REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Elena Ponomareva-Piquier, Chief of the Press and Public Relations Sections of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired the briefing, which was also attended by spokespersons and representatives of the World Meteorological Organization, the United Nations Population Fund, the Global Fund, the International Labour Organization, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the International Organization for Migration and the World Health Organization.

Haiti

Elisabeth Byrs of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said there were currently 40 cholera treatment centers and 61 cholera treatments units in Haiti. However, many more were needed and the humanitarian partners continued to work to increase numbers and bed capacity. It was notably estimated that there was a gap for 15,000 oral rehydration centers. A survey among 37 health partners, conducted by the Ministry of Public Health and Population, had identified key challenges which included the management of dead bodies, the disposal of medical waste, the identification of sites on which to set up health centers and the lack of trained personnel. In terms of the appeal, Ms. Byrs said USD 32.9 million out of the USD 164 million appealed for had been received as of today.

Fadela Chaib of the World Health Organization (WHO) said there had been just over 72,000 cholera cases in Haiti, including 1,648 deaths. Fewer deaths than before were occurring in communities and the mortality rate stood at 2.3 per cent. The 40 existing cholera treatment centers had an average capacity of 100 to 200 beds and the 61 cholera treatments units -- small units established at hospitals and health centers -- had an average capacity of 20 beds. However, an additional 10 cholera treatment centers and 39 cholera treatments units were needed, along with another 350 doctors, 2,000 nurses, 2,200 support staff and 30,000 community health workers. The community health workers would mostly work at the community level and in rural communities, where needs were greatest.

In response to a question, Ms. Chaib said the evolution of the cholera epidemic could not be defined with precision, but it was likely to peak in a few weeks in some places and in a few months in others.

Asked why there was still a need for doctors one month after the outbreak of the epidemic, Ms. Chaib said the cholera response was a huge undertaking given the state of Haiti’s health infrastructure. Numerous non-governmental organizations and the United Nations were working on the ground, but more staff must be deployed in remote areas to provide people with access to treatment opportunities.

2010 Appeal for the Democratic Republic of Congo

Ms. Byrs said as of 30 November, the 2010 consolidated appeal for the Democratic Republic of Congo was only 59 per cent funded, with USD 489.7 million received out of the USD 827.6 million. The under-funding of this appeal - the second most important one after the appeal for Sudan - would have dire consequences. By year-end, it was likely that 200,000 children suffering from severe acute malnutrition would not have been assisted due to a lack of funding, that 180,000 children aged under 1 would not have been vaccinated against relevant diseases and that 100,000 children under the age of five exposed to malaria in endemic areas would not have been assisted through malaria management care. It was further likely that up to 76,000 pregnant women would have given birth on the floor in camps for internally displaced persons due to the lack of beds and delivery kits, and that up to 5,700 women and girls would have died while giving birth due to the lack of proper care for pregnancy-related complications. In terms of mine action, 200,000 persons would not have been reached by awareness raising campaigns on the risks of landmines and unexploded ordnance. The health part of the appeal had only been funded to 33 per cent in one year, food to 28 per cent and water and sanitation to only 21 per cent, Ms. Byrs underscored.

Persons with Disabilities

Dr. Tom Shakespeare, Technical Officer, Department for Violence, Injury Prevention and Disability, WHO, said the International Day of Persons with Disabilities was on 3 December. The theme this year was “Keeping the promise: Mainstreaming disability in the Millennium Development Goals towards 2015 and beyond.” The Millennium Development Goals did not specifically mention disability. However, it was impossible to achieve the Millennium Development Goals without the inclusion of people with disabilities. In September 2010, the General Assembly had adopted the resolution “Keeping the promise: united to achieve the Millennium Development Goals.”

The WHO had developed a tool to help countries obtain these goals by including people with disabilities - the community-based rehabilitation guidelines. Community-based rehabilitation was a programme currently implemented in 90 of the poorest countries of the world. Involved in this programme were ILO, UNESCO, the International Disability and Development Federation and WHO. These guidelines were intended for fieldworkers in order to help them ensure the development of persons with disabilities. These guidelines would be launched on 3 December, on the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, in Europe and in Asia.

Dr. Shakespeare said the WHO would also announce on that day that the launch date for the World Report on Disability was 9 June 2011. This report was important as it contained the first WHO estimates of disability prevalence since the 1970s. It would provide evidence about what was happening to persons with disabilities worldwide, about the discrimination and barriers they faced and their unmet needs. It had chapters on health, rehabilitation, support services, information, transport and employment. The report, published in collaboration with the World Bank, would be launched in Geneva by the Director-General, with the participation of senior World Bank officials and celebrities with disabilities on 9 June.

Proving some background information on the situation of persons with disabilities, Dr. Shakespeare said 15 to 20 per cent of the world’s poorest people were disabled. Only 5 to 15 per cent could access the assisted devices they needed. Mortality for children with disabilities may be as high as 80 per cent in countries where under-five mortality as a whole has decreased to below 20 per cent.





Swiss Referendum on the expulsion of foreigners convicted of crimes

Adrian Edwards of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said UNHCR was appealing to the Swiss political parties to ensure that the principle of non-refoulement, or no forced return, was not put at risk amid the current debate over expulsions of criminal foreigners. The principle of non-refoulement was a cornerstone of international law. It existed to ensure that no refugee or asylum seeker was returned to a situation in which they faced serious harm, such as persecution, torture or inhumane or degrading treatment. For any asylum system to be effective, individual cases must be properly heard and legal remedies provided against being returned to a situation of jeopardy. Any automatism in this regard would be at variance with fundamental tenets of the rule of law. Switzerland had ratified the 1951 Refugee Convention and related human rights treaties, and UNHCR hoped that the Swiss people would agree that these treaties must be fully respected.

Geneva Activities

Elena Ponomareva-Piquier said the World AIDS Day would be commemorated tomorrow and a message from the Secretary-General on this occasion had been made available to journalists. Mr. Ban’s message on the International Day for the Abolition of Slavery, to be commemorated on 2 December, was also available.

Responding to a question, Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said the statement of the Secretary-General, which the UNOG Director-General had delivered yesterday on the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, and the press release, were both available to the Geneva press corps.

The Committee on the Rights of Migrant Workers had yesterday held a Day of Discussion to commemorate the twentieth anniversary of the adoption of the Convention. The Committee would conclude its session on Friday and make public its concluding observations on the three countries examined during this session, namely Albania, Ecuador and Senegal.

Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said the Humanitarian Appeal 2011 would be launched at a press conference taking place today at 12.30 p.m. in Room III. Also, a press conference on the humanitarian situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territories would take place tomorrow in Press Room I.

Corinne Momal-Vanian, the Director of the United Nations Information Service, and the President of the Association of Correspondents Accredited to the United Nations expressed their gratitude to Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier, who announced that she would retire on 1 December 2010.

Status of the World Climate 2010

Clare Nullis of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said WMO would release its provisional statement on the status of the global climate in 2010 on Thursday 2 December. The provisional statement would be launched at the climate conference in Cancun, Mexico and embargoed until 6 p.m. Geneva time.

Launch of the Interagency Field Manual on Reproductive Health in Humanitarian Settings

Anne Wittenberg of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) announced the launch of the Interagency Field Manual on Reproductive Health in Humanitarian Settings. The launch, organized jointly by UNFPA, the World Health Organization, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the Australian Government, Marie Stopes International and RAISE, would take place on Friday 3 December at 9 a.m. in Room Vanuatu. On that occasion, the agencies would also display their work and showcase other reproductive health tools that were used in humanitarian work.

Launch of the ILO Global Wage Report 2010/2011

Corinne Perthuis of the International Labour Organization (ILO) said ILO would launch the Global Wage Report 2010/2011 on Wednesday 15 December. A press conference on the topic would be held at 2.30 p.m. on 13 December in Press Room III. Speaking on that occasion would notably be Manuela Tomei, the Director of the ILO's Conditions of Work and Employment Programme. The report, as well as executive summaries in English, French and Spanish, along with a twenty-page special on the situation in Africa, was available at the ILO website as of 8 December.

Round tables would later be held in Berlin, Brussels, Moscow and Dhakar, but the launch would take place in Geneva. The salary situation reflected the consequences of the economic crisis, with some regions facing salary decreases and the rest of the world witnessing salary stagnations, Ms. Perthuis underscored.

Regional Meeting in Djibouti to Tackle Challenges of Mixed Migration Flows in the Horn of Africa

Jared Bloch of the IOM (IOM) said IOM was organizing a two-day meeting between high-level Government government officials from Djibouti, Ethiopia, Somalia and Yemen to focus on tackling the many challenges posed by mixed migration flows in the Horn of Africa. The meeting, taking place on 1 and 2 December in Djibouti, would also look at ways of improving cross-border cooperation between the four countries through better information sharing.

Every year, tens of thousands of people made the hazardous journey from their place of origin through Somalia and Djibouti and onwards across the Gulf of Aden to Yemen and the Gulf states. These complex and extremely dynamic population movements included asylum-seekers, irregular migrants, victims of trafficking and unaccompanied minors, involving men and women, girls and boys. These individuals, driven by political unrest and/or extreme poverty, faced numerous abuses along the way. Host countries and host communities faced particular challenges in responding to these significant movements.

The meeting was part of a larger IOM programme to provide greater protection for migrants en route to Yemen through improving understanding of mixed migration flows and promoting greater respect for the human rights of migrants in applying national and regional immigration laws.



Kenyan Pastoralists Affected by Climate Change Take to Deep Lake Fishing

Mr. Bloch said IOM Kenya was providing fishermen on Kenya's Lake Turkana with boats and training to enable them to fish in deep waters. This was particularly important given that the residents of Turkana were predominantly a pastoralist community that had been driven to fishing in the lake by environmental changes and recurring droughts which had rendered their pastoral land unusable.

The region, already semi-arid, could not support extensive agriculture and fishing in the lake had been limited until now due to the lack of equipment and unsafe conditions. This had resulted in communities being vulnerable to hunger and malnutrition, which had in turn led to conflict between various groups over scarce resources.

The programme sought to increase the community’s income, improve their food security and reduce their reliance on food relief, as well as setting up sustainable fishing practices in the area.

Migrants a Valuable Resource in Combating the Rise in HIV/AIDS in Europe

Mr. Bloch said migrants needed to be included in health responses that seek to tackle the growing incidence of HIV/AIDS in Europe, as IOM and partners would tell participants at a conference in Brussels on World Aids Day, 1 December 2010. This was especially important due to the health inequities suffered by migrants. The conference at the European Parliament, entitled "With Migrants for Migrants: Improving HIV Prevention for All", was organized by IOM and would bring together non-governmental organizations and advocacy groups as well as policy makers.