REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Corinne Momal-Vanian, the Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired the briefing which was also attended by Spokespersons for and representatives of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, the International Labour Organization, the UNISDR, the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, the United Nations Children's Fund, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the World Health Organization, the United Nations Refugee Agency, the International Organization for Migration, the United Nations Environment Programme and the World Meteorological Organization.

Conference on Disarmament

Ms. Momal-Vanian said that the Conference on Disarmament resumed yesterday its 2010 Session during a meeting at which it mainly listened to presentations by the United States of America and the Russian Federation on the recent negotiations of the new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START). During the meeting statements were also made on the situation in the Korean Peninsula. The next plenary meeting of the Conference on Disarmament would take place next Friday, said Ms. Momal-Vanian.

Committee on the Rights of the Child

Ms. Momal-Vanian said the Committee on the Rights of the Child was meeting today to consider the reports of Colombia and Tunisia. These were the last country reports to be considered at the current session, which will close next Friday.

Next week, the Committee would hold private meetings to adopt its concluding observations and recommendations for all the nine country reports it has considered at the current session. The concluding observations should be made available at the closing of the session next Friday, 11 June, said Ms. Momal-Vanian.

Human Rights Council

Claire Kaplun of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said that the Council was holding this morning a panel discussion on the protection of journalists in armed conflict. This afternoon, the Council would hold an interactive debate with the Special Rapporteur on the right to health, the Independent Expert on extreme poverty and the Special Rapporteur on violence against women.

On Monday, the Council would consider the report of the Independent Expert on the human rights situation in Sudan. The report would be presented by the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, as the Independent Expert was not able to travel to Geneva for health reasons.

Ms. Momal-Vanian also noted that Philip Alston, United Nations Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions would give a press conference today at 11.30 a.m.

International Labour Conference

Corinne Perthuis of the International Labour Organization said that work was ongoing in the various Committees of the International Labour Conference. Tomorrow from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. the Committee on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations would hold a special sitting at the International Labour Office to discuss the effect given by the Government of Myanmar to the recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry set up to examine the observance of the Forced Labour Convention.

Ms. Perthuis also noted that World Day Against Child Labour would be celebrated on Friday, 11 June. Several events would be organized in Geneva for the occasion.

Further, on Tuesday, 8 June at 1.30 p.m. there would be a book launch in Room XI of the Palais des Nations. The book was making a critical and passionate contribution to a new economic and social model that drew lessons from the current global financial and economic crisis. The authors of the book came from academia, international organizations and trade unions.

Frank Hoffer, Specialist in Workers’ Activities, Bureau for Workers’ Activities, International Labour Organization (ILO), and drafting coordinator of the book said that following last year’s decision by the ILO to initiate a Global Jobs Pact, they had set up a network of universities, labour researchers and trade union experts to work on a labour response to the crisis.

Out of this had come a weekly column produced to provide an up-to-date response to the crisis. The column focused mainly on issues of employment, macroeconomic responses for restructuring the financial system and of responses in the labour market. Academics researches, particularly from the global south had also contributed to this work, said Mr Hoffer. The book to be launched next week was a compilation of this work.

A panel discussion would take place on this occasion with Raymond Torres, Director, International Institute of Labour Studies, ILO. He had done most of the research work on the change that would have to happen in the global economy to achieve greater social justice and to create safeguards to avoid any future similar crisis, said Mr. Hoffer.

Also present would be John Evans, General Secretary of the Trade Union Advisory Council, Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development, who lead the international trade union research work on responding to the crisis. The editor of the book Nicolas Pons-Vignon of the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa would also be present.

Mr. Hoffer said the main purpose of the panel discussion was to hold an up-to-date debate about what should be done not to waste the crisis and what changes needed to be done so that, out of the hardship and troubles workers were facing, we could move towards a safer and fairer society.

World Environment Day 2010

Ms. Momal-Vanian said that tomorrow there would be a United Nations system-wide observance of World Environment Day in Geneva and that the Ariana Park of the Palais des Nations would be open to the public.

Ms. Momal-Vanian also mentioned the launch today in New York of a new website (http://www.greeningtheblue.org/) whose aim is to inform people on the steps the United Nations system was taking to become more environmentally sustainable.

A message of United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for World Oceans Day 2010 was also available in the press room, said Ms. Momal-Vanian.

Gaelle Sevenier of the World Meteorological Organization presented a new website for the youth on meteorology: www.wmo.int/youth., which will also be launched on the occasion of the Wolrd Environment Day.

Situation in Gaza

Christiane Berthiaume of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said that the United Nations Children's Fund and its partners were working in extremely difficult conditions to provide help to the approximately 800,000 children in Gaza, which represented more than half of the population living in the Strip. Development gains in Gaza were being reversed due to the blockade.

Together with the UN Secretary-General, UNICEF calls for an immediate lifting of the closure, and full, unimpeded access for humanitarian supplies and personnel, said Ms. Berthiaume.

The current situation was particularly affecting the youngest ones. Children in need of specialized care outside of Gaza had to navigate severe access restrictions and ten had died between 2009 and January 2010 due to delays in accessing critical care.

According to a study by Save the Children, chronic malnutrition in children had doubled from 1.2 per cent in 2006 to 2.4 per cent in 2008, said Ms. Berthiaume. Also, no new schools have been built due to the lack of construction material and the vast majority of schools had to operate in double shift in order to accommodate the sheer number of students.

Students wishing to pursue their studies abroad were regularly barred from leaving Gaza. Learning achievements within Gaza were plummeting, said Ms. Berthiaume. This year, only 46 per cent of fourth graders had passed their mathematics exams and 50 per cent their Arab language exams.

Ms. Berthiaume said that water and wastewater services have been rendered unreliable due to the lack of essential material for repair and maintenance work. Only around 10 per cent of the water in Gaza’s aquifer was fit for human consumption. Every day between 50 to 80 million of litres of partially untreated sewage were released into the Mediterranean.

Further, there was no specific list of what was allowed to enter Gaza or not. United Nations Children's Fund items have taken prolonged period for clearance into Gaza, including water pumps that had now spent seventeen months in the Ashdod warehouse, said Ms. Berthiaume. Math and science teaching kits had been stuck at customs since January because they contained periscopes and compasses.

Children/Niger

Christiane Berthiaume of UNICEF said that the nutrition conditions in Niger were deteriorating. Between January and May, more than 75,000 children had been treated against severe malnutrition in health centers and 9,277 of them had had to be hospitalized because of complications.

This represented more than half the total of cases in 2009, which had been of 124,000 and the worst months of July and August had not yet been reached. Ms. Berthiaume said that a Blanket feeding campaign, targeting around 300,000 children, had been launched in cooperation with the World Food Programme.

DRC/Funding of Humanitarian Appeal

Elisabeth Byrs of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said that the Humanitarian Appeal for the Democratic Republic of the Congo was currently funded by 30 per cent. Only US$ 249 million out of the US$ 828 million had been received so far, which included a carry over of US$ 70 million from 2009.

A workshop between the humanitarian community and the Government was taking place since yesterday to look at how this financial situation could be addressed, said Ms. Byrs.

If the current funding gap persisted 10,000 survivors of sexual and gender-based violence would not be assisted through medical and psychosocial care; 2,000 children associated with armed force and groups would be unreached by reintegration efforts; 180,000 children aged under one would not be vaccinated against relevant diseases; 100,000 children aged under five, who were exposed to malaria in endemic areas, would not be assisted through malaria management care; 200,000 children suffering from severe acute malnutrition would not be assisted, said Ms. Byrs. In addition, 200,000 persons would not be reached by awareness campaigns on the risks of landmines and unexploded ordinances.

The health sector was funded only by 3 per cent, nutrition by 6 per cent and protection by 2 per cent, said Ms. Byrs.


Situation in Mogadishu

Paul Garwood of the World Health Organization (WHO) said that between 20 March and 24 May, at least 1,400 casualties had been reported from three of Mogadishu’s hospitals. Roughly one-quarter of these persons had been children. In at least one hospital one-third of the victims had been women.

Mr. Garwood said that according to the United Nations Refugee Agency, as of 28 May, some 17,000 persons had been displaced from Mogadishu since 1 April. 10,000 of them had moved to relatively calmer parts of the city while the remaining 7,000 had fled the capital altogether.

At the same time, there was a spike in cholera and acute diarrhoea cases in many parts of the country, including in Mogadishu. In one hospital 132 cases had been reported this week only, 80 per cent of them being children. This represented a 20 per cent increase since the previous week, said Mr. Garwood.

The ongoing conflict had had an impact on the delivery of healthcare and in inflicting weapons-related injuries upon civilians, said Mr. Garwood. In terms of response the World Health Organisation was leading investigations to monitor outbreaks and looking for how to best respond to these outbreaks and to control them.

There was also a major gap in the funding of the US$ 16 million requested by the World Health Organisation in the 2010 Consolidated Appeal, only US$ 5.7 million had been received, or 31 per cent.


Measles/Zimbabwe

Paul Garwood of WHO said that today was meant to be the last day of the measles vaccination campaign currently ongoing in Zimbabwe. So far, 4.6 million children out of the targeted 5 million had already been vaccinated. WHO, UNICEF and multiple United Nations agencies and non-governmental organisations had teamed together with the Zimbabwean Health Ministry to control the outbreak.


Pakistan/Landslides

Jean-Philippe Chauzy of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said that IOM had deployed three camp coordination and camp management experts to provide technical support and capacity building for the disaster management authorities in the mountainous, northern Gilgit-Baltistan region of Pakistan, following the massive landslides which had hit the Hunza district last January.

Rockfalls had also created an artificial lake that represented a threat to people living in 36 downstream villages, said Mr. Chauzy. More than 20,000 people had been evacuated from the threatened villages and accommodated in 23 camps. IOM has been asked to serve as the Gilgit-Baltistan Disaster Management Authority focal point for camp management.

Togo/Ghanaian Refugees

Andrej Mahecic of the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said that four UNHCR trucks loaded with emergency aid and rushed from Accra at the end of the past week had reached northern Togo. The distribution of UNHCR assistance to some 3,600 Ghanaian refugees in Togo’s Tandjouaré region was scheduled to begin this weekend.

Ghanaian villagers had crossed into Togo fleeing a violent land dispute, in which, reportedly, four people had been killed, several injured, hundreds of properties destroyed and an unknown number of people forced to leave their homes, said Mr. Mahecic.

Together with the Togolese authorities, UNHCR was moving ahead with plans to tackle the continuing tensions between the opposing groups of refugees, belonging to different clans, by moving people into two separate campsites, about 5 kilometres apart, said Mr. Mahecic.

The two sites, at Matougou and Gbadakungue, had been made available to UNHCR by the local authorities and UNHCR was preparing them for use. They expected them to be completed in the next four weeks, said Mr. Mahecic. The refugees would be transferred to the new sites as the work progresses.

Mr. Mahecic said many of the refugees were currently housed by local Togolese families in traditional huts. Refugees outnumbered the host community two-to-one and many were living in schools and other public buildings or staying in tents provided by the Togolese authorities. UNHCR was however concerned that these tents might not be able to sustain the upcoming rainy season.

To encourage reconciliation, the Ghanaian government had sent a delegation to visit the refugees last week. The delegation had informed people about measures put in place by the Ghanaian Ministry of Security to pacify their villages. It had also invited them to return and promised that the Ghanaian government would rebuild the houses of those returning. While some refugees said they were willing to return as soon as they had proof of better security in their villages of origin, most said they were not ready to go home, said Mr. Mahecic.


WHO Emergency Committee Meeting

Gregory Hartl of WHO, answering questions by journalists on the outcome of the recent meeting of the Emergency Committee with regard to the H1N1 pandemic, said that the Committee had decided to maintain current Phase 6.


Mercury Talks

David Piper, Deputy Director, Chemicals Branch, Division of Technology, Industry and Economics, United Nations Environment Programme, said that a meeting would take place next week in Stockholm to start the negotiating process towards a legally biding instrument and control mechanism on mercury, as had been decided during the last United Nations Environment Programme Governing Council.

The aim of the process was to reduce supply, trade, demand, use and emissions and to identify the needs for technical and financial assistance in order to reduce the risk of mercury to humans and the environment. The process was expected to take five negotiating sessions, between now and early 2013, said Mr. Piper.

At this first meeting, Governments would review a series of papers compiled by the United Nations Environment Programme, they would examine possible options in control mechanisms that might be of use to the mercury treaty and set out their positions relative to the aspects of the negotiations, said Mr. Piper.


Child Soldiers Conference

Christiane Berthiaume of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said that a regional conference on “Ending Recruitment and Use of Children in Armed Forces and Groups: Contributing to Peace, Justice and Development” would be held in N’Djamena, Chad from 7 to 9 June. It was the first time that such a regional conference was taking place with countries that have or have had several child soldiers.

Among the participating countries were Chad, the Central African Republic, Sudan, Cameroon, Nigeria and Niger. The goal of the Conference was to get a commitment by the concerned countries to put an end to the recruitment of child soldiers, demobilize them and reintegrate them into normal life, said Ms. Berhtiaume.

Liberia/Trafficking

Jean-Philippe Chauzy of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said that this week IOM had helped a group of 39 Bangladeshi workers, who had been duped by unscrupulous agents into fictitious jobs in Liberia, to return home.

Mr. Chauzy said the men had come to Liberia in November 2009, after being offered jobs in Liberia's emerging garment industry. They had travelled by the air from Dhaka to Liberia via Dubai and Ghana, or via Qatar and Nigeria. Soon after their arrival in the Liberian capital Monrovia, they had been taken to the northern town of Ganta, which borders the Republic of Guinea. After their arrival in Ganta it had became clear that they had been cheated and trafficked for labour exploitation.

In March they had been rescued by Liberian government officials, in collaboration with the IOM Office in Monrovia. After their rescue, the trafficked men stayed in a government shelter in Monrovia, where they received direct assistance from IOM, including food, clothing, and medical assistance and counselling. The group returned home on Tuesday 1 June, said Mr. Chauzy.

Migration

Jean-Philippe Chauzy of IOM said that his organization and the United Nations Refugee Agency were teaming up for the 'ONE Movement' campaign, an initiative that was created to support the South African Government following the May 2008 xenophobic attacks which had left 62 people dead and hundreds displaced in the townships.

The 'ONE Movement' campaign aimed to tackle the societal, racial and ethnic tensions that gave rise to discriminatory practices by promoting a culture of tolerance and unity in diversity through sports.

In Sudan, IOM was working with vulnerable communities in South Darfur, particularly those experiencing large numbers of retuning internally displaced persons, to help them tackle environmental insecurity, support sustainable livelihoods and promote community-led development, said Mr. Chauzy.


Making City Resilient Campaign

Brigitte Leoni of the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction said that as part of the current campaign “Making Cities Resilient: My City is Getting Ready”, more than 100 Asian cities would be invited to sign this new global disaster risk reduction campaign next Tuesday in New Delhi. Among them would be Dhaka, Karachi, Kathmandu, Kabul, Colombo and others.

Ms. Leoni also noted that 20 cities, including Mexico City, Davos, Port-au-Prince, Durban, Bonn and Teheran had already signed the campaign and had engaged themselves to take measures towards making their cities more resilient to disasters.

UNCTAD Agenda

Catherine Sibut-Pinote of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) said that the Trade and Development Board would hold meet on 8 and 9 June. The Board would discuss preparations for the Fourth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries, which would next place in Turkey in May 2011, and preparations for the high-level plenary meeting of the General Assembly on the Millennium Development Goals.

In this connection, Rob Davies, Minister of Trade and Industry of South Africa would hold a press conference on Wednesday, 9 June, on how to get the Millennium Development Goals back on track, said Ms. Sibut-Pinote.

Ms. Sibut-Pinote also noted that they would soon issue the Economic Development in Africa Report 2010. A press conference would take place on 15 June in Press Room III with UNCTAD’s Secretary-General, Supachai Panitchpakdi.


UNECE Agenda

Jean Rodriguez of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) said that UNECE Executive-Secretary, Jan Kubis, would be in Istanbul, Turkey from 7 to 9 June, where he would represent United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at the third Summit Meeting of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia.

While in Istanbul, Mr. Kubis would also open and participate in the Millennium Development Goals+10 Review Conference for States of Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States. This was a joint UNECE/United Nations Development Programme conference, said Mr. Rodriguez.

On 10 and 11 June, Mr. Kubis would be in Tashkent, Uzbekistan where he would also represent the United Nations Secretary General at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit, said Mr. Rodriguez.

Turning to next week’s meetings, Mr. Rodriguez said that the fifty-eighth plenary session of the Conference of European Statisticians would meet from 8 to 11 June at the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development Headquarters in Paris. One of the main topics of discussion this year would be the impact of global crises on statistical systems. Three documents would also be submitted to the Conference for possible endorsement: a manual on gender statistics; a report on the measurement of different emerging forms of households and families; and a report on statistical measurement of quality of employment.