UN GENEVA PRESS BRIEFING
Rolando Gómez, of the United Nations Information Service (UNIS), chaired the hybrid briefing that was attended by the spokespersons and representatives of the World Health Organization, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the World Meteorological Organization, the International Federation of the Red Cross and the Food and Agricultural Organization.
WHO: Update on Gaza
Dr Rik Peeperkorn, WHO Representative in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, speaking from Jerusalem, warned about the health consequences of a potential, imminent full-scale operation in Rafah. With more than 1.2 million people crammed in Rafah, such an operation would result in worsening the humanitarian catastrophe. WHO and partners were making contingency plans to ensure the health system was prepared and could continue providing care. Despite these measures, the ailing health system would not be able to withstand the potential scale of devastation that the incursion would cause.
An incursion could render the three hospitals in Rafah inaccessible and non-functional, including the European Gaza Hospital: this would have a knock-on effect on the overall health system, as patients would need to be transferred to other already overcrowded hospitals. Increased insecurity could also severely impede the movement of food, water, and medical supplies into and across Gaza via the border points.
The health system was barely surviving and only 12 out of 36 hospitals and 22 out of 88 primary health care facilities remained partially functional.
As part of contingency efforts, WHO was setting up a new field hospital in Al Mawasi (Rafah). WHO had set up a large warehouse in Deir Al Balah and had moved supplies to ensure rapid access and movement of supplies to Khan Younis, the Middle Area, and north Gaza. Nine out of 10 operating theaters were operational. WHO and partners were also establishing additional primary health centers and medical points in Khan Younis and the Middle Area.
In the north, an expansion of services was being supported at Al-Ahli, Kamal Adwan, and Al-Awda hospitals through emergency medical teams and pre-positioning of supplies. Plans were also being developed to support the restoration of the Patients’ Friendly Hospital, focusing on pediatric services, and expansion of primary health care centers and medical points.
The food situation had somewhat improved. Food was more available and more diverse. However, WHO had observed several cases of severely malnourished small children, with hundreds of other cases reported.
Dr Peeperkorn then discussed the arrangements WHO was making to let medical supplies reach Gaza. He hoped WHO would be also able to rely, soon, on local procurement from Israel and the West Bank.
For his part, Dr Ahmed Dahir, WHO Gaza Sub-Office Team Lead, speaking from Gaza, said the Gaza health system was barely surviving. Any operation against Rafah would block access to the only hospital specialized in kidney dialysis, with potential catastrophic consequences for its more than 700 patients.
Rolando Gómez cited press remarks by the Secretary-General at the end of his visit in Santiago of Chile, in which Mr. Guterres reminded he had “called consistently for an urgent humanitarian ceasefire (…) and a massive surge in humanitarian aid”, and stressed that “a military assault on Rafah would be an unbearable escalation [and] would have a devastating impact on Palestinians in Gaza, with serious repercussions on the occupied West Bank, and across the wider region”. Mr. Gómez also mentioned a report by the United Nations Development Programme, regarding the “Gaza War: Expected Socio-Economic Impacts on the State of Palestine” (2 May).
Responding to questions, Dr Peeperkorn said any contingency plan by WHO could only be “a band-aid”. WHO hoped the military incursion would not happen and a ceasefire would prevail. He added that WHO expected the hospitals would be deconflicted and not attacked or attacked again. Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza was not operational anymore, parts of if having been either heavily damaged or destroyed during military operations: to restore anything there would take years – a process which WHO was already planning, Dr Peeperkorn explained.
Over time, since October, basic food had become more available, and more diverse, too. The risk of famine was not averted, however, and the availability of cash [to buy food] remained an enormous problem, Dr Dahir warned.
Regarding reported mass graves discovered in Gaza hospitals, Dr Peeperkorn explained that WHO had no expertise in investigating crimes. During their visits on the ground, WHO teams had observed makeshift cemeteries in hospitals; one team had helped perform decent burials for several bodies. Public health had to be taken into account. Despite a few incidents, WHO generally found that people in Gaza respected its work and were helping it.
Dr Peeperkorn insisted that malnutrition used to be unheard of in Gaza. Today, more than one million people in Gaza were exposed to acute or catastrophic food insecurity. Twenty-five small children had died due to malnutrition or related conditions; 46 children suffering the same condition were now taken care of in Gaza hospitals. Dr Dahir then described the food stabilization and support system that WHO was setting up in Gaza.
Almost all medical supplies to Gaza were now coming through the Rafah crossing, a concern that WHO had raised at all levels, including with the IDF [Israeli Defence Forces], Dr Peeperkorn further explained.
Jens Laerke, from the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), added that Rafah was also the heart of humanitarian operations in Gaza, acting as a transshipment point for the life-saving assistance. From there, several UN programs and their partners were running their services across the whole Gaza Strip. More importantly, the hundreds of thousands of people in Gaza would be at imminent risk of death in case of an assault, he warned.
The UN, Mr. Laerke insisted, was not party to any planning and would not participate in any ordered non voluntary evacuation of people.
UNHCR: On the situation of civilians in Sudan
Olga Sarrado Mur, from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), expressed the UN Refugee Agency’s grave concerns over the situation of civilians cut off from life-saving aid in Sudan. For the first time since the conflict started, a UNHCR team reached Omdurman in Khartoum State, a city severely impacted by the conflict. Omdurman hosted over 12 000 refugees and more than 54 000 internally displaced people. UNHCR had met with local officials and people impacted by the conflict to identify needs and understand the protection risks.
Displaced families, including Sudanese and refugees who were in Sudan before the war, had told UNHCR of their struggles to get enough food due to soaring prices, leading to fears of children becoming malnourished. Children had no access to schools and were distressed by the sounds of clashes. Displaced people did not have adequate shelter, with many living in overcrowded conditions. While two hospitals remained open, there was not enough medicine, especially for those with chronic illnesses. Pregnant women were not able to access prenatal care. People also shared serious concerns for their safety, reporting increasing sexual violence.
Beyond Khartoum State, escalating hostilities in Darfur’s El Fasher city were aggravating the already perilous protection situation for civilians. According to available reports, tens of villages had been targeted, some razed to the ground, killing innocent people and destroying public property and crops. Indiscriminate violence, including sexual violence as well as cases of separated and missing children, were on the rise.
UNHCR called for the safety of civilians, safe access for aid agencies so that support and supplies could be delivered and, above all, for a cessation of hostilities. Humanitarian partners also needed more support to boost their capacity to respond. The funding requirement was not being met to meet needs across Sudan and in neighboring countries, Ms. Sarrado Mur regretted.
(Briefing note: https://www.unhcr.org/news/briefing-notes/grave-concern-over-civilians-cut-life-saving-aid-sudan.)
Responding to questions, Ms. Sarrado Mur said there were restrictions of movement in key roads out of affected areas, which were inhibiting civilians from fleeing to safer areas; UNHCR was in contact with neighboring countries to assure the safe passage of refugees. Other fears were attacks targeting civilians, the restriction of movements, and reports of sexual violence. All this also meant a risk of a further increase in the prices of goods, Ms. Sarrado Mur pointed out. She confirmed that 1.8 million refugees had been displaced by the current war, as well as more than 6 million persons displaced inside the country.
Despite the security situation hampering the delivery of aid in Khartoum and the Kordofan areas, among others, Ms. Sarrado Mur added, UNHCR was committed to deliver aid as much as it could, in the locations where it could, and maintain its presence in Sudan to support the population. UNHCR called for humanitarian aid to reach the persons in need.
Mr. Gómez said the Secretary-General had been very vocal on the situation, particularly regarding El Fasher, where some 800 000 civilians were in grave danger, according to latest updates from OCHA.
UNHCR: Heavy rainfall in East Africa forcing thousands of refugees from their homes
Ms. Sarrado Mur of UNHCR said that thousands of people, including refugees, were caught up in the El Niño-triggered heavy rains and severe flooding that was sweeping across East Africa.
In Kenya, nearly 20 000 people in the Dadaab refugee camps – which hosted over 380 000 refugees – had been displaced due to the rising water levels. In Burundi, around 32 000 refugees – nearly half of the refugee population in the country – were living in areas affected by the floods, with 500 of them requiring urgent assistance; in the capital, Bujumbura, refugee families, along with many Burundians, had had to relocate multiple times as water levels continued to rise, while access to food and other necessities was increasingly difficult. Beyond Bujumbura, rent prices had reportedly doubled, making it too expensive for many refugee families to relocate. Other countries in the region, such as Somalia and Tanzania, had also seen forced displacement following this heavy rainfall.
UNHCR was working closely with local authorities and partners, rushing aid, and providing protection services to refugees and affected communities living nearby. UNCHR provided, among others, tarpaulins, mosquito nets, dignity kits, soap and jerricans, with special attention to older people and those living with disabilities; it was also helping families relocate to safer locations until the waters recede.
Climate change was making many parts of the world – especially in fragile regions like East Africa and the Horn of Africa – increasingly uninhabitable. Storms were more devastating. Wildfires had become commonplace. Floods and droughts were intensifying. Some of these impacts were irreversible and could worsen.
These floods showed the gaps in preparedness and early action. Funding available to address the impacts of climate change was not reaching those forcibly displaced, nor the communities hosting them. Without help to prepare for, withstand and recover from climate-related shocks, they faced an increased risk of further displacement.
(Briefing note: https://www.unhcr.org/news/briefing-notes/heavy-rainfall-east-africa-forces-thousands-refugees-their-homes. B-roll: https://media.unhcr.org/Share/nny808bpmxpqi118080lllg28854s253.)
Answering questions, Ms. Sarrado Mur said that despite the early warnings, the preparation had not reached the most vulnerable communities, including refugees or other displaced communities, which were more exposed to the climate hazards. That was why UNHCR was stressing the need to increase funding for the countries most impacted by extreme weather events and by climate change. This funding also had to reach the displaced communities, to equip them so they could adapt to this new situation.
Claire Nullis, from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), stressed that the rains in East Africa had been exceptional this season, with very heavy loss of life among the general population in countries such as the United Republic of Tanzania and Kenya, and with no relief in sight. It was a huge disaster, with 150 people killed, and bridges and roads swept away.
Moreover, a new threat was tropical cyclone Hidaya that had formed in the last two days – the first documented system to have reached tropical cyclone status in this part of the world, low in East Africa.
Climate change was supercharging these events. The El-Niño event we were witnessing was fading, but its impacts were obviously continuing. The cyclone would add still more water to already flooded areas, complicating the aid efforts.
Mr. Gómez said that the Secretary-General had been “deeply distressed to hear of the hundreds of lives lost and many others affected by heavy flooding in Burundi, Kenya, Somalia and Tanzania and other parts of East Africa” and had extended his “condolences to the Governments and people of the countries affected, especially the families of those who have died or been injured in this disaster” (see statement).
IFRC: Humanitarian consequences of heatwave in Bangladesh
Speaking from Dhaka, Alberto Bocanegra, International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC) Head of Delegation in Bangladesh, briefed on the humanitarian consequences of heatwave in the country and the activities of the Red Cross Red Crescent.
The situation was alarming, with impacts – hydration fever, heat exhaustion, rapid heat rate – on the most vulnerable population, not only children, but also persons with disability, persons with special needs and those with chronic disease, especially those with blood pressure, kidney disease, asthma, and diabetes. It was an exceptional climatic event: this level of temperature had never been seen before in 76 years of records, and were affecting 70 per cent of the population, or some 125 million people.
IFRC was providing first aid and referring severe cases to hospitals, in urban and rural area, with the help of the Bangladesh Red Crescent Society, which had around 700 000 volunteers, all of them trained. IFRC was also preparing for an imminent threat of flash floods, mainly in the northeastern part of the country.
This crisis showed the harsh reality of climate change. The response showed what [could be done] in coordination with the International Federation of the Red Cross and its member Societies.
FAO Food Price Index: monthly update
Presenting the FAO Food Price Index for April 2024, Monika Tothova, Senior Economist at the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), said the Index had increased marginally (1.3 per cent) in April, for the second month in a row following a seven-month long declining trend, and down 9.6 per cent from its corresponding level one year ago. The increase in the Index had been led by increases in the price for meats and modest upticks for vegetable oils and cereals which more than offset decreases in the sugar and dairy prices.
That was generally good news for the importing countries: except for vegetable oils, which were on a similar level as one year ago, prices of all other basic commodities were below their levels [in 2023], including sugar (14.7 per cent) and cereals (18.3 per cent). However, global commodity prices being denominated in the United States dollar, a strengthening USD did not necessarily translate into lower food import bills for many countries.
Announcements
Tommaso Dellalonga, of the International Federation of the Red Cross, said IFRC would celebrate the anniversary of its foundation next Sunday, 5 May; and, on 8 May, the World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day, on the theme “Keeping Humanity Alive”. Activities would include interviews with volunteers (Monday); Red Cross / Red Crescent weekly spaces on X (Wednesday, 9.30 a.m. Geneva time); assets and stories on IFRC social media and website; and a “Red Cross Village” at Place du Rhône, Geneva (May 8-12). Also in Geneva, on 8 May, the Jet d'eau would turn red as a tribute to this special day.
Claire Nullis, from World Meteorological Organization, said WMO would issue, on Wednesday 8 May, its report on the State of the Climate in Latin America and predictions for temperatures over the next 5 years. A virtual launch event would be hosted by WMO Secretary-General, Celeste Saulo.
Mr. Gómez said the Committee against Torture was concluding, this morning, its review of the reports of North Macedonia and, at 3 p.m., of Finland. Next Monday at 10 a.m., the Committee on the Rights of the Child would open its 96th session, during which it would review reports from Namibia, Guatemala, Georgia, Mali, Panama, Egypt, Bhutan, Estonia and Paraguay.
As for the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of the Human Rights Council, the human rights record of Comoros was being reviewed today; Slovakia and Eritrea would follow on Monday, 6 May.
Mr. Gómez finally reminded that today was World Press Freedom Day, its theme this year being “Press for the Planet, Journalism in the Face of an Environmental Crisis”. In a message on this occasion, Mr. Guterres stressed that “the world was going through an unprecedented environmental emergency which posed an existential threat to this and future generations”. The Secretary-General also expressed his shock at the high number of journalists killed in various crises, including in the operations in Gaza.
On the same subject, UNESCO, UNEP, WHO, OHCHR, the Permanent Missions of Austria and Chile, and the Geneva Press Club, would organize a World Press Freedom Day event in-person and broadcasted on UNTV on 7 May (3-5 p.m., Palais des Nations, Room XXIII). The event would focus on the protection of journalists and scientists in defense of the environment.
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