REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE
Marie Heuzé, the Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired the briefing which also heard from Spokespersons for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the World Health Organization, the World Food Programme, the International Telecommunication Union, and the International Organization for Migration.
Geneva activities
Ms. Heuzé said that so far there were 15 speakers on the agenda for today’s meeting of the Conference on Disarmament, which had begun at 10:00 a.m. The Conference would be holding meetings every day this week. The Information Service would be providing press release coverage and meeting summaries of these meetings, as usual. The Secretary-General of the Conference, Mr. Sergei Ordzhonikidze, considered that this series of meetings showed “a very serious intensification of consultations” between the member States of the Conference. A list of speakers was available in the Press Room.
Ms. Heuzé said that the conclusions of the sessions of two committees currently meeting in the Palais des Nations would be made available to journalists on Friday morning, 19 May 2006. The comprehensive conclusions of the Committee Against Torture would be available, on a country-by-country basis, as of 10:00 a.m. on Friday. The conclusions of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights would be available a bit later in the morning.
The Committee on the Rights of the Child was continuing its work with parallel meetings in two separate chambers. This morning, the Committee was reviewing reports from Latvia and Italy; on Wednesday, 17 May 2006, it would consider reports from Canada, Turkey, the Czech Republic and Qatar.
Ms. Heuzé recalled that the General Assembly had designated 17 May as World Information Society Day to help raise awareness of ways to bridge the digital ways, as well as the possibilities that the use of the Internet and other information communications technologies (ICTs) can bring to societies and economies. The statement of the Secretary-General on this day was available in the Press Room.
Sanjay Acharya of the International Communication Union (ITU) added that the observance of World Information Society Day would be led by ITU with the presentation of the first World Information Society Award to His Excellency Mr. Abdoulaye Wade, President of the Republic of Senegal, and to Professor Muhammad Yunus, Managing Director of Grameen Bank in Bangladesh. The ceremony would begin at 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday, 17 May 2006. The press would have an opportunity to meet with the laureates at 12:15 p.m. Brochures on the programme were available at the back of the room.
Flash Appeal for Guinea-Bissau
Elizabeth Byrs of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that the United Nations was today launching in Geneva a $3.64 million Flash Appeal for Guinea-Bissau. The appeal was for assistance to approximately 20,000 people made vulnerable by more than two months of armed confrontations between the Guinea-Bissau Army and a faction of the Senegalese separatist group, the MFDC (Mouvement des forces démocratiques de la Casamance). Guinea-Bissau, a West African country with a population of some 1.4 million, ranked 172 of 177 countries on the 2005 UNDP Human Development Index. High food insecurity characterized both rural and urban areas. Only 36 per cent of total arable land was under cultivation due to a lack of drainage and irrigation systems; 34 per cent of households were classified as “very vulnerable” to food insecurity and an additional 28 per cent as “vulnerable”. As many as 32 per cent of children under five were chronically malnourished, while 5.4 per cent suffered from acute malnutrition. Security and mine action was among the priorities established by the Flash Appeal, as the MFDC had used both landmines and improvised explosive devices in the conflict zone, which were hindering access to farmlands. Further details were available in a press release at the back of the room.
Recruitment in Chad refugee camps
Ron Redmond of the United High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said that reports were being received that the recruitment of males in refugee camps in eastern Chad was continuing despite UNHCR's previous denunciation of such activities and its repeated appeals to the Chadian government to ensure that the civilian character of refugee camps was maintained. In March, some 4,700 men and boys had been forcibly or voluntarily recruited in Breidjing and Treguine refugee camps by some Sudanese rebel groups. These activities had not stopped, according to refugees, and UNHCR feared that recruitment could also be spreading to other refugee sites in eastern Chad. Mr. Redmond said that people who had fled the horrors of Darfur had already suffered enough and that it was totally unacceptable that refugee camps become recruiting grounds and that children under the age of 18 were being victimized. UNHCR again called on the Chadian government to do everything it could to ensure the civilian character of the refugee camps and to ensure security in and outside of the camps. Further information was available in a briefing note at the back of the room.
“Lean season” looming in the Sahel
Christiane Berthiaume of the World Food Programme (WFP) said that household food stocks were beginning to run low across the Sahel region of West Africa, which was now entering the “lean season”. Every year, millions of people across the Sahel endured a precarious few months between the exhaustion of their household food stocks and the new harvest. After the food crisis that engulfed the region last year, this annual “lean season” was starting earlier than usual in some of the world’s poorest countries. This year, WFP aimed to feed 3.3 million people – well over half of which were young children – in the Sahelian countries of Mauritania, Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, through supplementary feeding at nutrition centres and community health clinics, and other food-aid programmes. An appeal had been launched for $54 million but to date only $16 million, or 30 percent, had been received. WFP was particularly concerned that its operation to feed over 400,000 people in Mauritania was drastically short of funds and facing almost immediate breaks in food supplies. WFP urged the international community to continue supporting programmes that mitigate the very worst effects of food shortages among the most vulnerable. Further information was available in a press release at the back of the room.
Palestinian refugees arrive at Iraq-Syria border
Mr. Redmond said that additional groups of Palestinians leaving Baghdad for security reasons had started arriving at the Iraq-Syria border over the weekend. On Saturday, a group of 67 Palestinians had arrived at Tanef border crossing in northeastern Syria. They were not allowed official access into Syria, but were authorized to remain on the Syrian side of no man's land. A UNHCR team had tried to help them gain entry, but were informed by Syrian authorities that no newcomers would be accepted. On Sunday, UNHCR had been able to provide food and basic items to this group and an UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) medical team had been dispatched to check on their health. By the end of the day, Sunday, another group of 54 people arrived at the border and there were reports that more Palestinians were on their way, fleeing increased violence and intimidation in Baghdad. UNHCR was concerned about these developments and was providing assistance and protection to the refugees, in cooperation with Palestinian and Iraqi non-governmental organizations. There were still an estimated 23,000 Palestinians in Baghdad.
Other
Mr. Redmond drew attention to two issues covered in UNHCR’s briefing note. First, another two smuggler boats had arrived over the weekend in Yemen from Somalia, carrying more than 335 Somalis and Ethiopians searching for refuge or a better life. UNCHR was closely monitoring the situation on the ground. UNCHR had for the past year been calling for joint action to tackle the roots of this problem and would continue to highlight the very urgent need for a more global approach. Second, today, the number of Afghan refugees returning home this year from Pakistan under UNHCR’s voluntary repatriation programme was set to pass the 50,000 mark. This brought to some 3 million the total number of Afghans returning from Pakistan since the programme started in 2002. In 2006, UNHCR expected over half-a-million Afghans to return home from Pakistan and Iran.
Asked by a journalist to comment on the decision of the United States government to place troops on their border, Mr. Redmond said that it was UNHCR’s position that governments had the right to ensure security along their borders and to control their own migration policies. Jemini Pandya of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) echoed Mr. Redmond’s response but added that IOM had put out a statement two weeks ago citing studies in the United States and Europe that indicated very little correlation between strong border controls and a decline in the number of irregular migrants.
Ms. Berthiaume drew attention to a media advisory at the back of the room on the global walk entitled “Walk the World – Fight Hunger”, which would take place on Sunday, 21 May 2006. Walks were being organized in more than 100 countries. The list of countries was available on the website www.fighthunger.org.
In response to a question on what WFP was doing in response to allegations the involvement of WFP officers in sexual abuse in Africa, Ms. Berthiaume said that WFP was taking the allegations very seriously and was investigating them together with other UN partners concerned. She would get back to the journalist with further details on the actions undertaken by WFP.
Ms. Byrs drew attention to an OCHA Situation Report No. 8 on volcanic activities in Indonesia, available at the back of the room. She also recalled that the Resident Coordinator in Pakistan would be available for interviews Wednesday afternoon, 17 May 2006. The reconstruction plan for Pakistan would be launched in New York this evening. The report was available, under embargo, for those interested. Finally, Ms. Byrs announced that there would be a press briefing with the Head of the OCHA office in Congo on Friday, 19 May 2006, at 3:00 p.m., in Press Room 1.
Fadela Chaib of the World Health Organization (WHO) drew attention to a press briefing on Wednesday, 17 May 2006, at 10:30 a.m., where Denis Aitken, Advisor to the Director-General of WHO, would review the key issues to be addressed at this year’s World Health Assembly (22-27 May 2006). The briefing would take place in Press Room 1.
Jemini Pandya of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) drew attention to a press release in English and French (with Spanish to follow shortly) announcing the signing of a global cooperation agreement with the Ricky Martin Foundation (RMF). The agreement, signed in Madrid this week, was aimed at raising awareness of and combating the sexual exploitation and trafficking of children. It built on the work that IOM and RMF were carrying out in Colombia where the impact of the information campaign "Don't Let Anyone Shatter Your Dreams" launched in March with a series of Public Service Announcements featuring Ricky Martin, had been outstanding. IOM and RMF had seen telephone calls to hotline numbers increase by 500 per cent in the past three months.
A minute of silence was observed at the beginning of the briefing in memory of Finnish journalist Lauri Karen. Richard Waddington, President of the Geneva Association of United Nations Correspondents (ACANU) and Reuters Bureau Chief, said that it had been many years since Mr. Karen had frequented the halls of the Palais des Nations but that he had been one of Finland’s best-known foreign correspondents until his retirement in 1993.