REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Marie Heuzé, Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired the briefing which also heard from Spokespersons for the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the World Food Programme, the UN Refugee Agency, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, the World Intellectual Property Organization, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, and the International Organization for Migration.

Human Rights Council

With regard to the Human Rights Council's second session, which was concluding today, Ms. Heuzé noted that the Council had suspended its work shortly after opening this morning to allow for negotiations and consultations among members. As soon as they decided to reconvene in public, the information service would inform journalists. She recalled that public sessions were available as a webcast on the Internet.

World AIDS Day

Ms. Heuzé recalled that on 1 December every year World AIDS Day was commemorated. The Secretary-General's message to be delivered on that occasion, his last, would importantly underscore developments in the 10 years since the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) had been created. The Day would be commemorated in Geneva, as well as all over the world. The Secretary-General's message would be available in all the official languages as well as in German.

Sophie Barton-Knott of the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) said that the theme of World AIDS Day, which would be celebrated in many events around the world on Friday, was "Accountability" for the promises made to stop AIDS at all levels – personal, community, organizational and governmental. In Geneva, the UNAIDS Secretariat, along with other non-governmental organizations and humanitarian organizations, as well as people living with HIV, and faith communities, would be joining to commemorate World AIDS Day. On 1 December, an ecumenical prayer, "Keep the Promise", would be held at the World Council of Churches at 1 p.m. From 4 to 5.30 p.m. a special event would be held at the new UNAIDS headquarters, at 20 Avenue Appia, directly opposite the World Health Organization (WHO). Speaking at the event would be UNAIDS Executive Director Peter Piot, Anders Nordstrom, acting head of WHO, and Mukesh Kapila, the Special Representative for HIV and AIDS of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. Later, a torchlight parade would be held at 7.30 p.m. in the city centre, starting from the Temple des Pâquis. A message from Peter Piot, the UNAIDS Executive Director would be distributed to journalists on 30 November.

Statements by the Secretary-General

Ms. Heuzé mentioned that this afternoon the Secretary-General would deliver a lecture at Princeton University on what he considered one of the greatest global threats to humanity – nuclear weapons. In his speech, the Secretary-General regretted the major crisis of confidence now facing the nuclear non-proliferation regime and that, "despite the grave, all-encompassing nature of this threat, the Governments of the world are addressing it selectively, not comprehensively". Although the very idea of global self-annihilation was "unbearable to think about", its consequences had to be imagined. The address was available in French and English in the press room, subject to an embargo until 4.30 p.m. New York time today.

On the issue of children in armed conflict, Ms. Heuzé recalled that it was not just an area of concern for UNICEF, but for the UN as well, and in 1998 the Secretary-General had appointed a Special Representative for Children in Armed Conflict as a direct follow up to Graça Machel’s Study in 1996. Today, the Security Council was holding an open debate on the situation of children in armed conflict. Copies of the message to be delivered by the Secretary-General to the Council were available in French and English, subject to an embargo until 10 a.m. New York time.

In addition, available were the Secretary-General's messages on the International Day for the Abolition of Slavery (2 December); the International Day of Disabled Persons (3 December); and International Volunteer Day (5 December), as well as the Secretary-General's remarks made yesterday at a stake out following the General Assembly debate on development, notably with regard to the situation in the Sudan, Iraq and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

José-Luis Diaz, of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, responding to questions, said that the High Commissioner would be addressing the Council tomorrow and there was a possibility that she would hold a doorstep press encounter following her intervention. He would inform journalists as soon as he had any information.

Situation in Chad

Simon Pluess of the World Food Programme (WFP) said that the looting of 500 tons of food aid destined for the refugees of eastern Chad over the weekend underscored the fragility of the lifeline in Chad, and had dealt a very severe blow to WFP’s operations there. WFP was currently assessing the situation in Abeche, but was intending to continue with essential staff only. Reports from Abeche had indicated that it was the local population and not the rebels or regular forces who had been responsible for the looting. The good news was that all the food needed for December distribution was already in the camps. So far, WFP had provided monthly rations to some 215,000 refugees from Darfur, as well as assisting internally displaced Chadians in the east. In the south, WFP provided rations to some 46,000 refugees from the Central African Republic.

Jennifer Pagonis of the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) added that the security situation was calm this morning in the eastern Chad town of Abeche. UNHCR had lost 80 percent of stocks and it was estimated that the warehouse contained US$1.3 million worth of relief items. The security situation outside Abeche remained uncertain, however, with reports of rebel presence as well as the Chadian military. Since November 26, the day after the attack on Abeche, 179 persons had registered at the French military base in Abeche to leave - including 25 from UN agencies. Of that number, 31 persons had been relocated to N'Djamena, Chad's capital. Another plane was scheduled to leave today with 40 persons, and a UNHCR plane is also expected. Activities within the refugee camps in the east were ongoing, but the volatile security situation could have an impact on UNHCR assistance to the refugees in the near future. It had also had to reduce monitoring activities in the east, especially in the Guereda area where Darfur refugees had arrived recently from the Djebel Moon area.

Flooding in Kenya and Eastern Africa

Ms. Pagonis said that UNHCR had stepped up the pace of its airlifts of emergency supplies for thousands of refugees in Dadaab refugee camp complex in north-eastern Kenya whose homes were swept away by floods. The Dadaab camp complex for 160,000 refugees had been hit by heavy rains that had washed away parts of the only road connecting the remote camp to Nairobi. Airlifts were now the only viable means of getting relief supplies to the camps. UNCHR were continuing to move the most affected people from Ifo camp to higher ground at Hagadera camp, some 20 kms away. So far 4,500 refugees have been relocated.

Responding to a question, Ms. Pagonis expressed relief that no rain had been reported over the last three days.

Michael Bociurkiw of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) noted that the latest situation report from the national weather service was that heavy rain would continue over the next week in parts of western and central Kenya. Rain patterns however appeared to be shifting northwards, however. The problem was that the El Niño effect meant it was likely those rains would extend into the first week of 2007. More than 180 schools with over 200,000 children had been affected by the flooding along the coast and in the north-eastern provinces. In Ethiopia the floods had led to the deaths of about 80 people. Some 15,000 children were already affected by waterborne diarrhoeal diseases there.

Other

Catherine Sibut of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) announced the cancellation of the press conference that was to be held tomorrow to launch a new study on foreign direct investment in services. The document and a press release would be made available nevertheless. A meeting of experts would be held for three days starting tomorrow on the theme "Adjusting to a changing energy economy: Trade and development implications". The first day would focus on new developments in the energy sector, and the impact of rising prices on developing countries, among others; the second day biocarburants would be debated; and on the third day deliberations would focus on the production of oil and gas in Africa. A press conference would be held Friday at 2 p.m. in Room III, at which a number of African experts would speak, as well as Supachai Panitchpakdi, Secretary-General of UNCTAD.

Samar Shamoon of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), drew attention to a meeting of the Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property, Genetic Resources and Traditional Knowledge and Folklore, to be held from Thursday, 30 November to Friday, 8 December. The meeting would open on Thursday morning with a panel session chaired by the indigenous communities.

Elisabeth Byrs of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), announced a press conference with Ibrahima Fall, Head of the Multidisciplinary Assessment Mission to Central African Republic, on the deteriorating humanitarian situation there today at 12.30 p.m. in press room 1. She also recalled that Jan Egeland would hold a press conference on the worldwide humanitarian situation, his last as Director General of OCHA, tomorrow at 9.30 a.m. in Room III.

Jean-Philippe Chauzy of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said that the ninety-second session of the IOM Council, held at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Room XVII, had opened this morning. In conjunction with the Council, IOM's 120 member States, including the newly admitted Nepal and the Republic of Montegro, would focus on "Partnerships in Migration: Engaging Business and Civil Society", as part of its 2006 International Dialogue on Migration, to be held on 28 and 29 November.

Mr. Chauzy also announced publication today of a new report, "Engaging Diasporas as Development Partners". According to this latest report in IOM’s Migration Research Series, Governments should develop inclusive policies if they were to successfully mobilize diasporas for the socio-economic development of home and destination countries. Although diaspora members were usually keen to get involved in development projects, the report noted that major hurdles continued to impede their engagement. Less bureaucracy, better identification of investments projects, lowering transfer costs for remittances and improved security for business transactions should be part of comprehensive policy approaches.

IOM was today launching its Counter-trafficking Training Modules, a unique tool to help fight human trafficking worldwide. The Modules drew on IOM's extensive knowledge on the subject, offering a "how-to" approach on issues relating to protection and assistance to victims. The Modules would be presented by Richard Danziger, head of IOM's counter-trafficking division, at a press conference to be held at 11.30 in Room III.

Press releases on those topics were available at the back of the room.