REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE
Alessandra Vellucci, Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired the briefing, which was attended by the spokespersons for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, the World Health Organization, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the World Food Programme, the International Organization for Migration and the United Nations Refugee Agency.
Cyclone Idai
Djamila Cabral, WHO Representative of Mozambique for the World Health Organization (WHO), speaking by telephone from Maputo, Mozambique, made the following statement:
“Last Friday I visited Beira, one of the worst-affected areas that was hit by Tropical Cyclone Idai. The devastation is enormous.
More than 100,000 people have lost their homes and all of their possessions. Families, pregnant women, babies are living in temporary camps in horrific conditions, without secure food supplies, or safe drinking water and sanitation.
Around 55 health centres have been severely damaged. I visited the central hospital in Beira where I saw the direct impact of the cyclone. The flooding had damaged essential equipment and the facility is unable to receive patients during this crucial time. As an example, surgical theatre and nursery completely damaged.
The official death toll is more than 446, but we expect the real numbers to be much higher; 1.8 million people in Mozambique need urgent humanitarian assistance.
For WHO, health is our number one priority now. We must not let these people suffer a second disaster through a serious disease outbreak or inability to access essential health services. They have suffered enough.
WHO’s Director General, Dr Tedros has called for a “no regrets” approach - this means that we are doing whatever it takes to address the crisis, investing all the available resources now to save lives and protect health. We are building up a surge team of over 40 staff from across the Organization, with expertise in logistics, epidemiology, and outbreak prevention and response.
We have a number of key priorities right now. First to set up an early warning disease detection system so that we can respond rapidly as soon as an outbreak is suspected. Then we need to ensure that, as resources come in, they are immediately put to work.
We know that after an event like this, there is extremely high risk of diarrhoeal diseases like cholera. WHO is positioning supplies to prepare to treat diarrhoeal diseases: lifesaving intravenous fluids, diagnostic tests, 900,000 doses of oral cholera vaccines are on their way from the global emergency stockpile.
We are providing our expertise to set up three cholera treatment centres, including an 80-bed treatment centre in Beira. We are also preparing for a spike in malaria in the coming weeks by procuring 900,000 insecticide-treated bednets to protect all affected families, and ensure rapid diagnostic tests and antimalarials are positioned to high-risk areas.
And we are working at top speed to ensure that the people of Mozambique can access essential health services during this crisis to ensure that: people with HIV, tuberculosis or diabetes continue to receive their medications; that thousands of pregnant women are able to receive care for safe childbirth; that children receive treatment for common infections and are screened (and treated if needed) for acute malnutrition; that people in need receive psycho-social support and protection from gender-based violence.
The coming weeks are crucial for WHO in Mozambique. The health sector needs at least $38 million over the next three months for the health response to this humanitarian crisis.”
Jens Laerke, for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), made the following statement:
“The United Nations and humanitarian partners are appealing for US$282 million to support more than 1.7 million affected people following Cyclone Idai and the flooding in Mozambique. The main sectors of response are food security and livelihoods, health, water, sanitation and hygiene, education and shelter.
This is for the response over the next three months and adds to the requirements in the existing Humanitarian Response Plan for Mozambique which now stands at $337 million. These requirements also include the response to some 700,000 people affected by drought.”
Christophe Boulierac, for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), made the following statement:
“While we will soon know whether some of those are cholera cases, we are prepared to respond. Already we have set up cholera treatment centers with logistical help of the Mozambican military in four strategic areas in the disaster zone. While we are ready to respond to possible outbreaks our main focus remains on prevention with first priority on the provision of safe drinking water.
Together with the Government and our partner the United Kingdom Department for International Development (DfID), we had a first success in rehabilitating the drinking water system for 500,000 people who live in the city of Beira. Now we are working with the same partners and a tight timeline to rehabilitate water systems in other parts of the disaster zone. The main challenge remains access, because many of these areas are still flooded.
Furthermore we are distributing water purification products to the affected population. The factory in Beira producing water purification products is working again.”
Mr. Boulierac added that vaccination efforts were of crucial importance in combating disease. On the issue of unaccompanied minors, although there were as yet no exact figures, half of all those affected by the cyclone were children. In Zimbabwe, it was estimated that 49,500 children were in immediate need of child protection services, including identification, documentation, tracing and family reunification. There were no official reports of unaccompanied minors in Malawi, but there was high demand for psychosocial support and UNICEF was developing a partnership with a local non-governmental organization to respond to that need.
Hervé Verhoosel, for the World Food Programme (WFP), made the following statement:
“The Executive Director of the UN World Food Programme, David Beasley, will land this afternoon [Tuesday, March 26th] in Beira. During his visit he will meet with government officials in Mozambique, the WFP team on the ground, and will go by helicopter to meet with some of the victims who have suffered greatly as a result of Tropical Cyclone Idai.
Tomorrow, Wednesday 27 March, he will proceed to Maputo where he will meet with Mozambique’s head of state, President Filipe NYUSI, the UN country team, and WFP staff.
I want to update you with some further confirmations on numbers. If funding is made available, WFP aims to target 1.7 million people in Mozambique with food assistance, 732,000 in Malawi and 270,000 people in Zimbabwe. The assistance also includes logistics and emergency telecoms cluster support.
This support will require USD 140 million for life-saving interventions in Mozambique for next 3 months; USD 15.4 million for next 2 months in Malawi and USD 17 million for next 3 months in Zimbabwe.
In Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe, an estimated 3 million people have been affected by flooding and close to 500,000 have been displaced in the 3 countries.
In Zimbabwe, 95 percent of the road networks in affected districts have been damaged. In Malawi, the cyclone had limited impact, but flooding is the problem.
1,500 people have crossed the border from Mozambique to Malawi to seek shelter in camps for internally displaced persons, while some are being accommodated in host communities. WFP will support them.
WFP has provided emergency food assistance to 114,000 people in Mozambique including airlifting a total of 60 metric tonnes of High-Energy Biscuits (HEB) to isolated communities stranded in flooded locations. Of this 60 metric tonnes, 20 metric tonnes went to Chimoio, 20 into Beira, and on Saturday, 23rd March 2019, a further 20 metric tonnes arrived in Beira. This 60 metric tonnes is in the process of being distributed, so the numbers reached will increase in the coming days and weeks.
7,500 people have been reached in Malawi and distributions should start in the next few days in Zimbabwe.
Over 100 surge response staff are been deployed to the 3 countries to augment the response capacities of WFP, working alongside government and partner agencies, and further deployments are expected.
35,000 tonnes of food commodities are being made available from in-country, regional and global stocks to cover immediate needs in Mozambique for the next month. An additional 40,000 MT of maize is also been sourced from the region for Malawi. Zimbabwe currently has sufficient in-country stocks to cover immediate needs.
Three WFP helicopters and one WFP fixed wing aircraft have been deployed to Mozambique and one WFP helicopter funded by the European Union will be deployed to Zimbabwe.”
Leonard Doyle, for the International Organization for Migration (IOM), said that IOM was appealing for USD 36.4 million for the next six months, to respond to humanitarian needs of the estimated 1.85 million people affected by Cyclone Idai in Mozambique. The appeal covered the needs for shelter and non-food items. In Beira, 36,000 homes had been destroyed and 19,000 damaged; transit centres near Beira were currently hosting near to 109,000 displaced persons. The IOM displacement tracking matrix, used to capture data and put a measure on the extent of the crisis, had been rolled out and over the coming six months would be used to measure the impact of the disaster and assess the response needed. IOM would target 100,000 people in need of health support during the emergency phase.
Responding to questions from journalists, Ms. Cabral for WHO said that the number of cases of acute watery diarrhoea was increasing. Measures were being taken to treat the victims and to introduce preventive action; there had not yet been any confirmed cases of cholera.
Mr. Robert Holden, incident manager with the World Health Organization (WHO), also speaking by telephone from Maputo, Mozambique, added that WHO was working in close coordination with the Ministry of Health, UNICEF, Médecins Sans Frontières and other partners to implement an aggressive response with the aim of limiting the spread of diarrhoea and ensuring that those affected received rapid treatment. Cholera treatment centres had been set up, but needs would increase as previously inaccessible areas were reached. Rapid diagnostic testing was being conducted, and any positive results would be sent for laboratory confirmation. WHO was moving in supplies to support those agencies delivering the direct care in the communities. Public health messages, for instance on hand-washing and food preparation, were being transmitted as part of the preventive campaign.
The oral cholera vaccine supplies had been approved in the previous days and were likely to arrive in the country by the end of the week. The Ministry of Health was leading a multi-agency drive that had already begun, WHO had deployed specialists in cholera vaccination programmes and it was hoped that the vaccination campaign could be started within 10 days of the vaccines arriving. The viability was also being studied of including measles vaccine, vitamin A and deworming treatment in the package administered. More information would become available later in the week.
Mr. Laerke for OCHA said, in answer to journalists’ questions, that the appeal launched was a consolidated appeal for all the agencies in the Government-led response supported by OCHA, and thus represented the vast majority of the organizations working there. It had only been launched the previous night and so no meaningful figures could yet be given for the response to it. The figure of $282 million was to cover the coming three months and was needed as fast as possible.
Mr. Boulierac for UNICEF noted that such emergency situations highlighted the importance of donors contributing to flexible funds, not allocated to specific issues, that could be accessed at any time as needed. Highly specialized funding was also of great use: funding from Luxembourg for telecommunications had permitted the reinstallation of the Internet and telecommunications in Maputo, allowing the different agencies to work.
He added that, in Mozambique, UNICEF was engaging with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and other partners; it was working the Ministry of Public Service in Zimbabwe, which was receiving technical support from civil society. Clinical trauma counsellors had been deployed as of 22 March and had already assisted over 1,200 affected children and young mothers with psychological first aid and protection from sexual exploitation and abuse.
Mr. Laerke for OCHA said that he was aware that ICRC was running an online platform for family tracing and was collaborating with OCHA and UNICEF to broadcast messages, including to help family reunification. Radio Mozambique was providing free air time for such broadcasts, the Government had approved the establishment of a first response radio and the NGO Translators without Borders was helping to translate messages. It was critical that the affected populations were made aware of the aid that was arriving and how it could be used, as well as to counter the dissemination of unfounded rumours.
Mali attacks
Ravina Shamdasani, for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), made the following statement:
“The attack in Ogossagou, in the Mopti region of central Mali, is the latest in a series of assaults and a cycle of violence that has resulted in some 600 deaths of women, children and men, as well as thousands of displaced persons since March 2018 in the Mopti region alone. Of these, 219 have been killed in the three months since the beginning of this year. The attacks also follow a pattern of burning of homes and warehouses, destroying the livelihoods of the whole community.
Survivors of the attack Saturday in Ogossagou, mostly people of the Fulani ethnic community, said traditional hunters carried out the deadly raid in the village, apparently using automatic weapons, hunting rifles and other weapons. Another attack was reported in the village of Welingara, 3 km west of Ogossagou, that resulted in the death of one person.
While some of the disputes are rooted in access over land and water, on many occasions the attacks are said to be motivated by a desire to root out individuals linked to violent extremist groups, including Jama’at nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimeen (JNIM). The net result has increasingly been the targeting of members of the Fulani community.
These crimes have gone unpunished. Some investigations have been established by the authorities, but they largely fail to result in trials. We note that the Government has dissolved the Dan Nan Ambassagou militia, composed of Dogon traditional hunters, which is accused of having committed some these atrocities. We urge prompt investigations of the alleged crimes committed by all groups.
A team of 10 human rights officers, a child protection officer and two crime scene investigators from the United Nations Police (UNPOL) of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) has been deployed to the Mopti region to conduct a special investigation into Saturday’s terrible attacks.
We are in direct contact with the authorities to help them tackle the cycle of violence in central Mali and to assist them in pursuing swift investigations that bring the perpetrators to justice in order to break the circle of impunity. We also urge the Government to take all the necessary measures to prevent further human rights violations and abuses in the region.”
Christophe Boulierac, for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), made the following statement:
“Early on the morning of Saturday, 23 March, an attack on a village in Bankass in Mopti, central Mali killed more than 150 people and injured over 70. The attack also caused significant material damage.
UNICEF is deeply saddened and outraged that children are among the victims. According to first reports from local medical services, one third of the casualties are children, with further verifications still ongoing; 31 children are also injured. The injuries sustained by children are mostly gunshot injuries, burns and fractures.
Many of the injured children have now been evacuated to health facilities for treatment. UNICEF is on the ground in Mopti with the Ministry of Health and other humanitarian partners helping to provide first aid, medicines and other critical emergency supplies.
UNICEF has already flown in emergency medical kits with medicines and equipment, including first aid supplies, to cover the needs of 10,000 people for three months. Two additional trucks with supplies including tents and water supply systems are currently on their way to the affected region. UNICEF is also providing psychosocial support for unaccompanied children.
This tragic killing and maiming of defenceless children is on an unprecedented scale. UNICEF urges all parties to put an immediate end to the violence and to keep children out of harm’s way. Children’s right to protection from all forms of violence is a moral and legal obligation and should be upheld in all circumstances.
The attack on Saturday is part of a dramatic, wider trend. Since the last half of 2018, an unprecedented deterioration of the humanitarian situation has been observed in central Mali.
In the volatile region of Mopti, increasing intercommunal violence and the presence of armed groups has led to a protection crisis. Grave violations against children include killing and maiming, abduction, detention of children for security related charges, and attacks and threats on schools and teachers, as well as sexual and gender-based violence, are all a growing concern in Mopti.
The insecurity has also fuelled significant population displacement. According to OCHA, at the end of 2018 there were 56,400 internally displaced persons in Mopti region (compared to only 2,000 people the year before). Since Saturday, more than 2,000 people have been displaced due to the violence – a large proportion of which are children.
Beyond grave violations, displacement and risk of family separation, children are also increasingly deprived of education and essential health care as insecurity and violence are causing schools to close and compromising access to health centres.
Mopti is the region in Mali that is the most affected by school closures (accounting for 523 out of 857 schools closed in the country). The number of schools closed in Mopti has more than doubled in the past two years, affecting over 150,000 children.”
Alessandra Vellucci, for the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, recalled that, in a statement issued on 23 March 2019, the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres had expressed his shock and outrage at reports of the killings. The Secretary-General had condemned the act and called on the Malian authorities to swiftly investigate it and bring the perpetrators to justice. He had also called on the Malian authorities to redouble their efforts to bring back peace and stability to central Mali.
Responding to questions from journalists, Ms. Shamdasani for OHCHR, said that the investigations had shown that the victims of the attacks had been deliberately targeted because they belonged to the Fulani ethnic group. Intercommunal violence between the Fulani, who were mainly herders, and Dogon and Dozo ethnic groups, who were agriculturalists and hunters, was a longstanding problem, but it seemed that the divisions had become more entrenched because the Fulani, who were Muslim, were being depicted as part of the violent extremist groups that the country was fighting. Self-styled self-defence groups attacked them, killing adults and children without mercy and burning down homes. Investigations in the past had not led to any outcome and so the Government was being urged to act promptly to investigate the recent attacks. OHCHR had deployed a team that would interview inhabitants of the villages concerned to attempt to establish what had happened.
Mr. Boulierac for UNICEF, added that there was a clear threat to children, as one third of the dead and half of the injured were children, and schools were being increasingly threatened.
Yemen
Hervé Verhoosel, for the World Food Programme (WFP), made the following statement:
“As Yemen enters its fifth year of conflict the areas of highest need are in sensitive frontline regions, but these are the zones that are most difficult for WFP to access. WFP is concerned after receiving reports that intensive clashes with heavy weapons erupted in several locations within Hudaydah city. Security is necessary to ensure proper humanitarian support can be provided.
In northern Hajjah governorate, already one of the most food insecure areas of Yemen, a recent surge in violence risks pushing thousands more to catastrophic levels of hunger. In the last six months, the number of people displaced by violence has increased sharply from 203,000 to around 420,000 people.
Around 11,000 families have been displaced in Hajjah governorate since fighting flared up in early this month (March 2019). So far rapid response food rations from WFP have been provided to over 5,000 families. These distributions are ongoing.
Hajjah governorate has around 200 food distribution points covering 1.5 million people. Out of 31 districts in Hajjah, 28 are classed as humanitarian emergency. In 8 of them there are pockets of people experiencing catastrophic levels of food insecurity. WFP is in the process of setting up an office in Hajjah city that will make it easier for us to respond quickly and nimbly to changing situations on the ground.
WFP needs access to these people, so we can provide immediate response rations to the newly displaced and most vulnerable. In the next few days WFP will begin distributing food rations to all families in Kushar district, an epicenter of recent violence in Hajjah governorate. But we also need access to the districts surrounding Kushar, which have likely received a surge of families fleeing violence.
WFP and our partners have so far been unable to access four districts near the border with Saudi Arabia which have also seen intense fighting. In these four districts – Harad, Mustaba, Midi and Hayran – there are an estimated 50,000 people on the brink of starvation (IPC phase 5- catastrophe).
Once again, WFP needs free and unhindered access to the vulnerable populations in these districts and everywhere in the country, if we are to prevent the food security situation from further deterioration.”
Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Tarik Jašareviæ, for the World Health Organization (WHO), made the following statement:
“Since the outbreak was declared in August 2018 there have been 1016 confirmed and probable cases and 634 deaths in North Kivu and Ituri provinces. We use words like ‘cases’ and ‘containment’ to be scientific, but behind every number is a person, a family and a community that is suffering
As WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in his statement: ‘This outbreak has gone on far too long. We owe it to the people of North Kivu to work with them in solidarity not only to end this outbreak as soon as possible, but to build the health systems that address the many other health threats they face on a daily basis.’
More than 96,000 people have been vaccinated against Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, along with health workers in Uganda and South Sudan. As of 21 March, 38 of 130 affected health areas have active transmission. More than 44 million border screenings have helped to slow the spread of Ebola in this highly mobile population. No cases have spread beyond North Kivu and Ituri provinces, and no cases have crossed international borders.
However, the risk of national and regional spread remains very high, especially when episodes of violence and instability impact the response.
WHO has more than 700 people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and is working hard with partners to listen to the affected communities and address their concerns and give them greater ownership of the response, particularly in the current outbreak hotspots of Katwa and Butembo.
Dr Tedros also said: ‘The communities affected by this outbreak are already traumatized by conflict their fear of violence is now compounded by fear of Ebola. Community engagement takes time. There are no quick fixes. But we are learning and adapting to the evolving context every day.’
Despite the challenges, most communities accept response interventions. More than 90 per cent of those eligible for vaccination accept it and agree to post-vaccination follow-up visits. Independent analysis of vaccination data indicate that the vaccine is protecting at least 95 per cent of those who receive it in a timely manner. More than 80 per cent of people also accept safe and dignified burials, a key to preventing onward transmission.”
In answer to questions from journalists, Mr. Jašareviæ for WHO, said that the problem lay not in whole communities refusing to engage; rather, there were pockets of mistrust and reluctance. More needed to be done to build trust and understanding, and to bring ownership back to the communities, including a recognition that their needs went beyond that of a response to the Ebola outbreak. Most of the recently confirmed cases had been on contact lists, but fluctuations in figures could also be due to the violence or to better reporting.
Appeal for Cameroonian displaced in Cameroon and Cameroonian refugees in Nigeria
Babar Baloch, for the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), made the following statement:
“UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is today asking donors for stepped up support for half a million displaced Cameroonians who have survived over a year of ongoing violence in different parts of the country.
Violent clashes in Cameroon between the military and armed separatists over the past thirteen months have forcibly displaced thousands, including across the border into Nigeria.
The humanitarian situation continues to deteriorate. And there are fears now that more people will become displaced over the coming months.
According to UN estimates more than 437,000 people are currently displaced in Cameroon, 246,000 of them in the Southwest Region, 105,000 in the Northwest Region, and 86,000 in the Littoral and West Regions.
Most of these are women and children. And people who become displaced face grave situations whether in Cameroon or Nigeria. Having fled with very little, they are arriving in impoverished host communities where food supplies are strained and with few facilities for health, education, water and sanitation.
As well as causing internal displacement in the Northwest and Southwest Regions of Cameroon, the deadly conflict has also forced over 35,000 Cameroonians to seek asylum in Nigeria. With the fighting continuing, this number is expected to rise.
UNHCR now requires US$184 million for its operations in Cameroon and Nigeria – including US$35.4 million needed urgently for critical life-saving assistance.
Inside Cameroon, many of the displaced in the Southwest and Northwest Regions are living in overcrowded conditions, without proper shelter or health and sanitation support.
Underfunding and insecurity have restricted protection and assistance activities to affected populations. The safety of women, children, unaccompanied and separated minors, people with disabilities, and lactating and pregnant women are of deep concern to us in light of increased protection incidents and the severe underfunding. The most frequently reported security incidents include destruction of homes and other domestic properties, extortion, torture and inhumane treatment including rape, sexual assault and sexual exploitation.
In Nigeria, refugees are currently being hosted in settlements, and more than 47 villages along the border. There is significant pressure on existing social services, and facilities for health and education. Refugees in settlements are depending on humanitarian assistance to meet their basic needs.”
In answer to questions from journalists, Mr. Baloch for UNHCR, said that there had been an increase since the previous year in clashes between the Cameroonian military and armed separatist groups, and civilians were being caught in the crossfire. The numbers affected were rising: for instance, in just one week in March 2019, there had been more than 230 security incidents in which civilians had suffered, with houses burned down or destroyed in over 172 villages.
International Labour Organization announcement
Rosalind Yarde, for the International Labour Organization (ILO), said that ILO would issue a press release on Wednesday 27 March 2019 introducing its report on the major trends that were radically altering global business. The report was produced jointly by the Bureau for Employers' Activities (ACT/EMP) and the International Organisation of Employers (IOE) and was partly based on a study of 500 businesses in 15 countries, looking at the challenges faced and solutions found. The Director of ACT/EMP, Ms. Deborah France-Massin, and the Secretary General of IOE, Mr. Roberto Suárez Santos, would be available for interview.
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development announcement
Jonathan Fowler, for the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), said that the fifth UNCTAD eCommerce week would take place from Monday 1 April, focusing on the lack of development aid earmarked to help developing countries build the infrastructure and skills they need to adapt to the digital economy. Soon-to-be-released numbers showed that global e-commerce sales continued to surge ahead, yet just slightly more than 1% of all Aid for Trade development funding went to ICT-related projects that could help developing countries prepare, raising the risk that businesses and people in those nations could miss out on the opportunities, which would have major implications for their implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals. He encouraged journalists to register to access the related application and to contact him with any interview requests.
Other announcements
Alessandra Vellucci, for the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, said that the Conference on Disarmament was holding this morning a public plenary meeting, still under the presidency of the United States. This would be the last week of the first part of this year’s session.
Ms. Vellucci also said that the twelfth Mix and Mash event would take place from 6 p.m. that evening at the Brasserie des Halles de l'Île in Geneva to celebrate the work of humanitarian organizations.
Press conferences
Tuesday, 26 March at 2:15 p.m. in Press Room 1
United States Mission to the United Nations and Other International Organizations
Assistant Secretary Ford will discuss the relationship between the current security environment and progress on nuclear disarmament, including an update on the U.S. initiative: Creating an Environment for Nuclear Disarmament (CEND). He will also provide an update on U.S. objectives for the upcoming NPT PrepCom.
Speaker:
• Christopher A. Ford, Assistant Secretary of State for International Security and Non-proliferation
The webcast for this briefing is available here: http://bit.ly/unog250319