REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE
Marie Heuzé, the Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired the briefing which provided information about the World Summit on the Information Society, the Secretary-General's visit to Pakistan, the reform of the United Nations, Geneva meetings, human rights, and other issues. Spokespersons for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees, the World Health Organization, the International Organization for Migration, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the World Intellectual Property Organization, UNAIDS, the World Trade Organization, the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction and the United Nations Children's Fund participated in the briefing.
World Summit on the Information Society
Mrs. Heuzé said the World Summit on the Information Society would today be closing its work in Tunis. On Wednesday, 16 November, the Secretary-General, together with a professor from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, had unveiled a prototype of a cheap and rugged laptop for children. The low-energy green laptops, which were powered with a wind-up crank, would let students interact with each other while learning. Speaking at the “One Laptop per Child” event, the Secretary-General noted that the $100 laptops were to be financed through domestic resources, donors and possibly other arrangements, at no cost to the recipients themselves. They were to be distributed through education ministries using established textbook channels. The Secretary-General had called the laptops an “impressive technical achievement.”
The statement of the Secretary-General at the launch and a transcript of his comments to the press following the event were available. Copies of the highlights on the various events and meetings of the World Summit were available in the press room and on the Internet in English and in French.
Secretary-General Arrives in Pakistan
Mrs. Heuzé said the Secretary-General had arrived on Thursday, 17 November in Pakistan where he would attend the donors’ conference for earthquake reconstruction that would be held on Saturday, 19 November. Speaking to the press, the Secretary-General said that much more was needed in terms of resources to deal with the response to the earthquake. What would take place in Pakistan was “recovery plus,” in which houses were not just rebuilt, but built in a manner that could withstand another disaster. Today, the Secretary-General was expected to visit some of the areas that had been hardest hit by the earthquake, including the city of Muzaffarabad.
Elizabeth Byrs of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said the United Nations had so far received $ 129 million which was committed and $ 34.7 which was pledged against the requested $ 550 million for the victims of the earthquake. This meant that the appeal was currently 29.3 per cent funded. While the response was not overwhelming, still funds were arriving slowly and the UN hoped that this would continue. The UN system needed around $ 50 million a month to continue with its humanitarian operations. Bringing assistance to remote villages in the highlands and improving conditions in camps in the lower valley areas, especially critical water and sanitation needs, before the onset of winter, were the main challenges.
Jennifer Pagonis of the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees said UNHCR's operation for earthquake victims in Pakistan was continuing. Since the 8 October earthquake, UNHCR had transported over 290,000 blankets, 22,000 tents 33,000 jerry cans, 100,000 plastic sheets and many tens of thousands of other relief items in Pakistan with the help of NATO. The NATO-UNHCR airlift from Turkey, which started on 19 October, ended last night with the one hundred and third flight. Preparations for a large influx of people coming down from higher elevations were ongoing. The Government had asked UNHCR to help with the selection of new sites and the development of additional camps to accommodate additional new arrivals who might decided to leave the high valleys as winter set in.
Asked about fears that there might be cholera in camps housing the victims of the earthquake, Christine McNab of the World Health Organization said that following several hundred cases in Muzaffarabad of acute watery diarrhoea, very quick action was taken to bring in proper water and appropriate sanitation. The situation had dramatically improved.
Jemini Pandya of the International Organization for Migration said IOM Director-General Brunson McKinley was in Pakistan and had expressed IOM's commitment to working closely with the Pakistan Government for the long-term reconstruction of earthquake affected areas. Mr. McKinley would be attending the international donor conference on Saturday. He described the reconstruction challenge as "immense".
Reform of the United Nations
Mrs. Heuzé said Jan Eliasson, the President of the General Assembly, yesterday gave a press conference in New York on the status of negotiations on issues concerning the reform of the United Nations. Mr. Eliasson, who would be in Geneva next week to hold consultations on the Human Rights Council, said concerning the Peacebuilding Commission, which Summit Heads had called to be operational by 1 January 2006, the final stage of negotiations had been reached. On the proposed Human Rights Council, Mr. Eliasson said a paper listing all options had been prepared for the purpose of crossing off options one by one until a single resolution remained. Intensive negotiations would be held every two or three days, beginning next Wednesday on his return from consultations in Geneva. Agreement on the Council was particularly desirable before the Human Rights Commission met in January to elect its bureau and set out its work programme. Obstacles on the question centred on election methods, size, composition and transition from the Commission to the Council. All agreed the Council should have a standing character to be in session year round.
Copies of the highlights of his press conference in English and in French were available
Mrs. Heuzé reminded journalists that Mr. Eliasson would be arriving in Geneva on Sunday, 20 November. He would hold consultations on the Human Rights Council on 21 and 22 November with States parties, experts of the Commission on Human Rights, and non-governmental organizations to benefit from their experience and to discuss the transition from the Commission to the Council. He would brief journalists on Wednesday, 23 November at 9:30 a.m. before he flew back to New York.
Geneva Meetings
Mrs. Heuzé said the Committee against Torture which was meeting at the Palais des Nations was this afternoon continuing its review of the report of France, and on Monday, 21 November, it would consider the report of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights was meeting in private today after it concluded its review of the reports of Slovenia, Austria, Uzbekistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Libya. On Monday, the Committee would discuss its draft General Comment on article 15.1 c of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights on the right to benefit from the protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic production of which he is the author. The Committee was meeting at the Palais Wilson.
Both Committees would conclude their meetings on Friday, 25 November.
Human Rights
José Luis Díaz, Spokesperson for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, said High Commissioner Louise Arbour today urged an international investigation into conditions of detention in Iraq, saying the recent discovery in an Interior Ministry building of detainees who appeared to have been tortured pointed to widespread problems with the system of detention in the country. In her statement, which had already been sent to journalists, the High Commissioner said there was justification to call for an international probe due to the apparently systemic nature and magnitude of the problem with the system of detention in Iraq, and the importance of public confidence in any inquiry. In addition to the treatment of the detainees, their large number in the country was a matter of concern. Citing the latest report from the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq's Human Rights Office and her own Office, Mrs. Arbour said there was an urgent need to provide remedy to lengthy internment for security reasons without adequate judicial oversight. She also pointed to reports from Mosul and other places that officials from the Ministry of Interior continued to hold in detention hundreds of individuals despite judicial orders for their release.
Mr. Díaz said journalists should also have a received a statement from five independent experts of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, who were undertaking a joint study on the situation of detainees in Guantanamo Bay. The experts said they would not be going to visit the Guantanamo Bay detention facility following the refusal of the United States to accept the standard Terms of Reference for this kind of visit. The press release also listed a chronology of their efforts to set up this visit.
Answering a question, Mr. Díaz said the High Commissioner was not giving a prescription into how the probe in Iraq should be conducted, or by whom. There was very valuable human rights expertise in this area, including from the Office of the High Commissioner and the United Nations, and they could make an important contribution in any such investigation. It would important for such an inquiry not only to be objective and impartial, but to be seen to be objective and impartial.
Mr. Díaz said he would send to journalists and put in the press room copies of the latest report from the human rights office of the UN Assistance Mission in Iraq done together with the Office of the High Commissioner, which came out in the end of October and which had more detailed information on the issue of detention in Iraq.
Other
Cathy Jewel of the World Intellectual Property Organization said the Standing Committee on Copyrights and Related Rights would meet from 21 to 23 November to continue discussions on updating international intellectual property standards for broadcasting organizations in the information age, following the decision of the WIPO General Assembly in October this year to accelerate discussions by holding two additional meetings of this Committee to further narrow any differences and to pave the way for the General Assembly in 2006 to recommend convening a diplomatic conference to conclude a treaty.
Christine McNab of the World Health Organization said the Worldwide Survey on Domestic Violence, which would be looking at the situation of domenstic violence in 10 countries, would be launched on Thursday, 24 November. Embargoed press kits and the survey were in press room 1.
Dominique de Santis of UNAIDS said copies of the embargoed UNAIDS and WHO report "AIDS Epidemic Update 2005" were available. At 10:30 a.m. on Monday, 21 November, there would be a press conference to launch the report. Press kits would also be provided on Monday.
Josep Bosch of the World Trade Organization said on 21 November, there would be a dedicated discussion on E-Commerce at WTO. On 23 and 24 November, there would be membership negotiations meetings for Ukraine. Director-General Pascal Lamy would be travelling on 22 November to Arusha, Tanzania, for the G-90 African Union meeting.
Brigitte Leoni of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction said ISDR would be holding its second Task Force meeting on 22 November. A panel with a number of experts was being organized at 9:30 a.m. and participants would discuss the latest natural disasters and the lessons learnt from them, including the tsunami, Hurricane Katrina, the floods in Switzerland and the earthquake in Pakistan. The panel was open to the press, and it would be followed by a press conference at 12:30 a.m. in Salle III with a number of participants, including Jan Egeland, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator and Salvano Briceño, Director of the ISDR secretariat.
Elizabeth Byrs of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said on 24 November at 5:30 p.m. at the International Museum of the Red Cross and the Red Crescent, OCHA, in partnership with the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation and other partners, would be launching a seven-day international campaign against violence against women. There would be a discussion on the media and gender-based violence, and a book entitled "Broken bodies - broken dreams" would be launched.
Jennifer Pagonis of the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees said High Commissioner Antonio Guterres would on 22 November begin a six-day mission to Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran, his first mission as High Commissioner to the region. The High Commissioner would get a first-hand look at UNHCR's largest ongoing reparation and reintegration operation. Since 2002, more than 4.4 million Afghans had returned home from Pakistan and Iran - 3.5 million of them assisted by UNHCR.
Damien Personnaz of the United Nations Children's Fund said available was a press release on a partnership between IKEA and UNICEF, according to which every time a person bought a soft toy in November and December, IKEA would donate one euro to support UNICEF and Save the Children programmes for children in impoverished countries.
Concerning Universal Children's Day, which was commemorated on 20 November, Mr. Personnaz said that each country organized events to mark the day.
Jemini Pandya of the International Organization for Migration said 11 stranded Pakistani irregular migrants voluntarily returned home today with IOM assistance from the Moroccan town of Casablanca. Many irregular migrants from Asia and sub-Saharan Africa remained stranded and in distress in the Maghreb whilst trying to reach the northern shores of the Mediterranean using smuggling networks.