Transforming Education Summit +4, UN Women & other topics - Daily Press Briefing Press Conferences Date: 10 July 2026 Language: English Transcript: https://transcripts.un.org/zh/briefing/sg/2026-07-10?lang=en 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. --- UN · Spokesperson [29:06]: Je suis content. Obviously, if I wasn't content, it would be— I'd have bigger problems. All right, it feels like a Friday, doesn't it? Great. All right, thank you for coming. In a short while, we will be joined by Our guests virtually from Haiti, and that is Maria Moïta, the Director of the Department of Humanitarian Response and Recovery at the International Organization for Migration, and Yuri Sadala, the Global Emergency Director of the Norwegian Refugee Council, who is the lead of the field trip of emergency directors who are visiting Haiti. And they will be briefing you from Haiti, so we're asking both of you to have a little bit of few minutes' patience while I get through the briefing, and then we will get to you. On Monday, we'll have Lynise Collins brief you, and she will— we will also have 2 guests on Monday. In person, Alexandre de Croo, the Administrator of UNDP. Joining him virtually will be Barnham Salih, the High Commissioner for Refugees, who will brief you on their very recent joint trip to Afghanistan. How dare people have phones on during the briefing, really. Meanwhile, our Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed arrived in Paris this morning for the Transforming Education Summit Plus 4. That summit was convened by the Secretary-General and the Director-General of UNESCO. In her opening remarks, she stressed that education remains one of the most powerful drivers of sustainable development, peace, and opportunity. And she called for financing and education to be treated as an investment in people, an investment in economies, and an investment in sustainable development. The Deputy Secretary-General stressed that education becomes the great enabler of every learner, every economy, and every hope we have for 2030 and beyond. The summit brings together leaders and partners to take stock of progress since the 2022 Transforming Education Summit and accelerate action on SDG 4. While in Paris, the Deputy Secretary-General met with the President of South Africa and co-chair of the High-Level Committee on SDG 4, and that is Cyril Ramaphosa. They discussed the strong cooperation between South Africa and the United Nations. She also met with a number of senior UNESCO officials, civil society representatives, youth partners, and others who are attending the summit. She will be back in New York on Saturday. Also today, UNESCO launched a report warning that international aid to education could fall up to 30% between 2023 and 2027. According to them, 113 countries spend more on debt servicing than education. The report brings concrete recommendations to help countries break the debt trap and invest in education. Another report I want to flag, this one by UN Women, which warns that deep cuts in humanitarian funding are forcing women's organizations to scale back or even shut down, with at least 1 million women and girls losing access to critical support since January of 2025. The report notes that some 120 million women and girls worldwide require humanitarian assistance and protection. Yet almost half of the 855 women's organizations surveyed across 52 crisis and conflict-affected countries that includes Afghanistan, DR Congo, and Haiti, are at risk of shutting down temporarily or even permanently within the year due to lack of funding. 65% of these women-led organizations say their staff are working without pay to keep services running. More than 3 quarters say they have cut staff. The report also warns that the consequences extend beyond humanitarian response, threatening to reverse progress women's rights, reduce women's participation and community leadership and decision-making. UN Women is calling for sustainable investment in women's organizations, which it describes as indispensable first responders and a foundation for protection, recovery, and peace. Meanwhile, Rosemary DiCarlo, the Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, briefed the Security Council this morning on Resolution 2331 concerning nonproliferation and Iran. Iran. She said the International Atomic Energy Agency has indicated it had not conducted any field verification activities under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Safeguard Agreement, adding that while significant differences remain between the relevant parties on the way forward regarding Resolution 2331 and the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, otherwise known as JCPOA, parties have under— all underscored the importance of a diplomatic solution and indicated readiness to engage with each other for that purpose. She added that the Secretary-General calls on parties to engage constructively and in good faith to achieve a peaceful, comprehensive, and durable solution to the Iran nuclear issue, consistent with the objectives of the resolution and the broader goals of strengthening international peace and security. And we, of course, stand by to support those efforts. Turning to Lebanon, our humanitarian colleagues say that military activities in parts of south and Nabatiya governorates in that country reportedly continue to pose risks to civilians, undermining confidence amongst displaced families considering a return. Women and girls bear a disproportionate impact on this crisis. They face heightened risks of gender-based violence, disrupted access to essential services including maternal health, and reduced access to safe and dignified support. The UN Population Fund estimates that there are 390,000 women of reproductive age among displaced and returning populations in Lebanon. This includes approximately 16,000 women who are pregnant and about 1,800 who are expected to give birth each month. Many are returning to communities where health infrastructure remains damaged or just nonfunctional. Our partners— humanitarian partners tell us that 3 hospitals in these governorates and 36 Primary healthcare centers remain closed, while at least 17 hospitals have sustained damage. Access to maternal and newborn health services are limited in parts of southern Lebanon, particularly in conflict-related areas. Since March, UNFPA has reached more than 150,000 displaced and conflict-affected people with sexual and reproductive health services alongside gender-based violence services through health facilities, mobile teams, and safe places for women and girls. Humanitarian partners warned that funding shortfalls, not surprisingly, and access constraints are limiting our response. UNFPA's revised appeal asking for $25 million is only 16% funded, and the broader humanitarian appeal is also underfunded. Turning to the occupied Palestinian territory, our OCHA colleagues said that humanitarian operations in Gaza continue to be constrained by insecurity, Israeli access restrictions, and funding shortfalls. We reiterate that under international humanitarian law, civilians and civilian infrastructure must always be protected. Against this backdrop, humanitarian partners responded to emergency needs last week, assisting more than 970 families affected by 11 incidents across the Gaza Strip. These incidents include airstrikes, new displacement linked to military activities, as well as movement restrictions, uh, of the— so be around the so-called yellow line, and fires in shelters and flooding from sewage. The response included tents, blankets, mattresses, hygiene dignity kits, jerry cans, and food assistance. We and our partners are also continuing to support people facing protracted displacement. Displacement, which impacts nearly all of Gaza's 2.1 million inhabitants. Meanwhile, communicable diseases remain widespread. Last week, partners working on health provided more than 243,000 medical consultations at over 200 service points in Gaza. Acute respiratory illness and skin disease remains the most frequently reported conditions, while waterborne diseases continue to rise, particularly in the area around Khan Younis. More than 18,000 new cases of chickenpox, ectoparasites infestation, and impetigo, which is a bacterial skin infection, were also recorded last week. Health partners warned that delivery of medical services continue to be constrained by shortages, the high cost of fuel, generator oil, spare parts, and supplies. Meanwhile, in the West Bank, our humanitarian partners tell us that amid Israeli military operations, settlement expansion, and settler violence, more Palestinians are being displaced, protection risks are increasing, access to housing, livelihoods, and essential services is becoming more restricted. Since the beginning of the month, 67 people were displaced by demolitions. 2 dozen structures were demolished, including 2 funded by donors to support people in need. Israeli authorities frequently demolish those structures for lacking building permits, which are nearly impossible for Palestinians to receive. In terms of funding, just a quarter of the $4.1 billion required for humanitarian operations in the occupied Palestinian territory has been received this year. Quick update from South Sudan and in Warrap State, where our peacekeeping colleagues from the peacekeeping mission there, UNMISS, tell us that security situation in Tonj North County remains concerning. Yesterday, an armed attack took place on the county's prison, the police station, and the county commissioner's residence. Initial reports indicate that around 25 people were killed, 20 injured, and some 208 heads of cattle are raided. UNMISS continues to engage intensively with state and county authorities to help reduce tensions. Colleagues on the ground are also meeting directly with local police and corrections officials to assess the damage to prison infrastructure and to verify the figures given to us of casualties. While a fragile calm has now taken hold, the situation remains tense. This escalation comes on top of a separate wave of violence in Alabek, also in Warap County— where— in the same county, excuse me— where intracommunal clashes between the 2nd and the 17th of July cumulatively resulted in 20 fatalities and 39 injuries. The UN peacekeeping mission strongly cautions against retaliatory violence and urges all involved to resolve grievances through dialogue. And quick update from Venezuela. The Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Tom Fletcher, is wrapping up his 4-day visit. Throughout the week, he's met with communities affected by last month's earthquake, frontline responders, humanitarian workers, and national authorities. He's also witnessed firsthand the response being delivered by ourselves and our humanitarian partners. In addition to his engagements with humanitarian responders and NGOs, he yesterday met leaders from the private sector and representatives of the diplomatic community to discuss the transition from emergency response to recovery and reconstruction. He urged sustained international engagement and support support of the updated Humanitarian Response Plan for Venezuela launched earlier this week. The addendum calls for— seeks almost $300 million to support 1.3 million people in need. On the response front, we, along with our partners, are continuing to scale up assistance in impacted areas. These efforts are coordinated by OCHA in support of national authorities' own efforts. Humanitarian operations are underway in 3 temporary camps La Guardia, with plans to expand the support to an additional site as it evolves. The International Organization for Migration is supporting camp coordination and management, and UNHCR is providing support, protection services, and legal assistance. For its part, the Pan American Health Organization and its partners are supporting emergency and primary healthcare, while UNFPA is delivering services for women and girls, including sexual and reproductive healthcare and and psychosocial support. UNICEF is supporting children and families through child protection, nutrition, and water and sanitation activities. Since the start of the response, the World Food Programme has also provided assistance to some 46,000 people impacted by the earthquakes. Our humanitarian colleagues tell us that Member States are also continuing to provide generous support, including ongoing deployment of a field hospital and direct shipments of aid including medical supplies, shelter, and food. A couple of— a number of international days to share with you. Tomorrow, as we've been telling you for the past few days, marks the International Day of Reflection and Commemoration of the 1995 Genocide in Srebrenica. In his message, the Secretary-General honors the thousands of victims who lost their lives to the atrocities in Bosnia and urges us to renew our resolve to make never again a reality for all. The Resident Coordinator in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Arneild Spence, together with members of the UN team, will participate in the official commemoration at the Srebrenica-Potocari Memorial Center. With support from the Secretary-General's Peacebuilding Fund, our team works with national institutions, civil society, survivor organizations to help address the legacy of this conflict and supporting survivors, promoting healing from intergenerational trauma and strengthening reconciliation as well as social cohesion. They're also supporting efforts to counter hate speech, genocide denial, and the glorification of atrocity crimes as well as history revisionism. Tomorrow is also World Population Day. The theme this year is Realizing the Hopes and Aspirations of Young People Today and for the Future. In a message, the Secretary-General calls on all to match the determination of today's youth through investment in education, reproductive health, decent work opportunities, and participation in decision-making. If I tell you giddyup, what does it mean? It means it is tomorrow's World Horse Day. Come on, Gabriel. Few animals have contributed more to human progress as profoundly as the horse. This day highlights the importance of protecting one of humanity's oldest partnerships. Sunday is also International Day of Combating Sand and Dust storms, which have become serious global concerns in recent decades due to their significant impacts on the environmental, health, agriculture, and socioeconomic well-being. And we end the International Days with Sunday, which is the International Day of Hope. Can't come any faster. This day promotes hope as a guiding principle towards unity in a world facing increasing division. It draws upon the values of the Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which call for peace, dignity, tolerance, and shared progress. Lastly, as I close, I just want to note that one of our colleagues is moving on to much greener pastures today. Shaza Moghrabi, who you know has been the point person for the World Food Programme, both for us and for journalists, for the past 9 years in New York, is moving on, and I can speak, I think, on behalf of us and all of you in saying a big thank you to Shaza for her passion, dedication, and professionalism in her job. On that note, I will take questions. Please. Speaker 2 [44:58]: Thank you. So we saw President Trump says Iran has asked to continue the negotiations and the U.S. has agreed, but he also says the ceasefire is over. So what's the Secretary-General's reaction? UN · Spokesperson [45:14]: Well, I think as I said yesterday, I think the most important thing is for diplomacy to continue. I mean, we have seen over the last 24 hours a sort of lull in the kinetic activity. We see reports that the discussions are ongoing, and we hope that they are. Thank you. All right, let's go on to our guests. Are you connected? If we can put them up on the screen. Speaker 4 [45:47]: Yes, we are. UN · Spokesperson [45:49]: Great. So I want to welcome Yuri and Maria. I will let you guys open up and then we'll take some questions. Go ahead. NRC · Global Emergency Director · Yuri Sadala [46:01]: Thank you very much and good afternoon. And thank you for the opportunity to brief you from Haiti on our recent mission. Our interagency mission brought together 6 emergency directors from ICVA, IOM, NRC, UNFPA, UNICEF, and WHO. Over the past days, we traveled to Port-au-Prince, the West, Centre, Artibonite departments, meeting displaced families, humanitarian partners, government representatives, and donors. What we found was clear compared to our last emergency director's visit. Haiti's crisis has become deeper, more complex, and more urgent. Just a few numbers: 6.4 million people, more than half of the population of the country, require humanitarian assistance. Only 1 out of 10 public health facilities with inpatient capacity are fully operational nationwide. So in our role, we regularly visit humanitarian crises around the world. Yet what we saw in Haiti affected us deeply. I leave the country in a few, in a few minutes, speaking not only as a humanitarian but also as a father and quite frankly, as a human being. The situation we witnessed is unacceptable. The strongest message we heard from was that people no longer feel safe. They are being stripped of our dignity. Women and children are bearing the brunt of this crisis. Sexual violence, including collective rape, is rampant. There is a disturbing sense that such abuses are becoming normal. Woman-led organizations— and you referred to them earlier— told us that they are overwhelmed by the scale of trauma, by the scale of suffering. What we heard very clearly is that the bodies of women and girls are being used as the battlefield in Haiti. In Port-au-Prince, we witnessed the expansion of armed groups. Gangs have infiltrated displacement sites. One mother, one mother told us that she has to sleep on top of her daughter every night to keep her safe. And sadly, this story is only one among the many we heard throughout our visit. Children are growing up in violence. Children are growing up traumatized. Recruitment and use of children by armed groups increased by 200%. Grave violations against children by 21% in 2025 compared to the year before. One community center we visited had removed all glass from its windows because staff fear that severely traumatized children might use the shards from these glass windows to harm themselves. That's the reality we've been, we've been encountering. We also visited Saint-Marc Hospital in Artibonite and Hôpital Universitaire La Paix in Port-au-Prince. Health workers spoke of overwhelming caseloads, severe exhaustion, growing mental health needs, skyrocketing maternal mortality, teenage pregnancy, increasing numbers of survivors of sexual violence. We lost count of number of the women we met just having given birth and who were forced to sleep on the floor with their newborn babies. Yet, thanks to the unwavering dedication of the health workers and the director of this hospital, whom we met during our visit at La Paix Hospital, this hospital is the last functioning public hospital in metropolitan Port-au-Prince. 3 years ago, its future was uncertain. Today, thanks to the complementary support provided by multiple international partners, it continues to operate, serving half a million people and saving lives every day. So with that, I will now hand over to my colleague, Mariam. IOM · Director, Department of Humanitarian Response and Recovery · Maria Moïta [50:19]: Thank you. The second major message from our mission concerns displacement and migration. Nearly 1.5 million people are internally displaced. This is the highest number ever recorded displacement in Haiti due to violence. Port-au-Prince remains the epicenter of Haiti's displacement crisis. Schools have become shelters. Communities have been uprooted. Safe space is almost nonexistent in Haiti. Displacement sites are extremely congested. There is no space to sleep or live with dignity. There is no space to install the most basic services, such as latrines or cooking areas. People are living on top of each other. Privacy is nonexistent, and therefore protection needs are immense. Families have been displaced multiple times. We met families in Bel-Air who had been displaced 5 times since Port-au-Prince until they reached the end of the country. This crisis does not stop at Haiti's borders. At Bonamant and Bel-Air, we witnessed the human impact of large-scale deportations from Dominican Republic. Humanitarian partners reported 600 to 700 forced returns every day through Anaman alone. Many people are arriving with nothing. Many have already fled violence inside Haiti before they were deported. One encounter captured this reality. In Bel-Air, we met a 15-year-old girl who had given birth just the day before she was deported with her newborn baby who was still wearing the hospital bracelet. We repeatedly heard concerns about deportations taking place with limited notice and coordination, making it harder to provide assistance and protection. While we were in Baladea, at least 2 buses carrying dozens of Haitians arrived at the border within a matter of minutes. This must stop. Families are trapped in a cycle of violence displacement, migration, deportation, and forced return. Many families cannot safely return to their homes because armed groups remain present and their homes were burned. Their message was simple: they want safety, dignity, and a future. Relocation alone is not the answer. People need pathways to safe, voluntary, and dignified solutions to return when conditions allow. I now hand over to Youri. NRC · Global Emergency Director · Yuri Sadala [52:59]: Thank you, Maria. Following our last visit, we feared that Haiti was heading towards a worst-case scenario. Today, that scenario is here, and there's a growing sense that things will get worse before getting better. So the question now for us is how we can act quickly to prevent an even deeper crisis. With that, we have 3 asks for us today. Number one, accelerate support to Haitian organizations. The clearest message we heard came from Haitian responders themselves. Supporting local leadership is not simply a commitment. It is an operational necessity. We need a Haitian solution for a Haitian problem. Local actors are the past of this response, the present of this response, and the future of this response. And the future— they need more direct, flexible, and multi-year funding and a stronger voice in decision-making. 2, we need to protect humanitarian space. Humanitarian access remains possible, but it is becoming more difficult. National staff face violence, kidnapping, an enormous psychological strain on a daily basis. Preserving humanitarian neutrality, clear distinction from political and security action, and community acceptance is essential if assistance is to reach those in need. Third and last, we need to invest in humanitarian action and beyond. With the Humanitarian Response Plan for Haiti, only 28% funded. Immediate humanitarian support is urgently needed. But humanitarian action alone cannot break this cycle. Long-term investments in development and recovery is equally critical. Despite everything we saw, we leave Haiti with hope, and we understand soon that the day of hope— not because the challenges are getting smaller, but because of the extraordinary resilience of the Haitian people and the determination of local responders and our teams on the ground will continue to serve the population. The people of Haiti continue to show remarkable courage. So now the international community must match that courage with urgency, resources, and solidarity. Thank you. UN · Spokesperson [55:30]: Okay. Thank you very much, Yuri and Maria. I'll now turn the floor over for questions. First question goes to Gabriel Elizondo. Al Jazeera English · Journalist · Gabriel Elizondo [55:40]: Hello, Maria and Yuri. Thank you for this briefing on this important topic. My name is Gabriel Elizondo from Al Jazeera English. I have several questions. I'll ask them as succinctly as possible so some of my colleagues can jump in as well if they'd like. My first question is to Maria. You mentioned the Dominican Republic. More than 95% of the Haitians who are being deported back to Haiti come from the Dominican Republic. Speaker 11 [56:09]: Yes. Al Jazeera English · Journalist · Gabriel Elizondo [56:11]: What is the IOM's position when it comes to that in terms of what are your requests of the Dominican Republic government to halt those deportations? And if so, I'm sure the DR government says, well, what does the IOM suggest we do? What is your answer to that? Do you have some sort of help for the Dominican Republic on their side of the border? I hope that was clear. And then for Yuri, My question to you is, you mentioned that the funding gap. Can you specifically give us an example of something that the NRC is not able to do in Haiti because you do not have the funds to do it? And my last question for either of you, very briefly, is the Gang Suppression Force. I know you don't speak for that organization, but only a few hundred of their soldiers have been deployed of the 5,500 mandated. Are you, from your position, from the organizations you represent, hopeful that if that force does come to fruition in Haiti, it will help in the efforts that you are trying to achieve? IOM · Director, Department of Humanitarian Response and Recovery · Maria Moïta [57:31]: Okay, thank you for that question. Yes, IOM is also present in Dominican Republic and working with the government on this matter. This is a very complex issue, and first and foremost, it has to do with the situation in Haiti and the need, and hence our message for support, people to have conditions to live in Haiti. In Dominican Republic, the issue is, and we recognize that any government has a sovereignty right to people that are illegally in their countries. Our ask, and we repeatedly ask to the Dominican Republic government, is to do it through the process and ensure that there's dignity of the people that are involved in that process. So we have asked for— if we have access to information, to the manifest, and that we can be there to provide assistance to the people that are being deported, we will be in a better position to assist UN · Spokesperson [58:24]: Thank you, Maria. NRC · Global Emergency Director · Yuri Sadala [58:29]: And thank you also for the question on the funding gap. You asked about NRC. I'm tempted to answer from an interagency perspective since we came here as part of the Interagency Standing Committee. The gaps are everywhere. We can scale up our response. We are committed to— our teams are ready. We are able if funding is provided, to scale up, to scale up within Port-au-Prince, because we have the needs, the capacity, and the expertise to secure access across the controlled areas. We have the capacity to expand in departments which are largely under-resourced at the moment, and I'm thinking in particular of a place like Artibonite, which is now one of the many hotspots. I'm thinking also at the border in Belhadere that we visited also. There are a number of things we can do. Maybe one very concrete example: for this response to scale up, the funding is obviously essential. There are a number of key enablers that we need to push through. One of them is UNHAS, for example, our ability, the ability to use UNHAS for our team to get to the places at the forefront of the needs. So Just to sum up, with more resources, this response can take shape, can continue addressing more needs, and that's across the board for organizations like mine, organizations like Maria's, and all the organizations represented in the country. And I want to maybe highlight in particular national actors who are at the forefront of this response and which showed us how capable they are and how limited they are by the current lack of resources. Maybe to finish on these points with a sense of hope, this— we are encouraged by some recent allocations which enable to develop further that response. We want and we need more of that. So that's on your point on funding gap. Maybe moving to your question about the gang suppression force, and I will ask also Maria to complement. What we see is that 2026, offers a critical window of opportunity for Haiti. And that's the window of opportunity we want to make the most of. UN and partner humanitarian operations are completely, entirely separate from the gang suppression force and its work. All humanitarian we engage with, the various interactions we had, stressed that we want to see security situation improving throughout Haiti and bring about the stability the country does need to continue developing. At the same time, simultaneous investments in humanitarian aid and basic service delivery are essential. So linking up both your questions, we see that the gang suppression force is happening. This is separate from what we do. but we are calling for funding to continue coming and increasingly coming to the work of the humanitarians. We hope we address your questions. Over back to you. UN · Spokesperson [1:01:43]: Okay, great. Next question is from Jacqueline Charles, who is online. Journalist · Jacqueline Charles [1:01:50]: Yes, hi. You guys can hear me, right? UN · Spokesperson [1:01:54]: All right. Journalist · Jacqueline Charles [1:01:56]: I have a question just in terms of when you were talking to people, um, just yesterday and today that the Electoral Council basically announced a partial timetable for elections and they haven't given a date, but they're going to be opening up the registration period. I spoke to the Prime Minister this week and, you know, they're talking about elections and getting people back into these neighborhoods. And I'm just wondering whether or not people talked about elections? Do you think it's even possible, you know, in this particular setting? I mean, you guys have painted a very grim situation of the reality of the ground, that it's not just the violence, but it's also the deportations that are happening. And then separately, I wanted to know, because today in the United States, more than 300,000 Haitians on temporary protected status are going to lose their ability to work. Their work permits expired. Do you think Haiti can absorb NRC · Global Emergency Director · Yuri Sadala [1:03:00]: So maybe I will comment on your first question regarding the elections and let my colleague Maria talk about the TPS issue. Look, we, we engage with the government and we have a fruitful dialogue yesterday with a number of ministers, departments, and ministries. Their message was extremely clear. Haiti requires a Haitian solution for a Haitian problem, and their direction of travel is also equally clear. They have a roadmap in place and they have clear focus areas. One is security, the other one is election. We heard that message loud and clear and we fully respect and listen carefully. At the same time, our work as humanitarian is to alleviate the suffering of the people of Haiti and in support of those efforts. It's not for us to comment as to whether the election can or cannot take place. What we do see and what we saw very vividly is that we have to respond to these urgent, urgent needs. And you're right, this is a grim picture we depicted. Because it's a great picture of the reality we saw, and that's what our efforts are focused on at the moment. Maybe, Maria, on the TPS? IOM · Director, Department of Humanitarian Response and Recovery · Maria Moïta [1:04:20]: Thank you for the question. This is, of course, an element that the team here in Haiti is considering and watching with some concern. The issue that pertains to the return of such a large number of Haitians to Haiti is the same that we've been highlighting here: the humanitarian needs on the ground and the absolute necessity to seriously invest in development beyond the humanitarian assistance. As Yuriy just mentioned, as humanitarians, our job is to ensure the most critical life-saving needs are addressed. But what we need to see in Haiti is an investment in longer-term solutions, in development, so that the society can grow, thrive, and receive people that come from abroad as well. Journalist · Jacqueline Charles [1:05:12]: Thank you. UN · Spokesperson [1:05:14]: Okay, next question goes to Dulcie Leimbach. Journalist · Dulcie Leimbach [1:05:18]: Hi, thanks very much. I just wanted to ask you a little bit more about the GSF, because it looks like there is at least 500 troops or whatever, officers working now from Chad and a few other countries. And it looks like they're doing patrols. So in your visit to Haiti, did you see these patrols, and do you think they've actually had some positive effect? Mike Waltz, the U.S. envoy to the UN, recently tweeted he was there. I doesn't— I don't know how long he was there, but he said there was progress from the GASF's presence. Would you agree with that? Thanks. NRC · Global Emergency Director · Yuri Sadala [1:06:05]: Thank you. Quite frankly, I think it's too early to tell, and I'm not sure it's our place to comment on. I think it's still an early stage of the deployment of the force. What we did see and what we heard very loudly and clearly is a high expectation that the security situation will improve for the people of Haiti. What is very much at the top of our mind is the need for a clear distinction about the work of the security agenda and the humanitarian agenda. And for that distinction to take place, we need to have a constructive dialogue and ensuring that there's understanding between, between the various roles of the various actors. We have seen through our experiences with a multinational security support mission that a clear and visible distinction between humanitarian and security actors helps us to safeguard the humanitarian space that we need to continue responding and increasing our response. Also importantly, that distinction is important to ensure the safety of humanitarian workers and preserve access and acceptance from the communities. That's really the main lenses through which we are looking at this. And then, yeah, time will show how— what the impact on the situation will be. UN · Spokesperson [1:07:36]: Gabriel, back to you. Al Jazeera English · Journalist · Gabriel Elizondo [1:07:39]: Thank you. I just— this is Gabriel Elizondo from Al Jazeera English again. I just have a quick factual follow-up. Yuriy, I think you mentioned in your part of the briefing that Gangs are present in all and/or most of the displacement sites, if I heard you correctly. Correct me if I'm wrong. Could you just clarify, do you and your partners have access to all of the sites, or do you have to engage directly with any of the gangs to gain access? For those of us that aren't there, could you kind of explain your, your interaction with the gangs? vis-à-vis access to sites? NRC · Global Emergency Director · Yuri Sadala [1:08:18]: Sure. I believe I was referring to Port-au-Prince, and thanks again for the question. So particularly in Port-au-Prince, indeed, a large part of the territory is controlled by gangs, and we do have access. We do have access through negotiations, through access negotiations, through some level of engagement, which is key, as we do in other contexts. We engage, we dialogue, we negotiate so that we can actually serve the people in great needs. So how does that take place? That takes place through sustained engagements, acceptance, sustained dialogue, also using the expertise of our national colleagues, national actors, and to find a common ground so that actual assistance can be delivered to the people. That's in a nutshell how it's happening. I'm not telling you it's easy. It's extremely hard. It's extremely hard. But that's the job and that's important. And we believe that it's important that we continue to invest in those capacities so that this response can continue being enabled and further developed. Al-Quds al-Arabi · Journalist · Muna Autul [1:09:47]: Thank you very much. I'm Muna Autul with Al-Quds al-Arabi. Just a quick question regarding the problem of housing. You've both detailed the critical problem and shortage of dignified housing for displaced families in Haiti. So since yesterday, there was a new report that was launched by SDG 11 Global Synthesis Report. We're just wondering if you are currently coordinating with SDG 11 office to ensure your emergency shelter responses are aligned with these long-term standards for sustainable urban recovery, or are these two separate things? Thank you. IOM · Director, Department of Humanitarian Response and Recovery · Maria Moïta [1:10:36]: So, the issue of housing, of course, intersects with the issue of shelter, which is the type of shelter that is provided for the humanitarian context. I think the humanitarian architecture or the way in which the organizations organize themselves is the way to ensure that articulation. And we have The HC, so the humanitarian coordinator, who is also the development coordinator, is the person that is in charge to make sure that the development solutions are linked to the humanitarian issues, problems, and solutions as well. When we are, of course, in the limit of providing humanitarian assistance, that's not the purview of the humanitarian actors, but that coordination is happening on the ground on a regular basis. through, uh, the, this position that I mentioned. Thank you. UN · Spokesperson [1:11:34]: Thank you. Um, I see no further questions, so I would like once more to thank our guests, Juri Sadalla of the Norwegian Refugee Council and Maria Moita of IOM. Thank, thank you very much for your briefing, and best of luck on, on your work as we go forward. And, uh, to all of you in the press, uh, thank you and have a good weekend. IOM · Director, Department of Humanitarian Response and Recovery · Maria Moïta [1:11:56]: Thank you. UN · Spokesperson [1:11:56]: Thanks.