Floods in Pakistan UN Geneva Press Briefing

Alessandra Vellucci, Director of the United Nations Information Service (UNIS) in Geneva, recalled a statement from the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres of 3 September, who said he was profoundly sadden by the recent floods in northern Pakistan. The disaster – caused by a severe monsoon exacerbated by climate change – had affected some 1.5 million people and left hundreds of thousands of people in need of humanitarian aid. The Secretary-General commended Pakistani authorities for relocating more than one million people in Punjab. He expressed his solidarity with the Government and people of Pakistan, extended his heartfelt condolences to the families of those who had lost their lives, and wished a swift recovery to those who had been injured. The United Nations and its partners were working closely with Pakistani authorities to rapidly assess the humanitarian impact of the floods, identify needs and address gaps in the response to the disaster. The Emergency Relief Coordinator, Tom Fletcher, had released 600,000 United States dollars from the Regional Humanitarian Pooled Fund to support relief and recovery efforts, and discussions were underway with the Government on a response plan.

Farid Abdulkadir, Head of Delegation in Pakistan, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), said that since late June, Pakistan has endured one of the most punishing monsoon seasons in recent memory. Torrential rains had triggered widespread flooding, landslides, and destruction across nearly every province: from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan, Gilgit–Baltistan, and Azad Jammu and Kashmir, with over one million people directly affected and over two million indirectly affected.

As of 5 September, 884 lives had been lost, with thousands more injured, according to the Pakistan National Disaster Management Authority. Over one million people had been evacuated, nearly 9,363 homes partially or fully destroyed, over 6,180 livestock swept away, and entire communities cut off from clean water, food, and healthcare.

Punjab Province, the most populous province of Pakistan with a population of 250 million, was the worst affected. The death toll could have been higher, but preparatory measures taken to protect the population by the Pakistani Government, the Pakistani Red Crescent and various other organisations had reduced the impact. Volunteers were now preparing for flooding in Sindh Province as the water moved downstream, hoping to reduce the impact.

The Pakistan Red Crescent Society (PRCS) had mobilised with extraordinary speed and commitment. Relief teams had been deployed; thousands of food rations and other supplies had been distributed. Mobile health teams had treated hundreds of patients with the provision of free medicines, and filtration plants were now providing clean water to flood-hit communities.

With over 1,000 staff and 20,000 volunteers, PRCS was deeply embedded in the communities it served through its seven provincial and over 60 district branches across the country. It was uniquely positioned to deliver both immediate relief and long-term recovery.

Floods had occurred almost daily in these regions during monsoon periods in recent years, some of which had been attributed to climate change. Pakistan had low emissions levels but was disproportionately affected by climate change.

To support Pakistan’s vulnerable communities, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) had launched a 17 million Swiss franc emergency appeal. So far, the response had been very poor. IFRC had already dispatched a one million Swiss franc allocation from its Disaster Response Emergency Fund, which would help scale up life-saving operations and respond to the current crisis.

We needed to act now—not only to respond to this crisis, but to invest in preparedness and resilience. The people of Pakistan needed our solidarity, support, and sustained attention.

Clare Nullis for the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said there was no immediate respite in sight from the floods. The Pakistan Meteorological Department’s latest forecast indicated that there was a low-pressure system currently in Madhya Pradesh, India that was likely to move west-north-west and bring strong monsoon currents to eastern Punjab from 6 September. Heavy rains could generate flash floods in streams in Kashmir, Islamabad, Rabindi, north-east Punjab and Swat, and cause slow-moving but devastating urban flooding in low-lying areas. There were warnings of landslides and mudslides, which could cause road closures in vulnerable hilly areas.

This was a continuation of what had been seen over the past few weeks, where landslides and mudslides in Pakistan and mountainous regions of India had cause heavy loss of life.

Compounding the situation was the fact that high temperatures were causing glacial melt. The Pakistan Meteorological Department had this summer issued repeated warnings about “glacial lake outburst floods”. The most recent one, on 30 August, said that there was much higher than normal temperatures, which could accelerate glacier melt.

Unfortunately, every year in recent years, Pakistan had suffered from bad flooding. In 2022, nearly 1,700 people lost their lives from flooding, and this year was looking to be bad again. Climate change played a big role in this phenomenon - for each additional degree Celsius of temperature increase, the atmosphere held around seven per cent more water, which led to more rainfall and flooding, and the risk of glacial flooding also increased.

In response to questions, Mr. Abdulkadir said the Pakistani Red Crescent and the Pakistani Government were collecting data on the impact of the floods. Figures given were from June to the start of September.

Before the rain started, people were warned of floods. Much was done before the flooding by authorities, humanitarians and communities to reduce the impact, and to evacuate and warn people. The time used to prepare for the flooding could have been used for food production, but if this disaster prevention work was not done, the number of deaths could have been huge. The power of nature was never to be underestimated.

There had been similar events in other parts of the world that had caused much devastation. In Pakistan, floods were predictable, but they had caused serious damage due to their volume.

Also in response to questions, Ms. Nullis said Pakistan monitored glacial outburst floods very closely. Pakistan was not the only country that suffered from glacial flooding; the phenomenon was being seen in the Himalayas and other high mountainous regions. The Pakistan Meteorological Department had mapped flood areas in the State.

Report on Violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Ravina Shamdasani for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said that in February this year, the Human Rights Council asked the OHCHR to establish a Fact-Finding Mission (FFM) on the escalation of violence in North and South Kivu.

The report of the FFM, which covered the period between January and July this year, was released today, and it made for difficult reading. The FFM’s work was intended to serve as a foundation for the Commission of Inquiry that was mandated by the same resolution of the Human Rights Council to, in turn, conduct comprehensive investigations into events since 2022.

The report identified serious human rights violations committed by all parties to the conflict - by the M23, supported by the Rwanda Defence Forces (RDF), as well as the Congolese Armed Forces (FARDC) and affiliated armed groups.

It said that the M23 armed group, “with training, material, intelligence, and operational support from the Rwanda Defence Forces”, captured major cities in North and South Kivu. The group engaged in a campaign of intimidation and violent repression through a recurrent pattern of summary executions, torture, detention, enforced disappearances and forced recruitment targeting anyone “perceived as opposing the M23, regarded as a threat to its notion of order and security, or deemed fit to fight or serve the movement”.

M23 members also systematically carried out widespread sexual violence, including gang rape and sexual slavery. Women and girls were disproportionately targeted, but men, boys, and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals were also victims of sexual violence, including in detention.

Hundreds of children were detained by M23, and young males forcibly recruited. The report exposes the enormous toll of the conflict on children of all ages.

Daily violations across the entirety of the territory under the M23’s control followed discernible, recurring patterns, indicating a high degree of organization, planning, and resource mobilisation.

There were reasonable grounds to believe that M23 members could have committed the crimes against humanity of murder, severe deprivation of liberty, torture, rape and sexual slavery, enforced disappearance, and deportation or forcible transfer of population.

The report also documented grave violations committed by the DRC Armed Forces (FARDC) and affiliated armed groups, such as Wazalendo, including deliberate killings of civilians. It identified a pattern of widespread use of sexual violence, mainly rape and gang rape against women and girls, and looting by members of FARDC and Wazalendo during their retreat from the frontlines in January and February.

Perpetrators operated in large groups and in multiple localities simultaneously. Wazalendo armed groups recruited children under the age of 15 and used them in hostilities. These children were used in combat and in support roles, with girls also being used for sexual purposes.

The report found that both DRC and Rwanda bear responsibility for their support to armed groups with known track records of serious abuses, and for failing to meet their obligations to take all measures to ensure respect for international humanitarian law and to protect civilians from harm.

Specifically, the report stressed that Rwanda was responsible for violations directly committed by its armed forces on the territory of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The FFM had received “credible allegations concerning the covert presence of RDF personnel within M23”.

The report also stated that the DRC bore responsibility not only for the violations committed by its armed forces, but also by its affiliated armed groups “to the extent that their members acted under its direction or control”.

The report also expressed concern over the lack of focus on accountability and support for victims in the peace agreement signed between the DRC and Rwanda on 27 June.

The atrocities described in this report were horrific. It was heartbreaking and deeply frustrating to witness, once again, the dehumanisation of the civilian population by those in power, who were failing in their responsibilities.

It was imperative to promptly and independently investigate all allegations of violations with a view to ensuring accountability and victims’ right to truth, justice and reparations, especially guarantees of non-repetition.

Read the full press release here.

In response to questions, Ms. Shamdasani said the information that the OHCHR had gathered indicated that M23 members had committed severe crimes against humanity. The report did not find that the threshold of crimes against humanity had been met for the actions carried out by the FARDC, but this did not take away from the seriousness of the violations that had been documented over a short period of time. Paragraph 78 of the report provided details on documented crimes by FARDC.

The Office was concerned by the geographic spread of the crimes and their repetitive nature, as well as the number of victims. Long-standing structural problems in the DRC and the impunity under which these groups were operating had been neglected. These issues needed to be addressed as soon as possible.

After the signing of the peace deal on 27 June, there had been continuing commission of violations, including sexual violence, particularly in South Kivu. There was a lack of funding for support services for victims of sexual violence. Victims were subjected to stigma and no longer had access to the meagre amount of support that they formerly received. The M23 had been targeting human rights defenders and civil society organizations, people who would normally provide services to victims.

The FFM had conducted missions to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda and Burundi. The OHCHR thanked the Governments of these States for their cooperation. The FFM had not, however, been given access to refugee camps in Uganda or to Goma, so could not visit the areas controlled by the M23.

The report showed how serious the situation was, the scale of the violations and the complete impunity that perpetrators had. There had recently been jailbreaks, with perpetrators of serious human rights violations now on the loose. The report drove home the importance of accountability and justice for these violations.

The OHCHR was mandated by the Human Rights Council to document exactly what had happened in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. There was propaganda from all sides, and it was crucial for the OHCHR to be able to assess what had happened objectively and establish responsibility. It had been given this important mandate but not the funding to carry it out. Despite having to reduce its presence on the ground and cut staff contracts, the Office had managed to carry out the FFM and document gross human rights violations. It was crucial that the Commission of Inquiry established by Member States to investigate the situation was adequately funded and able to carry out its mandate.

The FFM had documented the names of some perpetrators of human rights violations. The International Criminal Court was also involved in investigations.

Also answering questions about whether these crimes currently continued, Alessandra Vellucci, Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, quoted Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General, who said on Wednesday, 2 September that in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, violence continued to claim civilian lives and drive new displacement. In Kalehe Province in the north of the country, partners on the ground reported that clashes between armed groups persisted as recently as Tuesday. According to local sources, at least 22 women were raped during armed clashes in several villages in the territory between 22 and 31 August.

Victims did not receive medical care within the critical 72-hour period following the incidents amid shortages of resources – including medical supplies – and security constraints. Sadly, due to recent funding cuts, more than half of the gender-based violence services had been suspended across the country.

The violence had also forced nearly 23,000 persons to flee their homes, in addition to the more than 128,000 people who already had been displaced in Kalehe between May and August. In this territory, the UN and humanitarian partners were providing nutrition support, health care and assistance in agricultural recovery.

The 2025 Humanitarian Response Plan, which sought 2.5 billion United States dollars (USD) to assist 11 million people, was currently funded at less than 15 per cent, with only 376 million USD received as of Wednesday. This shortage in funding severely limited the UN’s ability to reach all the people who were in desperate need.

Christian Lindmeier for the World Health Organization (WHO) said yesterday, health authorities had declared an outbreak of the Ebola virus in Kasaï Province, where thus far 28 suspected cases and 16 deaths had been reported, some of which involved healthcare workers. Kasaï Province was not an area where violations involving the M23 referenced in the OHCHR report had occurred.

WHO had deployed 12 staff on the ground, with more on the way, joining a rapid response team set up to find cases and collect samples. This was a very remote area - the team left under the lead of the Government on Monday, but were still 60 kilometres short of their destination by Thursday evening. It was delivering personal protective equipment, mobile laboratory equipment, and medical supplies. It had prepositioned 2,000 doses of the Ebola vaccine in Kinshasa, which had now been released to vaccinate health workers and persons who had come into contact with the virus. The WHO Director-General would provide more details at his press briefing today at 3 p.m.

Withdrawal of the United States from the Universal Periodic Review

In response to a question, Ravina Shamdasani for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said the High Commissioner for Human Rights and his Office regretted the United States’ decision not the engage in the Universal Periodic Review, which was an important peer review process that all Member States of the United Nations participated in, regardless of whether they were members of the Human Rights Council or not. Constructive engagement with the Council by the United States and all States had contributed to the promotion and protection of human rights worldwide over the years. The OHCHR would continue to engage with the United States government, as well as with civil society, businesses, academia, and others, on human rights issues.

United States Strike on Venezuelan Boat

In response to a question on a strike by the United States on a boat off Venezuela, Ravina Shamdasani for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said the OHCHR’s position was that people should not be killed for using, trafficking or selling drugs. It was essential that States’ responses to illicit drug trafficking respected international human rights law. When countering illicit trafficking, law enforcement officials needed to respect basic principles on the use of force under international law. The intentional use of lethal force was only permissible as a measure of last resort when there was an imminent threat to life. Any loss of life in the context of a law enforcement operation needed to be independently, promptly and transparently investigated.

Announcements

Alessandra Vellucci, Director of the United Nations Information Service (UNIS) in Geneva, said that the Human Rights Council’s sixtieth session was starting next Monday, 8 September at 10 a.m. in the Assembly Hall of the Palais des Nations.

On Tuesday, 9 September at 1 p.m., the Human Rights Council’s Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for the Sudan would hold a press conference for the launch of its latest report. Speaking would be Mohamed Chande Othman, Chair of the Fact-Finding Mission; and Joy Ngozi Ezeilo and Mona Rishmawi, expert members of the Fact-Finding Mission.

The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights would open next Monday at 10 a.m. its seventy-eighth session (8-26 September), during which it would review the reports of the Russian Federation, Colombia, Chile, the Netherlands, Zimbabwe and Lao People's Democratic Republic.

On 9 September, the United Nations Secretary-General would launch a new report on the impact of rising global military spending on the Sustainable Development Goals, titled “The Security We Need: Rebalancing Military Spending for a Sustainable and Peaceful Future”. It showed that there had been an unprecedented surge in military spending in recent years as global security deteriorated, which had led to progress on the Goals falling short. United Nations Under-Secretary-General of Disarmament Affairs Izumi Nakamitsu and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Acting Administrator Haoliang Xu would hold a press conference in New York on 9 September at 5 p.m. Geneva time to launch the report. The press conference would be webcast live on UN Web TV.

Today was the International Day of Charity, something very important in our incredibly difficult world.

Sunday, 7 September was the International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies and International Day of Police Cooperation, and Monday, 8 September was International Literacy Day, an initiative of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

Ms. Vellucci encouraged journalists and communication professionals to participate in a free specialised training course on reporting on environmental crimes.