UN Geneva press briefing chaired by Alessandra Vellucci, Director, UN Information Service
Crisis in Lebanon Imran Riza, United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator for Lebanon, speaking from Beirut, said that later today a humanitarian flash appeal would be launched, following the escalating crisis of the past three months, which had led to numerous casualties, displacement, damage, and trauma. More than 3,500 people had been killed, 10,000 injured, and over one million people remained displaced. Entire neighbourhoods had been reduced to rubble, and at least 1.4 million people needed humanitarian aid. Hospitals and clinics had been hit by airstrikes and agricultural land scorched. The psychological trauma of the conflict meant that the emotional scars of the conflict would last long beyond its end. Mr. Riza had recently visited displaced families in the southern city of Tyre, some of whom had been displaced five times, and were simply hoping for stability and return to home. Mr. Riza said that the USD 190 million given by the donors had helped assist over 600,000 people this year; USD 331 million was now needed to assist 1.4 million people, bringing the overall humanitarian appeal through the end of August to USD 639.9 million. The objective was to support the government-led efforts, helping both displaced families and their host communities. The most vulnerable categories were to be prioritized, while the communities left behind the front lines would not be forgotten. Mr. Riza stressed that the escalation of violence had to stop, and a full cessation of hostilities was needed. International humanitarian law had to be respected. Safe, sustained and unhindered humanitarian access was necessary, and civilians fleeing hostilities needed to be given safe passage. Finally, Mr. Riza emphasized the need to scale up humanitarian funding which would help save lives. Andrew Saberton, Deputy Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), connecting from Cairo, said that nearly everyone he had met in Lebanon said they wanted to return home, but many of them no longer had a home to return to. Some one million people remained displaced across Lebanon, including 16,000 pregnant women. The crisis was evolving into a health and protection crisis. Health facilities continued to come under attack, and women found it increasingly difficult to access maternal services. Women and girls also faced a heightened risk of gender-based violence. For example, UNFPA had supported a women centre in south Lebanon, one of the very few facilities operating in the area, but it too had now been shelled. Healthcare should never be a target, stressed Mr. Saberton. UNFPA was appealing for USD 25 million to reach 400,000 people until August; only 16 percent of the appeal had been funded. The cost of inaction would be acute; sustained investment was critical to prevent the deepening humanitarian catastrophe. All actors were appealed to cease further attacks and adhere to their obligations under international humanitarian law. Responding to questions from the media, Imran Riza, UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Lebanon, said that host communities also had to be assisted. Some 28,000 people were believed to still remain below the so-called "yellow" evacuation line. As summer was about to begin, access to water was becoming more critical, and many water facilities had been damaged, he informed. Mr. Riza said that many displaced people had moved several times, returning home when they thought it was safe, only to be displaced again. At least 200,000 people were expected not to be able to return to their affected frontline villages, leading to protracted displacement. There was hope that in a three-month time there would be no need to reissue a flash appeal and that the ongoing negotiations would be successful. Displacement in Jonglei State, South Sudan Eujin Byun, for the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), said that South Sudan remained one of the worst displacement crises in the world, with some 2.4 million South Sudanese refugees in the region, two million internally displaced people, and one million refugee returnees. Matthew Brook, United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) Representative in South Sudan, speaking from Juba, had just returned from the Jonglei State, at the border with Ethiopia, where a grave protection crisis was evolving, leading to hundreds of thousands of people forced to flee their homes. In the Akobo county only, 140,000 people had been displaced. In the past few weeks, thousands of people had returned despite very difficult conditions. Mr. Brook provided examples of displaced families in hardship and women affected by gender-based violence. On the other hand, the area held a lot of potential as it was very fertile. One of the largest concerns was that women and children were exposed to exploitation. Humanitarian access was a big challenge, particularly as the rainy season had started. The population had moved repeatedly between South Sudan and Ethiopia seeking safety. In the coming months, flooding, a perennial issue, would further complicate the humanitarian situation on the ground. UNHCR was working with other UN organizations and partners to provide an adequate response, but UNHCR had received only 25 percent of the resources required, which was why donors were urged not to neglect and forget South Sudan. Global food insecurity Jean-Martin Bauer, Director of the Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Service at the World Food Programme (WFP), speaking from Rome, stated that in March, WFP had projected that 45 million people could fall into acute food insecurity by the end of June if the conflict in the Middle East continued and oil prices remained around USD 100 per barrel. This scenario was now unfolding: a new WFP report, "Food Security Under Pressure: How the Middle East Crisis is Impacting Vulnerable Countries", analysed the situation in three vulnerable countries. It found that an additional 2.5 million people in Somalia, 1.3 million in Sri Lanka and 2.3 million in Afghanistan were struggling to meet basic food needs and, in some cases, being pushed into acute hunger due to the crisis. The hike in energy and food prices was now affecting marginal rural populations but also urban core populations. Significant impacts were being seen on global supply chains, informed Mr. Bauer, because shipping had been disrupted, which undermined local food markets. Governments' fiscal space was quite constrained. Three major crises this decade: the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and the Middle East conflict had all impacted the governments' ability to cope. Mr. Bauer further explained that supply chains to Afghanistan now took much longer than before, which impacted the WFP's ability to help people there. At the beginning of 2026, the WFP had planned to assist over 100 million people around the world, of whom now as many as nine million people would not be able to receive that support. Fragile countries were at particular risk, he stressed. Populations most affected needed to be supported, in both targeted and time-bound government safety nets. Data systems ought to be strengthened, and changes in food prices, energy prices and consumption needed to be recorded and analyzed. Some of the humanitarian supply chains had to be adjusted or localized, while targeting frameworks also needed to be accordingly updated. More details can be found here. Answering questions, Mr. Bauer explained that higher costs of fuel would mean that the cost of helping people with food supplies would also go up. He said that the challenges came both from funding and supply chain issues – El Niño could also strain the situation further. The pipeline break in Somalia was going to happen in July, leaving the most vulnerable categories, including children under five, particularly exposed. Efforts needed to be made now in order to avoid last-minute, expensive measures to avoid massive hunger in Somalia. Humanitarian situation in Haiti Zoe Brennan, for the International Organization for Migration (IOM), said that 1.5 million people in Haiti were now faced with escalating violence. With repeated waves of displacement, violence was now spreading to areas once considered safe. Gregoire Goodstein, Chief of Mission of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Haiti, stated that Haiti was not experiencing a crisis that unfolded in stages, where violence peaked, then receded, then recovery began. What we were seeing was the permanent simultaneity of hardship: armed violence, mass displacement, acute food insecurity, forced returns at scale, climate hazards, and institutions under pressure at every level. These did not take turns; they operated together, continuously, each one making the others worse. More than 5,900 people had been killed by the end of 2025, 2,700 had been wounded, and nearly 650 kidnapped. Now, 1.47 million people remained displaced, with violence expanding across the country. Forced returns were continuing without pause, with 110,000 returned just in 2026, including mothers and children. For some, it was the first time in decades, or even in their lives, to be in Haiti. IOM was very much a frontline organization, having conducted 92 percent of all high-level missions this year. IOM saw what sustained presence made possible, including some cautious, incremental returns. It could not be assumed that those returns were sustainable, for which continuous investment and support was needed. On top of that, the hurricane season was starting. Every gap in the humanitarian response would be filled by armed gangs. Short-term relief could not meet the scale or persistence of the crisis, which now went on for almost five years. A long-term, sustainable intervention and continued engagement were needed. Full press release is available here. World Food Safety Day Dr. Elaine Borghi, Head of Monitoring and Surveillance, Department of Nutrition and Food Safety, at the World Health Organization (WHO), said that the theme of World Food Safety Day 2026, "From burden to solutions – safe food everywhere", highlighted how data on illness, its burden and lost lives could guide action towards focused and cost-effective solutions. With evidence in hands, governments could craft adequate policies and address risks. The importance of evidence into action was critical, stressed Dr. Borghi. WHO estimates showed that in 2024, some 866 million cases of illness and 1.5 million deaths had been caused by unsafe foods. Children under five faced almost three times the risk of illness compared to the general population, especially children in poor settings. Most illnesses came from biological hazards, but chemical hazards had caused as much as 73 percent of all food poisoning deaths. This was also a crisis of equity, with people living in low and middle-income countries facing largest risks. Antimicrobial resistance made the situation worse. A one-health approach was essential, stressed Dr. Borghi, and countries had to break down silos. Political commitment and coordinated action were needed to make safe food a reality for everyone. Markus Lipp, Senior Food Safety Officer at the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), speaking from Rome, said that countries needed to move from a reactive to a proactive stance. FAO focused on the solutions, helping countries to identify food safety issues and find solutions. Anticipating risks was one of the priority areas of FAO's work. FAO provided independent scientific advice that underpinned informed decisions worldwide and development of standards. Working with farmers and producers was another area of FAO's work, to help them prevent contamination at source. FAO addressed food safety risks across sectors, including the one-health approach. Tools, like risk ranking, helped countries prioritize key hazards and keep food safe. FAO and WHO had developed a number of sophisticated scientific tools, and were helping countries use them, for example to assess their food control systems. Most foodborne diseases were preventable, and prevention started long before food reached consumers' plates, stressed Mr. Lipp. More information on the World Safety Day can be found here. Announcements Alessandra Vellucci, for the United Nations Information Service (UNIS), informed that on 9 June at 9:30 am, UNHCR's High Commissioner Barham Salih would present its annual Global Trends Report, under embargo until 11 June at 5 am. On 10 June, at 12:15 pm, a press briefing with Volker Türk, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, would be held at Palais Wilson. On 10 June, at 3 pm, UNOG Director-General Tatiana Valovaya would deliver remarks at an event on the International Day for Dialogue among Civilizations organized by the Permanent Mission of China at the World Meteorological Organization. Ms. Vellucci further informed that the informal exchanges on artificial intelligence in the military domain and its implications for international peace and security would be held at the Palais des Nations from 15 to17 June. More information can be found here. UNOPS's 2025 annual report was being launched today, showing that UNOPS continued to deliver to the most vulnerable communities amid global challenges, increase in armed conflicts and humanitarian needs, and a deepening climate crisis. In 2025, the agency had provided technical, operational and logistical support through over 1,100 projects across 130 countries and territories, delivering around USD 2.7 billion in support of humanitarian response, sustainable development and peace and security initiatives. The Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families would review this afternoon at 3 pm the initial report of The Gambia. Finally, the Portail des Nations would be formally inaugurated on 7 June. ***
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Good morning. Welcome to the press briefing of the United Nations here in Geneva. Today is Friday, 5th of June, World Environment Day, as you all know. So I hope you'll do something for environment today to celebrate it. And I just would like to welcome a very long list of speakers. Thank you very much for being with us. And I have the honor to start with OCHA. Jens, who's on the podium with me, brought us Imran Rizvi, Mr. Riza, the Humanitarian Coordinator in Lebanon from Beirut. Welcome, sir. And we'll also hear from Andrew Subberton from UNFPA, the Deputy Executive Director for Management, who's also calling in from Cairo, also briefing on Lebanon. So I'll start now with Jens for some introductory remarks, and we will go to Mr. Riza just after. Jens, please.
Thank you very much, Alessandra. Good morning, everyone. Before I hand over to Imran Riza, who is speaking to us from Beirut, I just I just want to say that the material that I shared under embargo yesterday with you, that embargo is now lifted, obviously, so please use that. It includes this one, which is a two-page summary of the flash appeal that will go online in full later today at around 2:30 Geneva time.
But in this one you have, I would say, the vitamins and the nutrition concentrated.
So with that, I'll hand over to Mr. Riza.
Thank you, Jens. Thank you, Alessandra. And thanks to all of you for your interest in reporting on the crisis here in Lebanon. Later in the day, we will be launching a humanitarian flash appeal jointly with the government. In the past 3 months, communities across Lebanon have faced an appalling situation due to the escalation of— hostilities. We have witnessed too many casualties, widespread and repeated displacement, destruction of housing and basic service infrastructure, and far-reaching psychological trauma. The toll on civilians is alarming and worsening by the day. Sorry. More than 3,500 people have been killed and more than 10,000 have been injured. Nearly 1 million people remain displaced from their homes. Health workers and first responders are facing death and injury on a horrific scale. Um, entire neighborhoods have been turned to rubble. Families have lost their homes and livelihoods. Food security is rapidly deteriorating. At least 1.4 million people need humanitarian aid. In the communities I have visited in recent weeks, I was shocked by the devastation of infrastructure and essential services. Hospitals and clinics hit by airstrikes, government buildings destroyed, agricultural land scorched, water stations demolished, and schools turned to displacement sites. Not all the damage is physical. The psychological trauma of conflict cuts deep into the fabric of daily life with emotional scars that will last longer than the sound of guns and bombs. The people of Lebanon have developed a remarkable strength to withstand the hardest of times. But even this exceptional resilience has its limits. I was recently in the city of Tyre meeting with displaced people in a collective shelter. Some families told me that they had been forced to move 5 times. Their wishes were crystal clear: a true stop to hostilities, the possibility of rebuilding their lives, and hope for the future of their children. 3 months ago, we launched our original flash appeal in the immediate aftermath of the escalation, which of course started on the 2nd of March. Um, since then, humanitarian donors have provided $190 million to enable the government and humanitarian community to respond effectively and rapidly. These efforts have provided life-saving assistance to more than 680,000 people during the first phase of the flash appeal. But humanitarian needs are soaring with each day of the conflict. Our work is unfortunately far from over. Today we call for an additional 331.5 million $1.4 million to sustain life-saving efforts for 1.4 million people, bringing our overall ask for the flash appeal through August of this year to $639.9 million. It'll be in that handout that, that Jens was talking about earlier, that, that chart. The— this humanitarian funding is not just an act of compassion, it is an investment in peace, stability, and humanity itself. Our objective is to support government-led efforts in confronting the severe humanitarian crisis. Through the plan launched today, we will sustain and expand the provision of life-saving aid and protection to displaced families as well as their hosts, with particular attention to risks exacerbated by conflict such as gender-based violence. We will prioritize our support for the most vulnerable, the elderly, the disabled. We will not forget the communities remaining behind the front lines and in the hardest-to-reach places. In fact, we have two convoys right now in hard-to-reach places this morning. And we will bolster the courageous efforts of frontline responders and demand their protection under international humanitarian law. Civilians, unfortunately, will continue to bear the heaviest burden of hostilities. Let me conclude with four clear messages. First, the escalation of violence must stop. There is no military solution. Dialogue and a full cessation of hostilities will pave the way for an end of humanitarian needs. Second, international humanitarian law must be respected. Civilians, civilian infrastructure, aid workers, medical personnel must be protected at all times. Third, we need access. This means safe, sustained, and unhindered humanitarian access, including safe passage for civilians that are fleeing hostilities and displacement orders, as well as access of humanitarians to hard-to-reach areas. Finally, we need the funding. We need to scale up humanitarian funding, urgent, predictable, and sustained financing to the flash appeal that we are launching today, Rural Health Saved Lives. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Riza. And before I open the floor to questions, let me also give the floor to Mr. Sabaton from UNFPA on the UNFPA part of the flash appeal for Lebanon. Andrew.
Thank you and good morning to everyone. I returned from Lebanon 2 weeks ago, where I met displaced families, health workers, government counterparts, and humanitarian partners responding to a crisis that continues to deepen despite the ceasefire. What struck me most was that nearly everyone I met told me the same thing: they want to go home. But many may not have homes to go back to. In one shelter, an extended family told me that they had been displaced multiple times over the past few years. The only family member who had not experienced multiple displacement before, was a 6-month baby born shortly before the family was forced to flee once again. Today, more than 1 million people remain displaced across Lebanon, and among them are an estimated 390,000 women of reproductive age, including 16,000 pregnant women. As this crisis becomes increasingly protracted, it is evolving into a health and protection crisis. Around 1,800 women are expected to give birth every month, and yet healthcare facilities continue to come under attack. Hospitals and primary healthcare centers have been forced to close, and women are finding it increasingly difficult to access essential maternal health services. Some have already been forced to give birth in difficult and unsafe conditions. Women and girls also face heightened risks of gender-based violence. Overcrowded shelters lack privacy, adequate sanitation, and basic protection measures. More than 600,000 women and girls are estimated to be at risk of gender-based violence. Just this week, a UNFPA-supported primary healthcare center and women and girls' safe space in South Lebanon, which I visited while it was being rebuilt in 2025, was once again severely damaged by airstrikes. These were amongst the few, very few facilities that continue to operate in the area, but now they too have been shut. This underscores once again the importance of international humanitarian law being adhered to. Healthcare should never be a target, and such attacks deprive women and girls of life-saving care when they need it most. UNFPA is working closely with the Ministry of Public Health, the Ministry of Social Affairs, local partners, and women-led organizations to sustain critical services. During my visit, I toured the Ministry of Public Health central warehouse with the Minister of Public Health, where UNFPA has delivered recently 14 tons of reproductive health supplies through 3 EU humanitarian airbridge flights. These supplies are helping women continue to access safe childbirth services, emergency obstetric care, and support for survivors of gender-based violence. Today, under the revised interagency flash appeal for Lebanon, UNFPA is appealing for $25 million to reach 450,000 people between March and August 2026 with life-saving sexual and reproductive health and protection services. But as of today, only 16% of this appeal has been funded. The cost of inaction will be acute. Without additional resources, nearly 200,000 people will lose access to life-saving health and protection services in the next 6 months. Mobile medical teams will be forced to scale down and health facilities will lose critical supplies, and thousands of women and girls will lose access to maternal healthcare, protection services, psychosocial support, and safe spaces. The consequences will be lives lost, rights denied, and futures diminished. Sustained investment is essential to protect the health, safety, and dignity of women and girls. And to prevent a deepening humanitarian catastrophe. In closing, I'd like to echo the Secretary-General's call to end the hostilities and alleviate the suffering of communities on both sides of the blue line. We urge all actors to cease any further attacks and to comply with their obligations under international law.
Thank you.
Thank you very much, Andrew. Let me open the floor to questions now. Yes, I see. Yes, go ahead, Al-Mayadeen, please.
Thank you, Alexandra. My question for Mr. Riza, Iman Riza. 1.4 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance. What does that mean exactly? Food needs, health needs? Can you give us, please, some details about the situation in Beirut and in— the south of the yellow, so-called yellow line, exactly how they are living today.
Thank you.
Mr. Riza. Yes, sorry, 1.4 million. That includes, of course, the displaced people. And from, from the displaced, we have about 130,000 that are in collective shelters. And most of the others are, are with— are either either renting or in unfinished buildings or with relatives or with others. And a lot of the assistance for them is obviously through cash to try to help them to, to, to survive. Host communities are another population that we have to be assisting to make sure that also tensions are not rising in terms of what's going on. And the last group is, of course, what you were talking about in terms of those that are either beyond the front line or in other hard-to-reach areas where there's active conflict that's going on. What our estimation is that below that self-declared military line, there are probably around 28,000 people at this time. But as we see, there are a lot of displacement orders happening all the time. And in fact, this morning there have been a number that have been issued, that people keep moving. So it's very difficult to know where people are at certain times. It takes a little bit of time to get that. In terms of what we need to provide, Andrew was talking very much about it being a protection crisis. There is a lot, a lot that we need to be doing in terms of that. But of course, the basics about food, about shelter, about water— water becomes extremely important now. We're getting into the summer and there have been a lot of water facilities that have been damaged extensively from what's gone on. So it is all of that that needs to be handled at this point.
Thank you very much. Mohamed, yeah, another one.
Thank you, Alessandra. My question is also for Mr. Riza. Sir, you said nearly 1 million people remain displaced from their homes in Lebanon, even if it's fragile, there is a ceasefire over there. My question is, what is the process of for people people returning to their homes? And how many people returned to homes since the ceasefire was announced? Thank you.
Um, many people. We were talking about how we, when we meet with displaced people, many of them have moved 2, 3, 4, 5 times because they think they can move back at certain points. When I was in Tyre, the families that I met met over there had not only been displaced in '24, but in the recent period about 3, 4 times. When they heard that there was a ceasefire, they moved back. There were again displacement orders, there was again conflict that was happening, they moved out again. So it's, it's a bit difficult, it's very fluid in terms of that. But what we do know is that at the end of the conflict in '24, we had about 68,000 people that were internally displaced who could not go back to villages after the cessation of hostilities at that point because either the security situation there or mainly that their villages had been destroyed. I think our estimation now is that number is going to be much, much larger. At minimum, probably around 200,000, but probably more than that. And that means we're going to have a protracted displacement that we need to also deal with.
Thank you very much. Other questions in the room? Yes, Nina AFP.
Yes, uh, hi, thank you very much for the briefing. I was, uh, wondering if, um, given the amounts that you've asked for now for just 3 months, how you see this developing going forward. It's already more than double what you were asking for initially, uh, in March. So, and given the the very fragile ceasefire, if you can call it that, that's in place. What are your hopes that you won't be asking for the same amount in 3 months' time?
Thanks. Well, we're, we're, we're actually hoping. I mean, there's, there's, uh, as, as we, we're seeing, there are, there is a dialogue happening, there are negotiations happening. We're hoping, we were hoping that at this point we would actually not need to be going up with an extension or revision of of the flash appeal. I have no crystal ball about where things are going to go, but, and I know that we have been for a long period asking for humanitarian assistance. Lebanon has gone through all these crises since 2019, so it does not have the sort of institutional capacity to deal with it. We need to be assisting, and that's our main message to donors. I mean, we can move towards stability, we can move towards peace. It's not through humanitarian assistance, obviously. We need those political solutions. But in the meantime, we have to not just have the humanitarian imperative in what we're doing, but also not let things get much worse on a peace and security level.
Thank you very much. Any other question or any question to UNFPA? I don't see any, so I'd like to thank Jens, of course, but also very much Mr. Riza and Mr. Saberton to join us for this briefing on Lebanon. We will continue speaking about the Middle East later on with Jean-Martin Bauer, who is patiently waiting from Rome. But let me just go now— thanks again— to our colleagues of UNHCR, because Matthew Brooke is connected from Juba,, and I'd like to give him the floor because the connection is what it is. So we hope we can get you— I have seen your camera is on. Oh, hi. Okay, you are there. You are with us, Mr. Brooke. So you are the representative in South Sudan of UNHCR. Just to tell us about the situation, then we will go back to Middle East with Jean-Martin just after. Eugene, you want to start or we go straight in? Yeah?
Thank you very much for joining today's briefing. UNHCR today bring the focus on the worsening situation in South Sudan, particularly after the month of fighting and violence in Jonglei State. The briefing will be presented, as Alexandra mentioned, that our representative in South Sudan connected from Juba, who has just returned from Akobo yesterday. Just to give you the context of the displacement situation in South Sudan, South Sudan remains one of the worst— most severe displacement situations, with 2.4 million South Sudanese refugees in the region, almost 2 million people internally displaced, and 1.2 million spontaneous refugee returnees. And for many, this is not the first time they have been displaced. I will give the floor to Matthew, who will give more detail and information from the ground. Over to you, Matt.
Thank you very much. In fact, I was yesterday in Akobo, in Jonglei State, which is in eastern South Sudan, right on the border with Ethiopia, along with the UNHCR's Regional Director for this region. The Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General, we were able to witness firsthand this very grave protection crisis which is evolving in Jonglei State. We've seen repeated rounds of conflict over the past month and hundreds of thousands of women, men, girls, boys have been forced to leave their homes. Just in Akobo County, where we were yesterday, 140,000 have been displaced, and then more broadly across Jonglei State, it's more than 300,000. And in addition, there's 100,000 that have gone across the border into Ethiopia. So I, I, we, what did we see on the ground? We did see thousands have started to return over the past couple of weeks, even though conditions on the ground remain very, very difficult. And I wanted to just reference in particular one woman whom we met yesterday in Akobo. She has 5 children. She fled to Ethiopia, spent 6 weeks there due to the violence and the conflict in Okobo. She returned back after spending the 6 weeks in Ethiopia to find that her home had been looted, destroyed. There's no roof, there's no door. Her husband is missing. So this is Just one story we've heard. There were also many children who have been traumatized by the violence in, in Akobo. Also, we heard multiple reports of women who have been affected by conflict-related sexual violence. But at the same time, we also saw some promising signs, the resilience of the population, their eagerness. Women spoke to us of the wish to rebuild, to re-engage economic activities. There's a lot of potential as well. It's a very fertile area. So this is the despair, but balanced as well by some signs of of hope. So the issues of the lack of shelter and basic services is really sharply increasing the protection risk. And we're particularly concerned about women and children exposed to exploitation, abuse, and violence. Also vulnerable groups, elderly population, disabled as well, given the the challenges with respect to services, lack of healthcare facilities, etc. At the same time, I need to mention the issue of humanitarian access, particularly as the rainy season has started in South Sudan. And this will make it even more difficult in the coming months to be able to provide the assistance that that's necessary. And the population is in a very difficult situation because they've moved repeatedly between South Sudan and Ethiopia seeking safety, so their resources have been exhausted. And in many cases, returning to Akobo, returning to South Sudan, is not a reflection of ideal conditions being in a place in Akobo, but rather that they really have very few options. We can also expect in the coming months, as we enter into the rainy season, as I mentioned, flooding is a perennial issue, and that will likely further complicate the situation, the humanitarian situation on the ground. And then, as my colleague mentioned, this is all against the backdrop of the broader displacement crisis in South Sudan. 2.4 million South Sudanese hosted across the region, 2 million internally displaced within Sudan, and we also have the impact of the ongoing conflict in Sudan. So we are on the ground as UNHCR, along with our sister UN agencies, international and local NGOs, working closely with the community to try to build up a community-based protection response, providing services, identifying those that are most in need and providing the necessary support. But the issue is that the needs are growing so quickly that there's no way that the response can keep up. And the financial situation is difficult. As UNHCR, we've received so far only 25% of the, of of the resources required to provide the necessary support. And we're very grateful for that, but we really urge our partners, donors, that additional assistance is provided. South Sudan is often a bit neglected, doesn't have the same visibility as some of the crises that are facing the world. So we really urge that this can be taken into account going forward.
Thank you.
Thank you very much for these remarks. Let me see if there are any questions for you in the room first. I don't see hands up. And on the platform, don't see hands up either. But I thank you very, very much. It's, it's very important— to keep spotlighting this very dire situation, especially in South Sudan. Thank you very much for connecting from Juba, Matthew Brooke. Thanks, Eugene. Let me now go back to Middle East with the World Food Programme and welcome Jean-Martin Bauer. I don't think I need to introduce you, Jean-Martin, anymore, the Director of the World Food Programme's Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit. Analysis Service. He is connecting from Rome. Bonjour, Jean-Martin. J'espère que vous allez bien. Bonjour. I give you the floor to tell us about the Middle East crisis and the situation of hunger.
Well, thank you for the opportunity to brief you this morning. When the Middle East crisis started, we at WFP conducted an analysis to estimate the potential food security impact, and we told you back then that we projected that 45 people would tip into acute food insecurity by the end of June should the barrel of oil remain above $100. So here we are a few months into the crisis, and what we thought we would do is look at the country-level impacts. We did deep dives in 3 countries. We looked at Afghanistan, we looked at Somalia, and we looked at Sri Lanka. So 2 of these are— the first 2 are humanitarian countries. Sri Lanka is in a very different position, but we were trying to understand how this crisis is impacting food security globally. And the findings of this report called Food Security Under Pressure tells us that we're seeing a cost of living crisis unfold across many geographies of the world, and we need to be concerned and we need to respond to this crisis. So let me tell you a little bit more about how— about our findings and what we were able to do. We were able to collect data in these 3 countries, were able to speak to authorities, we looked at the secondary information, we looked looked at the markets, the updates on import flows, and there's definitely cause for concern from a food security standpoint. Now we're looking at significant spillovers from this crisis in the Middle East, from the closure of Hormuz to countries that are sometimes very far from the Middle East. And this is because of impacts on fuel and food prices. There have been income shocks and also disruptions to trade, and that's had an impact on food security and livelihoods.. We project through this study that there will be significant impacts in the countries that I mentioned. In Somalia, we estimate that 2.5 million people will not be able to afford a basic food basket. Basically, people won't be able to afford the essential food that they need. In Afghanistan, we project that 2.3 million people will not be able to— well, will fall into acute food insecurity, so that's IPC 3 and above. And in Sri Lanka, again, a very different situation to the first two countries. We estimate that 1.3 million people may be at risk of not being able to meet their food needs, that they're not able to buy the food that they need every day to feed their families. So what we're seeing in these countries is that new groups are tipping into food insecurity. That means the hike in energy prices, the hike in food prices that has occurred in these countries is now affecting people like the urban poor or marginal rural populations. And in the case of, you can think of the pastoralists of Somalia, you can think of the urban ultra-poor. So these are new groups that are being pushed into vulnerability to food insecurity as a result of this crisis. We're seeing significant impacts on supply chain. And this is an important point. If you look at global food markets, they're not anywhere near the highs that they reached in 2022,. But at the country level and in the fragile countries where we were looking at in the study, we're already seeing impacts on local food markets. This is because shipping has been disrupted. In the case of Somalia, import volumes have come down by 40% since— food import volumes have gone down by 40% since before the crisis. And that's generating impacts on food markets at the local level, thereby undermining availability and affordability of food for many people. We see also the government fiscal space is quite constrained. Think of the fact that we've had 3 major crises this decade: the COVID pandemic, followed by the crisis in Ukraine, and now this crisis due to the closure of Hormuz. That is a lot to deal with for governments that might be tapped out fiscally. And there's also a significant impact on humanitarian operations. And we've spoken to you about this and have more detail on it in the case of Afghanistan. Afghanistan, our external transport costs have been increased by a factor of 2.5 at least. Our delivery times used to be around 10 days to get food into Afghanistan from outside. Now it's taking as many as 75 when we use alternative corridors. And the supply chains to Afghanistan are now indeed very long, going through the Black Sea, the Caucasus, over the Caspian Sea, and through Central Asia to get into Afghanistan from the north because the southern border with Pakistan is not available to us. Now, all this has impacts on our ability to support people. At the start of the year, the World Food Programme planned to support about 103 million people with essential food assistance, things like school meals, cash and voucher programs. With these higher costs of doing business because of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and its impact on energy and other markets, We will already not be able to serve 1.5 million of those. And if the situation continues, that will go up to 9 million people who will no longer have access to food assistance through WFP. And globally, what should really have us concerned is the fact that there's an impact on stability. We know that there are thresholds, food price thresholds, above which violence and insecurity become much more likely. We saw that in 2007 when there were food riots in more than 30 countries. We saw that again in 2011 with the Arab Spring. In 2022, also had an episode of very high food prices and greater instability. And unfortunately, it looks like— and what these studies are telling us is that these impacts are there in fragile countries, and we might be revisiting some of those issues very, very soon with more risk for geopolitical stability worldwide. Now, we're making recommendations in the study. There are 4 of them. The first one is really to make sure we support the populations of the people who have been most affected by this crisis. That has to be done in a way that's targeted and time-bound through government social safety nets. Again, we're in a situation of repeated crises. It makes sense to strengthen national systems and have technical assistance and support to social safety net systems so that the resources can be directed to those groups that are falling into vulnerability. We need to strengthen data systems make sure that we have information about this dynamic situation. The impacts are actually quite different in the countries I mentioned, and we need to make sure that we're able to pick up changes in food prices, changes in food consumption, changes in nutrition status to inform a response and make sure it's as effective as possible. We need to safeguard humanitarian supply chains and ensure that they continue delivering the assistance that's needed. And some of that will be shortening the supply chains, localizing what we can, using cash transfers,, but also ensuring that key enablers like the United Nations Humanitarian Air Service can continue operating. In the case of Somalia, the United Nations Humanitarian Air Service is facing much higher costs, and this is the only way to access some very vulnerable communities, and this is a key enabler for the humanitarian community that needs to be protected. And finally, we need to look at our targeting frameworks. Over the past year, we've very much in the humanitarian community focused on conflict and displacement. Right now, we're in the presence of another major economic shock that is undermining people's ability to purchase the food that they need, an increasing need. The study is called Food Security Under Pressure. It's available online. Happy to tell you more. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Ramazan. Let me see if there are questions for you in the room. Nina, AFP.
Bonjour, Jean-Martin, thank you very much for the briefing. I was just wondering on the numbers that you said of people who would be losing, who would lose aid if this continues. I think the report is talking about if it continues for 6 months. Have you looked even further, or is that too difficult a number to look at looking forward? Because it seems pretty staggering. Thank you.
Thank you, Nina. So the numbers we have for this year, we operate on annual budget cycles and we haven't yet completed our calculations for 2027. The point really is that at higher costs, of course, the cost of serving populations in humanitarian need goes up. And indeed, if we're in a protracted scenario, and it looks like we could be in a protracted scenario, these same effects will be present in 2027. The situation in the Middle East and its impact on energy and food markets is not the only cloud on the horizon. There's also a forecast for an El Niño that could come up and also disrupt food markets and cause additional need and additional stress going into 2027. That's definitely a question and an issue we need to keep an eye on.
We heard from Celeste Saulo on Tuesday about this and its effect on the food situation. Olivia, Reuters.
Good morning. Thank you very much indeed, Jean-Martin. I just had a question from a line I saw in the report which mentioned that there might be pipeline breaks for nutritious products in Somalia expected in the third quarter of this year. I was just wondering if you could explain and kind of in simple terms what that means, what that kind of impacts, and what do you mean exactly by a pipeline break? And if you could just kindly explain, is that driven by supply chain issues? Is that funding issues, the logistics? Yeah, just any detail on that would be super helpful. Thank you.
Thank you, Olivia. Great question. And what we point out in the report is that as soon as July, supplies run out. When we use the word pipeline break, it means there is no more food for us to provide beneficiaries. And if it's nutritious food, it's the most vulnerable beneficiaries. Beneficiaries is children under 5. So this is how serious things have become for us. And so you're asking, is it funding or is it supply chain issues? It's both. The supply chain issues meant that to bring supplies into Somalia, we faced some challenges. There have been way fewer port calls overall, not just WFP, but if you look at the private sector, fewer port calls into Somalia since this crisis has started because the disruptions have affected shipping in the Indian Ocean. It's affected the shipping in the Pacific as well. I mean, it's really been an overall issue. And we've had food stranded in Salalah in Oman. I mean, that started moving again, but that's meant that food has not been available in Somalia. And also, it happens to be a very underfunded country. And if I look at the reports, we have the gap in funding in Somalia in 2026 at 89%. So both of these factors are contributing to what we're seeing right now.
Olivier, you have a follow-up?
Yes, that's really helpful. I just wanted to clarify one thing in terms of third quarter. I mean, how soon is that? Is that in terms of month? And then just secondly, I mean, just to spell it out, I mean, in terms of impact, what does that mean when the pipeline cuts? Do you have a kind of backup? Is there any way you can kind of redo divert, or does this mean we are staring down the barrel of potentially thousands of young people going without food and therefore pushing many more children into higher classifications of food insecurity, malnutrition, etc.?
So to be very clear, Olivia, the pipeline break is going to happen in July, according to my colleagues in Somalia. So that's very close to where we're at now. So we are running out of food. The food is not available for distribution, and the ones who will experience the impact of this are going to be very vulnerable children under the age of 5. Somalia is a country where levels of vulnerability have increased according to the last IPC. More than 6 million Somalians are in IPC 3 and above. That's up from 4.5 million, I believe, in the previous round of the IPC. So this is a country that's faced many challenges. It's faced climate, well, irregular rainfall. There's also now this reduction in humanitarian assistance. And all this was before the crisis in the Middle East disrupted supply chains. And the country is definitely looking at a very difficult situation. And I do remind, I mean, you probably know this, Olivia, but just for everybody, there is a district in in Somalia that is now currently in a risk of famine according to the IPC. So this is a very serious situation that requires immediate attention. What can we do now? Could we divert a ship? That's not really the option in this type of situation, especially when shipping is so disrupted in the region. I think you get into very expensive options if it's a last-minute airlift. These things cost a lot of money at a time where we're very much funding constrained. So action needs to be done now to fund that type of last resort measure.
Thank you very much, Jean-Martin. I don't see other questions for you. Thanks for highlighting this terrible situation and what's coming up. Come back anytime. You're always welcome at the briefing. And I'd like now— we will continue talking about food. Food in a moment with WHO and FAO, but I'd just like now to give the floor to our friends from the IOM and Mr. Goodstein, if you can come to the podium. We have an update on another dire situation we need to put on the spotlight, which is the humanitarian situation in Haiti. Zoë, come here so that we are centered. I'll go straight to you.
I can—
I'll introduce.
Oh, you want to introduce. Please, go ahead.
Thank you very much. Hello, everybody. So we're here to brief the International Organization for Migration today on Haiti. We're going to talk about Haiti's displacement crisis, which is hitting a record 1.5 million people with escalating violence. And specifically we're going to talk about the, the record figure reported by IOM's Displacement Tracking Matrix, which reflects a rapidly worsening humanitarian crisis marked by repeated waves of displacement. The crisis is entering an even more alarming phase, and we are seeing violence spread into areas once considered safe. So we're putting out a press release with a more granular breakdown of those figures, but I bring to you to speak about what is happening on the ground our Chief of Mission from Haiti, Gregoire Goodstein. Over to you, Gregoire.
Merci. Thank you. Good morning to all, and thanks for having me. A few weeks ago, a woman in her early 30s came to our offices in Port-au-Prince for a visa application. Days earlier, she had fled Cité Soleil, which is one of the largest slums in Port-au-Prince, with more than 18,000 of her neighbors forced out by armed attacks. To reach safety, her family waded through the sea up to their necks, then crawled through farm fields covered in mud and waste to avoid being seen by the gangs. When she sat with our colleagues more than a week later, she said in said in tears that she could still smell the cow dung in her hair and that she was ashamed others might too. I've been in Haiti twice. I was first the chief of mission in 2012 after the earthquake, um, and I came back in June 2024. Shockingly, the numbers of people displaced are the same. Basically, it was 1.5 million after the earthquake, and today we have 1.4 7 million. The needs are nearly the same. What is different is that displacement is caused by unexplainable violence. I want to be clear about what we are witnessing. Haiti is not experiencing a crisis that unfolds in stages, where violence peaks, then recedes, then recovery begins. What we are seeing is the permanent simultaneity of hardship: armed violence, mass displacement, acute food insecurity, forced returns at scale, climate hazards, and institutions under pressure at every level. These do not take turns. They operate together continuously, each one making the others worse. Over 5,900 people were killed in Haiti by the end of 2025, more than 2,700 wounded, nearly 650 kidnapped, and critically, 79% 80% of new displacements last year occurred outside of Port-au-Prince. To date, nearly 1.47 million people remain displaced in the country. The violence is no longer contained, it is expanding. When I arrived in June 2024, there were two departments that were affected by gang violence. It was the West and the Center and the Artibonite. Now it's expanded to the Center, to the Northwest, and to the South. At the same time, forced returns continue without pause. More than 270,000 Haitians were forcibly returned in 2025, and since January 2026, over 110,000 more have arrived in the country. 25% are women, including breastfeeding mothers. Nearly 10% are children, including unaccompanied minors and newborns. Many are returned to areas with severely limited services or to neighborhoods under under armed group influence where they cannot safely go home. For some, this is the first time in decades or even in their lives that they have returned to the country. They arrive with nothing into communities that are barely surviving themselves. You have to keep in mind also some of the regions that they're returning to are actually enclaves. Enclaves because the armed groups are controlling all the neighboring departments. IOM is present where where others cannot operate. We are very much a frontline organization. Until March of this year, our teams conducted approximately 92% of all high-risk missions in red zones across Port-au-Prince. We work at the borders, in the displacement sites, in the fragile neighborhoods where the lines between host community and displaced population has all but disappeared and where violence from gangs is never far away. We see what sustained presence makes possible. Since December 2025, we recorded approximately 78,000 persons beginning to return to their areas of origin in communities in West Department outside the metropolitan area of Port-au-Prince. Cautiously, incrementally, but moving. We cannot assert that these returns are sustainable, but they are a signal, and signals require investment to become something lasting. But funding constraints constraints now threaten our ability to remain operational beyond October— October 22nd, to be exact. We are at a critical juncture. Without predictable, sustained support to our crisis response plan, our capacity to respond is at stake. On top of that, the hurricane season is starting— it started just on June 1st— until the end of November, and we can expect displacement sites and cities to flood. Every gap in our response is a gap that armed groups, trafficking networks, and despair will fill. What Haitian communities are asking for is not complicated: a place to call home, safety in their neighborhoods, access to basic services, livelihoods that allow families to remain together. These are the foundations of stability, and in Haiti today, they are either fragile or nonexistent. Short-term relief alone cannot meet the scale or persistence of this crisis, which has now been going for nearly 5 years. What is needed is sustained support that connects immediate assistance with recovery and governance, and that invests in national systems and local ownership so that solutions endure beyond any single intervention. The people of Haiti have not given up. Their will— sustained under conditions most of us will never face— is the clearest argument for why continued engagement matters. Thank you.
Thank you very much for this very, very timely information on this dire situation. Let me see if there is any question in the room or online. I don't see any hand up, but thank you very much for taking taking the opportunity of your visit to Geneva to come and brief our Geneva press corps. And thanks to Zoe for taking you to us. Let's go back to food now. And I'd like to ask Christiane to come to the podium with her— with his colleagues. And we are also connecting with Rome. We have a speaker coming in from there. I don't know. So let me welcome, in addition to our Christian, Dr. Elaine Borghi, Unit Head Monitoring and Surveillance at the Department of Nutrition and Food Safety at WHO, and Yuki Minato, the Technical Officer of the same department from also WHO. And online we have Marcus Filippe, the Senior Food Safety Officer at FAO, connecting, I believe, from Rome. I don't know who would like to start. Yes? Thank you. We'll listen to you.
Thank you very much. Today, on the occasion of the World Food Safety Day 26th, on 7th June, this coming Sunday, an event organized by WHO and FAO. WHO is drawing attention to a crisis that touches every family, 1 in 9 people globally, unsafe food. Yesterday, WHO released the key findings from the estimates of the global burden of foodborne disease. When countries know the scale and origins of their foodborne disease burden, they unlock the power to act. With evidence in hand, they can craft smarter policies, sharpen surveillance, and build systems that anticipate risk instead of reacting to it. The theme of this year's World Food Safety Day, From Burden to Solutions: Safe Food Everywhere reflects the importance of translating evidence into action. For the first time, countries have access to detailed national data covering 42 major foodborne hazards across 194 countries from 2000 to 2021. This includes new assessments of metals, Hantavirus, and the parasite that causes Chagas disease. New WHO foodborne disease estimates show that in 2021 alone, unsafe food was estimated to have caused 866 million illnesses and 1.5 million deaths worldwide. Africa and Southeast Asia Africa continue to bear the heaviest impact. And although globally decreasing, progress is uneven across regions and hazards. Children under 5 face, face almost 3 times the risk of illness from unsafe food compared to the rest of the population. Yet they are only 9% of the global population. For many children Especially in low resource settings, diarrhea diseases linked to contaminated food can be deadly. And chemical hazards like methylmercury and lead can cause lifelong harm to a developing brain. Most illnesses come from biological hazards such as bacteria, virus, and parasites. But chemical hazards are estimated to have caused 73% of all foodborne deaths, even though they account for less than 1% of all illnesses in 2021. Inorganic arsenic and lead alone are linked to more than a million deaths per year— in that year. This also is a crisis of equity. Children and people living in low and middle income countries continue to face the greatest risk. And climate change and antimicrobial resistance are making the situation even more dangerous. The global economic toll of unsafe food is massive, estimated to be more than $3 billion in lost productivity, nearly $650 billion when adjusted for cost of living differences. And this is excluding the cost of medical care. As we mark the World Food Safety Day 2026, we have both a wake-up call and a roadmap, a One Health approach linking human, animal, animal, plant, and environmental health is essential. Countries must use these new estimates to target interventions, strengthen surveillance, and break down silos across sectors. Food safety is a shared responsibility. With political commitment and coordinated action, we can prevent millions of illnesses and deaths. We call to act now, protect the vulnerable, and make safe food a reality to everyone.
Thank you. Thank you very much. And let me give now the floor to Markus Lippe for FAO.
Yeah, thank you very much. So every day unsafe food harms lives, livelihoods, and economies. And that's of course why this year's World Food Safety Day theme, jointly celebrated by FAO and WHO, is "From Burdens to Solutions: Safe Food Everywhere." And the new estimates of the global burden for foodborne disease help countries to move beyond a reactive stance and towards a preventive stance, targeting the risks that matter most and investing where the impact will actually be greatest. That's also where FAO comes in. At FAO, our work is focused on the solutions side of the World Food Safety Day theme. This year. We support countries every day to identify food safety issues and implement practical, science-based solutions that make food safer across the entire food chain, from farm to table. Let me highlight 5 areas where FAO is supporting countries and making real progress. First, anticipating risks. Through our FOSAID program, One, FAO helps countries identify emerging food safety challenges with a link to climate change, evolving production systems, migration, or new food sources. Second, science as a foundation in global food standard settings. FAO provides, very often with, together with WHO, independent scientific advice that underpins food safety decisions worldwide. The evidence base directly supports international food standard settings through Codex Alimentarius. When implemented, standards help countries and food businesses detect, manage, and prevent foodborne disease and facilitate safe trade of food across the world. Third, working with farmers and producers. This year, the International Year of Women Farmers offers an important opportunity to recognize the critical role role women farmers play in agri-food systems. At FAO, we support farmers through practical guidance and training on safe production and handling practices, helping prevent contamination at the source and improve both food safety and livelihoods. Fourth, our work addresses food safety risks across sectors, including through a One Health approach linking human, animal, and environmental health. On micro— on microbial resistance, for example, we are leading the way on global data collection and analysis on antimicrobial resistance, of course together with WHO, WHOA, and UNEP. Fifth, tools like risk ranking help countries prioritize key foodborne hazards and target inspections where they matter most to keep food safe safe and reduce illness. All these efforts are part of a broader objective: helping countries build strong, coherent, and effective food control systems, which protect in turn consumers and underpin healthy societies and robust economies. We have developed sophisticated science-based tools to help streamline this work, and we have been helping countries using these tools effectively and with great results. I can offer a couple of examples. FAO has helped 30 countries to assess their food control systems to identify weaknesses within legislation, inspections, laboratories, or coordination, or elsewhere, and where investments can have the greatest impact. To do this, FAO uses the FAO Food Control Systems Assessment Tool, which is jointly developed with WHO. The tool was recently featured in an FAO story on our corporate website, so you can get more information there. Similarly, FAO developed step-by-step guidance for food businesses and authorities to successfully apply preventative risk-based practices to improve food safety, such as Good Hygiene Practices or the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point system . Thousands of users access these guidance, which helps food processors identify critical points where contamination can occur during storage, handling, or transportation, and implement simple control measures like temperature monitoring, hygiene protocols, and traceability systems that help ensure safety of our food. What we see from this work is clear: when countries invest in understanding their food systems building capacities, and applying risk-based approaches, the results are tangible. Inspections become more targeted, resources are used more efficiently, coordination improves, and ultimately food becomes safer. This is what we mean by moving to solutions. Most foodborne diseases are preventable, and prevention starts long before the food reaches the plate. Safe food means healthier people, stronger economies, and more resilient agri-food systems. FAO supports countries to make food safer with practical solutions to strengthen national food control systems and implement good practices along the food chain. Join us on World Food Safety Day in working together to make food safer for everyone, everywhere.
Thank you.
Thank you very much, Marcus, for these remarks. Let me see if there are questions in the room or online for both WHO and the FAO. I don't see any. So thank you very much to all the speakers to come and highlight this important day. Thanks, Christian, for bringing your colleagues. Thank you very much. Merci. Thank you. So let me give you— and thanks to Markus from Rome. Let me give you a few announcements I have for you. First of all, on the treaty bodies, just to remind you that the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families will review this afternoon the report of The Gambia, and this is one. Trends to remind you. The one on the 9th of June at 9:30 from this room, the High Commissioner for Refugees, Bahram Saleh, will tell you about the annual Global Trends Report and the new push for refugee solutions. This is, as I said, already under strict embargo until 5:01 CST on 11th of June.. And Eugene is nodding, and of course she is available if you have any question. We also announced to you a press meeting with the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, which will happen on the 10th of June at 12:15, and it will not be from here but from Palais Wilson. So remember that you have to go there if you want to attend this event. The international community, as I'm sure you know, commemorates on 10th of June the International Day for Dialogue Among Civilizations. And on this occasion, the UNOG Director-General will participate and deliver remarks at an event organized by the Permanent Mission of China to the UN in Geneva, whom we thank, at the World Meteorological Organization that's going to happen on the 10th of June at 3:00 PM. The event will comprise a seminar, exhibition, cultural performance, and reception, and will focus on promoting equal dialogue among civilizations and fostering mutual understanding among people. Journalists are invited to attend if they want to join this event for this very important day. And we— I think online there is the whole program of the events. Also, let me keep telling you about events. On the 15th, 16th, and 17th of June, there will be here at the Palais an informal exchange on artificial intelligence in the military domain. This is the— So the title exactly is the formal exchanges on AI in the military domain and its implications for international peace and security. This is the first UN meeting dedicated to considering the military applications of AI and the implication of this technology for international peace and security. As I said, these are informal exchanges, so media are invited to attend They will not be able to— you will not be able to be there for the informal exchanges because they are informal, they are not official meetings. However, you may attend the side events, subject to confirmation by the organization of each side event. You can have a look at the program and, of course, speak with the delegates and other participants on the sidelines. We have sent you— or are about to send you a media advisory so that you have all the information about this event. I know it's of interest of many of you. And then on behalf of you— of our colleagues of EUNOPS, I like to flag the launch of the organization's 2025 annual report, which shows that EUNOPS continued to deliver to the most vulnerable communities amid global challenges, increasing armed conflicts and humanitarian needs, and a deepening climate crisis. You will see that UNOPS has in 2025 provided technical, operational, logistical support through over 1,100 projects across 130 countries and territories, delivering around $2.7 billion in support of humanitarian Humanitarian Response, Sustainable Development, and Peace and Security Initiatives. There was an embargo until this morning, so we've sent you the report, and— but you can now cover it. The embargo was 8 o'clock this morning, so please go ahead and cover this important report. I just wanted to flag a last thing. You remember last Friday— sorry, last Tuesday Yesterday at the last briefing, we spoke about World Bicycle Day. Christian asked me questions about what the UN is doing to walk the talk, or maybe better say to ride the talk. And I wanted to inform you that in order to have a more precise picture of the situation of mobility and bike situation, mobility, and including also soft mobility and biking. At the Palais, our colleagues have created a survey on mobility that I'd like you all to fill in. It is important that you keep— you participate in this, in this survey to help us track the evolution of community— oh, sorry, of community recruiting partners. Since their survey, which was completed before COVID at that point 17.6% of the staff of the PALE was using bikes and other soft mobility means. And we think this situation has very much evolved. So we need now to ascertain what we can do, what, what the situation is, and what we can do better to support individuals who work, or in any case use, like you, the Palais, and want to adopt more sustainable commuting patterns. So please fill in this form, uh, the survey. We have sent you the invitation with the QR code and the link to the survey. And I think I've told you everything I had for you today. Is there any question for me? If not, I remind you that on Sunday we will— we, I mean the Foundation Portail des Nations together with us inaugurate the Portail des Nations, and then starting from Monday you'll be able to visit it. Thanks to those who came to the media launch, and I hope that we will see many of you taking the experience together and learning more about the UN. I don't think you need it, but still. Thank you very much. I wish you Have a very a very good weekend and see you next week. Thank you.
