REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Ahmad Fawzi, Director, a.i, United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired the briefing attended by spokespersons of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Office of the Special Envoy for Syria, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs the World Food Programme, the United Nations Children’s Agency, the United Nations Refugee Agency, the International Organization for Migration, and the World Health Organization.

UN Secretary-General

Mr. Fawzi said that the Secretary-General had been in Western Sahara on 5 and 6 March, visiting Tindouf and meeting with MINURSO leadership and with refugees in the camps. He had been extremely moved by what he had seen, and had said that he was understanding of the anger that was shown by some of the refugees who, for more than 40 years, had lived in the harshest conditions and felt their plight had been ignored and their cause forgotten by the world.

The Secretary-General had been in Baden-Baden, Germany, on 7 March, where he had received the German Media Award.

Mr. Fawzi also mentioned, in the context of International Women’s Day, a message from the Secretary-General, titled “From a glass ceiling to a carpet of shards”, which the Information Service was making available.

Geneva activities

Human Rights Council

Rolando Gomez for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said that the Human Rights Council had concluded on the morning of 8 March its interactive dialogues, launched on 7 March, with the Independent Expert on the effects of foreign debt, Juan Pablo Bohoslavsky, and with the Special Rapporteur on the right to food, Hilal Elver. It had then started its interactive dialogues with the Special Representatives of the Secretary-General on violence against children, Marta Santos Pais, and on children and armed conflict, Leila Zerrougui. On 8 March around 2 p.m., the Council would hold its interactive dialogues with the Special Rapporteur on torture, Juan Méndez, and with the Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, Maud de Boer.

On 9 March, thematic rapporteurs on the right to privacy, freedom of religion, peaceful assembly and summary executions would be speaking at the Council.

On 8 March, International Women’s Day, at noon in Room XXI the film “The Man Who Mends Women”, dedicated to the story of Dr. Dennis Mukwege, 2014 Sakharov Prize winner, would be screened. Mr. Gomez said that Mr. Mukwege was recognized for his work to treat women who had been victims of rape in the Democratic Republic of Congo. At 6 p.m., a side-event with Dennis Mukwege would take place in Room XX. The High Commissioner for Human Rights would address that event.

Conference on Disarmament and Committees

Mr. Fawzi said that the Conference on Disarmament (CD) was holding a public meeting today, 8 March at 10 a.m. The CD was currently under the Presidency of Norway (ending on 20 March). After Nigeria and Norway, the CD would be successively chaired by Pakistan, Peru, Poland and the Republic of Korea. Mr. Fawzi also said that following requests from the press, UNOG Director-General Michael Møller, Secretary-General of the Conference on Disarmament, would brief the press in the week of March 14.

The Human Rights Committee, which had opened on 7 March its 116th session at the Palais Wilson (ground floor), was ending today its review of the report of South Africa. It would then begin, in the afternoon of 8 March, its review of the report of Namibia.
Other countries whose reports were to be reviewed during this four-week session were Sweden, New Zealand, Slovenia, Costa Rica and Rwanda.

The Committee on Enforced Disappearances, which had opened on 7 March its tenth session (in Room VII of the Palais des Nations), was ending today its review of the report of Tunisia. It would then begin, in the afternoon of 8 March, its review of the report of Burkina Faso. During the two-week session, the Committee would also review the report of Kazakhstan.

On 11 March, the Committee would commemorate the tenth anniversary of the adoption of the Convention with a panel discussion entitled “The International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance: contemporary challenges”.

Press conferences and other announcements

Mr. Fawzi congratulated Jan Herbermann, newly elected President of the United Nations Correspondents’ Association (ACANU), and wished him success in his duties. He acknowledged having received the ACANU’s letter containing a certain number of requests, and thanked the outgoing President, Nick Cumming-Bruce. Mr. Herbermann also expressed the ACANU’s wish to have a press conference with Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura before the Intra-Syrian talks resumed.

Mr. Fawzi announced a press conference of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on 8 March at 11:30 a.m. in Room III, with the Special Rapporteur on the right to food, Hilal Elver. She would discuss her annual report to the Human Rights Council which explored the structural, cultural, legal, economic and ecological barriers that women face in their fulfilment of the right to food: “by increasing women’s access to and control over assets, important human development outcomes can be reaped, including household food security, child nutrition, education and women’s well-being and status within the home and community.”

Also on 8 March at 2:30 p.m. in Press Room 1, OHCHR would hold a press conference with the new Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights, Karima Bennoune, would discuss the intentional destruction of cultural heritage as a violation of human rights, a topic deserving utmost priority.

On 8 March at 3:30 p.m. in Press Room 1, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) would brief the press on its emergency appeal in response to the Zika virus disease. The speaker would be Julie Lyn Hall, Head of Health at the IFRC.

On 9 March, at 10:30 a.m. in Press Room 1, OHCHR would hold a press conference with Juan Méndez, Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

Also on 9 March, at 1:30 p.m. in Room III, the World Health Organization (WHO) would brief the press on Zika virus product research – research priorities and product pipeline, with Dr. Marie-Paule Kieny, WHO Assistant Director-General, Health Systems and Innovation.

Fadela Chaib, for the World Health Organization (WHO) announced a teleconference of the emergency committee on Zika, microcephaly and neurological disorders taking place today 8 March at 1 p.m. A press conference would follow on 8 March at 7 p.m., in the WHO Library room, during which a statement would be issued, with the conclusion of the second emergency committee on Zika, microcephaly and neurological disorders.

On 10 March at 10:30 a.m. in Press Room 1, OHCHR would hold a press conference with the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, Heiner Bielefeldt.

Vehicle regulations

Jean Rodriguez, for the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), announced that the UNECE World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations (WP.29) would be meeting from 8 to 11 March in the Palais des Nations. The World Forum would discuss today a proposal for a new Regulation on acoustic warning devices for electric and hybrid cars. It was expected that the World Forum would adopt the new regulation on 9 March in the morning.
The new regulations would apply when such vehicles run below 20 kilometres per hour. At that speed, such vehicles were almost entirely silent, thus becoming a hazard for pedestrians or cyclists. Research had shown a statistical correlation between such situations and higher accident rates. With more than one million electric cars and hybrids now on the world’s roads, and significant increases in sales expected in years to come, it was expected that the new regulation would significantly enhance road safety.
It was also an interesting example of an initiative by an NGO (the visually impaired in the US) developing into an international regulation a few years later. Mr. Rodriguez ended in saying this new regulation would fall under the 1958 agreement of the World Forum which counted 49 countries on four continents.
Syria

Mr. Fawzi mentioned Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura’s message about the women of Syria, made available on 7 March. He had said that if there was one place in the world where we should recognize the suffering and the courage, the resilience and the determination of women today, it was Syria.

Jessy Chahine, for the Office of the Special Envoy for Syria, confirmed that the Special Envoy was planning on resuming the talks as of 9 March in the afternoon, as he had announced the previous week. He and his team would stand ready to receive all the participants as of that date, and would be conducting preparatory meetings with them, prior to substantive discussions as per the agenda set by Security Council resolution 2254.

Due to logistical arrangements, some participants would be arriving on 12, 13 or 14 March, and the Special Envoy’s substantive meetings with those present in Geneva would start at the latest by 14 March in a staggered way, under the system of proximity talks.

In response to questions, Ms. Chahine said that a new meeting of the Humanitarian Taskforce would take place on 9 March at 11 a.m., followed by a press stakeout with Staffan de Mistura and Jan Egeland, and that the Taskforce on the Cessation of Hostilities would also meet on 9 March, in the afternoon. She confirmed that no new invitations had been issued for the resumption of talks, and all the same parties had been notified of the date of resumption of the talks: the Government, the High Negotiations Committee, and the individuals involved in the Cairo and Moscow meetings, as per Security Council resolution 2254.

Jens Laerke, for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said that the cessation of hostilities had reduced the overall level of violence in Syria, but the armed conflict including airstrikes continued in pockets. That included in and around the town of Aleppo, in the northwest of the country. Continued ground fighting and airstrikes north and west of Aleppo had reportedly led to the displacement of thousands of people. In February alone, nearly 64,000 people had been displaced in Aleppo Governorate, bringing the total of displaced people in that Governorate to 167,000.

Agencies working in protection of civilians in the area had expressed serious concern about aerial attacks on heavily populated areas, schools and hospitals. In this volatile and dangerous environment, UN humanitarian supplies continued to come across the border from Turkey, authorized by the UN Security Council resolutions, in response to the increased displacement of civilians but also to pre-position stocks in key areas such as Aleppo.

From 15 February to 4 March, UN agencies and the International Organization for Migration shipped 386 truckloads of food, medicines, non-food items, and assistance in water and sanitation across the border. That assistance would cover almost 900,000 people, in Aleppo Governorate, in Hama, and in Idlib.

Within roughly the same period, from mid-February until 2 March, non-governmental organizations through the Turkish Red Crescent sent 324 truckloads of humanitarian aid across the border from Turkey, into northern Syria.

In response to a journalist’s question, Mr. Laerke said that from the operational, humanitarian point of view, OCHA spoke of 18 besieged locations, and that was not necessarily contradictory to other numbers used, given that some of the locations were situated in the same area. For example, Kafr-Batna, where a convoy had been sent on
7 March, delivering aid to 16,000 people, was one area with several besieged locations.

Bettina Luescher, for the World Food Programme (WFP), said that since the Munich agreement, WFP and its humanitarian partners had brought food to 150,000 people living in the besieged areas. This aid was life-saving and life-changing. Before the food had come, people had been able to eat only one meal every two days, whereas today they were able to eat twice a day. In the area of Kafr-Batna, where WFP had brought food on 7 March, more than two years of siege and fighting had brought about a dire humanitarian condition and livelihoods had been eroded. Food smugglers had also entered the areas as access had improved, and food process were 50 per cent higher than in Damascus. It was good news that food had entered Aleppo. WFP remained extremely concerned about the situation there, which was very complicated. It took a long time for convoys to get in, amidst a very insecure situation. Ms. Luescher reiterated that all the humanitarians were demanding the lifting of the sieges.

Christophe Boulierac, for the United Nations Children’s Agency (UNICEF), said that on
4 March water had been restored to Aleppo after a 48-day deliberate shutdown of the water facility. The resumption of operation of the al-Khafseh water facility was critical for the lives and well-being of more than 2 million people. The facility was one of the most important in Syria, producing an average of 400 million litres of drinking water daily. It had been deliberately shut down on 16 January 2016. Clean water flowing again for the people of Aleppo was life-saving. One million children relied on this facility for safe drinking water, essential for preventing water-borne diseases, which can be life-threatening and even deadly for children . Water had been used as a weapon of war by all sides of the conflict in Syria. Millions of civilians were being deprived of clean water for drinking and domestic use. UNICEF had documented such tactics in areas such as Aleppo, Damascus, rural Damascus, Daraa and Hama. Parties to the conflict should stop attacking or deliberately interrupting the water supply and should protect the treatment, distribution system, pipeline and personnel who repaired water installations. UNICEF had been working closely with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent and the International Committee of the Red Cross to support emergency repairs and rehabilitation, so that water infrastructure systems are able to function and to serve the entire population of Aleppo.

In response to a question, Mr. Laerke said that there were still plans to go to all 18 besieged locations. Also, just because an area had been reached once, it did not mean that it had been fully serviced, as one location may require several convoys. Ideally, of course, there would be free, unhindered access, which was essentially the law. As Jan Egeland had said on 3 March, in the preceding three weeks, 236 trucks had been sent in those convoys, and a simplified system for convoy approval was in the making. Mr. Laerke also promised to send updated figures to the press at the latest on 9 March.

Ms. Luescher said that WFP was continuing its efforts to find solutions to the technical issues that had occurred for the first air drop over Deir ez-Zor. Tests were being ran in Jordan and could take some weeks to complete. High-altitude humanitarian relief air drops on this scale were virtually unprecedented, but WFP was trying everything that was possible to bring food to the 200,000 people trapped in Deir ez-Zor.

In response to another question, she said that on 4 March WFP had delivered food to 20,000 people for one month in East Ghouta, and on 7 March, food and other supplies to the Kafr-Batna district, for one month, to 16,000 people.

Europe – Refugee crisis

William Spindler, for the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), said that UNHCR had taken note of the Statement of the EU Heads of State and Government of Turkey on
7 March, and was concerned with some aspects of the proposal. Turkey hosted close to 3 million refugees and had made enormous contributions for years and just recently had adopted a work regulation for Syrian refugees, but, in light of the enormity of the task, still struggled to provide for all the basic needs of the swelling Syrian population. UNHCR welcomed the EU's financial contribution to support Turkey and the refugee communities in Turkey.

As for the statement released on 7 March after the meeting between EU and Turkey, UNHCR was not a party to it nor privy to all the details and modalities of implementation.
On the face of what appeared to have been agreed, UNHCR was, however, concerned about any arrangement that involved the blanket return of all individuals from one country to another without sufficiently spelt out refugee protection safeguards in keeping with international obligations.

Legal safeguards would need to govern any mechanism under which responsibility would be transferred for assessing an asylum claim. Pre-departure screening would also need to be in place to identify heightened risk categories that may not be appropriate for return even if the above conditions were met. Details of all these safeguards should be clarified before the next meeting of the EU Council on 17 March.

On the resettlement point, UNHCR welcomed of course any initiative that promotes regular pathways of admission for refugees in significant numbers from all neighbouring countries in the region - not just Turkey and not just Syrian refugees - to third countries. Europe’s resettlement commitments remained however, very low compared to the needs (i.e. 20,000 places within 2 years on a voluntary basis). Easing family reunification was another important avenue to be pursued, and UNHCR hoped that individuals returned to Turkey who had specific resettlement needs, such as family reunification, would be considered for the resettlement/admission programme to the EU.

In response to a question, Vincent Cochetel, Regional Refugee Coordinator for the Refugee Crisis in Europe at the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), said that collective expulsion of foreigners was prohibited under the European Convention on Human Rights. An agreement that would be tantamount to blanket return of any foreigners to a third country was not consistent with European or international law. It was necessary to see what the safeguards would be. Mr. Cochetel found it hard to believe that the European Union would sign a readmission agreement with a third country, with less safeguards than it has when in relation to readmission to EU countries, under the Dublin regulation.

In response to another question, Mr. Cochetel said that UNHCR had no objection to interceptions in Turkish territorial waters, as long as the people intercepted were able to access protection if they were seeking it upon disembarkation on the Turkish shore. UNHCR was hoping that any arrangement between the EU involving third parties like NATO, Frontex or other stakeholders, would abide by the basic principles of refugee protection. Mr. Cochetel also said that after months of the refugee crisis, there was still no consensus regarding terminology and the designation of some as “irregular migrants”. He reminded the press that some 91 per cent of the people arriving in Greece were Afghans, Iraqis and Syrians fleeing because of the conflict and human rights violations in their countries, and not people looking for a better economic future.

In response to a final question, Mr. Cochetel said that there were still ten days left until the next European Council meeting and that UNHCR hoped the EU Member States and Turkey would come up with a balanced agreement, which would not be at the detriment of people seeking international protection. Turkey had done more than all EU countries put together and had the most asylum-seekers in the world. But there was no quick fix, and trading benefits for Turkey in exchange for a resettlement programme based only on existing commitments did not appear as balanced enough for refugees seeking protection.

Sarah Crowe, for the United Nations Children’s Agency (UNICEF), said that children made up some 40 per cent of refugees, and currently, according to UNICEF’s partners on the ground in Idomeni, children were in fact in the majority. The meaning of the EU-Turkey agreement for children was very important and too many details still remained unclear. UNICEF wished to reiterate that in the implementation of such decisions, the fundamental principle of “do no harm” should apply at every step of the way. First and foremost, children’s rights to claim international protection should be guaranteed, and children should not be returned if they faced risks such as detention, forced recruitment, trafficking and exploitation. Governments and authorities should be reminded of their obligations to allow safe and legal channels for children escaping war and conflict through appropriate measures including family reunification, so that children, especially unaccompanied, do not resort to using smugglers or traffickers to find safety. In the immediate term, the current dire situation unfolding on the borders of Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, remained unacceptable for children, who were now in the majority of those on the Idomeni border in northern Greece. Children had already endured so much - fleeing war and conflict, and a dangerous crossing. It was yet another blow that they were now forced to sleep in the open, with no access to basic services, unsure whether they could go forward or be forced back. Children who were stranded were at much greater risk to smugglers and traffickers.
Joel Millman, for the International Organization for Migration (IOM) mentioned a new report on Mediterranean statistics and fatalities. A one-year-old boy had died of respiratory failure on 2 March after arriving on the island of Lesbos in Greece. At least 25 migrants had been reported drowned in the waters separating Turkey and Greece on 6 March, and this incident was not even in the top five of most deadly incidents since the end of October 2015. He added that there were new statistics about nationalities of migrants coming through the Italy route from Africa, and Nigeria was the top sending country so far in 2016.

Yemen

Leo Dobbs, for the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), said that the latest figures from the Taskforce on population movement in Yemen, which was co-led by UNHCR and IOM, showed that after almost one year of conflict in Yemen, more than 2.4 million people were forcibly displaced by the fighting. The situation was likely to get worse, amid increasingly dire humanitarian and socio-economic conditions and with no political settlement in sight.
Most of the displaced were in areas of conflict, and 68 per cent of all IDPs in Yemen were in the governorates of Taizz, Hajjah, Sana’a, Amran, and Sa’ada. UNHCR and IOM had been trying to get aid into those displacement areas, and were imploring all sides to allow humanitarian access to the hardest-hit areas.

Joel Millman, for the International Organization for Migration (IOM), said that IOM was very concerned about the number of third country nationals and migrants in Yemen who were also subject to all kinds of violence and chaos. IOM monitoring had been severely restricted for the past year because of the security situation. IOM had brought out themselves quite a number of third country nationals through charter flights. Statistics as high as a million people had been offered by the Yemen government before the conflict, many of them Ethiopian and Somali refugees, others migrants using Yemen as a transit country to the Gulf.

There was a wide belief that 92,000 people had managed to enter Yemen last year through Ethiopia and Somalia. Mr. Millman said that their whereabouts were not entirely known, some had managed to reach their destinations, but many hadn’t, and there were concerns of abduction and detention in Yemen.

In response to a journalist’s question, Mr. Millman added that some Somalis had left Yemen and had gone back to Somalia. People in the region working for IOM had said that conditions in Somalia now were better than they had been in a long time. He added that very few Somalis were using Djibouti as a route in. There was however little precise data for the moment.

Mr. Fawzi said that the Special Envoy for Yemen was concluding today a four-day visit to Saudi Arabia, where he had met with Yemen’s President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi and several Ministers in the Government of Yemen. He had also had constructive meetings with the members of the diplomatic corps and with the Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council, Dr. Abdul Latif Al Zayani, in addition to Saudi counterparts. He would continue his diplomatic efforts in the region, before announcing a date for a new round of talks.

The webcast for this briefing is available here: http://bit.ly/unog080316