UN Geneva Press Briefing: UN Women, WFP, WHO

So let's start this briefing, this press briefing of the UN Information Service in Geneva. Today is Friday 23rd of October and we have two main items on our list and we will start with the first one which is Sudan. I give the floor to Sophia Kalthrope, that, as you know, is the director of the UN Women office here in Geneva. She has brought us a colleague, Anna Mutavati, who is the UN Women regional director for East and Southern Africa. And I understand, madam, that you are connecting from Nairobi. So I give you the floor, Sophia, and to Anna, too.

Thank you, Alexander. Good morning. As we all know, it's one year since the fall of El Fasher, and our regional director, Anna Mutavati, is going to give you an update on the situation for women and girls that's been displaced from this terrible situation.

Thank you, Sophia, and I give the floor to Anna. And then we will hear, it's not on your agenda, but we have a short intervention from UNHCR, who has also some figures. So, Mrs. Mutavati. The floor is yours.

Thank you very much, Alessandra. Thank you very much, Sophia. Good morning, good afternoon, colleagues, and thank you for joining us as we share with you the situation in Sudan one year on following the fall of El Fashir. So a year ago, the world watched as atrocities in El Fashir, North Darfur, were live streamed to our phones. One year on, the impact of violence and the risk of renewed violence remains. Across Sudan, drone attacks are increasing across Blue Nile State, Khartoum, West Kordofan, Gedaref State, and the Kashmar Al Giba area in, uh, Kassala State. Most of those killed or injured are women and children. Many had already fled violence, including sexual violence, and they were seeking safety or attempting to return home. The images that emerged from El Fasher a year ago offered a window into the extent to which violence in Sudan is inflicted on women and girls. We've heard of women being gang raped, beaten, humiliated, and robbed of their belongings. Some were taken and have not been seen since. UN Women conducted a survey of 50 women's organizations that are supporting people that are displaced from El Fasher. I'm sharing the results of that survey with you today. We've heard that one year on, the scars of the violence in El Fasher have not faded. Women and girls continue to live with the trauma of sexual violence, the disappearance of their daughters, their sisters, their mothers, their husbands, and their sons, the killing of family members, and the loss of their homes, property, and livelihoods. Psychological distress, Sleepless nights and unsafe living conditions are part of daily life, and so is the struggle to find food, water, and healthcare. Safety is mostly out of reach. Nine in 10 organizations that we surveyed described displaced women and girls living in unsafe living conditions. 49 of the 50 organizations that we surveyed observed signs of psychological distress among women and girls displaced from El Fasher. And 45 of them, or 90%, reported that this distress persists today. 48 of 50 organizations report women being unable to sleep because of the trauma that they've experienced. Around two-thirds of the organizations that we spoke to were aware of women and girls who disappeared during or after the fall of El Fasher. The needs of women and girls are immense, but access to support is severely limited. 43 of the 50 organizations that we surveyed encountered women or girls in distress who had received no mental health, no psychosocial support, or no legal support since fleeing. And nearly half said a few or none of the women that they work with could access such support. Critical service providers, including those that are providing mental health and health care, are facing threats of arrest and harassment while delivering these critical services. all in the absence of protection. Some people have started to return to El Fasher, but the fear of violence is constant. According to the 2026 Sudan Multi-Sectoral Needs Assessment by IOM, 84% of 117 households that were surveyed in El Fasher said women now avoid marketplaces Two-thirds avoid collecting firewood, while half avoid all social, community, or religious spaces. We are hearing of reports of hospitals lacking doctors and medicines that are needed to function beyond emergency cases. Food and access to other basic goods are also scarce. Now, across Sudan, we are seeing an increase in drone attacks on displacement camps, on markets, and on other civilian infrastructure, leaving those fleeing with no safe space to turn and with total disregard for international humanitarian and human rights law. Attacks on civilian infrastructure kill and injure civilians and add to the difficulties that they face in accessing essential services and livelihoods. and force more people to flee. The UN fact-finding mission found that 80% of hospitals in conflict-affected areas are not functioning, causing a spike in maternal deaths and reducing women's access to sexual and reproductive health care. But there is another side to this war that is rarely told. The emergence of women across Sudan as frontline responders, as caregivers, as mediators and as peace builders, that story remains untold. They are doing so in institutions, even as institutions around them have collapsed and the persistent underfunding and insecurity threaten their work. Supported by UN Women, these women-led organizations reach communities that others cannot and they are a lifeline to women and girls, their families and their communities. Across Sudan, UN Women provides lifesaving support to women and girls and invests in women's leadership, which is really critical for peace, for security, and recovery. We work with grassroots women's networks to strengthen their capacity to dialogue, capacity for negotiation, capacity for conflict analysis, capacity for mediation, and advocacy, enabling women to resolve disputes reduce tensions, and influence the decisions shaping their communities every day. As we mark 26 years since the adoption of the UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace, and Security, which laid the foundation for women, peace, and security agenda, the experiences of women in Sudan and their role in the country's peace and security are central to this commitment. UN Women calls for the protection of civilians, for accountability for perpetrators of violence, and for compliance with international human rights and humanitarian law. Women and girls must have access to essential services and resources, and must be able to participate meaningfully in decisions about peace and their country's future. with sustained support for the women leaders and organizations that are working on the front lines every day. I thank you.

Thank you very much. Sorry. Thank you very much, Anna, for these remarks. I'd like to give the floor to Babar now for UNHCR, also on El Fasher.

Thank you, dear Alessandra. Good morning, dears. Just a quick update on the latest number of displacement. or people who have been displaced. Since the fall of Al-Fashir a year ago, almost 100,000 people have crossed the border into Chad in search of safety. And now, nearly 1 million people have fled Sudan to Chad since the conflict began in April 2023. The growing use of airstrikes and drone attacks is making life increasingly dangerous for civilians. Families are being forced to flee at a moment's notice, often with no time to gather their belongings, carrying little more than their children and the clothes they are wearing. The violence is no longer confined to Darfur. Intensifying fighting and drone attacks across Kordofan and Blue Nile, as well as strikes reaching White Nile and other parts of Sudan, are putting more civilians lives at risk, destroying essential infrastructure, and forcing families to flee again and again. Can you hear me, Alessandra?

Yes, we can. I know there is something which appeared on the screen, but just ignore it. We can hear you.

Sure, thank you. So one year on, UNHCR calls for an immediate end to attacks on civilians, safe and unhindered. humanitarian access, and renewed international efforts to bring an end to the violence. The people of Sudan urgently need protection, sustained support, and above all, the chance to live in peace and dignity. Thank you. Back to you, General.

Thank you to all of you. And before I open the floor to questions, I just would like to mention that unfortunately, the humanitarian colleagues have been reporting about the civilian casualties and other damages that were caused across several parts of the country by air and drone strikes. And we condemn, of course, as we always do, the killing of civilians. Civilians and humanitarian personnel, as well as civilian infrastructure, must always be protected and never targeted, and that is in accordance with international humanitarian law. What we understand is that this is particularly hitting the North Darfur states, and there were also air and drone strikes in western South Kordofan. What I wanted to underline is that we are preparing with our humanitarian colleagues to scale up life-saving assistance in the most impacted areas of Darfur and Kordofan over the next six months. However, as we have said repeatedly, the severe funding shortages hamper our ability to respond to the growing needs. So we call on donors to provide the resources needed to sustain and scale up the response and on the parties to the conflict to allow us deliver that aid. And I'll open the floor to questions on Sudan now. Thank you. Alex, AFP.

Yes, thank you for this briefing. Two questions for Mrs. Mutavati, please. We understand there are a lot of trauma issues and a serious lack of support in El Fasher. But could you please elaborate a little bit on the security conditions right now in this city for women and girls? And the second question would be, have you at this stage been able to assess the situation in El Obeid, which is now under siege? And what can you tell us about the situation now in this city for women and girls? Anna.

Yes, thank you very much. So the situation is, as we have described, when drones fall in places where civilians go to for everyday things like marketplace, like places of worship, there is death. and destruction of property and injuries. And from the evidence that we have seen or the evidence that has come to us, most of the people that are killed or injured in those attacks are women and children because these are places that they frequent, right? And we have also described in the remarks that I gave that there is really no place left to hide, right, or to run. Because even in the places where they are supposed to be protected as civilians, those places are not being spared. And that is why we have this call, this joint call as the UN and as UN Women to say civilian infrastructure should be protected. Civilians should be protected. And that's why we call for accountability and for all of you as well, our partners in the media to help us communicate what is happening on the ground, but also call for accountability and call for an end to the war and call for peace and peace processes to be paved the way for with women at the center of those peace discussions and negotiations, because these daily atrocities Women and girls are not being spared. So in 2026, we also cannot have any peace process that happens, and women are not part of that process, as we have seen consistently for the past three years. So I think that is highlighting the situation for women and girls, for women and children, who tend to be the ones that frequent these spaces that are now being attacked through the drone attacks that my colleagues have also spoken about. Now about the situation in El Obeid, let me come back to you when I verified some numbers. So maybe we can take the next set of questions as I'm also checking this information out for you. Thank you. All my colleagues also from UNHCR and colleagues, Sophia, if they have this information already on point, please do feel free to come in.

Yeah, I'm looking at Sophia and.

No, thank you. I mean, just as my colleague Anna stressed, the situation for women and girls throughout Sudan is extremely precarious. And when it comes specifically to El Obeid, Anna will verify that, but maybe Babar has some very concrete updated information. Otherwise, we will come back to you on that. Thank you.

Babar, on El Obeid? Anything.

No, thank you. I don't have an update on El Obeid, but I can check with colleagues.

Okay, so let's come back to you, Alex, on this particular point. I trust it will come very quickly. Any other question on Sudan, online or in the room? I don't see any other hand up. So thank you very much, Anna, and thanks, Sophia and Babar, for this update. Let's now move to the second of our items. Thanks, Anna, and keep updating us on the situation in Sudan for women and girls. Thank you, Sophia. So let me now go to our second topic, which is Ebola in the DRC. We have the pleasure to have with us David Stevenson, who is the WFP country director for the DRC. So I understand you are connecting from Kinshasa. And then we will hear from WHO. Christian Lindman has brought Dr. Catherine Smallwood, who is WHO Ebola incident manager, also calling in from DRC, from Bunia. So I'll give the floor first to David Stevenson, please, for his introductory remarks. David.

Thanks very much. Good morning, and I'm happy to be briefing you alongside Catherine, who is on the front lines in Bunia this morning. Greetings from Kinshasa. For families facing Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, protecting themselves from the virus can also mean losing the means to feed their children. When I last briefed you, WFP was scaling up alongside the Ebola response, but today the outbreak has spread to an eighth province, reaching communities already under immense pressure. And as it spreads, hunger continues to undermine the measures needed to contain it. So WFP has two critical roles. We help families seek care without sacrificing food and and we provide the logistics backbone that keeps the wider response moving. Without sustained support, we risk leaving families unable to follow health guidance when it matters most. Earlier today, we shared an operational update highlighting the latest details about WFP's role in this critical response. But today, I want to also share some of the personal stories that our team and I encounter every day. In Ituri's Mungwalo, nearby where Catherine is this morning, the epicenter of the outbreak, Francine Arungi Amoti has lost a child to Ebola. She's raising her six surviving children and another baby entrusted to her care. Violence has cut her off from her fields. And she told me, "If you go, you may not even return alive. And I do not have money to buy food at the local market. So we stay at home, and WFP helps us enormously." For Francine, food assistance means being able to feed the children in her care when reaching her fields could cost her life. This is what a crisis on top of a crisis looks like. Disease and bereavement compounded by insecurity and hunger. In North Kivu's Butembo, Isabelle Katimwa arrived at an Ebola treatment center without strength, and she recovered. She told us, Food is important for us patients because it helps us regain the strength to keep going." Her words explain what food assistance brings to a treatment center: regular, safe, and nutritious food that support recovery, dignity, and continuity of care. Food does not treat Ebola. Medical teams do. But their work takes place amid severe food insecurity and continued violence that repeatedly displaces families, destroys livelihood, and complicates access to care. Food assistance is a vital part of supporting patients through that care. At a riverside landing in Kisangani, Bridget Akolo crosses the river to earn enough to feed her children. If you do not cross the river, there is no other work you can do there. She has told us. Her testimony shows why help, advice must account for how people survive. For the people we serve, work and travel are not optional. When they are the only way to put food on the table, food assistance can ease that pressure and help people follow the health guidance that applies to them. Supporting livelihoods and basic needs is part of making prevention and containment of this deadly virus practical. The outbreak is reaching communities with limited services and deep humanitarian needs, where hunger, conflict, and displacement make containment even harder. Food assistance is therefore essential to the health response. Patients and treatment centers and families also need the means to follow health guidance, regular nutritious meals. Families need support so that hunger does not force them to interrupt care or take additional risks to find food. And where isolation is required, food assistance helps make it possible to comply. As the outbreak expands, Sustaining these services helps keep patients in care and supports efforts to protect their families and limit further spread. WFP has delivered more than 700,000 hot meals in 60 treatment and isolation facilities. And we've distributed over 3,000 metric tons of food to patients' families, supporting patients and households through treatment, isolation, and recovery. Our six-month plan includes dry rations for over half a million relatives of patients and suspected cases. We have also built the Moosaneni Ebola Treatment Center, the first treatment we were asked to build, and we did it in under two months. from the time of request to the operational handover, despite extreme insecurity, difficult access, and heavy rain. Construction of another center is underway in Bunia, and four further centers, including one in Goma, are now in the works. WFP needs $115 million over the next six months including $79 million for hot meals and dry rations. So we are really urging donors, and we appreciate all your interest and support today, to provide flexible funding now so that food keeps moving, so that the aircrafts taking life-saving first responders keep flying, and critical services stay open as the outbreak spreads. For Francine, Isabelle, and thousands of others, this means being able to seek care, protect their family, and survive without hunger forcing them into greater danger. My ask to you today is to keep the consequences of an underfunded response in the news and in front of world leaders. The people of the Congo are counting on WFP. And we need your help to sustain the lifesaving response. No family should have to choose between following health guidance and feeding their children. Thank you.

Thank you very much, David. And I give the floor now to Catherine, whom I see online. Hopefully, we can get her sound. Catherine, please.

Thank you very much. I hope you can hear me loud and clear.

Very well.

Yeah, very well. Thank you.

And thank you very much to David for having presented WFP's most critical role in this response. I'd like to recognize their extremely good collaboration with all of the partners in support of the national response here, both in the provision of food assistance, but also in the support for transport to increasingly remote and hard to access areas, access areas of the country that need the response, and also to the really strong collaboration with WHO and UNICEF in the establishment of Ebola treatment centres together with partners, and I'll come back to that in a little bit. I wanted to give a very quick overview of the situation of the outbreak and some of the numbers behind it. And colleague David provided three very human stories. And behind each and every one of these numbers are multiple stories about families trying to live and trying to survive and trying to continue to earn a living in very, very hard circumstances. So if you think of those three stories, just think about each one of them is replicated multiple times over 9,765 confirmed cases and many, many thousands of people that are followed as contacts. 30,000 people a day are currently being monitored as contacts of cases, their lives potentially disrupted over a period of 21 days. For families that were already vulnerable, this represents a very significant additional burden on their livelihoods. As well as the 9,765 cases, among those, close to 50% of them have died. So we're seeing an incredible, permanent burden and loss of livelihoods in those families that are affected. On the other hand, we're seeing a growing number of people recovering. and surviving this horrible disease. And at the moment we have as registered and seeking continued care over 2,600. Priorities for us now is to continue to...

Catherine, sorry, we lost the sound for two seconds. Could you just repeat this sentence, please? Just the last sentence. Yes.

So in addition to the 9,765 cases that we've currently recorded in this outbreak, approximately 48% of them have died. That's 4,727, leaving behind really big gaps in families with multiple families with multiple deaths. So that's affecting not only the cases of the disease, but also the families and the ability of the families to survive over the long term. The good news is we have 2,600 survivors of Ebola that are also being registered and now with the clinics that we're opening for survivors, able to access care, both in terms of monitoring the persistence of the virus, in terms of psychosocial support, but also in terms of the clinical management of any ongoing sequela they have for the disease. So just in terms of the outbreak, what does it look like at the moment in DRC? It's approaching, we're soon approaching six months of this outbreak. It is occurring in an area that is geographically vast and moving into ever hard to reach locations and remote locations. These locations are often affected by conflict, often in very vulnerable settings with very little routine health services available. Just over the past week, we had one new province, Nohobongi, affected in the outbreak. This is in the northwest of the country, close to the border with the Central African Republic. And we're following, we have teams on the ground responding to this new cluster in an extremely remote health zone, Wapinda, which it takes several days to even reach by boat, by motorbike. It's unreachable by car. This is a true testament of the air support that we continue to need from UNHAS and other air providers to reach these remote locations. Currently, we cannot access this area by air. During the course of the outbreak, we've had many concerns about the number of people dying from Ebola outside of recognized Ebola treatment centers. This remains a concern and remains a big flag of late detection of cases at the community level. On the other hand, in the past week, we've seen a decline in the number of people dying in the community or outside of Ebola treatment centers. So that signals that some of the actions that we've been taking to increase the level of early detection and the quick referral of patients to transit centers or Ebola treatment centers has been working, and we hope that that will continue. However, in parts of Eastern DRC, including in parts of North Kivu, we hear that patients are visiting between two to five different health facilities before they're referred to Ebola treatment centers. So this remains a really, really big challenge to us to minimize the level of transmission that happens in the community and to encourage people to either present themselves to Ebola treatment centers or go or be referred to them. We have really significant improvements in the quality of care provided in the Ebola treatment centers that have been set up. And as many of you know, we've been targeting 3,000 beds available for Ebola patients across the affected areas. We've already reached over 2,000 beds available. And those are really seeing very significant improvements in occupancy and declines in occupancy in the areas previously affected in this outbreak. And we have seen real progress in areas that were in the first few months of this outbreak, seeing rampant and uncontrolled transmission. And areas such as around Bunia, we see that the Ebola treatment centers and the presentation of cases has declined. However, we still need more bed capacity and more medical care teams in these newly affected areas, which are remote, which are difficult to access and require additional attention. These are areas like Biakato. Biakato is centered between Southern Ituri and North Kivu. Currently, we have 70 confirmed cases in Biaketo without an Ebola treatment center, being treated in conditions that are completely suboptimal. We have teams on the ground. Together with WFP, we will be building an Ebola treatment center, but we need more medical partners available to provide the medical services for these treatment centers. Areas like Bafwasende on the border between Ituri province and Tshokok province leading towards Kisangani. We have a partner, IMC, who is building an emergency treatment center there, and we expect that to be ready in the next few days. Areas like Boli Boli in Otwele, where we've recently seen an explosive outbreak of cases and very little treatment options for people in this remote area. There, WHO, together with Ministry of Health colleagues, have already established a rapid treatment center to move and to provide better conditions for patients. And finally, areas like Mangina in northern North Kivu and Kena in southern in areas under opposition control in North Kivu, we're working with WFP and with partners to establish treatment capabilities there. So I just want to highlight that despite the very significant progress we've seen, this outbreak is still posing us big challenges in very remote and hard-to-reach areas. And we cannot reduce the resources that have been put in place for this outbreak to be controlled. We need to continue to sustain that level of resourcing in the medical teams that are available, as well as the public health interventions and the supportive interventions like transport, like food assistance. If we don't provide food to patients, they will run away. And quite rightly, they will move to seek food somewhere else. And that is very dangerous in an Ebola outbreak. Finally, I just want to highlight that DRC remains the massive epicenter of this outbreak. And all resources need to be put for DRC to control this outbreak. If we don't, If we lift the foot off the pedal, the virus will resurge very quickly, will continue to spread to newly affected areas, and pose a threat for the country, the region, and the world at large. Thank you very much.

Sorry. Thank you very much, Katrina. Thanks again to, sorry, to David. I'll open the floor to question now. I am looking at the room. Yeah, yeah. Our -- sorry? Yeah, yes, absolutely. I think Christian and Asfar will look into that. Our AFP journalist is asking for your notes, for the notes of the speakers, if you could just transmit them to the journalists as soon as possible. Okay, so let me go to the platform. Satoko Adachi, Yomiuri Shimbun.

Yes, thank you very much. I have a question to David from WFP. You said that the WFP needs $115 million over the next six months. But according to the WFP press release that was published this morning, it said that the WFP requires $214 million over the next six months. So could you elaborate on that? Which figure is actually the correct? Thank you.

Thank you, Satoko. David.

Okay, thank you very much, Satoko. I appreciate, I understand your question. But the answer is quite clear as well. The 115 million is specifically for Ebola. The 214 million is for the needs in Eastern DRC, which are majority Ebola, but also conflict-related hunger in parts of eastern DRC which are not yet affected by Ebola. Both numbers are the six-month need. Thanks.

Thank you very much. Let me see. The hand is down. Olivia Le Poidevin, Reuters.

Good morning. Thank you very much indeed to both of you for that briefing. If I may, just starting on what was said about by Dr. Smallwood about the need to really support remote areas and obviously the the enormous challenges reaching them. I was just wanting to ask, alongside the logistical challenges of getting to those remote areas, what other difficulties are you facing in terms of establishing those treatment centres? And is that mainly coming down to a lack of funding or are there other factors there? And if I may, I mean, your concluding remark, I thought was very powerful about the need to not lift the foot off the pedal and potential kind of national and regional consequences if that doesn't happen. I do note the case in Nigeria. And I was wondering what the latest is from the World Health Organization's perspective, whether you have any verified evidence of local transmission in Uganda. There is a report about potential contact at Entebbe Airport between the patient who's fallen ill in Nigeria and a person from Kenya. We would welcome your latest information on that. Thank you.

Go ahead. Sorry.

Thank you. I can answer those two questions, and I'd invite my colleague, Christian, to provide any further information, particularly around Uganda and the possibility of the airport contamination. Just in terms of the remote areas, logistical issues are, of course, extremely challenging, particularly in the context of the wet season at the moment, where access via roads is very, very difficult. But it's also compounded and very significantly in some of the locations I mentioned by very difficult security situation. Take Mangina and Viakato. These are in areas that are affected by ADF conflict, and they're also areas where there is a... relatively dark history in the context of Ebola responses in the Yekato. Maybe some of you will remember that there was a very difficult night in November 2019, where there was an attack on WHO and Ministry of Health base with approximately 100 responders there, and we had several deaths among some of our national colleagues. So there's a lot of concern around operating in those areas and a lot of work to work with the community leaders and with the communities themselves, of which they are not necessarily one community, there are various diverse community perspectives. And that's what we've done in Biakato over the past several weeks. I was there myself with the national incident manager, and we had long discussions and sessions, both with the local chiefs, with the community groups, with the various administrators and local authorities, and we also have conducted assessments to assess the level of security risk and access to the area. We have teams now on the ground, and we're We're building an approach which has been requested by the community to hand over the knowledge, hand over the tools, and hand over the equipment that they need to run their own response. And this is increasingly, especially in the geographic extent of the outbreak, a way in which we, the partners, together with the national response teams, need to be working. We really need to be handing over and transitioning the tools, the capacities, and the knowledge to the local response teams. And they can then run the response the way the community would like it to be run. On the Nigeria case, I can just say that from the perspective of me sitting in DRC and working with the DRC colleagues, we have no information that the case traveled to DRC. If there is information on that, we're ready to receive it. But this has not yet been shared, neither by Uganda nor by Nigeria. In fact, the confirmation you have from Nigeria is the case did not travel to the Democratic Republic of Congo. In terms of possible overlap in travel times or days with the case that traveled through Entebbe airport to Nairobi, there is a possibility that there may have been some overlap. However, we would have to look at the time between that date and the onset of symptoms of the Nigeria case and to see whether the likelihood is that contamination was there or elsewhere. I'll stop there and let my colleague Christian take over.

Christian, please go ahead.

Yeah, thank you very much, Dr. Smallwood, also, and for the question. It's basically said, but let me wrap up what we have on the Nigeria case so far. On 20 October, Nigeria has confirmed one imported case of Ebola virus disease in the Federal Capital Territory. According to the authorities, the patient is a woman with a recent travel history to Uganda. Laboratory tests confirmed the Bundibugyo virus on 20 October. She's currently in an isolation and receiving medical care. Investigations are ongoing to establish the likely source of her infection and reconstruct her full travel and exposure history, just in line with what Dr. Smallwood just mentioned. The contacts have been identified and are being monitored as efforts are intensified to find other people who may have been exposed at various junctures of the travel. WHO and partners are working closely with the health authorities to strengthen control measures. And maybe as this goes in line, and also with the overall assessment that Katie gave, WHO urges all countries in the region to sustain a high level of readiness as the outbreak in the DRC continues to evolve. Monitoring at points of entry should be heightened with response plans in place. Sustained readiness is essential to detect cases early, prevent onward transmission, and protect health workers and communities. Important, WHO advises against any restrictions of travel to or trade with affected countries and continues to closely monitor and necessary verified travel and trade measures in relation to this event. And WHO risk assessments are being regularly reassessed and then to incorporate the latest developments related to this event and will then be subsequently shared.

Thank you, Christian. Thank you very much. Let me go to the next question. Mohammed Arslan, Turkish News Agency.

Alessandro, thank you so much. My question is for Christian for another topic, if there is no other question for this topic.

Wait, let me see if there is none indeed. I don't see any other hands, so I'd like to thank David Stevenson, the WFP country director, who was connecting from Kinshasa, and Dr. Catherine Smallwood, connecting from Bunia, the WHO Ebola incident manager, for their briefing. Thank you very much to both for briefing our Geneva press corps. And so that if you need Oh, Olivia has got her hand up. Olivia, is that on Ebola again?

Before I let people go.

On another subject. OK, so let's thank Catherine and David for their briefing. I see as far as taking care of the note, I think Christian will do it just afterwards. So, Mohamed, please go, ask your question to Christian on another subject, please.

Thank you so much, Alessandra. Christian, as you know, in France, the first human case of Shamanda virus, which previously observed only in animals, has been reported. It has been stated that the individual has passed away. My question is, what is the latest information regarding this virus and how dangerous is this virus that you are dealing with, we are dealing with? How is your contact with French authorities as well? Thank you.

Christian.

Yeah, thank you very much, Mohamed. And before I go to this, let me just add on the request of the notes. It may be difficult to get the notes of the Dr. Smallwood to you. We're trying. But I understand these are not in a shareable format. So we'll do our best, but we may have just to rely on the transcript here. So over to Shamonda. Now, France informed WHO of this case under the International Health Regulations. WHO is closely monitoring the situation and sharing information with countries via the same IHR and animal health partners like the FAO and the WOAH, the World Organization of Animal Health. WHO is in contact with the French authorities who are collecting information to better understand this first documented case. I'm very sorry. Let me repeat that because I had a call coming in. WHO is in contact with the French authorities who are collecting information to better understand this first documented human case of Chikungunya virus disease, including the source of infection, possible routes of transmission and any potential risk to public health. Chlamydia virus infection has not previously been detected in humans, and this is the first documented human disease case. In general, people can take steps to protect themselves from bites from *******. and other insects, particularly when outdoors, especially during hot and humid seasons, such as applying tropical insect repellents and wearing clothing that covers the skin. But let me repeat, this is the first ever case known of a human infection on this sort. Normally it's in cattle, horses, and the like. WHO has not yet made a formal risk assessment, but I hear from colleagues that we are expecting a disease outbreak news within the next days. Based on current information and knowledge of the transmission of closely related viruses, this is an isolated human case, and it is unlikely to lead to wider spread at this time. Transmissibility of midge-borne viruses also generally declines during the cooler months of the year. According to the French authorities, the patient experienced cerebral complications that were considered to be linked to the Chyomonda virus, but I also want to repeat, this person had been extremely immunocompromised before due to these diseases. According to French authorities, the patient was exactly immunocompromised, which would make them more vulnerable to infection and severe disease. The patient had been in the area where Chyomonda virus was circulating animals and where these midges were also present. Possible modes of transmission are being further investigated at this time, and again, we will have a disease outbreak news expected in the next days.

Thank you very much, Christian. I see Olivia has a question.

Thank you. Yeah, this is actually on Yemen, so I don't know whether you maybe want to continue with the briefing, and then we can come back to me, because I'll want to put it to multiple agencies, including the WHO.

Okay. Let's see if there's any other question for Christian. Sorry, Olivia, you Yemen for WHO or Yemen for somebody else?

Yemen for the WHO and all other agencies that sit in.

Okay. So I think you can go ahead, because I don't see other questions for WHO. So go ahead, please.

Thank you. And yes, sorry, another really challenging topic, the humanitarian situation in Yemen. I recall on Tuesday when we had this really helpful briefing with colleagues, it was highlighted that the fuel situation in Tires was looking really bad. I think it's about 12 hospitals maybe only had a few days left of fuel. I would just love an update from the WHO on what the latest situation is in regard to hospitals and tires, whether any hospitals have actually run out or are close to running out and what health impact you're seeing. But also the hunger situation. I don't know if anyone from WFP is still on the call, but I noted in the situation report last night that it was said that WFP is now doing cash assistance. instead of food distribution in TIES. So I just wanted to confirm if that means that there is currently no actual food distribution happening inside TIES because of the security situation. And sorry, one more question. Also, we'd be really grateful for an update from UNICEF on therapeutic food stocks and what the situation is there. Thank you so much, everybody. And anyone else who has anything to share, please do add.

Okay, let's start with Christian.

Yeah, thank you very much, Olivia. So we have not received reports on the end of the fuel supplies because, as you exactly said, four days ago, we reported or we were told that fuel supply will run out in the next days. So we should have reached that timeline. But I have not any updates on the exact situation, but what we have so far, hospitals in Yemen's ties governorate are struggling to maintain the life saving services and the critical shortages of fuel, oxygen, medicine, and medical supplies, with hospital services, um… Severely disrupted and stocks running dangerously low, urgent action is needed to sustain lifesaving care for thousands of patients at such a critical time. In Thai city alone, 42 health facilities are reporting acute shortage. More than 1,100 people with kidney failure required dialysis on a daily basis. 192 patients are receiving intensive care, and 154 newborns are in incubators. And that is, again, in Thai city alone. Without urgent replenishment, emergency surgery, dialysis, intensive care, and maternal and neonatal service face further disruptions. And just for a comparison of figures, Hospitals and the ambulances require more than 156,000 liters of fuel each month to maintain operations. So that means fuel shortages threaten oxygen production, emergency transport, vaccine cold chain supplies, and the Ministry of Public Health and Population reports that the situation is critical. Frequent communication network outages have also hampered the efforts to obtain updated information, and WHO is working with the health authorities to verify remaining fuel stocks and assess the extent of disruption of the hospital services, and that is ongoing.

Christian, thank you very much. Jens has joined me on the podium. WFP is not connected anymore, but we are trying to get as far back So that it could-- I have a few numbers from WFP I can quote. But maybe you want to start, Jens, on what you have, and then I'll try to complete. I've got a few numbers here from WFP, if we cannot get as far back.

Yeah, thank you. Thank you very much. Excuse me. And thank you, Olivia, for the question. Indeed, it has been-- it's 20 days and counting since Tays has been cut off, right? So from the 3rd of October, we are seeing increasingly that the fighting makes it impossible for us to get in and impossible for people to get out. So it's kind of a textbook example of what happens when access is cut off. It's, you know, we talk about it all the time, but this is really playing out in real time. Access roads have been cut off, and that means that very little fuel, food, or other supplies have reached the city since. And I want to highlight the impact of the dwindling water supply, which is raised by our country office as a particular concern, because most residents depend on water delivered by trucks, and with the roads closed and the diesel to run the trucks, very scarce water production in the city has fallen by about half. And the cost of the trucked water has roughly tripled. So you can imagine what that does to these people who are trapped there. Cooking gas is another item that is largely unavailable, and the shortage is already threatening community kitchens that provide hot meals to families. We heard from Christian about the impact on hospital and health, but I want to stress that while the UN cannot get into, there are local groups inside the city, local humanitarians who do have some stocks that they, of course, are distributing the best they can. That includes a little bit of fuel that they distribute to have the water pumps running and the hospitals running and so on and so forth. But that is really, it comes with a with a time code. The clock is running out on that as well. So it is critically important that we get that access so we can get the supplies in, and with the help of these very brave local organizations, can get it distributed. So those were the updates that I have this morning. Thank you.

Thank you very much. And I see that Ricardo has also raised his hand. I'll give him the floor. Possibly you have something on the situation of children. And we see then if WFP is not connecting, I'll give you the figures I have. Go ahead, Ricardo.

Thank you. Thank you, Alessandra. Just to answer to Olivia's question on Yemen. Regarding malnutrition, the situation remains extremely concerning, of course. We had our country representative briefing on Tuesday, and he gave very dire details of what's happening to children and the risks that are still there. In Tizahlong, UNICEF has screened more than 168,000 children this year, with over 52,000 found to be acutely malnourished, including more than 11,500 children suffering from severe acute malnutrition. Nearly one in three children screened has been identified as malnourished. More specifically on treatment, as Olivia asked, UNICEF has prepositioned nearly 8,000 cartons of ready-to-use therapeutic food, RUTF, across TIS governorate to support the treatment for children with severe acute malnutrition. Currently, the stocks are intended to sustain services for approximately three months. But we have not experienced any shortage of our UDF supplies in Ties. So for the time being, it's OK. However, escalating security and restrictions on movement remain a major concern. Even when stocks are available, access constraints and disruptions to supply routes can make it more difficult for partners to transport supplies and for families to safely reach treatment, of course, as colleagues have also flagged in terms of the situation and the hostilities on the ground. Continued deterioration of the security situation could affect replenishment and distribution efforts if humanitarian access is further restricted. That's it. Thank you so much.

Thank you, Ricardo, for intervening. And I see that Asfar is now connected again. So Asfar, the question from Olivia was about the situation, the food situation in Yemen, in particular, Taiz city. Yes, he's there. I don't know if you have any updated information on that, on the food situation there, with the problem of the access, the lack of access.

Essentially, the food situation is deeply concerning. As we recently stated, there are over 800,000 people that have been cut off from the food assistance, which includes 600,000 people who depend on humanitarian assistance and 200,000 women and children. We're desperately trying to regain access to Ties, and we continue to support the broader operations across Yemen. I can provide more information, Olivia, if you want to connect offline. I'm happy to go into a little bit more details as needed.

And I see, sorry, John, I see Olivia has raised her hand. That's probably a follow-up.

Yeah, thank you and thanks for jumping back on, Asfar. Yeah, I just wanted to clarify, because I saw in the situation report overnight that WFP is now swapping to cash assistance. What it wasn't clear on, does that mean WFP is not handing out any food at all now in Tyres because of the restrictions getting in and moving around? Or is there still some level of distribution and you're just shifting also at the same time to cash? assistance. And also, we've had reports about people saying even with cash assistance, they still can't buy that much because shelves are emptying.

It is a hybrid assistance. So where markets are functioning, there is the transition to cash, but there is still where access allows in-kind support also being delivered.

Thank you very much. John Zarokostas.

Yes, good morning. Can you hear me there, Alessandra?

We can. To whom is your question?

Yes, good morning. My question is both to Christian and Jens. I was wondering if you can bring us up to speed. Are UN agencies still assisting with medical evacuations and repatriation of seriously ill people through the Rafah crossing? And if you also have any information on the shortage of food in Gaza at the moment. Thank you.

Thank you. Who wants to start? Christian.

Let me start, Jens.

Yeah, Christian, maybe you want to start on the evacuations.

Yeah, exactly. So thank you for that, John. Yes, we are still involved in medical evacuations, but as you know, the medical evacuation process is a long one. And WHO is responsible for the facilitation of the physical facilitation at the end of the day of the patients across the border. And it needs various aspects on the road, literally. It needs the approval of the Israeli authorities, it needs a receiving country, which is It's ready to receive patient, both patients and accompanying people. It needs the acceptance of the medical authorities in. Gaza to select the patients which are ready for evacuation. So it's a long process, and WHO is supporting where we can, and at the end of the day, we are helping with the physical transfer out of Gaza with all the obstacles in between. I do not have figures with me at present.

Jens.

Thank you, John. Here's what I can say on food assistance in Gaza. So humanitarians are staying and delivering wherever we can. In Gaza, there's around 100 kitchens serving around 600,000 meals a day. And that is provided by a range of providers, but in particular, of course, from our side, from WFP. Now, we have said that While access is a main issue, you know we don't have access throughout the Gaza Strip, we are also now raising the concern about funding because we do have a rather large appeal for the OPT, and it is less than half funded. So the money side of this equation is also being looked at.

Thank you to both. John, you have a follow-up.

Yes, it's a clarification question. I was wondering if the Ruffer crossing is still one of the crossings used for the assistance to medically evacuate seriously ill patients, or is that crossing out for the time being? Thank you.

John, I will have to check on that because I do not have that information at hand.

Maybe, Jens?

Yeah, I mean, crossings are used both for people and for cargo. And what I can say is on cargo, the only crossing that's available to us is Kerem Shiloh.

Thank you. OK, I don't see other questions for colleagues. So thank you very much to Jens for stepping in and Christian. and Ricardo, and also Asfar for coming back to the briefing. I've got a few announcements for you. So let me start by our new annual report, 2025. This report has been published now. I know it's 2025, but it's a very beautiful report. And 2025 was a difficult year, as you all know, in terms of liquidity for the UN and so UN Geneva was not an exception to that. And we were able to deliver a lot. at a very important milestone, the 80th anniversary of the UN, UN80. So I would like to invite you to explore the report and recognize the work that we have done. There's a lot about what we have done with you, with the journalists, lots of numbers, lots of pictures, lots of photos, so that's going to be an interesting building. You will find things that you have contributed to, and thank you very much for that. And speaking of which, we are going to open Building C next week, so I will tell you more about the open day so that you can also come and see the beautiful pictures from the journalists and from UNIS that we have selected for the press bar, together with our staff who has voted about it. So we'll tell you more next week. I wanted to tell you, as usual, about the committees. We have the Human Rights Committee on, and it's reviewing the report of Cameroon today, while on Monday and Tuesday it will look at Jamaica. I wanted to also remind you of the, uh, media registration deadline for the first international conference of the UN Global Framework on Chemicals, as you may remember, we've been speaking about it to you. It's going to take place from the 16th to the 20th of November here in Geneva, and we will UNEP will manage this, our colleagues from UNEP. But if you want to participate, the registration is open until 31st of October, and we have sent you more information and the media advisory on this important conference. I have been asked to also read this to you on behalf of WTO. And so that's an announcement from WTO. WTO's 10th Global Review of Aid for Trade will take place on 29 and 30th of October at the WTO building. The event will bring together ministers, heads of international organizations, and experts to examine the impact of trade development interventions explore evolving trade and development needs, and forge partnerships aimed at helping developing economies and LDCs fully realize their trade potential. Selected sessions will be live-streamed on the WTO website, and you have apparently, you should have received or you will receive the full program together with this information. After the Global Reviews opening ceremony, His Excellency Alassane Ouattara, the President of the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, will deliver a WTO presidential lecture. 45 into the WTO's room CR. And that would be followed by a fireside chat between President Ouattara and the WTO Director General. That would be also closing remarks, and this will all be live streamed on the WTO website. WTO and OECD will hold an embargoed press briefing on the Aid for Trade 2026 publication with the title is Two Decades of Trade and Development Partnerships, Trends and Impacts of the Aid for Trade Initiative. That's going to be on Wednesday, 27th of October at 2.30 in the WTO Room B and on Zoom. The briefing will be given by the WTO Deputy Director General, Yang Chen-Sung, and the OECD Director for Development Cooperation, Pilar Garrido. There will also be a virtual briefing, this time by WTO and ITC, on Thursday, 29th of October, 00 p.m., with Dorothy Tambo, Executive Director of ITC, discussing small firms, global rules, a conversation on standards, regulation, and trade facilitation. I reckon that all this information will be sent to you by the colleagues of WTO. And I just want to conclude with two international days. I don't do this very often, but there are two international days, important ones. One is today, and you will tell me why, because it's International Day of the Snow Leopard. And the snow leopard is an endangered species, as you may know. which is an important information in the framework of the 17th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention of Biological Diversity, which is meeting at the moment in Yerevan, in Armenia. That's until the 30th of October. The Secretary General has addressed this conference. And at the beginning of the I think it was at the end of this week, during the weekend, and we've distributed his statement. So but stay tuned to the conference because there is a lot of interesting discussion there. Most of them are webcast live on UN Web TV. And the other international day is our day. It's tomorrow, 24th of October, UN Day. And the Secretary General will be delivering a conference, an encounter with the students and diplomats of the Cairo University. As you may have heard with the announcement from New York that came yesterday, the Secretary General he also mentioned it, the press encounter is leaving today New York to go to Egypt. That's at the invitation of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. During his visit, he will encounter he will have encounters with Egyptian senior officials and also officials of the League of Arab States. I'd like to underline that this visit is part of the Secretary General's ongoing consultations with countries amid ongoing diplomatic efforts to de-escalate tensions between the United States and the Islamic Republic of Iran, and as well to support a diplomatic resolution to the conflict. Egypt has been very actively engaged in these efforts, working with regional and international partners. So the Secretary General will be looking very much, focusing very much on this situation. And as I said, the address to the students for UN Day, we have distributed to you the message of the Secretary-General on the 24th October United Nations Day, where he says that UN, it's not just an organization, but it's an idea. Humanity's futures depend on our ability to work together to advance peace, development, and human rights, and the United Nations have been embodying this idea for 80 years. So I will let you look at the statement of the Secretary General that concludes by saying that on UN Day, he calls on all countries to renew their commitment to the shared values and the obligations that underpin them, the values of the United Nations. "Now more than ever," says the Secretary-General, "let us stand firm in our resolve to uphold the UN Charter and international law, and let's work to strengthen the United Nations to best serve people and meet the challenges of our time." And I think this is all I had for you. So if there are no questions, and I don't see any hand up, I thank you very much and wish you a very good weekend, and I'll see you next week. Thank you.