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 for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the World Food Programme, the United Nations Refugee Agency, the United Nations Environment Programme, the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the World Intellectual Property Organization, the International Labour Organization, the International Social Security Association, the United Nations Children’s Fund and the International Organization for Migration. Spokespersons for the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development and the World Meteorological Organization were also present, but had no announcements to make.

Durban Review Conference

Ms. Heuzé said that during yesterday’s end-of-the-day press conference they had had the reaction of the Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and of the High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay to the totally aberrant remarks of the President of Iran. UNIS had disseminated a full transcript of those reactions as widely as possible – copies had been sent by e-mail to journalists, copies were available in the pressroom, and the text had been posted on the Internet. Also available were the two statements issued by Secretary-General and the High Commissioner on the subject.

Ms. Heuzé recalled that at 1.15 p.m. they would be holding a press conference with the spokesperson for the Durban Review Conference. However, she wished to note that at the United Nations conferences and discussions had to be carried out in a spirit of mutual respect and dignity and that the rules and procedures were followed for all those accredited to attend, whether they be States, non-governmental organizations or journalists. It should therefore not be surprising that a number of badges would be withdrawn this morning in response to the various disruptive protests that had taken place yesterday in the Assembly Hall and in front of the room in which the President of Iran was holding a press conference.

A couple of journalists expressed their surprise at and protested against the inconvenience presented to journalists by the protest in front of the press conference and asked for security measures to be taken. Pressed for details of the withdrawals, Ms. Heuzé said a global figure of the number of badges – 375 – had been mentioned this morning. She stressed that the Durban Review Conference was continuing. Today there were a number of important statements to be made, just as a number of important statements had been made yesterday following the address by the Iranian President. Copies of statements were available in the pressroom. There were also a number of side events, including those organized by non-governmental organizations.

Situation in Sri Lanka

Elisabeth Byrs of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said the United Nations was gearing up its efforts to provide humanitarian assistance to the tens of thousands of people who had fled the fighting in the north of Sri Lanka and humanitarian agencies were preparing to receive a growing number of displaced.

With regard to financing for their operations, of the $155 million asked for, OCHA had only received $48 million, or only 30 per cent, some $10 million of which had been financed by the United Nations itself through its Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF). Although food assistance was relatively well funded (59 per cent), requirements were likely to increase. In addition, other sectors were not well financed at all: shelter stood at 18 per cent; water and sanitation at 16 per cent; and health at just 15 per cent. A media note was at the back of the room.

Emilia Casella of the World Food Programme (WFP) said that given population movements it was hard to be precise, but reportedly about 30,000 to 40,000 had fled the no-fire zone and would be arriving in camps for the displaced in Vavuniya over the next few days. The Government had requested that WFP extend food assistance for the incoming internally displaced persons, which would bring the total in the camps to between 90,000 to slightly over 100,000 persons. At the moment, WFP had enough food to feed 100,000 people for the next two weeks and more food was being sent from Colombo. Concurrently, a ship had been loaded with 1,000 metric tons of food for those trapped in the no-fire zone, but the departure had been delayed owing to the uncertainty over whether they would be able to unload at the moment.

In response to a question about the figures cited, Ms. Casella said that for the moment those were Government numbers and they did not have their own counts. As to query about security and other concerns for land deliveries of supplies, she noted that there had been no road deliveries into the Vanni since 16 January. All the food delivered since then had been by boat. So far WFP had delivered 2,300 metric tons of food.

Ron Redmond of the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said UNHCR remained deeply concerned about the plight of the civilian population still trapped inside that conflict zone in that north-eastern coastal pocket, where the situation was reported to be dire. Yesterday, the Government had told UNHCR that an estimated 35,000, 40,000, or possibly slightly more, people had already fled areas where the military and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) were engaged in heavy fighting. Of the anticipated 40,000 most recently displaced, so far UNHCR had confirmed reports that some 5,500 people had reached sites in Vavuniya, while another 2,000 new arrivals had been recorded in Jaffna yesterday. UNHCR was still ascertaining the total number of the newly displaced in the two districts.

UNHCR was providing emergency shelter support and non-food aid to the new arrivals and UNHCR staff were also present at the screening point or crossing point in Omanthai on a daily basis, but did not have direct access to the displaced, Mr. Redmond underscored. More movements could be expected, and UNHCR and shelter agencies were working with the Government to identify more land to alleviate overcrowding at the existing displacement sites.

Fighting and Displacement in Democratic Republic of the Congo

Things were continuing to disintegrate in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where the number of civilians uprooted in continuing raids by the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) in North Kivu over the past seven weeks had risen to over 100,000, Mr. Redmond said. There had been a series of concerted attacks carried out by the rebel group against civilians in several villages near Lubero, about 170 kilometres north of Goma, that had left a trail of death and destruction and caused recurrent displacement. According to local authorities, the rebels had raided the village of Luofu on Friday, killing seven people, including five children, and burning 255 homesteads. Panic-stricken residents had spent the night in the bush while some fled to the nearby town of Kirumba – which had reportedly since been encircled by the rebels. Many of the displaced were hiding in the forest without assistance and many humanitarian agencies were unable to distribute essential aid because of the unpredictable nature of the attacks and the displacement. UNHCR now estimated there were now more than 1.4 million displaced across the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Stockholm Convention

David Ogden of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), said the fourth meeting of the parties to the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants would take place from 4 to 8 May at the Geneva International Conference Centre. They had registered 700 participants from the 137 parties to the Convention so far, and over 100 non-governmental organizations would also be participating in the Conference.

Up till now, the Stockholm Convention had dealt with “The Dirty Dozen” – 12 severely hazardous pesticides and other chemicals which had very marked impacts on human health, including damage to nervous and immune systems, as well as significantly increased cancer rates since those chemicals were first introduced 80 or 90 years ago. The invisible chemicals were found in everyone’s body tissues; and the greater the amount of those chemicals in the environment, the greater the likelihood of adverse health impacts.

At the fourth meeting they were looking to add nine new chemicals to the Stockholm Convention. These nine new chemicals were all still used in commerce, including pesticides and flame retardants. While they were important chemicals, often there were alternatives, and the Convention aimed not just to eliminate the production and use of those chemicals but also to help countries to move towards safer alternatives. Other important issues to be discussed at the Conference were the use of DDT, which was very effective in combating malaria but which brought with it some severe health impacts, and the phasing out of the use of PCBs, which were no longer produced but were still used, in particular in electronic transformers.

Without the development of a sustainable future, supported by a green economy and other efforts, our fragile planet would face other challenges beyond just climate change, Mr. Ogden concluded.

World Malaria Day

Jean-Luc Martinage of the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said that, in advance of World Malaria Day (25 April), IFRC was publishing a report that emphasized the “forgotten component” of malaria protection – that in addition to continuing the distribution of insecticide-treated nets they had to combine them with home visits and information campaigns to ensure that those who had received the nets knew how to use them.

Jason Peat, Malaria Programme Manger with ICRC in Geneva, said the report discussed the added increase in net usage when net distribution was combined with immediate activities at the household level to ensure nets were hung and properly used. “What we are seeing over a number of countries over a number of years is between a 10 and 23 per cent increase in net utilization with these follow up visits”, he highlighted. The visits were conducted by members of the communities so they were both able to communicate in the local languages and were also aware of the very regional and local barriers to net usage. The report was being exclusively launched in Geneva and copies would be sent electronically to journalists at 12 p.m. today. A press release and hard copies of the report were available at the back of the room.

Other

Ms. Byrs announced that Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs John Holmes was in China, where he had arrived yesterday for a three-day mission. He would meet with the Chinese Red Cross and a number of Government officials, including the Foreign Minister, the Trade Minister, as well as the Minister charged with managing catastrophe relief. Mr. Holmes had said that China could play a pivotal role in helping countries of the region build their capacity to manage catastrophes, notably through the work of its state-of-the-art urban search and rescue training facility in Beijing. China had also become important as a donor country, having given $10 million in humanitarian aid in 2008.

Cathy Jewell of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) announced that the theme for this year’s World Intellectual Property Day – Saturday, 26 April – was promoting green innovation as the key to a secure future. The message of WIPO Secretary-General on the occasion was available in the pressroom, along with an information kit.

Also next week, from 27 April to 1 May, they were holding the third session of the Committee on Development and Intellectual Property, Ms. Jewell said. Member States had adopted a WIPO Development Agenda, containing 45 crosscutting recommendations, in September 2007. At next week’s meeting, members would review implementation of 19 of those recommendations that had been earmarked for immediate implementation as well as 21 others.

Corinne Perthuis International Labour Organization (ILO) noted that ILO would be marking its ninetieth anniversary during the week of 21 to 28 April. In Geneva there would be a press conference on Monday, 27 April at 3 p.m. in Room 1 to launch the book, “90 Years Working for Social Justice”. The four authors would be present.

Laurie Jones of the International Social Security Association (ISSA), an ILO partner, announced that ISSA would hold a seminar on 24 and 25 April at the ILO building to take stock of the impact of the financial crisis on social security schemes around the world and to share some of the policy responses. Social insurance schemes had really had to “step up to the plate” and come up with some very innovative ways to respond to this crisis, she said.

The seminar, entitled “Social Security in Times of Crisis: Impact, Challenge and Responses”, would be centred on case studies in 11 different countries. The agenda, which was available at the back of the room, along with a media advisory, contained the list of those providing the case studies. As part of the preparation for the Seminar, ISSA had conducted a limited qualitative survey among its 300 social security agency members in 150 countries around the world to get a handle on social security responses and the impact in terms of financial losses on social security funds. They had received 44 responses which showed that, while the need for social security was far stronger than ever, the schemes had been fragilized by the global financial crisis. The survey highlights would be available at the seminar on Friday.

Veronique Taveau of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) announced a last minute press conference with UNICEF’s regional director for Latin America and the Caribbean – who was attending a side event to the Durban Review Conference – today at 2 p.m. in Room 1.

Jean-Philippe Chauzy of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said that today IOM would sign an agreement with the Afghan Ministry of Interior to establish a cooperation framework to help Afghanistan to better combat human trafficking in that country. Their activities would be centred on prevention, protection of victims of trafficking, and on ensuring that Afghanistan legislation was used to effectively prosecute traffickers.

Mr. Chauzy also highlighted developments in an IOM-supported programme aimed at building competencies and skills of professionals in Cape Verde, as well as IOM’s role in acting as international observer for the out-of-country voting process for elections in Ecuador this week, with IOM observers present in a number of cities, notably throughout North and South America.

Ms. Heuzé then announced that Ecuador was holding a press conference tomorrow, 22 April at 3.30 p.m. in press room 1, given by Ambasador Alfonso Lopez, as well as Ecuadorian parliamentarians and other members of the delegation.