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 United Nations Children’s Fund, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the UN Refugee Agency, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, the World Meteorological Organization and the Inter-Parlimentary Union.

The World Health Organization also briefed journalists about the latest developments concerning the Influenza A H1N1 epidemic.

New Statements by the Secretary-General

Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said four new statements by the Secretary-General were available in the press room. On Niger, the Secretary-General welcomed the recent positive developments in Niger and encouraged the parties to continue the dialogue in order to resolve all outstanding issues. The Secretary-General also welcomed the Agreement signed between the Governments of Chad and Sudan on 3 May in Doha under the auspices of Qatar and Libya. On the situation in Madagascar, the Secretary-General remained concerned with the continuing crisis in Madagascar, which had led to politically motivated arrests, escalating violence and the loss of lives. He appealed to the authorities to observe human rights and respect the rule of law. The Secretary-General also said that while he was saddened by developments leading to the resignation of the Prime Minister of Nepal, he was encouraged by the Maoist party's assurances of its commitment to the peace process, including continued participation in the drafting of the Constitution

Copies of the statement were available in the press room.

Geneva Activities

Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights yesterday opened its forty-second session. The Committee elected by consensus the new Chairperson of the Committee, Jaime Marchan Romero of Ecuador. The Committee also elected three Vice-Chairpersons, Maria Virginia Bras Gomes of Portugal, Mohamed Ezzeldin Abdel-Moneim of Egypt, Walid Sadi of Jordan, and Zdislaw Kedzia as Rapporteur, all for two years. During its three-week session, from 4 to 22 May 2009, the Committee would be examining measures taken by Australia, Brazil, Cyprus, Cambodia and the United Kingdom to comply with the standards of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. All day today and until 1 p.m. on Wednesday, 6 May, the Committee would be examining the report of Australia. It would examine the report of Brazil, on Wednesday afternoon and would conclude at 6 p.m. on Thursday, 7 May. The report of Cyprus would be reviewed on Friday, 8 May.

The Committee against Torture was continuing its forty-second session. This morning, it was starting its review of the report of Israel. This afternoon, the Committee would conclude its consideration of the report of Chile. On Wednesday in the morning, the Committee would start its review of the report of Honduras, and in the afternoon, it would hear the responses of Israel to questions raised today.

Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children

Veronique Taveau of the United Nations Children’s Fund said UNICEF welcomed the Secretary-General’s appointment of Marta Santos Pais of Portugal as his Special Representative on Violence against Children. Currently Director of the UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre, a post she has held since 2001, Ms. Santos Pais joined UNICEF in 1997 as Director of Evaluation, Policy and Planning and served as Co-Chair of the United Nations Development Group Working Group on Human Rights. From 1991 to 1997, Ms. Santos Pais was the Rapporteur of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child, during which time, she also served as Vice-Chair of the Coordinating Committee on Childhood Policies of the Council of Europe. The Office of the Special Representative would be in New York and would be provided with administrative support by UNICEF.

South Sudan

Ms. Taveau said available was a news note on the situation in Southern Sudan. UNICEF was deeply concerned at the impact on children of continuing violence and localized conflict in a number of states of Southern Sudan. UNICEF called on those groups involved in fighting in Southern Sudan to show immediate restraint and ensure the full protection of children, those who cared for them, and the services on which they depended for their survival and development - in line with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which Sudan was a signatory.

Since the start of 2009, thousands of children were estimated to have been displaced from their homes due to attacks by the Lord's Resistance Army in Central and Western Equatoria, while repeated clashes between tribal groups in Jonglei, Lakes and Warrap States were believed to have resulted in the death and abduction of children. In Pibor Country of Jonglei State, more than 140 children had been reportedly abducted, while children were feared to be amongst the 450 people believed killed in Pibor and the 170 people killed in Akobo County. Since the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in 2005, progress in primary education and health care had been a positive example of the valuable peace dividends benefiting the children of Southern Sudan. These gains were being jeopardized by the current level of violence. UNICEF urged all parties to ensure that such protection was afforded to all children in Southern Sudan.

Sri Lanka

Elizabeth Byrs of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said the United Nations remained concerned that military operations in the conflict zone had continued throughout the last week of April and into May. According to reports from those remaining inside the conflict zone, fighting had intensified with both light and heavy weapons being used. More than 188,000 people had crossed out of the conflict zone, with the vast majority accommodated in camps for internally displaced persons in Vavuniya. More than 186,000 were in camps and more than 1,700 wounded and their caregivers were in hospitals. The United Nations continued to estimate that there were 50,000 or more people still trapped in the conflict zone. Humanitarian agencies continued to have no access to the conflict zone. The internally displaced person population faced an extremely difficult health situation given their exposure to food and medical shortages, an outbreak of chicken pox and high rates of respiratory infections, diarrhea and other illnesses, including serious conflict-related injuries. As of 4 May, the appeal for Sri Lanka was 32 per cent funded, $ 49,719,611 out of $ 155,197,462. On 4 May, a donor briefing took place in Colombo, where the United Nations presented an emergency funding document that identified priorities within the $ 155 million appeal for Sri Lanka, requesting $50 million urgently. Notes for the briefing were available at the back of the room.

UNHCR revises Guidelines for Iraqi Asylum Claims

Ron Redmond of the UN Refugee Agency said the improved security situation in Iraq, particularly the southern governorates and Al-Anbar governorate, had allowed UNHCR to revise its guidelines on eligibility for Iraqi asylum seekers for the first time
since the end of 2007. UNHCR previously advised that all Iraqis from the central and southern governorates should be considered refugees -- unless they were in categories, such as those who had committed war crimes, who were specifically excluded. Now UNHCR believed the international protection needs of those originating from Al-Anbar and the southern governorates should be individually assessed. However, UNHCR advised that people belonging to specific groups from
these governorates which had been identified as at risk should receive
favourable consideration. These groups included, among others, members of
religious and ethnic minorities; public officials; Iraqis perceived as opposing armed groups or political factions; Iraqis affiliated with the multinational forces or foreign companies; certain professionals; media workers; UN and NGO workers; human rights activists; and homosexuals.

Mr. Redmond said in most of the central governorates of Baghdad, Diyala, Kirkuk, Ninewa and Salah Al-Din there was ongoing violence, conflict and human rights violations. UNHCR believed that all asylum-seekers from these areas continued to need international protection and should not be sent back there. Where the numbers of Iraqi asylum-seekers were such that individual refugee status determination was not feasible, as in countries neighbouring Iraq, UNHCR encouraged the adoption of a prima facie approach in which recognition was given to all members of the group.

For asylum-seekers from the three Northern Governorates of Dahuk, Erbil and Sulaymaniyah, Mr. Redmond said UNHCR was maintaining its previous position that claims should be individually assessed. However, UNHCR advised foreign governments not to forcibly return people to the three Northern Governorates who did not originate there. It was estimated that hundreds of thousands of Iraqis had sought refuge in neighbouring countries, mainly in Syria and Jordan but also in Lebanon, Egypt and further afield. Last year, over 40,000 asylum applications were made by Iraqis in industrialized countries around the world. The improvement of the situation in Iraq did not yet constitute fundamental changes sufficient to promote or encourage massive returns to Iraq or to allow for the general application of the cessation clauses removing refugee status.

Influenza A H1N1

Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon yesterday spoke about Influenza A (H1N1) at an informal gathering of the General Assembly in New York. In his remarks, the Secretary-General said that, if and when the world faced a severe influenza pandemic, the UN system was ready. He noted that the World Health Organization (WHO) had no plan to raise the flu alert level to 6 at this moment. Regarding unwarranted trade and travel bans or responses concerning pork and pigs, he stressed that the international community must avoid overreactions that would not help contain the spread of H1N1, but which would hurt economies, societies and people. The Secretary-General said that, two weeks from now in Geneva, he intended to bring donors and the private sector together to explore how all could contribute to H1N1 mitigation efforts. The statement of the Secretary-General and the summary of a press conference given by David Nabarro, Senior United Nations System Coordinator for Avian and Human Influenza, yesterday in New York were both available in the press room.

Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said Mr. Nabarro said declined to comment on whether any United Nations staff members were infected with the HIN1 virus. He said the Director of the United Nations Medical Services was responsible for staff health, adding, when pressed on the matter, that he would discuss it with the Secretary-General. While the Organization had not imposed travel restrictions on staff, it was providing medical guidance and updates on internal websites. The Deputy Secretary-General had addressed staff concerns on Friday during a town hall staff meeting at Headquarters.

Fadela Chaib of the World Health Organization said the statement of the Director-General of WHO, Margaret Chan, by video conference to the General Assembly informal gathering was also available.

Ms. Chaib said as of 6 GMT this morning, 21 countries had officially reported 1,124 cases of Influenza A H1N1, 39 more compared to the previous update of 4 May. All the new cases were from Canada. Since the beginning of this epidemic, there had been 26 confirmed deaths from Influenza A H1N1, 25 in Mexico and one in the United States. Mexico had reported 590 laboratory-confirmed human cases of infection, including 25 deaths. The United States had reported 286 laboratory-confirmed human cases, including one death. The following countries had also reported laboratory-confirmed cases, with no deaths: Austria (1); Canada (140); Hong Kong (1); Costa Rica (1); Colombia (1); Denmark (1); El Salvador (2); France (4); Germany (8); Ireland (1); Israel (4); Italy (2); Netherlands (1); New Zealand (6); Portugal (1); Republic of Korea (1); Spain (54); Switzerland (1); and the United Kingdom (18).

The second meeting of the Scientific Committee would be held today at around 4 p.m. Geneva time, via teleconference; the first meeting was on 29 April, Ms. Chaib said. The second meeting of the Scientific Committee would discuss a range of issues regarding the development of the Influenza A H1N1 virus, and would discuss issues about its severity. It would also examine elements of the virus such as the incubation period, severity and which groups may be most vulnerable. This would be a virtual meeting. Investigators would present findings and scientists and clinicians from all over the world would be able to ask questions and to share information. They were expecting more than 150 scientists to be on this tele-conference. The findings of the second meeting of the Scientific Committee would be posted as soon as possible on the website of WHO. There would also be the daily briefing at 5 p.m. Geneva time today. Ms. Chaib said she could not confirm who would be the speaker, but a media advisory would be sent out later.

In response to a question on whether the new cases in Canada were the result of human to human transmissions within Canada, or from new arrivals from Mexico, Ms. Chaib said she did not know. More information would be available in the course of the day.

Asked if the Emergency Committee would meet after the Scientific Committee, and whether anything said at the Scientific Committee could influence the convening of the Emergency Committee, Ms. Chaib said she had no indications about the convening of the Emergency Committee. The Director-General of WHO could convene the committee any time as she believed was appropriate. The Scientific Committee was a forum of scientists from all around the world, in particular from the affected countries, to share information about Influenza A H1N1. So there was no real link between the Scientific Committee meeting and any other meeting. This was a new virus and there was still a lot they did not know about it. It was important that the scientific community meet to share the information and to try to understand issues like the incubation period, the severity of the disease and what age groups were affected mostly.

Asked for the WHO reaction to Mexico’s announcement that the epidemic was now in decline in that country, and what WHO could do if the media insisted on calling the virus swine flu, Ms. Chaib said she was happy that most of the media was now calling the virus by its technical correct name Influenza A H1N1. She suggested that the first question should be addressed to a technical person who could give a better estimate of whether the epidemic was declining in Mexico or not. What WHO was saying was that most of the cases were still in the region of the Americas, Mexico, Canada and the United States. She would convey this question to the technical person who would give the briefing this afternoon.

A journalist said the World Health Assembly was supposed to start on 18 May and continue for two weeks. Considering the situation, was there any consideration as to shortening or changing the agenda of the Assembly? Ms. Chaib said a media advisory would be sent out before the end of the week to give more details about the World Health Assembly. The Steering Meeting of the World Health Assembly would meet tomorrow afternoon. It was true that this year the World Health Assembly would be longer because the budget would be discussed. She did not have any details yet about the agenda, or if any measures were being taken because of Influenza A H1N1.

Asked if there was any evidence of cases around the world imported from the United States or Canada, Ms. Chaib said she did not have the response to this technical question and she would convey it to the person conducting the briefing this afternoon.

A journalist said that last Saturday, Dr. Mark Ryan said that 72 countries, including Mexico, would receive a stock of anti-virals. He promised to make the list available, but journalists had not received it yet. Also, the journalist requested a briefing from the Head of the Taskforce on Vaccines on the situation, given that the industry was not very forthcoming on where they were going. Also, if any hard evidence came up at the Scientific Committee, could the press be briefed about this. Ms. Chaib said the response was yes to the last question. On the second question, there is a Pandemic Vaccine Taskforce. The Director-General of WHO, through this Taskforce, was in constant contact with the industry about the needs, and what could be done in case they needed to switch into a pandemic vaccine production. As for the first question, she was told the list of countries will be made public shortly, but she did not know when exactly. She could tell journalists that WHO was dispatching 2.4 million courses of anti-virals to 72 countries most in need, including Mexico. This was from the stock that was donated by Roche since 2005-2006. Part of the stock would be dispatched today from Geneva and Basel in Switzerland, Maryland in the United States, and Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. WHO would also supplement regional stockpiles in its six regions as contingency plans for further supply to countries.

A journalist requested that the 5 o’clock briefing explain again to journalists the circulation and development of the virus.

In response to a question about travel restrictions, Ms. Chaib said any action taken by WHO should be bound by scientific evidence. For the time being, the Influenza A H1N1 was present in many, many countries. So there was no recommendation from WHO to ban travel or to restrict regular travel or close borders. Limiting travel or imposing travel restrictions would have very little effect on stopping the virus from spreading, and would be highly disruptive to the global community. This was the WHO recommendation for the time being.

Other

Ms. Byrs of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said on Tuesday, 12 May at noon, there would be a press briefing by the UN Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator for Myanmar.

Ms. Byrs said available in the press room was an embargoed press release on five leaders to receive the first-ever Green Star Awards in a ceremony in Brussels.

Catherine Sibut-Pinote of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development said UNCTAD was holding a public symposium on 18 and 19 May on the global economic crisis and development – the way forward. A briefing would be held on 12 May.

Ms. Sibut-Pinote said there would also be two press releases issued today on the presentations and discussions on the recently conducted investment policy reviews of the Dominican Republic and Nigeria; and on the launch of a document on “Framing the National Trade Development Strategy of Mali”, which was held in Bamako, Mali.

Gaelle Sevenier of the World Meteorological Organization said 90 experts were meeting today at WMO to learn more about the quality of the atmosphere and climate change, as well as to study the composition of the atmosphere. A press release was available in the press room, as well as the programme of the meeting. Journalists were also invited to a reception at 5:45 p.m. today at WMO Headquarters.

Ms. Sevenier said it was not widely recognised that early warning systems did have a significant impact. Statistics showed that although the number of disasters and economic losses related to disasters due to weather, climate or water extreme events had increased over the past half century, the losses of life had decreased by a factor of 10. This was thanks to early warning systems. This week, WMO and Meteo-France were sponsoring on 5 to 7 May the “Second Experts’ Symposium on Multi-Hazard Early Warning Systems, with focus on the Role of National Hydrometeorological Services” in Toulouse. They would review for the first time lessons learnt and examples of good practices in early warning systems in different countries around the world. A press release with more details were available. A press release with the results would be available after the meeting concluded.

Luisa Ballin of the Inter-Parliamentary Union said IPU would hold a meeting at the Palais des Nations on 7 and 8 May on the global economic crisis. The programme of the meeting was available. Dr. Theo-Ben Gurirab, the President of IPU, and Supachai Panitchpakdi, Secretary-General of UNCTAD, would open the meeting on Thursday, 7 May at 10 a.m. The meeting would be attended by 200 parliamentarians representing 70 parliaments.