REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Rhéal LeBlanc, Chief of the Press and External Relations Section, United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired the briefing, which was attended by the spokespersons for the United Nations Children’s Fund, the International Organization for Migration, the International Labour Organization and the World Health Organization.

Minute of Silence for journalist Pierre Simonitsch

Rhéal LeBlanc, for the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, said that he was sad to inform about the death of the journalist Pierre Simonitsch on Sunday 28 October 2018, in Geneva, at the age of 81. Mr. Simonitsch had begun working as a journalist at the United Nations in 1963 and over 55 years had covered wars and conflicts around the world, as well as many major international conferences. He had recently worked mainly for the Frankfurter Rundschau of Germany and the Neue Luzerner Zeitung of Switzerland, in addition to providing analysis of world politics to the international media. On behalf of the United Nations Information Service, Mr. LeBlanc extended his condolences to Mr. Simonitsch’s family, friends and colleagues.

Nina Larson, President of the United Nations Correspondents Association (ACANU), said that the Association had opened a book of condolences, which was available in press room 1, and would hold a memorial service for Mr. Simonitsch the following week.

Jan Dirk Herbermann, former President of the United Nations Correspondents Association (ACANU), said the Geneva press corps had lost an outstanding correspondent of over 50 years’ standing, a six-time President of the Association and a colleague and friend. Born in Vienna in 1937, Mr. Simonitsch had first made his name with an interview conducted in the bars and cafés of Geneva with Che Guevara, the renowned revolutionary.

Mr. Simonitsch had gone on to cover many wars, being embedded with the Vietnamese army in Cambodia, the Soviet army in Afghanistan and then with the Turkish army during the invasion of Cyprus in 1974. He had also been detained in Jamaica when he arrived there on the eve of a civil war. He had covered all the major international disarmament treaties, the most recent being the Nuclear Weapons Ban Treaty, and had written from Moscow during the collapse of the Soviet Union. He had penned his final article just a few months previously, on the withdrawal of the United States of America from the Human Rights Council. He had been noted for his dry sense of humour, and one of his sayings was he had begun his career during the golden age of newspapers, when “They had money and we, the journalists, knew how to spend it”.

Rhéal LeBlanc, for the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, asked the participants to stand for a minute of silence in memory of Pierre Simonitsch.

Children returned from Angola to the Democratic Republic of the Congo in urgent need of humanitarian assistance

Christophe Boulierac, for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), made the following statement:

“At least 80,000 children recently returned from Angola to the Democratic Republic of the Congo are now in need of humanitarian assistance. More than 300,000 Congolese citizens have returned from Angola since 1 October, raising concerns among humanitarian partners of another crisis for a country already dealing with multiple conflicts.

Thousands of children are walking long distances, exposed to inclement weather, hunger, insecurity and the risk of violence. They have limited access to safe water and health care, and are being deprived of education. UNICEF is very worried about their situation and that of their families.

Making matters worse for returning children and families, the price of basic food staples has risen sharply in some areas, raising fears of an increase in cases of malnutrition among children.

The arrival of returnees in recent weeks has occurred mostly in the province of Kasai, although some children and families have returned to neighbouring provinces, including Kasai Central and Kwango.

At the various border points with Angola, the national migration services are overwhelmed by the large number of people returning to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, many of whom remain concentrated in small border towns. Authorities fear the resurgence of epidemics, given the close proximity in which the returned population currently lives.

UNICEF and its partners have conducted an assessment of the humanitarian needs in Kamako, Kasai province, where most of the returnees are located, and is preparing to provide support through: the installation of safe drinking water and hand washing points, and emergency shelters; the prevention of malaria and improved access to health care; the identification of severe acute malnutrition cases among children under 5 years old; preventive vaccination against measles in children from 6 to 59 months; the establishment of recreational spaces and psychosocial support for affected children; and the identification and reunification of unaccompanied children.”

Mr. Boulierac added that UNICEF was particularly concerned by the large numbers of unaccompanied children and children who had been separated from their families: 162 had already been identified in Kamako, Kasai province, alone. Many of them had been forced to leave Angola very quickly; they spoke no French and only a little Lingala, and so it was difficult for them to go to school in Kasai province. Furthermore, Kasai province had suffered from conflict as recently as 2016-2017 and there was little access there to basic social services.

In answer to a question from a journalist, Mr. Boulierac said that many of the children affected were 13-to-14-year-olds who had been working in mining in Angola. UNICEF was present on the ground and was beginning to install chlorination points; medical equipment was being brought to the areas concerned. In the Kamako area of Kasai province, the migrants had gathered in large numbers in spontaneous sites such as churches and markets. At other entry points, migrants were staying with host families. While there was no sign as yet of any tension between the migrant and host communities, conditions in Kasai province had already been difficult before the influx and the situation might deteriorate at any time. There were also fears that epidemics of cholera or measles could erupt; malaria was endemic and there was a very high risk of malnutrition among the children who were arriving in very poor condition and were thus more vulnerable to disease.


Six weeks after Typhoon Mangkhut, Northern Philippines braces for Yutu

Joel Millman, for the International Organization for Migration (IOM), read the following statement:

“IOM, the United Nations Migration Agency, reports Typhoon Yutu (locally called “Rosita”) made landfall in the northern Philippines earlier today, bringing driving rain and high winds, according to IOM staff deployed to the area following Typhoon Mangkhut (locally called “Ompong”) – another super typhoon which followed a similar path and left a trail of destruction across Luzon island on 15 September.

Yesterday, 29 October, the Philippines raised storm warning levels and began evacuating some coastal communities in the path of the typhoon, which recorded sustained wind speeds of 150 km per hour (kph) (93 mph), with gusts of 185 kph, posing the risk of storm surges, landslides and floods triggered by heavy winds and rain.

Yutu has weakened since Friday, when it recorded wind speeds of over 270 kph as it tore through the Marianas in the Western Pacific, lifting roofs, overturning vehicles and cutting off power and water.

In Itogon, Benguet, where dozens died in landslides triggered by Mangkhut, displaced families are bracing for Yutu’s arrival and new displacement. The Department of Social Welfare and Development for the Cordillera Administrative Region and the local government have pre-emptively evacuated hundreds of families in landslide-prone areas and IOM staff reported over 400 families in the Itogon evacuation centre last night.

IOM and Catholic Relief Services, who are working with government partners to provide shelter for people in the area affected by Mangkhut, are standing by to provide additional support.

IOM quick response teams are also prepositioned in the Cordillera Administrative Region and Cagayan Valley to work with government counterparts to monitor and assess the impact of Yutu using the IOM Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM). DTM is a data collection system funded by the United States State Department’s Office of US Foreign Disaster Assistance, which maps displacement and assesses the needs of displaced people.

The IOM teams in the area have been working with Mangkhut survivors as part of a 1 million euro project funded by the European Union Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations. The project is providing transitional and emergency shelters, shelter repair kits, rental subsidies and ‘Build Back Better and Safer’ trainings for 1,710 affected families.

Mangkhut affected an estimated 368,000 families, destroying crops and homes. But pre-emptive evacuation of thousands of people by the Government saved many lives, with most of the fatalities caused by the landslide in Itogon, which left over 100 people dead or missing.”

‘Abroad Mata’ Taps Potential of Radio to Address Irregular Migration in Nigeria

Joel Millman, for the International Organization for Migration (IOM), read the following statement:

“On 26 October, IOM, the United Nations Migration Agency, in Nigeria launched Abroad Mata, a radio programme on the perils of irregular migration and opportunities to migrate safely, in Benin City, Edo State.

The awareness-raising initiative is part of the Migrants as Messengers and Aware Migrants projects in Nigeria. The National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons, the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons and the Edo State Task Force on Human Trafficking, as well as several local radio stations, joined IOM to co-produce the series.

Abroad Mata is a 13-episode series consisting of a radio drama entitled Waka Well (“travel well” in Pidgin English), returnee testimonies, an expert panel and live phone-in sessions. The feedback segment of the show seeks to encourage dialogue about irregular migration and human trafficking.

This radio programme is one of IOM’s many Communication for Development (C4D) initiatives, a people-centred and evidence-based approach that uses communications methods, media and other tools to promote social and behaviour change.”

Responding to questions from journalists, Mr. Millman said that the potential of radio for outreach had been recognised in the past in places such as Haiti, where the population had little access to newspapers or television. He mentioned the case four years previously of a trafficked Somali woman whose mother had heard about IOM on the radio and had succeeded in contacting the Organization. It was hoped that the programme would be taken up by other media outlets.

IOM had briefed in the past on the trafficking of large numbers of women from Nigeria, the majority from Edo State, through Italy and Libya. Many of the trafficked women had been promised work, for instance as hairdressers or cleaners, in Europe but suffered brutal conditions during the journey to Libya and might end up in prostitution there for years. Some of the thousands of Nigerian women who had been forced into sex work in different European countries had agreed to cooperate with IOM in prosecutions of the traffickers. Efforts had also been made with tribal leaders in the countries of origin – one had recently agreed to take action to curb the use of voodoo curses that traffickers used to convince the women they or their families would die if they resisted them.

Since April 2017, IOM had assisted in the voluntary return of over 10,283 stranded Nigerian migrants from transit and destination countries, many of the women with children or babies – including some born on the flight back - as result of being forced into sex work. A documentary film had just been made in the region with interviews with some of the victims speaking about what had happened to them.

Mediterranean Migrant Arrivals Reach 97,857 in 2018

Joel Millman, for the International Organization for Migration (IOM), said that more than 10,000 irregular migrants had arrived by sea in Spain since the beginning of October, the largest figure ever seen for that country. However, it should not be forgotten that, just three years previously, between April 2015 and March 2016, similar numbers had arrived in Greece every month, with 211,000, or 7,000 each day, arriving in one month. Total figures for migrants crossing the Mediterranean in 2018 now stood at almost 98,000, making it almost inevitable that over 100,000 would have done so before the end of the year. That figure was, nevertheless, lower than those from previous years.

ILO announcements

Hans von Rohland, for the International Labour Organization (ILO), responding to questions from journalists, said that the ILO Governing Body was meeting in its 334th session and would hold a discussion on tobacco at 3.30 p.m. on Wednesday 31 October. The discussion might continue during further meetings. A discussion on Guatemala would be held on Wednesday 7 November. He could not comment on the work of the Commission of Inquiry into the situation in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela until any report it produced was adopted by the Governing Body. Any points for decision submitted to the Governing Body would be sent out to journalists.

WHO announcements

Tarik Jašareviæ, for the World Health Organization (WHO), said in response to questions from journalists that the situation in some African countries, where patients who were medically fit to leave hospital were being detained until their bills were paid, was unacceptable and went against the human rights commitments that countries had made when signing the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. It highlighted the need that had been emphasized by WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, for all countries to ensure that their populations had universal health coverage, with access for all to quality basic health services without it causing financial ruin. While there was no single solution, domestic legal action should be taken to prohibit the practice and health system financing reforms introduced to deal with the root cause, which was people’s inability to pay for health care. WHO was currently preparing a briefing for Member States to help them address the issue.

The First WHO Global Conference on Air Pollution and Health had opened on Tuesday morning with a speech by Dr. Ghebreyesus, the audio file of which was available to journalists. Air pollution pods had been set up on the Place des Nations to show what the air of different cities was like. The Queen of Spain would be visiting WHO later in the day. A press release had been issued the previous day on the report on air pollution and child health, and a press conference would be held after the closure of the Conference at 6 p.m. on Thursday 1 November 2018.

World Cities Day 2018

Rhéal LeBlanc, for the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, said that 31 October was celebrated as World Cities Day. The United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, had issued a message to mark the occasion, noting that World Cities Day 2018 was focused on resilience and sustainability. Every week, 1.4 million people moved to cities. Such rapid urbanization could strain local capacities, contributing to increased risk from natural and human-made disasters. The answer was to build resilience. Citing a number of cities that had already acted to increase resilience, the Secretary-General had called for people to take inspiration from them and to work together to build sustainable and resilient cities that provided safety and opportunities for all.

International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists

Rhéal LeBlanc, for the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, said that 2 November had been proclaimed as a day to end impunity for crimes against journalists doing their job. In a video message to mark the day, the Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, had said that, in just over a decade, more than a thousand journalists had been killed while carrying out their indispensable work. Ninety per cent of those crimes had gone unresolved, with no one held accountable. That situation was outrageous and should not become the new normal. He called on Governments and the international community to protect journalists and create the conditions they needed to do their work.

Announcements

Rhéal LeBlanc, for the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, said that the Human Rights Committee was holding a last public plenary meeting this morning to formally adopt its General Comment on article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (right to life). This afternoon, it would have a public meeting with States Parties, and it would close its 124th session on Friday 2 November, issuing its concluding observations on the reports of Belarus, Belize, Bulgaria, Guinea and Sudan.

Mr. LeBlanc also said that the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women was today reviewing the report of Mauritius and would review reports from Nepal, the Republic of the Congo, the Bahamas, Samoa, Mauritius, Tajikistan, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and the Lao People’s Democratic Republic during its seventy-first session, to end on 9 November 2018.


Press conferences

Tuesday, 30 October at 2:00 p.m., Press Room 1
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC)
Launch of the 2018 World Disasters Report (Embargoed until 00:01 a.m. CET on 31 October 2018)
Speakers:
· Mr. Elhadj As Sy, IFRC Secretary General
· Ms. Kirsten Hagon, Senior Humanitarian Policy Analyst, IFRC

Wednesday, 31 October at 10:30 a.m., Press Room 1
UNOG (Office of the Director General) /Geneva Peacebuilding Platform
Geneva Peace Week 2018 - Building Peace in a Turbulent World
Speakers:
• Salman Bal, Chief, Political Affairs and Partnerships Section, United Nations Office at Geneva
• Achim Wennmann, Executive Coordinator of the Geneva Peacebuilding Platform


Thursday, 1 November at 1:30 p.m., Press Room 1
OHCHR
Human Rights Committee concluding observations on Belarus, Belize, Bulgaria, Guinea and Sudan
Speakers:
• Mr. Yuval Shany, Chairperson of the Committee
• Ms. Sarah Cleveland, Vice-chairperson of the Committee
• Ms. Ilze Brands Kehris, Member of the Committee


The webcast for this briefing is available here: http://bit.ly/unog301018