UN Geneva Press Briefing: UNICEF, UNFPA, ILO, ITU, WHO Press Conferences Date: 3 November 2026 Language: English Transcript: https://transcripts.un.org/en/briefing/geneva/2026-11-03 Transcripts available through this tool are created by using automatic speech recognition and are not official records nor official documents of the United Nations. Official records and official documents are available on the Official Document System of the United Nations. --- UNIS · Spokesperson [0:01]: Good morning. Welcome to the press briefing of the Information Service of the UN in Geneva. Today is Tuesday, 3rd of November. I'd like to start this briefing focusing on children. For this, I'd like to welcome Maissa Jalbouh, who is the director of Education Cannot Wait, the partnership that you know well. You have been having various events in Geneva, and she will talk about the next conference and report. Maissa. ECW · Director [0:29]: MAISSA JALBOUH: Thank you, Alessandra, and good morning, colleagues. This Thursday, governments and partners will gather here in Geneva for Education Cannot Wait. high-level replenishment conference hosted by the government of Switzerland. We're calling for 600 million U.S. dollars in predictable, multi-year financing to reach 10 million children and adolescents with quality education between 2027 and 2030. With two days to go, my appeal is to governments, foundations, and private sector partners to join this effort and make a commitment. Today, 258 million children, school-aged children and adolescents are affected by crises worldwide. 93 million are entirely out of school. Nearly 80% of crisis-affected children who are out of school live in just 20 countries. We know where the needs are concentrated, and we have partners working to reach them. For these children, education offers safety, continuity, and the chance to build a future amid conflict, displacement, and disaster. Every year of learning lost makes the future harder to recover. Over the past decade, ECW and its partners have reached 16 million children across more than 40 countries. We've demonstrated that education can be delivered in some of the world's most difficult settings. The task now is to sustain those gains and reach more children. That requires predictable funding. A child's education cannot depend on whether their crisis is still making headlines. Keeping children learning through prolonged conflict and displacement requires support that lasts. Nearly 80 percent of crisis governments and partners will announce their commitments on Thursday. Alongside those announcements, the conference will advance three priorities. First, national and local leadership. Ministers from crisis-affected countries will speak about the decisions they face. how keeping education going, supporting teachers, and reaching children in insecurity and displacement. Their priorities must shape how international support is designed and delivered. ECW has committed to directing at least 50 percent of its financing to local and national partners by 2030. The conference will be an opportunity to strengthen the partnerships that make this possible. Second, bringing more resources into education in emergencies. While sustained government support remains essential, we will also bring together development finance institutions, philanthropy, banks, and institutional investors to explore how additional resources can support children's education. Innovative financing can complement public funding and connect new partners to a proven education response. The test is practical. Does it bring additional resources and improve children's opportunities to learn? Third, learning from students and teachers. They will bring their experience directly into the discussion, continuing in education after displacement, teaching through insecurity, and rebuilding learning when classrooms and communities have been disrupted. They highlight what it takes to keep children in school and ensure they achieve meaningful learning outcomes. Their perspectives will help connect the commitments made in Geneva to the conditions needed for education to continue. The commitments made this week will determine how many more children we can support, how quickly we can respond, and how long that support can last. I urge governments and partners to make the strongest commitments they can on Thursday, and those who have yet to join us to come forward. For journalists, interviews with ministers, senior officials, students, teachers, and financing partners will be available with a dedicated media corner at the conference. Thank you very much. UNIS · Spokesperson [5:02]: And I'd like to add that we have distributed on your behalf the media advisory and the press kits. You have it in your mailboxes. So let me open the floor to question now on this important conference. In the room, I don't see any hand up or on the platform. I think everything has been very clear, Maissa, on this conference. And please stay. If you wish, we'll continue speaking about the same subject, basically, but apply it to one country, because Ricardo has some information to share with you. on children in Ukraine, exactly what Maisa was talking about, children in an armed conflict. Riccardo. UNICEF · Spokesperson [5:46]: Thank you, Alessandra. Thank you, Maisa, for the briefing. Indeed, it segues well into what I came here to talk about today. Children in Ukraine are facing growing disruptions to their education as air raid alarms continue to interrupt their school day amid ongoing escalating attacks. The impact is being felt in classrooms across the country. Since the start of 2026-27 school year, children have experienced an average of 34 hours of air raid alarms during school time, equivalent to more than 13 percent of scheduled learning, according to data covering the period up to 20 of October. Air raid alarms have occurred on nearly two-thirds of school days in the period of September and October 2026, compared with around one-third in the equal period of 2025. The average duration of alarms during school hours has almost doubled from September 2025 to September 2026. In Kyiv alone, schooltime alarms rose from 20 – 12, excuse me, in September 2025 to 71 in September 2026. In Dnipropetrovsk, Kirovohrad, and Kharkiv regions, children have experienced more than 60 hours of schooltime alarms, equivalent to approximately one-quarter of scheduled learning hours, affecting more than 560,000 children. Fifteen-year-old Katya from Mykolaiv region is one of them. She told us, "I've just returned to in-person school. However, we still spend most of our school day in a shelter because of air raids. It is difficult to concentrate and learn properly in these conditions." In addition to air raids and alarms, the UN has verified almost 2,000 attacks on education facilities across Ukraine, including some 270 in 2026 alone. That's 270 this year alone. Children must be protected from attacks, and every child has the right to learn in safety. And what's going on in Ukraine is showing that education is being impacted, and a solution needs to come quickly because a whole generation is at risk of not catching up to their full potential. Alessandra, I have a line also to read on Myanmar, but maybe I could pause No? UNIS · Spokesperson [8:17]: No, go ahead, go ahead, so we can ask questions on both conflict situations. UNICEF · Spokesperson [8:23]: Thank you. We're also alarmed by reports that three children were killed and five others injured when an airstrike struck a school serving displaced children and families in Loikaw Township, Kayah State in Myanmar on 31st October. Further airstrikes were reported in Rakhine State over the weekend, including one that struck a temporary health care facility, reportedly killing a newborn baby and health care workers. Children are again bearing the brunt for conflict. They are being killed and injured in the very places where they should be safe and protected, including schools and health care facilities. UNICEF calls on all parties to the conflict to uphold their obligation under international humanitarian law and take all necessary measures to protect children always. Thank you. UNIS · Spokesperson [9:16]: Ms. Thank you very much. Question, whether on Ukraine or – yeah? Or let’s start with RFE, Jeremy. RFE · Journalist [9:24]: Now, just a quick one on the figures. if I understand correctly, 2,000 – more than 2,000 attacks on education facilities. Is that since the start of the war in 2022? UNICEF · Spokesperson [9:37]: Yes. Sorry, yes, that’s since the beginning of the conflict. UNIS · Spokesperson [9:42]: I saw another hand on that side. Yeah, Emma. Reuters · Journalist [9:47]: Yes, good morning. I’m wondering if anyone has started to measure the impact of this either on learning, exam grades, or on mental health for children in Ukraine? Thank you. UNICEF · Spokesperson [10:01]: Mr. Thanks for that question, Emma. Indeed, in terms of mental health, the impact is being measured. I don't have the figures right here in front of me, but surely I can go to our country office and ask for the latest survey or results that they might have had in doing a poll with young children and adolescents. But when I was there about a month ago, talking to children who've been learning underground through school shelters because it's not safe for them to be above ground, and even then they are dealing with air raid alarms all the time, you could feel that some of them, especially the older ones, expressed a lot of anxiety and shared with us their kind of inability to fully concentrate and kind of leave what's happening above ground behind when they go underground to learn. And even though the facilities are safe and the teachers are there and classes are trying to go on as expected in any school, children have been just absolutely exhausted by nearly five years of war and the impact It's visual, and when you talk to them, they're very front-forward in sharing how it's been impacting their mental health as well, especially with anxiety and this inability to keep what's happening in terms of the war outside the door when they go underground into the shelters. In terms of the impact on their learning. Indeed, there was the PISA results that came out in September for OECD countries, and Ukraine was part of that analysis. And I did a Palais back when I was in Ukraine specifically mentioning that. So I can share with you again some of the numbers, but the overall message is that indeed it is impacting. their potential. It hasn’t dropped compared to the results that were – that came out in 2022, so right at the onset of the war. They haven’t worsened, but there is no improvement, which means children are being extremely resilient and their form of resistance is staying in school and trying to keep up with their peers, but it’s not improving either. And Ukraine has always been I guess, historically, a country that showed a lot of potential in terms of the upcoming generations and their ability to learn and their results in terms of education. And now it's, to say the bare minimum, stagnated because of the war. So there is definitely a direct impact. UNIS · Spokesperson [12:55]: Yeah, I remember you showed us a classroom underground. That was really incredible to see these children underground studying. Maisie, you want to add something to that? Ms. ECW · Director [13:05]: Yeah, I just wanted to add, whether it's Ukraine, Gaza, or Sudan, these wars have huge impact on children and their ability to learn, to the point where we at Education Cannot Wait and all of our partners are having to prioritize funding for psychosocial counseling carving away money that we essential money that we need for teaching and learning in order to support the children's ability to cope with learning in very difficult circumstance. UNIS · Spokesperson [13:38]: Thank you very much. Yes, Alex, AFP. AFP · Journalist [13:43]: Yeah, just a quick one. Thank you. Given the numerous attacks on school infrastructure in Ukraine, do you have an estimation on how many schools right now are still operational compared to before the war? UNICEF · Spokesperson [13:58]: Yeah, thank you for your question. I don't have that figure here right in front of me, but surely less schools are operational now than before the war, especially because School infrastructure has been hit across the country, and even the ones that are still standing, most of the time children and young people are being asked to go underground to learn just because of the amount of air raid alarms that go through the day. It's not safe. When I was there, again, I remember a university building was struck during the day, and luckily, because of the air alerts, The students were underground learning, so nobody got injured or impacted, but surely it has had a negative impact on the number of schools. UNIS · Spokesperson [14:49]: If you have, if you find this figure, please. Share it with me. UNICEF · Spokesperson [14:51]: Yeah, yeah, I will check with our country office. UNIS · Spokesperson [14:53]: So thank you very much to both our speakers, Maissa Jalbout, the director of education, cannot wait. Good luck with the conference. We really cross fingers that the funding call appeal will be fulfilled. And thanks, Ricardo, for this update on the situation of children in these two particular conflicts. Thanks. So let's now go to the second part of our briefing, which is dedicated to Yemen. For this, I’d like to welcome Francesco Galtieri, who is the country representative for Yemen of the UNFPA. He is calling in from Aden. Let me see if we can see Francesco. I can see you are connected, but I cannot see you yet. I think we need to put on your camera. Yes, that’s – yeah, that’s it. You are connected, Francesco. Go ahead. You wanted to give us an update. Welcome, on the situation for women and girls, especially in Ta’izz and the other IDP camps. Please. UNFPA · Country Representative for Yemen [16:02]: Thank you very much, Daniela, and good morning to all the colleagues. Thank you for having me for the second time since the escalation of the hostilities. Before entering into the humanitarian updates, please allow me to take a moment to remember our OHCHR and former UNFPA colleague, Mohammed Alshami, who died while being held in arbitrary detention by the de facto authorities here in Yemen. Sincerely, my thoughts and the thoughts of our team here and heartfelt condolences go to his wife, his children, and the family. UNIS · Spokesperson [16:33]: Francesco, if you allow me on this particular point, I wanted to read it at the end, but since you have mentioned our colleague, If you don't mind, I can that I read a statement on that. Well, first of all, on Saturday we have distributed the statement of the Secretary General. You have received it. But I would like to also read this: As you have seen over the weekend, we received the horrible news of the death of one of our colleagues, Mohammed Elshami, as Francesco has mentioned, while in detention by the Houthis. And we shared the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights' statement on this yesterday and the Secretary General one on Saturday. Mr. Elshami served with the Office of the High Commissioner in Yemen, and he had been arbitrarily detained by the Houthis since the 6th of June, 2024. The circumstances surrounding his death remain unclear. Since his detention in 2024, the Houthi de facto authorities have provided neither information about his well-being nor had provided proof of life, despite repeated requests by the United Nations. The Secretary General has called for an immediate, impartial, transparent, and thorough investigation into this incident. The Secretary General remains gravely concerned for the safety and physical and psychological well-being of the 70 United Nations personnel, five former UN staff members, and personnel from humanitarian and civil society who remain arbitrarily detained to this day. He reiterates his call for their immediate and unconditional release. And we extend, of course, our heartfelt condolences to Mr. Al-Shami’s family, friends, and colleagues, as Francesco said. Thank you, Francesco. Please go ahead with the briefing on the situation of women and girls. Thank you. UNFPA · Country Representative for Yemen [18:23]: Absolutely. Thank you, Daniela. So since the last briefing six weeks ago, fighting, of course, in parts of Yemen have intensified to a level that haven’t been seen since 2020. So the displacement from the West Coast and Tait has tripled ever since, with nearly 300,000 people now uprooted from their homes. And more than half of them, of course, are unfortunately women and children. And 33% of the displaced families are led through this extreme hardship by women. As the fighting intensifies, as you can imagine, women are losing access to very basic services they need to survive, from maternity care to protection against violence. Already since the beginning of this year, 6.2 million women and girls lack access to basic protection services. And of course, in displacement sites, they face heightened risks of gender-based violence, including sexual violence. harassment, exploitation, forced child marriage, and other harmful practices. These threats, of course, compounded by displacement, loss of uncertainty, are also taking a severe toll on their mental and psychosocial health and well-being. Just to give you one story, Safa is a 14-year-old girl that our service providers have met, and she fled in Lash. She told UNFPA that she had lost her mother earlier this year and has no siblings, and her father married her when the crisis started to an elderly man just a few weeks ago, because the father feared that he would have no chance to protect Safa in case he had been harmed or killed. during the hostilities. So honestly, Safar's words show how war can strip away protection at every turn through bereavement, displacement, fear, and child marriage, unfortunately. Her story is a stark reminder of the impossible choices some families are facing and the devastating consequences, particularly for girls. Now, specifically on Tait City, the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation on health and protection is what I'm going to be addressing specifically. So nowhere is the cost of interrupted care clearer than in that area, in Ties and around Ties. Life-saving services are being significantly cut off for more than 147,000 women and girls of childbearing age. Out of the total 27 designated emergency maternal and neonatal hospitals, only five are partially functioning. And UNFPA estimates that over 13,000 pregnant women currently lack essential services, including 1,500 who are due to give birth within the next two weeks. And 75% of protection services had to be suspended for the lack of funding, problems with access, and the lack of qualified service provider personnel. Currently, the UNFPA supported Swedish Motherhood and Child Hospital that has been in the news. The city's main maternal care facility. The number of childbirth delivery have halved from 10 to five average per day, while the number of functioning incubators had to be reduced from 40 to 10 because of fewer shortages. Nine times hospitalizations have dropped to almost zero because of insecurity and shelling is preventing women, are preventing women from traveling. And staff as well, health personnel, are extremely overstretched, and they struggle to get to work because of lack of fuel and the prohibitive prices. And this limits, of course, the hospital's ability to manage obstetrical or emergencies and complications at the time of delivery. So unless access restrictions are lifted in the coming days, the hospital itself could close. Inside the city, midwives report that severely malnourished pregnant women are surviving on one or maximum two meals a day, but we are talking of a cup of tea or some bread and plain rice. And so midwives report that the number of miscarriages and increased home unsafe deliveries has increased. And meanwhile, of course, the lack of safe humanitarian supply routes is preventing the replenishment of essential reproductive health supplies, as well as the fuel for the hospitals and other life-sustaining supplies. Of course, we all agree that no woman should have to risk her life simply because she's giving birth to a new life in a war zone. So UNFPA, with our partners, we are responding wherever access allows through the UN rapid response mechanism that UNFPA leads on behalf of the humanitarian country team in Yemen. We have currently reached more than 182,000 people, which is roughly the 75% of the displaced households. since the beginning of the escalations, noting that, of course, this is the number of the people assisted since the beginning of the escalations. Before, I was giving you the total number of displaced people since the 1st of August. And we have dispatched 55 metric tons of maternal medicines and supply to support, that would be enough to support roughly 120,000 pregnant women in the affected conflict areas over the next four to six months. We have 129 community midwives who are reaching out to their, what we call, catchment area, so the areas they cover where they go and proactively seek and support pregnant women. And we have activated five integrated reproductive health and protection emergency mobile teams that are sustaining life-saving services in these areas. And as of yesterday, they have been able still to reach four out of the five districts. of Thai city and the surroundings. So we do echo the Secretary General's call for an immediate de-escalation, the protection of civilians, and safe, sustained, and unimpeded humanitarian access. We fail to approach the closing that too often the needs of women and girls are the first to be overlooked and the last to be heard. Societies always praise women's resilience without necessarily standing by their side in a tangible way, and yet this women and girls suffering is not secondary. Their voices must not disappear behind the statistics of war, which seem to attract most of the attention. Their voices must be heard, their rights must be protected, and their lives must be treated as a priority. Because when the world listens, of course, the world can act. And in Yemen now, action is needed and cannot wait. Thank you very much. UNIS · Spokesperson [25:50]: Absolutely. Thank you very much for this update, Francesco. Let me open the floor to questions now. Let me see if any in the room. I don't see any hand up or on the platform. So I think we've been... Yes, Jamie. Jamie has a question. Sorry, Jamie Keaton is Associated Press. Thank you. Jamie, you have the floor. AP · Journalist [26:14]: Hello, sir. Thank you so much for coming to see us. I just wanted to know if you could talk about the issue of safe drinking water and water in general since the Houthis have tightened their encirclement on Taiz city. How are women and pregnant women navigating these issues right now? And how many maternity hospitals and facilities are still functional in the city? I mean, are pregnant women starting to show signs of malnourishment and dehydration because the city has been cut off from supplies since early October? So that would be great if you could address those questions, please. Thank you. UNIS · Spokesperson [26:58]: Thank you, Jamie. Francesco. UNFPA · Country Representative for Yemen [27:01]: Thank you very much, Jamie, and thanks to the Associated Press to have us also last week. Currently, We are starting seeing major issues with safe and drinking water, as well as with food. So as I was mentioning, the malnutrition is evident, and the number of women who are living just on a cup of tea and maybe some rice every day is increasing the number of pregnant women. So with the colleagues from the food security cluster, we are extremely concerned, and pregnant and lactating women are one of the priority groups for the meager resources that are available. For the water, of course, UNICEF is leading the effort to provide support, but unfortunately, as we know, the main routes, particularly from the government of Yemen-controlled areas into Taiz have been completely cut off now for the past few weeks. We have been seeking proactively a partnership with some private sector actors because they have a greater agility sometimes to bring in smaller quantities. The current major challenge is that some of the supplies that are needed are bulky supplies. And so already the mountainous roads of Yemen are not easy to navigate for trucks. You can imagine when, as a logistic cluster supporting the humanitarian aid, deployment, I mean distribution. We currently have 18 trucks waiting to go, but they cannot pass from anywhere for both security issues and infrastructural problems now. So it is an issue. We have been trying to address it, seizing every opportunity, including the partnership with the private sector. But we realize that this lifeline is not going to be sustainable for long. Now, when it comes to the reproductive health facilities, in the city of Thais and of course we include also the two nearby districts. We are at 5 as I was mentioning and it's very concerning also because The only five out of 27 that are still functional, they are all in the urban area of Tainas. But we are still very much concerned about the people in the rest of the locations, including the people on the West Coast and pregnant women on the West Coast, who are likely still having an access to the Doctor Without Borders facilities in Mocha and Jaca. Because as UNFPA leading the reproductive health working group within the humanitarian country team, we are closely mapping what each partner is able to do, no matter how limited and small, because those are the resources we have available to offer to these pregnant women. UNIS · Spokesperson [29:47]: Thank you very much. Olivia Le Poidevin, Reuters. Reuters · Journalist [29:54]: Good morning. Thank you for this briefing, Francesco. Just a question about what you mentioned there about miscarriages. I think you said that midwives are reporting an increase in the number of miscarriages and unsafe deliveries. I was just wondering, sorry, just to catch which part of Yemen those midwives were reporting that. and whether they are directly making the link between the current conditions and that phenomena. And I was also wondering as well, you know, if you have any details as well on the situation in Marib. I mean, is this a problem across the border? Are there certain areas where this problem is just much more acute? Obviously, Kaya's being one, I'm sure. Thank you. UNFPA · Country Representative for Yemen [30:42]: Thank you very much, Olivia. So Our midwives, I mean, the network of midwives that UNFPA supports directly and or through our partners, specifically in the most affected areas, is 59 midwives. And they are deployed, as I was mentioning, to take responsibility within specific catchment areas, within specific locations, so they can do a more frequent follow-up and so on. Now, when we look at numbers just within the area of Taites, currently, we estimate around 13,000 pregnant women, and 6,400 are from the displaced women. For the 6,400, we expect roughly 1,500 obstetric emergencies because of the distress these women have gone through, because of the physical trial there to go through by walking, being pregnant, carrying the families, carrying their goods. And so this increase in miscarriages has been observed within the most affected areas, primarily the areas in and around Tai City. When it comes in the, unfortunately, sorry, just to say, we don't have an equally regular incoming set of information and data from the West Coast, with the exception, of course, of the two facilities supported by Doctors Without Borders, and 15 of our previously 18 supported midwives in the area of Bab El Mandab who are still there and with whom we're still in touch. Three of those 18 being currently actually in Djibouti. They left the country. When it comes to Mari, the situation is still concerning when it comes to the displacement. At the same time, facilities are still running. And numbers are not equally overwhelming as in Tays. And in addition, we still have supply access to Marib. Just yesterday, through the rapid response mechanism, we could restock our supplies for 5,000 more households should higher numbers reach the city of Marib. And we've also been able to reprogram some of the resources that we were previously providing to some hospitals in Marib that now no no longer provide reproductive health services because they are dedicated to trauma, we have redeployed those capacities and the financial and commodity support to the main hospitals in Maribor that are receiving pregnant women. So the situation is not alarming. It is, of course, still a situation where a high number of the population is in humanitarian need and in a country where maternal mortality is the highest in the whole Arab region. So three women before the escalation were estimated losing their life while giving birth every day. UNIS · Spokesperson [33:43]: Thank you very much, Francesco. These figures are appalling, really. No other hands up, I can see. So thank you very much, Francesco. Keep informing us of this dire situation in Yemen. Good luck with your work. And I’d like now to call to the podium our colleagues of ILO. Welcome, Zaina. You have brought us Jae Hee Chung – I hope I pronounced it well – the senior relations specialist of the Bureau for Employers’ Activities at ILO. So welcome. You have an update on a report on women in business and management. Don’t know who’s that. ILO · Spokesperson [34:22]: Thank you very much, and good morning, colleagues. Indeed, as Alessandra just mentioned, the ILO has released its Women in Business and Management: Scaling Success report today, 3rd of November. The embargo has been lifted. It was lifted at 9:30 GMT. And we're lucky to have my colleague Jaehee Chang with us, who's the co-author of the report as well as the senior relations specialist of the Bureau of Employers' Activities at the ILO. So without further ado, I'll hand over to Janghee. ILO · Senior Relations Specialist, Bureau for Employers’ Activities [34:55]: Thank you, Zeina, and thank you, Alessandra. Good morning. Women today are more educated and skilled than ever before, and globally, women's participation in tertiary education exceeds that of men's. Yet women still hold only 30 percent of management positions worldwide. And despite the number of women employers nearly doubling over the past three decades, women still account for less than a quarter of employers globally. Why is this growing pool of female talent still not translating fully into business and economic opportunities? This is exactly the question that we asked ourselves when we set out to do this research and produce our Women in Business and Management Scaling Success report. Our findings draw on three rounds of ILO enterprise surveys in 2013, 2018, and 2025, as well as on three decades of labor market data. We looked at nearly 12,000 enterprises across 99 countries. And I would like to highlight three key findings. First, there has been real progress at the top. In 2025, 28.2% of enterprises had a woman CEO, and this is up from 23.4% in 2013. And the proportion of women board chair more than doubled from 13.1% to 30.9%. But looking further down the management pipeline, the picture is more mixed. Gender balance has improved at senior and top management levels, but it's declined at junior and particularly at middle management levels. Women are also much more represented in areas such as human resources, administration, than they are in roles that have more direct responsibility for business performance, like in sales, operations, research and development. And it is these functions that can provide important pathways to senior leadership. So progress at the top is encouraging, but it needs a strong pipeline beneath it if it is to continue and to be effective. Second, enterprises are reporting a stronger business case for gender equality and diversity. Nearly seven in ten enterprises surveyed in 2025 reported achieving better business outcomes with their gender equality and diversity initiatives, and this is an increase of more than 11 percentage points since 2018. Enterprises reported benefits for attracting and retaining talent, innovation, reputation, employee engagement, and productivity, and they also reported increases in profits. Enterprises with women CEOs and women board chairs were also more likely to report stronger business outcomes. But there is another finding in the report which deserves attention. While we know more about the measures that enterprises consider effective, fewer enterprises report actually implementing such measures. Enterprises identified a maternity leave and support programs, measures to prevent and address violence or harassment at work, and equal pay initiatives among the most effective actions. Yet across the initiative examined, the average share of enterprises reporting implementation of these measures, and especially measures that they themselves told were effective fell from 37.4% in 2018 to 26.5% in 2025. The survey tells us that this decline has happened. It does not tell us why, and understanding what lies behind this trend will require further research. But the finding raises an important question: How do we move from policies and good intentions to concrete and sustained action? The report points to practical approaches like measurement, targets, stronger management pipelines, and better access for women to functions and sectors that can open opportunities for leadership. And enterprises' action is only part of that picture. Structural barriers outside of the workplace, including unequal care responsibilities, persistent social norms, also affects women's opportunities to participate and progress at work. In conclusion, the evidence in this report reinforces a clear message: there has been progress, there is a strong business case, but considerable potential remains underutilized. The priority now is to sustain that progress and scale what works. So thank you for listening today, and before I close, I would also like to let you know that the full report will be presented tomorrow, 4th of November, at 13:30 Central European Time at a global live-streamed event through ILO TV, and we will go further looking more closely at what the data tells us about the management pipeline, measures that appear to be working, and how these findings play out in different national and regional contexts. We hope you will join us. Thank you. UNIS · Spokesperson [39:47]: Thank you very much. So questions for ALO. I'll start with Emma, Reuters. Reuters · Journalist [39:55]: Ms. Good morning. Sorry, I haven't had a chance to read the report yet. Thirty percent. Could you just comment on where this is historically? I assume this is the highest ever. And has it evolved – how it has evolved over time? Thank you. ILO · Senior Relations Specialist, Bureau for Employers’ Activities [40:11]: Thank you. The question from Reuters. Indeed, we have looked at the labor market data across 30 years, so that's three decades. And the share has been increasing over the years, but at a very, let's say, slow pace. And within the report, we provide that figure, and I think it goes from about maybe 24 percent to 30 percent over the past three decades. Thank you. UNIS · Spokesperson [40:40]: Okay, I see Ravi. Ravi Kant online. Washington Trade Daily · Journalist [40:48]: Hello? Can you hear me? UNIS · Spokesperson [40:50]: Yes, we can. Go ahead. Washington Trade Daily · Journalist [40:52]: Yeah. Thank you very much, Elissa. I have not gone through the report, but my question is a bit more different in the sense that do the patriarchal societies where hierarchy still continues to be a major impediment bring down women's elevation in higher positions? I'm asking this question in the specific context of India. And where do these figures, what do the figures about India suggest? Thank you. ILO · Senior Relations Specialist, Bureau for Employers’ Activities [41:33]: Thank you for the question. So in the report, we actually present the global average of the various indicators that we are looking at, and we also look into the regional averages as well. And there are differences per region in terms of where women are positioned and situated. If you look at Asia-Pacific in particular, it is a region that does require a little bit more, let's say, attention and effort, and that is especially compared to, for example, the Americas region or the European region. Obviously, alongside Asia-Pacific, Arab states is also a region where women's position within companies across the management levels need a little bit more attention. In terms of the specific question on India, the survey that we conducted did reach India, but to provide a more accurate picture in terms of where India is positioned, I would need to go back and look at the data in more detail, but I would be happy to present that information to the colleague who raised the question just now. We do not make correlations or associations with countries that are perceived to be more patriarchal. goal or where there’s more challenges in social norms, that this report does not do. Thank you. Ms. UNIS · Spokesperson [43:01]: Thank you very much. Any other questions? Do I allow – let me see. No, I don’t see any other hand up. Thank you very much for this report, and I trust Zainab will distribute it to the journalists. Thank you. Ms. Thank you. Okay, so let’s go to our next speaker, who comes from ITU. In fact, there are two. has brought us Thierry Geiger, who is a senior economist – sorry, with ITU, also to present us a report. Welcome. Let’s start with David. ITU · Spokesperson [43:44]: Good morning. Thank you, Ali. ITU’s Facts and Figures 2026 was issued this morning at 10:30 our time, so you’ll hear more about that report from our guest, Thierry Geiger, from ITU, a senior economist, as Alessandra has mentioned. The material supporting the report should all be in your inbox by now. You should have the press release, you should have the report all now again after the embargo has lifted. The report material is also available online. You can find it at. ITU · Senior Economist [44:18]: Thank you very much, and good morning, everyone. So indeed, ITU released its Facts and Figures 2026 edition today. This report is an annual assessment of digital connectivity around the world. It brings together statistics on different aspects of digital connectivity, including internet use and network coverage, affordability, internet traffic, digital skills. And this data helps us track digital divides between regions, income groups, countries, special country groups, but also between genders, between generations, between urban and rural areas, so within geographies and across segments of the population. Obviously, connectivity plays a critical role in economic and social development. It is very prominent on the development agenda with seven indicators in the SDG framework. With the rapid development of AI and other technologies, there is a risk that digital divides that we see today will widen further, leaving those who are already digitally excluded even further behind. And understanding where the gaps are, who they affect, who is left behind, is the first step towards addressing these issues. So let me just highlight a few findings. I won't give you all the numbers, but maybe let me start with internet use, which continues to grow. We estimate that in 2026, 6.3 billion people use the internet, representing approximately 76% of the world population. That's up from 74% Obviously, this global average conceals wide disparities. For example, 93% of people in high-income countries use the internet, compared with just 32% in low-income countries. Obviously, to use the internet, you need access, and we estimate that Today in the world, 97 percent of the population is within range of a mobile broadband network, meaning 3G or better. So technically, this enables 97 percent of the population to use the internet. So that's a positive development. That said, we also see a very wide divide between, in terms of the type of technology used. So there is only so much you can do with 3G network and 3G access. 5G is now the best standard available. And here we see a big gap. So in high-income countries, 86% of the population is already covered by a 5G network, whereas in low-income countries, only 4% of the population is covered by 5G. So this obviously affects what people can do online. Third, as I mentioned, coverage does not necessarily translate into use. It's a necessary condition, but not sufficient. There are multiple buyers that prevent translating access to actual usage. For example, in LDCs, we see a gap between the share of the population having access, so technically able to access the internet, the gap between this share of the population with access and the share of the population actually using it, this gap is 50 percentage points. So why is such a gap? Well, there are a number of barriers, starting with affordability. And the report also give the latest estimates about the price of or the cost of using the internet. And we've seen some small progress. So globally, a basic mobile data package now costs the equivalent of 1.2% of monthly income per person. down from 1.3 percent back in 2025. So that's how we measure affordability, as a share of the average income of a person, how much must be spent to get a basic data plan, and that's how we measure affordability. And connectivity remains unaffordable for many in low-income countries. The basic mobile data package costs the equivalent of 8% of monthly income per person. That's 20 times the median price in high-income countries. So again, here, a huge divide observed. So these are just a few findings from Facts and Figures 2026. Just to conclude, the report confirms that the world continues to make progress towards universal and meaningful connectivity, but that progress remains very uneven. Back to you. UNIS · Spokesperson [50:28]: Ms. Absolutely. Very interesting figures. May open the floor to questions, if any, on this report that you should have in your yeah, Emma? Reuters. Reuters · Journalist [50:38]: Good morning. I just wanted to check whether this is something that's going to be addressed as a policy priority at the ITU meeting in Doha, and if not, if you could just also talk us through the priorities there in terms of ILO – sorry, ITU policies? ITU · Spokesperson [50:59]: Thank you, thank you, Emma. So as far as the priorities that are set up for PP Plenipotentiary Conference, which will run in Doha from 9 to 27 November, connectivity is among the priorities that have been set up along with emerging technologies, resilience, and other issues. And so as part of that priority, what PPE is going to be looking at will also be the infrastructure, the investment that's required to bring the connectivity that Thierry is talking about to the people that need to be connected in a meaningful manner. I don't know, Thierry, if you want to talk a little bit more about how the statistics inform PPE. ITU · Senior Economist [51:44]: Yeah, I mean, I think that this notion of universal meaningful connectivity that I alluded to is very much present in the ITU agenda. It's been the case for a few years. So the idea that we need to move beyond providing access to enabling the actual use and meaningful use, that is good quality connectivity, enabling anyone to do what they need to do online. So the report provide these kind of stock taking and to see how we're doing in terms of providing this situation of universal and meaningful connectivity. which is a core goal of ITU and its stakeholders. And it’s also an important – again, it is connectivity is on the – as part of the SDG framework, so these numbers also help inform progress towards the development agenda goals. UNIS · Spokesperson [52:52]: Thank you very much. John Zarocostas, France 24. France 24 · Journalist [53:00]: Yes, good morning. Thank you for the briefing. I was wondering if you have any analysis what is contributing to the continued digital divide. The UN and specialized agencies have been writing and talking about this for more than 30 years, to my knowledge. And here we are today talking of the divide continuing. What are the two or three principal policy impediments to that? And also, I was wondering if you have in your data any figures on number of internet shutdowns globally for whatever reasons, technical or political? ITU · Senior Economist [53:42]: Thank you. Thank you for the question. So the good news is that The divides are closing slowly at a different pace, depending on the region, depending on the countries, but there is progress. We see progress in the digital divide between men and women. Some regions, some country groups have closed the gap. We see a narrowing between the urban and rural areas in the coverage, network coverage, but also in internet use, across different age groups also, and the poorest countries catching up. And yet, the gaps are still there. But there is progress, and with the poorest countries catching up, I mean, growing much faster than other country groups. So there is that's positive. In terms of the reason, what we see, what we observe, is that digital development is very much linked to economic development in general. So there are very few countries able to escape this reality and doing great in terms of digital development and struggling economically. So I would say that the primary reason is, again, economic development or lack thereof. And then, when it comes to – it takes investment to deploy network, it takes skills to use the internet, it takes money to buy a device, and all these are barriers, and I mentioned affordability of the service. All these are barriers to use that and perpetuate the divides. You can imagine that all these reasons – investment, skills, device – all these are linked to economic opportunity and economic development. So these, I would say, are some of the factors. So tackling economic development will help tackling digital development or lack thereof. UNIS · Spokesperson [56:20]: Thank you very much. Ravikant, Washington Trade Daily. Washington Trade Daily · Journalist [56:28]: Thank you, Alyssa. My question, following John's question, is about this digital divide, and the same divide continues to surface even in the electronic commerce. Would ITU suggest or recommend or advocate that there should be what you call customs duties on electronic transmissions in countries which are lagging behind, both in connectivity and capacity building, so that they can raise income to bridge this gap. Would ITU recommend such a policy measure? Thank you. ITU · Senior Economist [57:20]: Pardon. The report really much focuses on the situation on the ground, so it doesn't look at the enablers and the solution, which is typically tackled in other publications, other fora, but the report itself looks at the situation on the ground in terms of access, in terms of use. and doesn't comment on the solutions, which is typically part of other publications and reports. But obviously, the policies to enable digital developments are many, various, circumstance-based. So I wouldn't want to prescribe a solution or a specific policy? UNIS · Spokesperson [58:26]: Okay. So thank you very much. I think this was the last question for ITU. Thanks a lot for the report and for the information you've distributed. Thanks for coming, Thierry. And last but not least, definitely our Claire at the bottom of the room to tell us about the updates on the state of the climate from WMO. And then I think it’s the first time in my life as a spokesperson that I have to announce a briefing on ski and snowboard, which I’m happy to do. WMO · Spokesperson [59:11]: Yes. Good morning, everybody. Yes, just briefly, today we've posted on our website and we also sent a press release to you. The World Meteorological Organization and International Ski and Snowboard Federation have issued a joint report on weather and climate services for ski resorts. It’s to support the winter sports and tourism industry at a time, obviously, as we know, of rising temperatures, more uncertain snow conditions. What it doesn’t do, it’s not intended to be a forecast of the upcoming ski season. I’m already getting media inquiries about this, and no, we’re not. We're not predicting when, you know, how much snow there's going to be or when the slopes in, you know, what the slopes will be like in Switzerland over Christmas. That's not the role of this guide. It's more a one-stop shop of guidance resources to help ski operators. destination managers and winter sports organizations make use of weather and climate information. It is quite a long list of who does what and what time scales. And there are different time scales involved, so decisions on vary from ski managers, tourism managers need You know, the immediate forecasts for their day-to-day operations, they need the seasonal forecasts to help them plan ahead for the following season, and obviously, they need the long-term predictions, you know, to guide investment decisions. Why are we doing it? Well, we're doing it today because the World Meteorological Organization and the Ski and Snowboard Federation, we've got a technical webinar this afternoon, and it's part of a a series of events that we're having jointly with the ski federation to give them support. It's part of a memorandum of understanding that we signed with FIS, I think it was two or three years ago. And so this is very much – it's quite a technical guide, but we hope it will provide support. Moving on, secondly, on Friday afternoon, 2:30 PM in this room, there will be an embargoed press conference with the WMO Secretary General Celeste Saulo. It's ahead of COP31, which takes place next week in Antalya. It’s the first time that we’re doing this under embargo, and it is partly in response to requests from journalists here in Geneva saying they – correspondents at COP are usually overwhelmed, so it would help in their reporting of the story if we could do it ahead of time under embargo. You are getting privileged priority treatment. Please, I know it's a Friday afternoon, but we hope you can join us. We are planning also a press conference. on Monday, the 9th of November, in Antalya, but obviously this will probably be before some of the international correspondents arrive in Antalya, and so that's why we're doing it on Friday, and that will be, as I said, with our Secretary General. And that's – oh, and we will send you the press release and the report, hopefully on Thursday already under embargo. I’m not sure if all the language translations will be ready, but certainly you’ll get it in English. Thanks. UNIS · Spokesperson [1:03:30]: Thank you very much, Clare. I see a hand up. Jenny. Journalist [1:03:35]: Yeah, it was just on the ski federation report with WMO, I was wondering How do you get aligned with the ski federation when it comes to best practices, I mean, like snow cannons and things like that? How does WMO can help the ski federation do best practices? Because I guess that could be an issue with you. WMO · Spokesperson [1:04:05]: Yes, as I said, this – the webinar we’re having today is all part of the sustainability series, so the ski federation is obviously very conscious of the need for sustainability, and that includes the use of snow cannons. I think that’s rather for them to answer than for WMO, but where we can help is snow cannons will only work They won't work if the temperature is above a certain level. They won't work if there's not the right conditions. There is no point in employing ski cannons at too low elevations where we're not expecting snow. So we can give technical guidance on that, but the whole sustainability aspect of snow cannons, that's a little bit beyond our mandate, but we can give the technical guidance to try to make it more efficient and to support. UNIS · Spokesperson [1:05:11]: It. France 24 · Journalist [1:05:17]: Hi, I also want to ask about this report. I wonder, Claire, if you can give us some examples of long-term measures mentioned in it, and if one of these could be for some ski resorts closing if there's no climate conditions enough good to maintain it. Thank you. WMO · Spokesperson [1:05:48]: Yeah, I can probably – it’s probably best if I put you in touch with the technical experts on this. But we’re obviously – and these are national decisions, resort-level decisions, but what we can do is to point out the science and the state of the climate. And so I'm just, and this I'm quoting figures here, which were given in the press release, and this is research published a couple of years ago in Nature Climate Change, found that without snowmaking, 53 percent of more than 2,000 ski resorts across 28 European countries are projected to face very high risk for snow supply if temperatures increase to two degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial average. So we're not there yet. We by no means were there at that stage, but it is an indication of what might happen in the decades to come. In Switzerland, I mean, the Swiss government has done quite serious research on this. And the Swiss National Center for Climate Services, they published a report, I think again a couple of years ago, saying that at altitudes below 800 meters, snowfall days have halved since 1970, and the zero degree level in winter, which obviously determines natural snow accumulation, has risen from 600 meters above sea level 50 years ago to 850 meters today, and it's expected to rise even further. So that is the sort of information that we're including in the guide. And as I said, it's really a compilation of what we hope will be useful resources for the industry. And it's the result of technical visit that we had with FIS a year ago to the Jungfraujoch, and the request was made there for more focused guidance to support decision-making. UNIS · Spokesperson [1:08:24]: Thank you, Claire. No other questions? Don't see any. WMO · Spokesperson [1:08:29]: And we can talk about glaciers and snow this afternoon. this Friday with the State of the Climate press conference with Celeste Saulo. Just to say, the State of the Climate update, it’s something that we release for COP every year. It is normally one of our most keenly awaited reports. So – and as I said, you are getting preferential treatment on this. UNIS · Spokesperson [1:08:56]: Yeah. And I think you mentioned the embargo. WMO · Spokesperson [1:09:01]: Yes, and I'll clarify the embargo time. At the moment, we're thinking that the embargo will be lifted when the report is presented at Earth Information Day at COP, and that will be. 1:00 PM Geneva time, so I will clarify. It’s still changing every day, but I will clarify that. But that is – that is the current plan, that the embargo will be lifted, so 12:00 GMT, which is 1:00 PM Geneva time. UNIS · Spokesperson [1:09:33]: While the press conference is 6th November, 2:30. I think we got that. And before we leave the issue of climate, I know that Christian is connected. There is also the release of the new WHO report on global benefits and costs of prioritized actions on climate change and health. And I have a question on that, Christian. I don't know if you want to talk about that, or maybe later on you will send information about this to the journalists. Christian? Go ahead. WHO · Spokesperson [1:10:17]: Here we go. Yes, there's a press conference this afternoon, which will be hosted from Geneva. It's the outlook of the climate and what to expect at the COP. Many of you have already received the embargoed material, the pre-available material. Please go ahead. This is at It's actually very soon. Let me look at the time. One second. Yeah, it's in two hours, actually, less than two hours. And please join. It's a really important press briefing. Maybe, Alessandro, you have the exact wording here in front of you. Another note, as I just, as I have the floor anyway, you may have seen the embargo for one of the other big reports, the adolescent activities has been moved forward to 4:00 tomorrow on Wednesday already, and that's also the time when the EG press briefing will start. It's a hybrid VPC again, so it could be possible in person if you want to come or online. UNIS · Spokesperson [1:11:37]: Thank you. Yeah, no, what I have is just the name of the speakers, but I think the journalists have received that. And as you said, the embargo, the embargo time. Just speaking about also another – I mean, this is also part of the environment. We have the UNESCO’s International Day for Biosphere Reserves, which is today. Is there – since we’ve got Christian on the line, any question to WHO? I don’t see hands up. Yes, Tomoko. Tomoko Christian is our new – is the Nikkei’s correspondent. I don’t know if, Tomoko, everybody has met you already, but yes, please go ahead with your question. Nikkei · Correspondent [1:12:25]: Yeah, thank you. Thank you. I’d like to ask about not on the report, but about Ebola. UNIS · Spokesperson [1:12:30]: Yeah, go ahead. There have been questions on that, so go ahead. Yeah, I’m sure Christian can answer. Nikkei · Correspondent [1:12:35]: Okay, good. I want to ask about the continental preparedness and response plan issued in June. It covers the plan every measures until November. So it's We are coming to the end of this plan, so I'd like to ask about the budget. It estimated $518 million to prepare for all measures. What is the situation of funding? So far, and I'd like to also ask about the estimation of cases. It estimated at that time 3,600 cases, but now it's about 10,000 cases occurred in the region. So what do you analyze? Is the measures were not enough at the time, or the measures are not everything implemented? Thank you, Mike. My question. UNIS · Spokesperson [1:13:42]: Christian, go ahead. Yeah, the rapid increase of cases. WHO · Spokesperson [1:13:46]: Yeah, thank you very much. This is many questions. This merits nearly its own briefing about the cases and why we are where we are. Let me start with general terms. We have been warning since the first day that this Ebola, of the Ebola outbreak, and we will soon reach the six months timeline. that we are running behind this outbreak. This has started way before we were alerted and the first tracing could have happened. And the response was slowed down in the beginning for many, many different reasons. There's huge success in the catch-up of the response and the efforts put both by WHO and partners and the local authorities and all the volunteers and nurses, and doctors, community workers who help with the outbreak response and try to get this under control. But we are still at the point where we're still running behind. We're catching up, but we're running behind. In terms of the funding, the funding requirement, as you mentioned, was 115, 115 million. And for the WHO's response, the major donors are Echo Serve, the UK FCDO, the African Development Bank, the Gates Foundation, and the Netherlands. And this is this year, the new contingency fund will certainly be coming up at any, whenever it is ready and necessary again. So I don't have details on this with me, but sustained and flexible funding and rapid dispersal are critical. to enable both WHO and all the partners to respond at the speed and scale required. So that's essential to respond. A fully funded response is required for the outbreak evolves, and you see, we all see as the cases are still ongoing. On the cases, maybe let me quickly see now, we have the latest figures I have, that's 30 October, so that's now two and a half days old, three days old. We have more than 10,000 confirmed cases, exactly, and we reached 5,000 confirmed deaths, so that's a bleak number. The positive note is we also have nearly 2,800 recoveries, so let's not forget that in all this, we also have a good amount of people who have recovered, but yes, it is still There's still reported from 67 health zones with ongoing transmission across eight provinces, and we see cases in neighboring areas, as you know. Tomorrow, by the way, we have a DG press briefing again with experts on board, so I'll encourage you also to join tomorrow at 4:00 for the DG press briefing. UNIS · Spokesperson [1:16:52]: Thank you, Christian. I had seen Jamie, but I don't see him anymore, so Elaine. Journalist [1:17:02]: Hi, thanks, Christian. Just to clarify, there was also a note on the last week, the week aheads advisory that you send out about a report on NTDs that's supposed to be published tomorrow. But I haven't, we haven't seen anything else about that. Is it still going out tomorrow? And can we get copies? WHO · Spokesperson [1:17:25]: You could have the copies. Actually, colleagues have been reaching out to us, as was in the media advisory. Please write to media inquiries. It's another colleague who's the focal point, but please write to us and we're happy to get the report to you. UNIS · Spokesperson [1:17:41]: Thank you. And indeed, Jamie. AP · Journalist [1:17:46]: Thanks, Alessandra, and thanks, Christian. Just wanted to touch base with you about the latest on the situation with pneumonic plague in Russia. Have you gotten any updates from the Russians about that? I know a couple of weeks ago, you were still asking some questions. So could you just bring us up to speed as to where things stand on that? Thanks. WHO · Spokesperson [1:18:05]: That's a short answer. We have no further updates on what we reported a few weeks ago. That's still where we stand. AP · Journalist [1:18:12]: Yeah. Reuters · Journalist [1:18:15]: Good morning, Christian. I just thought I’d check in on Ebola as well, since it’s been a few days. There’s two suspected cases in northeastern Nigeria. Can you say if these are confirmed and any comment on it spreading within Nigeria? And I believe investigations are still underway for the case of the Swiss woman who caught Ebola, who was based in Nigeria. Any news on how she became infected? Thank you. WHO · Spokesperson [1:18:46]: On the Nigerian cases, I don't have much more with me right now. Maybe that's also, we should have ideally more tomorrow at the briefing. Also, the Swiss authorities have also reported on the Ebola case and the contact that both now in Switzerland. I do have not seen an update on the transmission. Looking forward to that as well. UNIS · Spokesperson [1:19:15]: Thank you very much. Keep us updated. I don't see other hands up for you, Christiane. I just have two committees to mention today, and that will conclude the briefing. We still – we have the Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights meeting, and the reports they are going to review are Eswatini and Pakistan, to be followed by Mexico and Austria later during this week. The Human Rights Committee on Friday, 6th November, will hold an event to mark the 60th anniversary of the two main human rights international covenants, the first one on economic, social, and cultural rights, and the second one on civil and political rights. That’s going to be in room 14 starting 3:00 PM. And of course, as you know, the Universal Periodic Review has started here in Geneva, and if you want more on that, of course, pascal is available. So, if there are no other questions to me or to other colleagues – I don’t see any – I thank you very much. Bon appétit, and we’ll see each other Friday. Thank you.