REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Elena Ponomareva-Piquier, Chief of the Press and External Relations Section of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired the briefing which dealt mainly with the tsunami relief efforts. Participating in the briefing were Spokespersons for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the World Food Programme, the United Nations Children's Fund, the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees, the World Health Organization, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the International Organization of Migration, the International Telecommunication Union, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the World Trade Organization and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.

Secretary-General Launches Flash Appeal for the Indian Ocean Earthquake-Tsunami

Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said Secretary-General Kofi Annan had yesterday launched a Flash Appeal of $ 977 million in Jakarta as he spoke at the Special ASEAN Leaders' Meeting on the Aftermath of the Earthquake and Tsunami. Copies of the Secretary-General's statement were in the press room and copies of the Flash Appeal were in the Documentation Centre. At a press conference that followed, the Secretary-General urged Governments to transform their pledges of aid into cash as quickly as possible. Copies of the transcript of the press conference were available, as well as copies of the highlights of a press conference given by the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Jan Egeland.

Director-General Leads UN Staff Efforts in Geneva to Raise Money for Victims

Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said the Director-General of UNOG, Sergei Ordzhonikidze, had called on the Heads of the UN agencies in Geneva to contribute to the raising of funds and emergency items for the victims of the tsunami and had asked them to encourage their respective Staff Councils to liase with the UNOG Staff Coordinating Council in order to ensure the best coordination of the support. With the support of the Staff Coordinating Council, an account had been opened to accept contributions for the victims.

A collection of money to help the victims would be held on Tuesday, 11 January from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. at all the entrances of the Palais and containers for clothes and other essential goods had been placed at doors 6 and 40.

Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

Elizabeth Byrs of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said OCHA was working with the local authorities on the ground and was now reaching more and more of the victims of the tsunami. There was good coordination between the local authorities, the United Nations, and non-governmental organizations. But there remained some logistical problems. There were increasing numbers of representatives of the UN agencies and representatives of non-governmental organizations on the ground which would help.

In addition to the coordination meeting being held in Geneva daily, there would now be a daily meeting at 5 p.m. of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee in Geneva. A situation report would be issued almost daily, and the next one would be out this afternoon and would be sent electronically to journalists. Concerning the ministerial-level information meeting of 11 January for Member States and the Inter-Agency Standing Committee to discuss and update support for the tsunami relief effort, journalists now had all the necessary information.

World Food Programme

Christiane Berthiaume of the World Food Programme said the Executive Director of WFP, James Morris, was today visiting Aceh and would tomorrow be giving a press conference in Jakarta at 2 p.m. local time.

Ms. Berthiaume said WFP was continuing with its distribution of food aid. Luckily, WFP already had stockpiles of food in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Thailand so the food distributions had started immediately. To date, WFP had distributed food aid to more than 1 million persons. Yesterday, as part of the inter-agency Flash Appeal, WFP had asked for $ 256 million in order to feed 2 million persons for the next six months. In Indonesia, 1 million persons needed food aid and in Sri Lanka, 750,000 needed to be fed. WFP also had to provide food aid to 50,000 in the Maldives and 200,000 in other parts of the region. Logistics were the main problem. There were areas in northern Aceh which were inaccessible except by helicopter. Roads had been seriously damaged. It was also the monsoon season and there were heavy rains in Sri Lanka. All this greatly complicated the efforts to distribute the food. WFP had convoys of trucks. Its goal was to daily distribute 700 tons of food in Indonesia and 500 tons in Sri Lanka. The Maldives had 200 islands so again logistics complicated food distribution there. There was good news from Myanmar where assessment teams had decided that damages were less than those originally feared. In total, it was now believed that 15,000 persons needed aid. WFP had already received around 25 per cent of the money it was asking for in the Flash Appeal. It hoped further contributions would be in cash which would allow it to buy food from the region and to cut down on transport costs.

The United Nations Children's Fund

Wivina Belmonte of the United Nations Children's Fund said that there were copies of an information note at the back of the room which spelt out UNICEF's part of the UN Appeal. Also it noted that a cargo plane had arrived in the Maldives today carrying educational and emergency relief supplies. This cargo plane was symbolic of the kind of help which was needed in the region at the moment. Part of the materials arriving today in the Maldives aimed to get the school system up and running again. The materials arriving today would help set up 73 temporary classrooms. There was a back-to-school effort which would start on 25 January.

Ms. Belmonte said that in Aceh, apparently 1,100 teachers had been killed in the tsunami. Nonetheless, the Ministry of Education in Indonesia was putting as its main priority to get schools working again by 1 February. There were enough supplies and textbooks on the way to set up 600 temporary schools very quickly.

In Sri Lanka, back-to-school efforts were scheduled for 20 January. Thailand had already restarted its schools, even in the worst hit areas.

Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees

Ron Redmond of the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees said UNHCR's portion of the UN Flash appeal was $ 75 million for operations in Indonesia's Aceh province, Sri Lanka and Somalia. UNHCR would focus on shelter, non-food aid and logistical support. As the High Commissioner noted yesterday, an enormous amount of international solidarity and support had been offered to meet the needs of millions of disaster victims, but now donors needed to quickly offer financial support so that the momentum could continue. Meanwhile, UNHCR was continuing its activities using its existing resources and a $ 5 million loan from its emergency reserves. That money had to be repaid.

In Sri Lanka, UNHCR was airlifting extra relief supplies this weekend. It needed to replenish all the stocks which it had distributed in an around-the-clock operation which began the day that the tsunami struck. UNHCR was also trying to strengthen the existing distribution network which would be used to support all of the UN agencies. On Saturday, 8 January, a charter flight from Frankfurt carrying five huge portable warehouses and 10,000 plastic sheets from Copenhagen was scheduled to arrive in Colombo. Twenty thousand additional cooking sets were being brought in from New Delhi. Since 26 December, UNHCR had distributed relief supplies for 100,000 persons or 20,000 families. In Indonesia, Assistant High Commissioner Kamal Morjan was in Aceh today. He had visited the destruction zone and had been horrified by what he saw. UNHCR was also assisting disaster victims in the northeast of Somalia by providing relief supplies and shelter materials for 5,000 households. WFP was helping UNHCR distribute these materials.

Mr. Redmond said UNHCR was reminding donors of the enormous needs still faced by millions of refugees and others of concern around the world. In a meeting in Geneva yesterday with donor countries, UNHCR urged donors to ensure that their generosity for victims of this disaster would not be at the expense of the 17 million refugees and others of concern to UNHCR.

World Health Organization

Fadela Chaib of the World Health Organization said WFP's Director-General Lee Jong-wook was today in Sri Lanka where he would visit tsunami-affected areas. He would return to Geneva on Saturday, 8 January. After visiting Aceh yesterday, he had expressed his admiration for the courage and determination of those working in the health sector with minimal hygienic and security resources. To date, there was no news of any epidemics arising in the tsunami-affected areas. A situation report was available at the back of the room with the latest information. In Indonesia, persons in camps in Banda Aceh were suffering from infected wounds, minor injuries, aspiration pneumonia, respiratory tract infection, diarrhoea, skin infection, and malaria. In Sri Lanka, there was diarrhoea and a few cases of scabies.

International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies

Marie-Françoise Borel of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said copies of a logistics note were available at the back of the room which illustrated where the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies were working on the ground in the tsunami-affected areas. The Secretary-General of the Federation was in Medan today and would be in Aceh tomorrow.

Susan Johnson of the International Federation said she had three key messages to deliver today: how the International Federation continued to meet urgent needs in the affected countries; that the International Federation was still accepting donations for this disaster; and a word on transparency and accountability.

Ms. Johnson said it was important to note that the Red Cross/Red Crescent had been in these communities when the disaster struck because it was a community-based organization in 181 countries. It had been working since the first hour to meet the urgent needs. It had also pre-positioned stock and the volunteer capacity on the ground. In the first hours, the emergency response units which included basic health care, logistics, water and sanitation, relief and so on had been mobilized. To date, 40 flights carrying Red Cross and Red Crescent relief goods had arrived in the affected countries. On her second point, she wished to note that the Red Cross/Red Crescent was already looking with the national societies on the ground to the medium and longer term needs and it expected to remain engaged with these national societies on the ground for the rest of this decade. On the last point, it was important to note that everything which the Federation received was reported daily on its website.

International Committee of the Red Cross

Ian Piper of the International Committee of the Red Cross said ICRC was working under the overall coordination of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. It was focusing in particular in north and eastern Sri Lank and Aceh because it already had infrastructure there. Since the disaster had happened, ICRC had set up a logistics centre in Singapore in collaboration with the Singapore Red Cross. Barges would be used to reach the remote areas of Aceh. The issue of family links was one of ICRC's main concerns. ICRC and the national societies it was working with were working on this important issue.

International Organization of Migration

Niurka Pineiro of the International Organization of Migration said IOM staff in Banda Aceh were continuing the overland convoy, and were then using United States navy helicopters to take the aid to the final destination. IOM was working out of a soccer field next to an airbase in Banda Aceh. It was also trying to establish a road convoy all the way from Jakarta to Banda Aceh. In Sri Lanka, the Government had asked IOM to manage the logistics and transportation of relief supplies arriving at Colombo's airport. IOM had today transported to Galle District 50 metric tons of water-purification equipment donated by Austria and was also providing transportation for 70 technicians who had arrived to help set up the system. IOM's part of the Flash Appeal was $ 73.8 million.

Concerning human trafficking, Ms. Pineiro said that IOM counter-trafficking specialists had been actively assessing the situation on the ground as part of IOM's overall emergency assessments. To date, actual confirmed cases of human trafficking remained minimal, but there was a need for Governments, international organizations and non-governmental organizations to remain alert to the situation.

International Telecommunication Union

Gary Fowlie of the International Telecommunication Union said that ITU had commissioned and activated 15 earth-satellite terminals which were being made available to the affected States. ITU would be doing an assessment of the extent of the damage to the infrastructure and would be doing what it could to mobilize funds for the reconstruction effort. It would also be helping its Member States with technical and operational advice on their information infrastructures.

Today, on behalf of ITU and OCHA, Mr. Fowlie said that the Tempere Convention on the Provision of Telecommunication Resources for Disaster Mitigation and Relief Operations would be coming into force on Saturday, 8 January, following ratification by 30 countries. Until now, the trans-border use of telecommunication equipment by humanitarian communications had often been impeded by national rules and regulations which made it very difficult to deploy this equipment quickly. The Tempere Convention covered the installation and operation of the equipment and now many formalities would be waived in the States that had signed the Convention.

Geneva Activities and Upcoming Press Conferences

Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said the Committee on the Rights of the Child would be starting its thirty-eighth session at the Palais Wilson on Monday, 10 January. A background press release was available.

Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said that Salvano Briceno, the Director of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction Secretariat, would be giving a press conference at 2 p.m. this afternoon on lessons learned from the tsunami disaster. On Monday, 10 January, Mr. Adolf Ogi, the Special Adviser to the UN Secretary-General on Sport for Development, would give a press conference at 2 p.m. to call for coordinated action by the sports world in response to the tsunami catastrophe. The International Volleyball Federation would be present to offer the first response to the appeal of Mr. Ogi.

Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier pointed out that the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Jan Egeland would be briefing journalists around 7 p.m. on Tuesday, 11 January after the ministerial-level information meeting for Member States and the Inter-Agency Standing Committee to discuss and update support for the tsunami relief effort.

Human Rights

José Luis Díaz, Spokesperson of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, said that on 10 January, High Commissioner Louise Arbour would be in New York where she would be signing, along with Foreign Minister of Guatemala Jorge Briz Abularach, an agreement in view of opening an office of OHCHR in Guatemala City. The agreement foresees that the OHCHR staff there would be monitoring and reporting publicly on the human rights situation in Guatemala and would also be advising the authorities and civil society on how better to ensure the promotion and protection of human rights. Up to now, the human rights situation in Guatemala had been monitored by the UN peace mission there, MINUGUA; but that operation was
winding down so OHCHR would be taking over the task of monitoring and reporting on human rights. It was expected that the office would be opened after Congress ratified the agreement, possibly in April.

Mr. Díaz said that on 5 and 6 January, a delegation from OHCHR had visited Doha in Qatar and met with officials there, also to discuss the opening of a United Nations human rights centre for southwest Asia and the Arab region. This would be a first for the region and it would help the Governments of the region as well and non-governmental organizations and other representatives of civil society to augment their capacity in human rights. OHCHR hoped that centre would be open by autumn this year, maybe in October.

Asked why Qatar had been chosen, Mr. Díaz said that country had offered to host the centre. Qatar would be providing the headquarters, logistical arrangements and other practical measures to have to centre operational by October. [The centre would require the endorsement of the General Assembly at its sixtieth session].

Other

Aurelia Blin of the World Trade Organization said on Friday, 14 January, the Dispute Settlement Body would be meeting in the morning. The only issue on the agenda was the dispute between Canada and the United States on soft wood lumber. On Wednesday, 12 January, Director-General Supachai Panitchpakdi would be meeting with the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries for lunch.

Catherine Sibut-Pinot of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development said that a press release on the "International Meeting on Small Islands" in the Mauritius from 10 to 14 January would be available later in the day. It listed the activities organized by UNCTAD on the sidelines of the conference.

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