Thank you for joining us here at the UN office at Geneva today, Friday, the 19th of June.
We have another very important impact agenda for you.
We'll start off immediately with our colleague Pascal, who will speak to the events taking place at the Human Rights Council, which as you know, started off this past Monday.
We also have announcements from our colleague James, who's joining us from Oman of UNICEF on the Gaza.
We also have a number of briefers on the situation in the DRC for Ebola as well as your World Refugee Day announcement.
But without further ado, Pascal, over to you.
I just have two programming notes for you.
The first one is that today at noon, the Special Rapporteur on the right to health planning, **** Kang.
We'll hold a press conference in this room.
This will be the last press conference of Miss Mufo Kang in our capacity as Special Rapporteur on the right to house.
The second programming note is an anniversary.
20 years ago today, the United Nations Human Rights Council held its first session in the Paledinacio in Geneva.
And 20 years later, the current President of the Council, Surya do Sidarto Surya de Puro, is hosting an informal high level discussion today to mark this anniversary.
The discussion is entitled 20 Years, 1 Council, What We've Built and Where We Go Next.
And this 20th anniversary offers an opportunity not only to reflect on what has been achieved over the past 20 years, but also to look ahead.
The Secretary General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, will deliver a video statement and we will have several panellists in an interactive discussion that will feature Ambassador Luis Alfonso de Alba, who was the 1st President of the Human Rights Council 20 years ago.
The discussion is taking place today starting at 12:30.
It will last for about two hours in the Assembly Hall, the very same room where the Council held its first session 20 years ago, and the event will be webcast live on UN Web TV.
And I remember that while I was in the room 20 years ago.
It'll be nice to see Ambassador De Alba as well.
So colleagues, any questions for Pascal before we move on?
Well, good luck and we'll see you this afternoon then.
OK, James, I see your face on the screen.
Nice to see you and looking forward to hearing your brief on on the well, actually I shouldn't say that because it is a very, very difficult brief, but important nonetheless.
So deadly illusion of Gaza ceasefire.
So over to you, James, who is joining us from Amman.
Please correct me if I'm wrong.
For many, many months the world has been told there is a ceasefire in Gaza.
Yet for Palestinian children this so-called ceasefire has become a cruel and a deadly illusion.
Since the ceasefire was announced in October last year, 265 Palestinian children have been killed across Gaza.
That is an absurd, that is a devastating figure.
So during a period supposedly defined by restraint and protection, a child is killed on average every single day for more than eight months.
Now, let's be clear what that means.
These children were not killed in a war zone.
They were killed in their homes.
They were killed in their schools, they were killed playing football, they were killed fishing, they were shot, they were bombed, they were struck by quadcopters.
While the world continues to speak the language of ceasefire, families in Gaza continue to bury their children.
However, if a child is being killed every day, surely the debate now is no longer about the quality of this ceasefire, it's about the credibility of calling it one This week.
This week, a 2 year old boy was shot and killed by Israeli forces.
A 13 year old boy was shot and killed in his tent.
A 5 year old boy and his father were killed by an Israeli strike.
And on and on and on it goes.
The suffering does not end with those killed.
More than 400 girls and boys have been injured, many with catastrophic wounds.
Again this week a 12 year old girl in her tent shot in the chest with live ammunition from a crane mounted gun.
A three-year old girl again in her home, shot in the face by a bullet from a quadcopter drone.
Doctors in Gaza are treating brain haemorrhages, devastating injuries to children's chests, abdomen and life changing trauma.
Children fear, loss and violence.
They've become so constant.
The trauma is no longer an episode in their lives.
It is woven into the very fabric of childhood in Gaza.
It is quite literally carried in their bodies.
The trauma is so profound now that it affects children's ability to eat, to sleep and of course, to develop normally.
Many children are in such a frightened state of of fear of distress that they struggle now to eat adequately, further aggravating malnutrition and leaving them physically weaker as well as emotionally scarred.
Sorry, colleagues, hundreds of children still require medical evacuation.
At the same time, we have restrictions on essential medicine that mean that wounded children are enduring ever greater pain and face an increased risk of infection, of complication and of further amputations.
We must stop accepting levels of child deaths that would provoke international outrage anywhere else.
We must stop normalising the abnormal.
The fact that children continue to be killed at this scale during a ceasefire should alarm every government and every institution which claims to defend international law.
It's not the consequence of a lack of options, it is the consequence of a lack of political will.
Every day that passes without responsibility sends the same message.
Palestinian children's lives can be taken without accountability.
This is no longer a failure of the system.
It has become the system.
Ladies and gentlemen, if, if colleagues, if I could just add a final point on Lebanon.
I want to flag to you a statement that UNICEF, UNICEF issued just two days ago on Friday on Lebanon.
We're after more than 100 days of increased hostility.
Since the 2nd of March, 247 children have been killed, almost 1000 injured.
It's an average of 12 children killed or maimed every day, 12 girls and boys every day.
The fact that we are once again calculating a daily average of children killed and wounded in the Middle East tells its own devastating story.
And Lebanon, of course, we're also talking about periods of a declared ceasefire where children continue to be killed and wounded.
No ceasefire can be considered meaningful when children are not protected.
The violence against girls and boys in the Middle East must end.
Rolo colleagues, thank you.
James absolutely couldn't say it better.
And and thank you for very.
Very hard to hear, but important to hear.
Let's see if there are any in the room.
I don't see any questions in the room.
We have a question from Nick, New York Times online.
Thank you for the briefing.
I just wonder if you could disaggregate a little bit on the causes of of child deaths, in particular.
You you referred to a couple of cases of quadcopters inflicting serious injury on children.
I mean, are these, is this the prevalent, the main way in which child injuries and deaths are being caused at this stage?
Or are there other factors at play too?
Yeah, nearly all of those 265 children killed, nearly all of them are by Israeli forces, a handful by unexploded ordnance, even less by militia, but again, nearly all by Israeli forces.
Part of this speaks to the continued movement of the yellow line and then the creation of an orange line to the West of the yellow line.
As we know, the the ceasefire agreement said 53% of Gaza would be held for a short period by Israeli forces.
That's now closer to 60, the most senior levels.
This is towns, entire communities, buildings, schools, clinics.
We've got a clinic there that serves hundreds of people a day, a school that serves 4000 people a day.
Children had an evacuation order from there the other day.
More than 60% of those people killed are somewhere near the Orange line, still to the West Nick of the Orange line.
But you sneeze near the orange line and you may well get shot.
So the continual creeping of that alongside and utter lack of accountability for a long, long time has meant, yes, This is why we have these numbers.
And as I say, the vast, vast majority, 90% plus Israeli forces, bombs, air strikes, BOD copters and live ammunition.
I was just wondering, UN liaison officers from UN, OCHA, political, military and also from UNICEF and other agencies, are you reaching out to the Israeli authorities and what responses are you getting when you're presenting these hard facts to them?
We are in daily contact because of course our programme is enormous.
We lead on education, we lead on nutrition with World Food Programme, we lead on water, we lead on sanitation.
Probably worth worth adding at this point that we have more than an 80% funding gap.
And so whilst we hear statements from Western governments around the world around the atrocities, not only do they not end them, at the same time they don't then fund the very care that Palestinians so desperately need.
So we're in regular contact with, but of course it's with the civilian arm of of Israel, John.
And you will hear statements from the highest levels of the Israeli governments about what they're in, what their intentions are, and about the justifications, the justifications that are given.
You know, John, we, we are very, very pleased.
You know you, I know you work a lot around nutrition in your role with the Lantern.
We're very, very pleased there's no longer a famine.
This is because food was allowed in.
Let's be very, very clear on that.
It is because we can now trace and treat under five children.
We're very pleased with how the programme is functioning.
We are seeing what we think are emergency levels of malnutrition now in pregnant women and in children over the age of 5 because we don't have the necessary funds there.
UNICEF doesn't know of any other country on the planet apart from Israel that determines what another population eats and how much they get to eat.
So whilst we have reversed some elements, they are at risk of collapsing in any any, any particular moment, John.
So yeah, we share these messaging all the time, both in terms of the grave violations that continue daily.
So there is no accountability there and we share them daily to try and get our supplies in to avoid children being sick as they are constantly because you know, water sanitation again, the areas we lead on and the great complexity in being able to repair these systems, not do stopgap measures.
I'm going to go back to Nick, who I think you may have a follow up.
I just want to check what are the particular medicines that are most acutely needed that are not being allowed in?
And secondly, are you seeing an acceleration in evacuations of children and others who require medical treatment overseas?
Thank you for the first, Nick.
I'll come back to you and I'll add to anyone else on those.
I'll get the exactly some essential medicines.
Things change all the time and we are we will be chastised for commenting on one particular item that may may get entry that was previously blocked.
So as ever, we are 100% precise and triple check all of our facts on this.
But it's a nasty game, Nick, to give an so I will come back to you on that.
To give an example, we're pleased now that despite not being able to bring in the supplies to repair so many of the generators and and water systems, those generators that can function, we are now getting the fuel we we need in at the same time we then deny the oil that those generators need to function.
This is the environment my my colleagues on the ground work in keeping children breathing without a semblance of dignity.
Yeah, maybe repeat that if you would Nick.
Yeah, it was a question about medical evacuations, whether those are continuing at A at a regular pace or whether you're seeing an acceleration and a significant sort of downturn in the number of people waiting for for a central medical care.
No, sadly no, no, that West Bank corridor remains the game changer and remains denied and and those those nations with the world class hospitals in Europe allowing for the Spanish and the Italians continue to by and large close their hospital doors as well as their hearts.
But as I say, a funding gap of more than 80% after an engineered famine, 21,000 children killed, not a single home has been built during the ceasefire.
Families build barricades around their tents of sand to keep rats out.
And we as UNICEF have more than an 80% funding gap.
It it speaks to a level of hypocrisy from those who have the leverage to actually stop this ongoing war on girls and boys in Gaza.
James Jens has joined us here on the podium.
We want to add a little context from the perspective voucher Jens.
I just wanted to add a few points from the emergency relief coordinator briefing at the Security Council yesterday on Gaza about the the issues we are we are facing in this operation which he described as being helped together by humanitarian workarounds and Palestinian perseverance.
So his asks or demands, you might say, to the Security Council was, of course, to ensure the protection of civilians and of aid workers.
You will recall that the past three years have been absolutely catastrophic for aid workers around the world.
We have 1000 killed, 600 of whom were in Gaza alone.
So the protection secondly, to ensure safe, sustained unhindered humanitarian access to everybody in need in Gaza, that is our blanket ask and has been for a very, very long time.
And now we get into some more specifics, immediate full capacity operations of the Eris crossing Karni and the Karam Shalom to establish a high volume multi route pipeline plus access to very essential sites inside Gaza in particularly the landfills near the the perimeter.
So there are landfills and at the same time you have all this solid waste piling up inside Gaza and we've all heard the stories about the rats, the insects and so on and so forth that this courses.
So there is a opportunity, there's a possibility to get rid of all that, but we are not getting the access to it and then we need.
And this is critical, I think, to next question the removal of Israeli restrictions on essential survival items, specifically medical equipment, including diagnostic tools, spare parts for water and sanitation, plus consistent supplies of fuel and engine oil, communication and protective equipment for aid workers.
We also need to get the staff in and to have them to have the possibility of them moving in and out of Gaza.
And here the problem is visas which are issued by the Israeli authorities.
So we ask for a restoration of humanitarian customs waivers and the issuance of long term, predictable, not month by month long term predictable visas for international UN and NGO staff plus better more streamlined NGO registration process.
I just wanted to add that important additions.
And then we'll take a question from AFP.
I just, it's about trying to imagine life in a ceasefire.
Like when we talk about ceasefire, everyone tends to focus on negotiations, but I just, you just have beliefs for for a child, a ceasefire should be something much more simple than any of us and any of your audiences can imagine.
It should mean for a child, they go to sleep through the night without fear.
They wake to a meal, they walk to school, they they learn, they play with friends, they come home, they do homework with the lights on and they go to bed pretty much knowing tomorrow will be the same day so it'll look the same.
That's what childhood should look like.
There are still children killed by quadcopters.
Sanitation and help are shattered.
No homes have been rebuilt.
So when UNICEF thinks of what a ceasefire should look like, it's not complicated.
You know, it's, it's just a return of ordinary childhood.
Safety, stability, school, family play.
Rodents and other pests are across 80% of sites.
More than half the households report skin diseases.
I talk to mothers who have children screaming because they don't have the clean water to to wash that.
Imagine a parent unable to fix that night after night.
I mean, the scale of human suffering in Gaza being inflicted upon Gaza and enabled by others on Palestinian children, it's almost beyond comparison person in our lifetime.
So what is being done and what is being allowed to be done to Palestinians in Gaza feels like the worst of humanity, like the worst that we are capable of.
As you mentioned the, the, the situation in in Lebanon, I would like to to ask you if, if it could be possible to have a comment from the UN, our UN agencies on the, on the situation on the fresh clashes and strikes overnight in South Lebanon.
Thank you, James, if you had any lines and then maybe I could ask other colleagues, maybe Yance, if you had any lines on these fresh clashes.
I think that the, the, the final paragraph I added is exactly that, to speak to what's happened, what's happened today, to speak to what's happened since the 2nd of March and then a continuation of the day.
So I don't think we have a lot more to add, but yeah, I'd love to hear from colleagues.
I mean, let, let me just say what we've been saying here from this podium and, and, as well as in New York and, and elsewhere.
The SG, the Secretary General remains deeply, deeply concerned by the ongoing tensions in the region and in the entire region of the Middle East.
But you know, he's including in Lebanon and he's calling on all parties, as always, to exercise a maximum restraint and to avoid further escalation.
I mean, this is something that we've been saying repeatedly and it's important that these words translate into something meaningful.
You've heard from James, you've heard from Yens.
And this is absolutely essential.
International humanitarian law and the protection of Sylvans must be upheld ultimately.
So that's, that's our comment generally, but I don't know if there's anything else you wanted to add, Yens or anyone else.
Now just to say that we're, we're seeing the same reports overnight, of course, with enormous concern, frankly, we will try to get a better handle on what the humanitarian implications of that has been, but more fighting is not going to help anyone, OK, from we don't control who pulls the trigger, we can look at the consequences, the humanitarian consequences of what happens.
And I think I've, I've said it before, it is infinitely easier and faster to hurt people and inflict damage.
And it is to restore people's livelihoods, get them back to their homes, feed them and so on and so forth.
It's just one or two days of this kind of, of, of, of warfare that translate into months, sometimes years of, of humanitarian operations on the ground.
Just making a final check if there are any questions for either of you.
So James, as always, thank you so very much for joining us and spotlighting this this dire situation.
And thank you, colleagues, for your reporting.
And Jens, of course, thank you for for joining us here.
OK, colleagues, we're going to move on to the situation of Ebola in DRC in particular.
If I could ask our guests from the IOM and maybe Eugene, if you want to join me on the podium as well, if you can come up now.
And we have colleagues, as I mentioned, from the World Health Organisation, UN Population Fund, UNHCR.
We're going to connect with Louis Hershey in the room.
Excuse me, somebody in the room?
Yes, OK, you're in the room from UNICR.
And then we also have somebody from the IOM.
So we're going to go immediately to our colleague who's joining us from Bunia in the DRC.
And then we'll hear from our guests who are joining me here on the podium.
So Doctor Marie Rosalynn Bellizer is WH OS Afro Regional Emergency Director, again, an incident manager who again is joining us from Bunia.
Dr Belizer, we're very grateful to have you with us.
So over to you for your brief.
Good morning everyone and thank you for having me.
So as you say I'm speaking from Bunya, we're having based on for the last six week to support a data outbreak.
So in DLCI can say the situation is evolving rapidly with accelerated transmission reported across 33 affected a health zone in three provinces.
So as of of today, 19th of June 2026, DLC has reported 896 confirmed cases and 232 confirmed deaths.
So we have our 21 new case confirmed cases recording in the last 24 hours.
So we can also say that Italy province remained the epicentre accounting for more than 91% of the national burden of the of the outbreaks.
So while we have N Kivu continues also to report cases, which is a critical high case of fatality in North Kivu.
So when we see the disaggregated case fatality rate, we see that in Italy the case fatality rate is 20%, wire in North Kivu is higher than a 50%.
I can, I mean if I can share with you.
So over the past several weeks, I have visited affected communities, treatment facilities and operational hubs.
I also what what stand out most in the extraordinary commitment of the frontline responders.
I also met with healthcare workers who are delivering care under difficult circumstances.
They are also doing the surveillance, epidemiological surveillance and the surveillance team is working tirelessly to investigate alert that has increased from 100 to now almost 400 alerts a day.
And we also see a lot of community engagement team helping families to navigate fears and uncertainty.
So I also met with people who survive Ebola.
So far we have a more than a 60 people that have been surviving Ebola and reunited with their families.
We see also their recovery is a powerful reminder that our timely diagnosis, access to quality healthcare can save lives.
So I also see I mean and not heard directly from affected communities about the challenges they continue to face.
We shouldn't forget that that this outbreak is happening in the humanitarian situation already ongoing in the North Kivu and also in the Ituri province and this concern are helping to shape the response and priority.
So what are we doing us as WHOWHO we are supporting the government in working alongside across all partners and all pillar of the response.
So we have deployed more than 114 expert on so far equals 11 health zone and three provinces.
So we also supporting the Ministry of Health to deploy 45 expert, national expert to strengthen outbreak coordination and response.
So far we have mobilised 31 million, which is only 28% of the resources that we are needed in order to support port on the government.
And I also see increasing in capacity, you know surveillance capacity is reinforcing with the deployment of 46 epidemiologists.
We also see that more than 300 fault line healthcare workers were trained on how to on surveillance for boozing good your virus in case definition and alert management.
We also see that an expansion of the response form a 0.
So we have now won a 516 beds available for the response and form a capacity of testing of 20 a test a day.
So now we have for more than 2000 tests a day of capacity.
And this can be also, I mean in other aspects that's mean the surveillance is increasing, but the challenge is still remaining because as you can see, the outbreak is evolving so fast that we also need that to scale up in order to be at the same level of the of the response.
So key challenges that I want to share today is that as I said the outbreak evolves and so we need operational requirement to continue to increase in order to reinforcing the need for sustained financing and support.
We also have our challenges with our access, some acts sometime is very constrained when we need to go to some community due to in security, it's some high risk area where we have our cases.
Contact tracing is improving.
So now we have at 75% of contact tracing, but the target is 95%.
So we still have challenges in order to increase that community depth continue to be reported, which is a very big challenges for us that indicate that some customers on chain are still occurring at the community level and they are outside of the reach of some activities in some community.
Also we have a particularly those who are affected or displaced community.
We have some cases registered in displaced population, which is very challenging because they are facing a lot of humanitarian needs, no water, no toilet, no access to I mean basic care and then now they are affected by Ebola.
So that's mean the need to expand the to treatment, the need to expand the access to laboratory test is also very critical for us.
So overall I can say that the outbreak remains serious and continue to evolve.
But however, I have seen a response that is growing stronger every day, and we know that work that works to stop Ebola transmission.
So our collective task is to continue applying those measure at the speed and scale required to bring this outbreak under control.
Thank you so very much, Doctor Belizero.
I'm going to, we're going to stay in country.
We're going to move now to our colleague from the world, the UN Population Fund, Noemi Del Monte, joining us from Kinshasa.
If I'm not mistaken, you're the deputy country representative for UNFPA going to speak about the situation of women and girls in particular in the context of Ebola.
Good morning and thank you.
This outbreak, we have just listened to WHO, but this outbreak is also a maternal health and protection emergency for women and girls.
This outbreak is unfolding in an area already marked by conflicts, displacement, insecurity and overstretched health services, including the consequence of the reducing funding.
Women and girls in these communities already faced significant risk.
Before that Ebola emerged.
Now these risks have intensified.
Women are the primary carers for SEEK family members.
Many frontline health workers, especially midwives and nurses, are women working in the maternity wards and health facilities where the risk of exposure is very, very real.
And one health facility in Bunya All reported Ebola infections were among frontline doctors and nurses, and four health workers died within a few days.
Protecting health workers is central to keeping health services open.
Previous outbreaks have shown alarming maternal mortality rates.
Death rates among pregnant women infected with Ebola have been as high as 90%.
Perinatal mortality is the period just before or after birth has reached 100% in some settings.
When Ebola spreads, also fear spreads with it.
Pregnant women delay antenatal care.
We are really seeing that daily in Naturi.
They avoid health facilities or give birth at home even when complications arise.
So so they can't die, not from Ebola itself, but because the care that would have saved them is not longer accessible, mostly is not longer trusted or not or not long not longer safe.
We are already seeing the impact of this.
The rate of maternal mortality in Turin, the area which is the most affected by the Ebola outbreak, has doubled since 25 of May.
This outbreak can tigger a second fighter.
Prices of preventable maternal and newborn death.
That is what UNFP is working to prevent.
UNFP is part of the broader Abora response.
Our work focus on pregnancy, childbirth, gender based violence and Community Trust.
We are supporting infection prevention and control in maternity settings by training health workers, strengthening and washing and worst management system and procuring personal protective equipment for high fluidly delivery procedures.
We currently have deployed 153 midwives in Eastern DRC to help maintain safe childbirths, emergency obstetric care and post Natal care with further deployment that we have planned and also we are raising funds for that.
We are also providing reproductive health, kids safe delivery supplies, dignity kits and menstrual health kits and other essential commodities.
At the same time, we are scaling up the community outreach and information in women and girls safe spaces, counter misinformation to combat stigma who can particularly affect women and girls and help pregnant women maintain trust in safe health services.
The UNFPA long standing relationship with our workers, women groups, young people, survivor of violence and local organisation help keep communities connected to accurate information and essential services when fear can push them away from the care they would need.
There is also a serious protection dimension.
Conflict, displacement, movement restriction and the rapid scale up of emergency personnel can increase risk for gender based violence but also for sexual exploitation on the business.
Services for survivors can also be disrupted when the clinical staff are reassigned elsewhere or when referral pathway breakdown and services reduce.
UNFP is strengthening prevention for sexist protection and abuses, supporting confidential reporting mechanism and helping ensure survivors can still access medical care, psychosocial support and all the needed referral services.
Women and girls cannot be forgotten in this Ebola response.
If maternity service breakdown, women will die, if health workers are not protected, services will collapse, if community lose trust, people will delay care or avoid health facilities and if protection services are disrupted, survivors will be left without any support.
In this context, UNFPA is appealing urgently for 70.1 USD million to sustain life saving sexual productive health Services.
Gender based violence prevention, response protection from sexual exploitation and abuses in particular, and risk communication and community engagement in the DRC affected areas.
Today, their response remind more than 90% on the funded.
This is essential for the continuity of essential services, which is a pillar of the current plan.
We have to fight against Simbula.
The window for the prevention is now.
Thank you for your kindness.
Thank you very much, Mr Del Monte.
Now very pleased to have with us on the podium Doctor Alan Minor, who's the chief public chief of public health at the UN Refugee Agency.
And as you know, Eugene is here with us as well.
And thank you to W Chung, NFPA for highlighting a good overview of the Ebola situation and, and both speakers have highlighted the effect that he's having on situation around displacement and conflict.
UNHCR is deeply concerned by the accelerating spread of the Bundibugio Ebola virus disease in eastern DRC and the growing risk that it poses to refugees, internally displaced people and the communities hosting them.
We've already had the statistics of the number of cases and deaths, and we'd like to note that while we do not yet have any refugees reported among these cases, the risks remain high.
The press statement will be shared.
I would like to highlight 44 key points in my statement.
First, this outbreak is unfolding in the midst of a complex humanitarian crisis cannot be overemphasised.
More than two million forcibly displaced people, including over 320,000 refugees live in at risk areas in DRC where active conflict alongside the spread of the Ebola disease is creating a lot of challenges in the response population.
Movements driven by insecurity are creating additional challenges for the outbreak control.
And I would like to add that earlier this month, over 2000 people were reported to have moved from displaced from Bao, a place called Bao to Ocha, Northern Kivu following armed group movements.
And this in Ocha, we know that this is one of the one of the well affected health zones.
Just demonstrating or illustrating how the conflict driven displacement can increase exposure risks and why public health measures must be aligned with protection considerations.
Second, Community Trust is essential to an effective response for refugees, internally displaced people already facing trauma and insecurity, and lack of adequate humanitarian assistance.
The outbreak is fuelling fear and misinformation earlier this month.
Our response teams initially faced resistance in falling Ebola related deaths that were reported in a displacement site in Ituri, just 2425 kilometres from Bunya.
Such incidents demonstrate that outbreak control depends not only on the medical interventions but also a meaningful engagement with communities, local leaders and trusted networks.
UNSCRE supporting government LED efforts to strengthen that engagement.
In the past week in Bunya, more than 100 community and site leaders were trained on Ebola prevention and risk communication so they can share the information in the local languages and trusted formats.
Further sessions are planned for more remote sites.
And as well, in Nicholi along the Southern Sudan border, trained refugees have been helping install chlorinated hand washing stations in refugee hosting villages.
My Third Point is that solidarity and international support for government LED response efforts are critical.
The authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda are leading a complex response and extremely challenging circumstances.
They're supported by W2 Africa, CDC and UN partners and other humanitarian partners and the local communities working to contain the outbreak and protect affected populations as the case numbers continues to rise.
Sustained international solidarity and scaled up support at essential and the response must keep pace with the outbreak and remain firmly anchored in national leadership.
My 4th point is there that the response must be inclusive and protection centred.
East India Sea sits in an interconnected region where trade, family ties and refugee movements link Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania and South Sudan.
The UNSCL is working with governments and partners to strengthen preparedness, surveillance, infection prevention, risk communication and water, sanitation, hygiene support in refugee hosting areas and border corridors.
We aim to prevent further cross-border transmission without impeding people seeking safety.
Governments must continue to lead the response and have a responsibility, and they have a responsibility to protect public health.
However, UNSCI believes that border closures are not necessary and indeed are ineffective at preventing the spread of the epidemic as they can drive people towards an official crossing points where health screening and surveillance are more difficult.
Public health measures should preserve access to asylum for people in need of international protection with appropriate public health measures.
I'd like to conclude by saying that UNSCR and partners are working with local authorities hand in hand to strengthen community LED preventive measures and we're working to ensure displaced committees are included in National Health responses and protected from blame or discrimination, with particular attention to women and girls as UNFP as regularly highlighted, given the rapid increase in cases, the response must scale up according accordingly and remain firmly anchored in national leadership.
And it must not come at the expense of other essential services like Primary Health care, including maternal and child health, nutrition, mental health and psychosocial support, as well as services for survivors of gender based violence and education.
UNSCR is therefore appealing for $14 million to support Ebola preparedness and response efforts through November 2026 in the DLC and Uganda and strengthen preparedness in Burundi, Rwanda and South Sudan.
Containing this outbreak will require solidarity, scaled up and sustained investment and a response that reaches everyone at risk without discrimination.
Thank you very much, Doctor Mano.
We'll now move to our last briefers.
We have Kitch Lung and sorry, we miss we cut the name mixed up in the agenda, but it's Kitch Lung who is Senior Migration Health Advisor at the International Organisation for Migration.
Zoe is going to maybe read out the statement 1st and then Kitch is available or miss Miss Lung is available for for responses to your question.
So I'm briefing for IOM today on how we have now conducted over 1,000,000 health screenings and a scaling up our Ebola response and I have kit with me to answer questions afterwards.
The Ebola outbreak in Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo is unfolding across one of the most active cross-border movement corridors in Africa, where thousands of people move everyday in search of work, safety, healthcare and connection with their families.
That reality presents both the challenge and an opportunity.
Understanding human mobility patterns is one of our strongest tools for stopping disease spread if we understand where people are moving, why they're moving and how to reach them with timely health interventions.
IOM has now surpassed 1,000,000 health screenings at borders and along key cross-border routes and travel corridors across affected and at risk countries.
This includes support at over 110 points of entry.
This figure is significant not only because of its scale, but because it reflects the enormous effort required to stay ahead of a disease.
In a Tory province alone, more than 16,000 people cross porous borders everyday.
Across the wider region, countless others travel along routes that connect communities, markets, health facilities and displacement sites.
These movements are essential to daily life.
They will not simply stop.
Our responsibility is therefore to ensure that life saving health measures move with people.
This is a challenging response.
As part of the Africa Centre for Disease Control coordinated effort to respond to the outbreak, we are collectively still not ahead of the Ebola virus.
Like our sister agencies, we're experiencing issues such as border closures pushing people to less observed crossings, community mistrust, security including an attack on one of our teams and availability of protective personal a personal protective equipment PPE.
As the outbreak has spread across N Kuvu, S Kuvu and Aturi provinces with confirmed transmission into Uganda, IOM has intensified its response.
We today announce a scale up of our operation in DRC and Uganda against a backdrop of insecurity and population displacement.
We are strengthening health surveillance at border crossings and other strategic points along mobility routes.
We're deploying additional personnel to high risk areas.
We're expanding mobility mapping and analysis to help governments and partners identify where they need to, areas of greatest concern and direct resources where they are needed most.
At the same time, preparedness measures are being reinforced across neighbouring countries, recognising that disease containment requires regional action and regional solidarity.
What is at stake extends beyond the current outbreak.
This is about protecting communities, preserving trust and strengthening the systems that help countries detect, prevent and respond to future health threats.
The progress made shows what is possible when governments, communities and partners work together, but sustaining that progress requires continued investment.
Additional support is urgently needed to maintain surveillance, strengthen cross-border preparedness, protect vulnerable populations and prevent further transmission.
The faster we act, the greater our chances of containing this outbreak and safeguarding the health and well-being of communities across the region.
And just to say, the expanded data can be found in our sitrep #5 being released, released today.
And our Deputy Director General, Ugochi Daniels will attend the Tuesday briefing next week to talk further about our operations.
Thank you very much, Zoe and Kit for being here.
So we have a lot of expertise.
Before we just go to question, let me just mention one thing which we did announce yesterday, but I want to make sure you're aware.
It's actually with sadness that we know one of our colleagues, subcontractor working for our UN peacekeeping operation in the DRC in Monusco, which as you know is providing critical logistical assistance to enable the rapid delivery of medical services.
A subcontractor worker of working with Monusco passed away from Ebola.
He was recruited in Bunia.
I don't have more details, but I just wanted to make sure you're aware that even, you know, our frontline workers are obviously facing great risks.
So on that note, let's take questions starting with and yes, in the room.
And then we have one online as well.
And if you could kindly just point to your question to whoever you want.
So in fact, yes, I have a question to IOM and a question to the Bleacher.
So first to IOM in the room you are talking about health screening, I would like to to ask you if you could specify what kind of health screening you are talking about.
Are you doing tests to see if they have Ebola or what other kind of screening you are doing?
And then the question to WHO concerning the spread of the virus, could you tell us where it's happening now?
I'm not talking about the region, but where is it in homes, in hospitals, in the battleground?
If you could elaborate on that?
And then a specific question on the lethality in North Kivu.
I've seen on the national report of the Institute National de Sante Public, the LDC that the lethality in North Kivu is around 60%, while it's around 20% in Ituri and 30% in South Kivu.
So how do you explain that it's so, so much higher in in North Kivu?
We'll start off with Kit from IOM and then we'll go to our colleague in there in Bunya.
Sure, Thank you so much, Agnes for the question.
So on screening and rightly pointed out, as Zoe said, we have established over 110 points of entry in terms of screening and it's based on syndromic screening.
So these are protocols that are developed together with the surveillance pillars and working groups within the countries where we're operating, not just in DRC, also in Uganda, Burundi, South Sudan, Rwanda and a number of other countries that look at identifying alerts that then go into a longer referral process for verification with the surveillance team.
So the role of the surveillance officers, frontline workers at the points of entry, but also at these points.
And in DRCI know we've also supported local authorities to establish over 40 points of surveillance and screening, which are positioned along major routes, transport routes, trade routes and any passages where we see a large movement of people to be able to detect the first signs of potential infection.
Did you want to follow up on that before we go?
So concretely means that is just like looking how the people are, how they feel and if you see any symptoms then they do tests, correct.
So based on observation, based on self report, we look at travel history and as mentioned, we have WHO on the line as well.
Those teams are then linked to surveillance teams that if there is an alert, they are quickly identified, isolated and they go for further testing.
Yes, Doctor Belizear, on the second question, second questions I should say.
Okay, thank you for the question.
So effectively as you mentioned, the case fatality rate is different in the Italy province than the North Kivu province.
So one of the reasons that we are seeing that are differences is because those going on to North Kivu are from Ituri when they are seeking care, that means they are already sick and they have to move from Ituri in order to go to North Kivu for looking for care.
The first cluster of cases that we have in Beni was a family of four people who came out from Ituri, from Bunya and they have to go all the way the time they were six and the kid died in Beni.
So this is one of the reason the same, The second one is that now that the epidemic has been well installed in Beni or in North Kivu, we are still have people not seeking care early.
You know they are staying at home because as I mentioned the symptoms are not really a more agic symptoms.
90% of the cases that we are having in this outbreak, they don't have a more agical symptoms.
So a affected community, they stay at home taking auto medication and also they are going to transitional healers before coming to healthcare centres.
There's a delay in the access to healthcare.
So one of the reason that we are having this highest, not the highest case fatality rate in the Norfolk.
So now when we look at where is the outbreak, the outbreak is the community outbreak now.
So that's mean is extended at the community level, reason why we are having a community death.
But what is also the good point in it is that the surveillance is not able to detect those mortality at community level.
So we cannot provide safe and signified burial to those death in the community in order to protect people or to protect family members, not to manipulate those body because the Ebola body, a dead body with able is more, I can say infectious when the body is still alive.
So it's a very high risk when the community is manipulating the dead body.
So this is what we are doing in order to to protect those community in manipulating it over.
OK, thank you very much, doctor.
A question for WHO and maybe UNFPA.
Do you have new data for how many have been infected or have died from the virus?
And could you say something about how they're coping with this?
Are any of them walking out?
What happens if there's not enough carers in that hospital to care for them?
Naomi, you mentioned a place where all healthcare workers were sick with Ebola, so tell me more about what they're going through.
And another one for WHO, please.
You mentioned that people aren't going to healthcare centres.
Are you concerned about setbacks for other diseases like malaria or or maybe others?
And finally, for for IOM, are you seeing any resistance at these healthcare screening points?
You mentioned attack on your team.
Maybe we'll start with Noemi, and then we'll go to you at Doctor Belizeira on the 2 questions.
Noemi, are you with yes, OK, thank you.
They think about how people are coming.
So this question is we have observance virus behaviour in the community.
Dr believe that just talk about the fact that the epidemics is a lot of community level and we know that women, for instance, are the one who take care of the people and so on.
And as these symptoms are not the desire usual one, it takes maybe more time to detect them.
And we also have community resistance.
We are working a lot on the community resistance.
We have done there is a group working on the information with the community and to understand how they are perceiving the virus and the disease and the wise and the the role the virus is playing in the community.
And to fight a little bit on the on the negative social norm that are not making people believe that is a serious illness and so on.
So we are working with with with this part to try to increase the referral and increase the trust to go to the health service and, and, and on the on the other part of the question on how the health worker were copying with the disease, I think that this question is better for WHO.
What I can say is that for the maternity words and for the work we are supporting in the maternity.
We also have some psychosocial support that we provide and we are trying to reduce like have a lot of turnover among the midwife so they can rest.
Because the, the, the procedure to put on all the protective equipment is like, it might be stressful because you need really to pay attention or to all the process in putting on and, and, and and working on that.
The the also the other important thing that the the health worker at that who died, it was a lot is still happening, but it was really a lot at the beginning of the epidemics where we didn't know, we didn't know that Ebola was there.
So a lot of people got contaminated at the very first stage of the epidemics.
And I'm sure WHO can add a lot on this.
Yes, over to you, Doctor Belizeau.
They are very important question, you know, so it's really heartfelt when you see healthcare worker dying the time that they are providing care.
So as my colleagues from an FPA mentioned, at the starting of the outbreak, healthcare worker were the first to be infected and actually I met with the 4th.
We were surviving from this outbreak.
And when they're explaining to you how they leave it, how they were infected, it's really you can break your heart.
So, so far as, as the data I have on my, on my hand.
So we have more than 60, I mean, healthcare workers who have been affected by Ebola and 34 deaths amongst healthcare workers.
So it is a really high price that the system, the healthcare system is paying because we don't have enough of healthcare workers in GLC.
It is one of the big problem in the health they have and on top of that we are losing them because of some of infections that they contracted while you're providing, while you're doing their work, while you're providing.
So how they are coping with it, I can say so, so, so we have some who are very well trained, okay.
And those who have been infected, they, we see their commitment to region to work.
It has been really I can say very impressive to see how they now they want to continue their work.
And we also have another group who have some for example, I was in the hospital yesterday.
We have a three medical doctors, 1 still working and two have a stop because they fear for their life.
So we are supporting them with psychological support, but also with more training because.
The question of having, I can say of choice, they themselves that they are able to do the job and we are also protecting them by providing protective equipment.
The protective equipment is not only distributed in the Ebola treatment centres, they are distributed in other healthcare centre.
Although they are not the same level of protective equipment but we see in this place where healthcare workers were touching everybody with their hand with our gloves.
So, this is what we are doing.
So we evaluate all the healthcare centres that we have in E2.
EI can give you an example, offer 177 healthcare centre that we have evaluated.
Only four have the capacity to prevent infection prevention disease in their in their infrastructure.
So we have to now put them at the level and also provide the healthcare worker that training they need but also the material they need to work, hand washing a station, a gloves and also a light PPE in those healthcare centre.
So what the other question was about, I think I, I replied to the question about how many had died.
I give the number do we have because this number can change tomorrow and we also have their copying.
So we say concerned about the disease, other disease, absolutely.
So as I mentioned when I was doing my, I mean opening remark, Ebola is happening in a situation that already exists.
Malaria is still one of the biggest health concern in this region, you know, and we also have other disease.
And the continuity of services is an integral, an integral pillar of the response.
The response has 11 pillars and one of them is continuity of services.
That is very important that women can continue to deliver safely, that children continue to have their vaccination so that we don't create another health problem.
While you're responding to Ebola for all patients, they are also testing for Ebola, sorry for malaria, all.
When we have a suspected case, the first Test that we do is a rapid test for malaria.
And even though we do the rapid test for Malaya, we also do the A test for Ebola because the symptoms are just the same.
They are similar to Malaya and it is also one of the reason why the patient are staying at home doing auto medication because the bledding is not seeing in is seeing only 10% of the cases that we are seeing the bleeding and the hemorrhagic symptoms.
All the other symptoms are similar to fever, muscle aches, I mean headache, vomiting, diarrhoea.
So it is really the same.
And we do also the tests and when the patients are also hospitalised in an ETU, we also conducted biochemistry tests.
We also tested their kidney.
We also tested their, I mean their apathy tests in order when they are receiving the medication that we are giving.
So we make sure that we don't cause more damage in those patients.
So it's really in holistic care and this care, we really make sure that it is a dignified care that we are doing.
And on the security incident, So yes, I can report on the 13th of June, IOM teams were involved in a security incident when travelling from one of these internal screening points in Bongwali Health Zone.
Together with local health authorities, they were approached by community members who were leaving a funeral.
I can report all staff members and partners are safe.
But we did sustain damage to a vehicle.
And this re emphasises the importance of trust and communication with communities, particularly as we continue to strengthen screening and surveillance activities at borders and along major mobility corridors.
So to the question, yes, risk communication remains critical as part of the package in these certain sites, both for the travellers.
So why we screen the importance of screening?
What happens if you are identified for further screening?
But also with the surrounding communities, And these are communities that engage regularly with travellers and we note also in the area amongst displaced populations, traders, but also mine workers who are frequently moving between certain sites within the population.
So extending that risk communication as it is with all pillars of the response is extremely critical, particularly as it regards to movements of people.
Again, for IOM, the focus is very much focused on ensuring that all movements are safe and visible so that we're able to ensure that public health actions are really tailored and targeted towards population mobility movements.
And I think Doctor Minor wanted to add something on the other diseases.
Thank you very much and I'd really appreciate that question.
On other diseases, as I mentioned also in my statement, it is very important and we see and I first start by acknowledging that the local partners and all other partners supporting the response, including the humanitarian settings are working under extremely difficult circumstances, noting that the the response was already severely underfunded.
So a lot of these healthcare workers, the partners are working and and difficult conditions just to ensure that we respond not only to Ebola, but also ensuring continuity of other essential services.
And as Doctor Belize has already explained, malaria is a concern.
And we see malaria is among the top diseases where we've been that has been reported in the among the refugees and displaced populations.
We also seen other outbreaks, we've had recent outbreaks of of cholera as well in this, in this locations.
And amidst all that we have, children also are malnourished and mothers need to make sure that they can be able to receive treatment that they need.
So it it is a complex response and we need to ensure that not only the support for the Ebola response, but also continuity of other essential services.
Then, of course, compounding this is insecurity in the region, which has been prevailing for quite a while.
So it's a very complex setting.
But thank you very much for those responses.
We'll have one more question before we wrap up.
John Zaracostas of The Lancet.
My question is to The Who representative from the field.
If you could repeat the number of health personnel that were infected and have passed away and if you can clarify how many of these infections happen in health facilities or outside health facilities?
And secondly, if you have any figures, if you're getting international medical teams coming in to assist with some of the field hospitals or if there are problems.
And in past Ebola outbreaks in West Africa, I remember there was a big medical call from Cuba.
Are they coming as well or due to the financial constraints, they're not being deployed?
Thank you Doctor Belizar.
So actually it was something I wanted that to give up because I have the exact data on how many healthcare workers has been infected so far.
We have a 75 dot data of today, we have 7575 healthcare workers who have been infected of from the from the from the Ebola Abuja.
And among them we have a 17 deft who have been, this is a 20 went for 6% of those who have been infected dying for of the disease.
So now where the infection has occurred, it will be, I can say very tricky to say because we have a community outbreak, you know, so which is very different of the outbreak in Uganda.
For example, in Uganda they have I think of four healthcare workers who has been affected.
We are sure they are affected in health facility while they are treating the patients.
But in DSC, as we are seeing a community, large community outbreak, we cannot say for sure they have been infected in healthcare, in health facility or they have been infected in their community, you know, so, but however this is some investigation that we should continue to do.
And this is reason why that we are providing training, providing PPE's and providing also psychological support to the healthcare workers in order to support, to support them.
So regarding international medical team, so there is a Chinese medical team who arrive in DLC.
We also have Uganda who will deploy A-Team, but most in the border as a cross-border, cross-border response together with the LC, it will be attacked in ARU.
Aru is sharing the border with Arwa.
So we were there last week.
And DLC is sharing eight health zone with Uganda.
So this collaboration of course border will be extended in four health zone across the border that has been I mean infected as you know the outbreak in the in Uganda.
Among the 19 cases they have, 14 have been imported from ADRC and the other five they have are also infected in in Uganda.
1 is the driver who also support one of the case from DRC to move from the border to the health centre and four others are healthcare workers who take care of those patients from DRC.
So regarding Cuba, we don't have this information yet so maybe this is something that if we have it we can we can come back to you to give you the information.
Well noted Emma, that's new hand.
Back to you New Hand, because I was interested in what she just mentioned.
How big is the China team and are they the first foreign doctors please?
So for the Chinese team, I didn't meet them yet.
I know they arrive in Kinshasa, but they are not yet in Bunya where I am now.
So we are waiting to see what is the composition of the team, what they can, where they will be sitting setting and all of that.
So, so far we don't have more information on that knowing that they have been the Chinese team has arrived in Kinshasa, maybe for Uganda, I have more information.
This collaboration for example will be in four AI mean critical pillar.
This collaboration will be in case management, coordination, laboratory and surveillance.
So they did those pillar in Arrow Health sold in the border.
They will be colliding by both countries and Uganda and the Uganda will deploy a team of 40, I mean team members that will be deployed across all those pillars.
Thank you to all of our briefers here.
It was excellent and and very vital brief.
So I'd like to thank you, Marie, Noemi, Allen and Kit for joining us at this press briefing.
And thanks again for your reporting colleagues.
So thanks, Eugene, if you could stay with me, I think you have an announcement.
Tomorrow is an important day.
We just heard from Doctor Mina about the plight of displaced persons and of course, the refugees as well.
But we have an important of observance tomorrow, World Refugee Day.
So I think Eugene wanted to announce something to that regard.
Thank you, thank you very much.
So as Rolando just mentioned that tomorrow we mark a World Refugee Day, as every year on 23rd June.
This is a moment to stand with the refugees and forced people forced to flee, honour their courage, recognise the community that welcomed them and remind the war that protection saves lives.
As ever, this will be marked by event large and small across the world from Buenos Aires to Bangkok.
As you will have seen already from our press release this week, UNHCR launched our initiative Until Everyone is Just Safe to mark the word Refugee Day.
This initiative tried to position refugee protection not as a legal or distant issue, but as a collective safety net that exists for everyone.
And I'm so glad to see a lot of the younger generation at present today because of this initiative, call specifically the younger generation to join this initiative and a voice to defend the very fundamental human right and then human right, which is the right to seek safety.
This year, the World Refugee Day coincide with the 75th anniversary of the 1519 Refugee Convention.
A unique moment to remind that word why the right to seek safety was created, which was actually established and created after the Second World War, and why it's still matter after 75 years later.
With the forced displacement around the record highs at the moment, mounting pressure on asylum system and the shrinking humanitarian funding, there has never been a more important time to reaffirm this fundamental right until everyone's safe is.
We are aiming to shift the narrative from crisis fatigue to collective responsibility, underscoring that international protection frameworks existed not only for refugee or for some vulnerable community, but for all of us.
The initiative will run through a key moment, including the 5070 fifth anniversary of the Convention, Refuge Convention signing on 28th of July and the UNHCR Nansen Refugee Award continuing through the Global Refugee Forum in 2027.
You heard last week from our High Commissioner Baram Salih who outlined A50 by 35A Dignity and Solution Initiative, an aim to have the number of refugees in the protracted displacement rely on on the humanitarian assistance by 2035.
The High Commissioner is currently in Ethiopia where he has been working with the government to launch the Mahatet Road Map, a nationally owned framework to include refugee into public system and services across health, education, livelihood and infrastructure.
He's also commanding Ethiopia's long standing solidarity in hosting people forced to flee despite the significant challenges of its own hosting over 1.1 million refugees and asylum seeker.
Ethiopia is one of the Africa's largest refugee hosting country and we urge it to continue doing so.
Ethiopia continue to offer refuge to people fleeing conflict and extreme weather condition across the region.
More than 45,000 Sudanese refugees have arrived mainly in the Benisha, Gul, Gurmos region since the Sudan war begin in 2023.
April thousand more from South Sudan have recently arrived in Gambella region seeking protection as violence escalates in Eastern Jungle Estate in South Sudan.
So to conclude this year, solidarity is more important than ever.
The right to seek asylum is under growing pressure in many parts of the world.
75 years after the 501951 Refugee Convention, we must keep its promise alive that people fleeing war, violence and persecution can find safety and asylum and protection.
On World Refugee Day, your NHS are called on all of us to defend that lifeline and keep the promise of safety alive.
Thank you very much Eugene.
And for his part, to mark this important day, World Refugee, the Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, who knows the subject intimately as the former High Commissioner for Refugees, did issue a message which we shared with you.
Among other things, the Secretary General calls for stronger support for all the refugees, including the countries we just heard from, the millions of women and children around the world who seek safety far from their homes.
So he's seeking stronger support for their plight, as well as the countries and communities hosting them, as we just heard as well.
So do take a look at that message which we shared with you in multiple languages.
Do we have any questions for Eugene?
Well, thank you very much again for this important announcement.
I have just a couple of more, couple more before we wrap up.
Simply, I wanted to make sure that you saw the message, the statement that we shared with you last night on behalf of, attributable to the spokesperson for the Secretary General on the situation in Sudan, particularly in Al Obaid in North Kordofan State.
The Secretary General is is deeply concerned by the escalation of the fighting in and around El Obaid in North Kordofan State, including drone attacks impacting civilians and civilian infrastructure.
He is particularly alarmed by reports of the deployment by the Rapid Support Forces of substantial military reinforcements around El Obaid, which may indicate an imminent ground offensive on the city, potentially placing yet another major population centre in Sudan at grave risk of large scale violence.
The Secretary General calls for restraint from all parties and urges them to take all necessary measures to respect and protect civilians.
But I'd want to just to repeat some of these important messages.
I should also note that the High Commissioner for Human Rights also issued a statement on the situation, elbow abide, yesterday.
In terms of some planning, the Secretary General will be in London next week to attend a very important event.
It's actually Climate Action Week and the Secretary General will be delivering an important remark, or important statement I should say, at 10 AM Geneva time on Tuesday the 23rd.
At London Climate Action Week now, this special address, the remarks will outline how renewable energy offers the clearest route to energy security, affordability and resilience.
So climate and energy crisis during the Climate Action Week on the 23rd of June.
It will be webcast and we'll also share the comments with you as soon as they become available.
Another observance for you, in addition to World Refugee Day, today is actually the International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict.
The Secretary General issued a message on this day as well.
Among other things, this This year's observance focuses on children subjected to this deplorable crime and the Secretary General, among other things.
Among other things, he calls for the end to this abomination requiring protection, accountability and prevention.
Children must never be targets in war.
Protecting them is legal and moral imperative for every combatant in every country.
The secretary general says.
Reminder for you colleagues, you've seen the media advisory we shared with you, I think it was last week concerning the global dialogue on AI governance taking place here in Geneva at PAL Expo on six and seven July.
This is ahead of the the AI for good and the Wisses conference is all taking place jointly at this venue.
You should register if you're, you must register if you're interested in attending your badge will.
It's a fast track approach for those of you with the UNOG badges, but you must register on the system.
Do take a look at the media advisory.
If you need help, ask myself or Francois and we'll help guide you.
And as you heard from Pascal earlier, we do have a press conference in exactly 37 minutes from now.
In this seat will be the Special Rapporteur on the right to Health, Talaleng **** King, who's will be delivering her last remarks here as she's about to depart from this important job.
So I wish you a good afternoon.
