{"id":299325,"date":"2024-07-29T09:40:24","date_gmt":"2024-07-29T13:40:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/?post_type=document&#038;p=299325"},"modified":"2024-07-30T12:24:41","modified_gmt":"2024-07-30T16:24:41","slug":"sigrid-kaag-gaza-situation-29jul24","status":"publish","type":"document","link":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/document\/sigrid-kaag-gaza-situation-29jul24\/","title":{"rendered":"UN official describes Gaza situation as \u2018absolutely catastrophic\u2019 amid severe shortages &#8211; Press Briefing by UN Senior Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator for Gaza, Sigrid Kaag"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>29 July 2024<\/p>\n<div class=\"video-shortcode\"><iframe title=\"Gaza: Situation remains \u201cabsolutely catastrophic,\u201d Senior Humanitarian Coordinator | United Nations\" width=\"1320\" height=\"743\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/QopteJANLP4?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_299326\" style=\"width: 1180px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-299326\" class=\"lazyload size-full wp-image-299326\" src=\"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/image1170x530cropped-6.jpg\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/image1170x530cropped-6.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1170\" height=\"530\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%271170%27%20height%3D%27530%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%201170%20530%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%271170%27%20height%3D%27530%27%20fill-opacity%3D%220%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/image1170x530cropped-6-66x30.jpg 66w, https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/image1170x530cropped-6-177x80.jpg 177w, https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/image1170x530cropped-6-200x91.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/image1170x530cropped-6-300x136.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/image1170x530cropped-6-320x145.jpg 320w, https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/image1170x530cropped-6-400x181.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/image1170x530cropped-6-460x208.jpg 460w, https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/image1170x530cropped-6-540x245.jpg 540w, https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/image1170x530cropped-6-600x272.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/image1170x530cropped-6-669x303.jpg 669w, https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/image1170x530cropped-6-700x317.jpg 700w, https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/image1170x530cropped-6-800x362.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/image1170x530cropped-6-940x426.jpg 940w, https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/image1170x530cropped-6-1024x464.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/image1170x530cropped-6.jpg 1170w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 1170px) 100vw, 1170px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-299326\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">\u00a9 UNRWA Remains of a UNRWA-run school in central Gaza after an airstrike.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Recently returned from the Gaza Strip, Sigrid Kaag, the UN Senior Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator for Gaza was speaking to journalists at UN Headquarters in New York via video link from Jordan (<em><a href=\"https:\/\/webtv.un.org\/en\/asset\/k1g\/k1g34h31ik\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u25ba play video<\/a><\/em>).<\/p>\n<p>She said that UN teams and partners are working to address the severe shortages of waste management and sanitation facilities, amid the risk of outbreaks of communicable diseases.<\/p>\n<p>While in Gaza, she also visited a mobile maternity ward, run by the UN Population Fund (<em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.unfpa.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">UNFPA<\/a><\/em>) and the non-profit International Medical Corps.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c<strong>There are truly brave women doctors, nurses, working to ensure safe deliveries<\/strong>\u00a0as well as a high number of C-sections, but under horrendous circumstances,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd normally babies, of course, bring only joy and a momentary sense of relief to the families. But we also know that many of the mothers are\u00a0<strong>deeply worried about the future and the world they are bringing their children into<\/strong>,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n<p>Ms. Kaag also noted that doctors have reported a rise in the rate of miscarriages in the first and second trimesters, though the reasons are not clear, and that this will be studied further by the experts.<\/p>\n<h2>Urgent needs<\/h2>\n<p>The senior UN humanitarian also stated that the hospitals she visited also had children suffering severe, often chronic, medical conditions that required medical evacuation (medevac) for treatment.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA number of these children have been displaced four or five times within Gaza, each time in pursuit of safety and medical shelter. I think it is quite difficult for us to even imagine,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>Ms. Kaag also outlined key necessities for non-governmental organizations (NGOs) on the ground, especially safety and security for humanitarians as well as for the civilians they are seeking to assist.<\/p>\n<p>She also urged greater support for Palestinian NGOs, who despite heavy losses, continue their efforts to help those in need.<\/p>\n<h2>Humanitarian mechanism<\/h2>\n<p>Ms. Kaag also referred to the mechanism for accelerating humanitarian consignments to Gaza, which she is tasked with under\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/document\/security-council-resolution-s-res-2720-22dec2023\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Security Council resolution 2720<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is working, it is capturing aid supplies from Jordan, Cyprus, West Bank into Gaza,\u201d she said, noting that negotiations are being finalized with Egypt and that the monitors are ready to be deployed inside Gaza.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut what\u00a0<strong>we need is an immediate and full ceasefire, the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages<\/strong>, and, of course, continued access to start to meet the needs,\u201d she stressed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; 29 July 2024 &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Recently returned from the Gaza Strip, Sigrid Kaag, the UN Senior Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator for Gaza was speaking to journalists at UN Headquarters in New York via video link from Jordan (\u25ba play video). She said that UN teams and partners are working to address the severe <a href=\"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/document\/sigrid-kaag-gaza-situation-29jul24\/\"> [&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":299,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"country":[],"document-category":[2477,2565,1699,1869,2805],"document-source":[6902,6852,6169],"committee-meeting":[],"document-subject":[2517,1769,1945,1829,2005,1741,1745,1841],"entity":[],"document-language":[],"class_list":["post-299325","document","type-document","status-publish","hentry","document-category-news-item","document-category-press-briefing","document-category-press-conference","document-category-transcript","document-category-video","document-source-senior-humanitarian-and-reconstruction-coordinator-for-gaza","document-source-un-news","document-source-united-nations-department-of-global-communications","document-subject-access-and-movement","document-subject-armed-conflict","document-subject-assistance","document-subject-casualties","document-subject-gaza-strip","document-subject-human-rights-and-international-humanitarian-law","document-subject-refugees-and-displaced-persons","document-subject-women"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/299325","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/document"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/299"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/299325\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":299331,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/299325\/revisions\/299331"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=299325"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"country","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/country?post=299325"},{"taxonomy":"document-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-category?post=299325"},{"taxonomy":"document-source","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-source?post=299325"},{"taxonomy":"committee-meeting","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/committee-meeting?post=299325"},{"taxonomy":"document-subject","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-subject?post=299325"},{"taxonomy":"entity","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/entity?post=299325"},{"taxonomy":"document-language","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-language?post=299325"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}