UN Geneva Press Briefing: OCHA, WHO, UNHCR

Good morning. Welcome to the press briefing of the UN Information Service here in Geneva. Today is Tuesday, 18th of August, and while it's not on your program, I would like to start this briefing by giving the floor to Jens, who will guide us through the day of tomorrow, that as you know, it's a very important day for our community because the international, the world comes together. to commemorate World Humanitarian Day. Jens, thank you.

Thank you, Alessandra. Good morning, everyone. Despite repeated promises from the international community, humanitarians continue to come under attack, with over 1 aid workers killed in the past three years alone. UN in Geneva will hold a commemorative event in the memory of those who paid the utmost sacrifice in line of duty and to honor the invaluable contributions of humanitarian workers. That event will be tomorrow at 4 p.m. in the Salle de Perdus, is the right pronunciation, right here in the Palais. This year's Act for Humanity campaign provides a focus on legal obligations, accountability, and the systemic failures that allow violence against humanitarians to persist. A specific focus of this year's campaign is on the misuse of drones and other emerging technologies and the growing risks they pose to civilians, including aid workers. As always, the day involves activities and events around the world, a media campaign on aid worker security, and a global digital campaign. So tomorrow, on 19th August, OCHA will release the latest aid worker security data and annual report. with, in collaboration with the organization Humanitarian Outcomes. We have shared a press release with you under embargo yesterday. The embargo will be lifted tomorrow at 6:00 AM Geneva time. This year, the demand is clear. Act early before warning signs become casualty lists. Stop the violence, stop the obstruction, investigate every attack. prosecute those responsible, and support survivors and families. Thank you.

Thank you, Jens. And maybe if I can just add that you will see tomorrow morning the UN flag to be lowered to half-mast in observance of this very important day and in honor of UN Italian personnel who have lost their lives in the line of duty. This is going to happen in the same way in all the UN offices and duty stations around the world. And I hope you will join us for this important commemoration tomorrow. Is there any question to Jens or to me on this commemoration? I see no hands up. Oh, yes, sorry. Sorry. There are, in fact, online. Oh, I see Christian wants to intervene on this. Maybe Christian, you want to add something on the Italian Day, and then I'll give the floor to Emma.

Yeah, thank you very much, Alessandra, and thank you, Jens, for, and OCHA for leading on this today. Let me add a few points here before we then go to questions and to our Ebola topic. World Humanitarian Day marked on 19 August, as just mentioned, was designated by the UN General Assembly to honor aid workers worldwide. This year's OCHA-led campaign theme, Families of Fallen Humanitarians, aims to humanize aid workers through the voices of those they left behind and to recognize the lasting impact of their loss on families, loved ones and communities. For WHO, World Humanitarian Day is an opportunity to honor the memory of WHO staff and health workers who have lost their lives in conflict to highlight the dedication of health workers who often place their duty of care above their own safety and family lives. It's also an opportunity to reinforce WHO's advocacy to end attacks on healthcare, ensure accountability, and call for the political leadership needed to end the violence. This message is particularly relevant in 2026, which marks the 10th anniversary of the UN Security Council Resolution 2286 on healthcare in armed conflicts. A couple of key messages just as highlights without going into details. Behind every fallen health worker is a family, a community, and a health system that loses a vital part of its capacity. Attacks on healthcare must stop. Attacks on healthcare are attacks on people's ability to survive and recover. When health facilities, health workers, medical transport, and supplies are attacked, people can be denied life-saving care precisely when they are most vulnerable. deepening preventable suffering in crisis and conflict setting. Attacks on healthcare can disrupt entire health systems. The impact goes far beyond a single facility or incident. Attacks can disrupt the delivery and continuity of essential services from emergency trauma care to maternal and newborn health, vaccination, and care for chronic conditions. Healthcare must be respected and protected. A decade after Security Council Resolution 2286, protection of healthcare is still not a reality. WHO is committed to evidence, action, and protection. WHO will continue to document and analyze attacks on healthcare, make evidence available, advocate for an end to attacks and support countries and partners to identify, implement context-specific measures to prevent attacks, protect healthcare and mitigate their impact. This evidence is essential to understanding the scale and consequence of attacks and strengthening the protection resilience of healthcare delivery. Thank you all.

Thank you, Christian. Thank you for adding all this to the announcement, but I see Emma has a question.

Good morning. Two questions, please, friends. On the drones, please. Have any humanitarians been actually hunted down by these drones, or are they more caught in the crossfire? We've heard from colleagues working in Ukraine about how they've really stalked people. I'm wondering if that's the case with aid workers. And secondly, on the prosecutions and the need for consequences, can you say a little bit about who's responsible for those prosecutions and what's going wrong? Why isn't there accountability for aid worker deaths in the world right now? Thanks a lot.

Yeah, thank you, Emma. As you know, we are not in a position to determine the intent of any attacker using drones. When aid workers are killed, it can be either deliberately or it can be recklessly, right, because they are protected the same way as any other civilian. So I simply cannot say that, but we can talk about the consequences of what happens in these situations. And that's what we do, and that's why we call it, it's either deliberate or intentional, but we cannot say because we are not in the heads of the commanders releasing these, or whomever are releasing these drone attacks. So that's number one. On prosecutions, I think this is primarily, frankly, a question for OHCHR. But what I can say is that normal procedure is that it is the authorities, the government in the country where these things happen that are the first port of call to investigate these incidents. And that is what we are encouraging them to do, fulfilling their own obligations. They have themselves decided on this legal framework, so we are asking them to live up to that, and we don't see that happening at the moment. Thank you.

Thank you, Jens. I see Emma has a follow-up.

Sorry, legacy hand.

Oh, okay. Okay, thank you. Okay, so I don't see any other hands. We'll just send you very soon the statement of the Secretary-General for this important day. And I understand, Jens, people are asking on the chat the press release to be sent. Again, but maybe not again, maybe just send.

Well, I'll encourage you to look in your inbox yesterday morning, I think, nine o'clock, around nine o'clock from an e-mail address which is called OCHA-media. You should have it there. If you don't, please text me or send me an e-mail. Thank you.

Thank you very much. That was an answer especially for Nick. Okay, so thanks a lot, Jens, and we'll all see you hopefully tomorrow at the commemoration. And let me now move to WHO again, but this time with Dr. Tierno Balde. I think he doesn't need introduction. We have had the chance of listening to Dr. Balde already. He is the WHO incident manager calling in from Bunia in the DRC. Dr. Welcom, for an update on the situation of Ebola in DRC, please.

Thank you. Thank you so much for having me. And but before giving you the, the, these update, I just wanted also to express really my solidarity to all of the different humanitarian workers are facing, I mean, different challenges on the field. And I'm here calling from Bunya where we are facing the same situation. We are not far from yesterday, one of our ambulance was attacked here, you know, one of the ambulance of the response operation was attacked here, you know, in Bunya. And we are really quite extremely, very regularly challenged by these situations, by these attack on healthcare services. So I wanted first to explain really my solidarity and also the importance of taking these elements into consideration. So today, with your permission, I will provide an update on the fastest growing Ebola outbreak in the recent history of the humanity. As you know, about two days ago, we have really surpassed the number of 5,000 cases with more than 2,000 deaths. This is really something which is unprecedented. Since my last update, a new province has already also mentioned, I mean, confirmed cases, this is making us now at 6 provinces. affected by this outbreak. This is the province of Basolei. And it was a case coming from already an affected area in the Haut-Walley. Why I'm saying that is because the movement of the populations, you know, the very, very fast movement of the population, the transportation of patients, the transportation of dead bodies, but also other factors, as I was mentioning, the security situation are the main elements explaining really this rapid growing transmission of the outbreak in different localities. So this is 1 part. At the same time, I would like also to mention that under the leadership of the Ministry of Health, we are really all of the different responders, WRC and all partners are really trying to scale up as much as possible to respond to be at the same scale down the outbreak. And the first element for doing that currently, we are really recentering all of the operational approach, all of our activities around the engagement of the communities. And one of the main communities that we are targeting to have with us, it's like the association of the motor bikers who are transporting those patients, who are transporting those dead bodies, to have them with us, include them into the surveillance, include them into the response. the women's association, the political leaders and the administrative leaders to have them therefore to have a kind of really wall of society and reach the sectoral response approach. This is one first point. The other element also is about the scale of the surveillance capacities, detecting cases as quick as possible and obviously to transfer them into the different health centers in order to reduce this high mortality rate that we are seeing. And for doing that, WHO has already added 100 additional expert epidemiologists who will be deployed at the field level, at the health zone levels, you know, supported by almost more than 500 community health workers who will go to the communities, do the contact tracing and identify the cases, convince the people to accept to be followed up and obviously giving all of them also the different means for transferring them into the health centers. That's the second scale up. The third one is obviously the augmentation of the different bed capacities. Because once you receive all of these people, you need to find a place where they can go and to be tested and to be treated. So we are scaling up on that one. Over the past two weeks, we've been able at least to add more than 400 beds, functional beds, you know, beds in different localities to host these different patient and suspected cases. But apart of that, we have also understood and obviously also highlighted by the communities that people are not just suffering of Ebola. We are in a context also a very fragile health system where you have needs for blood, for other primary health care services. So how can we really make the trade off by providing care for Ebola, but at the same time also addressing the other health needs of the population? And the last two points, it's about obviously the scaling up with the partners like the Federation of Red Cross, FHI, around all of these safe and dignified barriers. We have done quite well on that one, but we really need to push under extra miles on the safe and dignified barriers by not only engaging those local people who are doing that in the villages, who are known for that, capacitating them, giving them a bit of corona, giving them a bit of gloss, you know, to be able obviously to handle these bodies in a very safely manner, in a very dignified barrier. The last scale up, it's about the humanitarian access, the humanitarian, we have people living in these camps, they don't have water, they don't have nutrition, they don't have sanitation. So how can we really bring these other partners, these other actors, you know, who can help us to do that? So overall, we have a direction, the outbreak is extremely difficult, it's really moving quite very fast. But we have a direction and we, the Ministry of Health, at the center of this one, the support of WHO and all the partners, we are really trying to scale this response at that level, at that speed. But we are really facing these challenges because we need to be present everywhere, each and everywhere, and even anticipating being where the outbreak is not there yet. But at the moment, I can tell you with confidence, it's only few partners, mostly WHO, which is in all of these different provinces, helping the Minister of Health for organizing the response. So how can we capacitate all of the partners to give them the necessary resources and to provide the necessary security measures, obviously by engaging communities, but beyond the communities, to allow us to do this work in areas? There is a place where we wanted to be. now, you know, but we cannot cause of these security issues and we have those elements. And so with your permission, allow me to stop here. I think the situation is quite difficult, but people are working here days and night for trying to control this outbreak and to be at the same pace down the dynamic of this outbreak. I thank you.

Thank you very much. And I'd like to add some inputs that we've received from our colleagues in the Central African Republic. where the UN system is mobilizing to help strengthen the national response and preparedness efforts against the Ebola virus. The colleagues tells us that although no case has been confirmed to date in the country, which shares a long border with the DRC, as you know, the peacekeeping operation MINUSCA, together with relevant UN entities, WHO, IOM, UNICEF, UN DSS, are assisting Central African authorities with technical assistance surveillance and preparedness measures, communication and community awareness activities as well as capacity building. An interagency coordination mechanism has been established led by WHO and UNDSs to monitor developments and coordinate supports with governments. Our peacekeeping colleagues at MINUSCA have been providing technical and logistical assistance, including transportation of health experts throughout the country and the delivery of essential equipment and supplies. And its radio station, Gira FM, has been broadcasting weekly updates and public health messages in Sango, the national language, about the evolving situation in the region and the prevention measures in place. while also helping counter misinformation. And we can get this more this, uh, uh, more of this, uh, from our colleagues in MINUSCA. I'll open the floor to questions now in the room. Nina Larson, AFP.

Yes, hi, thank you for the briefing. I was wondering if you could say a little bit more about your efforts with the motorcycle association, the people who are transporting the sick, how are you working with them to reduce the spread of the disease? And then also, I know that WHO has said the aim is to turn this around within the next three months. Is that still in the cards? Do you think that you'll be able to do that? Thank you.

Doctor.

Yes, thank you for these questions. And the motorcycles, the association have been engaged somehow since day one. But you know, this is one of the most affected also, you know, category in the population because they are transporting sick people, they're transporting dead bodies. We really engage them. And when we heard from them, some people I met with someone who said he lost six members of his family, his wife. his daughter for about of 11 months, so it was really people have been affected. So we are trying now to see, how best we give them about two weeks ago, some kind of hand washing stations, with a bit of chlorine to put that in the kind of, stations where they are parking the motorbikes, and then where people comes in and then obviously to do that. But we wanted to go beyond that to have them as surveillance and response officers. And this is a strategy that we are developing with all of our partners, Africa CDC, IOM, we hope also, you know, with the, in supporting the government for having them. And therefore, at least they can be able to tell us whenever they transport a sick person, how can they really rely and contact the surveillance team and then be able that person can be tested and sent. And obviously in a very dignified manner, you know, by convincing them, explaining to them, I mean, this is for the good of themselves, the good of their families. So really bringing that engagement, that sensitization to people to understand what the dangerousity and the risks that they're facing in all that problem with us. So this is the plan that we are going to do and in the upcoming, we have already started that now we need to be at the scale. You know, we are having hundreds and thousands of people having these motorbikes. So how can we be at that scale to have these people with us? It's not an easy task, but we have started to do that. About the next time for the three months, yes, if you have the necessary resources, I think it will be possible to do that. Because I can tell you confidently, there are some areas where we were having really hard time about six or seven weeks ago. That was a place like Nizi or about Glita or even maybe the hotspot, Monguan, where it has started. You know, Nian Konde, I can tell you today that we are not facing this tension. We are seeing a kind of stabilization of the situation where we are capable of intervening as quickly as possible. But obviously also these are committee members. It's not easy to change the mind of someone and to change the behavior of someone in just one or two days. So this is the trade off. This is the balance that we are trying to make, being extremely active around the response, but at the same time taking into consideration the realities, the fragile health system, the absence of structures. You know, we are coming really in a context where this health system is extremely fragile. Allow me to stop there. Over to you.

Thank you very much, and I see her nodding, so I think it's fine, so let me go to the platform, Antonio Broto, EFE, Spanish news agency.

Hi, good morning, I would like you to… comment a little about the fact that the emergency committee is meeting today. What can we expect from this meeting? Maybe some new recommendations on the tracking and control of new cases, maybe a change of the risk levels. I think now it's very high in DRC and high in the neighboring countries. So what can you comment about this?

Thank you. Doctor, I give you the floor, but I also see Christian wanted to say something afterwards. Please go ahead.

Doctor, thank you, Antonio. Thank you, Antonio. Sorry. Thank you, Antonio. Yeah, so the emergency committee is meeting the second time today, starting around noon. should not and cannot speculate on any outcome of this meeting, but any communication will be sent afterwards. We're not expecting a press conference, but expect any other sort of communication coming from us. Thanks.

Thank you. Doctor, you want to add something or no?

Yeah, no, just to mention that we are obviously working with the Ministry of Health. Just after this press briefing, I'm going to be with the incident manager of the Ministry of Health. So we're working with them and we are going to present the situation and obviously we are going to partner with the expert for taking the right decision for supporting the response, I mean, as much as possible.

Thank you. Emma Farge, Reuters.

Yeah, I just have a few questions, actually. Could you clarify what happened with the attack on the ambulance yesterday in Bunya? Anyone hurt and what were the circumstances and what does it show about the difficulties countering misperceptions about the disease? And two more follow-ups, if I may. Any update on the funding at all? Your colleague mentioned at one point that you only had half of what you were asking for. Where are you now? And finally, the fatality rate has spiked, almost doubled in a few weeks. How do you explain that? Thank you.

Thank you so much. We are informed about the ambulance yesterday, but this is not an isolated situation, almost on a daily basis. we face some kind of reaction, from the communities. And again, these are difficult situation. People are having their relatives who are sick, who are dying. And then obviously we are having these kind of imperative, acting very quickly, but that requires some changes, some interactions. So we go, we try, we explain, sometimes we succeed, sometimes we don't succeed, but then we come back the day after, we try to mobilize the different communities for getting it. So it's not really an isolated point, it's just the reality of the situation. is the reality of the operation, is the reality of the disease, is the reality of the virus. So this is not really something which is new. It's extremely important, but we are facing that and we are negotiating. We are really engaging all of the different authorities, including the governors, you know, the mayor, the association and all of these things for trying to lower that as much as possible. Around the funding component, I don't have the figures per se, but what I can tell you, a plan has been developed now. But looking at the scale and also the geographic expansion of these outbreaks, what all it requires, you know, the distances, the need of cars, ambulances and all of these elements, it's clearly, I mean, need more funding, more funding capacities. I was meeting last weekend on Sunday, one of our partners, an international NGO, they were mentioning about the challenges that they have for getting the right resources for being able to deploy the adequate response services. And in the humanitarian context, all of these services were stopped at one point. So how can we really resume that and to be able to scale? So it requires more funding. That's what I can say really. So more solidarity, more funding, and more operational capacities. around, I think the last point was around the fatality, yes, the case fatality rate. So the case fatality rate has not doubled per se, you know, it's really, we have to take that also with some kind of caution. Obviously, the community deaths, it's a really major concern for us, and we are trying to bring all of the different perspective, you know, for handling that. The community deaths, I mean, it's defined as a death occurring outside of an ETC of a nebular treatment center. So when it occurs on the family level, at the household level, or at the private health center or at a public health center, it's considered as a community deaths. So how can we get those people, you know, to encourage them to come to the ETC by bringing again, you know, for them to understand, I mean, the importance of coming to the ETC, to have the right ambulances for the day transportation, and also to convince the people in these health centers not to treat the patient who are suspected but to refer them. So this is the process that we are doing and as I was saying there are some good example where we are seeing some kind of progress on this thing again like the case of Mizi where we are overwhelmed by the number of community deaths about six weeks ago, seven weeks ago. Today we are only reporting only few cases, few deaths and those deaths are being safely and dignifiedly you know valued at the right time. So progress has ongoing but our main challenge today again is about having really the operational capacity, the funding which is required, which is far from, you know, being obtained and also having that not only for the WHO, but for all of the responders, all of the partners. Back to you, please.

Thank you very much, doctor. Felix Sassenhausen, Health Policy Watch and Actuel.

Yes, good morning. Thank you so much for the briefing. I seem to have some technical issues with my camera. Sorry for that. Anyway, I have two questions on behalf of Health Policy Watch. The first one is just a follow up on the emergency committee meeting today to plan our reporting. Do you have any estimates as to when we can expect the press statement on today's proceedings? And the second one is on leadership. A report broke this morning on the resignation of Dr. Jeremy Farrar as Assistant Director General. Can you confirm and briefly comment on that report and since when was the Director General aware of his resignation? And can you give any information on who might take his place at this challenging time as things will have to move quickly? Thank you.

Thank you. I guess these are for Christian.

Yeah, thank you, Felix. Um, Dr. Farrar is, uh, reaching WHO retirement age, um, at the end of next month, uh, so that's why he is retiring at the end of September. That's all I have at this point. Um, that's the first question I don't, uh, I lost track of it now.

Yeah, at what time do you expect to have any outcome of the committee?

So this should be actually happening today under any normal circumstances, but by the time they consolidate, because the way this works, they reach a consensus and they write a report. And only once the report is finished, normally after this, we would communicate. So whether this would, our communication would come by the end of today or during tomorrow or in any, I cannot tell you at this point, we're waiting for it just the same way, but maybe, uh, Alessandro, as we added, and the, the, Emma, I think before asked about, um, funding, let me add a, a few points quickly on the funding situation, um, because it also came up at the, at the recent, uh, press conference we had, so, um. I have a few lines here. So WHO is grateful to the many partners supporting WHO's response to the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the scale up of preparedness and response efforts across Africa. These partners include the African Development Bank, Australia, CEPI, UNICEF, the Children's Investment Fund Foundation, Denmark, the European Commission, the Gates Foundation, Germany, Global Fund, Italy, the Novo Nordisk Foundation, Switzerland, the UAE, the UK, and Wellcome. Together, the contributions have reached about $69.3 million of the $115 million currently required for life-saving operations, a critical pillar of the broader response led with governments, Um, community, communities and partners, including Africa CDC, as countries strengthen coordinated cross-border actions, we call for the rapid disbursement of pledge funds and additional flexible financing to help stop transmission, save lives and protect regional and global health security.

Thank you very much. I see Felix as a follow up.

Yes, thank you so much. Okay, I appreciate your answer, but if it is due to retirement age, could you give any information on who will take his place? Because then that sounds like it was a planned move. Thanks.

No, no further information on that. It's a bit too early for that.

Thank you, Christian. And there's the last follow up from Nina.

Yeah, thank you. I had a couple follow-up questions. So on the ambulance attacks that was mentioned earlier, I was wondering if there's an overview of how many such attacks there have been, how many health workers may have been hurt during these operations, and if anyone was hurt in the specific attack that was mentioned. I was also wondering what the current fatality rate is considered to be. And finally, for today's meeting, I was wondering if we might get access to Tedros's introductory speech.

Thank you. Okay, so I'll start with Dr. Balde. I guess when you speak fatality rate is fatality rate of Ebola in general. Yeah, Dr. Balde, then I'll go to Christian.

No, thank you. Thank you so much again. I mean, the attack on healthcare, this is something, I mean, that we have a system for reporting these different elements, you know, at the institutional level, we have the entire initiative where we are capturing this information, I mean, on a more regular basis. So we'll be able to provide the exact numbers with you. I mean, and I hope that Christian will be able to help us on that one. around the component around the fatality rate, we are around 50%, if I'm not mistaken, but this is also changing quite very often. But what is extremely important, madam, is really to look at the different localities also, because we have the overall national picture, the figures that we have mentioned around more than 5,000 cases, but also more around 2,300 deaths. So definitely you can make the report and you have to calculate the fatality rate. But most important is also to have that annual distribution of the case fatality report, where it was high and where it's quite also improving and how are we really monitoring that and all of the different actions that we are taking again, for really addressing that and handling that in the context of where when we started this outbreak, there were zero bed capacities. Today we are having more than 1,300, you know, beds which are operational. We are having more lab testing capacities. So all of these things, I will not say we started from zero, but to that level, This is just to tell you a little bit the magnitude and also the situation that we are facing and also all of the efforts which has been made with the support of all of the international solidarity. Over to you.

And Christian and Dr. Tadros.

Sorry, Nina, repeat please.

I was just wondering if there might also be access to his introductory remarks at the meeting instead of having to wait for the press release after. Thanks.

No, you're right, normally we do send the introductory remarks as soon as they have been delivered, so we're waiting for that one, yeah.

Okay, thank you very much. I have the impression this closes the, I will accept there are no further questions. So thank you very much, Dr. Balde to update us on this situation. Again, as we said from Bunia, thanks Christian and keep us, keep the journalists informed on the outcome of the, um, of the committee. Is that your hand up for something else or, yeah, go ahead then.

Sorry, and for the sake of nearly monopolizing this today and… Sorry, UNHCR. No, because we talked about World Humanitarian Day and the way that the communities and Geneva and the UN is commemorating this tomorrow. Just to flag one event which is happening in Geneva for your interest. And that is that Medecins Sans Frontieres, MSF Switzerland and the HSG, the Hospital University of Geneva invites the media to the unveiling of a public mural by Swiss artists who will never crew to mark Humanitarian Day tomorrow. And this, um, the event takes place tomorrow in front of the at 10 o'clock in the morning. So for all those, um, interested in that, certainly an nice event to, to come. Cheers.

Yeah. Thank you for flagging it, um, Christian. Okay. So let's now go to Lebanon and, uh, I have the pleasure to have Babar with me. You have an update on the situation in this war-torn country.

Thank you, Alessandra. Good morning, dears. First, on the World Humanitarian Day, as the day is being mentioned, the mind takes you back to some of the colleagues and friends that we have personally known and lost, so in their memory. Colleagues in Lebanon wanted us to bring this update to you in terms of what is happening, just to let you know and not to forget the displacement and humanitarian crisis in Lebanon. While the majority of people displaced by months of airstrikes and insecurity in Lebanon have now returned to their areas of origin, Many are faced with damaged homes, widespread destruction, and lack of essential services, with UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, warning that the displacement and humanitarian crisis in Lebanon is far from over. Despite declared ceasefire arrangements, fresh Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon over the weekend triggered a new wave of displacement, with hundreds of families fleeing northward in search of safety. These movements add to an already protracted displacement crisis, increasing uncertainty for communities attempting to make their way back home. Around 860,000 people are reported to have returned to their areas of origin, while another 360,000 remain displaced, including at least some 22,000 people living in collective shelters. Others report living with relatives or in overcrowded rented apartments. The security situation in Lebanon remains fragile, and the humanitarian needs of hundreds of thousands of people remain immense. While the intensity of hostilities has decreased, airstrikes continue to put many lives at risk. Movement restrictions, military activity, and risks related to explosive remnants of war continue to affect large parts of southern Lebanon and the Bekaa, posing threats to safety and preventing sustainable solutions for conflict-affected communities. Remember, there were around one million displaced people inside Lebanon during the peak of the conflict. Many families remain unable to return to their homes due to extensive debris, insecurity, lack of access to their communities, and widespread damage to infrastructure, resulting in strained or non-functioning health, water, and electricity services. For many households, return means relocating as close as possible to their towns and villages, remaining displaced there, rather than finding a lasting solution. Families continue to rely on rented accommodation, hosting arrangements, temporary or collective shelters while awaiting debris clearance, home repairs, restoration of services, and improved security conditions. Many undertake repeated go-and-see visits before deciding whether return is safe or feasible, while others continue to move between areas of displacement and their areas of origin. As a result, the distinction between those who have returned and those who remain displaced has become increasingly blurred. The approaching school year is creating additional pressure as collective shelters, mostly hosted in public schools, are progressively being consolidated. Municipalities in conflict-affected areas continue to call for temporary housing solutions to prevent renewed displacement and enable families to remain close to their communities. Humanitarian needs remain substantial. Widespread damage to housing, water system, electricity networks, schools, health facilities, agricultural land, and community infrastructure continue to constrain prospect of recovery. More than 700,000 people are reportedly affected by damage. to water infrastructure in parts of southern Lebanon, underscoring that return does not mark the end of humanitarian needs. We have some more details in the note as well that we will share right now with you. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Barbara. And we join UNHCR appeal for civilians who must be able to return home safely. They must be able to do it voluntarily and with dignity, and they must be able to do so without being repeatedly exposed to renewed displacement, as we are seeing, as we have heard from Babar. We once again urge the parties to exercise maximum restraint. adhere to the latest ceasefire and pursue dialogue to advance a long-term solution to the conflict in line with Security Council Resolution 1701, including through the ongoing direct talks under the trilateral framework. And I'll open the floor to questions on Lebanon, if any. I don't see any hand up. on the platform either. So Babar, thank you very much for this update on the situation of people on the move in Lebanon. I'm just left with three announcements for you. The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is reviewing today the report of Lithuania and Chile, which is going to be continued tomorrow. It will then review Slovakia next Thursday, 20th of August. This morning, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination will end the review of the report of Finland. And the next plenary meeting of the Conference on Disarmament will take place on Thursday, 20th of August at 10:00 AM in Room 12 on the topic, prevention of an arm race in outer space. And I think that's what I had for you. If there are no further questions, and I don't see any hands up, I thank you very much. I wish you a good afternoon and hope to see you tomorrow at the commemoration of World Humanitarian Day, thank you.