REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Corinne Momal-Vanian, Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired the briefing which was also attended by Spokespersons for the UN Refugee Agency, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the International Organization for Migration, the World Health Organization, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, the Economic Commission for Europe, and the United Nations Environmental Programme.

Geneva Activites

Ms. Momal-Vanian said the Conference on Disarmament would hold a public plenary on Wednesday, 22 June at 3 p.m. in the Council Chamber.

A temporary exhibition entitled “The Aaland Islands Solution, A precedent for successful international disputes settlement” would be inaugurated today in the League of Nations Museum and would remain on exhibit until 31 December. A sheet with more details was available at the back of the room.

Also at the back of the room was a press release about Nigeria becoming the latest country to declare that it had cleared all mined areas according to its obligations under the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention, or the Ottawa Convention.

Ms. Momal-Vanian said the General Assembly would be meeting this afternoon New York time to consider the resolution concerning the re-election of Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for a second term.

There were two press conferences this week. Today at noon, there would be a press conference about the launch of the first-ever WHO global HIV guidelines on men who have sex with men and transgender people. It would take place in press room 1. On 22 June at 1 p.m., there would be a press conference to launch the Report on the World Social Situation 2011. Speaking at the press conference would be
Mr. Kwame Sundaram Jomo, Assistant Secretary-General, UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA). The press conference would be in Room III. The executive summary of the report had already been made available under embargo.

Ms. Byrs reminded journalists that there would be a press conference on 30 June at 2 p.m. in Room III with the humanitarian coordinator for Libya.

Syria

Adrian Edwards of the UN Refugee Agency said UNHCR participated in a government-organized mission to the Syrian town of Jisr Al Shugour yesterday, close to the border with Turkey. The visit was led by the Syrian military for 150 diplomats, members of the media, and UN agencies and approached Jisr al Shugour from Idlib to the east. A UNHCR staff member reported that villages were increasingly empty from around 40 kilometres away from Jisr al Shugour. There was no evidence of people working in the fields. Jisr al Shugour itself was almost deserted, with most shops shuttered and closed. The mission was shown the scene of the battle and did not focus on humanitarian needs. No displaced populations were encountered, but the fact that Jisr al Shughour and surrounding villages were empty indicated significant displacement. UNHCR met briefly with staff of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent who described food and medicine shortages in the area. Other than this brief interaction, the mission was not able to conduct any humanitarian assessments. Since 7 June, some 500 to 1,000 people have been crossing from Syria into Turkey daily. There are now more than 10,000 Syrian refugees sheltered by Turkish authorities in four camps along the Turkey-Syria border. An inter-agency assessment mission to Southeast Turkey this past weekend was encouraged by what it saw. The efforts of the Turkish authorities and Turkish Red Crescent to provide protection and shelter and cater for the needs of Syrian refugees were commendable. However, UNHCR concerns were that many of these people were severely traumatized, and that there were many vulnerable groups needing help – in particular women alone with their children, who represented over 50 per cent of the population.

In response to a question, Mr. Edwards said this opportunity provided rare access to UNHCR and others to this area along the border. There were refugees and displaced people camped out on both sides of the border. UNHCR would certainly welcome better access to assess the humanitarian needs.

Also responding, Ms. Momal-Vanian noted that as Mr. Edwards had said, there was a problem of access, which made it very difficult to assess the situation in precise terms. This was why the Secretary-General and the Heads of UN agencies had constantly asked for full humanitarian access.

Haiti

Mr. Edwards of UNHCR said UNHCR and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights were renewing their appeal to governments to suspend, on humanitarian grounds, all involuntary returns to Haiti, as precarious conditions continued to persist in the country. Eighteen months after the massive earthquake of January 2010, an estimated 680,000 people were still displaced within Haiti, living in over 1,000 tented camps in Port-au-Prince and other earthquake-affected areas. An unknown number remained outside the country. Despite the recent elections and ongoing reconstruction efforts, Haiti, weakened by the earthquake, could not yet ensure adequate protection or care, especially for some vulnerable groups in case of return, such as unaccompanied minors, disabled persons, people with health problems, victims of trafficking or of sexual abuse. Given the current situation in Haiti, UNHCR and OHCHR were urging governments to renew, on humanitarian grounds, residence permits and other mechanisms that had allowed Haitians to remain outside their country.

In response to a question, Elizabeth Byrs of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said the appeal for Haiti was 22 per cent covered: they needed $ 915 million but they had only received $ 203 million, so they were missing $ 711 million.

Yemen

Ms. Byrs of OCHA said OCHA was concerned about the continued conflict in Abyan in Yemen, where increasing numbers of internally displaced persons fled to neighboring districts and governorates. A mission comprising several humanitarian agencies took place on 12 June in order to identify the needs and numbers of internally displaced persons in Lahj and Aden. It was estimated that there were 100,000 internally displaced persons in Lahj and 15,000 in Aden. An additional 15,000 internally displaced persons were scattered around conflict areas in Abyan but this number could not be confirmed. Most of the internally displaced persons in Aden were living in 33 schools, but in Lahj they were living with host families. One of the most urgent needs for internally displaced persons in Abyan was food. There were more details in the briefing notes.

Marixie Mercado of UNICEF said that in Yemen, the records showed that as of June 2011, just 40 per cent of the 450,000 children who should have been vaccinated had actually received the lifesaving antigens. Since February, violence, insecurity and chronic petrol shortages across the country had led to the closure of 30 per cent of immunization facilities and there were concerns about vaccine safety at the remaining facilities due to the frequent power shortages. Outreach services, which contributed to about 30 per cent of immunization coverage under normal circumstances, were suspended. In urban areas like Sanaa, Aden and Taeze and the Governorates of Abyan and Saada, vaccinations had virtually ceased due to the intense fighting. The situation raised the threat of measles and other high mortality outbreaks significantly, even the severely elevated levels of malnutrition. It was worth highlighting that vaccinations against measles, neo-Natal tetanus and whooping cough had contributed to a 47 per cent reduction in child mortality since 1990. The recent introduction of the pneumonia vaccine, along with plans for introducing a vaccine against diarrhea, was expected to lead to significantly more child lives saved. This was contingent on the continuing viability of the cold chain system and an immunization programme that was the back bone of health services for children under five. Despite the political turmoil in the country, UNICEF was calling for the prioritization of its crucial immunization programme, most importantly for the provision of the continuous power source for vaccine storage and for periods of tranquility so that health workers and families could vaccinate children in safety.

In response to a question, Ms. Mercado said approximately half of Yemeni children suffered from mal nutrition. Infant mortality was 66 per 1,000 in 2009.

Jean-Philippe Chauzy of the International Organization of Migration said more than 1,900 Ethiopian migrants stranded near Yemen’s border with Saudi Arabia in desperate conditions and unable to return home would be helped by the International Organization for Migration as it resumed its humanitarian evacuation programme out of the country. A first group of 275 Ethiopians were treated for gunshot wounds and two cases requiring psychological assistance were taken from Haradh to Hodeidah on Yemen’s Red Sea coast and were than flown to Addis Ababa on 20 June on an IOM charged flight. A total of 28,179 Ethiopian irregular migrants had arrived in Yemen so far this year, in addition to 9,227 Somalis.
In Abyan, where IOM was the only humanitarian agency with access, IOM was registering internally displaced persons and distributing emergency assistance following an initial rapid needs assessment. IOM estimated that more than 10,000 people had been displaced within Abyan from clashes between militants and government forces with the displaced fleeing largely urban centres to other locations in the governorate or beyond. About 20,000 people from Abyan were displaced in the neighbouring governorates of Aden and Lahj.

Tarik Jasarevic of the World Health Organization said a WHO representative in Yemen had visited the southern governorates of Aden and Lahj from 13 to 17 June. The purpose of the visit was to get first hand information on health needs and gaps and to strengthen and expand the WHO response operation. The southern governorates were not only facing fighting which was calling displacements, but were also facing an outbreak of diarrheal diseases in Abyan. Almost all public health services in Abyan were not functional. The outbreak started on April 7 and as of June 15, one hospital had reported 667 patients admitted and another hospital had reported 75 cases. The real number of persons affected by diarrhea might be much higher. If immediate action to control the disease was not taken now, the situation could further deteriorate with outbreaks spreading to neighbouring governments. On May 16, WHO dispatched one diarrheal kit sufficient to treat 100 severe cases and 400 moderate and mild cases to Abyan. WHO also distributed cholera guidelines and chlorine tablets to all remaining health facilities. Water samples were collected from the main source of drinking water and sent for tests. The funding for the health cluster for Yemen was currently at 21 per cent funded, with $ 2.9 million received out of $ 30.7 million requested.

Côte d’Ivoire

Ms. Byrs of OCHA said more than 28,000 persons were now threatened by flooding in neighbourhoods of Abidjan. An inter-agency mission had visited 17 sites potentially threatened by floods and continued to look into appropriate measures to take to relocate the threatened population on 12 sites. As of 21 June, the Emergency Humanitarian Action Plan for Côte d’Ivoire and neighbouring countries affected by the crisis was funded by 28 per cent, with some $ 44 million contributed against a total requirement of $ 179 million. The humanitarian response to vulnerable populations would be impeded in the absence of increased funding.


Sudan

Mr. Jasarevic said that the State hospital in Kadugli, the capital of South Kordofan in Sudan, had resumed providing services but only during daytime, and with very low capacity. Due to difficulties in communication and restriction of movement, data from this hospital was currently not available. Emergency cases were still being referred to another hospital, just at the outskirts of Kadugli. With support from WHO, the Sudanese Red Crescent Society continued to provide ambulance services to patients. WHO would transfer to the other hospital basic emergency health kits sufficient for 15,000 people for one month and 50 units of blood supply.







Other

Catherine Sibut-Pinote of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development said the UNCTAD Public Symposium: Making Trade and Finance Work for People and the Planet would be held from 22 to 24 June in Geneva. The key issues to be raised in the roundtables in Room XVIII were: Financial and monetary reforms for sustainable development: global and regional initiatives; What are the global and regional initiatives needed to avert new crises and make trade and finance work for full and productive employment, reduce inequalities and promote sustainable development?; and making the transition to a green economy fair and equitable; How can the move to a green economy be fair – in terms of finance, trade, investment and technology – between and within countries?

Jean Rodriguez of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe said as part of UNECE efforts to promote good practices in assessing transboundary environmental impacts, according to the Espoo Convention on Transboundary Environmental Impact Assessment, a panel debate would be held on nuclear energy-related projects on Wednesday, 22 June from 3 to 5 p.m. in Room XVI. This issue was timely considering the concerns raised by the recent Fukushima Daiichi power plant disaster in Japan and because more than 155 new nuclear power reactors were already planned and over 320 more were proposed globally, according to the World Nuclear Association. A press release with more details was available at the back of the room. It included the names of the moderator and the panelists.

Michael Stanley Jones of the United Nations Environmental Programme said the fifth meeting of the Conference of the parties to the Rotterdam Convention on the prior informed consent procedure for certain hazardous chemicals and pesticides in international trade opened yesterday in Geneva at the International Geneva Conference Centre. Over 500 persons were participating in the conference, representing 103 governments and other inter governmental and non governmental and business organizations. This morning, the delegates were taking up the four candidate chemicals proposed for listing in annex three in the Rotterdam Convention. They should be hearing momentarily on whether the parties agreed to consent to add the substances to the list, which would trigger the obligation for exchanging information through the prior informed consent procedure. Also today, there would be a briefing at 1:15 p.m. on the UNEP consultative process on financing options for chemicals and wastes. This evening, there would be a screening of a new documentary filmed by the BBC “asbestos, dangers in the dust” at 6 p.m.