REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE
Elena Ponomareva-Piquier, Chief of the Press and External Relations Section of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired the briefing which provided information about the current visit of Secretary-General Kofi Annan to Europe, the vote on the Constitution in Iraq, the situation in Pakistan and the activities of the United Nations agencies to provide aid, World Food Day, the return of refugees to the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the situation in Malawi. Spokespersons from Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, World Health Organization, United Nations Children’s Fund, World Food Programme, the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees, International Organization for Migration, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, World Meteorological Organization, World Trade Organization, and Inter-Parliamentary Union participated in the briefing.
Secretary-General
Secretary-General Kofi Annan was continuing his visit to Europe, Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said, and had arrived yesterday in Salamanca, Spain, where he would participate in the Ibero-American Summit, which will open today. In Salamanca, the Secretary-General had had a meeting with the President of Chile, Ricardo Lagos Escobar, the Prime Minister of Spain, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Nicaragua, Norman Jose Caldera Cardenal. The Secretary-General had also met the King of Spain, Juan Carlos. The Secretary-General’s speech, which he would give at the opening of Summit, was available with embargo until 2 p.m. Geneva time.
On the occasion of the National Day of the Constitution in Iraq, the Secretary-General called on all Iraqis to vote for the second time in less than one year, Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said. "Today is dedicated to peaceful debate and reflection on the merits of this document, so that you can make an informed decision on referendum day," Mr. Annan said, calling Saturday's referendum a "keystone" in the transition to democracy. "This is the time to keep the guns quiet on all sides and to let the voices of the Iraqi people be heard. At this critical moment in Iraq's history, every vote counts." The Secretary-General pledged that "whatever the outcome," the United Nations would continue to support the Iraqi people in building a stable, unified and prosperous country. The text of his message was available in the Press Room.
Geneva activities
In Geneva, the Committee on Human Rights will hold its 85th session at the Palais Wilson from 17 October to 3 November 2005, and will examine the reports of Canada, Paraguay, Italy, Brazil, on measures taken by those countries to implement the provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
16 October is World Food Day, Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said, and this year’s theme is Agriculture and Dialogue between cultures. In this context Jean Ziegler, Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human rights on the right to food would give a press conference at 11:30 in Room III on how to combat daily massacres perpetuated due to hunger.
17 October was the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty and, on this occasion, a ceremony would be held at the Palais des Nations in the Salle des Pas Perdus from 4 to 5 p.m. The Director-General of United Nations Office at Geneva, Mr. Sergei Ordzhonikidze, will open the ceremony by delivering the message of the Secretary-General. Representatives of families living under conditions of poverty will deliver personal testimonies. All media were invited to attend.
Pakistan
Elizabeth Byrs of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, on the topic of Pakistan, said that according to present temporary figures, what had currently been pledged as a result of the United Nations’ Emergency Flash Appeal was 50.3 million USD. This was not the entirety of the aid that had been promised throughout the world, but just for the United Nations appeal. Updates on figures would continue to be provided. A note was available to journalists defining what made up a pledge, a commitment, and uncommitted pledges. The important message was that there was a great need for equipment and for increased capacities linked to surgery. Mobile surgery teams were already deployed, but there was a need for more of them and for material in order to provide aid to those who were suffering. There was a need for surgeons, field hospitals, para-medical personnel, as well as medicines, including antibiotics and typhoid vaccinations. New teams were replacing the current search teams, who were exhausted and leaving the field; Cyprus, China, Belgium, Malaysia, France and Spain had sent fresh teams. The main problem was transport, as the roads were still in a very bad way, and there were also large traffic jams, which were slowing down the transport time of aid.
On helicopters, Ms. Byrs said there were three categories of helicopters in the field: those given by bilateral agreement between Pakistan and another country, those of the Pakistani Army, and those of the United Nations. Work was being done to be able to provide figures on the number of helicopters. In response to a question on why Pakistan had refused entry to a rescue team from Taiwan, Ms. Byrs said she was not aware of this, and would research the issue so as to provide an answer.
Fadela Chaib of the World Health Organisation, also speaking on the Pakistan, said access to health services was slowly getting better in the various affected regions. Consultations were often on trauma and wounds due to the earthquake, and important respiratory infections. No epidemic has currently been noted. Measles were still a priority; the national vaccination campaign that was planned before the earthquake would take place over the next few weeks, as the vaccinations and infrastructure were prepared. Personnel specialized in trauma care were insufficient in the region, and there was a lack of nurses and surgeons in the region. The main problem was the lack of drinking water in the affected regions. WHO had sent four New Emergency Health Kits, which would cover 40,000 people, as well as two Trauma Kits, which would cover 200 surgical procedures. All Kits came from the Iran office. In response to WHO’s appeal, about 7 million USD had been received.
Ms. Chaib also reminded correspondents that a teleconference would be held today with two WHO people, one in Balakot and one in Muzaffarabad. In response to a question on whether there was a travel ban to Turkey, and when the Government of that country had been notified, Ms. Chaib said there was no travel ban. She did not know what time the Government was notified, but she would check.
Damien Personnaz of UNICEF, also on Pakistan, said the principal victims of the earthquake were children. Winter was coming, and children would be faced with a deadly combination of cold, malnutrition, and various illnesses. There was concern with regards to increased reports of measles, and over the next few days, UNICEF would try to begin to vaccinate children under five against measles, especially in those zones where there had been the least vaccinations. Also among the four million victims were 120,000 who were without any form of shelter whatsoever, and were sleeping outside. The current priority was to assess the situation in order to be able to better determine the needs of children. There were also plans to assess the situation of schools in the region as many of these had been destroyed.
Simon Pluess of the World Food Program said the situation was apocalyptic, with huge devastation. Food distribution had resumed this morning, and had been distributed to 37,000 people, who had received a two-day ration. WFP had been the first agency to begin assistance in Muzaffarabad. There was a huge stock of dried food in the country, but there was a huge need for ready-to-eat food, as people could not cook. There was also a need for NGO partners on the ground, in order to help with distribution. The logistical challenge and the problems of access still remained huge for WFP and all other agencies. About 70 per cent of people in some areas were estimated to have lost their homes. The after-shock had caused landslides, blocking more roads, and food convoys going to the areas had had to turn around. Five United Nations base camps would be set up to coordinate relief operations. As part of the Flash Appeal, WFP had asked for 29 million USD to support logistics for it and other organizations, and had received certain donations, including from Canada, Switzerland, and Saudi Arabia.
Ron Redmond of the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees said that, given the enormity of the situation, the fact that Afghan refugees were also affected, and that UNHCR had hundreds of tons of relief supplies, it was contributing to the relief effort, and was going to fly in emergency supplies starting today. At least 12 flights were planned, bringing all sorts of relief supplies, including plastic sheeting. One of the biggest needs was for tents, and HCR was one of the world’s biggest procurers of tents. 15,145 ten-person tents, 220,000 blankets, 500 huge rolls of plastic, 31,800 jerry cans, thousands of stoves and lanterns and other basic essentials so people could get through daily life were also being brought in. Tomorrow, WFP and UNHCR trucks would leave Kabul for Pakistan, and today a UNHCR team was travelling to the North-West Frontier Province to assess the situation of 45,000 Afghan refugees as well as the surrounding area. There had been relatively low damage and casualties in the region, although some villages had been flattened.
Jemini Pandya of the International Organization for Migration said that the emergency operation team was now on the ground and up and running. Today, the first of the relief distributions would take place. Together with Islamic Relief, a convoy of trucks was leaving Islamabad with blankets, mattresses and pillows for Muzaffarabad. An assessment would be done on the situation of the roads, and of what exactly were the needs for medical evacuations and for emergency shelter.
Human rights
Jose Luis Diaz of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said that a note on the visit of the Commission on Human Rights’ Special Rapporteur on racism to Brazil would be sent to media. The visit would take place from 17 to 25 October 2005. He inquired whether the media would be interested in a briefing on the visit of the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers to Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan on Tuesday, 18 October, at 11:30. It was agreed that the briefing would be held.
Others
Mark Oliver of the World Meteorological Organization said top telecommunications experts, oceanographers and disaster reduction specialists will meet in Geneva on Monday 17 October at the WMO headquarters to discuss the upgrading of the Global Telecommunications System in the Indian Ocean with the goal of preparing the region in the event of another tsunami. The aim of the meeting was to get the upgrades in place as soon as possible, so that all Governments in the region had the capacity of providing timely and accurate early warnings in the case of a natural disaster of a meteorological or hydrological disaster. It was the rapidity of the warnings that was crucial in order to save lives, that such warnings should be provided by Governments to their citizens in five minutes, and 13 countries required these upgrades urgently. WMO needed only one million dollars in order to get the upgrades in place. A press release would be available on Monday, and the Secretary-General of the WMO would hold a press conference on developments. Also on Monday, he would be attending a meeting on combating desertification in Nairobi. There would be a briefing on the ozone hole situation on Tuesday. The hole had now reached its peak, and a bulletin would be provided on Monday.
Josep Bosch of the World Trade Organization said that starting on Tuesday, a week of intensive consultations and negotiations on agriculture would be taking place. On Friday 21 October, around 4 p.m., there would be a briefing on developments throughout the week. On Tuesday, there was the regular meeting of the Dispute Settlement Body. On Wednesday, the General Council would meet, and there would be a statement by the Chairwoman on the preparations for the Sixth Ministerial Conference in Hong Kong. Also, the negotiations for the accession of the Russian Federation to the WTO would resume and, on Friday, those of Algeria would also resume.
Luisa Ballin of the Inter-Parliamentary Union said a press release had been sent out yesterday on the 113th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union. The new President of the IPU would be elected at the Assembly. The President of the Pakistani Parliament would be present, as would the President of the Chamber of Deputies of Morocco. On Wednesday, a Round Table on nationality and statelessness would be held, at which the High Commissioner on Refugees, Mr. Antonio Guterres, would be present.
Ron Redmond of UNHCR said that UNHCR had held a trial run for repatriation from the Democratic Republic of Congo to Tanzania to begin helping the 150,000 Congolese refugees to return home. The trial run had returned 282 refugees to their homes. UNHCR also welcomed the Australian Government’s decision to bring most of the remaining asylum-seekers on the Pacific Island of Nauru to Australia. More information was available in the briefing note.
In response to a question on whether any news had been received on the situation of the Africans who had been abandoned in Western Sahara by Morocco, Mr. Redmond said that UNHCR had had teams in this area over the past two weeks. A team remained in Morocco, and will continue with a protection officer in Melia. The situation remained of concern of course. As UNHCR had said since the beginning, it was primarily an issue of irregular migration, and Governments of course had the right to manage their borders in accordance with necessary migration policies. However, UNHCR continued to stress that, within that flow, there were people in need of international protection who deserved access to the asylum process, and urged that all should be treated in a way that respected their life and dignity.
Damien Personnaz of UNICEF said that in Malawi the humanitarian situation was getting worse. Cases of severe malnutrition among children were common, and there were over 1,000 children receiving therapeutic feeding at Nutritional Rehabilitation Units. The number of children with severe malnutrition was seriously increasing, and 46,000 children severely malnourished children required treatment. An appeal had been launched about a month ago, and this had been increased, as the situation would become ever more grave if it were not attended to. UNICEF was working with the World Food Program to substantially increase the number of children benefiting from supplementary feeding.
Fadela Chaib of the World Health Organization said that a note on the ratification of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control was available. The note said that 8 November was the last date for countries to ratify the Convention, or they would not be able to attend the first Conference of Signatory Countries from 6 to 17 February 2006. Ms. Chaib also said that there would be no briefing on avian flu. There were no cases in humans in Europe, so the WHO could not comment.
Simon Pluess, speaking for the World Food Program, said there was good news about the hijacking of ship on Wednesday: the ship had been released at midnight. The pirates had left the boat, and it had returned to port, where it would be offloaded today. The food and staff on board were unharmed. There was clearly a need to rethink the forms of food delivery in Somalia, as it was the second ship in a row that had been hijacked. The ongoing sufferings of people in Central America should not be forgotten because of the events in Pakistan. Further, he reminded the journalists that World Food Day was on 16 October.
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