REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Marie Heuzé, the Director of the Information Service of the United Nations Office at Geneva, chaired the briefing which provided information on a new statement and report by the Secretary-General on Sudan, the Secretary-General's activities in Washington today, record new ratifications of international treaties during the World Summit, Geneva activities and other issues. Spokespersons for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the International Telecommunication Union, the World Trade Organization, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, the United Nations Development Programme, the World Meteorological Organization, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction, the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugee Agency, the World Food Programme and the International Organization for Migration addressed the meeting.

New Statement and Report by the Secretary-General

Mrs. Heuzé said the Secretary-General had welcomed the swearing in of the Government of National Unity of Sudan and commended the parties on the Comprehensive Peace Agreement for achieving this major milestone on the road to lasting peace. Copies of the statement were available in the press room. The monthly report of the Secretary-General on the situation in Darfur was also available in the Documentation Centre.

Secretary-General in Washington

Mrs. Heuzé said the Secretary-General would be travelling to Washington today where he would be the keynote speaker at a forum on the topic “Africa Matters.” The event was being held in conjunction with the Annual Legislative Conference of the Congressional Black Caucus. Following his appearance there, the Secretary-General would meet the U.S. Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, at the State Department.

Focus 2005 Treaty Event

Mrs. Heuzé said the Treaty Event "Focus 2005: Responding to Global Challenges", which was held at the United Nations during the 2005 World Summit from 14 to 16 September, had been a success with a record number of signatures, ratifications and accessions. Ninety-nine countries plus the European Community ratified, signed or acceded to United Nations treaties during the event. A total of 265 treaty actions were undertaken. Fifty-two countries had participated at the level of Head of State or Government and 40 countries at the level of Minister for Foreign Affairs. The International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism opened for signature at the Treaty Event, obtaining 82 signatures. The Convention will enter into force on the thirtieth day following the date of the deposit of the twenty-second instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession. Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose country spearheaded the effort to bring about the Convention, was the first leader to sign it.

The ratification by Ecuador, the thirtieth country to do so, of the 2003 United Nations Convention against Corruption on 15 September, triggered its entry into force, which would take place on 14 December. Lesotho and Liberia also ratified the Convention. Mrs. Heuzé said Liberia undertook a record 83 treaty actions on 16 September, with Charles Gyude Bryant, Chairman of Liberia’s National Transitional Government, signing, among many others, the International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism. More information was available on the UN web site.

Geneva Activities

Mrs. Heuzé said the Committee on the Rights of the Child was continuing its session which would conclude on 30 September. A briefing would be organized for journalists with the Chairperson and Committee Experts. Yesterday, the Committee had concluded its consideration of the periodic report of Finland, and on Monday, 26 September, it would take up the periodic report of Denmark. The Committee would consider the report of the Russian Federation on Wednesday, 28 September, and it might take up the periodic report of Trinidad and Tobago on Tuesday, 27 September.

The Conference on Disarmament had yesterday concluded the last plenary in the third and last part of its 2005 session. The Conference had adopted its annual report which would be presented to the General Assembly. The 2006 session of the Conference would start on 23 January 2006.

The Working Group to elaborate a draft legally binding normative instrument for the protection of all persons from enforced disappearances would today be concluding its fourth session. The Working Group had approved a draft instrument which was available at the back of the room.

The fifty-seventh session of the Governing Council of UNCC would be meeting from 27 to 29 September. A press release would be issued next week.

In conclusion, Ms. Heuzé reminded journalists that the United Nations Office at Geneva would open its doors on Sunday, 25 September, as part of the "diplomat for a day" event. Held within the context of the sixtieth anniversary of the United Nations, visitors would be able to visit the Palais des Nations and participate, among other activities, in the debates on the priority themes of the United Nations: human rights, peace and security and the Millennium Development Goals.

As for the concert on 8 October "Youssou N'Dour and Friends United against Malaria", there would be a press conference with Youssou N'Dour on 26 September at 2 p.m. at the Swiss Press Club. Journalists were invited to contact UNIS should they wish to interview the artist on Monday.

Human Rights

José Luis Díaz, Spokesperson for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, said the Office would be releasing on Monday, 26 September, the report of the fact-finding mission that the High Commissioner sent to Togo in June to look at allegations of violations of human rights during the crisis set off by the death of President Eyadema in February. The team was in Togo from 13 to 24 June and had also visited Benin and Ghana to interview people who had fled the violence in Togo. The team looked at events that had taken place before, during and after the presidential elections of 24 April in Togo. The report also included recommendations for combating impunity for the violence and human rights violations. The report of over 45 pages would be put on the website of the Office around on Monday morning.

Mr. Díaz said Mrs. Heuzé had spoken about the Working Group which was working a draft convention on enforced disappearances. The Working Group had approved a text for that draft instrument yesterday afternoon and would conclude its work today. The Chairperson of the Working Group, Ambassador Bernard Kessedjian of France, was willing to brief journalists on this important development.

In conclusion, Mr. Díaz said journalists would shortly get a statement from the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers who had been in Kyrgyzstan and would be going to Tajikistan.

Asked if there would be any reaction to the continued killing of journalists in Iraq, Ms. Heuzé said the Director-General of UNESCO had issued a statement strongly condemning the latest killings. Mr. Díaz said the Special Rapporteur on freedom of expression had consistently spoken out on this. He would also check whether the High Commissioner had anything to add.

PrepCom-3 WSIS

Sarah Parkes of the International Telecommunication Union said PrepCom 3, the final PrepCom for second phase of the World Summit on the Information Society which would start in Tunis on 16 November, was continuing its work. Some 1,500 participants from the United Nations, the private sector, civil society, media organizations and others were participating in the PrepCom. Internet governance remained the key agenda item, but there was "slow progress to date". There was a lot of emphasis on issues like access for developing countries and the high cost for interconnection. There would be an informal briefing this afternoon in press room 1.

Trade

Aurelia Blin of the World Trade Organization said there would be services negotiations (council "special session") on 26, 29 and 30 September, and there would be a briefing towards the end of the week. Concerning agriculture, the cotton Sub-Committee would be meeting on 28 September, and there were would be agriculture negotiations - informal consultations on 30 September. Concerning Director-General Pascal Lamy, he would be in Washington this weekend to attend the annual meeting of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. He would be meeting with a number of United States officials next week.

Catherine Sibut-Pinot of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development said UNCTAD would next week be launching its World Investment Report 2005: Transnational Corporations and the Internationalization of Research and Development. There would be a press briefing on Thursday, 29 September at noon by Anne Miroux, Chief of the Investment Analysis Branch, to launch the report. The embargoed report and seven accompanying press releases were already in the press room. There would be more than 70 press conferences to launch the report around the world. The main launch would be in Geneva.

Jean Fabre of the United Nations Development Programme said a series of "dialogues" on trade and human development would be held in Geneva in the coming weeks in advance of the Hong Kong negotiations in December. The first would be held from 29 September to 1 October in Yverdon. There would be a briefing held just before the "dialogue" in Geneva.

Natural disasters

Mark Oliver of the World Meteorological Organization said that obviously with Rita bearing down on the Texas coast, WMO was monitoring the situation very closely. Journalists interested in information on the actual state of the hurricane could call the Hurricane Centre in Miami on 1-305-339-4402. His colleague Nanette Lomarda in Geneva could also answer more general questions in Geneva on 022-7308384. There would be a report of the inter-governmental panel on climate change on the capture and storage of C02 from power plants and factories before it reached the atmosphere, and the potential benefits towards the reduction of green house gases in the future. The report would come out on 26 September and there would be an expert on hand to respond to questions by journalists.

Florian Westphal of the International Committee of the Red Cross said that normally, his colleague Pierre Barras dealt with West Africa, but following Hurricane Katrina, he had been quickly drafted to support the American Red Cross to help with the re-establishment of family links in the affected area in the United States.

Pierre Barras of the International Committee of the Red Cross said ICRC had a long history of working to re-establish family links. Following Hurricane Katrina, he and four other colleagues had travelled to Washington, and then to Louisiana and Alabama. They had visited shelters and centres where thousands had taken refuge. They helped people call families or friends, but those who did not have a way to contact them were helped to register on a website which helped re-establishment of family links. Up until yesterday, more than 213,000 names had been listed on the website.

Asked if ICRC would set up a similar website for the evacuees fleeing Hurricane Rita, Mr. Westphal said that ICRC had always signalled to the American Red Cross that ICRC's expertise was at their disposal. So it was for them to assess the needs and to see if they needed ICRC's help. ICRC was ready to support if needed.

Brigitte Leoni of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction said the UN Sasakawa Award Jury had today named Mr. Chimeddorj Batchulluun of the National Emergency Management Agency in the Government of Mongolia as the 2005 Laureate for his efforts in raising awareness about the impact of the dzud on pastoral livestock. The dzud referred to a winter condition that destroyed or limited access to grazing stuff, preventing animals from eating and thus surviving during the winter months. More than 8.5 million animals, or 25 per cent of the Mongolia herd had perished as a result of dzud conditions between 1999 and 2003. Two certificates of distinction were also awarded to Claude de Ville de Goyet, former Director of the Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Relief Coordination Programme in the Pan American Health Organization, and Jaime Parejo Garcia, Chief of the Rescue Dog Unit at the Fire Brigade in Sevilla, Spain.

Other

Ron Redmond of the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees said the number of Afghan refugees assisted in returning home this year had topped 400,000 and now stood at just under 3.5 million since 2002. Including those who had returned without UNHCR assistance, the overall total had now reached 4.2 million. A total of 2.9 million Afghans had returned from Pakistan and 1.3 million had returned from Iran. Some three million Afghans remained in Pakistan and around 900,000 remained in Iran. The decision by the Government of Pakistan to close all refugee camps in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas had triggered a sharp increase in the number of Afghans opting to return.

Christiane Berthiaume of the World Food Programme said the Democratic People's Republic of Korea had not asked the World Food Programme to stop food aid and leave the country. On the contrary, the authorities had confirmed that WFP was an important partner and that they wanted WFP to continue its work in the country. The authorities wanted the humanitarian aid programmes to become development programmes. WFP wanted to stay in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea because of the large need for food aid in the country. Nearly 6.5 million persons needed food aid. There had been some progress. The rate of chronic malnutrition had been reduced to 37 per cent from 42 per cent. Even with the food aid, many people in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea had difficulties with the soaring prices of food.

Concerning Somalia, Ms. Berthiaume recalled that on 5 August, an agreement had been reached with the pirates holding a WFP boat and its crew, according to which the boat and its cargo should have been returned and the crew members freed. Unfortunately, the pirates had reneged on the agreement. This crisis had continued for three months. WFP now considered the agreement to be null and void and it warned the pirates from attempting to sell the 850 tons of rice on board. The pirates and the boat were now heading for Mogadishu.

A journalist said a number of non-governmental organizations had been asked to leave the Democratic People's Republic of Korea by the end of the year and wondered if WFP could continue its work without them. In response, Ms. Berthiaume said that contrary to the situation in other countries, WFP did not depend much on NGOs in its operations in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. However, WFP still thought that the NGOs should stay in the country because of the important role that they played. She noted that the situation in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea was very confusing right now.

Jean-Philippe Chauzy of the International Organization for Migration said the third Ministerial Consultations on Overseas Employment and Contractual Labour for Countries of Origin in Asia ended in Bali on Wednesday, 21 September. The participating countries agreed on a number of recommendations to improve the welfare of overseas workers through support services and to optimise the benefits of organized overseas employment.

Mr. Chauzy said on Monday, 26 September, an IOM charter flight carrying some of the last Vietnamese boat people destined for resettlement in the United States would leave Manila for Los Angeles. The 229 passengers on the flight were part of a group of some 1,600 stateless Vietnamese refugees in the Philippines expected to be approved by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services for resettlement over the next four to six months. And in Israel, Mr. Chauzy said, IOM's Deputy Director-General Ndioro Ndiaye was taking part in a high-level international conference on migration and gender issues in relation to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.

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