REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Corinne Momal-Vanian, the Director of the United Nations Information Service, chaired the briefing, which was also attended by Spokespersons for and Representatives of the UN Refugee Agency, the UN Conference on Trade and Development, the International Telecommunication Union, the World Health Organization, the International Labour Organization, the International Organization for Migration, the UN Children’s Fund and the World Food Programme.

Winner of the Nansen Refugee Award

António Guterres, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said that Norwegian diplomat and statesman Fridtjof Nansen, who had also been the first League of Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, became famous for the so-called Nansen passport. These Nansen passports, recognized by 52 countries, were the only way for many people to have a legal entity after the First World War. That was why UNHCR named its most important award the Nansen Award.

The Horn of Africa was the most severe crisis of the recent past, with 900,000 Somali refugees. Of these, a very meaningful percentage went to Yemen. To reach the country, they needed to board vessels and were submitted to terrible human rights violations by smugglers and traffickers. It was a dangerous journey. They travelled in unseaworthy boats, of which many sank. He himself had seen situations in which refugees and migrants had been put to death by smugglers. In 2011, 60,000 people had arrived at the shores of Yemen. Humanitarian action in Yemen was extremely limited and dangerous for many operators. But some people were devoted to rescue Somali and Ethiopian migrants and others, who came to the shores of Yemen in extremely dramatic situations.

UNHCR was very honored to award the 2011 Nansen Refugee Award to the organization “Society for Humanitarian Solidarity”, the key partner of UNHCR in Yemen, and its founder Nasser Salim Ali Al-Hamairy. The Society for Humanitarian Solidarity was doing a fantastic job rescuing people over 600 kilometers of coast, first supporting them in different centers to make sure that they survived, and then supporting them in the country.

The Society for Humanitarian Solidarity had demonstrated enormous courage, devotion and determination, Mr. Guterres went on to say. It was indeed an example of how civil society could play a dramatically important role in protecting refugees and rescuing lives. He had been in Yemen with the organization several times, travelling with them along the coast. It was difficult to find a more committed, competent, effective and braver NGO working in refugee protection in the world.

UNHCR then projected a short film depicting a live-saving operation by Society for Humanitarian Solidarity.


Pakistan

Clare Nullis of the World Meteorological Organization said that Pakistan’s Meteorological Department had issued two weather warnings yesterday. It said that the latest meteorological conditions indicated that the strong monsoon weather system now lay over southeast Sindh and adjoining areas of Rajasthan, India. It added that more widespread heavy to very heavy rains were predicted in Lower Sindh during next three days; heavy spells would cause more flooding in already inundated areas. In the past 24 hours, Pakistan’s Meteorological Department said, 190 mm of rain had fallen in Mir Pukhas and 158 mm in Hyderabad.

Dr. Qamar uz Zaman Chaudhry, Pakistan’s Advisor on Climate Affairs and Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to WMO, had issued a statement at the weekend. He said that: “Sometimes it is difficult to relate individual extreme weather events to a climate change. But if we look at the frequency and the trend of the extreme weather events impacting Pakistan during the last two decades, then it is easy to find its linkage with climate change.”

Mr. Chaudhry added that the rains in Sindh were the highest ever recorded monsoon rains during the four weeks period. This year Sindh received 270 per cent and 730 per cent above normal monsoon rains in August and September respectively. Over the past year, WMO had been working with the Pakistan Meteorological Department on an integrated flood management plan. Pakistan had installed a flash flood guidance system to help provide warnings about the imminence of potential flash-flooding.

Ms. Mercado said that UNICEF’s country office also reported that it was still raining heavily today, it had been raining heavily yesterday, and more rain was forecast in the next days. With water sources contaminated, the most immediate, life-saving need was safe water, sanitation and hygiene. UNICEF’s country representative was in Badin, one of the worst hit districts, and reported that water bladders were on the ground and being filled. UNICEF had 10 water tankers on the road to Badin, each capable of carrying 10,000 litres of water. Over the coming days these tankers would fan out to other hard hit districts.

A major challenge to overcome was that, unlike last year’s floods, there were no enormous numbers of people congregating in particular areas, but rather small numbers of people spread throughout the province. This made the delivery of assistance much more challenging.

Tomorrow UNICEF would begin dispatching 100,000 insecticide-treated bed nets that had been pre-positioned and, together with UNFPA and WHO, would dispatch emergency health kits. Vaccinations that began last week for measles, polio and Vitamin A distribution would continue, thanks in large part to the network of tens of thousands of lady health workers working throughout Sindh province.

Ms. Pandya said that IOM had yesterday dispatched 17,000 shelter and non-food item relief kits to families displaced by flooding in Sindh. The aid, which included plastic sheeting, ropes, blankets and mats, came from a multi-donor emergency stockpile. The kits were being distributed in the 12 worst-affected districts of Sindh. The move followed a distribution of 3,400 tents by UNHCR, IOM and HANDS that began yesterday in Badin district, which, according to local officials, was 90 per cent flooded, with about 100,000 people displaced.

Pakistan's monsoon rains had to date affected some 5.3 million people, according to government estimates. The Sindh Provincial Disaster Management Authority estimated that 279,300 displaced people were now living at some relief sites, including public buildings and other temporary settlements. Over a million homes had been destroyed or damaged, 4.2 million acres of agricultural land had been inundated and over 200 people had died, according to the National Disaster Management Authority.

IOM, at the request of the UN and the government, had agreed last week to lead the IASC Emergency Shelter Cluster – the group of international aid agencies helping the government to provide emergency shelter to flood victims. IOM had played the same role following the 2010 floods.

Christiane Berthiaume of the World Food Programme said that 20,000 people had been displaced in Baluchistan according to authorities and the rains had saturated the soil. The National Disaster Management Authority, with the help of the armed forces, federal and provincial agencies and NGOs, had provided emergency assistance, and the army and the marine had evacuated people.
The Government had requested international assistance and WFP had been on the ground on 9 September to assess the situation. On Sunday, the organization had dispatched aid for 4,200 persons and 6,000 tons of food were ready to be distributed, enough for half a million people for one month. WFP would mobilize seven motorboats to help identify victims, and it would appeal to Member States to respond to this emergency.

Tarik Jasarevic of the World Health Organization said that the limited access to safe water meant an increased risk of communicable diseases among the affected population. This included water-borne diseases such as typhoid fever, diarrheal diseases, hepatitis A and E, vector-borne diseases, malaria, dengue fever and air-borne diseases like measles and acute respiratory infection.
Flood and heavy rains had caused damage to more than 100 health facilities in the affected area of Sindh. In response to health needs local authorities had supported 195 fixed and 118 mobile clinics to provide medical care. The flood victims who had taken refuge on roadside areas were reportedly suffering from acute respiratory infections, malaria, skin diseases and diarrheal diseases. Incidents of snake-bites had also been reported.

Disease surveillance was ongoing in all districts of Sindh province and all reported alerts and outbreaks hade been investigated and responded to within 24 hours. So far no major outbreak of disease of public concern had been reported. The main objective of WHO and health cluster partners was to improve access to essential healthcare services for the affected population either through the health facilities which are already functioning or through mobile medical teams.

Ms. Momal-Vanian said that a detailed note on the situation in Pakistan prepared by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, was at the back of the room.

Libya

Jemini Pandya of the International Organization for Migration said that an estimated 3,000 migrants were now thought to be seeking refuge at an IOM transit centre as fighting around the Libyan city of Sebha continued. While 2,000 of the migrants were Chadians, there were also nationals from Arab countries and Pakistan. The migrants began seeking refuge at the IOM centre some weeks ago, but their number has increased significantly in the past few days.

Chadian consular officials in Sebha told IOM that there had been heavy firing through the night on 11/12 September and that security in the town was deteriorating rapidly. IOM was deeply concerned about the welfare of the migrants as the transit centre, like the rest of Sebha, was fast running out of food. There was no running water or electricity.

With the security situation worsening, the only way to avoid a humanitarian disaster was to get the migrants out as soon as possible. IOM would evacuate the migrants by road as soon as it could establish a humanitarian corridor and as logistical issues over transport and increasingly scarce fuel could be resolved. The possibility of an air evacuation from Sebha had been ruled out by IOM several days ago because of the fighting.

In recent weeks IOM had also seen a large build-up of Sub-Saharan Africans who had been stranded in Dirkou, northern Niger. They had been remained there for several weeks in desperate need of both humanitarian and evacuation assistance. IOM teams in Dirkou, together with IOM partners and individual volunteers on the ground, have been providing the migrants with three meals a day and basic health checks.

A lack of fuel to operate the IOM-hired trucks travelling to Agadez had been a major problem in recent weeks. Until the fall of the Gaddafi regime, Dirkou's fuel supply came from nearby Libyan towns and was affordable. For the past few weeks, there had been no fuel available in and around the town. Fuel was now having to be trucked in from Agadez, a minimum journey of three to four days and was at significantly higher cost.

Somalia

Ms. Mercado said that UNICEF has initiated a food voucher and cash transfer programme for children and their families in southern Somalia. The goal was to support vulnerable families who had been priced out of the market by high food prices – and there was food available in the market. By linking these cash transfers with blanket supplementary feeding, the objective was to save lives, and simultaneously provide extremely vulnerable families with a much needed safety net. UNICEF had reached 15,000 families so far in Lower and Middle Juba, as well as Lower Shabelle, and was working to reach an additional 40,000 families in other famine affected areas. UNHCR was also distributing food vouchers to over 15,000 children attending supervised safe spaces and was working to reach 100,000 more children and their families in the coming weeks and months. In order to reach these targets, UNICEF urgently required $ 25 million. A press release was at the back of the room.

Mr. Jasarevic said that 570 casualties from weapon-related injuries had been treated in three hospitals in Mogadishu in August and six deaths had been reported. The number of weapon-related casualties reported from these hospitals remained stable over the month, bringing this year’s total to 8,020 casualties from weapon-related injuries for those three hospitals, including 73 related deaths. Following last week’s eruption of fighting in the Mudug region, two main hospitals in the district had reported 190 casualties from weapon-related injuries and around 36 deaths.

A WHO team, led by the country representative and WHO’s Regional Director for Eastern Mediterranean, had been in Mogadishu last week to hold a series of meetings with the Minister of Health and the President of Transitional Federal Government. On that occasion, WHO had provided supplies including two inter-agency health kits, a donation from the Saudi Government. The mission had also visited the Banadir Hospital.

South and Central Somalia had seen a total of 2,572 suspected malaria cases in August, including 1,038 children under the age of five, with 9 related deaths. Key response activities to control malaria in Somalia included indoor residue spraying of nearly 7,000 households (to be started in the coming weeks in North Somalia) and the protection of 700,000 high risk households of internally displaced people across the country, either through spraying or the provision of zero-fly sheeting. Almost 200,000 long-lasting insecticide nets had been distributed in 2011. Health partners were in the process of implementing a malaria emergency preparedness plan.

WFP activities

Ms. Berthiaume said that the Tunisian Government had requested WFP’s assistance in creating job opportunities for young people and improving living conditions and agricultural protection in the country’s rural areas. The two-year training project by WFP aimed at helping 240,000 Tunisians and would contribute to strengthen democratization, a task of utmost importance in the coming weeks and months.


Ms. Berthiaume said that WFP Executive Director Josette Sheeran would visit Luxembourg on 14-15 September. Luxembourg was the WFP donor country with the highest per capita contribution.

UNCTAD Trade and Development Board

Catherine Sibut-Pinote of the UN Conference on Trade and Development said that the fifty-eighth session of the UNCTAD Trade and Development Board had opened yesterday. Lesotho’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Office at Geneva, elected as new Board President, would lead the preparatory work for UNCTAD XIII, to be held in April 2012 in Doha, Qatar.

Several high-level speakers were scheduled to address the Board this afternoon, including the Director of UNCTAD’s Division on Globalization and Development Strategies, a professor from the French University Sorbonne and the Director of the Central Bank of Argentina.

Tomorrow’s participants included the Director-General of the WTO and the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Food Security and Nutrition. The discussions would focus on the evolution of the international trading system and international trade from a development perspective. Journalists were invited to attend.


Geneva activities and launch of reports in New York

Ms. Momal-Vanian said that the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families had opened its fifteenth session yesterday. It had been examining the report of Argentina since yesterday afternoon and would start reviewing that of Chile this afternoon before turning to Guatemala’s report on Wednesday afternoon.

The Conference on Disarmament, which would conclude its 2011 session later this week, was currently holding a public meeting primarily dedicated to adopt its report to the General Assembly.

Ms. Momal-Vanian said that OHCHR would give a press conference on the assessment mission to Yemen at 11.45 a.m. in Press Room I today. This would be followed, at 2 p.m. in Room III, by a press conference by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict.

Tomorrow, at 2 p.m. in Press Room I, the UN Working Group on the use of mercenaries would give a press conference on three mission reports on the use of mercenaries and private military and security companies in Iraq, South Africa and Equatorial Guinea.

Ms. Momal-Vanian said that the Secretary-General’s message on the International Day of Democracy, to be marked on 15 September, was at the back of the room, underscoring that “This year had been a remarkable one in the history of democracy”.

English and French press releases on the Roll Back Malaria Partnership and summaries of regional progress were at the back of the room, under embargo until today at 1 p.m. New York time.

Press releases on the MDG Gap Task Force Report were also available at the back of the room, under embargo until 16 September at 11.30 a.m. New York time (5.30 p.m. Geneva time).

UNICEF

Marixie Mercado of the UN Children’s Fund said that the child mortality estimates for 2010 would be released at 0001 GMT on Thursday. These were estimates developed by UNICEF, WHO, the World Bank, the UN Division of Economic and Social Affairs Population Division and were the estimates used in UNICEF’s reporting, including for the Millennium Development Goals.

WHO

Mr. Jasarevic said that the WHO cost of action report for the Summit on Non-communicable Diseases would be available on Thursday (under embargo until 18 September at 5.30 p.m. New York time). The principal launch would be at a UN briefing on Thursday at 2 p.m. in New York. There would also be a joint event with the World Economic Forum, starting at 5.30 p.m. on Sunday in New York.

ILO

Jean-Luc Martinage said that the Director-General of the ILO would speak about the economic and social situation prevailing in Europe tomorrow in Strasbourg. A press release would be issued and more information was available from Corinne Perthuis (079 593 14 91) or Stefan Giffeler (+32 2 737 93 89). For questions regarding the XIX World Congress on Safety and Health at Work, journalists could contact Iselin Danbolt (079 558 63 89).

ITU

Sanjay Acharya of the International Telecommunication Union said that there would be a press conference on 15 September at 2.30 p.m. to announce the release of ITU’s flagship report on ICT statistics “Measuring the Information Society”. Copies were at the back of the room. The Global Symposium for Regulators, to be held later this month in Colombia, would also be announced at the press conference.