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 Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the World Health Organization, the World Trade Organization, the International Telecommunications Union, UNHCR, the International Organization for Migration and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies,

Geneva Activities

Ms. Heuzé said the Committee against Torture this morning was starting its consideration of the second periodic report of the United States. This morning, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., the Committee would hear the United States’ delegation introduce the report, read out replies to questions sent to the State party by the Committee beforehand, and then Committee Experts would ask further questions and make comments. The United States delegation would have a chance to respond to these questions from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday, 8 May.

Journalists who wanted to follow proceedings of the Committee against Torture could listen to them on the squak box on channel two, could dial 4-14-2 from a UN telephone, or could attend the meeting in Room XII. The Committee’s conclusions and recommendations on all the reports which it would consider this session would be issued on its last day on Friday, 19 May.

The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights was today and Monday considering the fourth and fifth periodic reports of Canada. On 9 and 10 May, it would consider the fourth periodic report of Mexico; and on 10 and 11 May, it would review the third periodic report of Morocco. Journalists wishing to listen to the proceedings of the Committee could do so by dialling 4-24-2 on a UN phone.

The Working Group on arbitrary detention would be meeting at the Palais des Nations from 8 to 12 May. The Working Group was set up by the Commission on Human Rights in 1991to investigate cases of deprivation of liberty imposed arbitrarily. In 2003, the Commission renewed the mandate of the Working Group for three years, so its mandate would conclude at the end of the year. The Information Service would be happy to set up any interviews with the experts of the Working Group.

The UN Panel of Government Experts on Verification, chaired by Mr. John Barrett from Canada, would be held from 8 to 12 May in Room XXII of the Palais. Mandated by General Assembly Resolution 59/60 of 3 December 2004, the panel was “to explore the question of verification in all its aspects, including the role of the United Nations in the field of verification”. The current meeting in Geneva would be followed by a final meeting in New York, scheduled to take place from 7 to 11 August 2006. The panel was to report to the General Assembly at its sixty-first session.

Ms. Heuzé reminded journalists that the elections for the Human Rights Council would be taking place at Headquarters in New York on Tuesday, 9 May. A press release with details of how the elections would proceed would be available in the press room on Monday morning. Journalists interested in knowing which countries were running for membership and in knowing more about their positions could find this information on the UN website www.un.org/ga/60/elect/hrc.

Asked how to follow the meeting of the General Assembly on the elections for the Human Rights Council, Ms. Heuzé said journalists could follow the public meetings of the General Assembly in time on the UN website’s webcast.

Sudan

Ms. Heuzé said Jan Egeland, the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, had issued an Op-Ed on the eve of his visit to Sudan, which would start tomorrow. He noted that the carnage in Darfur was escalating, and spilling into Chad. At the same time, funding for aid had all but dropped off and donor support in Europe and the Gulf States was seriously flagging. This had forced the UN to announce it would soon be forced to cut daily food rations in half. The text of Mr. Egeland’s piece was available in the press room.

Elizabeth Byrs of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said Mr. Egeland would be in Geneva on 15 May and would speak to journalists about his mission to Sudan.

Praveen Randhawa of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour was wrapping up her one-week visit to Sudan in Juba in the south of the country. In her meetings with senior officials of the Government of South Sudan, the High Commissioner heard about steps being taken to implement the provisions of the comprehensive peace agreement signed between the SPLM and Khartoum last year, including provisions relevant to human rights. She also discussed the situation of internally displaced persons returning to the south after the end of the war in the region. The High Commissioner also heard of efforts to deal with customary law, or practices that adversely affected women and children especially. There would be a statement from the High Commissioner on her visit later this afternoon. She would return to Geneva this weekend.

In response to a question, Ms. Randhawa said the High Commissioner would be giving a press conference this afternoon in Khartoum.

Cholera Outbreak in Angola

Damien Personnaz of the United Nations Children’s Fund said there was a serious outbreak of cholera in Angola. As of 3 May, there were 26,979 suspected cases, including 1,085 dead. There were no details on the down break of these figures and how many of them were children. Angola was a poor country and not all its health centres were equipped to deal with such an epidemic. Following cooperation between UNICEF, the World Health Organization, the Government and non-governmental organizations, the necessary care and medication had reached the affected persons. Unfortunately, the rainy season had now started in Angola and would continue for two or three months, so there was a strong possibility that the epidemic would spread further across the country. A background note with more details would be available shortly. UNICEF was appealing for $ 1 million to help combat this outbreak.

Fadela Chaib of the World Health Organization said WHO had been informed of the first cases of cholera in Angola in mid-February. The fatality rate varied from region to region, from 1 per cent in the capital to 4 per cent, or even up to 22 per cent in certain provinces. So far, this was the biggest outbreak in Angola since 1987-1988. WHO’s Africa bureau sent a team of experts to Angola several weeks ago and it was working with other partners to help those affected.

Uganda

Elizabeth Byrs of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said OCHA had revised its appeal for Uganda from $$ 222.6 million to $ 262.5 million, an increase of $ 39 million. To date, the appeal was funded by 43 per cent. The revision of the appeal was aimed at strengthening common strategies and programmes in accordance with the current evolution of humanitarian needs facing populations in conflict-affected regions in northern Uganda.

Ms. Byrs said in response to a request on Tuesday, available at the back of the room was a summary of the requirements and pledges/contributions by affected country/region as of today. For example, the appeal for Zimbabwe was the worst example, being funded by 4 per cent. The best situation was the appeal for Uganda which was covered by 43 per cent.

Other

Praveen Randhawa of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said Rodolfo Stavenhagen, the Special Rapporteur on the human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous people of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, had concluded a visit to Ecuador yesterday. A press release on his visit had been sent to journalists this morning, and was also available on the website of the Office.

Damien Personnaz of the United Nations Children’s Fund said UNICEF’s number two official would launch a report on 15 May in Geneva on the situation in the Horn of Africa, prepared following a visit to the region.

Aurelia Blin of the World Trade Organization said on 9 May, there would be meetings of the Goods Council, the Rules Negotiations, and the Dispute Settlement Body. On 11 May, there would be a meeting of the Trade and Development Committee. And on 12 May, there would be meetings of the Agriculture Committee and Agriculture Negotiations. On 11 May, WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy would be participating at the European parliament conference on “the right to decent work – the route to a new kind of globalization”.

Sanjay Acharya of the International Telecommunication Union said the first World Information Society Day would be commemorated on 17 May 2006. This date, 17 May, had been celebrated as World Telecommunication Day in the past, but this year, the General Assembly decided that the Day would henceforth be called the World Information Society Day. On this occasion, a cluster of related events would be taking place over a 10-day period from 9 to 19 May. Available was a press release with more details.

Ron Redmond of UNHCR said that in Pakistan, with the emergency phase of the Pakistan earthquake operation coming to an end and following the Government’s announcement that relief camps would start closing in March, quake survivors continued returning home at a steady pace. To support the trend of returns, UNHCR had provided $ 2.25 million to support the International Organization for Migration’s efforts to facilitate the voluntary, safe and dignified return of the internally displaced persons from the relief camps to the IDP’s home villages. Inevitable, there would be some vulnerable people who could not go home immediately for various reasons and it was extremely important that these vulnerable people continued to be assisted until more permanent solutions were found for them.

Mr. Redmond said UNHCR regretted the adoption on Tuesday of new amendments to the Danish Immigration Act, which were not fully in line with the UN Refugee Convention. In conclusion, he noted that High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres would today complete a four-day mission to Washington.

Jemini Pandya of the International Organization for Migration said in Mauritania, a group of 30 Indian and Bangladeshi migrants left stranded in the baking Mauritanian desert by smugglers with little water, no food or identification papers, were returning home voluntarily with help from IOM. In Uganda, IOM, in close cooperation with UNHCR and Uganda District authorities, had completed an assessment exercise of Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) in Masindi District in the North-Western Region of Uganda. In Paraguay, a two-day regional conference on migration hosted by IOM and the Government of Paraguay in Asunción was ending today.

Ms. Pandya said in the United States, an Expert Workshop on "Female Migrants: Bridging the gaps throughout the life cycle", sponsored by IOM and the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), was held this week in New York. In conclusion, she said IOM welcomed the launch of the first information campaign in Ireland today to raise awareness of human trafficking in the country.

A Spokesperson for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said the International Federation, the International Committee of the Red Cross and their national societies would be celebrating World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day on Monday, 8 May. This year, they would be paying tribute to the tens of millions of volunteers who sometimes risked their lives and often made considerable personal sacrifices in order to help others. A joint press release was available at the back of the room as well as background papers.