REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Marie Heuzé, the Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired the briefing which was also addressed by Spokespersons for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the UN Refugee Agency, the World Intellectual Property Organization and the International Organization for Migration.

Fourth Session of Human Rights Council

Ms. Heuzé said with regard to the upcoming session of the Human Rights Council, available was a background press release providing practical information for the three-week session beginning on Monday, 12 March and lasting until 30 March. The session would begin with a high-level segment featuring over 90 government ministers and other high-ranking dignitaries. Also available was an updated lists of speakers. Some of these dignitaries would use the opportunity to speak at the Conference on Disarmament, and to give press conferences. For example, the Foreign Minister of Iran would address the Council on Monday afternoon, and would speak before the Conference on Tuesday, 13 March. He would give a press conference at 11:15 a.m., right after the briefing. The Minister of State of Turkey would address the Conference on Tuesday and would give a press conference at 2 p.m. A number of other dignitaries would address the Conference and were scheduling press conferences and the information would be announced as soon as it was finalized.

For journalists’ planning purposes, Ms. Heuzé pointed out that on Wednesday afternoon, the High Commissioner for Human Rights was scheduled to present her annual report to be followed by an interactive discussion. Thereafter, the Council would hear progress reports from the working groups on its institution-building mechanisms and on Friday, 16 March, the high-level missions to Darfur and Gaza would present their reports.

The second and third weeks of the session would be devoted to the reports of the Special Procedures, namely the Special Rapporteurs, Independent Experts and Working Groups, who would present reports and participate in interactive dialogues with members and non-members of the Council. In addition, two special events were scheduled to be held during the session - one on violence against children and the other on the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Finally, the last two days of the session had been set aside for the consideration of resolutions and decisions that would be tabled at the session.

In terms of logistics and practical information, the first week of the session would take place in the Assembly Hall and the following two weeks in Salle XVII. As usual, the Information Service would be providing journalists with documentation and statements throughout the course of the meetings. Also, the entire session would be web cast which could be accessed at www.un.org/web cast. Rolando Gomez of the Information Service was available to arrange interviews and to provide assistance to correspondents.

Kosovo Status Process

Ms. Heuzé said regarding the Kosovo status process, the parties were currently considering Special Envoy Martti Ahtisaari’s revised status proposal. The next step would be a high-level meeting in Vienna on Saturday, 10 March, to which Mr. Ahtisaari had invited representatives from both parties, the Kosovo Contact Group, the European Union, NATO and the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK). Currently, there were no plans for any further meetings following the one on Saturday. Mr. Ahtisaari had already made it clear that his intention, after the Saturday meeting, was to finalize his proposal and send it to New York, in order for the Security Council to receive it before the end of March.

Darfur

Ms. Heuzé said the UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) was reporting fighting between tribes in South Darfur and an attack by militiamen in West Darfur. In the latter, some 250 militiamen surrounded Ardamata camp housing displaced persons demanding a meeting with community leaders. Humanitarian operations in the camp had been temporarily suspended.

Elizabeth Byrs of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said she had received an update on the situation in Darfur but unfortunately they were having problems with the server so she would onpass the information to journalists as soon as she could access the files.

Indonesia

Elizabeth Byrs of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said available was a situation report on Indonesia following the earthquake which hit West Sumatera. The UNDAC team was on standby as the Government had not requested international aid, but it had welcomed the aid proposed by the international community. The response of the Indonesian authorities to help the affected communities was continuing. According to the latest figures, the earthquake had damaged 9,717 houses, 206 schools, 65 offices, 195 places of worship and 45 other public facilities. Some 500 persons had been seriously wounded and another 200 had been injured less seriously. More details were available in the situation report.

Jemini Pandya of the International Organization for Migration said IOM this week deployed emergency operations and medical staff to West Sumatra in Indonesia, where an earthquake registering 6.3 on the Richter scale struck on Tuesday. The IOM relief operation would be funded by the Dutch Government, which yesterday announced Euro 1.5 million in emergency relief for the area. The money was earmarked for emergency goods, medical aid and logistics to help the thousands displaced and injured by the quake. IOM trucks were expected to start delivering relief goods to the area today.

Other

Ron Redmond of the UN Refugee Agency said High Commissioner for Antonio Guterres was travelling to Latin America for a week-log visit to Ecuador and Colombia. This was the first time he was visiting the two countries where millions of people had been uprooted by Colombia's internal armed conflict. Some 3 million people were internally displaced in Colombia, representing about 8 percent of the total population of the country. The internally displaced were the biggest group of victims of the armed conflict inside Colombia that has been going on for decades. The humanitarian consequences of the conflict also extended to other countries in the region and notably to Ecuador, where there were an estimated 250,000 Colombians in need of international protection. The High Commissioner would begin his visit in the Ecuadorian capital, Quito, on Monday, 12 March with a series of high-level meetings with government officials. He would then travel on to the northern border with Colombia, where many refugees lived in remote and often impoverished communities. The High Commissioner would leave Ecuador on Tuesday, 13 March for Colombia, where he was also scheduled to have meetings with high-ranking officials.

Concerning displacement in Iraq, Mr. Redmond said UNHCR's Director of International Protection, George Okoth-Obbo, would be leaving on Saturday, 10 March on a one-week mission to Syria, Lebanon and Jordan as part of UNHCR's overall efforts to strengthen its protection and assistance programmes for hundreds of thousands of uprooted Iraqis in the region. The Director of UNHCR’s Middle East and North Africa Division, Radhouane Nouicer, would also be in the region during the week.

Asked about the upcoming conference on displacement in Iraq, Mr. Redmond said it would be held on 17 and 18 April and participating would be a substantial number of governments, organizations and non-governmental organizations at the Assembly Hall of the Palais des Nations. The meeting would be held at the Ministerial level. There was no information available yet on the exact number of participants.

In Sudan, Mr. Redmond said the planned opening on Saturday of two new repatriation corridors from western Ethiopia to south Sudan was expected to pave the way home for thousands of refugees. The first two convoys were scheduled to depart on Saturday bringing some 800 Sudanese refugees from camps in western Ethiopia to their homes.

Samar Shamoon of the World Intellectual Property Organization said WIPO would be holding a briefing at 10 a.m. on Monday, 12 March, when Francis Gurry, WIPO Deputy Director-General, would speak about Cybersquatting & Other Domain Names Issues. On Thursday, 15 March, at 11 a.m., Ernesto Rubio, WIPO Assistant Director-General, would speak about the international trademark system in 2006.

Jemini Pandya of the International Organization for Migration said IOM return operations to assist some of the longest displaced populations in Sudan had resumed, with the first convoy leaving Ed Daein in South Darfur for South Sudan this week. Last year, IOM assisted nearly 7,900 internally displaced persons from various locations in South Darfur to their homes in Northern Bahr el Ghazal in a similar assisted return operation until the onset of the rainy season in May stopped movements.

Ms. Pandya said a contribution of $ 6.3 million by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, Sida, would help boost the second phase of an IOM programme aimed at reducing HIV incidence and impact on migrant and mobile workers and their families in the Southern African Development Community region. In Afghanistan, IOM, in cooperation with the Afghan Ministry of Women's Affairs, had started work on a shelter specifically designed for child victims of trafficking, the first of its kind in that country.

Ms. Heuzé said an exhibition entitled “Cartooning for Peace” was now showing on the third floor of the new building and she invited journalists to visit. The exhibition would be showing until 5 April.