REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Rhéal LeBlanc, Chief, Press and External Relations Section, United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired the briefing attended by the spokespersons for the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the United Nations Refugee Agency, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the International Labour Organization, the World Health Organization, and the World Trade Organization.

Conference on Cyprus

Mr. LeBlanc said the Conference on Cyprus continued today in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, and the UN Secretary-General had arrived there this morning. The meeting would start around 11 a.m. A press conference was expected at 3 p.m.

Asked about the Secretary-General’s programme and attendance of the G20, Mr. LeBlanc said he did not have more specifics, and that the Secretary-General’s further travels would be confirmed in due time by the UN Spokesperson.

Asked about who was the lead from the United Nations’ side at the Conference, Mr. LeBlanc reiterated that it was the Secretary-General, aided by his Special Advisor Espen Barth Eide.

South Sudan

Laura Ngo-Fontaine, for the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), said that in the past week, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) 5 had been lifted in parts of South Sudan. Like its UN partners, the IFRC was calling this a very precarious victory given the challenges that persisted. Concerns included access to hard-to-reach populations, and the continuing alarming rates of disease outbreaks threatening the lives of children. IFRC also wished to highlight the importance of investing in local actors such as the Red Cross volunteers and local NGOs. She then introduced Dr Michael Charles, Head of IFRC in South Sudan.

Dr. Charles said South Sudan was in conflict, three years after independence, and that conflict was spurring displacement within and outside of the country. Some 1.2 million South Sudan refugees were present in Uganda alone, and many more in the other neighbouring countries. There had been a situation of famine, mainly man-made, as people were not able to cultivate their land due to the conflict. There had been a declaration of famine in February 2017, and the efforts of all the humanitarian agencies on the ground had helped lift the country out of famine. However, there were still over 6 million people who were food insecure, and 1 million acutely malnourished children. As hunger beckoned disease, there had been an increase in the number of cases of measles and cholera, with 600 cases of measles in 2017 alone, and 11,000 reported cholera cases. The rainy season had started, and malaria was also on the increase.

Dr. Charles had visited communities from which many people had left, because of the conflict. Women and children were on the move. The withdrawal of the famine classification was truly a precarious victory, and access was a major issue in the country. The Red Cross movement was working with over 8,000 volunteers nationwide to try to reach the most vulnerable, and it partnered strongly with the other agencies. In May 2017, there had been a massive measles vaccination campaign, which the Red Cross had been involved in in terms of social mobilization, working with the Ministry of Health, UNICEF and WHO. The situation at the moment was still dire and it was necessary to keep on engaging and supporting the communities that needed help the most. Peace and access for humanitarian workers remained key.

In response to questions, Dr Charles said there were still over 1.7 million people on the brink of famine. The lifting of the famine versus the food insecurity emergency phase was a very blurry distinction in the eyes of the people affected.

Dr. Charles clarified that the famine had been lifted by the South Sudan Government together with the United Nations on 21 June. Ms. Ngo-Fontaine reiterated that while the classification 5 had been lifted in the two areas concerned by that classification, there were still many people in emergency levels of hunger.

Dr. Charles added that in places where access had not been guaranteed, the Red Cross movement had been doing food air drops. The Red Cross was continuously working with all the parties involved in order to secure access. Many people in the communities with limited access had fled. Regarding cholera, the Red Cross was present in the communities, working with them on health and hygiene promotion, distribution of water purification tablets, water tracking, and ensuring support for community members. On malaria, the Red Cross was working with the health authorities and Roll Back Malaria/ WHO on potential bed net distribution and community education. More resources were needed in South Sudan to target those in need and ensuring a country-wide reach.

Dr. Charles also said cholera was endemic in South Sudan, but this year it was of more concern because of the malnourishment of the population. Hunger beckoned disease, so it was necessary to make sure that the epidemic did not get out of proportion.

Asked about vaccination, Dr Charles said the Red Cross did not vaccinate itself as that was the call of the health authorities together with the UN agencies, but it supported vaccination campaigns through community mobilization. Mr. LeBlanc added that WHO and UNICEF colleagues would get back to the press with more information on that.

In response to a question on the latest cholera figures for South Sudan, Christian Lindmeier, for the World Health Organization (WHO), said that as of the end of May 2017 and since the outbreak had begun in June 2016, 23 counties in South Sudan had confirmed cholera outbreaks. For 2017, from January till the end of May, 5,081 cholera cases had been recorded, including 169 deaths, which made for a case fatality rate of 3.2 per cent, significantly above the 1 per cent threshold.

Syria

Andrej Mahecic, for the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), said UNHCR was seeing a notable trend of spontaneous returns to and within Syria in 2017.

Aid agencies estimated that more than 440,000 internally displaced people had returned to their homes in Syria during the first six months of 2017. In parallel, UNHCR had monitored over 31,000 Syrian refugees returning from neighbouring countries so far in 2017. Since 2015, some 260,000 refugees had spontaneously returned to Syria, primarily from Turkey into northern Syria.

The main factors influencing decisions for refugees to return self-assisted, mostly to Aleppo, Hama, Homs, Damascus and to other governorates were primarily linked to seeking out family members, checking on property, and, in some cases, a real or perceived improvement in security conditions in parts of the country.

Given the returns witnessed so far in 2017 and in light of a progressively increased number of returns of internally displaced people and, in time, refugees, UNHCR had started scaling up its operational capacity inside Syria. In order to adequately address the initial needs of IDP returnees, UNHCR - as part of the overall UN response inside Syria - would expand its humanitarian and protection response with a strong emphasis on providing protection services, improving shelter conditions and assisting in the rehabilitation of some essential infrastructure and basic essential services, all in close coordination with respective sector lead agencies and partners.

Outside of Syria, UNHCR was strengthening monitoring of border movements and analysis of refugee intentions to be on top of any changes that could lead to a refugee return, while ensuring that refugees’ own voices were centre-stage in any planning around return.

While there was overall increased hope linked to the recent Astana and Geneva peace talks, UNHCR believed conditions for refugees to return in safety and dignity were not yet in place in Syria. The sustainability of security improvements in many return areas was uncertain, and there remained significant risks of protection thresholds for voluntary, safe and dignified returns not being met in parts of the country. Access to displaced population inside Syria remained a key challenge, with aid convoys still unable to access regularly even the recently newly accessible areas.

Other challenges to any sustainable and large-scale returns included limited livelihood opportunities, shortages of food and water, sporadic or non-existent health, social and other basic services. Many of Syria’s schools had been damaged or destroyed and offered no possibility for education.

While UNHCR would be investing to help, with other partners to improve conditions in accessible areas inside Syria, refugee returns from host countries could neither be promoted nor facilitated by UNHCR at this stage.

For the 5 million refugees who were generously hosted in the region, and despite some self-organized returns, there was a clear need to continue to fund and support programmes in host countries, primarily through the inter-agency 3RP regional strategy and appeal.

Ensuring access to asylum for Syrian refugees and preserving the ability and conditions for them to stay in the host countries remained critical. Meanwhile, UNHCR would also continue to monitor return movements, plan and implement our response both inside and outside Syria in partnership with UN agencies and NGOs as part of the overall UN response inside Syria. In that regard, UNHCR was pursuing a number of preparatory steps, in anticipation of the time when conditions for voluntary repatriation of refugees in conditions of safety and dignity were in place.

Of the USD 304 million that UNHCR had appealed for operations to assist IDPs inside Syria in 2017, USD 103 million or 33 per cent had been received. UNHCR would be seeking an additional USD 150 million in 2017 to ramp up its delivery inside Syria to support both IDPs, returnees and other vulnerable people, and to help improve conditions in potential return areas.

In response to questions, Mr. Mahecic said most returnees were returning to check on their properties and to find out about their family members. In some cases, they had their own perception about security improvements. UNHCR had recently conducted a survey of intentions of Syrian refuges in neighbouring countries, and about 80 per cent of them had expressed the wish to return home, however only about 6 per cent of those were considering that to be a possibility in the near future. Mr. Mahecic would get back to the press with the dates of the survey. The overwhelming majority of the returns observed inside Syria were the returns of internally displaced people.

The 440,000 people who had returned had done so between January and end of May 2017. This was a significant trend in the first half of the year, and a new element. UNHCR would be ramping up its response in the areas people would be returning to. It was key to be able to access virtually all of the governorates across Syria. Key challenges remained in place, and many aid convoys were unable to gain access regularly, even to the recently accessible areas.

Asked about links between an acceleration of returns and the Astana peace process, Mr. Mahecic said it would be premature to speculate, but the Syrian refugees were keenly monitoring what was happening inside Syria and made their decision on the basis of the information they had. If the peace talks in Astana and Geneva gave them a glimmer of hope, it could be a factor in their decision to return. But most of the returns seen had been returns within the country. Some 31,000 refugees had returned, a small fraction of the 5 million refugees hosted mainly by neighbouring countries. In terms of UNHCR investment to support returnees, UNHCR would be looking closely at the needs, and its efforts would be directed to the governorates of Aleppo, Hama, Homs and Damascus, where most people were spontaneously returning to.

Mr. Mahecic added that the overall displacement within Syria was 6.3 million people, and the 440,000 returns were a sizeable number in that context. Mr. Mahecic would try to provide the press with a breakdown of the displacement in Government-controlled and non-Government-controlled areas.

Mr. LeBlanc directed the press to the briefing that Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura had given to the Security Council this week, in which he had said that since the three guarantor States had signed the de-escalation memorandum on 4 May in Astana, violence was clearly down and in many towns there had been a return to some degree of normalcy, even if fighting did continue in other areas.

In response to a final question about Raqqa, Mr. Mahecic said UNHCR would try to provide an update on the situation there later today.

Asked about an update on civilian deaths in Raqqa, Rupert Colville, for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), said he did not have updates since the press release issued on 28 June, which spoke of 173 casualties until 1 June. He reiterated that civilians must not be sacrificed for the sake of rapid military victories, and all precautions to avoid loss of civilian lives should be taken.

OHCHR had expressed a number of concerns in the press release, including in regards to some of the actions of the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), and the fact that no provisions seemed to have been made for civilians to flee. OHCHR was in contact with people in Raqqa on both sides of the line, and would keep the press updated.

Asked about an update on polio cases in Syria, Christian Lindmeier, for the World Health Organization (WHO), said as of 21 June, 22 cases of the circulating vaccine-derived polio virus type 2 had now been reported in Syria, all with onset of paralysis between 3 March and 23 May. 21 of the cases were from the Mayadin district in Deir ez-Zor governorate and one was from Raqqa governorate. Mr. Lindmeier would get back to the press with the specifics on how many samples had been sent for testing to laboratories.

In regards to vaccination campaigns, Mr. Lindmeier said there were no exact dates and it was necessary to be very opportunistic, acting ad hoc depending on the security situation on the ground.

Asked about accreditation for the upcoming round of Syria Talks, Mr. LeBlanc said the process would most probably be similar to that for the past rounds of talks. More information would be provided as soon as possible.

Yemen

In response to a request for an update on cholera cases in Yemen, Christian Lindmeier, for the World Health Organization (WHO), said the epidemiological update released on 29 June showed a total of 231,364 suspected cases, with 1,439 registered deaths and a case fatality rate of 0.6 per cent.

Central African Republic

Andrej Mahecic, for the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), said UNHCR was extremely worried over the resurgence of violence being seen in parts of the Central African Republic. Renewed violence had erupted in the towns of Zemio, Bria and Kaga Bandaro in southern and northern CAR as clashes were reported between self-defence groups and other armed groups. Civilians and humanitarian workers were also being targeted.

In Zemio, close to the border with Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), UNHCR staff were reporting intense heavy weapons fire since 27 June. Some houses close to UNHCR’s office had been burned down. Over 1,000 people had fled their homes. Many were seeking refuge in a Catholic church in the town, while some 66 people had sought safety in the UNHCR compound – among them terrified women and children in fear of their lives.

Violence had also seriously impacted Congolese refugees living in a camp in Zemio, which had been invaded by armed men in recent days. Since the incident, many refugees including men, women and children had returned to the DRC, in fear for their lives. The camp had been hosting around 3,000 Congolese refugees.

In the town of Bria, several hundred kilometres northeast of the capital, Bangui, clashes had been reported on 20 June that had continued for three consecutive days. Many people were reported to have fled to the bush. Reports suggested a camp for internally displaced, hosting some 2,400 in the Ndourou IV district was now completely empty with its whole population having fled the recent attacks.

Indiscriminate attacks in Bria had left some 136 people dead and 36 wounded, with 600 houses burned and an additional 180 looted. Those were conservative estimates. People fleeing the violence spoke of having witnessed brutal attacks, killings, robberies, lootings and kidnappings.

In a separate incident, unidentified armed men had tried to break in to UNHCR accommodation in Kaga Bandaro in the north of the country on the night of 28 June with the intention of attacking staff and looting belongings. The attack had been thwarted by MINUSCA Forces.
Insecurity was preventing UNHCR staff and other humanitarians to assess the full extent of damages or displacement from the recent violence. However, UNHCR teams had been able to distribute relief items including plastic sheets, blankets, mats, mosquito nets, kitchen sets, buckets and soap to more than 5,000 households in accessible parts of Bria in the south over the past three weeks - despite the fragile security situation.

UNHCR renewed its call on all parties to the conflict in the area to immediately end attacks against civilians and aid workers. UNHCR was also seeking immediate and unhindered humanitarian access to assist those affected by the recent wave of violence.

Violence in CAR had uprooted some 503,600 people inside the country including more than 100,000 in 2017, and more than 484,000 had been registered as refugees in neighbouring countries (Cameroon, DRC, Chad and Republic of Congo). Some 21,500 had fled across the border into the DRC over the past several weeks.

In response to questions, Mr. Mahecic said the violence was certainly escalating in different parts of the country, some closer to the capital, some centrally-located, and some along the border between CAR and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). In many cases, the violence-affected populations had already been displaced, often more than once, and were among the most vulnerable. There was a plethora of armed groups in CAR and the different attacks may be originating from different groups.

Mr. LeBlanc added that during the noon briefing on 29 June, the UN Spokesperson had mentioned the situation in Zemio, saying that the UN peacekeepers were doing their best to secure the locations where the clashes were happening, and additional reinforcements were expected in those areas. Peacekeepers were also trying to facilitate engagement at the community level to discourage youth from joining the self-defence groups that were clashing.

Iraq

Rupert Colville, for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), said OHCHR was extremely concerned at the situation of civilians in Mosul, where fighting was becoming ever more intense and concentrated as Iraqi Security Forces, supported by the international coalition, pushed to retake the whole of the city from ISIL. OHCHR reminded all parties to the conflict that they must abide by the principles of humanity, distinction, proportionality and precaution in carrying out military operations.

As Mosul was increasingly liberated from ISIL, OHCHR was seeing an alarming rise in threats, specifically of forced evictions, against those suspected of being ISIL members or whose relatives were alleged to be involved with ISIL – threats that had also been made in other areas.

OHCHR had received reports of so-called night letters left at families’ houses or distributed in neighbourhoods, including in Sharqat in Salahadin Governorate, Al Heet City in Al Anbar and Al-Qayyarah in Ninewa Governorate, as well as in Mosul City. Those letters typically warned people to leave by a particular date or face forced expulsion. Many of those threats were the result of tribal agreements that explicitly demanded that families of affiliated ISIL members be excluded from the area.

Hundreds of families had been threatened with forced displacement and such developments were extremely worrying. People were at real risk of forced eviction from their homes and losing access to basic necessities, including adequate housing, food, access to health services and education.

Illegal forced evictions and forcible displacement may amount to collective punishment and were in clear contravention of the Iraqi Constitution, international human rights and international humanitarian law. Criminal liability was strictly personal to the individual involved in the commission of the crime for which she or he had been convicted by a court of law, according to the facts. In no way can responsibility for crimes be transferred to any another innocent person.

OHCHR urged the Iraqi Government to take action to halt such imminent evictions or any type of collective punishment, and to reinforce the formal justice system to bring perpetrators to justice. Illegal forced evictions were acts of vengeance that were detrimental to national reconciliation and social cohesion.

Asked about the hundreds of families who had been threatened, Mr. Colville said it was a rather vague cumulative figure, and the full extent of it was not known, but at least the four locations he had mentioned were affected.

Asked about the possibility for the Iraqi Government to distinguish who was or had been a member of ISIL, Mr. Colville said ISIL had been in control in the area for a long time and people did know who were active members of ISIL and who had been forced to participate and perhaps did not deserve to be punished. Some of the forced evictions were based on tribal agreements on a local level, and some were very sweeping, for example one from the Al Heet area, which included people who had failed to condemn ISIL crimes, while it was very dangerous to condemn ISIL while living under its control. A number of such local tribal agreements were in place.

Mr. Colville also said he did not have example of evictions taking place yet, but they could already be happening. The threat was clear, as manifested in the “night letters”.

Qatar

Rupert Colville, for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), said over the past three weeks, the High Commissioner had been raising concerns, both publicly and directly with States, about the various human rights issues arising out of the dispute between Qatar and four other countries in the region.

This alarming dispute had been taken to a new level with the inclusion of some fundamental rights and freedoms in the list of demands imposed on Qatar by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt, with a 10-day deadline for implementation ending on 4 July. In addition to the issues OHCHR had already raised about the impact on ordinary people in the region, the High Commissioner was extremely concerned by the demand that Qatar close down the Al Jazeera network, as well as other affiliated media outlets.

Whether or not one watched it, liked it, or agreed with its editorial standpoints, Al Jazeera’s Arabic and English channels were legitimate, and had many millions of viewers. The demand that they be summarily closed down was, in OHCHR’s view, an unacceptable attack on the right to freedom of expression and opinion.

If States had an issue with items broadcast on other countries’ television channels, they were at liberty to publicly debate and dispute them. To insist that such channels be shut down was extraordinary, unprecedented and clearly unreasonable.
If it were to actually happen, it would open a Pandora’s Box of powerful individual States or groups of States seriously undermining the right to freedom of expression and opinion in other States, as well as in their own. The High Commissioner therefore once again urged all five States to take measures to solve this dispute in a calm, reasonable and lawful manner, and to ensure that any actions they took did not impact on the human rights of their own and other countries’ citizens and residents.

Asked about the United States’ reaction on the issue, Mr. Colville referred the press to the US authorities. He added that the UN position was very clear and that the Special Rapporteur on the freedom of expression, David Kaye had issued a statement on 28 June on the matter.

He also said it was not known what would happen after 4 July. It was concerning that States were boxing themselves into corners on this dispute, and any form of escalation would be of great concern. There would be impact on citizens of all the countries concerned, including citizens of Saudi Arabia, Bahrein, UAE and Egypt who were in Qatar were also being affected, as well as Qataris living in those countries. Students studying in other countries, those working or running businesses, or people in mixed marriages, were being affected. There were clear risks to fundamental rights of people in all the countries.

Asked whether there had been a request for a special session of the Human Rights Council on the issue, Mr. Colville said he was not aware of that. He also said the High Commissioner had taken up the issue with the Permanent Missions in Geneva and also with the Qatari Government and Human Rights Commission.

Mr. LeBlanc added that the Secretary-General had been following the crisis in the Gulf closely and had met in the past days with key players, including the Qatari and Saudi Foreign Ministers as well as the Cabinet Minister of Kuwait. The latter was personally involved in mediation efforts, which the UN supported, hoping that it would lead to de-escalation.

Venezuela

Rupert Colville, for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), said the decision by the Venezuelan Supreme Court on 28 June to begin removal proceedings against the Attorney General, freeze her assets and ban her from leaving the country was deeply worrying, as was the ongoing violence in the country.

OHCHR was also disturbed by the decision on 27 June by the Supreme Court’s Constitutional Chamber to declare her appointment of a deputy attorney general to be null and void, and to appoint instead a temporary deputy, in violation of the appointment procedure under Venezuelan law. The Chamber had also granted some of the Attorney General’s, until now, exclusive functions to the Ombudsperson.

Since March, the Attorney General had taken important steps to defend human rights, documenting deaths during the wave of demonstrations, insisting on the need for due process and the importance of the separation of powers, and calling for people who had been arbitrarily detained to be immediately released.

OHCHR was concerned that the Supreme Court’s decisions appeared to seek to strip her Office of its mandate and responsibilities as enshrined in the Venezuelan Constitution, and undermine the Office’s independence.

The dismissal of judicial officials should be subject to strict criteria that did not undermine the independent and impartial performance of their functions. According to the UN Guidelines on the Role of Prosecutors, States should ensure that prosecutors were able to perform their professional functions without intimidation, hindrance, harassment, improper interference or unjustified exposure to civil, partial or other liabilities.

OHCHR noted that up to 22 June, according to the Attorney General’s Office, 75 people had died and some 1,419 had been injured in the continuing protests. Most recently, three young demonstrators had been reportedly killed by members of the security forces – two by firearms and one who had died when a tear gas canister had been reportedly shot directly at him by a police officer. In addition, there were increasing reports that security forces had raided residential buildings, conducted searches without warrants and detained people, allegedly with the intention of deterring people from participating in the demonstrations and searching for opposition supporters.

OHCHR urged all powers of the Venezuelan State to respect the Constitution and the rule of law, and called on the Government to ensure that the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and freedom of opinion and expression were guaranteed.

OHCHR also called on all people in Venezuela to only use peaceful means to make themselves heard and urged all parties to renounce violence and harassment of opponents.

In response to questions, Mr. Colville said OHCHR did not have a presence in Venezuela and had been requesting access for some time. Venezuela was covered by OHCHR’s regional office in Santiago and Mr. Colville would check with that office whether it had had contact with the Attorney General, and would get back to the press.

Guatemala

Rupert Colville, for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), said the situation of some 100 families who had been displaced from their homes in the Laguna Larga community in the Petén region of Guatemala was extremely worrying. Those families, who were currently living on the border with the Mexican state of Campeche, had fled in anticipation of a forced eviction scheduled for 2 June ordered by a court.

Since then, the families had been living in extremely precarious conditions - in tents and dependent on short-term humanitarian assistance, including food, water, medicine and hygiene items provided by the Government of Guatemala, as well as by some non-governmental organizations. Supplies were reported to be running low, according to official sources.

OHCHR was very concerned that the evictions had been ordered without ensuring that firm resettlement and protection plans for the affected families were in place, as required by international human rights standards – leaving the families quite literally with no place to go. The displaced families must be given adequate humanitarian assistance until appropriate relocation measures were in place.

OHCHR understood that further evictions from the area, which lay within the Laguna del Tigre National Park, were scheduled for the coming weeks, potentially leading to a crisis situation and potential violence. The situation was heightened by the weak presence of the State, and the operation of illicit activities, including drug trafficking, in the region.

Given the widespread problem of land tenure insecurity in Guatemala, forced evictions were common. Such evictions should only be carried out as a last resort, after exhausting all other alternatives, and in accordance with adequate measures before, during and following the eviction, with special protection provided for women, children and indigenous peoples, among others.

It was essential that the Guatemalan Government take urgent steps to establish a dialogue in good faith with the displaced families from Laguna Large, as well as other communities at risk of forced evictions, in order to find adequate and acceptable alternative solutions.

Geneva Events and Announcements

Hans Von Rohland, for the International Labour Organization (ILO), said the Fifth Conference of the Regulating for Decent Work Network of the ILO would take place over three days next week. Three key issues would be discussed. On 3 July at 9.30 a.m., there would be discussion on the care economy to emphasize the need to create more decent jobs in this sector. On 4 July at 5 p.m., there would be a debate over universal basic income, with the presence of a representative from Finland who would talk about his country’s concrete experience on the matter. On 5 July at 4 p.m., there would be a discussion on how to regulate the future of work in the face of a changing employment landscape. The outcome of this meeting would fit into a High-Level Commission on the Future of Work that would be set up soon, and would present a major report as part of the discussion held on the future of work for ILO’s centenary in 2019.

Fernando Puchol, for the World Trade Organization (WTO), said that today, the WTO had issued its seventeenth monitoring report on G20 trade measures. The report was available on WTO’s website where more detailed data could be found by country. The report showed that trade restrictions in G20 economies had risen at a moderate rate similar to that f previous, despite the uncertainty in the global economy. The report also called on G20 Governments to show leadership in supporting open and mutually-beneficial trade, and to continue improving the global trading environment, including by implementing the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement, which had entered into force in February 2017.

Mr. Puchol also announced the agenda for the following week. On 4 July at 10 a.m. would take place the launch of a publication co-published by WTO and ILO, titled “Investing in Skills for Inclusive Trade” building on previous collaborations focusing on the linkages between trade and skills, and skills-development policies. The launch would take place at the WTO with the participation of both WTO Director-General Roberto Azevêdo and ILO Director-General Guy Ryder.

On 3 July, Mr. Azevêdo would participate in a “Trade dialogues” discussion with ICC Secretary General, John Danilovitch, and Germany’s B20 Sherpa, Dr Stormy-Annika Mildner, at the WTO. On 5 July, the Director-General would visit Bucharest for meetings with senior Government representatives, before traveling to Germany, where he would participate in the G20 leader summit, which took place in Hamburg.

Previously to that summit, he would participate in a panel session on global trade at an event called “Die Zeit meets the G20”, entitled “Germany’s G20 Presidency: Partnership in Times of Change”.

The European Union would undergo its trade policy review on 5 and 7 July. The reports by the Secretariat of WTO and by the EU were already available under embargo in the newsroom of WTO. WTO would probably organize a press briefing on 7 July for journalists who might be interested.

Christian Lindmeier, for the World Health Organization (WHO), said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus would take office on 1 July as WHO Director-General. He would succeed Dr Margaret Chan who had been WHO’s Director-General since 1 January 2007. A press release would be shared on 1 July on the occasion.

Mr. Lindmeier also announced that 2 July would mark the end of Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and WHO expected the Ministry of Public Health of the DRC to declare the end of this most recent outbreak.

Rhéal LeBlanc, Chief, Press and External Relations Section, United Nations Information Service, United Nations Office at Geneva, said the Committee for the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), would open its sixty-seventh session on 3 July. The session would run until 21 July, in Room XVI of the Palais des Nations in Geneva. The Committee would review the reports submitted by eight countries under the Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, which were Barbados, Costa Rica, Italy, Montenegro, Niger, Nigeria, Romania and Thailand.

The Human Rights Committee would hold its one-hundred-and-twenty-fifth session from 3 to 28 July, at the Palais Wilson in Geneva. During the session, the Committee would review reports presented by six countries regarding their implementation of the provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights: Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Honduras, Mongolia, Madagascar and Pakistan. It would also review the situation in Swaziland in the absence of a report.

Mr. LeBlanc announced a press conference by the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) on 3 July at 10.30 a.m. in Press Room 1, on the launch of a report on the changing dynamics, protection challenges and evolution of the journey and situations of refugees and migrants in southern Libya. The speakers would be Vincent Cochetel, UNHCR Special Envoy for the Central Mediterranean, Nisreen Rubaian, UNHCR Assistant Representative (Protection) for Libya, and Marie-Cecile Darme (Altai Consulting), Co-Author of the Report.

He also announced a press conference by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) on 3 July at 11.30 a.m. in Press Room 1, on the publication of the Economic Development in Africa Report 2017: Tourism for Transformative and Inclusive Growth (under embargo until 5 July at 5 p.m. GMT, 7 p.m. Geneva Time). The speakers would be Mukhisa Kituyi, UNCTAD Secretary-General, and Paul Akiwumi, Director, Division on Africa, Least Developed Countries and Special Programmes, UNCTAD.

The webcast for this briefing is available here: http://bit.ly/UNOG30617