REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE
Ahmad Fawzi, United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired the briefing attended by spokespersons of the International Labour Organization, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the World Health Organization, the United Nations Refugee Agency, the International Organization for Migration, the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, the United Nations Environment Programme, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, the World Trade Organization, and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS.
UN Secretary-General
Mr. Fawzi said that the Secretary-General was in Paris today and was addressing the Ministerial Meeting on the Middle East Peace Process. He would also be meeting his special coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Nickolay Mladenov. Meeting participants were expected to reaffirm their commitment to a negotiated two-State solution and to discuss how they could support both parties constructively in achieving that goal. The Secretary-General expected to have bilateral meetings with some of the participants at the conference and would be returning to New York in the afternoon.
Geneva activities
Committees
The Conference on Disarmament would hold its regular plenary on 7 June at 10 a.m. in the Council Chamber.
The Committee on the Rights of the Child would conclude its 72nd session today. The closing plenary would take place today at 5 p.m. at the Palais Wilson and a roundup release would be sent out after that. The Committee would be giving a press conference on 9 June at noon to announce its concluding observations and recommendations on the reports of Samoa, Nepal, the United Kingdom, Slovakia, Pakistan, Gabon, Bulgaria and Luxembourg, which had been reviewed during this session.
The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights would be opening its 58th session at the Palais des Nations on 6 June at 10 a.m. in Room XXII. During the session, the Committee would review the reports of France, Sweden, Honduras, Burkina Faso, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Angola and the United Kingdom.
Press conferences and other announcements
Hans von Rohland, for the International Labour Organization (ILO), announced some highlights of the programme of the International Labour Conference for the following week, on child labour and on jobs for youth. On 8 June from 1:30 p.m. to 3 p.m. in the Human Rights Council Room (Room XX) there would be a discussion on child labour in international supply chains. The event would be opened by a performance of a choir from Côte d’Ivoire fighting for the abolition of child labour. At 2 p.m. the panel discussion would start, with ILO Director-General Guy Ryder, the Minister of Labour of Canada, MaryAnn Mihychuk, and other speakers. On 9 June, as part of the World of Work Summit, there would be a discussion from 10:15 a.m. till noon in the Assembly Hall, on decent work for youth, in the presence of United States Secretary of Labour Thomas Perez. At 3 p.m. that day there would be a speech by Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission, on youth employment. A note for the press would be issued on 6 June on the World of Work Summit, and on 7 June on the panel discussion on child labour.
Mr. Fawzi mentioned there was a statement available from Stephen O’Brien, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, expressing concern for the civilians trapped in the Iraqi city of Fallujah, where a major military offensive against ISIL was taking place.
Mr. Fawzi also announced that the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Kyiv was launching today its latest report on the human rights situation in Ukraine. A press conference with the visiting Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights, Ivan Simonovic, was under way in Kyiv. Copies of the report and the press release were available; for any queries, the media were encouraged to contact Rupert Colville or Ravina Shamdasani.
Jessica Hermosa, for the World Trade Organization (WTO), announced that next week WTO members would be examining each other’s Government support for exported farm products. They would be reviewing the implementation of the Nairobi decision to abolish export subsidies on farm products. Briefings would take place after the meetings on 7 and 8 June. Questions would also be raised on a series of agricultural policies. Meetings on intellectual property, trade facilitation and State trading enterprises would also take place. WTO Director-General Roberto Azevêdo would be in London as the keynote speaker for the World Trade Symposium, and would be back in Geneva for the annual conference on WTO law and the Think 20 event (think-tank complement to the G20).
Catherine Huissoud, for the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), announced a press breakfast on 6 June at 9:30 a.m. in the restaurant on the 8th floor of the Palais, where the UNCTAD Secretary-General, Mukhisa Kituyi, would present the forthcoming UNCTAD 14 ministerial conference, which would take place in Nairobi, Kenya, from 17 to 22 July.
Syria
Christophe Boulierac, for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), said that on 1 June, in the convoy that had reached Daraya, the first in four years, UNICEF had delivered nutrition supplies for children and pregnant and lactating women, as well as educational supplies, for a total of 4,000 people, and had conducted rapid nutrition assessments for children. During the month of May, UNICEF had participated in seven humanitarian missions to besieged and hard-to-reach communities, and had delivered medicines and health supplies, vaccines, nutrition supplies, clothes, education and children’s recreational materials for 52,700 beneficiaries, including more than 40,000 children.
The access to children and communities living under siege has been far too limited. UNICEF and its partners had shown that when they could get access, they delivered life-saving assistance. In Madaya, after repeated access, there had been an improvement in the nutritional situation of children. Continuous access was needed to make a difference, and UNICEF was appealing to all parties to the conflict to grant unconditional and unimpeded access to all people in need.
In May, UNICEF with WHO and national partners had implemented the first nationwide routine immunization campaign for children since the beginning of the crisis over six years ago. Routine immunization in Syria had dropped from a 90 per cent pre-crisis level to less than 60 or even 40 per cent in some of the besieged and hard-to-reach areas. In the first phase of the campaign, 340,000 children had been reached in areas designated as besieged or hard-to-reach.
UNICEF continued to support access to clean drinking water for over 10 million Syrians. In May, UNICEF with support from the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) was able to transport 100 tons of the critical water supply disinfectant to rural Deir ez-Zor, benefiting approximately 700,000 people. In Aleppo, water was again being used as a weapon of war, where the water supply had been deliberately cut on 27 May by preventing fuel supplies to run the two main pumping stations, depriving over 2 million people of the basic right to drinking water. UNICEF with partners was addressing the needs of the affected people through the installation and operation of 100 groundwater wells (half of which were already in place and operational), 28 new water treatment units (all of them already operational) to provide safe drinking water from the Queick River, and emergency water trucking with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent for 400,000 people per day – to reach a total of two million people in both the eastern and western parts of Aleppo. Mr. Boulierac reiterated that the safe passage of vaccines, needles and syringes was needed, that health workers needed to be protected, and that medical vehicles and cold chain equipment was required, to benefit vulnerable children in the area.
Tarik Jasarevic, for the World Health Organization (WHO), said that in Daraya there were two health facilities: a field hospital and an obstetric/paediatric centre. The field hospital, with a 13-bed capacity, operated from underground premises. It had a functioning surgical theatre and laboratory, but the equipment was outdated and over-used. According to health workers in the field hospital, there were 20 trauma cases arriving every day. There had been no apparent signs of malnutrition observed among children, but women had reported insufficient food. Food insecurity faced by women and children in Daraya was a concern.
The obstetric/paediatric hospital was also operating from underground premises. There was a four-bed capacity and about 20 deliveries per month (30 per cent by C-section). The equipment was outdated and 20 per cent of newborn babies required incubator treatment, which was currently not available. WHO had delivered 1.8 tons of life-saving and life-sustaining materials, including medicines for non-communicable diseases, anti-lice, anti-scabies, oral rehydration, salt, and antibiotics. Sustained provision of medicines and regular access for SARC mobile teams and vaccination teams was needed. This time again, a small amount of medicines were not allowed to be included in the convoy and WHO called again for the authorization to bring in all needed supplies.
In response to questions, Mr. Jasarevic said that the surgical theatre in the hospital was partially functioning and there were many expired and missing medicines. Doctors were doing their best with what they could. He said that burn kits were not allowed to be brought in on the convoy. He also said that through WHO’s system of epidemiological surveillance, the Organization was in touch with as many health providers in Syria as possible, to be able to respond to possible outbreaks as it had been the case with polio. Mr. Boulierac said that when there was no continuous access it was very difficult to conduct a fully comprehensive nutritional assessment. UNICEF estimated that 3 million pregnant women and children were in need of nutrition services across Syria, but continuous access was essential to be able to provide precise data on nutrition for specific locations.
In response to questions about planned airdrops in Syria, Mr. Fawzi said that the focus today was on a Security Council briefing to take place in New York at 10 a.m. EST/ 4 p.m. CET, the briefers being Staffan de Mistura and OCHA’s Stephen O’Brien.
South Sudan
Adrian Edwards, for the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), said that the upcoming weekend marked the 5th anniversary of the conflict in Sudan’s South Kordofan State. Tragically, people were today still fleeing the region, with most crossing into neighbouring South Sudan. So far in 2016, more than 7,500 refugees had arrived in Yida in South Sudan’s northern Unity. The area was already home to some 70,000 refugees. Nearly 3,000 people had arrived in May alone. With the conflict intensifying, thousands more were expected in the coming weeks. Refugees spoke of escalating violence, including ground attacks and aerial bombings. The recent arrivals also cited lack of food and no access to schools for children as reasons for leaving, especially in and around Um Doreein. Nearly 90 per cent of new arrivals were women and children. One child in every ten was alone or without a family member.
At the Yida transit centre, UNHCR and its partners were providing immediate assistance to the arrivals: a hot meal, water, a measles vaccination, a place to rest and other help. From Yida, refugees were being transported to nearby camp Ajuong Thok. With nearly 41,000 Sudanese refugees already living in Ajuong Thok, the camp had almost reached capacity (46,000 people). A new camp was underway at Pamir to receive new arrivals.
As the refugee influx continued, services were becoming overstretched. In the past four weeks, available water had dropped from 19 litres per person per day to 16. Schools had become extremely overcrowded with more than 100 students sharing the same classroom. With UNHCR’s operations in South Sudan funded at just 17 per cent, services and service quality were inevitably threatened. Funding for the regional refugee response plan was around 8 per cent. South Sudan was home to some 1.69 million internally displaced people. More details were available in the briefing note.
Mediterranean arrivals
Joel Millman, for the International Organization for Migration (IOM), said that there was a drastic fall in the number of arrivals to Greece. However, there was currently a shipwreck rescue operation underway off of Crete, of a boat coming from Alexandria. There had been 700 people on the boat and 250 people had been rescued. Any fatalities from this shipwreck would be the first in Greece since April. Crete was opening up as a new destination, with hundreds of arrivals over the past few days. Those migrants were coming from Turkey and were Afghans, Syrians and Iraqis. In response to questions, Mr. Millman said that survivors of the two earlier rescues this week had been headed to Italy and not to Greece. Today’s incident was the third off of Crete this week.
Environment for Europe
Jean Rodriguez, for the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), said that the Eighth Environment for Europe Ministerial Conference would bring together Ministers and high-level representatives of UNECE’s 56 Member States in Batumi, Georgia, from 8 to 10 June 2016. Three main topics would dominate the agenda:
- Greening the economy. Delegates would adopt the Pan-European Strategic Framework for Greening the Economy, and States would make commitments on practical actions related to green agriculture, recycling, industry, and decision-making processes regarding the environment.
- Improving air quality. The recently released assessment report would be the basis for discussion on this topic. The report summed up 35 years of actions and the results that EU directives on air quality had achieved. Air quality was much better today than it had been 35 years before, and life expectancy had increased by one full year in Europe based on policies to reduce major pollutants. However, air pollution was the number one premature killer in Europe and further progress could be made.
- Education for sustainable development. Delegates would review what had been achieved so far and how the sustainability concept had been enshrined in education programs in various countries at all levels.
A series of press releases would be shared next week. In response to a question on greening the economy, Mr. Rodriguez clarified that targeted programs had been set up for specific countries with economies in transition such as Moldova, Georgia, Ukraine, Belarus and others. During the conference, many countries at different stages of development would be committing to develop greening the economy programmes. A dedicated programme, EAPGREEN, was focused on six countries with economies in transition.
Isabelle Valentiny, for United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP), said that UNEP’s flagship publication, the Global Environment Outlook, would be published next week during the Conference. For the first time it would include detailed regional analyses. The one on Europe, to be released on 8 June, was the result of a common work with UNECE and the European Environment Agency. An embargoed press release would be shared shortly. The report consisted of an analysis of the situation in the region and of the main threats related to climate change, biodiversity, and unsustainable lifestyles. She also said that the World Environment Day commemoration was starting today, and a series of events would take place in Geneva, including a round table discussion on biodiversity today, and a Ciné-ONU screening on 6 June. In response to questions, she said that the report would be launched in Batumi, Georgia, and that UNEP’s chief scientist would be available to answer questions.
United Nations General Assembly High-Level Meeting on Ending AIDS
Norha Restrepo, for the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), announced the United Nations General Assembly High-Level Meeting on Ending AIDS, held at the United Nations Headquarters in New York from 8-10 June. On 7 June, a new international Goodwill Ambassador would also be announced. There would be a series of high-level panel discussions webcast live, along with a series of side-events. The meeting would focus on ending AIDS as a public health threat by 2030 as part of the Sustainable Development Goals. Background materials were available on the dedicated website of the event: www.hlm2016aids.unaids.org.
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The webcast for this briefing is available here: http://bit.ly/unog030616