Secretary-General/Travels-China, Trip Announcement/Cyprus, Security Council & other topics - Daily Press Briefing Press Conferences Date: 16 July 2026 Language: English Transcript: https://transcripts.un.org/ar/briefing/sg/2026-07-16?lang=en 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. --- UN · Moderator · Stéphane [31:52]: Good afternoon. In a short while, we'll be joined virtually by our guest, Lia Poggio, the Chief of Mission in Venezuela for the International Organization of Migration. She will be briefing us live from Caracas, where IOM, as you know, is involved in part of the recovery regarding the recent earthquakes. She will be accompanied by Lucas Guedes-Hakrat, IOM's Disaster Risk Reduction Coordinator in Venezuela. They will be, as I mentioned, connecting live from Caracas. The Secretary-General arrived in China today. Tomorrow morning, he will attend the opening ceremony of the World Artificial International Conference in Shanghai, and in— excuse me, the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai. And in the afternoon, he's expected to deliver remarks at the opening session of the World AI Conference Meteorological Forum. And he will also have other— several other official engagements. We will issue readouts and remarks as they come to us. I want to share some upcoming travel for you with the Secretary-General. In addition to his trip to China, the Secretary-General will travel to Cyprus from the 27th to the 29th of July as part of his Good Officer's Mission and his strong demonstrated commitment to the Cyprus issue. He will meet with the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot leaders as well as other state stakeholders and discuss efforts to advance the peace process and support stability on the island, including through the work of the UN peacekeeping mission on the ground there, UNFISIP. Further details on the Secretary-General's program will be shared with you closer to that date. And this morning, the Security Council held consultations on the Secretary-General's report on Resolution 1701, which you all know has to do with Lebanon. The officer in charge of the Special Coordinator's Office in Beirut, Jean-Arnaud, briefed, as well as the Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, briefed the Council. Also this afternoon at 3 PM, they will reconvene for another series of closed consultations, this time on Cyprus, and they will hear from Kassim Djan, the head of the peacekeeping mission in Cyprus, UNFISIP. Staying on peacekeeping and staying in the Eastern Mediterranean, I have an update for you concerning our UNIFIL peacekeepers in southern Lebanon. They tell us this morning that UNIFIL recorded 13 trajectories of projectiles attributed to the Israeli Defense Forces, 6 trajectories yesterday and 18 the day before. Since 21 June, UNIFIL has not detected any trajectories originating from non-state actors. including Hezbollah. UNIFIL peacekeepers have continued to observe violations of Lebanese airspace, including 28 violations detected yesterday. UNIFIL personnel have also observed drone incursions, mostly by micro aerial vehicles, in both sectors. On Tuesday, UNIFIL peacekeepers observed 2 Israeli tanks engaged in an apparent exchange of fire with Hezbollah north of the Litani River, outside of UNIFIL's area of operations. The combat engagement occurred a few kilometers from the UN position near Froun, in Sector East. Yesterday, a UNIFIL patrol located several unexploded ordnances in a private garden in Rumayesh, in Sector West. Also in that same sector, UN peacekeepers discovered 2 remnants of munitions that had been dropped or intercepted in the past. Lebanese Armed Forces engineering teams successfully neutralized those unexploded ordnances through a controlled detonation procedure. Tomorrow, July 17th, will be the 12th— and sorry, let me— I wanted to stay in the region before going off to Europe. Just staying in the region and the occupied Palestinian territory, our Deputy Special Coordinator and Resident Humanitarian Coordinator, Ramiz Al-Aqab, Alakbarov welcomed yesterday the latest commitments by international partners worth almost $58 million from 8 member states to the UN Horizon Fund and called on additional partners to join the initiative to strengthen coordinated UN efforts in the occupied Palestinian territory. Yesterday, the World Food Programme said in a social media post that as many as people are being forced to move in Gaza, they risk losing access to basic services, and assistance. The World Food Programme called for a safe environment for us to be able to reach people who are in need. Despite ongoing impediments, in the first 12 days of this month, we and our partners provide general— provided general food assistance to more than a quarter of a million people across 36 distribution sites in Gaza. And in a statement issued today, the Food and Agriculture Organization said that it has scaled up cash assistance program to help about 1,500 Palestinian farmers cultivate land across the Gaza Strip during the 2026 planting season. This will help farmers produce enough fresh vegetables for more than 100,000 people and improve access to nutritious food for vulnerable communities. Meanwhile, our humanitarian partners providing education services continue to distribute learning and teaching supplies to students and teachers during the first week of the month. More than 5,440 educational kits, which include copybooks, markers, pencils, will help about 217,000 girls and boys during the summer learning activities, which started on Saturday. And turning to the West Bank, a high-level delegation was led by our OCHA colleagues to Deir Nidham village in Ramallah Governorate. That took place yesterday. Participants met with Palestinian families impacted by Israeli settler violence and the expansion of Israeli settlements. The delegation heard directly from affected communities about the protection risks that these families face, as well as the humanitarian consequences for their daily lives and livelihoods. Settler attacks have become a leading cause of Palestinian injuries in the West Bank, accounting for about 55% of all injuries in 2026. We reiterate again that Palestinians living in the occupied West Bank must be protected as required by international humanitarian law. And some of you had asked me about the latest decision by the Israeli government regarding Israeli settlements in the West Bank, and I can tell you that the Secretary-General is deeply alarmed that the Israeli authorities have granted the status of a city to Givat Zev, an Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank that is just northwest of Jerusalem. This administrative designation does not alter Givat Zev's legal status under international law as part of the occupied Palestinian territory. The Secretary-General reiterates that Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem and all related infrastructure, have no legal validity and are in flagrant violation of international law and all relevant UN resolutions. He recalls this in regard to the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice from July 19th, 2024. Israeli settlements remain a significant obstacle to achieving the two-state solution and a just, lasting, comprehensive peace. The Secretary-General continues to call on Israel to cease all settlement Right. And related measures in line with Security Council resolutions. Now, turning to Europe, tomorrow, July 17th, will be the 12th anniversary of the tragic downing of the Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine. As you will recall, this— the shooting took the lives of 298 souls. On this occasion, the Secretary General stands in full solidarity with the families of the victims and in honor of their memory. Pursuant to Security Council Resolution 2166, the Secretary General urges all member states to extend their full cooperation to ensure that those responsible are held to account following the important work of the independent joint investigation team. And from Ukraine today, our Humanitarian colleagues on the ground tell us that overnight attacks have killed civilians, injured scores of people, and damaged homes, hospitals, schools, and other civilian infrastructure. The regions of Kyiv, Odessa, Sumy, and Zaporizhzhia were among the hardest hit in this wave. Elsewhere— Sorry. Meanwhile, OCHA warns that the growing use of drones and continued attacks on humanitarian workers and supplies, as well as their premises and their equipment, are making it increasingly difficult for us to reach people most in need. OCHA's latest assessment shows that nearly half of Ukraine's frontline and border communities now face high or extreme humanitarian access constraint. In the 521 conflict-affected municipalities assessed in frontline and border oblasts, 251 were classified as having high or extremely high access difficulties. That's up from 242 in October of last year. And turning to Asia, I can tell you that the Secretary-General joins our colleagues at the International Organization for Migration and the UN Refugee Agency in expressing their deep concern and sadness about reports that 2 boats carrying more than 500 human beings may have capsized off the coast of Myanmar in recent days. According to preliminary information the agencies have received, the vessels departed from Myanmar's Rakhine State in late June, carrying mostly Rohingya passengers. This includes some who reportedly traveled from refugee camps in Cox's Bazar in Bangladesh. One boat lost contact shortly after departure. A second boat is believed to have sunk off Myanmar's coast on July 8th. If actually verified, this tragedy would add to the nearly 300 people reported missing or dead in the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal so far just this year. These reports underscore yet again the devastating impact of the prolonged conflict and the displacement, as well as the lack of sustainable solutions for Rohingya communities. Escalating conflict and worsening humanitarian situation in Myanmar, along with limited assistance and opportunities in refugee camps in Bangladesh, are driving increasing numbers of people to attempt dangerous sea journeys just in search of safety. We continue to call for sustained international support for Rohingya refugees and the communities that are generously hosting them. Greater efforts to address the drivers of displacement and additional regional and international efforts to prevent further loss of life along one of the world's deadliest maritime routes. And back— staying in Asia, the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Tom Fletcher, continues his visit to Pakistan. Today, Mr. Fletcher travelled to the regions of Gilgit-Baltistan, where he met communities taking part in disaster preparedness simulation exercise, and he saw a community-based flood mitigation wall designed to protect villages from natural disasters. He also visited the Passu White Glacier viewpoint. He met with UN staff and our humanitarian partners and saw an early warning system, and also was briefed on the 2010 massive landslide that submerged villages and displaced thousands of people at Attabad Lake. Mr. Fletcher said that Pakistan— for Pakistan, climate shocks such as melting glaciers, flash floods, heat waves, and drought are not distant warnings. They are arriving faster and hitting harder and affecting the most vulnerable. He underscored the need for greater investment to support Pakistan's efforts to adapt, to prepare and protect the people least responsible for the climate crisis we're all enduring. Yesterday in Islamabad, he met with the Foreign Minister, Ishaq Dar, and they discussed diplomacy in the Middle East, as well as the issue regarding the humanitarian convoys going from Pakistan into Afghanistan. They also talked about UN reform and, of course, global disaster risk preparedness. He also visited the National Disaster Management Authority where he stressed the need to bolster preparedness for future climate shocks. Staying on Tom Fletcher, he has allocated $2 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund to strengthen Ebola preparedness in Rwanda. Although there have been no reported cases of Ebola in Rwanda, there is a high risk of cross-border spread due to the movement of people across the border from the DRC, where the outbreak, as you know, was declared in mid-May. And I'll have more update for you on that in just a second. The risk is worsened by displacement and pressure on health systems. The funding from CERF will support action to prevent the introduction and spread of Ebola into Rwanda. It will also help strengthen early detection detection and rapid response, improve case management and infection prevention, and expand community engagement and national preparedness across 13 high-risk districts in Rwanda. And we expect it to reach 161,000 people. The allocation is part of Tom Fletcher's broader commitment of up to $60 million to accelerate Ebola response efforts in the DRC and to help preparedness in neighboring countries at risk. Speaking of Ebola, a quick update— or not so quick update— from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Our humanitarian colleagues tell us they're deeply concerned by escalating violence impacting the Ebola response in the east of that country. Yesterday, an incident reportedly involving armed men occurred near the Ebola treatment in Yakunde in Ituri Province. No patients or health workers were injured. and care resumed this morning for 4 critically ill Ebola patients. The worsening security situation has forced several humanitarian partners involved in Ebola response to temporarily relocate staff to the provincial capital, Bunia, which is relatively safer. Access to treatment centers in surrounding communities remains constrained. For their part, our peacekeeping colleagues in the Congo, colleagues from MONUSCO, Tell us they've deployed a long-range patrol to Marabo in the vicinity of Nyukonde to deter further attacks and stabilize the situation. They remain committed to protecting civilians in all contexts and continue to support Ebola response efforts in any way they can. As of this Tuesday, health authorities in the country had reported 2,073 cases across 5 provinces. Ituri remains the epicenter. center of this outbreak. It accounts for nearly 90% of all confirmed cases. We and our partners are scaling up the response while continuing to help millions of people impacted by the myriad of crises that we keep talking about in the DRC. To address the rising needs, the humanitarian community today released a revised humanitarian response plan for the remainder of the year, increasing funding requirements from $1.4 billion to $2.3 billion. That includes $313 million dedicated to Ebola response alone. Overall, the revised plan aims to assist 10.8 million human beings by the end of the year. OCHA calls on all parties to protect health workers and health facilities and to ensure safe and sustained access across affected communities, a secure operating environment, strong commitment and acceptance and increased international support are essential to containing the Ebola outbreak and delivering life-saving assistance. And closer to these shores on Haiti, I wanted to flag a horrific report from our human rights colleague. They tell us that between the 4th and 9th of July in the village of De Dieu, a gang carried out a series of attacks Sorry, the, the name of the gang is Village de Dieu. Interesting. This gang carried out a series of attacks in Kenscoff and Pétionville in the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area, killing at least 61 residents, including 14 children. Residents were killed while attempting to flee inside their homes or after encountering gang members on roads and footpaths. The violence was concentrated in the community of Robin, where the majority of casualties were recorded. At least 5,840 people were displaced, while homes and telecommunications infrastructure were just outright destroyed. Although the last documented attack took place on July 9th, the situation there remains tense, with gang members continuing to maintain a presence in Kenscoff. And lastly, I just want to read into the record that yesterday the Secretary General appointed Rabab Fatima of Bangladesh as his new Special Representative in Afghanistan and Head of the UN Political Mission there, UNAMA. She succeeds Roza Otunbayeva of Kyrgyzstan, to whom the Secretary-General is grateful for her dedicated service. As you know, Ms. Fatima is currently the Under-Secretary-General, High Representative for Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States. And before that, she was the Permanent Representative and Ambassador of Bangladesh to these United Nations. Khalas. Alas for me. I'm happy to entertain questions from you, though. Gabriel. Journalist · Gabriel [50:16]: Thanks, Steph. As you know, there are lots of islands in the Strait of Hormuz. controlled by Iran. My question is, the Secretary-General is very clear about freedom of navigation. Would— if one of the parties to the conflict decides to militarily take control of one of those islands in the— under the pretense that that would lead to freedom of navigation, What would be the Secretary-General's overall view of that situation? UN · Moderator · Stéphane [50:59]: As you know, Gabriel, I'm not going to dive in with you into the Strait of Hormuz, into hypotheticals, right? There are a couple of unbendable principles here. One is respect the territorial integrity of all member states, and the other one is freedom of navigation, and they're not incompatible. Right. We had a— we've had decades of freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz. There have been moments when that was a little challenging. We all know that. But there is no reason why all the parties involved here cannot get back to a situation where international cargoes, commercial ships laden with much-needed energy supplies Food supplies, humanitarian supplies cannot go in and out of the Strait of Hormuz unharassed. Okay, no more. All right, I'm not begging here. Journalist [51:55]: I don't know if I heard you make a statement about the declaration that was passed today at the UN General Assembly on affordable housing and sustainable cities. Almost every country voted for it except for the United States and Israel. Does he welcome this declaration and does he have any concerns about it? UN · Moderator · Stéphane [52:14]: Well, I mean, the Secretary-General, I think, stands for— definitely backs the idea that we all need to have sustainable cities and affordable housing. He's not going to start to comment on the voting sheet of the resolution. Abdelhamid. Al-Quds Al-Arabi · Journalist · Abdelhamid Sayam [52:34]: Thank you, Steph. I commend the statement of the SG on Givat Ze'ev, declaring it a city. It's the 4th declared city now by Israel, by these settlements. But what was missing, I think, the point that Israel dedicated now 8.5 billion shekels to develop settlements. So what is— UN · Moderator · Stéphane [52:54]: I mean, Abd al-Hamid, I think we have been unwavering, we've been consistent in calling out the expansion of the settlement architecture, which involves brick and mortars, which involves, you know, building of roads for settlers only, or as we just had today, the administrative designation of a settlement into a city. Al-Quds Al-Arabi · Journalist · Abdelhamid Sayam [53:22]: Another question regarding 2 prominent Palestinians in Israeli jails. Dr. Hussam Abu Safiyyeh, who had been visiting by Médecins Sans Frontières and they appealing to the world to try to let him out of his jail after he was beaten by one of his prisoners. The same thing with Marwan Barghouti, the most prominent Palestinian leader who's in jail. Also, he was shot by a rubber bullet in his leg and he was also bleeding and his wife declared that 3 days ago. So do you have any comment? UN · Moderator · Stéphane [53:58]: We've seen these very troubling, uh, reports. I think it's very important that the organization, uh, that has the legal authority, uh, to visit these detention centers, and that is the ICRC, be allowed, uh, to do so. Okay, uh, I will leave you with our guests. If we could put our Yes, from— if we could put Leah and Lucas on the screen, that would be great. Journalist [54:26]: Thank you. UN · Moderator · Stéphane [54:32]: Great. Journalist · Ephraim [54:33]: Hi, guys. UN · Moderator · Stéphane [54:34]: We're delighted to be joined by Leah Poggio, Chief of Mission in Venezuela for IOM, and her colleague Lucas Guedes-Huckhardt, IOM's Disaster Risk Reduction Coordinator. You're speaking from Caracas. We'll let you make some opening remarks and then we'll take some questions. Thank you. IOM · Chief of Mission in Venezuela · Lia Poggio [54:55]: Great. Good afternoon and thank you for the opportunity to brief you today. The International Organization for Migration has launched an appeal to support people and communities affected by the devastating earthquake that struck Venezuela on 24 June. The earthquakes and subsequent aftershocks caused extensive damage across several states, including La Guaira, that is the most affected one, Distrito Capital, Miranda, Carabobo, Aragua, Yaracuy, and Falcón. Thousands of families have been displaced while homes, health facilities, water systems, and other critical infrastructure have been damaged or destroyed, disrupting the access to essential services and increasing the vulnerabilities of the population. While significant response efforts are currently underway, humanitarian needs remain considerable. Many displaced families continue to face uncertainty regarding their housing situation, access to healthcare, and their ability to meet the basic daily needs. The appeal will guide IOM response over the next 12 months and seek funding to provide life-saving assistance, safe and dignified shelter, support early recovery efforts, and help the affected community to rebuild their lives in the months ahead. Over the past 3 weeks, we have also witnessed something that was very remarkable: the solidarity of the Venezuelan people. Communities have come together to support one another. Local authorities have worked tirelessly, and humanitarian partners have mobilized rapidly to assist those affected. The collective effort has been vital in addressing the immediate needs and will remain critical in helping the community to move forward. Since the onset of the emergency and for 3 weeks, IOM has been working alongside the Venezuelan authorities, the UN partners, and the humanitarian organizations to support the affected population through a coordination mechanism that has been established between the UN, the host government, the UN, and the humanitarian partners, as coordination is key in this response. And as I speak to you today, our teams remain deployed across the affected areas working with communities and local authorities to improve the condition in collective sites, expand access to healthcare protection services, coordinate assistance, and help the families regain access to essential services. To date, IOM has assisted almost 7,000 people in displacement sites under its co-coordination mechanism and delivered over 10 10,000 services, including temporary accommodation, healthcare, psychosocial support, and protection assistance. Building on our long-standing presence in Venezuela and the operational footprint across the affected areas, IOM is now scaling up their response through an integrated approach that addresses both the immediate humanitarian needs in the medium and long-term recovery priorities. While the humanitarian assistance remains essential, the response is increasingly shifting towards the early recovery. Support housing solutions, restoring critical infrastructure, rebuilding livelihoods, and reducing the risk of protracted displacement will be critical to helping families and the communities move forward with dignity and hope. This appeal focuses on priority areas including shelter and site coordination, early recovery, and access to basic services including health. Together, all these interventions will provide immediate relief while laying the foundation for mid- and long-term recovery. As Chief of Mission of IOM in Venezuela, I have I have seen firsthand both the devastating impact of this disaster and the extraordinary resilience of the affected communities. Yet recovery will take time, resources, and sustained commitment. IOM remains committed to ensuring that affected people remain at the center of the response and recovery efforts. Working closely with government authorities, local communities, and humanitarian partners, we will continue to support a coordinated, needs-based approach that reaches the most affected, including in underserved areas. We urge donors and the international community to support this appeal and the response and stand with the people of Venezuela at this very critical moment. The needs created by the disaster will not disappear as attention might shift elsewhere. So, continued support will be essential to help families to reconnect with their communities, to rebuild their homes, restore their livelihoods, and create the conditions for a safer and more sustainable future. Thank you for your time. UN · Moderator · Stéphanie [1:00:41]: Thank you so much. I took over for— from Stéphane, so I'm Stéphanie, just so you know who I am. We will now turn to questions. Ephraim, go ahead. Journalist · Ephraim [1:00:53]: Thank you, Stéphanie, and thank you so much for this briefing. On behalf of the United Nations Correspondents Association, thank you for giving us this update today. I have 2 questions. What is the nature of the relationship between IOM right now and other agencies? You said there's a coordinated approach. How is that going? How smooth is it going? How satisfied are you with the coordination thing? And is there room for improvement? What would make it even better? And second, you mentioned the international response. How would you assess it so far? How has the response been really up to the level needed now for the victims of the earthquake. Thank you. IOM · Chief of Mission in Venezuela · Lia Poggio [1:01:51]: There were already existing coordination structures in the country under the lead of OCHA, and so we quickly— we have been able to quickly respond to the emergency after the earthquake. I think that the coordination has been positive, and then we established a coordination mechanism, as I mentioned to you before, with the host government that has been key in order to provide the immediate assistance. The coordination, the mechanism that we established is based on current capacity and also in the services that can be provided to the affected population. So in my— in our perspective, the coordination effort has been important, key, and there is always waiting for improvement. But so far, I think that we achieved our main objectives, that was to provide immediate support. In terms of coordination, we are also thinking about the reactivation of the shelters cluster that will be also a key space in order to continue supporting and coordinating not only the shelter support but all the early recovery efforts. UN · Moderator · Stéphanie [1:03:22]: Thank you. Go ahead, Abdelhamid. Al-Quds Al-Arabi · Journalist · Abdelhamid Sayam [1:03:25]: Thank you so much for the briefing. My name is Abdelhamid Sayam from the Arabic Daily. Al-Quds Al-Arabi. I have 2 questions. First, a question on the AOS. What are they doing? Are they coordinating also with the local authorities? And which countries of the AOS stands high in their rescue efforts? And the second, Venezuela is supposed to be a rich country and an oil-exporting country. Why this kind of devastation and the government is not doing anything? Or how do you assess the efforts of the Venezuelan government to address this tragedy? Thank you. IOM · Chief of Mission in Venezuela · Lia Poggio [1:04:16]: Thank you. Yeah, we are supporting the government efforts, as I mentioned before. And under the leadership of the humanitarian country teams, the different international actors have been supporting the government to respond quickly to the situation. And In this kind of situation, the coordination is key because there is no country that is able to rapidly respond to a earthquake or natural disaster by its own. And so this is why it has been key that we were able to coordinate. And I think that the fact that the UN agencies and the whole humanitarian actors will be present in the country since many years has allowed us to quickly coordinate with the government and to strengthen their capacity. So the coordination mechanism that has been established is with the host government, both the military and civil actors. IOM · Disaster Risk Reduction Coordinator · Lucas Guedes-Huckhardt [1:05:40]: If I may— IOM · Chief of Mission in Venezuela · Lia Poggio [1:05:40]: Go ahead. IOM · Disaster Risk Reduction Coordinator · Lucas Guedes-Huckhardt [1:05:43]: Yeah, if I may add to what Lia is saying, and I think it sort of answers one of the previous questions as well in terms of how this response has been coordinated with the government but leveled up to see to the needs of people in need. So the UN system has been engaging and coordinating very closely with the Venezuelan government and the authorities. The Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator has played a key role in facilitating discussions with key stakeholders in-country to ensure that we have access, that we are able to reach those most in need. As Lia has just said, and going to the very last question that was asked, I believe whenever disaster struck in this magnitude, we're talking about 2 earthquakes of 7.6 and 7.4 magnitude on the Richter scale. So obviously, as much as any government could be prepared for this, it's never going to be enough. The array of destruction is quite significant. As UN agencies and as the UN system, we have been working closely with the government authorities trying to support them in their recovery efforts and on the emergency assistance for people in need. And while, of course, the role of coordinating everyone remains and is the role of the Resident Coordinator, we must recognize the key role that other UN agencies, sister agencies, and humanitarian partners have had so far in quickly scaling up this response, bringing in expertise, and really responding, being first respondents on the ground. We've all acted very quickly as the day after the earthquake. UN · Moderator · Stéphanie [1:08:01]: Go ahead. Journalist [1:08:01]: Hi. UN · Moderator · Stéphanie [1:08:03]: Oops, I think your microphone doesn't— oh, sorry. Let's try again. Journalist [1:08:07]: How many people have you been able to reach, and how many people are still left without any assistance? IOM · Chief of Mission in Venezuela · Lia Poggio [1:08:19]: We have been able to reach around 10,000 people. And in all the collective sites that have been established in the country from the government, there are currently 20,000 people, and all of them have received the assistance both through the government and with the support of the UN agencies. UN · Moderator · Stéphanie [1:08:45]: And let me— oh, go ahead, then I will take a question online. China Central Television · Journalist · Tao Xu [1:08:49]: This is Tao Xu with China Central Television. And as we know, China has provided emergency assistance to Venezuela following the earthquake. So how has this aid already reached the affected areas, and what additional support is still urgently needed from the international partners? IOM · Disaster Risk Reduction Coordinator · Lucas Guedes-Huckhardt [1:09:16]: So I believe in terms of tracking the aid, specific aid from the Chinese government or any other member state, IOM wouldn't be the best place, agency to give the answer. The agency that keeps track of humanitarian funding is OCHA. So I would probably ask you to coordinate with our colleagues at OCHA, both at New York level but also here in-country. But then in regards to the second part of your, of your question, what are the gaps that remain and the needs that remain? And our Chief of Mission has sort of explained this in her intervention, but Shelter and site coordination remain some of the key areas of need still. The government is also trying to remove all of the debris in the aftermath of the quake. So there's, there's a lot of room for support in that specific area as well, not to mention providing provision of basic services such as health and protection assistance as well. And I'll just wrap it up by mentioning that, of course, we cannot not mention early recovery efforts that need to kick in as quickly as possible as we quickly transition from the emergency humanitarian assistance into providing people with more durable solutions. UN · Moderator · Stéphanie [1:11:06]: Let me go online now. We have a question from Bloomberg. Magdalena? Bloomberg · Journalist · Magdalena Del Valle [1:11:13]: Hi, this is Magdalena Del Valle with Bloomberg News. I actually have 2 questions. The first is, it seems like a lot of the emergency responders, the international responders that came straight away, have started to withdraw. I'm wondering what kind of gaps they're leaving and what you need the most in this phase of the recovery process. And then my second question is whether there's any unexpected secondary effects or fears that, like, came as surprises, like maybe the water is being polluted and there's cholera or anything that you weren't prepared for that now you have to deal with. Thank you. IOM · Disaster Risk Reduction Coordinator · Lucas Guedes-Huckhardt [1:11:52]: Yeah, thank you, Magdalena. In regards to the emergency responders that seem to be withdrawing. Maybe a good point to clarify is that the teams that are withdrawing from the country are the search and rescue teams mostly. And that is because it has been 20 days more or less since the, since the earthquakes happened. And so the work right now isn't more unfortunately trying to search and rescue for people who are alive, but rather it transitions into recovering people that have passed. So it's a different expertise. Let's say technically it's a bit of a different type of work. So the teams that have been withdrawing were the ones doing search and rescue. But I can confirm to you that humanitarian actors continue to be on the ground and are continuing to scale up their emergency assistance programming. In regards to your second question, in terms of unexpected secondary effects or fears that we have, we are of course working very closely together with the government and with UNDP here in-country on the matter, like I said, of debris removal. And why am I mentioning this? Because one of the concerns that we have has to do with the environmental impact of where the debris is going to be, how to handle, manage the debris, and where it's going to be put. And we cannot ignore the fact that collectively as UN system, we've been talking a lot lately about a really strong El Niño system developing, and this could hit Venezuela in a moment where people are already displaced. So this is something that IOM specifically has been taking really into consideration and discussing with other partners how we can make sure that adverse factors coming from, for example, a strong El Niño could impact the work that we're doing. Discussions are being held at the interagency level to ensure that our response remains operational at this critical time. UN · Moderator · Stéphanie [1:14:23]: Thank you very much. IOM · Chief of Mission in Venezuela · Lia Poggio [1:14:24]: Maybe additional information that I think that is in response to some of the questions that have been raised to respond to rapidly response to the earthquake emergency, the humanitarian country team prepared an addendum to the 2027 Humanitarian Response Plan. This addendum expands the response to reach 1.3 million people affected by the earthquake that require additional funds. The addendum is based on a rapid needs assessment that has been done after the earthquake. and have been conducting in the different affected states. The funding confirmed the need for a multi-sectoral response and underlined 3 main areas of impact: deteriorating living conditions, loss of livelihoods and purchasing power, and loss of housing with consequences for shelter, community, and cohesion. In terms of main needs identified following the earthquake, are in psychosocial support and health, access to safe water, food security, psychosocial support, shelter, and sanitation. As IOM, we start focusing our response on shelter because it has been established by the, the host government as a key priority, because for them was key to find a place to provide not only accommodation but also services to those that have been lost their their houses after the earthquake. UN · Moderator · Stéphanie [1:16:05]: Thank you so much. I don't see any more questions. So thank you to both of you for joining us today. So as a reminder, we had Lia Poggio, the Chief of Mission in Venezuela for IOM, and she was accompanied by Lucas Guedes Akrat, IOM's Disaster Risk Reduction Coordinator, also in Venezuela, and they joined us from Caracas. Thank you so much again, and good luck with the continuation of your work. Thank you so much for being here. Thank you, everyone. IOM · Chief of Mission in Venezuela · Lia Poggio [1:16:38]: Bye-bye. Journalist · Ephraim [1:16:40]: Thank you.