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, Friday, the 16th of October.

We have, as always, an important agenda for you on the podium.

We have Ricardo Pirez of UNICEF who's going to speak to the situation of the of children in Gaza momentarily.

We also have connected online colleagues from the IOM who will speak to the situation in Ukraine, particularly with the winter quickly advancing in the situation in Ukraine.

And we also have our colleague from UNHCR who will be joining me here on the podium shortly to talk about the XCOM, UNHCR wrapping up today.

Lastly, we'll also have a colleague joining me momentarily to talk about the Sudan, the upcoming talks on Sudan, which will be taking place next week, which we've already briefed you on.

But without further ado, I turn to you at Ricardo for your briefing on Gaza.

Thank you, Rolando.

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In the last two weeks in Gaza, despite an agreed ceasefire, 5 boys and two girls have been reported killed and at least 33 children seriously injured in air strikes, drone strikes and gunfire across the Strip.

Another two boys died of injuries sustained previously and a little over one year on since the ceasefire was announced, more than 340 children have been reported killed and hundreds of others injured.

Not least for the families mourning the loss of their children.

Those terrible statistics do not equate with a ceasefire as most would imagine.

1A new UNICEF report released today lays bare the staggering human cost of a war that continues to devastate children, taking their lives, their childhoods and their futures.

Some 800,000 children are still displaced and most live in tents or dangerous bombed out buildings.

An estimated 60,000 children in Gaza have either lost one or both parents killed during the war or since the ceasefire.

Nearly every child needs some some form of mental health support to recover.

And now, as we once again approach winter, these children face a fourth year struggling to survive in dire conditions, damaged tents, a lack of sanitation and crowded together in whatever space families can find to create a makeshift home.

While the ceasefire has allowed for more humanitarian assistance and commercial supplies to enter into the Strip, and the food security has improved a little bit.

For children in Gaza, the consequences of war permeate every aspect of daily life.

Where they sleep, what they eat, whether they can learn, whether they feel safe enough to play, and whether the people they love are still by their side.

Like for 16 year old Norhan, who my colleagues met recently, her mom was shot while eight months pregnant.

She delivered her baby and then died the following day.

Norhan's father is living with a disability, so she now cares for her one year old sister, Narges, and takes full responsibility.

Her days are spent tidying their home, cooking and playing with Narges.

Her three other siblings attend the UNICEF Supported Learning Centre and Norhan helps them with their studies after class, which, as she says, means they might just have a future.

Since the ceasefire, more than 560,000 children have returned to learning, including in over 200 UNICEF Supported Learning Centres this year.

We've provided digital cash assistance, a lifeline to more than 380,000 people and we continue to supply safe water to 1.2 million people while removing solid waste and delivering medical supplies.

This work is critical and life saving, but it's far from restoring services as they should be.

Like sanitation networks and systems.

All six wastewater treatment plants are still out of service.

Most of the raw sewage gets pumped directly into the sea, affecting the coastline for miles around.

There are vast pools of water of wastewater such as the Sheikh Ratwan Stormwater basin that it's half full and with the winter rains fast approaching, we're running out of time to pump this out.

Just as we warned a year ago, contaminated water could overflow and inundate downstream residential residential areas with potentially life threatening impacts for children and their families.

Children have drowned in sewage contaminated water before.

The basin can be drained within two weeks, but the equipment needed hasn't yet been allowed by Israel to enter Gaza.

The needs are vast and funding falls far short of what is required.

That is precisely why flexible, predictable and sustained resources and funding are critical if we are to reach children and families.

Families who live in damaged shelters and overcrowded displacement sites are increasingly concerned about their children's survival through the harsh cold and rain that is coming.

But despite everything, children, as always, hold on to hope.

Noorhan's dream is to be a pharmacist.

She hasn't given up on that, but she doesn't expect it.

The future of Gaza's children want is 1 where they can't simply live their childhoods as is their right.

To make that a reality, children need a real ceasefire and the full implementation of the peace plan now.

Children need safety and protection, whether they are in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank as well.

In Israel, children need to recover, to begin to heal, to return to a normal life.

This requires member states to put children first.

This requires the Israeli authorities to enable the entry of the materials, equipment and technical supplies to rehabilitate infrastructure and restore essential services.

Without the entry of spare parts, generators and engine oil at scale, even the services still running now cannot be sustained.

It requires that parties to the conflict uphold the terms of the ceasefire and the UN Security Council Resolution 2803 and their obligations under international humanitarian law.

Above all, we need to listen to the voices of children in Gaza.

For children, recovery is about returning to school, spending time with friends and family, having a decent shelter that preserves their dignity, playing safely, receiving health care when they need it, and regaining a sense of stability and everyday childhood.

This is what the future must look like for Palestinian children.

Gaza's children have suffered far too much for far too long.

[Other language spoken]

Back to you, Roland.

[Other language spoken]

Heartbreaking stories, but very much important, important for us to hear these stories.

So thank you so much, Ricardo.

We'll start off with a question from Kyodo Furtura.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you very much for taking my question.

You mentioned I can do that there is that the food security has improved a little bit.

Could you, could you describe it a bit better like what changed and since when?

You also mentioned that contaminated water could overflow and go over residential areas.

But as we know, dual use material is strictly limited.

So are UNICEF and partners able to do something to prevent the catastrophe or the worsening of the situation?

And finally, you also mentioned that UNICEF is helping for solid waste management.

Could you let us know how and where are you going with with the waste?

Thank you very much.

Thank you for your questions.

Let me start with the nutrition situation.

Since the ceasefire, not only the violence reduced, even though we are seeing children killed and injured way too regularly, we managed to get more nutrition supplies in to treat children who a little over a year ago were suffering from famine when famine was declared across the Gaza Strip.

I was actually there in Gaza City at the time when famine was declared.

And I met a little baby who wasn't an incubator, malnourished, suffering, fighting for her life because her mom had been shot in the head and and died while the baby was still in her womb.

And they managed to take her out, put her in an incubator.

And after a lot of push and advocacy from UNICEF and partners, we managed to move the baby to a safer space where she could access more healthcare and more nutrition treatment, which at that point was still not getting in.

But shortly after, a few months after, in October, we got the ceasefire and supplies started to get in.

One year later, I've seen images of her baby.

Narge is her name and she's fine.

She's looking like a healthy toddler because she managed to get access to treatment.

So the nutrition situation has improved.

[Other language spoken]

However, acute malnutrition remains a threat.

Stunting remains a threat.

I don't have the numbers in front of me, but I can share with you.

But we have done an assessment a month or so ago, a short sample with about 2000 children, and indeed the situation had improved, which doesn't mean that more supplies were required a year ago when famine was declared, which doesn't mean that the situation isn't still risky for children across the strip.

So we need to continue that supply entry and we need to continue to reach out to children with treatment for all forms of malnutrition.

So it is still an issue, but indeed it has improved.

I can share the data with you separately.

[Other language spoken]

Nearly forty 7400 children aged 6 to 559 months received acute malnutrition treatment within this this last year.

So you you can see that children who were not being reached before are now being able to to receive treatment, but it's still an issue and we still see children coming to clinics with different levels of malnutrition.

On your question on water sewage, yes, we need parts to get in to do our water and sanitation work, which UNICEF has a lot of expertise on in many different crises.

This is something that we know how to do.

We just need to be allowed to do our work and for that we need parts to get in and that includes draining the sewage that that is already there and that will come and increase with the rains.

We have, of course El Nino, which is an additional threat and uncertainty for children across the world, not only in Gaza, but children in Gaza have endured 3 years of living with no dignity and, and in makeshift, makeshift tents with several, several risks that come with that, including rodents infestation.

So disease is always looming and if we don't drain that sewage, the situation will worsen.

[Other language spoken]

Let me look here, we've removed 20,918 square cubic metres of solid waste over the last year, which to give you an idea, it's more or less the size of eight full Olympic swimming pools of waste removed with with, with the leadership of UNICEF.

I've forgot your third question, I'm sorry, which was I covered everything.

[Other language spoken]

Regatta though.

OK, we'll take a couple of questions online, just making sure there are no further in the room.

OK, we'll turn to Olivia of Reuters then.

[Other language spoken]

Sorry there's a struggle with a button there.

Thank you, Ricardo, very much for the briefing.

May I have UNICEF's comment on the situation concerning the entry of commercial trucks?

We understand that as of Wednesday, Israel has has block the entry of commercial trucks through some crossings entering Gaza over concern about payments to taxes between local merchants and Hamas.

You're mentioning there that you know the food situation, nutrition situation has improved, but just wondering what your comment or concern is about that latest development.

[Other language spoken]

Yeah, thanks, Olivia.

We've seen in reports of commercial trucks not being allowed.

I, I cannot confirm, not comment further on that.

What what I can say is that humanitarian and commercial goods are essential to children in Gaza as they have been before, during and after the ceasefire and they continue to be.

So we we call for humanitarian and commercial supplies to be allowed into Gaza and continuously so, so children can continue their recovery.

[Other language spoken]

OK, we'll take another question of an online e-mail from KUNA Kuwait News Agency.

[Other language spoken]

Oh, sorry.

Before we go to you, Amen, if we could go back to Olivia because I think Olivia had a quick follow up and then we'll go back to you, Amen, if that's OK.

So if we can unmute Olivia and then we'll go to you.

[Other language spoken]

Sorry.

[Other language spoken]

And it was just to add, maybe you can come back to me a later just to flag that I had a question on Yemen, if Ricardo is able to take that after with some other colleagues.

[Other language spoken]

Sure, we can double back on that issue.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you, Ronaldo.

Thank you, Ricardo.

Actually, it's the same question as Olivia on the COGAT decision to ban the entry of commercial goods into market and the potential risk if this decision decision is applicated about the risk, the potential risk on families and children in Gaza and the risk of famine in how much time actually the this decision could affect children in Gaza.

[Other language spoken]

I, I can't say much more than what I answer to Olivia, but indeed, the entry of commercial and humanitarian supplies and goods must be predictable and continuous.

The impact on children obviously will be felt if this the situation is not resolved.

But you know, at this point we, we can't speculate on when and how this, this will happen.

But again, what I can say, I was in Gaza City a year ago when humanitarian supplies were not getting in.

We didn't have a ceasefire and our operations were compromised by that.

So we we can't go back to a situation where children and and families are not getting all the supplies, goods and services that they require.

We need to pick up from a very low baseline that we had over a year ago, not go back to a situation where children are not receiving what they need to to survive and and to continue to have hope for their future.

And maybe just to compliment with Ricardo said, this is what we've been saying since the beginning.

We need humanitarian supplies to go through into Gaza to the desperately to desperate population there, steady and at scale.

And of course, as Ricardo said, we need the fighting to stop.

But we've had killings since the ceasefire went to effect some time ago.

So we need that to stop.

We need a continuous flow of humanitarian supplies.

So this is a message that we've been uttering here repeatedly for for quite some time now.

Let's see if there are further questions on Gaza in the room online.

That's not the case.

If I could maybe if because if you can stay here because we have somebody, Nyla, who's if I can ask you to join me here, who has to leave by 11 for an important meeting and then we'll go back.

I think we were questions on Yemen for you perhaps.

And then we have other Zoe's in the room for Ukraine with the guest as well as Matt for you and issue.

But without further ado, I'd like to introduce Naila Hajar, who's a Political Affairs Officer, Special Assistant to the personal Envoy of the Secretary General for Sudan, who has an important announcement for you.

[Other language spoken]

All right now it's working.

Thank you for very much for the opportunity to be here among you today.

I just wanted to inform that next week on the 21st of October, we have a very important event on Sudan which is the 6th consultative meeting on enhancing coordination of peace initiative and efforts on Sudan.

It will be Co hosted between the Swiss Confederation and United Nations, particularly the office of the personal Envoy, Mr Pekka Javisto.

This is an important opportunity to bring together Member States and multilateral organisations that have initiatives on Sudan.

They are having also an important role towards peacemaking efforts on Sudan and this is particularly to coordinate all their initiatives and peace efforts.

It will have members of the quote countries, the quintet as well as the region.

This time we will have also the regional and neighbouring countries to discuss also the regional dimension.

Mainly, the topics will cover all the efforts towards the escalation in Sudan as well as the political process and as I mentioned, the regional dimension given the spillover into the neighbouring countries.

So we look forward into this stop on the 21st of October, where the participants will take stock, will try to see how best to reinforce each other's initiatives.

It will be at the high level delegations headed by ministers, state ministers, deputy foreign ministers, directors from the capital.

And we look forward really to fruitful discussion into cooperation and coordination towards all the peace making efforts in Sudan.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you so very much, Nyla.

[Other language spoken]

Who do I go for?

Yes, Robin, let's start with you.

[Other language spoken]

Where will, where will the meeting be taking place and will there be representatives there from the Sudanese government and from the RSF?

And what will could you tell us what some of the the countries that will be coming?

Will there be for example, countries from the from the Gulf region from because you spoke about the African region, but from the Gulf region, for example?

[Other language spoken]

So for no, the the government of Sudan won't be representative and I will explain why because when this platform and this mechanism were established, it was for the so-called mediators to coordinate their actions together.

So none of you know the the Sudanese will be present in the room because it's time.

And for all the ones that have initiative, given also the different initiatives on Sudan and the proliferation of initiatives, 2 years ago, the Security Council had asked the personal envoy to take the role in the coordinating, you know, the different initiatives.

And based on that, this mechanism was established to bring together all the member States and multilateral organisation to see and discuss how best to coordinate and complement or reinforce each other's actions.

So this is the time for them.

However, of course, we are in close coordination with the government of Sudan and the different actors and parties in Sudan to to inform about this meeting as well as of course, we will brief them after the meeting.

As for the countries if I met so, so as you know, the members of the Quad are the United States, United Arab Emirates, Egypt and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

We have also countries that are playing also an important role in Sudan through different initiatives such as Qatar, Turkey, Norway, Germany and the five permanent members of the Security Council, China, Russia, France, UK already mentioned United States as part of the Quad.

We have this time also, as I mentioned, the, the, the regional countries that are across the, all the borders of Sudan and as well as the five multilateral African Union, EGAD, European Union, League of Arab States.

And of course, we are the host as United Nations.

There will be 27 members in this meeting.

[Other language spoken]

Yes, Christian, yes.

Hello, German Press Agency.

Is this a one day meeting and how many people do you expect to be in the room altogether?

And are you the spokesperson for the special envoy?

Could you share your contact details, e-mail and telephone so that we can get in touch before and around the meeting?

It's I'm missing the mic at every time.

So yes, it's a one day meeting because as I said, we expect high level delegations and we condense all the topic in in one day.

This is the 6th iteration.

The meeting already took place in five different places.

And how many we expect, As I mentioned, there will be 27 principles and then the format is +2 or +3 for some.

So we expect overall around at least 80 in in the room.

But as I said, the delegations and the members will be 27.

I'm I'm the focal point for this meeting in the office of the personal envoy and I'm very happy to the like share my contact for any further clarifications.

[Other language spoken]

We'll make sure to share this contact.

Please don't only share it in the chat because yeah, no, of course, no, we'll, we'll share it by e-mail.

[Other language spoken]

You have another question, are you going to have a press conference before or during or after?

When do you expect this meeting to end?

On the 21st?

Yes, we will be having press conference for the Co host.

It will be like the personal envoy from United Nations as well as a senior official from the Swiss Confederation.

And we aim to do it immediately after the meeting on the 21st, like late afternoon.

And of course, you'll be informed about that from the colleagues.

Yeah, sorry, at last one.

So is it open to the press?

Can we listen in to the to the start or do we have to wait for this press conference?

[Other language spoken]

So what we were planning was the colleagues hear from the communication that the first, the opening remarks will be open to the press and then there will be a photo opportunity immediately after.

But then when the topics and the sessions starts, this will be closed.

And then after it ends, it will be open to the press to for the press encounter.

Sorry, just the last one.

I think it's also important for everyone else, what kind of outcome do you expect?

Is there going to be some actionable decision or is it just the reaffirmation of the fact that things need to be done?

Thank you for the question.

Of course, the course of the discussions will somehow also shape what kind of outcome this meeting will come up with.

We are aiming for joint statement like of course it will reaffirm and have some actionable.

We hope for an actionable points that we can build on it for the upcoming phase.

But also we look forward to the different discussions and the plenaries that also this will shape the kind of outcome of the, the joint statement.

[Other language spoken]

I imagine some of your questions have been answered by these comments.

But, and Robin, I know that Nyla does have to go in a minute.

We will be sharing with you details, we'll be sharing media advisory, all the details.

I appreciate that you want to know these things and position yourselves obviously for your reporting.

And we'll, we'll certainly share that with you in consultation with Nyla.

We'll share her context as well.

Let me just go quickly before, if you can stay just another minute, we'll just go to Olivia and then back to you Robin.

So Olivia online, are there further questions you might have?

[Other language spoken]

Yes, sorry I didn't actually catch is this happening at the parlay?

I didn't actually catch where it's happening.

I can answer that to say yes, it is indeed happening here at the parlay on the 21st.

That's this coming Wednesday.

And again, we'll share with you all the details once they are firmed up very soon.

And very last quick question.

You're you're satisfied.

So on that note, thank you so very much, Nyla.

And we'll be in touch and we'll be seeing you next week, of course.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you very much.

OK, colleagues before, if you could, Zoe, I know we have Ukraine on the line, but maybe if I could, since Ricardo's on the podium.

We had a question for you on Yemen.

And I forget who was posting it.

Was it even men?

[Other language spoken]

So Olivia, on Yemen, if you go ahead with that question, go ahead.

[Other language spoken]

Yes, this is just a question for actually all agencies that are listening in, listening in.

So UNICEF, IOM, UNHCR and the World Health Organisation.

I'm keen to get an update please from everybody on the latest situation in Thais in Yemen.

So the latest in terms of the humanitarian situation access, but also displacement figures as well.

And it would be great to get everyone's perspective please.

[Other language spoken]

So a pretty rapidly changing situation.

So any details would be really welcome.

[Other language spoken]

Yeah, thanks for your question, Olivia.

UNICEF is facing challenges access challenges in ties due to the recent escalation of facilities and restriction on movement, of course, including disruption of key roads linking ties with other governorates, especially Aden.

These constraints are affecting the movement of people, humanitarian staff and supplies, while increasing risks for children and families already affected by conflict and displacement.

But despite these challenges, UNICEF and our partners continue to deliver essential health, nutrition, water, sanitation and child child protection services inside Thai city, supported by prepositioned supplies and local response capacities.

On on displacement, we estimate that 110,000 children have been displaced since the start of the conflict in September or since the start of September, as well as children continuously killed, injured and reported missing.

We know and have verified that thirty children have been killed and 28 injured since the 3rd of September.

So for children who have already endured years of hunger, displacement and disrupted schooling, this latest this latest violence is eroding what little stability they had left.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you very much, Olivia.

So echoing colleague UNICEF, the situation is very concerning and we're seeing displacement increase by the day.

The total displacement flows since the conflict began in June reached 233,000 and 77 people as of yesterday.

And the majority of these displaced people are in TASE.

We are seeing the all the protection concerns you can imagine with this huge number of families and women and children and vulnerable people on the move.

[Other language spoken]

Want something for me with HCR.

[Other language spoken]

And just an update from you in HCRI can confirm, sadly, that there has been an outbreak of cholera in the Makazi refugee camp in Djibouti, with some 31 cases being reported so far.

What we know is that 20 people recovered, while ten people are still receiving care and tragically, one person passed away.

This is obviously a big concern in the refugee settlements and camps where overcrowding remains a big issue.

In terms of the situation in Djibouti, we know that over 4000 people have now arrived from Yemen to Eastern Africa, and that includes 3800 refugees to Djibouti and around 200 people going to Somalia.

That's the latest that we have.

Thank you so very much.

And on the health front as well, we have Tarek of WHO.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you very much.

Just to add on on TAIS, I'm happy to share the the situation report that that we have from yesterday and that TAIS is being cut off and its hospitals are running out of supplies as fighting has reached the urban districts where the main referral hospitals stand.

And unfortunately the the road closures are blocking the resupply.

12 hospitals have about four days of fuel and need more than 130,000 litres per month.

Also there is a, there is a shortage of oxygen and also medicines, surgical consumables are unfortunately at zero 1110 dialysis patients and 192 intensive care patients.

The the pending interrupted power Exogen.

I'll, I'm happy to share this, this situation that has more details on the situation in Yemen.

You have also received a couple of days ago we had a press release particularly on the cholera situation and the and the increasing number of cholera cases.

We need secure, safe, sustained access to these and to all other parts of Yemen.

Happy, happy to share the what I have in.

Thank you so very much, Tarek.

And again to you Zoe, Martin, Ricardo, I think lots of good comments, good coordination on your questions.

[Other language spoken]

Zoe, thinking those figures do, do you happen to have a breakdown of how many?

You said the majority of those displays are in ties.

Do you have happen to have a figure for that number of displaced in, in, in thighs?

And just a second question also to everybody is, is just in terms of access and getting supplies in what kind of negotiations are happening?

And have you heard any signs of, of, of breakthrough or is your concern going in the opposite direction that this, this seems to be getting kind of worse by the hour in terms of your accessibilities?

[Other language spoken]

So the figure for ties as of yesterday was just over 120,000 people.

So to be precise, 121,530.

[Other language spoken]

On on negotiations.

Let me just say that Hans Grundberger, the secretary general's envoy, has been in constant contact with the both the Houthis in the government and remains to be in touch and and hopes to resolve the situation which needs desperate attention.

As you've, as you yourselves have heard just now, there are lots of movements, there are lots of desperate situations going on.

So obviously this needs to be alleviated and remedied as quickly as possible.

And that's, that's EU NS ultimate effort is to give some respite to the many people who are on the move, people living in Yemen who have been suffering for too long.

But we'll certainly keep you updated on any concrete developments they're on.

Just making sure we don't have any further questions for our comments before for our colleagues rather before we relieve them.

[Other language spoken]

So thank you so very much.

I think Matt, if you can stay on the podium because you're free to stay or leave as you like.

Zoe, you have announcement rather a briefer on Ukraine.

So you'll start off, I believe and then we'll turn to your guest over to you.

Thank you very much for that, Andy.

So briefing today is on the subject of the Ukraine and winter approaching there in the situation.

So I have a Regional Director for Europe and Central Asia, Arthur Erkan, who is online to give that briefing over to you.

Arthur, thank you so much.

Yeah, thank you so much and good morning, everyone.

Winter is fast approaching in Ukraine, and for many Ukrainians the months ahead could be the most difficult since the full scale war began.

Millions of Ukrainians who fled and returned are now at risk of being displaced once again as conditions deteriorate by the day and people face desperate choices in the struggle to survive.

Repeated strikes on critical infrastructure have strained Ukraine's electricity, heating and water systems, while drone and missile attacks in major cities continue to kill and injure civilians daily.

Damaged housing, low incomes and unaffordable heating leaves families with few alternatives and a very fragile existence as temperatures fall.

IO Ms latest figures show that intentions to leave again are highest among those who returned within the previous three months.

Nearly five years since the full scale invasion of Ukraine, families and communities have exhausted much of their capacity to cope with further shocks.

In close coordination with the Government of Ukraine, IOM is looking very carefully at where the pressure is greatest.

Reliable access to water is becoming an urgent concern because water systems depend on electricity.

Prolonged outages can leave therefore the most vulnerable, such as older people, those with disabilities and residents in high rise apartment buildings struggling to access even emergency water sources.

IRM is already developed has already developed 31 solar power power stations across the country to support water systems, but the scale of need remains immense.

Even where heating is available, many families cannot afford it.

Last winter, only a third of the households reported being able to heat their homes adequately, falling to just one in four in frontline areas.

With 2.1 million older people living alone in apartment blocks, a prolonged loss of heat or electricity can quickly become a humanitarian emergency.

Alternatives to electricity, including gas stoves and fuel, will be critical this winter, and IOM stands ready to respond in these precarious conditions.

Nearly 3.6 million people remain internally displaced across Ukraine, while an estimated 3.8 million have returned after displacement, but often to damaged homes.

An estimated 1.4 to 1.5 million returnees now live in frontline districts, including more than half a million in the Kharkiv region alone.

In rural frontline areas, three in four returnees need materials to repair damaged walls, while the majority require roofing materials and insulation.

For 2.1 million Idps, Internally displaced people going home is not an option.

Their homes are destroyed, significantly damaged or in an unknown condition.

Many displaced families are running out of options to cope.

What we should not forget is that behind these numbers are real people, including children and older people.

[Other language spoken]

She has spent almost a year sheltering in a cellar and is now preparing for winter on a limited pension.

IUM has helped her purchase firewood.

With winter approaching, the window to act is narrowing.

Less than 7% of IO M's Ukraine Crisis Response Plan for 2026 has been funded, severely limiting the assistance available.

Just 7% additional support is critical now before winter conditions worsen, forcing more families to leave their homes in a desperate bid to survive.

IO M's teams in Diopro, Odessa, Kharkiv, Levi and Kiev are ready, in place and ready to scale up activities at any time as needs increase.

IM is therefore calling for urgent support to repair damaged homes, to improve insulation and to maintain essential services, including energy systems, to help communities survive with vulnerable households And other disruption can mean a freezing home, impossible choices between basic needs or renewed displacement.

The international community must act now early enough to prepare and ensure the continuity of our support.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you very much, Mr Erican.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you very much for taking my question.

[Other language spoken]

You mentioned 31 power stations.

Could you precise where is it?

Is it like across the country and how many would be needed to, to, to, to, to ensure a bit of more safety for the, the people living there?

Second question, could you clarify, I mean, when you're mentioning that people are at risk to be displaced again, where would they be displaced?

[Other language spoken]

Are you giving some advices?

Is the region safer than another one?

Thank you very much.

[Other language spoken]

Mr Arkin, thank you very much for these two questions.

I don't have the figures in front of me with regards to where exactly the 31 power stations are, but I can assure you that we can come back to you and my colleagues in in Kiev can certainly give that to you.

And I'm sure Zoe can then provide it to you with regards to displacement.

So when the situation worsens, we can indeed expect that people start thinking about moving out again, obviously to more safer places in Ukraine, which at this point still is the western part of of Ukraine.

So out of the front line and into the western part, Although as we have seen, the western part is also increasingly being attacked.

And so some might even consider again leaving, leaving Ukraine.

This is, of course, a pattern that we've seen in in the past.

And as I said, with very severe winter conditions approaching, this is entirely possible.

Thank you so much once again.

Yes, Robin, AFP, thank you.

Well, on that, on that point, how well, how well set up are European countries to, to receive another wave of, of people fleeing Ukraine?

And and secondly, when you speak of the drone and missile attacks on energy infrastructure, just to be clear, you're, you're talking, we're talking here about purely civilian infrastructure.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you for that question.

And so obviously already many European countries are, are having Ukrainian refugees in their territories.

The country with the most Ukrainian residents are actually Poland, Germany and, and, and Czech here.

I'm sure that these countries are preparing here for the eventuality that that Ukrainians will, will, will try to, to leave the country should the, the situation deteriorate.

And as I said, Europe has already been host to about 6,000,000 Ukrainians.

So I, I, I presume that is the, the, they're watching it very carefully With regards to drone attacks, yes, you're absolutely right.

They tend to attack civilian infrastructure, civilian housing, but also particularly critical infrastructure such as the, the electricity, the, the, the electricity grids, etcetera.

Hence the need for, for instance, more solar panels, which helps in in in avoiding.

I mean, these are harder to attack and harder to to destroy completely.

And we've seen already cases where the solar panels have actually be able to continue to provide water resources simply because they couldn't be taken out in one in one go rather than a grid that you can attack more easily.

And therefore is is obviously one of the targets that we've seen throughout this war.

Thank you so much, Ricardo.

[Other language spoken]

Yeah, Thanks, Rolando.

I mean, I know I've been speaking about the Middle East, but I was also in Ukraine about a month ago in Kiev, and I went to Sumi, which is quite close to the front lines.

And you can really see the impact that this war has been causing on children.

We know that the month of September has been already the the worst in terms of child casualties compared to any other month since the war started in 2022.

Which means clearly this escalation is having a direct impact on on child well-being, their mental health, but also their their survival.

So we're very concerned that winter will present yet another threat for them with energy infrastructure being targeted, as has been said, as well as water infrastructure, which could cause and lead to many other health issues.

So again, a call for for an end to this and, and to a ceasefire so the suffering of children can stop nearly five years into this this horrible war.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you so much, very much, Ricardo.

And thank you to our briefers.

Mr Utticott, thank you very much for joining us.

We appreciate that.

Good luck and thank you for the important work you're doing.

And Zoe, thank you very much as well.

So I think that does it for Ukraine.

Matt is on the podium and he's going to address XCOM, which is concluding today, I believe.

Yes, that's correct.

Rolo, thank you for that.

Just a quick announcement that our High Commissioner for Refugees, Baram Salih, will be holding a press stakeout very shortly after this briefing.

We expect it around 12/12/15, 12:30 up outside the Assembly Hall in the area that is known as Hall 24.

That's the stakeout area.

Unfortunately, UNTV will not be broadcasting live as this was arranged just this morning, but we will have a camera there and so we can share a recording if people are unable to attend.

But hopefully many of you will be able to come up and asking questions following the conclusion of XCOM, which has been running this week.

[Other language spoken]

Obviously, it's been a difficult year for refugees and for UNHCR.

We've highlighted many times the shortfalls in funding that we've had.

And of course, these have impacted first and foremost refugees, the most vulnerable people in the world.

But at the same time this week, we have also been encouraged by the messages of support that have come from governments.

That's support for UNHCR, it's support for our mandate, but it's also support for the International Protection Framework.

Now this is a meeting of States and of NGOs and of partners, but it is an important one.

We had 82 delegations here this week.

We had 21 ministers, including two foreign ministers.

And that message of solidarity and support, we did feel it across all of the meetings that were conducted this week.

Our High Commissioner had a speech on Monday which we shared with you.

He used that to outline his new vision for supporting refugees and for slashing the numbers of refugees in long term displacement.

There were also interventions by our new Assistant High Commissioners for protection and operations during the course of this week.

So we expect the meetings to wrap up very shortly.

And please do come along to listen to some concluding words from our High Commissioner for Refugees.

[Other language spoken]

Eunice will be sending an advisory if they haven't already, just to give the details of that, but hopefully see many of you there.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you so very much.

And Matt and I can confirm that the advisory was sent out about 5 minutes ago.

So do be there right after this briefing.

Thank you so very much to you for that update, important update and gathering no less.

So I think that does it for our briefers, but I do have a few announcements for you.

Thank you once again, colleagues, for joining me here and online.

Just to give you an update on the activities of our Secretary General, Antonio Guterres.

As you well know, he arrived in Yerevan yesterday in Armenia to attend the COP 17 and there are a couple of statements that we shared with you, one this morning and 1 yesterday.

The one yesterday was the remarks that he delivered to the Leaders Summit on Biodiversity at the COP 17 at the Armenian capital, through which the Secretary General warned that biodiversity loss is accelerating with more than 1,000,000 species at risk of extinction and called and he called for urgent action to protect nature.

While nearly 90% of countries have established national biodiversity targets.

And since 20/22, an additional 1.3 million square kilometres of land and 6,000,000 kilometres of ocean have come under formal protection.

[Other language spoken]

Lots of important comments in those remarks of the Secretary General we shared with you and and let's see here other statement that we shared with you this morning speaks to echoing many of these points in fact was to another another gathering rather where the secretary general noted that 1,000,000 species now face risk of extinction edging closer towards an uninhabitable world.

Secretary General for called for a number of action points, including more government leadership, financial leadership, a need for leadership from all essentially to address the issues with climate and and biodiversity loss.

So this is very important remarks and the secretary General, we shared with you press conferences to announce we have a one on the 20th.

That is if my calculation is correct.

That's Tuesday, the 20th of October at 2:30 in this room, Cetus, the Secretariat of the Convention on International Trade and Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.

They will be here to brief you, the Cetus Secretariat, in advance of the 81st meeting of the Cetus Standing Committee coming up.

So that's at 2:30 on the 20th of October.

A couple of meetings to announce.

We have, as you all know, the Committee on the Elimination of Discriminations Against Women, otherwise known as CDAW, reviewing today the report submitted by Capoverde.

And next Monday, the 19th of October, the Human Rights Committee will open its 146 session.

Over the course of these weeks, the committee will review the reports submitted by Austria, Rwanda, Cameroon and Jamaica.

So look out and do look at the media advisory.

We shared with you a couple more announcements.

Just one big one to announce that there is today we are launching the 2025 UN Geneva Annual Report, which is titled UN Geneva at 80 Building Resilient Multilateralism for tomorrow, marking the 80th anniversary of the UN, the report of the UN.

The report reflects a year of resilience, adaptation, and continued commitment to multilateralism amid growing global challenges, financial constraints and institutional reform.

The report highlights UN Geneva's vital role as a centre for dialogue and diplomacy, supporting peace processes, human rights and disarmament efforts.

While servicing nearly 8800 meetings throughout the year in these hallways, it also showcased the important milestones in the Strategic Heritage Plan, the SHP, including the reopening of the Historic Assembly Hall, as well as a progress in strengthening partnerships, engaging young people and civil society, and advancing innovation in systemic development.

Above all, the report demonstrates how you and Geneva continue to deliver on its mandates despite significant challenges, while adapting to meet the needs of a changing world.

As we look to the future, the UN Geneva remains firmly committed to strengthening the international cooperation and building a more resilient, inclusive and effective multilateral system.

So the report is available online on our website, and I invite you all to read that.

Last but not least, tomorrow is the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, the 17th of October.

And we have a Secretary General's message, which we shared with you in multiple languages, through which the secretary general notes how poverty is an affront to human dignity and a denial of human rights.

It closes off opportunities and leaves people more exposed when crisis strikes, the secretary general mentions.

[Other language spoken]

That's it.

So maybe, Gorgie, is that a question for me or for some of the colleagues?

Over to you, Gorgie.

[Other language spoken]

Sorry, Ricardo, do you want to do you want to visibility Parapore Akon southeast zafa voro to the in the normal qua Ala nasi OK le premier questions the election process of the secretary General.

As you well know colleagues, this is governed by states.

This is a General Assembly ultimately General Assembly decision.

But at the moment, there have been various straw polls, as you allude to, including one that will be taking place today on the election of our next secretary general.

There have been various declarations from states.

Of course, these straw polls are done in in confidentiality.

We've been watching this space very closely.

Of course it's important that a leader is chosen that is suitable to lead this this organisation, but again, this is governed by states.

I have no comments on the declarations of individual states, including from the White House or any others for that matter.

But we're watching this space closely and I would obviously you are doing the same.

So I would just encourage you to follow that very closely and we'll obviously inform you of any developments from our point of view.

But this is governed by by Member States.

So I can't really comment further than that.

On Gaza, I think maybe you can liaise with Icardo afterwards.

I mean he shared with you lots of information on the updates in Gaza and the situation of children at the onset of this briefing, the dire situation of children I should mention.

So do maybe liaise with him afterwards, which he he did announce quite a number of important messages of the desperate needs of the children in Gaza.

And we have some facts and figures that we can share with you and to compliment Ricardo's comments.

So thank you very much for no further questions for me.

So I wish you a good afternoon, good weekend and see you here on Tuesday next.

UN Geneva Press Briefing - 16 October 2026