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 attended by Spokespersons for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the UN Refugee Agency, the World Food Programme, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the World Health Organization, the International Labour Organization, the World Meteorological Organization and the World Intellectual Property Organization.

Secretary-General to Address General Assembly’s General Debate Today

Ms. Heuzé said Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon would today address the opening of the General Assembly’s general debate and would talk about the need to respond to the global financial, energy and food crises. The Secretary-General would highlight the need to galvanize global awareness and action to realize the Millennium Development Goals; to respond to the global food crisis and ongoing peacekeeping challenges with new resources; and to tackle climate change. The Millennium Development Goals would be the focus of a high-level debate in New York on 25 September. Available in the press room was a press release on progress towards the Millennium Development Goals, available since last week.

Also available in the press room was a press release on the high-level meeting on Africa’s development needs, which was held yesterday, 22 September. In the release, the Secretary-General said he was convinced that through concerted action by African Governments and their development partners, the Millennium Development Goals remained achievable in Africa. He said that it would cost about $72 billion per year in external financing to achieve the Goals by 2015.

New Statements by the Secretary-General

Ms. Heuzé said available in the press room were two statements by the Secretary-General. In the first, the Secretary-General strongly condemned the heinous terrorist attack on the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad, Pakistan, which had reportedly killed and injured a large number of people. The Secretary-General also strongly condemned the recent series of car bombings in Spain, which had resulted in one fatality and the wounding of several others.

Human Rights Council

Ms. Heuzé said the ninth regular session of the Human Rights Council would be concluding its work either today or tomorrow, depending on the progress they made today. This morning, the Council was meeting behind closed doors to discuss its Complaint Procedure. In theory, they were supposed to start the public plenary around 11:30 a.m. when they would continue with the general debate on item 9 – racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related forms of intolerance and follow-up to the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action. Thereafter, the Council would hear a presentation from the Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in Burundi, followed by an interactive dialogue on the report of the Independent Expert along with those from the Independent Expert on Liberia and the Independent Expert on Somalia, which were both presented on Friday. It would then hold a general debate on item 10 – technical assistance and capacity-building. And then it would discuss organizational and procedural matters and appoint four new Special Procedures mandate holders. The expectation was that the Council would require the full day to get through this heavy programme; therefore it would most probably continue tomorrow to begin action on the draft resolutions tabled during the current session. Available at the back of the room was a chart listing the draft resolutions to be considered.

The President of the Council was expected to hold a press conference at the end of the session. But as things stood right now, that might be held on Wednesday afternoon or Thursday morning, Ms. Heuzé said.

Afghanistan

Simon Schorno of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said ICRC and the United States military authorities in Afghanistan would today start the first face-to-face visits between individuals currently held in the Bagram Theater Internment Facility and their families. That initiative came in the wake of a programme established in January 2008 to enable families to communicate with their relatives held in Bagram via a videophone link. The programme had been a major success. Families would be allowed to visit their relatives for 60 minutes each and the visits were expected to be repeated regularly. There were approximately 600 detainees held in Bagram.

Ms. Heuzé said the Security Council had held consultations yesterday to discuss a draft resolution on extending the mandate of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan. The resolution had been adopted unanimously in the early afternoon.

Refugees

William Spindler of the UN Refugee Agency said UNHCR was appealing for more than $17 million to help tens of thousands of people displaced by the conflict and floods in north-western Pakistan. UNHCR had urgently distributed supplies to some 84,000 affected people, and was supporting the authorities in the areas of emergency shelter, registration and camp management. According to government figures, there were now an estimated 90,000 internally displaced people in Pakistan’s North West Frontier Province due to the ongoing fighting in the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan. Another 90,000 were believed to be displaced in Swat, in northern North West Frontier Province, and in addition, some 84,000 people had been displaced by floods in August.

Mr. Spindler said UNHCR was urging the European Union Ministers of Justice and Home Affairs, at their meeting in Brussels on 25 September, to reaffirm their commitment to the protection of Iraqi refugees and to agree on the establishment of a European Union resettlement programme.

In Nepal, more than 5,000 refugees from Bhutan had left their camps in Nepal for resettlement countries so far this year, Mr. Spindler said. The United States has accepted the largest numbers, followed by Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Norway, Canada and Denmark.

In conclusion, Mr. Spindler said UNHCR welcomed a decision by the United Arab Emirates to resolve the situation of thousands of stateless people. Earlier this month, the Ministry of Interior announced the launch of a two-month campaign for the registration of the country’s stateless population, referred to as the Bidoon, and the establishment of four registration centres. The authorities would make a final decision about naturalization and granting citizenship after extensive scrutiny of the application.

In response to a question, Mr. Spindler said there were other Bidoon in other countries in the region and UNHCR was working in all those places to try to reduce the number of stateless persons.

Ethiopia

Emilia Casella of the World Food Programme (WFP) said WFP’s Executive Director had yesterday appealed for $460 million to feed 9.6 people in Ethiopia. A media background release on the situation in Ethiopia was available at the back of the room. Now Ethiopia had surpassed Sudan as the biggest food emergency. Today, the number of people receiving emergency aid in Ethiopia was 6.4 million, and in Sudan it was 5.6 million.

In response to a question that the Government of Ethiopia claimed that only 2 million persons needed emergency food, Ms. Casella said WFP was in constant discussion with the Government of Ethiopia and they were aware and they agreed that basically this was the worst crisis they were facing since 1984. There were parts of the country that were in their third year of drought and it was essential that WFP received these funds so that it could help the people.

Haiti

Veronique Taveau of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) noted that the response by the international donor community to the flash appeal for Haiti remained very limited, despite the seriousness of the situation. Some 300,000 children were in need of assistance across the country. For the past three days, UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, Mia Farrow, had been in Haiti, making renewed calls for international assistance, and testifying to the urgency of the sanitary and health needs for Haiti’s children, which she said were glaring. UNICEF had already provided 120,000 litres of water, water purification tablets, hygiene kits, blankets, food assistance and other relief supplies, but that assistance was only being distributed slowly owing to the difficult conditions. The numerous overflowing drains increased the risks of disease outbreaks and there was a “pestilential smell” that hovered over the towns, according to Farrow. Of the $107 interagency appeal launched on 10 September, only 3 per cent was so far funded. A press release was available.

Tainted Milk

Responding to a question as to what action UNICEF was taking with regard to the tainted milk scandal in China, Ms. Taveau said UNICEF was very concerned about that situation and was working closely with the Government of China on that issue. UNICEF was focusing on the regulatory framework and ensuring that it was implemented. It was also highlighting its traditional message that the best way to protect children and babies was for them to be breastfed. UNICEF was using its own funds to develop television information spots in China that would advocate for the need for mothers to breastfeed their children for at least the first six months, but optimally for two years. UNICEF was also pushing to have facilities made available for working mothers to breastfeed their children.

Fadéla Chaib of the World Health Organization (WHO) said that, regarding export of milk from China to other countries, Chinese officials had reported that affected products had only been exported to Bangladesh, Myanmar, Yemen, Burundi and Gabon. For those countries and others, WHO recommended that the national authorities test the products available in their countries to ensure that there were no problems and they were melamine-free. The Chinese Ministry of Health had reported over the weekend that nearly 40,000 children had sought medical treatment related to the consumption of melamine-contaminated powdered infant formula. At least 12,900 had been hospitalised. Three deaths had been confirmed as being related to contamination of infant formula, with one death still under investigation.

Singapore and Hong Kong Authorities reported finding melamine in dairy products manufactured in China, Ms. Chaib said, and a three-year old girl had received treatment in Hong Kong due to consumption of the contaminated milk. WHO would continue to share information through its International Food Safety Authorities Network to help national authorities to be better informed and enable them to better target their monitoring. A WHO Update on this topic was available on its website. A press briefing would be organized with the WHO Director of Food Safety, perhaps by the end of the week.

Responding on WHO’s confidence in the Chinese Authorities, given their handling of other health issues, such as SARS, Ms. Chaib said, “We don’t really know the scale of the problem, but we are confident that the Chinese Authorities are informing us in a timely manner”. “China is not obliged to inform WHO about this case because it is not an emergency with an international impact or scale; it is a national problem”, she clarified. WHO was therefore awaiting the results of a full investigation by the Chinese Authorities to learn the scale of the problem. It was also not clear if the peak of the crisis had been reached or not. As more and more rural families in China became aware of the problem they were bringing their children to hospitals to be checked out.

On the addition of melamine to food products and whether that was ever safe, Ms. Chaib said addition of melamine into food was not approved by the FAO/WHO Codex Alimentarius (food standard commission), or by any national authorities. It should not be put in food products. As to the question of melamine in Nestlé milk, WHO had requested clarification from the Singapore and Hong Kong authorities on the issue, given media reports that melamine had been found in Nestlé milk products there.

Human Rights

Rupert Colville of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said that the High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay would give her first press conference here in Room III on Thursday, 2 October at 12 p.m., to launch the weeklong Detainees Initiative. The initiative was linked to the sixtieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Lord’s Resistance Army Child Abductions

Ms. Taveau said that UNICEF was calling for the unconditional release of 90 students abducted by the Lord’s Resistance Army on 17 September in Dungu in the northeast Democratic Republic of the Congo. According to the local authorities, during simultaneous attacks led by the Lord’s Resistance Army on the villages of Kilwa, Duru and Nambia, 50 children from the primary school at Kilwa and 40 others from the secondary school in Duru, had been abducted and were presumed to have been led off to LRA camps in the forest. The children included boys and girls aged 6 to 14 years old. UNICEF reminded all parties that the abduction of children and their use in armed groups was both a war crime and a crime against humanity. A press release was available at the back of the room.

Other

On a positive note, UNICEF applauded the decision of the British Government to grant children seeking asylum, migrant children and those who had been trafficked into the United Kingdom the same rights as British children, including heir right to education, health care and social services, Ms. Taveau said. A news note was available at the back of the room.

Corinne Perthuis of the International Labour Organization (ILO) said that tomorrow ILO would launch its report on “green” jobs. A green job was one that preserved and restored the quality of the environment in a sustainable fashion. The report would look at how many, and what kind of, green jobs would be created in the coming years, as well as concrete descriptions of green jobs today. The report, a brochure and a press release would be issued today, under embargo until the report’s release in New York tomorrow at 11 a.m. (5 p.m. Geneva time) by the ILO Director General. A technical briefing on the report would be held in Geneva tomorrow at 11 a.m. in Press Room I.

Ms. Perthuis also announced the holding of the World Microfinance Forum Geneva on 1 and 2 October at ILO headquarters, when over 300 actors in the world of microfinance, including ILO’s Director General, would discuss the fundamentals of microfinance and its ability to contribute to sustainable economies and to the fight against poverty. There would be a press conference by Grameen Bank’s founder, Muhammad Yunus, and Jean Zwahlen, the President of World Microfinance Forum Geneva, in room 6 at ILO on Thursday, 2 October at 11 a.m.

Gaëlle Sévenier of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said that tomorrow, 24 September, WMO would commemorate the sixth annual International Polar Day, focusing on “People in Polar Regions”, their community and cultural well-being, health issues, and the role of the Arctic in the global economy, in particular given the rapid changes in polar environments owing to climate change. To celebrate the event, WMO and its partners were supporting a project to connect researchers, communities and school classes in arctic regions of Canada and New Greenland via radio with Australia, Zambia, and Brazil so that they could compare notes on the impact of their environments on their daily lives. This was also the fourth International Polar Year (March 2007-February 2009), and on 25 February 2009 WMO would publish a report on the status of polar research.

Samar Shamoon of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) noted that the Assemblies of the Member States of WIPO had opened yesterday and elected Francis Gurry as WIPO Director General by acclamation. Copies of his acceptance speech were available, as was the agenda for the Assemblies.