Palestine, Venezuela, South Sudan & other topics - Daily Press Briefing

Who would have thunk? Before 12:30. All right. Greetings. Just a short while, I will be joined online by Stephanie Hochstetter, the World Food Programme's Country Director in Venezuela. She will be briefing you from the port city of La Guaira to speak to you about, obviously, the situation in Venezuela post-earthquakes and WFP's critical work. Tomorrow at 11 AM, there'll be a briefing here to introduce the preliminary report of the independent International Scientific Panel Panel on Artificial Intelligence. The Secretary-General is expected to be here to make some opening remarks, and then the briefing will be conducted by the co-chairs of the report, Yoshua Bengio of Canada and Maria Ressa of the Philippines. They will be presenting the findings ahead of the inaugural Global Dialogue on AI Governance, which is scheduled for Geneva the 6th and 7th of July. Uh, the two co-chairs will be, uh, participating, uh, virtually, but the Secretary-General will be here in person. Also tomorrow, at some point in the afternoon, there will be a briefing by Ambassador Zenon Mukongo N'Gai, the Permanent Representative of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, who will be here in his capacity as President of the Security Council for the month of July. We don't have an exact time, but we will get one as soon as we receive one. Just to add to your homework, we may also have a short briefing by the Comptroller Chandru tomorrow at some point, given the expected vote in the General Assembly later today. Oh, there she is. This just in. Stop the presses. There we go. Thank you. This morning, the Secretary-General told Member States at a meeting— for voluntary contributions to the UN Relief and Works Agency, UNRWA, that today's event is happening while the safety and welfare of millions of Palestinian refugees hang in the balance. In Gaza, Mr. Guterres noted Israeli attacks have killed more than 1,000 Palestinians since and despite the ceasefire announced last October. He warned that despite all services it provides to Palestinians throughout the Middle East, UNRWA's situation is increasingly precarious. It faces sweeping restrictions throughout the occupied Palestinian territory and a cash shortfall that imperils its work across the region. The Secretary-General says he's deeply concerned about UNRWA's liquidity crisis, which jeopardizes its ability to implement its own mandate. Earlier this year, UNRWA was compelled to reduce its service delivery hours by 20%. That meant reducing salaries for most local personnel and keeping 15% of the international post of the agency vacant. He added that he is appalled by continuing efforts to marginalize and undermine UNRWA through disinformation, through smear campaigns, through legislative actions, through operational restrictions and diplomatic roadblocks and more. His full remarks were shared with you. I think we've also shared the Remarks by the Acting Commissioner-General, Christian Saunders. My UNRWA colleagues tell us they will be able to give you the total of fresh money in the pledging conference, most likely tomorrow afternoon. It's going to take some time to count, hopefully. Turning to the Occupied Palestinian Territory, our OCHA colleagues tell us that humanitarian teams in Gaza are assessing the needs of those affected by yesterday's airstrike on al-Mu'wasi area in Khan Younis. Initial information suggests, in addition to the killing of a mother and her baby girl, more than 150 families had their tents destroyed. The tents of 250 other families were also damaged. Survivors have told our partners that Israeli authorities had warned them of an imminent attack. We and our partners will support the newly displaced or affected through rapid joint distributions. Mechanisms. More generally, our safety and security colleagues tell us that most military activity, including airstrikes, naval fire, shooting, occurred west of the so-called yellow line in the last 24 hours, ending at 8 AM this morning local time. They add that civilian casualties were also reported in several of those attacks. Meanwhile, our partners leading on health are warning of a rise in chickenpox cases across the Gaza Strip. In just two weeks, they recorded nearly 9,000 3,300 cases across more than 130 health facilities. Over half of these cases were in Khan Younis. Our partners linked this surge to deteriorating environmental conditions, overcrowding, sanitation, and hygiene gaps. We and our partners are sending antihistamines, antibiotics, fever relievers, and other essential medicine. We're also scaling up water trucking to displacement sites, intensifying chlorination, enhancing latrine cleanings as well as disinfection. 100 health promoters, uh, are also being deployed in prioritized locations to educate people on isolation practices and how to seek medical assistance early on. But our partners warn that this response is not enough to expand treatment coverage. They need more resources, they need more hygiene kits, unimpeded access to affected areas and of course, sustained funding. Turning to the West Bank yesterday, Israeli forces killed a 15-year-old child during a search operation in Ramallah. We've seen reports that Israeli forces are now looking into that incident. A reminder that law enforcement lethal force can only be used as a last resort. Meanwhile, today, Israeli forces entered UNRWA's oldest vocational training facility, the Qalandia Training Center, that is in East Jerusalem. Our colleagues from UNRWA report that Israeli forces took pictures of the premises and announced the center had to close, although no documents or official orders were handed over. The center serves hundreds of students from refugee camps across the West Bank, including many who face difficult socioeconomic conditions and benefit from free education services at that facility. Today's raid breaches the inviolability of UN premises and violated Israel's obligations concerning the privileges and immunities of the United Nations. UNRWA is an integral part of this organization and of the humanitarian community and operates under a clear mandate of the United Nations General Assembly. Such actions obstruct our efforts to provide humanitarian support to people in need. And this morning, the Secretary-General also addressed by pre-recorded video message the opening of the 9th World Congress Against the Death Penalty that took place France. He noted that the movement towards universal abolition is advancing and more and more countries are committing to end this cruel practice. But progress cannot be taken for granted, he said, stressing that it demands vigilance, demands courage and sustained resolve. He pointed out that death penalty does not deliver justice. It is an inhumane form of punishment. It puts innocent lives at risk and has no place in the 21st century. The Secretary-General underscored that the UN remains fully committed to the universal abolition of the death penalty, firmly and without any exceptions. Our Deputy Secretary-General, as we told you, is in London at a gathering of the Sustainable Development in an Era of Flux. She will then travel onwards to Geneva on July 1st as part of the broader UN80 consultation process. In Geneva. She'll meet with senior UN officials from across the system, member states, and other key stakeholders. Turning to Venezuela, we and our humanitarian partners are continuing to scale up life-saving assistance in support of the government-led efforts. You'll hear a lot about WFP's work, but just taking a bit broader picture, our colleagues at the Office of the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs tell us that international search and rescue operations are fully operational with more than 50 rescue teams and over 2,300 personnel working side by side with national authorities. Um, as the critical window for live rescues narrows, humanitarian partners are expanding emergency support in health, shelter, water and sanitation, and logistics in La Guardia and other affected municipalities. Our humanitarian colleagues tell us that efforts are being further complicated by the passage of a tropical wave and continued heavy rainfall impacting Venezuela. These conditions are increasing the risk of additional collapse as well as landslides in already impacted areas. This poses significant challenge to search and rescue operation and complicates the delivery of shelter, health, and other essential services. National authorities are issuing public safety guidance and monitoring high-risk zones. We and our partners are working closely with them to ensure coordinated response to affected communities. In response to the earthquake, a 47-metric-ton shipment of UNICEF humanitarian supplies arrived in Venezuela today to support children and families in need. Uh, the shipment includes emergency health kits for urgent medical care, including supplies for safe births, newborn care, disease prevention and treatment. It also has water purification and storage supplies to help provide safe drinking water, tents for child-friendly spaces and service points, mobility aids including wheelchairs, and recreational and early childhood development supplies to help children regain some sense of normalcy after the quake. UNICEF noted this shipment, along with the regional one that arrived from Panama on June 28th, will support an estimated more than 100,000 children, and families over a period of 3 months. UN Refugee Agency, for its part, is also supporting local authorities with tools and equipment for the safe collection of management and information. At the same time, emergency supplies are being transported from UNHCR's local warehouse in Táchira to La Guaira, with additional capacity to mobilize more than 20 metric tons of relief items from UNHCR's global stockpile in Panama. To further bolster assistance. UNHCR partner Caritas has also established a donation collection and storage centre, including with UNHCR's tents and a rub hall. I don't know what a rub hall is, but they're supplying a rub hall to support aid distribution. For its part— sorry, you'll hear more from WFP. And just in South Sudan, wanted to flag that we are deeply saddened by the killing of 5 humanitarian workers whose convoy operated by a local partner was ambushed yesterday in Duk County in Jonglei State. 4 others were injured and several civilians were reportedly killed or injured. We and our resident humanitarian coordinator— we join our resident humanitarian coordinator, Ramantan Balakrishnan, in strongly condemning this attack. Our colleagues tell us that their convoy was clearly marked as a humanitarian convoy. Attacks on humanitarian workers are unacceptable and violate international humanitarian law. We call for a prompt investigation and for those responsible for this heinous attack to be held to account. Since January 29th— since January, excuse me, 29 humanitarian workers and contractors have been killed in South Sudan while trying to serve communities in need. Separately, our peacekeeping mission there, UNMISS, today released a new report documenting a sharp rise in civilian deaths. Between January and March, more than 760 civilians were killed. That's an 89%— 89% increase compared to the previous quarter. The mission also recorded a significant increase in conflict-related sexual violence. The Special Representative for the Secretary-General and head of the mission, Anita Kiki Gbeho called for all parties to uphold their obligations under international humanitarian law and human rights law. And from the Central African Republic, OCHA warns that the humanitarian situation in the prefecture of Ho-Bumbu in the southeast of the country is deteriorating amid persistent insecurity and constrained humanitarian access. Civilians face serious threats, including abduction and violence. Cases of disappearance, intimidation, attacks against civilians continue to be reported, which leads to an atmosphere of fear and increased vulnerability in communities already affected by displacement and limited access to basic services. Meanwhile, um, our humanitarian access is increasingly restricted due to insecurity along key transport routes, particularly along roads around Zebio. This month, staff from humanitarian partners have been they've been threatened, they've been temporarily detained and assaulted. These incidents follow similar attacks at the end of May and underscore a broader trend of insecurity impacting aid operations along— across the southeast of the Central African Republic. The— in the Prefecture of Oubumu is also considered high risk of Ebola transmission due to its proximity to the DRC. This adds another layer of vulnerability for people with limited access to healthcare. We and our humanitarian partners continue to call for the protection of civilians, safe, sustained, and unhindered access for humanitarian actors to reach who they need to reach. Uh, I want to flag a couple of, uh, reports. The UN Economic Commission for Europe today released a report warning that across Europe, Central Asia, and North America, inland transportation systems —roads, railways, inland waterways, ports and airports—are expected to face significantly more adverse climate conditions by 2051 to 2080. Key risks include flooding, high temperatures, reduced snow, ice and permafrost, and sea level rise. The full report with advice on how to deal with this is online. Also, our colleagues at UNDP published a new assessment warning that the current Ebola outbreak in the DRC is creating a socioeconomic crisis that could push close to a million people into poverty. Sadly, as is often the case, UNDP says women are disproportionately suffering from the economic and health fallouts. The assessment says that Ebola crisis could eliminate tens of thousands of jobs, disrupt education, healthcare services, and could also cost African economies up to 3.6 $1.6 billion if broader regional and global shocks intensify. Uh, the report along with, uh, calls, proposals to mitigate the impact is online. Also, UNICEF, uh, in a report today says that many children are adopting AI, and you won't be surprised here, they're adopting it at rates that are 3 times faster than adults. That includes all of you here. Uh, UNICEF analysis is based on data from 10 countries and estimates at least 20 million children have used artificial intelligence to support their learning and homework, but also to seek advice on things that worry them. Uh, ahead of the Global Governance, uh, Dialogue on AI Governance, which as you know will take place next week in Geneva, UNICEF is calling on governments, the private sector partners to embed child rights especially the right to safety and protection in global AI governance. There's more in a press release. I want to flag this afternoon, the Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs will launch a new publication entitled UN Special Political Missions 1945-2025: An Overview. It's the first comprehensive public record of the history of UN special political missions, tracing their evolutions from the establishment of the UN Mediator for the Truce in Palestine in 48th to the 167 special political missions deployed by the UN over the last 80 years. There'll be a launch event at 3 PM hosted by Rosemary DiCarlo, the head of the Political and Peacebuilding Department, followed by a panel discussion. That'll give you 2 hours before a very critical football game at 5 PM. I would advise you to look up Today because it is International Asteroid Day, observed to raise the awareness of asteroid impact hazards and strengthen international cooperation on planetary defense. The day marks the anniversary of the 1908 Tunguska impact on Siberia. The explosion of asteroids flattened an estimated 80 million trees over more than 2,000 square kilometers, which is about the equivalent of the area of the Moscow city limits. Today is also the International Day of Parliamentarism. It highlights the vital role that— of parliaments in democracy, representation, accountability. We have a quiz today, Chris. Ready? Today's— it's a tale of extremes. Yesterday, I think you correctly guessed what the largest biggest country in Africa is by area. Today we want to test your knowledge further. Which is the smallest country by area on mainland Africa? Sorry? Sorry, Guinea-Bissau? Rwanda? Guinea-Bissau? No? No? No? No? No? All right, we only have 45 countries left. The Gambia. So we thank our friends in the capital. What's the capital of Gambia?

Gambia?

No. Oh, you guys are pathetic. Banjul. Are you accredited to the United Nations? Yes. Okay. We thank our friends in Banjul for their full payment to the regular budget. We now have 118 paid-up members. The Gambian people sent us $31,000 790. We thank them. Gabriel, we thank you for your question and your service.

Okay, uh, Steph, tomorrow on the AI, um, report that's really going to be released, or at least the preliminary version, the SG will be in this room, right?

Physically, yeah.

Yeah. And, um, and the guests will be virtual?

That is correct.

Got it. And, uh, do you know if he'll be, uh, fielding questions from the esteemed press corps related to AI?

I wouldn't put I wouldn't put too much money on Polly Market on that, but you never know.

Okay. And one other one, Steph. We watched the SG's remarks at the UNRWA contributions meeting, for lack of a better word. He laid out the case that we all— the facts that we all know: 390 UNRWA staff killed since October 2023, every single UNRWA building either damaged or destroyed. Among other things. He called it a liquidity crisis. Given what UNRWA has been facing the last couple years, does he also see UNRWA is facing an existence crisis? And what I mean by that is, does the SG see any scenario where UNRWA cannot exist anymore in his eyes?

Look, There is an existential crisis, right, so to speak. We've seen the rights of— we've seen the lack of financial support. We've seen the rights of UNRWA trampled, as I just even mentioned today. There is a continuing— I mean, UNRWA continues to receive a mandate from the General Assembly. They are meant to implement it. That's what the Secretary does. We receive mandates. There are millions of Palestine refugees in the occupied Palestinian territory, in Lebanon, in Syria, in Jordan that rely on UNRWA for basic services. And until a different or better solution is found, we need to support UNRWA. Yes, sir.

Thank you. Can you update us on the unpaid dues of the United States, both for the regular budget and the peacekeeping budget? By the way, does China owe the UN anything?

Yes, I think there is still an open tab from the People's Republic of China. No updates to share with you on US contributions. As I mentioned, we expect I will ask the Comptroller to brief you at some point tomorrow. There was a critical decision taken in the 5th Committee yesterday. We hope they will be— and expect it to be validated by the General Assembly this afternoon, having to do with the budget, and we look forward to confirming that to you later this afternoon.

Do you have the numbers now for The unpaid dues of the United States?

Uh, I don't have any new numbers, but we'll get those to you.

You do mean that the February, uh, numbers still stand about $4 billion?

I will— math was not my strong point. That's why I have the job that I have. So I will, uh, get back to you. Yes, Eric.

In, uh, 2023, the SG said he favored an international regulator for AI. Do you expect him to, uh, Does he still have that position?

Sorry to repeat that. I mean, I think you've heard what the SG has been saying on, on AI. And his main message is for governments, AI companies, the civil society to get together to ensure that there are guardrails in place to ensure that there is transparency on how AI operates, which I think was one of his strong points made in his speech in London on climate. There is— it is a technology that is running extremely fast and the impact is not always thought through and there are a lot of unknown unknowns, so I would encourage you to wait for the SG's remarks tomorrow. Okay, thank you very much. I'd like if you could— or technical colleagues could put Stephanie on the screen. Stephanie, great to see you. I can tell you're outside. We're joined by Stephanie Hochstetter, the World Food Programme's Country Director in Venezuela. I will give you the floor and then we'll take some questions. And welcome. Thank you for taking the time. Go ahead, Stephanie.

Thank you very much, and good afternoon. I am indeed outside. I'm speaking to you from La Guaira, one of the hardest-hit areas after the back-to-back earthquakes that struck Venezuela last Wednesday. The situation here, as it can happen in any catastrophe of this magnitude, is devastating. One man I met yesterday told me, holding his 3 sons by the hand of 2 years, 4 years, and 5 years, that he had no shelter, no food, no water. The mother had been taken to the hospital in Caracas. They lost family members and neighbors. And it is just heartbreaking to see the despair. I am right now in the first food distribution point that the World Food Programme has set up in the Temporary Integrated Service Center. Dinars, where the government has requested the UN to provide support and where the operations are already underway. Search and rescue efforts are now giving way to a full-blown humanitarian, humanitarian response, and the need for food, safe water, shelter, and just essential services is immediate and critical. The World Food Programme has 1,200 people, so 1,200 with emergency food parcels in a couple of days, and we're rapidly scaling up. We plan to reach half a million people in shelters over the next 3 months. We want to— food distribution and integrate in one place of food assistance, other critical means. This has been possible thanks to the full collaboration of the authorities and also at local level. Our teams in the field have met people who have said that, you know, they are now concerned of how to get food on a daily basis. Some of them still cook, but it's currently difficult to buy food in the, in the current context, which is why we're also providing food to them to cook, and we're also providing ready-to-eat food. WFP has more than 3,000 metric tons of food in country, so that's enough to feed more than 10,000 families for 2 months, and we are procuring additional supplies. There is food availability in Venezuela, so we are procuring, procuring locally. And in addition, we have available stocks in Colombia that can be rapidly reallocated to support the emergency response. The ports of Puerto Cabello and La Guaira remain fully operational. So if we need, there is the option of additional shipments. More than 1,400 metric tons of partner relief items are also prepositioned at the WFP-managed humanitarian response depot in Panama, and it's ready for dispatch. And WFP has an unmatched logistical footprint in the states hardest hit by the earthquakes and across the region. So in coordination with the authorities, scaling up will be possible very quickly. The earthquakes have struck many families, some of which are already struggling to afford basic food. And now, with their livelihoods shattered, the infrastructure severely damaged, many face very real danger of being pushed further into hardship. And what we have learned from other earthquakes of this magnitude is that when the spotlight fades, the needs do not. And this is why we are calling from the onset for sustained support to ensure that families are not trapped in a prolonged cycle of food insecurity. Our initial appeal is of $50 million to provide life-saving food assistance up to 500,000 people over the next 3 months, along with critical logistics and emergency communications support. As a fuller picture of needs emerge, we will review our plans and expand our response to include recovery operations. But for now, our focus is very clear. We continue working with the authorities to move very quickly to reach people where they are and to maintain the flow of assistance to those who need it the most. Thank you very much.

Thank you very much. We'll take some questions. Uh, Gabriel.

Thank you, uh, for this, for the briefing, Stephanie. This is Gabriel Elizondo from Al Jazeera English. Hopefully you can hear us okay. Uh, it sounds like, um, from WFP's perspective, where a lot of the pre-positioned stocks we're at are really helping get what you need to people that need it. It sounds like the response has been, all things considered, pretty effective. At least that's my assessment on your briefing. Can you just tell us two things? What is the main challenge that you're facing now, number one? And number two, what's the situation with the international airport in Caracas? Is it operational? Or not, and is that really affecting your work at all? It sounds like it's not, given the ports are open, but can you just clarify that? But particularly what the main challenge is?

Um, thank you. I think the challenges are, as in any other catastrophe of this magnitude, it's just the setting up and reaching the people as quickly as possible. Uh, the prepositioning of food in the country did help very much because we already had the food in the country. But at the same time, we're not sure how to the extent of the needs. So we are working with our colleagues in Colombia to get the food we need eventually in case of need. So it's, it's moving as in any emergency of this size. As for the airport, I understand it's not No commercial flights are going in. Commercial flights are flying into Valencia, and ports are functioning but for humanitarian assistance only.

Thank you. Ibtisam, then Evelyn.

Thank you. My name is Ibtisam, Al Arab Al-Jadeed newspaper. I have A follow-up on the food issue. So how long do you— like, the estimation you have, uh, the food you have is going to be enough for how long? Like, which period of time? And then, um, what about other needs? I know it's not WFP, um, like, are you working with other organizations, UN organizations, regarding other needs to meet them. Thank you.

Go ahead, Stephanie.

No, like I said, this is our initial response is for 10,000 families, and we will feed them right here in the country, in La Guaira, and then we will assess the other states, because it's not— La Guaira is the hardest hit. It is where the majority of buildings were just toppled. It was very— a touristic area of the country, and therefore the level of the concentration of population is greater than in other areas. But it's— so for 3 months, we have 10,000 families and we will what we have in the country. But as I said before, we are procuring more. And if we don't have enough in the country, depending on the, on the needs we find, we can, we can bring in from Colombia. As for the integrated response, we are working very closely with, with all of the humanitarian partners to make sure that these centers where the government has asked us to integrate services, cover all the needs— medicines, care, psychological support, food, water, electricity, telecommunications. So it's slowly— shelter, everything that is required to help people, you know, at the outset or just for now and until a more permanent solution is found. So that they have the necessary support in for all services that they might require to have them here concentrated. Of course, there will be communities that are further to reach, and those will have to have a different kind of approach where we will need to get there because the distances won't be— they won't be able to travel to the integrated centers.

Over. Thank you. Evelyn.

Thank you very much. Evelyn Leopold, Commercial Fund for Journalists. Was the country functioning properly before the quakes, before the disaster?

I'm sorry, there was some noise, but if I heard your question correctly, it was if the country was functioning properly before the disaster?

Yes, thank you. Correct.

I mean, the country was functioning as any country might function. I arrived. I was appointed to Venezuela on just recently. I arrived on the 19th of April. I arrived in the airport of Maiketía, you know, regular services. The city works as any other city. I was looking for an apartment to settle down. The office is working. Our programs were, were flowing. I presented credentials to the Minister of Foreign Affairs. So the country was working. And the shock of this double earthquake just shatters any sense of normality across. Because even though there are centers where there is more that were more affected, it still impacts the country as a whole.

Thank you.

Noreen. Thank you very much. My name is Noreen Hussein with IPS News. Just to get a perhaps a broader image of WFP's operations during— before the earthquakes, how many people were WFP like supporting through its programs before the earthquakes? And just ask to clarify again, how many people have you reached, have you been able to reach out to since then?

So before the emergency, WFP's operation was reaching 500,000 people through school meals program and community interventions. And now the If there's a shift in that, we will need to integrate this emergency response as quickly as possible. We've already attended 1,200 people in the past few days, and we will continue to scale up as needed.

Thank you. Thank you, Zina.

Thank you. I'm Zina for I Am Free and Homeland News. My question is the budget that you are planning to, to spend in this crisis, because the damage looks severe damages. Do you think that the budget that you are— you have now will carry all this disaster?

No, I think the budget we have now will not, definitely not cover the whole of the disaster. That is why WFP issued an initial appeal of $50 million to begin to cover and assess for the first 3 months all the needs of the populations that will require food assistance in different modalities.

Do you think there are people who are countries that they will help you in this crisis in the future if you need any funding, extra funding?

I think the solidarity not only of countries but also the population as a whole is just— scales when catastrophes of this magnitude happen. You know, the first reaction of the population in Venezuela, you would see— you would have trouble getting to La Guaira because of the amount of motorcycles and trucks and cars and just anything that would move to La Guaira. Full of juice, water, arepas, just anything that represented immediate help for the population. And I think countries have also stepped up immediately to— apologies for that noise— have also stepped up immediately to determine what else is needed to fill these gaps in the aid the country is receiving. Thank you.

Great.

Stephanie, thank you so much for taking the time. I know you have a lot of stuff to do, but we really appreciate you taking a few minutes to talk to the journalists here. We wish you and the whole UN family the best, and we thank you for everything you're doing. We hope to see you back soon.

Thank you very much. Bye.