{"disclaimer":"Transcripts available through this tool are created by using automatic speech recognition and are not official records nor official documents of the United Nations. Official records and official documents are available on the Official Document System of the United Nations.","url":"https://transcripts.un.org/ar/briefing/geneva/2026-06-16","llms":{"note":"Plain-text sibling of this page, compact for LLM context. For the full API guide (search, listing, URL grammar) see /llms.txt.","textUrl":"/ar/briefing/geneva/2026-06-16.txt","guide":"/llms.txt"},"video":{"id":"k1a/k1adjmrhpy","kaltura_id":"1_adjmrhpy","title":"UN Geneva Press Briefing: UNHCR, UNICEF, WHO, IFRC, UNDIR","clean_title":"UN Geneva Press Briefing: UNHCR, UNICEF, WHO, IFRC, UNDIR","url":"https://webtv.un.org/en/asset/k1a/k1adjmrhpy","date":"2026-06-16T00:00:00.000Z","scheduled_time":"2026-06-16T08:30:00.000Z","status":"finished","duration":"01:09:56","category":"Press Conferences","body":null,"event_code":null,"event_type":null,"session_number":null,"pv_symbol":"BRIEFING/GENEVA/2026-06-16","pv_part":1,"slug":"briefing/geneva/2026-06-16"},"metadata":{"summary":"UN Geneva press briefing chaired by Alessandra Vellucci, Director, UN Information Service","description":"UN INFORMATION SERVICE GENEVA PRESS BRIEFING\n\n16 June 2026\n\nAlessandra Vellucci, Director of the United Nations\nInformation Service in Geneva, chaired a hybrid\npress briefing,\nwhich was attended by the spokespersons and representatives of the United\nNations Children's Fund, the United Nations Refugee Agency, the United Nations\nInstitute for Disarmament Research, the International Federation of Red Cross\nand Red Crescent Societies, and the World Health Organization.\n\nUNHCR calls to expand\nrefugee resettlement lifeline\n\nJackie\nKeegan, Deputy Director of Durable Solutions and Protection Support at the United\nNations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), stated that urgent expansion of refugee\nresettlement was needed as new UNHCR projections highlighted a continued gap\nbetween global needs and available places, according to the latest Projected\nGlobal Resettlement Needs report. UNHCR forecast that some 2.4 million\nrefugees around the world would require resettlement in 2027, as they still faced\nprotection risks in their country of asylum and were unable to safely return\nhome. While this figure represented a 6 per cent decline compared to 2026 and\ncontinued a downward trend since 2025, the reduction reflected specific\ndevelopments in certain contexts – some promising, others challenging.\n\nIn\nSyria, for example, the change of government in December 2024 had opened a\npossibility for return for some. In contrast, the lower predicted resettlement\nneeds for Afghan refugees in Iran and Pakistan were linked to returns under\nadverse circumstances, and Afghans remained the largest group in need of\nresettlement, informed Ms. Keegan. Regionally, resettlement needs remained\nhighest in eastern and southern Africa. In 2025, some 37,000 refugees had been\nresettled with the help of UNHCR, a significant drop from the year before. Many\ncountries had introduced more strict admission criteria, while low- and\nmiddle-income countries hosted 68 percent of all refugees in the world.\nResettlement was a key pillar of the High Commissioner's drive to lower the\nnumber of refugees in protracted situations dependent on humanitarian aid.\nUNHCR called for recommitting to finding durable solutions. Expanding\nresettlement was urgent and achievable, stressed Ms. Keegan. It was not charity\nbut a durable solution. UNHCR thanked the resettlement countries which\ncontinued to lead by example.\n\nFull\nbriefing note is available here.\n\nResponding\nto questions from the media, Ms. Keegan provided examples from early in her\ncareer of women who had worked as sex slaves for militias in Guinea, who had\nlater been resettled to the United Kingdom. They had been able to start again\nand provide for themselves and their children. Chronic patients, especially\nthose who needed cold-chain medication, were now among those selected to\nresettle due to their immediate, pressing needs. Over one million Rohingya\nrefugees in Bangladesh were all registered, and it was known who was in the\nneed of most immediate help.\n\nSearching\nfor adequate resettlement countries willing to accept them was an arduous,\npainstaking process. The Middle East had taken in refugees through resettlement\nprogrammes; Germany was now more focusing on those people already in the\ncountry rather than accepting new refugees. In the 1950s, there had been as\nmany as 37 countries accepting refugees from Europe, reminded Ms. Keegan.\nCountries that had long been resettlement countries had signaled that they\nwould reduce their quotas. With such a drop in numbers, UNHCR had to be even\nmore careful to select those most in need. One had to be aware of the global\nhousing shortage as well. While a number of countries were also considering\nrejoining the resettlement programme, there was a need for many more places to\naccept resettled refugees. On another question, Ms. Keegan stressed that those\nin need of international protection had to find a place in which they would be\nsafe from forced return. In 2025, the largest resettlement countries were\nCanada, Australia, the United Nations, France, and New Zealand. In 2026, there\nwere 17 countries offering resettlement.\n\nUNICEF Children's Climate Risk Report 2026\n\nTom Slaymaker, Chief of the\nWASH, Climate and Environment Data unit at the United\nNations Children's Fund (UNICEF), calling from Florence, said today,\nUNICEF had launched a new analysis that showed just how widespread the reality\nof climate change on children had become. Almost every child in the world was\nnow exposed to at least one climate hazard, such as floods, droughts, storms,\nor extreme heat. But one of the biggest concerns globally was that many\nchildren were facing multiple overlapping threats at once. The data showed that\nnearly half of the world's children – or 1.1 billion – were exposed to at least\nthree climate hazards, and in some parts of the world, children were facing as\nmany as six climate hazards. These multiple overlapping shocks were\nbuilding on top of each other and reshaping children's lives, stressed Mr.\nSlaymaker.\n\nThis was a warning of what was to come. It was a\nrecognition of our current reality, and an acknowledgement of how much worse it\ncould get for children. When climate hazards overlapped, the impacts compounded.\nA drought could leave children hungry and malnourished. A flood that followed\ncan contaminate water supplies and spread diseases like cholera. Each shock made\nthe next one more dangerous. Children could not always recover from shocks\nbefore the next one hits. Mr. Slaymaker emphasized that no country was\nuntouched by climate risks but children in conflict-affected places, such as\nthe Central African Republic, Chad, Haiti, or Sudan, were particularly\nvulnerable because they had much lower access to essential services, such as\nhealth care, nutrition, or water and sanitation, even a moderate flood or\ndrought could put their life at risk. Today, 634 million children globally\nstill lacked safe drinking water and 1 billion lacked safe sanitation. Climate\nhazards were making these already fragile conditions worse. At least 242\nmillion children had their schooling disrupted by climate hazards in 2024, and\nmany more children have been displaced from their homes, increasing the risk of\nfamily separation, violence, exploitation, and childhood trauma. Without\nurgent, child-focused climate action, the shocks they faced today would only\nintensify, but with the right investment and political will, we could reduce\nrisks, strengthen systems, and give children the chance to survive and\nthrive.\n\nFull report can be accessed here.\n\nThe report estimated a number of children exposed to each\nof the climate hazards, as well as to various combined climate hazards,\nexplained Mr. Slaymaker responding to a question. Those exposed to multiple\nrisks were considered to be most vulnerable.\n\nEbola outbreak\n\nBruno Michon, Operations Manager for the\nEbola outbreak at the International Federation for Red Cross and Red\nCrescent Societies (IFRC), speaking from Bunia in the Democratic Republic\nof the Congo, said that the Ebola outbreak was not only a medical crisis, but\nalso a crisis of trust. Since the beginning, IFRC had been supporting the\nCongolese Red Cross to adequately local population.\nThis\nstrain of Ebola presented a particular challenge as there was currently no approved vaccine\nand no specific treatment for Bundibugyo Ebola virus disease. This made early\ndetection, early care, community engagement, infection prevention and Safe and\nDignified Burials even more critical. However, a recent IFRC community\nfeedback report, based on what our volunteers are hearing directly from\ncommunities, showed that some people still questioned whether the disease was\nreal. Some believed the outbreak had been invented to attract foreign money,\nwhile others saw Safe and Dignified Burials as an attack on culture and\ntradition, rather than a measure to protect families and communities.\n\nIn recent days, DRC Red Cross volunteers had faced verbal\nabuse, threats and even physical attacks while carrying out\ntheir work. These volunteers were local people, coming from the same\ncommunities they were trying to protect. They were doing difficult and\nsometimes dangerous work with courage and commitment. This was why trust was\nnot a secondary activity in an Ebola response; trust was central. Without\ntrust, cases could not be detected early, safe burials could not be ensured,\nfamilies could not be protected, and transmission could not be stopped. IFRC\nand partners took the time to explain to local people facts about the virus and\nmeasures related to it. Mr. Michon stated that communities were essential for\nthe response: Ebola started in communities and it would end there. To stop the\noutbreak, it was not only medical response that mattered, but building trust\nand connecting with local communities. That was not optional – it was\nlife-saving.\n\nReplying to questions, Mr. Michon said that the epidemics\nmoved faster than the response, and in Bunia the peak of the epidemics had\nlikely not been reached yet. People were afraid to go to Ebola treatment\ncentres out of fear of being contaminated. Thus, many people did not report\ntheir symptoms but tended to stay at home. There was a lot of stigmatization\naround the virus, and people were ashamed to tell their families that they were\nsick. It was difficult to tell when the peak would be reached, said Mr. Michon.\nIt could take as long as one year before the epidemics was stopped.\n\nTarik Jašarević, for the World Health Organization\n(WHO), responding to a question, explained that in the DRC there was a\ndecentralized laboratory strategy, with current testing capacities in six\nlocations. All elements of the response had to be in place; right now, there\nwere still blind spots, with some transmission chains likely undetected.\n\nGlobal\nConference on AI, Security and Ethics\n\nGiacomo Persi Paoli, Head of the Security and Technology\nProgramme at the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR),\nspoke about UNIDIR's Global Conference on AI, Security and Ethics 2026, which would\ntake place on 18 and 19 June at the Palais des Nations and online. Artificial\nintelligence was no longer a future or abstract policy issue; it was already\nshaping security environments and the relationship between States and private\ntechnology actors. Issues such as AI-enabled drones on the battlefield or intelligence-analysis for target\nidentification, deepfakes and AI disinformation, AI-powered cyber-attacks on\ncritical infrastructure were becoming increasingly common features of modern\nconflict, and the debate on human control in terms both of morality and\naccountability was increasingly central. For\npolicymakers, said Mr. Persi Paoli, the question was how to govern AI\ndevelopment and use in ways that are consistent with international law,\nresponsible practice, and civilian protection.\n\nThe purpose of the conference, he explained, was to bring\ntogether communities that did not always speak to each other enough: diplomats\nand policymakers, military and defense experts, civil society, human rights\nexperts, international organizations, academia, research laboratories, and\nindustry. The aim was to help Member States and stakeholders move from general\nconcern to more concrete understanding, more informed decision-making and more\npractical governance options. The conference was not designed as a platform for\npolitical debate and consensus-building; instead, it was designed as a forum\nfor serious, if sometimes difficult, multistakeholder dialogue. AI in the\nsecurity domain raised questions that were technically complex, politically\nsensitive and ethically consequential. They could not be answered by avoiding\ndifficult perspectives. UNIDIR hoped that that the conference would contribute\nto a more informed global conversation about AI, security and ethics — one that\nwas grounded in international law, attentive to risks, open to innovation, and\nfocused on practical steps that could support responsible governance.\n\nMore information about the conference is available here.\n\nResponding to questions, Mr. Persi Paoli said that there\nwould be a wide range of speakers and participants who would help a better\nunderstanding on how this technology was being developed and used. A conference\nreport would summarize main findings and a potential way forward, he explained.\nThe conference was supported by FAGI, Microsoft, and a number of Member States;\nthe full list was available on the conference page.\n\nAnnouncements\n\nAlessandra Vellucci, for\nthe UN Information Service (UNIS), informed that on 18 June at 9:30 am,\nthe Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael\nMariano Grossi, would hold a press conference in the Press Room.\n\n18 June at 12 noon, UN Special Rapporteur on the right to freedom of\nopinion and expression,\nIrene Khan, would hold a press conference on freedom of expression\nin new frontiers: big tech and regulation of digital spaces.\n\nOn 19 June at 12:30 pm, there would be a press conference\nby the Special Rapporteur on the right to health, Tlaleng Mofokeng, on\nher report to the Human Rights Council focused on health\nas an enabler of dignity.\n\nOn 18 June at 6:30 pm, the next\nCiné-ONU event would feature the filming of the movie \"Lost Land\" about two children,\nRohingya refugees, to be followed by a discussion on the right to seek safety.\n\nFinally, on 18 June we would\nmark the fifth International\nDay for Countering Hate Speech, on which occasion the Secretary-General's message\nhad been distributed.","categories":["Media","Press Conferences"],"geographic_subject":["DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO"],"subject_topical":["REFUGEES","CHILDREN","CLIMATE CHANGE","EBOLA VIRUS DISEASE","ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE"],"corporate_name":["UNITED NATIONS HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES - UNHCR","UNITED NATIONS CHILDREN'S FUND - UNICEF","WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION - WHO","INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF RED CROSS AND RED CRESCENT SOCIETIES - IFRC","UNITED NATIONS INSTITUTE FOR DISARMAMENT RESEARCH - UNIDIR"],"speaker_affiliation":[],"related_documents":[]},"transcript":null,"message":"No transcript available"}