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 International Committee of the Red Cross, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the World Health Organization, the World Food Programme, the International Organization for Migration, the United Nations Refugee Agency, and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.


Third Anniversary of Baghdad Bombing

Marie Heuzé announced that the third anniversary of the Baghdad bombing was being observed today at the Palais des Nations with a brief ceremony that was to begin at 4:20 p.m. when colleagues who were in Baghdad at the time of the attack were to lay a wreath in front of the memorial plaque followed by a minute of silence. In his message to the staff on the occasion, Secretary-General Kofi Annan said the death of the 22 colleagues, including mission chief Sergio [Vieira de Mello], was marked as the “UN’s loss of innocence”. Moreover, he said the “Baghdad attack dealt a fatal blow to the illusion that wearing a blue helmet, or hoisting a U.N flag, placed us above the fray….My first responsibility as Secretary-General is to take care that no staff member’s life is needlessly or recklessly endangered”, he continued. Copies of the Secretary-General’s message in French and English were made available in the Press Room.

Situation in Darfur

The Director indicated that the United Nations Assistant Secretary-General of Peacekeeping Operations briefed the Security Council yesterday on the situation in Darfur providing an update on the situation on the ground. Mr. Annabi said the security situation in Darfur had worsened in July with violence between signatories and non-signatories to the Darfur Peace Agreement, as well as an unprecedented level of attacks against humanitarian workers. Mr. Annabi also underscored that the Peace Agreement’s implementation wasn’t going well, with both signatories and non-signatories violating it and pointed out that Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir had reiterated his rejection of a UN operation in Darfur and warned that the Sudanese army would fight any UN forces sent to Darfur. Given the urgency of the situation on the ground, the United Nations urged the Council to consider re-engaging the Government of Sudan directly for a final discussion on this matter. In this connection, Mrs. Heuzé drew attention to the letter from the Secretary-General to the President of the Security Council in which he provided an update on the situation in Darfur. Copies of the Secretary-General’s letter were made available in the Press Room.

Lebanon

Concerning the situation in Lebanon, Marie Heuzé said UNIFIL reported yesterday that the withdrawal of the Israeli Army from the area of Lebanon in which it had been in, had been under way since Wednesday, while Lebanese forces yesterday morning began their deployment south of the Litani River, including in areas vacated by the Israel Defence Forces. UNIFIL also reported that significant numbers of Lebanese troops arrived yesterday morning in Tyre, with around 500 already deployed in the area of Tibnin, and with some 800 in the general area of Marjayoun.

Highlighting the dangers posed in Lebanon by unexploded ordnance and landmines, the Director indicated that two children were killed this week in the south. In that regard, the UNIFIL Chinese demining team continued to clear unexploded ordnance yesterday and provided assistance to two civilians injured by unexploded ordnance in the village of Hinniyah. UN troops also distributed food and water to residents in a number of villages in its area yesterday and provided fuel to the village of Rmeich to power the local water supply pump. Additional information was made available in a press release from UNIFIL.

Christiane Berthiaume of the World Food Programme said 1,819 tons of food had been sent to Lebanon since the beginning of the war. Altogether that translated to 334 trucks. An estimated 200,000 displaced people had returned to Beirut and another 200,000 to Southern Lebanon. The fact that between 50 and 80 per cent of the houses in the south of the country were destroyed posed the biggest problem. Yesterday the French boat Capa Camarat arrived at the port of Beirut with medical and other emergency supplies. Ms. Berthiaume also announced that a new route was opened at the border town of Masnaa, which will serve as the link between Damascus and Beirut.

Elizabeth Byrs of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said the issue over the scarcity of fuel was now improving given the arrival of two tankers yesterday carrying 87,000 tons of gasoline and fuel. A third tanker was expected to arrive today. Moreover, Beirut airport was now operational for humanitarian flights. In the last three days the UN and other international agencies had been able to expand their activities. Humanitarian hubs have been set by OCHA in Tyre and Saida and 2,707 metric tons of humanitarian assistance was delivered yesterday. As of today, around 50 per cent of OCHA’s Flash Appeal has been funded.

Jennifer Pagonis of the of the United Nations Refugee Agency said there had been a phenomenal speed of return to their homes both from Syria and within Lebanon. From Syria, as of last night more than 107,000 people had crossed back into Lebanon on the official border points and many more through unofficial routes. Collective and public shelters in Syrian and the areas around Beirut were reported virtually empty. UNHCR was taking part in a five-day survey led by the government of Lebanon starting this weekend to determine the precise needs in the worst damaged areas in the south. In the meantime, all aid being sent into the country were being diverted to the south where the needs were.

Wivina Belmonte from UNICEF mentioned that the ship which sailed from Marseilles and arrived yesterday in Beirut carried 18 tons of emergency rations provided by UNICEF. UNICEF was also continuing with its radio and TV campaign on landmines and unexploded ordnance both inside Lebanon and for those crossing the border from Syria. The other priority UNICEF issue was that of safe water. In its initial convoys this week UNICEF delivered 1.2 million litres of bottled water. Tomorrow, 40,000 litres of water will be distributed in the area of Tyre and another 20,000 litres in the area of Marjayoun. Ms. Belmonte said another priority area for UNICEF was to ensure that children were able to attend school given the school year right around the corner. There were some 900 schools that were housing internally displaced families which were now being emptied. UNICEF was making efforts to ensure that they will be filled with students by the time the school year began on 15 October.

Annick Bouvier of the International Committee of the Red Cross said seven convoys with food and fuel were sent yesterday to seven villages along the Blue Line in southern Lebanon. The key priority was to restore the region’s water supply. ICRC sanitation engineers were currently working in close cooperation with local specialists and the water boards in order to repair damaged networks. Additional information was available in a press release and ICRC summaries.

Fadela Chaib of the World Health Organization said as thousands of people in Lebanon returned to their homes this week, the WHO was working to assess the damage to health facilities and the impact of the crisis on the delivery of health service in the country. WHO stressed that access to health for all including those who were still displaced within the country was critical. A group of 50 experts from WHO, the Lebanese Ministry of Health and the American University in Beirut will visit areas in the south of the country and Beirut for a four-day assessment exercise to determine the state of the sanitation infrastructure and the physical damage done to buildings to be able to assess whether medical personnel would be able to return to work and to see what the most urgent needs were.

Chris Lom of the International Organization for Migration said the IOM and UNHCR had activated a joint fund to help up to 10,000 Lebanese displaced by the conflict to return to their homes from Syria. The joint IOM-UNHCR Rapid Response Transportation Fund (RRTF) will provide 500,000 USD to cover the cost of IOM transport to safe key locations in Lebanon and will provide grants to vulnerable returnees with insufficient resources to pay for food and local transport to their final destinations in towns and villages throughout Lebanon. Meanwhile IOM’s evacuation of foreign migrant workers from Lebanon continued this week and IOM continues to receive evacuation requests. This week IOM bus convoys from Beirut helped over 3,000 internally displaced Lebanese return to their homes in southern towns. An IOM assessment mission is currently in South Lebanon to examine areas in which IOM may be able to assist in the reintegration of the returnees and the rehabilitation of their shattered communities. The mission will continue to Baalbek and the Bekaa valley through the weekend.

Asked for further information on the naval blockade, Ms. Berthiaume of WFP said the blockade was still in effect although the situation was easing. The United Nations was trying to negotiate more direct routes as opposed to having their aid shipments diverted.

Responding to a question on the bombing of the oil refineries and the environmental impacts, Mrs. Heuzé recalled that there was an international meeting in Athens yesterday at which an action plan was agreed on to help Lebanese authorities clean-up the spill and prevent any damage to neighbouring countries. The Action Plan recommends that immediate, helicopter-based aerial surveys with a trained independent observer be conducted as well as the establishment of a “permanent, on-site advisory force” of up to three pollution response specialists, who would help with site surveys and act as an advisory team to the Lebanese Ministry of the Environment. The press release issued after the Athens’ meeting by the International Maritime Organization and UNEP was made available in the Press Room.

In response to another question on humanitarian deliveries, Ms. Berthiaume of WFP said the problem at present was access and that the effects of the war posed a bigger problem than those caused by the blockade.

Responding to a question on reconstruction of Lebanon and UNDP’s role, Ms. Heuzé said the present focus was on humanitarian assistance. Reconstruction would commence under the responsibility and leadership of the Government of Lebanon, after an evaluation of the damage inflicted. Ms. Belmonte (UNICEF) added that the focus over the next several weeks would be on relief and early recovery. The United Nations agencies were now in a position to move supplies in and the main priority at present was to ensure that people returning to their homes had the assistance they required. Ms. Heuzé indicated that at the next briefing a spokesperson from UNDP would be present.

Humanitarian situation in Gaza

Asked to provide information on the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza, Ms. Berthiaume said United Nations agencies had been able to get in temporary supplies. There was now approximately one month’s worth of food supplies available. The situation was still very bad.

Adding to this, Michael Bociurkiw from UNICEF said the access into Gaza was somewhat unpredictable and there were also problems encountered in terms of getting international staff into Gaza.

Ethiopia

Ms. Byrs of OCHA, reporting on the floods in the Ethiopian region of South Omo, said over 900 people had been killed with 30,000 victims. The Omo Valley was inaccessible by road. An assessment team was sent to the region and will report when it returns when the weather improves. There were urgent needs for boats, life jackets and helicopters; two military helicopters were on standby waiting for improved weather conditions. The problem was largely exacerbated due to the large amount of deforestation in the area. Additionally there was an urgent need for clean drinking water.

Ms. Berthiaume of the WFP added that the floods in Ethiopia were the worse seen there in ten years. WFP had stocks of supplies in Awassa south of the capital. Many animals were also killed. The rivers were still overflowed and the weather was not improving.

Ms. Byrs said there was an Acute Watery Diarrhea outbreak in the Gambella Region of Ethiopia, which had thus far resulted in 130 deaths since April 2006. The epidemic was also reaching the capital Addis Ababa.

Sri Lanka

Jennifer Pagonis said UNHCR and its partners were seriously concerned about the welfare of civilians in areas inaccessible to humanitarian agencies because of strictly enforced travel restrictions, as fighting continued in the north and east of Sri Lanka. UNHCR called on the Sri Lankan Government and the rebel Tamil Tigers, or Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), urgently to allow access for humanitarian aid workers so vital supplies could reach those in need, and to permit freedom of movement to all affected populations. Thousands of displaced families in Muttur, Eachchilampattu Divisions of Trincomalee District, and Vaharai Division in Batticaloa District, were in desperate need of sustained humanitarian relief. Since fighting began to flare up in Sri Lanka in April, UNHCR recorded more than 162,200 people who had fled their homes but remained within the country, as well as 6,672 who have crossed the Palk Strait to become refugees in India's Tamil Nadu state. UNHCR reported it had gained limited access to Vaharai - an area of Batticaloa receiving many thousands of displaced people from neighbouring Trincomalee District.

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea

Ms. Berthiaume of WFP said in mid-July there had been some significant flooding in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea which was asking assistance from the food agency for the Songchon district and food will be distributed to the population there. In response to a related question, she said WFP along with other international agencies were assisting some two million persons.

Other

Mr. Lom of IOM drew attention to a background note made available providing an overview of the post-conflict reintegration programme in Aceh one year after the signing of the peace agreement there.

Mr. Lom also announced that today IOM began the first of a series of return and reintegration dialogues for internally displaced people living in the IOM-managed Comoro Airport IDP camp in Timor Leste’s capital Dili.