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 was also attended by Spokespersons for and Representatives of the World Health Organization, the United Nations Children’s Fund and the High Commissioner for Refugees.

Secretary-General Concludes Official Visit to Haiti

Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has concluded an official two-day visit to Haiti during which he met in Port-au-Prince with President René Préval as well as with the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies. The Secretary-General also visited the slum area of Cité Soleil, where UN peacekeepers had helped to restore order. There he met some schoolchildren at the site of a school secured by the UN Mission (MINUSTAH) during the recent gang violence in the slum. After meeting with President Préval, the two leaders held a joint press conference in which the Secretary-General stressed the importance of consolidating achievements on the security front in Haiti, and of making progress in establishing the rule of law and fighting corruption. He said that the international community must not step aside and allow spoilers to succeed in jeopardizing Haiti’s progress. This time, he added, the United Nations, which has been in Haiti five times in the past, “will not leave until the future is secure”. A transcript of the joint press conference was available in the press room.

The Secretary-General arrived yesterday evening in Barbados for an official visit.

Geneva Activities

Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said that Sergei Ordzhonikidze, the Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva, would be meeting on Monday, 6 August with John Maresca, the new Rector of the University of Peace. The biography of Mr. Maresca was available in the press room.

On Tuesday, 7 August, the Director-General and Rogelio Pfirter, the Director-General of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, would together open an exhibition by the organization in the lobby in front of the Council Chamber at 9:30 a.m. At 12:30, they would hold a round table with journalists in press room 1. From 3:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., Mr. Ordzhonikidze and Mr. Pfirter would participate in a seminar on the tenth anniversary of the Chemical Weapons Convention which would be held in the Council Chamber.

Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier recalled that the first plenary of the third and last part of the 2007 session of the Conference on Disarmament had been held on Tuesday, 31 July. The next plenary of the Conference would be held at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, 7 August and it would be addressed by Mr. Pfirter. The third part of the session would conclude on 14 September.

The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination was continuing its meetings at the Palais Wilson. This morning, the Committee would conclude its consideration of the report of Kyrgyzstan, and the press release would be issued this afternoon. This afternoon, the Committee would start its review of the report of Mozambique.

Marburg Haemorrhagic Fever Confirmed in Uganda

Fadela Chaib of the World Health Organization said Marburg haemorrhagic fever had been confirmed in a 29-year-old man in Uganda. This illness was very similar to Ebola and most patients died from it. The man became symptomatic on 4 July, was admitted to hospital on 7 July and died on 14 July. The disease was confirmed by laboratory diagnosis on 30 July. The deceased had worked in a mine in western Uganda. There have been a number of outbreaks of Marburg haemorrhagic fever over past years, including in the Congo. The disease was rare but quite fatal, and there was no treatment for it or vaccine against it.

WHO was coordinating with the Ministry of Health of Uganda to investigate the outbreak. Ms. Chaib said the man who had died had had prolonged close contact with a 21-year-old co-worker in the mine with a similar illness. The 21-year-old man had recovered and was discharged from hospital on 9 July. There were other suspected cases and the Ministry and WHO were coordinating extensive contact tracing and contact monitoring at the mine. Appropriate isolation facilities and other measures had been put in place. The WHO Alert had been put on its website a few minutes ago and copies were available at the back of the room.

Other

Fadela Chaib of the World Health Organization said last week, she had spoken about meeting which WHO was organizing in Damascus (29 and 30 July) to discuss the health situation of Iraqi refugees living in neighbouring countries, especially Syria and Jordan. A press release was available with the results of the meeting at the back of the room.

Tony Lawrance of the Health Action and Crisis Department of the World Health Organization said this conference consultation had been attended by Ministers of Health or their Deputies from Syria, Jordan, Egypt and Iraq, as well as representatives of Foreign Affairs Ministries of those countries, UN agencies, Red Crescent societies and others. The purpose of the consultation was to consider how to improve access to healthcare for displaced Iraqis living in those countries, whose number was estimated at more than 2 million, with the majority of them in Syria and Jordan. The national health systems of the hosting countries were becoming overwhelmed, especially in view of the number of Iraqis and the number of the local population in each country. It was a very productive meeting. Key outcomes included the host countries Health Ministries reaffirming their commitment to continue to provide healthcare to the displaced Iraqi populations in their countries on the same basis as the local population. The Iraqi Government reiterated its commitment to contribute to the costs of this treatment in collaboration with the international community. The UN agencies had agreed to seek additional support to assist the host Governments with these costs and provide these services. Some practical measures were also agreed upon to help to improve access to healthcare.

Veronique Taveau of the United Nations Children’s Fund said that UNICEF today had expressed its distress at the impact that violence was having on children in Mogadishu and called on all parties to the conflict to ensure the safety of civilians, especially children. At least 20 children had died in the past month as a result of the ongoing conflict in Mogadishu while many others were among the hundreds of thousands who had fled the city in recent months. Late last month, five children were killed while en route to a mosque when one child innocently touched an unexploded ordnance, underscoring the lingering danger posed by explosive remnants of war. UNICEF had been running mine-risk education spots on radio stations covering Mogadishu and surrounding areas for the past two months. It was also supporting training of community-based child protection advocates by Handicap International.

Ms. Taveau said 20 million persons had been affected by the monsoon rains in South Asia this year, especially those in the north of India, Nepal and Bangladesh, which were the worst in many years. Certain flooded areas remained cut off. UNICEF was particularly worried about the situation of women, children and adolescents affected by the rains and flooding. In Bangladesh, UNICEF had distributed medicines and
$ 16 million worth of water purification tablets. In Nepal, UNICEF had distributed 6,000 packets of rehydrating salts and water purification tablets. UNICEF urgently needed funds for operations in Pakistan where in Balochistan and Sindh, more than 1,400 schools had been affected by the floods and more than 200 had been washed away. Potentially, 67,300 primary school-going children would miss out on quality education when schools re-opened in mid-August. On 18 July, the United Nations launched a Flash Appeal worth $ 38 million to provide assistance to more than 370,000 people displaced by the floods. As part of this coordinated response, UNICEF had appealed for $ 6.3 million.

Ron Redmond of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said since the beginning of June, an estimated 27,000 people had fled Mogadishu. Between February and May, more than 400,000 civilians had fled heavy fighting between the Somali Transitional Federal Government and the insurgents in Mogadishu. Some 125,000 had returned to the city, but many of them said that life was more unbearable than ever there because of daily violence which made it too dangerous to leave their homes. Two-thirds of the families who had fled over the past two months had settled in the provinces of the Shabelles and UNHCR had distributed aid there. Others had fled to the town of Galkayo and UNHCR distributed aid there last week. On 24 July, UNHCR had issued a $ 48 million appeal to fund its work in Somalia and neighbouring countries until the end of next year.

Mr. Redmond said that following weeks of appeals for the urgent medical evacuation from Iraq of seriously ill Palestinians, most of them children, UNHCR was pleased to report that Syrian authorities on Wednesday allowed the first four into Syria to receive much needed medical treatment. UNHCR greatly appreciated this decision by the Syrian authorities to help the four patients, aged 2 to 21, who were in very critical condition. In the meantime, conditions in the border camps remained dire for the more than 1,550 Palestinians stranded there. UNHCR had procured small fridges and tent coolers for the tents, and it continued to appeal for urgent solutions for the Palestinians at the border and the 15,000 in Baghdad.

Andrew Harper, Head of the Iraq Unit Desk at UNHCR, said it had been a slow process to try and move the Palestinians, particularly the children, out of Iraq. Transit approval had had to be received from Jordan or Syria, and it had not been forthcoming. This news that four patients had been allowed into Syria was quite significant as UNHCR believed that it may open up the possibility of future departures, at least the most vulnerable.