REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Alessandra Vellucci, Director of the United Nations Information Service, United Nations Office at Geneva, chaired the briefing, which was attended by spokespersons for the Human Rights Council, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the United Nations Refugee Agency, the World Food Programme, the World Intellectual Property Organization, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development and the International Telecommunication Union.

HRC update

Rolando Gomez, for the Human Rights Council, said that the Council had begun its morning meeting with NGO reports on item 9: racism and racial discrimination. That would be followed by a presentation on the human rights situation in Haiti, including a report by the High Commissioner for Human Rights and interactive discussion. Subsequently, there would be an enhanced interactive dialogue on the human rights situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, also in the presence of the Human Rights Minister of the DRC. The team of experts on DRC would be holding a press briefing at around 1.30 p.m. in Press Room I and, at around 4 p.m., the High Commissioner for Human Rights would be making an oral presentation on Ukraine.

On the morning of Wednesday 4 July there would be a panel discussion on technical assistance, with a focus on building national capacities in the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Later, the Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in the Central African Republic would present her report to the Council, to be followed in the afternoon by a presentation by the High Commissioner on the human rights situation of the Rohingya and other minorities in Myanmar and by an oral update by the High Commissioner on the situation in Burundi. On 5 and 6 July, the Council would be considering 22 draft resolutions.

Responding to a query from a journalist, Mr. Gomez said that an interim High Commissioner for Human Rights could be put in place pending the formal appointment of a new High Commissioner by the United Nations Secretary-General. There were past precedents for such a course of action.

Situation of Rohingya children in refugee camps in Bangladesh

Christophe Boulierac, for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), said that more was now known about the nutrition status of Rohingya child refugees in the settlements of Cox’s Bazar, thanks to an emergency nutrition assessment that was conducted in November 2017 and repeated 6 months later in April 2018.

According to the assessment, despite some improvements – such as reductions in malnutrition and anaemia – there was an ongoing health and nutrition emergency among Rohingya children in Cox’s Bazar.

The first improvement highlighted by the survey was an overall reduction in the prevalence of acute malnutrition in the refugee camps. The prevalence of Global Acute Malnutrition among children under 5 had decreased significantly in makeshift settlements, from 19.3 per cent to 12 per cent, and it remained below the WHO Emergency Threshold of 15 per cent. The prevalence of Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) among children under 5 had decreased from 3 per cent to 2 per cent in makeshift settlements.

That improvement could be explained by scaled up emergency nutrition services, including Stabilization Centres, Outpatient Therapeutic Programmes (OTPs), Targeted Supplementary Feeding Programmes and Blanket Supplementary Feeding Programmes. In addition, since January 2018, UNICEF had reached more than 11,600 children under 5 with treatment for SAM. On average, 2,300 children were admitted with SAM each month and treated in UNICEF supported OTPs.

Another reason for the improvement was better access to health services, which had expanded significantly between the two rounds of the survey (November 2017 and April 2018). Additional services had also been rolled out, such as counselling on maternal nutrition during Ante Natal Care and Post Natal Care for pregnant women and lactating mothers. Finally, the quality and quantity of water available in the camps had improved.

The second improvement highlighted by the survey was an overall reduction in the prevalence of anaemia among children under 5. However, its prevalence among children aged 6-23 months remained a serious public health concern. Currently, over 50 per cent of children aged under 2 years were anaemic. In refugee camps, insufficient dietary iron – a nutrient essential to a child's growth and development – was considered to be one of the major contributing causes towards anaemia in children. Chronic malnutrition among children under 5 had declined but remained at or near the WHO Critical Threshold of 40 per cent.

Despite the improvements, rates of acute malnutrition remain substantial and UNICEF was calling for the quality of the continuum of care to be strengthened. In addition, nutrition and health services had to be integrated and scaled up for treatment and prevention of acute malnutrition. Referral services linking nutrition, health, food aid and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) sectors had to be improved.

In the wake of increasing monsoon rains, multi-sectoral efforts to provide access to safe water and sanitation, appropriate shelter and access to quality health and nutrition services had to continue. In June, for instance, monsoon rains partially damaged 7 out of 34 UNICEF supported OTPs in the refugee camps. Five OTPs had been repaired and two relocated.

Currently the humanitarian response was funded only at the level of 26 per cent, meaning that there was a shortfall of 74 per cent from the total of US$950 million.

Alessandra Vellucci, for the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, said that the Secretary-General of the United Nations, in a recent joint press conference in Cox’s Bazar with the President of the World Bank, had also drawn attention to the funding gap and had called upon the international community to increase its financial support for agencies working in Bangladesh to protect and assist Rohingya refugees.

Jordan / Syrian refugees

Elizabeth Throssell, for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), read out the following statement:

“The situation in Daraa appears to be worsening, with escalating attacks that are heavily impacting civilians. We urge all parties to the conflict to protect civilians in southwestern Syria, and to protect those attempting to flee.

Thousands of refugees are stranded, without adequate shelter, at the border with Jordan. We call on the international community, in particular countries of the region with the financial ability to host large numbers of refugees, to take in fleeing civilians from Syria. We recognize that Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey have long hosted a large number of refugees, particularly from Syria, since the beginning of the Syrian conflict. It has been heartening to see many people in these countries doing what they can to call on their governments to keep the border open, and to gather food and water for Syrian refugees.

We call on the Jordanian Government to keep its border open and for other countries in the region to step up and receive the fleeing civilians.

We call on all parties involved to ensure safe, sustained and unimpeded humanitarian access to those in need, in line with their obligations under international law.”

Andrej Mahecic, for the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), said that over recent days intense fighting had reportedly continued in many areas of Daraa Governorate, resulting in the death and injury of civilians and the largest displacement in the area since the conflict had begun.

UNHCR was deeply concerned by the escalation of fighting and called on the parties involved to take all necessary measures to safeguard civilian lives, protect civilian infrastructure and allow freedom of movement as required under international humanitarian and human rights laws.

Due to the continued hostilities, increased displacement and further deterioration of the humanitarian space, UNHCR also appealed to Jordan and neighbouring countries to open their borders and allow access to safety and protection for displaced Syrians whose lives were at risk. UNHCR acknowledged the generous support and shelter Jordan had been providing to hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees since the start of the conflict and stood ready to provide support and assistance.

A UN interagency plan was being finalized to respond with life-saving assistance and protection services to the emergency needs of the displaced and affected communities.

Bettina Luescher, for the World Food Programme (WFP), said that the current population displacement was the largest in southern Syria since the start of the war. WFP had delivered emergency food assistance for around 200,000 persons and was ready to move more food in as soon as the security situation permitted. However, the violence had displaced hundreds of staff members of WFP partner organizations, leaving few people on the ground to manage aid distribution and limiting possibilities to intervene. Other distribution solutions were currently being examined.

In response to journalists’ questions, Mr. Mahecic said that, although exact figures were difficult to verify, current estimates were that 270,000 persons had been displaced since 20 June and that 40,000 were currently located close to the Jordanian border. UNHCR expressed its gratitude and appreciation to the State of Israel for providing and coordinating the cross-border transfer of around 300 tons of food, clothing and other aid to Syrians stranded in the buffer zone near Qunitra. Due to the sheer scale of displacement in Syria and fears that the conflict could spill over, neighbouring States were all managing their borders very tightly. The desert border between Syria and Jordan was indicated by markers and a berm. More than 650,000 Syrians were currently registered as refugees in Jordan. The Syrian Government had set up three humanitarian corridors in Daraa.

As soon as UNHCR had become aware that some Syrian refugees and internally displaced persons were returning spontaneously, it had increased its capacity in Syria to address that issue. However, the returns were not in any way being organized or facilitated by UNHCR. Its assessment was that conditions in Syria were still not conducive to safe return. In addition, it had no access to some of the areas people were returning to. He had no data about how many persons had returned spontaneously in recent weeks but statistics indicated that several hundred thousand internally displaced Syrians and around 70,000 refugees in neighbouring countries had returned to their homes in 2017. In any case, those numbers were dwarfed by the overall figures, which showed that around half of the country’s pre-war population had been displaced: more than six million internally and at least 5.6 million as refugees in other States.

In answer to a question from a journalist, Ms. Throssell said that OHCHR was engaging with the Jordanian authorities and appealing with them to keep their border with Syria open.

Call to stop demolition of Bedouin community in West Bank

Elizabeth Throssell, for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), read out the following statement:

“We are deeply concerned at reports that the Palestinian Bedouin community of Khan al Ahmar-Abu al Helu is set to be demolished by the Israeli authorities in the coming days.

The community is home to 181 people - more than half of them children - and is one of the 46 Bedouin communities in the central West Bank that the UN views as being at high risk of forcible transfer due to an environment generated by Israeli practices and policies that coerces people and communities to move.

For more than a decade people in the Khan al Ahmar community, which is located near to where large Israeli settlements have been established, have resisted efforts to move them to make way for settlement expansion. Legal avenues to resist ended on 24 May 2018 when the Israeli High Court ruled there was no reason to delay implementation of demolition orders over the structures in the community, including a school. The demolition orders were originally issued on the grounds that all the structures were illegally built.

As reiterated by the Secretary-General and the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, the planning regime adopted by Israel in this area – designated as Area C – is discriminatory and incompatible with requirements under international law. Any demolitions undertaken in this context would likely amount to forced evictions and a violation of the right to housing of individuals living in the community.

Moreover, international humanitarian law prohibits the destruction or confiscation of private property by the occupying power.

Demolition of Khan al Ahmar would dramatically increase the coercive environment in which the community is living. There is also grave concern that should the demolition go ahead, the community may ultimately be forcibly transferred by the occupying power. International humanitarian law prohibits the forced transfer of the population of an occupied territory, regardless of the motive. Such a transfer would amount to a grave breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention. Forcible transfer does not necessarily require the use of physical force by authorities; it can happen when individuals or communities are given no choice but to leave. Any transfer without the genuine and fully informed consent of those affected is considered forcible.

We call on the Israeli authorities not to proceed with the demolition of Khan al Ahmar-Abu al Helu, to respect the rights of residents to remain on their land and have their status regularized.”

In answer to questions, Ms. Throssell said that the residents of the community had been present in the area since the early 1950s when they had been displaced from lands in southern Israel. They had expressed a desire to exercise their right to return those lands but, if the demolition went ahead, she understood that they would be encouraged to move to a suburban area about 10 kilometres distant, on the periphery of East Jerusalem. However, that area was unsuitable for the community, which required grazing land for its animals. The demolition itself might not amount to eviction, but it would effectively destroy the community and substantially increase the risk of their forcible transfer. A village community of around 150 Bedouins had been transferred under similar circumstances in the period 1997-2010. There were currently 46 Bedouin communities in the central West Bank, comprising around 7,000 individuals, who were facing similar risks. Since the Israeli authorities did not grant planning permits to Palestinians, most of their properties were considered illegal and were consequently at risk of demolition.

Responding to additional questions, Ms. Throssell said that the legal definition of ethnic cleansing was a complex matter, but there had been a pattern of coercion to force people to leave. The current concern of OHCHR was for the plight of the community concerned, which risked losing its homes and its school. Therefore, OHCHR was appealing to the Israeli authorities not to proceed with the demolition, which was the result of a legal case brought on the grounds that the buildings were illegal. However, the Israeli High Court ruling, which seemed likely to open the way for the demolition, had not focused on whether or not the structures had been built lawfully but on whether or not the demolition order had been correctly drafted.

Egypt arbitrary detention

Elizabeth Throssell, for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), read out the following statement:

“We call on the Government of Egypt to unconditionally release Ola Al-Qaradawi and her husband Hosam Khalaf, who have been arbitrarily detained in the country since they were arrested on 30 June last year. Al-Qaradawi has been held in solitary confinement for one year in one of the worst prisons in Egypt and has been denied visits from her family and lawyers since her arrest. We understand she recently began a hunger strike in protest.

The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention on 12 June issued a decision determining that Al-Qaradawi and Khalaf’s detention was arbitrary and called for their immediate release. The Working Group determined that their arrest was arbitrary and that the repeated renewal of 45-day detention orders against them has resulted in ongoing violations of their rights to a fair trial and due process. Al-Qaradawi’s prolonged solitary confinement could also amount to torture or other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. The Working Group stated that it ‘cannot but conclude that Al-Qaradawi and Khalaf have been arrested and detained for their family ties with Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi’, a Qatar-based Islamic preacher and scholar.

We understand that Ola Al-Qaradawi’s health is frail and deteriorating and urge the authorities to ensure that her right to health and to physical and psychological integrity is respected. We call on Egypt to release all those arbitrarily detained in the country unconditionally.”

Publication of 2018 Global Innovation Index

Edward Harris, for the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), said that the Global Innovation Index (GII) 2018 would be released at 4 p.m. CET on Tuesday 10 July. The launch event itself would take place in New York, at the Tech Campus of Cornell University, a co-publisher of the Index along with INSEAD. The Index provided detailed metrics about the innovation performance of 126 countries and economies around the world. Its 80 indicators explored a broad vision of innovation including political environment, education, infrastructure and business sophistication. A new indicator for 2018 was mobile app creation. The theme for 2018 was: “Energizing the World with Innovation” and the report looked at green tech trends across the globe. The top five countries in 2017 had been Switzerland, Sweden, the Netherlands, the United States of America and the United Kingdom. He would circulate the report and accompanying press release under embargo that afternoon.

UNCTAD meeting on consumer protection and curbing anti-competitive practices

Catherine Huissoud, for the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), said that protecting consumers and curbing anti-competitive practices were central to economic development. Their role in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals would be among the issues discussed at a series of meetings to be held in Geneva between 9 and 13 July.

The first series of meetings, on 9-10 July, would consider the issue of consumer protection law and policy, consumer protection in financial services, consumer dispute resolution and redress, and consumer product safety. Experts present would include Mr. Torquato Lorena Jardim, Minister of Justice, Brazil; Dr. Gerd Billen, State Secretary for Consumer Protection, Germany; Ms. Rakiya Eddarhem, Secretary of State to the Minister of Industry, Investment, Trade and the Digital Economy, in charge of Foreign Trade, Morocco.

The second series of meetings, on 11-13 July, would focus on competition law and policy, competition in the sale of audiovisual rights for major sporting events, and challenges faced by developing countries in competition and regulation in the maritime transport sector.

On Wednesday 4 July, UNCTAD and OECD would issue their "Nineteenth report on G20 Investment Measures”. Journalists would receive information by email.

Responding to a question from a journalist, Ms. Huissoud stated that so far, there had been no adverse effects on the financing of UNCTAD following the recent membership of the State of Palestine.

ITU to host Global Symposium for Regulators

Jennifer Ferguson-Mitchell, for the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), said that ITU would be hosting the Global Symposium for Regulators from 9 to 12 July. The meeting was coming at a very timely moment as governments across the globe were starting to consider new regulations affecting information and communication technology. with the elimination of net neutrality and the implications of the recent European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)

The meetings of 9 July would focus on cyber security and the implications of the recent European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). A press briefing was scheduled for 1.30 p.m. on 10 July, which was due to be attended by the ITU Secretary-General. That would be followed by a leadership dialogue in the presence of Mr. Ajit Pai, Chair of the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC), who had overseen the elimination of net neutrality in the United States.

Announcements

Alessandra Vellucci, for the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, said that the Human Rights Committee, which had begun its 123rd session at Palais Wilson the previous day, would begin consideration of the report of Bahrain that afternoon, which it would complete the following morning. In coming days, it would be examining reports from Algeria, Gambia, Liberia, Lithuania and the Lao People’s Democratic Republic.

Ms. Vellucci also said that the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, which had begun its 70th session in room XVI of Palais des Nations the previous day, would that morning review the report of Australia. In coming days, it would be examining reports from Cyprus, Lichtenstein, Mexico, Turkmenistan, the State of Palestine, New Zealand and the Cook Islands.

She added that the next public plenary meeting of the Conference on Disarmament would be at 10 a.m. on Tuesday 7 August. This third session of the Conference would last until 10 September.

Press Conferences

Tuesday, 3 July at approximately 1:30 p.m. in Press Room 1
OHCHR / Human Rights Council
Presentation of the detailed report by the team of international experts to Human Rights Council on the situation in Kasai.
The long version of report will be made available here:
https://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/ITEKasaiDRC/Pages/Index.aspx
Speakers are Luc Côté (Canada); Bacre Waly Ndiaye (Senegal); and Fatimata M’Baye (Mauritania)
https://bit.ly/2Ktoim7

The webcast for this briefing is available here: http://bit.ly/unog030718