UN Geneva Press Briefing: ILO, WHO, WFP, IFRC

Okay, let's start. Good morning. Welcome to the press briefing. Today is Tuesday, 4th of August. We are here in Geneva at the United Nations, and I'd like to start immediately by giving the floor to our colleagues of the World Health Organization. Tariq, I think you would like to have some introductory remarks before we give the floor to Dr. Vasily Murthy, who is the lead— acting lead of WHO R&D Blueprint. You are both in Geneva to tell us about treatment and vaccines for the Ebola disease. So I'll give you the floor first and then we'll go to the doctor.

Thank you.

Thank you very much, Alice. Good morning to everyone. Before we go to the specific topic of treatment and vaccines for Bundibugyo virus, just to remind you that you have received on Saturday the latest disease outbreak news and you have lots of details there. Really the key message is that the outbreak is unfortunately still expanding beyond the capacity of the response, and it is now the largest outbreak of Ebola that country has ever faced. We need more support in terms of finances, but also other resources to scale up all areas of response, treatment capacity, field investigation teams, safe burial teams, and community workers. And we need really to focus the response to where the virus is and where it might go next. I will just give you the latest numbers. As of August 1st, 3,748 confirmed cases, including 1,657 confirmed deaths. And then the cases have been reported from 49 health zones across 5 provinces. There are around 17,000 contacts under monitoring, and 80% of them are checked daily. So these are really the key figures that you—

Tariq, sorry, can you repeat please the figures? I'm looking at people's faces. Can you just repeat all these key numbers, please?

Sure, sure. And I will send this in my notes. So there is no problems with that. But I will just repeat that as of August 1st, 3,748 confirmed cases within— with 1,657 confirmed deaths. And I will again send these numbers immediately after we finish this briefing. But today we have Dr. Vassie Marty. who is acting lead for WHO Research and Development Blueprint, to talk about another aspect of this outbreak, and that is a search for treatments and vaccines. So I'll give the floor to Dr. Vassie immediately. He has to leave at 11. So let's hear from him immediately.

Thank you.

Dr. Vassie.

Thank you so much, Thierry. Thank you. Can you hear me okay in the room?

Very well, and we can see you. Go ahead.

Thank you. So I'd just like to start by saying that it's really important that we're clear that the R&D response that I'm going to summarize— I'm going to go through the progress, and there is promising progress with clinical trials of treatment, of prophylaxis, and of vaccines— but we do know that it's not a case of waiting for these medicines and vaccines to come along. There's a lot that can be done now by continuing to strengthen the response. Terri highlighted the critical elements of those. We know that early access to care and supportive care can save lives. So in the way that these trials are being set up, they are integrated into the response, and we're supporting patient referral pathways. We're supporting strengthening of the clinical management facilities and the surveillance and the contact tracing. But it is true that there are no proven safe and efficacious treatment or prophylaxis or vaccine options. The WHO R&D Blueprint exists as a global R&D preparedness program. And with partners, this has led to the development of platform protocols for evaluation of treatment, prophylaxis, and vaccine options as soon as they are available clinical trials. So this has been work that's been ongoing for many years preceding the outbreak exactly for this scenario where we need to accelerate the clinical trials as much as possible. And we are seeing that this has greatly accelerated the timelines to starting ethical, high-quality clinical trials. So just to go through the trials, firstly the treatment trial. So this is known as the PARTNERS trial, that's an acronym. The protocol is publicly available and we can share the link That is now open in 3 different sites, 3 different clinical management facilities working with ALIMA and MSF in the Ituri province. And that has now enrolled over 50 cases have been randomized to the treatment options that are part of this trial. As more sites gradually open for enrollment, we do expect that the speed of enrolling additional cases will continue to increase. And the trial is enrolling confirmed cases of Bundibugyo disease in these treatment facilities. Moving on to the second trial, the prophylaxis study, which is not a WHO study. So the treatment trial, the PARTNERS trial, is sponsored by WHO. Prophylaxis trial, by contrast, is not a WHO study. It's led by the National Institute for Biomedical Research, INRB, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, together with an international consortium of research and outbreak response partners. And ANRS, the emerging infectious disease part of the French National Medical Research Agency, also has a critical role in the prophylaxis trial. And so this is a trial of a potential post-exposure prophylaxis medicine, oral obaldezivir, the first time there has been a trial of an oral prophylaxis agent in an outbreak. That's also underway in Ituri Province, and that has enrolled over 25 high-risk contacts to evaluate whether this oral medicine given for 10 days can prevent onset of disease in high-risk contacts. Moving on to the vaccines, which is also progressing very quickly, the first Bundibugyo-specific candidate vaccine developed by Oxford University and Serum Institute of India started a Phase 1 trial in the UK on the 24th of July, just over a week ago. And the second vaccine specific to Bundibugyo developed by Moderna is due to start anytime, we understand imminently this week, a Phase 1 trial in Canada. And just to close with stating that any efficient scientific review system that as we have at WHO, we'll always look at new data that is emerging as the evidence base changes. And we are seeing new data emerging on whether or not Ervebo, which is the licensed Ebola vaccine that has been used previously in Ebola, what was formerly called Zaire outbreaks, there is new data that is coming out in animals as to whether or not this provides cross-protection against Bundibugyo virus in these animal models. And so because there's a fair amount of data that's emerging, we reconvened our R&D Blueprint Vaccine Technical Advisory Group last Friday to review this data, and we're finalising the statement from that meeting that will be published later this week. Thank you. I'll stop there and happy to take questions.

Thank you very much, Doctor. That was really interesting. Let me open now the floor to questions in the room first. Christian Ulrich, the German news agency DPA.

Thank you, Alessandra. My question is, could you tell us for each of those trials how— if they run as expected in a positive way, how long would it take for this to be widely available to people in the Congo? Thank you.

Thank you. Yes, I cannot give you an exact date because it depends on a lot of factors that are not clear at the moment. So for all of these, we are trying to ramp up the enrolment. So it depends on how many sites within the affected area are open for enrolment. Because they're clinical trials, we have to have safe monitoring of the people that are enrolled in the trial. And that does take time to have more and more teams and more sites enrolling patients. That's the number one factor that we don't know yet. Number 2, the second factor clearly we don't know is how effective these agents are, if they prove to be effective. I mean, that's not known yet. So I would say it's still going to be several months, but we are going to, with all of the partners, do everything we can to accelerate timelines clearly. And we have a process where we we are trying to make sure that we can draw a conclusion as soon as possible. So the sort of most conservative way of doing this would be to have a fixed number of people that we wait until we enrol. But in this case, what we're doing is we have a more agile system where we have an independent group that have, which is called the Data Monitoring Committee, that has access to the results that the rest of us don't have access to. And there is a pre-stated schedule where they will look at the results. And if it is clear that there is compelling benefit, then they will tell us we need to stop the trial. So that could happen as soon as there is proven benefit, but it is not going to be for some months from now.

Sorry, it doesn't stay on. Robyn, AFP.

Thank you. Just on this vaccine that might provide cross-protection in animals, could that be something that is potentially very positive news? And then secondly, on these Phase 1 trials that are taking place in the UK and Canada, can you give a bit more, a bit more detail as to how that's how that's actually working in these preclinical trials, what they're actually doing. Thank you.

Yes. So, on Avibo, I think it's best if I point you to the report that is going to come out in a few days, which goes through our evaluation of Avibo. There has been a lot of discussion about ongoing studies, some of which are not published. So, I'm afraid I have to be a bit careful about what I can say. we're getting permission from the people who are conducting these studies to share some of the results, and that is going to be shared in the report that will come out in a couple of days, or this week, we hope. On the other— on the vaccine, so the process there is that both preclinical studies are needed. So in this case, ferret studies is a well-established model whereby ferrets are vaccinated and they're given Bundibugyo virus in a very safe controlled setting. So this is happening for both of these vaccines, the Oxford ChAdOx vaccine, which is the same platform as the AstraZeneca COVID vaccine, but with the Bundibugyo protein in it. So that has— the ferret studies are underway. And we hope to receive them as soon as they're available, fairly in the weeks ahead. The same for the Moderna product. It's also within ferret studies. Then there are non-human primate studies, so monkey studies, which are more similar to humans. Those are also underway for both. But in parallel, the Phase 1 study is starting. So in the Phase 1 study, relatively small numbers of people, healthy consenting volunteers in Oxford and in Canada, are given different doses of the vaccine so that they can look at the immune response as well as the safety. And by comparing the immune response to different doses, that's how they will select which dose will be potentially taken into the Phase 3 study. So the process here will be once we have data after a few weeks of administration in the Phase 1 study that highlights the safety and the immune response, together with the animal studies, the ferret studies and the monkey studies, the WHO TAG will be convened again to look at the data from the Oxford Serum Institute vaccine and the Moderna vaccine, and then we'll decide whether that data is supportive for them to be added to the phase 3 trial.

Yep, go ahead, Christiane.

Yes, I think at the start of your introductory remarks, did you say that the R&D response, there is promising progress. Did I get that right?

What I was saying is that if you compare this outbreak to previous Ebola outbreaks, we have been able to start trials more quickly. So, and the reason for that is, is promising progress in the way we are doing the R&D. because the protocols were written before the outbreak started. So this is the whole way that the whole world of research related to outbreaks has been trying to shift, that we do as much as possible ahead of time. But also, it's true that the preclinical data that we're seeing is promising. So, but you never know if that is going to translate into demonstrating that the medicines or the vaccines are promising until you get the results from the clinical trials.

Thank you very much. Robin, you have a follow-up?

It's been reported from the field in Ituri that there's been difficulty getting people to, to go into hospitals for treatment once they fall ill. Have you encountered any difficulty in getting people to enroll for the trial Would you, would you have liked to have had more people enrolled than you've managed to have? Thank you.

Thank you. We haven't had difficulties at the sites that are open. So the limitation of the enrolment speed is the number of sites that are open for the treatment trial. So, so far we have 3 sites open. I understand the 4th is going to open later this week, and we're really hoping that we can, you know, gradually get up to 10, and then more sites they're open to. So with that, we do believe that as the clinical trial continues to expand in this somewhat cautious way, just to make sure that it's all done to the highest ethical standards and with the highest quality science, that it could help with this, what you're talking about, the extent to which people are really comfortable to present. Because as people gradually see that there is more and more access to treatment options, it does seem quite possible that there will be more interest in presenting for treatment.

Thank you very much. Is there any other question for WHO? I don't see any in the room or on the platform, but I see that Tariq is saying that the notes have been sent, so you should have everything in your email. Okay, so thank you very much. Thanks, Tariq, for bringing in the doctor, and thanks, doctor, for this update on this— and this important update on the treatment and vaccines for Ebola. I'd like now to go to another region, which is Asia, and particularly Afghanistan. From Kabul, we have John Ayliffe, the WFP Country Director, to tell us about the growing child nutrition crisis in the country. John, welcome, and please go ahead with your introductory remarks. Thank you.

Thank you so much. Thank you for this opportunity to talk about Afghanistan's nutrition crisis. It's a crisis which is getting worse by the day. And tragically, one which we are unable to contain. Child wasting, the deadliest form of malnutrition, has reached critical levels in one-third of the country's provinces now. The number of children being rushed to health centers is soaring, and we're seeing this visibly. 80% of the worst cases are children under 2 years of age, and NGOs report that too many of them are arriving too late. to be saved. August now, in other words, is usually the month, the summer month when child malnutrition peaks. This year, the peak came weeks earlier than normal, but this is not really a story about seasonality. This is actually a story of how conflict, trade disruptions, and forced returns from neighboring countries are driving unprecedented levels of acute malnutrition in Afghanistan. It's a story of how dramatic aid cuts mean that millions of acutely malnourished Afghan children are being turned away without assistance at the very moment when their lives are at risk. And it's a story of how too many children are dying in Afghanistan of acute malnutrition today, deaths which of course are fully preventable. In Kandahar Province a few days ago, we met Farida, a mother of 3. Farida is typical of Afghanistan's poorest citizens. Her husband, an elderly street vendor, earns less than $1 a day. leaving the family with no chance of affording nutritious food, healthcare, or basic necessities. 2 of Farida's children suffer from anemia, and her 6-year-old son has been too weak to attend school for months— too weak, too ill, and too acutely malnourished. When we spoke to Farida, her baby started crying from hunger. She reached into her bag and pulled out a bottle, a child's bottle, Now, normally you expect the child's bottle to be full of milk. This one only had weak tea in it. There was simply no money in the household for milk. Farida described the heartbreak of telling her hungry children again and again, night in, night out, that there is nothing more to eat. The family is barely surviving on tea and bread. Farida told us categorically that if they were not receiving WFP food at the clinic, her children would undoubtedly die. That's a hard message to hear, frankly, but harder still when you realize that WFP is only funded this year to feed 1 in 7 acutely malnourished women and children. Yes, we are turning away 6 out of 7, and we're turning them away empty-handed with absolutely nothing. The nutrition crisis today is a symptom of growing food insecurity in the country. In the past 3 years, close to 6 million Afghans have been forcibly expelled from neighboring countries. There are simply not enough jobs to sustain them. Conflict with Pakistan and the Middle East crisis have created trade disruptions which have pushed up the price of staple foods by 20 to 30%. The poor are being priced out of the market, and at present, close to 14 million Afghans are acutely hungry. In the past few months, crippled by funding cuts, WFP has been able to feed only 1 in 9 of them. And as I address you today, WFP has stopped completely the food distributions which aim to prevent famine in very narrow targeted hotspots across the country. We simply don't have the funding to continue. I think it's tragic that too few are speaking up about the dire situation in Afghanistan and this nutrition crisis which we feel is spinning out of control. Calls for international— the calls for the international community to demonstrate humanity, solidarity, and shared values are not working sufficiently. I therefore stress a further concern, a real concern, that abject hunger drives migration, radicalization, and ultimately brings instability. And that instability, as history has shown, has a tendency to spill over beyond Afghan borders. This is the reason that we need to be long-sighted. We need to act for the present to stem the current crisis, but also avoid the return of an unstable Afghanistan, something which clearly is in no one's interest. Thank you.

Thank you very much, John, for this really appalling data and description of the situation in Afghanistan. Let me open the floor The 4th question now, Robin, is from our AFP office.

Good morning. How much money do you need in dollar terms? How much are you asking for this year, and how much do you actually have? Thank you.

Thanks, Robin.

We—

our program covering the malnutrition crisis and the general feeding is valued at about $900 million this year. We have not met needs in the first 6 months because we didn't have money. And when you look at the next 6-month window, this critical window, not just because of the current crisis, but also in the run-up to winter, which is the flashpoint, the real flashpoint of hunger, WFP still needs $500 million to address acute food needs in the country.

Thank you very much. Other questions? Let me look at the platform. Yes, you have a follow-up?

Thank you. In, in the best of all possible scenarios, uh, to what extent would Afghanistan be able to feed itself, uh, with the increased population that it now has thanks to returns?

Uh, well, the increased population has been a dramatic, um, problem since September 2023. Roughly 6 million people have come back to the country forcibly expelled from neighboring countries. This has created immense strain on the economy. The situation— this makes the situation worse. But there is not only doom and gloom. There is a better harvest this year, and it's coming in now. What we're finding, though, is The relief which would normally have been brought by this better harvest is being offset by the headwinds that I've described. One of those headwinds, which I'll focus on, is the dramatic cuts in aid funding.

Thank you. So let me go to the platform. Gorky N'Doye from Le Soleil de Dakar, and continue on Premier.

Bonjour, une question. Je pense que monsieur vous parlez français, c'est ça?

Je fais des efforts, oui.

Merci beaucoup. Alors donc, alors ma question elle est très simple. Merci beaucoup pour votre exposé très riche pour une situation difficile. Encore une fois, ma question elle est simple et difficile en même temps, elle est simple. Parce qu'en 2022, si vous vous rappelez, il y a un président qui s'appelle Joe Biden qui a pris 7 milliards de dollars des banques, de la Banque centrale afghane, soi-disant une partie pour les victimes du 11 septembre et le reste pour l'Afghanistan. C'est vrai qu'on a un grand problème aux Nations Unies, c'est qu'il n'y a pas de sujet. Moi, je ne sais pas si vous, vous étiez là, ou qui peut répondre. J'aurais aimé savoir, au cas où vous, vous n'avez pas d'informations sur le suivi de cet argent qui a été extorqué, je pèse bien mon mot, par le président américain Biden aux pauvres Afghans aujourd'hui, est-ce qu'il n'est pas possible de voir avec les Américains qu'est-ce qu'ils peuvent faire Comme déjà Trump, à chaque fois il envoie des flèches à Biden. Peut-être c'est l'occasion de profiter de cela pour dire à Monsieur Trump que ces gens-là sont en train de mourir alors que votre prédécesseur avait pris leur argent. C'est assez bête, mais c'est assez simple. Je vous remercie.

Thank you so much for the question, and if you forgive me, I would be more comfortable to respond in English, but I understood the question well. I can't comment on the status of those reserves, the $7 billion, because I don't have the information. What I can tell you is that in spite of that, the economy is growing, but not growing at a pace which is fast enough to create the jobs needed to sustain the poorest families in Afghanistan, and particularly families like Farida's family, the case I cited. And that's why the underlying situation is so difficult here for them, exacerbated now by the factors we've talked about, the returns, the droughts and the flash floods and the earthquakes which we've had, and of course the aid cuts which don't help. We would like all donors to be returning to Afghanistan to address the humanitarian situation, including the United States and others that have that have ceased funding Afghanistan.

Thank you very much. Arpan Rai, The Independent.

Hello. Hi, can you hear me?

Yes, go ahead.

Yeah, okay.

Uh, I wanted to know what role have the de facto authorities played in aiding WFP in meeting the crisis? Uh, are there any state-led programs that can share your burden? That's one. And would you say that this is the situation which is at its diremost since August 2021?

Thank you for the questions. Is this the worst situation we've seen since '21? Yes, it is. Even last year in 2025, we had already seen the highest surge in malnutrition ever recorded year on year. And now 2026, we're seeing that situation even worse. Um, the health programs that I'm talking about, the ones that address malnutrition, are implemented through— in the health clinics, um, of the National Health Service. They are the national health clinics, largely speaking. Um, and so we're working side by side with the de facto authorities to, to deliver this aid. We're delivering it independently but through the health structures. And I would just call out, give a call out to the many extremely dedicated doctors and nurses that I've met in health clinics across the country in the last few months who are exhausted working around the clock and trying to fight a nutrition crisis with too few resources, too few resources from the World Food Programme, too few resources across the board. It is heartbreaking to see them tell mothers who have walked for hours with their emaciated child in their arms, it's heartbreaking for them to tell those mothers that there's just nothing because aid cuts have prevented us from providing the food that would help their children regain their weight and regain their life.

Thank you very much. Robin, again.

Thank you. Just to check that I've understood this correctly, so is your total ask for 2026 $900 million, and you've received $400 million so far? Is that correct?

Apologies, I realize my answer to the question was not clear when I was talking. We needed $900 million at the beginning of the year. We haven't— we've received $130 million so far. But when WFP has failed to feed people in the first 6 months of the year, we don't keep asking for that money. We reduce the needs accordingly. And so you can safely say that feeding 1 out of 9 people in Afghanistan who needed food, 1 out of 9 acutely hungry people, has been an opportunity which we missed, which we can't come back to. So we stop asking for the money over the last 6 months that we didn't— that we failed to gain. And again, just to state, in the coming 6 months, from July to the end of the year, we still need $500 million. And that will help us to bring the nutrition crisis under control and to really feed people who, without international assistance, really have nothing to survive on.

Thank you very much. And I'm counting on Gemma for sending your notes to the journalists. I'm sure she will do it if it's not already done. John, thank you so much. really, uh, a very dire situation. We wish you all the best for your important work. Keep us updated on, uh, on what goes on, and especially on the funding side. Um, yeah, thank you very much again. So let me now go to IFRC. Dirk Seger, who is the IFRC Special Envoy for Sudan, just returned from Sudan And he's here to tell us about his mission and the needs there. Hi, Dirk. Please go ahead.

Hi, Alessandra. Hello, colleagues. Good morning. Thank you for the opportunity to brief you this morning. And last week I traveled by road from Port Sudan to Atbara and then on to Shendi, Omdurman, and Khartoum, meeting communities affected by the conflict and the Sudanese Red Crescent volunteers supporting them every day. One message became very clear throughout this long journey. While the world's attention focuses, rightly so, on Darfur and Kordofan, the conflict-affected areas, the consequences of more than 3 years of conflict are being felt across the entire country. Sudan is one of the largest humanitarian crises, yet it's also one of the most overlooked. Today, 35 million people need humanitarian assistance. That's about 2/3 of the entire population. More than 9 million are internally displaced, and 4.5 million have fled the country. The Sudanese Red Crescent is uniquely positioned to respond, supported by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, IFRC, with 122 1,000 volunteers, active volunteers across all 18 states. It has the access, it has the trust, and it has community acceptance needed to reach people where others often cannot. But these volunteers cannot meet overwhelming needs without greater international support. In Al-Nada camp near Al-Barra, I met families who had escaped fighting in Darfur and Kordofan. especially from Al-Fashia after days crossing the desert. Many arrived exhausted, malnourished, and injured, and I also realized these are the lucky ones who managed to get away. The camp, however, sits in a barren landscape with no shade whatsoever and temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius every day. Despite having very limited resources, the Sudanese Red Crescent volunteers are running mobile health services, providing water and sanitation, supporting women and children, and helping people rebuild a sense of dignity. When I traveled further south along the Nile in Shendi, a small agricultural town, I found a situation where nearly 400,000 displaced people have found refuge in this small community. The Sudanese Red Crescent manages shelters, distributes essential relief items and cash assistance, and supports vulnerable families through a social safety net them. Then when I reached Khartoum, the destruction was impossible to ignore. Large part of the center remained devastated. Yet during the fighting, while many organizations had to leave, the Sudanese Red Crescent stayed. Its volunteers continued providing first aid, transporting the wounded, and ensuring the dignified burial of the dead under extremely dangerous conditions. And I spoke to them extensively. I thanked them also from the bottom of my heart. It was so impressive what they did. And they said, we wanted to bring hope and compassion when violence and hatred was all around us. 24 volunteers have lost their lives while serving their communities during this conflict. They are true humanitarian heroes. Today, Khartoum is entering a new phase, but the challenges remain immense. Millions of people continue to live with limited access to electricity, clean water, and healthcare. According to IOM, nearly 4 million people have voluntarily returned to Sudan, concentrated particularly in Khartoum and Al Jazeera, while another 200,000 displaced people have recently arrived from Darfur, and Kordofan. You can imagine, with so many people who have stayed in the city deeply affected after more than 3 years of conflict, then having to deal with all these people returning to their homes, often damaged, a large number of people, which is positive but also very challenging, and then so many people displaced directly from the most conflict-affected areas, it is an incredible challenge. And at the same time, cholera has reemerged, malnutrition remains widespread, and the rainy season increases the risk of flooding and disease outbreaks. When I was there, there were 8 confirmed cases of cholera in Khartoum. The Sudanese Red Crescent is responding through mobile clinics, cash assistance, cholera prevention, community health campaigns, and flood preparedness. But what I witnessed was not only a conflict. Throughout the journey, I saw a country trying to survive after more than 1,200 days of conflict. This crisis is no longer only about fleeing people fleeing violence. It's about families who have spent years away from home, communities that have continued sharing their limited resources with displaced neighbors, And people returning to cities where homes, schools, and hospitals have been damaged. And despite everything, I also witnessed resilience. In Khartoum, as the evening falls, families gather outside, children play, and cafes reopen. People are beginning to reclaim their city and rebuild their lives despite all the challenges they still face. That hope deserves our support. Today, only 35% of the IFRC emergency appeal for Sudan is funded. And at a time when needs continue to grow, humanitarian resources are shrinking. The world really cannot afford to look away. The Sudanese Red Crescent has the volunteers, the trust, and the determination to save lives. And what it urgently needs is the support to continue doing so. Thank you very much.

Thank you very much, Dirk. And before I open the floor to questions, I just wanted to inform you that the Personal Envoy of the Secretary-General, Pekka Avisto, is continuing to engage with the various parties, and he's traveling to Türkiye this week where he will meet with Turkish authorities as well as with Sudanese stakeholders in the country— in the country there, in Turkey— including youth and women representatives. And I also would like to add that the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Tom Fletcher, stressed that humanitarians are scaling up efforts— and we've heard it— to reach the families hit by the conflict, especially in North Kordofan, and will seize every opportunity to expand life-saving aid in and around El obeyed. He called on the parties to de-escalate, protect civilians and ensure humanitarian access. And on the financial side, we urged donors to increase their support for the humanitarian response. For the UN, this year's appeal for Sudan is just over 40% funded, with about $1.2 billion received against the nearly $2.9 billion required. And I open the floor to questions, if any, in the room or on the platform. I don't see any hand up on this important matter. But thank you very much, Dirk, for this briefing, for telling us what you've seen and what you're doing there. And thanks and good luck with your important work.

Thank you.

Let me go to our last speaker. I'd like to ask Yvonne to come to the podium to give us an announcement for ILO.

Thank you.

Hello, you can hear me now?

Yes.

Yes, just a small announcement from the International Labour Organization. As we announced yesterday, and probably most of you received in your mailbox, the International Labour Organization is going to be releasing next week, the Global Employment Trends for Youth 2026. The Global Employment Trends for Youth is the ILO's flagship global report on the labour market situation of young people aged 15 to 24. It provides the latest global and regional data on youth employment, unemployment, labour force participation, and NEET. These are young people who are not in employment, education, or training. It also analyses main economic and social factors that are shaping youth labour markets. As we announced yesterday, the embargoed copies will be available, and all related press materials, to accredited media upon request. And also, for those of you interested, we will be holding next week as well, um, point de presse, an online briefing, um, with the authors of the report and also the director of the ILO's Employment Skills and Sustainable Enterprises. The embargoed will be lifted on Tuesday, um, next week, 11th of August at 2300. Um, the online media briefing will be also on Tuesday, but it will be from 1400 to 1500. And upon invitation, we are welcome to send you the online Zoom link. So with that, um, you can write to newsroom@ilo.org if you have not received the email, if you're interested in the embargoed reports, and we're happy to provide all the related press material. Thank you.

Thank you, Yvonne. And let me see if there are any questions to you. I don't see hands up, so thank you very much. You can stay, I've almost finished. And if there is any question for ILO, you have the address. This is basically— well, we had For you today, I just wanted to add a small announcement. Two announcements: one on the conference on disarmament that, as you know, has started the last part of its 2026 session on the 27th of July. The session will last until the 11th of September, and on next Thursday, 6th of August, at 10 a.m., the conference will hold a plenary meeting on the following topic: cessation of the nuclear arms race. arms race and nuclear disarmament. This is under the presidency of Norway. Norway will be president until the 14th of August, and then Pakistan will follow from the 17th of August to the 11th of September. And that is, um, that is about what I wanted to tell you. So if there are— ah, yes, no, just another thing. This is just housekeeping, but Starting from tomorrow, you will find us all in Building C and S. We are moving today and tomorrow. So if we don't answer your questions today quickly, you know why. But you will find the whole of UNIS between the 6th door and door 4 starting from tomorrow, and we'll be operational hopefully there. So that's a small announcement for you.

Thank you.

if you look for us. So thank you very much. I'll wish you a good afternoon, and we'll see you on Friday.

Thank you.

Thank you.