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 and representatives of the Food and Agriculture Organization, the Secretariat of the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction, the United Nations Environment Programme, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the World Health Organization, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the International Organization for Migration and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).

Libya

Fadéla Chaib of the World Health Organization (WHO) said the health portion of yesterday’s appeal was USD 11.1 million. The health partners who were part of that flash appeal included WHO, UNICEF, Save the Children, IOM and the Handicap International Federation. The USD 11.1 million they had requested were intended for health and nutrition priorities such as medical evacuation - if needed and possible – and to support the basic health services in the affected areas, establish an early warning and response system for epidemic-prone diseases, and coordinate the humanitarian health response. WHO and its partners had established a detailed list of medicines and medical needs for Libya, and in particular Benghazi, and these items would be sent as soon as possible. A joint United Nations rapid assessment mission to Benghazi, including WHO staff, had found no major health problems or needs. However, there were reports of a lack of medicines to treat chronic diseases and shortages of medical supplies for orthopedic surgery. Ms. Chaib said the previously mentioned health kits containing materials to care for 50,000 people during 3 months would arrive in Djerba today. WHO was also working with the Tunisian Ministry of Population and Health to evaluate the sanitary situation and they had a joint team monitoring the health situation on a daily basis, but had so far not found any signs of an epidemic outbreak. Ms. Chaib said that the Tunisian Health Ministry had reported that, from 23 February to 4 March, a cumulative total of 3,659 patients had been treated at the border health post, of whom 83 had been referred either to a nearby hospital or to other hospitals in Tunisia.

Adrian Edwards of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said that UNHCR was alarmed by increasing accounts of violence and discrimination in Libya against sub-Saharan Africans. These accounts were coming from both eastern and western areas. UNHCR reiterated its call on all parties to recognize the vulnerability of both refugees and migrants from sub-Saharan Africa and to take measures to ensure their protection. Yesterday a team at the Egypt border had interviewed a group of Sudanese who had arrived from eastern Libya who had said that armed Libyans were going door to door, forcing sub-Saharan Africans to leave. In one
instance a 12-year-old Sudanese girl was said to have been raped. They reported that many people had had their documents confiscated or destroyed. UNHCR had heard similar accounts from a group of Chadians who had fled Benghazi, Al Bayda and Brega in the past few days. At the Egyptian border, one Bangladeshi man had died over the weekend after a fight over food distribution. UNHCR staff said that many of the 3,500 Bangladeshis at the border had been waiting for up to ten days for onward transport, and were becoming increasingly agitated. Many were sleeping outside in the cold as available shelter at the border was filled to capacity. Over 14,000 meals had been distributed and an estimated 5,000 people were awaiting onwards transport. At both borders, most of those awaiting evacuation were Bangladeshi single men. There remained a critical shortage at present of long-haul flights to Bangladesh, other Asian countries and sub-Saharan Africa. UNHCR and IOM were using cash contributions to charter flights, and several donor countries had offered long-haul flights. Nevertheless, with an estimated 40-50 flights needed to repatriate all the migrants, further support would be needed. Meanwhile, at the Tunisian border with Libya the number of arrivals had dropped considerably, compared to a week ago, with 2,485 people arriving yesterday. The drop in numbers had coincided with intensified fighting in western Libya, which had reduced mobility. Accounts from people who had arrived during the past days described numerous road blocks along the route, with the majority reporting that they were searched for mobile phones, memory cards and simcards. UNHCR’s transit camp in Choucha, close to the border, currently held 15,000 people. UNHCR had registered 311 people with protection concerns, including Somalis and Eritreans.
[It was later announced that the number of people who had fled the violence in Libya had passed
212,000, including 112,169 in Tunisia (including over 19,000 Tunisian and over 45,000 Egyptians) and 98,188 in Egypt (including over 68,000 Egyptians) and 2,025 in Niger (including over 1800 from Niger). UNHCR had also heard from the Algerian Government that more than 4,000 people had arrived in Algeria by air, land and sea, including evacuations from Tunisia and Egypt].

Jemini Pandya of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said that IOM would today fly home some 2,180 Bangladeshis from Egypt and Tunisia, in addition to large groups of Vietnamese and Ghanaian migrants. In Tunisia, where there were still about 13,000 Bangladeshis at Choucha camp, 1,264 Bangladeshis would leave on IOM charter flights from Djerba and a group of 516 Bangladeshis who had left Libya by road via Egypt's Sallum border crossing would leave on three IOM charter flights in the course of the day from Marsa Matroh, about 230 kilometers east of the border. A further 372, who had arrived in Alexandria yesterday on an IOM-chartered ferry from Benghazi in Libya, would fly home directly from Alexandria. IOM had also begun sea evacuation from Benghazi, with people leaving on Sunday and arriving in Alexandria yesterday. While today's evacuations had been welcomed by the nearly 3,700 Bangladeshis still stranded on the Egyptian border, IOM would need to charter at least 20 more similar flights from Egypt alone to get them home, even if there were no new arrivals from Libya. However, IOM sources in Libya and passengers on the ferry from Benghazi had indicated that there were thousands more foreigners, including Bangladeshis in the city, who may decide to leave if conditions deteriorate further. IOM had more plans to evacuate another 1,500 to 1,600 Bangladeshis from Egypt and Djerba tomorrow. For the migrants, evacuations could not happen fast enough. Conditions at the Sallum border post in Egypt's Western Desert were basic and many of the migrants had been sleeping in the open for nearly two weeks, despite bitterly cold nights and strong winds. Others had been sleeping in cramped, insanitary conditions in arrival and departure halls, toilet blocks, bus shelters and wherever else they could find warmth in the bleak Egyptian immigration compound. IOM, which had been present in the compound for nine days, provided food, water, basic medical services, consular support and onward transportation. Other agencies now providing support included the International Committee of the Red Cross, UNHCR, UNICEF and non-governmental organizations, including Catholic Relief Services and Islamic Relief. The Tunisian border crossing at Ras Adjir, where a few thousand migrants were still crossing on a daily basis, and a transit camp housing migrants waiting to be evacuated, would be visited later today by IOM Director General William Lacy Swing and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres. The first day of a two-day visit to Tunisia was aimed at seeing first-hand the humanitarian situation and the challenges posed by such a massive outflow of migrants to Libya's neighbours. Ms. Pandya said that about 215,000 migrants had crossed Libya's borders with Tunisia, Egypt and Niger (since 20 February and not including yesterday’s arrivals into Egypt).

Improved Sea Conditions Cited as Reason for Large Migrant Arrivals to Lampedusa

Ms. Pandya said that another nine boats carrying 660 irregular migrants, all Tunisian, had arrived on the Italian island of Lampedusa last night. The migrants were said to have left from Tunisia. The latest arrivals brought the number of migrants reaching Lampedusa since Sunday night to more than 1,500 and to about 8,000 in the past five weeks. Bad weather in the past two weeks had led only to sporadic and relatively small numbers of Tunisian migrants landing on the island which had at one point seen the arrival of about 5,000 migrants over a three-day period. All the migrants who had landed overnight had been taken to the migrant reception centre on the island where they had been given immediate assistance. Staff from IOM, UNHCR and Save the Children were working in shifts at the centre to provide legal counselling to the migrants with respective focus on economic migrants, asylum-seekers and unaccompanied minors. Among the 1,000 migrants who arrived overnight Sunday was a 40-year-old German woman, with her seven-year-old daughter. She told IOM that unable to take her daughter back to Europe after leaving her husband, a well-connected and wealthy doctor in Tunisia, she had had no alternative but to use human smugglers to reach Europe as her husband had refused to give her daughter's passport. She and her daughter had spent 10 days in a locked building by the sea before they could make the journey by boat to Lampedusa. IOM was now in touch with the German Embassy in Rome. Most of the migrants who had arrived in Lampedusa say they had come to find work or join families. There were now over 2,000 migrants in the centre which could normally accommodate 800 people.

Côte d’Ivoire

Mr. Edwards said that UNHCR was today appealing to warring groups in Côte d’Ivoire to commit
themselves to supporting urgently-needed humanitarian efforts and avoid placing civilian lives at risk. As of Monday an estimated 200,000-300,000 people had been displaced in Abidjan and a further 70,000 people in the country’s west, in both cases as a result of recent or ongoing fighting. The humanitarian and protection needs were growing fast. Thousands of people across Abidjan remained holed up in community centres where conditions were inadequate and where protection needs had not been properly assessed. In Abobo district some 60 families remained trapped in a church and apparently prevented by fighters from leaving. In western Côte d’Ivoire, humanitarian access to people in need had been severely impeded by insecurity. As a result, thousands of displaced people were almost entirely without help. The risks for civilians, including people of concern under UNHCR’s mandate, were growing fast. Persistent reports that Liberian mercenaries were being brought in to join the fighting was fueling distrust. This, in turn, was creating risks for the 24,000 Liberian refugees in Côte d’Ivoire. The number of Ivorians fleeing into eastern Liberia had meanwhile risen dramatically. UNHCR had so far registered some 75,000 refugees, of whom around half had arrived since 24 February. From government and other partners, UNHCR had reports of a further approximately 7,000 arrivals. This sudden influx was placing enormous strains on local communities and abilities of aid organizations to help. In Buutuo Town, in eastern Liberia’s Nimba County, the water and sanitation situation had become critical, with reported cases of diarrhoea and malaria, and food shortages. UNHCR and its partners had been working to rehabilitate bridges and roads to improve access. They had also been providing direct support where we can to refugees and the communities around them.

Ms. Pandya said that an estimated 450,000 people were thought to be displaced by the growing unrest in Cote d'Ivoire. Between 200,000 to 300,000 people were thought to be forcibly displaced, mainly in the Abobo district. In the west of the country, where IOM is now the only aid agency operating in Douékoué and Guiglo and the link from the field to the humanitarian community outside, another 70,000 people were internally displaced. However, with fighting between rival forces at Toulepleu, this figure was likely to not only have led to significantly more people being displaced, but also caused high levels of secondary displacement. A spot assessment by IOM at the Catholic mission at the weekend had that found only 3,159 people were still there when previously there had been about 10,000. Among those escaping the fighting and seeking shelter at the Catholic mission was a group of nuns with 35 orphans. The cutting of water and electricity supplies in the north and west of the country had seriously affected people's lives, especially those people displaced and living in camps. IOM staff in Guiglo and Duékoué were struggling to find alternative solutions to deal with the shortages in an increasingly volatile and difficult environment. There were reports that armed groups in the region were terrorizing the population in the area south of the Toulepleu- Bloléquin axis, forcing Burkinabés and other migrant communities as well as Ivorians to seek refuge in the forests at Scio, north of Toulepleu. What is clear is that there were several reasons why people were fleeing their homes in this part of the country. Confusion and anarchy were gaining the upper hand in this area, where now humanitarian actors no longer had access. The international community needed to not only watch this space, but also to respond to aid agencies’ calls for greater resources to help those innocently caught in between the conflict.

Ms. Chaib said that WHO had deployed three international public health experts for health cluster coordination; two based in Côte d'Ivoire (one in Abidjan and the other in Ouest: Man, Douekoue and Danane) and the third in Nimba Country in Liberia, where WHO had a sub office. WHO had also sent health kits to cover the needs, during three months, of 70,000 people in need of essential medicines and 5,000 trauma kits. The kits had first been positioned in Côte d'Ivoire and Liberia, but had now been distributed to the Western part of Côte d'Ivoire and Nimba Country in Liberia through local health structures and health partners. An additional 30 kits covering the needs of 30,000 people would be sent very soon to the two countries by WHO and its partners.

Sudan

Elisabeth Byrs of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) drew attention to a statement made by the United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan, Georg Charpentier, and said OCHA was extremely concerned by the recent violence and fighting in Sudan’s Abyei area. It was estimated that around 20,000 people, or half of the civilian population of Abyei town, may have left the town in the past few days, fleeing to villages as far as 40 kilometers away. About 3,000 people had arrived in the Agok area, staying mostly with relatives. The Humanitarian Coordinator called on all parties to respect the rights of civilians in danger, and United Nations agencies stood ready to assist people in need, in particular with food deliveries, emergency shelter, water and sanitation, as well as medical assistance. The USD 1.7 million appeal for Sudan was funded to 24 per cent as of today, said Ms. Byrs. She added that a note was at the back of the room.

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Ms. Byrs said that the Emergency Relief Coordinator Valerie Amos would conduct her first official visit to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, starting today and lasting until 10 March. During the three-day mission, Ms. Amos would travel to two of the provinces most affected by armed violence: North Kivu and Province Orientale.

Draft preview document by the International Health Regulations Review Committee on H1N1

Ms. Chaib said that a draft preview document by the International Health Regulations Review Committee on H1N1 would be sent to the 193 WHO Member States today. It would also be posted on http://www.who.int/ihr/en/ on Wednesday or Thursday of this week as a background document for the meeting on 28 March in Geneva. The 28 March meeting in Geneva would be an open plenary session for the media, interested parties, non-governmental organizations and inter-governmental organizations.

FAO State of Food and Agriculture 2010-2011 report

Silvano Sofia of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said the 2010-2011 edition of the State of Food and Agriculture report, one of FAO's flagship publications, had been launched yesterday in Rome, Italy. Copies of the report on the theme “Women in Agriculture: closing the gender gap for development” were at the back of the room.

Within the framework of the Human Rights Council session and the International Women’s Summit, the Food and Agriculture Organization Liaison Office in Geneva would hold a side-event on Friday 11 March at 8.30 a.m. in Room XXV. This would be followed by a press conference with Marcela Villarreal, the Director of the Population and Development Service of the Gender and Population Division at FAO's Rome Office, and Sandra Aviles from FAO's Geneva Liaison Office, who would speak about the report, food price increases and the situation in the Middle East at 11.30 a.m. in Room III.

Mid-term review of the implementation of the Hyogo Framework for Action

Brigitte Leoni of the Secretariat of the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) said the mid-term review of the implementation of the Hyogo Framework for Action would be launched tomorrow in Rome by Margareta Wahlström, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction, and Franco Gabrielli, the Head of the Italian Civil Protection Department. Gianni Alemanno, the Mayor of Rome, and Matteo Renzi, the Mayor of Florence, would also be present to sign up to the 2010-11 World Disaster Reduction Campaign, joining over 600 cities that have committed to the “Ten Essentials” that would make their cities more resilient to disasters. A Representative from the Municipality of Milan would also be present.

A press briefing on the report could be organized during the forthcoming Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction, to be held from 8 to 13 May in Geneva. A note on that event was at the back of the room. Also at the back of the room was a press release on the report, embargoed until 11 a.m. tomorrow, and a media advisory on the launch tomorrow in Rome.

UNEP Report and Press Conference on Bee Colony Collapse Disorder

Isabelle Valentiny of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) said that UNEP would launch an alarming report on Thursday in Geneva entitled “Global Honey Bee Colony Disorders and Other Threats to Insect Pollinators’ Report”. As the syndrome of the bee disappearances was quite well-known, but its causes less so, the report looked into the underlying reasons and the impact of this phenomenon on agricultural production. Peter Neuman, a key author of the report, and UNEP spokesperson Nick Nuttall would give a press conference at 9.30 a.m. on Thursday 10 March in Press Room I.

Other

Corinne Momal-Vanian said many events were being held in Geneva to mark today’s International Women’s Day. The message of the Secretary-General for this day had already been distributed yesterday and the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, was delivering a speech on this day at the Human Rights Council at this moment. More information on the activities of the Council had been given to journalists by Cédric Sapey.

The Conference on Disarmament this morning held a meeting on the prevention of an arms race in outer space, and it might also meet in the afternoon.

The Committee on Elimination of Racial Discrimination this morning examined the report of Rwanda, the last country scheduled for consideration during this session, which ended with the adoption of concluding observation on the reports examined since 14 February.

Ms. Momal-Vanian said that there would be several press conferences. This afternoon at 2.30 p.m., instead of 2 p.m. as indicated earlier, the Special Rapporteur on the right to food would address journalists in Room III. Tomorrow the Special Rapporteur on Housing would give a press conference in Press Room I at 10.30 a.m. and the Special Rapporteur on Torture at 12 a.m. in Room III. On Thursday 10 March at 11 a.m. in Press Room I, press conferences would be given by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children and the Special Rapporteur on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography.

Ms. Momal-Vanian drew attention to a poster contest on violence against women organized by the Information Service in Brussels. More information was available at the back of the room.


Women and HIV/AIDS

Mariangela Simao, Chief of Prevention and Vulnerability Reduction at UNAIDS, said today, on the 100th International Women’s Day and thirty years into the AIDS epidemic, that there was plenty of evidence that women and girls were still failed in responses to HIV. Sixteen out of 34 million people living with HIV were women, and that number continued to increase. More than 80 per cent of these women lived in Sub-Saharan Africa, young women in this region were four to eight times more likely to be infected with HIV than their male partners, and HIV was still the leading cause of death among women of reproductive age. UNAIDS and its co-sponsors had therefore developed an agenda to better address the needs of women and girls in the context of HIV/AIDS. For the International Women’s Day 2011, the French National Agency for Research on AIDS and Viral Hepatitis had launched a book that sheds new light on women living with HIV in Africa, and UNAIDS encouraged its partners to use this work to enable a better response.

Jean-Paul Moatti, Special Advisor for Foreign Affairs of the French National Agency for Research on AIDS and Viral Hepatitis, said the book entitled “Women and HIV/AIDS in the South” had essentially been developed by researchers from francophone Africa and was currently being presented in Cameroon, Senegal and Burkina Faso. The book emphasised that it has been known for a long time that, technically, we could live in a world without mother to child HIV transmission, but unfortunately much remained to be done, particularly in Africa. The book also spread the good news that access to anti-retroviral treatment in Africa was slightly better for women than for men, albeit there was scope for improvement in terms of contraception, child care and work on co-morbidities.

A statement of the UNAIDS Executive Director on the occasion of International Women’s Day was available at the back of the room.