Spain, Korean Peninsula, Yemen & other topics - Daily Press Briefing Press Conferences Date: 5 November 2026 Language: English Transcript: https://transcripts.un.org/en/briefing/sg/2026-11-05 Transcripts available through this tool are created by using automatic speech recognition and are not official records nor official documents of the United Nations. Official records and official documents are available on the Official Document System of the United Nations. --- Speaker 1 [34:23]: Who is it? If you met him, because he just arrived. Aurélien Le Chevalier. Yeah. When did you meet him? In Paris, a week, two weeks ago. Oh, because when you were there, you asked me to meet him. I was there. I was at the Hi, we took care of it. You want me to call you back? I'm at the, I was at the, no, this was in New York, I'm sorry, at. The Oh, you were there at the two weeks ago. Yeah, two weeks ago at the Yeah, yeah, yeah. She's lovely. I know. She's so happy. Yeah, yeah. First Halloween. First Halloween. She loves my son. At first she looks a little surprised. What are you doing? And then she starts laughing. She doesn't know. She's. Learning. So yesterday I went to that thing, and I met one guy, and I realized he's a nephew of one of my editors in Paris. Can you believe that? Oh, no, that's not it. Oh, really? Yeah. Ooh, where were they? No, that was at Versailles. What did you do in Versailles? The French American Foundation sometimes has events. He's the chairman of the U.S. side. No, it's in French. I know, I know. Anyways, so we went to that. What type of links do you have with France? And then, he does. There's a link. This one, the one we ran the marathon, looks like it. But anyway, it was at the Alliance. I thought I had some. But anyway, at the Alliance in New York. I couldn't make it, so I put myself in. But anyway, I guess it was, maybe I didn't take. Any pictures, but it was very nice. So, these, you know, oh, I know what I did. I know what I did. I took pictures of, I think I showed it to you, Marion Cotillard. You were there also because of the French-American. Foundation. UN · Spokesperson [38:00]: Yes, madame. As soon as I'm done, she'll be here. She'll be. Okay. Yeah. If you don't mind staying for her, that would be great. All right, good afternoon. I have a lot of stuff for you today. Some of it may be news. In a short while, we will be joined here by Lila Piter Yaya, the UN resident coordinator in Nepal, who will brief you on. the situation in the country. Tomorrow, our guest will be Bruno Le Marquis, the UN Deputy Special Representative and Resident Humanitarian Coordinator in Afghanistan. He's here in New York. We thought it'd be interesting to have him. speak to you about the situation in Afghanistan. This morning, the Secretary General addressed the 30th Ibero-American Summit in Madrid. He spoke about the power of culture to bring people together, stressing that the diversity of the Ibero-American community shows that unity does not require uniformity and that loving our own does not require fearing others. Mr. Guterres stressed that culture can help societies reconcile with former adversaries, it can help welcome refugees and migrants with dignity and reinforce communities. In his final address to the Ibero-American Summit as Secretary General, he underscored the power of culture to strengthen our shared humanity and to foster dignity, reconciliation, and peace. And as I speak, the Secretary General is meeting with His Majesty King Felipe VI of Spain. We'll share a readout of that meeting. And tomorrow, he'll travel to Salamanca, where he will be awarded an honorary degree by the University Salamanca, and he will be speaking about the importance of international law in Salamanca. We’ll share those remarks with you. I want to start with the Korean Peninsula. The Secretary-General remains concerned about the situation in the Korean Peninsula, including potential escalation of tensions in the demilitarized zone. The Secretary-General encourages relevant parties to initiate the resumption of communication channels, including military-to-military communication, All this in order to avoid unintended accidents or miscalculations. Diplomatic engagement and renewed dialogue remain the only pathway to reduce tensions and to achieve sustainable peace on the Korean Peninsula. We’ve another update from Yemen, where people continue to flee their homes across several governorates, with nearly 135,000 displaced people. That’s more than 40% of all people recently uprooted in the country. Those people are still displaced within the governorate of Taiz. Yesterday, the International Committee of the Red Cross delivered four trucks carrying essential medical supplies, including surgical kits, to hospitals in Taiy City to help treat injured people and to support health facilities under severe pressure from the ongoing facilities that we've been telling you about. Meanwhile, the World Food Program and its partners have launched an emergency meals initiative in Taiy City with locally sourced ingredients, aiming to initially reach about 2,000 vulnerable families across three districts in that city. Our partners are also working in shelter have also so far provided emergency shelter to about 5,600 displaced families, just over one in 10 of the more than 51,000 families displaced since August. Shelter kits and tents are set to be distributed to another 4,600 families. Security concerns continue to affect our work. Yesterday, a missile struck one kilometer from Kataba City near several areas hosting displaced people. Initial reports indicate that civilians were injured in this strike. As a precaution, the planned delivery of humanitarian aid assistance to the district and nearby camps for displaced people were suspended. We reiterate our call for the protection of civilians and for the safe, sustained, and unimpeded humanitarian access, particularly to displaced people and communities increasingly affected by ongoing hostilities. And I just want to give you a bit more of an update on the situation regarding our colleagues that are still detained by the Houthi authorities. The circumstances surrounding the death of our colleague Mohammed Elshami while being arbitrarily detained by the Houthi de facto authorities raises serious concern about possible ill treatment. This includes the prolonged failure by the Houthis to disclose reliable information about his fate and his well-being. These concerns warrant thorough investigations, and as such acts, if established, may constitute serious violations of applicable international law, including international human rights law. We once again call for a prompt, independent, impartial, and transparent investigation to establish the date, the cause, and the circumstances of Mr. Alshami's death, including the conditions of his detention and whether he received adequate or even timely medical care, and why his family and ourselves at the United Nations were not promptly informed of his death. The investigation must also identify those responsible to ensure they are held to account. Mr. Alshami is the second of our colleagues to die while being arbitrarily detained by the Houthis. This raises grave concerns about the safety and well-being of all the other colleagues and other humanitarian personnel that are held in similar situation, particularly those with serious medical conditions. We call on the Houthi de facto authorities to immediately provide verifiable information on all detainees' whereabouts and health, and ensure regular contacts with their families and access to the necessary medical care, including specialized treatment. All arbitrarily detained UN personnel must be released, especially those requiring critical medical treatment. We absolutely need access to them in detention so we can also assess their medical condition. The Houthis de facto authorities bear responsibility for the safety and the well-being of all UN and other humanitarian personnel being currently detained. Under international human rights law, persons deprived of their liberty must treated humanely and always afforded adequate medical care and protection. Once again, they must release all of them immediately and unconditionally. This also includes not only our own staff, but other personnel from humanitarian missions, diplomatic missions, and civil society. This morning back here, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, whom you heard from yesterday, briefed the Security Council on Abyei and on the mandate of the UN peacekeeping mission there, UNISFA. He told Council members that the drone attack of 19 October introduced a new and concerning dimension to the security landscape. Coming on top of the violence in and around Amyet Common Market in September, Mr. Lacroix said taken together, the incidents show that threats to stability in Abyei are evolving, extending beyond traditional intercommunal dynamics and increasingly influenced by wider regional conflict. Also briefing the Council was a special envoy of the Secretary-General for the Horn of Africa, Kwang Song. He condemned the October drone attacks, calling them one of the deadliest incidents in Abie's history. He urged a prompt independent investigation to establish the facts and to help bring the perpetrators to account. He said the governments of Sudan and South Sudan must uphold Abie's demilitarized status. Mr. Song also warned of the urgent need to redouble diplomatic efforts to prevent Abie of being drawn in to Sudan's civil conflict. Staying in Sudan, the humanitarian coordinator there, Denise Brown, again issued a warning today that power station and fuel facilities continue to be targeted by drone strikes. She also said the life-saving work of the humanitarian community is gravely impacted by the lack of access to fuel in certain areas. Local sources say that drone strikes on Tuesday in Ed Damazin hit an electricity transmission station and the Ar-Rusais Dam, causing widespread power outages. A separate strike on a residential area in the city killed two civilians and injured three others. The same day, airstrikes also killed two women and injured 10 people, and severely damaged two water stations in the town of Umbar. OCHA reiterates that civilians and civilian infrastructure must be protected. International humanitarian law prohibits attacks against civilians and facilities that objects that facilities that people need to Despite these challenges, we and our partners continue to deliver life-saving assistance. Our colleagues at UNICEF said they have delivered malaria treatment supplies to 765 health facilities across Darfur and West Kordofan. That's enough to support 800,000 human beings. But our work continues to be hamstrung by funding shortages. Our appeal for this year is nearly $2.9 billion, is less than half funded. And we are way past the halfway point of the year. We're almost at the end of the year. We urge donors to give and to give generously, and we thank those who already have. Turning, also just want to flag from our International Organization for Migration colleagues. They warned that an estimated 100,000 people risk losing health care at the Sudan-South Sudan borders. Funding shortages threaten to close the only clinic at Wuntu crossing. The clinic has given more than 400,000 consultations, administered over 260,000 vaccinations. and helped to deliver 1,000 babies. Despite increasingly limited resources, the clinic continues to provide more than 1,000 outpatient consultations every week. Without urgent financial support, the facilities risk shutting down by December, leaving thousands without access to emergency treatment, maternal health care, and every other thing they depend on. In the Central African Republic, our peacekeepers tell us that 137 members of the Azande Anikapi Gbe armed group voluntarily surrendered military weapons and ammunitions in Obo, which is in the southeast of the country. MINUSCA says this follows intensified dialogue and outreach by local authorities with the mission support after the release of three hostages on October 19th. In Zemio town, another 10 members of the group have approached local authorities to surrender their artisanal weapons. To consolidate these gains and provide alternative to violence, MINUSCA is supporting parts of the Community Violence Reduction Program, cash for work and socio-economic reintegration activities for 1,000 at-risk participants, including 137 who have already handed over weapons. The mission continues to support local efforts to encourage further voluntary disarmament and build on the positive momentum generated by the release of the Bambuti hostages. Turning to the occupied Palestinian Our humanitarian colleagues tell us that dozens of Palestinians were displaced yesterday when Israeli settlers took over homes in Istia, a Palestinian suburb of Jericho, which is, you know, in the West Bank. Settlers reportedly used live ammunition, physically assaulted Palestinian residents, and caused some injuries. They threw stones in the area, prompting the flight of families for their safety. Israeli forces subsequently declared a closed military zone, which has prevented our humanitarian partners from visiting those affected. Preliminary assessment indicate that some of those displaced lack adequate shelter, while others are staying with relatives. Humanitarian partners are mobilizing support for the families. We once again condemn all of these violent activities by the Israeli settlers. Meanwhile, the latest figures on settler attacks in the context of ongoing olive harvest by Palestinian farmers across the West Bank indicate 377 such incidents have resulted in casualties or Palestinian property damage since September. That's a record number of attacks in the olive harvest since 2006, since OCHA began keeping records. During these attacks, one Palestinian was killed by a settler, more than 200 were injured, and more than 3,850 olive trees and saplings were damaged or vandalized. Combined with official Israeli restrictions on Palestinian access to groves, this has undermined the livelihoods of many by reducing the produce that Palestinians can collect. Our food security partners estimate that 80,000 to 100,000 Palestinian families across the West Bank depend on the annual olive harvest for their livelihoods and income. Access to safe access to livelihoods must be facilitated, and those responsible for attacks must be held to account. Turning to Gaza, yesterday we were able to bring in more fuel and food, as well as more than 260 pallets of medicines, vaccines, and nutrition supplies. That's despite persistent restrictions by Israeli authorities on what we can bring in. Over 250 humanitarian partners are reaching more than 2 million people every month. most of them in Gaza, but the support they are able to bring in is limited, as you know. Moving north to southern Lebanon, the security situation there remains highly volatile, with sustained Israeli military activity across the UNIFIL area of operations. This includes violations of airspace, artillery fire, engineering works, and continued troop deployment. In sector east, extensive Israeli military activity was observed in a number of areas with asset levels in some locations indicating a sustained presence by the Israeli military. Between the 2nd and the 4th of November, peacekeepers observed four airstrikes in Sector East. They also recorded extensive artillery activity with more than 300 trajectories during the reporting period, the majority of them impacting Sector West. Israeli tanks were also observed firing daily rounds from Bayada in Sector West. UNIFIL's freedom of movement continues to be restricted by Israeli gates and other physical obstacles in both sectors. And during the reporting period, UNIFIL recorded two restrictions on its movement in Sector West. An Israeli force prevented a patrol from continuing its route near Quseir on November 2nd, and on November 4th, another patrol was delayed for approximately one hour near Bayada. Concerns regarding the safety and security of peacekeepers also persisted. On November 3rd, approximately 200 rounds of small arms fire passed over or landed near a UN position in Sector West. On the humanitarian front, UNIFIL, through its liaison branch and coordination with OCHA, facilitated the deconfliction of 11 humanitarian convoys between the 2nd and the 4th of November. One request from a humanitarian access to Jabal al-Bouton on 4th was not deconflicted by the IDF. Nevertheless, the requesting organization proceeded with the movement. Just want to flag a report by UNICEF today that shows that attacks that damage or destroy water and sanitation in conflict rose threefold between 2021 and 2025, heightening children's risk to disease outbreaks, malnutrition, and violence. The report describes seven types of attacks, from strikes on treatment plants, pipelines, and wells, to contamination of water sources, restrictions on spare parts, and or treatment chemicals. The report also documents how children have been killed, injured or harmed while queuing for water, with multiple examples documented in Gaza, notably. The people who keep water running also at risk, with the UN recording 14 staff of Lebanon's water establishment killed during the conflict of 2024. Today is Tsunami Awareness Day. In his message, the Secretary-General calls on governments to invest in resilient coastal infrastructure, risk-informed land, and multi-hazard early warning systems, and to collaborate across borders on science data As you know, but I wanted to flag this on behalf of our friend Melissa Summers, spokesperson for the PGA. The PGA has advised us that the Assembly's next interactive dialogue with the newest candidate to succeed Antonio Guterres, and that is Faridun Sinirlioglu of Türkiye, will be held tomorrow, 6 November, from 3:00 to 6:00 PM in the Trusteeship Council. A press engagement following the dialogue will be taking place at the General Assembly stakeout. You should all have received information about the in the media advisories and the links for UN Web TV. And if you have any more questions on that particular thing, please ask Melissa. Edie. AP · Correspondent [56:00]: Thank you, Steph. First, on Mohammed al-Shami, who died in Houthi custody, has his family received his body? UN · Spokesperson [56:18]: Yes, I believe they have. AP · Correspondent [56:19]: And was any kind of an autopsy or any kind of? UN · Spokesperson [56:26]: I do not know. I do not know, but I will find out. AP · Correspondent [56:30]: And secondly, on the rest of the UN staff who remain in detention, does the UN have information about deteriorating health of any of them? UN · Spokesperson [56:47]: No, I mean, we're not able to see them. We're not getting any updates. It's clear that Mr. Al-Shafi had died some time before his family was told that he had died. Gabriel. Al Jazeera English · Correspondent [57:01]: Thank you, Steph. A follow-up to that. You said there was a delay from the time that he died to the time the UN was informed about it. Can you specify what that delay was? How many days and/or weeks? UN · Spokesperson [57:15]: Yes, I think it was a few weeks. But again, we’re not getting the – we’re just not getting the details that we need as his employers, so to speak, and that his family needs as his family. Al Jazeera English · Correspondent [57:31]: And in your readout of this incident, is there any evidence? Does the UN have any evidence that he was tortured while in custody? UN · Spokesperson [57:40]: I don't have, well, I don't have any information about evidence of physical torture, but Being arbitrarily detained for months, being cut off from your families, not having access to needed medical treatment, is by all accounts a form of torture. Al Jazeera English · Correspondent [58:01]: And one very last one, if you don't mind, Steph. Going back to Haiti, has the Secretary General and anyone in his office decided how to handle the letter from Haiti? UN · Spokesperson [58:09]: No update for you on that. Al Jazeera English · Correspondent [58:10]: Thank you. UN · Spokesperson [58:11]: Madame. Correspondent [58:13]: Merci, Steph. Follow up again on Yemen and all your colleagues who are detained. Can you give us, because it's been so many months and years now, can you tell us who at the Secretariat is in contact, and who on the Houthi side is in contact? And what do the Houthi ask the UN? I mean, you don't take prisoners for years, not asking anything. UN · Spokesperson [58:39]: I can't speak to people who have decided to just hold on to UN staff. arbitrarily, right? We have a lead negotiator who represent the UN system, who is in constant almost, or frequent, let me put it that way, frequent's probably a better word, with a counterpart, a senior Houthi official. Our colleague, our point of contact is a better word than negotiator 'cause we're not really negotiating, right? There's nothing to negotiate. We want our people out. He's also talking to member states and representing the UN system as a whole. Correspondent [59:23]: But if I may ask a follow-up on that, what do the Houthi request? UN · Spokesperson [59:30]: I'm not going to speak for them. It's a matter of releasing people who are arbitrarily detained. But you have to speak to them. Mourad, and then Stefano, and then Abdelhamid. Then we'll go to our guest. Correspondent [59:46]: On Yemen, too, regarding the medical supplies that delivered by the Red Cross to Taiz, does this mean that the Houthis have agreed to reopen roads and allow? UN · Spokesperson [59:59]: No, this was a, I mean, you'd have to speak to the ICRC in terms of the details, but this was following long negotiations. So it's not as if all the roads or everything is reopened. Stefano, then Abdelhamid. Correspondent [1:00:13]: Thank you, stefan. Let's stay on the Red Sea. About a month ago, the Secretary General said he was highly concerned, actually gravely concerned, about the Ethiopia-Eritrea border dispute. After four weeks, does he think the situation is better or worse? UN · Spokesperson [1:00:35]: I mean, I think you can also make that own assessment. I mean, I think there's more ship traffic, but the situation remains unstable. Correspondent [1:00:47]: Okay. Another thing, yesterday, you were asked about the reaction of the UN, of the Secretary General on the US elections, and if this was going to make it easy for the, or easier for the UN resolve its financial problem and with the money coming from the US. My question is different. It is a reaction to the election, but not about money. It is about policy that the US lately had, for example, against the Special Rapporteur, but especially against the International Criminal Court and the sanctions. Does the Secretary General think that the change in the Congress will help to change the policy of the United States. UN · Spokesperson [1:01:40]: Our crystal ball is as useless as yours. We don't know, right? What we do know is that the Secretary General's defense of international law, defense of this institution, an institution that member states built under US leadership, will continue. Abdelhamid. Correspondent [1:02:01]: Thank you, Steve. I want to ask first about the status of Stefan de Mistur. Where is he? Is he still working? UN · Spokesperson [1:02:11]: He continues, as we said, he continues his work. He's based in Brussels. But he, you know, personal envoy is named by the Secretary General, and he continues. Correspondent [1:02:27]: And my second question about this development in Jericho. The settlers took over eight houses, as you mentioned, and the army did not do anything. And the settlers' leader, Daniella, she's famous for her statements, she said, "We are dismantling Oslo on the ground, and we are going back to our Jewish cities." What is your take on that? UN · Spokesperson [1:02:56]: We have condemned in no uncertain terms the activities. of the settlers. We have repeatedly called publicly and privately on the Israeli authorities as the those responsible under for the for the occupation to ensure the safety of Palestinians and to ensure that those Israeli civilians who are committing violence be held to account. Okay. Yes. And then I have to get our guest because I really have to go. Quick. Correspondent [1:03:26]: Quick follow-up stuff on Mr. de Mistura. You say he continues, he continues, but his main job is to report about Western Sahara. We have a mission which is closing down. So what's going to be Mr. de Mistura's job? And is he supposed to continue? You say he was named by the SG, so I guess does he his job is terminating when the SG goes. UN · Spokesperson [1:03:48]: No, I mean, we remain committed to supporting the parties in their efforts to reach a mutually acceptable political solution that provides for self-determination for the people of Western Sahara, should they so wish. I can’t – as I’ve said, I have no clue who the next Secretary General will be, and we don’t know what those decisions will be made on senior staffing. On that note, I will leave you with Farhan and our guest, and I would ask you to please stay for our guest, and I will get her. UN · Briefing moderator [1:04:29]: Hi, I'm so sorry. What's your first name? UN · Resident Coordinator in Nepal [1:04:45]: Leela. It's a Nepali name. UN · Briefing moderator [1:04:47]: Okay. I don't know why, but I find it. Oh, okay. No, no, no. Come, come, come this way. Come, please. You can come this way. Please. Speaker 36 [1:05:14]: Have a seat, please. UN · Briefing moderator [1:05:15]: You get to sit down in the seat with the water. Thanks very much, everyone. We're very pleased to have with us as our guest today Leela Peters-Yaya, the UN Resident Coordinator in Nepal, who is going to brief you on the situation in Nepal. Ms. Yaya, please, the floor is yours. UN · Resident Coordinator in Nepal [1:05:45]: Thank you. I'm very, very happy to be here. And I wanted, first of all, to thank you very much, because this is, i think, the second time I have a chance to brief you. And so thank you so much for the support I received from you and also to make sure that our message reach the world. This has been extremely helpful. So I came here. So it's been about 10 weeks now that we had this awful wall of water, mud, and heavy rock that that torn through 150 kilometers of Nepal Himalaya Valley. And so I just want to go back into some of the numbers, some of the reality, what really happened. So overall, we have over 1,400 people who've lost their life. We have over 5,285 people which are still missing. We have over 84,000 people affected. I've been to the area now almost four times, yeah, I've visited four times the affected area, and every time I go back, I go, it's the same. I see a lot of hope, there's been a lot of reconstruction ongoing, but you see a lot of sadness in the face of the people, a lot of sadness among particularly women, because overnight, women became head of household, they lost their husband. And a lot of those women have to bear the burden to bury their loved one, which they will never bury because they will never find the body, but also now they have to pay for the loans that the husband took to start a business. So it's really, it's a sad story. The other thing which always shocked me is the level of devastation. So economically, it's enormous. We have over 13 hydropower, you know, hydropower represents 17% of the total revenue for the country. That's a lot of money for a poor country. I mean, Nepal is an LDC. So the infrastructure, which has been lost over 115 bridges, So it's every time you go, even if you see one, two, three new bridges rebuilt, you still have, it's still very difficult for any of us really to understand what has happened, particularly after a half hour. All happened within 30 minutes. But there is some hope. Over the last four weeks, we've been working. with the government to help them to assess the damage. So my colleagues from the World Bank completed the damage assessment, and the damage assessment says that it's about $2.7 billion. And from our side, we have worked very closely with the government, but also with colleagues from ADB and the entire United Nations system to do what we call the post-disaster assessment. The figures will be released tomorrow, but what we estimate, the cost of recovery and reconstruction reconstruction will be around $4.7 billion. So the government will be calling for solidarity. They are going to the COP next week. A few things will happen at the COP. First of all, Nepal will be obviously calling for solidarity to be able to rebuild back better and differently in Raswa, but also in the other, in Korka, the other region which has been also affected by a flood. Remember, we had the flood in August, on the 28th of August, and six weeks later, we had another flood. The other flood was, thank God, this time the early warning system worked. People were able to be evacuated, but still a lot of damages, damages to roads. They lost a mega hydropower. I mean, it was under construction. So what they're going to do, they're going to COP. When they go to COP, they will They have requested with Bhutan to include the mountain agenda as a specific agenda item for the COP, because we need to mobilize the international community about what's happening in the Himalayas. And I'll just give you an example. I was in Nepal in 2004, and I went to base camp Annapurna. And I was back in Annapurna about two weeks ago. I went back to base camp, and what I saw is the glacier. The glacier, i have two pictures. And sorry, I didn't print them. But it's just to tell you that the glaciers, half of the glacier have melted in Annapurna within the space of 20 years. So it's really, really important that we show solidarity for Nepal. As we know, Nepal doesn't emit. any gas emission and is basically paying for things that they're not responsible for. So they are calling for solidarity. We are very happy that Nepal will be accessing to the loss and damage fund, likely to be $21.5 million. This is historic. This is fantastic for Nepal. But come on, if they need 4.7 billion and they will be getting from the damage and loss 2.21 five million dollars, this is not enough. So we hope while going to COP, we will be able to bring the attention to the mountain agenda. The government has a strategy how to protect the Himalayas. They've just launched what they call the Sagamata Strategy about a week ago, and this strategy has a budget as well as 4.8 billion dollars that they need in order to make sure all the roads are built safely, but also the bridges and also all the hydropowers, which is the main source of revenue for Nepal, is being preserved. So I’ll stop there. I’m happy to take any question you may have. UN · Briefing moderator [1:11:40]: Okay, great. The first question goes to the correspondent from the AP. AP · UNCA · Correspondent [1:11:47]: Thank you very much on behalf of the United Nations Correspondents Association. My name is Edith Lederer from the Associated Press. $4.7 billion is a heck of a lot of money. In addition to going to COP, is there gonna be some kind of a pledge event to try and raise money, at least to start this reconstruction? And from what you said, I'm gathering that roads and reestablishing the hydropower plants are top priorities. Is there another one or two? Thank you. UN · Resident Coordinator in Nepal [1:12:41]: Yeah, so they have already started. The Minister of Finance has been doing sort of a roadshow because based on the damages, so the damages were, like I said, $2.7 billion. And based on the grade, which was a damage assessment done by the World Bank, it's the World Bank who has estimated that the recovery and reconstruction would be around 4.7 billion. Tomorrow, we'll have the exact number that the government will release. So they have been going. So he has been attending the annual meeting of the World Bank and the IMF. He's been visiting certain capitals. I know he was also in DC. a few weeks ago, so the Minister of Foreign Affairs was in Australia, so they are starting. Likely, they will do, besides COP, they might do an event, they might do, you know, but we don't know yet, nothing confirmed, and we'll probably have more information. But we really hope that at COP, Nepal will have a pavilion, they will launch there the Sagarmatha Strategy again, they will present the PDNA, and this, we hope, also will serve as a mean also to mobilize international solidarity to support Nepal. The big priorities is obviously roads and bridges, because this is a Himalaya country, is a lot of mountains, and that's costly. Just one billy bridge, it's like between 30 to $40 million. And if you have lost like 50 of them, so you can do the math. So that's what they need. They need also reconstruction, shelter for people. A lot of people lost their houses. And so if you want to rebuild, you have to find the appropriate land where you're going to rebuild. But it's not just building a shelter. You need electricity, you need schools, you need health care facility, you need businesses. So that's another area they're going to be looking. The PDNA looks also into how you rebuild hydropower, and that's a huge investment because the damage to the hydropower is $1.3 billion. And this is private investors. So you're going to have to convince private investor to come back to Nepal and to reinvest. and to reinvest much better, because the way they were building hydropower is obviously because of the geography of the country and because we are subject to probably other cloth, this is not the first time we're going to see, I hope, not at its scale, but you constantly will have landslide gloves, and so we need to see if they go back and rebuilding hydropower, they have to be using different technology, and this is very costly. So if you had a hydropower investment, maybe it was, let's say, $1 billion, now probably you need to have 2 or 3 billion to build a hydropower which produce the amount of electricity you need, but also which doesn't get totally destroyed if you have a cliff. So that's one. The other thing is how do we help? the little businesses, because, you know, hydro power is one thing, but that area, I mean, Nepal lives out of tourism. And so how do we make sure that, you know, all those guest houses which are needed, the stores, all the trekking companies which were there, who lost everything, are able to restart, resume. So it's a trekking country, but it's also a holy country, because this is has a lot of temples, both Buddhism, Hinduism, and Islam is being practiced in Nepal. So a lot of people come for pilgrimages. And so how do we make sure, but in the affected area, it's mainly Buddhism and Hinduism. So how do we make sure that those people who used to come for pilgrimage get confidence? to come back and to feel safe, and for that you need to build differently and better. But it's safe, you can come to Nepal, I went to Annapurna base camp, it's safe. The country is safe and the early warning systems are working. So that's also another area where they will need to further build. UN · Briefing moderator [1:17:30]: Gabriel. Al Jazeera English · Correspondent [1:17:32]: Thank you very much for the briefing. My name is Gabriel Elizondo from Al Jazeera English. I was actually going to ask about the early warning system. In preparation for your briefing, I was researching a little bit, and I was reading some articles about how Beijing has signed, or at least was discussing with Nepal, some sort of information sharing memorandum of understanding. Can you just update us on where we stand with that? And was it ever signed? or not between the two. UN · Resident Coordinator in Nepal [1:18:01]: Okay, so, yeah, so the government, we have been supporting as United Nations since the past 18 months, what we call to put in place an early warning system, early warning system for all. You know, this is the initiative of the Secretary General, so we have been supporting and we have been supporting Nepal to develop a roadmap, so the roadmap should be adopted anytime soon. In order for us to prepare that road map, we had a lot of support from China. So that's on the UN side, how we've been supporting that. Once this road map is adopted by the Executive Committee, Then this will allow Nepal to apply for green financing and to finance its implementation. In the meantime, as you have probably heard during his when Prime Minister Balen Shah was at the GA, he did mention that he is looking into putting a mechanism. with China and India. And so what they are doing, they are having conversation, there's two-track conversation to put in place that mechanism. So for the moment, they are discussing and developing all the details. But a lot of that mechanism will come, will be derived from the early warning for all roadmap. So we hope it will be signed very well. But in the meantime, as you have seen when we had the flood, the other flood six weeks ago, They do have system and they work, because thank God we had no casualty. We had a lot of damages into the infrastructure. UN · Briefing moderator [1:19:49]: Are there any other questions? If anyone online has a question, feel free to call in at this point. Okay, if not, I'd like once more to thank the Resilience Coordinator in Nepal, Leela Peters-Yaya. Thanks so much for your briefing and best of luck on your work ahead. UN · Resident Coordinator in Nepal [1:20:08]: Thank you. UN · Briefing moderator [1:20:08]: Have a good afternoon, everyone. UN · Resident Coordinator in Nepal [1:20:09]: Yes. Thank you. Thank you.