Tom Fletcher (OCHA) on World Humanitarian Day - Press Conference

And now it's my pleasure to turn to Tom Fletcher, emergency relief coordinator and Under Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, who's briefing us from Kyiv on this World Humanitarian Day.
So, Tom, thank you, and you have the floor.
Well, thank you very much, Steph and thank you for those words and for the Secretary-General statement of solidarity with humanitarians globally.
It's a tough day for us.
It's a somber day for us, and I join you in paying tribute to humanitarians who run these extraordinary risks that they shouldn't have to run because behind those grim numbers that Steph read out are names, they are colleagues, they are our friends.
They are families, and they are the best of us.
This is not a temporary spike that we're seeing.
This is a stain.
It is the normalization of violence against our community, and we will not accept it.
We do not accept it.
We will not allow this violence, this killing of humanitarians to be normalized.
And so we do grieve today, and we honor the memory of our friends and colleagues.
We recommit to this, the mission that they loved and ultimately died for.
We recommit to that mission in their memory.
As Steph said, nearly 1,000 aid workers killed, injured, or kidnapped and states dominating that violence against humanitarians.
Be it all this sense we feel of impunity, of a lack of accountability for those who pulled the trigger, those who gave the order, those who supplied the weapon, those who created the environment in which it could be used in that way.
I've been in the job now for almost two years and I struggle to think of meaningful investigations into this litany of killing that we've seen.
So this is why I'm in Ukraine at the moment for World humanitarian Day.
I've been in Hassan for the last two days, which is a real epicenter at the moment.
It's saturated by use of drones against civilian areas.
It's become one of the places I'm afraid, where you get to really understand this dystopian reality that lies ahead potentially for many of us, but is an existence day to day for people here and in so many of the crisis areas in which we work from Somalia to Sudan to Gaza to Lebanon.
As Steph says, this day was born from tragedy, the Canal Hotel bombing 23 years ago.
But those tragedies are now continuing day to day and we're seeing them increasingly powered by a chilling alliance between technological ingenuity and modern warfare.
The victims are civilians and they are humanitarians.
I was really struck.
I drove the road four times actually that Ukrainians call the road of death between the Goliath and Hassan.
Until you see it and experience it, it's hard to describe driving for miles and miles, kilometers, kilometres along these roads covered in netting to try and keep out as many of the drones as possible.
That sense when you're walking around of the constant threat, the alarms going on everyone's phone incessantly and the sense of collective anxiety that these drones create.
I've not been anywhere and I spend my time in pretty tough neighborhoods.
I've not been anywhere where drones are so much part of the conversation.
Everyone, from the kids I met in say shelters, civilians, humanitarians, my colleagues can tell the difference between the sound of a first person view drone and a fiber optic drone and the medium range drones or the loitering munitions which are such a threat to our work.
The weapons have become part of life and part of the language of people here.
That's pretty chilling.
I met, of course, civilians who've lost limbs to these first person view drones that are everywhere.
Of course, the terrifying thing here is that the operator of that drone knows exactly what they're doing.
They fly around the person selling fruit and vegetables in the market or the humanitarian delivering food.
They have a good look at them before they take the shot that will kill or maim them for life.
I visited a hospital where doctors told me around 70% of their wounded patients have blast injuries from drones, 77 0% and where they're moving the wards and the theaters underground to try and escape those drones.
We had to run to avoid one example of that.
The drone that had caused such damage to Hearson Hospital, I handled that drone.
It was a $300 drone, increasingly cheap and available munitions.
And of course, I met the families who are trying to continue their lives in the face of these challenges, sleeping underground, learning online, desperately surviving day to day and who they keep going despite those challenges.
I met Shi, this morning, he delivers an extraordinary humanitarian, delivers hot meals for his local humanitarian organization.
And a drone attack cost him his leg.
He turned up at the hospital and asked them to stick it back on, went back to work.
Within weeks coordinating the teams, delivering food to people who need it.
I met the doctors working around the clock in conditions of extreme danger, the volunteers evacuating people from the communities on the front lines.
We were just a kilometer away yesterday from those front lines.
As always, it's the civilians who are doing most to help their fellow civilians and local organizations on whom we depend.
I again, pay tribute to their courage globally in the face of these challenges.
So you see this dystopian reality of these kill zones and kamikaze drones increasingly putting lethal power into the hands of more people and all of that without the accountability that we've lost your audio, Tom.
You've muted yourself.
There we go.
Thank you, Sh.
We have a sense that it's not just the killer who's further from the victim, but the accountability and justice further from the victim and that the technology is changing every week as these drones become more sophisticated.
But what doesn't change or must not change each week is international humanitarian law.
The law is meant to protect us, meant to protect civilians from all weapons, however sophisticated they are.
We need those investigations.
We need accountability, we need the international community to uphold the law.
Of course, to close, I mean, this isn't just a Ukraine story.
I've seen the way that armed drones are transforming war around the world.
I was told in Somalia a few weeks ago by women that they were fleeing not famine or violence, but the drones that are following them around as people are experimenting with cheaper and cheaper and more available technology.
From Sudan to Colombia to Gaza to Lebanon, these cheap armed drones are extending the reach of war and allowing people to kill at greater distance, 1,000 civilians killed in Sudan in the first five months of the year.
These numbers aren't static, they are going up, including the numbers of kids killed.
So we need states to uphold the law, and we need the companies who are manufacturing and supplying these weapons to understand international humanitarian law, to understand how these weapons are being used and to understand their obligations and responsibilities.
I fear otherwise, that the death toll from these weapons will continue to rise, and we'll be back again next year with another grim litany of stats to share with you.
Concern from member states is not enough.
We need action right now.
Of course, drones can help us in humanitarian work.
They can deliver vaccines to communities that we can't otherwise reach.
I was in Venezuela a few weeks ago in the aftermath of the earthquake and saw how we're using drones to locate survivors amid the rubble.
So they do have positive uses, but so much of what we're seeing is inhumane and reckless.
We need to ensure that if the global economy is being put as it is on a war footing, that we are also training these weapons in the right way and that we're also ensuring that technology does not outpace humanity and that technology does not outpace accountability.
So I close where I started paying tribute to our extraordinary humanitarian colleagues around the world who continue to do this work, local organizations, NGOs, UN humanitarian agencies, local partners who continue to do this work with such courage and creativity in the face of such challenge and danger.
And an attack on any one of us in our humanitarian movement is an attack on all of us.
Thanks, Def.
Back to you.
Thank you very much.
We'll now take some questions, Ey, please.
Thank you very much, Mr.
Fletcher, Edith letter from the associated press.
And certainly, I think we are all moved by what you said and equally worried about your last comment about do not let technology outpace humanity and what humans can do.
You also said that we need action Um, what specific things could actually make a difference right now in Ukraine and elsewhere? Thank you.
Go ahead, Tom.
Thanks, I.
It's a great question and something that I've been worrying about and talking about with colleagues here and indeed across the global humanitarian effort.
I think several things.
Firstly, we've got to have a serious reflection about how we protect humanitarians in the face of these new weapons.
We look to provide protective clothing where necessary.
We look to use protected vehicles, armored vehicles where we can, but we don't have the resources to provide those to all of our partners in the field.
I really worry about the risks that we're asking people to run.
And so that presents us challenges about how we protect ourselves, particularly from drones in the future and how we adapt protection.
Of our colleagues.
Then I think there is the action that we need from the international community.
We need member states to investigate these attacks against us and against civilians.
You all in this room many times have become frustrated, I'm sure with Q and As I've done and maybe even the Steph has done where you're asking us to hold people to account.
You're asking us for attribution the whole time.
But as humanitarians, we're here to help the survivors.
We're not here then to do the investigations into who carried out these attacks.
But we need someone to.
We can tell you what we're seeing, we can tell you what the people we serve are experiencing, but we need the international community, the member states to hold those carrying out the attacks to account.
As I said, I think we need a dialogue with the companies involved in supply and distribution of this new deadly technology to make sure they really understand the risks that they are creating and their obligations under international law as well.
And then we need to have a strong robust conversation about international humanitarian law in the 21st century and try to make sure that our enforcement of the rules keeps up with the deadly innovation in this case, that we're seeing.
This shouldn't be beyond us.
The world has had to adapt to modernization of warfare again and again.
My family name is Fletcher.
We were arrow makers.
The world adjusted to a world of arrow makers.
It adjusted to a world of gunpowder.
It created rules to protect people from nuclear weapons, ballistic weapons, chemical weapons.
Those rules apply to these drones, but they're not being applied in the way that they should.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Ephraim Deb.
Thank you so much, Mr.
Fletcher.
It's Ephraim Kosafi with Arab News Daily, a question on Gaza in the past, four years and Lebanon.
Many international lawyers or observers say that what happened in Gaza is no less than the dismantlement of the UN humanitarian system, the way we saw it unfold in the past three years.
Do you agree with that assessment and how much damage do you think what happened in Gaza has inflicted on your work and your coworkers work elsewhere in the world.
Thank you.
Well, thanks, E.
And, you know, it's been a very, very rough few years for our work, of course, in Gaza, Lebanon, and elsewhere, but it's been much rougher for the civilians that we serve.
And, you know, as Steph describes daily to you and Farhan and colleagues, you know, this that grim reality continues.
But I wouldn't characterize it as the dismantlement of the UN humanitarian system.
We're still here and we're still doing our work in Gaza and elsewhere.
We've made real inroads as Steph often describes in handling the hunger levels in Gaza, for example, with over 1 million hot meals a day.
Over that last year, since the 20 point plan, since the Shanachek meeting, we've got a lot more food in and we are turning the corner on the hunger situation.
Of course, we've got much much further to go.
We've got to get shelter materials in for the winter, we've got to get all the crossings open.
We've got to get the full range of our NGO partners operating in the way that we need them to operate.
We've got to get the protections for civilians in place from air strikes.
So It has been bruising, but we are there in Gaza, across the West Bank, in Lebanon, but globally, the UN humanitarian system has taken the shocks to it and continues to operate, and we're out there right now looking to reach 87 million people this year with lifesaving support, as you've heard me described, and we're not retreating from that challenge either because of these weapons being used against us or because of the scale of the challenges in places like Gaza, Sudan, Yemen and beyond where our work is under such threat.
Evelyn and now Mr.
Fletcher, thank you very much for the Evelyn Leopold.
Where are you calling from? Are you in Kyiv or elsewhere in Ukraine? Secondly, there was firing while you were there.
Did you know if this was a Russian attack or the Ukrainians answering Russia or do you have any clue what was happening while you were there? Thank you very much for that, putting your life at risk.
Thank you, Evelyn.
I can assure you that the risks I take are nothing compared to the risks that my colleagues are running every day, including the colleagues here in Ukraine and in so many other places where we work.
I mean, actually, there was a lot of firing, I have to share in the two days I was in Hasan, and I saw a lot of drones.
You know, we ran at least twice for cover because of drones in the vicinity.
And of course, we were in places that have been attacked by drones in recent days.
So, you know, it was a reminder for me of what civilians and humanitarians are facing all the time.
You know, as I said earlier, I'm not the person to help you with the attribution.
I can't get into a game of who fired what and who fired back.
I'm pretty certain that we were experiencing both drones coming across the fighting lines from the Russian side and the Ukrainian forces shooting back at them.
I mean, that was certainly what people were telling me.
That's for others to clarify, confirm.
Of course, we had a hit from one drone against a building that we were meeting in while we were meeting.
And of course, as I say, I saw many of the, particularly the fiber optic drones, the first person view drones that had been really surging into that region in recent weeks and months.
We saw many of those operating above us.
So, you know, as humanitarians, we work in some pretty tough neighborhoods, but it's clear to me that the Con region is very much one of those.
Thank you, Alex.
Demad.
Thanks so much De.
Hello, Mr.
Fletcher.
This is Alex With Russia's RN news agency.
Thank you so much for this briefing and for all the job that you're doing.
I have a follow up on Ukraine as well.
You've mentioned that you're not the person to help us with the attribution of drone attacks and other attacks.
But at the same time, for instance, your humanitarian coordinator, Med Smiley, has repeatedly accused Russia of carrying out attacks against humanitarian infrastructure like he did last year, October August UN humanitarian convoy in Kerson region without any investigation Do you believe such accusation violate the UN Charter, especially Article 100? Thank you so much, sir.
I start by paying tribute to Matias, who is an absolutely outstanding resident coordinator, humanitarian coordinator.
I've seen that again the last few days and we'll be spending time together tomorrow seeing President Zelensky and Prime Minister and other colleagues about interlocutors here in Kyiv, he's a great leader of the humanitarian effort here.
And he has documented and has spoken about attacks on civilian infrastructure.
I saw a lot of destroyed, fuel stations on the road, for example.
I know Steph has also spoken about those attacks on infrastructure and civilian targets here in Ukraine as we speak about those attacks elsewhere in the world.
I'm not going to get into any suggestion that my colleagues are in breach of the UN charter.
I'm a huge fan of humanitarians on the front line and Matias is one of the best of us.
Thank you.
We'll go to Murad, and then I and then back to Jasmine and then we'll take questions.
We'll end it up.
Go ahead, Murad.
Thank you, Murad for Maja Arabic.
What are the concrete measures needed for independent investigations and accountability either in Gaza or Ukraine or Sudan or elsewhere? That's a great question, and I think in a way, that's the gap that we're seeing at the moment.
What you hope is that you have a strong and you're all examples of this feisty independent media that draws attention to what's happening.
You hope that you will have organizations document, sharing that information publicly, sharing it with investigators.
You hope that you will have member states, the international community making a point of following up on these incidents and directly challenging the countries that can be assumed to be involved.
And then you hope also, and maybe I'm too naive and idealistic about this, you also hope that those member states themselves who are being asked to hold themselves to account will also do that, and you hope that the public in those countries will demand answers and will demand higher standards, will demand respect for international humanitarian law and demand that people act in a better way.
But We're not seeing much of that, as I've described.
And one of the toughest things I do is to call the families of my friends and colleagues who've died in the line of this work.
They always ask me, they don't necessarily use words like accountability, but they always ask me, will there be justice? Well, Did my father, my mother, my brother, my sister, and I was with relatives this morning of a colleague who died, did they die in vain and will the person who did this to them be brought to justice? I can tell them, of course, that their loved one did not die in vain.
The work is so important and the work goes on.
But I'm afraid I cannot tell them that the people who did it to them will be brought to justice and that breaks my heart actually.
Thank you.
We'll go to Iftkae online and then Noreen and then we'll release you, Tom.
Thank you.
Thank you, staff.
Thank you, Mr.
Fletcher, for this briefing, Mr.
Hara Ali from Associated Press of Pakistan.
Sir, you said in your opening remarks that you have taken up you are having conversations with the manufacturers of drones to draw their attention to their obligation under the international humanitarian law.
What has been their reaction? Will they take any steps to prevent misuse of drones Well, thank you, Itikha and I greatly enjoyed my visit to Pakistan just a few weeks ago and I've been to the high places of Gilgit, Baltistan.
Just to clarify that Itika, what I was calling for was a dialogue with those who were designing and supplying the weapons.
I wasn't suggesting that we've had that level of detail in that dialogue, but it's clearly essential In another life, actually ten years ago, I was part of a group of people interested in technology, including people experimenting in this space actually and working on artificial intelligence, who wrote a collective letter saying that we were worried that we were creating risks faster than they could be managed.
And really seeking this dialogue with international lawyers, with the UN system, with member states, the international community about how to manage these risks while we still can, while there is still a human in the process that can manage those risks.
One thing that worried me on this visit, people briefed me on these AI controlled, they call them loitering munitions, which are effectively waiting in a conflict area for the moment at which a target emerges.
As they get closer to the end of their battery life, the dangers of them selecting a civilian target, convoy of humanitarian vehicles, convoy of UN vehicles increases.
It seems to me that each time we further remove humans from this process, the dangers increase.
The risk is that the algorithm that powers these weapons may turn out to be even less humanitarian than we humans are, and that is chilling.
Thank you, Noreen.
And then we have to go.
You too.
Thank you very much, Mr.
Under Secretary-General.
My name is Noreen Hussein with IPS News.
You've spoken a lot about seeking accountability, about pursuing dialogues around international humanitarian law.
I want to ask, well, who are the forces in place that actually have any leverage still to hold these parties accountable? Is it even member states, especially when you have several key member states who are engaged in conflict and who are, of course, host the companies that manufacture the weapons that are used in warfare at this time.
Thank you.
That's a great question.
I have to, I think all of us who believe in the international system in the United Nations in global cooperation, ultimately in global solidarity, have to hope that member states can do this.
If the world has become so transactional and selfish and inward looking that member states are no longer able or prepared to do this work, then we really are in a grim dystopian reality and these weapons that I've described seeing in Ukraine the last few days or in Somalia or Sudan or in Gaza or in Lebanon will become a reality for all of us.
We do need member states to step up and uphold their responsibilities.
I know that colleagues across the UN who work in these areas will be at their side supporting that process and the Secretary-General, of course, has been very clear and outspoken on these issues.
Ultimately, if member states are not doing that, we need the public to hold them to account.
We need a public demand of their leaders that we manage these risks before it's too late.
And for so many of the people that I work with, my fallen colleagues, for so many of the people who we're here to serve, it is already late, I'm afraid.
So thank you to you all again for shining a light on these issues and thank you to all of you for your support for humanitarians through the year.
I have to say also to Sh as well, thank you for being such a consistent champion of our work as humanitarians from your podium there.
We see it and we appreciate it.
Thank you, and back to you.
Thank you Tom, and please pass on our thanks and solidarity with all our colleagues at the UN office in Ukraine.