REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Marie Heuzé, the Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired the briefing, which was also attended by Spokespersons for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Durban Review Conference, the United Nations Refugee Agency, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the Roll Back Malaria Partnership, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the World Meteorological Organization, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction and the International Organization for Migration.

Durban Review Conference

Providing a roundup on logistical and substantive issues in the final lead up to the Review Conference on the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action, Ms. Heuzé noted that, as of this morning, 3,790 persons had registered for the Review Conference. That number included 103 heads of delegation of Member States; 1,777 representatives of non-governmental organizations in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC); and 752 representatives from non-governmental organizations without ECOSOC consultative status.

Many participants had not yet obtained their badges, and therefore accreditation tents would be open throughout the weekend to issue badges, Ms. Heuzé highlighted, including for journalists, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Next week, the accreditation tents would be open starting at 8 a.m. So far, the number of press accredited for the Conference stood at 107.

Regarding press conferences, Ms. Heuzé confirmed that the President of Iran would address the Durban Review Conference high-level segment, which would start at 3 p.m. on Monday, and would give a press conference in Room III at 4 p.m. the same day. Journalists should be in the room by 3.45 p.m. given the security measures that would be in place. A second press conference, which would be confirmed later, would be held with the Secretary-General and the High Commissioner following the first high-level segment, around 6 p.m. also on Monday.

Ms. Heuzé cautioned journalists that the security procedures for these press conferences would mean that, once the speakers were inside the doors would be closed and it would not be possible for journalists to enter.

Giving some elements of the schedule for Monday morning, Rupert Colville of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said that, prior to the formal opening, between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. in the General Assembly Hall, there would be a high-level panel discussion “united against racism”, organized and chaired by the High Commissioner for Human Rights. The High Commissioner would moderate the panel. The three other panellists would be Ambassador Stéphane Hessel, a Holocaust survivor and one of the few surviving drafters of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; Berthe Kayitesi, a survivor of the Rwandan Genocide; and Gay McDougall, the United Nations Independent Expert on minority issues. A 7-minute video recording the testimony of victims of racism would also be shown.

Turning to side events, Mr. Colville noted that Gay McDougall was also the moderator of one of the central side events going on all week called “voices”, which included the voices of victims of racism. There were many other side events that went very much into the substance of racism, discrimination and intolerance, and he hoped to be able to provide a full list of panellists later today. Fifteen of the side events had been organized by OHCHR either individually or with others, and there were also a number of side events organized by non-governmental organizations.

Mr. Colville said the Conference itself would open at 10 a.m. The High Commissioner would give the floor to the Secretary-General who would formally declare the Conference open. There would then be statements made by the Secretary-General, by the President of the Human Rights Council and by the High Commissioner, followed by a message from Nelson Mandela, which would be read out for him from the rostrum.

Ms. Heuzé noted that a background press release, containing the provisional work programme as just laid out by Mr. Colville, was available in French and English.

Mr. Colville also indicated that there might be a press conference this afternoon with the High Commissioner, around 4 p.m.; but that remained to be confirmed. At the back of the room were information kits on the Review Conference in French and English.

Ms. Heuzé introduced Ramu Damodaran, the spokesperson for the Durban Review Conference, who would be giving a press briefing ever day during the Conference at 1.30 p.m.

Mr. Damodaran, of the United Nations Department of Public Information in New York, observed that discussions on the draft text for the Conference were still under way. The Preparatory Committee was to resume its session at 3 p.m. this afternoon. There had been a fairly extensive late evening session yesterday, which had started around 4 p.m. and went on until 10 p.m., involving a number of delegations at the ambassadorial level.

“It is fair to say that there is a palpable sense of greater optimism after these discussions”, Mr. Damodaran said. A number of concerns that had been voiced publicly during the Preparatory Committee, a number of reservations that delegations had on individual phrases and clauses within the text – both in terms of their content and their placing within the draft declaration – came up for discussion and, “as I understand it, were by and large resolved”. There were still issues that remained. Those were being discussed even now and it was hoped that when the Preparatory Committee resumed at 3 p.m. they would be able to move still further towards a final document which would be acceptable to the plenary next week.

In response to what points had been agreed and which remained to be agreed upon, Mr. Damodaran stressed that the text continued to be a rolling text and a document under negotiation. Moreover, points agreed upon had been agreed by a set of ambassadors and delegations that had taken part in the informal consultations. No one would presume to say at this stage that those had been agreed by the entire membership as a whole. Ms. Heuzé stressed that as soon as the text was ready, it would posted on the Internet and distributed to journalists.

As to how many heads of State were attending the meeting, Ms. Heuzé said they were still awaiting confirmations and were working under the same assumptions as on Tuesday.

Migrants Committee

Ms. Heuzé announced that next Monday the Committee on Migrant Workers would open its tenth session, during which it would examine the reports of Azerbaijan, Colombia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Philippines. The two-week session would run from 20 April to 1 May at the Palais Wilson. Summaries of all public meetings would be provided in English and French.


Situation in Sri Lanka

Following the end of the 48-hour ceasefire in northern Sri Lanka, Ms. Heuzé said they had received reports of intense fighting in the vicinity of the no-fire zone, and that small arms fire, mortar fire and aerial attacks had resumed in the region. According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, more than 64,000 people had crossed from conflict areas, and most of them were now being accommodated in various camps, while some 1,000 persons were hospitalized in various districts. During the ceasefire, the International Red Cross had been able to evacuate 988 people from the no-fire zone.

Ron Redmond of the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said UNHCR had stepped up its emergency response in Sri Lanka’s north, where displacement numbers were growing as a result of heavy fighting between the military and the Liberation Tamil Tigers of Eelam. The more than 63,000 people that had fled the conflict zone were being accommodated at transit and internal displacement sites in the districts of Vavuniya, Jaffna and Mannar. UNHCR, along with the Government and other partners, was responding with massive shelter support and regular distribution of non-food aid items while undertaking protection monitoring. Thus far, distributions were concentrated on Vavuniya, where a majority of the internally displaced people were being accommodated, and to date UNHCR had distributed some 36,000 plastic mats, over 22,000 bed sheets, 32,000 mosquito nets, more than 46,000 pieces of men’s and women’s clothing, along with kitchen sets and thousands of hygiene kits. The construction of emergency shelter units by UNHCR partners at Government-designated sites was also progressing as planned, with the site in Vavuniya, which had a total capacity of up to 27,000 persons, scheduled to be completed by Monday (20 April).

UNHCR welcomed positive steps by the Government to address several protection concerns at the sites in Vavuniya, Mr. Redmond said. Short visits by friends and relatives were now allowed and UNHCR had monitored the first round of visits on Monday (13 April). Telephone, telegram and mail services were now operating in almost all sites in the district. Meanwhile, approximately 1,800 displaced with special needs, particularly the elderly, had been released from the sites, and some 1,345 separated families had so far been reunited, according to the Government. UNHCR now called upon the Government to accelerate progress on other outstanding protection concerns, including maintaining the civilian character of the displacement sites and the separation of ex-combatants from the civilian populations. UNHCR remained deeply concerned about the plight of the civilian population still trapped inside the conflict zone. Those fleeing in the Government-controlled areas provided similar accounts of the dire humanitarian conditions inside the area and the situation was worsening due to the heavy ongoing rain and winds.

Veronique Taveau of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said that UNICEF was particularly concerned about the situation of the tens of thousands of children caught between the two warring parties. Hundreds of children had been killed and hundreds of others wounded since the onset of hostilities in February and the number of victims kept increasing. UNICEF joined the Secretary-General’s call for a ceasefire so that humanitarian workers could access those in the conflict zone and those civilians who wished to leave could do so freely. In addition, the women and children that had managed to flee had been subjected to extreme conditions and now lacked food and services. A recent study carried out by the Ministry of Health and UNICEF had found that about 25 per cent of all displaced children under five years of age suffered from acute malnutrition. UNICEF was providing water, sanitation, care, protection and education for those in urgent need. UNICEF now urgently needed $3.5 million to provide care for those in the camps.

Jemini Pandya of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said IOM had already constructed emergency and semi-permanent shelters, toilets and washing facilities at several sites for internally displaced persons in Vavuniya and Jaffna districts. It was also working to improve water and waste management systems at welfare centres, and distributing essential sanitation supplies to displaced families. In addition, over the past three months, IOM had transported nearly 300 loads of relief supplies on behalf of government and other agencies to conflict-affected people.

Looking further down the line, Ms. Pandya said that IOM would also be providing technical and logistical assistance to improve the Government’s registration process for the internally displaced. The system, based on software developed by IOM to register tsunami-affected populations, included the issuance of identity cards that would facilitate future post-conflict recovery and return initiatives.

World Malaria Day

Pru Smith, of the Roll Back Malaria Partnership, announced that the Saturday after next, 25 April, was World Malaria Day. A press briefing on Friday, 24 April, at 11.30 a.m., would provide an update on where they stood with regard to Malaria control in the run up to 2010, by which date they were looking to get universal coverage. Speakers from various partners would be there to provide updates on tools, funding, implementation of malaria control and elimination of malaria in some countries. Among those attending would be representatives from the World Health Organization, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the Global Fund Board, as well as Dr. Joe Cohen, one of the originators of the Malaria vaccine, Pedro Alonso, who was leading Malaria eradication research, and two country representatives – from Zanzibar and Sri Lanka – on progress achieved in their countries. The press conference would be followed by a round table discussion at the UNAIDS building. Press advisories were available at the back of the room.

John Solecki Release Aftermath

Asked about the role of Balochi leaders and John Solecki’s release, Mr. Redmond confirmed that throughout Mr. Solecki’s two-month hostage ordeal in Pakistan, the Baloch community and leaders had played a major role in securing a safe release. One of the leaders that had taken an active role in supporting his release had been Ghulam Mohammed Baloch, who had been found murdered along with two other men last week. UNHCR was extremely distressed by those killings. Several Pakistani officials, including the President and the Prime Minister, had recognized that it was imperative that a thorough inquiry into the murders be conducted and that those responsible be brought to justice so that efforts towards reconciliation could progress. “It is also noteworthy that Mr. Baloch was one of three Balochi members of a panel that was recently formed by the Government to investigate the case of missing persons in Balochistan, and you may recall that was an issue of those who were holding John Solecki hostage.”

Floods in Eastern Africa/Zambia

Elisabeth Byrs of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) drew attention to the continuing floods in eastern Africa, announcing the results of the assessment by the Zambian Authorities, which had just been released. More than 600,000 persons in had been affected by the floods in 18 districts, resulting in 31 deaths and 500 displaced. It was estimated that more than 200,000 people would be in need of some 1,600 tons of food assistance in the two coming months. Over half the districts affected potentially would have to deal with contaminated water sources. The Zambian Authorities estimated that they would need $7.4 million to respond to health, agriculture, food, water and sanitation needs.

Other

Mr. Redmond said the information note at the back of the room also contained information on Democratic Republic of the Congo-Rwanda talks on return of some 150,000 internally displaced persons, as well as an item on the Venezuelan’s Government to expand microcredit schemes for the tens of thousand of refugees and asylum-seekers from Colombia in border states.

Gaëlle Sévenier of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) announced that the press conference on meteorological conditions in Africa with WMO Secretary-General Michel Jarraud and Kofi Annan had been postponed until the beginning of May.

Announcing Mr. Jarraud’s schedule for the coming weeks, Ms. Sévenier said that next week, starting on 22 April, Mr. Jarraud would be in the Bahamas to participate in the Hurricane Committee of the Regional Association IV (North America, Central America and the Caribbean), followed by the annual session of region IV. On 27 April, the WMO Secretary-General would be in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, for an International Workshop on the Adaptation to Climate Change in West African Agriculture. Next week she would send out a press release on that subject.

Catherine Sibut-Pinote of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) said the Secretary-General of UNCTAD would be in Venezuela on 20 April to participate in the opening of the joint UNCTAD- Latin American Economic System Regional Seminar on Trade and Competition, with a focus on prospects and future challenges for Latin America and the Caribbean. On 24 April the Secretary-General will participate in the meeting of the G-24 Ministers during the International Monetary Fund/World Bank spring meetings in Washington, D.C.

Ms. Sibut-Pinote announced three workshops: an electronic tourism seminar that would be held from 26 to 30 April in Nouakchott, Mauritania; and two workshops to be held in Mauritius, from 20 to 23 April, the first concentrating on professional development with regard to trade logistics and trade policies and the second on the best policies and instruments for successful exports.

Brigitte Leoni of the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) said that UNISDR was organizing a conference in Beijing on gender issues and risk prevention. Men and women were not equal when it came to catastrophes: women, because of their economic and social situation, were more affected. Some 50 countries and 200 participants would take part in the Conference, which was expected to result in a Beijing Declaration defining nine points to mainstream women’s concerns and to empower them with regard to prevention and management of catastrophes. A press release was available.

Ms. Byrs of OCHA also spoke about a new centre for disaster response and risk reduction centre established in Central Asia by Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan at a meeting yesterday in Almaty with OCHA representatives. The centre would allow for better regional collaboration in disaster response and risk reduction and would maximize the efficient of support teams in case of catastrophes.