REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Elena Ponomareva-Piquier, Chief of the Press and External Relations Section, chaired the briefing, which also heard from Spokespersons for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the World Food Programme (WFP), the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM).


The situation in Lebanon

Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said that the Secretary-General was in Rome, where he would participate tomorrow in an international meeting on Lebanon. The Secretary-General affirmed that the cessation of hostilities, along with ideas about an international force and the release of the abducted Israeli soldiers, would be matters at the top of the discussion in Rome. “What is important is that we leave Rome with a concrete strategy as to how we are going to deal with this and we do not walk away empty-handed and once again dash the hopes of those who are caught in this conflict,” Mr. Annan told reporters at a press encounter. A transcript of that encounter was available in Press Room I.

Also concerning Lebanon, Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier announced that the Secretary-General had reappointed Serge Brammertz for a further six months, until 31 December 2006, as Commissioner of the International Independent Investigation Commission looking into the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

In Beirut yesterday Jan Egeland, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, had launched an appeal for 149 million USD for humanitarian aid for Lebanon to combat the worsening crisis gripping the country, Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said. The appeal covered an initial period of response of three months in priority areas including food, health care, logistics, water and sanitation, protection and common services. The appeal was intended to help meet humanitarian needs in Lebanon and Syria arising as a result of two weeks of conflict between the Israel Defence Forces and the Lebanese group, Hezbollah. Approximately 800,000 people were affected by the conflict, of whom some have become internally displaced persons or refugees. The total number of affected people included some 150,000 Lebanese, 1,000 Palestinians and 20,000 third country nationals who had reached Syria. In addition, 115,000 third country nationals from some 20 countries remained in Lebanon. Particularly vulnerable groups included the elderly and chronically ill -- especially those confined to hospitals, women and children. Lack of access to water and sanitation, basic health care, and food was also affecting communities. Inside Lebanon, over 350 people had been killed, with over 1,500 wounded, while in Israel, over 34 people had been killed, with 200 more wounded. A press release on the appeal was available in the press room and journalists could obtain summaries of the appeal in French and English from the Documentation Centre.

Robert Smith of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said the appeal launched yesterday sought 149 million USD for humanitarian operations for a period covering three months and will be revised when further needs assessments will be conducted and once there was a clearer idea of the strategy and feasibility of operations. The appeal was both a call for funds and was an action plan and common strategy among the various United Nations agencies, non-governmental organizations and other international organizations on the ground. The appeal contained specific project proposals that reflected a division of labour and of roles and responsibilities. It was hoped that international donors would be swift in responding to the appeal since the needs of those in the region were immediate, urgent and worsening by the day. In accordance with the urgency of the situation, the United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator, Jan Egeland, decided to allocate five million dollars from the Central Emergency Response Fund to the most urgent sectors. This would serve as start-up funding to allow operations to begin immediately.

Asked whether OCHA and United Nations agencies had been given a response from the Israeli Government about the safety of their personnel working in the region, Mr. Smith said, although it was not clear if the Israelis had given a formal response, it was clear that humanitarian access would be very important over the course of the next few weeks in order to get help to those who needed it the most. In response, Christian Berthiaume of the World Food Programme (WFP) said her agency, which was responsible for the logistics of all humanitarian organizations in the region, expected to have three convoys this week, which will be transporting both WFP food supplies, but also relief from other organizations. The first convoy was expected to depart tomorrow for Tyre carrying 125 tonnes of wheat flour. Another 200 convoys, coming from WFP, UNICEF, UNRWA and WHO, were being planned, one for Jezzine on Friday and another for Nabatiye over the weekend, both in southern Lebanon. At present, there were negotiations with the Israeli forces to ensure that these convoys can move. Dorothea Krimitsas of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) added that her agency had been active in southern Lebanon where it has been sending humanitarian convoys.

Christiane Berthiaume of WFP said that as she spoke the first WFP food aid – 25 tons of fortified biscuits that had arrived from Italy on Sunday – was being distributed to those that had been displaced in and around Beirut. It was hoped that other humanitarian convoys would leave this week. She observed that Lebanon, which depended on food imports, including 90 per cent of its cereals, had from one to three months of reserves. The problem was that the roads were impassable and insecure. Supermarkets were emptying and food prices were soaring. Of the 800,000 spread out over six districts that needed assistance, WFP estimated that 310,000 would need food aid. To that end, WFP had requested $48.2 million dollars as part of the interagency appeal for Lebanon.

Fadela Chaib, the World Health Organization (WHO), said that WHO, which was coordinating the health response to the Lebanese crisis on behalf of partner agencies, including UNICEF, UNWRA and UNFPA, was requesting 32.4 million USD to serve the health needs of 800,000 people over the next three months, as part of the total United Nations Flash Appeal for Lebanon, which sought 150 million USD. Current priorities were to ensure safe evacuation for the injured to functioning hospitals. WHO was also tracking medicines and surgical supplies and the damage to sanitary infrastructure, establishing mobile health care units, and distributing chlorine to disinfect the water. As many as 150,000 people were believed to have crossed the border into Syria, and WHO stood ready to assist the Syrian authorities to meet the health needs of those people too.

Ms. Chaib announced a telephone news briefing in which two WHO experts on the ground in Beirut, as well as one in Geneva, would brief journalists on the situation in Lebanon and take their questions. The virtual briefing would take place at 11.30 a.m. today and all the technical details were available on a media advisory in the back of the room. UN Radio would also record the virtual briefing for journalists who wished to have a taped record, added Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier

Asked to comment on the extent of the damage to WHO facilities in the affected region and the stock of medical supplies, Ms. Chaib said although information was lacking in the southern part of Lebanon, the WHO suspected that all the medical facilities there were destroyed but in the other parts of the country hospitals were functioning. There were reports that medicines for chronic diseases had run out. The Ministry of Health had provided a list of these missing medicines that WHO would attempt to purchase locally.

Wivina Belmonte of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said her agency's portion of the flash appeal was 24 million USD. Among the major problems in Lebanon were overcrowded schools where several displaced persons had been staying and water shortages. Children, who were especially burdened by the conflict, were, in some cases, not receiving the emergency supplies that they required. Other risks included, intense heat, diarrhea, and psychological trauma. Under the current conditions the stress levels were so high that there were a number of premature births. As part of its appeal, UNICEF has asked for clean water, rehydration salts and sanitation supplies. Journalists wishing more information could contact Patrick McCormack at UNICEF, starting tomorrow, at 022 909 5604.

Jennifer Pagonis of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said UNHCR had relief supplies for over 20,000 displaced and distressed people in Lebanon, including many living out in the open in parks or in overcrowded public buildings. These supplies were still blocked in Syria as of this morning awaiting a safe route into Lebanon. UNHCR had hundreds of tonnes of tents, mattresses, blankets and other aid that could be delivered in a matter of hours if it only had access to the country. UNHCR was exploring every option and pressing to move these urgently needed relief items as soon as possible to where they are needed most. In addition to pre-positioned supplies in Syria, UNHCR was also setting up a logistics base in Larnaca, Cyprus to explore the sea route option.

UNHCR's emergency teams were now on the road from Damascus to Beirut and were expected to arrive in a matter of hours to reinforce UNHCR staff already on the ground in Lebanon, Ms. Pagonis said. UNHCR expected to have 25 members of the emergency team on the ground split between Lebanon and Syria comprising of field experts, logistics experts, shelter experts and protection experts. Along the border between Syria and Lebanon yesterday, UNHCR's border monitoring teams at three crossing points noted the number of arrivals had dropped to around 4,000, compared to 10,000 in previous days, with many arrivals from south Lebanon as well as small groups of foreign nationals. In Cyprus, UNHCR was monitoring the ports and airports for arrivals of Lebanese nationals, as well as people of concern to UNHCR who might be fleeing Lebanon. UNHCR's portion of the Flash Appeal launched yesterday for the Lebanon crisis totals 18.9 million USD aimed at helping 150,000 vulnerable displaced people in Lebanon and neighbouring countries for an initial period of three months.

Matthias Burchard of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said all of UNRWA's services were functioning through some 600 healthcare professionals working around the clock to provide health assistance to Palestinian refugees and Lebanese. UNRWA had been able to provide shelter in schools and camps in southern Lebanon for 4,000 Lebanese. Through the joint appeal, UNRWA had called for 6.2 million USD for Lebanon and one million USD for Syria to where several Palestine refugees from Lebanon had fled. UNRWA had set up three teams at border crossings to assist those refugees who had been attempting to flee. Responding to a previous question, Mr. Burchard said there was no shortage of medical supplies in UNRWA storage facilities and the agency had been able to transfer some medicines from its main facility in Beirut to areas in the south of the country. UNRWA also reportedly had sufficient food supplies in Beirut for the next two months. The biggest challenge at present was transporting these supplies to the south.

Responding to a question, Mr. Burchard confirmed that yesterday the Rashidiyeh Palestinian refugee camp near Tyre in southern Lebanon was bombed resulting in injuries to six people. UNRWA condemned this attack in the strongest terms.

Responding to another question, Jennifer Pagonis of UNHCR said the schools in Syria and Lebanon would reopen therefore it was important that shelter solutions were sought for those currently seeking refuge in these schools.

In response to a question, Robert Smith of OCHA said to his understanding there had not been a formal granting of humanitarian corridors as of yet. Christiane Berthiaume of WFP added that at present negotiations were being held on safe passages of humanitarian supplies and that there was a United Nations liaison office in Jerusalem working with the Israeli forces seeking these assurances.

Jean-Philippe Chauzy, the International Organization for Migration (IOM), said that an IOM convoy was today evacuating up to 200 stranded Iraqis from Lebanon to the Syrian capital of Damascus. IOM had also assisted a group of 266 Sudanese to fly to Khartoum from Damascus late yesterday and IOM was organizing a second flight for 170 Sudanese, which it was hoped would leave for Khartoum today. At least another 1,500 Bangladeshi, Ethiopians, Sri Lankans, Filipinos and Ghanaians were expected to be evacuated by IOM from Lebanon in the next few days. IOM had so far appealed for 14 million USD to help provide evacuation and emergency humanitarian assistance for IDPs in Lebanon, but that figure was likely to rise.

Ms. Krimitsas of the ICRC said that ICRC's supply and distribution system for humanitarian assistance was still being set up, but it was already up and running in the south of the country. An ICRC convoy had just left Beirut for Tyre an hour ago, and two convoys had been sent to the south of the country yesterday. By the end of the week, the ICRC estimated that it would have enough non-food aid within the country – including tarpaulins, sanitary products, and other necessary supplies for IDPs – to provide for 10,000 families for one month.

Responding to a question on the outcome of the ICRC request to Israeli authorities not to target the Lebanese Red Cross ambulances, Ms. Krimitsas acknowledged that the ICRC had had contact with the Israeli Authorities on the subject. ICRC communications with Governments was confidential. However, she did say that it was not the first time that ambulances and first aid workers had been involved, and some had been wounded. The ICRC was following this issue very closely.

Situation in Gaza

Ms. Berthiaume of WFP noted that the danger was that given the current crisis, the situation in Gaza would be forgotten, where 600,000 people received food aid. Today, the European Union had contributed 6.5 million USD. Provisions were still only sporadically available. It had to be kept in mind that the longer the conflict continued, the worse the situation would get in Gaza.

Matthias Burchard of UNRWA added that yesterday Israel shelled apartment buildings in the northern part of Gaza in Beit Hanoun resulting in four people being killed, among them a 12 year-old UNRWA student, and 15 injuries. This attack also resulted in 2,000 fleeing these apartments. UNRWA condemned this excessive use of force in densely populated areas resulting in tragic loss of life of civilians. Since yesterday, the Rafah terminal had been closed, as well as the Erez check point. There were reports of hundreds, if not thousands, of people waiting to get back from Egypt to Gaza. The Karni commercial crossing was only open to imports. Responding to a question, Mr. Burchard said over around 900,000 people were receiving food aid from UNRWA in the Gaza Strip alone, that was out of a total population in Gaza of 1.4 million.

Democratic Republic of Congo

Ms. Berthiaume of WFP said that, in the Ituri region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo they were currently witnessing the most significant population displacements in two years, owing to insecurity there. The humanitarian situation in the DRC was very difficult and people were living on the brink of disaster. WFP had distributed rations to 30,000 persons in Ituri, but the stocks were low. The stocks in Bunia were almost completely depleted following a distribution to 14,000 persons recently displaced in Kotoni. The greatest difficult was accessing the needy populations, which was difficult owing to insecurity, but also, owing to the size of the country; it took almost three months for relief supplies to reach those who needed them. WFP had launched an appeal for 253,000 USD to feed approximately 1.7 million people for three years.

Ms. Pagonis of UNHCR reported that a joint UN interagency assessment mission which visited eastern Katanga Province in the Democratic Republic of Congo between 12 and 14 July had found that in the Sampwe area, about 80 percent (some 2,200 families) of people internally displaced by violence over the last year had spontaneously returned to their villages of origin in recent weeks. Overall, an estimated 170,000 people (from Katanga) were displaced within Katanga province. The returnees from Sampwe returned to a scene of devastation, with over 80 percent of the housing and infrastructure of their villages burned or destroyed. The previous harvest had been destroyed or looted by militia groups. The assessment mission visited a number of return communities and identified the priority needs for returnees as shelter, basic household items, clothing, food rations, seeds and tools. The risk of destabilisation in the return areas in Katanga remained high.

Sri Lanka

Ms. Pagonis said the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres, began a three-day visit to Sri Lanka today. It will be the first visit by a UNHCR High Commissioner to the country, where the agency has been working with conflict-displaced people since 1987. The purpose of his visit is to meet displaced people in the north and east of the country and hear first-hand their concerns and needs. He will also meet high-level government officials, UNHCR staff, and representatives of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).