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 United Nations Refugee Agency, the World Food Programme, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the World Health Organization, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the International Organization for Migration, the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction, the International Labour Organization, the International Telecommunication Union and the World Trade Organization.

At the beginning of the briefing, John Zarocostas, President of ACANU, announced that their colleague, Leon Davico, had passed away on 5 May. A minute of silence was observed.

Geneva Activities

Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights was today reviewing the periodic report of Cyprus. Earlier this week, the Committee had considered the reports of Australia and Brazil, and next week, the Committee would review its last two reports this session, those of Cambodia and the United Kingdom.

The Committee against Torture was today meeting behind closed doors after holding a brief public meeting on follow-up to individual communications. The Committee would issue its concluding observations and recommendations on the reports of the Philippines, Chad, Nicaragua, New Zealand, Chile and Honduras when it concludes its session on Friday, 15 May.

The President of the United Nations General Assembly, Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann, would be giving a press conference at the Palais des Nations in Room III on Tuesday, 12 May at 1 p.m. The subject of the press conference was the global economic crisis, and it came before the General Assembly Summit on the economic crisis to be held in New York on 1 to 3 June.

Situation in Swat Valley, Pakistan

Miranda Eeles of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said that a statement from UNICEF’s country office in Pakistan was available at the back of the room on the situation of 82,000 people who had fled armed conflict between militias and Government forces in northwest Pakistan over the past two weeks. It was estimated by the Government and humanitarian sources that up to 800,000 people could be displaced in the current military operations in the Swat Valley. The majority of those worst affected were children, who had witnessed violence, experienced displacement and faced interruptions in education and health services. The displaced had minimal resources and required safe water, clothing, food, shelter and health care.

Ron Redmond of the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said the provincial government estimated between 150,000 to 200,000 people had already arrived in safer areas of North West Frontier Province over the last few days, with another 300,000 already on the move or about to move. Those fleeing the latest escalation of hostilities joined another 555,000 people who had been previously displaced in the tribal areas and the North West Frontier Province since August 2008. The vast majority of the earlier arrivals were staying in rental accommodation or with host families. Another 93,000 were staying in 11 camps supported by UNHCR and its partners. To date, more than 83,000 people from Buner, Dir, and Swat had been registered from the new influx. Some 5,000 registered were staying in the three new camps, but registration in those camps was rising quickly. There were also reports of people from Buner arriving at the existing camps in Lower Dir, while in Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Lahore and other cities in the Punjab, UNHCR had registered a further 40,000 displaced people – mainly from Bajaur, Mohmand and Swat – over the past two weeks. Roads out of Swat and Buner were full of traffic.

As part of a joint UN response to the newly displaced, UNHCR has helped to establish three new camps in Mardan and Yar Hussain and was helping the Pakistan Red Crescent set up a fourth camp in Swabi, Mr. Redmond said. Meanwhile, further south, plans are under way to expand the existing Jalozai camp, Nowshera, currently hosting some 48,000 displaced Pakistanis who had fled the tribal areas in August 2008. UNHCR had also worked with the Government to set up 12 registration centres, but that was not going to be enough and UNHCR was currently discussing plans for 75 centres in the region.

Emilia Casella of the World Food Programme (WFP) added that, even before these most recent days of conflict, WFP had been aiming to feed about 600,000 people this month in the affected area. She also highlighted that 85 per cent of the displaced there were not in camps, which presented a challenge. However, WFP had set up seven humanitarian hubs that humanitarian organizations could use for distributing material. In terms of working in the most dangerous areas, WFP were using local partners who had very good ties with the local elders and communities, and so, to date, they had been fairly successful in getting food distributed.

Responding on work to prevent the spread of disease among children in the area, Ms. Eeles said UNICEF was supporting the provision of safe water, sanitation facilities and hygiene kits to the displaced in the new camps and more than 10,000 children under five had been vaccinated at transit points.

Situation in Chad

Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said that United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was following developments in eastern Chad, where United Nations peacekeeping troops were located, with “increasing concern”. Ban Ki-moon had appealed to all parties to respect the humanitarian character of the operations of the United Nations and non-governmental organizations in eastern Chad, and to refrain from deploying forces in areas where such operations were under the protection of the United Nations Mission in the Central African Republic and Chad (MINURCAT). Copies of the Secretary-General’s statement were available in the pressroom.

Elisabeth Byrs of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that, despite current clashes between the rebel groups and the Government forces, work was carrying on in the east of Chad to provide humanitarian assistance to 250,000 Sudanese refugees, as well as 166,000 displaced persons and their civilian hosts. Assistance was also being provided to more than 18,000 Central African refugees in the southeast, in particular in the area of Salamat, without any disruptions. The area most affected by the presence of the rebel forces was Dar Sila, in eastern Chad, and to a lesser degree in Salamat. The United Nations was calling for an end to the fighting, the protection of civilians, and the establishment of humanitarian corridors.

Ms. Casella said that WFP was providing May general food distributions to Sudanese refugees in 11 out of 12 camps in eastern Chad. It had had to suspend food distribution in one camp, near Koukou, for about 22,000 refugees, on 5 May. However, in late April a 45-day general food ration had been distributed in that area. In addition, on 5 May, the WFP-operated UN Humanitarian Air Service had suspended service until further notice to Goz Beida, Farchana, Koukou and Dogdore.

Mr. Redmond said that UNHCR was operating 12 camps in eastern Chad. Right now the only place that was affected was the area just mentioned – around Goz Amer camp where 22,000 refugees from Darfur were staying. There were some 60,000 internally displaced Chadians in the area as well. UNHCR staff had been relocated on Wednesday, when they relocated 18 staff members from Koukou to Goz Beida, about 50 kilometres away. Two staff remained in Koukou to monitor the situation and ensure that basic activities would continue. UNHCR could only sustain limited activities for so long, however, and was hoping that the situation would normalize fairly quickly so that they could get access back to Koukou. Meanwhile they just had to watch security situation very closely.

Highlighting funding concerns, Ms. Byrs noted that OCHA had launched a consolidated appeal for $385 million, which was only 41 per cent funded, with some areas not funded at all. For example, education and health were only 8 per cent funded and not a single dollar had been received to fund demining, protection and human rights activities.

Asked about movement of refugees from Darfur into eastern Chad and the lines of supply, Mr. Redmond said the numbers had not changed in any substantial way in eastern Chad. Regarding supplies, the supply line to the camps in eastern Chad was very fragile, but it had been maintained. Ms. Casella of WFP clarified that the supply line for the provision of food to the camps in Chad was separate from that in Darfur, although in the past it had been possible to supply Chad from the Darfur side when necessary.

Swine Flu (A-H1N1)

Fadéla Chaib of the World Health Organization (WHO), providing the latest figures, said that as of 6 a.m. GMT on 8 May, 24 countries had officially reported 2,384 cases of A-H1N1 flu. Mexico had reported 1,112 laboratory confirmed cases, including 42 deaths. The United States had reported 896 laboratory-confirmed cases, including 2 deaths. The following countries had reported laboratory-confirmed cases with no deaths: Austria (1), Canada (214), China, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China (1), Colombia (1), Costa Rica (1), Denmark (1), El Salvador (2), France (5), Germany (10), Guatemala (1), Ireland (1), Israel (6), Italy (5), Netherlands (2), New Zealand (5), Poland (1), Portugal (1), Republic of Korea (3), Spain (81), Sweden (1), Switzerland (1) and the United Kingdom (32). WHO posted updates on those figures twice daily on its website.
Ms. Chaib also drew attention to an address to the ASEAN+3 Health Ministers’ Special Meeting on Influenza A-H1N1 made by Margaret Chan, the Director-General of WHO this morning via videoconference. Dr. Chan reminded the Ministers to stay vigilant and continue the monitoring and control of the avian influenza H5N1. "As we know today, the virus with the greatest pandemic potential, the H1N1 virus, has sprung up from another source, on another side of the world", she added. "The world is better prepared for an influenza pandemic than at any time in history. This is a time of great uncertainty for all countries, and great pressure [is] on ministers and ministries of health. The only certain thing that can be said about influenza viruses is that their behaviour is entirely unpredictable. No one can say how the current situation will evolve." The whole statement is downloadable on the WHO website at the following address:

http://www.who.int/dg/speeches/2009/asean_influenza_ah1n1_20090508/en/index.html.

Responding to a question about deliveries of antivirals to various countries, Ms. Chaib said that 72 countries were scheduled to receive 2.4 million doses of antivirals from WHO, and WHO had begun dispatching antivirals to 49 countries so far this week. Delivery would take several days to reach each of the countries. In addition, WHO has dispatched some 600,000 doses to its six regional offices.

Addressing the issue of discrimination Mexicans were facing in the wake of the influenza A-HIN1 outbreak, Ms. Chaib said that the International Health Regulations afforded people human rights, dignity and fundamental freedom. Countries could take measures they felt were necessary, provided there was a good public health rationale. International Health Regulations focal points had also received letters seeking advice on public health rationales and scientific evidence for actions taken in their respective countries.

Rupert Colville, of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said that the point of view of the High Commissioner for Human Rights was in full agreement with WHO. Governments clearly had a right – indeed a responsibility – to take certain actions to prevent the spread of a pandemic, including placing individuals from infected areas in quarantine, if there was a genuine risk they might spread the infection to others. However, the decision should not be based solely on someone's nationality, but should be rooted in medical realities, especially the incubation period of the disease or virus in question. Mexicans who had no flu symptoms and had not been in Mexico over the past week, were clearly no more likely to be carrying the A-H1N1 flu virus than any other resident of the country they were currently present in. No one should be put in quarantine solely on the basis of their nationality. That would be an unacceptable and clear-cut case of discrimination, with tangible negative effects on the rights of the person in question, including possible economic losses. Discrimination on the basis of nationality was prohibited under international law, most notably by Article 26 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, a key international human rights treaty ratified by 164 States.

Sri Lanka

Jemini Pandya of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said that today IOM had completed the first of 10 primary healthcare centres at the expanding Menik Farm displacement camp in Vavuniya. The camp was housing internally displaced persons who had fled the conflict zone. There were about 125,000 people there already, with a further 25,000 currently sheltering in schools and public buildings in Vavuniya expected to be transferred there shortly. The present health services in the camp had been stretched to the limit. The new clinics would each be initially staffed by two government doctors and two nurses, and would provide diagnosis, emergency care, health education and referrals for the internally displaced persons, many of whom were sick, injured and malnourished after multiple displacements and years of poor living conditions during the war. Each of the centres would serve 10,000 persons. IOM would also provide three ambulances, transport for government medical staff and a secure, onsite warehouse for medical supplies.

Meanwhile, IOM was still racing to erect tents for the internally displaced. While it was waiting for its own shipment of 4,000 tents to arrive, the IOM team had set up 1,400 tents provided by UNHCR. IOM was also focusing on the water and sanitation needs of the camp, providing latrines and a fleet of 15 water tankers, as there was no piped water on site.

Humanitarian Situation in Horn of Africa

Ms. Eeles said that at the back was a press release from UNICEF’s regional office in eastern southern Africa on the ongoing combination of chronic food insecurity, conflict and political instability that was threatening the well-being and lives of millions of children in the Horn of Africa. Already an estimated 19.8 million people, including 4 million children under the age of 5, were in need of emergency relief assistance. That was a substantial increase over the September 2008 figure of 14 million. In particular, over the last few months there had been a steady increase in the number of children in the region suffering from acute malnutrition.

Second UNICEF Child Protection Forum in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

Ms. Eeles drew attention to a forum on childcare reform taking place in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, involving several countries in Central Asia, Turkey and Azerbaijan. Ministers from Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, together with UNICEF, would meet for two days from 12 to 14 May. Jean-Claude Legrand, a UNICEF Regional Childcare Adviser, said that next week’s conference was particularly timely because of the UNICEF’s experience in the 1990s – when there had previously been a major economic crisis in the region – which had shown that families placed children in State institutions as a coping strategy. That option, which was originally meant to be an emergency measure, became a long-term solution for many families, with long-lasting detrimental effects on children. Big progress had been made over the past few years to reform the childcare system, but there were still some 160,000 children in residential institutions in that region, and UNICEF was very concerned to see their numbers increasing.

Other

Ms. Byrs noted that John Holmes, the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, was continuing his mission to Sudan. He arrived in Khartoum yesterday, where he had met with the Minister for Foreign Affairs and had discussed humanitarian cooperation with Government authorities. At the back of the room was a summary of that meeting. Today, John Holmes was in the south of the country where he would meet with United Nations officials and displaced persons, and tomorrow he would travel to Darfur. In addition, there was a possibility that John Holmes would pass through Geneva on Tuesday, 12 May and in that case they would try and organize a press briefing.

Brigitte Léoni of the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction announced the launching of a global risk assessment report in Bahrain on 17 and 18 May, and the Secretary-General would participate in the 17 May launch. This report was the first of its kind, but would hereafter be published on a biennial basis. Copies of the report, under embargo, would be available on Monday or Tuesday.

Corinne Perthuis of the International Labour Organization (ILO) announced a change in the press conference on the launching of the world report on forced labour. The embargoed report would still be available Monday morning, but the press conference with the authors would be pushed back to Tuesday, 12 May at 11.30 p.m., following the regular briefing.

Sanjay Acharya of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) announced that ITU would be celebrating World Telecommunication and Information Society Day 2009, with the theme “Protecting Children in Cyberspace”, on 18 May. The theme aimed to ensure that children could safely access the Internet without falling prey to unscrupulous predators in cyberspace. The event would be marked by the presentation of ITU World Telecommunication and Information Society Awards to three eminent laureates in recognition of their work to protect children in cyberspace. A press opportunity would be held on 18 May at 12.30 p.m.

ITU was also holding its annual follow-up meetings on the World Summit on the Information Society around the same time, Mr. Acharya said, and six high-level panels held from 18 to 22 May would address issues related to information and communication technologies as a catalyst to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, cybersecurity, and others.

Janaina Borges of the World Trade Organization (WTO) announced the Secretary-General’s schedule for next week. On Saturday, 9 May, Mr. Lamy would be in Grenoble for the forum "Reinventing Democracy", and on Sunday he would be in Salzburg to deliver a speech at the International Food and Agricultural Trade Policy Council seminar. On Monday the WTO Secretary-General would meet the heads of WHO and WIPO. The full schedule of the WTO Secretary-General, and the schedule of the WTO negotiations bodies for next week, were available in the pressroom.

Ms. Pandya drew attention to a new campaign starting in Zimbabwe between IOM and UNICEF to promotes safe migration and child protection. The campaign, which would be taken to 75 locations around the country as a road show, aimed to sensitise Zimbabweans on key protection issues including the impact of irregular migration and human trafficking on children and on child abuse.