Speaker 1: Thank you for listening to Pictures Media Radio.
Speaker 2: Welcome to Policy and Rights.
Speaker 1: Show. Gosh, welcomer, Policy Human Joy.
Speaker 3: Good afternoon everyone, we're.
Speaker 1: About welcome at the Policy Rights here in Depictions Media Radio.
Speaker 1: I'm your host, Michael Cloggs. Okay, let's start this off
Speaker 1: with UH Donald Trump and his tariffs and UH. According
Speaker 1: to BBC UH the UH, US President Donald Trump has
Speaker 1: announced a sweeping set of new tariffs targeting countries that
Speaker 1: export products to the United States. The announcement includes a
Speaker 1: significant thirty four percent tariff on imports from China and
Speaker 1: a twenty percent tariff on goods from euro from the
Speaker 1: European Union. The White House stated that the tariffs are
Speaker 1: designed to the reciprocal, aiming to address what it views
Speaker 1: as unfair trade practices, to which I some of the
Speaker 1: trade agreements that are in place today as he is
Speaker 1: currently in office are were the same trade agreements that
Speaker 1: were in place at the time he left office, because
Speaker 1: he set them up. Now, all of a sudden, they
Speaker 1: are unfair. But he was the one who signed a
Speaker 1: lot of these trade agreements. President Biden, while he was
Speaker 1: in office, he did a lot to build up the
Speaker 1: commerce within the United States so that he could lower
Speaker 1: the unemployment rate, increase the income to the American families,
Speaker 1: so that they could participate in the trade agreements that
Speaker 1: were set up by the previous administration, which was Donald Trump's. Now,
Speaker 1: all of a sudden, Donald Trump is saying they're unfair
Speaker 1: trade practices. I don't know. Something just isn't right there. Okay.
Speaker 1: So with that being said, Mark Carney, while he is
Speaker 1: on the campaign trail, because we are going to be
Speaker 1: heading into election April twenty eighth here in Canada, make
Speaker 1: sure you go out and vote. Make sure you cast
Speaker 1: that vote, because you need to be heard. This is
Speaker 1: an important election. It could mean the difference between hey,
Speaker 1: living well or struggling, depending on who you choose. If
Speaker 1: depending on who you choose, depending on who you decide
Speaker 1: it's going to be an Ottawa, depends on what type
Speaker 1: of way we are going to be seen in the world.
Speaker 1: Do we want to be seen as another white supremacy,
Speaker 1: laughing as a joke as the United States is being
Speaker 1: seen right now, or do we want to see as
Speaker 1: something prominent and trying not to influence you. But hey,
Speaker 1: Mark Carney is talking about building up Canada and mister
Speaker 1: Povy at the other side of of what he's saying.
Speaker 1: He he's saying a lot of the exact same things
Speaker 1: that Donald Trump was saying when he was campaigning for president.
Speaker 1: Something to think about we have we're coming to that choice.
Speaker 1: Make sure you cast the vote. Mister Carney is said
Speaker 1: in response to Donald Trump did nothing is off the table.
Speaker 1: As in response to the tariffs, they they don't want
Speaker 1: to this way. Mister Carney does not want to see
Speaker 1: the tariffs, he doesn't want to see the trade war.
Speaker 1: But he is willing to defend Canada. He is willing
Speaker 1: to defend the Canada's workers, and he is willing to
Speaker 1: go to bat for Canada on the world scene and
Speaker 1: build new trade agreements that those who want to reciprocate
Speaker 1: the goodwill that Canada always puts forth into the world. Okay,
Speaker 1: so let's move on in with that which is on
Speaker 1: the global scene. We should talk about NATO, and we're
Speaker 1: gonna hear from Mark Root, the Secretary General of NATO,
Speaker 1: as he talks about some things, some issues with NATO
Speaker 1: and what is happening in the world, support for Ukraine,
Speaker 1: and he talks about a the billions and billions of
Speaker 1: euros that are being donated to help Ukraine as they
Speaker 1: are up against a very tough enemy. That he also
Speaker 1: mentions a very important anniversary and anniversary that this should
Speaker 1: have never happened, as they discovered camps in Bukharev that
Speaker 1: where Ukrainian people were being tortured inhumane acts, and with
Speaker 1: that it is causing it is, it is some of
Speaker 1: the causes that we're seeing seeing today that Russia still
Speaker 1: wants to quote unquote keep Ukraine under its thumb. Vladimir
Speaker 1: Putin doesn't even want to recognize Baltimore U Zelensky as
Speaker 1: the president of Ukraine. He says he's a false president
Speaker 1: and was put there by Western powers by election fixing.
Speaker 1: There is there's a lot a lot going on, and
Speaker 1: the fighting itself needs to come to end, and some
Speaker 1: sort of long, last, longing peace needs to be put
Speaker 1: in place. Mister Putin said in some statements a few
Speaker 1: days ago that he would like to put a infim
Speaker 1: government in there that is controlled by Russia so that
Speaker 1: mister Zelensky could be removed from power. I guess the
Speaker 1: lasting that Ukraine really, the people of Ukraine really need,
Speaker 1: as I've heard from sources, is another puppet government. Mister
Speaker 1: Root is going to commend Donald Trump and his team
Speaker 1: for efforts that they have put forward to bring a
Speaker 1: long lasting peace. There's a caveat to that, I would say,
Speaker 1: because if that long lasting piece means that Donald Trump's
Speaker 1: administration gets to control the minerals and mining rates in Ukraine,
Speaker 1: that could be a serious problems. As we saw when
Speaker 1: when he attempted to bully mister Zelensky in the White
Speaker 1: House that that was definitely on the table. That was
Speaker 1: a tool that they were talking about.
Speaker 4: So we'll.
Speaker 1: See how all this pans out. Going back to democracy,
Speaker 1: we would like to it's it's time to congratulate Wisconsin
Speaker 1: on their victory over the over Donald Trump. I can't
Speaker 1: see Republicans because he isn't really a Republican. He's his
Speaker 1: own thing.
Speaker 5: That they in.
Speaker 1: The election that they had for certain judge seats and
Speaker 1: send the seats that they did manage to come out
Speaker 1: victorious over uh Elon Musk having putting millions of millions
Speaker 1: of dollars into campaigns there to try to come up
Speaker 1: with a victory and take over that state. Okay, so
Speaker 1: we're back to the global scene again with the world
Speaker 1: field program, and we're going to hear a report on
Speaker 1: the Democratic Republic of the Congo as what is happening
Speaker 1: there for human rights. And part of this report is
Speaker 1: going is going to discuss the tens of millions of
Speaker 1: people who are at risk for starvation and how funding
Speaker 1: cuts to the WHO and the WFP are actually affecting
Speaker 1: their efforts. That this from the United Nations website. The
Speaker 1: WF is prioritizing countries with the greatest needs and sketching
Speaker 1: food rations at the front lines while we are doing
Speaker 1: everything possible to reduce the operational costs. Make no mistake,
Speaker 1: we are facing a funding cliff with life threatening consequences.
Speaker 1: And that was from Nia dash the gash Karma as
Speaker 1: she is the assistant executive director for the partners and Innovation.
Speaker 1: So some of what we saw humanitarian aid cuts that
Speaker 1: were done by the US d O G e a k.
Speaker 1: A Elon Musk saying that some things needed to be
Speaker 1: cut out, that they were excessive spending and things like
Speaker 1: that or having devastating results in other parts of the world.
Speaker 1: This is what happens when you put in place a
Speaker 1: wealthmonger instead of a person who understands diplomacy. And humanity.
Speaker 1: And this is where the United States is heading and
Speaker 1: or has headed. They are there, that's exactly where they are.
Speaker 1: They rather see the White House would rather see money
Speaker 1: than human their prosperity of the human race. And we
Speaker 1: need to send a clear and definitive message back that
Speaker 1: situations like this that are happening with the World Food Program,
Speaker 1: that they can't distribute the food that they need to
Speaker 1: because of budget cuts, operational cuts, donation cuts, and that
Speaker 1: being handcuffed because they just don't have the funding to
Speaker 1: get the job done as best as they should be
Speaker 1: able to. That we need to send a clear and
Speaker 1: definitive message back to global leaders that this is unacceptable.
Speaker 1: So with that being said, we're going to hear first
Speaker 1: from the the WFP on the uh Dominic Democratic Republic
Speaker 1: of the Congo, and then we are going to hear
Speaker 1: after that a human rights statement from the United Nations
Speaker 1: Human Rights Office.
Speaker 6: Excellent, the hi to both of you, Well, thank you
Speaker 6: so much for joining us, and thank you to those
Speaker 6: of you who are in the room. So, as we
Speaker 6: mentioned a little bit earlier today, there's a new Integrated
Speaker 6: Food Security Phase Classification Analysis, better known as the IPC
Speaker 6: report that was published earlier today on the Democratic Republic
Speaker 6: of the Congo. So we're very pleased today to have
Speaker 6: someone that you know very well, that you've seen very
Speaker 6: often here Jean Martebauer, whom you have seen in his
Speaker 6: previous role many times as country director for WFP and Haiti.
Speaker 6: He's now in Rome and he's the Director of Food
Speaker 6: Security and Nutrition and Analysis still of course at the
Speaker 6: World Food And we also have Shelley Tackrel who is
Speaker 6: WFP spokesperson in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and
Speaker 6: she is joining us from Kinshasa. Jean Marte I think
Speaker 6: we will be able to see you on the big
Speaker 6: screen over here. Let me give you the floor first.
Speaker 7: Hi, Stefaniely, thank you. You cut out at the end there,
Speaker 7: but I think it's it's over to me. Good afternoon everyone.
Speaker 7: I'd like to take a few minutes to talk you
Speaker 7: through the highlights of the latest IPC release for the
Speaker 7: Democratic Republic of Congo. What's of note is that this
Speaker 7: new data shows how this conflict in the eastern Democratic
Speaker 7: Republic of Congo is affecting food security in the country.
Speaker 7: The data shows that twenty seven point seven million people
Speaker 7: in the DRC are facing acute food insecurity. This is
Speaker 7: an unprecedented level. This is the highest level on record
Speaker 7: that we've seen in the country. We've been monitoring food
Speaker 7: security in the DRC with the IPC system since two
Speaker 7: thousand and eight, and this is the highest number we
Speaker 7: have ever.
Speaker 6: Then one second, if you don't mind, and I apologize
Speaker 6: for interrupting, but here in the room, we're hearing We're
Speaker 6: hearing some other sound. Is there somebody maybe that is
Speaker 6: not muted on the zoom. I don't know if our
Speaker 6: technical colleagues can check. They're telling me to wait a second,
Speaker 6: just wave at me when we can resume. Sorry about that.
Speaker 6: It should be fixed very shortly.
Speaker 5: Of the East.
Speaker 7: Go ahead of the IPC, showing that they are a
Speaker 7: subset of the population with very very high needs. The
Speaker 7: factors that have contributed to making this crisis what it
Speaker 7: is are, of course displacement. It's been conflict, but it's
Speaker 7: also been the economic impacts of the situation. This has
Speaker 7: moved quite quickly in the past few months. Since December,
Speaker 7: we've seen these accelerated displacement in the east of d
Speaker 7: r C. We've seen a disruption to trade and markets.
Speaker 7: Banks in the East of dr C have been closed.
Speaker 7: That's causing a liquidity crisis. That's having an impact on
Speaker 7: commodity prices. It's having an impact on people's ability to
Speaker 7: survive and to implement their livelihoods. The insecurity is also
Speaker 7: affecting farming in the east of the DRC. So the
Speaker 7: situation is bad now, it could possibly get worse.
Speaker 5: So to.
Speaker 7: Give you the highlights again, twenty seven point seven million
Speaker 7: people in IBC Phases three and four in DRC, three
Speaker 7: point nine million in Phase four. The problem is concentrated
Speaker 7: in the east of the DRC. The IDP population, the
Speaker 7: internally displaced population, is quite affected and we've seen an
Speaker 7: increase of two point five million people since the last
Speaker 7: time we did an IPC in the DRC. I'd like
Speaker 7: to hand it over to my colleague Shelley and kinshasa
Speaker 7: over to you. Shelley, so much.
Speaker 8: Tramata, Yeah, pretty bleak picture. I'm talking to you from Kishasa,
Speaker 8: the capital. I have spent time in Goma and it's
Speaker 8: really hard to basically understand the fact that this isn't
Speaker 8: also a new crisis. This has been going on for decades.
Speaker 8: Others will tell you that, you know, they are now
Speaker 8: having to sell what little they have to find food.
Speaker 8: Many will go without food to feed their children. They're
Speaker 8: forced into malnutrition, higher risk of disease and mortality. Let's
Speaker 8: not forget that we already have cases of empos more
Speaker 8: than eighty thousand and cholera more than seven thousand. Crime
Speaker 8: has reached an alarming level. We have seen that security
Speaker 8: has just paralyzed the local economy and as Gen Martin mentioned,
Speaker 8: you know, banks are shuttered, shops are shuttered, and you
Speaker 8: know this has had a massive knock on effects on
Speaker 8: the local population who are just also living in this
Speaker 8: climate of fear, of deep uncertainty. And although some schools
Speaker 8: have resumed activities, it's super irregular. Food prices have gone up,
Speaker 8: everything from maize, flower, cazava, cooking oil all up by
Speaker 8: nearly forty percent since December last year. The cost of
Speaker 8: fuel supply chains are tough for us. We've been able
Speaker 8: to resume some operations in parts of North and South Kivu,
Speaker 8: and just to give you a snapshot, we've been able
Speaker 8: to reach six hundred thousand people so far in twenty
Speaker 8: twenty five. Don't forget we're almost four months into this
Speaker 8: year and in December alone, in twenty twenty four we
Speaker 8: were reaching one point eight million. So this is having
Speaker 8: a massive effect on the humanitarian need to get to
Speaker 8: people when you've got such alarming numbers that the IPC
Speaker 8: is showing us today. And I just want to give
Speaker 8: you just finally, you know, a couple of a couple
Speaker 8: of thoughts. Let's not forget this country is one of
Speaker 8: the world's most fertile. It only, however, has ten million
Speaker 8: of eighty min an arable land that's cultivated. Fifty percent
Speaker 8: of Africa's water resources are here. You fly over the country,
Speaker 8: you say, you see the congo basa, you see you know,
Speaker 8: you see fertility, you see things growing. But despite the
Speaker 8: fact that we've got enough resources to feed the people
Speaker 8: here and beyond in Africa, we could export food, we
Speaker 8: could really help the local economy. But it's a combination
Speaker 8: of efforts of factors. The conflict, food prices, fuel prices,
Speaker 8: poor infrastructure, tarmac roads has just basically pushed these people
Speaker 8: further and further into hunger. And you know that potential
Speaker 8: has just been unexploited. I just want to leave you
Speaker 8: with a couple of quotes from people that we've met
Speaker 8: just recently Blinda left Goma two weeks ago. She's now
Speaker 8: back in Missisi Province in North Kivu. She said, I'm
Speaker 8: struggling to settle down because i don't have anything, and
Speaker 8: everything I had has gone. I've got to restart. Piece
Speaker 8: is my number one priority. It would allow me to
Speaker 8: continue farming, which would allow me to cover our needs
Speaker 8: and the needs of our family. And then Sifa, who's
Speaker 8: now back in Sake. She told us, many of our
Speaker 8: houses have been burned. This is the most pressing concern.
Speaker 8: We returned home. We've got nothing. My home is burnt down,
Speaker 8: my land is just destroyed. I'm living with my mother,
Speaker 8: and I still don't even know where my husband is.
Speaker 8: He fled and the conflict has left many of us,
Speaker 8: you know, almost like widows. We just don't know where
Speaker 8: our families are. We've lost many men and many husbands.
Speaker 8: So I'll just pause there.
Speaker 6: Thank you, Thank you so much to both of you.
Speaker 6: Let us open here for some questions. I'll give the
Speaker 6: floor first to Gabrielle.
Speaker 3: Hello.
Speaker 2: This is Gabriel Alexander from Aldasera English. Thank you so
Speaker 2: much for the very important and timely briefing. Excuse me
Speaker 2: two questions and sobering, I should say as well, two
Speaker 2: questions for Shelley. I just wanted to confirm some numbers
Speaker 2: that you gave to make sure I heard them correctly.
Speaker 2: You said in December of last year you were able
Speaker 2: to reach one point eight million people, and so far
Speaker 2: through today of twenty twenty five, all this year, it's
Speaker 2: six hundred thousand. Did I hear that correctly?
Speaker 8: You did, indeed, And just bearing in mind that twenty
Speaker 8: fifth of January is when Gomer was seized, and then
Speaker 8: it was about three weeks later that Bukavu fell, So
Speaker 8: there was a whole period.
Speaker 5: Of real.
Speaker 8: Insecurity where we weren't able to get on the ground.
Speaker 8: The safety of our staff was first and foremost. We
Speaker 8: also had warehouses that were looted almost five We had
Speaker 8: a vast number of stocks that were taken. So we've
Speaker 8: had to really do a couple of things, get stuff
Speaker 8: to safety, think about when we can resume operations in
Speaker 8: a safe and timely manner. And we were really only
Speaker 8: able to get going towards the end of February. So
Speaker 8: that's where we're seeing figures. Yes, you know, we'd like
Speaker 8: to be able to get up to higher numbers. A month.
Speaker 8: But we're going to have to do this, you know,
Speaker 8: one day at a time, one step at a time,
Speaker 8: because of security restrictions, because of funding, and just because
Speaker 8: of you know, just the humanitarian challenges that we are
Speaker 8: facing right now in the eastern side of Congo.
Speaker 2: There's a lot of challenges right now in and around Goma.
Speaker 2: There's probably could spend an hour talking about them all,
Speaker 2: but can you tell us about the top one from
Speaker 2: your perspective, that's really hindering your work.
Speaker 8: So the airport's been closed since January, Goma Airport and
Speaker 8: as you can imagine, that has for us, as you
Speaker 8: Mu Panetarian workers. We need to get in, We need
Speaker 8: to be on the ground. We need to make sure
Speaker 8: it's not just for WFP, but we operate the United
Speaker 8: Nations Humanitarian Air Services for all of NGOs. And the
Speaker 8: NGOs want us back, you know, they want the U
Speaker 8: went back. They need us to kind of continue to help,
Speaker 8: you know, really rally and rally that support. We need
Speaker 8: to be there. We need to be there for the people.
Speaker 8: The banks have been shut. That causes some massive liquidity crisis.
Speaker 8: People you go to a market, they can't even afford
Speaker 8: you know, a banana or you know, a kind of
Speaker 8: can of water. You know, people have lost their livelihoods,
Speaker 8: and you know, as this is encroached further into the
Speaker 8: urban center as well, and you know, just just to
Speaker 8: talk about Goma, whereas you would have had up until December, camps,
Speaker 8: makeshift camps and circling Goma and then twenty kilometers away
Speaker 8: camps of a million people. People told to go home,
Speaker 8: go back to you, go back to your villages. You
Speaker 8: know we're not. This is the M twenty three, the
Speaker 8: armed groups. You know we're not. We're not putting up
Speaker 8: with the camps anymore. So off they had to go.
Speaker 8: And where are they going? They don't know, they don't
Speaker 8: know what they're turning up to. And these people have
Speaker 8: been multiply displaced over years. You'll meet people who went
Speaker 8: to Uganda, came back, they went to Sake, they then
Speaker 8: went to Goms. They're now go they've gone back to Tsake.
Speaker 8: So it's really tough for these returneys, it's really and
Speaker 8: they've lived through trauma and they tell us how much
Speaker 8: more do I have to live through?
Speaker 9: Kerrie, same stuff.
Speaker 10: Hi, Carrie Notton from radiol and Lamonde. Thank you Shelley
Speaker 10: for telling us so many details, because it's hard for
Speaker 10: us also to have a good accounting on what's happening
Speaker 10: in the ground. I have a question for Jean Martin,
Speaker 10: because Joe Martin, in your previous role, I interviewed you
Speaker 10: when you were in Aiti, and I remember it was
Speaker 10: a Satain type of problem. You were in a very
Speaker 10: fertile country where you have a lot of crops. You
Speaker 10: were talking about dozens of thousands of mangoes which were
Speaker 10: rotting in haitis and et cetera. So I guess it's
Speaker 10: a very frustrating solution, but I remember also that in
Speaker 10: it you managed to put in place some solutions and
Speaker 10: some tactics. Are you managed to harvesting on these solutions
Speaker 10: and tactics and are you able to already implement them
Speaker 10: in RDC or the airport being closed? It really is
Speaker 10: the number one blockage, as you just told Gabrielle.
Speaker 5: So I'll give you.
Speaker 7: An initial answer and Shelley will help us with the
Speaker 7: situation on the ground in the RC. But I can
Speaker 7: tell you that unfortunately the situation is too common. The
Speaker 7: number one cause for acute food and security worldwide is
Speaker 7: conflict weldwide, you've got three hundred and forty three million.
Speaker 11: People who are facing a cute food and security.
Speaker 7: Sixty percent of them are in fragile contexts, places like
Speaker 7: the DRC, places like Haiti where there is a potential
Speaker 7: for agriculture, but where violence unfortunately disrupts markets and throws
Speaker 7: people into a situation of vulnerability. This is again what
Speaker 7: hunger is like in our day and age over to
Speaker 7: Shelley for the details about DRC.
Speaker 8: Indeed, and you know, beyond the emergency, you know, I
Speaker 8: can absolutely, you know, rest assured. You know where we
Speaker 8: want to We want to be helped to support farmers.
Speaker 8: We want to be able to support women. We want
Speaker 8: to get them the skills that they need to run
Speaker 8: their businesses, to have better market practices, to be able
Speaker 8: to kind of get their produce to markets. But you
Speaker 8: know what, when you haven't got a bank that you
Speaker 8: can go to, when you can't get money out and
Speaker 8: you just don't know, you don't even know if you
Speaker 8: can kind of feed feed your kids. Yes, what we
Speaker 8: will continue to do, and we do this with FAO
Speaker 8: as well, is to kind of encourage kitchen farms, you
Speaker 8: know where we can do school feeding but all this
Speaker 8: is is just it's a tiny portion of what this
Speaker 8: emergency is right now. And if you don't have peace,
Speaker 8: if you don't have peace on the table, if you
Speaker 8: don't have a cease fire, if you don't just call
Speaker 8: a sensation to all of this, it's those people that
Speaker 8: will continue to suffer.
Speaker 6: Questions in the room. No, So then thank you so
Speaker 6: much to both of you for joining us. The full report,
Speaker 6: as you know, is available online. So thank you to
Speaker 6: Jean Martin Bauer, who's the Director of Food Security and
Speaker 6: Nutrition Analysis at the World Food Program, and also to
Speaker 6: Shelley Thackrol, who is the WFP spokesperson in the DRC,
Speaker 6: and she spoke to us from Kinchassa, and Jehan Martin
Speaker 6: spoke to us from Rome and Italy. Thank you so
Speaker 6: much to both of you, and thanks to you for
Speaker 6: being here in the room.
Speaker 11: Thank you, Stephanie, thank you.
Speaker 8: Thank you so much.
Speaker 11: Thank you.
Speaker 12: Thank you.
Speaker 13: Mister President Distinguish, Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of
Speaker 13: the Voluntary Fund for Technical Corporation in the Field of
Speaker 13: Human Rights, Mister Santiago Corsuera, excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, Human
Speaker 13: Rights Technical Corporation aims to empower rights holders and duty bearers.
Speaker 13: It engages national actors in finding solutions to human rights
Speaker 13: challenges they face, and it unleashes the power of international
Speaker 13: corporation and dialogue. I'd like to share first a few
Speaker 13: examples with you on how the Office of the High
Speaker 13: Commissioner for Human Rights over this reporting period has responded
Speaker 13: to requests for technical corporation at country levels in partnership
Speaker 13: with member states, national human rights institutions, civil society actors
Speaker 13: and the UN system. Technical cooperation facilitates the implementation of
Speaker 13: recommendations from U and Human Rights mechanisms. In Tajikistan, following
Speaker 13: recommendations from Human Rights Mechanisms, ORTHR contributed to improving the
Speaker 13: legislative framework concerning freedom of the press, rights of persons
Speaker 13: with disabilities and the rights of individuals deprived of their liberty.
Speaker 13: This included assistance in drafting a new media law, organizing
Speaker 13: a roundtable with parliamentarians and media to discuss social network regulation.
Speaker 13: Technical corporation also strengthens national human rights institutions and contributes
Speaker 13: to aligning national laws and policies with international human rights law.
Speaker 13: In Madagascar, Kenya and Togo, the Office partnered with the
Speaker 13: Organisa Nasonal de la FRANCOFONI to bring together NHRIs to
Speaker 13: exchange best practices. The office also supported NHRIs, including in Greece,
Speaker 13: New Zealand, Slovenia and Sweden, to prepare submissions to the
Speaker 13: Committee for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. In Ecuador, OATHR
Speaker 13: provided technical assistance for the establishment of Ecuador's national Mechanism
Speaker 13: on monitoring, reporting, and follow up on recommendations of human
Speaker 13: rights mechanisms. This included the development of a human rights
Speaker 13: information system called Siderechos, designed to monitor and report on
Speaker 13: progress in implementation of human rights recommendations. Technical corporation advances
Speaker 13: gender equality and has the potential to empower women in Cambodia.
Speaker 13: In collaboration with UN system partners, OATHR supported development of
Speaker 13: the National Social Protection Policy Framework Vision twenty thirty to
Speaker 13: ensure that the policy takes into account human rights and
Speaker 13: labor standards, including the principles of gender equality, particularly those
Speaker 13: working in the informal economy. In South Africa, OATHR supported
Speaker 13: efforts to address gender based violence and improve the health
Speaker 13: system to respect sexual and re productive rights of women.
Speaker 13: This included collaboration with the South African government in adopting
Speaker 13: laws and policies to hold perpetrators of human rights violations
Speaker 13: accountable and gaging activities and initiatives to ensure redress for
Speaker 13: victims of forced sterilization. Technical cooperation also serves to align
Speaker 13: human rights efforts with broader goals of sustainable development, ensuring
Speaker 13: that progress in human rights contributes directly to the attainment
Speaker 13: of the SDGs. In Jordan, otch I worked with the
Speaker 13: Resident Coordinator and the Economic and Social Council of Jordan
Speaker 13: to prioritize human rights in public finance policies. This included
Speaker 13: developing a policy brief which highlights the importance of maximizing
Speaker 13: resources to invest in economic, social, and cultural rights and
Speaker 13: reposition public expenditure to prioritize people's needs and rights. These
Speaker 13: efforts contributed to evidence based policy dialog at the municipal
Speaker 13: level on the role of public finance and fiscal decentralization
Speaker 13: in addressing inequalities and advancing human rights. Technical corporation also
Speaker 13: contributes to preventing action to mitigate negative impact negative human
Speaker 13: rights impacts of crises. In the Pacific, OATHR worked with
Speaker 13: the UN country team to advise the Government of Vanuatu
Speaker 13: on incorporating a human rights based approach in its response
Speaker 13: to climate related disasters. This included measures to ensure that
Speaker 13: climate change and disaster reduction policies are gender responsive and
Speaker 13: involved the participation of women, persons with disabilities, and youth
Speaker 13: in decision making processes related to climate change. In Bosnia
Speaker 13: and Herzegovina, OATHR has been involved in initiatives to ensure
Speaker 13: the protection of personal data and privacy rights, particularly emphasizing
Speaker 13: the importance of human rights in the development and deployment
Speaker 13: of digital technologies and technical corporation promotes inclusive dialogue and
Speaker 13: participation among all national stakeholders. In a Malawi, OATHR worked
Speaker 13: with the unc UN country team to facilitate a national
Speaker 13: platform for dialogue on business and human rights. And in Lebanon,
Speaker 13: OATHR worked with security services to support human rights data
Speaker 13: collection related to juveniles, domestic violence and human trafficking and
Speaker 13: to establish a complaints mechanism and a committee to manit conditions.
Speaker 13: Before I conclude on this item, I just wanted to
Speaker 13: say that those of you who listened to this morning's
Speaker 13: discussion on South Sudan and others would have heard how
Speaker 13: the Ambassador of South Sudan clearly stated that in post
Speaker 13: conflict situations, human rights technical corporation is key in supporting
Speaker 13: rule of law institutions and in supporting the implementation of
Speaker 13: any peace agreement. At the same time, one of OURNDEO
Speaker 13: speakers said that in the absence of political will, technical
Speaker 13: assistance processes are largely futile. Well, I think the truth
Speaker 13: lies somewhere in between. From our perspective, both perspectives have
Speaker 13: a value, but I should say that I remain firmly
Speaker 13: convinced that human Rights Technical Corporation is a critical potential
Speaker 13: driver not only for generating this political will that we need,
Speaker 13: but secondly for addressing root causes that pave the way
Speaker 13: for peace and thirdly to build social cohesion and dialogue
Speaker 13: amongst national actors. In conclusion, allow me to thank the
Speaker 13: members or the members of the Board of the Voluntary
Speaker 13: Fund for Technical Corporation for their commitment and guidance. We're
Speaker 13: also indebted to all of those all of you who
Speaker 13: have contributed resources to the Voluntary Fund for Technical Corporation,
Speaker 13: to the UPI Trust Fund, but also to the Voluntary
Speaker 13: Technical Assistance Fund to support the participation of LDCs and SIDS.
Speaker 13: I thank you for your attention and for your continued collaboration,
Speaker 13: and I want to.
Speaker 8: Thank Melissa for her immense patients.
Speaker 14: If we could put her up on the screen.
Speaker 11: There you are, Melissa.
Speaker 6: Thank you for taking the time to join us US
Speaker 6: and we are happy to be joined by Melissa Leehin
Speaker 6: who is I mentioned the World Food Programs.
Speaker 3: Head of communication in Yangoon.
Speaker 14: So we will leave you to make some opening remarks
Speaker 14: and then take take some questions.
Speaker 11: Okay, thanks Steph.
Speaker 12: Yeah, I just wanted to share a few updates from
Speaker 12: me and mar just about the impact of the earthquake
Speaker 12: that hit on Friday. What we know is that as
Speaker 12: of today, almost three thousand are dead and thousands more
Speaker 12: injured and missing, and the devastation.
Speaker 11: Is really alarming.
Speaker 12: Colleagues are reporting buildings turned to rubble, homes destroyed, and
Speaker 12: significant damage to roads and bridges and other infrastructure. Electricity
Speaker 12: supplies are still down in many places and PHAM communication
Speaker 12: is patchy at best. And added to this the destruction
Speaker 12: of hospitals and a lack of clean water.
Speaker 11: And all of this.
Speaker 12: Before the earthquake, the humanitarian needs and MIMI were already huge.
Speaker 11: We know that twenty million people were in need of humanitarian.
Speaker 12: Support, fifteen million facing food insecurity, and more than three
Speaker 12: and a half million people displaced by the conflict over
Speaker 12: the past four years.
Speaker 11: So the earthquake on Friday has made a bad situation
Speaker 11: really so much worse.
Speaker 12: And while people are resilient after years of conflict and
Speaker 12: successive disasters, many have little or nothing to fall back on.
Speaker 12: In twenty twenty three, there was Cyclomocha last year, major floods,
Speaker 12: and now this earthquake, and that's all against the backdrop
Speaker 12: of ongoing conflict and displacement. So after the earthquake, a
Speaker 12: state of emergency was declared across six states and regions.
Speaker 12: Among the worst affected a Mandalay, Napi, Door Shan and Sigayone.
Speaker 12: And what we're seeing is that the effect of the
Speaker 12: earthquake is largely concert traded in the Northwest dry Zone,
Speaker 12: and this is an area that was already suffering with
Speaker 12: chronic poverty, ongoing conflict, and frequent displacement.
Speaker 11: And in fact, a majority of displacement over the past.
Speaker 12: Four years has been in Sagine, where more than one
Speaker 12: point two million people were already displaced prior to the earthquake.
Speaker 12: So in response to this pretty grim picture, the UN
Speaker 12: and international community is responding. Just forty eight hours after
Speaker 12: the earthquake hit, the World Food Program was delivering emergency
Speaker 12: food supplies to people in Napidoor.
Speaker 11: That was on Sunday.
Speaker 12: On Monday, teams started to provide food and cash assistance
Speaker 12: in Shan and Segine, and today distributions of emergency food
Speaker 12: from WFP started in Mandalay and the teams that are
Speaker 12: saying that the scenes in Mandalay are deeply concerning. People
Speaker 12: are sleeping outside. If they're lucky, they have maybe a
Speaker 12: sheet or a tart for cover, and some have nothing.
Speaker 12: In one of the worst parts of the city, WFP
Speaker 12: team said that almost every house had been destroyed either
Speaker 12: by the earthquake or a major fire that followed in
Speaker 12: that area.
Speaker 11: So people are anxious and afraid.
Speaker 12: Even if buildings are standing, many don't want to return
Speaker 12: home for fear of collapse after shocks are still a
Speaker 12: regular occurrence.
Speaker 11: One woman, she's seventy seven. She told WFP that before
Speaker 11: the earthquake.
Speaker 12: She'd been earning a living selling boiled water in the market,
Speaker 12: and the sale she earned gave her about seventy cents
Speaker 12: a day, and after the earthquake, her shelter is gone,
Speaker 12: her livelihood is gone, and she has just no capacity
Speaker 12: to rebuild. And she said the shaking had gone, but
Speaker 12: the fear remained. And it's this kind of story and
Speaker 12: desperate situation. It just is being seen across Mandola, across all.
Speaker 11: The areas in which WFP is responding.
Speaker 12: The initial focus for WFP and other UN agencies working
Speaker 12: together is to address obviously the most pressing needs, that's food, shelter,
Speaker 12: clean water. As a first step, today, WFP has reached
Speaker 12: more than fifteen thousand people with emergency food. We've been
Speaker 12: distributing ready to eat rations that can sustain people through
Speaker 12: the coming week, and from there we'll start to scale up.
Speaker 11: The response even further.
Speaker 12: We plan to assist eight hundred and fifty thousand people
Speaker 12: with basic food and cash rations in April. But the
Speaker 12: needs really are huge and support is needed. That support
Speaker 12: includes an end to the conflict, free and unimpeded humanitarian
Speaker 12: access and also the resources to meet the needs, and
Speaker 12: all three of those things are critical.
Speaker 11: For a WFP. We have food in our warehouses across
Speaker 11: the country.
Speaker 12: We've been delivering humanitarian assistance across the past four years.
Speaker 12: So we have food there, but we still need the
Speaker 12: funds to cover the cost of moving that food to
Speaker 12: earthquake hit areas and distributing it. And there's also a
Speaker 12: big need for resources for a cash assistance so that
Speaker 12: people can cover those basic needs, whether that's food, shelter, water,
Speaker 12: medical supplies. And this kind of assistance can also be
Speaker 12: a catalyst for reviving markets, which is important. So overall,
Speaker 12: WFP estimates at least twenty million dollars will be needed
Speaker 12: just for our part of the earthquake response, and likely
Speaker 12: across the whole response it will be obviously much higher.
Speaker 11: And still that's really only part of the picture.
Speaker 12: Just a few weeks ago, as you may be aware,
Speaker 12: WFP was forced to drastically scale down it's regular humanitarian
Speaker 12: assistance in ME and Ma, and we announced that we
Speaker 12: had to cut plan support for more than one million people.
Speaker 12: Those cuts were in response to existing funding gaps, and
Speaker 12: those gaps remain, and yet now the humanitarian needs are
Speaker 12: even bigger again. So the earthquake, it's really calm at
Speaker 12: a at the worst possible time for people in ME
Speaker 12: and MA, and really it's.
Speaker 11: Critical for the international community to bring.
Speaker 12: The resources and support necessary to this situation so that
Speaker 12: people here can get through this latest crisis. So I'll
Speaker 12: stop there and I'm happy if anyone has any questions
Speaker 12: about the response and about the situation.
Speaker 4: Thank you very much, Melissa. We are now going to
Speaker 4: open the floor for questions. Edi, please go go ahead.
Speaker 15: Thank you very much on behalf of the United Nations
Speaker 15: Correspondence Association for doing this briefing. So my name is
Speaker 15: Edith Letterer from the Associated Press. Can you tell us
Speaker 15: whether any un AID agency or any NGOs have actually
Speaker 15: gotten into the opposition held areas to assess damage in
Speaker 15: especially Shan and Sagan.
Speaker 12: So what we know is the initial focus is on
Speaker 12: the urban area of Mandalay, which is where the brand
Speaker 12: to the kind of epicenter of the impact is, but
Speaker 12: our teams are doing needs assessments all over. We've had
Speaker 12: w PE teams in different parts of the country, Shan,
Speaker 12: Sagaiine working over the past four years and they're working
Speaker 12: at the local level to access areas and people that
Speaker 12: need support wherever they are, so that work is continuing.
Speaker 12: As humanitarians, we coordinate our efforts with anyone on the
Speaker 12: ground that we need to that is required so that
Speaker 12: our humanitarian support can get through, so that continues. I mean,
Speaker 12: it is a very challenging situation on the ground, as
Speaker 12: I'm sure you're aware, it's very complex, different groups in
Speaker 12: control of different areas. So for WFP and other humanitarian partners,
Speaker 12: we take the same approach as we have been, just
Speaker 12: doing what we can and to get access to people
Speaker 12: that need our help.
Speaker 15: In those areas not controlled by the government. I'm sorry,
Speaker 15: what have they what have they seen in those areas
Speaker 15: not controlled by the government.
Speaker 12: I think across all areas, regardless of control, the needs
Speaker 12: are the same that the earthquake I guess did not
Speaker 12: discriminate in terms of who has control, so the damage
Speaker 12: is very much the same. Obviously, the response currently is
Speaker 12: quite focused on Mandalay, which is an urban area, but
Speaker 12: for sure there's needs in the more rural areas and
Speaker 12: it is a challenge to just build up a clear
Speaker 12: picture of those needs given the lack of communication access
Speaker 12: at the moment, as well as electricity and road access.
Speaker 11: So it is taking time to really get a clear
Speaker 11: picture of.
Speaker 12: The needs across all areas, but that work is continuing
Speaker 12: and for now we expect that in the coming weeks
Speaker 12: we'll have a more full picture. And while those assessments
Speaker 12: are happening, we continue to deliver assistance across.
Speaker 11: All the areas.
Speaker 16: Thank you so much, and so it's Pamela folk. Can
Speaker 16: you hear US news and World Report?
Speaker 17: Thank you?
Speaker 16: First two minor questions. One is all the aid from
Speaker 16: you and other agencies and governments getting in? Is the
Speaker 16: military stopping any aid or diverting any aid? And the
Speaker 16: second is the heavy machinery that's needed to find people
Speaker 16: that are trapped. Is that getting in and are the
Speaker 16: countries that would usually send it sending it?
Speaker 6: Thank you?
Speaker 11: So I can't speak fully to that.
Speaker 12: For World Food Program, our resources food we have that
Speaker 12: in the country. We procure rice and pulses locally. We
Speaker 12: have those food supplies in our warehouses and that's what
Speaker 12: we're distributing. So that's our focus. We are seeing reports
Speaker 12: of international rescue crews coming in and also the lack
Speaker 12: of machinery. I can't speak to what attempts they have
Speaker 12: been to kind of increase access to that heavy machinery
Speaker 12: for rescue efforts.
Speaker 11: For us, the focus is on the response and the
Speaker 11: immediate needs.
Speaker 12: So different humanitarian partners, I guess are working across the
Speaker 12: different aspects of the response, so I can speak.
Speaker 11: To the food.
Speaker 12: Part of the response and those meeting those urgent needs,
Speaker 12: but beyond that, we have the food resources in the
Speaker 12: country now it's just a challenge of having the funds
Speaker 12: to move them where.
Speaker 11: We need to.
Speaker 16: Follow up. Just is it is any food aid being
Speaker 16: blocked going anywhere?
Speaker 11: So far, no reports of that from our teams.
Speaker 12: The response is in its very early days, forty eight
Speaker 12: hours after we were there responding with food assistance in
Speaker 12: Napidor and then Saga.
Speaker 11: And Shan now Mandalay.
Speaker 12: So today there's been no challenges for us. But we're
Speaker 12: as I mentioned, we've reached fifteen thousand people so far.
Speaker 12: The plan is to reach eight hundred and fifty thousand,
Speaker 12: and the operating environment is complex. That has been the
Speaker 12: case for the past four years. We've been delivering assistance
Speaker 12: for the past four year. Is responding to people displaced
Speaker 12: by conflict. So I expect those challenges will continue and
Speaker 12: our teams will continue to work.
Speaker 11: At the local level to navigate that complexity.
Speaker 5: Joseph Klein, Canada Free Press. Two questions. First, to what extent,
Speaker 5: if any has WFP in terms of delivery experienced an
Speaker 5: e looting of his supplies. And secondly, you mentioned funding
Speaker 5: gaps even prior to the earthquake. I want to know
Speaker 5: to what extent could you say that might have been
Speaker 5: exacerbated by the drastic cuts in US AID funding and
Speaker 5: programs by the Trump administration, or whether the funding gap
Speaker 5: is reflective of a larger, more global problem in terms
Speaker 5: of not supplying enough money for the pay for the
Speaker 5: needs that you are trying to meet.
Speaker 12: Maybe I'll answer your second question first, but yeah, I
Speaker 12: think we're seeing a global trend in humanitarian resources perhaps
Speaker 12: shifting to other things, and the overall numbers of funds,
Speaker 12: the amount of funds is decreasing, and at the same time,
Speaker 12: humanitarian needs are increasing me and MA, and as you've
Speaker 12: heard in the briefing, in many other parts.
Speaker 11: Of the world the needs are huge.
Speaker 12: So kind of year by year the needs are increasing
Speaker 12: and it seems like humanitarian support is decreasing, so we're
Speaker 12: having to do more with less and.
Speaker 11: Also looking for.
Speaker 12: Other ways to support our humanitarian responses through individual support
Speaker 12: through corporate funds.
Speaker 11: So it's a global situation and one that we're concerned about.
Speaker 12: Given the increasing needs and in terms of looting, we
Speaker 12: did have experience last year. There's some changing conflict dynamics
Speaker 12: on the ground, so WFP we lost access to some
Speaker 12: of our warehouses, so we have not as WFP have
Speaker 12: not been able to get back to those locations to
Speaker 12: independently verify. But there's been reports of looting and damage
Speaker 12: to those warehouses, so certainly that's a function and of
Speaker 12: operating in this conflict context.
Speaker 11: We don't always have control of what's.
Speaker 12: Going on around us, so our humanitarian staff they're really
Speaker 12: at the front lines and access can change at any
Speaker 12: given time, depending on on the conflict and the security
Speaker 12: situation on the ground.
Speaker 18: Yes, excuse me, Evelyn Leopold, I'm a short fun for journalists.
Speaker 18: Are the UN staff regarded with any suspicion that they
Speaker 18: might be helping the opposition to the government? Do you
Speaker 18: have to watch it? And secondly to follow up on
Speaker 18: Joe's is there any American aid coming in? Because USA
Speaker 18: did have a program there until what two weeks ago?
Speaker 12: Yeah, for our colleagues, it's a challenging situation for them.
Speaker 12: I mean, what I've seen in my past three years
Speaker 12: here is that they're really kind of living through the
Speaker 12: crisis and trying to respond to it. The things that
Speaker 12: we're seeing play out conflict, displacement, impact of the earthquake
Speaker 12: that affects our WFP staff and humanitarians in the same way,
Speaker 12: we had colleagues lose houses following the earthquake, and then they.
Speaker 11: Were back at work delivering support.
Speaker 12: The same as true after you know, families displaced or
Speaker 12: homes damaged as a result of conflict. So there's always
Speaker 12: that tension there and challenge for people working in these
Speaker 12: difficult circumstances for sure.
Speaker 11: But again the.
Speaker 12: Approach and the way forward is to remain neutral and independent, so.
Speaker 11: We don't get involved in political conflicts.
Speaker 12: We make sure that our systems goes directly to the
Speaker 12: people in need, either directly from WFP or through our partners,
Speaker 12: our community based organizations.
Speaker 11: Or NGO partners that we work with. So in that way, we.
Speaker 12: Maintain those humanitarian principles despite the challenges.
Speaker 11: UH And on the sorry your second question, it's only
Speaker 11: follow up.
Speaker 5: On the question of whether any US aid might have
Speaker 5: been cut off that that you were counting on that
Speaker 5: might have adversely affected your programs.
Speaker 12: The US has has been a long partner of WFP
Speaker 12: in Me and MA, and we hope that that support
Speaker 12: will continue. Obviously there's been a pause to funds, but
Speaker 12: as I said before, that's.
Speaker 11: Only part of the challenge.
Speaker 12: It's not just there, but globally humanitarian support has has declined.
Speaker 12: So together that means, you know, overall the picture is
Speaker 12: more challenge in terms of funding and the needs are increasing.
Speaker 12: I mean, if we look at just this earthquake, as
Speaker 12: I mentioned before, that already twenty million people needed humanitarian assistance.
Speaker 11: WFP was assisting.
Speaker 12: But even our plans, with the funds that we did have,
Speaker 12: that we did anticipate, we expected to be able to
Speaker 12: reach one million people each year. So that's far short
Speaker 12: of the needs. So really it's a it is a
Speaker 12: global challenge that really needs addressing, given the increasing needs.
Speaker 11: In Me and mar and elsewhere.
Speaker 18: BREMI am and there's something all right, can you hear me?
Speaker 12: Now?
Speaker 11: Yeah?
Speaker 18: I just wanted you to make sure that famous poetic
Speaker 18: road to Mando Lay is now open.
Speaker 11: Is that true?
Speaker 1: Yeah?
Speaker 12: Today, today and yesterday our teams have been we've been
Speaker 12: deploying staff to Mandalay.
Speaker 11: We previously in the past four years were.
Speaker 12: Delivering humanitarian assistance in areas like sagainin and Shan, but.
Speaker 11: In Mandalay and urban area, we had not been delivering
Speaker 11: regular humanitarian assistants, so we've.
Speaker 12: Quickly deployed a team there and more staff have joined
Speaker 12: them to support our response efforts. So the roads are damaged,
Speaker 12: Colleagues from our supply chain team are doing road assessments
Speaker 12: and transport assessments. So certainly we're seeing that repairs have
Speaker 12: started on some of the roads. Some of the electricity
Speaker 12: supplies are starting to come back, but certainly travel times
Speaker 12: are longer, and it's definitely challenging to move food around
Speaker 12: the country to these locations given the damage that has occurred.
Speaker 4: Please go ahead.
Speaker 17: Hello, Hi, it's Eric Peters with a killed on news
Speaker 17: Japanese media. So I know it's not your area, but
Speaker 17: the spokesperson mentioned earlier the amount of urban search and
Speaker 17: rescue teams in the country, and it seemed like it
Speaker 17: was a little low. Do you know if any more
Speaker 17: are coming, and if you had a number and a second,
Speaker 17: if you could provide some more examples, like anecdotes or
Speaker 17: specific examples of some obstacles you're facing for eight access.
Speaker 12: Sure, I can't speak to the search and rescue aspect.
Speaker 12: I know just from the reports here that we're seeing
Speaker 12: different teams, especially from the Asian region, coming into support,
Speaker 12: but I'm not sure of any other plans on that front.
Speaker 11: I mean, the challenges remain, as I said, conflict and access.
Speaker 12: Those have been challenges for the past four years, and
Speaker 12: those are likely to remain challenges unless there's an end
Speaker 12: to the conflict and unless unimpeded humanitarian access is available
Speaker 12: to us. So those remain, as well as the funding situation.
Speaker 12: So those three things together, if there's solutions on any
Speaker 12: and all of those fronts, then obviously it dramatically reduces
Speaker 12: the need for humanitarian assistance, for one, but it also
Speaker 12: makes it easier that humanitarian actors can respond in the
Speaker 12: ways that are necessary.
Speaker 4: Very much, do we have Do we have any further questions?
Speaker 4: If not, I would like to say think to our
Speaker 4: guest today, Miss Melissa Lee Haying, thank you very much
Speaker 4: for your time.
Speaker 3: Thanks, thank you, thank you, and good afternoon. On Thursday
Speaker 3: and Friday, Natal four ministers will meet to discuss pressing
Speaker 3: security issues as we continue planning for our summit in
Speaker 3: the Hague. We will focus on strengthening our collective events.
Speaker 3: It is the foundation on which Native was built, and
Speaker 3: it remains our number one priority. We will also meet
Speaker 3: with our key partners to bring the European Union and
Speaker 3: our partners in the Pacific. We gather at a particularly
Speaker 3: crucial time for our shared security, which challenge is too
Speaker 3: great for any of us to bear alone. This week
Speaker 3: marks a grim aniversary when the world discovered the strategy
Speaker 3: of Butcha. I visited in July twenty twenty two and
Speaker 3: spoke with some of those who survived. We will never
Speaker 3: forget that devastation. Three years sins the liberation of Bucha,
Speaker 3: Russia continues to wage war against Ukraine. I command President
Speaker 3: Trump for breaking the deadlock, and I fully support the
Speaker 3: efforts undertaken by the US to bring this terrible war
Speaker 3: to a just and lasting end, as well as the
Speaker 3: efforts of the UK, France and others to contribute to
Speaker 3: ensuring a lasting piece when the time comes. Natal Allies
Speaker 3: continue our support to Ukraine. In the first three months
Speaker 3: of this year. Allies have already pledged more than twenty
Speaker 3: billion euros in security assistance for twenty twenty five, and
Speaker 3: our command in Riisbaanda continues to coordinate the delivery of
Speaker 3: security assistance and training for Ukraine. The threat we face
Speaker 3: from Russia remains, and Russia continues to work clothes with China,
Speaker 3: Iran and North Korea in ways that not only harm
Speaker 3: Ukraine but pose risks across the Alliance and around the world.
Speaker 3: We see these and other actors working to destabilize our
Speaker 3: societies with thebotage to undersee infrastructure, cyber attacks, assassination attempts,
Speaker 3: and more. We live in a dangerous world, and in
Speaker 3: the face of these and other challenges, we must build
Speaker 3: a stronger, a fairer, and more lethal natal That's why
Speaker 3: ministers are here this week to ensure we are aligned
Speaker 3: and actively working towards our common goal. We stand together,
Speaker 3: deploying and exercising to ensure we are ready and able.
Speaker 3: We're grateful to the men and women of our armed
Speaker 3: forces for the service they provide every day, and very
Speaker 3: very reminded of the risks of that service again this week,
Speaker 3: having threatingly lost for brave American soldiers during training in Lithuania,
Speaker 3: we are profoundly grateful for their service. Our deepest condolences
Speaker 3: go to their families, friends, and fellow soldiers. We mourn
Speaker 3: their loss and take heart in the outstanding solidarity we
Speaker 3: saw during the search and rescue operation with Americans and Lithuanians,
Speaker 3: Balls and Estonians working should to shoulder around the clock.
Speaker 3: This is the true spirit of the Alliance and in
Speaker 3: that spirit we have important work to take forward. We
Speaker 3: are building a more capable alliance by investing in what
Speaker 3: we need to counter the threats we face, and we
Speaker 3: are making major progress. Many allies are stepping up their
Speaker 3: spending in ways we haven't seen in Deck, and I
Speaker 3: expect more announcements to follow. This is critical. Ministers will
Speaker 3: talk about how to ensure we can continue this trend.
Speaker 3: We will also discuss how we can produce more on
Speaker 3: both sides of the Atlantic and make it easier to
Speaker 3: work together, exchange, innov it and partner in ways that
Speaker 3: benefit us all. This is not only a topic for allies,
Speaker 3: but one that we will discuss with our in the
Speaker 3: Pacific partners, with Ukraine and with the EO Hybrid representative
Speaker 3: Kaya Kalas, who will join us on both days. Our
Speaker 3: partners make an essential contribution to our shared security, sharing insights,
Speaker 3: experience and expertise. When we meet in the NATO Ukraine
Speaker 3: Council tomorrow evening, we will hear from Minister andre Civa.
Speaker 3: We will update us the current situation in Ukraine as
Speaker 3: well as his perspectives on the process towards a just
Speaker 3: and lasting piece. All of this and more will contribute
Speaker 3: to the new chapter for NATO that we will start
Speaker 3: in the Hague in June. Our priorities are clear. You're
Speaker 3: building a stronger, fairer and more lethal alliance. That's what
Speaker 3: we need to secure our future. And with that, I'm
Speaker 3: ready to take your questions.
Speaker 9: All right, let's start over here, second row, all the
Speaker 9: way on my.
Speaker 14: Left, Secretary General Andrew Gray from Reuters. As you know,
Speaker 14: the European Union has set itself the goal of being
Speaker 14: able to defend itself by twenty thirty. Is that a
Speaker 14: realistic and wise target to set well.
Speaker 3: We are working together with the EU in in a
Speaker 3: very close corporation on the white paper other issues, and
Speaker 3: what we have to make sure of is that we
Speaker 3: cannot only defend Natro charity today but also in five
Speaker 3: years time. It means more spending. It means more defense production.
Speaker 3: That means for NATO that we will work on the
Speaker 3: standard setting on the capabilities. It means for our European
Speaker 3: partners that they have to work on getting the internal
Speaker 3: market going, for example when it comes to defense industrial production.
Speaker 3: So we have a clear division of labor here and
Speaker 3: I think that's very positive.
Speaker 9: All right, gentlemen in the fore throw in the center.
Speaker 19: Thank you, Thomas kotchkavkan put diagamin it seem could afternoon.
Speaker 19: Two questions please. The first one, The Washington Post published
Speaker 19: a story recently that refers to an internet guidance by
Speaker 19: the Pentagon that basically says everything to be prepared for
Speaker 19: a major war with China, and that also says that
Speaker 19: in the event that American troops are bound by such
Speaker 19: a war or the threat of such a war, Europe
Speaker 19: could not rely on troop reinforcements from the US. Which
Speaker 19: indications do you have for such scenarios and what does
Speaker 19: it mean for the defense plans of the alliance? Question
Speaker 19: number one? Question number two completely unrelated. Foreign ministers are
Speaker 19: meeting formally here and they will meet informally in Ontaria
Speaker 19: at least that's the plan for now. With the arrest
Speaker 19: of the leading opposition politician of hundreds of people protesting
Speaker 19: among them, not among them. But additionally, as Swedish journalists,
Speaker 19: do you think it's a good idea to be hosted
Speaker 19: by Turkey for such an informal meeting in May. Thank you.
Speaker 3: I think with your second question that that is an
Speaker 3: important meeting, that is is important that it is informal
Speaker 3: and Turkey has offered to host it. When it comes
Speaker 3: to your first question, clearly what we need to do
Speaker 3: is to make sure that we have everything it takes
Speaker 3: to defend our euro Atlantic area. And we also know
Speaker 3: that threats are manifold also outside your Atlantic area, and
Speaker 3: that means that when it comes to the US, but
Speaker 3: also to other NATRO allies and for the Alliance as
Speaker 3: a whole, that we have to be aware of what
Speaker 3: is happening in the Pacific. That's the reason why we
Speaker 3: have that close corporation. And that will also mean that
Speaker 3: it is understandable also for the US that over time
Speaker 3: they want to focus more and we're also on that
Speaker 3: part of the world, and it is only logical for
Speaker 3: the Europeans to step up either more. There are no
Speaker 3: plans to withdraw or whatever. We know that the US
Speaker 3: is completely committed to NATAL but I think it is
Speaker 3: an all our interests that we are able to keep
Speaker 3: this whole planet stable. For NATO to focus of course
Speaker 3: very much on your Atlantic area. But as I said,
Speaker 3: together with the US at thirty two, to be very
Speaker 3: much aware that the threats are not only limited to
Speaker 3: the Russians. We see the Chinese building up, we see
Speaker 3: what's happening in around, we see what's happening in North Korea,
Speaker 3: and that's why Japan, Korea, Australia and New Zealands will
Speaker 3: join us.
Speaker 9: All right, blonde woman with the red glasses.
Speaker 3: In the center, beautiful glass, good descriptions.
Speaker 20: Thank you Ellison. You're in Assumer News Agency Interfox Ukraine.
Speaker 20: Next week here in NATO HQ, the meeting of the
Speaker 20: Coalition of Buildings will take place. So my question is
Speaker 20: for you, Secretary General, what kind of role do you
Speaker 20: see for NATO playing in this coalition? Is it only
Speaker 20: to provide the facilities for meeting or it can be
Speaker 20: something more. Thank you well.
Speaker 3: I've myself in participating in some of these meetings in
Speaker 3: London and tries in Paris, because I'm traveling next week.
Speaker 3: The Deputy Secretary General will participate in the meeting here
Speaker 3: and we are there to advise but also to hint
Speaker 3: at the implications of certain plans and what that means.
Speaker 3: For the defense of nature territory, so that's important. So
Speaker 3: we are there an advisory role and also very much
Speaker 3: explaining the implications of decisions will be be taken.
Speaker 9: All right, and then just in front of arena, the gentleman.
Speaker 21: In the blue suit, Good afternoon. I want to ask
Speaker 21: about john military exercises up at twenty twenty two will
Speaker 21: take place in Belarus. Our sources in Belarus and armies
Speaker 21: says that for this exercises, system or rational and tactical
Speaker 21: nuclear weapons will be sent to Belarus from Russian They say,
Speaker 21: is that nuclear weapon not yet in Belarus? Do you
Speaker 21: see nuclear weapon in Belarus?
Speaker 11: And or.
Speaker 5: They are not?
Speaker 21: Still there? Is there risk that the Russian Army will
Speaker 21: stay in Belarus after the exercises like it was in
Speaker 21: me inter twenty twenty two.
Speaker 3: I have no information to share with you on that.
Speaker 3: We know that these type of exercises take place regularly,
Speaker 3: but you were asking some more specific questions concerning those
Speaker 3: exercises and I've no new information to share at this moment.
Speaker 9: All right, Let's see the gentleman in the brown jacket.
Speaker 20: Here, This is Mohammed.
Speaker 21: Ality had noted a remorce with the fresh hoothy attacks
Speaker 21: in the Red Sea.
Speaker 22: And concerns the re emergency of ices in the region.
Speaker 20: How does NATO assess these emerging threats and how does
Speaker 20: NAT to work with its southern partners to including the EA,
Speaker 20: to face such threats.
Speaker 9: Thank you now.
Speaker 3: Of course we've worked together in the Anti Dash Coalition,
Speaker 3: which was hosted here the last time, I think it
Speaker 3: was in December last year. Then, of course, as NATO,
Speaker 3: we are active in Iraq, helping Iraq to build up
Speaker 3: its own its own armed forces and also their own
Speaker 3: justice department and the security forces in Iraq through the
Speaker 3: NATO Mission in Iraq, and we have a close cooperation
Speaker 3: with many of our partners in the southern neighborhood. We
Speaker 3: had a very successful meeting of the North Atlantic Council
Speaker 3: with seven ambassadors from Algeria and Egypt and other countries
Speaker 3: in Mauritania and others only I think it was two
Speaker 3: or three weeks ago, so we followed that closely, and
Speaker 3: obviously is outside NATO territory, but of course there is
Speaker 3: a clear interest, all right, gentlemen here in the swatter.
Speaker 22: Generally the President you've been talking about putt In and
Speaker 22: about Russia, Western balcons are again in focus and can
Speaker 22: choices from Oslovirginia, Sarajevo. Sarajevo. The president of Republicla Dotica
Speaker 22: recently a few days ago met with the Russian President
Speaker 22: Vladimir Putin. Given that an arrest warrant has been issued
Speaker 22: for Dock in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with an international warrant
Speaker 22: pending Interpose decision, how does NATO view this meeting in
Speaker 22: the context of original stability and second question? Additionally, how
Speaker 22: do you seize dodic stated position that police of Republic
Speaker 22: Kaservska would prevent his arrest in Bosdi and Herzegovina.
Speaker 3: Clearly it is in the first place to the Bossi
Speaker 3: and Herzegonian presidency, the three member presidency to take charge
Speaker 3: of the country, as I explained to them again when
Speaker 3: I visited now three weeks ago. I know some of
Speaker 3: them are somewhat irritated this role of the High Representative
Speaker 3: mister Schmeat, and of course other aspects of the data
Speaker 3: and agreement. But in the end, if they take console
Speaker 3: of the country, the three of them, then they really
Speaker 3: rule the country, and that is my urge for NATO.
Speaker 3: I've made very clear we cannot accept a security vacanm
Speaker 3: in in Boston and actor Corena. We don't want any
Speaker 3: destabilization there. And of course when it comes to Dodic,
Speaker 3: the President of Republic Askapska and all the court orders
Speaker 3: and everything happening there, we expect him to yeah, to
Speaker 3: basically accept when the independent judiciary is ruling, that he
Speaker 3: accepts that and that he then behaves accordingly.
Speaker 4: M h.
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