The United Nations Office at Geneva
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UN Geneva Press Briefing - 22 September 2026
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UN INFORMATION SERVICE GENEVA PRESS BRIEFING
22 September 2026
Alessandra Vellucci, Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired a hybrid press briefing, which was attended by the spokespersons and representatives of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the World Meteorological Organization, the World Health Organization, and the International Telecommunication Union.
81st Session of the General Assembly
Alessandra Vellucci, for the United Nations Information Service, said the high-level general debate of the UN General Assembly's 81st session was starting today under the theme “Restoring trust, managing transformation: a United Nations that delivers for all”. World leaders were going to gather for the annual debate: some 71 heads of states, 45 heads of governments, 50 ministers, 11 vice presidents, and one crown prince were expected.
This would be the final general debate for the current Secretary General, after ten years in office. In his own address, Mr. Guterres was expected to focus on peace and security, inequality, the climate crisis, and artificial intelligence. His address would be broadcast on UN Web TV.
Yemen: Escalating conflict could fuel more displacement and refugee movement
Babar Baloch, for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), said fighting in Yemen was expanding across multiple front lines, triggering a rapidly growing displacement crisis: more than 130,000 people had fled their homes since the beginning of September. Civilians continued to bear the brunt of the conflict, with at least 110 casualties as reported, including 28 lives lost. Casualty and displacement numbers were likely to grow, deepening humanitarian needs at a time when insecurity and access constraints were hampering UNHCR’s relief efforts.
Even before this escalation, more than 5.2 million people were internally displaced inside the country, where it was estimated that more than 22 million people required humanitarian assistance, including the internally displaced people (Yemen had a population of around 35 million people). Yemen was also hosting some 65,000 refugees and asylum seekers, mainly from Somalia and Ethiopia. Conversely, 3,000 Yemeni civilians, fleeing across the Gulf of Aden, had arrived in Djibouti, where UNHCR was working with authorities and partners to assist the arrivals; hundreds of others had landed in Somaliland and Puntland.
Armen Yedgaryan, UNHCR Representative in Yemen, added that Taiz remained the epicentre of the crisis, accounting for more than 60 percent of overall displacement. More displacements inside Yemen were reported from other governorates, reflecting the expanding and multi-front nature of the conflict. Conditions for displaced people were increasingly severe as they arrived in already congested displacement sites, with urgent needs for shelter, food, clean water, health care, and protection, placing additional pressure on the existing fragile services and infrastructure.
Answering questions from journalists, Mr. Baloch said the Refugee Agency expected more arrivals in Djibouti by mid-October, when the seas would calm down. Displacements inside Yemen could reach over 230,000 in the next month; this figure was on top of millions who had already been displaced in the country. Around 70 percent of displaced persons inside Yemen were women and children, some of them going through their fourth displacement, according to testimonies.
UNHCR’s response was constrained by severe funding shortfalls. UNHCR's operation in Yemen was 18 percent funded in 2026 (33 of 193 million US dollars). An estimated 25 million US dollars was needed for UNHCR to address the present emergency.
Health and climate impact of El Niño
Clare Nullis, for the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), said WMO would remain focused on El Niño in the coming months. She would provide journalists with WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo’s remarks at the UN General Assembly in New York, on “extreme heat and El Niño”.
Armel Castellan, Extreme Heat Services Technical Advisor at the World Meteorological Organization, said El Niño was strengthening rapidly, the two last months having been the hottest on record. The effects of this El Niño event were already visible in climate-sensitive sectors. WMO expected it to peak towards the end of the year, its impacts running well past. This was more than a heat problem: WMO’s outlook for September to November also pointed to above-normal rainfall in some regions and drought risk in others.
Secretary-General Saulo had said plainly last week: “We have the forecasts, we have the science. We can prepare for what is coming, in health and in every sector that is affected by the weather and our changing climate.” In this regard, WMO seasonal outlooks gave much needed lead time, so that health authorities could look ahead and prepare, rather than repair.
Health practitioners making informed decisions made the difference between losing lives or saving them: therefore, WMO was working with partners to strengthen “climate services for health”. This meant building the needed bridges between health and meteorological communities, to ensure that forecast reached health authorities at the right time, and in the right format. In this context, national Meteorological and Hydrological Services (MET services) mattered very much right now. They held the most current, localized picture of the scale of what was likely to unfold. Investing in national MET services, in reliable observation networks and warning systems, and in climate services for health, would ensure that climate information helped decision makers and health authorities protect every region, city, and community.
Dr Teresa Zakaria, Unit Head for Risk Reduction, Humanitarian Operations and Climate Change at the World Health Organization, said the most severe impacts of El Niño would be felt where climate shocks intersected with weak health systems, limited access to healthcare, food insecurity, displacement, and humanitarian crises. The health impacts of El Niño were predictable and there was a window of opportunity to act now before these risks became crises.
Heat exposure could contribute to death and severe illness by exacerbating cardiovascular, respiratory, renal, metabolic and mental health conditions. Heat-related illness and respiratory disease linked to wildfire smoke and poor air quality were also a concern. Droughts and flooding could destroy homes and livelihoods, displacing people and reducing their access to food, clean water and health care.
Critical health facilities and infrastructure were often damaged by floods and drought, creating conditions that allowed diseases to spread. Malnutrition and cholera were among the most serious concerns and were assessed as very high risks in both drought- and flood-affected settings. More than 150 million people were already facing acute food insecurity globally; that number was expected to rise as climate-related shocks disrupted food production and livelihoods.
WHO's recent Global Public Health Situation Analysis - El Niño 2026, developed with WMO, outlined health risks across different regions and the actions countries and communities could take to reduce their impact. Countries and communities that acted now could mitigate these impacts. Countries should strengthen disease surveillance systems, ensure rapid response capacities were in place, and pre-position medical supplies in areas at greatest risk. (Other references to be found on WHO’s website: El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), and Climate inaction is claiming millions of lives every year, warns new Lancet Countdown report.)
Answering questions from journalists, Mr. Castellan said what made this El Niño unique, compared to what happened in 2015, was its association with temperatures that were already record-breaking.
Asked whether the dengue fever would become common in Switzerland, Dr. Zakaria said that whether a disease was going to be endemic in a specific area or setting depended on the presence of the pathogen (virus or bacteria), of the vector driving the transmission, and of response capacities. Even in dengue endemic areas, public health measures such as early detection, preventive measures, and, when available, vaccination, determined whether outbreaks happened and diseases spread or not. There had been reports of cholera in some developed countries: because systems were in place, as well as good hygiene, it had not spread.
On a related note, Babar Baloch, for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, said UNHCR and the University of Melbourne would present today the first-ever Global Recommendations on Nationality and Statelessness in the Context of Climate Change. These recommendations provided practical steps for States to protect the right to nationality and prevent stateless people from being left behind.
David Hirsch, for the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) said ITU and the World Meteorological Organization would hold a Global seminar on the use of radio spectrum for meteorology (28-30 September). Participants would examine how to ensure the continued protection of radio frequencies essential for weather forecasting, climate monitoring, water management, earth observation, and natural hazard early warning systems. The event would bring together policymakers, spectrum regulators, meteorological authorities, satellite experts, and international organizations. It would open next Monday morning, when ITU Secretary-General Doreen Bogdan-Martin and WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo would officially launch the revised joint ITU-WMO handbook on the “Use of radio spectrum for meteorology: weather, climate, water and related environmental applications”.
For the United Nations Information Service, Ms. Vellucci said that on 24 September, in New York, as part of the High-Level Week, the General Assembly would convene a one-day plenary meeting to strengthen international cooperation and collective action to address sea level rise (10 a.m. New York time, live on UN Web TV).
Asked about the tiger mosquitoes that plagued the Palais des Nations, Ms. Vellucci advised keeping windows closed overnight, keep the offices clean and avoiding still water under plants that contributed to mosquito proliferation.
Announcements
UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) would present its “2026 Report on developments in the economy of the Occupied Palestinian Territory” during another press conference, next Thursday at 2 p.m. Speakers would be Pedro Manuel Moreno, UNCTAD Acting Secretary General (online), and Mutasim Elagraa, Coordinator, UNCTAD Assistance to the Palestinian People.
On behalf of the Human Rights Council, Ms. Vellucci said the UN Group of Human Rights Experts on Nicaragua would hold a press conference today at 2 p.m. Speakers would be Jan-Michael Simon, chair of the Group, as well as Ariela Peralta Distefano and Reed Brody, members.
Ms. Vellucci also informed that the 31st session of the Committee on Enforced Disappearances (CED) would end next Thursday, 24 September. On that day, at 3 p.m., the Committee would hold an informal meeting with State parties to the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance. The Committee would also present its concluding observations on the country reports – submitted by Armenia, Belize, Gabon, and Lesotho – that it had reviewed during the session.
Regarding the election of the new UN Secretary-General, Ms. Vellucci said a third informal poll had taken place, which had not been conclusive. The process was continuing and it was in the hands of Member States.
Tomorrow, 23 September, would be the International Day of Sign Languages.
Teleprompter
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
Welcome to the press briefing of the UN Information Service here in Geneva.
Thank you very much for your patience.
We had the previous press conference finishing late, but we are ready now to start the briefing.
So let me start by saying that of course, all the ayes today are on New York where the General Assembly is 81st.
The session is starting today.
World leaders will gather in New York for a few days to engage in the annual high level general debate.
The theme of this year's general debate is restoring trust, managing transformation and United Nations.
That delivers for all.
There's a long list of speakers.
I have some numbers about the attendance to the press to the this session of the General Assembly.
We're expecting 71 heads of states, 45 heads of governments, 50 ministers, 11 vice president and 1 Crown Prince.
So all the list, list of speakers that change quite often.
It's on a live link that we will send to you after the briefing, but you can also find it on the web this morning.
After President Inescio Lula da Silva, President Donald Trump and the King Abdullah of Jordan, we will have a list of presidents.
Not going to list them all.
It's very long.
But we will also hear from the secretary general.
And the secretary general will be in his final general debate.
He will address it after 10 years in office.
He will focus, we expect him to focus on the question of powers and on peace of security, inequality, climate classes and artificial intelligence.
So you will have the possibility to follow his address on even web TV.
And so let's now come to our menu of the day.
We let's start with Yemen.
I've got with me on the podium Babar from UNHCR who has come with Armin Yedgarian, who's the UNHCR representative in Yemen.
Babar, you want to start?
We go directly to Armin.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
We wanted to keep the focus on Yemen, following up what our colleagues were telling us on Friday, just not to lose sight as a new humanitarian crisis is unravelling or emerging in Yemen.
Arman Jaan is unit CRS representative in Yemen.
He is part of our efforts has been in the field to establish new sites to receive the internally displaced.
[Other language spoken]
You have the floor.
Very good morning from Yemen, Yemen refugee agency we represent that was that continued installation in Yemen could drive more mass displacement with growing numbers of people expected to search.
Sorry, sorry, we I think we have a technical problem.
We can't hear you well, I'm looking at my colleagues.
Apparently it's not on our side.
There's like an echo.
I don't know if you have a couple or two machines open at the same time on the link.
[Other language spoken]
You were checking that before I connected.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
UNHER awards that continue the escalation in Yemen Dr more mass displacement with growing numbers of people expected to be both between Yemen and to Djibouti, Somalia and other countries fighting in Yemen is expanding across multi control lines triggering rapidly growing displacement.
Can you read the crisis Sir?
It's it's really difficult.
There is an eco, we hear you with an eco behind the words.
Just one looking at Babar, if he could read the statement and maybe in the meantime, you could check the the technical part on your side so that you can answer the questions afterwards.
And maybe Babar, you can read the is there a way to change the microphone or if you proceed, maybe I'll connect in 5-10 minutes with that could be notion that would be that would be good.
And I just wanted to say you're calling in from Aden.
So it is a little bit complicated, I guess the connection.
So Babar, can you read the statements and then we will go back to Arman.
[Other language spoken]
Sure, thank you, Alexandra.
Intensified intensifying fighting in Yemen could drive more mass displacement, with growing numbers of people expected to flee both within Yemen and to Djibouti, Somalia and other countries, UNICIA, the UN refugee agency, is warning.
Today, fighting in Yemen is expanding across multiple front lines, triggering A rapidly growing displacement crisis and driving more than 130,000 people to flee their homes since the beginning of September.
As we have heard and we have been warning, civilians continue to bear the brunt of the conflict, with at least 110 casualties as reported, including 29 eight lives lost.
It is feared that casualty and displacement numbers are likely to grow, deepening humanitarian needs at a time when insecurity and access constraints are already hampering our relief efforts.
As we are getting details from our colleagues in Yemen and our dear Urban is leading those efforts.
TIES remains the epicentre of the crisis, accounting for more than 60% of overall displacement, with many families remaining within the government itself unable to move to several locations due to fighting blocked roads or lake of transportation.
Fuel displacement is also being reported from Al Jof Marib and Al Hudeda governorates, reflecting the expanding multi front nature of the conflict.
Just like not forget that even before the recent escalation of the conflict in Yemen, more than 5.2 million people were internally displaced inside the country and the current fighting is deepening already a dire humanitarian crisis in the country.
It is estimated that more than 22 million people require humanitarian assistance, including the internally displaced people.
And also Yemen has been hosting some 65,000 refugees and asylum seekers, mainly from Somalia and Ethiopia.
And when we put things in, in the context, Yemen has a population of around 35 million people.
So this is almost in terms of the humanitarian needs and the population, it's almost half of or more than half of the people that need our support and humanitarian assistance.
We'll try to reconnect with our dear Herman again on Inside Yemen issues.
And also people are becoming refugees.
Yemeni civilians who are fleeing clashes across the Gulf of Aden.
They have arrived in Djibouti.
Yemeni refugees continue to arrive daily.
More than 3000 have so far arrived in Djibouti where unit CR is working with authorities and partners to assist the arrivals.
Hundreds have landed in Somaliland and Pointland.
The number of new refugee arrivals in Djibouti has already surpassed the total number of Yemenis arriving in recent years.
Unity Island partners are planning for more than 10,000 arrivals in Djibouti, with sea conditions expected to improve by mid-october, potentially enabling further crossings.
I remember on Friday when our colleague joined you from Djibouti, the testimonies that were they were getting from the Neura World's war, there were many more expected to to cross.
They had run out of fuel and many because of the sea conditions as mid-october.
I think it is because of a Leno effect.
If that subsides, we could see more people becoming refugees.
Can we go back to urban and see if?
[Other language spoken]
Let's see if they have solved the problem.
I'm told that maybe one of the possibility would be to use this your laptop mic instead of the other one.
[Other language spoken]
Armin, once again, very good morning.
[Other language spoken]
My apologies for the inconvenience.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
Bob already already mentioned about the scale of the displacement.
Let me continue that, saying that that IS remains the epicentre of the crisis, accounting for more than 60% of overall displacement, with many families remaining within the governorate itself or unable to move to certain locations due to fighting blocked roads or lack of missile transportation and fuel.
More displacement is reported from our Choc Maria and our data, our S2, reflecting the expanding and multiform nature of the conflict.
Most newly displaced families are found refuge in Adel, Large Adian, at the other governorates, and even in Marib where the fighting continues, with more than 90% people arriving in these areas.
Conditions for displaced people are increasingly severe as they arrive to already congested displacement sites with urgent needs for shelter, food, clean water, healthcare and protection, placing additional pressure on the existing fragile services and infrastructure.
Even before this last escalation, more than 5 million people were internally displaced in Yemen, and the current escalation is deepening an already tired humanitarian crisis in the country.
An estimated more than 22 million people requiring humanitarian assistance before the conflict, including internally displaced people and 65,000 relatives of the side from Somalia and Ethiopia.
[Other language spoken]
I'm so sorry, but it's really very difficult to understand what you're saying.
I'm really told my my colleagues, if you could just use the laptop mic, mic, it would just be maybe clear if it's possible.
But Barbara, I can trust that she will send your notes out as soon as we finished, maybe while we are doing the briefing.
And if it's OK, maybe I'll go to the questions and see if if you just use your, your computer, your laptop mic, it should be much better.
I think it's the big mic that doesn't work.
So let me let me go to the journalist and see.
I have got a question from AFP and yes, yes, hi.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
It's a question to to Babar about the figures you mentioned that you expect something like more than 10,000 arrivals in Djibouti by mid-october.
I understand that it's including the 3000 already arrivals.
And then I was wondering if you have a figure as well for the ID PS for the the the number of ID PS inside Yemen that you are expecting, Do you have a target for maybe mid-october or another dateline and are you doing any financial appeal on that?
[Other language spoken]
Thank you very much.
In terms of picking up Djibouti, first, we're referring to mid-october because that's when the sea conditions are expected to come down because many of the 3000 refugee arrivals from Yemen that have arrived there, they have been kind of crossing the sea in rough conditions.
So colleagues were saying that once the sea comes down, we could see more arrivals into Djibouti and other neighbouring places as as well.
As far as 10,000 has been referenced and we are using it, it's an estimate.
The number could go higher if the fighting further escalates and and the conflict intensifies.
We hope not because as being mentioned, since a decade or more, the civilians in Yemen have been bearing the brunt of the ongoing conflict.
And as colleagues have been telling us, even with the new displacement, they see more vulnerable people coming to displacement sites.
That percentage among the the 130,000 that we have seen displaced inside the country is around 70% and majority of them are women and and children.
And what the displaced are telling, and these are accounts that Arman has been hearing just recently visiting a displacement site just 20 kilometres outside of Aden, is the mothers with children are saying does this is their fourth time being displaced.
This single mother that Armin met was displaced in a place called Alboka and has been kind of going through displacement again and again.
Fourth time.
The only wish she was saying with the children, they want to go back once the fighting stops, not to the place of their origin, but the place of last displacement.
Probably that's what the children know as as home Armentan.
Do you know if we have any estimates in terms of how many people could become Idps if, if the conflict intensifies, the displacement continues?
Sorry, if the displacement continues with this intensive deal, I think the number, the estimated number could go over 230,000 people in the next month.
If we count also in this very short period of displaced 130,000, certainly the number will go up.
People move when front lines move, when borders move.
So there are displacements on both sides of the front line.
So it's 230,000, that's correct.
And just to add in Djibouti 10,000 is the is, is the number that will need our urgent support and assistance.
Thank you very much.
[Other language spoken]
And yes, as a follow up, just just for Armin, I'm told by my colleague in the regime that the, the you should use the, the, the laptop mic, but there is another mic open behind you.
So that is what makes the ECO just in case your colleagues could take care of this.
And yes, you have a follow up.
Yes, 2 follow-ups on the figures, it's still unclear for me.
The 3000 is included in the 10,000 that you expect.
And then on this last figure, the 230,000 displacement expected inside Yemen, when is the, the, the deadline?
Would that be also in mid-october or December or if you could specify that?
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
Just first on Djibouti, that's 10,000 people, include the current number of refugees.
And the support we need to provide to them is for the next 6 months.
I have some funding figures that I'll share with you.
And in terms of more people being displaced inside Yemen, they're being displaced everyday.
This is what we are hearing.
This is a humanitarian estimate in terms of at this space what the number would look like.
[Other language spoken]
Amanjan, do you know when we expect to reach that figures?
It's very hard to predict for the next three months.
You're right, mobile for the next three months, the number, you know, crossing the sea to Djibouti, Somalia and other countries will go over 10,000.
Given the fact that we have already 3000 in this place, it's over and the they, they go by sea and also they might go to the neighbouring countries, to Yemen, Saudi Arabia and Oman.
Traditionally people fleeing from Yemen, they go to Guru and Somalia and Ethiopia and any other countries where they are able to travel out to Yemen.
The travel to travel out to German is supposed to be only by sea, by land to the neighbouring countries and construed by flights to different countries.
But the number over 10,000 is for three months.
[Other language spoken]
And in terms of the funding in Inside Yemen, the response, our response is also constrained by severe funding shortfalls or Uniciar's operation in Yemen is, if I understand correctly is 18% funded in 2026 with 33 million of the 193.
Million required is available.
So we have 33 million out of 193,000,000, which is required an estimated 31 million U.S.
[Other language spoken]
When when I'm saying this is these are all U.S.
[Other language spoken]
An estimated 31 million U.S.
dollars is urgently needed for Unit CR to assist the 203 oh oh oh oh people over the next three months to address immediate humanitarian needs in Djibouti.
Unit CR and partners are planning for more than 10,000 arrivals in Djibouti, with sea conditions expected to improve as mentioned by mid-october, potentially enabling further crossings.
Unit CRS Djibouti operation is only 15% funded and Unit CRS humanitarian partners are urgently appealing for an estimated 13.5 million U.S.
dollars to ensure that arrivals can access registration, reception, protection and other essential services.
Armand Janda, the figures I mentioned for Yaman, are they in accordance to what?
Are they correct with the smaller vision that we just estimated the needs in Yemen to address shelter protection, core relief items and and mediation essential services that are being provided by UNHCR.
We require $25 million to address this emergency situation now for the next three months.
Power planning is Google for the next months until the end of the year.
The needs are increasing while while the funding is not sufficient.
Thank you very much, I'm Afarge Reuters.
[Other language spoken]
I know you're muddling through as best you can with the sound problems, but would you mind just repeating really clearly the the statement on the 230,000?
Within what time frame is that I?
[Other language spoken]
And one clarification, the 130,000 currently is that including refugees and internally displaced.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
Apologies for the technical glitches today.
First inside Yemen, so far since this renew conflict, the new conflict has started, we have seen hundred more than 130,000 people being displaced inside the country.
This figure is on top of millions who have already been displaced in the country.
The 65,000 is the number of refugees who are already inside the the country.
So that's the figure of the refugees who are inside the the country.
And in terms of the 10,000 arrivals in Djibouti, this is the number of new Yemeni refugees who would need our support for the next 6 months.
They require immediate assistance.
3000 refugees have already arrived in in Djibouti Remember the number of Yemeni refugees in Djibouti was almost the same who had arrived over the years in the country before the new arrivals that have arrived there.
Hope this helps Thank you very much Babar.
Yes, I'm really sorry for for Armin, but we yeah, sorry.
And on on the funding figures as you heard the update.
So we'll share as soon as the text with all of you.
So you have all the updated and current correct current numbers reflected in there.
[Other language spoken]
Yes, please do that so that we'll give them the exact right suggestion MSS and the 2013 thousand clear quotes, please.
I thought you had read it.
[Other language spoken]
So 230,000 displaced are estimated for the people who would need our support inside Yemen in the the the coming three months.
[Other language spoken]
Thank you very much.
[Other language spoken]
OK, so let thank very much Armin, even if the connection was difficult.
Thanks for being here and just try to brief our journalist and good luck with the next days.
They're going to be really difficult and thanks for your great work.
[Other language spoken]
But you have an announcement.
The rest of the briefing is basically climate and meteorology.
So I'll, yes, I'll keep Babar for his announcement.
[Other language spoken]
It's for it's about the figures just now.
OK, go ahead then because initially you mentioned that 10,000 by mid-october, then it went to three months and now to six months.
So it's really in clear for us.
Very, very sorry about that.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
Mid-october is being referenced when more people could arrive in Djibouti, start arrive.
We have 3000 that have crossed the rough sea crossings.
So mid-october is the expectation.
When the sea calms down, we could see more people to arrive.
Six months and 10,000 is the number of people who would need urgent assistance during that.
I think it's really important you send out that.
Thank you very much.
Thanks to everyone.
So as I was saying, the rest of the briefing is basically on climate, on meteorology.
But but since you have something to say on climate before I let you go, can we just give you an announcement and then we will go to IMOWMO and WHO and even ITU as a climate.
Our announcement is related to launch of the first ever global recommendations on nationality and statelessness in the context of climate change.
Unit CR and the University of Melbourne's Peter McMullen Centre on Statelessness will launch at noon today the first ever global recommendations on nationality and statelessness in the context of climate change.
As climate change is increasing the risk of people becoming stateless and deepening the vulnerability of millions already without a nationality, the new global recommendations provide practical steps for states to protect the right to nationality and prevent stateless people from being left behind.
Thank you very much.
And I don't know if there's any specific question on this launch, but don't see any hands up.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
Thanks again to Armin, and let's now go to WHOWMO.
I'd like to ask my colleagues to come to the podium, get the bar.
OK, so let me welcome Claire who has brought with her Almel Castellan, Extreme Heat Services Technical Advisor in WMO and on my left, Doctor Teresa Zakaria, risk reduction, humanitarian operations and climate change.
With WHO?
So you start or I can just do a few words and discussions.
So obviously the World Meteorological Organisation has been talking a lot about El Nino in this room.
We will be carrying on talking about it in the coming months and it is one of the focal points of all the interventions and the discussions with WMO.
Celeste Salo, Secretary General Celeste Salo, who's at the UN General Assembly in New York this week, we'll be making available on our website an intervention that she made last night on extreme heat and El Nino.
And we'll send that out along with the along with the briefing notes.
That's all I've got to say really.
So with that, I'll pass you over to Amel Castellan, who's Extreme Heat services technical advisor at at WMO.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
El Nino is strengthening rapidly and we've just lived through the two hottest months on record.
[Other language spoken]
The effect of El Nino are already being felt in climate sensitive sectors and they will grow.
We expect this event to peak towards the end of the year, but the peak is a forecast, not a finish line.
The impacts will run well past it.
And this is more than just a heat story.
WM OS outlook for September through November points to above normal rainfall in some regions and drought in other regions as well.
That puts water security nutrition vector borne disease on the table alongside temperature and heat.
These are exactly the risks mapped out in the new WHO Global Public Health Situation Analysis on El Nino, which draws on WM OS forecast to help health authorities anticipate where and when impacts may hit hardest.
Our Secretary General Celeste Salolo put it plainly last week.
We have the forecast.
We have the science.
The WMO seasonal outlook buys us much needed lead time, and that lead time is what lets us prepare.
Sorry, let's health authorities look ahead and prepare rather than repair.
If health practitioners can make informed decisions, this can make the difference between losing lives or saving them.
This is why WMO is working with partners to strengthen what we call climate services for health.
This means building the needed bridges between health and meteorological communities to ensure that forecast reach health authorities at the right time and in the right format.
This is what turns climate action into, excuse me, climate information into action.
Every El Nino is different.
It influences shift from region and season, and it interacts with other climate drivers as well.
However, this El Nino, coupled with temperatures that were already record-breaking, is what makes this one unique.
As this event peaks in late 2026, much of the Southern Hemisphere, Southern Africa, South America and Australia will be moving into their hottest seasons in the first months of 2027.
Their seasonal heat will land on top of El Nino, raising risk of drought, wildfire smoke and air pollution that follows.
El Nino is a global signal, but the impact is always local.
Near certainty that this event persists worldwide is not certainty about the impacts in anyone district or in anyone hospital.
That is why the National Meteorological and Hydrological Services, your MET services, matter so much right now.
They hold the most current localised picture of the scale of what is likely to unfold.
We can prepare for what is coming in health and in every other sector that is affected by weather and our changing climate.
Investing in national met services, reliable observation networks, warning systems and climate services for health is what will ensure that climate information helps decision makers and health authorities protect every region, city and community.
We have the forecast and there is still time to act.
[Other language spoken]
Thank you very much.
Now go to Doctor Zakaria For more information on the health impacts.
Thank you very much.
And first of all, sincere appreciation as well for the collaboration that we've had with WMO, but also many other partners such as MSF in analysing, qualifying and quantifying the health risk driven by El Nino.
So, El Nino is a significant public health threat, not just the climate phenomenon.
And Nino can contribute to increased extreme weather conditions and also alter risk for various diseases simply by contributing towards changing weather conditions.
It is a risk multiplier and we expect to see health impacts across the world.
However, the most severe impacts will be experienced where climate shocks intersect with weak health systems, limited access to healthcare, food insecurity, displacement, and humanitarian crisis.
Broadly speaking, public health impacts can be grouped into those linked with increased heat, dry or wet conditions.
Heat exposure directly impacts the functioning of the human body and can also contribute to death and severe illness by exacerbating cardiovascular, respiratory, renal, metabolic and mental health conditions.
In many parts of the world.
Heat related illness linked to wildfire smoke and poor air quality will also be a concern.
Droughts and flooding can destroy homes and livelihoods, displacing people and reducing their access to food, clean water and healthcare.
All recipes for poor health and diseases.
They also create conditions that allow diseases to spread.
These outbreaks will take hold while poverty, inadequate infrastructures and systems and often conflict leave people without healthcare and critical services.
Malnutrition and cholera are among the most serious concerns and our assess is very high risk in both drought and flood affected settings.
And at the moment we know that there is already more than 150 million facing acute food insecurity globally.
This number is expected to rise as climate related shocks disrupt food production and livelihoods.
Children, pregnant women and breastfeeding women are especially vulnerable.
As we know, malnutrition weakens the body's defences against infection and increases the risk of severe disease and death.
Warmer temperatures and changing rainfall patterns can increase the spread of diseases carried by mosquitoes, such as malaria, dengue, chikungunya, yellow fever, and Zika, to name a few.
In some areas, these diseases may spread into places where they have not traditionally been seen, including higher altitude regions and more temperate climate temperate settings.
In WH O's Global Public Health Situation Analysis, which was jointly developed with our colleagues from WMO, we outlined these health risks across different regions and the actions countries and communities can take to reduce their impact.
The key message here is that countries and communities that act now can mitigate these impacts, therefore avoid loss of lives and suffering.
Countries should strengthen health infrastructure, resilience, disease surveillance systems, safeguard healthcare provision and preposition medical supplies in areas at greater risk.
And at WHO.
And also with our HealthPartners, we are here stand ready to provide the support to make all of this happen.
So I'm speaking today to remind us that these health impacts of El Nino are predictable.
We have a window of opportunity to act now before these risks become crisis.
So we call on governments, partners and communities to invest now, to prepare, to take early actions and to save lives and protect healthcare.
[Other language spoken]
Thank you very much, Doctor Zachary, and thanks, Mr Castellan.
Let's open now the floor to questions.
And yes, Reuter, excuse me, AFP.
[Other language spoken]
Some experts are saying that the the El Nino now is could be the most powerful.
Do you know when you will be able to to say that it's it's the most powerful or or it's not the most powerful?
Do you know when when it will be able to to know that?
And if you could give us because you are advertising about the the risk.
If you could give us some examples of the past where you have been.
You have some statistics showing that powerful and Nino has lead to an increase of death or of diseases, specific diseases in their country in a region, you know, to, to, to be able to, to, to give some examples.
[Other language spoken]
OK, Claire, you want to answer the first one?
I'll take the very first one.
I'll leave it to the experts.
The the second one.
So the next WMO El Nino update, which is something that we issued quarterly and that's the consensus product with the experts around the globe that will be coming out the end of November.
We'll have a press conference then and by then, you know, we should be seeing more, more, more of the impacts.
What we said with the most recent El Nino update is that, you know, we expect this El Nino to be very strong.
That's actually the top classification that that we have.
We don't go, we don't go stronger than than that, than that at the at the moment, El Nino typically peaks towards the end of the year, but the impacts do obviously carry on after that.
I think, you know, the jury is still still still out on this.
And I think it depends then maybe Amel can say more on this.
It depends on you know, how you measure it's you know, we are already seeing the record sea surface temperatures, but that's just, you know, part of the the bigger the bigger picture.
So you know, we're monitoring it the entire meteorological UN health communities, you know, monitoring it it closely.
Typically, as I said, it does peak in strength towards the end of the year, hence hence its name.
You know that the boy child, but the impacts will will continue so.
I'll pass on to, to, to Amel and then perhaps who can address the second one.
[Other language spoken]
I the only really thing I can add to that is the is the fact that there are different institutions, meteorological and otherwise measuring the the, the calibre, if you will.
And, you know, even yesterday there were some quotes about the daily sea surface temperature anomaly in that oceanographic region 3.4, which is Equatorial just off of Peru and, and Ecuador.
And, and you know, there, there is those, there are those kinds of measurements.
But also we have to remember that this is a big global phenomena that's measured on a rolling three month average.
And so that's what's going to eventually kind of qualify the, the maximum strength of this particular El Nino.
But the, the, the real thing to also remember is we'll, we will all probably get caught up in these numbers, but it's more than just the numbers associated to this El Nino.
It's the fact that it's impacting at the same time as baseline temperatures right across the whole globe that are so high.
So it's really kind of a 1-2 punch and it's different and therefore unprecedented compared to what happened in 2015, the last time the, the, the sea surface temperature anomalies with El Nino were so high.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
So I think the relationship between climate and the spread of disease is, is well established.
Now, what we're also very fully aware of is that when there are floods, you know, contaminated water is definitely also a conduit for diseases to spread.
But even in drought situation, the bacteria causing cholera, Vibrio cholera, is also more likely to survive.
And so we know that with extreme weather events amplified by El Nino, there will be more diseases.
And the problem at the moment is because with, you know, decrease in global solidarity to make sure that, you know, health systems are able to respond, we're seeing then these capacities eroded.
And so the likelihood of outbreaks and spreading out of control is very high.
And we're already seeing dropped in immunisation coverage.
So what is going to happen when, you know, health facilities are then compromised because they have been flooded or because essential supplies are now underwater or because drought condition is displacing people and therefore removing their access to healthcare?
So we're looking at it from, you know, the the direct impact of temperature, metrological events to the human body, the spread of diseases, but also what it would mean for people who have were forced to leave their homes and health facilities closing and therefore that access to Healthcare is compromised.
And so the width, the range of health rates is really enormous.
And it's important that we are we look at it comprehensively.
[Other language spoken]
Thank you very much, Jeremy Long Sharifi.
[Other language spoken]
I'd like to you to elaborate on that thing.
[Other language spoken]
Let's say like where could we see cholera happen in El Nino conditions and dengue, for example?
I think we all noticed that mosquitoes here in Geneva become like party poopers.
So could we expect dengue to be normal in Switzerland in, in, in the coming, coming year?
I don't know like specific examples and, and, and, and countries, if you, if you may, I think it's a very pertinent question and I think I could spend hours just elaborating on this.
So whether a disease is going to be established and endemic in a, in a specific area setting will depends on many factors, right?
There is obviously the presence of the pathogen, the virus or the bacteria, the vector that drives the transmission, but also the response capacities.
Because even in dengue endemic areas, for example, with good public health measures, we can't control, we can control the vectors as well that is transmitting the disease.
So that's very important.
Yes, the likelihood of disease is always there.
And I think if we only look at, you know, forecasting by utilising only the pathogen, like the, the, the virus or the bacteria as, as, as the key component, then it may spread after control across the world.
But you know, the response capacities, that ability to detect early to put in place preventive measures to vaccinate whenever vaccines are available, you know, those are then what will drive whether outbreaks will, will, will happen and diseases will continuously spread or not.
So that's really important.
And with El Nino actually and, and because meteorological data can be and information can be accessed in advance, that critical window to act now is very important.
If you know that an area is prone to cholera, which I think I mean, we just had a report of cholera case in even the most developed countries.
But because systems are in place, a good hygiene is in place, it doesn't spread, right.
So that's really key.
And if we know that even in low resource settings, some health facilities are more prone to being underwater because of their localization, low altitude or near riverbanks, there are actually ways to anticipate, you know, and, and prepare early and make sure that services can continue to be provided at a safer, higher ground location.
So there are always things that can be done.
And this is also where the, you know, the, the local intelligence and, and know how knowledge is, is very important to drive these specific interventions that are quite context, very much context specific.
Thanks, Theresa.
I just want to add a small meteorological point to, to what you were just saying about the, the time frames around how these outlooks and these forecasts work.
So we've been talking about El Nino now since May and June with very high certainty.
And that's really something amazing.
And we have to celebrate that and celebrate how much time it gives us around the world to, to to have some of these actions.
And on the on the counter side, there's always going to be like, certainly we can't rest on our laurels with respect to that forecast.
That forecast is true at a global scale.
But each of the MET services are absolutely going to be refining what's happening in what each one of these various countries and locations.
And so it's really important to kind of take take that El Nino forecast and then refine it with what is happening in your warning services or even some of the sub seasonal forecast, which is kind of that three to four week magical window where we can now offer so much information about.
Yes, are we heading into a deeper drought or are we going to be maybe looking at extreme heat waves or even the some of the rainfall patterns that are sometimes likely with the the El Nino global pattern?
Other questions in the room before I go to the plat.
OK, so John Zarro, Costas Francois, Catherine de Lancet.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
First to Doctor Zakaria, if you can give us a bit of a bird's eye view.
How much is being allocated from National Health budgets towards mitigation and adaptation of health systems especially in fragile settings as you mentioned?
And secondly to Doctor Castellan, what are your projections telling us about sub-Saharan Africa in the, I think you mentioned you expect situation in the early part of 2027, you expect something in in the coming months in Southern Africa as well?
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
And as usual, very pertinent and difficult question.
I can't really tell how much countries have invested into preparing the health system, health infrastructure for the impacts of El Nino.
However, I think your point on fragile conflict affected settings is really worth highlighting here because we know that currently there's severe underfunding, lack of support from the global community for people who are living through humanitarian crisis.
And as per WHO data, actually we are have noted that over 8000 health facilities have had to either reduce health service provision or entirely close down their operations.
And this is just from 21 settings with severe humanitarian needs.
And so if in the most vulnerable places on Earth, we're not seeing increase in health services, but rather disruption to these services and further reduction to access to healthcare.
I think it's also quite clear to see that, you know, a lot of these health risk that we have identified to be driven by El Nino will only amplify in the settings unless drastic measures and support is is actually invested now, right now.
[Other language spoken]
Yes, thank you for the question.
It's a, it's a great question because again it speaks to how these signals or these trends will transpire.
And at this point we're also dealing not just with El Nino, we've also got the Indian Ocean Dipole which is positive it, it doesn't last the same length of time as El Nino.
Typically it's over, you know a week or or several weeks to a couple months as opposed to many months like El Nino.
But that's creating a situation where particularly in the Horn of Africa, but even down towards Tanzania, we, we're, we're seeing the, the outlooks being issued for higher than normal rainfall patterns.
So again, it doesn't give you a specific date with a specific amount of, of the millimetres fallen, but it does give you that sense that, OK, these are the areas, especially when you start to see those teleconnections between different indices, including El Nino, that that those patterns are becoming more likely and in some cases have already occurred in in parts of Peru that are much closer to to El Nino's origins.
If I could just if I could just add on on that and it's to pick up on something that was said earlier.
The fact that we've predicted this, you know, months ahead really does mean that the whole of society has been, has been mobilised.
So just to quote one example of of the United Republic of, of Tanzania, the whole government there has been, has been involved right up to the, you know, the, the top level.
And this is on the basis of what the National Meteorological and Hydrological Service warned back in back in May or, or June.
And it sort of philtres down to to community level Southern Africa, you know, similar southern Africa, most of Southern Africa tends to get the below average rainfall signal.
Not, not not all of it.
But then again, you know, then again, you know, learning from the experience of previous El Ninos, you've got, you know, countries, governments in in Southern Africa that are really, really mobilising for, you know, big time for this event.
Thank you very much, Claire and other colleagues.
Any other question I don't see any other hand up.
So before we we conclude on the issue of climate and meteorology, I'd like to give the floor to David who has an announcement, I think on IT UW MO seminar.
[Other language spoken]
And it's makes me happy to hear colleagues from WHO and WMO talking about the power of prediction, prediction that allows us to prepare and also to protect people.
And it's very much the nature of the announcement that I have to make that on next week, from 28th September to 30 September, that's Monday to Wednesday, ITU and WMO will hold a global seminar on spectrum use for meteorology.
This will take place at ITU headquarters.
The three day event we'll look at how to ensure the continued protection of radio frequencies essential for weather forecasting, climate monitoring, water management, earth observation and natural hazard early warning systems.
These are among other services.
The event will bring together policymakers, spectrum regulators, meteorological authorities, satellite experts and international organisations.
As demand for wireless and satellite services continue to accelerate, these experts will examine how spectrum policies and international regulatory decisions can support innovation and the increasing need for meteorological services.
The types of services that we're seeing on display here in this briefing.
The event will be open on Monday morning when ITU and WMO will officially launch the revised joint IT UW MO Handbook on Spectrum Use for Meteorological Meteorology with ITU Secretary General Doreen Bogden Martin and WMO Secretary General Celeste Salo, who will preside over the launch.
The seminar is open to reporters and you can request accreditation as always by sending us a note to pressreg@itu.in T Full details are available on the IT website and I trust on the WMO website as well.
Thank you very much, David.
And before we close the issue of events before that meeting, on the 24th of September, in two days in New York, as part of the High Level Week, there will be a high level meeting on sea level rise.
It's the 2026 meeting.
The UN General Assembly will convene A1 day high level plenary meeting to strengthen international cooperation and collective action to address sea level rise.
The meeting will focus on supporting developing countries, particularly those most vulnerable to the first effects of climate change, as well as coastal communities in building resilience and adapting to the consequences of sea level rise.
And as of course, this is start at 10 AM in New York, NY time, you'll be able to see it on your own web TV.
It will be broadcast live.
Let me just see if there's any other question for all our colleagues before I thank them.
[Other language spoken]
Do you have any to put?
Can you use the mic please?
Do you have any update about USG election?
As Stefan Dujaric said yesterday, we are all waiting like the Messiah to have more information on that.
No, there has been, as you know, a third straw poll and we which was not 100% conclusive.
And of course this will continue.
It's in the hands of Member states in New York, as you know, this has to be, there has to be a recommendation of the Security Council to the General Assembly for the designation of the Secretary General.
And we will anxiously wait, as Stefan put it, for the results of those consultations.
Any other question?
I have a couple of more announcements.
If if you want to stay on the podium, it's very, very quick.
Then we close.
I just wanted to remind you.
So this morning it has been the the press conference of the special reporter on the violation of human rights in the Russian Federation.
Now at 2:00 PM, it will be the same kind of update on the human rights situation in Nicaragua by the UN Group of Human rights experts on Nicaragua following the release of their latest report.
And then on Thursday, be reminded that at 2:00 PM, UN Trade and Development will launch the report 2026 on developments in the economy of the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
This is under embargo until the end basically of the press conference.
So at 3:00 PM on the same day.
And Pedro Manuel Moreno, the UN Trade and Development Acting Secretary General, will join from New York, I believe, and remote, while the coordinator of the anchored assistance to Palestinian people, Mutasim Allegra, will be in the press room for you.
And very last point on the 31st session of the Committee on Enforced Disappearances will end next Thursday, 24th of September.
And on that day at 3:00 PM, the Committee will hold an informal meeting with state parties to the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances and will present its concluding observation on the country reports that it was that were reviewed during the session.
And this is Armenia, Belize, Gabon and Lizoto.
And that's what I had for you, except I wanted to remind you that tomorrow is International Day of Sign Language, an important day for all of us.
We try to strengthen and to be as much inclusive of sign language in all our meetings as we can.
So let's celebrate tomorrow, this important day.
Oh, John, sorry, I don't know for whom is the question, but I give you the floor.
John Zaracos says again, yes, it's for Doctor Zachary.
Actually, I'd like to use her expertise to give us some advice.
You mentioned earlier about the spread of vector diseases in temperate climates.
What's your advice when you've got the tiger mosquito outbreaks in major buildings like the Palaidonacion do it yourself vector control or should it be residual spraying as well?
Thank you I know this is an interested questions because journalists as much as ours and everybody else says it was said by Jeremy in Geneva were subject to attacks of mosquitoes in the pallet and it's really a a complicated situation sometimes when you work here.
Please thank you.
I mean, I, I, there are authorities and decision makers who will actually decide on the measures to be put in place in the ballet.
I think individually, of course, we need to take precautions because those mosquitoes may be flying outside of the ballet too.
And so obviously, you know, using repellent is always for a good cause too.
But on what would be done inside the ballet, I wouldn't really want to speak on behalf of the management that, but you know, rest assured that the best available, you know, measures, guidance on how to to implement them are actually available and, you know, fully endorsed also by by W and the Geneva health authorities.
[Other language spoken]
And that gives me the opportunity to all to remind all colleagues the kind of recommendations that we have been sharing with you on the issue of mosquitoes.
Of course, clean offices help and above all, offices without excess water implants also help inadequate daily waste management.
All this can contribute to mosquito proliferation and hygiene issues.
I look at the doctor.
So the advices that we have been sharing with you is keep windows closed, particularly overnight to help prevent mosquitoes from entering and proliferating, avoid excess water is implants, ensure plants are properly managed as standing water can contribute to mosquito proliferation too.
I'm sure you will agree with me on this and ensure waste is emptied and properly sorted on a daily basis.
Individual office bins may be removed as parts of efforts to improve this waste management and sorting.
So that is the recommendation that we have shared with you.
But John, thank you very much.
To ask for the scientific guidelines on this issue that concerns us all.
So I'd like to stress the importance of following these guidelines and recommendations.
Thank you very much.
I don't see any other hand.
So thanks to our colleagues who have participated and we'll see you on Friday.
[Other language spoken]