REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE
Elena Ponomareva-Piquier, Chief of the Press and External Relations Section of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired the briefing which was also attended by Spokespersons for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the World Health Organization, the UN Refugee Agency, the World Trade Organization, the Economic Commission for Europe, the United Nations Conference for Trade and Development and the International Organization for Migration.
Secretary-General Sends Letter to Leaders of G-20 Meeting
Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said that in advance of this weekend’s G-20 summit on financial markets in Washington, D.C., the Secretary-General has sent a letter to leaders of those countries. In it, he underlined the need to prevent the financial crisis from becoming a human crisis that could assume overwhelming political and security dimensions. One important way of doing this would be by meeting existing commitments on aid, he said. Reforms cannot be restricted to financial sector regulation alone, the Secretary-General said. They must also deal with the broader challenges for human security, including climate change, conflict prevention and the eradication of poverty. An early resolution of issues holding up the Doha trade round would also be a significant contribution to overcoming the crisis. “These broad challenges can only be met through a reinvigorated and inclusive multilateralism,” the Secretary-General said. “The United Nations has much to contribute and remains the anchor of such a system.”
Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said copies of the Secretary-General’s letter were available in the press room, as were his latest statements on the situation in Darfur and in Myanmar.
Geneva Activities
Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said the Committee against Torture was this morning concluding its consideration of the report of Kenya. This was the last country report that it was considering. The Committee would issue its concluding observations and recommendations on the reports which it had reviewed during this session on Friday, 21 November.
The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights yesterday concluded its review of the report of Angola. This was also the last country report that it was considering. The Committee would issue its concluding observations and recommendations on the reports which it had reviewed during this session on Friday, 21 November.
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy on peace in the Great Lakes Region, former President Olusejun Obasanjo, would be travelling for a first round of consultations on the Democratic Republic of the Congo, beginning today in Luanda. He would meet there with the President of Angola before travelling later in the day to Kinshasa for an expected meeting with President Kabila. He was expected to proceed on the weekend for further discussions in Goma.
Elizabeth Byrs of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said thousands of people were still displaced in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and humanitarian workers were still not able to provide them with aid, two weeks after the renewed fighting started. Looting by the FARDC continued in South Lubero. Kirumba and Kanyabayonga were ransacked at night from 12 to 13 November. Security at the Kibati camp remained a concern and UN officials were in discussions with local authorities regarding the protection of the internally displaced people there and possible relocation. Food was reaching the Kibati camp now, after being stopped most of last week because of security conditions. UN agencies were also worried about cholera cases, which had tripled in Goma since October. There were 997 cases of cholera recorded in North Kivu. In Minova, 117 cases of cholera were recorded last week against 108 the previous week. Due to increased demand in the shortage and transport of humanitarian relief supplies, additional warehouses had been identified. The flight rotations of the C-130 of the Belgian army were ongoing. Four out of ten expected rotations had been performed. There were more details in the notes.
Ron Redmond of the UN Refugee Agency said over the past few weeks, UNHCR had repeatedly voiced its concern for the safety of tens of thousands of internally displaced Congolese in two camps on the northern outskirts of Goma that were in very close proximity to the frontlines. Given the continuing security threat, provincial authorities, UNHCR and its partners had decided to transfer the more than 60,000 people in the two Kibati camps to a new 26-hectare Muguna III site, west of Goma. The transfer was expected to begin next week. Meanwhile, UNHCR non-food aid distributions continued today in Kibati.
Emilia Casella of the World Food Programme said this morning 12 trucks carrying food left for Rutshuru and Kiwanja. They arrived safely and were already being distributed. It was expected that 12,000 people would receive rations today. A further 38,000 were expected to receive rations in the coming few days. The trucks were also carrying non-food items donated by the Belgian Government. This was a 15-day ration of maize, beans, cooking oil and salt.
Veronique Taveau of the United Nations Children’s Fund said the recruitment of children by armed militias was continuing in Kitchanga according to information UNICEF received but which it was not able to verify independently. Children aged 14 years were also reportedly recruited in Rugare and Rutshuru. It was believed that between 2,000 and 3,000 child soldiers had been forcibly recruited before the present crisis, and this figure was probably much higher now with the ongoing recruitment. UNICEF continued to transmit messages on local radio stations to inform the militias that forced recruitment was a war crime and a crime against humanity punished by international tribunals and the Constitution of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Ms. Taveau said four flights carrying humanitarian aid provided by UNICEF were distributed in Goma earlier this week. Six other planes were expected in the coming days carrying help provided by the United Kingdom and the Untied States. The aid which arrived in Goma would help with the cholera and diarrhoea epidemics. Rehydrating salts were distributed to health centres. The vaccination campaign aiming to reach 9,000 children in Korotshe was continuing. The campaign targeting 13,000 children in Kibati was interrupted by the fighting on 7 November, and resumed on 12 November. There were more details in her notes.
Fadela Chaib of the World Health Organization said a press release on the latest health update in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo had been sent out yesterday. WHO and its partners had launched an operation aimed at controlling the cholera outbreak in a number of areas. WHO had 60 tons of medical material, part of which would be trucked into Goma this weekend.
Consolidated Humanitarian Appeal 2009 and Appeal for Sudan
Elizabeth Byrs of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said John Holmes, the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, would be launching the Humanitarian Appeal 2009 at the Palais des Nations on Wednesday, 19 November from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. in Room XVIII. A press conference would follow at 4 p.m., probably in press room 1. The 2009 Humanitarian Appeal would seek to help 30 million people in 31 countries around the world living in severe and ongoing humanitarian crises. She would provide journalists with the embargoed appeal at the briefing on 18 November. Also participating in the launch would be Hilde Johnson, Deputy Executive Director of UNICEF, and the Secretary-General of the Norwegian Refugee Council.
On 20 November at noon, there would be a separate launch for the appeal for Sudan, Ms. Byrs said.
Afghanistan
Ron Redmond of the UN Refugee Agency said High Commissioner Antonio Guterres would be travelling to Afghanistan for five days next week to assess the progress and the continuing challenges in UNHCR’s largest repatriation operation worldwide. He would also co-chair an international conference in Kabul to mobilise support for the return and reintegration of Afghan refugees. In eastern Afghanistan, Mr. Guterres was scheduled to meet with returnees from Pakistan to better understand their needs and concerns. In western Afghanistan, he would visit several camps for internally displaced Afghans. In Kabul on 19 November, Mr. Guterres would co-chair with the Afghan Foreign Minister an International Conference on Return and Reintegration of Afghan Refugees.
Other
Janaina Borges of the World Trade Organization said there would be the regular monthly meeting of the Dispute Settlement Body and a meeting of the Agriculture Negotiations Group on 17 November. On 18 November, the Goods Council was meeting and on 19 November, the Balance of Payments Restrictions Committee would be meeting. WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy was today meeting with Saint Lucia’s Minister for Trade and Industry. On 17 November, he would deliver a speech at the Barcelona School of Economics and on 19 and 20 November he would be attending a Ministerial Conference of Least Developed Countries in Cambodia.
Charlotte Griffiths of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe said water was a vital resource that people were prepared to go to war over, but water also united people. UNECE was co-organizing a special water conference in Almaty on 17 and 18 November with the aim of improving water management in Central Asia. This event was needed because the water situation in Central Asia was difficult. UNECE has been increasingly working in the region to offer assistance. The special international conference, “Water Unites – Strengthening Regional Cooperation on Water Management in Central Asia” (Almaty, 17-18 November) was being organized by UNECE, the Government of Germany, the Executive Committee for the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea and UNDP; the conference was being hosted by the Kazakh Executive Board of International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea and the Government of Kazakhstan. A press release with more details was available at the back of the room.
Sanjay Acharya of the International Telecommunications Union said ITU’s high-level meeting on cybersecurity and climate change was held on 12 and 13 November. The audio file of the press conference which was attended by the Presidents of Rwanda and Burkina Faso was now available on the ITU website.
Mr. Acharya said on 13 November, ITU launched a new initiative to protect children online. The Child Online Protection Initiative brought together partners from all sectors of the international community, including UN agencies, in order to create a safe and secure online experience for children everywhere. Available was a press release with more details.
Fadela Chaib of the World Health Organization said available at the back of the room was a media advisory on the International Foodborne Disease Stakeholder Event which would be held on Thursday, 20 November at the International Conference Centre in Geneva. Also available was the agenda. There would be a press conference at noon on the same day. The meeting was public.
Claudia Stein, Head of the WHO Initiative to Estimate the Global Burden of Foodborne Diseases, said an expert group meeting would be held all next week in connection with the WHO foodborne disease burden expert meeting on 20 November. The purpose was to provide health burden data that arose from food contamination in the world. This was something that had never happened before.
Corinne Perthuis of the International Labour Organization said the Governing Council of the ILO was meeting in Geneva from 6 to 21 November. The Governing Council would hold its annual discussion on the consequences of globalization on 17 November and the special guest was Angel Gurria, Secretary-General of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. On 18 November, the Governing Council would appoint the Director-General. The serving Director-General, Juan Somavia was the single contender. A number of press releases with more details would be issued next week.
Jean-Philippe Chauzy of the International Organization for Migration said some 350 undocumented migrants from Niger, Ghana, Mali, Burkina Faso, Senegal and Togo who were currently stranded in Libya with no money or travel documents, some en route to Europe, would benefit over the coming month from IOM's voluntary return and reintegration programme. The programme, set up in July 2006 in response to requests from West African embassies in Tripoli, had so far provided comprehensive return and reintegration assistance to 2,890 impoverished and abandoned migrants from 23 African and Asian countries. Recent additional funding from Italy to an amount of 600,000 Euros provided return and in-kind reintegration assistance to more than 400 stranded migrants. The assistance, to an amount of 500 euros, would enable the migrants to start an income-generating activity after they returned home.
Mr. Chauzy said in Pakistan, IOM has deployed two medical teams to provide basic medical and psychosocial support to earthquake survivors in affected areas of Balochistan. An earthquake measuring 6.4 on the Richter scale struck three districts of the province on 29 October 2008, killing at least 300 people and leaving over 70,000 homeless.
Marcal Izard of the International Federation of the Red Cross said in northern Sri Lanka, fighting between the LTTE and the Sri Lankan army was continuing and there were tens of thousands of people who had been repeatedly displaced. There were more details in the briefing note.
In Somalia, Mr. Izard said ICRC had decided to again distribute dry-food rations in the coming weeks to almost half a million people in the centre and south of Somalia. These people had already received food rations from June to October 2008, and it had now been decided to follow this up with the dry-food rations for fear that they might otherwise starve. The situation was extremely critical due to the ongoing fighting, the drought and rising food prices. With this new plan, ICRC would have tripled its food aid this year in Somalia compared to last year. ICRC was also helping with water supplies. In 2008, ICRC had trucked 277 million litres of water to almost half a million pastoralists and their livestock. ICRC was also helping civilians wounded from the fighting to get surgical treatment and it continued to supply medical supplies to two hospitals in Mogadishu. There were more details in the briefing note.
Elizabeth Byrs of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said 300,000 people had been affected by the floods in Kenya. Severe flooding started in Budalangi district on 10 November. At least 5,000 people had been displaced. At least five people have been killed, including two children in the Ukambani region. The floods had destroyed many farms and landslides had killed 12 people, including 10 children, in Pokot Central District. Flooding had also submerged latrines and wells, increasing the risk of water borne disease outbreaks. An inter-agency assessment in Budalangi district had been concluded and other assessments of the affected areas were ongoing.
Elizabeth Byrs of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said an international symposium on Karthala volcano would be held from 19 to 21 November in Comoros, organized by the Government, UNDP and OCHA.