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 also heard from spokespersons and representatives from the World Health Organization, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Also attending were representatives of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, and the World Meteorological Organization.
Secretary-General's Statements
Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said that the Secretary-General was deeply concerned about the deterioration of the security situation in Chad as a result of renewed fighting in the eastern part of the country, particularly the latest offensive by the Chadian Armed Opposition Group. The Secretary-General had condemned all attempts to destabilize the country and was concerned about the risk of a deterioration of the already grave humanitarian situation, especially in eastern Chad, where the international community was actively engaged in providing relief and securing the voluntary, safe and sustainable return of refugees and displaced persons. The Secretary-General had called on all parties to cease hostilities immediately and to abide by their commitments under the different peace accords signed by them. He had appealed to the parties to urgently resort to dialogue to reach a peaceful and negotiated settlement of the crisis in Chad. The full text of that statement was available in the press room.
Two other statements by the Secretary-General were also available, Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said: his address on Monday evening, inaugurating a memorial to slain journalists at BBC headquarters in London, in which Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon paid homage to journalists killed while carrying out their official reporting duties; and the Secretary-General’s remarks made while at the headquarters of the International Maritime Organization, on the occasion of that organization’s sixtieth anniversary.
Geneva Activities
Turning to meetings in Geneva, Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said that the Human Rights Council, which was continuing the work of its eighth regular session until tomorrow, 18 June, was this morning considering follow-up and implementation of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action, and more generally, the question of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related forms of intolerance. In that context, the Council would hear an update on the work of the Preparatory Committee for the Durban Review Conference, which would be held from 20 to 24 April 2009 at the Palais des Nations in Geneva. This afternoon, in the framework of its general debate on technical assistance and capacity-building, the Council would hold an interactive dialogue with the Independent Expert appointed by the Secretary-General on the situation of human rights in Haiti, Louis Joinet, who would present his report.
Tomorrow, at its final morning session, the Council was scheduled to name a certain number of Special Procedures mandate holders, as well as the members of the expert mechanism on the rights of indigenous peoples, Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier continued. The Council would then take action on the draft decisions and resolutions before it at this session. As usual, at the end of the day on Wednesday a round-up press release would be issued, detailing the work undertaken during the Council’s eighth regular session.
Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier reminded journalists that tomorrow, Ambassador Doru Romulus Costea of Romania, outgoing President of the Council, would brief journalists on his the conclusion of the Council’s eighth regular session and the second annual cycle of the Human Rights Council, at 1.30 p.m. in Room III.
Also in Geneva, Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said that this morning the Conference on Disarmament was holding a plenary meeting, at which it was scheduled to hear a statement by Sweden, on behalf of Sweden and Finland, as well as hear some concluding comments from Ambassador John Duncan of the United Kingdom, the outgoing President. (Later, Pakistan, Canada and Algeria joined the list of speakers.) The second part of the Conference’s 2008 session would conclude in 10 days’ time, on Friday, 27 June.
Myanmar / WHO Disease Surveillance Reports
Rudi Coninx, of the World Health Organization (WHO) and Coordinator of the United Nations Health Cluster in Myanmar, said the Health Cluster’s all-inclusive approach included non-governmental organizations, international and local agencies, different United Nations agencies and different Red Cross members, as well the Ministry of Health of Myanmar. Together they had been able to provide a response that had helped the health system get back on its feet. Within the first 10 days, medical supplies had been provided to all the major hospitals.
The real challenge had been to get things out beyond the major centres, and Mr. Coninx was optimistic, saying that “today I think we have succeeded in that”. They had teams now, for example, looking at tuberculosis patients in the farthest away islands. Two challenges that they had faced were to set up an early warning system, which was now in place and following a number of diseases; and to ensure a coordinated response, mapping who did what where. That last task had led to the Post Nargis Joint Assessment that was going on right now, which would provide all the data necessary to do the reconstruction that would begin very soon.
Michael Nathan of WHO, and co-author of the Dengue Fever Control and Prevention Plan launched in Myanmar this week, said he had been sent to Myanmar to assess the post-cyclone Dengue situation. They had identified a considerable increase in the risk of the transmission of that disease owing to the displacement of populations. There was a short one-page summary of the plan of action to combat dengue fever transmission available at the back of the room. The plan focused on 11 priority areas of the Irawaddy Delta and on 11 priority areas of Yangon that had been identified as the highest risk. That plan encompassed about 2.5 million people in the high priority areas of Yangon, close to 2 million in the Irawaddy Delta, and just under 4 million people in the broader area of Yangon.
UNHCR Annual Global Trends Report
Jennifer Pagonis of the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said the UNHCR was just releasing its annual “Global Trends” report, which showed that there were 11.4 million refugees and 26 million others displaced internally by conflict or persecution at the end of 2007, marking the second year of increases following a five-year decline in the number of refugees between 2001 and 2005. High Commissioner Guterres, in London today to kick off World Refugee Day (20 June), said that they were now faced with a complex mix of global challenges that could threaten even more forced displacement in the future ranging from multiple new conflict-related emergencies to bad governance, climate-induced environmental degradation, and extreme price hikes that had hit the poor the hardest and are generating instability in many places.
The number of refugees under UNHCR responsibility had risen from 9.9 to 11.4 million by the end of 2007, Ms. Pagonis underscored. According to the Internal Displacement Monitoring Center, the number of people affected by conflict-induced internal displacement worldwide had increased from 24.4 million to 26 million. UNHCR did not look after all internally displaced persons, but currently provided protection or assistance directly or indirectly to 13.7 million of them – up from 12.8 million in 2006. There was a press release at the back of the room, and the full report was available on UNHCR’s website at www.unhcr.org.
World Disasters Report, 2008
Marie-Françoise Borel of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said IFRC was launching this year's World Disasters Report, focusing on HIV/AIDS, next week. Available were copies of the report, summaries, and press kits in Arab, English, French and Spanish, under embargo until midnight, 26 June. There would be a press launch on 25 June at 11 a.m. in Room III, with IFRC Secretary General, Markku Niskala; the Special Representative for HIV/AIDS, Mukesh Kapila; and Lindsay Knight, World Disasters Report Editor.
Other
Ms. Pagonis said that UNHCR welcomed the decision of the Egyptian authorities to allow UNHCR unhindered access to asylum-seekers in detention centres in Egypt and to resume refugee status determination interviews. UNHCR staff had arrived in Aswan on Sunday night to prepare for UNHCR teams to carry out interviews and individual assessment of the need for international protection of persons in detention seeking asylum, in particular of Eritrean nationals. On Monday, the team had visited two locations in Aswan in Shalal and Nasr El-Nouba areas, where they the team had reportedly seen close to 180 asylum-seekers, including a group of 40 Ethiopians. Egypt has seen a surge of Eritreans entering the country illegally in recent months by land from Sudan or directly from Eritrea via the Red Sea. This latest decision had come following the suspension of access of UNHCR protection staff to asylum-seekers in detention on 27 February 2008.
Turning to Europe, Ms. Pagonis announced that, in Warsaw today, UNHCR and the European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at External Borders (FRONTEX) were exchanging letters to strengthen their partnership. The agreement between the two agencies included a number of areas of cooperation such as regular consultations, exchanges of information, expertise and experience, and inputs into training, particularly on international human rights and refugee law.
In response to the “Policy Plan on Asylum” being issued today by the European Commission, UNHCR welcomed the proposal to work towards higher common standards of protection through further aligning of Member States asylum laws and practice. UNHCR studies had shown that there were significant shortcomings in the quality of asylum law, policy and practice in the European Union.
Teresa Buerkle of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations announced that the FAO/World Food Programme report on Zimbabwe, which had been announced for today would now be launched in Rome tomorrow.
At the close of the briefing, Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier reminded journalists of the press briefing on the launch of the study "Impact Iraq", by UNICEF Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, Sigrid Kaag, at 11.30 a.m. in Room III.