Afghanistan, Ukraine, Occupied Palestinian Territory & other topics - Daily Press Briefing

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Good afternoon.
After you're done with me, I will be joined by our guest, Jean Philippe Antolin, who is the IOM's Humanitarian Response and Recovery Specialist for Latin America and the Caribbean.
He'll be joining us from po in the Choco Department of Colombia to brief you on the humanitarian situation on the ground following the devastating earthquake that hit Colombia.
I'll start with some relatively good news from Afghanistan and that I want to share that two of our national staff members from the UN political mission in Afghanistan who had been detained by the de facto authorities more than a week ago were released this morning.
The colleagues appear to be in good health and we understand that the charges against them have been dropped, so we are delighted they are out.
However, the Mission has not been formally notified of the reasons for their arrest and their detention in the first place, and we're continuing to follow up with the de facto authorities.
This includes seeking to ensure respect for the privileges and immunities of the UN, as well as the safety, the security, and the freedom of movement of UN staff and associated personnel as they go about their mandated work.
Um, As a reminder, unfortunately, there are still 73 of our colleagues who remain detained in Yemen by the Houtis, and we continue to do everything we can to seek their immediate release.
Turning to Ukraine, the Secretary-General strongly condemns today's large scale missile and drone attack by the armed forces of the Russian Federation on the capital city of Kyiv, as well as other urban centers in Ukraine.
These attacks reportedly killed and injured dozens of civilians and caused extensive damage to civilians and civilian infrastructure.
This is yet another tragic example of the alarming patterns of escalating strikes against populated areas.
I can tell you that the Secretary-General remains deeply concerned by the continued escalation of this conflict, including onto the territory of the Russian Federation.
Attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure are clear violation of international humanitarian law wherever they occur, and they must stop immediately.
The Secretary-General reiterates his call for an urgent de escalation leading to a full, immediate and unconditional ceasefire and for a just and sustainable comprehensive peace in line with international law, including UN Charter and all relevant United Nations resolutions.
And in Ukraine, Tom Fletcher, the Under Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and from whom you heard yesterday remains in Kyiv today.
He said he was struck by what he saw, which was the aftermath of yet another deadly night for civilians with homes, hospitals, and a school having been hit in these Russian airstrikes.
The continued toll on civilians, he said, should outrage all.
We, along with our humanitarian partners, provided an immediate emergency response following the attacks in Kyiv and the surrounding region.
We complemented the efforts of emergency services and municipal workers.
They provided first aid and psychological first aid, hot meals and construction material, as well as humanitarian cash assistance.
Also today while in Kyiv, Mr.
Fletcher met with a number of senior Ukrainian government officials, including Andre Sibiha, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, with whom he shared his condolences for the attacks that occurred.
Mr.
Fletcher also met with Denise Small, the first Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Energy, and Denis Oluin, the Minister of Social Policy Planning Family and Unity.
Turning to the situation in the occupied Palestinian territory, our colleagues at the Office of the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs continue to receive reports of Palestinian civilians in Gaza being killed, being injured, or otherwise impacted by Israeli airstrikes, by shelling and gunfire.
This includes children, as one can imagine, given the overcrowded conditions in the Gaza strip.
We continue to call for the protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure.
Civilians should never be targeted or used for military purposes.
Today, the body of 50 people, including 19 children who were killed over two years ago, were finally laid to rest after being recovered under the rubble in Gaza.
This operation happened in recent days.
Efforts to remove rubble and retrieve bodies in Gaza remains limited by restrictions on the entry of heavy machinery, spare parts, lubricants, and other critical supplies, as well as restrictions and access to vast areas within the Gaza strip.
Meanwhile, our humanitarian partners working on shelter reported today that 94% of Gaza's 2.1 million people need shelter and basic household assistance.
More than four out of five families face critical or catastrophic levels of hunger in their current shelters, which lack fuel, energy, and essential household items.
These constraints affect people's ability to sleep, their ability to cook, their ability to wash, their ability to store food, water, maintain adequate lighting, and cope with the temperatures.
OCHA estimates that nearly two in every three families live in tents or makeshift shelters that rapidly deteriorate in harsh weather as they are designed only for short term use, and we continue to face obstacles in bringing the level of more structured shelter into Gaza.
Last winter, more than 70% of families experienced flooding ahead of the cold and rainy seasons.
Our humanitarian partners are working to ensure adequate shelter for families.
However, as I mentioned, these restrictions on materials and equipment, combined with funding shortfalls have kept assistance far below the level that is actually needed for the people.
Shelter partners estimate that $562 million is needed for emergency response.
Of this amount, they've requested $165 million to address the most acute cases, but just over a quarter of this funding has been secured so far.
Meanwhile, our colleagues at the UN Development said that since May, with the help of our humanitarian partners, they've expanded pest control activities to more than 3,000 displacement sites, markets, and hospitals across Gaza.
Humanitarian stress that sustained access to rat and rodent control supplies remain critical.
It's also a given the continued infestation of rodents.
We also need heavy machinery and essential equipment to be allowed into Gaza to facilitate the removal of trash, which as you know, has been a huge problem.
Moving north to southern Lebanon where UN peacekeepers are continuing to carry out their mandate despite the persistent security risks and restrictions on their movements.
Our peacekeepers their UNIFIL remain fully committed to their mandate and remaining position in visible position across southern Lebanon through daily operations, including patrol, monitoring, liaison, and as you know, support for humanitarian operations.
But this work continues in an increasingly challenging security environment with incidents affecting the safety and security of peacekeepers.
Our peacekeeping colleagues at UNIFIL report continued Incidents affecting the safety and security of peacekeepers.
On Wednesday, an IDF tank pointed its turret and a laser at peacekeepers positions near Aid al usar.
Another location, small arms fire struck close to a UNIFIL position where IDF forces were operating nearby.
Restrictions on freedom of movement also continued to be a concern with seven incidents recorded between Monday and Wednesday, most involved the IDF and resulted in patrols, convoys, and humanitarian movements being delayed, re routed, or required them to just turn back to where they'd come from.
In one case, a group of 20 individuals on mopeds refused to let the peacekeepers pass.
The presence of unexploited ordinance also continues to pose a serious risk to both peacekeepers and civilians.
This week, Unifil located and safely disposed of hand bundled bombs near Rama and identified additional unexploited munitions, Nick Farka and discovered ammunition cache north of Marka.
Meanwhile, from Monday to Wednesday, Uf continued to observed IDF activity on land on air and at sea in southern Lebanon with activities peaking on Tuesday.
Peacekeepers recorded 86 airspace violations, mainly from drones, nine airstrikes, 265 projectiles launched by the IDF.
They also observed nearly 30 instances of drone activities, including reconnaissance sorties, kinetic strikes, and suicide drones.
Demolitions, Demolition and destructions of infrastructure by the IDF also continued.
Peacekeeppers observed the demolition of Lebanese armed force infrastructure near and controlled demolitions in Mansouri and Majdal Zun alongside ongoing destructions of villages and other infrastructure.
At the same time, UNIFIL continued to support humanitarian effort, facilitating the deconfliction of 18 humanitarian missions to support civilians in the South.
That was all between Monday and Wednesday.
A quick or not so quick update, but an update for you on the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where humanitarian colleagues warned that Ebola outbreak continues to expand with national authorities recording more than 5,200 confirmed cases and nearly 2,500 deaths as of August 18th.
Our senior Ebola coordinator on the ground, Julian Harness said the government and our partners are scaling up response with five operational priorities, including tripling safe care capacity, strengthening community engagement, doubling the number of safe and dignified burial teams, and expanding disease surveillance and increasing support for the most vulnerable.
As part of his broader effort, the government launched this morning the Congo River Without Ebola Initiative with support from the UN and our partners.
This initiative aims to strengthen disease surveillance and preparedness along the Congo River, which, as you can imagine, is often the only route connecting villages, markets, and several provinces.
With funding from the Central Emergency Response Fund and others, the This will support the initiative alongside national authorities.
Together, they'll strengthen disease surveillance at priority ports and transit points, improving early warning and referral systems, and reinforce preparedness among river communities and people traveling by boat.
WHO said that 70,000 doses of the Ebolasaer vaccine have been allocated to the DRC.
The doses will support frontline health workers and clinical trials to assess its potential effectiveness against the Bund Bogo virus, which is the main source of the Ebola cases.
For its part, the peacekeeping mission there, Monusk also continues to provide a secure environment for humanitarian workers responding to the outbreak.
Earlier this week, the mission established a standing military presence in Ituri Mombasa territory to support Ebola response team and operating in the area following security incidents nearby.
In Fataki, the mission also engaged local community leaders following threats against Ebola response personnel and to encourage timely information sharing, facilitate responses by national security forces in the mission.
Also on the peacekeepers, they are remaining actively engaged on the ground supporting humanitarian partners through protection efforts in and around displacement sites.
Creating safe conditions for the voluntary return of displaced people.
Over the past eight months, the mission in Aturi province's bul community has maintained a strong presence and stepped up patrols to help protect about 60,000 displaced people.
As of August 11th, 200-250 families, had begun to return to the town.
Last Saturday, following negotiations led by peacekeeping team, peacekeeper patrol safely recovered two girls who had been abducted the previous day by the cooperative for development of Congo armed Group in the province.
The girls were safely escorted back to a hosting site.
On that note, I will take your questions before going to our guests, ity.
Thank you, staff.
And first and foremost, on behalf of everyone here in the United Nations Correspondents Association, happy birthday to you.
Would not want to be anywhere else.
Well, maybe a few, but thank you.
Secondly, I On the Ebola outbreak in Congo, having been here during the last major outbreak, when there was really a very significant amount of global attention on ending it, eradicating it, Um, what's happened this time? Why aren't we seeing the kind of attention to try and eradicate this one, which potentially will be even more serious? Listen, I think it's a very, very valid question.
We have tried to beat the drums almost daily on what is going on in the DRC, the threat to other countries.
Um, I think we're also seeing an outbreak in a zone which is very often a conflict zone where there is a lack of security, lack of transport.
The world, sadly, and I think the media is occupied by other crises.
And I think it is also important that journalists and that media organizations pay attention and also help us spread the word about what is going on in the eastern part of the DRC and the potential threat to increasing number of countries.
I'm going to take one more question on UNIFIL.
Every day, it seems, you talk about incidents involving peacekeepers.
And I know that there is this tripartid mechanism that is supposed to discuss all of these allegations, claims, incidents that are recorded.
Why don't we see any changes? Well, again, I, asking valid questions.
It's not we are repeatedly in contact.
Our colleagues are repeal in contact with the Israelis, with the Lebanese armed forces, and others.
Our peacekeepers are reporting what they're seeing every day, and it's been constant harassment.
And the peacekeepers are not there on the orders of António Gutierrez, they are there under a mandate of the Security Council.
They are there as representatives of the international community and they need to be respected in their activities as they implement their mandate.
Madam, Mamoad.
Thanks, De Care Naughton for Radio France International.
The US have ended temporarily the protection for Haitian immigrants in the US at the beginning of the month.
As the UN I know your UN team is pretty busy already in IE, but preparing they preparing in advance for eventual deportations? Well, I mean, as you know, the UN team in Haiti is stretched, but our colleagues on the ground are doing whatever they can to support the government as people are being forcibly returned home.
Again, in a place where there is a huge lack of security, a lack of opportunity, and a very, very dangerous situation.
Morad and then Nammo.
Thank you, Stephen.
President Trump yesterday announced a new campaign to isolate Iran's economy called economic DD.
He threatened other countries with consequences if they continue to deal with Iran.
How does the SEG see this development and the potential impact on the global economy? We are already seeing the impact on the global economy of the conflict in the Gulf, right? From the lack of freedom of transportation along in the Strait of Hormuz, also now the lack of freedom of navigation in the Bab Abad, in the Gulf of Aden leading up to the Red Sea.
What we need is a serious return to negotiations, because an increase in kinetic activity, an increase in economic conflict will not be good, as you say, for the global economy.
Nammo.
Thank you, Stephan.
Yesterday, the US representative at the Security Council accused the president of the General Assembly of overstepping her authority.
She said, The PGA continues a trend of UN leadership fancying themselves as diplomatic superstars rather than chief administrative officers.
Do you have what does the Secretary-General think of this pointed criticism of the UN leadership in general and also does the Secretary-General stand by PGA the way she's conducted their job? Thank you.
The Secretary-General has a lot of respect for this president of the General Assembly.
He's worked very closely with her on a the Pact for the future on its implementation, on the UN AD initiative.
He very much enjoys the cooperation he has with her.
I'm not for his part, the Secretary-General is fulfilling his mandate given to him by member states and he's been doing it in great faithfulness to the UN charter since member states gave him that mandate almost ten years ago now.
But I'm not going to go provide commentary to statements from various member states that they deliver in legislative bodies.
Alex, Yes.
Thanks, Steph and happy birthday.
On Afghanistan, you mentioned that the charges against you and staff have been dropped.
Could you please remind us what charges? The circumstances of their detention, what they had been accused of and all that remains very unclear and we're trying to get more details.
For us, we're just delighted that they've been released, they're in good health, and they face apparently no more judicial legal issues Mona, Thank you, Stefan.
Just a quick question, please on Hinrajp.
The Israeli army has now acknowledged that its troops fired on the car after previously denying it for almost two years.
I know the High Commissioner in Geneva had already said the killing, could amount to a war crime.
So now that Israel has opened its own investigation, does the UN believe that a state whose forces are implicated in enough investigation or the UN is still calling for an independent rule? Look, we've taken note of the announcement by the Israeli defense forces, including the decision to open a criminal investigation into the death of Hinrajab and her family? Um, I think from this podium and the Secretary-General himself has consistently stressed the importance that all alleged violations of international humanitarian law are investigated.
Investigations into these allegations of violations must be prompt, they must be thorough, they must be independent, impartial, and transparent, and wrongdoing is established, those responsible must be held to account through effective judicial proceedings.
There needs to be full accountability.
We will I think we do not want to prejudge uh the investigation.
They said they would launch a criminal probe.
Let's see where it leads, and then we will opine on it, but I don't want to prejudge the process and its outcome.
On that note, I don't see any questions online.
So if we could put our guest up on the screen, that would be most useful.
Jean Philippe, can you hear us? Yes.
Can you hear me? Perfectly.
Great.
Well, again, we're joined by Jean Philippe Atlain who is the IOM Humanitarian Response Recovery Specialist for Latin America and the Caribbean.
He's briefing us from Colombia.
So please go ahead and then we'll take some questions.
Thank you, and I think it's in the order of the day to wish you happy birthday.
Good afternoon, good morning.
I'm speaking to you today from Kivo capital of Colombia's Choco department, one of the worst affected by the 7.44 earthquake that shook the country ten days ago.
IUM is working alongside the government of Colombia, local authorities, local partners, and other UN agencies to support the national response to the emergency.
The full picture of the impact is still emerging, but according to preliminary data by the National Disaster Risk Management Unit, 282,000 people have been affected.
Amongst these, we have many who have lost their loved ones, their homes, children have lost their schools, and communities no longer have access to something as simple as a park or as essential as a hospital.
Nearly 163,000 homes are affected and undergoing structural evaluations.
Aiming to complement the government led response, IOM launched this morning a flush appeal of 30 million USD to expand its earthquake response in the initial six months.
Our appeal aims to cover both urgent lifesaving help now and a gradual shift toward longer term recovery, including shelter, managing accommodation sites, clean water and sanitation, healthcare, protection for vulnerable people and helping communities to rebuild.
Within the UN system, IM is leading the coordination of the shelter and site management cluster here in Colombia with our team supporting the identification of affected populations, the assessment of priority needs and gaps in assistance in these areas.
To date, alongside local authorities, we have marked at least 71 temporary collective accommodation sites which host 4,700 people equivalent to 1,400 households across Bala del Cauca, Risralda, Choco, and Caldas.
We're also supporting the National Disaster Risk Management Unit with registration of affected people here in K in Cali, and we will extend this support to Pedira over the weekend as well.
Recent heavy rains across Colombia Pacific region, including Pareda, Buena Vntura here in Kiddo, have further worsened living conditions for many earthquake affected families.
These conditions have increased shelter, water, sanitation, and protection needs, particularly for people in open spaces, community centers, sports fields, schools, public buildings, and churches.
The rain is also making it easier for epidemic vectors diseases to spread, such as dengue, which is especially dangerous in shelters where many people live close together.
The need for shelter and support remains high.
Humanitarian partners say more housing options, including community shelters, temporary hotel stays, host families and rent support are needed for families whose homes were destroyed, badly damaged, or no longer safe.
Repair kits and household basics such as sleeping mats, bedding, cooking supplies, and items for privacy will be essential to help people live safely and with dignity.
Getting the supplies to the hardest to reach areas remains a major challenge, and most partners are working together to overcome it.
There is also an urgent need to strengthen roofing, drainage, and waterproofing in existing locations while continuing to register affected populations, whether in collective sites with host families or rental housing.
At this challenging time, IOM commends the rapid and decisive response of the Colombian government, as well as the dedication and solidarity of authorities and emergency response teams working on the ground.
We'll continue supporting the government's response to every stage of this emergency and recovery, working with other sectors and planning for the future so communities are better prepared for the next disaster.
Back to you, spokesperson.
Thank you very much.
We'll start with ED Letter, Associated Press.
Thank you very much on behalf of the United Nations Correspondent Association for doing this briefing and giving us this update.
What are the most urgent needs of today for the earthquake victims.
And I know we're still in an emergency phase, but when do you expect the recovery and reconstruction efforts to begin? Thank you.
Please go ahead, Jeff.
Thank you.
Thank you, for the question.
Most urgent needs, yes, it's been ten days.
So pretty much everything is still urgent.
There's communities that haven't been accessed yet or have only been accessed once.
We must continue to provide blanket coverage of several items from shelter to food to health.
Amongst those most pressing urgent needs, I would say also the need for information.
People need to know.
People need to know whether the house is safe, structurally sound.
From outside, it might not look affected, but if you go inside, you will see cracks everywhere.
People are sleeping outside for fear of the roof collapsing overheads.
They need the structural evaluations to carry on.
Someone who tells them it's safe or unsafe to be there, and where they are at the moment, they need to have access to the most basic needs and to have commodities and to live safely and with dignity.
This is what's happening in all of those places that we've mapped.
People living with other families or in alternative settings also need that support.
They are in crowen conditions, but they are they won't be able to stay there long if they don't receive help, and we don't want shelters to become magnets are the only places where people could access assistance.
And that's exactly what the government is doing right now, figuring out where everyone is, what they need as the other phases start.
Your second question about recovery.
Well, what we say is recovery starts from day one, and it does.
People will start figuring out how they are, where they are, what they need, how they're going to rebuild.
Government is already working on potentially a as rental assistance.
We see them every day out mapping, informing people where to go, how to register, regardless of whether we're owners, renters, whether their livelihoods are gone or not to be sure that they benefited from a due process, but it takes time.
It's been only ten days, and as that progresses, the most urgent need continues to be to assist them.
We see a lot of solidarity happening still in Colombia, and from CSOs, from civil society, from private organizations.
But we know by experience that that at some point will run short and it's not coming in the volumes and to the places that need it most so rural areas.
That's because of access, it's not happening yet.
The blanket coverage needs to continue.
A improved as people know where to go and how the different streams of help reach them.
Thank you, Murad.
Thank you, Murad from Al Jaeera Arabic.
Could you elaborate more in regard to the international response either on fund or aid or in general, the other immediate priorities? T and apologies.
I don't have the full picture of that.
That would be on foreign affairs and OCHA, but we certainly see it.
I mean, speaking with partners with other UN organizations with the Red Cross movement.
I see several people have launched appeals.
Funding is starting to mobilize and In fact, from some donors rather fast for UN that was from the US that has made 5 million of our 30 million appeal funded already.
We've seen bilateral aid also arriving.
I'm here in Quito.
Yesterday, I saw the Argentinian Air Force that had landed.
I think it was before in Cali.
They took off at the end of the day.
I saw a US airplane today.
So A is still arriving.
The volume of it, the quantity of it, I do not have and I would like if I venture, I guess, but it is happening.
Thank you.
Any other questions? All right.
Well, Jean Philippe, thank you very much for that very comprehensive update.
We wish you all the best and as well as all of the UN colleagues who were down in Colombia.
Thank you, and thank you for the opportunity and solidarity with Colombia.
Thank you.