Daily Press Briefing by the Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General
The following is a near-verbatim transcript of today’s briefing by Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesman for the Secretary-General.
**Guest
Good afternoon, we are delighted to be joined by Sarah Hendriks, who is from UN-Women, the Director of Policy, Programme and Intergovernmental Division at UN-Women, and next to her is Papa Seck, the Chief of Research and Data section at UN-Women. They will be briefing you on the report “Women’s Rights in Review 30 Years after Beijing”. They will also brief you about the events around International Women’s Day. So, I will start with them then I will brief you. So, Sarah please, you have the floor.
[This part of the noon briefing was not transcribed.]
**Central Emergency Response Fund
All right, good afternoon. Thank you for your patience. I will start off with some humanitarian funding, and with global humanitarian funding being scaled back precipitously, our colleagues in the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs announced today that $110 million has been allocated from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF). The aim is to boost life-saving assistance in 10 of the world’s most underfunded and neglected crises across Africa, Asia and Latin America.
Our humanitarian colleagues warn that more than 300 million people around the world urgently need humanitarian aid, but funding has been dwindling annually, with this year’s levels projected to drop to a record low. Tom Fletcher, our Emergency Relief Coordinator and Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, says that for countries battered by conflict, climate change and economic turmoil, brutal funding cuts don’t mean that humanitarian needs disappear. The new funding will go towards Afghanistan, Central African Republic, Chad, Honduras, Mauritania, Niger, Somalia, Sudan, Venezuela and Zambia. Resources will also support vulnerable people who are dealing with climate shocks.
**Afghanistan
And just to give you a bit of granularity on the humanitarian situation in one country, I will talk about Afghanistan. Our humanitarian colleagues warn that Afghanistan continues to face a severe humanitarian crisis defined by decades of conflict, entrenched poverty, climate-induced shocks and rising protection risks, especially for women and girls. More than half of the population — that’s 23 million human beings — are in need of humanitarian assistance in the country. This number is one of the highest globally, second only to Sudan — where 30 million people currently require aid and require protection.
Our humanitarian colleagues note that both food insecurity and malnutrition remain stubbornly high in Afghanistan. During the first quarter of this year, nearly 15 million people — one in every three Afghans — will experience high levels of acute food insecurity. That’s what the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification system tells us. Nearly 3.5 million children under five and more than 1 million pregnant and breastfeeding women are expected to become acutely malnourished. Explosive hazards continue to pose a lethal threat, with an estimated 55 people killed or injured every month — most of them are children.
Funding cuts are already significantly constraining the humanitarian community’s efforts to provide assistance to those most in need. In the past month, more than 200 health facilities have closed, depriving 1.8 million people from essential health services. Malnutrition services for children have also been impacted. Our humanitarian partners warn that aid funding cuts will cost both lives and livelihoods — and undermine development gains.
We, along with our partners, are urgently reprioritizing our programmes to ensure that we can continue reaching the communities and areas most in need. This includes preparing for a potential increase in returns from neighbouring countries and needs arising from current flooding and heavy rains, which will continue in the coming months, or at least expected to. In addition to the funds allocated from CERF today, the Afghanistan Humanitarian Fund will provide an additional $30 million to support the most urgent life-saving priorities in Afghanistan.
**Ukraine
And turning to Ukraine, our humanitarian colleagues in Ukraine tell us that last night, a strike in the city of Kryvyi Rih, in eastern Ukraine, killed and injured civilians, that’s what local authorities are telling our colleagues. Significant damage was also reported, with more than a dozen residential buildings, two kindergartens and multiple other facilities hit. Our humanitarian colleagues add that in the Odesa region, an attack late last night destroyed an electricity substation, and damaged other infrastructure. The town of Pivdenne — which is home to 40,000 residents, including 5,000 who have been displaced people from regions of Ukraine where there is combat — were left without electricity, heating and water.
Hostilities and attacks across Ukraine over the past two days have also killed and injured civilians in the regions of Dnipro, Donetsk, Kharkiv, Kherson and Sumy. Homes and education facilities have also been damaged. That’s what local authorities are telling our colleagues. We, along with our partners, are providing emergency assistance to people impacted by the deadly attacks. In Kryvyi Rih city and the Kharkiv and Odesa regions, aid organizations have been providing first aid, hot meals, mental health and psychosocial support, and shelter materials for families whose homes were damaged by the attacks.
**Democratic Republic of the Congo
Turning to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, our humanitarian inform us they are alarmed by the recent surge in violence in Ituri Province in the country’s east. Since January, clashes and attacks by armed groups in Ituri have killed more than 200 civilians and nearly 100,000 people were forced to flee their homes. The violence also forced more than 100 schools to close. In the latest attack, on 3 March, armed men burned down houses in the village of Ndengesa, in Irumu Territory, killing three people and forcing others to flee their homes.
Meanwhile, in North Kivu, authorities report that cholera cases spiked by nearly 40 per cent since last week. We along with our partners are supporting the cholera response, but remain concerned that limited access to clean water, sanitation and healthcare will fuel further spread of the disease. In Tanganyika Province, local authorities tell us that nearly 18,000 men, women and children have fled into the province from neighbouring South Kivu since mid-February alone. The displaced families urgently need food, water and other basic items to merely survival.
OCHA and our humanitarian partners are continuing to carry out needs assessments and provide assistance to returnees. Between 25 February and yesterday, humanitarian partners distributed water, sanitation and hygiene kits and essential household items to more than 88,000 people in the Territories of Nyiragongo and Rutshuru, in North Kivu Province. Also yesterday, the World Food Programme (WFP) distributed food to 17,000 people in sites around Goma and to nearly 15,000 people around Sake, and that was done on Monday.
**Occupied Palestinian Territory
Moving to the situation in Gaza. We continue to warn that the already catastrophic situation on the ground risks deteriorating even further unless the flow of aid resumes without delay. We cannot emphasize enough that according to international humanitarian law, civilians’ essential needs must be met, including through the unimpeded entry and distribution of humanitarian assistance. Shelter partners report that tens of thousands of tents are unable to enter, at a time when hundreds of thousands of people are in need of shelter support during the winter weather.
With no supplies entering Gaza, our food security partners report price fluctuations in the markets. Just to give you a closer look: the price of a 25-kilogramme bag of flour in South of Wadi Gaza on Tuesday was ranging from the equivalent of $11 to all the way up to $27.
Despite the challenges, the humanitarian community in Gaza continues to do everything possible to sustain the response. Since 19 January, our health partners have supported services to 1.3 million people. We and our partners also continue to carry out needs’ assessments of previously inaccessible sites to mobilize response efforts, though these will depend obviously on the entry of more aid into Gaza.
Turning to the West Bank, and especially in the northern part of the West Bank. Our humanitarian colleagues are warning that the situation remains deeply alarming, with partners telling us what they see on the ground, from displacement to demolished homes and to damaged streets, due to the continuing operations being conducted by the Israeli forces. We once again underscore that international law must be respected at all times and civilians must be protected.
**Yemen/Security Council
This morning you heard from [Special Envoy for Yemen] Hans Grundberg who briefed the Security Council on the situation in Yemen, he did so via video conference, telling Council members that Yemen’s current trajectory is deeply concerning, where the fear of a return to full conflict is noticeable. He talked about his engagements with both Yemeni and international stakeholders. Mr. Grundberg once again called for the immediate and unconditional release of the detainees by the Houthis. And of course we echo that call.
For his part, Tom Fletcher, you know who he is, the head of our humanitarian service, focused on women and girls in his briefing — and the figures as you can imagine are heartbreaking. He said that 9.6 million women and girls are in severe need of humanitarian assistance and 1.5 million girls remain out of school. Unfortunately, due to severe funding cuts, Mr. Fletcher said that, by the end of next week, he will get more information from colleagues on the ground on where, in Yemen, we will need to cut back most dramatically.
**Mexico
And some good news from Mexico, our colleagues at the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said today that Mexico recently marked a milestone: 50,000 refugees and asylum-seekers have been integrated into Mexican communities through the agency’s local reintegration programme and that is since 2016. These men, women and children have gained access to health services, education and housing, formal employment and have been facilitated access to Mexican nationality.
By focusing on self-sufficiency through skill matching and local support, 94 per cent of working-age refugees secure formal employment within the first month, 88 per cent of school-age children enrol in school, and 60 per cent of families rise out of poverty within a year. The initiative is part of the consolidated regional strategy outlined in Cartagena+40 and the Chile Declaration and Plan of Action, which reaffirms Latin America’s leadership in refugee protection and solutions.
**Financial Contributions
Two Member States. Okay, are you ready? All right, computers down. One is in Central Asia, it is a landlocked country and 93 per cent of its territory is covered by mountains. [Tajikstan.] Mr. Shwinghammer for the win. All right. The other one is the second largest island of the Windward Islands. It is a sea-locked country in the Caribbean Sea, between Martinique and Saint Vincent. Who said Saint Luicia? Gabriel. All right thank you we thank our friends in Tajikistan and in Saint Lucia, and we love Saint Lucia, some of our favourite people come from Saint Lucia. Benno then Gabriel. Oh, Gabriel. Okay, then Edie. Go ahead. I mean, somebody’s welcome to ask a question. Yes, please. Go ahead.
**Questions and Answers
Question: I wanted to ask about the $110 million released. Obviously, you know, funding has been dwindling long before President Donald Trump’s freezing of US foreign aid. Can you give a glimpse of how much of this is a response to that cut, and how much of this is just a natural just the trajectory?
Spokesman: It’s hard to kind of take it apart. But, just to give you a bit of comparative data, the biggest ever, CERF allocation was in 2023, and it was $250 million. So, around this time, it is usually around a $100 million. As you know, we’ve also — and this is prior to the elections in this country — we have faced the largest humanitarian needs ever. So, more money is needed, and let’s face it, less money is coming in.
Question: So, just to follow-up, do you expect, given the fact that the impacts of the US foreign aid freeze hasn’t fully, you know, come to terms in a lot of places around the world. Do you expect… are you guys preparing for that eventually?
Spokesman: All our humanitarian agencies are taking close look at their programmes. We’ve seen what has been decided by the US. We’ve seen other countries also make decisions to cut back. And all of that is having a real impact on human beings and the most vulnerable human beings. Edie, and then Ibtisam.
Question: And I apologize if I missed this. On the Secretary-General in Cairo at the Summit, was he satisfied with the outcome of the Arab League meeting? Was he planning to expand the visit elsewhere in the region?
Spokesman: No. Let’s be clear. The visit was always scheduled to be in and out of Cairo. There was no other contingency plan for him to go anywhere else. So, I don’t want anybody to think otherwise. It’s a matter of supporting the Arab League proposal. I think what would satisfy the Secretary-General is to see the parties uphold what they’d agreed to under the ceasefire, to see the hostages released, to see humanitarian aid flooded, and as importantly, for the Palestinians and Israelis to be re-given a political horizon that would lead to two states and two peoples living in security, side by side. Ibtisam.
Question: Thank you. So, a follow-up on that question, so now what? Like, where do we go from that announcement? Which role is the UN, playing? Or and is Sigrid Kaag going to be in that regard more involved as an acting representative?
Spokesman: Well, Sigrid Kaag, I think the acting is merely an administrative title. Ms. Kaag is fully implicated and fully active in her role. So, it’s not something she’s doing without giving it 110 per cent. She will continue her contacts both on the political issue, also on the humanitarian [issue], working with Muhammed Hadi who’s responsible for humanitarian issues. Our focus right now is on getting the crossings reopened, and contacts continue to be had with Israeli counterparts. There are a lot of moving pieces I think that you know about, that we know about, but we want to see some real progress on the ground. As I read from the note on Gaza, there’s been so much progress on the humanitarian aid that’s gone through, on the fact that we’ve reached almost every Gazan who needs food with food parcels, that hostages have been released, that Palestinian prisoners have been released. We want to see a resumption of that positive trend.
Question: Oh, I have another question or kind of a follow-up. Okay. So, the Special Rapporteurs, about 20 of them issued today a statement on Gaza in which they condemn Israeli — “they condemn Israeli decision to reopen the gates of hell and unilaterally change conditions of the truth”. They also say Israel has resumed weaponizing starvation in Gaza by its decision to break from the ceasefire agreement and block humanitarian aid. Do you have any comments and do you agree with what that said?
Spokesman: The Special Rapporteurs expressed themselves in their own words. As you know they’re independent from us. What we want to see is what I’ve just said. It is the return of flooding of humanitarian aid. The release of the hostages and the release of the prisoners as it was all part of the deal.
Question: But, do you agree that, what they are saying that the Israeli decision will open the gates of hell?
Spokesman: I think we are focused on a hard-nosed practical solution. Dezhi and then Stefano, because I didn’t get you earlier, and then Ahmed.
Question: Oh, sorry. So, first, the… follow-up on Sigrid Kaag. She, as the Gaza Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator, will end, right?
Spokesman: Yes. Her official function will end. The work under the resolution that named her will continue and that’ll be subsumed in her current functions.
Question: No. No. Oh, one moment. So… which means the post will still be there?
Spokesman: Dezhi, you’re becoming a little too UN-y. You’re becoming like me. Let’s not focus on the post’s administrative title.
Question: I understand. What I’m trying to ask is how does the Secretary-General evaluate the work Ms. Kaag did as a Coordinator?
Spokesman: She and her team have done an excellent job in terms of streamlining the pipeline and ensuring that everyone was comfortable with the pipeline. But, let’s be clear. Whether it’s Ms. Kaag or anyone UN, we don’t control the knob on the faucet, right?
Correspondent: Yes.
Spokesman: So, she’s done whatever she can in the face of extreme circumstances.
Question: Exactly. That’s what… how I feel like it will… that’s what it doesn’t have to be the mandate of the resolution somehow. Secondly, we know now that US has direct talk with Hamas. That’s been leaked by media. Does the UN know this before the leakage?
Spokesman: We know nothing.
Correspondent: It’s been confirmed. Yes.
Spokesman: Do you guys want to have a talk amongst yourselves? We should maybe sit in a circle. It’ll be easier instead of like this. We usually know nothing before it is leaked to the media. Stefano.
Question: Thank you, Stephane. At the start of his mandate, Secretary-General Guterres emphasized the fundamental importance of conflict preventions. I think this was 2017. However, under his tenure, several major conflicts have erupted. Now the President of the world’s leading super-Power has announced that the US will take Greenland one way or another, and also, stated that the Panama Canal will return to US control despite the Panamanian Government firmly rejecting such a possibility. Given these escalating tensions, how does the Secretary-General plan to prevent those potential conflicts?
Spokesman: The Secretary-General continues to believe and calls for all Member States who have signed on to the Charter — because 193 members signed on to the Charter — to respect its articles, to respect its ideals, notably on the prevention of war and the respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Question: Quick follow-up. A part of this declaration that he, of course, repeated many times, there is something practical, something that he’s going to do, especially when, for example, the new US Ambassador coming to the UN. It’s something that is planning?
Spokesman: The Secretary-General looks forward to working with the next Permanent Representative of the United States. Ahmed and then Nabil.
Question: Thank you, Steph. Back to the humanitarian, issues. The, Rohingya refugees in and around Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh have been informed that the food aid presented to them is going to be reduced by 50 per cent due to the suspension of US aid operations in that part. What is the UN contingency dealing with this situation and other areas where US aid was active and now they are under the risk?
Spokesman: We are looking at all our programmes. But, as you know, our colleagues, whether it’s UNHCR, World Food Programme, have had to make decisions that none of us would ever want to make. They have a shrinking pot of money, and they have an increased volume of people who need help. And this is why we’ve allocated some money from CERF and this is why we keep banging on almost every day here about humanitarian appeals and how underfunded they are. There is enough money in this world. What we need is solidarity being demonstrated by increasing humanitarian assistance. Nabil.
Question: Thank you. So, the US is calling for maybe boosting the mechanism to inspect ships and containers coming to Yemen, Yemeni ports in the Red Sea. This was part of the statement in the Security Council today. What do you know about this mechanism, its capacity?
Spokesman: Let me educate myself a bit more before I attempt to even attempt the question. Okay, on that we can talk later. You know where to find me. On that note yes, Lenka, please.
Question: Thank you, Stephane. I was just curious. Secretary Rubio yesterday called the war in Ukraine a proxy war between Russia and the United States. Does the UN see it same, different or…?
Spokesman: I will leave all of that to the analysts. I think you know our vision for an end to this conflict because I’ve said it almost every day. On that note, enjoy the rest of your day. Happy Thursday.