Un Geneva Press Briefing
Alessandra Vellucci, Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired a hybrid press briefing, which was attended by the Director of Education Cannot Wait, as well as spokespersons and representatives of the United Nations Children’s Fund, the United Nations Population Fund, the International Labour Organization, the International Telecommunication Union, the World Meteorological Organization, and the World Health Organization.
Mobilizing funding for education for children affected by crises
Maysa Jalbout, Director of Education Cannot Wait (ECW), informed that on 5 November, governments and partners would gather in Geneva for Education Cannot Wait’s High-Level Replenishment Conference, hosted by the Government of Switzerland. ECW was calling for USD 600 million in predictable, multi-year financing to reach ten million children and adolescents with quality education between 2027 and 2030. Ms. Jalbout said that today, 258 million school-aged children and adolescents were affected by crises worldwide, while 93 million were entirely out of school. Nearly 80 per cent of crisis-affected children who were out of school lived in just 20 countries. For these children, education offered safety, continuity and the chance to build a future amid conflict, displacement and disaster. Every year of learning lost made that future harder to recover. She informed that over the past decade, ECW and its partners had reached 16 million children across more than 40 countries. The task now was to sustain those gains and reach more children, which required predictable funding. A child’s education should not depend on whether their crisis was still making headlines.
Governments and partners were going to announce their commitments on 5 November. Alongside those announcements, the conference would advance three priorities: national and local leadership; bringing more resources into education in emergencies; and learning from students and teachers. Ms. Jalbout stressed that the commitments made this week would determine how many more children could be supported, how quickly the response could be provided, and how long that support could last. She urged governments and partners to make the strongest commitments they could —and those who had yet to join to come forward.
Ukrainian children’s education disrupted by daily air-raid alarms
Ricardo Pires, for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), stated that children in Ukraine were facing growing disruptions to their education as air-raid alarms continued to interrupt their school day amid ongoing escalating attacks. The impact was being felt in classrooms across the country. Since the start of the 2026–2027 academic year, children had experienced an average of 34 hours of air-raid alarms during school time, equivalent to more than 13 per cent of scheduled learning hours, according to data covering the period up to 20 October. The average duration of alarms during school hours had almost doubled from September 2025 to September 2026. In addition to air-raid alarms, the UN had verified almost 2,000 attacks on educational facilities across Ukraine, including some 270 in 2026 alone. Children had to be protected from attacks, and every child had the right to learn in safety, stressed Mr. Pires.
Responding to questions, Mr. Pires explained that daily attacks had a grave effect on children’s mental health. Children were absolutely exhausted by the nearly five years of war and they were feeling anxiety. Speaking of Ukrainian students’ PISA scores, he noted that Ukraine had historically been very strong education-wise, but it had experienced, at the very least, stagnation since the start of the full-scale invasion. School infrastructure had been hit across the country, he noted. Maysa Jalbout, Director of Education Cannot Wait (ECW), added that children were paying the price of conflict, be it in Ukraine, Myanmar, or elsewhere.
Children killed in Myanmar
Ricardo Pires, for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), said that UNICEF was alarmed by reports that three children had been killed and five others injured when an airstrike had stricken a school serving displaced children and families in Loikaw Township on 31 October. Further airstrikes had been reported in Rakuten State over the weekend, including one that had stricken a temporary healthcare facility, reportedly killing a newborn baby and healthcare workers. Children were once again bearing the brunt for conflict. UNICEF called on all parties to the conflict to uphold their obligation under international humanitarian law, said Mr. Pires.
Death in detention of a UN staff member in Yemen
Francesco Galtieri, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Yemen Country Representative, speaking from Aden, paid tribute to Mohammad el Shami, an OHCHR staff member and former UNFPA colleague, who had died while being held in arbitrary detention by the Houthi de facto authorities in Yemen.
Alessandra Vellucci, for the United Nations Information Service (UNIS), said that Mr. El Shami had served with the OHCHR in Yemen, and he had been arbitrarily detained by the Houthis since 6 June 2024. The circumstances surrounding his death remained unclear. Since his detention in 2024, the Houthi de facto authorities had provided neither information about his well-being nor had provided proof of life, despite repeated requests by the United Nations. The Secretary-General had called for an immediate, impartial, transparent and thorough investigation into this incident. The SG remained gravely concerned for the safety and physical and psychological well-being of the 70 United Nations personnel, five former UN staff members, and personnel from humanitarian and civil society who remained arbitrarily detained to this day, and he reiterated his call for their immediate and unconditional release.
Conditions for women and girls in Taizz and in IDP camps in Yemen
Francesco Galtieri, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Yemen Country Representative, speaking from Aden, said that fighting in parts of Yemen had intensified to levels not seen since 2020. Displacement from the west coast and Taiz had tripled, with nearly 300,000 people now uprooted from their homes. More than half were women and children, and over 33 percent of the displaced families were led through this extreme hardship by a woman. As the fighting intensified, women were losing access to the very services they needed to survive, from maternity care to protection against violence. Across Yemen, 6.2 million women and girls lacked access to basic protection services. In displacement sites, they faced heightened risks of gender-based violence, including sexual violence, harassment, exploitation, forced and child marriage and other harmful practices. These threats, compounded by displacement, loss and uncertainty, were also taking a severe toll on their mental health and psychosocial well-being.
Mr. Galtieri explained that in Taiz City, the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation was both a health and protection emergency. Lifesaving services were being significantly cut off for more than 147,000 women and girls of childbearing age. Only five of 27 designated emergency maternal and neonatal hospitals were partially functioning. UNFPA estimated that over 13,000 pregnant women lacked essential care, including 1,500 who were due to give birth within two weeks. Nearly 75 per cent of protection services had also been suspended. At the UNFPA-supported Swedish Motherhood and Childhood Hospital, the city’s main maternal care facility the number of childbirth deliveries had halved from ten to about five deliveries per day, while the number of incubators for premature babies had fallen from 40 to 10 because of fuel shortages. Night-time admissions had dropped to almost zero as insecurity and shelling prevent women from travelling. Midwives reported that severely malnourished pregnant women were surviving on one or two meals a day, such as tea and bread or plain rice, while miscarriages and unsafe home deliveries increased.
UNFPA and its partners were responding wherever access allowed to do so. Through the UN Rapid Response Mechanism, that UNFPA led on behalf of the Yemen Humanitarian Country Team, we have reached more than 182,000 people, or 75 percent of the displaced households. UNFPA echoed the Secretary-General’s call for an immediate de-escalation, the protection of civilians, and safe, sustained and unimpeded humanitarian access. Too often, the needs of women and girls were the first to be overlooked and the last to be heard. Their voices had to be heard, and their lives had to be treated as a priority.
Answering a question on safe drinking water in Taiz City, Mr. Galtieri explained that currently major issues were emerging with drinking water, while malnutrition was becoming evident. UNICEF was leading the effort to provide safe water, but the route from the government-controlled area into Taiz had been completely cut off. The mountainous roads of Yemen were not easy for trucks to navigate to start with, he reminded. Mr. Galtieri said that some 59 midwives supported by UNFPA were deployed to take responsibility within specific locations. Within the area of Taiz, there were an estimated 13,000 pregnant women, including 6,400 displaced women, of whom roughly 1,500 obstetric emergencies were expected because of the distress they had gone through.
Report on women in business and management
Jae-Hee Chang, Senior Relations Specialist, Bureau for Employers' Activities, at the International Labour Organization (ILO), stated that women today were more educated and skilled than ever before, and globally, women’s participation in tertiary education now exceeded men’s. Yet women still held only around 30 per cent of management positions worldwide, and women still accounted for less than a quarter of employers globally.
ILO’s Women in Business and Management: Scaling Success report drew on three rounds of ILO enterprise surveys in 2013, 2018 and 2025, as well as on three decades of labour-market data, and it looked at nearly 12,000 enterprises across 99 countries. Ms. Chang presented three key findings. First, there had been real progress at the top: in 2025, 28.2 per cent of enterprises surveyed had a woman CEO, up from 23.4 per cent in 2013, and the proportion with a woman board chair more than doubled, from 13.1 per cent to 30.9 per cent. While progress at the top was encouraging, it needed a strong pipeline beneath it if it was to continue and be effective. Second, enterprises were reporting a stronger business case for gender equality and diversity. Nearly seven in ten enterprises surveyed in 2025 had reported achieving better business outcomes with their gender equality and diversity initiatives, an increase of more than 11 percentage points since 2018. Enterprises reported benefits for attracting and retaining talent, innovation, reputation, employee engagement and productivity. Third, while the measures that enterprises considered effective were well known, fewer enterprises reported implementing such measures. Enterprises identified maternity leave and support programmes, measures to prevent and address violence and harassment, and equal-pay initiatives among the most effective actions. Yet across the initiatives examined, the average share of enterprises reporting implementation of such measures had fallen from 37.4 per cent in 2018 to 26.5 per cent in 2025.
Ms. Chang stated that the report raised an important question: how to move from policies and good intentions to concrete and sustained action? The evidence in this report reinforced a clear message: there had been progress, there was a strong business case, but considerable potential remained underutilized. The priority now was to sustain that progress and scale what worked. The full report would be presented on 4 November at 1:30 pm Central European Time, at a global livestreamed event through ILO-TV.
The report can be accessed here.
Replying to questions, Ms. Chang said that the report looked into labour data over 30 years. The proportion of managerial positions held by women went from about 24 percent to 30 percent over the reporting period. On another question, Ms. Chang said the report presented both global average and regional averages. Some regions required more attention than others.
Report on global digital connectivity
Thierry Geiger, Senior Economist at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), presented newly released ITU’s Facts and Figures 2026, its annual assessment of digital connectivity around the world, which brought together statistics on different aspects of digital connectivity, including Internet use, network coverage, affordability and digital skills. Connectivity played an important role in economic and social development, and unequal access to its benefits could reinforce existing inequalities. With the rapid development of artificial intelligence, there was a risk that these digital divides would widen further, leaving those who were already disadvantaged even further behind. Mr. Geiger informed that Internet use continued to grow, and an estimated 6.3 billion people used the Internet in 2026, representing 76 per cent of the world's population, up from 74 per cent in 2025. This global average, however, concealed very large disparities: 93 per cent of people in high-income countries used the Internet, compared with just 32 per cent in low-income countries. The world was getting close to universal mobile broadband coverage: 97 per cent of the world's population now lived within reach of a mobile broadband network, meaning 3G or more advanced technology. However, 5G covered 86 per cent of people in high-income countries, compared with just 4 per cent in low-income countries. These differences mattered because the technology available determined what people could actually do online.
Presenting another key finding, Mr. Geiger informed that coverage did not necessarily translate into actual Internet use. In LDCs, for instance, there was almost a 50-percentage point gap between the share of population who had access and the share who used the Internet. There were several barriers that helped explain this gap: affordability was one of them. A basic mobile data package now costed the equivalent of 1.2 per cent of monthly income per person, down from 1.3 per cent in 2025, but connectivity remained unaffordable for many. In low-income countries, the basic mobile data package costed the equivalent of 8 per cent of monthly income per person. Mr. Geiger concluded by stressing that the report confirmed that the world continued to make progress towards universal and meaningful connectivity, but that progress remained very uneven. What ultimately mattered was that everyone could benefit from connectivity. That meant having access to affordable, reliable, high-quality, services, suitable devices, the skills and the security to use them effectively and safely.
ITU’s report is available here.
Responding to a question, David Hirsch, also for ITU, said that connectivity was one of the priorities on the agenda of the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference, to be held in Doha from 9 to 27 November. The conference would be looking into connectivity requirements. Mr. Geiger emphasized the concept of universal meaningful connectivity, which meant that people were actually enabled to do online what they needed to do. He emphasized that the digital divide across genders, age groups, and regions, was closing, if more slowly than needed. On another question, Mr. Geiger said that this report looked at the situation on the ground rather than enablers and solutions.
Ebola outbreak
Responding to questions, Christian Lindmeier, for the World Health Organization (WHO), said that WHO had been warning about the expanding Ebola outbreak for many months. While there had been successes with local response and mobilization, the response was still behind what was needed. He reminded that USD 115 million was needed for the response, and sustained and flexible funding was paramount. As of 30 October, there had been more than 10,000 confirmed cases and 5,000 confirmed deaths. There had been more than 2,800 recorded recoveries. On 4 November at 4 pm, WHO Director-General would hold a regular press briefing, where he would be joined by several experts.
Announcements
Clare Nullis, for the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), informed that WMO and International Ski and Snowboard Federation had issued today a joint report on weather and climate services for ski resorts supports winter sports. This was not intended to be a forecast of the upcoming ski season, but rather a one-stop shop of guidance, resources to help ski operators and winter sport organizations make use of weather and climate information. Decisions across ski facility operations - from opening lifts the next morning to scheduling snow sports events, planning for the following season or investing in infrastructure intended to last for decades – were shaped by weather, snow and climate conditions. As the climate changed, reliable information was increasingly important for managing immediate operational risks, seasonal variability and longer-term adaptation of the tourism sector and entire mountain communities, said Ms. Nullis.
On 6 November at 2:30 pm, ahead of COP31 in Antalya, WMO would present it State of Climate 2026 Update, under embargo until 9 November. Speakers would be Celeste Saulo, WMO Secretary-General, and John Kennedy, WMO Head of Climate Information. A press conference was also planned in Antalya on 9 November.
Christian Lindmeier, for the World Health Organization (WHO), said that today at 1:30 pm there would be a press conference at the WHO on outlook of the climate and what to expect at COP31. An online webinar on adolescent physical activity would be held on 7 November at 1 pm.
Alessandra Vellucci, for the United Nations Information Service (UNIS), informed that the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) was reviewing reports submitted by Eswatini and Pakistan, to be followed by Mexico and Austria.
On 6 November, in Room XIV at 3 pm, together with the Human Rights Committee, CESCR was going to hold an event to mark the 60th anniversary of the two main human rights international covenants: on economic, social and cultural rights, and the second one on civil and political rights.
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