REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Elena Ponomareva-Piquier, Chief of the Press and External Relations Section of the United Nations Office at Geneva, chaired the briefing which provided information on the Secretary-General's travels, in particular his programme in Geneva; the upcoming sixth Special Session of the Human Rights Council, on Israeli human rights violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory; the opening of the Conference on Disarmament's 2008 session; humanitarian efforts in Gaza; the situation in Kenya; and an update on smuggling in the Gulf of Aden, among others. Spokespersons and representatives from the International Committee of the Red Cross, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the International Organization for Migration, the World Health Organization, the International Atomic Energy Agency and the International Labour Organization made statements.

Secretary-General's Activities

Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said the Secretary-General had arrived in Geneva this morning. As announced at Friday's briefing, today Mr. Ban was meeting with the President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Jacques Rogge, in Lausanne to discuss cooperation between the two organizations. When he arrived at IOC headquarters, around 1.10 p.m., there would be a photo op. Around 4.30 p.m. this afternoon, the Secretary-General would visit Palais Wilson, headquarters of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, where he would have a brief meeting with Ms. Arbour before holding a meeting with the staff of her Office.

Tomorrow, 23 January, was shaping up to be a very full day for everyone, Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier warned, as the Secretary-General's schedule was tightly packed. At 10 a.m., the Secretary-General would begin by addressing the opening of the 2008 plenary session of the Conference on Disarmament, in the Council Chamber. Available in the Press Room was a background press release, in French and English, on the first part of the Conference's 2008 session. At 1.45 p.m., the Secretary-General would then participate in a meeting for the Consolidated Appeals Process 2008 in Room XII. At 3 p.m., he would participate in a Memorial Ceremony in the Assembly Hall to pay tribute to United Nations colleagues and others killed or injured in the despicable terrorist attack on the United Nations offices in Algiers last month. Then, at 4:30 p.m., the Secretary-General would give a press conference in Room III. The Secretary-General's provisional programme for today would be available in the Press Room in a few minutes, and his provisional programme for tomorrow would be made available early tomorrow morning.

After Lausanne and Geneva, the Secretary-General would travel to Davos, where he would be participating in the World Economic Forum, Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier continued. Making his first official visit to Eastern Europe, the Secretary-General would be in Slovenia, starting Friday night. After that, he would undertake a one-day visit to Slovakia. The Secretary-General would then travel to Africa. His first stop was Kigali, Rwanda, where he would speak at the Genocide Memorial, before proceeding to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where Mr. Ban would address the opening of the African Union summit meeting on 31 January.


Geneva Meetings

Sixth Special Session of the Human Rights Council

Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier announced that the Human Rights Council would be holding a Special Session on Wednesday, 23 January, to consider and take action on “human rights violations emanating from Israeli military incursions in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including the recent ones in occupied Gaza and the West Bank town of Nablus”. The Special Session, held at the request of the Group of Arab States and the Group of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, would be the sixth undertaken by the Council to date, and the fourth relating to Israeli military incursions (the first concerned Israel’s military incursion in Lebanon and the other two related to Israel’s actions in the Occupied Palestinian Territory). The Council has also held special sessions on the situations in Darfur, in Sudan and in Myanmar.

The Council's Sixth Special Session would open on Wednesday, 23 January, at 4 p.m. in Room XVII. In response questions, Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier confirmed that there was a possibility that the Special Session would continue on the morning of Thursday, 24 January. It was not known yet if the Secretary-General's would be addressing the Council. He had a very full schedule. Journalists would be informed as soon as possible of any changes in the Secretary-General's schedule in Geneva.

Conference on Disarmament Opens 2008 Session

As previously mentioned, the Conference on Disarmament, which had opened the work of its 2008 session on Monday, 21 January, would hear an address by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on the occasion of its first plenary session, to be held on Wednesday, 23 January at 10 a.m. in the Council Chamber. There would be another plenary session this week, on Friday, 25 January, at 10 a.m. This first part of the 2008 session would last 10 weeks, and would end on Friday, 28 March

In response to a question, Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier affirmed that the text of the Secretary-General's address, under strict embargo, would be available to journalists in the Press Room before the opening of the meeting.

Human Rights Committees

Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said that today, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, which was holding its fortieth session at the Palais des Nations, would be examining the report of Lebanon. Tomorrow, the Committee would take up the report of Luxembourg, Thursday, it would consider the report of Morocco, and Friday, that of Sweden. Next week, the Committee was scheduled to meet in private up to Friday, 1 February, when it would make public its concluding observations on reports considered at the present session before closing.

For its part, the Committee on the Rights of the Child was meeting in closed session all day today. Tomorrow morning, it would undertake a technical review, in closed session, of the initial report of Ireland under the Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict. Thursday, the Committee would examine the reports of Kuwait under the Convention's two Optional Protocols, regarding involvement in armed conflict, and on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography. Finally, on Monday, the Committee would take up the initial reports of Chile under the two Protocols, ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said.

Crisis in Gaza

Dorothea Krimitsas of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said the ICRC remained deeply concerned by the highly vulnerable humanitarian environment in Gaza. The persistent threat represented by fuel shortages was particularly serious for the running of hospitals and for the overall sanitary environment. Since the power cut, municipality sewage pumps and pumping stations were not functioning. Today, fuel shipments and humanitarian aid shipments would reportedly be allowed. ICRC was expecting one truck loaded with essential medical supplies for Gaza hospitals to be allowed into the Gaza Strip. Nevertheless, deliveries of essential humanitarian goods had to be secured in the long term to prevent more hardships and to avoid the collapse of the already fragile infrastructure

Hospitals in Gaza were putting all their fuel into their main generator to serve only essential services, such as operating theatres, intensive care units, special care units, and to preserve the cold chain, and the blood bank. There was no longer fuel for central heating, and the laundry services could not function normally. Some fuel had been delivered on an emergency basis to some of the hospitals in Gaza – at the request of ICRC and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNWRA) – but most facilities in Gaza only had reserves for between two and six days maximum. Access to hospitals was also difficult for staff because of lack of transport. Most drugs and essential medical materials were also in need of urgent resupply, Ms. Krimitsas warned.

Responding to questions, Ms. Krimitsas pointed out that many were in need for more than emergency access to medical care – such as cancer patients and diabetics, who needed regular treatments. "Humanitarian aid alone cannot solve the problem; political steps have to be taken to ensure that enough imports are allowed to make life bearable for Gaza's civilians", she concluded.

Kenya

Elisabeth Byrs of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that three interagency missions had been sent to visit areas affected by post-election violence in Kenya. Today, a mission was being undertaken to Nakuru and Molo; tomorrow, a mission would go to Mombasa; and on Thursday, 24 January a mission would visit Eldoret and Kismu – where the situation was the worst by far. Around 1,000 displaced persons were arriving in Nakuru daily, with conditions for the displaced in that area worsening as available accommodations and supplies dwindled, as well as the recent onset of rains. Results of a rapid health assessment undertaken by OCHA at five camps over the weekend underscored the gravity of the situation, with a much higher malnutrition rate than expected (45 cases of severe malnutrition found for 1,400 children examined).

In terms of donations for the $42 million Flash Appeal launched on 16 January in New York, so far it was only 17 per cent funded. The United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) far and away the largest contributor, having put up $7 million in emergency funds, Ms. Byrs said.

For its part, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) was finalizing plans today to transfer more than 300 refugees fleeing the violence in Kenya's capital to refugee camps, William Spindler of UNHCR said. The refugees -- mainly from Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Burundi -- had joined some 1,200 internally displaced persons still sheltering at Jamhuri Park, a fairground in Nairobi. Many refugees had told UNHCR that they had been threatened in the places where they lived, while some said that their homes had been burned.

UNHCR continued to support efforts to aid the internally displaced in Kenya as well, Mr. Spindler added. Over the next two days, UNHCR expected to transport more than 500 tents to the provincial capital, Nakuru, for distribution through the Kenya Red Cross to some of the most affected areas. On Monday, UNHCR had supplied 400 family kits to the Kenya Red Cross for distribution at Jamhuri Park, and UNHCR had pre-positioned a further 5,000 kits in Nairobi ready for distribution.

Meanwhile in neighbouring Uganda, starting tomorrow, UNHCR planned to move 6,000 Kenyan refugees from three border locations – Malaba, Busia and Lwakhakha – to Mulanda transit centre some 35 kilometres inside Uganda over the next five days. According to the local authorities, there were presently more than 6,500 Kenyan refugees in Uganda, most of them staying with the local population. A briefing note was available at the back of the room.

Jemini Pandya of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said that, with more and more internally displaced persons arriving at the IOM-run Show Ground camp in Eldoret every day, IOM was launching a further appeal for $1.4 million for the initial emergency work to assist those displaced by the recent violence in the country. CERF had provided $660,000, but more funds were needed urgently for IOM work at the Eldoret camp and others that might need to be established. There were 11,200 internally displaced persons already registered at the Show Ground camp, and with the flood of new arrivals it was expected to reach its maximum capacity (13,000) soon. It should be emphasized how vulnerable these displaced populations were, with 50 per cent of the internally displaced in Rift Valley Province were children under five years old.

Colombian Displaced

Turning to Colombia, Mr. Spindler of UNHCR said some 2,000 people had fled the countryside for towns and villages after receiving threats from irregular armed groups in the north-eastern Colombian region of Arauca. Many children were among the displaced and there were concerns, especially in Saravena, that the health situation could deteriorate with so many people arriving in the past two weeks. Moreover, the Colombian school year had just started and the children risked missing out on their education.

People had begun fleeing to the cities during the second week of January, following threats by irregular armed groups, and the UNHCR team on the ground said that in some parts of the department, and especially around the town of Tame, the countryside was almost empty. The Government and several non-governmental organizations had reported the killing of several community leaders since the start of the year. The violence was also affecting two local indigenous groups, the Guahibos and the Siriri-Catleya, Mr. Spindler said.

Gulf of Aden Smuggling

The deadly traffic in the Gulf of Aden was continuing unabated, Mr. Spindler reported, with 132 people dying over last weekend and a total of 157 people dead or missing during the first 19 days of 2008. A total of 2,452 boat people had been recorded arriving in Yemen during the same period.

On 18 January a boat carrying 135 passengers approached the coast of Yemen. Seeing lights ashore and fearing capture by the Yemeni Coast Guard, the smugglers had ordered passengers to jump overboard. Those who resisted had been beaten with sticks and stabbed. A large wave then capsized the boat, causing the death of 114 passengers and two smugglers. On 19 January, 10 women and 6 children, part of a group of 29 Somalis aboard a smuggling boat, drowned when strong winds capsized the boat near the coast of Yemen. The 13 male survivors told UNHCR that 4 children had died under their parents' eyes from lack of food, water and exposure. The other two had drowned.

Other

Fadéla Chaib of the World Health Organization (WHO) recalled that yesterday the WHO Executive Board had opened its 122nd session. This morning, the Executive Board was discussing the status of implementation of the International Health Regulations, adopted in June 2007. Later today, the Board would examine the issue of climate change and health; the implementation of the Global Strategy for the Prevention and Control of Non-Communicable Diseases; and strategies to reduce the harmful use of alcohol, among others. The full agenda for today's meeting was available at the back of the room.

In response to a question, Ms. Chaib said that, in the context of discussions on the implementation of the International Health Regulations, the draft resolution on Taiwan, which had been backed by three member States, had since been withdrawn.

Ms. Chaib also invited journalists to attend the press briefing being given by WHO Director-General, Margaret Chan, and UNICEF's Executive Director, Ann Veneman, today on UNICEF's "State of the World's Children Report 2008", which was being held at 1.30 p.m. in Room III.

Rita Mazzanti of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) announced that, on 28 January, IAEA was organizing a special seminar at the Palais des Nations to draw attention to the impending cancer crisis and to highlight collaboration with WHO and other organizations to combat the problem. The seminar, entitled "Rays of Hope – Promoting Affordable Cancer Therapy for Everyone", would be chaired by Massoud Samiei, Head of the IAEA Programme of Action for Cancer Therapy. The seminar was important and timely not only because cancer was becoming one of the major problems in developing as well as developed countries, but also in marking the lead up to World Cancer Day (4 February). The seminar would be held in Room IX, starting at 9.30 a.m. on Monday, 28 January. A media advisory on was available.

Laetitia Dard of the International Labour Organization (ILO) said that the annual ILO report analysing the latest developments and trends in global employment was available today, under strict embargo until tonight midnight. The press conference on the launch was being held today, following the briefing at 11.45 a.m.

Ms. Chaib of WHO wanted to come back to the issue of hospitals. They had just seen how important it was to secure hospitals in conflict situations in the context of the Gaza crisis. It was equally important to ensure that hospitals and other medical infrastructure were able to function smoothly during other disaster situations. To give just one statistic, following the disastrous earthquakes in Peru in August 2007, 97 per cent of the medical facilities had been destroyed in just two minutes. For that reason, WHO, in conjunction with the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction, and with support from the World Bank, was launching a two-year campaign to ensure that medical structures were safe from such disasters. At the Safe Hospitals campaign launch, to be held at 3.15 p.m. on Friday, 25 January, in Davos, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs John Holmes would chair a discussion with high-level participants including the Princess Zahra Aga Khan and Mary Robinson. Here in Geneva, a press briefing would be held on Thursday, 24 January, at 10 a.m. in Room III. A media advisory was available.

Mr. Spindler announced that the results of a UNHCR trauma survey carried out among Iraqi refugees in Syria had been issued today. Among the findings were that 80 per cent of the refugees had witnessed a shooting; one in five had been victims of either violence or torture in Iraq; 16 per cent had been tortured; and 75 per cent knew someone who had been killed. The report was important as UNHCR, together with its partners, was prioritizing psycho-social support for the refugees. The full report was available on the UNHCR web site (www.unhcr.org).