UN Geneva Press Briefing: UNITAR, WMO, WHO

Very good morning to you. Thank you for joining us here at the UN Office at Geneva today, Friday the 4th of September, for this press briefing. We have, as usual, an important agenda for you. I'm very pleased to have on my right Ms. Michelle Giles-McDonough, who is the Executive Director of the United Nations Institute for Training and Research, UNITAR, and Akiko is with us from UNITAR as well. Afterwards, we'll have an update, an announcement rather, from the World Meteorological Organization Air Quality and Climate Bulletin. But without further ado, I'm going to turn over to Ms. Giles McDonough, who is going to speak to this important announcement at the GA yesterday, the merger of UNITAR with the UN Staff College. So over to you, ma'am.

Thank you. All right. Thank you, Orlando, for the introduction. Good morning. Good morning, everyone. I am really pleased to be able to be with you, to have the opportunity to brief members of the media on the decision that was taken yesterday by the United Nations General Assembly to merge the United Nations System Staff College into the United Nations Institute for Training and Research and to establish the new United Nations Institute for Capability and Learning Innovation, or UNICLI. This is an important moment for both the UN System Staff College and UNITAR, and for the United Nations as a whole. The decision forms part of the broader UN80 initiative, which is fundamentally about making the United Nations better able to deliver by aligning mandates, structures, resources, and capabilities around results. The rationale for the merger is straightforward. Member states and the United Nations are facing increasingly complex and interconnected challenges, from conflict and humanitarian crises to climate change, technological disruption, slow progress on the SDGs, and more. Responding effectively requires people and institutions to continuously develop new skills, to adapt, and to turn that knowledge into action. UNICLI will bring together the complementary strengths of UNITAR and the UN System Staff College. UNITAR's leadership in capacity development for member states, public institutions, diplomats, and development practitioners will be combined with the Staff College's expertise in learning, leadership, and organizational transformation. The aim is not simply to bring two organizations together; it is to create a more coherent and accessible platform for learning and capability development, giving Member States, UN entities, and partners a clear entry point to expertise and support. I would also like to emphasize that this will be a phased and carefully managed transition. Until the end of 26, Unitar and the Staff College will continue to operate as separate entities as we lay the foundations for the transition to Uniclee. And our programs, services, partnerships, and existing commitments will continue without interruption. Uniclee will be formally established on the 1st of January 2027, with the integration of structures, systems, and capabilities continuing throughout 27. Our priority throughout this process is continuity, continuity for Member States, for UN personnel, for our learners, our donors, and our partners. The decision is an opportunity to build a stronger learning and capability platform for Member States in the United Nations system, one that is more integrated, agile, and responsive to the needs of a very rapidly changing world. Thank you, Rolando. And I'm open to all the questions.

Thank you very much. Let me just take this opportunity, colleague, to draw your attention to the statement we shared with you last night on behalf of the Secretary-General. Through with the Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres welcomes yesterday's General Assembly decision to merge the United Nations Staff College with the United Nations Institute for Training and Research, replacing them with a new entity. As just mentioned, this decision is an important step forward in the Secretary General's UNAD initiative and part of the broader consolidation of the UN systems training and research capacities, the Secretary General notes. So that is a statement we shared with you, and I note that also Akiko shared with you earlier yesterday a press release from UNITAR. So let's turn to you for any questions you may have. Yes, Robin, AFP.

Good morning. Can I ask you what sort of notice did you have that this was coming? How far was this known down the pipeline? Secondly, what's the finance picture looking like for the merged organization? And thirdly, could you tell us what the implications are for jobs? Are they going to be, is this going to imply job cuts? Thank you.

Great. Thank you, Robin. This merger, the Secretary-General issued to member states an implementation plan for his UN80 initiative in March of 2025. That implementation plan came after a prior four-month process of consultation with leadership across the UN system about ways to improve the United Nations going forward. When he put that implementation plan in March of 2025, it already included, based on that prior analysis and consultation at the leadership level, a concrete proposal, Action 68, where he expressed his intent to put to member states a proposal to merge the United Nations System Staff College with UNITAR. It is important to know his background, that this is not a new initiative. This consideration of a potential merger has been on the table for near two decades. The latest attempt to merge these two institutions was in 2012 under the previous Secretary-General. Given the urgency of challenges, it's a very complex landscape, many challenges facing countries. We have a changed development landscape with declining ODA and emphasis on self-reliance of member states. the support that the United Nations provides for learning, continuous learning, skills building, knowledge and capability development becomes more crucial than ever. And so given that this is a long considered question, given the urgency of the moment, given and the clear action and intent of the Secretary-General, A detailed and meticulous five-month analysis and design process for this merger was undertaken with top-tier external consultancy expertise. The Secretary-General 's report that you see in front of you is the outcome of that process. Lastly on that, just to say that design proposal benefited from very careful consideration by the boards of both the Staff College and UNITAR, separately and together. And both boards signed off on and expressed their wish that the Secretary-General go forward and put this proposal to member states. Yesterday, we had a decision. In terms of finances, that analysis projects savings of 5.5 to 7 million and one-time merger costs of 7 to 9.5 million. The one-time merger costs are expected. They're normal merger costs coming from bringing 2 institutions together, platforms, ERP systems, and just investments, technology and other investments that need to be made. The savings come from duplication of structures and some functions that will need to be taken. This merger was never initiated as a cost-cutting exercise. The primary rationale for this merger is creation of value, to bring what we know are two sides of the same coin, to combine the resources, reduce the duplication, and provide a better service to member states and to UN colleagues. And there would have been more savings had there been a consolidation, further consolidation of structures. That decision has been taken, that we will We will operate with the present locations that we have, and any decision around further consolidation is 1 for member states to decide in the future, and if and when they decide that, then an analysis will be conducted. Jobs, the target operating model. foresees, as per the report, a staffing structure of about 153. It's important to understand, as learning institutions and member states in their wisdom, I think 60 years ago, had it right, both the staff college and UNITAR have a slim staffing structure, and then we work with a range of consultants and contractors to be able to have the flexibility to respond to the range of needs that member states come to us with. Those structures are roughly aligned with what we see in the market, in the learning market, which is around 80 to 100. For this merger, the target operating model bringing those two staffing complements together would be 153. We felt it necessary to have a larger complement, wanting to secure, ensure that we have continuity of our programs, that transition is smooth. But also, as I said, the starting point of this merger was not cost cutting, it was more creation of value. But from duplication and others, we foresee a 26% reduction.

Very well noted. Thank you very much. Let's see if there are further questions in the room or online. I think your questions and answer actually responded to many, many, lots of questions there, lots of very important information you shared in your opening remarks. Thanks so much for this insight and for this thoughtful response. Good luck for the coming months. I know this is a transitional period, but, and thank you very much for being here. It's really appreciated, so, and good luck again. Thank you very much.

Thank you. It's a pleasure.

Okay, colleagues, we're going to move on to WMO, but just wanted to flag that I just received a message from the World Health Organization. Christian will be briefing you momentarily on the attacks to WHO warehouses in Ukraine. But before we turn to Christian, let me turn to Claire, who's on line with an announcement on the WMO Air Quality and Climate Bulletin. So Claire, over to you.

Yes, thanks, Rolando, and thank you everybody for all your support and interest yesterday for the El Nino release. So this is a little bit of a change of signal because we thought the report wasn't going to be ready for technical reasons, but the WMO will in fact be releasing the air quality and climate bulletin for Monday, which is Clean Air for Blue Skies Day. The report's, it's currently being, the layout's being finalised, the press release is being finalised, so we should have that with you under embargo, hopefully by early afternoon at the latest, if not before. It is quite a technical subject, so if you do, you know, need any embargoed Interviews, please let me know, and I can set something up with. our expert who speaks Spanish, French and English, Lorenzo Labrador. He is around today, but he'll be traveling on mission on Monday, the day of the reports are released. We'll set the embargo for 6 a.m. Geneva time. That seems to be the embargo time that suits people most. But yes, so sorry, it's a bit of a rush, but we will fast track it, so you should have it in the next hour or so. So thanks.

Thanks to you, Claire. Well noted. Any questions, clarifications from Claire? No? Okay, so thank you so very much, Claire, for those announcements. Okay, so as mentioned, we have Christian online who is going to speak to these attacks on WHO warehouses in Ukraine. Christian, over to you.

Yeah, thank you very much, Rolando, and thanks for that last minute opportunity, which I just got in. Before I get into this very serious topic, just a quick heads up for next week. On Tuesday, 8th September, WHO will release a new publication looking at the impact of tobacco smoking on fertility. So quite a serious topic as well. Infertility affects around one in six people of reproduction age worldwide. And the new WHO knowledge summary brings together evidence showing that smoking may make it harder to conceive for both women and men. We'll share an embargoed departmental update in a moment, and there's more material available. The details will be on there, and we will have contact details also for people in case there's any request for an interview. A webinar will be held on Tuesday, 8th September, 11 o'clock. That's when this embargo will break. But now to a very serious topic. Three WHO humanitarian warehouses affected, were affected by attacks in Ukraine in three months. In the past three months, three warehouses used by WHO in different regions of the country have been damaged by airstrikes, destroying essential medical supplies intended for frontline and hard to reach areas. Yesterday, overnight. between three and four September, an air attack in Kyiv Oblast affected one of WHL's main warehouses storing humanitarian medical needs and supplies. Access to the site remains restricted due to heavy smoke and safety concerns, while assessments of possible damage and stock losses are ongoing. No WHL personnel were affected. The incident follows an attack two weeks ago that destroyed a WHO humanitarian warehouse in Dnipropetrovsk, resulting in the loss of half of the medical supplies and equipment intended to support an estimated 225,000 people living in the frontline and hard-to-reach areas. Another warehouse used by WHO in Kyiv Oblast was damaged during a large-scale wave of attacks on Kyiv and the region in July. The attacks are part of a broader pattern affecting humanitarian operations across the country. In 2026, at least 20 attacks have affected warehouses storing humanitarian supplies, including 15 attacks on warehouses holding health-related humanitarian supplies. Despite these challenges, WHO continues to work with health partners across Ukraine to ensure that essential medical supplies reach health facilities and communities in need. Alternative storage arrangements have already been identified following the latest incidents. Our immediate priority now is to establish which projects were damaged and determine how they can be replaced with the support of our partners. And back to you.

Thank you very much, Christian. Very important announcement indeed. Yeah, Olivia of Reuters.

Christian, morning. Thank you very much for that. Forgive me, sorry, I didn't catch where was the attack overnight on the main warehouse? And perhaps when you say the kind of medical supplies that are inside, could you give some examples of what kind of medical supplies those would be? And I don't know for that warehouse if you have an estimate of how many people that those supplies could have served? Thank you.

Yeah, thank you, Olivia. We're still working on the details. I literally just got that update, and I do not have a list of which parts were in there. Also, as stated here, because of smoke and safety concerns, The area, the warehouse itself cannot yet be reached and assessed, so we do not exactly know what was lost and what is still available. But it happened yesterday overnight, so the night from yesterday to today, an air attack in Kyiv Oblast, so the wider Kyiv area, that's where this happened.

Okay. Thank you very much for that, Robin.

Thank you. Morning, Christian. Do you have any indications at this stage as to the type of weapon that might have been used? Secondly, are the locations of WHO warehouses, are they communicated to the warring parties in conflict zones? And thirdly, if this is the third attack after the previous two attacks, did the WHO reach out to the warring parties in this conflict to express their concerns.

Yeah, thank you, Robin. And I see you all have many questions, and we do have them as well. Just bear with me because I literally got this update a few minutes before we started today. But important to know, yes, in my understanding, all warehouses, all UN locations, all WHO locations are, as you say, deconflicted. That means the whereabouts are communicated to all sides of the conflict, and that is well known. But let me repeat that one phrase, which I find important here, is that the attacks are part of a broader pattern affecting humanitarian operations across the country. In 2026, at least 20 attacks have affected warehouses storing humanitarian supplies. Just to, to let that sit there and bear with me that I don't have further details at this point.

Understood. It's coming in just now. So of course, we'll, uh, I'm sure you'll update colleagues once you have additional information. Laurence Sureau, Swiss News Agency.

Yeah, thanks, Christian, for the briefing. You probably won't have the response yet, but still, do you consider 100% sure that the warehouse was the target of the attack, or is there a way it might be collateral damage of another attack nearby, which could have by mistake affected the warehouse? Thank you.

Yeah, another important question, but I do not have information further than what I stated.

Okay, well noted. Thank you. Thank you. Of course, a lot of interest in this subject, and thanks in advance for updating us, Christian, and for announcing what you did thus far. So I don't think there are further questions, just double-checking. No, that's not the case. So thanks again, Christian. Look forward to more information on this unfortunate development. Okay, colleagues, just nearly wrapping up here. Just a couple of announcements as usual at the end of this briefing. Related to the earlier announcement on the UNITAR-UN Staff College merger, I wanted to flag as well the address of the Secretary General to the General Assembly last night, rather late to our time, on the UN80 Initiative. It's an update on where we stand with the UN80 Initiative. It's a long statement that the Secretary General delivered, and among other things, he notes the Secretary General notes how UNAD has entered its third phase of decisions and implementation, focusing on making the UN more coherent, efficient, and effective, as you all know. He highlighted operational reforms, including a 21 percent reduction in secretariat posts. He spoke of the progress on mandate reform, including a registry of more than 40,000 resolutions and efforts to streamline reporting. He also highlighted humanitarian development reforms, structural consolidation, including the merger that we just heard about between the UN Staff College and UNITAR. And he noted that he stressed that member states are now in the "driver's seat" calling for decisions and coherent governance to carry UN80 forward. So do take a look at that important message that we shared with you last night. Press conferences, as I previously announced, this coming Tuesday at 2:30. I think we announced it at an earlier time, but it has been changed to 2:30 in the afternoon, Tuesday, the 8th of September, the Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic will be briefing you on an update of the human rights situation in Syria, and they are among many commissions of inquiry and experts presenting to the upcoming Human Rights Council starting next week. So with that, the Human Rights Council, you have been fully briefed by the President of the Council the day before yesterday, and you have all the materials, so do consult the agenda that Pascal and Matt shared with you. In terms of other human rights meetings, we have the Committee on the Rights of the Child, which started earlier this week, and today they are reviewing Tanzania. They will complete that review, and next week the committee will review the reports of Uganda and Burkina Faso on Monday and Tuesday. And looking at meetings on the other side of the pond, as you well know, the 81st session of the UN General Assembly is due to kick off this coming Tuesday, the 8th of September. It's 81st session. It will be under the presidency of Mr. Khaledur Rahman of Bangladesh, who will serve as the president for the 81st session. The theme for the 81st session of the General Assembly is "Restoring Trust, Managing Transformation: A United Nations that Delivers for All." So of course, we'll be sharing with you plenty of material which obviously impacts our work here in Geneva. And a couple of observances to announce. This coming Monday, the 7th of September, is International Day of Police Cooperation, and his message On this observance, the Secretary General notes that this year's theme is "Protecting Against Vulnerability, Building Trust and Legitimacy in Policing," which addresses a painful reality that is that marginalized people often suffer the worst consequences of both lawlessness and unjust policing. Among other things, the Secretary General calls for a strengthening of collaboration, foster community trust fostering community trust, and building police institutions that serve with integrity and humanity. And lastly, another observance which Claire alluded to earlier this Monday is also International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies. In his message, the Secretary General notes that air pollution is taking a devastating toll on lives and economies, and last year alone, air pollution contributed to 6.4 million premature deaths, 5.5 million new cases of childhood asthma, and millions more of diabetes, dementia, and heart disease. Very important statistics. So the Secretary General calls for accelerating the transition away from fossil fuel is one of the fastest and most effective ways to clean the air while tackling the climate crisis, he notes in his message. So that's all I have. Any questions for me? No. In that case, I wish you a good afternoon and see you here on Tuesday. Thanks.