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 the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the UN Refugee Agency, the United Nations Children’s Fund and the United Nations Conference for Trade and Development.

Secretary-General Welcomes Outcome of G20 Summit

Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon yesterday issued a statement in London after wrapping up his participation in the Group of 20 Summit in which he said that he was pleased that G20 leaders had committed themselves to a $1.1 trillion package. But it would be critical that the share of this going to the poorer countries was delivered. The G20 leaders had also reaffirmed previous commitments to increase aid and help countries achieve the Millennium Development Goals. The Secretary-General said that this meant that they were promising at least $300 billion in aid over the next two years. For the poorest countries this would be crucial. In addition to committing significant new resources for the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, the G20 also asked the UN to monitor the impacts of this and future crises on poor and vulnerable people – in order to spur action. The Secretary-General said he welcomed the commitment from G20 leaders to resist protectionism and to monitor compliance. He was also encouraged that the G20 leaders recognized the inextricable links between addressing the economic crisis and addressing food security and climate change. The Secretary-General’s statement was in the press room.

The Secretary-General was this morning going to Paris where he would chair a gathering of the UN system’s Chief Executives Board for Coordination.

Latest Report by Secretary-General on the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said the Secretary-General’s latest report on the Democratic Republic of the Congo was released yesterday. In the report, the Secretary-General called once again on Security Council members and troop-contributing countries to come forward with the necessary means, including air and intelligence assets and military trainers, to beef up the overstretched UN peacekeeping force (MONUC). He also said that there had been a marked absence of progress in reform of the security sector, caused in large part by the crisis in the northeast. The report of the Secretary-General was available on the UN website.

Director-General Delivers Keynote Address in Brussels on the Assessment of Belgium’s Term in the Security Council

Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said Sergei Ordzhonikidze, the Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva, was right now delivering a keynote address entitled "New Security Challenges: Soft and Hard" at a conference organized by the United Nations in Brussels, the United Nations Association Flanders Belgium and the Leuven Centre for Global Governance Studies, and taking place at the Belgian Chamber of Representatives in Brussels. The overall title of the conference was "Belgium in the Security Council 2007-2008: An Assessment". Through the prism of the concept of soft and hard challenges, the Director-General would address a range of security challenges before the international community, including continuing violent conflicts, terrorism, the ongoing arms build-up and threats to non-proliferation, and outline the United Nations' responses.

International Day of Reflection on the 1994 Genocide in Rwanda

Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said the International Day of Reflection on the 1994 Genocide in Rwanda would be commemorated at the Palais des Nations on Tuesday, 7 April 2009. The ceremony, which was being organized by the Permanent Mission of Rwanda, would be opened by the Director-General. Following the Director-General’s remarks, statements would be made by Venetia Sebudandi, Permanent Representative of Rwanda to the United Nations Office at Geneva, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay and others, including a survivor of the 1994 genocide. The event would be held in Room XIX at the Palais des Nations from 4 to 5.30 p.m. Journalists were invited to attend.

Durban Review Conference

Rupert Colville of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said he had a little update on the Durban Review Conference. At yesterday’s meeting of the inter-governmental inter-sessional working group charged with negotiating a draft outcome document for the up-coming conference, government representatives expressed confidence about a successful outcome of the conference and renewed momentum in the battle against racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance. Yesterday’s meeting was the first full meeting of the working group since last month's release of the current proposed draft of the document by the group's chair. The text received broad support from states from all regions. Delegates consistently praised the flexibility and spirit of compromise that had resulted in this version of the document. Most said it now only needed fine-tuning. Some representatives said they had further suggestions they wished to make on the document during the formal session of the working group next week. It would be interesting what happened there. However, all those who spoke stressed that they would work to ensure that consensus on the final outcome document would be achieved. The next formal session of the working group would take place from 6 to 9 April. That session would be followed by an April 15-17 Preparatory Committee meeting before the conference itself, which would take place from 20 to 24 April.

High Commissioner Welcomes Australia’s Support of UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

Mr. Colville said High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay has welcomed the fact that Australia earlier today joined the ranks of Member States that supported the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. This was a further public commitment towards ensuring human rights and social justice for indigenous people in Australia, and the Office looked forward to measures aimed to ensure that it was fully implemented in practice. The Australian move set an important example which the Office hoped would be followed by the three remaining States that opposed this key declaration when it was adopted by the General Assembly in September 2007. 144 states voted in favour of the Declaration. So that number now effectively rises to 145. In response to a question, Mr. Colville said Canada, the United States and New Zealand were the other three States that voted against the Declaration. Eleven States abstained in the vote.

Human Rights Council

Rolando Gomez of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said available at the back of the room was a press release on the announcement by the President of the Human Rights Council today of his appointment of the fact-finding mission to Gaza. He decided to appoint Justice Richard J. Goldstone of South Africa to lead the mission which was established by the Special Session of the Human Rights Session on Gaza in January. The other members of the mission were Professor Christine Chinkin, Ms. Hina Jilani and Retired Colonel Desmond Travers. The biographies of the members of the mission were also available. Ms. Chinkin served on the fact-finding mission of the Council to Beit Hanoun. Ms. Jilani of course was known to journalists in her capacity as the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Human Rights Defenders. Colonel Travers was a member of the Board of Directors of the Institute for International Criminal Investigations. The President, Ambassador Martin Ihoeghian Uhomoibhi of Nigeria, met this morning with the concerned parties to inform them of his decision. At 12:30 today, in Room III, President Uhomoibhi and Mr. Goldstone would brief journalists on the mission.

Floods in Southern Africa

Elizabeth Byrs of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said the rains were continuing, and most of southern Africa had a higher probability of receiving above average rainfall between April and June, which may yet cause further localized and perhaps extensive flooding. Soil moisture levels were already very high, increasing the chances of flooding and runoff, due to decreased absorption capacity. In Angola, 220,000 persons were affected and 30 killed by the floods. In Namibia, 350,000 were affected, including 92 deaths and 13,000 displaced persons, and a state of emergency had been declared in the north eastern part of the country. In Mozambique, 4,000 persons were affected. No information was available regarding the numbers affected or the damage caused by floods in Zambia, but 15 districts had reported flooding. In Malawi, 323 households were affected and 1,267 houses destroyed. In Botswana, 500 persons had been affected. In Madagascar, 3,376 persons were affected. Most of these were only preliminary figures which did not necessarily reflect the whole picture. A flash appeal for Namibia had already been launched for $ 2.7 million, including $ 1.3 million from the Central Emergency Revolving Fund. The Fund had also offered $ 2.3 million to help Angola. An appeal for Madagascar was being prepared.

In all the countries of Southern Africa, thousands of acres of land were flooded and this would affect the harvests and the situation of food security. In response to a question, Ms. Byrs said she had checked about the situation in Zimbabwe, but they were having a normal rainy season with no reported floods.

Refugees

Ron Redmond of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said UNHCR wished to express its concern about the increasing trend by the Kenyan authorities to forcibly return Somali asylum seekers to their country. On 31 March, 31 asylum seekers, including nine men, eight women and 14 children, travelling by bus to Dadaab refugee camps, were forcibly returned to Somalia. Police in Dadaab also confirmed there was a similar incident on 23 March involving 61 asylum seekers. UNHCR had sent a formal complaint to the Minister of Immigration and Registration of Persons protesting these actions. UNHCR was concerned that despite bringing such cases to the attention of the Government, no action had been taken.

Mr. Redmond said UNHCR was today starting the relocation of Somali refugees from a transit centre in Colo Ado, Ethiopia, near the Ethiopian-Somali border, to the newly opened Bokolmanyo camp some 90 kilometres inside Ethiopia. The first convoy would transport 157 Somali refugees, who were part of a group of 5,000 Somalis who had recently been recognized as refugees by the Ethiopian Government. Another 5,000 Somalis were staying with the local community in Dolo Ado, waiting to be screened. The Somali Region of Ethiopia already hosted more than 33,000 Somali refugees. With the new arrivals, the total was expected to pass the 40,000 mark very soon. The new camp could accommodate up to 20,000 refugees.

Mr. Redmond said UNHCR had asked the Thai Government for clarification of allegations that a Lao Hmong man, Joua Va Yang, had been mistreated in Huay Nam Khao camp in Petchabun province, northern Thailand, and was in danger of being deported to the Democratic People’s Republic of Laos. The camp was home to more than 5,000 Lao Hmong to whom UNHCR had never had access.

In follow-up on the boat incident off Libya last Tuesday, Mr. Redmond said since then UNHCR staff had visited three centres in Libya where people who had been rescued were taken. So far, more than 50 persons had been interviewed, none of whom had been registered with UNHCR. UNHCR had provided humanitarian assistance to the centres. The rescued persons were from a variety of countries, including Algeria, Egypt, Tunisia, Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire, Cameroon, Nigeria, Gambia, Eritrea, Somalia and Palestine.

UNICEF and the International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action

Veronique Taveau of the United Nations Children’s Fund said the International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action was commemorated on 4 April. On this occasion, UNICEF recalled that landmines and explosive remnants of war continued to pose an enormous threat to children worldwide. Every day, civilians in dozens of countries around the world were injured and killed by landmines and other lethal leftovers of conflict, years after hostilities of war had ended. In 2007 alone, an estimated 5,426 people were killed or maimed by mines and other explosive devices that had been left behind by armed forces. In 2007, some 60 per cent of the victims of explosive remnants of war were children. There were landmines in half the villages of Cambodia and the Democratic People’s Republic of Lao. Other countries seriously affected by landmines were Colombia, Afghanistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Chechnya, Iraq, Nepal and Sri Lanka. UNICEF as a strong advocate against landmines and other indiscriminate weapons promoted the signing, ratification and implementation of the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Treat, the Convention on Cluster Munitions and other related treaties.

Central African Republic/Chad

Ms. Taveau said UNICEF was assisting thousands of children in Chad who had fled the conflict in the neighbouring Central African Republic. More than 3,000 new refugees had arrived in Chad, in addition to the 7,000 who had already arrived in January. Women and children were around 83 per cent of the total population, which fled clashes between Rounga rebels and the national army of the Central African Republic. UNICEF had launched “Massambagne Operation”, named after the place where the refugees were arriving, which included, among other measures, immunizing children against measles and distributing vitamin A. It was also distributing water purification sachets and malaria bed nets. Safe water supply would be provided, as well as recreational kits and school in a box kits. There was more information in the press release at the back of the room.

Other

Catherine Sibut-Pinote of the United Nations Conference for Trade and Development said the multi-year expert meeting on commodities and development would be held on 6 and 7 April. They would be discussing developments and challenges in commodity markets, the current situation and the outlook. A media alert and other documents would be sent to journalists this afternoon. On 8 April, there would be the Secretary-General’s multi-stakeholder consultation on trade and development issues relating to coffee.

Ms. Sibut-Pinote reminded journalists that Dr. Supachai Panitchpakdi, the Secretary-General of UNCTAD, would be giving a press conference at the Geneva Press Club on 7 April at 11:30 a.m. on “global economic crisis: how to help developing economies to recover”.

Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said 7 April was the World Health Day. There would be a WHO press conference at 11:30 a.m. today on preparations for the commemoration of the World Health Day 2009.