REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Corinne Momal-Vanian, Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired the meeting which was also attended by Spokespersons for the Human Rights Council, the International Organization for Migration and the International Committee of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.


Human Rights Council

Rolando Gomez for the Human Rights Council (HRC) said today’s discussions began at 09:00 with a panel discussion between United Nations agency representatives on human rights and mainstreaming, the concept paper for which was available on the HRC website. Following this was the urgent debate on Syria which began at 11:30 with a statement from the President of the General Assembly, followed by the High Commissioner for Human Rights. Syria would then follow with an intervention though it was unsure at the present time who would be speaking for the country.

After these the debate was to begin, he said, with over 70 speakers each taking the floor for two minutes. It was scheduled to run for 11:30 until 14:30 though if there was a need it was possible that later statements could be heard after 18:00. As to the outcome of the debate, he noted a draft resolution had been tabled. This was to be considered once all statements had been heard.

Tomorrow brought a discussion on freedom of expression on the internet, he noted, as well as side events and public meetings. This included the signing of the Optional Protocol on the Convention of the Rights of the Child, which was taking place in Room IXX from 13:00.

Sahel region

Steven Anderson for the International Committee of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (ICRC) said his organization was launching an appeal for CHF12.3 million to address the worsening humanitarian situation in the Sahel regions of Mali and Niger and assist around 700,000 people.

The appeal followed a two-fold crisis, he explained, food insecurity affecting the entire region and armed confrontations in the north of Mali which were driving huge displacement, forcing 60,000 people to flee their homes.

The money would be used to provide food to 84,000 persons and emergency supplies to 60,000, he said, as well as to visit people detained in connection with fighting, care for the wounded and support for the resilience of communities through buying livestock to preserve the livelihood of nomads and distributing seed to farmers.

Answering questions he said fighting in the north of Mali was spread over a wide area and it was difficult to provide specific numbers on the wounded and casualties.

Liberia-Côte d’Ivoire refugees

Jumbe Omari Jumbe for the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said the IOM had last week started the voluntary repatriation of persons from Côte d’Ivoire living in Liberia, with over 6,000 people travelling. The first phase would help 15,000 people, he said, and went hand in hand with another operation to return a total of 24,000 Liberian people in the opposite direction. Convoys were ongoing on a weekly basis and operations should be completed by June.

Answering questions he said that some potential returnees were still expressing fears over returning to Côte d’Ivoire, and so the process was being spread over the course of the year so people can be sure of their decision.

Geneva activities

Ms. Momal-Vanian said the Conference on Disarmament opened its session with statements by several dignitaries, particularly the Foreign Ministers of Kazakhstan, Jordan, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Malaysia, Costa Rica, Kyrgyzstan, and Indonesia. Senior dignitaries from Japan and the Republic of Korea were to also speak. Senior officials of Estonia and Cambodia would address the conference tomorrow at 15:00.

The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination began this afternoon considering the report of Laos. It also examines reports from Qatar and Jordan this week. The report of Italy, the last item of the session, will be discussed next Monday.

Meanwhile, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women session ends Friday. The concluding observations on all the countries examined will be available on the website of the session, hopefully before the end of the day on Friday.

She also added that Mr. Annan, the United Nation-Arab League joint special envoy on the Syrian crisis, would be at the Palais des Nations today where he would receive a briefing from experts from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on the situation in the country. A photo opportunity was planned for the beginning of the meeting, she added.

Ms. Momal-Vanian also announced a press conference tomorrow (29 February) at 15:15 in Room III, following the Human Rights Council panel discussion on freedom of expression on the internet. Speakers included the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sweden and the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression.

The United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) would hold a press conference on Thursday (1 March) in Room III, she added. This was to mark the launch of the global anti-landmine "Lend Your Leg" action, and there would also be a premiere showing of a video from the Secretary-General endorsing the campaign.