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 Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS, the World Food Programme, the World Health Organization, the United Nations Children’s Fund and the International Organization for Migration.

Secretary-General’s Activities / Conference on Yemen

Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said that United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had had a phone conversation yesterday with United Kingdom Prime Minister Gordon Brown, in which he had shared his concerns about the violence in areas of Yemen and the presence of Al-Qaida in the country. The Secretary-General had also underscored his support for the Conference on Yemen that was being organized by Prime Minister Brown in London at the end of the month. Mr. Ban had expressed his appreciation for the Prime Minister’s initiative, and welcomed the focus of the conference on counter-terrorism. He had also expressed concerns about the humanitarian situation in Yemen. He hoped that the Yemeni President would be involved in the preparations for the London Conference.

Secretary-General’s Report on Afghanistan

The Secretary-General’s latest report to the General Assembly and the Security Council on Afghanistan was published yesterday, Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier announced. The Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, Kai Eide, would brief Member States on that report this week. In the report, the Secretary-General said that the controversial 2009 elections had undermined confidence in Afghanistan’s leadership and had affected international support for engagement in Afghanistan. However, the elections had ultimately yielded a result that was acceptable to the Afghan people and respected the country’s laws and institutions. Mr. Ban had also pointed out that the electoral process had revealed serious flaws and weaknesses that needed to be corrected before the United Nations could engage in a similar supporting role for future elections. They were now at a critical juncture, and that there was a need for a reinforced international coordination structure in Afghanistan, under a United Nations umbrella, the Secretary-General concluded in the report.

Lifting of Travel Restrictions Based on HIV Status by USA, Republic of Korea

Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) had welcomed Monday the entry into force of the removal of travel restrictions based on HIV status by the Republic of Korea and by the United States. The lifting of the restrictions had taken effect on 1 January in the Republic of Korea and on 4 January in the United States.

Dominique De Santis of UNAIDS said that available at the back of the room was a press statement in French and English on this subject. UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé had called for global freedom of movement for people living with HIV in 2010, noting that 2010 was a target year for achieving universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support. Also available was a fact sheet that listed the 57 countries that still had travel restrictions based on HIV status.

Situation in Southern Somalia

Emilia Casella of the World Food Programme (WFP) said rising threats and attacks on humanitarian operations, as well as the imposition a of a string of unacceptable demands from armed groups, had made it “virtually impossible” for WFP to continue reaching up to 1 million people in southern Somalia. WFP’s humanitarian operations in southern Somalia had been under escalating attacks from armed groups, which had led to the virtual suspension, as announced today, of humanitarian food distribution in much of that area. WFP was deeply concerned about rising hunger and suffering among the most vulnerable due to these unprecedented and inhumane attacks on purely humanitarian operations.

Ms. Casella stressed that WFP was continuing food distributions in northern and central Somalia. WFP’s caseload in Somalia was about 3 million, so about 1.8 million people in the country would continue to receive food assistance. WFP was also working closely with its partners to pre-position supplies and to prepare to provide assistance to any of the population who might move from the area where food assistance was no longer available. A statement was available at the back of the room.

Asked to clarify what “virtual suspension” meant, Ms. Casella clarified that “in essence ... it was physically impossible to carry out distributions in the area”. WFP had moved supplies and staff out of six offices in Southern Somalia and removed them to areas where they could continue to work.

As for the unacceptable demands made, Ms. Casella said the “most concerning” were for demands for payment for security – a payment of up to $20,000 every six months to ensure safety of staff. They had also faced demands to remove women from their jobs, as well as demands that all WFP contractors cease activities if they were unable to abide by conditions that had been set in the area by the groups controlling them. In essence, WFP was neither able to maintain its humanitarian principles nor the safety of its staff in the area.

With regard to the armed groups involved, Ms. Casella said 95 per cent of the territory where WFP operations had been disrupted was controlled by Al-Shabaab.

A-H1N1 Flu Virus

Fadéla Chaib of the World Health Organization (WHO) said the weekly update on pandemic influenza activity would be published on Friday. There would be no virtual press briefing this week. They expected to do one next week, on a topic to be determined. A new vaccine deployment update would also be posted on the Web next week.

Ms. Chaib also announced that Dr. Margaret Chan had been vaccinated on 30 December against the H1N1 virus.

Asked about recent reports of developed countries, such as France and Spain, which had a surplus of vaccine and what WHO was doing to see if poor countries could benefit, Ms. Chaib stressed that WHO did not have anything to do with supply agreements between manufacturers and countries. However, as of today, almost 190 million doses of vaccine had been pledged by donor countries, along with 75 million syringes and $70 million for vaccine deployment. In response to WHO calls for international solidarity to help all countries to have access to vaccine, 6 manufacturers and 14 countries had pledged help. Those countries were Australia, Belgium, Brazil, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Finally, Ms. Chaib presented the new director of communications at WHO, Christy Feig.

Assistance to Victims of Tsunami in Solomon Islands

Tania Macbride of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said a news note was available at the back of the room regarding UNICEF assistance to victims of a tsunami that had hit Rendova and Tetepare Islands in the Solomon Islands on 4 January. UNICEF was already on the ground in Gizo, working on the reconstruction of schools, and a rapid assessment team, part of an interagency assessment, was travelling to Rendova and Tetepare Islands by boat. That was following initial reports that Rendova had been severely affected with houses damaged and areas inundated by water.

There were 3,600 people living on Rendova Island at present, Ms. Macbride added. It was unclear how great the devastation was and it would take several days to understand what the full extent and consequences were because the islands were difficult to access and very remote.

Migrants

Jean-Philippe Chauzy of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said new funding of $1.5 million from the Dutch government would help support IOM's humanitarian activities to displaced populations living in urban and peri-urban zones in Zimbabwe for a year. The funds would notably improve access to health care, provision of clean drinking water and sanitation infrastructure. In addition, the new funding would be used to help Zimbabweans who were unfortunately regularly expelled from South Africa and Botswana and who transited through two Reception and Support Centres – Beitbridge and Plumtree. He noted that more than 314,000 Zimbabweans had been assisted at the Beitbridge Centre between 2006 and 2009, and more than 57,000 migrants returned from Botswana had been assisted at the Plumtree reception centre between June 2008 and June 2009.

Mr. Chauzy also announced that, in Hyderabad, India, a Migrant Resource Centre had been opened for potential migrants, in particular those wishing to migrate to Europe, to help them make an informed decision. The Centre would be managed by IOM in partnership with the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs and the state government of Andhra Pradesh, as part of an IOM programme funded by the European Commission on facilitating and legal migration between Asia and the European Union. Focusing on disseminating information on legal, organized and humane migration, the Centre would also alert potential migrants on the risks and dangers of irregular migration. The Centre also had a telephone helpline with a toll-free number for people to call for information and advice.

Finally, in Syria, Mr. Chauzy said a new shelter for female victims of trafficking would open in Aleppo on 7 January. It was the second emergency centre to be opened in the country. The shelter would provide medical and psychosocial care to victims as well as post-rescue rehabilitation, including vocational training. It would also work to raise awareness on human trafficking to potential victims of trafficking in Syria.