The United Nations Office at Geneva
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UNOG-RUSH-NEWS Briefing 13AUG2021 Zoom Recording.
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Situation in Afghanistan
Shabia Mantoo, for the United Nations Refugees Agency (UNHCR), said the human toll of spiralling hostilities in Afghanistan was immense. The United Nations Assistance Mission had warned that without a significant de-escalation in violence, Afghanistan was on course to witness the highest ever number of documented civilian casualties in a single year since the UN’s records began.
UNHCR was particularly worried about the impact of the conflict on women and girls. Some 80 per cent of nearly 250,000 Afghans forced to flee since the end of May were women and children. Some 400,000 civilians had been forced from their homes since the beginning of the year, joining 2.9 million Afghans already internally displaced across the country at the end of 2020. The overwhelming majority of Afghans forced to flee remained within the country, as close to their homes as fighting would allow. Since the beginning of this year, nearly 120,000 Afghans had fled from rural areas and provincial towns to Kabul province.
UNHCR was urging the international community to urgently step up its support to respond to this displacement crisis. UNHCR’s own teams, as part of the broader UN effort, had assessed the needs of almost 400,000 internally displaced civilians this year. Responding initially to the most critical priorities, UNHCR was providing food, shelter, hygiene and sanitary kits and other lifesaving assistance, together with partners.
UNHCR was calling on neighbouring countries to keep their borders open in light of the intensifying crisis in Afghanistan. It stood ready to help national authorities scale up humanitarian responses as needed.
In the context of generalized insecurity in many parts of Afghanistan, it was also clear that Afghans outside of the country may have international protection needs. States were called to ensure they were able to seek safety, regardless of their current legal status. UNHCR welcomed the actions taken by several states to temporarily halt deportations of failed asylum-seekers. UNHCR called for a permanent ceasefire and a negotiated settlement in the interests of the Afghan people.
Tomson Phiri, for the World Food Programme (WFP), warned of a worsening food security situation in Afghanistan. One in three Afghans were acutely food insecure today – equivalent to 14 million people in IPC Phase 3 or worse. Some 2 million children needed nutrition treatment. The country had been hit by a second drought episode in four years and a below average harvest was projected. WFP feared a larger tide of hunger was fast approaching. The situation had all the hallmarks of a humanitarian catastrophe.
The price of both wheat and wheat flour remained much higher than pre-COVID levels. In the last three months, WFP had provided food and nutrition assistance to 4.1 million people. But it was not enough. WFP’s plan was to scale-up assistance to reach 9 million people by December.
WFP would preposition food closest to people’s homes. WFP had six field offices with total warehousing capacity of 52,000 tons. Using a fleet 144-truck strong, WFP could transport 12,000 tons per month. Plans were underway to boost capacity to 40,000 MT per month. WFP provided cash transfers and had disbursed 26.6 million USD between January and June. But WFP was severely under-resourced and was calling for $200 million to get it through to the end of the year.
Mr. LeBlanc, for the United Nations Information Service (UNIS), said the Secretary-General was following, with deep concern, developments in Afghanistan, including the latest fighting in Herat and Kandahar. Mr. Guterres was particularly concerned about the shift of fighting to urban areas, where the potential for civilian harm was even greater. The Secretary-General hoped that the discussions this week in Doha between representatives of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and Taliban, along with regional and international envoys, would restore the pathway to a negotiated settlement to the conflict. The United Nations stood ready to contribute to such a settlement and remained focused on providing assistance to the increasing number of Afghans in need.
Answering questions from journalists, Jens Laerke, for Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said the UN had had a humanitarian presence in Afghanistan for the last 70 years. OCHA would stay and deliver for the Afghan people. OCHA was working with 156 humanitarian partners inside Afghanistan, to the benefit of some 8 million Afghans in 2021 alone. As humanitarians, OCHA would engage with anyone, including the Taliban, if it pertained to accessing people in need, and if that access was for delivery of humanitarian assistance based on the core humanitarian principles of complete neutrality, impartiality, and independence.
The recent, massive displacements were creating challenges in the dispensing of aid in urban areas. Assessment missions were being conducted on how to adapt the response. Some 21 000 IDPs had been recorded in Kabul, with reports of thousands more rushing in. A growing number of those people had no place to sleep.
Answering other questions, Ms. Mantoo said some 120 000 Afghans had fled to the Kabul city and province. It was alarming that 80% of those fleeing were women, children, and infants. Civilian casualties were spiraling, and Afghanistan was on the brink of a humanitarian disaster. Insecurity was also rising, with reports of extorsion of fleeing people by non-State groups. More support for live-saving interventions was needed.
Most displacements were happening inside Afghanistan, with no major cross-border movements. Iran and Pakistan hosted 90% of all Afghan refugees abroad. But this hospitality could not be taken for granted. Any major influx would require the international community to help Afghanistan and neighboring countries.
Mr. Phiri added that women and children suffered the most, partly because they could not access aid distribution centers. Humanitarians were trying hard to adapt their approaches so that assistance could reach the persons in need. The best-case scenario would be a holding peace agreement, so that people could access services.
Mr. LeBlanc said the security of UN staff, including international and national staff, was a priority for the UN. It had contingency plans that were reviewed as the situation was evolving. The UN relied on the Afghan government, as the host country responsible for the security of UN staff on its territory. Overall, there were some 720 UN staff there. About 300 UN staff remained on site in Afghanistan, many others had been working remotely because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
James Elder, for the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), said many children had been killed in the fighting. There were also reports of minors being recruited by armed groups.
Fadela Chaib, for the World Health Organization (WHO), added that Afghanistan’s humanitarian needs were both enormous and complex. Trauma was a major public health concern that was aggravated by the recent escalation in violence. WHO was supporting trauma care in 130 facilities, as well as blood banks, and training health workers on mass casualty management. WHO was also concerned by the shortage of medical supplies.
Systematic sexual violence in DR Congo’s Tanganyika Province
Taking the floor again, Shabia Mantoo, United Nations Refugees Agency (UNHCR), said the UN Refugee Agency was gravely concerned about incidents of widespread and systematic sexual violence against Congolese women and girls, perpetrated by armed groups in the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Tanganyika Province. More than 23,000 people had been displaced since May in northern Tanganyika’s Kongolo Territory alone, according to local authorities.
In the past two weeks, humanitarian partners in the Kongolo and Mbulula health zones had recorded 243 incidents of rape, 48 of which involved minors, in 12 villages. The actual figures were thought to be even higher as reporting of gender-based violence remained taboo in most communities.
The attacks were reportedly being carried out by armed groups competing to control mining areas – especially gold mines – and as retaliation against government-led military operations. Civilians found themselves trapped in the middle of intense confrontations between different groups.
UNHCR and its partners worked with local authorities and humanitarian actors to ensure that psychosocial and medical support was provided to survivors, but the ongoing conflict and long distances to reach health centres were making it extremely difficult for them to access assistance. UNHCR was calling on the authorities to urgently scale up security in the area bordering several localities between Tanganyika, Maniema, and South Kivu Provinces, to protect civilians, especially women and girls; allow humanitarian access; and for investigations to be launched and the perpetrators to be brought to justice.
Humanitarian and protection needs were growing and UNHCR was seeking further financial support – it had received just 36 per cent of the US$205 million required for its operation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Extreme heat in the Mediterranean and North Africa
Bob Stefanski, Head of Applied Climate Services at the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), said the WMO was seeking to verify a reported temperature of 48.8° C (119.8° F) in Sicily on 11 August, and to establish whether this was a new temperature record for continental Europe. WMO had to make sure these records were verified for the sake of scientific understanding and accuracy. Other temperature records in Tunisia needed to be verified. With the heat came a wildfire threat affecting Greece, Turkey, and North Africa. The heatwave should peak this weekend and subside next week.
The newly released Sixth Assessment Report of the IPCC stated that with climate change, we had been observing more frequent and severe high temperature events, and this would continue in the future. This was seen in Europe, where the frequency and intensity of hot extremes had increased in recent decades and were projected to keep increasing regardless of the greenhouse gas emissions scenario. Europe would need to prepare for the eventuality of further records being broken, temperatures above 50° C being possible in the future.
Outbreak of Marburg virus in Guinea
Fadela Chaib, for the World Health Organization, said that on 9 August, health authorities in Guinea had confirmed one case of the Marburg virus disease. Efforts were ongoing to find the people who may have been in contact with the patient. As the disease was appearing for the first time in the country, health authorities were launching public education and community mobilization to raise awareness to curb widespread infection.
An initial team of ten WHO experts, including epidemiologists and socio-anthropologists, was on the ground helping to investigate the case and supporting the efforts by the national health authorities to implement the national response plan. Cross-border surveillance was also being enhanced to quickly detect any cases, with neighbouring Sierra Leone and Liberia on alert; as of 11 August, nearly 200 people had been screened. There was no vaccine against the highly contagious Marburg virus.
Answering questions regarding the second phase of the SARS-CoV-2 virus origin studies, including the question of a WHO mission to China, Ms. Chaib referred journalists to WHO’s statement that was published yesterday. Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, she added, WHO had been working with Member States and the scientific community to better understand how this pandemic began so we could be better prepared for the next one.
WHO called for all governments to depoliticize the situation and cooperate to accelerate the origins studies. It was vitally important to know how the COVID-19 pandemic began, to set an example for establishing the origins of all future animal-human spillover events. Countries had a collective responsibility to work together in the true spirit of partnership and to ensure scientists and experts have the space they need to find the origins of the worst pandemic in a century.
The International Scientific Advisory Group for Origins of Novel Pathogens (SAGO) would support the undertaking of recommended studies outlined in the March 2021 report. Ms. Chaib finally reminded that WHO was against any mandatory vaccination. A press conference on COVID-19 would take place next Wednesday, 18 August, at 3 p.m.
Announcements
Rhéal LeBlanc, for the United Nations Information Service, said that the 25th session of the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) would open next Monday, 16 August, at 12:30 p.m. During the session, the Committee would review the reports of France and Djibouti.
On 16 August, at 4 p.m., the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) would start reviewing the report of Netherlands, ending on Tuesday, 17 August, at 4 p.m.
Also on Tuesday, the Conference on Disarmament (CD) would hold a plenary meeting at 10 a.m. under the presidency of Chile.
Finally, Mr. LeBlanc reminded that the UN would celebrate World Humanitarian Day with an official ceremony next Thursday, 19 August, at 3 p.m., outside Room XX at the Palais des Nations. Ms. Tatiana Valovaya, Director-General of the United Nations Office in Geneva, and Ms. Michelle Bachelet, UN High-Commissioner for Human Rights, would be among those making statements.
Teleprompter
[Other language spoken]
Good morning, everyone.
Welcome to this Eunice Hybrid Press briefing of Friday the 10th of August.
We have a few agencies briefing with us this morning, so without further ado, we'll get right into it.
First, we're going to brief on the situation in Afghanistan.
We have Shabiya Mantu from the refugee agency here with us and also Thompson Ferry from the World Food Programme.
Shabiya is going to brief on the toll of the conflict on displaced women and children.
And then Thompson will give an update on the food security situation in the country.
[Other language spoken]
Good morning, everybody.
Nice to see you all.
It's been a little bit of a while.
As we all mentioned, we're briefing on Afghanistan this morning and we're warning that the conflict is indeed taking the heaviest toll on displaced women and children.
The UN refugee agency is alarmed by the unfolding humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan today.
As widespread fighting intensifies, the United Nations and Afghanistan continues to call for a permanent ceasefire and a negotiated settlement in the interests of the Afghan people.
The human toll of spiralling hostilities is immense.
The United Nations Assistance Mission has warned that without a significant de escalation in violence, Afghanistan is on course to witness the highest ever number of documented civilian casualties in a single year since the UN records began.
We are particularly worried about the impact of the conflict on women and girls.
Some 80% of nearly 1/4 of a million Afghans forced to flee since the end of May are women and children.
Some 400,000 civilians have been forced from their home since the beginning of the year, joining 2.9 million Afghans already internally displaced across the country at the end of 2020.
Ongoing fighting has also been reported in 33 of Afghanistan's 34 provinces and the overwhelming majority of Afghans forced to flee remain within the country as close to their homes as the fighting will allow.
Since the beginning of the year, nearly 120,000 Afghans have fled from rural areas and provincial towns to Kabul province.
UNHCR is urging the international community to urgently step up it's support to respond to this latest Afghanistan displacement crisis.
Our teams, as part of the broader UN effort, have assessed the needs of almost 400,000 internally displaced civilians this year, responding initially to the most critical priorities.
We are providing food, shelter, hygiene and sanitary kits and other life saving assistance.
Together with partners, UNH is calling on neighbouring countries to keep their borders open in light of the intensifying crisis in Afghanistan.
An inability to seek safety may risk innumerable civilian lives.
UNHCR stands ready to help national authorities scale up humanitarian responses as needed.
In the context of generalised insecurity in many parts of Afghanistan, it is increasingly clear that Afghans outside the country may have international protection needs.
UNHCR calls for all states to ensure that they are able to seek safety regardless of their current legal status.
Given the dramatic escalation and conflict, UNHCR welcomes the actions now taken by several states to temporarily halt deportations of failed asylum seekers and ensure access to asylum procedures.
[Other language spoken]
Thank you very much.
Sabia will now sorry.
Thank you very much.
Sabia will now turn to Thompson Fieri from the World Food Programme.
[Other language spoken]
Real good morning Bourgeois Tous.
The food security and nutrition situation in Afghanistan is quite dire and continues to rested with each passing day.
One in three Afghans are acutely food insecure today.
This is equivalent to about 14 million people who are in IPC phase three or OS.
This means people have lost their means by which they end their keep and some 2 million children need nutrition treatment.
We fear the West is yet to come and a tide of hunger is fast approaching.
[Other language spoken]
The situation is worsened and is becoming increasingly unpredictable.
The conflict is accelerated much faster than we all anticipated and the situation has all the hallmarks of a humanitarian catastrophe.
Since May we have seen increased hunger levels and suffering.
The price of both wheat and wheat flour remains much higher than pre COVID levels, selling at 43 percent above the five year average in main cities and town centres.
In just the last three months, WFP has provided food and Nutrition Assistance to 4.1 million people, but we do not think this is enough.
Our plan is to scale up assistance to reach 9 million people by December.
Fighting has proposed has posed difficulties in moving humanitarian workers and assistance around the country.
Aid workers are working under extraordinary circumstances in Afghanistan.
Notwithstanding the challenges, the World Food Programmes plan is to pre position food closest to people's homes.
WP has 6 field offices with total warehousing capacity of 52,000 metric tonnes.
Using a fleet that is about 144 trucks strong, WP can transport 12,000 metric tonnes per month, while plans are underway to add an additional 99 trucks to bring the total fleet capacity to 243, which would boost our capacity to transport up to 40,000 metric tonnes per month.
We are distributing wheat flour currently which we purchase locally in Afghanistan and other food and nutrition items such as yellow split peas and nutrition supplements which have been produced which have been procured rather regionally and internationally.
We are also providing assistance in cash transfers and have so far disbursed 26,000,000 USD in cash transfers between January and June.
However, WFP is severely under resourced and is calling for 200 million United States dollars to get us through to the end of the year.
Immediate and flexible resources are needed to ensure food is where it's needed, when it's needed.
Thank you very much, Thompson.
And of course, our Secretary general is also deeply concerned by the situation in Afghanistan and the latest fighting in Herat and Kandar, particularly concerned about the fact that the violence of the conflict, the fighting is shifting to urban areas where, of course, there's potential for civilian casualties, and that's increasing.
We really hope that the discussions this week in Doha between representatives of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and Taliban, along with regional and international envoys, will, of course, restore the pathway to a negotiated settlement to the conflict.
As ever, the United Nations stands ready to contribute to such a settlement and remains focused on providing assistance to the increasing number of Afghans in needs.
Let's see if there are some questions in the room.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
Going once, going twice.
Let's go to Catherine Fiancon online.
And then, no, I'm sorry.
[Other language spoken]
And Behram had his hand up first and then we'll go to Catherine.
[Other language spoken]
Good morning, everybody.
As you know, the Taliban have taken over the country's major, major cities in the recent days.
I'm just wondering, does the UN still have access to the to these cities, if not especially the humanitarian access I'm talking about?
If not, what steps are you planning to take?
[Other language spoken]
All right, Behram, just a moment.
We're going to bring Yen's Lark on from Ocha to the podium and he has a few lines that he can give you.
Good morning, everyone, and thank you Verum for for that question.
The UN has been I think in Afghanistan uninterrupted for 70 years and we are still there.
We have a very large and very deep presence across, across Afghanistan, particularly on the humanitarian side where we are and we have been supporting people for for decades.
We remain by and large in the areas where we were before.
Of course, our our concern are for the safety of our staff, international and and particularly national staff and doing, we're doing everything we can to keep in touch with them so that we know what is going on.
[Other language spoken]
We are we have all intentions to stay and deliver for the Afghan people.
The deal that we have in Afghanistan is with the Afghan people, with the civilians, and we are there to stay and help them.
So that is what I can say for now.
Of course, it is a very volatile, fluid, rapidly changing situation.
So we'll have more information as as events unfold.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
Let's go to Catherine Fionncon.
[Other language spoken]
Good morning, real good morning to you all.
My first, I have a couple of questions.
My first question is to Shabia.
Shabia, nice to see you back.
It's related to what you said, particularly for women and girls, as you mentioned that 80% of people that left since the end of May are women and children.
How do you handle the situation?
How do you what do you organise to protect them?
We know that they they are a target.
And also I wanted to know if you guys have anything organised with the neighbouring countries, meaning Pakistan, Iran, Uzbekistan, how does it work?
And also question to in fact Thompson and UNICEF, is there anyone of UNICEF today regarding the 2 million children that are in need of of treatment?
How do you organise, and my last question is, in fact, to all of you, is regarding what we see.
It means the evacuation of international citizens and staff.
What about the Afghan people that did work with all the internationals?
We know that they are very exposed to violence, as my colleague said, that the situation is evaluating very quickly and faster than was expected.
[Other language spoken]
Thank you, Catherine, for your question.
Indeed.
I mean, this is where we are incredibly alarmed at what's happening.
I mean, this is a staggering statistic.
80% of those fleeing are women, children, babies among them.
[Other language spoken]
And, and we're urging and This is why it's so important that they, the situation needs attention.
These people need support.
The situation.
It's, it's very fluid and volatile.
But what we are have continued to sort of raise the alarm and been reporting as, as the disproportionate toll that civilians, including women, children, the most vulnerable are really paying for what's happening on the ground.
Very recently, I think Baba briefed, uh, a couple of weeks ago, basically also talking about, umm, the, in addition to the worsening security situation, uh, prompting people to flee, displaced civilians are talking about extortion by non state armed groups, the presence of improvised in explosive design devices on major roads.
And also, you know, right, just generally rising in security, But we're also seeing the number of civilian casualties really spiralling alarmingly and an increasing proportion of women and children are among those that are targeted.
So it's a very dire situation.
We are on the ground together with partners and we're working to provide life saving assistance.
We're, we're also asking the International Security community to step up support because this is really critical.
[Other language spoken]
We're on the brink of humanitarian disaster.
So we need more support for these life saving interventions to be able to provide support to ensure that they can be assisted when they are displaced and also to, to help up, you know, all, all aspects of the response, whether it's food, shelter, other essential support services.
So this is really our appeal today.
I think that that was in, I think those questions were directed to me.
I don't know if colleagues wanted to add anything further over.
I think there was a question for you Thompson.
So why don't you take that?
[Other language spoken]
It's a very big concern when people can't access assistance regards the 2 million who who are in need of nutrition support.
Indeed, women and children are suffering in South in, in, in Afghanistan and the suffering isn't, has intensified also because they can hardly access some of the health centres where assistance was distributed.
We continue to be agile and to try to adapt our modalities so that assistance is, is distributed as closest as possible to people's homes.
But I mean, the best case scenario would be a peace agreement that actually holds where people can access services and humanitarians are also able to reach them with assistance.
As things stand now, there are challenges.
People are struggling to access assistance and humanitarians are doing all they can to adapt our approaches so that we make sure that assistance reaches the people, the people we need to be reaching in a timely manner.
There was a question about children.
I think James Elder is with us.
James, are you able to add anything to the question about the two million children?
Not on, not specifically on the 2 million children, if you can clarify what the question was.
I mean, I heard it, but I, I have details around as you've seen children, children killed and children injured and increasing reports of atrocities, including recruitment.
But if you could just clarify what the question was on 2 million.
Yeah, there were several questions.
There was a question about the 2 million children, but maybe we can bring Katherine back to clarify that that question.
[Other language spoken]
You want to add something?
[Other language spoken]
Shabia is going to add something about displacements and then I can say a couple of words about the evacuation of international staff.
Sorry.
Yeah, I believe, sorry, Katrin, you asked me a question about the displacement so for now we're seeing the the majority of the displacement in Afghanistan.
It's within the country.
So people are basically moving wherever they can access safety.
So for now really we haven't seen major cross-border movements.
I think we reported earlier on Monday that over the weekend we had seen a couple, a couple of 100 of people that were basically fleeing to to Iran.
But actually for now most of the the displacement is actually within the country.
So they're internally displaced over uh, good.
[Other language spoken]
And then, umm, I mean on the security of the UN staff and national staff, of course, I mean, UN staff comprises international staff, but also national staff.
Umm, they, their security is of course a priority for the United Nations and we are doing everything we can to keep uh, these people safe.
Umm, of course the United Nations has contingency plans that I think are reviewed according to how the situation evolves.
Umm, but of course we rely on the, on the Afghan government, uh, the host country is responsible for the security of UN staff that is in the country and in any country.
And so we do work closely with them and rely on them to provide the necessary security.
Umm, that's what I can tell you at the moment.
And I'm we're waiting, I've, I've sent her a WhatsApp.
We're waiting for the question again on on UNICEF, but in the meantime, I'm online.
Yes, yes, sorry about it, about UNICEF.
[Other language spoken]
I wanted to know, I mean, how what do UNICEF plans to do for, for the children?
Thompson gave some indication regarding the 2 million kids, but and and and also I I did ask a question regarding the neighbouring countries, Pakistan, Iran and Uzbekistan.
Does UNHER has anything organised already if people decide to flee Afghanistan and go to the neighbouring countries?
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
We do you want to answer that latest question about the neighbouring countries and then we'll go back to James on the children.
Thank you, Katrina, for a very pertinent question.
Indeed.
Iran and Pakistan actually host some 90% of all Afghan refugees and they've been doing so for decades.
So they have been incredibly generous and this hospitality and inclusive policies spanning decades and generations that cannot be taken for granted.
So while we haven't seen any large scale internal, sorry international displacement from Afghanistan as yet, any major influx would definitely require the international community to step up immediate and sustain support to both Afghanistan and its neighbours in a spirit of responsibility and burden sharing.
[Other language spoken]
So maybe we can go back to James to see if you he can add anything on the the UNICEF's plans for children in Afghanistan specifically?
[Other language spoken]
I will come back on the larger numbers at present for a statement of two days ago.
The focus really is on.
Keeping staff at all times possible in those areas as safe as possible, but keeping them, keeping them able to distribute.
[Other language spoken]
We're obviously trucking water.
And as Thompson has talked about doing a lot of work around ready to use therapeutic feeds and vaccinations still ongoing in the areas.
But but as we've heard from multiple speakers today, we continue to see an increase in children killed.
It's been a lot of roadside bombs.
And as the speakers at the start said, we have seen increasingly fighting go into urban areas, areas.
So we've seen increasing numbers of children killed and injured.
And we are getting reports of children being recruited by groups, which is another reason why we want staff to stay in those areas and be able to deliver because they're the places where we can also we can also bear witness.
So that is the the latest from our side over.
[Other language spoken]
We'll take a question from Jamie Keaton and then I have Fadella who can add a few a few things about health.
Jamie, thank you and good morning.
I wanted to just follow up on Kathleen's question, which I think kind of got lost in the shuffle there about as we've seen, there are a number of Western countries that are flying in troops to evacuate their own staff, their own nationals who have been in Afghanistan.
And I'm wondering, I think this was sort of the question that Captain was trying to ask or, or was, was sort of alluding to was what about the Afghan citizens as well that have been working with those staffers or even beyond the with those foreign countries or beyond that.
I mean, the civilians that you're talking about, the women and children, should those Western or you know, I'm, I'm Western, just to briefly summarise, but it happens to be the case, you know, United States, Britain, others that should they have any sort of responsibility in helping to protect the civilians who are fleeing as well the Afghan civilians or help evacuate them?
[Other language spoken]
Look, Jamie, I think I said, I said clearly just a few minutes ago, we have, we have, you know, the, the security of all UN staff, whether international or national is, is key and a priority for us.
We're doing everything that we can to make sure that the UN staff are kept as safe as possible.
And so we're working with the, of course, the national authorities to do that.
There have been no evacuations of UN staff so far.
Some staff, UN staff, no, I know, but I'm talking about you're, you're asking about nationals who are working with the UN.
[Other language spoken]
Maybe answer a little.
All right, Shabba, if you have anything else to add to that.
But we'll, we'll, we'll the UN Security, the UN staff security is our concern for the moment.
And we will do everything we can to to keep them safe.
Yeah, having an issue with the MIC look as real talking about UN stuff.
I mean, that's what we would be, I think more involved with.
But we have obviously seen reports of some countries evacuating people.
We're not involved with those evacuations because they are directly with the country concerned.
But we definitely welcome moves to to, you know, protect people and, and basically support that.
And, and you know, when we talk about people, you know, fleeing for a variety of concerns, they may have protection needs as well.
So we definitely do support that, but we're not involved in the direct evacuations.
[Other language spoken]
OK, we have, let's go to we had Fidela wanting to add something on the health situation.
I don't know if Fidela is still there.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
Just to supplement what my colleague said about the situation in Afghanistan, I would like to make some comment about the health situation there.
I got some information this morning from our office.
The Afghanistan humanitarian needs are both enormous and complex.
We've got health consequences.
One of the major health concern for the World Health Organisation is trauma.
That is aggravated by the recent escalation in violence, trauma cases that we see at health facilities.
We don't know what's happening in the communities Have increased by 30% compared to last year numbers same time and almost doubled within the last 2-3 months.
Not included are numbers of Android who don't make it to health facilities in time.
WHO is supporting 130 hospitals and health facilities nationwide in providing trauma care, supporting other banks, very important and also training of health workers on first aid and mass casualty management.
That virtual has also several other concern and security and the fact that is impacting our capacity to gather health information to inform our action and the action of our partners.
We are also worried about the shortages of medical supplies.
Very important also to have supplies in place to manage casualties because they need really very heavy equipment and medical supplies and as I said, also the **** trauma loads overwhelming the already weak trauma centres and hospitals.
What that Mutual is doing is, as I said, we are supporting trauma care in 130 health facilities with plans to add more health facilities to that list.
We are supporting blood banks and we are training health workers on mass casualty management and supporting health facilities review and date their plans to care for the **** number of casualties linked to the escalation of violence.
Thank you, Ria.
[Other language spoken]
We're going to continue with some questions.
Lisa Schlein is next from Voice of America.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
Good morning everybody.
I, I have a question that I think all of you, if you wish, can answer.
It concerns the aid that you are giving inside the country.
I, I, I guess there are a lot of, you know, problems that you may have.
I was wondering whether most of the aid was being given in areas that the diminishing areas that are still being held by the government of Afghanistan or whether you've reached some kind of agreements with the Taliban to allow you to follow them in their offensive and help the people who obviously need aid there.
And you know, whether whether you can actually directly have contact with these people to help them.
And then, Shabi, you mentioned that non state groups were extorting people.
By non state groups, are you you mean Taliban or are there others involved in this extortion racket?
And then lastly, Jens, just quickly, did you say 17 or 70?
How many years has the UN been in the in Afghanistan?
17 or 7?
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
I think on the last question, it's seven more than seven, well 7070 or 75 years.
We've been there quite a long time.
On the first question on aid Yens, do you have something to say on that?
Do you want to say something on that?
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
The humanitarian action is is happening and has been happening across Afghanistan for very long in in urban areas, but in particularly in in rural areas.
We have in fact in the first half of 2021 assisted some 8 million people across the country.
There's about 156 humanitarian partners, UN and non governmental organisations working together with some coordination from from OCHA in delivering to these 8 million people.
Now as lines of control shift, we do try to continue to provide the assistance that we can as humanitarians.
We will engage with anyone, including the Taliban, if it pertains to accessing people in need and if that access is for delivery of humanitarian assistance that is based fully and firmly on the core humanitarian principles of complete neutrality, impartiality and independence of of delivery.
So when we can do that, we will engage with whomever control of any area in Afghanistan and elsewhere in the world for the purpose of reaching people who need our support.
I hope that answers the question.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
There was also the question about non sig groups.
Yeah, look, thanks Lisa for the for the question.
I mean, to be honest, I don't, I don't know the the profiles of of the perpetrators, but this is basically the reports that were received by people fleeing deciding insecurity and violence in these issues.
But we don't have any any further details on that.
OK, two more questions, Nick coming, Bruce and then Imogen folks.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
You know, a humanitarian crisis as you've been making clear is nothing new.
It's been going on for many months.
And I'm just wondering following up on Lisa's question, whether at this stage you there is any formal sort of Taliban administrative structure that you connect with to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid or whether it's still essentially piece meal connections with whoever is in control of of specific local areas.
[Other language spoken]
Yes, thank.
[Other language spoken]
I can't really answer that question.
I am not aware of any centralised formal arrangement.
Areas are the control of areas that's shifting very, very rapidly.
So any prior arrangement that we must that we have had with authorities in in the past may have been tossed up in the air and needs to be reviewed now.
So we we cannot say that there is a, a formal structure at at at this point.
What we do see right now is that the massive displacement that we are seeing, we are and we are talking about really a surge in displacement since May where we have about an average of 80,000 people being displaced.
Since there is that they are increasingly going to urban areas, which creates a particular kind of of which creates certain challenges in terms of protection and in terms of how can we deliver assistance the best possible way we do where we can in these urban areas send out assessment missions.
They are ongoing.
They are looking at these displacement movements.
They're looking also at other issues that pre exist the, the, the current flare up.
There are floods, there are gender issues, there are protection monitoring going on to see how we can best adapt our response.
We are seeing quite a large number of people rushing into Kabul at at the moment.
I don't have a number right now.
We know before the recent movement there were about 21,000 ID PS in Kabul.
We are getting reports of thousands more rushing in.
The issue with that is that a growing number of those people do not have a place to sleep.
Typically ID PS that have come into major urban centres in the past, have been able to find family and friends where they could get shelter.
That is no longer the case.
They are sleeping in the open in parks and public spaces and of course we are assessing their needs.
We're in contact with them.
I know that there is some health support going out to them, there's food support being given to families that are in the open.
But of major concern right now is simply to find shelter for them who are who are coming in to Kabul and other urban areas who do not have it.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
You want to add something shabby on this?
Yeah, just to to compliment what Yens was saying.
As we sort of briefed, we've seen that out of the the 400,000 civilians that have been forced from their homes since the beginning of the year, we have nearly 120,000 Afghans who have fled from rural areas and provincial towns to Kabul province.
Sorry, Nick, I see you have your hand raised.
Maybe you have a follow up question and then we'll we'll go to imagine.
Yeah, it's just to, I mean, you may have already answered this in effect.
But just to be clear, I'm really trying to get a sense of the fact that I mean, Taliban have been in defect control over something like 2/3 of the country for quite a long time already, including many of the areas that are suffering from humanitarian issues at the moment.
And so at a point where we're saying Taliban may soon even be in control in Kabul, I'm just trying to get a sense of whether there is any evidence that they are putting in place a kind of essential capacity for addressing civilian concerns or whether we should be clear that their focus is entirely on their military offensive at this point.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
It's a bit hypothetical.
[Other language spoken]
What I can say is where we in the past have had humanitarian response on, on ongoing, that is done because we have the consent or accept by the de facto authorities of that place.
And we obtained that acceptance based on the fact that we are delivering assistance in a neutral and impartial way and we engage with the de facto authorities for the purpose of getting access to the civilians in need.
All right, let's close with the Imogen folks from BBC.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
All right, Yeah, we hear you.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
Just to be clear about this, I missed the very first two minutes of the of the briefing, and so I hope I'm not making you repeat something.
The UN in Afghanistan.
So we know that some countries were evacuating their international, their their nationals, their citizens.
But the UN's international staff in Afghanistan, including Brits, including Americans, they're staying.
Can you, can you confirm that your, the, the UN international staff are staying?
Yeah, Imogen, there are about in terms of UN staff, there are about 720 UN staff in Afghanistan.
But at the moment there are about three, 320 that are on site.
The other half have already been working remotely because of the COVID pandemic.
So in Afghanistan, there are about 320 UN staff.
They are there at the moment.
As Yens has very clearly said at the beginning, the UN stands ready to provide, to continue providing assistance to the Afghan people.
We are there to deliver the services that we can to the populations in need.
OK, if there are no other questions, then I think we can finish on this topic.
Thank you very much, Thompson Yens and Shabia, for being with us this morning.
Shabia, you're going to stay with us because you have another item on the Democratic Republic of Congo.
OK, You can go ahead whenever you wish.
Thank you, Rianne.
And I wish I could come with more good news, but unfortunately it's a bit of a very solemn morning.
Our next item is from the DRC, where we're briefing on systematic sexual violence in Tanganika province.
UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is gravely concerned about incidents of widespread and systematic sexual violence against Congolese women and girls perpetrated by armed groups in the Democratic Republic of the Congo's Tanganika province, where thousands have been internally displaced this year.
More than 23,000 people have been displaced since May in the northern Tanganika's Congolo territory alone, and this is according to local authorities.
Most have fled in security multiple times in the past three months.
In just the last fortnight, humanitarian partners in the Congo and Mumbula health zones have reported 243 incidents of ****, 48 of which involved minors, in 12 different villages.
This is an average of 17 reported attacks each day.
The actual figures are thought to be even higher as reporting of gender based violence remains taboo in most communities.
In addition to the huge physical and psychological trauma from being raped, survivors of sexual violence can face stigma and possible exclusion from their families.
The attacks are reportedly being carried out by rival armed groups competing to maintain control over mining areas, especially gold mines, and as retaliation against government LED military operations.
Civilians find themselves trapped in the middle of intense confrontations between different groups.
Our staff have heard horrific testimonies of extreme violence.
Forcibly displaced people have accused armed groups of carrying out mass rapes as women attempt to flee their homes.
Some women and girls have been abducted and used as sex slaves by armed group members.
Ransoms have been demanded from families in exchange for their freedom.
UNHCR and partners continue to work with local authorities and humanitarian actors to ensure that psychosocial and medical support is provided to survivors, but the ongoing conflict and long distances to reach health centres are making it extremely difficult for them to access assistance.
UNHCR is calling on authorities to urgently scale up security in the so-called Triangle of Death, an area bordering several localities between Tanganyika, Maniyama and S Kivu provinces, to protect civilians, especially women and girls, and allow humanitarian access, and also for investigations to be launched and perpetrators to be brought to justice.
As of July As of July this year, nearly 310,000 people have been uprooted by insecurity and violence and are currently displaced in the province, according to UN estimates.
Humanitarian and protection needs are growing and UNHCR is seeking further financial support.
We have received just 36% of the US $205 million required for our operation in the DRC.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
And I see that Lisa Schlein has a question for you.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
I'm a little confused about something here.
You talk about the many women apparently are very reluctant to talk about having been raped, attacked because of the social stigma.
And yet you say further on that many of these rapists are asking their ransom from their families extortion.
So there doesn't, there's something wrong with that, you know, or, or are some families forgiving and willing to give the money to these women for these women's liberty?
And is there no protection at all from the government?
No security at all?
[Other language spoken]
I think the point about reporting is basically that these figures are shocking and they're extremely ****, but they're actually most probably under reported.
So it's not that they're not being reported at all, but we believe that these are significantly under reported figures, which really speaks to the gravity of this situation here.
I mean, if this is what what we're getting and this is what is being put, you know, the information that's forthcoming, there's a whole lot more.
So that was more a point about this being under reported in terms of the sexual violence, in terms of the situation there, I mean, we understand it's, it's very volatile and there's a lot of insecurity.
So, you know, even humanitarian access is a challenge and we were able to to visit last month and do humanitarian assessment with partners.
But I mean, the situation there is we understand deeply facing deep challenges with insecurity and violence.
So protection is is a serious concern and a crucial challenge.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
I just have a question as you mentioned that this is taking place in areas that these groups are trying to mining areas that that these groups are trying to control.
I mean, are there actually companies that are present in this region, multinational, multinational companies that's and what's you know what are they doing?
Is there any sort of response from them?
[Other language spoken]
Paula, look, I don't really have have the level of detail of what is sort of happening in terms of the, the mining aspect, but just that basically essentially this, this is, this is part of the equation.
And what we're seeing is basically groups jostling each other for control over these resources and, and therefore also attacking the civilian population.
But I, I don't have an idea of, of what's happening there in terms of the, the commercial space, But it's something maybe we can, we can see if we can follow them, though I'm not really sure how much given the, the level of violence and insecurity in that area.
[Other language spoken]
Are there any further questions for Shabia on this issue?
I don't see any more hands up.
So Shabia, thank you so much for being with us this morning briefing on these two issues.
And we are going to continue now with our agenda, we're going to World Meteorological Organisation.
We have Sylvica Stongay with us and she comes with a guest, Bob Stefanski, the head of Applied Climate Services, who joins us online to brief you on extreme heat in various parts of the world, including the Mediterranean and North Africa.
[Other language spoken]
I'm right here.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
Good morning and welcome and go ahead.
Yeah, just very briefly, you know, as you know, there's a heat wave across Southern Europe and North Africa.
Again, that's typical this time of year.
It's summer, hot and dry, but the intensity of the temperatures are really causing some records to fall.
Right now we're trying to verify a reported temperature record in Sicily of 48.8°C, that's 119.8 Fahrenheit, happened on August 11th.
We just need to establish, well, this is a new temperature record for continental Europe.
The previous record was in 1977 at Athens of 48°.
Again, we're looking at this because with climate change, we're seeing a lot more reports of these records, and we need to make sure these reports are verified for the sake of scientific understanding and accuracy.
Again, we can't verify it right now.
It came from a regional network reporting network that deals with agricultural applications.
But we know that in WMO and it is connected to the national net service.
But that either way it'll take us a month or two to verify this.
Likewise, there are reports of temperature records in Tunisia, which we need to verify and the heat was continuing this weekend and concerned the record is to fall in Spain as well, which the current record was 47.3 in Cordoba in 2003.
With the heat, there's also a wildfire ******, as you know, both in Greece, Turkey and I think North Africa.
So again, just the result in the rapid heat, continuing heat wave which should peak this weekend and hopefully decrease next week.
The rapid spread of new fires would limit and limit the containment of existing activities.
So the hot weather it is is hampering efforts.
The extreme hot temperatures and smoke will increase health risks for the most vulnerable elderly persons and infants and added complications.
Many cities and areas have cooling centres and measures to to try to adapt to this and and reduce the heat for for people again due to COVID-19.
This need to make sure that these cooling centres, we still have measures such as wearing masks and supposed to do something.
Of course, we're seeing hot weather in a lot of places.
And we're all aware of the new IPCC report, the 6th assessment report.
And you know, for Europe, you know, this is what we're seeing.
The frequency intensity of, of hot extremes, hot temperatures increased in the recent decades.
And regardless of the greenhouse gas scenarios and this will continue as the warning continues.
So again, just remind people currently what these thresholds of 1.5°C as a global average temperature where we see some things happening from the IPCC right now at 1.2.
And the concern really is that we can't say when new records be broken, but we need to prepare for eventuality for the records to be broken with temperatures above 50°C in Europe in the future.
So that's the the news from this point of view.
Happy to take any questions.
Thank you very much, Mr Stefanski, for this briefing.
Do we have any questions for WMO from the room or online?
Yes, I see that Robin Millard from AFP has his hand raised.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
Just on on verifying the temperature records or in Sicily etcetera, what does that actually involve?
Can you tell us a little bit more about how you would actually go about, about doing this and and the processes and the sort of things that that you have to do every time one of these reports of a new temperature record comes in?
[Other language spoken]
Of course.
[Other language spoken]
Yeah, we have a group of climatologists.
Again, you know, Debbie Moe is a secretariat, but we have a global network of climatologists that will look at this.
What they need to do is to contact their Italian colleagues.
And, you know, I talked to the experts dealing with this and what's needed is a peer reviewed article from like the Journal of Climate or some scientific publication that can verify this.
And then that record will be changed in our database.
So it's just making sure that we have this process.
It's vetted and this is the same for every record.
So again, we're looking at a continental record this time.
I hope that answers your question, Robin.
Thank you very much.
Are there any final questions for WMO on this issue?
I don't see any more questions for you.
Thank you very much, Mr Stefanski, Head of Applied Climate Services at WMO, for joining us this morning and briefing on the extreme heat and that we're experiencing in various parts of the world.
We look forward to having you back at some point.
We'll continue with the agenda then and go to Fadela Shahib from the World Health Organisation, who has an update on the outbreak of Margus virus and DNA.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
I wanted to brief you about the situation of the Barbour virus in Guinea.
Online August health authorities in Guinea confirmed a case of virus in the southern kidney cool factor.
So far there are no further cases of Marburg since the index case was confirmed on 9 August.
The local capacity to manage this our this Marburg outbreak in Guinea is strong.
Drawing for experience in containing Ebola.
Health authorities in Guinea are well versed in surveillance case files.
Contact is related to suspected cases.
[Other language spoken]
It was the local laboratory in Guinea that identified the disease first before being confirmed at a national and international level.
It was confirmed in the capital of Guinea and then by as in Dhaka on 9 August.
We have entered now the critical time period during which anyone exposed to the virus would be most likely to develop symptoms.
This makes especially important right now and teams are monitoring contact twice a day.
Screening for care cases are also ongoing.
So we have one case who died this week, the first and only case that was identified, but we are 150 contact from this this person.
We are, as I said, efforts are ongoing to find all the people who may have been in contact with the patient is inferring for the first time in the country, they know Ebola, that Barbour is the first time that the country experiences this virus.
Health authorities are launching public education and community mobilisation and awareness in order to inform the population how to recognise the micro virus and what to do next.
An initial team of 10 WHO experts include including epidemiologists and social anthropologists is on the ground helping the authorities to investigate the case and supporting the effort by the National Health authorities to implement the national response plan.
Very important also are our activities with cross-border surveillance.
It's also being enhanced to quickly detect any case with neighbouring countries on alert to get in Sierra Leone and Liberia.
They they have common borders with Guinea.
As of 11 August, nearly people have been screened at 3 point of entry of the three countries and Ebola control system in place in Guinea and in neighbouring countries are proving critical for the emergency response.
So I'm up here and if you have any question.
Thank you, Fadela, are there any questions for Fidela on this?
I see that Lisa Shrine wishes to ask you a question.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
But I must tell you the audio was awful, really awful.
And I don't know if you can do anything about it.
And I missed about 3/4 of everything that you said.
So I'm going to ask you again and hope you can give an audible answer.
It's terrible, and I hope you'll send the notes so I can make something out of this because I can't make anything out of it.
Sorry.
I did also do an interview with you after this briefing, Lisa.
[Other language spoken]
I mean, because really.
OK, A couple, couple of questions here and then I think I'll take you up on your offer.
I missed how many numbers, I mean how many people one, only one person died, how many people have been ill?
Is the kind of is there any treatment for this or, or is there a vaccine?
I mean it's kind of related to Ebola, isn't it?
So are some of the, the kinds of precautions that that exist for Ebola, do they also exist for Marburg disease?
And are, are people actually obedient in terms of doing what you want?
Or is there the same kind of misinformation that exists during Ebola also happening?
And are you having meeting with hostilities?
I'll, I, I won't ask anymore because I'm sorry.
OK, Anyway, I'll call you after, but please, if you can answer this.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
Sorry for this sound.
I don't think they can control it from my side.
But on 9 August, health authorities in Guinea confirmed a case of Marvel disease in Kiddical Prefecture.
I will be sent.
Since then, 150 people considered close contact of the first case, and unfortunately, the person died are being monitored for symptoms.
That is, the incubation period for this virus is from 2 to 21 days, and 150 people are being monitored twice a day.
Actually, any symptoms for the time being, we have only one person who died from this virus.
We the the marble virus, It is the first time that it was identified in West Africa, including in Guinea, so they don't know much about it.
This is why W2 and of Guinea are doing a lot of awareness and explanation in the community to explain what is this virus and how to protect from it.
It's very similar to a ball.
It has the same clinical feature.
But these are two distinct virus that only by laboratory you can differentiate differentiate between the two.
They belong to the same family but they are different viruses.
Is there a few for my room?
Early supporting care.
Care with rehabilitation, symptomatically improved survival.
There is no vaccine for Marble.
There is a vaccine for Ebola.
As you know, there is yet no licenced treatment proven to neutralise the virus, but a range of blood products, immune therapies and drug therapies are currently under development.
But for the time being only supportive care is available for patient affected by Marburg and we have no vaccine for it.
The, the, the, we are also having a lot of cross-border activities, Sierra Leone and Liberia because the risk is **** regionally for a spread of the virus.
But for the time being, there is no case reported in the and we are, we are experiencing no hostility from the community.
This suffered the love with Ebola in 2015, in 2015 and.
[Other language spoken]
And more recently, so they are very conscious of importance of following the health advice and they are fully cooperating with the health authorities and The Who staff.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
That car.
OK, we have a question apparently from FA, So let's go to FA and then Catherine.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
Yes, we hear you Antonio.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
So my question is well very simple.
If there is a, if there is press conference by The Who this afternoon because we are very interested in all the noise that is being around the the investigation mission to China.
Apparently, the Chinese government has said that is opposed to this mission.
So Fidela, can you confirm us if there is press conference and if not, can you make some comments on on the China position?
[Other language spoken]
I confirm there is no conference today for August.
The plan is to have a press conference on COVID-19 every Wednesday at 3:00 PM, at least for August.
Of course, we'll revisit this plan if there need, if there is a need.
But for the time being, Wednesday, 3:00 PM for the mission on the origin of the virus.
I think you last night a long statement from WHO explaining our position.
I will advise that you read it.
I have no further comment to what we sent in the statement last night.
Thank you, Antonio.
OK, Catherine.
Catherine.
[Other language spoken]
Real.
[Other language spoken]
Nice to see you.
So my question was in fact the same as my colleague Antonio and we we really need to ask questions.
The statement helps a lot.
[Other language spoken]
But we need to have people to whom we could address or question.
So questions if you could please kindly look around you, if we could have an expert that could react and that we could talk to because it would be really helpful.
The second thing is that the sound today is so bad.
I don't know why because usually we have very good sound with you.
So if I understood well, the, the next press conference is Wednesday, 18 of August at 3:00 PM Yeah.
And, and could you please send us your notes as quickly as possible because we haven't been able to hear properly what you said.
And if I could also ask kindly to Thompson and Jens to send their notes as quickly as possible on Afghanistan.
[Other language spoken]
That's noted, Catherine, everyone we those notes are normally sent out as quickly as the spokespeople can.
[Other language spoken]
Yeah, thanks for taking it.
Dilla, I don't, I know you can't give us any further commentary, but could you just explain from the statement last night, is this a new study?
And it wasn't quite clear is, is China approving of this new study?
[Other language spoken]
Thank you, Peter.
What I can tell you since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, that has been working with Member States and the scientific community to better understand how this pandemic began so that we can understand it and we can also prepare for the next 1.
So as you know, in March this year, there was publication of intervention of China joint report of the joint mission.
It was the phase one study on the origin of the status of COV, COV 2 virus.
W2 has outlined that we need next series of studies that need to be undertaken and continues to be in discussion with member States and experts on next phases.
Director has called for the government, for all member States and for all government not to enter into political fight.
This is a scientific end of endeavour.
We need to do scientific research to understand the situation and to cooperate, to accelerate the origin studies and to work together in a true spirit of cooperation for to understand this virus and also to be able to understand future viruses, because this pandemic, as we say every time, is not the first one.
So you will have more details in the statement.
We are proposing to member states to discuss with us and with the scientific community the next steps.
And as we always say, all importances are on the table.
We need to understand it's it's difficult, it's a difficult process.
[Other language spoken]
And the scientists need to have the space to be able to work in a quiet manner without political pressure or political debate.
This is a scientific work.
Thank you, Peter.
[Other language spoken]
We have a question also from Bairam Anadolu.
[Other language spoken]
Hi, good morning, Fadela, It's good to see you again.
I have a different question than my colleagues.
As you noticed recently, Germany, USA, United Kingdom and so many countries planning to introduce course the coercive measures against the unvaccinated citizens.
So I'm just wondering if the if pandemic will get out control if there is no forced vaccination.
So, So what is the WHS position on unilateral coercive measures?
[Other language spoken]
I will send you a written answer because I need to go to my notes.
But as a general answer, that being told is against any mandatory vaccination.
So we need to explain to the population how vaccines work, how important it is.
It's one of the tools we have in our hands to the WTO is against any mandatory vaccination.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
And we'll take one last question for Fadella from Corinne Gretler from Bloomberg.
Hi, thanks for taking my question on this statement from last night on advancing the next series of studies on the origins.
I understand the whole not politicising and giving space to scientists etcetera.
I just want to make sure I understand.
So the state of play right now is A, you're calling for nominations for Sago and B, do I understand correctly then that you're still in talks with Member States to decide what the imminent next steps will be?
Is that not yet decided?
Yes, I think you understand.
Well, we are in constant continuous discussion with expert and Member States to discuss the next steps.
It's a quality, it's a quality work and that little is continuously discussing with all the states on the next phase of studies.
OK, A quick follow up from James Keaton on this.
Hi, Father.
Can you just mention series, the new series?
I'm following up on the previous question, the the time frame that you're talking about both for the creation of Sago and for the new series.
I mean, can you give us something and ideally we get a briefing on on who this that somebody could talk on Sago.
I think the information I have are is the information in the statement and I really advise you to follow up with Tariq who follows this very closely more than I do and he may be able to better help you.
But the information that we have about this international scientific advisory group for origins of normal pathogen known as SAGO is a new advisory group for W2 will be responsible for advising W2 on the development of a global framework to systematically study the emergence of future emerging pathogens with with pandemic potential.
This is also true for SARS POV 2.
It will support the rapid and the taking of recommended studies outlined in the March this year in the March 2021 report.
But I really urge you to discuss with Tariq who follows this out of our All right.
But I see that Karen Jadler has her hand raised.
Maybe it's just a quick follow up and then we'll end on this topic.
Oh, sorry, I didn't realise.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
I mean, I just kind of I'm just trying to understand because I mean, the title says, you know, next series of studies.
So, you know, considering the news out of China overnight or earlier this morning our time, I mean, you know, can such a series of studies be advanced at all if China doesn't cooperate?
Is is The Who talking to them to kind of maybe find some kind of compromise or.
Yeah, I think as as I said, it's a qualitative responsibility.
So we should work all to together and you everyone wants to know the origin of this, the worst polemic in a century.
It's scientific work.
It will take time, but it will also take cooperation and collaboration of all to be able to take this, the next step, the next study, not only to understand this virus that we are all affected by, but also to understand how animal to human spillover events can be prevented in the future.
I will let Sonic know all your question and ask him to get back to you.
I think the information you have is in the statement of last night and that I have in the statement of last night.
[Other language spoken]
Thank you very much, Fadela for staying with us for some time to answer all these questions.
That concludes our formal agenda for the day.
We I just have a few additional announcements for you.
There are no press conferences scheduled for next week at the moment, but we'll keep you updated if there should be some.
In terms of meetings being covered by the UN Information Service, we have the 25th session of the Committee on Rights of Persons with Disabilities that will open next Monday on the 16th of August at two, 12:30 PM and during this session the committee will be reviewing the reports of France and Djibouti.
Also on the 16th of August, at 4:00 PM, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination will start reviewing the report of the Netherlands, and this review will end on Tuesday, the 17th at 4:00 PM.
Then next Tuesday there will be the Conference on Disarmament that will hold a plenary meeting at 10 AM under the Presidency of Chile.
And you will have received, I believe yesterday, the announcement, you know, that next week, the 19th of August, is World Humanitarian Day.
UN Geneva will be commemorating this day with an an official ceremony at 3:00 PM next Thursday just outside of Room 20 at the Paladinacion.
So please join us for this.
There will be statements by the Director General of the UN in Geneva, Tatiana Valovaya and Michelle Bachelet, the **** Commissioner for Human Rights will be with us as well as several other guests who and testimonies.
And of course, you can attend in person if you are here or otherwise you can watch the ceremony live on the webcastwebtv.un.org.
And that's all I have for you today, unless there are any other questions will end here and I will wish you a good afternoon and a good weekend.
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