REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE
Marie Heuzé, the Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired the briefing which also heard from Spokespersons for the World Intellectual Property Organization, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Economic Commission for Europe, the United Nations Environmental Programme, the International Labour Office, the World Health Organization, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the UN Refugee Agency and the International Organization for Migration.
New Statements by the Secretary-General
Ms. Heuzé said the Secretary-General had yesterday condemned the series of deadly blasts which rocked the Egyptian city of Dahab and extended his condolences to all those affected by the terrorist attack.
The Secretary-General had also expressed concern over civil disturbances in the Solomon Islands following the election of the Prime Minister on 18 April 2006. He called on the people of Solomon Islands to refrain from acts of violence and reaffirm their commitment to a peaceful and constitutional resolution of their differences in a spirit of goodwill which they convincingly demonstrated during the general elections.
Copies of both statements were available in the press room. Also available were transcripts of the Secretary-General’s press encounters following the high-level meeting of the Economic and Social Council and following his inaugural speech at Macalester College’s Institute for Global citizenship.
UN Reform
On the question of reform, which was highlighted in Geneva this week with Mark Malloch Brown’s first visit to the Palais as Deputy-Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ms. Heuzé reminded journalists that they were meeting with Mr. Malloch Brown at 12:30 today. Yesterday, Mr. Malloch Brown had met with the so-called Geneva Group to discuss the management reform proposals. Today, he was explaining to UN staff in Geneva in a town hall meeting the main lines of the proposals and the consequences. He would also meet with the Staff Coordinating Council right before the town hall meeting.
At 1:30 p.m., the United States Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of International Organization Affairs, Mark Lagon, would speak about US perspectives on UN reform and the new Human Rights Council.
Biological Weapons Convention Meeting
Ms. Heuzé said States Parties to the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) would be meeting in Geneva, Switzerland from 26 to 28 April 2006 at the Preparatory Committee for the Sixth Review Conference of the BWC. The Preparatory Committee of the Sixth Review Conference, under its mandate from States Parties at the last review of the BWC in 2002, would make the procedural arrangements necessary for a successful outcome of the Sixth Review Conference. Ambassador Masood Khan of Pakistan would chair the Preparatory Committee and was expected to be nominated as President for the high-profile meeting later in the year. The Preparatory Committee was expected to set the agenda for the Review Conference as well as address relevant organizational and financial arrangements.
The Sixth Review Conference of the BWC, to take place in late November, would be the first opportunity for States Parties to examine the operation of the Convention since the Fifth Review Conference concluded in 2002. A press release with more details, including the issues which the Review Conference was expected to deal with, was available in the press room.
Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances
The Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances was meeting at the Palais des Nations from 24 to 28 April. Its meetings were open. Available was a list of the names of the five experts who made up the Working Group.
World Intellectual Property Day
Ms. Heuzé noted that World Intellectual Property Day was celebrated on 26 April. The theme for this sixth celebration was “Intellectual Property – It starts with an idea”. Available was a press kit.
Samar Shamoon of the World Intellectual Property Organization said a press release and a press kit were available on World Intellectual Property Day. April 26 was the day that the WIPO Convention came into force in 1970. Countries around the world used the Day as an opportunity to set up activities and to highlight awareness to the benefits of intellectual property.
Human Rights
José Luis Díaz of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said OHCHR-Nepal had been planning to send out teams of monitors across Kathmandu and to regions throughout the country to monitor demonstrations planned for today, as well as the conduct of the security forces. After the midnight address of King Gyanendra, it seemed that the large rallies would still be held, but would be termed "victory rallies" rather than protest demonstrations. The office would continue to monitor these gatherings. It also continued to investigate the circumstances of the killing of demonstrators during the 19 days of protests. At this stage, it could confirm at least 11 deaths of demonstrators at the hands of security forces, two further deaths in the context of the demonstrations which were not direct killings, and two further killings not yet confirmed. The office had also noted the release this morning of some of the hundreds of detainees held for their participation in demonstrations, and would continue to monitor the situation until all detainees were released.
Mr. Díaz said High Commissioner Louise Arbour was in Addis Ababa this week to undertake a first-hand assessment of the situation in Ethiopia. Today the High Commissioner was set to meet with Prime Minister Meles Zenawi. From Addis, the High Commissioner would travel to Nairobi, Kenya, where she was scheduled to discuss human rights issues related to Somalia. On 29 April, the High Commissioner would travel to Sudan for one week. This would be her second visit to Sudan. She first visited it in September 2004. In addition to Khartoum, the High Commissioner would visit Darfur and Juba in South Sudan. Since her visit in 2004, the High Commissioner had issued two major reports on the situation in Sudan, one focusing on sexual violence, in July 2005, and the other on the general human rights situation, in January 2006. The aim of her visit was to see how the situation had progressed since the visit in 2004 and those reports, in which she had, among other things, expressed concern about the disconnect between the commitments undertaken by the country in the area of human rights and the actual situation on the ground.
Mr. Díaz said journalists also had received a press release about the visit of the Special Rapporteur on torture to Jordan from 24 June to 1 July.
Asked if the High Commissioner had guarantees that she would be allowed to visit Darfur, Mr. Díaz said it was fully expected that she would be able to go to Darfur and all indications confirmed this.
Other
Jean-Michel Jakobowicz of the Economic Commission for Europe said this year’s Gunnar Myrdal lecture would be delivered by Alberto Alesina of Harvard University on 12 May. The topic would be “welfare policies in the UNECE region: why so different?” Available was a press release with more details.
Michael Williams of the United Nations Environmental Programme said the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants would hold its second annual conference at the Geneva International Conference Centre next week. There would be a briefing by the secretariat at 11 a.m. on Thursday, 27 April in press room 1 to talk about the issues and the meeting’s agenda.
Mr. Williams said that on 4 May at 11 a.m., the World Conservation Union would launch its annual update of the Red List, the list of plant and animal species which were highly endangered. The briefing would be held in Room III.
Corinne Perthuis of the International Labour Office said today, ILO Director-General Juan Somavia was in Cairo where he was participating in the meeting of the Economic and Social Council of the African Union. Twenty-eight April was the World Day for Safety and Health at Work. The focus this year was on the importance of promoting and creating decent, safe work. The ILO aimed to reduce the number of work-related deaths each year, including those resulting from HIV/AIDS, and to make work decent by eliminating workplace stigma and discrimination related to HIV/AIDS. A press release would be issued tomorrow.
In conclusion, Ms. Perthuis reminded journalists that a global report providing new estimates of the number of child labourers worldwide and regionally, and analysing progress to date in the struggle against child labour, would be released on 4 May by the International Labour Office (ILO) in Geneva and around the world. The report was entitled "The end of child labour: Within reach". The main release would be in Geneva at noon on 4 May.
Fadela Chaib of the World Health Organization said there would be a working breakfast on 3 May to meet the new Director of the newly formed Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health. He is Francisco Songane, the former Mozambican Minister of Health. A note to correspondents was available at the back of the room. Each year, more than half a million women died in pregnancy or childbirth, and more than 10 million children died before their fifth birthday, almost 40 per cent in the first month of life. The Partnership had been formed to galvanize the world effort and understanding of this silent tragedy. Ms. Chaib reminded journalists of a press conference at 2 p.m. on 27 April on new child growth standards.
Samar Shamoon of the World Intellectual Property Organization said the inter-governmental committee on intellectual property and genetic resources like traditional knowledge and folklore was meeting this week in Geneva. There would be a briefing at the end of the meeting.
Elizabeth Byrs of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said available was a new situation report on Mt. Merapi Volcano in Central Java Province, Indonesia. Since 12 April, the volcano had been active with shallow volcanic tremors and streams of lava. The alert level of Mt. Merapi still remained at level III. If the alert level reached level IV – meaning the volcano was likely to erupt within 24 hours - then the Indonesian authorities had a plan to evacuate up to 80,000 persons. More details were available in the situation report.
Damien Personnaz of the United Nations Children’s Fund said children and adolescents in Colombia were still severely affected by the ongoing armed conflict in the country, and UNICEF did not have adequate resources to respond. There were between 2.5 and 3.5 million internally displaced persons in Colombia, and around half of them were children and adolescents. UNICEF was under funded by 85 per cent in Colombia. A press release was available with more details.
Mr. Personnaz said available was a press release on a new malaria treatment which had been introduced in Somalia.
William Spindler of the UN Refugee Agency said UNHCR was grateful that the Syrian Government had agreed to receive the group of 181 Palestinian refugees stranded at the Iraq-Jordanian border since 19 March under UNRWA auspices. The group had left Baghdad out of fear for the security of its members. UNHCR was in close contact with UNRWA on this matter and stood ready to assist as required. Contacts were presently underway with all concerned to ensure a smooth transfer of the group to Syria. UNHCR had not been informed whether other Palestinians would be accepted into the country.
Mr. Spindler said UNHCR’s Assistant High Commissioner for Protection, Erika Feller, was on the first leg of a five-day mission to Cambodia and Viet Nam today.
Jemini Pandya of the International Organization for Migration said a first group of some 700 internally displaced people (IDPs) in South Darfur had left Beliel camp, near the state capital Nyala on the first leg on their long journey home in Northern Bahr el Ghazal. The group, consisting of vulnerable internally displaced Dinkas left Beliel camp in the early hours of Monday to board an IOM chartered train for a 100-mile eastward journey towards the town of El Daein. Since the signing of the comprehensive peace agreement between Khartoum and the Sudanese People's Liberation Movement in January 2005, more and more IDPs had been making their way home to South Sudan. However, IOM's efforts to help those returning could be severely hampered without additional funds. The Organization has appealed for more than $ 35 million for all of its operations in Sudan and had to date received just about 30 per cent.
Ms. Pandya said IOM Director General, Brunson McKinley was today starting a three-day official visit to Libya during which he would meet members of the government and open an office in Tripoli.