Palestine, Venezuela, South Sudan & other topics - Daily Press Briefing

Greetings.
Just a short while, I will be joined online by Stephanie Hofstadter, the World Food Program's Country Director in Venezuela.
She will be briefing you from the port city of La Guaria to speak to you about obviously the situation in Venezuela post earthquakes and WFP's critical work.
Tomorrow at 11:00 A.M.
There'll be a briefing here to introduce the preliminary report of the Independent International Scientific Panel on Artificial Intelligence.
The Secretary-General is expected to be here to make some opening remarks, and then the briefing will be conducted by the co chairs of the report, Joshua Benja of Canada and Maria Ressa of the Philippines.
They will be presenting the findings ahead of the inaugural global dialogue on AI governance, which is scheduled for Geneva the sixth and 7th of July.
The two co chairs will be participating virtually, but the Secretary-General will be here in person.
Also tomorrow, at some point in the afternoon, there will be a briefing by Ambassador Zenon Bukano and Gay, the permanent representative of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, who will be here in his capacity as president of the Security Council for the month of July.
We don't have an exact time, but we will get one as soon as we receive one.
Just to add to your homework, we may also have a short briefing by the comptroller, Chandro tomorrow at some point, given the expected vote in the General Assembly later today.
There she is.
This just in.
Stop the presses.
There we go.
Thank you.
This morning, the Secretary-General told member states at a meeting for voluntary contributions to the UN Relief and Works Agency Onwa that today's event is happening while the safety and welfare of millions of Palestine refugees hang in the balance.
In Gaza, Mr.
Guterres noted Israeli attacks have killed more than 1,000 Palestinians since and despite the cease fire announced last October.
He warned that despite all services it provides to Palestinians throughout the Middle East, Unwa situation is increasingly precarious.
It faces sweeping restrictions throughout the occupied Palestinian territory and a cash shortfall that imperils its work across the region.
The Secretary-General says he's deeply concerned about Unwa's liquidity crisis, which jeopardizes its ability to implement its own mandate.
Earlier this year, Unwa was compelled to reduce its service delivery by hours by 20%.
That meant that reducing salaries for most local personnel and keeping 15% of the international post of the agency vacant.
He added that he is appalled by continuing efforts to marginalize and undermine Unwa through disinformation, through smear campaigns, through legislative actions, through operational restrictions, and diplomatic roadblocks and more.
His full remarks were shared with you.
I think we've also shared the remarks by the acting commissioner General Christian Saunders, my Uno colleagues tell us they will be able to give you the total of freshman in the pledging conference, most likely tomorrow afternoon.
It's going to take some time to count, hopefully.
Um, Turning to the occupied Palestinian territory, our OCHA colleagues tell us that humanitarian teams in Gaza are assessing the needs of those affected by yesterday's airstrike on Al-Mawasi area in Han Yunus.
Initial information suggests in addition to the killing of a mother and her baby girl, more than 150 families had their tents destroyed.
The tents of 250 other families were also damaged.
Survivors have told our partners that Israeli authorities had warned them of an imminent attack.
We and our partners will support the newly displaced or affected through rapid joint distributions mechanisms.
More generally, our safety and security colleagues tell us that most military activity, including airstrikes, naval fire shooting occurred west of the so called yellow line in the last 24 hours ending at 8:00 A.M.
This morning local time.
They had that civilian casualties were also reported in several of those attacks.
Meanwhile, our partners leading on health are warning of a rise in chickenpox cases across the Gaza strip.
In just two weeks, they recorded nearly 9,300 cases across more than 130 health facilities.
Over half of these cases were in Communist.
Our partners link this search to deteriorating environmental conditions, overcrowding, sanitation, and hygiene gaps.
We and our partners are sending antihistamines, antibiotics, fever relievers, and other essential medicine.
We're also scaling up water trucking to displacement sites, intensifying chlorination, enhancing latrine cleanings, as well as disinfection.
100 health promoters are also being deployed in prioritized locations to educate people on isolation practices and how to seek medical assistance early on.
But our partners warned that this response is not enough to expand treatment coverage, they need more resources, they need more hygiene kits, unimpeded access to affected areas, and of course, sustained funding.
Turning to the West Bank, yesterday, Israeli forces killed 15-year-old child during a search operation in Ramallah.
We've seen reports that Israeli forces are now looking into that incident.
A reminder that law enforcement, lethal force can only be used as a last resort.
Meanwhile, today, Israeli forces entered Unwa's oldest vocational training facility, the Kalandia Training Center, that is in East Jerusalem.
Our colleagues from Unwa report that Israeli forces took pictures of the premises and announced the center had to close, although no official orders were handed over.
Center serves hundreds of students from refugee camps across the West Bank, including many who face difficult socioeconomic conditions and benefit from free education services at that facility.
Today's raid breaches the inviability of UN premises and violated Israel's obligations concerning the privileges and immunities of the United Nations.
Unwa is an integral part of this organization and of the humanitarian community and operates under a clear mandate of the United Nations General Assembly.
Such actions obstruct our efforts to provide humanitarian support to people in need.
And this morning, the Secretary-General also addressed via prerecorded video message the opening of the ninth World Congress against the death penalty that took place in France.
He noted that the movement towards universal abolition is advancing and more and more countries are committing to end this cruel practice.
But progress cannot be taken for granted, he said, stressing that demands vigilance, demands courage and sustained resolve.
He pointed out the death penalty does not deliver justice.
It is an inhumane form of punishment.
It puts innocent lives at risk and has no place in the 21st century.
Secretary-General underscored that the UN remains fully committed to the universal abolition of the death penalty firmly and without any exceptions.
Our Deputy Secretary-General, as we told you, is in London at a gathering of the sustainable development in an era of flux.
She will then travel onwards to Geneva on July 1st as part of the broader UN 80 consultation process.
In Geneva, she'll meet with senior UN officials from across the system.
Member states and other key stakeholders.
Turning to Venezuela, we and our humanitarian partners are continuing to scale up lifesaving assistance in support of the government led efforts.
You'll hear a lot about WFP's work, but just taking a bit broader picture, our colleagues at the Office of the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs tell us that international search and rescue operations are fully operational with more than 50 rescue teams and over 2,300 personnel working side by side with national authorities.
Um As the critical window for live rescues narrows, humanitarian partners are expanding emergency support in health, shelter, water and sanitation, and logistics in LaGuardia and other affected municipalities.
Our humanitarian colleagues tell us that efforts are being further complicated by the passage of a tropical wave and continued heavy rainfall impacting Venezuela.
These conditions are increasing the risk of additional collapse as well as landslides in already impacted areas.
This poses a significant challenge to search and rescue operation and complicates the delivery of shelter, health, and other essential services.
National authorities are issuing the public safety guidance and monitoring high risk zones.
We and our partners are working closely with them to ensure coordinated response to affected communities.
In response to the earthquake, a 47 metric ton shipment of UNICEF humanitarian supplies arrived in Venezuela today to support children and families in need.
The shipment includes emergency health kits for urgent medical care, including supplies for safe birth, newborn care, disease prevention and treatment.
It also has water purification and storage supplies to help provide safe drinking water, tents for child friendly spaces and service points, mobility aids, including wheelchairs and recreational and early childhood development supplies to help children regain some sense of normalcy after the quake.
UNICEF noted this shipment along with the regional one that arrived from Panama on June 28th, will support an estimated more than 100,000 children and families over a period of three months.
UN refugee agency for its part is also supporting local authorities with tools and equipment for the safe collection of management and information.
Um, at the same time, emergency supplies are being transported from UNHCR's local warehouse in Tachira to Liguria with additional capacity to mobilize more than 20 metric tons of relief items from UNHCR's global stockpile in Panama to further bolster assistance.
UNHCR partner Caritas has also established a donation collection and storage center, including with UNHCRs tents and rub hole.
I don't know what a rub hole is, but they're supplying a rub hole to support aid distribution.
For its part, the Sorry, you'll hear more from WFP.
Just in South Sudan, wanted to flag that we are deeply saddened by the killing of five humanitarian workers whose convoy operated by local partner was ambushed yesterday in Duke County in Jongle state.
Four others were injured and several civilians were reportedly killed or injured.
We and our humanitarian coordinator, we join our resident humanitarian coordinator Ramanan Balakrishnan in strongly condemning this attack.
Our colleagues tell us that their convoy was clearly marked as a humanitarian convoy.
Attacks on humanitarian workers are unacceptable and violate international humanitarian law.
We call for a prompt investigation and for those responsible for this heinous attack to be held to account.
Since since January, excuse me, 29 humanitarian workers and contractors have been killed in South Sudan while trying to serve communities in need.
Separately, our peacekeeping mission there U Miss today released a new report documenting a sharp rise in civilian deaths.
Between January and March, more than 760 civilians were killed.
That's an 89% increase compared to the previous quarter.
The mission also recorded a significant increase in conflict related sexual violence.
The special representative for the Secretary-General, the head of the mission, Anita Kiki Gibejo called for all parties to uphold their obligations under international humanitarian law and human rights law.
From the Central African Republic, OCHA warns that the humanitarian situation in the prefecture of O Bbumbu in the southeast of the country is deteriorating amid persistent insecurity and constrained humanitarian access.
Civilians face serious threats including abduction and violence.
Cases of disappearance, intimidation, attacks against civilians continue to be reported, which leads to an atmosphere of fear and increased vulnerability in communities already affected by displacement and limited access to basic services.
Meanwhile, our humanitarian access is increasingly restricted due to insecurity along key transport routes, particularly along roads around Zeb, This month staff from humanitarian partners have been intercepted, they've been threatened.
They've been temporarily detained and assaulted.
These incidents follow similar attacks at the end of May and underscore a broader trend of insecurity impacting aid operations across the southeast of the Centr African Republic.
In the prefecture of Bum is also considered high risk of Ebola transmission due to its proximity to the DRC.
This adds another layer of vulnerability for people with limited access to healthcare.
We and our humanitarian partners continue to call for the protection of civilians, safe, sustained, and unhindered access for humanitarian actors to reach who they need to reach.
I want to flag a couple of reports.
The UN Economic Commission for Europe today released a report warning that across Europe, Central Asia and North America, inland transportation systems, roads, railways, inland waterways, ports and airports are expected to face significantly more adverse climate conditions by 2051 to 2080.
Key risks include flooding, high temperatures, reduced snow, ice, and permafrost, and sea level rise.
The full report with advice on how to deal with this is online.
Also, our colleagues at UNDP published a new assessment warning that the current Ebola outbreak in the DRC is creating a socioeconomic crisis that could push close to 1 million people into poverty.
Sadly is often the case, UNDP says women are disproportionately suffering from the economic and health fallouts.
The assessment says that Ebola crisis could eliminate tens of thousands of jobs, disrupt education, health care services, and could also cost African economies up to $3.6 billion if broader regional and global shocks intensify.
The report along with proposals to mitigate the impact is online.
Also, UNICEF in a report today says that many children are adopting AI, and you won't be surprised here, they're adopting it at rates that are three times faster than adults.
That includes all of you.
UNICEF analysis is based on data from ten countries and estimates at least 20 million children have used artificial intelligence to support their learning and homework, but also to seek advice on things that worry them.
Ahead of the global dialogue on AI governance, which, as you know, will take place next week in Geneva, the UNICEF is calling our governments, and private sector partners to embed child rights, especially the right to safety and protection in global AI governance.
This morning a press release.
I want to flag this afternoon, the Department of Political and Peace Building Affairs will launch a new publication entitled UN Special Political Missions 1945, 2025, an overview.
It's the first comprehensive public record of the history of UN special Political missions tracing their revolutions from the establishment of the UN mediator for the truce in Palestine in 48.
To the 167 special political missions deployed by the UN over the last 80 years.
There'll be a launch event at 3:00 P.M.
Hosted by Rosemary DiCarlo, the head of the political and peace building department, followed by a panel discussion.
That'll give you 2 hours before a very critical football game at 5:00 P.M.
I would advise you to look up today because it is International Asteroid Day.
Observed to raise the awareness of asteroid impact hazards and strengthen international cooperation on planetary defense.
The day marks the anniversary of the 1908 Tunguska impact on Siberia.
The explosion of asteroids flattened an estimated 80 million trees over more than 2,000 square kilometers, which is about the equivalent of the area of the Moscow city limits.
Today is also the International Day of Parliamentarism.
It highlights the vital role of parliaments in democracy, representation, accountability.
We have a quiz today, Chris.
Ready? Today's a tale of extremes.
Yesterday, I think you correctly guessed what the biggest country in Africa is by area.
Today, we want to test your knowledge further, which is the smallest country by area on mainland Africa.
Sorry.
Sorry, Guinea Bissau, Rwanda, Guinea Bissau? No.
No.
No.
No.
All right.
We only have 45 countries left.
The Gambia.
So we thank our friends in the capital.
What's the capital of Gambia? Yes.
No, you guys are pathetic.
Bonjour, are you credited to the United Nations? Yes.
We thank our friends in Banjo for their full payment to the regular budget.
We now have 118 paid up members.
The Gambian people sent us 31,790.
We thank them.
Gabriel, we thank you for your question and your service.
Steph, tomorrow on the AI report that's going to be released or at least the preliminary version SG will be in this room.
Physically, yeah.
Yeah and the guests will be virtual.
That is correct.
Got it.
Do you know if he'll be fielding questions from the esteemed press Corps related to AI? I wouldn't put too much money on Plymket on that, but you never know.
Okay.
One other one, Steph, we watched the SG's remarks at the UNR contributions meeting, for lack of a better word, he laid out the case that the facts that we all know, 390 URA staff killed since October 2023.
Every single URA building either damaged or destroyed.
Uh, among other things.
He called it a liquidity crisis.
Given what URA has been facing the last couple of years, does he also see URA facing an existence crisis? What I mean by that is, does the SG see any scenario where UR cannot exist anymore in his eyes? Look, there is a an existential crisis, right, so to speak.
We've seen the rights of we've seen the lack of financial support.
We've seen the rights of Anoit trampled.
As I just even mentioned today, there is a a continuing I mean, Anwar continues to receive a mandate from the General Assembly.
They are meant to implement it.
That's what the secretary does.
We receive mandates.
There are millions of Palestine refugees in the occupied Palestinian territory, in Lebanon, in Syria, in Jordan that rely on Anwar for basic services, and until a different or better solution is found, we need to support Unwa.
Yes, sir.
Thank you.
Can you update us on the unpaid dues of the United States, both for the regular budget and the peacekeeping budget? By the way, does China owe the UN anything? Yes, I think there is still an open tab from the People's Republic of China.
No updates to share with you on US contributions.
As I mentioned, we expect a the comptroller to brief you at some point tomorrow.
There was a critical decision taken in the fifth committee yesterday.
We hope they will be expected to be validated by the General Assembly this afternoon having to do with the budget, and we look forward to confirming that to you later this afternoon.
Do you have numbers now for the unpaid dues of the United States? I don't have any new numbers, but we'll get those to you.
You do mean that the February numbers still stand about $5 billion math was not my strong point.
That's why I have the job that I have.
So I will get back to you.
Yes, Eric.
In 2023, the SG said he favored an international regulator for AI.
Do you expect does he still have that position? Do you expect him to repeat that? I mean, I think you've heard what the SG has been saying on AI and his main message is for governments, AI companies, the civil society to get together to ensure that there are guardrails in place, to ensure that there is transparency on how AI operates, which I think was one of his strong points he made in his speech in London on climate.
I it is a technology that is running extremely fast and the impact is not always thought through, and there are a lot of unknown unknown, so I would encourage you to wait for the SG's remarks tomorrow.
Okay.
Thank you very much.