How to end gender based violence

Thank you for listening to Pictures Media Radio. Welcome to Policy and Rights, the show about government policy and human rights. Welcome about the Policy and Rights

here in Depictions Media Radio. I'm your host, Michael Cloggs. As you know, as a company and as as journalists that we on Hold, we stand against hate, and a lot of our messaging outside of just trying to report, we try to add commentary about how we can spread the love around the planet and how our human race needs to spread that love in order for us to survive. That by celebrating our diversity and our differences, that we're

going to create a stronger, more durable human race. There are those that that that do not agree with that, and there are those that believe that suppression, depression is the way to go that by going to war with other people and suppressing the ideas that oppose yours is the way to act and the way to control the world. So we have a statement from Switzerland in Japan and the ICC CO focal points in the UN Security Council on behalf of other

members. They're making a statement about how the ICC needs to move into Libya and prosecute those who have committed crimes more specifically hate crimes, gender based crimes, and war crimes. So hear that in a second, But let's move on and we're going to have eventually have a speaker from Chad focused on gender based crimes and how it is being dealt with. And the gender based crimes

do not necessarily mean that it's all against women. It could be turned against a man because of his sexuality, how he dresses, things like that, and the problems behind trying to report such acts against men as well as the problems of trying to get reports on what's happening against women, because we also know that in many African states that they believe in female circumcision, which actually mutilates the female anatomy and can cause problems later on not only with sexual activity,

but also child bearing. That there This has also been one of the missions of trying to spread healthcare through the education systems in Africa that has now been limited to take to taking in many areas taking women or girls back out of the school system. So there are issues around that as far as gender

base aggression is concerned. So we're gonna hear more about that, and that may be one of our main focuses today about gender based crime and how it's affected chat, especially because the United Nations had a specific spokesperson come and talk about that. But let's go back to Canada. There was an environmental report released and it was too let's say, grade how the Liberal government is handling climate change an environmental based of issues. Well, the Liberal government didn't do

so well. But what you're going to hear is the Minister of the Environment for the for the Canadian Liberal government, tried to spend it as Hey, we're the heroes and we're doing a great job. But basically in the report it said that they weren't doing a good job, that they weren't being transparent about all of their numbers, their pitfalls, their failings, that they're trying

to cover them over, that there are shirtcomings in their programs. I'm going to propose this when I remember way back when I was in school that if I got a failing grade, I had to come up with a plan to shore up my shirtcomings, the areas that I was weak. I had to strengthen them and not try to just simply brush them under the rug. It

would seem that the Liberal government is not taking this idea to heart. That they're trying to sweep their weaknesses under the rug so that no one can see them, and they don't want to deal with the things that are a problem within their environmental plan. It would seem that we need to well, let's

put this way. In Canada, we have a we have a simple problem that the only party that really wants to deal with environmental issues and and deal with with with climate change, regardless of profit or not, is the Green Party. Well, the Green Party is extremely small right now. I believe that that they may have two at best two members of parliament in here in a British columber where we're broadcasting from that there is a handful of members that

managed to be elected as members of legislation. Well, it's time to wake up that the NDP is going to side with the oil companies, to side with with the big industries, the corporations which want to keep polluting, as well as the Conservatives still want to still want wanted to lie in bed with these these same polluting companies. And on top of which, the liberal plan of carbon taxing only managed to raise the prices for the average consumer, making

it hard for most of us to live affordably. We need to look for a different solution. The Liberals, the Conservatives and NDP they all subscribe to the same exact solution of let's do what the corporations want so they can keep making profits. Only one party wants to throw the profits to the wind and

actually deal with the environmental changes that are coming from our planet. So we have we basically have choices of the same of the same, the same old, same old, just with a different sticker on it, or we can actually go out there and try to find a different way, a different path. Then it's going to be at first a lot rockier, but hey, when our great grandchildren are are thriving in a new environment, I worth it.

So when we start there, we're going to start with the with the environmental report card as headed to the liberal government and what they have to actually say about the great that they got and how they try to spend it so that it looks like, hey, we're doing a great job. Guys,

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fair plus. I'll do that rapidly in English. Thank you so much for for being here. I won't repeat the colleagues that they have the same name in French in English that they do in French. So thank you for being here. We're here to respond to the report by the Missioner of Environment and

Sustainable Development in twenty twenty three. If you're a political party and you hope to form a government and you have no plan to fight climate change, after we've gone through the worst summer in the history of our country in terms of climate impacts, We've seen the worst force fires, We've seen some of the worst droughts, floodings, the worst tropical storm last year, Fiona, if you don't have a plan to fight climate change, you don't have a plan

for the economy, and you don't have a plan to keep people safe in this country as well as around the world. Since we presented our emissions reduction plan last year, our government has put in place a number of new measures. I'll name a few. We've tabled draft regulations for the zero emission vehicle mandate. We've tabled draft regulations for the Clean Electricity Regulation to have a net

zero grid by twenty thirty five. We have eliminated fossil fuel subsidies. We're the only country in the G twenty to have done that, and we've done so two years in advance of that. On top of that, we have a number of measures that are coming in the coming weeks, the final regulations

on the z F mandate. We will have new methane regulations so that the oil and gas sector will have to reduce their methane emission by at least seventy percent by twenty thirty and we will have the framework for the cap on the oil and gas emissions. That being said, the report we tabled to the UN last December show that we're at thirty four percent towards achieving our forty percent emission reduction target by by twenty thirty. So I agree with the commissioner.

We need to do more, we need to do it faster, and that's exactly what our government is doing. And having no plan to fight climate change and not even be willing to recognize that you want to do something about climate change or even adhere to the Paris Agreement target is frankly immoral by the leader of the opposition, Mexiku. So first of all, I just want to start by saying that we welcome the Commissioner's report and thank him for the work

that he and his office have done. Le ben nou vesier le commisser ad que news Revois veble good news pu de mi ch and uh. And so that's good news, and I think the Commission's report underline that we are on track. He made a number of recommendations, of which with which I agree with all of them. A number of the recommendations he's made we've actually been working on for some time, including things like ensuring a broader distribution of electric

vehicle charging across the country. We have seen great progress, particularly in British Columbia, in Quebec and a few other regions in the country. That is in part because the provinces there have actually stepped up to help us to invest in the development of electric vehicle infrastructure. He also made some recommendations with respect

to the reliability of the infrastructure. That is very important. That is something we have been discussing with the Department now for some time, and there need to be improvements in that regard and so I have no disagreement with what he said. The last thing I would say, perhaps following on with what Minister Bilbo says, is electric vehicles and the infrastructure obviously an important part of climate

and addressing the climate crisis. Transportation is the second largest source of emissions in Canada, and so it is an important component of reducing in line with what we have committed to the world that we will do. I have to say, watching mister Poliav's event yesterday where he essentially refused to commit to working towards achieving climate targets is pretty shocking. We'll put Canada back on a path to becoming the dinosaur in the room that we used to be under Stephen Harper.

And to be honest with you, it is both reckless and it is taking a terrible risk with the future of our children. Good afternoon of one merci a or development rabas the priest depage merittin the MP and of Africans accept cammandatia realist ability porta information the priest the page it's in prior type, our contact the chance maximatic the res of result is sa preparia consequence to the to this end, d FO already released on solid sources of information to effectively monitor fisheries.

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collaboration the Commissari contin the page maritime commercial polish. Thank you. The Environment Commissioner said many times in his report that that your emissions reductions plan is not getting you where you need to go. It's not transparent enough, and it's based on a lot of rosy assumptions. You seem to think the third or suggests the thirty four percent is a good start and even though you have to do more. But he seems to think that that this report almost isn't worth

the weight of the paper it's printed on. I believe he said it's the best plan that we've ever seen in Canada as well. So I think, as as the end said, better is always possible. And for example,

he did talk about modeling. We've just finished a modeling exercise with independent stakeholders to help us and to make some proposal to the Department of Environment and Climate Change in terms of how we can be more transparent when it comes to presenting modeling information that we use to prepare the emissions reduction plan or the updates that will be that will be tabled in the House of Commons by the end of

the year target. He raised a lot of questions about the modeling that that puts the existing measures towards thirty four percent, So he still stand by that and stand by this plan is something that could incredibly get us to even that shortt follow the target. As I said, I think we can always do better. But if you're to believe the modeling when it's said we wouldn't get there, then if the modeling is saying the same modeling is saying getting there,

then I don't see why we shouldn't believe it. You can't have it both ways. You can't only believe the modeling when it says you're not getting there, and when it says we're actually getting there, then oh no, we don't believe in the modeling anymore. That being said, that that thing

he's he's the one is saying it. That's what I'm said. That being said, we we are working to improve that PAS com comiss remain a nique mayor plank if you don't need to peace one minutes killer this sila commisser development the very plan or no plan. The planking. The plank is experienta and plant present spans inspect span, trema span, saling st spans green, peach san this silver silver mayor plant a plan you proluse the transparence the commisser.

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who named the daughter comparable planet, who on adopted norm so present regular mass laoissi facil present regular mass do mil trans saying called the le cont report platform remitantando shows design sue Sue Stephen Arpur miniz on don't quite typically will it what specifically will you do to close that six percent? Yeah? Well so, as I said that the commissioner based his analysis on on last year's a mission Reduction report, there's a number of new things that have been presented since.

No, no, no, that's not what I'm saying, but we will be. We will be tabling by the end of the year in the House of Common the progress were on the emission reduction plan that was that was presented last year, and we will have some good news to tell Canadians on that. We're fine, we're finalizing it. So I can't go further than that at this point. But in terms of new measures clean buildings, Minister Wilkinson and I are working on on on a greening building strategy as well as a

new building code for Canada. The cap on the mission of the oil and gas sector, finalizing the zero mission vehicle regulations, new methane regulations. So these are these are all new elements that the that the Commissioner could not have have looked at because we haven't been we haven't finalized him. But we are in the process of doing that. So we're we're confident that we can get there. There's still seven years before twenty thirty. But we can't. We

can't. We can't go back. We can't do like Piopo llev say and show up here to this microphone and say I have no plan to work on climate change. I won't even commit to respecting the Paris Agreement. I and you and lie to you to say that there's no price on productrian for for larger meters in Canada, which we all know is not true. So we can't do that. We in order to meet our targets, we need to keep moving and keep working hard every day to ensure that we get there.

Who's that for? Who's absolutely Montre Mont Croissance Economic Augmunt, Thank you so much. Next up, a brief statement from in Japan and ICC about what has been happening in the briefings about Libya and the International Court Art. Good

morning. We would like to make this statement on behalf of the following members of the Security Council, as well as incoming members that are states parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court Albania, Ecuador, Friend Gabonu, Ghana, Guyana, Malta, the Republic of Korea, Sierra Leone, Slovenia,

United Kingdom and our own countries, Japan and Switzerland. We thank the ICC Prosecutor Mister Karim Khan, together with his team, for presenting the twenty sixth report of his office United Nations Security Council on the Situation in Libya in

a court with the mandate provided by Security Council Resolution nineteen seventeen. We recognize the efforts made by the Prosecutor's Office to advance the implementation of the renewed Strategy for Action on the Situation in Libya submitted in April of twenty twenty two.

In particular, we welcome the significant progress made in the four lines of inquiry identified in the strategy and note that the Office anticipates to be in a position to outline a potential roadmap for the completion of its activities and Resolution nineteen seventy

in its next report. We also welcome that the office's continuous presence in the region has enabled it to further intensify contact with victims, victims associations, and civil society organizations, thus enriching its investigations and providing access to key potential evidence. Moreover, we recognize the support provided to the Prosecutor's Office by the United Nations Support Mission in Libya, and welcome the coordinated investigative activities and international cooperation

with third states and international agencies. We note the recent positive engagement by the Libyan authorities and express our hope for continued cooperation, including on visa issuance, access to documents, engagement with relevant technical authorities, and responses to requests for assistance. We take note of efforts to this end, including towards establishing a

liaison office in Tripoli. We retrait that we will continue to comply with our cooperation obligations under their Rome Statute and encourage all states to fully support the Court in carrying out its important mandate of enjuring justice for the victims of the most serious crimes under international law. Finally, we reconfirm our unwavoring support for the

Court as an independent and impartial judicial Institution of last Resort. We reiterate our commitment to uphold and defend the principles and values and shrined in the Room Statute, and to preserve its integrity, undeterred by any threats or measures against the Court, its officials, and those cooperating with it. And we renew our resolve to stand united against impunity. Thank you very much. Violence of itself is a problem, and usually it is targeted, no matter how we want

to spin it, but it usually is targeted. And we're going to hear from a spokesperson from the United Nations about gender based violence, and what that really boils down to is that the violence is targeted because of gender or a

sexual diversity. It doesn't necessarily stop at rape. It may not always include rape, but it does include a act that is based on the fact that, Hey, I don't want you to feel strong because you are the person that you are, because I want to have power over you because I'm not secure in my gender or sexual identity. So why don't we listen to what

doctor Natalia Kanem has to say. She's the director of the United Nations Population Fund or the un FPA, and we're going to hear about her recent findings from a visit to Chad. Good afternoon. We are delighted to be joined by doctor Natali Kanam, who is the executive director of the UN Population Fund, who has just returned from Chad and who is here to brief you. Please welcome and you have the floor, and then we'll take some questions.

Thank you Stefan for the invitation to speak today. It's true. I'm just back from Chad and there I met with President Mohammad Idris Debbi and the Prime Minister Sally Kabzabo. We discussed progress on the sustainable development goals and the very real challenges facing women and girls in that country and why Chad. I went there because it risks becoming a forgotten priority and we shouldn't let that happen.

Chad today faces multiple challenges and a humanitarian emergency, instability, violence in neighboring countries, and the disproportionate impact of a climate crisis not of its own making, not to mention socioeconomic and other development challenges. Despite being one of the poorest countries in the world, Chad now hosts more than a million refugees, including newly some half a million who fled the conflict in Sudan over the past

six months. Most women and children, more than forty percent of the population around seven point six million people are in need of humanitarian assistance. And yet, however, the nine hundred and twenty one million dollars appeal for humanitarian operations to respond to identified needs has met only with a quarter response. Only twenty six percent has been met, so more support is urgently needed for essential needs.

Today, around one in seventeen people in Chad is a refugee according to the United Nations Refugee Agency, and with women and children in need of urgent aid, the government of Chad, with support from the international community, is doing its best to provide the basics of support. Pertinent to UNFPA, many of the women are victims of gender based violence in the countries that they fled

and or in the camps where they're now living. In my visit to a UNFPA run one stop center for violence survivors in Mundu in the south of Chad on Friday, i spoke to girls and young women who shared heartbreaking stories of pain and suffering, and in particular, a thirteen year old girl told me about the assault that she suffered at the hands of a neighbor. Luckily, her parents believed her and took her to this center, which is one of

eight in the country. There, she and other survivors are receiving medical and psychosocial support, as well as referrals for legal services and dignity kids, and of course a safe space where they can feel supported and protected. And it's all in a complex under one roof. And since we opened that center in June, already we've treed. We did more than thirty cases of gender based violence, including physical and intimate partner violence, sexual violence, and rape.

And tragically, one of the counselors told me that now they see that it's the youngest girls who are reporting the instances of rape, and my own experience as a doctor tells me that these cases represent the tip of the iceberg because typically people will not come forward and report. So UNFPA, as the lead agency for the coordination of gender based violence response in emergencies, is working to prevent violence and also, if it happens, to restore agency and power to

survivors. And we do this through effective, integrated and coordinated programming and life saving services and again and again everywhere in the world. We are seeing women and girls forced to confront the worst of wars that they did not start,

and what they need is peace in their homes and communities. Events such as in the Middle East over the past month and again Soudan, which is at the six month mark of that conflict, are showing us just how fragile peace is, how easily it can be shattered, and how devastating this is for

the most vulnerable, particularly women and children. So stopping the cycle of conflict, of course, is possible, and that will be hastened when women have a voice and a choice, when women are economically empowered, and when women

and young people participate in security and justice systems. So I'll end by informing you that during my visit, in meeting with women leaders who are deeply committed, who are trying to strengthen the participation of women in these peace and prosperity processes towards building a better future for Chad, they tell me that they want to leave a path for their daughters to follow. And at this fraught moment in human history, it is clear that the fate of humanity does not belong

in the hands of men wielding bombs. Indeed, it rests with women and allies standing together waging peace. I left that country with a sense of what's possible for UNFPA programs assisting government to improve quality of life, resilience and even in the face of adversity. I saw our personnel, those midwives, the noble midwives, the doctors, the nurses, the psychosocial counselors, other health workers, the civil society trying to change the fate for women and girls.

And I felt very touched in speaking to that thirteen year old who did manage a small smile at the end of our conversation over fifteen or twenty minutes when I asked her about school, and she said yes, that she's determined to continue her education and she wants to keep working so that she can have a

better future. I call on the international community to increase financial and humanitarian support to this country and others in the region, and to respond not just to immediate events, but also to lay the foundations for sustainable development so that the women and girls and all the people in Chad can reach their full potential.

Thank you stef Thank you to Tyllia Edie. Thank you very much. Doctor Cunyn from on behalf of the United Nations Correspondents Association for doing this briefing Edith Letterer from the Associated Press. Three follow ups to what you said, why do you think it's young women who are reporting sexual violence and not older women? And what are these refugees from Darforth saying about the situation in Darforth? And I assume they're still flooding across the water the border because it hasn't ended

yet. And what did the President and the Prime ministers say to you about what they're doing? Thank you well, thank you very much, indeed good to see you. The answer to the question of why younger women versus older women we don't have the best handle on I will hazard a guess that for

one thing, and the example I gave. Some of the work that we've done over the course of the months and years are making it easier for people who can be stigmatized to believe their daughters and to bring them for care. A lot of what we try to do on the prevention side is human rights oriented, to say that this is not something that we overlook and sweep under

the rug that everyone has rights. But I believe that we would actually have to go and look at the incidents in order to understand maybe there is more attacks on younger girls who can be vulnerable as they're going to get the firewood, or as they're walking around the community, or if they're going out to the latrine at night. So these are factors which I think we need to

look at in order to understand for the issue of darfour. It has been absolutely horrendous to know that as traumatic as it's been in that region of Sudan over the years, right now we are seeing that women indeed are reporting appalling instances of sexualized gender based violence and the protection is really flimsy because of the

nature of the conflict, so as they pour across the borders. UNFPA working as part of the IASC and we're actually meeting across the street right now ed UNFPA has deployed specialists on GBV on the Chadian side of that Sudan border and

working with the International NGO Humanitarian sector. We're taking report, we're doing clinical management services the medical side, but we're also trying to proceed on the impunity side so that there will be eventual accountability for this perpetual issue of women being victimized in Sudan, and I might say the same thing about DRC. Both

the President and the Prime Minister of Chad express two things. One is that they're doing more than their share in terms of keeping the borders open and accepting

people who were crossing. But they did express the fatigue, the sense that as a host government they have enough problems trying to cater to their own population, as you know, high maternal mortality, as you know, the nutrition issues with the desert coming closer, etc. And so while expressing a willingness to be hospitable neighbors, they were also frankly challenging me as an official of the UN, how can we increase the resources that are given to the host

country population alongside our appeals for the refugees in the South of Sudan. I'm sorry in the south of Chad where I was, it's an area where Central African Republic, Cameroon and other countries in the neighborhood are also contributing to the refugee and IDP issues. Thank you, thank you, really thank you.

Amili Boutonier from AFP News Agency. You mentioned a number of casey that were handled by your support center in Chad, but do you have any kind of idea how widespread these attacks against women are in Chad and whether it's more important in the refugee population or in the common I mean, the Chadian population, Thank you very much. The cases that I'm speaking of are both within Chad

and also in refugee populations who have come across borders. Even as recent as last week, this issue of perpetrators of sexual violence as almost becoming routine in conflict was the subject of a meeting in Comoros where Ellen Johnson's SURLEIF and her initiative on Positive Masculinities as the African Union is calling It was a subject of discussion because of the high levels of incidences that we see for the background issues.

It's clear that conflict aggravates gender based violence, rape, instances of sexual assault. As you know, even during COVID, any stressor on the family tends to aggravate and in flame what is probably a baseline level of disrespect for the bodily autonomy of women. And as a humanity Carrian sector, we're also insisting that this must now be prioritized. The problem with GBV gender based violence

is that when it goes unpunished and becomes derrigure. The acts get so heinous and so widespread that the ability to cope of the individual, of course, but also of the system gets destroyed. This is a human rights violation and we want it to be taken seriously, and we want prevention measures, but also for measures of amelioration. It's a PTSD type syndrome that's going to affect

this woman or this child for the rest of her life. Parenthetically, men too can be subject to sexual violence and assault, and there it's an even tougher problem to come forward. But we have to bear in mind that bodily autonomy is sacrisact and the this should not be exploited in a time of community conflict. Thank you, thank you, and I'll deserve English. Thank you so much. I actually have a follow up question on Amilie's initial question.

You mentioned that their eight gender based violence centers in the country. Can you tell me a little bit about their geographical distribution. I think what I'm trying to figure out is their proximity to refugee camps, refugee communities. How accessible

are these eight centers? Well, thank you very much, and we can get you the details because I'm not really so aware of the exact locations, but the purpose of the centers of which I spoke was actually initially to serve the chatty and population, and this is a strategy that UNFPA uses in concert with local communities, typically with an NGO and with the Midwiffrey community which is very close to the ground, and a lot of our staff, our local

staff are drawn from those communities. So in the particular one where I went to visit, which was new, and that was I think one of the reasons that they chose for me to go and see this inaugural center, the government cooperation and the local governor there, who actually is thirty six years old, one of the youngest governors in the country, have made it a center which not only works on what I've explained, but there's also a bona fide

Fistula hospital that does pretty advanced repairs when the uterus is torn during prolonged labor. This is an issue usually for a woman who is not a woman, she's a child who was too young to be pregnant to begin with, or a woman who's already on her seventh, eighth, ninth child and the musculature of the womb is weak. So because fistula, which I believe you're aware, is also an embarrassing condition for many women, especially in an environment where

being un clean does not allow you to participate in society. You're leaking urine VCS. Lord knows it's a pretty debilitating condition. So the ability of this magnificent surgeon who spends a lot of his time in doing these complex repairs on site, has really transformed the ability to repair damage once done. I hasten to say that UNFPA's goal is to assure that people know about the dangers of

prolonged labor. Usually this is after you've been in labor for two three days when the universe will rupture, and that the basic services of prenatal care are accessible to people. Chad has a very high fertility rate, so contraception is also important in terms of spacing children. This is something women are aware of and we're doing our best to bring those resources of contraception to their doorstep. But again takes resources, it takes planning, and I believe it also takes

women and girls knowing their rights from a very early age. Thank you Eva, Thank you Evelyn Leopold. Is good to see you again. And FGM what is the trend? Is it staying the same or is it rising in some areas. You know, I'm really happy that you're asking about female genital mutilation because this is something that we can all do something about, quote unquote in our lifetimes. Changing culture may be difficult, but it can be done.

And it's been wonderful to see the resolve of so many countries. And we add to the list each and every year where UNISEF and UNFPA jointly work on ending female genital mutilation. The trend was going pretty well COVID disrupted the education system and kept girls at home. So we're anxiously looking at the data now and disaggregating it to see if, as we suspect, the fact that girls were not at school meant that they were home and available for FGM to

be performed. Yet, and still, this is one where governments and in particular women led organizations have declared the end of FGM. We have a whole host of traditional leaders who have signed up to say that this is not only not required by religion by practice, but that it is indeed harmful. And so I think the movement against FGM is picking up steam and as part of

the thirtieth anniversary of Cairo ICPD next year. This is going to be one of the top ambitions that we have as a sexual and reproductive health sector worldwide. Thank you. Any more questions, yes, Margaret is shir I will just ask you one on Gaza. Since we're at the end, I can't let you leave the room without asking you about all the pregnant women who are

in Gaza and many do to give birth this month. What's U NFPA doing to try and get birthing kits to them and assistants to them, even just I guess educational assistance on the basics of midwiffree specifically on Gaza, And thank you for that question. Yes, we have assessed that there are fifty thousand pregnant women in Gaza, none able to access regular maternal health care at this moment, and fifty five hundred newborns were born during the course of the last

month. I have to stress, as I just have in the meeting we're having of the humanitarian sector across the street, that if you have one hundred and eighty women giving birth every day under these conditions, food, water, medicines, the access to cesarean sections and to care for the newborn depend on fuel. If you are a pregnant woman, you actually need double the amount of fluid and water than the regular person, and if you're a lactating mother

it's triple. So UNFPA joins the rest of the un in the concern about the quality of the water. Brackish water is not a solution and so for these deceel plants to operate, fuel is essential, and I believe you would have seen that we had a joint statement from the humanitarian sector a day ago.

I also feel that while we have had some supplies enter over the last couple of days, it's a drop in the bucket, and I think our Secretary General has spoken to having the flows of relief at the scale that's required when you literally have two point two million people in need and women and children

bearing the brunt of the situation. While we've had truckloads two truckloads of reproductive health kits arriving in Gaza, with the clean delivery kits and the medications and the emergency obstetric care supplies, again this is minuscule compared to the need, and so we're very eager to see those entry points open and for the humanitarian pause cease fire. The semantics don't matter. The conflict must stop so that

people can access aid. Thank you very much. Could I just ask you on that one follow up on you say there's been two trucks with maternal supplies, how many would you normally send or how many are needed? How much do you have waiting at Alriche for instance. I mean, just give us a little bit of a context. Well, in fact, let me get back to you on what's in the pipeline, because we do participate in a

joint convoy that's waiting in that line on the Egyptian border. However, I have to stress that for my UNFPA colleagues and you know for whom I'm responsible, who are in Gaza, some of them have lost multiple members of their families in one day. Civilians and hospitals should never be targets. So while we've had the two truckloads, and of course you know, something is always

better than nothing, my anxiety is that these supply save lives. They're vital and the fact is that life goes on even during conflict, and we do owe it to these women to be there for them during the time of pregnancy and childbirth. So when I hear from my staff that they're sitting at home and having breakfast and the house gets bombed and the rubble is there, and you know, in this particular instance, the pregnant woman survived, as did

the newborn. But it's very, very harrowing to know that it's in our hands to be able to change that dynamic, and I do hope that all efforts will succeed to change that. And immediately, thank you very much. Definitely, Okay, thank you. One follow up on that, you said that about a hun and eighty women are giving births every day. Do you have any indication of the survival of those women and their babies since October seventh? The truth is that it is impossible to be able to assess what happens

to these nearly two hundred pregnancies on a daily basis. For the ones who are delivering at home and where our midwives have access. The reports are coming in, but you know the level of disruption that's taken place there. So I wouldn't say that we have trustworthy data beyond the estimates that we made at the beginning of the period. Certainly we know that for those who are in

the hospital. We have seen losses of life, and we also understand that if you are a premature newborn, and we would expect that the levels of prematurity rise when stressors rise, you need your incubator. You're a little baby who has to have oxygen. All of this depends on fuel supply. So I think this is part of our very sincere plea that civilian life must be protected and for us as UNFPA, the road to peace really depends on opening

these avenues of compassion and following humanitarian and international law. Thank you, thank you so much. Like I said before, here Depictions Media Radio, we try to spread the love and find ways in messages to help us as human beings be more human to each other, stop the hate, and stop trying to roll over people because they are different than us. You've been listening to Policy and Rights here and Depictions when your radio, Please find that subscribe button

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