The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
UNOG Bi-weekly press briefing 20 November 2020
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1:22:08
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MP4
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1 GB
Situation in the Horn of Africa
Axel Bisschop, Representative of the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) in Sudan, informed that UNHCR with other agencies was responding to an influx of over 31,000 people from Ethiopia, and the number was expected to increase further. Of those, some 18,000 refugees had come through a border crossing between Ethiopia, Eritrea and Sudan, near the town of Hamdayat. People were crossing the river on foot. Priorities included registration, providing water, sanitation, shelter, and health protection. Mr. Bisschop expressed gratitude to the people and the Government of Sudan, who let refugees from Ethiopia in. Together with other agencies, a response plan had been built for 20,000 people, but there were currently already some 31,000; the next plan would envision as many as 200,000 people over six months. Fifty million USD was urgently needed now; some USD 200 million would eventually be needed in total. The priority now was to move the refugees away from the border and to ensure that there were camps capable to receive the refugees.
Abdullah Fadil, Representative of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Sudan, stated that about 45 percent of the refugees were children; those children were not out of school. While some refugees had managed to bring along their possessions, the majority of people had come with nothing. The newly arrived children would need to be included in the general vaccination campaigns in Sudan. The serious concern was that if there was no quick action, the situation could unravel not only Ethiopia, but also Sudan, which was already hosting millions of refugees and IDPs, and experiencing a very difficult economic situation. UN agencies were doing advocacy with the Government of Sudan in order to secure sufficient land for the camps. Mr. Fadil stressed that the United Nations System was closely coordinating and working as one UN.
Hameed Nuru, Representative and Country Director of the World Food Programme (WFP) in Sudan, said that the numbers of arrivals had been overwhelming. WFP was providing to arrivals cooked meals and high energy biscuits. Warm cooked meals were being prepared and served in communal kitchens; facilities were in place to cater for 60,000 refugees over one month, but given the expected influx, that would be insufficient. WFP was now looking into logistics challenges and using airplanes, light aircraft and helicopters to reach distant camps. Mr. Nuru reiterated that USD 50 million was really needed right now to cover the essential needs of the refugees. The Government of Sudan and two local governorates were being very cooperative, he said.
Responding to questions, Mr. Bisschop said that the first registration was being done close to the border, after which a more in-depth registration was done at a more distant location. UNHCR’s policy in general was to have refugee camps further from the borders; this was not being done in anticipation of any fighting.
Mr. Fadil said that the people were scared and traumatized, and told UN agencies that they had left in a hurry. No physical injuries and casualties had been observed, added Mr, Nuru, but psychological violence had been suffered. Already 12 women had given birth in a refugee camp. Some of the people UN agencies had spoken to had witnessed fighting. Accounts had been heard of airplanes flying and shelling, while no specifics were provided; it seemed that the fighting was sporadic.
Babar Baloch, for the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), stressed that a temporary ceasefire was needed, as well as an establishment of a humanitarian corridor.
UNHCR’s statement is available here.
Conference on Afghanistan 2020
Alessandra Vellucci, for the United Nations Information Service (UNIS), announced the Conference of Afghanistan would take place at UN Geneva on 23 and 24 November. The Conference would be webcast; a detailed programme with the names of all speakers would be shared shortly. The media should inform UNIS if they would want to be in the room to cover the Conference.
Naser Sidiqee, Director General of the Monitoring and Evaluation Unit, Ministry of Finance of Afghanistan, said that the 2020 Afghanistan Conference was taking place at a critical and historic moment. At the Conference, the Government of Afghanistan would present its peace and development framework - its next four-year strategy. The Conference would focus on making Afghanistan self-reliant by the end of 2024. Improving aid delivery and aid effectiveness was another important topic on the Conference’s agenda. The Government would work together with partners to protect and preserve the achievements made over the previous 19 years, including civil liberties and women’s rights, stressed Mr. Sidiqee.
Janne Taalas, Finland’s Special Envoy to the 2020 Afghanistan Conference, explained that Finland had been cooperating with Afghanistan for years, and had made significant contributions to the country for a long time. Three goals for the Conference were: to support people and the Government of Afghanistan; to secure the gains of the past 19 years; and to bolster the peace process.
Ramiz Alakbarov, UN Resident Coordinator in Afghanistan a.i, stated that the Conference would be opened by the President of Afghanistan. This Conference was the last of a series in the “Decade of Self-reliance for Afghanistan”. It was expected that the Conference would provide strong support for the people of Afghanistan, despite the general pandemic context. The Conference was expected to reinforce the strong signal of international solidarity.
Responding to questions, Mr. Alakbarov said that it was expected that contributions would be significant, despite the difficult fiscal crisis. The actual figures would be announced at the Conference, said Mr. Sidiqee. On women’s rights and other civil liberties, he said that there was a strong commitment by the Government of Afghanistan that the gains of the past 19 years had to be protected and preserved; they were embodied in the Constitution. Mr. Taalas emphasized that it was critical that the Doha Peace Process continue and not fail. As the military presence in Afghanistan was going down, development assistance was even more important. The needs had been increasing, partly because of COVID-19, but money was also scarcer now for the same reason.
Rwanda humanitarian flight
Babar Baloch, for the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), informed that UNHCR had evacuated on 19 November a group of 79 vulnerable asylum-seekers out of Libya to safety in Rwanda. Those critical, life-saving flights from Libya to Rwanda had been on hold for nearly a year because of COVID-19-related worldwide border closures and movement restrictions.
Such evacuation flights were a vital lifeline for refugees and asylum seekers trapped in Libya. The Emergency Transit Mechanism (ETM) provided a safe and organized pathway to longer-term solutions. However, the number of places available through the ETM and other humanitarian evacuation flights was still insufficient, and UNHCR advocated for more countries to take part and offer more places for the most vulnerable refugees.
Full press release is available here.
Post-hurricane situation in Central America
Tomson Phiri, for the World Food Programme (WFP), said that the Central American region was reeling from two recent hurricanes, Eta and Iota, both of which had most heavily impacted small farmers. In north-eastern Nicaragua, the WFP had prepositioned food, and then moved that food to offer people immediate assistance. As of 15 November, the WFP had dispatched 275 tons of rice and other commodities. The plan was to continue general food distributions to people in shelters and to establish a more sustainable support as the time went by. Both Eta and Iota’s impact had been severe, especially given the general situation in the region before they had hit.
Human rights violations in Idlib
Ravina Shamdasani, for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), informed of disturbing reports of continued detention of civilians, including humanitarian workers, in Idlib, north-western Syria, in areas under the control of Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and other armed groups. Deeply troubling reports had also been received of executions following the detentions and so-called trials by the de facto authorities.
This week, HTS had confirmed that it was holding a 28-year-old woman, Noor al-Shallo, a humanitarian and media worker, allegedly on “moral” and “criminal” charges. The de facto authorities had to refrain from any harmful act, ensure her protection and immediately release her. OHCHR also had verified reports that several individuals were executed, for perceived affiliation with an opposing party, including Kurdish armed groups or the Syrian Government, or on allegations of blasphemy, adultery, theft or murder.
International humanitarian law explicitly prohibited the passing of sentences and carrying out of executions without previous judgment affording all necessary judicial guarantees, stressed Ms. Shamdasani. HTS were the de facto authorities in the region, and under international law, when they executed someone, that might amount to a war crime, she explained.
Full statement is available here.
Detention of human rights defenders in Egypt
Ravina Shamdasani, for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), stated that the arrest of three human rights defenders in Egypt this week was a very worrying development that underscored the extreme vulnerability of civil society activists in the country. Gasser Abdel Razek, the Executive Director of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) had been arrested by security forces the previous day; Karim Ennarah, EIPR’s director of Criminal Justice, had been arrested on 18 November in Dahab, South Sinai, while on vacation; and Mohammad Basheer, administrative manager for the same organisation, had been arrested at his home in Cairo on 15 November.
UNHCR was worried that those recent arrests and detentions were part of a broader pattern of intimidating organizations defending human rights and of the use of counter-terrorism and national security legislation to silence dissent. The use of sweeping counter-terrorism laws and vague charges such as “joining a terrorist organization” and “spreading false information” to harass and criminalize the work of human rights defenders was inconsistent with the rule of law and Egypt’s obligations under international human rights law.
Full statement can be read here.
Geneva announcements
Alessandra Vellucci, speaking on behalf of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), informed that the World Antimicrobial Awareness Week (WAAW) was taking place from 18 to 24 November 2020. It was an annual campaign led by FAO, OIE and WHO with several events and activities being organized worldwide to raise awareness of the issue of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Today, at 3 p.m., the three partners would the launch the One Health Global Leaders Group on Antimicrobial Resistance that would advocate for urgent action to combat the threat of antimicrobial drug resistance. More information is available here.
Catherine Huissoud, for the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), informed that UNCTAD would publish on 25 November a new report entitled “Economic costs of the Israeli occupation for the Palestinian people: The Gaza Strip under closure and restrictions.” The report described the near-collapse of Gaza’s economy and its isolation from the Palestinian economy and rest of the world, and stressed the urgent need to end the closure of Gaza and the urgency of restoring Palestinians’ right to free movement. The report would be presented during a press conference on 25 November at 11:30 a.m. by Richard Kozul-Wright, Director at UNCTAD, and Mahmoud Elkhafif, Coordinator of the UNCTAD Assistance to the Palestinian People. The embargo on the report would be in place until 6 pm that day.
A hybrid press conference on the Convention on the Prohibition of Anti-Personnel Mines - addressing growing use of IEDs mine action and peace process in Sudan would take place today at 1 pm. The speakers would be Osman A. Adam Mohammed, Deputy Permanent Representative of Sudan to UN Geneva; Félix Baumann, Deputy Permanent Representative of Switzerland to UN Geneva; Laurent Gisel, Head of Arms Unit, ICRC; and Kasia Derlicka, Head of Policy, International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL).
On 23 November at 11 a.m., the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) would hold a press conference to present the Greenhouse Gas Bulletin - annual report by WMO on atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide and other major greenhouse gases. The speakers would be Petteri Taalas, WMO Secretary-General, and Oksana Tarasova, WMO Chief of Atmospheric and Environment Research Division.
On 25 November at 9:30 a.m., the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) would have press briefing to launch the Cluster Munition Monitor 2020 Report. The speakers would be Mary Wareham, Advocacy Director, Human Rights Watch, Arms Division; Loren Persi, Impact research team leader, ICBL-CMC; and Ruth Bottomley, Research specialist, expert on contamination, clearance and risk education, ICBL-CMC.
Ms. Vellucci also informed that the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) was appealing for a total of USD 131.6 million to fund its regional response to the Syria crisis, which spanned 11.7 million people in need of humanitarian assistance inside Syria, in addition to nearly 5.6 million refugees throughout Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, and Egypt. The appeal also included urgent funding required to address the substantial needs arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, which has added yet another layer of complexity to a protracted and multi-faceted situation.
Teleprompter
[Other language spoken]
Welcome to this press briefing of the UN Information Service at Geneva on Friday 20th of November.
We have a very long list of speakers today, so I appeal to your patient.
We will try to go through this programme of today.
**** on the news this morning is the situation in the Horn of Africa.
Yesterday they spoke, the spokesperson of the Secretary General reiterated that the UN continue to be gravely concerned about the safety of civilians who may be caught up in the conflict and our blocked roads are hindering the delivery of humanitarian aid to those who need it most.
And to speak about this, we have in connection from Khartoum, 3 colleagues from UNHCR, from the World Food Programme and from UNICEF.
And I will now like to give them the floor to brief you on this issue.
We'll start with the representative of the **** Commissioner for Refugees, Mr Axel Bishop, who's the UNHCR representative in Sudan.
So I hope that Mister Bishop can hear me and that we can connect him to the press briefing in Geneva.
Do we have you on the line, Sir?
Enrico is is the name Abdullah.
You have to connect with Abdullah Fadil de altogether in Sudan.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
On mute, yes, now we yes, now we are on.
So we will start with Mr Bishop.
[Other language spoken]
You have the floor.
[Other language spoken]
Good morning, everybody, and I hope that you can hear us.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
My name is Axel Bishop.
I'm the Unit CR representative here.
And I will give a short overview and let my colleagues fill in in respective areas.
So unit CR together with all the agencies are here responding to now an influx of about 31,500 people.
We expect this to increase further.
And together with the agencies, we're currently making plans together.
We have just been to the border and the the main border crossing we have is called Hamdayat.
It's actually on the border with Ethiopia in the east in the corner where Eritrea and Ethiopia and Sudan meets each other here.
We've had an influx of about 18,000 people through that border crossing and we have been there looking at what the situation is together.
Now what is happening here is that people are crossing a river and they're coming in by foot.
They are being taken care of in this reception centre where the main priority at the moment is to ensure that registration is taking taking place.
Now, we also have issues in relation to protection, food, water, shelter and health.
One thing which we have also been trying to mitigate is COVID.
And here together with all the agencies, we're currently distributing masks and more soap for actually personal hygiene.
Now what we can see is that first of all, we are very, very grateful to the government of Sudan and actually the people of Sudan, the people of Sudan has opened their hands and actually allowed all the the refugees from Ethiopia in.
We are seeing that the asylum is being provided and access is actually open.
We are monitoring this very, very closely.
Now together with all the agencies, we have built a response plan for about 20,000 people.
Currently we are at about 31 which already is surpassed or has already surpassed the figure and the now new planning figure is around 200,000.
We are going to urgently be calling for an initial 50,000 to 50 million to actually start this response, which will most likely increase over time and especially into 2021 and raised to about 200 million.
I think that the situation as such is that units are together with the agencies are now trying to move people from the border and we have found land in two different locations.
We are together with the government of Sudan and all the agencies, actually trying to ensure that these camps are in such a state that they can receive the people.
We have one site already, it's called Umrakuba, where about 4500 are residing and we are actually transporting about 1800 people a day to this site to decongest the hamlet of Hyundai, where most of the people are going here, coming in.
I think I will conclude my briefing here and give the floor to my colleagues who are sitting next to me.
[Other language spoken]
And over to you in Geneva.
Thank you very much, Mr Bishop.
Yes, indeed.
We have also with us from Khartoum to Abdullah Fadil, who's the UNICEF representative from Sudan.
So I would like to give him the floor now, Sir.
Thank you very much and good morning.
[Other language spoken]
Very well.
[Other language spoken]
Axel has covered most of the issues with regards to the entry of refugees.
The first thing that we notice of course, is about 45% of refugees are actually children under 18 years of old.
As you know, schools would have started in, in Ethiopia, sorry, in September.
So schools have now been disrupted and there is no opportunity now.
We can foresee school children will be in schools for the foreseeable future, at least for the few months coming.
That's number one.
Number two, people have left without many of their shelters, even though some have come with their animals, with their belongings, with even some harvest.
But majority of the people have come without anything.
And these children now we're so far realising while not malnourished, but we're doing the normal cheques of children.
But our fear is if we don't get organised, if the hygiene and sanitation system is not fixed, is the health issues are not fixed, you know, diseases can also start.
Sudan is undertaking now polio vaccine which starts 28th of this month.
We have to include this group of children we anticipated with about 5000 under five years old also to be included in the normal vaccination, whether it's measles, whether polio and others.
So all of those things will have to all of a sudden be planned, which was not part of our initial plan.
And we're also planning for escalation of up to 200,000, as you've heard already, our our serious concern is if we do not act quickly with the resources needed, you know, Sudan already facing dramatic economic crisis and political challenges, this could actually unravel not only Ethiopia, but also Sudan.
So with all of our partners, not only the UN agencies but also the NGOs, we are working closely to make sure all of the needed assistance is available quickly.
But soon we will be overwhelmed in our view already 31,000 in a period of less than two weeks if this rate continues because still the even though the last two days was different, but it's still we're receiving 45000 a day on average.
And that is something that's not sustainable.
We're also doing advocacy here with the national government as actually described to get the lands needed.
And, and most importantly, as you can see, all of us coming here together sitting, we are working as as one UN system, but also under the leadership of UNHCR, which is our lead agency for refugees.
So this is also a strong message we want to send.
We want one voice and one response together back to you, because I think the most interesting part would be when we talk to the press and sort of answer the specific questions.
[Other language spoken]
And I'll open the floor in a moment, But we still have another speaker also sitting in Khartoum with you and with Ahmed Nuru, the representative and Country Director in Sudan for the World Food Programme.
Sir, you have the floor for your brief introduction and then we will go to questions from the journalists.
[Other language spoken]
Thank you very much.
So I'm Hamid Nuru, country Director and representative for the European in Sudan.
My colleagues have really said quite a bit here in terms of we are together as one UN.
We both went with all three of us and other agencies also went to to the site over the last 2-3 days to go and see for ourselves exactly what is happening on the ground.
So from the World Food Programme perspective, of course, food is, is something that you need to have immediately when people come in on arrival and the numbers have been overwhelming.
We have been providing food in terms of a basic ration which is being cooked and this is cooked food, hot cooked meals which are coming being provided.
And we are also providing **** energy biscuits for kids and people who need to have that extra nutrition immediately who don't have cooking facilities right now.
We've been able to provide what we call a standard basket which consists of sorghum, lentils, oil and salt, which is cooked up into a kind of like a, you know, a proper hot cooked meal.
And we have been providing the hot cooked meals alongside with UNHCR and others in a kind of like a communal kitchen kind of situation.
The idea is that later on when the refugees are now settled more, more or less, we can now provide them with the, with the, with the ingredients and then they can cook on their own cooking of these meals.
Also we have been doing now is for about we've been, we have been able to put together about enough for 60,000 refugees for now.
All this is already in place to cater for 60,000 refugees for one month Russia.
But clearly looking at the numbers that are coming across, we are looking at trying to increase that and anticipating about 200,000.
We have also been providing some of the logistics which is very important because one thing that we have not emphasised on is getting access to these areas.
So air support in terms of Unhas, there is an airport in Kasala, which is a big standard sized airport, but there's only an airstrip in Gadaref.
So we're trying to see now in Kasala putting on one flight a day from Khartoum to take humanitarian workers and NGOs and immediate things that we need.
And we are also looking to see to put in place either a helicopter or a light aircraft facility to be going to Gadaref as well.
Please take note that it takes at least five hours from either Kasala or from Gadarev to go to some of these camps by 4 by 4.
So it's a very difficult terrain there.
Having said that, I would just like to re emphasise that because this is an emergency situation.
We're taking food stocks that we have in the country for other uses and we're pulling that now for this emergency response.
But it's going to get to a time in the next two or three weeks when we're going to have to have our own budget and bring in more now to replenish where we're taken from.
So this is where I think really the coordination is so important.
So the budget that has been looked at now is about 200 million over the next six months really.
But right now the 50 million is what is really important so that we can bring stuff in and try to see how we can cater to the needs of the people.
And last but not the least, I would like to emphasise that government have been very, very close partners with us in this to the Humanitarian Aid Commission and the Wallies, the governors of the two respective states.
I'm really look forward to try to see how we can do this in the collaborated manner.
[Other language spoken]
Thank you very much, Sir.
And I will open now the floor to questions by also reminding our journalists that Mariksi Mercado for UNICEF, Barbara Lock for UNHCR and Thompson Theory for WFP are also on the line to answer question if needed as well as IANS Lerke for OCHA.
So I will start with AFP and yes.
Yes, hello everybody.
Thank you for taking my question.
It's a question about the figure you you say that you are now anticipating the arrival of 200,000 people in Sudan coming from Ethiopia.
And I would like to.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
Do you think these people will arrive?
[Other language spoken]
I'll give you the floor.
I don't know, just whoever wants to answer.
[Other language spoken]
We have discussed this together with all the partners here.
And the fact is that what the period is, is 6 months now.
[Other language spoken]
So it's not something which is anticipated.
It's a planning figure in order for us to be fully prepared should this happen.
At the moment we have about 32,000 and the speed which is actually now has been indicated in, yeah, everything between 2 to 4000 every day.
If this continues, we will have this figure in the end.
[Other language spoken]
Nobody can at this stage say exactly how many people will come to Saddam.
[Other language spoken]
Sir Ahmad, can you introduce yourself please for our speakers?
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
I'm Ahmed from the UAE News Agency, United Arab Emirates and News Agency.
My question is, is for Mr Bishop, maybe I'd like to know from which parts in the province to Grey is the refugees coming?
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
So we are currently doing an exercise of registration at the border where we mainly take down names and wristband people in order for them to go further to the next camp there.
We are going to do a more in depth registration.
What we can say at the moment is that those which we have further registered is from the close neighbourhood to the Sudan border and it's a village called Himoro on the border between Ethiopia, Eritrea and Sudan.
It's about 1 hours walk a little bit further from from the border with Sudan.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
Thanks for the briefing.
I wondered if you are seeing casualties coming across the border.
If so, how many large numbers and what you're hearing about conditions in the areas that the refugees are leaving from.
Actually, this is Abdullah Fadr of UNICEF.
The people we've, we've seen, we've seen them to be scared.
We've seen them to be worried about the families they left behind, about their country.
We've also heard them to, you know, telling us that they left in a hurry.
And of course, the people were a mix of from medical doctors, professionals, bankers to farmers.
And you could tell some of the people actually were well off and they were able actually to stay in the market and other places and buy their own food.
We have not heard specific details of the alleged crimes inside the country.
People also are a bit careful of the information they share, as Axel said they are UNICR is now doing in depth interviews.
But what we can say is that while what we saw was people who were scared and worried, particularly children who would have witnessed, you know, artillery fire or aeroplanes dropping bombs around their areas, we have not specifically asked or or heard specific atrocities at the border.
Actually, we saw some families going back to collect more of their assets and so beds and you know, even a donkey cart and a motorcycle were being carted across the river when we were there.
Can I just add on to that that?
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
But we have not seen physical casualties, you know, like war wounds and things like that.
What we have seen, of course, is a lot of psychological trauma for people who are coming across.
That definitely was noticeable.
And I just need to add the fact that we also see quite a number of pregnant women and women who have young children, very, very young children, babies, you know, to some extent.
So that of course, in in the camp where we were in human diet, there were about 12 births that had been given that had happened within the last 48 hours, 12 women gave birth in that camp.
So that just shows that, you know, there's quite a lot of vulnerable women and children also there over.
MIC, you have a follow up I see.
Sorry.
Yes, thanks.
Just to confirm, it sounds as if they're anticipating conflict rather than witnessing conflict at this point or have I got that wrong?
And secondly, is there any evidence of of wider involvement of say, Sudan's other name area chair on, on in the area that these people are leading?
Yeah, I think that, you know, we have heard of people who have actually at least witnessed some fighting.
So I think this is this is clear.
Now we cannot from here judge whether or not Eritrea is involved in this.
So this will be a question which I think is better placed somewhere else.
But it's clear that some of the persons which we have spoken to have witnessed the the fighting.
Thank you, Lisa Schlein, Voice of America.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
The 1st is you are moving and plan to move more of the refugees away from the border.
I'm wondering whether there is any cross-border fighting or whether you're concerned about.
Well, if the air strikes are going on, if this, this could inadvertently strike into Sudanese territory And then for UNICEF you, you mentioned some fears about the situation unravelling in Sudan could.
[Other language spoken]
Elaborate upon that.
I think I missed a little bit about what you said and also I I guess the WFP.
Lisa, we've lost you just one second.
I don't know what happened, but we couldn't hear your last question.
[Other language spoken]
Can you repeat just the last part of your question?
[Other language spoken]
I was asking about UNICEF, if you could elaborate upon what you said regarding the fear that you had about the situation unravelling in Sudan.
And then lastly, what measures are being undertaken in regard to COVID-19?
And did you say you were planning to appeal for $200 million?
I missed that.
And when do you expect that appeal to go out?
[Other language spoken]
So whoever wants to start down in Khartoum.
[Other language spoken]
So the question in relation to cross-border fighting, UNACR has policies and standards which allow, which tells us to to try to as much as possible pin the camps away from the border.
This is not in anticipation of border cross-border fighting, but as a security measure.
So what we're trying to do here is to decongest the border crossing should something happen.
We don't have any indications of any cross-border fighting at this point in time on the figures and I will allow for for UNICEF to elaborate on the question they had.
But just on the figures, I think it's correct, 200 billion is what we would like to appeal for in total.
At the moment we are saying we need immediate 50 million and we will come up with an appeal.
We hope to be able to release this appeal by the end of this week or by mid next week maybe.
I will allow you on the question about the situation unravelling in Sudan.
I think it's a it's a conjecture in the sense that Sudan is already facing economic crisis.
Sudan is hosting over 1.2 million refugees already.
Sudan has also over 2 million ID PS the inflation rate is over 240%.
There are line ups for fuel for bread.
You know just the recently peace agreement was signed in in Juba and the armed groups have come in.
So Sudan is burdened with a lot of its own economic, political issues, having 200,000 more refugees when they cannot afford and at the border where, you know, political instability has the potential to to not only impact Sudan, but the entire region.
So that is the the issue we're talking about.
But from our perspective, frankly, I mean, we don't think children should be exposed to unnecessary violence for decades and decades and decades.
So this is the concern.
And, and we want, as our executive director made the statement yesterday, we want you know who has prevailed this fighting to stop and to fight the so that more children are not necessarily displaced.
Ahmed, do you have a follow up?
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
I'd like to know if the Ethiopian governments offer any help to this refugees somehow by sending assistant humanitarian assistant to Sudan, for example, to to be offered to the refugees and for Mr Bishop again, why, why, Why we see most of the refugees or all the refugees going to Sudan and not Eritrea, for example?
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
Yes, we are in contact with the Ethiopian Embassy here in Khartoum and while we have not had any immediate discussions on on humanitarian aid, they are following the situation.
Now in relation to why we don't see any, any movement to Eritrea at the moment, we cannot really answer that here in Sudan as we don't know how the situation looks inside the the Korean area of of Ethiopia.
But our office in Asmara is definitely monitoring the situation very, very closely.
And unit CR and the the sister agencies, together with their offices both in Asmara but also in Aldis and in Djibouti, as well as in Harihisa in Somaliland, are actually looking and monitoring at the the the situations at the borders.
Thank you very much.
And the last question is from Jamie Keaton Ahmed.
I'll give you the floor, but please be brief.
We, we really have a long list.
[Other language spoken]
And then I'll give the floor to Jamie.
Yes, it's a very short one actually.
[Other language spoken]
Ahead, I'd like to know if the the the humanitarian organisation here any concerns from the refugees to go to Eritrea.
[Other language spoken]
We haven't heard any indications from the refugees saying that they wanted to go to Eritrea and have not been allowed.
[Other language spoken]
Everybody who's come to.
Thank you, Don.
Has indicated that that was the end destination.
Thank you very much.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
Thank you so much for for meeting with us.
I don't want to Nick and and others have already mentioned this type of question.
I just wanted to sort of see if you could give us a little bit of an idea of anything, if there are any signs from the accounts that you are hearing from the refugees that the fighting will go on, any sort of details that you might have about the fighting?
And if you could also just say in terms of, you know who, what kind of weapons, what kind of injuries you, you obviously said that you don't know so much about the injuries already, but anything you know about the fighting?
And then also whether or not there's any progress towards a humanitarian corridor.
[Other language spoken]
Yes, at the moment I will ask my colleagues to also fill in, but we have not actually asked those questions as such.
We've asked more humanitarian questions.
What we've heard about the fighting is that we have had accounts of aeroplanes flying across.
We've had the kinds of accounts of some kind of shelling, but we don't know.
And I think this is what the refugees to certain extent has told us.
[Other language spoken]
Yeah, just to say that, you know, we have not heard specifics on the fighting, but what is definitely clear is that fighting is ongoing and it is sporadic.
You never know where it's going to happen or what's going to, you know.
So it is this anticipation and not knowing which is causing a lot more fear and causing people now to cross.
So in terms of specifics where it's going to happen, where it has happened, we don't have and we have not seen the evidence ourselves in the people who have crossed the border.
So but we are also aware that not just civilians have been crossing, but we have heard some reports that there might also be some military people also who have been disarmed and are also crossing.
But then again, the government is aware of that and then go through a different kind of processing system and the civilians who cross into the main the main crossing centres over.
Would you like to add something about the corridors, the humanitarian corridors that Jimmy has asked about?
I know that this is something the Ethiopian colleagues are dealing with, so they are better placed to actually answer.
I see, I see Babar would like to add something from HCR here in headquarters.
[Other language spoken]
Thank you very much, Alessandra.
Thank you very much, dear colleague.
Just to add on that and on issues inside the country briefly, UNICIA are joining other UN agencies in calling for all parties inside Ethiopia who are parties to the conflict to protect desperate civilians and respect the safety of humanitarian staff.
A temporary ceasefire with immediate effect is needed to allow humanitarian corridors to be established and urges unimpeded and immediate humanitarian access to rich people in need in areas under the respective control of the warring parties.
[Other language spoken]
Thank you very much, Robin Short, please.
And that would be the last question.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
Yeah, it is a short one.
The the 200 million figure and the 50 million that you're seeking immediately, is that just for UNHCR or is that across all the UN agencies just the precision?
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
No, no, that is for all the agencies.
And in most of these appeals, it's also mainly for the food items and the logistics in in included, because that is usually the the main part.
Here we have a situation where we actually have refugees and we have to set up new tabs, we have to actually create new distribution systems.
And I think what my colleague from WP said here, everything from the fact that we cannot reach these areas very easily and we need roads, new air strips, etcetera, etcetera.
So it is not only units yard, it's a combined interagency actually.
Thank you very much, Sir.
[Other language spoken]
Just for to note that it's not only UN agencies, actually it's the entire humanitarian response of all the partners.
Very good point.
Thank you very much, Sir.
So thank you to everybody who has been briefing us on this subject.
Mr Bishop, Mr Fadil, Mr Nuru, they are colleagues in Geneva.
Thank you very much.
Babar and Thompson stay with us for other issues, the humanitarian action of the UN.
But I will start now by turning to my left and give the floor to Ravina Shamdasani for a briefing by the Office of the Human Rights **** Commissioner.
And I think we start with Syria, new evaluation of human rights in Syria that's.
Right.
Good morning, everyone.
On Syria, we have been receiving disturbing reports of continued detention of civilians, including humanitarian workers in Idlib, in northwestern Syria, in areas under the control of Hayat Tahrir Al Sham and other armed groups.
We have also been receiving deeply troubling reports of executions following the detentions and so-called trials by the de facto authorities.
Just this week, on Wednesday, Hayat Tahrir al Sham confirmed that it was holding a 28 year old woman, Noor Al Shaloh, A humanitarian and media worker, allegedly on moral and criminal charges.
Her family has not had any contact with her since she was detained by Hayat Tahrir al Sham in September at their Sarmada court in Idlib while she was following up on issues relating to the custody of her three children.
We have seen a number of reports suggesting that she may be at risk of execution.
The de facto authorities must refrain from any harmful act against her, ensure her protection, and immediately release her.
Nural Shallows case is among many others our office has documented of individuals detained or abducted and subsequently executed by HTS and other armed groups in the northwest and other parts of Syria over the past year.
We have verified reports that several individuals were executed for perceived affiliation with an opposing party, including Kurdish armed groups or the Syrian government, or on allegations of blasphemy, adultery, theft, or ******.
International humanitarian law explicitly prohibits the sentencing and execution without a previous judgement, affording all necessary judicial guarantees.
Under international law, executions carried out in violation of this prohibition may amount to a war crime.
Armed groups continue to impose rules and codes of conduct on civilians that fundamentally violate a range of human rights protected by international law, including the rights to life, liberty, and security of person, and the rights to freedom of movement, expression, peaceful assembly, and association.
We recall that non state actors that exercise government like functions and control over a territory are obliged to respect human rights norms when their conduct affects the human rights of the individuals under their control.
Thank you very much, Rowena.
And I'll turn to the journalist for question and I'll start with Nick.
Hi, Robina, thanks for that.
Do you have numbers of executions?
Do you know on what scale of these going on and have you identified the people who are actually responsible for ordering these executions and carrying them out?
[Other language spoken]
Comprehensive numbers are always difficult to get on Syria, so we don't have a comprehensive number and reports are also very difficult to verify.
In this case.
In the case of Nur al Shalo, Hayat al Sham actually issued a press release.
There was a lot of buzz on social media and we had received a lot of reports that she was being detained and she was at imminent risk of execution.
And then they went and issued a statement confirming that they were holding her.
But they said that they were holding her because of moral and a, quote, moral and other crimes that she had committed.
Of course, there's no way of of, you know, for her to be able to access any kind of Fair trial guarantees.
And we're very concerned at reports that she may have already been executed, but they're also conflicting reports that her execution is imminent.
We've got many other reports that we have managed to verify from April this year and from December last year as well of individuals who were executed.
For example, a 23 year old male detainee who was accused of being affiliated with Kurdish armed groups.
[Other language spoken]
He was detained, he was not allowed contact with his family and then he was executed.
Another 19 year old male detainee was executed and it's usually threw a bullet in the head.
He was accused of being a former non state armed fighter and he was also informed, his family was informed that he was accused of blasphemy and therefore sentenced to death.
And now it's sentencing to death.
I mean, these, the HTS, they are the de facto authorities and they do exercise government like functions in Idlib.
However, of course, they do not have the set up to be able to carry out trials that conform to international human rights standards to fair trial standards, which is why we're stressing that under international law, when they do execute someone, this may amount to a war.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
I don't see any other question on Syria.
You want to go ahead with Egypt.
[Other language spoken]
The arrest of three human rights defenders in Egypt this week is a very worrying development that underscores the extreme vulnerability of civil society activists in the country.
Gaza Abdul Raziq, the executive director of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, was arrested by security forces yesterday.
Kareem Anara, the EIPRS director of criminal justice, was arrested on Wednesday in the Hub in the South Sinai while he was on vacation.
Their arrests came days after Mohammed Bashir, administrative manager for the same organisation, was arrested at his home in Cairo on Sunday.
We understand that Bashir was questioned about the organisation legal support for victims of human rights violations.
Bashir and Anara have been reportedly detained pending investigation on terrorism related charges, publishing false news and using an Internet account to spread false information that undermines public security.
The interrogation reportedly focused on a meeting that this organisation held earlier this month with 13 ambassadors and diplomats.
So these arrests appear to have been carried out as a retaliation against the human rights defenders for holding these meetings.
It is not the first time that this organisation has been targeted by Egyptian security forces.
Last February, Eipr's gender rights researcher Patrick George Zaki was also arrested and charged with terrorism related offences.
Zaki has been in pretrial detention since then.
Since February, we've received allegations that he was tortured during interrogation by the national security investigators.
The founder of the organisation, Hossam Bhagat, has been prevented from leaving Egypt and his assets have also been frozen.
In parallel, it appears that a smear campaign against the organisation has been taking place in the media and the authorities have labelled EIPR as an illegal organisation.
We are worried that these recent arrests and detentions are part of a broader pattern of intimidating organisations defending human rights, and of the use of counterterrorism and national security legislation to silence dissent.
The use of sweeping counterterrorism laws and vague charges such as joining a terrorist organisation and spreading false information to harass and criminalise the work of human rights defenders is inconsistent with Egypt's obligations under international human rights law.
We're very concerned that the targeting of human rights defenders and other activists, as well as further restrictions on freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly, are having a profound chilling effect on an already weakened Egyptian civil society.
Our office is also alarmed about reports of the execution of around 50 people last month.
We received allegations of violations of due process and fair trial rights in some of these cases.
We call on the Government to declare a moratorium on the death penalty with a view to abolition and to take all steps to ensure strict adherence to due process guarantees and all possible safeguards to ensure a fair trial.
Thank you, Ravina for this briefing.
I don't see any hand up for questions.
So thank you very much for this briefing.
And before we leave the subject of Syria, sorry, I would like to remind you that the UNFPA has been sending out a press release to launch an appeal for 131.6 million for the 2021 regional response to the Syria crisis.
I've been asked to remind you about this appeal.
You have received the press release and I would just like to mention that the appeal concerns the 11.7 million people in need of military and assistance inside Syria, in addition to the nearly 5.6 million refugees throughout Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt.
You have more details in the note that you have received, so I would like now to go back.
Sorry to Babar for his briefing on Rwanda, while, as you know, we've got guests here for the conference on Afghanistan.
We're going to try and organise the podium.
In the meantime, I go to Babar so that he can make his briefing on Rwanda.
[Other language spoken]
Thank you, Alexandra, you can hear me.
[Other language spoken]
Thank you very much Unisia, the UN Refugee agency has evacuated yesterday evening, Thursday 19th of November, a group of 79 vulnerable asylum seekers out of Libya to safety in Rwanda.
These critical life saving flights from Libya to Rwanda had been on hold for nearly a year because of COVID-19 related worldwide border closures and movement restrictions.
The group evacuated last night follows 306 other refugees brought to safety so far and this one was through a unit CR charter flight and, and and they joined 306 other refugees brought to safety so far thanks to the emergency transit mechanism that was agreed and set up in mid 2019 by the Government of Rwanda, Unit CR and African Union.
These evacuation flights are vital lifeline for refugees and asylum seekers trapped in Libya.
In the absence of legal pathways, desperate people continue to embark on dangerous journeys by sea, leading to the tragic loss of life.
In the last week alone, an estimated 114 refugees and migrants have drowned or gone missing in four shipwrecks recorded off the Libyan coast.
There's some more details in the text in the briefing note that will be circulated to you as well.
[Other language spoken]
Thank you very much, Babar, for this second briefing points.
I don't see any other questions, so I will go now to Thomson.
Thomson, you have an update on Hurricane Iota Thomson, are you with us?
Let me see if he is connected.
Thompson is connected.
Can Thompson be a mute please?
I think I've been unmuted now.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
I I can hear you, but very faintly.
Can you can you get close to your mic?
[Other language spoken]
Yeah, that's better.
[Other language spoken]
Thank you The Central American region, which is still reeling from the wrath of two hurricanes, Hurricane Eater two weeks ago, as well as the fallout of Hurricane Iota, which has unleashed heavy rains that have sparked at the flashlights and landslides.
Notably, both hurricanes have significantly impacted smallholder farmers, many of whom the World Food Programme works with, and we have been hard hit by years of prolonged drought and ****** weather.
I just want to give you a quick update on what we have been able to do in Northeastern Nicaragua, where both storms first met landfall.
WFP first prepositioned food in the North Caribbean Coast Autonomous region ahead of Eater.
We have been able to move that food to offer people immediate assistance to to, to, to, to people who are sheltering in communal shelters and then afterwards in their respective communities.
As of Sunday, November 15, WFP dispatched 275 metric tonnes of rice and beans and other commodities to the most vulnerable communities in the area.
The government is distributing the food as I speak.
WFP is also supporting with setting up the telecoms response to the emergencies.
We are trying to re establish communications for WFP as well As for the National Disaster Authorities operations.
Our assessments will resume as soon as the situation permits to Orient response planning over the next few months.
However, the plan is to continue general food distributions to people who are in shelters, as well as to establish more sustainable support as we go.
I just also wanted to share with you what our staff are telling us.
They are telling us that they are seeing families, we have lost everything, who are spending their time together during the day by the sea, unable to work and one of my colleagues said the situation that is heartbreaking.
At night, the women and children then go back to the communal shelters whilst the men remain outside for the night.
Both ETA and Ayota's impact on the affected areas is foreseen to be dire, especially considering the pre-existing **** vulnerability levels, poor infrastructure, limited access to basic services and the compounding effects of COVID-19.
Many people may face an increased risk of falling into extreme poverty and unable to achieve economic recovery in the next, in the short term, in the short and even the medium term.
That's all I had for you.
Thompson, thank you very much for this briefing.
Let me see if there's any question from the journalist.
I don't see any.
So I would like to thank you very much.
So let's do a little bit of our skipping.
I will now turn to our guests of today.
Sorry, I'll take this off before.
Yes, that's better.
We have the pleasure to have with us the three representative of the three organiser Co organisers of the conference in Afghanistan.
Just for your information, afterwards we will still have a few announcement including announcement from Katherine we saw on Ankhter.
But now it is my pleasure to introduce to you our guests who are going to give us a brief carton raiser on the conference on Afghanistan that as you know is opening in Geneva next Monday and Tuesday.
And I will start they they will give you brief introductory remarks and then we'll open the floor to questions.
I will start now with Mr Nasser CDK, who is the Director General of the Monitoring and Evaluation Unit of the Ministry of Finance of Afghanistan.
Sir, you have the floor.
Yes, similar to him.
[Other language spoken]
First of all, I would like to thank the take this opportunity and thank the Government of Finland and the United Nations for Co hosting with the Government of Islamic Republic of Afghanistan the 2020 Afghanistan Conference.
I would also like to take an extent on behalf of the people as well as the Government of Afghanistan, our sincere appreciations to our international donors and development partners for their steadfast and continued support to peace and development in Afghanistan.
The 2020 Afghanistan Conference is taking place at a historic and critical moment both for the Government of Afghanistan and our International Development partners.
In this conference, the Government of Islamic Republic of Afghanistan will present its Afghanistan National Peace and Development Framework, which is the strategy for the next 4 years development and peace interventions.
We look forward through this conference that the government and the international partners will further strengthen their relationship and the trust to advance development and humanitarian agendas.
This conference will remain focused on making Afghanistan self reliant by the end of its transformation decade, which is 2024.
And I think this will also be an opportunity for both the Government of Afghanistan and our international partners to address the immediate economic and social effects of COVID-19 to through their continued support.
Another important objective of this conference will remain improving aid delivery and aid effectiveness through mutual accountability and improved and strengthen partnership through the AN PDF2.
The government and our international partners will invest in key sectors to build the economy, to build effective and accountable state institutions and to advance peace agenda.
We will work together to protect and preserve the gains of the past 19 years embedded in the Afghan Constitution and the conventions and agreements to which Afghanistan is a signatory, including the rule of law, human rights, women's rights, civil liberties and social gains.
[Other language spoken]
Thank you very much, Mr Siddiqian, and I'll turn to my left to introduce you, Mr Yanah Thalas, who's feeling Special Envoy to the 2020 Afghanistan Conference.
And I'll give him the floor, Mr Thalas, for his introductory remarks.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
I'm very proud to be sitting on the podium with our two excellent Co chairs, Governor Benin, Afghanistan and UN Yunnan.
I'm bit I'm realising that the only one not wearing a tie and I'm telling you I'm rushing from the airport and this is a travelling attire of special envoy.
So we are very happy to Co operate and we usually use ties.
When we we discussed with this gentleman, I will only make 2 points in my opening statement why Finland is doing this and what we expect from the conference.
[Other language spoken]
I'm sitting on this podium for two main reasons.
Afghanistan is our main development partner has been for years.
We have been investing and we have been cooperating with Afghanistan well in in years and we have also made the significant contribution to the crisis management in Afghanistan.
So we do know and we appreciate the work that is going in Afghanistan.
The second reason is that when we looked at the conference, we knew that this is not going to be easy.
One, we thought that small countries like Finland would actually when we talk about defending multilateralism, it means that we we take difficult jobs and defend and work on joint common solutions in a very difficult situations like we have this year in Afghanistan.
These are the two reasons why we are taking on, we have been involved into this project.
What we expect from the conference.
We, we said we have, we have set ourselves three goals from for the conference.
First to support the people and government of Afghanistan.
Second, to secure the gains of the last 19 years.
And the third, bolster the peace process and try to see that if we can take the peace process forward.
And I'm looking forward for your questions.
[Other language spoken]
Thank you very much, Special Envoy, and I will now turn to our own UN Resident Coordinator in Afghanistan, Mr Ramiz Alakhbarov.
Mr Akhbarov, you have the floor.
Thank you very much.
I would like to welcome, first of all representatives and Co chairs, the Government of Finland, the Government of Afghanistan and, of course, all the colleagues who are online.
[Other language spoken]
The conference is extremely important.
It will be opened by His Excellency President of Afghanistan, Mr Ashraf Ghani, UN Secretary General will be speaking at the opening and of course, Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Development and Cooperation of Finland.
I would like to convey that we have a strong support.
More than 70 Member States and more than 35 international organisations will take part in the conference and around 50 will be delivering messages and will be speaking at the conference.
Let me remind everybody, this conference is the last of the series of the donor conference in the decade of transition to self-reliance 2014 to 2024.
And if there's only one message I would like to give today and before I welcome your questions, is that at this critical time, the United Nations anticipates that conference will provide strong support to the people of Afghanistan from communications with the donors and partners and entities.
We understand that regardless of the difficult COVID-19 context, there still will be significant financial support pledged to Afghanistan at this conference, both despite of these daunting challenges which Afghanistan and and the donor community is experiencing that are compounded by the difficult times of the COVID-19.
The conference will_that commitment and will send a signal of a strong solidarity which international community continues to have the the Afghanistan on its way to peace and development decisions which will be taken in Geneva in the next few days.
We also view them as virtually reinforcing the Afghanistan peace negotiations and we continue to maintain an international support to Afghanistan is critical from all perspectives.
And thank you very much for your attention.
I will be glad to answer any questions.
[Other language spoken]
And there are quite a few already.
Thank you very much, Mr Alec Bharov.
So I will start now by giving the floor to our journalists for the questions.
As you know this is a press conference, so we ask questions and answer straight away.
The first one is from Lisa Schlein, Voice of America.
Please put on your earpiece to listen to her.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
First the is you're talking, this is the last of your donor conferences.
So how much then your it's a pledging conferences, right?
How much money are you asking for?
And then on.
The peace process, more particularly the **** Commissioner for Refugees, recently was in Afghanistan and he warned of a humanitarian disaster if the peace process failed.
How do you evaluate the current situation?
And do you not have fears about the return of the Taliban, particularly for women who suffered so severely under their rule?
And I haven't heard any specific provisions for the protection of their rights.
And then I'd like your comment on the potential troop, troop withdrawal of the United Nation, excuse me, United States forces from from Afghanistan.
President Trump has said he wants to have at least half the number withdrawn, 2500, which would leave you with very few.
Well, about the same number.
In the country, are you afraid concerned about that?
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
So who would like to say maybe Mr Akhbarov on the funds and then I'll give the floor to the representative of the Ministry of Finance.
Right.
I do not think I'm in a position to make an announcement about the the absolute figures which will be announced during this conference because I simply do not have that information.
But we do believe that the contributions will be significant still in the current environment and they will continue to underline the strong support which international community does have for the Afghanistan.
So this is the message which we would like to convey.
Of course, the COVID-19 created a more tighter fiscal space for everybody, but there is still a considerable feeling we have about prioritisation of these needs of Afghanistan in the prevailing context and and that will be a manifestation of the cellularity For the exact check figures.
I would suggest that we just wait for a couple of days when the conference takes place and the announcements are made.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
I think on the first question about the the amount of money that we are expecting from our international partners.
As Mr Alagbarov said, we have strong support and commitment from our international partners, but the actual figures are yet to be announced by the principals.
During the conference on on the peace process, there were three components, humanitarian disaster, women's rights, troops withdrawal.
I think the government of Afghanistan has very clearly enshrined in the Afghanistan National Peace and Development Framework, which is the, the strategy for the next 4 years, the, the, the prospects of, of, of a huge influx of returnees of refugees.
And that is under this peace building pillar.
We have considered programmes to respond to such a situation and eventuality on women's rights, human rights and other civic liberties.
I think the, the document is very clear.
It's a it's a strong commitment of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and of course supported by our international partners that the gains of the past 19 years must be preserved and protected and and therefore women's rights.
Are embedded in the constitution and they will continue to be protected.
On the troops withdrawal, I think I would simply say that for for that to have least effects on the situation in Afghanistan, it is really critical that the peace process which is ongoing in Doha must advance and make good progress.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
On the first point about the funding of pledges, I kind of seconding my colleagues and we are looking for to to have a significant contribution.
That's what we can say at this point.
On the peace process, I do agree with the **** Commissioner's assessment.
If the peace process fails, there is a real recipe for catastrophe.
So peace process must not fail.
I think that is an important point on the troop withdrawals.
We have a there's lots of discussion of the short term impact of the of troop withdrawals.
I would, I would like to draw the attention to the long term effect.
It means that it is very clear that the military presence in Afghanistan is is going down in the years to come.
So that means that the development and financial support will be even more important.
So we hope this long term perspective that this announcements announcement made very clear would spur countries to make even bigger pledges because it they will be more important in years to come.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
Yes, just very quickly, will you be sending us the agenda?
You mentioned that the President of Afghanistan will be talking and the Secretary General and others.
So will you be sending that to us in terms of the the times and who the the speakers are likely to be?
And is this going to be webcast on the UN web website?
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
Lisa, I would like to refer you to the NOTO correspondent that Reales sent out last week.
I think it was already where there are all the connections, all the links to the web and to where to find the images and audio of the conference.
Yes, indeed.
Everything will be webcast and on the list of speakers.
And I think you have already received the programme both of the side events and of the 24th November conference.
But we will be sending out more detailed programme with names.
Catherine, Catherine, Catherine, introduce yourself to our Yes, yes, thank you.
Thank you so much Alessandra Catherine Fionn combo conga for France Vancatra I I I just would like to back up the demand of my colleague Lisa and to kindly ask the gentleman to provide as soon as possible all documents to Eunice in advance and that we could we the press get under embargo like official statements of of the participants, because it is very important for us to be able.
[Other language spoken]
Quickly and to cover properly this very important conference.
And also I understood that there will be a press, maybe a press conference at the end of the conference.
So please let us know in advance and provide us as many documents and information in advance through UNIS or through the people that you can give the contacts to UNIS.
[Other language spoken]
Just a just a quick point that the outcome documents of the conference are still worked on.
We will get them to you as soon as possible.
You can believe that these documents are not easy to bring to finalise.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
And Kathleen is also the Vice President of the Association of Journalists.
So she's speaking on behalf of the Association.
And what we will try to see with our colleagues, Co organisers is whether we can get you the speeches on beforehand under embargo on the media opportunities.
Again, I will refer you to the note correspondent that we've sent out.
There are quite a few media opportunities indeed, starting from the arrivals on 24th of November at door 40.
There will be also a group photo of the conference Co chair.
We will give you more details on that and we will have, yes indeed a press conference at the end of the proceedings for more media opportunities.
We will inform you as soon as possible.
I see a question from the New York Times correspondent, Nick Kamim.
Bruce.
Nick, you have the floor.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
I just wanted to ask if you've had numbers available on the overall levels of foreign aid to Afghanistan and whether there's a clear correlation between the levels of aid and the current sort of trends in the security situation, IE as the the conflict seems to intensify, are you seeing a diminution in the levels of foreign assistance?
Well, thank you, Nick, for your question.
In terms of the development assistance provided to Afghanistan since 2000 and 1616 until now, which was for the start of the transformation decade, the first half of it, it has been significant and it has contributed quite significantly to the development of Afghanistan in different parts of the country.
And we believe the continuation of development assistance to Afghanistan will play a key role in stabilising Afghanistan and also supporting the government on its journey towards self-reliance, which we all hope for.
So the I think there there are a number of reasons for why development interventions may or may not have been as effective as expected, but of course the presence of International Security forces have been one factor in that context.
Yeah, Alright.
[Other language spoken]
Oh, Nick, you have a follow up.
[Other language spoken]
Well, yeah, just to ask, could we get a dollar figure and could we get a sense of whether the numbers are going up or going down?
[Other language spoken]
I think as my colleagues also said it earlier, the principals and the key donors of Afghanistan are still discussing and they are negotiating amongst their principles in the capitals to to agree on a on a dollar figure.
But we have received a very important and strong message from our international partners that they will continue to support Afghanistan's development envisioned in the Afghanistan National Peace and Development Framework.
And they have indicated that their support will, of course be in respond in response to the needs of peace and development framework.
Just to remind you, the journalist, that this is a background and sort of a cut and razor press points.
So as as our colleagues told us, this, this, this is going to be, the numbers are going to come at the time of the conference.
Christian Eric Christian is a German journalist.
Maybe you can introduce yourself to Christian.
[Other language spoken]
It's Christiana with a German press agency.
I'm afraid this is another figure question.
I think what Nick was asking is how much money has been paid between 2016 and now and that dollar figure should be available now.
And my second question would be how much do you need for the next 4 years?
So this is not the figure that is going to come out at the end of Tuesday.
But what are the needs that you have put forward to donors and also in dollar terms, please?
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
I think in terms of the dollar amount that was pledged during the 2016 Brussels Conference, it was $15.2 billion U.S.
[Other language spoken]
And of that amount I think up to I would say 85 to 90% of that amount has been disbursed.
But it's it's actually a very technical question because usually the commitments do not automatically translate into disbursements of the actual figures.
So there are variations and then there are also carry forwards from the previous conferences.
In terms of the expectation through this conference, the government of Afghanistan in the AN PDF2 which is the Afghanistan National Peace and Development Framework has introduced 3 principles and those are a peace building, State Building and market building.
And under these programmes, these principles, the government has also introduced a number of national priority programmes, which are development programmes.
And I think these are responding to the context, the current context and also taking into consideration eventualities of, of, of our, of our potentially successful peace process or a prolonged peace process, focusing on, on, on key government and state institutions and also helping the economic sector in a way that will actually take Afghanistan with the support of our international partners towards self-reliance.
Once this strategic document is adopted after this conference, the government and our international partners will work on the national priority programmes and and that will basically guide all development interventions over the next four years.
So I hope I have answered the question about the previous commitments, but for the future we're we're yet to hear that.
[Other language spoken]
I think you you haven't, because Christian is asked for the floor again.
I'm really sorry, but are you saying that you have not put a dollar figure on the table so that donors know what the government of Afghanistan thinks it needs for the next four years?
I mean, Speaking of the actual dollar figure, in the AN PDF2, we have analysed 3 scenarios for for the economic situation in Afghanistan.
And based on each situation, there is a different amount that we are vouching for.
We have a base case scenario in which the the situation will continue as it is and therefore probably the needs of development interventions in Afghanistan will somewhat remain the same.
We have a best case scenario in which we think the peace process will proceed and have positive outcomes.
And then that will provide a dividend for increased development interventions, especially in, in, in the areas and regions which have not received significant support in the past.
And then we have a, a, a worst case scenario in which we think if, God forbid, the situation worsens further, the, the pandemic hits the economy again, the security situation deteriorates, then we must focus on key government interventions and international partners interventions to make sure that, that, that basic services and, and, and, and support to the people of Afghanistan is available.
So we're talking about different amounts in, under, in, in different situations.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
I'm not coming up with the numbers, but I've come to help with our good coach Nasser on this.
What we know that the needs have been increasing especially because of the COVID.
We know also that possible peace process would come into the conclusion that would actually incur some short term costs, but it would be creative and greatly beneficial in long term.
So that that could be something that that that's kind of has a financial impact.
And and 3rd, we know that financial conditions are not what they were in 2016.
Money is very scarce now.
So these are the kind of the main points of a political perspective I would like to highlight.
And I think from the from the donor perspective, I think the keyword is priorities and flexibility because clearly there might be changes down the road because of the peace process.
So we have to have a clear priorities and then we're supporting the government of Afghanistan to have these priorities and then have flexibility if things do change.
Sorry, no figures, but this is more of a kind of thinking behind the donor kind of wave approach.
[Other language spoken]
Thank you, Mr Alec Berth.
[Other language spoken]
Just to add that then you do planning in this particular tight fiscal environment and at the time of the COVID-19, we also have to factor in that the gross domestic product will also will be impacted because of what had happened.
And we still do not know what the actual impact of it would be because the year is not, is not true.
There are different scenarios.
They're projecting 5%, ten percent, 20% reduction.
The truth of the matter, we don't know and we don't want to speculate about those figures.
But the truth of the matter is situation is not easy.
Afghanistan continues to have needs and considerable needs.
Just to mention maybe very quickly that at least due to the difficult situation in one and two children under 5 now is facing echid malnutrition, need assistance in food that the humanitarian needs.
Almost half of the population is is in some sort of a humanitarian need at the moment.
So the needs are there.
These big needs are quite big, but to make an exact projection on a budget figure in this particular fluid environment is quite difficult exercise.
So I hope you appreciate that and can wait for the conference so that the actual announcements will be made and you will hear a little bit more concrete figures at that time also.
Then the documents will be positive.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
Thank you very much.
[Other language spoken]
I don't see any other question on the platform from our journalists or in the room.
So I would like to thank very much our speakers remind everybody that on the 23rd we will have the official side events on sustainable peace building with two segments, human rights and women participation and Segment 2, reintegrating refugees and retirees.
And then at the beginning of the afternoon, institutional and societal methods for fighting corruption and at the end of the afternoon, economic priorities and aid effectiveness.
And then the Tuesday, the main conference, as we have already said, please let us know.
This is for the visual press.
Let us know if and who would like to attend in person the events because we need to make sure that we are compliant with the COVID regulations.
So please, some of you have already done it, but please let us know who would like to be in the room and who would like to cover the photo opportunity and the press conference in person.
Jill is organising this, so please let us know exactly what are your intentions on the coverage.
Thank you very much to our speakers.
I'll continue with the briefing.
We still have one speaker who has been patiently waiting, Catherine for Angktad.
It's your turn, Catherine.
Go ahead if you can be unmuted.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
The systems.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
Any question for Antet?
I don't see any.
So thank you very much.
I have a quite a few other announcements.
Let me take off the mask this sorry.
So yeah, there are there is a another press conference today at 1:00 PM.
This is the Convention on the Prohibition of anti personal minds.
I was going to brief you on addressing growing use of ideas, man action and peace process in Sudan with a few speakers including the Deputy Permanent Representative of Sudan to UN Geneva and the Deputy Permanent Representative of Switzerland to the UN Geneva and also ICRC and Human Rights Watch.
Second, the World Meteorological Organisation press conference who scheduled for Monday, 23rd of November at 11 AM.
This is going to be the to launch the Greenhouse gas bulletin January report by WMO on atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide and other major greenhouse gases.
The secretary General of WMO, Professor Patrick Talas, another Talas will will be the main speaker together with Doctor Oksana Tarasova, WMO Chief of Atmospheric and Environment Research Division.
And last but not least, on Wednesday, 25th of November at 9:30, so before they acted one, we'll have a press conference by the UN Institute for Disarmament Research.
Who will launch that will launch the Cluster Munition Monitor 2020 report with the participation of Human Rights Watch, ICBLCMC with two different speakers.
And then I would like to inform you on behalf of Adriano Timothy, who could not be together with us today that so that the the the World Food and Agricultural Organisation.
He asked me to tell you that the World Antimicrobial Awareness Week is taking place from the 18th to the 24th of November.
This week is an annual campaign led by FAOO i.e, NWHO, with several events and activities being organised worldwide to raise awareness on the issue of antimicrobial resistance.
So he will send you some more information about that.
But you can also find out about FAO events and activities on how they FAO tackle this question at the #antimicrobial resistance.
And I think this is all I had for you.
If there is no question to me left, I don't see any.
I would just like to remind you that this afternoon at three O clock, we will have the Virtual Young Activist Summit as we have announced you last last briefing.
You have the press release with all the links.
We hope you'll be able to cover this event.
Thank you very much and have a nice weekend.
[Other language spoken]