have died, but we don't know for sure whether they died of Ebola or not.

Is there a separate figure for suspected deaths?

[Other language spoken]

There's not in this statistic.

And yes, it's sometimes it's a bit of an issue because people who died a while ago, they will not be out anymore and re examine.

But if they are, yeah.

So that's that's that's missing in the statistic.

OK, thank you very much, Christian.

That was also important to underline and it was very clear for announcements for you quite important ones.

Well, let's start with the usual information on the treaty bodies.

The Committee on the Protections of the Right of All Migrant Workers and Members of the Family is, has been reviewing the report of Ghana this morning and this afternoon will conclude the review of the report of Ecuador.

[Other language spoken]

First of all, let me let me say this because I think this you were all waiting for.

We've just announced the press conference of the UN High Commissioner for Refugee, but I'm Sally, he will speak to you on the new push for refugee solution and annual global trends report on 9th of June and 9:30 from the press room.

From here, the one thing I wanted there will also be Tarek Abou Shabak of the Kim with the UNHCR Chief Statistician.

Everything whether the press conference report everything are under strict embargo until the 11th of June at 0501 CST.

So that's really for your plan, for planning purposes.

You have the invitation to the press conference in the in your mailing list, 2 commemorations, 1 is today.

You have received the invitation.

We will commemorate the International Day of UN Peacekeepers.

As you know, it was the 29th of May.

We are having the commemoration today.

The theme of this year is invest in peace when the UN are calling for this action because peace does not happen, but accidentally requires political will, sustain financing and collective commitment.

The problem is, unfortunately, we are expecting rain for this afternoon.

So if this is the case, and I think it will be the, the commemorations moved from the usual place in the Ariana Park to Building H if the weather decides to be coming.

So we might decide otherwise.

But for the moment we've decided to move it because of this, of this problem of the rain.

On the 3rd of June, the international community commemorates World Bicycle Day.

I don't know those of you who have been to the previous, it's very important as Christian and I know and many other of you who are riders.

So we'll organise with the incorporation, with the Permanent Mission of Belgium, a commemoration, an active commemoration on bike.

So the event will start at 2:00 PM at Waipu.

The group will ride from the according to a, a circular route to the plasnasion and up and back.

And we should arrive at the plasnasion around 2:30 to 40.

So that is the idea we all leave together as a group, get to the presidency where we will have a few speeches and commemorate this very important day.

And I see that Christian has a question on that.

I expected it somehow.

[Other language spoken]

Could the UN not lead by example and provide proper and enough bicycle parking spaces to start with instead of speeches in the plastinas?

You know, there are not enough parking places.

[Other language spoken]

There's plenty space with no cars using that space and for some reason you're making it difficult for us to arrive by bicycle.

So that's my suggestion to the UN Geneva office.

And it's a, it's a well noted suggestion that as you know, and I can you know, we've been discussing for a long time with our colleagues the facilities and maintenance.

The problem is really the works.

I know, I know when you come in the morning, you see a lot of empty spaces, parking spaces.

So I think we could use it for bikes and we will use it for bikes.

But we, we are really, we are really trying our best.

And hopefully next year for the World Bicycle Day, we'll be able to inaugurate a little bit more.

But we have inaugurated the station, the the maintenance station for bikes in the pallet.

I don't know if you were there, but that was already something important, I think for all of us who bike, who ride bikes.

Last but definitely not least, I just wanted to let you know that we are going to send you today the media advisory related to the AI governance dialogue that will happen in Geneva on the 6th and 7th of July.

So you may remember because we had a briefing from the Co chairs that the first session of the AI Global Dialogue on AI Governance is it which is a 2 day event will happen in Geneva at Padexpo on 6th and 7th of July.

This is a 2 day event which will include a high level segment, thematic sessions and side events.

There will also be the presentation of the preliminary report of the Independent International Scientific Panel on AI established by the Secretary General and, and that will all happen alongside the World Summit on Information Society Forum, which will happen from the 6th to the 10th of July and the ITU AI for Good Global Summit also 7 to 10 of July.

And so let me explain.

So we have everything will happen about Expo.

The Global dialogue will be on the 1st 2 days.

In parallel, we will have the other events and we have discussed with colleagues from the three organisations that are leading on that, which are ITU, UNESCO and in the UN Secretariat, the what we call AUDET, the Office for Digital and Emerging Technologies, for you to have one single accreditation for the three events.

So you will register once, especially those who have a permanent accreditation with us, you will register once and you will have access to the three events.

We are expecting the Secretary General to be there.

We're respecting the permanent representatives of the two countries, which are Co chairs, El Salvador and Estonia, to also be present.

We are respecting Amandeep Gill, the Under Secretary General and Special Envoy for Digital and Emerging Technology to be there together with Doreen Bogdan Martin, the Secretary General of International Telecommunication Union and Khaled El Anani, the Director General of UNESCO.

And of course, we'll give you more information on the media opportunities as the time goes by.

But we just wanted to make sure that you are alerted to that because we are going to receive the media advisory today.

And I think that's all I had for you.

[Other language spoken]

So if there is any question for me, I don't see any.

Thank you very much for following this long but very interesting briefing.

I hope you'll cover all our stories and I'll see you on Friday.

[Other language spoken]

UN Geneva Press Briefing - 02 June 2026