REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Corinne Momal-Vanian, Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired the briefing which was attended by Spokespersons for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the World Food Programme, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the United Nations Refugee Agency, the World Health Organization, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, the International Organization for Migration and the United Nations Environmental Programme.

Geneva

Ms. Momal-Vanian said the Committee against Torture yesterday opened its forty-fourth session at the Palais Wilson. The Committee elected Claudio Grossman (Chile) as Chairperson for a second term, and adopted its agenda and programme of work. This morning, the Committee was starting its review of the periodic report of France.

The Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families opened its twelfth session yesterday at the Palais Wilson. The Committee elected Abdelhamid El Jamri as Chairperson for a second term, and adopted its agenda and programme of work. The Committee started its consideration of the periodic report of Algeria yesterday afternoon and it would conclude the review this morning.

Ms. Momal-Vanian said in relation to yesterday’s press conference by Pierre Le Loarer, Chief Librarian, concerning the inscription of the archives of the League of Nations (1919-1946) in the UNESCO Memory of the World Register, a ceremony would be held on Wednesday 28 April at 6:30 p.m. in the Council Chamber to celebrate this event with the participation of Sergei Ordzhonikidze, Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva, and Abdul Waheed Khan, Assistant Director-General for Communication and Information of the UNESCO. Journalists were invited to attend the ceremony.
The inauguration of the new exhibition in the League of Nations Museum, Building B., 1st floor, door B.20, would follow the ceremony.

The Governing Council of the United Nations Compensation Commission was holding its sixty-ninth session from 27 to 29 April 2010 under the Presidency of Ambassador Strohal (Austria). A background press release was issued yesterday and a roundup would be issued on 29 April.

Niger

Elizabeth Byrs of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said available at the back of the room was a briefing note on the three-day visit Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator John Holmes was paying to Niger since Sunday, 25 April. Mr. Holmes went to Niger after a two-day visit to Senegal. In Niger, Mr. Holmes met with the President of the Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy and the Prime Minister to discuss the impact of the food crisis and to coordinate with the new Government the response of UN agencies and non-governmental organizations to the food crisis. The Emergency Action Plan for Niger was launched on 7 April for $ 190 million. It was 30 per cent funded and $ 133 million was still needed to help scale up food security and nutritional activities. The food crisis was expected to be worse than that which hit Niger in 2005. An estimated 7.8 million Nigeriens, 58 per cent of the population, were today food insecure after poor rainfall since 2009 had devastated Niger’s agricultural and pastoral production, resulting in serious food and fodder shortages. Humanitarian agencies in Niger needed more funding urgently to procure food and other life-saving supplies to respond to the crisis, which was expected to further worsen in June and July if funds were not available. During his trip, Mr. Holmes would be visiting Zinder, one of Niger’s most affected regions. There were more details in the briefing note.

Responding to a question, Ms. Byrs said in 2005, the UN had difficulty in finding funding for the crisis in Niger. She hoped that this time, Member States would contribute to this Emergency Action Plan for Niger. The UN was working hand in hand with the Government, which had already taken some measures, including cash for work programmes and low price sales, cattle feed distribution, cereal banks and targeted nutritional blanket feeding programmes, to prevent malnutrition. But a lot remained to be done.

Emilia Casella of the World Food Programme said in terms of food assistance in Niger, the increased distribution that WFP had announced for 2.3 million people in Niger would begin in early May. This was a doubling of the number of people who had been receiving general food distribution, blanket supplementary feeding and other food programmes to date. That was in addition to children who were receiving school feeding in Niger. There was a note at the back of the room with statistics. WFP needed $ 96 million to maintain this increased food assistance from next week and until the end of the year.

In response to a question, Ms. Casella said normally the lean season in Niger was from May until October, and that was something expected and planned for every year. The difference this year was that it had arrived earlier than normal, and was already underway by March. Weak or erratic rainfall across parts of the eastern sahel was already destroying crops and drying up pastoral land. The difference from the crisis in 2005 was that the international community had learnt lessons from it. There had been a lot of early warning this time and a lot of discussion in the humanitarian sector about this problem, preparations had been taken and the media was also paying more attention to the crisis than it did in 2005, and that was very important. The normal time needed to deliver food to Niger was from three to four months, and this was another reason why they really had been raising this crisis in the past week and now. There was food that was available and that WFP could procure in the region, including in Niger, and if donors were able to respond quickly, WFP would be able to bring food in to address the situation.

Christiane Berthiaume of the United Nations Children’s Fund said UNICEF was extremely concerned that the food insecurity affecting Niger would cause children to suffer from severe malnutrition, putting their life and future health at risk. Children were always the most vulnerable in a food crisis. They were the first to suffer from malnutrition and diseases. Global acute malnutrition rates were already high in Niger: 12.3 per cent (and over 15 per cent in some regions) which was already alarming. UNICEF estimated that 1.5 million children were seriously at risk, including 340,000 at risk of suffering from severe malnutrition.

Sierra Leone

Ms. Berthiaume of the United Nations Children’s Fund said Sierra Leone was facing serious challenges in the delivery of and access to health care services. The country ranked 180 out of 182 countries in the 2009 Human Development Index. In 2008, the under five year mortality rate was 140 per 1,000 live births and the maternal mortality ration was 857 per 100,000 live births. The lifetime risk of a woman dying from complications of pregnancy and childbirth was one in eight. Today, the President of Sierra Leone was officially launching a Free Health Care Initiative all over the country to provide free health care for pregnant women, lactating mothers and children under five. UNICEF was a strong partner of this initiative. Access to health facilities were until now 25 per cent. UNICEF expected an increase of access to health services to 65 per cent over the year. Thanks to an $ 8.8 million contribution, UNICEF would be able to reach this year 250,000 pregnant women and lactating women as well as 1 million children under five with essential drugs to address maternal and child health at all Government facilities.


Vaccination Activities Around the World

Ms. Berthiaume of the United Nations Children’s Fund said available at the back of the room was a note about Iraq and Syria launching their national immunization weeks. The week would be Iraq’s first, while this year marked Syria’s eighth. Immunization weeks were coordinated between the World Health Organization, UNICEF and concerned countries. There were more details in the news note.

Daniel Epstein of the World Health Organization said vaccination activities were proceeding at full speed in at least three regions today. Yesterday, there was the United States/Mexico border launching event with the WHO Deputy Regional Director and the Head of National Infant Immunization Week in the United States. Today, the Regional Director was in French Guyana for the first tri-national border launching event which included the top health officials from Surinam, Brazil and French Guyana and also French Ministry of Health officials. On 1 May, the WHO Regional Director would be going to Haiti where WHO was launching a large immunization campaign on the border with the Dominican Republic where officials from both countries would be participating, as well as the Minister of Health of Spain. Sesame Street characters would be participating in events in Colombia today, and they had agreed to be put on posters to promote immunization for children.

Hayatee Hasan of the World Health Organization said this year marked the first time that the eastern Mediterranean region was participating in this initiative. The region launch was held in Beirut, Lebanon on 24 April with the Regional Director of WHO, the Lebanese Minister of Health and also the UNICEF Country Representative. There were also national launches happening in many countries in the eastern Mediterranean and other regions, including Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Somalia and Sudan, just to name a few. In the European region, a launching event was held via webcast yesterday. It was opened by the WHO Regional Director for Europe and others. Three remaining WHO regions had yet to participate in this immunization week initiative: the African region, the South East Asia region and the Western Pacific. WHO was working to see how these regions could be pushed forward to move towards a world vaccination week.

Mr. Epstein said he had a brief update on polio in Tajikistan. The investigation was continuing. They had a number of acute flaccid paralysis cases that they were trying to confirm by laboratory. There were 12 laboratory confirmed cases so far. A reinforced polio vaccination campaign was starting in Tajikistan on 4 May.

In response to a question, Mr. Epstein said WHO Director-General Margaret Chan was in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea today and tomorrow and his office to set up for her to brief journalists on her return.

Sri Lanka

Andrej Mahecic of the United Nations Refugee Agency said UNHCR welcomed last week’s resumption of Government-led return movements in northern Sri Lanka, following a three-week temporary pause due to parliamentary elections and Tamil New Year. Following this, some 7,000 internally displaced people had returned to Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu. Some 207,000 internally displaced people had so far left camps in the north and east of the country since the organized return process began in August last year. They had either returned to their homes or were staying with friends and relatives in Vavunia, Mannar, Jaffna and other districts. People were returning to areas which suffered major destruction. To assist them to rebuild their lives, UNHCR was providing each returning family with a shelter cash grant of 25,000 rupees ($ 220) through the state Bank of Ceylon. More than 40,000 families had already received the cash grant by March. There were still some 25,000 families (approximately 82,000 people) in the camps or with host families and more returns were expected to take place this year. However more funds were urgently needed for families who were expected to return in the coming weeks and months. There were more details in the briefing notes.

Other

Catherine Sibut-Pinote of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development said the Investment Policy Review of Belarus was being held today and on Wednesday, 28 April, at 11 a.m., Supachai Panitchpakdi, Secretary-General of UNCTAD; Andrei Kobyakov, Deputy Prime Minister of Belarus; and Nikolai Snopkov, Minister of Economy of Belarus, would speak to journalists about the process. The press conference would be held in Room III. An information note would be sent to journalists later today.

Jared Bloch of the International Organization for Migration said IOM had launched its first major pilot project to build transitional shelters in the ruined neighbourhoods of Port-au-Prince. Up to 80 shelters made from plywood, corrugated iron and concrete foundations may eventually be built to house the community of Mangeoire, a poor area of the capital's Pacot district, which was devastated by the January 12 earthquake. The operation - agreed after careful negotiations with local authorities and civic leaders - was a powerful example of how local communities could be mobilized to clear their rubble-strewn neighbourhoods and rebuild.

Mr. Bloch said in coordination with the Government of the Dominican Republic, non-governmental organizations and UN partners, IOM was providing support to communities hosting displaced Haitians in border areas and return assistance to Haitian earthquake victims in the country. In coordination with its partners, IOM was providing support to the emergency relief efforts on the Haitian side of the border, through distribution of emergency hygiene and kitchen kits (non-food items) and temporary shelter materials to communities hosting displaced Haitians.

Nelson Sabogal of the United Nations Environmental Programme said the seventh session of the Open-ended Working Group to the Basel Convention would be held at the Geneva International Conference Centre from 10 to 14 May. Around 350 participants were expected. There were currently 172 State parties to the Basel Convention. The meeting would discuss a new strategic framework for the Convention over the next 10 years, and would consider arrangements to implement the decisions on synergies between the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions.

Michael Stanley-Jones of the United Nations Environmental Programme said in September 2009, Chris Jordan photographed the bodies of Albatross chicks that had dropped to their deaths on Midway Atoll, a remote marine sanctuary in the middle of the North Pacific. The decomposed bodies revealed skeletal and feather remains along with a remarkable gathering of elements visible in the birds’ stomachs, including bright and sharp bits of plastic and colourful minutia. One of these images would be featured at an exhibition opening on the occasion of the eighteenth session of the Commission on Sustainable Development. The Synergies Exhibition of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions, “Substantial Form of the Blending Body” would open on Friday, 7 May at 6 p.m. in New York. Ten international artists would be providing work to this exhibition.