UN Geneva Press Briefing: OCHA, WHO, UNHCR

Description

World Humanitarian Day, 19 August Jens Laerke, for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), reminded that tomorrow, 19 August, would be World Humanitarian Day. At 4 p.m. in the Salle des Pas-Perdus of the Palais des Nations, the UN would hold a commemorative event in the memory of those who paid the utmost sacrifice in line of duty and to honour the invaluable contributions of humanitarian workers. Also tomorrow, OCHA would release its latest aid-worker security data and annual report in collaboration with Humanitarian Outcomes Despite repeated promises from the international community, Mr. Laerke regretted, humanitarians continued to come under attack, with over 1008 workers killed in the past three years. This year's #ActForHumanity campaign focused on legal obligations, accountability, and the systemic failures that allowed violence against humanitarians to persist, with a specific focus on the misuse of drones and other emerging technologies and the growing risks they posed to civilians, including aid workers. Alessandra Vellucci, for the United Nations Information Service (UNIS) in Geneva, said that at UNOG and in all UN offices and duty stations around the world, the UN flag would be lowered at half-mast tomorrow in observance of World Humanitarian Day and in honor of humanitarian personnel who had lost their lives in the line of duty. Christian Lindmeier, for the World Health Organization (WHO), said this year's WHO-led campaign theme, "Families of Fallen Humanitarians", aimed to humanize aid workers through the voices of those they left behind and to recognize the lasting impact of their loss on families, loved ones, and communities. World Humanitarian Day was an opportunity to honor the memory of WHO staff and of health workers who had lost their lives in conflict, and to highlight the dedication of health workers who often placed their duty of care above their own safety and family lives. World Humanitarian Day was also an opportunity to reinforce WHO's advocacy to end attacks on health care, ensure accountability, and call for the political leadership needed to end the violence. Attacks on health care were attacks on people's ability to survive and recover, and could disrupt entire health systems. This message was particularly relevant in 2026, which marked the tenth anniversary of UN Security Council Resolution 2286 (2016) on protection of the wounded and sick, medical personnel and humanitarian personnel in armed conflict. Answering questions from journalists, Mr. Laerke said aid workers were killed either deliberately or recklessly. OCHA could not determine the intent of an attacker using drones, but it could talk about the consequences of these attacks. As regards prosecutions, normal procedure was that national authorities should investigate attacks against humanitarians. OCHA was encouraging them to fulfill their own obligations in this regard, within a legal framework States had themselves decided on. However, this did not seem to be happening at the moment, Mr. Laerke noted. Responding to the fastest-growing Ebola outbreak Dr. Thierno Baldé, World Health Organization Incident Manager for the Ebola Response, speaking from Bunia (Democratic Republic of the Congo - DRC), first expressed his solidarity to humanitarian workers facing challenges in the field. WHO was regularly challenged by attacks on healthcare services. In Bunia yesterday, one of its ambulances was attacked. Regarding Ebola, Mr. Baldé said this was the fastest-growing outbreak in recent history, with more than 5000 cases and more than 2000 deaths. A sixth province of the DRC, Bas-Uélé, now had confirmed cases of the outbreak: this was explained by fast movements of population and the transportation of patients and dead bodies, among other factors. Under the leadership of the Congolese Ministry of Health, WHO and all partners were trying to scale up the response to be at the same scale as the outbreak, which was moving very fast. First, WHO was recentering its activities around the engagement with political and administrative leaders, as well as with the communities, such as the Association of Motorbikes or the Women Association, the goal being to include them in the surveillance and the response. Second, WHO was scaling up bed capacities: it had added more than 400 beds in two weeks in different localities. It was also reinforcing surveillance capacities, to detect cases as quickly as possible and to transfer them into health centers, thus reducing the high mortality rate: WHO had already added 100 additional expert epidemiologists at the field level, supported by more than 500 community health workers who would do contact tracing, identify cases, convince the people to accept to be followed up, and give them the means to go to health centers. In the context of a very fragile health system, with needs for blood products and other primary health care services, WHO was striving to provide care for Ebola while addressing all the health needs of the population. WHO also wanted to capacitate local people in villages to handle bodies in a safe and dignified manner, notably by giving them chlorine and gloves. Finally, humanitarian access also needed to be scaled up, so that people living in camps had access to water, nutrition, and sanitation. Alessandra Vellucci, for the UN Information Service, said that in the Central African Republic (which shared a long border with the DRC), the UN system was mobilizing to strengthen the national response and preparedness efforts against Ebola, even if no case had yet been confirmed to date in the country. The United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA), with relevant UN entities, were assisting Central African authorities with technical assistance, surveillance and preparedness measures, communication, and community awareness activities, as well as capacity building. MINUSCA was also providing technical and logistical assistance, including transportation of health experts throughout the country and delivery of essential equipment and supplies. Its radio station had been broadcasting weekly updates and public health messages in Sango, the national language, about the evolving situation in the region and the prevention measures, while also helping counter misinformation. Journalists then asked about WHO's collaboration with the motorcycle association; the funding of the Organization's Ebola efforts; the outbreak's fatality rate; other WHO leadership-related questions. Mr. Baldé said the Association of Motorbikes had been engaged since day one. Motorcyclists were among the most affected category in the population as they were transporting sick people and dead bodies. WHO provided them with hand-washing devices and chloride in stations where they were parking their motorbikes. WHO wanted to go beyond that and use them as surveillance and response officers, so that whenever they transported a sick person, they could contact the surveillance team and refer that person to be tested. WHO now had thousands of people using motorbikes that way. As regards funding, Mr. Baldé said that considering the scale and the geographic expansion of the outbreak, with all that entailed – the need for cars and ambulances, for instance –, more funding was clearly needed, and more solidarity. Christian Lindmeier, for the World Health Organization (WHO), added that WHO was grateful to the many partners supporting its response to the Ebola outbreak in the DRC and the scale up of preparedness and response efforts across Africa. These partners included the African Development Bank, Australia, CEPI, UNSERF, the Children's Investment Fund Foundation, Denmark, the European Commission, the Gates Foundation, Germany, the Global Fund, Italy, the Novo Nordisk Foundation, Switzerland, the UAE, and the UK. These contributions reached about USD 69.3 million of the USD 115 million required. Concerning the case fatality rate, Mr. Baldé said it was around 50 percent at the national level (around 2,300 deaths for 5,000 cases). It was extremely important to also look at the distribution of fatalities, where they were high and where they were improving. There was progress in certain localities: where there had been an overwhelming number of community deaths six or seven weeks ago, now only a few cases and deaths were reported. A major concern for WHO were the so-called "community deaths," defined as a death occurring outside of an Ebola Treatment Center (ETC). The question was how to encourage patients to get treatment at an ETC. Finally, also answering journalists' questions, Mr. Lindmeier said that Dr. Jeremy Farrar would resign as WHO Assistant Director General at the end of September due to reaching WHO retirement age; and that journalists could expect communication today or tomorrow regarding the outcome of the WHO Emergency Committee meeting that was taking place today in Geneva. Update on Lebanon Babar Baloch, for United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), warned that the displacement and humanitarian crisis in Lebanon was far from over. While most people displaced by months of airstrikes and insecurity in Lebanon had now returned to their areas of origin, many were still facing damaged homes, widespread destruction, and lack of essential services Despite declared ceasefire arrangements, fresh Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon over the weekend had triggered a new wave of displacement, with hundreds of families fleeing northward in search of safety. These movements added to an already protracted displacement crisis, increasing uncertainty for communities attempting to make their way back home. Around 860,000 people were reported to have returned to their areas of origin, while another 360,000 remained displaced, including at least some 22,000 people living in collective shelters. While the intensity of hostilities had decreased, airstrikes continued to put many lives at risk. Movement restrictions, military activity, and risks related to explosive remnants of war continued to affect large parts of southern Lebanon and the Bekaa. The approaching school year was creating additional pressure as collective shelters, mostly hosted in public schools, were progressively being consolidated. Humanitarian needs remained substantial: widespread damage to housing, water system, electricity networks, schools, health facilities, agricultural land, and community infrastructure constrained prospect of recovery. More than 700,000 people were affected by damage to water infrastructure in parts of southern Lebanon, underscoring that return did not mark the end of humanitarian needs. [Full briefing note here.] Alessandra Vellucci, for the UN Information Service, said that the UN joined UNHCR's call for civilians to be able to return home safely. They needed to be able to do it voluntarily and with dignity, without being repeatedly exposed to renewed displacement. Parties needed to exercise maximum restraint, adhere to the latest ceasefire, and pursue dialogue to advance a long-term solution to the conflict in line with Security Council Resolution 1701, including through the ongoing direct talks under the trilateral framework. Announcements The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) was reviewing today the report of Lithuania and Chili (to be continued tomorrow), before reviewing the report of Slovakia on Thursday, 20 August. This morning, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) would end review of the report of Finland. The next plenary meeting of the Conference on Disarmament would take place on Thursday, 20 August at 10 a.m. in Room XII, on the topic: "Prevention of an arms race in outer space". ***