Lila Pieters Yahia (Resident Coordinator) on the floods in Nepal - Press Conference

All right. Oh, no, let's wait another -- I'm actually early. Sorry. All right, give us just one minute. We'll go ahead. Good afternoon. Thank you very much for being here. We're going to go, as promised, we're going to go first to our guest, and we're very happy to have with us Leela Peters-Yahya, the resident coordinator for Nepal, who, of course, will update you on the devastating floods that just took place. So, Leela, I will give you the floor, and then we'll take some questions. So please go ahead. Thank you.

Good morning or good afternoon, Stefan, and thank you for providing me this opportunity. So first of all, I would like to start by expressing our sincere and deep condolences and sadness over the loss of life, which has been caused by the flood of yesterday. And obviously, as all the United Nations, but also the International Committee here in Kathmandu, where I am, we have all we we we pray for the families of of the people which are missing and we really hope that a lot of those people will be able to be rescued. So quickly what I can share as an update. So all first of all the information that I will be providing you is from the government. And so therefore you may have different data but I'm only using official data. Uh first of all I would like to stress that the government of Prime Minister Balen Shah is leading the search and rescue and is coordinating any type of response. More than 30,000 security personnel have been mobilized and they're working day and night to try to rescue, to search and to rescue people. I mean, the magnitude of the disaster is just, I can't find the word to describe what happened yesterday. And I'm sure many of you have seen what we saw on television. So far, what has been reported as of 7:00 PM tonight, Kathmandu time, is we have 359 people, unfortunately, who have lost their life. 73 people have been hospitalized and some of them have been released. The missing people, it's a total of 910, of which 517 are foreigners from different nationalities. In terms of the, as I mentioned, the government has mobilized all its apparatus to provide search and rescue. And so far, 796 people have been rescued. And as I talk, more and more research is ongoing. And obviously now it's at night, but they will resume tomorrow morning. In terms of infrastructure, we have over 35 bridges which have been destroyed. The roads are destroyed. And so it's extremely, extremely difficult to have access. We have about 40 kilometers of road which are damaged. We have about electricity which has been disrupted, about 10% in the total area. And in total, we have about 10,000 households which immediate needs. I'm going to stop there because I want to give you the opportunity to ask me a question. I will be going there tomorrow with some of my United Nations colleagues. What I've done so far is I have obviously, and I would like to mention that we have been provided with $2.5 million from the CERF and I would like to thank very much USG Fletcher for his support and we're getting a lot of support I have a team from OCHA who is arriving tomorrow morning to support us with coordination of the UN agency, particularly UNICEF, WFP, UNFPA. and WHO are mobilized and have been conducting assessment and also going into the field. WFP has been able to provide and mobilize trucks, provide equipment, generator, but also food. So those are the initial activity undertaken in addition to the CERF funding that we have received. The Swiss government has generously given us $1 million. More and more funding is becoming available. We heard today when I held an HTC that both Australia and the United Kingdom will be also providing some relief funding to support the government. The government has established a relief fund and already the World Bank, India, China and the US have committed to pledge $229 million to support. So I think I'll stop there and I'm happy to take any questions that you may have.

Thank you very much. We'll start Noreen, please.

Thank you very much, Madam. My name is Noreen Hussein with IPS News. I have two questions I'd like to start with. You've mentioned that over 900 people are missing now. Can you just tell us among those, how many are children? And you've also mentioned that among those missing, over 517 are nationals from foreign countries. Can you tell us the countries that they are from? Thank you.

Thank you. Go ahead, please.

So far in terms of the 910 people, we don't have the exact number whether they were children, but so far no indication of that. However, I do want to underline that the area has an average of seven to eight percent of the total population of the district affected are children under five. So I can't answer to that question. In terms of the foreigner, there are many, many nationality unfortunately, and if I have to go through, but I can tell you the main, we have a lot of people because is the time of festivity in Nepal and we have a lot of national from China and India who have traveled to Nepal but we have also as you know this is a beautiful country touristic country so we have a lot of people who come to Nepal also for trekking and so we have a lot of other national from the United States national from Canada national from Australia from the UK but from various country and we have the list the This has been provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. So I think this should be made, will be probably shared. But the list is really long in terms of the different nationality. This is all what I can tell you. Thank you.

Thank you. Mariam, then Min-Lu.

Thank you. And thanks for this briefing. I was wondering if there is another risk of flood from the blockade and the rivers were unstable glacial lakes. And also, like, were you able to find out what the cause of the flood was? Some scientists are saying it's the climate change. Do you agree with that? Thank you.

Thank you. Yes, we just the government has just issued a warning this afternoon of potential additional flood risk in the boat Koshi River. And so what we have all to exercise is to be very cautious and they have sent warning to the population in living into in that area and requesting all the population to stand away from river banks and to go up as much as possible and to find safe places. This is the same instruction also given to relief worker but also to tourists who might still be in the region. So we don't know. As for the reason, as you know, the government is doing an assessment and so therefore at this moment I'm not in position to answer what are the exact causes which caused this massive flood yesterday. And we're looking into, you know, we're looking into different data and as soon as this information is available, I trust the government will publish it.

Thank you very much, Min Lu.

Thank you. This is Ming Lu with China Daily. And so just to mention that 359 people were dead. And among this number, is there any foreigners? And my second question is, we also heard that the weather forecast says the current region is going to be raining for the next few days. What is the biggest challenge you think is facing on the rescue actions right now?

Regarding your first question, no information details has been provided as yet of the nationality of the dead people. The government is, as I say, focusing on search and rescue, and they are also looking and seeking support. for us to help them to do identification of the body, but also to ensure that the different bodies are being stored properly and that they will respect, they will and will be following according to the tradition, the burial. So we don't have yet such kind of information available, but we have teams mobilized and who are working and supporting the government on this. In terms of the weather, yes, it's the monsoon and we still have rain. We were all expecting the monsoon to be over by this time. And so I think what we usually have and we've been having since the past three months is a lot of landslides. So this is likely to happen if we have, you know, if the rain continues. So this is part of the regular, you know, monsoon season and the consequences. And then you probably will have more roadblocks if you have landslides. So those are the standard, if you want, impact we observe throughout the monsoon season in Nepal.

Thank you. Tashu Danidi.

Thank you. This is China Center Television. So China has said it is closed communication and coordination with Nepal on the search and rescue effort and is ready to provide the emergency assistance based on Nepal's needs. Is the United Nation coordinating with China on the response? And what was the most needed on the ground right now?

Okay, yes, indeed, as I said, many countries are supporting the government of Nepal. The government of Nepal is coordinating all the support. We, United Nations, of course, we are in contact with the embassy here and we're trying to obviously coordinate as well. But the coordination, there's a coordination mechanism. Tomorrow morning at two, at noon, There will be what we call the cluster. The cluster have been activated by the government and both the cluster lead, which is the government and the co-cluster lead, which are headed by United Nations, will be meeting and we will be to ensure that we understand what are the exact need that the government is requiring and also to make sure there's no duplication and also to make sure that the aid which will be coming and it is coming already, there's been coming from outside will be properly distributed. But as I said, at the moment, the big, big, big priority is to search and rescue, to conduct and to conduct an assessment and to prove and to deliver aid as quickly as possible. But again, one of the some of the municipality most affected, it's going to be extremely difficult to reach those population. But already the government is thinking the fastest way and the quick way to reach them to ensure that food aid and other aids is being delivered. So we're looking into different type of tech to use different type of technology. But again, there is no yet, you know, confirmation. We're waiting for the assessment and we're waiting to hear further from the government of Nepal.

Thank you. Edie.

Thank you very much and a belated thank you on behalf of the United Nations Correspondents Association for doing this briefing. My name is Edith Lederer from the Associated Press. First, I just wanted you to clarify in terms of coordinating aid, is the UN in charge or is the government in charge or is it a dual hat? And secondly, I know this is sort of an awful question to ask, but in terms of these thousands of missing people, Is it believed that they are buried under a lot of mud or could they have been washed down the river? Could you-- is there any indication? Thank you.

Okay, thank you very much, uh, as I said, the government is on the lead, uh, and the government is coordinating, we have a cluster mechanism which has been activated, uh, by the government. And we, so the government has activated the cluster mechanism from its side. We, the United Nation have activated the cluster mechanism from our side. And tomorrow at 12 o'clock, there will be a meeting with the interministerial cluster of the government and the cluster which is led by United Nation and partners. So that's on coordination, but I want to reiterate is the government of Nepal, which is leading and coordinating and telling exactly the type of needs and they're doing the assessment and based on the need we are responding and the leadership is, we have a very strong leadership from the Prime Minister of Nepal. In terms of the 910 people which are reported as missing, I'm not in position to tell you to provide you detail on information. I think as like you, I have as much information as what I have seen so far through the various videos which were aired. And we will have more information as we are able to have access, but also as the government makes that information available.

Thank you very much. Yes, please, in the back.

Thank you. My name is from China's news agency. I'm wondering how this relief work is being carried out, for example, search and rescue. Is there a border, still a border? Can the relief workers travel freely between these two countries? Thank you.

Okay, thank you for your question. I'm the United Nation Resident Coordinator for Nepal. So our intervention are only on Nepal. So what the, obviously I can only speak what's happening, what I know and the information available made to us on the side of Nepal. So they, so it's, we are talking about three district one district inside Nepal and this is where the 13,295 security personnel have been mobilized and they are conducting search and rescue. I do not have information what's happening on the other side of the border as it is not in my prerogative. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Noreen.

A quick follow up, ma'am, on You've mentioned in your opening remarks that about 35% of the bridges and roads have been destroyed or completely blocked off due to the landslide. I wondered if you could just tell us about what are the routes that the teams on the ground are using to reach the affected communities?

Okay, so far, so you have one municipality where, you know, it's impossible to reach by road and all the aid is being delivered by the government by helicopter. So that's one area. So what we are able to do, we can travel to some of those municipality, but the most hit municipality, we're not able to reach it using the road or using the bridges because they have fallen apart. However, the government will be deploying Bailey bridges. As you know, those are temporary bridges, and we understand that some member states have made those available. We will be also looking ourselves, WFP is looking to see whether those bridges could be procured by United Nations should we receive a confirmation that those are still needed.

Thank you. Thank you very much. I think we're out of questions. Thank you for your work. Please send our solidarity with your whole team and especially all the national staff members. And we hope to see you back soon to provide an update.

Okay. Thank you very much, Stefan, and thank you to everybody. Have a nice end of the day. Thank you for your support. Bye.

40 seconds. start with a statement following the death of Ratko Mladic. The Secretary-General takes note of the death of Ratko Mladic, the former commander of the Bosnian Serb Armed Forces. Mr. Mladic was serving a life sentence of imprisonment following his conviction for genocide, for crimes against humanity, and violations of the laws or customs of war, and those that was handed out by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in 2017. The conviction and sentences were affirmed by the Appeals Chamber of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals in June of 2021. The Secretary-General stands in solidarity with the victims, with the survivors, and with the families who suffered from the crimes for which Mr. Mladic was found guilty. These judicial findings are final and the facts they conclusively establish form part of the historical record. The Secretary-General reiterates his call for all those in position of power to refrain from denying the seriousness of the crimes that have been adjudicated. He strongly condemns any denial of the Srebrenica genocide as a historical event and any action that glorifies those convicted of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide by international courts. Accountability remains an essential step for lasting peace, for trust and for reconciliation in the region. The United Nations remains fully committed to supporting efforts towards achieving accountability and justice for all. That statement should have just been sent out to you. And I think you heard quite an extensive update from our resident coordinator in Nepal. I do want to add a bit on Tom Fletcher, our Under Secretary-General for Emergency -- for Humanitarian Affairs and our Emergency Relief Coordinator. He remains in close contact, of course, with our teams in the region, as well as with the Nepalese and Chinese authorities. Today he spoke with the foreign minister of Nepal, offering the UN support and expressing the condolences on behalf of the UN system. He also spoke with the resident coordinator and also participated in some of the country team meetings. Mr. Fletcher has also been in touch with representatives of the government of China, also expressing condolences and offering our support. He's also allocated $2 million from the central emergency response response fund in order to save lives with emergency medical care, shelter, and water. Also this morning, you heard from the Secretary-General who spoke about the outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In his remarks, the Secretary-General stressed that Ebola can be stopped, but that the world must overcome what he calls the virus of indifference. He warned that international attention and resources continue to lag behind the realities on the ground. The Secretary-General said that the $2.13 billion humanitarian needs and response plan is only 48 percent funded and appealed for additional resources to scale up the response, warning that the current funding will last, excuse me, the current funding will only last weeks and not months. Meanwhile, our humanitarian colleagues on the ground, together with our partners, are increasing increasing safe and dignified burial capacity in the affected provinces. And that is, as you know, a critical measure to prevent further transmission of the virus, which remains highly contagious even after death. They have deployed about 35 additional mobile safe and dignified burial teams and 286 community-based teams to support disease surveillance and burials as needed. Uh, turning to Ethiopia, I can tell you that the Secretary General is concerned by recent reports of security incidents and heightened tensions in Northern Ethiopia, he underscores the importance of maintaining calm and sustaining progress towards lasting peace. He welcomes the renewed efforts of the African Union's high representative for the Horn of Africa, and that is the former president of Nigeria, Mr. Obasanjo, including -- that includes the recent consultations by Mr. Obasanjo in Addis Ababa and in Tigray Province. The Secretary-General urges all parties to support this initiative and takes this opportunity to advance dialogue on outstanding issues. The Secretary-General calls on parties to refrain from actions and rhetoric that heightened tensions, and that urges all to recommit fully to the comprehensive implementation of the permanent cessation of hostilities agreement. And staying in the Horn of Africa and going to Djibouti, our humanitarian colleagues there. Two million dollars from the Central Emergency Response Fund to early action and response efforts. The funding will help humanitarians protect the lives and livelihoods of more than 53,000 of the most vulnerable people, including refugees, before the effects of the drought peak. Moving to Lebanon, our humanitarian and peacekeeping colleagues tell us that hostilities in southern Lebanon are continuing to impact civilians and disrupt daily lives for people. Peacekeepers tell us they continue to observe extensive IDF ground activities throughout the mission's area of operations, including large-scale armored deployments, engineering work, logistical movements, and tactical patrols, as well as force concentration across both the east and the west sectors of UNIFIL's area of operations. And our humanitarian colleagues said that several airstrikes were reported by local authorities to them across Nabatieh governorate today, while daily strikes and demolitions operations continue to damage home and civilian infrastructure. Our peacekeeping colleagues tell us that between Tuesday and Wednesday this week, they detected 75 airspace violations by drones, fighter aircrafts, and helicopters. They also observed four airstrikes in the vicinity of Al-Mansouri in Sector West and airstrikes in in Deir Mimas municipality in northeast of Kham in Sector East. And OCHA also says that in Deir Mimas municipality, Lebanese civil defense personnel were reportedly forced to withdraw while responding to a fire after coming under fire. Peacekeepers also observed several instances of IDF tanks firing rounds and machine guns burst into both sectors. On Tuesdays, peacekeepers discovered a partially buried rocket southeast of a type in sector east that was assessed to be a Katusha type rocket. On the humanitarian front, UNIFIL through its liaison branch and in coordination with OCHA facilitated humanitarian missions in sector west. Since March 2nd, 900,000 people have received at least one round of emergency cash assistance. At the same time, humanitarians need to remain needs remain immense, yet available funding is insufficient to meet those needs. The six-month flash appeal, which requires nearly $640 million to support people impacted by the escalation of the fighting, is due to end in June -- excuse me -- to end in just four days and remains only half funded. We call for full respect for international humanitarian law, the protection of civilians, the protection of civilian infrastructure, the protection of humanitarian and aid workers, as well as our peacekeepers, while stressing that sustained humanitarian is essential to meet the needs of communities affected by the ongoing hostilities. And turning to the occupied Palestinian territory, our colleagues at OCHA tell us that humanitarians continue to provide life-saving assistance to civilians in Gaza despite the ongoing insecurity and and the restrictions yesterday we and our partners collected hundreds of pallets of supplies from Kareem Shalom Crossing including fruit vegetables and other food as well as adult diapers school supplies and fuel also yesterday there were food program reported that so far this month in Gaza three quarters of households face difficulties in accessing accessing markets mainly because of cash shortages and because of basic food items are expensive most food items cost significantly more they did prior to the escalation of hostilities in 2023. About one in five families reported they were eating one meal a day. Families are living hand to mouth, with 50% having been reported that they completely ran out of food at least once during the past month. In response, our partners have provided food parcels, wheat flour to more than 600,000 people as part of their August distribution cycle. And just a quick note, which I should have read earlier with the Africa items, this time from the Central African Republic. Our peacekeepers there tell us that they've handed over on Tuesday a rehabilitated health center and a rehabilitated primary school and a newly constructed primary school in Maloum and Kontendji municipalities. And that's part of the peacekeeping mission's community violence reduction program. These initiatives aim to strengthen social cohesion, support Uh, peace process and deliver tangible peace and dividends to local communities, up to 450 people are expected to benefit from these infrastructures. on the progress in Syria's political transition, but equally clear that Syria cannot meet the transition challenges alone and that greater international support is essential. In southern Syria, Mr. Cordone said Israeli military activity has continued, including repeated ground incursions, house searches, destruction of private and agricultural property. He said the continued Israeli presence east of the ceasefire line violates Syria's sovereignty, its territorial integrity, and reiterated that the Golan Heights remain Syrian -- occupied Syrian territory. He also welcomed the importance achieved at the meeting between President al-Sharaa and Mazloum Abdi, marking the continued step forward on security and administrative integration in Syria. Also briefing the council was the acting assistant secretary general, deputy emergency relief coordinator, Indrika Ratwatte. to say that Syria is at a pivotal moment and that Syrians are hopeful for a stable and prosperous future. But he warned that humanitarian needs still remain immense and that the gap between needs and available resources is growing, sadly, as it is in so many other places around the world. Meanwhile, our Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed is in India today, where she met with senior government officials, expressing her gratitude for the longstanding partnership between the U.N. and India, as well as India's leadership in advancing South-South cooperation and its continued call for reform multilateralism. She also engaged with students from the Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi, and they spoke about how they, students, and contribute to the sustainable use of artificial intelligence to advance human development and ensure its benefits reach everyone. She also met with the UN country team, and she is coming home tomorrow. Senior personnel announcement to share with you today, the Secretary-General appointed Robert Turner of Canada as the new Deputy Executive Director for Delivery and Partnerships at UNOPS, which is the UN Office for Project Services. Mr. Turner brings over 30 years of international humanitarian emergency and development experience, and he currently serves as chief of mission for the IOM in Ukraine. He previously served as operations coordinator for IOM's Gaza response and chief of mission and interim in Syria. More online. And today is World Lake Day. And you know what? We like lakes. Lakes are a crucial source of for drinking, for agriculture, for industry. They're habitat for countless species. They also help regulate the climate. They're increasingly under pressure from overuse, pollution and climate change. So today is a reminder to protect them because lakes are fun. I mean, that was my ad. It was not the official statement. Edie.

Thank you, Steph. On Nepal and China and this terrible flooding, first is Tom Fletcher planning to go to the region? And secondly, I know the UN response is mobilizing, but after listening to this briefing, is there any way we can get an idea of numbers and what this $2 million from CERF is going to be used for immediately?

Sure, I can give you a bit more on what some of the other agencies are doing. that includes World Food Program, which sent emergency food rations to impacted areas, and that's in Nepal. WFP is also providing logistical support to national authorities to ensure life-saving assistance. UNICEF is very much mobilized, focusing obviously on children and also on health. They're dispatching goods, they're also dispatching more people. As for Tom Fletcher, I don't have any travel plans for him this point. Obviously, I think in the first days of such an operation, no one wants to add an added level of burden to the country team. But Tom, I'm sure will go at the appropriate moment. Miriam.

Thank you, Steph. Abbas Araghchi, the foreign minister of Islamic Republic, sent a letter to the Secretary General. Has the Secretary General received that letter? It's regarding the new sanctions from U.S. on Iran. What does he think? And overall, after six months, what's the Secretary General's evaluation of this conflict?

Well, yes, the letter has been received. It has been distributed to Security Council and General Assembly as requested to by the authorities. You know, I think The assessment is that this conflict, even in somewhat of a frozen kinetic phase, continues to do a lot of harm to the region, continues to do a lot of harm to the global economy. I think the Secretary General is concerned about any new measures, any additional rhetoric that we see that could lead to an escalation. And we're continuing to see disruptions in the flow of energy, disruption in the flow of food. The only way to reach a durable settlement is through dialogue. And the Secretary-General is very much appreciative of the mediation efforts by Qatar, by Egypt, by Pakistan, of course, and others who are doing their best to try to lead to a political solution, which frankly, there's no getting around that to settle the situation. Okay, I don't see any questions online or offline or in person or through robots or anything else. So we shall end this.