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 High Commissioner for Refugees, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the International Organization for Migration and the World Health Organization.
H5N1
Fadéla Chaib for the World Health Organization (WHO) said the technical consultation on the publication of research into the H5N1 virus continued today (17 February) and should finish at 17:00.
In terms of logistics once the meeting was over there would be an opportunity for journalists to get images at 17:30 in the Library Room of the WHO, while the press conference held at 18:00 would provide audio material for broadcast. There was a facility to listen to this press conference remotely and pose questions by telephone, she explained, as well as access to the experts involved for interview, though only after 17:00.
Since 2003 the WHO had had reports of 584 human cases of H5N1 in 15 countries, with 345 deaths, she added.
Mali
Melissa Fleming for the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said the number of people fleeing violence in northern Mali to seek refuge in neighboring countries had doubled over the past ten days, reaching 44,000 people in Mauritania, Niger and Burkina Faso.
As a result UNHCR teams were stepping up assistance for refugees who have taken refuge in makeshift shelters in villages bordering the country, areas which did not have an existing UNHCR presence, she said. This had meant supplies being sourced and shipped, and staff pulled from emergency rosters to deal with the crisis.
As more fighting was reported on the borderlands with Algeria, there were concerns this development could escalate the situation in a region which was already stricken with a severe drought and resulting food shortages, she explained.
Somalia
Melissa Fleming for the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said a serious situation was developing in the Afgooye corridor, just north-west of the Somali capital Mogadishu, as thousands of civilians fled a new escalation of violence.
The corridor, a forty kilometre stretch of road with sprawling settlements and makeshift camps, was home to almost 410,000 internally displaced Somalis, a third of Somalia's internally displaced population. UNHCR fears for the safety of the displaced and urged all armed groups and forces to make the protection of civilians a priority, she said.
UNHCR, together with other agencies, would be scaling up its assistance to address the urgent humanitarian needs of this new population, who was in urgent need of shelter, food and water.
Answering questions she said the Deputy High-Commissioner would be attending a UK Government conference on Somalia in London next week.
Madagascar
Elisabeth Byrs for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said an aerial assessment mission of the most affected western part of Madagascar began Wednesday, which should give a better idea of the impact of Tropical Storm Giovanna.
To date OCHA figures showed 1,950 people as displaced, 525 from the capital city Antananarivo and 1,425 in the rest of the country. In Antananarivo, national authorities were monitoring the water levels of the five main rivers surrounding the capital, which were expected to increase, but not to level of alert, in the next 24 hours.
The Malagasy Red Cross Society was taking registrations from IDPs in all affected areas and the Health Cluster had already deployed teams to temporary shelters for the provision of medical care, she said.
It was still too early to estimate the impacts of Giovanna on agricultural production. In Brickaville, all commercial crops, (banana, litchi and sugar cane) were seriously damaged.
Marixie Mercado for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) added that UNICEF was giving a very provisional figure of 17 fatalities for ten per cent of the communes affected. A key concern for the area involved, which was home to 580,000 people, were the hot and humid conditions and the destruction of water sources which could lead to the spread of water-borne disease. Partners were already on the ground distributing emergency materials and further supplies were being arranged, she said.
Central African Republic
Elisabeth Byrs for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said the Central African Republic (CAR) was the most forgotten humanitarian crisis in the African continent, successively receiving less than 50 per cent funding for its appeals over the past two years.
With this in mind Government and humanitarian partners today (17 February) launched the CAR Consolidated Appeal, consisting of 105 projects spanning 12 months. These were to save lives and reduce the vulnerability of people affected by conflict, she said, and urgently requested $134 million, of which $20 million was allocated to immediate priorities.
The 105 projects in the appeal targeted a total of 1.9 million beneficiaries, she said, over 45 per cent of the estimated total population. So far in 2012 the CAR had received only four per cent of its requested total funding.
Prisons across Latin America
Rupert Colville for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said his office deeply regretted the loss of more than 350 lives in Wednesday's tragic fire in the Comayagua prison in Honduras, and fully supported the establishment of a thorough independent investigation into the causes of the fire and into whether the conditions at the prison contributed to the enormous loss of life. The prison, which was reportedly designed to hold 250 detainees, was apparently housing more than 800 inmates when the fire broke out.
The OHCHR called on the Government to take urgent steps to avoid a repetition of this incident, in line with recommendations received from international and regional human rights organizations, including the United Nations and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. This week's fire was the third such incident resulting in multiple deaths in a Honduran prison in the past decade.
OHCHR was concerned that the problems affecting prisons were by no means confined to Honduras. In recent weeks there had been a wave of violence in prisons across Latin America, resulting in loss of lives in Uruguay, Argentina, Venezuela, and Chile. These events reflected an alarming pattern of prison violence in the region, which was a direct consequence of, or aggravated by, a range of endemic problems including chronic prison overcrowding, the lack of access to basic services such as adequate floor space, potable water, food, health care, and lack of basic sanitary and hygienic standards. Such conditions were exacerbated by judicial delays and excessive resort to pre-trial detention.
Haiti
Jean Philippe Chauzy for the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said IOM this week helped a first wave of families move permanently from the shelters and tents directly in front of Haiti's ruined National Palace where they had lived for the past two years.
In all, one hundred and seventy six families were relocated to homes they had chosen, with each family receiving a year in advance rental subsidy under a programme devised and led by the government of Haiti and financed by Canada. The aim of the relocation programme was to enable as many of these displaced families as possible to return to their original communities, under a framework agreement developed by the government of Haiti and the humanitarian community.
Some 126,000 families still remained in Haitian camps in deteriorating conditions and it would be at least two to five years before the neighbourhood regeneration approach had time to fully rebuild the neighbourhoods of return, he said. As part of the reconstruction process, small suppliers of materials and construction services would also get support to make them more competitive and ensure the community supports their businesses. In addition, technical teams would assess damage to houses and where possible repair them. Owners of irreparably damaged houses would be helped to rebuild them, a move that will help restore the housing stock for those leaving the camps.
Uganda
Jean Philippe Chauzy for the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said IOM was concerned about an increase in the number of Ugandan women trafficked abroad, particularly to Asia.
In the past four months alone, thirteen victims of trafficking were rescued in Malaysia and referred to IOM for assistance to return home while Ugandan sources suggested that there may be as many as 600 trafficked Ugandan women currently in Malaysia, with between 10 and 20 more arriving each week.
Predominantly young women have been trafficked either by individuals or employment agencies, typically lured by promises of lucrative business, job, or study opportunities abroad, he said. Once trapped, they had their passports taken from them and were often forced into prostitution or bonded labour to earn profits for their traffickers. Victims of trafficking whom IOM had helped to return to Uganda had reported being subjected to sexual slavery, rape and torture.
In Uganda, IOM had provided training to government officials in the justice sector on human trafficking and intended to expand these professional development trainings with public officials throughout the country. It was already working closely with the Uganda Human Rights Commission and other government agencies in order to strengthen their capacity in confronting and preventing human trafficking.
Geneva activities
Ms. Momal-Vanian said the Advisory Committee of the Human Rights Council began its eighth session next week, during which it would prepare reports on the right to food, the role of traditional values in the context of human rights and the issue of hostage-taking by terrorists, among others.
The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination ended today following the consideration of the report of Kuwait. Next week it was to look at Portugal, Vietnam, Canada and Turkmenistan.
The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women was today considering the report of Brazil and would next week examine reports from Zimbabwe, Algeria and Jordan.
The Conference on Disarmament would hold its next meeting on Tuesday (21 February).
Ms. Momal-Vanian also drew attention to a press conference by the International Telecommunications Union on the outcomes of the World Radiocommunication Conference which concluded today (17 February). This was to be held in Room III at noon. Speakers included the Secretary-General of the ITU, the Director of the ITU Radiocommunication Bureau and the Chairman of the World Radiocommunication Conference.
Rolando Gomez for the Human Rights Council (OHCHR) said press materials were now available for the upcoming session of the Council, including the programme of work, and a list of speakers (mostly at ministerial level). Other useful documents on hand included information on new panel discussions and concept as well as thematic papers.
Ankai Xu for the World Trade Organization (WTO) said the Trade Policy Review on Turkey would be held on Tuesday (21 February) at 10:00 and again on Thursday (23 February), while the Dispute Settlement Body was to meet on Wednesday (22 February) at 10:00. The Azerbaijan membership negotiations continued on Friday (24 February) at 10:00.
Catherine Sibut for the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) announced a UNCTAD XIII pre-conference panel discussion titled, “Thinking Development: Three Decades of the Trade and Development Report” on Monday (20 February) from 10.00 to 18.00. She also mentioned the signing of a landmark “organic-equivalency” agreement by the European Union and the United States. This was in addition to the adoption of an Asian Regional Organic Standard by a group of Asian government officials and representatives of organic farmers and marketers. This should greatly expand trade in such food in the Asia, she explained.