UN Geneva - Multimedia Newsroom : UN Geneva Press Briefing

[Other language spoken]

Thank you for joining us here at the United Nations office at Geneva today, Tuesday, the 6th of October.

We have, as usual, an important agenda for you.

We have a number of announcements from WMO, from UN, A/C E, from ITUWHO, and we have a number of important topics as well, with the briefers joining us remotely on the situation in Darfur.

And we'll start with Darfur on the health needs and then Ebola in the Congo in the DRC, and then humanitarian needs in Djibouti vis a vis the situation in Yemen.

Before we get to that, let me just recite from a statement which you will have received last night concerning the three years since the attacks of seven October 2023.

So tomorrow marks this grim anniversary.

The Secretary General shared a message last night which we shared with you through which he notes that three years ago, on a 7 October 2023, Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups launched an abhorrent large scale terror attack on Israel, brutally killing more than 1200 Israelis and foreign nationals, the message reads.

It continues a total of 251 people were abducted and taken into Gaza Strip as hostages, including women, children and the elderly, and nothing can justify these atrocities, Secretary General notes.

The Secretary General also notes that three years on, the pain of seven October endures for the family who lost loved ones, for survivors, for all those who lose lives will were forever changed.

I mourn those who were killed in the attacks and those who died in captivity.

Their suffering in the enduring grief of their families must never be forgotten, the Secretary General mentions.

It just goes on to say that the devastating hostilities that followed have inflicted until sufferings on Palestinians in Gaza, including massive loss of life, displacement and destruction, civilians continue to endure intolerable conditions.

Their suffering too demands an end now.

Secretary General urges all parties to implement their commitments in full in advance to the next phase of the ceasefire on the basis of the comprehensive plan to end the Gaza conflict.

There's much more in the statement which again, we shared with you, so please do consult that.

It was sent late last night.

Before we go on to our briefers, I also just want to mention very briefly that the Secretary General landed in Islamabad and he just spoke to the spoke to the media.

I'll share with you as soon as we have it.

And his remarks to the media, through which, among other things, he says that Pakistan, he praised Pakistan as a source of solidarity and solutions and highlighted its important role in multilateralism, diplomacy and regional peace.

His remarks conclude to say that the United Nations stands with the people of Pakistan and thanking Pakistan for standing up for the world.

There's a lot more rich information in that statement, which we will share with you momentarily.

I have other announcements.

We'll wait for the end of this briefing to to share those with you.

But without further ado, I'd like to turn now to Christian.

Maybe if Christian, you're online, if you can introduce your speaker who's joining us from Khartoum.

Over to you, Christian.

Yes, and thank you very much, Rwandan colleagues, for letting us start with this.

We'll have our head of The Who Country office in Sudan, The Who representative, Doctor Abdi Nasir Abu Baker.

And he will be talking about therefore, where the scale of health needs far exceeds available resources as he has just come from a trip from there.

[Other language spoken]

Well, thank you very much, Christian, and thank you very much, colleagues.

Good morning to all of you.

I think I have, you know, as colleagues Christian have said that I have just returned from Darfur after spending ten days actually in Darfur and I visited in West Darfur, S Darfur, Central Darfur and also Northern Darfur.

And before Darfur also I visited Northern State, Sartor, Abort Sudan.

And during my visit in all these states, actually, I had an opportunity to visit hospitals, Primary Health care facilities, warehouses, laboratories and other facilities that are serving for the people who are mostly in need.

Everywhere that I went and every place I visited, I witnessed an extreme humanitarian and health needs, but I also witnessed a resilience of commitment beyond what awards can describe in those areas, especially Darfur.

Nowhere, nowhere was this clearer than in Tarila, which is the largest one settlement of IDP camps in Sudan.

Maybe in the region or maybe in Africa, where the scale of human humanitarian and health needs actually far exceeds the resources and response capacity available in the ground.

Kamila now is home to more than 700,000 displaced people across Darfur.

The UN Orchard estimates that 5.6 million people actually are displaced, representing 65% of all internal displaced people in Sudan.

I spoke, I had an opportunity to speak to the mothers, fathers, children, grandparents and they all described, you know, despite the hardship, that they welcomed me first with a smile.

They spoke of their hopes, better access to health care, more food, education and a stable future free from fear and also war.

I spoke to the healthcare workers in different facilities, including only psychiatrist working in North Darfur, especially in Tarila.

He did not ask more money, he did not ask about promotion, he did not ask you know, better working environment or even a recognition about the great work that he's doing.

He only asked for adequate supply of medicine of medicine especially for for mental health patients and training for colleagues who could not provide psychosocial support, counselling and health share his works.

This workload I met also healthy partners too during mine because there's a vibrant healthy cluster partners in Towila but also in other states.

More than 23 partners actually are providing healthcare services in Towila camp and outside the camp as well.

Yet they are struggling to meet the mountain needs.

Medical supplies, training, personnel are in short supply, referral system within and outside the camp are limited, the shield size of the population in need are overwhelmed and the responsive capacity on the ground is very limited.

With the new arrivals reaching to Towila every day, the demand for health, nutrition, protection and other humanitarian services continue to grow, requiring that immediate scale of support and resources.

Towila is most extreme example, but it's not isolated.

Across Darfur, Kordofan regions as well as other parts of Sudan, healthy facilities are poorly stopped for critical life saving medicine.

Healthcare workers have viewed those who remain work under extreme difficult conditions, including fear of their own safety.

Malnutrition is an increasing concern and is expected to worsen due to the poor rainfall, crop failure and also the anticipated impact of the strong and medium event in the region further increases the food insecurity.

The health risk among the vulnerable populations across Sudan and maybe about vision.

Access to mental health and psychosocial support and services remains extremely very limited in Darfur but also outside Darfur in court of fund and also in Darfur areas compounded by severe shortage of mental health medicine treatment for HIV, TB and neglected tropical diseases and other life saving healthy commodities need need to meet the growing health needs are also extremely short in supplies across WHO in Sudan is already supporting disease surveillance and outbreak response.

And as you know that there are multiple disease outbreaks concurrently happening in Sudan including measles.

We have a cholera, we have a dengue, we have a diphtheria among others as well.

We're also supporting healthy cholesterol coordination, Primary Health care and secondary health care, especially the preferable hospitals.

Nutrition interventions is stable especially for the stabilisation centres, vaccination and also the supply pipeline to fill the major gaps.

We have a strong and committed technical officers and teams actually working across to them and all different locality to better coordinate the response but also provide the need support that most vulnerable people need.

But what I saw made me one thing very clear, needs are growing faster than the resource available to meet them.

And I think what I have seen that the growing demand of, you know, urgent humanitarian and life saving intervention is actually is a massive and available resource in the ground where there's a WHO as well as other partners is very little.

We need to do more.

And I think we as a WHO are willing to do more, but we need more resources and also safe and any big access to those vulnerable people and different areas WHO have appeal.

At the beginning of the year 97,097 million, 97.7 million U.S.

dollar for its health emergency response in Sudan.

And so far what we have received is only $22 million, which is up about 22% leaving a gap of approximately 75,000,000.

And I think it's not only about the numbers, I think it's about whether the mothers can access care where they where the children fall.

I'll whether disease outbreaks can be prevented or responded in a timely manner, whether the patient has received the medicine they need on time, whether the healthcare workers have the supplies and support to keep serving the community they are in need.

The people in Darfur, as well as other parts of Sudan, are showing resilience.

Healthy workers are showing extra ordinary commitment.

Healthy partners are doing what they can.

But commitment alone cannot meet the needs.

It needs to be backed by resources.

The time to act for Sudan is now, and the time for peace is long overdue.

Thank you very much.

Doctor Abubakar Christian just said that the notes are on the way.

[Other language spoken]

Last month, it was reported that Sudan, sorry, the Darfur was experiencing its driest rainy season since the 1980s.

I just wondered if that has come to pass.

And have you been able to detect a direct link between that and the an impact on public health?

[Other language spoken]

Back to you, Doctor.

Thank you, Thank you very much.

Yes, indeed.

I think I have visited, I have travelled actually miles and miles and I have seen in my own eyes where there is no even rainfall, crops are failing actually.

And we feel the sense of food insecurity and also we feel the sense of potential high, you know, public health risk.

We already experienced cholera in the food.

But also S Kordofan also the cases are declining.

We have miseries, we have dictaria and we have indeed if the situation get worse, we will see more disease outbreaks and other more public health risk into that.

And we are each we are going to that direction.

Actually, the situation is getting worse by the day since there is not enough rain, there is not enough, you know, food security.

And that's why you see more and more people are coming to Towila camp actually every day in the sense of getting food, health services and protection.

Thank you very much, Doctor.

[Other language spoken]

Is this OK?

[Other language spoken]

Olivia's online, your colleague Reuters as well online.

[Other language spoken]

Hi there.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you very much for the briefing.

I just wanted to ask just to pick up on my colleague Robin's question there about, you know, the climate impact and and how that can map onto public health.

You were mentioning about the anticipated impact of the strong El Nino.

I mean, are you already seeing that as a, you know, as a direct impact?

You said there it's anticipated, but do you do you already start to see that in terms of the, you know, poor rainfall etcetera?

And, and just sorry, if you could just kind of spell out in simple terms what, what is the link as to why would that drive for example, you were mentioning there about cholera, about disease etcetera.

But it'd be really interesting just to get an explanation about what is the kind of health link.

And just my final question on funding is, is this kind of slow, I guess, trickle of funding impacting your ability, for example, to pre preposition stocks of medicines, etcetera, if needed, especially if you're having to, to help people with malnutrition, people who are suffering the knock on impact of, of dryness and, and potentially and you know, yes, thank you very much.

Thank you very much, Olivia.

Indeed.

I think he yes, you know, I have seen when I was travelling by Rd, but also talking to the officials and also talking to the HealthPartners.

I, you know, feel the sense that, you know, the, the initial sign of El Nino actually is visible because there's not enough rain across actually.

And you can see actually, when you drive miles and miles that the crops actually are failing because there's not enough rain.

And that's already leading actually to food insecurity, which already this area was food insecurity.

And that's why we've seen increased malnutrition.

Every hospital and facility that I visit actually, and I talk to the people and healthcare workers, we see that an increased number of malnutrition among children actually also are pregnant to women.

And that is a clear sign that you know what's going to come.

If we are the situation right now, it's already alarming.

If the climate change and El Nino continue to affect the individual and also the countries, the situation would get worse.

We'll see more put in security, more, you know, malnutrition and increase also a public health risk.

Now the question of the link actually how this is linked to, you know, healthy link.

If there is a food insecurity and there is a malnutrition, people will become more susceptible for disease emerging disease outbreaks.

As you know that in that area we have a a high epidemic brown diseases and they are just awaiting the opportunity actually to strike.

And people become the children, they become malnourished.

And also the vaccination, there's another point where not that many children, there are huge number of 0 doses among children.

So the all those children actually if they have a mild, if they experience malnutrition, they will be susceptible to vaccine preventable diseases.

And measles, we already have a thousands of measles cases actually that we conducted diphtheria and that we will see that more and more cases if the situation get worse.

So there is a clear link actually the impact of El Nino, the impact of foods insecurity, malnutrition, but also we have a great impact of you know, public health live.

And as you rightly said, yes, exactly 1 of the reason why we are appealing more resource actually is to proposition more supplies.

We need more, you know, nutritional supplies, we need more medical supplies to proposition and also cholera kids in the wake of high risk of a cholera that we may not have.

But also we really need to conduct the more vaccination campaigns actually where there is a as you know that the AFP cases that been documented in Sudan, most of them were from the floor.

So in order for us to prevent even, you know, body of cases, we really need to conduct more of the body of vaccination campaigns in addition to mixed dictaria and others.

So definitely we, you know, some of the resources that we are, I'm looking actually into proposition at the quite surprised, but also to scale up the services that's available to the people.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you very much, Doctor.

Are there further questions on the situation in Darfur?

Oh, I think Jamie has a question, but it's on another subject.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you, Doctor very much.

It's always good to see you and to connect with you and please do so as often as you can.

Thank you so very much.

Thank you very much, Police.

[Other language spoken]

Have a nice day and you thank you.

OK, before we go to our colleagues in Bunya in the DRC and Ricardo, thank you for your indulgence.

And we have a couple of questions for you, Christian on.

[Other language spoken]

Let's say we have Emma and then Jamie's online.

So starting with you, Emma, go ahead.

[Other language spoken]

How prepared is Kenya and how concerned are you about the local spread?

Obviously this is after the first reported case and death.

And I had a question about plague as well, but I can do it after Ebola if you prefer.

Yeah, indeed.

Let's take it one by one on the Ebola case likely imported from, from from DSC to Kenya.

We do not yet have more information.

Colleagues are working on it and with the Kenyan authorities with, with, with, with colleagues on the ground to get more details on that one.

This was certainly developed throughout the day.

[Other language spoken]

And that would be a good segue for our next briefers.

But I think you have another subject and I know you do as well.

[Other language spoken]

Go ahead quickly on on plague in Siberia, I'm wondering if you can confirm that the plague lab worker who died in Siberia actually died of the plague and just comment on how rare and how worrying that is.

[Other language spoken]

And I know a couple of colleagues have similar questions.

Let me let me do this, let me read out the statement we have so far and then go into some of the what we knows, what we have and then let's see if we have further questions.

So W Jo is aware of the reports that a laboratory worker in Ikutsk Oblast in the Russian Federation died of severe pneumonia on 2nd of October 2026.

To date, no cause of death has been officially confirmed and laboratory testing is reportedly underway.

All of the patients contacts have been reportedly been identified and are being monitored for illness, and none to date have shown symptoms of illness.

In accordance with Articles 9 and 10 of the International Health Regulations.

IHRWHO is in contact with the Russian health authorities to verify the event, its circumstances, the laboratory tests on the way and the results, the rationale for contact tracing and the health status of the contacts, as well as any potential international public health implication.

WHO has offered support if needed based on unofficial information available.

The public health risk, so the general population appears to be low.

The risk assessment will be updated once more information is available and we are actually expecting an EIS and event information already today and the disease outbreak news will follow soon.

So that's the statement.

[Other language spoken]

A woman who worked at the laboratory in Kutskoblas has died, and the authorities are looking into whether mnemonic plague caused her death.

Her workplace was an institute that studies dangerous pathogens, including plague, in a part of Siberia where plague occurs naturally in wild animals.

The Russian authorities have identified the people she was in contact with, as we also had in the statement, and are monitoring them.

None of them has shown symptoms so far, according to the reports, and early test results to date are reportedly negative but unclear for which pathogens.

WHO hasn't yet received a formal notification about this through the IHR channels.

Under the IHR, each country assesses whether an event falls under the notifiable categories, and Russia may still be making that assessment.

On three October, WHO asked the Russian authorities for more informations.

The IHR ask countries to respond within 24 hours and we look forward to hearing from them.

Now just to complete this, let me go into the timeline we have so far.

On 2nd of October, the our internal monitoring system picked up the media reports of a suspected death from mnemonic plague in the Kutzka blast in the Russian Federation and started monitoring the situation.

On three October, WTO contacted the Russian health authorities to get more information under the IHR.

We've stayed in contact with them since then.

Between 3:00 and 5:00 October, WTO brought in technical experts at the regional office in Copenhagen and the WTO headquarters in Geneva, including specialists in higher threats Adagens.

The WTO initial risk assessment from the information available estimates that the risk to be moderate to low for Akutsk, a low risk for the Russian Federation as a whole, and very low for the WTO European region.

We will update the assessment as more information comes in.

W Jo is now following up the situation closely, working with the headquarters to keep other information, other countries informed.

That's our primary task and ready to support the Russian authorities if they ask.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you, Christian.

Lots of important information packed in there and I trust that you will be sharing that with our colleagues if you haven't already.

Emma, are you OK digesting that?

Let's turn to Jamie as I think you may have a question on this subject as well.

If you still have 1:00 and after that, in fact.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you, Rolando.

Thank you, Christian.

Yeah, very, very important, informative.

Just a couple of quick follow-ups, just gleaning from what you said, who has not been requested by the Russian authorities to participate in any way and take up your, your offer for support.

So you don't have any people on site in Russia have been invited to come to Russia, is that correct?

According to the information that I have at this point, that's correct.

[Other language spoken]

The the have any other countries using the IHR been reaching out to you or to Russia about there any concerns?

Various national focal points of globally have been using this mechanism.

The IHR to ask W Joe For more information, which is the common and the general way of of doing this.

Hence the colleagues are working on this.

What I said before the EIS, the increment into event information side to update that which is a it's a password protected side had four partners and national authorities in order to update them with the latest events and which is then typically followed by a a public Don on the disease outbreak news.

[Other language spoken]

And I have what just one little last question.

Can you confirm that several hospitals in Irkutsk have been put on quarantine in connection with this on top of the one where the woman was treated in the city of the Schillerhof outside of Irkutsk.

Can you can you confirm about the other hospitals?

I don't have that information, Jimmy.

[Other language spoken]

Thanks very much, Christian.

Yeah, Jeremy, same subject, I guess just just to make sure I got that right.

WHO assess the risk for the people there not in Russia, but in the place as moderate to low.

Is that what you said?

[Other language spoken]

So I should I repeat the whole part.

So let me let me just repeat that whole phrase in case it was not not clear.

So W jobs, initial risk assessment from the information available estimates the risk to be moderate to low for Akutsk, low for the Russian Federation as a whole and very low for the European region.

I think that's clear colleagues.

[Other language spoken]

All right.

Thank you, John on John Zaracos is on the same subject.

[Other language spoken]

Yes, good morning Christian.

Just a follow up to the questions by my colleagues.

This anti this facility, is that part of the list of the bio security facilities notified to The Who and what level of security does it have?

Is it BSL 3 or 4?

And is has it been involved in bio defence research in the past?

[Other language spoken]

So I believe it is part of that network as as you mentioned, but I do not have further information on the details of the lab or the the category.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you so much Christian.

This is a moving story colleagues and of course you can rely on Christian update you throughout the day.

So thanks very much for taking those questions.

OK, let's then move back to our programme, which is moving to the African continent to DRC in particular, more specific to Bunya, where we have colleagues from the UNICEF joining us with very grateful for them.

But I'll throw it to you, Ricardo, to introduce our colleagues joining us.

[Other language spoken]

Thanks, Rolando.

[Other language spoken]

I'm going to pass on now to my colleague Halimatu Amadu.

She's the UNICEF Acting Chief of Communication in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and she'll be talking about how Ebola is taking away the people children depend so much on and therefore unravelling their lives.

Over to you, Harley, thanks for waiting.

Thank you for welcoming me.

Matthew Mccuan, have you the travelling?

More than 1900 children have lost one or both parents or caregivers are being separated from the Den in Democratic Republic of Congo since the outbreak was declared in May this year.

In Ituri, 1581 children in North Kivu 322.

And these are the children we know about because these figures cover only the area where UNICEF works with social affairs teams in the affected provinces.

Lena is one of them.

She's only 7 month old.

Her mother died and her father is missing.

I met her last week at a UNICEF supported nursery in Bunya, next to an Ebola treatment centre.

Her grandfather lives nearby.

He has already come to see her twice and the team hopes that they will be soon together.

Faiza, the nursery supervisor, told me every time a child walks through the door, we hold on to the same hope that the parent will recover and the family will be remitted.

Theza also told me about Rafael, an 8 month old who survived Ebola but lost eight members of his family.

He stayed at the nursery for more than three weeks until his older brother would take him home.

Ebola takes the people children depends on and unravels their lives.

The parents fall I'll a child may be exposed.

The parent is taken for treatment or dies at the very moment a child must need someone.

Fear and stigma can keep relatives and neighbours away.

And children are not only losing their parents, they're also losing their own lives.

As of 29th September, at least 2017 children had been confirmed with Ebola.

[Other language spoken]

Children make up just one in 4 confirmed case yes, but around I'm sorry Halimatu you're your connection is a little bit maybe just repeat the youngest it's even in the world first I'm sorry we're we're having difficult connecting with you.

It was 6 in 10.

[Other language spoken]

Sorry.

Could you repeat the maybe the last two sent?

Yes, we lost the last couple of sentences.

You broke up unfortunately.

If you could maybe try just repeat the last two sentences only.

[Other language spoken]

As of 29 September, at least 2017 children had been confirmed with Ebola.

At least 1062 have died.

Children make up just over one in four confirmed cases, but around one in three deaths.

For the youngest, it's even worse.

7 in 10 children under 5 with confirm Ebola have died.

[Other language spoken]

Many die before the virus is ever detected, before they ever reached treatment.

The outbreak persists in Itery and in North Kivu.

These provinces are already home for more than 4 million displaced people.

[Other language spoken]

I was there with the director of emergency, Lucia and me last week, next to the Ebola treatment centre.

We support 12 nurseries in the whole country.

They care for babies and young children and they have been exposed to The Who, have been exposed to the virus or on their own, or whose parents are in treatment.

Children are fed, they are held, they are cared for.

They are also watched closely so that if symptoms appear, they get paediatric care fast.

Nema was one of the caregiver in a medical treatment.

She caught Ebola while working as a paediatric intern and she survived.

She lost doctors, nurses, including her supervisor to the virus.

Now she cares for the children the virus has left on their own.

On their tent at the nursery, children were playing and laughing.

Nema told me that when families are reunited, there are real moments of joy.

This is what a nursery does.

It keeps a child safe, but it also gives them something to hold them, a routine, a chance to be a child again.

That's why UNICEF is calling for nursery at every Ebola treatment centre.

We need to maintain essential services so that children are detected early, referred quickly to the Ebola care and protected from dying of other common childhood diseases.

We are calling for quality patriotic care inside treatment centres for more social workers in hotspots area.

We also need to support to trace families to help relatives who take children in to get children back to school.

UNICEF needs 113.4 million for it's Ebola response in DRC.

So far we have received just over the third.

On the way back from the nursery, I saw a scene changing.

I saw where vendors had lined up coffins along roadside.

A little farther ahead.

The family worked slowly to a burial that afternoon.

I saw life and death side by side.

Later at school, a child said something I will not forget.

Ebola is angry.

Those 3 words carried all the fear and confusion this outbreak has placed on children.

With the right support.

No child should have to face this alone.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you very much, Halimatu.

Very sobering information you just shared with us.

[Other language spoken]

Yes, there are.

[Other language spoken]

But doesn't concern their legislation.

The the reticence, the missions, no, no community, a common, simple, the transmission.

For example, in the the truth confessional religious is you say, for example, the modern, the the the the family, the ferapen la anantermo securis merci mercier ofu le Martu.

[Other language spoken]

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

So thank you very, very much for joining us, Halimatu, in keeping the spotlight bright on this situation, which persists as you, as you rightly said, so and do join us at any point in time.

So thank you so very much and for the important work you're doing on the situation in particular.

OK, colleagues, we're going to move.

We're going to, well, we're going to move north.

Now we're going to speak to the situation in Djibouti vis a vis the situation in Yemen.

So Omondi's from IOM is with us.

He's going to introduce a colleague joining us from Djibouti.

[Other language spoken]

Thanks so much, Orlando.

Just to introduce to you Alexander, who is the Chief of Mission for Djibouti.

He will be speaking to us on the situation in Djibouti and also trying to shed a light on the dire humanitarian situation in Djibouti amidst the arrival in Yemen and movements along the eastern route.

Over to you, Alex.

Thank you very much.

[Other language spoken]

Djibouti is facing overlapping emergencies.

We see people flying the conflict in Yemen that are arriving in Djibouti's shore.

In just the past three weeks, more than 3700 refugees have reached the country after a dangerous crossing of the Red Sea.

But this is only one part of what is currently happening in the country.

At the same time, migrants travelling along the eastern route, mainly from Ethiopia, are increasingly becoming stranded in the country.

Despite the conflict in Yemen, migrants are still making the journey.

Since 10th September, more than 20,000 incoming movements to Djibouti from Ethiopia have been observed by IOM Displacement Tracking Matrix.

At the same time, migrants arrival from Yemen are being observed as the returns to their home country through Djibouti.

Since the 10th of September, IOM has recorded 539 returning Ethiopian migrants arriving in Djibouti from Yemen.

The returns happen under extremely hazardous journeys, often under dangerous conditions that leave migrants vulnerable to exploitation and violence.

Hobok in Djibouti sits along the eastern route, the migration corridor connecting the Horn of Africa with Yemen on the Gulf and one of the busiest and most dangerous migration world route in the world.

Djibouti is therefore confronting movements in both directions.

We see people fleeing Yemen that are arriving as refugees, migrants that continue to travel toward Yemen, and other migrants that are returning.

An increasing number of migrants are currently getting stranded along the way.

We as AUM are particularly concerned about migrants stranded on Djibouti's road and in its deserts, often without access to basic services.

Between the 20 and the 30th of September, more than 3000 stranded migrants were observed along migrated routes in the country.

They face degradation, exhaustion and shortage of food and water.

They are exposed to very serious risks and that the routes become longer and more difficult.

Reaching migrants in IT is becoming extremely complexed.

IOM is already providing stranded migrants with immediate assistance, including food and water, and transferring those who request assisted voluntary returns to our migrants Migration transit centres.

But migrant migrants are increasingly using secondary routes, making some of those who need assistance out of reach.

The humanitarian assistance, therefore must address both realities.

The needs for migrants stranded in Djibouti include water, food, healthcare, protection and dignity kits for women and girls.

On the other hand, vulnerable migrants who choose to return home needs access to safe, voluntary routine assistance.

Djibouti authorities have responded rapidly, but the scale and the complexity of these needs are stretching existing resources and services.

More support is needed for people arriving from Yemen, for migrants in distress and for the communities in a bug that are receiving them.

This is why international solidarity is urgently needed.

The country is now responding to people moving in different directions for different reasons, but often facing the same immediate reality.

They need safety, they need protection and they need basic assistance.

Our priority as AOM and our commitment is to make sure that those who are stranded arriving indeed can receive that support wherever along these routes we're able to reach them.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you very much, Alexander.

Let's turn to you colleagues, should you have any questions.

[Other language spoken]

I just would like a little bit more context please on why more coming from Ethiopia right now.

I assume it's to do with the unsettled situation in Tigre, but if you could just elaborate and have any actually died that you know of stranded in the desert?

And then secondly, more broadly on Yemen, I was just wondering if there were updated figures for displacement there.

Have we reached that 200,000 threshold?

[Other language spoken]

Thanks for the question.

So we've not seen an increased of movement since the, I mean evolving situation in Ethiopia.

We know that the reason, the main reason for which they're living and I mean they're diverse, some of them, most of them are economical reasons, some express fears about what's currently happening in the countries.

[Other language spoken]

But in terms of movement flows, we've not seen an increased of movement from Ethiopia as compared to the flows that we used to see before.

We are able to reach some of these migrants.

What's shocking and very surprising to us is that for most of them, they are not aware but the the current situation in Yemen or the evolving situation in Yemen.

They hear that there is conflicts in the in Yemen, but they don't have the details about the about what is currently happening in the country.

So we're trying to do from our side some information sharing by explaining that currently in Yemen you have Yemeni were fleeing the country to seek refuge in Djibouti.

But the determination of the migrants that we were able to access and talk with is it seems like nothing can change currently their their weakness to leave their countries with the goal to reach not Yemen, but the Gulf, mostly Saudi Arabia and other countries within the Gulf for a better life.

We've heard reports of migrants dying because of exhaustions in the desert where they were stranded.

We are not able to access this group of people directly.

In this specific case, it happens in Balro, which is close to the border of Ethiopia.

Stranded migrants reach the authorities to seek assistance and the authorities ask alien to provide food and water.

So we still have this connection with the authorities.

When they see migrants in distress, they will call IOM for us to be able to access them.

So yes, migrants unfortunately have dying because of the situation, we are not able to confirm the exact figures of as of today over.

[Other language spoken]

And just to add on the number of displacement in Yemen, what we have currently as of the 4th of October is 184,000 people who have been displaced.

We do the roundup for the DTM on a weekly basis and hopefully we'll have a more updated figure by Friday.

[Other language spoken]

Mondi, we have another question and yes, AFP go ahead.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you for taking my question.

You say that 20,000 people have left Ethiopia.

Yes, we, we have an echo, sorry, we have 10 duty since 10 of September.

And could you say that the situation is not evolving?

Could you explain how many people have left Ethiopia then since January to have an idea of, of the, of the how many people are fleeing the this country because 20,000 people since 10 September, It's a lot.

And if you could clarify if those are migrants or only Ethiopian people fleeing?

[Other language spoken]

Alex, did you get the full question?

Because there was a bit of interference at the beginning if you have maybe and yes, now we can hear you clear.

If you don't mind repeating the first part of your question, I think that would be helpful.

[Other language spoken]

And yes, if you can repeat the beginning of your question because there were some echo from your microphone.

Yes, sorry.

So I will repeat my question.

So it's about the 20,000 people who left Ethiopia going to Djibouti since then of September.

You say that on the previous question that the situation hasn't evolved, It's not an evolving situation.

So how many people have been fleeing Ethiopia since January?

That would give us a broader idea.

And is it only people from Ethiopia, Ethiopian people or is it also other nationalities?

[Other language spoken]

Let me, I will have to go back with this past month tracking matrix collects to give you an exact figure.

So what I would suggest is like just after through my colleagues in Geneva, we'll make sure that we provide you this exact figure.

Since January, there is some cross checking that we need to do.

Usually the way a displacement tracking mechanism is organised in the region that require that we cross check informations with with different countries in Yemen when we are able to still do this type of exercise in Yemen.

But that's so we've colleagues who are working in the board of Ethiopia.

So I don't want to give you a wrong figures.

If you allow me right after this call, we'll make sure that we send you the correct information.

[Other language spoken]

So indeed, thank you very much for that.

Alexander, I don't see further questions for you.

Just double checking that's not the case.

So thank you so very much.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you for joining us here, Alexander, and thanks for the great work you're doing, of course, as always.

[Other language spoken]

I'm going to looking at my 3 colleagues sitting in the 3rd and 4th rows.

If I can ask you to join me up here, some announcements we have for you.

We have Claire from WMO, Thomas from UNECE and David from ITU.

And maybe while you're coming up, maybe we can go quickly to Christian who's been waiting as well.

So maybe, Christian, if you can go to your announcements while our colleagues are getting settled in.

Yeah, thank you very much, Rolando.

And before I go into the announcement, actually I need to come back on the story we just discussed with the suspected plague.

Point is the Russian authorities are apparently just while we were having the briefing come come back to our colleagues and let me just look into the main thing here because that's important.

The a part being as we had reported that they hadn't replied yet, they now have and a second just without too many details, but what I have is maybe important.

[Other language spoken]

So an epidemiological investigation was conducted following the identification of a case of community acquired pneumonia in an employee of the Ilkutsk Order of the Red Banner of Labour Scientific Research Anti Plague Institute of Siberia and the Far East.

The illness initially presented as a typical acute respiratory viral infection.

I repeat, the illness initially presented as a typical acute respiratory viral infection.

According to the test results, no pathogens of dangerous infectious diseases were detected among any of the contacts.

So that's from the the message received from the Russian authorities from the focal point just now.

And let me quickly go into our two announcements.

One second, sorry, it's all a bit on the fly today.

So first, this afternoon there is the embargoed virtual press briefing on the launch of the child and adolescent obesity guidelines.

That's this afternoon at 1500 hours.

The embargo of this briefing and The Associated Press material will is until Wednesday 9:00 AM.

So tomorrow morning, 9:00 AM Central European summer time.

Still And last but not least, we have on Tuesday, on Thursday 8 October, new global road map to tackle pregnancy hypertension, a leading cause of maternal mortality.

This will come as a press release On that day, Double Joe will launch a new global road map and it sets out the global agenda to accelerate prevention, early detection, defective management of conditions, including pretty clamps here and the clamps here, which remain major causes of maternal and newborn illness and death worldwide.

That's for Thursday.

And the other one was the embargo briefing for today.

Thanks for the space, Rolando.

Of course, Christian, thanks for for these important announcements and for the previous commentary.

And of course, we'll follow, we'll continue to follow the story in the Russian Federation.

So thanks very much.

[Other language spoken]

Claire is here for a couple with a couple of announcements from WMO.

Yes, good morning, everybody.

The first Global Heat Forum has opened today in Bangkok and obviously Bangkok has been in the news recently because of the the terrible flooding.

But we are there to talk about heat.

There's nearly 700 people at this event and why is the World Meteorological Organisation involved?

We are one of the Co sponsors of the Global Heat Health Information Network which is organising this event.

As we've seen this year from the many record-breaking temperatures that we've had extreme heat, it's not just a health problem, it really does have a cascading impact across all layers of society.

So this forum is really bringing together many, many different experts from, you know, from, from, from health, urban city planners, government officials, meteorologists, philanthropists, decision makers, business leaders, importantly, bringing everybody under one roof to, you know, just to talk about the solutions that we've got and the solutions that we need and the investment that we need.

There was a the UN secretary general who two years ago issued a call to action on extreme heat.

He delivered a statement to the opening event.

And he said, today I'm calling on every city to build lasting defences against extreme heat.

That means every part of government, health, housing, energy and transport working as one and it means heat action action plans in place by 2030.

So that was the message from the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres.

WMO Secretary General Celeste Salo gave a keynote presentation and she will be there I think for the next 4 days meeting with the decision makers and she said and you have all of this information in the press release.

[Other language spoken]

At WMO we know from experience that El Nino literally turns up the heat.

New maximum daytime and minimum overnight temperature records are not just a figure on the thermometer.

Our bodies, our infrastructure, our farms and our homes are not designed for the temperatures we are seeing.

Prevention begins before the emergency.

A forecast must give health services time to prepare employers, time to adjust working hours and communities time to reach those most at risk.

So we've sent out the press release.

You should have it in your inboxes.

If you've got any questions, I can connect you with people in Bangkok.

And that transitions me into the next announcement.

On Thursday we will be releasing the monthly global seasonal climate update.

This is so 4 * a year.

WMO releases the full El Nino update and in between we have the monthly, monthly update, which you know, talks about El Nino factors in other climate drivers as well.

That will be released on Thursday.

We'll send you the press release under embargo tomorrow, hopefully in, in in the main UN languages if and we're not having a press conference on it.

But if you do have any questions need interviews, please let me let me know.

[Other language spoken]

Do we have questions for Claire?

It was crystal clear.

So thank you so very much.

Turning on my left, Thomas, easy.

[Other language spoken]

From affordable housing and safe and sustainable mobility to climate resilience, as we've just heard, and inclusive public spaces, local governments and cities are on the front line in addressing some of the major challenges we faced and indeed in turning commitments made at the global level into tangible results for people on the ground.

Next week in Geneva, we have some 80 city leaders coming together.

That's from over 50 countries for the UN Forum of Mayors.

And this is the sixth meeting of the forum that's taking place on the 12th and 13th of October this year.

The forum will be hosted in Waipo headquarters across the square.

Just a note for the accredited press that your UN accreditation here will work as normal on site.

So, as a unique platform within the UN system, the form of Mayors connects local and national authorities within an intergovernmental framework, contributing to a more networked and inclusive multilateralism.

The form of Mayors, as a reminder, was established by UNECE in 2020.

So, under this year's forum, Cities Delivering for a Sustainable future, the forum will focus on the local implementation of key targets of Sustainable Development Goal 11, which is all about cities and communities.

Specifically, mayors will exchange experiences and best practises on the following topics Sustainable mobility and road safety, innovation and creativity, green cities and Environmental Quality, inclusive planning and urban resilience, sustainable, adequate and affordable housing and cultural and natural heritage protection.

Mayors will also adopt an outcome document reflecting their shared priorities and calling for enabling frameworks for local governments to fulfil their essential role in delivering A sustainable future.

To give you an indication of the breadth of cities that will participate.

So from the Pan European region and and North America.

[Other language spoken]

The forum will also welcome mayors and deputies from other regions.

And to give you a few examples, we have Buenos Aires, Dwoala, Nairobi, Saida, Windhoek, Ramallah, Dakar, Colombo and Harare.

We'll also have some side events focusing on disability inclusion and women mayors.

The forum, as you know, is convened by UNECE.

And as a reminder, again, don't show up here in the ballet, but come over to join us in Wiper headquarters.

And of course, we remain available to facilitate any interviews, any contacts that you might have with cities.

Thank you very much.

Very useful information.

Also, thanks for mentioning the the access for media procedure, which is pretty straightforward.

So thanks very much.

Questions for Thomas.

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

Last but certainly not least, David ITU, thank you.

A media advisory has already been sent.

So just a quick reminder that media registration is open for ITU's Planet Potentially Conference 2026, which is set to take place in Doha, Qatar from 9 to 27 November.

The Planet Potentially Conference, PP 26 this year, is ITU's highest policy making body.

It meets every four years.

At PP 26, Member states will elect IT US 5 leadership positions, the Secretary General, Deputy Secretary General and the directors of its three bureaus, Telecommunication, Excuse Me, Radio Communications, Telecommunications Standardisation and the Telecommunication Development Bureau.

[Other language spoken]

PP 26 will also decide the Member states to serve on the ITU Council and the member states that will serve on the Radio Regulations Board, the RRB.

The conference reviews the Union's general policies and will approve its strategic and financial plans for managing the world's world world's radio frequency spectrum, developing technology standards and advancing digital development.

For accreditation, there's a two-part process for the UN press corps.

It would start with sending an e-mail to press Reg at ITU dot INT and once ITU confirms your media accreditation, all reporters would then have to register directly for an E visa through Qatar's individualised system.

Full instructions are provided during the accreditation process and full information is available on the ITU PP26 website.

Thank you so very much David.

Any points?

[Other language spoken]

Is it web streamed is the first question.

And secondly, I looked at the programme but I couldn't see it.

Could you tell us the key dates for the different elections because it's a long conference.

And could you confirm whether Doreen Bogdan Martin is actually being challenged in her election, her bid for re election?

[Other language spoken]

OK, I'll start, maybe I'll start in reverse.

All the information relative to the elections and the candidates is fully available and updated on IT U.S.

[Other language spoken]

So if you have access to the website, I would I would refer you to the websites.

There's an elections tab and all the current candidacies from all 5 positions are there and I can assure you they're up to date as it relates to the programme.

There's also a there will be, if not already, there will be a programme online that will provide information on the calendar.

Not all of those sessions will be open to reporters, but those that are, we'll make sure we flag to you and we'll make sure we also give you the the relevant dates for that.

The elections would take place toward the latter part of the first week of PP, but I would like to confirm the exact dates with you and get those to you call Claire.

OK, thanks very much, David.

[Other language spoken]

Oh, sorry, Robin, go ahead.

[Other language spoken]

Just to ask, what would be the registration process for non UN press?

So people based in Qatar, right.

So if they, if you have colleagues for instance, are not accredited to, to the UN, they would need to go to our online portal first for the ITU.

There's a link that's in the media advisory that was sent that would then come to us.

They would require some documentation that you would not require as a, as a UN accredited correspondent.

It would be reviewed and presumably it would be the accreditation would be issued by ITU.

Once it's issued by ITU, it would then that reporter would then have to go directly to a link that will be provided in Qatar for registering for an E visa.

So it's a 2 step process that begins with the link that was provided in the media advisory and then is handed over to the system that's operated by the government of Qatar, who is the host country for PP 26, represented by its CRA, its communications regulatory authority.

[Other language spoken]

I think we're clear.

Thank you very much, Claire Thomas.

David, as always, for coming up here and joining me for these announcements.

I have a few of my own.

Before we wrap up.

I mentioned at the start of the briefing the statements that the important statement we shared with you in connection with the 7th of October events, the 3rd anniversary three years since the attacks on the seven of October.

So do consult that.

I also refer to remarks delivered by the Secretary General, Antonio Guterres to the media in Pakistan upon his arrival there.

The Secretary General has a important programme whilst in Pakistan.

Mr Guterres will be expected to meet with various senior government officials, including with the Prime Minister Mohammad Shehbaz Sharif, as well as the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Khadar, and also meet with the President of Pakistan, Asif Ali Zardari.

Secretary General will visit the headquarters of the United Nations Military Observer Group, otherwise known as Anmagip, in India and Pakistan, excuse me, which has been established for many, many years since 1949 if I'm not mistaken.

The visit will also be an opportunity for the Secretary General to discuss Pakistan's diplomatic and mediation efforts between the United States and Iran, including constructive role in supporting negotiations between the two countries.

We'll certainly keep you informed of his activities while he's in Pakistan this week.

In terms of well, there's another announcement from the region which actually we shared with you yesterday.

It's a note to correspondence based on the the visit of our Under Secretary General for Political and Peace Building Affairs, Miss Rosemary De Carlo on her visit to Afghanistan, which wrapped up.

So do take a look at that, at that important readout of her meetings, or rather her visit to Afghanistan a few days ago.

Press conferences, 2 press conferences to announce one this coming Thursday, the 8th of October at 10 AM.

In this room we have the Universal Postal Union, which is launching its report, the release of the State of the Postal Sector Report for 2026, which will provide a glimpse at the cost of disjointed postal import policies and points to concrete solutions to build resilience in this new trade environment.

So that's at 10 AM this coming Thursday, the 8th of October.

[Other language spoken]

The embargo will be lifted Friday morning at 9:00 AM.

Another press conference is coming Friday at 9:30.

Ahead of this regular briefing is with the UN Trade and Development to launch their trade and development report for 2026.

The acting Secretary General, Pedro Manuel Moreno will be here to brief you along with Miss Anastasia Nesvatalova, excuse me, who is the head of Macroeconomic and Development Policies Branch.

So important to report being launched this coming Friday at a press conference at 9:30.

[Other language spoken]

We have the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, Sidda, reviewing Kazakhstan today.

Later this week, they'll review the situation in Cook Islands, Kenya and Moldova.

And as you well know, colleagues, the Human Rights Council continues second day of voting on a slew of resolutions.

They began yesterday afternoon.

I believe there were 20 remaining for action between today and tomorrow to consult the update that Pascal shared with you.

Lots of information in there, almost done.

Just to mention another meeting.

You've heard a lot about upcoming meetings.

Here's another one for you.

We have CETES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, otherwise known as CETES.

They are their standing committee.

The CETES Standing Committee will be meeting between 2:00 and 6:00 November at the CICG, the Centre, the International Centre of, of conferences across the across the way important gathering and we will be sharing with you a media advisory.

They expect some 500 participants to discuss key issues concerning international trade and wildlife, including compliance, enforcement, regulation and species conservation.

So we'll share details with you and they will be holding a press conference at some point and we'll share that information with you.

And I think that we'll know.

There's one last note.

In fact, we don't have an international observance today, but we have a, a, a weak World Space Week is this week.

[Other language spoken]

It's from 4:00 to 10 October.

And it was through the resolution of the General Assembly passed in six December of 1999, which proclaimed Internet World Space Week to celebrate the contributions of space scientific technology to the betterment of the human condition.

So we observe World Space Week this week and that's all I have.

If you don't have questions for me, I bid you a good afternoon and we'll see you here this coming Friday.

[Other language spoken]

UN Geneva Press Briefing - 06 October 2026