Colombia, Middle East & other topics - Daily Press Briefing

Hello. Okay, good afternoon, everyone. Starting with Colombia, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and our partners continue to support the government-led response following the devastating earthquake earlier this week. Latest reports indicate that more than 200 people have been killed and 2,500 people injured. Widespread damage to homes and public infrastructure have also been reported. Humanitarian assessments are ongoing, particularly in the hardest hit areas, where disruptions to communications, transport and public services continue to hinder relief efforts. Emergency shelter, food assistance, access to safe drinking water, and health care for affected communities are among the top priorities. We and our partners are also mobilizing resources. The World Food Programme is sending food, while the World Health Organization is dispatching medical supplies from their warehouses in the country. The Secretary-General is closely following the developments related to the conflict in the Middle East, including the situation in and around the Strait of Hormuz and in the Red Sea. The Secretary-General remains convinced that a comprehensive and durable settlement can only be reached through dialogue and negotiations. Such a settlement would help restore stability and confidence across the region, while also safeguarding the navigational rights and freedoms in and around the Strait of Hormuz and in the Red Sea. The Secretary-General's Personal Envoy for the Middle East conflict and its consequences, Jean Arnault, remains available to assist the parties and mediators in the search for a durable solution. Arsenio Dominguez, the Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization, expressed regret after a cargo ship, the Tehama, was hit by a projectile off the coast of Al-Mukha, Yemen. Several seafarer fatalities have been confirmed and Mr. Dominguez offered his condolences. He reiterated his call for ship owners and ship operators to thoroughly assess risks before transiting this and other regions and follow appropriate best management practices. Seafarers deserve to be protected and allowed to do their jobs in safety and security. He once more urged the immediate and unconditional release of all seafarers who continue to be held captive following piracy attacks in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden region. Marking International Youth Day today, the Deputy Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Dr. Ramiz Al-Akbarov, said that the aspirations of Palestinian youth remain constrained by occupation, conflict, displacement, violence, and profound uncertainty. He reaffirmed the UN's commitment to working alongside young people and advocating for their rights. On the health front, our humanitarian partners estimate that every fourth Palestinian injured since October 2023 sustained potentially life-changing injuries, including spinal cord and traumatic brain injuries. Among children, it is every third injured child. Yet the importation of rehabilitation equipment continues to face significant constraints. with an average waiting time of 136 days for pending shipments containing assistive products. In the first six months of this year, the World Health Organization and partners facilitated the delivery of thousands of mobility aids, covering about one third of the identified needs. More equipment and medical devices must be let in. As of last week, WHO has recorded 45 attacks on healthcare in Gaza this year, nearly half of which occurred in Rafah, mostly affecting health transport. On food security, the Food and Agriculture Organization reported today that it was able to distribute mobile water storage tanks for the first time since October 2023. The 1,000-liter tanks are now supporting more than 2,000 herders across Gaza. Humanitarians are calling for the full and unrestricted entry of essential agricultural supplies and veterinary kits. The UN mission in Libya, UNSMIL, strongly condemns the ongoing clashes in Zawiya and previously in Sirte, and calls on all conflict parties to cease fighting immediately and halt all provocative movements that could further inflame tensions. Those directly engaged in the fighting and those supporting them should be held accountable for the impact of their actions, the mission says. In a statement issued yesterday, the UN mission says that the clashes in Zawiya and earlier in Sirte have endangered civilians, leading to the loss of life, multiple injured persons, and also inflicted significant damage to private property and critical infrastructure, including Zawiyah refinery. The mission reminds all parties of their obligations under international humanitarian and human rights laws, including the protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure. The use of heavy weapons or military positions in civilian populated areas or close to civilian populations which has the potential to cause grave harm to any victims, is unacceptable, and there must be a deliberate effort to ensure this situation does not further escalate. Our peacekeeping colleagues in the Central African Republic report the formal conclusion of disarmament and demobilization operations for ex-combatants in Maloum in the Ouaka prefecture. According to multidimensional integrated the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission, or MINUSCA, a total of 69 ex-combatants, including one woman, laid down their weapons. Most of them were members of the Union pour la Paix en Centrafrique armed group. The disarmament exercise yielded 37 weapons, 1,800 rounds of ammunition of various calibers, and six rockets, all duly inventoried and secured. The mission provided technical, logistical and financial support for the operation, which was completed on Sunday. Since July 2025, the mission has supported the disarmament and demobilization of 1,776 combatants, including 43 women, under the 19 April N'Djamena Agreement. Up to 7,000 combatants have completed the national disarmament, demobilization and reintegration process since it began in December 2019. In Sudan, our colleagues at the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs warned that violence continues to take a heavy toll on civilians and drive people from their homes across the country. In Blue Nile State, local sources say that more than 20 civilians were killed and many others injured yesterday in clashes in Geyson town. According to the International Organization for Migration, increased violence displaced about 2,500 people from the town yesterday. Meanwhile, in North Kordofan State, our human rights colleagues note that multiple drones reportedly struck El Obeid this morning. While there's currently no information regarding civilian casualties, there are reports that one of the drones struck a water station, which is particularly concerning at a time when access to clean water remains one of the most pressing challenges facing the city. Our humanitarian colleagues note that the drone strikes have been reported across El Obeid City, at a time when continuing attacks and insecurity in northern parts of the state are driving further displacement into the city. Our partners estimate that about 15,000 families have been displaced to El Obeid over the past three weeks. The continued influx is putting more pressure on already overstretched displacement sites and basic services. Despite the challenging environment, we, along with our humanitarian partners, are reaching people in need in El Obeid. OCHA once again calls on all parties to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure and to allow aid to reach people quickly, safely, and without obstruction for as long as needed. OCHA also urges donors to provide additional funding for the humanitarian response. This year's humanitarian appeal for Sudan remains about 41 percent funded, with $1.2 billion received against the $2.9 billion required. Turning to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Emergency Relief Coordinator, Tom Fletcher, said that UN teams continue to step up their response to the Ebola outbreak, stressing that efforts must go further and faster with outbreak now doubling every 20 days. As of August authorities report 4,449 confirmed cases and 2,061 deaths, suggesting that nearly one in two people diagnosed with Ebola has died. Our colleagues at the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs tell us that the International Organization for Migration and the World Health Organization are supporting authorities to strengthen preparedness and response capacities at priority points of entry into the country. OCHA also tells us that in recent weeks, More than 1.4 million health screenings have been supported across the country through IOM support to national authorities, while community outreach has reached more than 1.4 million people across six provinces. Surveillance is also being strengthened in the capital, Kinshasa, along the Congo River and in impacted and at-risk areas. Meanwhile, OCHA set up a field presence in Kisangani to support humanitarian coordination, alongside additional UN teams and humanitarian partners supporting the national response. As has been communicated by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, two UNAMA national staff members were detained by officials of the de facto General Directorate of Intelligence on Sunday, the 9th of August, in Afghanistan's western city of Herat. UNAMA has not been informed of the charges against them and has not been permitted to visit them. UNAMA has called on the de facto authorities to ensure compliance with the privileges and immunities of the United Nations and its officials. UNAMA, which as you know operates under a clear mandate from the Security Council, is engaging with the de facto authorities on these detentions. I understand that there's no update on the situation today and I'll keep you updated on developments. Further on Afghanistan. Our colleagues at UN Women and the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization are out with new data on the situation facing women and girls in the country. Half a decade after the Taliban takeover in August 2021, UN Women says Afghanistan has systematically dismantled the rights of half its population, making it a global outlier with no parallel in the modern world. New UN Women data show that half of Afghan women interviewed leave home only once or twice a month because of the severe restrictions on their movement and access to public spaces. UN Women also notes that over the past five years, the de facto authorities have issued more than 100 decrees targeting women and girls, institutionalizing discrimination and stripping them of their fundamental rights with profound consequences for their lives and for their communities. For its part, UNESCO notes that since 2021, girls have been barred from formal education beyond primary education, resulting in the systematic exclusion of an estimated 2.4 million girls from secondary education by 2026. Women have also been barred from university education since 2022 and continue to face severe restrictions on employment and participation in public life. As I mentioned earlier, today is International Youth Day, This year's theme focuses on young people living in least developed countries, landlocked developing countries and small island developing states. They often experience overlapping challenges linked to poverty, climate change, geographic isolation, limited economic opportunities and unequal access to digital technologies. In his message for the day, the Secretary General said that young people are already leading the way as organizers and innovators, but to go further, he stressed, They need access to the skills that will shape the future from critical thinking and problem solving to digital literacy. And also on youth today, the International Labor Organization released a report saying that global youth unemployment is rising with some of the sharpest increases in higher income economies. The report shows that young people not in employment, education or training increased slightly to 20% in 2025, impacting more than 257 million people. The full report is available online. And last, we would like to thank our friends in Victoria and Tunis for their full payments to the regular budget. The payments from the Seychelles and Tunisia bring the number of fully paid up member states to 128. Okay. Yes, Edie.

Thank you, Farhan. Two follow-ups. First, on Colombia. There was talk yesterday about possible donation from the surf fund to help the quake victims. Is that in the work, in the works? And is there any kind of plans to do any kind of fundraising for the reconstruction of a lot of the damaged buildings?

Yes, in fact, we weren't able to announce it today, but an allocation from the central emergency response fund is in the works. And hopefully in the next day or so, we'll be able to give you the details. And certainly once we have more information about the extent of damage, we'll try to put together an appeal because obviously the needs will be very, very severe.

And on Iran, where is Jean Arnaud? Is he in the region? Is he here?

No, Jean-Noel is not on site in Iran. He has been in Lebanon recently. As you know, in addition to his responsibilities regarding the Strait of Hormuz, he has been the officer in charge of the special coordinator's office in Lebanon. And so he's been there, but he is also ready to work with different partners on the Strait of Hormuz issue as circumstances allow. Yes, Murad.

Thank you, Farhan. On Yemen, is there any update regarding the ECJ special envoy to Yemen for de-escalating?

You mean Mr. Grunberg.

Grunberg.

Yeah, Hans Grunberg is continuing with his work. You saw that a few days ago, he put out a statement expressing his alarm at the rise in tensions in Yemen and the impact that it's having on Yemen. I would refer you to what he said there, but he is continuing with his efforts, as he said he was going to do, to try and de-escalate the situation.

On Iraq, the Iraqi government's plan to bring all weapons under the state control is approaching the deadline, September deadline. and the majority of the armed groups still rejecting the plan. What's the SG position on this and what's his message to this group?

His message to all is that clearly in Iraq it's important for the national government to be the one in control of the weapons of the territory and he hopes that they can make progress in dealing with efforts to bring about a unified control by the state of the armed forces of the country.

Just follow up on this. Iran reportedly is encouraging these groups, armed groups, not to disarm. Does the SCG see this as interference in the Iraqi internal affairs?

Well, we want all states in the region to cooperate in making sure that the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Iraq is respected. Anything else? Oh, yes, please.

Thank you, Farhan. Just a quick question. Two questions, please, also on Yemen, specifically the recent escalations around Bab al-Mandab. If you can please share with us any new information on how this new renewed maritime disruptions, specifically the rising costs of imports are affecting the UN's own humanitarian logistics on the ground? And second, are UN agencies putting any specific measures in place to protect essential food from reaching the people of Yemen?

Well, certainly any activity that disrupts shipping around the coast of Yemen will also hinder our efforts to bring supplies in, which is one of the reasons why all of those sorts of obstructions in the Red Sea and around Bab al-Mandab need to stop. I read out at the start of this briefing the concerns expressed by the International Maritime Organization, and they are continuing to follow up on the situation regarding the ships in the area. And by the way, they've also been following up, including with the government of Oman, concerning the one tanker off the coast of Oman that has been leaking oil into the sea. Yes, in the back.

Thank you, Farhan. Did the envoy to Libya, the UN envoy to Libya, set any meeting between the parties in conflict there?

As you might have noticed, the special representative, Hana Tete, briefed the Security Council last month about her work with the parties. She's continuing with the work, but she also reported to them about the problems and the delays she's faced regarding that. And I'd refer you to her briefing.

Now, in the recent days where the oil fields are destroyed. Did they get any meeting between the parties in conflict or no?

They're trying to work with the parties to de-escalate the situation. I read at the start of this briefing what the mission has said in terms of its concerns about the latest violence, and I'd refer you to what the mission has been saying. All right. Yes, Murat.

On Palestine. According to the Palestinian Prisoners Society, the number of Palestinian journalists in the Israeli prisons has increased to 45 women among them. Any comment on that?

Well, we would just state again our position that journalists everywhere must have their work treated with respect and must be freed from harassment by authorities in all countries. Have a good afternoon.