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 United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, the World Health Organization, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the UN Refugee Agency, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the International Organization for Migration.

Situation in Gaza

Ms. Heuzé said Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has briefed the Security Council on his trip to the Middle East. The Secretary-General said that the declarations of unilateral ceasefires and the withdrawal of Israeli troops were important achievements that offered a much-needed respite for suffering civilians, especially in the Gaza Strip. But conditions were still fragile, he warned, and much more remained to be done on both the humanitarian and diplomatic fronts. Noting the attacks on UN facilities, the Secretary-General said that he had demanded a thorough investigation by Israel into every single one of these incidents. He expected to receive a full explanation of each incident and that those responsible would be held accountable for their actions. Prime Minister Olmert, he said, had promised to provide the results of their inquiry on an urgent basis. The Secretary-General would then decide on appropriate follow up action. Mr. Ban emphasized to the Council that, if the past weeks of violence were not followed quickly by broad political action, they faced the real risk of greater polarization and frustration in the region. A true end to violence, and lasting security for both Palestinians and Israelis, would only come through a just and comprehensive settlement to the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Ms. Heuzé said the Secretary-General would be in Madrid this weekend to attend a meeting on the global food crisis and would then go to Davos from 28 to 30 January, where he had a number of meetings set up. In Davos, the Secretary-General would give a press conference on the Millennium Development Goals, and he would also talk about the comprehensive inter-agency assessment mission in Gaza with the Emergency Relief Coordinator John Holmes.

John Ging, Director of Operations of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, speaking in a conference call from Gaza, said in Gaza, everyone was now focused on assisting the people to cope with their grief and also the destruction that had taken place on both sides. Both of these issues were equally important. There was truly an overwhelming sense of grief for those killed and injured and this had had a very deep impact on the mindset thinking mentality of the people. The Palestinians were still quite shell-shocked, but there was more and more anger growing. On the international side, they had all been urgently focusing attention on the necessity for accountability and a credible mechanism for accountability because this emotion needed to be channelled to confidence in the rule of law. There were more extremists now at the end of this conflict than at the start, which was the product of such conflict that created more extremists. The extremists were very confident in their rhetoric when they said that there should be no expectations that justice would be delivered through the rule of law. They said there was no justice for Palestinians, no equality in terms of the value of human rights. Now the international community had to prove them wrong. It had to prove that there were mechanisms that would achieve accountability. There were so many allegations, on both sides. UNRWA did not want just justice for the Palestinians, it wanted justice for the Israelis as well, there were two parties to this conflict and there were two sets of victims, Israeli civilians and Palestinian civilians. Both sides were seeking justice for what they had lost.

Mr. Ging said this was a challenge that they must succeed in achieving. If they did not, then they had truly proceeded to the agenda of the extremists in Gaza. UNRWA could not contemplate allowing that to happen. That was why it would continue to press for such investigations which were independent, objective and credible. On the other side, they also had to look at the physical plight of the people. There had been so much destruction, not just to the housing, which was very large scale, but also to the infrastructure of a future state. For example, various ministries had been destroyed completely, as well as the President’s compound, and the industrial area. There had to be accountability for this as well. The stated targets were the infrastructure of terror - that was what they heard in statements by Israel. There needed to be accountability for why the Israeli air force hit the infrastructure of the state of Palestine, as opposed to the infrastructure of the state of terrorism, whatever that might be. The predominant damage had been to the infrastructure of the state of Palestine as well as the industrial base. There had to be accountability for that. UNRWA also now had to look at how it could help the people to recover. It was very simple. They had to open up all crossing points. Unless all crossing points were opened up fully, there would be no prospect of recovery.

It was the ordinary people who had been playing the price for the siege, through this conflict and before, Mr. Ging said. They were the ones who suffered. So there were two things to do. One was to establish, credibly, in the minds of people faith in the rule of law – that there would be accountability – to allow their energy and emotion to be channelled in that direction. The second thing which had to be done concurrently was to re-establish them to a position of dignified existence. That meant that they needed a restoration of the economy in Gaza, where the crossing points were open.

Mr. Ging said there was a certain political rationale to the closing of the crossing points, which had resulted in this failure and had caused the people of Gaza to be reduced to subsistence and an undignified existence. The international community now had to prioritise the interests of ordinary people and had to build this from the ground up. The ordinary people in Gaza needed to be restored to a dignified existence. This could not occur unless the crossing points were open, every single one of them, for the free movement of goods, not just a trickle of food, medicine and so-called humanitarian assistance, but a full restoration to a normal life in terms of commercial trade and all the supplies which were needed for 1.5 million people, and also to restore to them the freedom of movement. The right to livelihood, the right to freedom of movement, these were the fundamental freedoms that needed to be restored immediately. If they were, UNRWA was confident that it would also help and assist in making less conflict and less difficult those seemingly intractable political challenges that were there, that were grounding all these policies that had been pursued for the last number of years, and that had resulted in this manifestation of abject failure which was this so-called war on Gaza which achieved nothing except death and destruction on both sides. There would be of course those who would try to rationalize and explain a continuation of the policies of siege and sanction in a political context. But as far as all of those on the ground were concerned, their time was up, it was time for change, to open up those crossing points and restore the people to a dignified existence. They were also confident that the consequences would be very positive on the whole dynamic, to contribute more positively to stability and security. It did not mean that the challenge of extremism would go away, it would remain for some time to come, but it was time to tackle it effectively, rather than pursuing policies which were completely counter-productive to their objective and in fact fed and strengthened extremism. These crossing points could quite easily be opened if there was political will.

Elena Mancusi-Materi of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East said the unprecedented devastation of the Gaza Strip had further compounded the effects that an 18 months blockade had had on the local economy, and the effects of an even longer regime of tight restrictions on movement. During the crisis, UNRWA had continued providing assistance to Palestine refugees living in the Strip, who amounted to over 1 million people out of a total 1.5 million for the total population. Of course, during the crisis, UNRWA also extended assistance to needy non-refugees, in coordination with other aid partners. With the holding of the ceasefire now, UNRWA certainly needed to resume the provision of all its basic services and regular programmes according to its mandate. UNRWA was a special Agency in the UN family as it directly implemented its services; it therefore needed to have its schools running again as soon as possible, its health centres functioning at best capacity, as well as its relief and social services activities. Immediate post-conflict activities and longer-term recovery efforts were now being determined, also as part of a comprehensive inter-Agency needs assessment and plan. UNRWA’s response would be part of this plan, which would be launched shortly in the coming days. However, pre-conditions for the possibility that humanitarian actors may properly operate - and the humanitarian crisis be therefore alleviated - were firstly, the opening of crossings for the passage of both aid and commercial commodities, and very importantly including material for reconstruction and repair. The resumed operation of the banking system was also necessary, with the entry of cash into the Strip for revival of the local economy; and an improved security environment, with free movement of the population and humanitarian actors.

Fadela Chaib of the World Health Organization said the latest WHO update on the health situation in Gaza had been sent to journalists a few days ago. Now that access was a bit easier, it was now known that there were at least 34 healthcare centres which had been partially or completely damaged, including 8 hospitals and 26 primary healthcare centres. According to the latest figures from the Palestinian Ministry of Health, 16 healthcare workers had been killed during the conflict and 22 wounded.

Ms. Chaib recalled that the Executive Board of WHO opened on 19 January and would conclude its work on Tuesday, 27 January. There had been long discussions held on the situation in Gaza, in which almost all the 34 Member States of the Executive Council took part. They adopted a resolution proposed by Tunisia and a number of other countries in which the Board requested the WHO Director-General to dispatch an urgent specialized health mission to identify the urgent health and humanitarian needs and assess the destruction of medical facilities that had occurred in the occupied Palestinian territory, particularly in the Gaza Strip and to submit a report on current, medium- and long-term needs on the direct and indirect effects on health of the Israeli military operations to the World Health Assembly in May.

Veronique Taveau of the United Nations Children’s Fund said available was a press release in which UNICEF thanked Japan for being the first country to contribute funds to UNICEF for the crisis in Gaza. Japan offered $ 3 million which would support UNICEF’s activities to respond to the immediate needs of children gravely wounded or gravely sick.

Ms. Taveau said on Tuesday, 27 January, UNICEF would launch its Humanitarian Action Report 2009 which highlighted the plight of children and women in humanitarian emergencies in a total of 36 countries, including Zimbabwe, the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Myanmar. UNICEF’s Executive Director Ann Veneman and its Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, Sigrid Kaag, would be present at the press conference at 9:30 a.m. in Salle II on Tuesday.

Ms. Heuzé, responding to a question, said the Emergency Relief Coordinator John Holmes was at the head of the international humanitarian needs assessment of the civilian population in Gaza. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon would be in Davos next week and would present with Mr. Holmes the first results of this inter-agency assessment. But the Consolidated Appeal for Gaza would be launched in Geneva on Monday, 2 February by Mr. Holmes. Elizabeth Byrs of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs added that Mr. Holmes would also launch the Humanitarian Action Plan for Afghanistan 2009 in Geneva on Tuesday, 3 February.

Emilia Casella of the World Food Programme announced that WFP’s Regional Director for the Middle East, Mr. Daly Belgasmi, would brief journalists on Monday, 26 January, at 2 p.m. on food security and the WFP operation in Gaza.

Geneva Activities

Ms. Heuzé said an interesting meeting was being held today in Salle XII to launch a report entitled “Cost of Conflict in the Middle East”. The meeting was organized by the Swiss Permanent Mission and the Geneva Centre for Security Policy. A number of documents relating to this study by the Strategic Foresight Group were available at the back of the room, including the opening statement by Sergei Ordzhonikidze, Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva.

Ms. Heuzé said the Human Rights Council Advisory committee would hold its second session from 26 to 30 January in Salle XVII. Available was a background press release which mapped out the issues which the 18 independent Experts of the Committee would discuss.

Zimbabwe

Elizabeth Byrs of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said the cholera outbreak in Zimbabwe had still not yet been brought under control, as the number of cases continued to rise. Given meteorological forecasts of more rain to come, concerns were mounting over the risks of flooding and the effect this would likely have to exacerbate the current cholera crisis. The total number of cholera treatment centres had now increased from 173 to 235. Hygiene promotion continued by various partners in cholera-affected districts, but many of the centres had shortages of medication, food and staff. UN agencies and NGOs reported difficulties in providing support due to logistical difficulties. The continuing rise in the number of cases and fatalities indicated that public health and hygiene messages were not being broadly taken up by the population. There were more details in the notes at the back of the room.

Fadela Chaib of the World Health Organization said the number of reported cases of cholera had reached 48,623 cases, including 2,755 deaths. The case fatality rate was at 5.7 per cent. In order to consider an epidemic under control, the case fatality rate had to be under 1 per cent. Some 87 per cent of districts had reported cholera cases up to now in the 10 provinces of the country. In the week of 11 to 17 January, there were more cases and more deaths reported than at any time since the beginning of the epidemic, with a weekly case fatality rate of 6.5 per cent. Two thirds of deaths had occurred in the community, highlighting possible problems with access to health care, unavailability of proper health care, or problems with differential diagnosis with other underlying factors such as AIDS and malnutrition. A total of 235 cholera centres had now been established.

Jean-Luc Martinage of the International Federation of the Red Cross introduced himself to the briefing as the Francophone press officer for the Federation. Available was a press release about the situation of the cholera crisis in Zimbabwe.

Dr. Tammam Aloudat, Senior Health Officer responsible for health in emergencies of the International Federation of the Red Cross, who had been coordinating the Federation’s response to the cholera crisis in Zimbabwe, said the cholera outbreak in Zimbabwe was increasing in scale and was claiming more lives. The scenario which was envisioned a few weeks ago and was thought to be an excessive nightmare scenario was now happening and unravelling. There were close to 50,000 cases and 3,000 deaths. The Red Cross, the Zimbabwe Red Cross, the Federation and several other partners had been working with the affected communities, fighting the epidemic, both through the ability of volunteers to access communities and carry out the health education campaigns, and by deploying clinics, doctors, technicians and water and sanitation engineers. Today the Red Cross was providing treatment, sanitation, water and volunteers to go to communities to educate them. This was what had the potential to avert a cholera outbreak. Given resources, they could contain this epidemic. However, the Federation’s appeal for chf 10.2 million had only been covered by 40 per cent. The Zimbabwe cholera outbreak was no longer as visible as it was before, and that was affecting the ability of people on the ground to respond.

Refugees

Ron Redmond of the UN Refugee Agency said UNHCR viewed with some concern the latest developments and the military build-up in the troubled North Kivu province of the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. The joint military operation by the
Congolese and Rwandan armed forces in North Kivu, aimed at forcible disarmament of the Rwandan militia group, the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, had begun with the arrival of Rwandan troops in the province earlier this week. UNHCR feared that these operations could create new and massive displacement of the civilian population. The humanitarian situation in North Kivu was already dramatic, with some 850,000 internally displaced people. Of them, some 250,000 were forced to flee just since last August, and many of them had already been displaced multiple times. UNHCR urged all parties to respect international humanitarian principles, to minimize civilian suffering and ensure safe passage for the civilian population away from the combat zones. It also called on the warring sides not to forcibly return Rwandan civilians. It was also imperative for UNHCR and other aid agencies to be able to immediately deliver humanitarian assistance to civilian victims and to have safe and unhindered access to any new spontaneous sites where the displaced population may gather.

Mr. Redmond said the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees today expressed mounting concern over the conditions faced by nearly 2,000 boat people, including asylum seekers, currently crammed into one reception centre on the southern Italian island of Lampedusa. The centre had a capacity for only 850 people and hence could not accommodate such high numbers. The result was that hundreds of people were now sleeping outdoors under plastic sheeting and adequate reception standards could not be maintained. The overcrowding of the temporary reception centre on the small island was creating a humanitarian situation of concern which also complicated the work of UNHCR and other organizations active there under a project funded by the Ministry of the Interior and the European Commission.

Human Rights

Rupert Colville of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said the setting up of the independent fact-finding mission for Gaza was in the hands of the President of the Human Rights Council, and he would make a statement when he was ready to do so.

Mr. Colville said OHCHR and the United Nations–African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) had jointly issued a report today into the killing of 33 civilians and wounding of 108 others in a camp for displaced people in Darfur last August. The report was the result of an investigation into a law enforcement operation that ended disastrously on 25 August 2008 at the Kalma camp for internally displaced persons, some 15 km east of Nyala in South Darfur. It concluded that Sudanese government security forces violated international human rights law by using lethal force in “an unnecessary, disproportionate and therefore unlawful manner.” Sudanese security forces attempting to execute a search warrant authorizing them to look for arms, drugs and other forms of organized crime in Kalma were confronted by a group of camp residents who had gathered to stop them entering the camp. The security forces fired shots in the air, before opening fire on the crowd. The report concluded that, despite the General Search Order for the operation carried out in Kalma, “Government security forces committed violations of international human rights law against the civilian population of Kalma IDP camp. It was established that the security forces used lethal force in an unnecessary, disproportionate and therefore unlawful manner.” Government security forces also “failed to protect the right to life according to their obligations under international human rights law.”

Mr. Colville said a press release was available at the back of the room and the full text of the 12-page report, including the responses of the Government of Sudan and a list of recommendations, could be viewed at www.ohchr.org.

Other

Veronique Taveau of the United Nations Office at Geneva said UNICEF was deeply concerned about increasing numbers of attacks on school buildings in northwestern Pakistan. UNICEF condemned these attacks. Since 2007, more than 170 government and private schools, particularly girls’ schools, had been blown up or burned down in the Federally Administered Tribal Area and the North West Frontier Province, reportedly by illegal armed groups. A press release was available at the back of the room with more details.

Samar Shamoon of the World Intellectual Property Organization said Francis Gurry, WIPO Director-General, would brief journalists on Tuesday, 27 January at noon at WIPO.

Jemini Pandya of the World Intellectual Property Organization said a year ago, the media was focusing on the conflict in Kenya after the 2007 elections. At that time half a million persons had been displaced and a lot of homes and livelihoods had been destroyed. A year on, there were still tens of thousands of people who had been displaced and were still not living in proper homes. IOM welcomed today a donation of US$ 7 million by the Japanese Government to IOM for programmes in Kenya's Rift Valley, the worst hit area in the violence.