Afghanistan, Ukraine, Occupied Palestinian Territory & other topics - Daily Press Briefing

Yeah. All right, good afternoon. Laureen. The two of you, I'm going to have to separate the two of you. I would help you to speak about nothing else in this room but me. All right. Good afternoon. After you're done with me, I will be joined by our guest, Jean-Philippe Antolin, who is the IOM's humanitarian response and recovery specialist for Latin America and the Caribbean. He'll be joining us from from Kibdo in the Choco Department of Colombia to brief you on the humanitarian situation on the ground following the devastating earthquake that hit Colombia. I'll start with some relatively good news from Afghanistan, and that I want to share that two of our national staff members from the UN political mission in Afghanistan who had been detained by the de facto authorities more than a week ago were released this morning. The colleagues appear to be in good health and we understand that the charges against them have been dropped. So we are delighted they are out. However, the mission has not been formally notified of the reasons for their arrest and their detention in the first place. And we're continuing to follow up with the de facto authorities. This includes seeking to ensure respect for the privileges and immunities of the UN, as well as the safety, the security, and the freedom of movement of UN staff and associated personnel as they go about their mandated work. And as a reminder, unfortunately, there are still 73 of our colleagues who remain detained in Yemen by the Houthis. and we continue to do everything we can to seek their immediate release. Turning to Ukraine, the Secretary-General strongly condemns today's large-scale missile and drone attack by the armed forces of the Russian Federation on the capital city of Kyiv, as well as other urban centers in Ukraine. These attacks reportedly killed and injured dozens of civilians and caused extensive damage to civilians and civilian infrastructure. This is yet another tragic example of the alarming patterns of escalating strikes against populated areas. I can tell you that the Secretary General remains deeply concerned by the continued escalation of this conflict, including onto the territory of the Russian Federation. Attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure are a clear violation of international humanitarian law wherever they occur, and they must stop immediately. The Secretary General reiterates his call for an urgent de-escalation leading to a full, immediate and unconditional ceasefire and for just and sustainable comprehensive peace in line with international law, including UN Charter and all relevant United Nations resolutions. And in Ukraine, Tom Fletcher, the Under Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs and from whom you heard yesterday remains in Kiev today. He said he was struck by what he saw, which was the aftermath of yet another deadly night for civilians with homes, hospitals and a school having been hit in these Russian airstrikes. The continued toll on civilians, he said, should outrage just all. We, along with our humanitarian partners, provided an immediate emergency response following the attacks in Kiev and the surrounding region. We complemented this efforts of emergency services and municipal workers. They provided first aid and psychological first aid, hot meals and construction material, as well as humanitarian cash assistance. Also today, while in Kyiv, Mr. Fletcher met with a number of senior Ukrainian government officials, including Andriy Sybigha, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, with whom he shared his condolences for the attacks that occurred. Mr. Fletcher also met with Denys Shmyhal, the First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Energy, and Denis Ulutin, the Minister of Social Policy, Planning, Family and Unity. Turning to the situation in the occupied Palestinian territory. Our colleagues at the Office of the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs continue to receive reports of Palestinian civilians in Gaza being killed, being injured or otherwise impacted by Israeli airstrikes, by shelling and gunfire. This includes children, as one can imagine, given the overcrowded conditions in the Gaza Strip. We continue to call for the protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure. Civilians should never be targeted or used for military purposes. Today, the body of 50 people, including 19 children who were killed over two years ago, were finally laid to rest after being recovered from under the rubble in Gaza. These this operation happened in recent days. Efforts to remove rubble and retrieve bodies in Gaza remains limited by restrictions on the entry of heavy machinery, spare parts, lubricants and other critical supplies, as well as restrictions to access to vast areas within the Gaza Strip. Meanwhile, our humanitarian partners working on shelter reported today that 94% of Gaza's 2.1 million people need shelter and basic household assistance. More than four out of five families face critical or catastrophic levels of hunger in their current shelters, which lack fuel, energy, and essential household items. These constraints affect people's ability to sleep, their ability to cook, their ability to wash, wash their ability to store food, water, maintain adequate lighting and cope with the temperatures. OCHA remains estimates that nearly two in every three families live in tents or makeshift shelters that rapidly deteriorated harsh weather as they are designed only for short term use and we continue to face. obstacles in bringing the level of more structured shelter into Gaza. Last winter, more than 70% of families experienced flooding ahead of the cold and rainy seasons. Our humanitarian partners are working to ensure adequate shelter for families. However, as I mentioned, these restrictions on materials and equipment combined with funding shortfalls have kept assistance far below the net level that is actually needed for the people. Shelter partners estimate that $562 million is needed for emergency response. Of this amount, they've requested $165 million to address the most acute cases, but just over a quarter of this funding has been secured so far. Meanwhile, our colleagues at the UN Development Program said that since May, with the help of our humanitarian partners, they've expanded pest control activities to more than 3,000 displacement sites, markets, and hospitals across Gaza. Parents stressed that sustained access to rat and rodent control remains -- supplies remain critical. It's also given the continued infestation of rodents. We also need heavy machinery and essential equipment to be allowed into Gaza to facilitate the removal of trash, which, as you know, has been a huge problem. Moving north to southern Lebanon, where UN peacekeepers are continuing to carry out their mandate despite the persistent security risks and restrictions on their movements, our peacekeepers there, UNIFIL, remain fully committed to their mandate and remaining in position, in visible position across southern Lebanon through daily operations, including patrol, monitoring, liaison, and, as you know, support for humanitarian operations. But this work continues in an increasingly challenging security environment with incidents affecting the safety and security of peacekeepers. Our peacekeeping colleagues at UNIFIL report continued incidents, in fact, affecting the safety and security of peacekeepers. On Wednesday, an IDF tank pointed its turret and laser at peacekeepers positions near Achit al-Qusar. Another location, small arms fire struck close to a UNIFIL position where IDF forces operating nearby. Restrictions on freedom of movement also continue to be a concern with seven incidents recorded between Monday and Wednesday. Most involved the IDF and resulted in patrols, convoys and humanitarian movements being delayed, rerouted or required them to just turn back to where they'd come from. In one case, a group of 20 individuals on mopeds refused to let the peacekeepers pass. The presence of unexploited ordinance also continues to pose a serious risk to both peacekeepers and civilians. This week, UNIFIL located and safely disposed of hand-bundled bombs near Ramia and identified additional unexploited munitions in Kfar Kella and discovered ammunition cache north of Markaba. Meanwhile, from Monday to Wednesday, UNIFIL observed, continued to observe IDF activity on land, on air, and at sea in southern Lebanon, with activities peaking on Tuesday. Peacekeepers recorded 86 airspace violations, mainly from drones, 9 airstrikes 265 projectiles launched by the IDF they also observed nearly 30 instances of drone activities including reconnaissance sorties kinetic strikes and suicide drones demolitions Demolition and destructions of infrastructure by the IDF also continued. Peacekeepers observed the demolition of Lebanese Armed Force infrastructure near Sheba Farms, Sheba, excuse me, and controlled demolitions in Mansouri and Majdal Zoon, alongside ongoing destructions of villages and other infrastructure. At the same time, UNIFIL continues to support humanitarian effort, facilitating the deconfliction of 18 humanitarian missions to support civilians in the south, and that was all between Monday and Wednesday. Quick up, or not so quick update, but an update for you on the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where our humanitarian colleagues warned that Ebola outbreak continues to expand with national authorities recording more than 5,200 confirmed cases and nearly 2,500 deaths as of August 18th. Our senior Ebola coordinator on the ground, Julian Harness, said the government and our partners are scaling up response with five operational priorities, including tripling safe care capacity, strengthening community engagement, doubling the number of safe and dignified burial teams, and expanding disease surveillance and increasing support for the most vulnerable. As part of his broader effort, the government launched this morning the Congo River Without Ebola initiative with support from the UN and our partners. This initiative aims to strengthen disease surveillance and preparedness along the Congo River, which, as you can imagine, is often the only route connecting villages, markets, and several provinces. With funding from the Central Emergency Response Fund and others, the This will support the initiative alongside national authorities. Together, they'll strengthen disease surveillance at priority ports and transit points, improving early warning and referral systems and reinforce preparedness among riverine communities and people traveling by boat. WHO said that 70,000 doses of the Ebola Zaire vaccine have been allocated to the DRC. The doses will support frontline health workers and clinical trials to assess its potential effectiveness against the Bundibugyo virus, which is the main source of the Ebola cases. For its part, the peacekeeping mission there, MINUSCA, also continues to provide a secure environment for humanitarian workers responding to the outbreak. Earlier this week, the mission established a standing military presence in Ituri's Mambasa territory to support Ebola response team and operating in the area following security incidents nearby. In Fataki, the mission also engaged local community leaders following threats against Ebola response personnel, and to encourage timely information sharing, facilitate responses by national security forces in the mission. Also, on the peacekeepers, they are remaining actively engaged on the ground, supporting humanitarian partners through protection efforts in and around displacement sites. creating safe conditions for the voluntary return of displaced people. Over the past eight months, the mission in Ituri Province's Bulu community has maintained a strong presence and stepped up patrols to help protect about 60,000 displaced people. As of August 11th, between 200 and 250 families had begun to return to the town. And last Saturday, following negotiations led by a peacekeeping team, a peacekeeper patrol safely recovered two girls who had been abducted the previous day by the Cooperative for Development of Congo armed group in the province. The girls were safely escorted back to a hosting site. And on that note, I will take your questions before going to our guests. Edie.

Thank you, Steph. And first and foremost, on behalf of everyone here and the United Nations Correspondents Association, happy birthday to you.

Would not want to be anywhere else. Well, maybe a few, but thank you.

Secondly, on the Ebola outbreak in Congo, having been here during the last major outbreak, when there was really a very significant amount of global attention on ending it, eradicating it, what's happened this time? Why aren't we seeing the kind of attention to try and eradicate this one, which potentially will be even more serious.

Listen, I think it's a very, very valid question. We have tried to beat the drums almost daily on what is going on in the DRC, the threat to other countries. I think we're also seeing an outbreak in a zone which is very often a conflict zone where there is a lack of security, lack of transport. The world, sadly, and I think the media is occupied by other crises. And I think it is also important that journalists and that media organizations pay attention and also help us spread the word about what is going on in the eastern part of the DRC and the potential threat to increasing number of countries.

I'm gonna take one more question on UNIFIL. Every day it seems you talk about incidents involving peacekeepers and I know that there is this tripartite mechanism that is supposed to discuss all of these allegations, claims, incidents that are recorded? Why don't we see any changes?

Well, again, Edie, asking valid questions. It's not -- we are repeatedly in contact, our colleagues are repeatedly in contact with the Israelis, with the Lebanese armed forces, and others. Our peacekeepers are reporting what they're seeing every day, and it's been constant harassment. And the peacekeepers are not there on the orders of Antonio Guterres. They are there under a mandate of the Security Council. They are there as representatives of the international community, and they need to be respected in their activities as they implement their mandate. Madame, and then Morad.

Thanks, Steph. Carrie Norton for Radio France Internationale. The U.S. have ended temporarily the protection for Haitian immigrants in the U.S. at the beginning of the month. As the U.N., I know your U.N. team is pretty busy already in Haiti, but are they preparing for eventually, are they preparing in advance for eventual deportations?

Well, I mean, as you know, the UN team in Haiti is stretched, but our colleagues on the ground are doing whatever they can to support the government as people are being forcibly returned home, again, in a place where there is a huge lack of security, a lack of opportunity, and a very, very dangerous situation. Murad and then Namo.

Thank you, Stephen. President Trump yesterday announced a new campaign to isolate Iran's economy called Economic D-Day. He threatened other countries with consequences if they continue to deal with Iran. How does the SCG see this development and the potential impact on the global economy.

We are already seeing the impact on the global economy of the conflict in the Gulf, right? From the lack of freedom of transportation along in the Strait of Hormuz, also now the lack of freedom of navigation in the Bab-el-Abad, in the Gulf of Aden, leading up to the Red Sea. what we need is a serious return to negotiations, right? Because an increase in kinetic activity, an increase in economic conflict will not be good, as you say, for the global economy. Nammo.

Thank you, Stefan. Yesterday, the US representative at the Security Council accused the president of the General Assembly of overstepping her authority. She said, quote, the PGA continues a trend of UN leadership fancying themselves as diplomatic superstars rather than chief administrative officers. do you have what's the sec what does the secretary general think of this pointed criticism of the un leadership in general and also does the secretary general stand by pga the way she's conducted her job thank you.

The secretary general has a lot of respect for this president of the general assembly he's worked very closely with her on the pact for the future on its implementation on the un80 initiative he very much enjoys the cooperation he has with her. I'm not, for his part, the Secretary-General is fulfilling his mandate given to him by member states and he's been doing it in great faithfulness to the UN charter since member states gave him that mandate almost ten years ago now. But I'm not going to go provide commentary to statements from various member states in that they deliver in legislative bodies.

Alex.

Thanks, Steph, and happy birthday. On Afghanistan, you mentioned that the charges against you and stuff have been dropped. Could you please remind us what charges?

I don't. The circumstances of their detention, what they had been accused of, and all that remains very unclear, and we're trying to get more details. For us, we're just delighted that they've been released, they're in good health, and they face no, apparently no more judicial legal issues. Mona.

Thank you, Stephane. Just a quick question, please, on Hind Rajab. The Israeli army has now acknowledged that its troops fired on the car after previously denying it for almost two years. I know the High Commissioner in Geneva had already said the killing could amount to a war crime. So now that Israel has opened its own investigation, does the UN believe that a state whose forces are implicated in enough investigation or the UN is still calling for an independent?

Look, we've taken note of the announcement by the Israeli defense forces, including the decision to open a criminal investigation into the death of Hind Rajab and her family. I think from our from this podium and the secretary himself has consistently stressed the importance that all alleged violations of international humanitarian law are investigated investigations into these allegations of violations must be prompt they must be thorough they must be independent impartial and transparent and wrongdoing is established those responsible must be held to account through effective judicial proceedings there needs to be full accountability we will I think we do not want to prejudge the investigation. They said they would launch a criminal probe. Let's see where it leads and then we will opine on it. But let's, I don't want to prejudge the process and its outcome. Okay. On that note, I don't see any questions online. So if we could put our guest up on the screen, that would be most useful. Jean-Philippe, can you hear us?

Yes, can you hear me?

Perfectly. Great. Well, again, we're joined by Jean-Philippe Antolin, who is the IOM's humanitarian response recovery specialist for Latin America and the Caribbean. He's briefing us from Colombia. So please, you go ahead, and then we'll take some questions.

Thank you. And I think it's in the order of the day to wish you happy birthday. Okay, good afternoon, good morning. I'm speaking to you today from Quibdoo, capital of Colombia's Choco department, one of the worst affected by the 7.4 earthquake that shook the country 10 days ago. IOM is working alongside the government of Colombia, local authorities, local partners and other UN agencies to support the national response to the emergency. The full picture of the impact is still emerging, but according to preliminary data by the National Disaster Risk Management Unit, 282,000 people have been affected. Amongst these, we have many who have lost their loved ones, their homes, children have lost their schools, and communities no longer have access to something as simple as a park or as essential as a hospital. Nearly 163,000 homes are affected and undergoing structural evaluations. Aiming to complement the government-led response, IOM launched this morning a flash appeal of 30 million USD to expand its earthquake response in the initial six months. Our appeal aims to cover both urgent life-saving help now and a gradual shift toward longer-term recovery. including shelter, managing accommodation sites, clean water and sanitation, health care, protection for vulnerable people, and helping communities to rebuild. Within the UN system, IOM is leading the coordination of the Shelter and Site Management Cluster here in Colombia, with our team supporting the identification of affected populations, the assessment of priority needs, and gaps in assistance in these areas. To date, alongside local authorities, we have marked at least 71 temporary collective accommodation sites which host 4,700 people, equivalent to 1,400 households, across Valle del Cauca, Risaralda, Choco and Caldas. We are also supporting the National Disaster Risk Management Unit with registration of affected people here in Quito, in Cali, and we will extend this support to Pereira over the weekend as well. Recent heavy rains across Colombia's Pacific region, including Pereira, Buenaventura, and here in Quibdoo, have further worsened living conditions for many earthquake-affected families. These conditions have increased shelter, water, sanitation, and protection needs, particularly for people in open spaces, community centers, sports fields, schools, public buildings, and churches. The rain is also making it easier for epidemic vectors diseases to spread, such as dengue, which is especially dangerous in shelters where many people live close together. The need for shelter and support remains high. Humanitarian partners say more housing options, including community shelters, temporary hotel stays, host families, and rent support are needed for families whose homes were destroyed, badly damaged, or no longer safe. Repair kits and household basics, such as sleeping mats, bedding, cooking supplies, and items for privacy will be essential to help people live safely and with dignity. Getting these supplies to the hardest to reach areas remains a major challenge, and most partners are working together to overcome it. There is also an urgent need to strengthen roofing, drainage, and waterproofing in existing locations while continuing to register affected populations, whether in collective sites with host families or rental housing. At this challenging time, IOM comments the rapid and decisive response of the Colombian government, as well as the dedication and solidarity of authorities and emergency response teams working on the ground. We'll continue supporting the government's response to every stage of this emergency and recovery, working with other sectors and planning for the future so communities are better prepared for the next disaster. Back to you, spokesperson.

Thank you very much. We'll start with Edie Letter, Associated Press.

Thank you very much on behalf of the United Nations Correspondents Association for doing this briefing and giving us this update. What are the most urgent needs today for the earthquake victims? And I know we're still in an emergency phase, but when do you expect the recovery and reconstruction efforts to begin? Thank you.

Please go ahead, Jean Philippe.

Thank you. Thank you, Dean, for the question. Most urgent needs, yes, it's been 10 days, so pretty much everything is still urgent. There's communities that haven't been accessed yet or have only been accessed once. We must continue to provide blanket coverage of several items, from shelter to food to health. Among those many most pressing urgent needs, I will say also the need for information. people need to know people need to know whether the house is safe uh structurally sound from outside it might some might not look affected but if you go inside you will see cracks everywhere people are sleeping outside for fear of the roof collapsing over their heads they need the structural evaluations to carry on someone who tells them it's safe or unsafe to to be there and where they are at the moment, they need to have access to the most basic needs and to have commodities and to live safely and with dignity. This is what's happening in all of those places that we've mapped. People living with other families or in alternative settings also need that support. They are in crowded conditions, but they They won't be able to stay there long if they don't receive help. And we don't want shelters to become magnets as the only places where people could access assistance. And that's exactly what the government is doing right now, figuring out where everyone is, what they need, as the other phases start. Your second question about recovery, well, what we say is recovery starts from day one, and it does. people will start figuring out how they are, where they are, what they need, how they're going to rebuild. Government is already working on potentially rental assistance. We see them every day out mapping, informing people where to go, how to register, regardless whether we're owners, renters, whether their livelihoods are gone or not, to to be sure that they benefit from the due process. But it takes time. It's been only 10 days. And as that progresses, the most urgent need continues to be to assist them. We see a lot of solidarity happening still in Colombia from CSOs, from civil society, from private organizations. But we know by experience that that at some point will run short and it's not coming in the volumes and to the places that need it most. So rural areas, that's because of access, it's not happening yet. So the blanket coverage needs to continue, access improved as people know where to go and how the different streams of help will reach them. Back to you.

Thank you, Murad.

Thank you, Murad from Al Jazeera Arabic. Could you elaborate more in regard the international response, either on fund or aid, or the, in general, the other immediate priorities?

And apologies, I don't have the full picture of that. That would be on foreign affairs and not chance, but we certainly see it, I mean, speaking with partners, with other UN organizations, with the Red Cross movement. I see several people have launched appeals. Funding is starting to mobilize. In fact, from some donors, rather fast for UN. That was from the US that has made 5 million of our 30 million appeal funded already. We've seen bilateral aid also arriving. I'm here in Quito. Yesterday, I saw the Argentinian Air Force that had landed, I think it was before in in Cali. They took off at the end of the day. Uh I saw a US airplane today. So, aid is still is still arriving. The volume of it, the quantity of it, I do not have and and I would like if I venture, I guess, but it but it is happening.

Thank you. Any other questions? Alright. Well, Jean-Philippe, thank you very much for that very comprehensive update. We wish you all the best and as well as all the UN colleagues who are down in in Colombia.

Thank you thank you for the opportunity and solidarity with Colombia thank you