REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Elena Ponomareva-Piquier, Officer-in-Charge of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired the briefing which was also attended by Spokespersons for the World Health Organization, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the World Food Programme, the UN Refugee Agency, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the International Organization for Migration, the United Nations Conference for Trade and Development and the World Economic Forum.

At the end of the briefing, Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier reminded journalists that the Palais des Nations was closed on 10 and 11 September, so the next briefing would be on Tuesday, 15 September.

Sixty-fourth Session of the General Assembly

Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said the sixty-fourth session of the General Assembly would open on 15 September at UN Headquarters in New York. The annual general debate, which was usually attended by Heads of State and Government as well as Ministers and other dignitaries, would start on 23 September and would end on 30 September. Copies of the press kit in all the UN languages were available in the press room.

Committee on the Rights of the Child

Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said the fifty-second session of the Committee on the Rights of the Child would meet at Palais Wilson from 14 September to 2 October to review the promotion and protection of children's rights under the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in the Philippines, Mozambique, Bolivia, Pakistan and Qatar. The Committee would also review efforts made by Turkey and Poland with regard to their implementation of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the involvement of children in armed conflict, and would examine the situation in Poland and Yemen under the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography. The background press release in English and French was available.

Human Rights Council

Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier the Human Rights Council would hold its twelfth regular session at the Palais des Nations from 14 September to 2 October. She would not read out all the issues that would come before the Council, but she wanted to highlight that on 17 September, the Council would hold a panel discussion on the human rights of migrants in detention centres. Also during the session, the Council would be naming a new independent expert in the field of cultural rights and an independent expert on the situation of human rights in Sudan. On the first day in the afternoon, the Council would hear an update from High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay, which would be followed by a general debate. The background press release was available in English and in French.
Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier reminded journalists that the President of the Council, Ambassador Alex Van Meeuwen of Belgium, would speak to journalists at noon today in press room 1.

Exhibition

Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said 7 September was the eightieth anniversary of the laying of the foundation stone of the Palais des Nations as the headquarters of the League of Nations. On this occasion, an exhibition entitled “building for peace – Palais des Nations 1929-2009” would be inaugurated this afternoon at the Palais des Nations. Sergei Ordzhonikidze, the Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva, would open the exhibition at 6 p.m. in the Salle des pas perdus. The exhibition showed a brief history of the construction of the building initially dedicated to the League of Nations which today constituted the heritage of the United Nations. Journalists were invited to attend and there was some documentation on the exhibition at the back of the room.

World Suicide Prevention Day – Mortality Among Young People

Fadela Chaib of the World Health Organization said 10 September was World Suicide Prevention Day. The theme of the commemoration of the Day this year was “suicide prevention in different cultures”. Available was a note on World Suicide Prevention Day 2009 with more details.

Alexandra Fleischmann of the World Health Organization said on World Suicide Prevention Day, 10 September, it was very important to focus attention to the global public problem of suicide. The Day raised awareness that suicide was often a taboo issue and it was relevant at all levels of society, from the individual, to those who lost a loved one to the governments which needed to act to tackle this issue. Every year, approximately one million persons committed suicide, around 3,000 deaths a day or one death every 40 seconds. Suicide attempts were estimated to be 10 to 20 times more frequent, but national statistics were not available for them. More men than women committed suicide, but more women attempted to commit suicide, with one exception in China.

Ms. Fleischmann said a new article to be released in the Lancet later this week drew attention to suicide being one of the main causes of death for those aged 10 to 24 years, which was a tragic loss of life. The theme of this year’s commemoration was “suicide prevention in different cultures”. They knew the main risk factors for suicide, but for suicide prevention strategies, they had to take into consideration that different risk factors had different importance in different cultures. To commemorate the day, there were many events taking place around the world, including at UN Headquarters in New York with representation of WHO. In Geneva, the jet d’eau would be illuminated on 10 September. The general message was that suicide should not be seen as an inevitable cause of premature deaths, but when all sectors of society came together, they could make a difference in suicide prevention.

Olivia Lawe Davis of the World Health Organization said the study in the Lancet was about mortality among young people and all the different causes; this was the first overall analysis of causes of morality among young people, those aged from 10 to 24 years, globally and by region. It looked at the overall burden globally and it also broke it down among high income countries and low and middle income countries. There were interesting comparisons in the paper between one region and the next. There were also some interesting findings concerning the breakdown of mortality across the different causes between males and females. The embargoed press release and the link to the full paper would be available on 9 September.

Yemen

Veronique Taveau of the United Nations Children’s Fund said available at the back of the room was a statement by Sigrid Kaag, UNICEF Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, who had launched an urgent appeal for humanitarian actors to be given access to the displaced population in Yemen as the situation continued to deteriorate. Children were bearing the brunt of this conflict and many now had to live in camps, schools or with host families, often not for the first time. With each passing day, the lives and well-being of these children were at increased risk. Ms. Kaag said all parties to the conflict in Sa’ada needed to abide by international humanitarian law and all aid agencies should be given immediate, secure and unconditional access to the innocent civilians affected by the fighting.

Emilia Casella of the World Food Programme said WFP strongly supported the call from UNICEF. All the humanitarian community was concerned about access to the internally displaced persons in Yemen. WFP staff that had had to be evacuated from Sa’ada were going this week to Hajjah and Amran provinces to join colleagues already there to provide services to internally displaced persons. People in Hajjah were suffering from extreme weather conditions. For many of them, it was unbearably hot compared to the mountainous area they fled from. Because of the heat, some children were suffering from skin diseases. Some who had fled with their livestock were seeing their goats dying from these hot conditions. Internally displaced persons were arriving in Hajjah in pretty rough conditions after traveling for up to one month with no shelter. WFP was working on preparing to implement a blanket nutrition intervention for children under five, but the problem was that they were not able to reach the vast majority of the people who needed assistance.

Andrej Mahecic of the UN Refugee Agency said heavy fighting between Al Houti forces and government troops in and around Sa’ada city in northern Yemen continued with utter disregard for the safety and well being of the civilian population. People fleeing from the Al Malaheet area just southwest of Sa’ada city said they witnessed fierce fighting and were forced to flee their homes immediately as the area became a battleground. Most of the displaced arrived at the Mazraq camp in neighbouring Hajjah province, traumatized and exhausted. Some had walked through the desert for five days before reaching the camp, spending nights under trees as there was no other shelter. The majority of the displaced were women carrying hungry infants and crying babies. The situation for civilians inside Sa’ada city was critical as the street battles raged. People were living in extreme conditions as there had been no water or electricity in Sa’ada since 12 August and the food reserves were running out. Clashes had also spread to Amran province, forcing a new wave of internally displaced people. UNHCR was again appealing for a ceasefire and the establishment of humanitarian corridors which would allow the civilian population to escape the fighting and enable aid workers to resume deliveries of humanitarian assistance.

Mr. Mahecic said a ship carrying UNHCR aid for the displaced in Yemen was scheduled to dock today at the port of Aden. UNHCR was also ready to launch a cross border operation from Saudi Arabia to assist internally displaced persons scattered north of Sa’ada city as soon as they received clearances from both Governments. UNHCR was alarmed that to date UNHCR had not received any contributions against an appeal launched last week. UNHCR was asking donor governments for an additional $ 5 million to be able to respond to this emergency.

In response to a question, Rupert Colville of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said obviously they were very concerned when there were large numbers of civilians caught in a war zone like this. The Office urged both sides to take particular care not to harm them. The problem was the lack of clear information on the situation of these civilians who were caught up in this extremely dangerous conflict.

Sri Lanka

Ms. Taveau of UNICEF said available was a statement by Anne Veneman, UNICEF’s Executive Director, in which she said UNICEF was extremely concerned and disappointed with the Sri Lankan Government’s decision to expel UNICEF’s chief of communications in Sri Lanka, James Elder. UNICEF had always upheld the principle of impartial advocacy and communication on behalf of children as a fundamental part of its global mandate. Through Mr. Elder, UNICEF had consistently spoken out against the suffering of children on both sides of the intense hostilities earlier this year and called for their protection. UNICEF unequivocally rejected any allegation of bias.

West African Floods

Elizabeth Byrs of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said since last week, the estimates of people affected by the torrential rains and floods in West Africa had increased dramatically after OCHA received more updates, including from countries previously not reported. Last week, they estimated that 350,000 persons were affected, and to date, the heavy flooding had affected some 600,000, including 159 deaths. The raining and flooding continued and the situation was very worrying despite measures being taken.

In Burkina Faso, the five districts of the capital Ouagadougou had been affected, with 50 per cent of the city’s territory affected. There were more details in the briefing notes. A Flash Appeal was being prepared for Burkina Faso this week.

Ms. Casella of the World Food Programme said the World Food Programme had begun food distributions for people affected in Burkina Faso, Niger and Mauritania. In Ouagadougou, the food distributions began on Friday for 125,000 persons. These persons were already receiving assistance through a voucher programme that WFP had started earlier this year to support the people and the market there. Most of these people had now lost all the food they received through the voucher programme. WFP was providing a one month ration to the people who had lost that food, and was distributing to some of the centres and locations for internally displaced persons. In Niger, WFP was providing assistance to about 41,000 people affected after a dyke burst its banks. In Mauritania, they began distribution for 11,500 people. A press release would be put out shortly.

Trial of Sudanese Journalist

Rupert Colville of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said as journalists were probably aware, Lubna Hussein, a female former UN staff member in Sudan, was yesterday sentenced to one month in jail, with the alternative of a 500 Sudanese Pound fine, on charges of dressing in an indecent manner – essentially because she was wearing trousers. She was convicted under Article 152(1) of the Sudanese Criminal Act, which does not define what constituted “indecent dress” and left wide discretion to police officers, raising concerns that the arrests were being conducted arbitrarily. According to Article 152(1) of the 1991 Criminal Act, "indecent dress" may be punished with up to 40 lashes or a fine, or both. Under international human rights standards, flogging was considered as cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment. Lubna Hussein's case was emblematic of a wider pattern of discrimination and application of discriminatory laws against women in Sudan. Ms Hussein was arrested along with 13 other women. The arrests of all, and not only Lubna Hussein, were arbitrary and left to the discretion of police officers. The arrest and conviction of Ms. Hussein was a violation of Articles 9 and 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to which Sudan was a state party and Art. 29 of Sudan’s own Interim National Constitution. Lubna Hussein was represented by UNMIS Legal Affairs. The other 13 women had total lack of legal representation. There was also an absence of review of the sentence for the other women. The judgment and flogging of some of the women arrested with Ms. Hussein were carried out immediately. The rights to freedom from arbitrary arrest, to due process of law, and to freedom from cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment were expressly protected in the Bill of Rights contained in Sudan’s Interim National Constitution. They were also enshrined in international human rights treaties to which Sudan was a State Party.

Mr. Colville said on Wednesday, 9 September at 10 a.m., there would be a briefing by Scott Campbell, Head of OHCHR’s Africa section, with regards to two joint reports being released with the peacekeeping force in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC) on human rights violations that took place late last year but which had continuing implications now.

Other

Mr. Mahecic of UNHCR said more than 20,000 refugees from Bhutan had now left Nepal to begin new lives in third countries under one of UNHCR’s largest resettlement programmes. The resettlement of refugees from Bhutan from the seven camps in eastern Nepal began in November 2007. The United States had received the highest number of refugees from Bhutan, with 17,612 resettled there to date. Other countries offering new homes to Bhutanese refugees included Australia, Canada, Norway, New Zealand, Denmark and the Netherlands.

Jemini Pandya of the International Organization for Migration said that in the press notes, there was also a story on the resettlement of the Bhutanese from Nepal.

Mr. Mahecic of UNHCR said High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres arrived in Algiers today for a five-day visit to Algeria and Morocco that would include meetings with top government officials in both countries, visits to Western Sahara and to Saharawi refugee camps in Tindouf in western Algeria to review first-hand the situation in the sites and to assess the overall conditions of the refugees.

Ms. Pandya of IOM said Italy would contribute EUR 3.1 million to support an IOM programme to help reintegrate returnees, internally displaced people and other vulnerable groups in western Afghanistan. The beneficiaries would include growing numbers of Afghan deportees from Iran, which currently hosted some 900,000 registered and as many as a million unregistered Afghan workers. In 2007 and 2008, Iran deported 766,000 Afghans, mainly through the Islam Qala and Zaranj border crossing points on its eastern border with Afghanistan. Between 1 January and 22 May 2009, a further 166,000 had been expelled, 42 per cent more than in the same period the previous year. Since 2002, another 4.3 million Afghan refugees had also voluntarily returned to Afghanistan, creating acute shortages of housing and over-stretched infrastructure in a country that had experienced decades of conflict, instability and economic stagnation.

Catherine Sibut Pinote of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development reminded journalists that the 2009 Report on UNCTAD's assistance to the Palestinian people was embargoed until 5 p.m. GMT today.

Ms. Pinote said the fifty-sixth session of the Trade and Development Board of UNCTAD would be held from 14 to 25 September. An information note was available in the press room with details of the programme. The high level segment would be held on Monday, 14 September in the afternoon. On Tuesday, 15 September in the afternoon, the Raul Prebisch lecture would be given by Jeffrey Sachs. Mr. Sachs would speak with the press on Tuesday morning. UNCTAD’s World Investment Report 2009 would be launched on 17 September.

Margareta Drzeniek of the World Economic Forum said the Global Competitive Report, one of the oldest and most important assessments of competitiveness ranking, was being launched today. The report ranked 133 countries according the institutional policies and factors they put in place in order to enable productivity growth. Switzerland this year overtook the United States and took the lead in the competitiveness ranking. Documentation was available at the back of the room.