Ukraine, Lebanon & other topics - Daily Press Briefing

Happy Friday. It is Friday, right? They can't take it away from us, can they? They will try. They will try. Good afternoon. We will be joined shortly by Anjali Ashokar, the Deputy Executive Director of the Joint Programme on HIV/AIDS, better known to all of us as UNAIDS. She will be here to brief you on the UNAIDS report entitled Global AIDS brief with the latest data on HIV/AIDS from last year. Our Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed arrived in Dakar, Senegal this morning, where she met today with President Bassirou Diomé Faye, and they exchanged views on matters pertaining to regional security, development of the UN-Senegal relationship, cooperation. The Deputy Secretary-General commended Senegal's continued commitment to multilateralism, its role as a bridge builder in the region, and its leadership in advancing peace. And sustainable solutions, including as co-host of the 2026 UN Water Conference. While in Dakar, she also witnessed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of Senegal and the United Nations regarding the new UN House in that country. Signing is an important milestone in the longstanding partnership between the UN and the government and people of Senegal. The House brings together 29 UN entities together under one roof in the spirit of One UN, aligned with the UNAD Initiative, strengthening cooperation, reducing duplication, and improving how the UN delivers for the people of Senegal. At the signing, the Deputy Secretary-General reaffirmed our continued support for Senegal's effort to deliver on the 2030 Agenda. On the sidelines of the ceremony, she also met with Minister of Foreign Affairs Cheikh Ndiaye to discuss progress on the UNAD Initiative, as well as collaboration between the UN and Senegal to accelerate implementation and financing of the Sustainable Development Goals. She also, of course, met with our colleagues from the Country Team and thanked them for their hard work and commitment. She will be returning to New York this Sunday. Just want to flag on Ukraine, the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine today said conflict-related violence in Ukraine last May killed at least 274 civilians and injured 1,763 by their count. This is more than, more than in any other month in the last 4 years. The mission said that the use of powerful weapons in urban areas by the Russian Federation was the main reason for the high casualty count in May. Turning to Lebanon, the UN Interim Force in Lebanon continues to observe extensive Israeli Defense Forces military activity across its area of operations. Those activities are characterized by high-density armored movements, large-scale engineering and demolition works, and sustained logistical traffic. Yesterday, UNIFIL reported intensive air activities involving fighter aircraft and various unmanned aerial systems across the area of operations. UNIFIL recorded 72 violations of Lebanese airspace by the IDF, amounting to over 110 hours of overflight. A total of 8 airstrikes were carried out by IDF fighter aircraft in UNIFIL's area of operations yesterday. Peacekeepers reported 531 trajectories yesterday, 526 originating from IDF positions south of the Blue Line and within its— UNIFIL's area of operations, and other— and 5 trajectories presumably launched by Hezbollah, with one actually crossing the Blue Line. On the humanitarian front, UNIFIL facilitated 9 humanitarian missions in coordination with OCHA and in liaison with the IDF. 8 of them were in Sector West, mainly to Tyre, and one was done in Sector East. Also yesterday, a UNIFIL-funded and UNESCO-led campaign to counter mis- and disinformation was launched in Beirut in cooperation with the Lebanese Lebanese Ministry of Information. The campaign features short video clips broadcast on Télé Liban, all promoting fact-checking and the responsible use of free expression. It aims to encourage the public to verify information before sharing content online and raise awareness for misleading information that is circulating. On the broader humanitarian front, we remain deeply concerned by the continued impact of hostilities facilities on healthcare, people's access to essential services. Yesterday, a reported strike near Hiram Hospital in Tyre district in South Governorate injured 10 staff members and damaged the hospital's buildings and impacted its vehicles as well. This is at least the 5th reported incident affecting Hiram Hospital since the escalation started on March 2nd. That's what authorities are telling, are telling us. Our colleagues at the World Health Organization report that across Lebanon's 17 hospitals have been damaged during the escalation, including all 3 hospitals in Tyre. In addition, 135 healthcare workers and first responders have been killed, nearly 400 others injured. Hospitals and medical personnel must not— must be protected at all times according to international law, as we have said numerous times in many conflicts around the world. Our humanitarian partners in Lebanon continue to support affected families across the country. Since the escalation began, more than 182,000 people have received essential relief items. And turning to the occupied Palestinian territory, OCHA warns that civilians and civilian infrastructure, including aid workers and their premises and assets, continue to be exposed to Israeli airstrikes, shelling, and gunfire, resulting in reports of casualties and damage. Yesterday, a structure in Deir al-Balah belonging to a humanitarian organization sustained minor damage by an Israeli airstrike that hit nearby. Under international humanitarian law, civilians and civilian infrastructure must be protected at all times. Also yesterday, the entry of goods into Gaza, the Kerem Shalom, Kerem Abu Salem crossing was reduced due to ongoing infrastructure work. This week, we and our humanitarian partners have taken food, medicine, hygiene items into Gaza to be distributed to the most vulnerable families. WHO and our partners also supported the medical evacuation of 26 patients and their companions. Meanwhile, people's access to water, sanitation services across the West Bank remain constrained due to settler violence, movement restrictions, demolitions, and damage to infrastructure, particularly in the northwest— northern West Bank and in Masafer Yatta in the south and herding communities across area C. Since the beginning of the year, more than 100 incidents involving demolitions or settler violence have resulted in damage to over 190 water and sanitation structures, including pipelines, irrigation systems, water tanks. We reiterate that Palestinians should be protected and their access to essential services must be respected and safeguarded, not obstructed or destroyed. Turning to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the head of our peacekeeping mission there, James Swan, today concluded a visit to Goma, where he reaffirmed the Mission's continued engagement of— in support of peace efforts in the eastern DRC in line with the Peacekeeping Mission's mandate. During his stay in Goma, he met separately with representatives of the Alliance Fleur de Congo , as well as the Commander and other members of the Expanded Joint Verification Mechanism. As part of ongoing efforts to advance ceasefire monitoring and verification, communication arrangements. He also had exchanges with— views with our colleagues to review the security, the political, and the humanitarian situation, and to assess the mission's operational priorities in the current environment, including Ebola response. During his visit, Mr. Swan reiterated the importance of advancing and ensuring coherence among regional, international, and national peace efforts, including the Washington, the Doha, and the African Union peace processes. He underscored MINUSCO's readiness within its mandate to support implementation measures of peace processes. Also, Mr. Swan visited the Uruguayan Contingent Space, where he congratulated Sergeant Matias Reyes, who you saw up on the screen during the 2026 Peacekeeper Awards. As you know, he was the recipient of the Captain and Badian Medal for his exceptional courage under fire. On the broader humanitarian front, our OCHA colleagues warn that escalating violence in the eastern DRC is impacting civilians and undermining efforts to manage the Ebola outbreak. In North Kivu, an armed attack in Beni this morning killed at least 5 civilians, that's what local civil society is telling us. Elsewhere in the province, renewed clashes in Massissi territory have triggered forced humanitarian organizations to restrict their movements in several areas. This significantly limits access to people in need and disrupts Ebola response activities. In South Kivu provinces, hostilities in Kabare territory over the past 3 days have also resulted in civilian casualties and new displacement. The hostilities have forced the World Food Programme and our partners to delay planned food distribution in the affected areas. Meanwhile, in Ituri, the peacekeeping mission is reinforcing its protection of humanitarian workers, medical teams, and health facilities responding to the Ebola outbreak. Since June 4th, the mission has deployed a mobile military base in Mongbalu— excuse me— Mongbalu in Djugu territory, one of the epicenters of the Ebola outbreak. While the Mission continues to coordinate with Congolese National Police to protect healthcare facilities in other affected areas, the presence of peacekeepers has already deterred armed groups from intimidating— from the presence of peacekeepers, excuse me, has already deterred armed groups from intimidating healthcare efforts and civilians, and it has helped ensure dignified and safe burials for victims. Despite these efforts to improve security, a health worker in the health zone was taken by members of an armed group on June 8th and forced to perform a post-mortem procedure without any protective equipment. The incident highlights the serious risks faced by frontline workers. And this week, our humanitarian coordinator ad interim, Damien Mamma, was in Ituri to support the response efforts, stressing that Ebola response must be integrated in the broader humanitarian response to sustain essential services for vulnerable populations. Despite these challenges, we and our humanitarian partners, together with local communities, continue our efforts to contain the outbreak. Again, we call on all parties to respect international humanitarian law, ensure safe, sustained, and unhindered access for medical and humanitarian teams. It's essential that surveillance, contact tracing, transport of lab samples, medical referrals, emergency deployments, safe and dignified burials can continue without interruption. A couple of things I want to flag to you before I turn over to you. Uh, the International Labour Organization today adopted the Decent Work on the Platform Economy Convention 2026, a very important, um, uh, accomplishment. It establishes the first international labour standards for work performed through digital labour platforms. The Convention was adopted at the closing of the 114th meeting of the International Labour Conference, which brings together government, employers, and workers' delegates from the organization's 187 member states. The new Convention responds to the rapid growth of the platform economy, which has transformed the world of work by creating new opportunities for income generation while also exposing workers to decent work deficits. It applies to digital labour platforms and platform workers regardless of their employment classification and establishes a global framework for promoting decent work in that sector. The landmark convention addresses a wide range of issues affecting platform workers, including their rights, protection against violence and harassment, fair remuneration, social protection, and transparency and accountability in the use of algorithms and automated decision-making. Also earlier today in Geneva, our friend Volker Turk, High Commissioner for Human Rights, launched his office's annual report, which says that in 2025, the UN Human Rights Office carried out more than 5,000 human rights monitoring missions. The report adds that the Human Rights Office documented tens of thousands of human rights violations, influenced nearly 140 legal and policy reforms, contributed to the release of 5,000 people from arbitrary detention, Mr. Turk also raised the severe funding cuts affecting his office, which has direct consequences on lives and freedoms. Today is the International Day Against Child Labour, and this year's theme is "Red Card to Child Labour: Fair Play for Children, Decent Work for Adults." Despite progress, the ILO notes that 138 million children remain in child labour worldwide, including nearly 54 million in hazardous work. Tomorrow is also the International Albinism Awareness Day. The theme this year is Proudly My Skin, celebrating all skin tones, which draws attention on how color-based discrimination can affect dignity, safety, and mental well-being. And Sunday, extend your arms because it is World Blood Donor Day. This year's campaign, One Drop of Humanity, Give Blood, Save Lives, places humanity at the heart of every blood donation. It is important. We have a quiz for you today, 'cause we have some money. Alright, now you're paying attention. Built around 2600 BC, a city in this country is widely credited as having one of the first and most advanced plumbing and urban sanitation systems in the ancient world. The city is called Mohenjo-daro. No clue? It's not far from you. We say thank you to our friends in Pakistan and our friends in Islamabad for their full payment to the regular budget. We now have 114 paid-up member states. Pakistan paid $3,913,201 American dollars, and we appreciate every one of those Amélie, then Marianne.

Thanks, Steph. I have two questions. First, might be too early for a comment, but since we are here, the Prime Minister of Pakistan just announced that text of the peace deal between the US and Iran has been agreed. Any comment?

I mean, we've seen that We've seen that announcement. We saw also the announcements from the President of the United States yesterday. I think given the sensitivity of the situation and the fact we've been close before, we will hold off on any comment, but we are encouraged by, I think, the general tone of what we are hearing.

Second topic, Elon Musk became today the first trillionaire in the world. Any thought from the Secretary-General in a world where not so many people have so much money.

I mean, it does underscore the issue of inequality that the Secretary-General has been speaking about and the responsibility of some of those who are on the positive side of the inequality to do whatever they can to support everyone.

Madame.

Thank you, Steph. Happy Friday. Question on Afghanistan. As you may have been following what's happening in Iraq, there are some protests going on and the Taliban have been opening fire on people. Two people have been killed and so many of the women who were arrested, families don't know about their whereabouts. Is Secretary General following the situation besides on this statement from UNAMA. Do you have anything else to share with us?

I mean, we've— obviously, our UNAMA colleagues are on the front lines. The situation is indeed very concerning. Lethal force should never be used against peaceful demonstrators, and we'll continue to watch it closely.

Volodymyr.

Thank you, Stéphane. I have two questions. The first one is less trivial, perhaps. Following Armenia's recent elections, Russia has increased pressure on Armenia through trade restrictions, energy-related threats, and intensified propaganda campaigns targeting the country's democratic and European aspirations. Today, Moscow has banned the input of all plant products from Armenia. What is your reaction to this action?

Listen, we've seen the results of the elections. These are bilateral issues and I don't have a particular comment.

There's another question. Yes, sir.

Today Putin once again claimed the following: it was NATO that unleashed the war. We did not start the hostilities with the beginning of this special military operation. How would the Secretary-General respond to this?

Look, I think the Secretary-General was very clear in his statement when this phase of the conflict started, when we saw the Russian troops cross into Ukraine. Our focus is not so much as to the origins of the war, but to ensure that there is an end to this war in a way that is sustainable and that recognizes also the territorial integrity of Ukraine and follows all the relevant General Assembly and Security Council resolutions. I will go on the screen. I see Mike walking about. As you're getting your steps in, but go ahead, Mike.

Just getting my quiet and step. I reached out to UNRWA on the release about the 70 terminated workers. My contact over there is out of the office, so I'm coming to you. The release was unclear. It said that they were terminated not for punitive measures and not because there was evidence against them, but because of the safety and security of the agency. What does that mean in English?

Well, you know, as you well know, Mike, English is not my native language, so I'm not sure I can help you with that. I would refer you back to what Anouar is saying. I mean, Christian Saunders' decisions are based in the best interest of the organization. I will try to talk to Anouar, see if we can get you a bit more, but I feel this statement is as clear as it can be.

But if there's no— if it's not punitive and there's no evidence, then why would you terminate 70 people otherwise?

I think the situation in Anhua is rather complex and challenging, and sometimes the Commissioner General has to take decisions that are not easy to take but that are in the best interest of the organization.

Were there threats to cut funding? Is that the reason?

Well, I mean, I think the funding The funding issue has always been challenging, but this is not linked to funding issues. I will leave it at that, Mike. Anyone else online? Okay. If I don't— if I don't see anybody else, please stand by. We'll go to our honored guest, and I would ask her please to come forward. Hi, how are you? We are delighted to be joined once again by Anjali Ashokar, who is the Deputy Executive Director of UNAIDS, and she is here to present the new AIDS report. Yes. So please, you have the floor and then we'll take some questions. They'll do— our tech will do that for you, so don't worry.

Perfect. Thank you so much, and it's a pleasure to be back. Thank you. So here we are. The world continues to be shaken repeatedly by pandemics, one after the other, from COVID-19 to mpox, now Ebola. But with the longstanding HIV pandemic, where the world has made remarkable progress, we're seeing the perfect storm growing. This storm threatens to reverse years of gains in the AIDS response. Today, as was just mentioned, UNAIDS is launching a report that shows the impact of these converging crises that will result in dire outcomes for the HIV response. We're truly at a perilous moment. Decades of progress in the AIDS response are at risk just when we should be getting to the finish line. For the first time, there is a real possibility of reversal. Yes, HIV infections and AIDS deaths are at their lowest in over 30 years, but we're still far off track to end AIDS by 2030. There were 1.2 million new HIV infections at the end of 2025, 43% lower than 2010, but nowhere close to the target of 370,000 by 2025. Progress is also highly uneven. Some regions are improving while others are seeing spikes in new HIV infections. And every week, 3,000 adolescent girls and young women in sub-Saharan Africa are newly infected with HIV. This is one of the clearest signs that we are failing to reach some of the most vulnerable populations. Also, AIDS deaths have fallen to 570,000, again, nowhere close to the target of 250,000 by 2025. There is a funding crisis which is a core threat to the HIV response. Dramatic cuts in aid and— in high— that highly burdened low-income countries depend on for their HIV response have had a devastating impact. Global development assistance from multiple countries fell by over 20% in 2025, the sharpest drop on record, and HIV programs have been hit hard. And while we're seeing increases in domestic resources in the HIV response It's not enough. There are some concrete examples of this kind of— of what we're seeing that's being impacted by the funding crisis. HIV testing programs are falling by over 20% in high-burden settings. This means that people don't know they are living with HIV, they cannot access treatment, and the virus will continue to spread, increasing new infections. Funding for condoms, for example, has been cut by more than 90% in some cases. PrEP, the daily medicine to prevent HIV, the uptake has dropped sharply and fell by nearly 40% between 2024 and 2025 in 62 countries that have been reporting to UNAIDS. HIV prevention is being dismantled at the very moment we need to take it to scale. Especially with new prevention innovations that are coming on the market, such as long-acting HIV prevention. Prevention has already underfunded— has already been underfunded at just 11% of the total HIV spending in 2024, and that limited investment is now shrinking even further. Moving to treatment, life-saving treatment, this is a success story that is so severely under strain. 32.1 million people are now living on life-saving treatment—78% of all people living with HIV. This is a great public health achievement, a success story. But even this success is fragile. Some regions are heavily reliant on external financing for treatment programs. For example, in West and Central Africa, They are around 90% dependent on external funding for HIV treatment in some countries. This is extremely fragile when external funding is declining. Without sustained financing and increased domestic financing, we risk treatment interruptions, and what this means is rising deaths and rising new infections. And let's be clear, Clear— there are still 8.8 million, nearly 9 million people living with HIV that do not have access to that life-saving treatment. Support services for survivors of gender-based violence are also declining, and when communities lose funding— sorry, we also know that We also know that community systems are collapsing. Community-led organizations, civil society organizations led by people living with HIV, young people, sex worker organizations, for example, are most effective— that are most effective in delivering services to people living with and affected by HIV. These are really the backbones of the HIV response.. And these community-led organizations are not being prioritized. In sub-Saharan Africa, 80% of community programs to support people to access HIV prevention programs have been cut. Much of this— much of these cuts are happening without commensurate domestic resources that are augmenting them. We see community-led organizations being cut across the board. In a recent study, 79 community-led organizations across 47 countries and 3 continents have shown a 50% drop in support services for people living with HIV, for example. Service reductions, including 50% reduction in the delivery of that life-saving, um, medicine to prevent HIV has been decreased. So when communities lose funding, the entire response loses trust, reach, and effectiveness for the most vulnerable and the most in need. We're also seeing inequality. Those who continue to be left behind are those that are the hardest to reach: the children, young women, key and vulnerable populations, including men who have sex with men, sex workers, people who inject drugs, transgender women and their sexual partners. And all of this is happening while there is an intense pushback on human rights and democratic rights. Diseases spread fastest when human rights are weakest. We're seeing a dangerous rollback on rights around the world, more stigma and discrimination, shrinking civic space. This all hinders progress in the HIV response. Criminalization of key populations is increasing for the first time since UNAIDS began tracking these trends. Community organizations are being defunded or shut down. In 2025, civic space was narrowed, obstructed, or completely closed in 159 of, of 198 countries and territories. If civil society does not have the ability to act and have a voice, the HIV response will be held back. This has real public health consequences. When people fear arrest or discrimination, they do not go in to test, they do not seek care, and the HIV epidemic continues to grow. But it's not all doom and gloom. We do see windows of opportunity. Domestic funding is rising, but it cannot replace global solidarity. In 2024, we also saw donor contributions totaling $8.37 billion US dollars in the HIV response, but this still falls short of the resource needs, which is $21.9 billion by 2030. The share of domestic resources for the HIV response increased from 28% in 2010 to over 50% in 2024. But as I said earlier, the gap is still so huge. Since January 2025, over 52 countries have committed to increasing domestic financing. However, domestic resources cannot fill the gap left behind. By these funding cuts. Many countries are facing debt crises. 28 African countries spend more on debt than on health, for example. But we're also seeing regional initiatives that are scaling up that are supporting the HIV response, and this gives us hope. Regional initiatives like the Accra Reset led by President— the President of Ghana, President Mahama. The African Union Roadmap to 2030 and Beyond, and the Alliance for the Elimination of HIV in the Americas. These are all examples of a new face to aid and development overall. We also see hope in integration, integration of HIV into the broader health system and society and development systems. We see many, more and more countries moving into this direction of integrating HIV into their health systems and into health insurance systems, for example. This is promising. We see commitments from, from some countries and, and multilateral partners. The U.S. government, for example, and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB, and Malaria continue to resource and support the HIV response. These offer— this offers opportunity for countries, but it also offers the opportunity for countries to step up in their self-reliant way to, to fund and resource their responses in an increasing capacity. We also see hope in innovation. Innovation right now can really drive further gains. We've seen since the end of March this year 6,000 people receiving long-acting lenacapavir across 5 different countries in sub-Saharan Africa. This is great news. This is, uh, by a partnership from multiple, uh, countries, the Global Fund, different private sector partners. But this still falls short of reaching the 20 million that are in need of of HIV prevention services. Ending AIDS requires shared responsibility, national leadership, and global solidarity. We do know— we do know how to end AIDS, but the question now is political. Will we invest or will we retreat? We have an opportunity in front of us with the high-level meeting on HIV and AIDS that is coming up in just 20 days, June 22nd and 23rd, right here in the UN General Assembly, where a high-level meeting, which is convened every 5 years, will happen. At— and this is absolutely critical because this is the last one before the goal of ending AIDS by 2030, where countries will come together to adopt a new and strong political declaration on HIV. All countries have been actively negotiating right now on the political declaration under the facilitation of the— of Botswana and Georgia and under the leadership of the President of the General Assembly. This political declaration must provide the global roadmap to transition the HIV response to a sustainable country-led, community-led approach that is required to both end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030, but also sustain the gains beyond 2030. It will include new 2030 targets and have the new approaches of the Global AIDS Strategy, which is the blueprint for us to get there to 2030 and, and end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030 and sustain these gains. These goals are achievable despite the peril we're in now. These goals are still possible, but it does require all of us, all countries of the world coming together, all communities of the world coming together like we did at the start of this epidemic. And that continued unification is critical by all global partners. We know again what it takes to end AIDS, but now the question is, will we invest or will we retreat? If we follow the Global AIDS Strategy and the UN member commitments for a strong political declaration, this is what we will need to get us to 2030 and beyond. If we risk doing that, if we fail to take action, decades of all of this progress will reverse. So with that, I thank you.

Thank you, Anjali. Amélie, and then we'll go to the back.

Thank you. On behalf of the UN Correspondents Association, thank you very much for doing this briefing. I'm Amélie Boutelier from AFP News Agency. You described the decrease of funding from the US and other donors in the last few years. Is it only mechanical because of the overall decrease in humanitarian aid and development aid, or do you feel there's also a feeling in these countries, in these donor countries, where maybe aid is not as much as a death sentence as it was at the beginning, that is not seen by them as a priority anymore?

Thank you. Please. Thank you. I think that's a really good question. What we've seen over, as I noted, what we've seen over the past few years is a decrease of foreign assistance of, of from donor funding in the AIDS response from multiple countries, over a 23% decrease from 2024 to 2025, for example. But we've seen a steady decrease. It is, um, it is both a decrease in, in assistance, but it's also, as you know, as you rightly note, as people are living longer and longer with HIV because they've been on life-saving treatment, there is complacency that has been, that has been, that we're seeing across countries. People are not seeing that death and despair that we once than we saw 30 years ago. But that— but that hides the truth. That hides the truth that there are gaps that still exist in the HIV response, like with children that are not being reached, like with young women, as I noted, like with key populations in different countries where we're seeing spikes that are happening in the HIV response. So unless we tackle the reality of what, what, of what is actually happening in the epidemic, we will never get to the end of it. So it is both a decline of, of, of resources, but it's also a bit of complacency because we're not seeing that death and despair like we saw 30, 35 years ago.

But it doesn't mean that AIDS is not over. Thank you.

Yes, please, Zina, in the back.

Thank you so much. Thank you so much for this opportunity and for shedding light about this sensitive topic. With the decreasing the funding and cutting the funding, especially from the health organization lately by the major force, and what you mentioned that it became political, and the number that you know and the number that you don't know, how you overcome the this decreasing of funding and how you manage to find other ways to, to get money and equipment for the people who need help?

Well, again, it's a really good question. What we've seen in the decreases of funding over time is alarming, but we also have been seeing domestic resources increasing, not at the rate that they need to be, but we've seen leadership, real strong leadership within countries around the globe as well as regionally, like I mentioned, some of these initiatives that we're seeing. This is, this is the kind of support that needs to continue. As, as donor funding decreases, domestic resources need to increase. But we all have to work together in solidarity because it's not going to happen overnight. It requires a transition, uh, to, to sovereignty, to, you know, self-reliance that doesn't happen overnight. It takes, it takes mutual accountability and a shared solidarity because this is a pandemic, and that does require a global effort working together. Follow-up question.

Regarding the war zones, and I believe in the Third World or the developed world, there are more, and they are hiding this because, you know, the traditions there are different than Western countries. How you reach to get the exact number from there, or how you reach to people to get the right information from them and shed light about this disease?

The importance of communities and civil society in the HIV response has always been one of the most important hallmarks of the HIV response. Communities and civil society people living with HIV, women that are affected by HIV, key populations, sex workers. These communities are those that are, are the most trusted. They are the ones that know exactly where the populations are in that are most in need. And so one of the hallmarks of the HIV response has been working very, very work closely, hand in glove, with community organizations. We are very concerned at this point because as community organizations and civil society are put to the margins of the HIV response, we will lose that ability to make sure that we are reaching those, you know, populations that are in the, in the most difficult places to find. So community-led organizations need to continue to be resourced and engaged in the response. And the second point is around the data. The data have to continue to guide the HIV response. UNAIDS works hand in glove with country governments as well as communities in working through and ensuring that community data, as well as quality data, as well as statistical data and financial data, multisectoral data, are guiding the response. That has to continue into the future because that guides where the gaps in the response are, where, where countries might be faltering, So data need to continue to guide the response, and it's not just health data. It is community data as well as financial and policy data.

One last question, sorry. What are your tools to raise awareness about this issue, especially in the conflict zones?

So our tools to raise awareness on this issue, I mean, first and foremost, I think Right now, what— with what we have in front of us with the high-level meeting on HIV and this political declaration, all countries of the world are convening together. That's really important. Countries that are in conflict, countries that are not in conflict, countries that are surrounded by conflict. So this political commitment right now that's happening as we approach the high-level meeting on HIV and AIDS, you know, in 20 days, This is really, really critical. The other thing that we're doing is we're there at the country level. The Joint Program on UNAIDS, as well as partners, community partners, all partners of the countries, we're working together in conflict settings and otherwise to make sure that HIV continues to stay high on the agenda. Um, and that, that is our collective responsibility. To make sure that that happens. Thank you very much.

Thank you.

And we hope to welcome you back here soon. Thank you.

Thanks so much.

Thank you.