UN Geneva Press Briefing: HRC, WHO, UNICEF, UNHCR, UNFPA, IOM

Description

Deadly illusion of the Gaza ceasefire James Elder, for the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), speaking from Amman, stated that for many months, the world had been told there was a ceasefire in Gaza. Yet for Palestinian children, this so-called ceasefire had become a cruel, and a deadly, illusion. Since the announcement of the ceasefire in October 2025, 265 Palestinian children had been killed across Gaza. That was an absurd and devastating figure. During a period supposedly defined by restraint and protection, a child had been killed, on average, every single day for more than eight months. Mr. Elder stressed that these children had not been killed in a warzone. They had been killed in their homes, in their schools, playing football, fishing. They had been shot, bombed, stricken by quadcopters. While the world continued to speak the language of ceasefire, families in Gaza continued to bury their sons and daughters. However, if a child was being killed every day, surely the debate was no longer about the quality of the ceasefire. It was about the credibility of calling it one, said Mr. Elder. For Gaza's children, fear, loss and violence had become so constant that trauma was no longer an episode in their lives; it was woven into the very fabric of their childhood. It was, quite literally, carried in their bodies. The trauma was so profound that it affected children's ability to eat, sleep and, of course, to develop normally. Many children were living in such a heightened state of fear and distress that they struggled to eat adequately, further aggravating malnutrition, and leaving children physically weaker as well as emotionally scarred. Hundreds of children urgently required medical evacuation, while restrictions on essential medicines meant that wounded children were enduring greater pain and faced an increased risk of infection, complications, and further amputations. Mr. Elder concluded by saying that the continued killing of children was not the consequence of a lack of options. It was the consequence of a lack of political will. Every day that passed without responsibility sent the same message: Palestinian children's lives could be taken without accountability. This was no longer a failure of the system. It had become the system. Answering questions from the media, Mr. Elder explained that more than 90 percent of the children had been killed by the Israeli forces, some by unexploded ordnance, and a few by armed groups. Some 60 to 70 percent of Gaza was now being held by the Israeli forces, informed Mr. Elder. UNICEF was in regular contact with the Israeli civilian authorities, he confirmed. Mr. Elder said he did not know of any other country in the world which decided what and how much another population got to eat. UNICEF was very diligent, triple-checking all the facts before releasing them. There was a funding gap of over 80 percent, after a human-engineered famine, while very few countries in Europe were accepting medical evacuees from Gaza. The life of children in Gaza was nothing like it was supposed to look like; instead, it looked like hell, with rat infestation, unclean water, lack of electricity. What was being done to the children of Gaza seemed like the worst of humanity. Jens Laerke, for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said that the previous day the UN Humanitarian Chief had asked the Security Council that humanitarian workers and civilians be protected; that safe, unhindered humanitarian access to Gaza be specific; that immediate full operations of the crossing points into Gaza be established; unrestricted access be granted within Gaza; and that Israeli restrictions on essential survival equipment be removed. Humanitarian customs waivers and long-term predictable visa issuance for international staff were also needed, along with a streamlined NGO registration process. Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) Dr. Marie-Roseline Belizaire, Incident Manager/Emergency Director at the World Health Organization (WHO), speaking from Bunia, DRC, stated that one month after the outbreak had been declared, the situation remained serious and continued to evolve. Cases continued to be reported across multiple areas, underscoring the need to sustain and accelerate response efforts. So far, there were 896 confirmed cases, and 232 deaths reported from 33 health zones in three provinces in the DRC. Over the past several weeks, Dr. Belizaire had visited affected communities, treatment facilities and operational hubs, where she observed the extraordinary commitment of frontline responders. She had also met people who had survived Ebola and had reunited with their families. WHO was supporting Government and working alongside partners across all pillars of the response. More than 115 WHO experts had been deployed across affected provinces and health zones to support different response pillars. More than 110 metric tons of emergency supplies had been delivered to support frontline operations. Diagnostic and treatment capacities continued to expand, helping improve access to care and reduce delays in case confirmation. Daily coordination mechanisms were helping ensure that resources, expertise and support were directed where they are needed most. WHO's focus was to ensure that affected communities received timely, quality care and that response services reached people as quickly as possible. Dr. Belizaire stressed that operational requirements continued to increase, reinforcing the need for sustained financing and support. Access constraints continued to limit operations in some high-risk areas. While contact tracing was improving, it remained below the level required in some locations to rapidly interrupt transmission. Community deaths continued to be reported, indicating that some chains of transmission were still occurring outside the reach of response activities. Dr. Belizaire concluded by saying that the outbreak remained serious, but she had also seen a response growing stronger every day, and we knew what worked to stop Ebola transmission. Noemi Dalmonte, Deputy Country Representative of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in the DRC, speaking from Kinshasa, said that this outbreak was also a maternal health and protection emergency for women and girls. Women and girls in these communities had already faced significant risks before Ebola emerged, now they had further intensified. Women were the primary carers for sick family members. Many frontline health workers, especially midwives and nurses, were women, working in maternity wards and health facilities, where the risk of exposure was very real. Death rates among pregnant women infected with Ebola had been as high as 90 percent, and perinatal mortality (the period just before or after birth) had reached 100 percent in some settings. Pregnant women also delayed antenatal care, avoided health facilities or give birth at home, even when complications arose. They could die not from Ebola itself, but because the care that would have saved them was no longer accessible, trusted or safe. UNFPA was part of the broader Ebola response, with the focus on pregnancy, childbirth, gender-based violence and community trust. UNFPA was supporting infection prevention and control in maternity settings by training health workers, strengthening handwashing and waste-management systems, and procuring personal protective equipment for high-fluid delivery procedures. UNFPA currently had 153 midwives deployed in eastern DRC to help maintain safe childbirth, emergency obstetric care and postnatal care, with further deployments planned. Trust was essential, where UNFPA's long-term relationship with local actors was invaluable. Ms. Dalmonte stressed that women and girls could not be forgotten in this Ebola response. If maternity services broke down, women would die. If health workers were not protected, services would collapse. If communities lost trust, people would delay care or avoid health facilities. If protection services were disrupted, survivors would be left without support. UNFPA was urgently appealing for USD 17.1 million to sustain life-saving sexual and reproductive health services, gender-based violence prevention and response, protection from sexual exploitation and abuse, and risk communication and community engagement in the DRC. The appeal was only 10 percent funded as of today. Dr. Allen Maina, Chief Public Health at the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), informed that more than two million forcibly displaced people, including over 320,000 refugees, lived in areas at risk in the DRC, where fighting continued alongside the spread of Ebola disease. Fears were growing about population movements into and out of affected areas, and their potential impact on transmission, reinforcing the need to align public health with protection interventions. For example, said Dr. Maina, on 7 June, UNHCR had monitored the arrival of some 2,250 people from Mbau, 20km from Beni, one of the outbreak's epicentres, after movements of armed groups had triggered panic and led them to flee to Oicha, North Kivu, an Ebola-affected zone already hosting more than 14,300 displaced people. For refugees and internally displaced people already facing trauma and insecurity and a lack of adequate humanitarian assistance, the outbreak was fueling fear and misinformation, eroding trust in response teams and delaying access to life‑saving care. On 3 June, this distrust had led some internally displaced people to temporarily block access to response teams following two Ebola‑related deaths at the Kpangba site in Ituri Province, only 25km from Bunia – illustrating how mistrust could directly hinder life‑saving interventions. Dr. Maina stressed that the risk was regional. Eastern DRC sat in an interconnected region where trade, family ties and refugee movements linked Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania and South Sudan. UNHCR was reinforcing preparedness in those countries, working with governments, the World Health Organization and partners to strengthen surveillance, screening, infection prevention, communication and water, sanitation and hygiene support in refugee-hosting areas and border corridors. Zoe Brennan, for the International Organization for Migration (IOM), stated that the Ebola outbreak in eastern DRC was unfolding across one of the most active cross-border movement corridors in Africa, where thousands of people moved every day in search of safety, work, health care and connection with their families. Understanding human mobility patterns was one of our strongest tools for stopping disease spread. IOM had now surpassed one million health screenings at borders and along key cross border routes and travel corridors across affected and at-risk countries. This included support at over 110 points of entry. This figure was significant not only because of its scale, but because it reflected the enormous effort required to stay ahead of a disease. In Ituri Province alone, more than 16,000 people crossed porous borders every day. Across the wider region, countless others travelled along routes that connect communities, markets, health facilities and displacement sites. These movements were essential for daily life and would not simply stop. Ms. Brennan informed that today IOM was announcing a scale up of our operations in DRC and Uganda. Against a backdrop of insecurity and population displacement, IOM was strengthening health surveillance at border crossings and other strategic points along mobility routes. Preparedness measures were being reinforced across neighbouring countries, recognizing that disease containment required regional action and regional solidarity. What was at stake extended beyond the current outbreak. This was about protecting communities, preserving trust, and strengthening the systems that help countries detect, prevent and respond to future health threats. The faster we acted, the greater our chances of containing this outbreak and safeguarding the health and well-being of communities across the region, said Ms. Brennan. Kit Leung, Senior Migration Health Advisor at the International Organization for Migration (IOM), responding to questions, said that IOM had established 110 points for screening. Forty of them were positioned among main movement routes. Ms. Leung mentioned a security incident on 13 June, in which an IOM vehicle had been damaged by people leaving a funeral. Building trust with communities was of critical importance, she reiterated. All movement should be safe and visible. Answering numerous questions from the media, Dr. Belizaire, for WHO, said that 90 percent of cases did not have hemorrhagic symptoms, so many people stayed at home self-medicating or were going to see traditional healers. The body of a person deceased from Ebola was more infectious than when the person was alive, she explained. At the start of the outbreak, health care workers had been the first to be infected. Seventy-five healthcare workers had been affected by Ebola as of today, of whom 17 had died. The commitment by many healthcare workers was impressive, while some had stopped because of sheer fear for their own lives. WHO was helping with psychosocial support and by providing protective equipment. Dr. Belizaire stressed that, while Ebola's outbreak continued, other diseases were also still there and should not be forgotten, especially malaria. China had deployed a medical team, and Uganda was going to do the same. Noemi Dalmonte, for UNFPA, answering a question, said that important part of the work involved communities and fighting negative social norms. UNFPA provided psychosocial support to medical staff, who were under immense stress. Dr. Maina, for UNHCR, emphasized the importance of continuing other essential services, including for malaria. Twenty years of the Human Rights Council Pascal Sim, for the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC), said that twenty years earlier, the United Nations Human Rights Council had held its first session at the Palais des Nations in Geneva. Today, the President of the Council, Sidhartho Suryodipuro, was hosting an informal high-level discussion to mark this anniversary, entitled "Twenty Years, One Council: What We Have Built, and Where We Go Next." Luis Alfonso de Alba, the first President of the Human Rights Council, would participate in the discussion. The event would be webcast live on UN Web TV. Today, Tlaleng Mofokeng, Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, would hold a press conference today at 12 noon, her last presser in that role. World Refugee Day Eujin Byun, for the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), informed that 20 June was World Refugee Day, a moment to stand with refugees and people forced to flee. There would be events around the world. UNHCR's new initiative "Until Everyone is Safe" asked for the defense of the fundamental right to seek safety, and it was important to remember that protection saved lives. The initiative spoke to younger generations driven by a desire for social justice and solidarity while also facing uncertainty and socio-economic pressures. It invited them to see asylum not as a distant, abstract issue, but as a collective safety net – one that protected the most vulnerable today and could protect any of us tomorrow. "Until Everyone is Safe" challenged stereotypes about refugees and emphasizes that the right to seek safety was a lifeline that went beyond merely escaping war or violence. It complemented the High Commissioner's recently outlined goal of reducing by more than half, over the next decade, the number of refugees in long-term displacement reliant on humanitarian assistance. To achieve this, it would be essential to expand opportunities for voluntary return and resettlement, as well as access to jobs, healthcare and education, and support for local integration – enabling refugees to move beyond survival and rebuild their lives in dignity. This year, solidarity was more important than ever as the right to seek asylum was under growing pressure around the world. UNHCR called on all to defend this lifeline and keep the promise of safety alive. The UN Secretary-General's message on World Refugee Day had been distributed, said Rolando Gómez, for the United Nations Information Service (UNIS). Announcements Rolando Gómez, for the United Nations Information Service (UNIS), referred to the previous day's statement by the Secretary-General's Spokesman, which said that the SG was deeply concerned by the escalation of fighting in and around El Obeid, North Kordofan state, including drone attacks impacting civilians and civilian infrastructure. He was particularly alarmed by reports of the deployment, by the Rapid Support Forces, of substantial military reinforcements around El Obeid which might indicate an imminent ground offensive on the city, potentially placing yet another major population centre in Sudan at grave risk of large-scale violence. The Secretary-General called for restraint from all parties and urged them to take all necessary measures to respect and protect civilians. The Secretary-General would be in London the following week, for the Climate Action Week, where he would deliver an address on 23 June at 10 am Geneva time. Today was the Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict. Finally, Mr. Gómez reminded of the upcoming Global Dialogue on AI Governance, which would take place in Geneva on 6-7 July, and interested journalists needed to register to attend. ***