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 United Nations Children’s Fund, the International Organization for Migration, the World Health Organization, the UN Refugee Agency and the International Labour Organization.

Geneva Activities

An International Meeting on the Question of Palestine would be held today and tomorrow (3 - 4 April 2012) at the Palais des Nations, organized by the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People. A press conference about the Meeting would also be held today, Tuesday, 3 April at 12.30 p.m. in Room III. Speaking at the press conference were Abdou Salam Diallo Permanent Representative of Senegal to the United Nations in New York and Chairman of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inaliable Rights of the Palestinian People, Issa Qaraqe, Palestinian Authority Minister for Prisoner’s Affairs and Riyad Mansour, Permanent Observer of Palestine to the United Nations in New York.

Ms. Momal-Vanian said that the Secretary-General’s message for United Nations Mine Awareness Day (4 April) was available at the back of the room. She also informed the press that United Nations Office at Geneva Director-General Kassym-Jomart Tokayev was today meeting Swiss President Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf and federal Counsellor Didier Burkhalter in Bern.

No press briefing will take place on Friday 6 April, due to it being a United Nations and Swiss national holiday. The briefing will resume on Tuesday 10 April.

Sahel Crisis

Ms. Marixie Mercado, spokesperson for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said it was holding an organisation-wide push to raise awareness about the nutrition crisis in the Sahel. The UNICEF Executive Director was today in Chad, the Deputy Executive Director was in Niger. Goodwill Ambassadors Shakira and Mia Farrow were raising awareness through Twitter, while UNICEF National Committees across Europe, North America and elsewhere were similarly making a push in their respective countries to put the Sahel on everybody’s lips. In figures, 15 million people were directly affected by the crisis. In the best case scenario at least one million children were at risk of severe acute malnutrition, while the worst case scenario was 1.5 million children. It costs US$100 to treat and save a child from severe acute malnutrition. The Executive Director of UNICEF would brief the press next Tuesday (10 April) on his visit, alongside the Chiefs of UNHCR and WHO. A media advisory would be available later today.

Human Trafficking/Migrants

Jean-Philippe Chauzy, spokesperson for the International Organization for Migration, said new data published in the IOM 2012 Case Data on Human Trafficking: Global Figures and Trends revealed an increase in cases of child victims of human trafficking, with 2,040 cases seen by the IOM in 2011, a jump of 27 per cent from 1,565 cases seen in 2008. The data also showed that the number of adult victims referred to 89 IOM missions in 91 countries during the same period rose 13 per cent to 3,404 from 3,012. While the number of female victims remained stable at 3,415 compared to 3,404 in 2008, the number of male victims also rose by 27 per cent, to 2,040 from 1,656, which reflected growing public recognition of the trafficking of men for the purpose of labour exploitation. Labour trafficking cases rose 43 per cent to 2,906, up from 2,031 in 2008. In contrast, cases of trafficking for sexual exploitation dropped 19 per cent to 1,507 from 1,866 four years earlier. International trafficking cases fell by 13 per cent (from 4,066 in 2008 down to 3,531 in 2011) in the same time span, while domestic cases shot up by 140 per cent (from 713 in 2008 to 1,708 last year). IOM Head of Counter Trafficking Laurence Hart was quoted as saying the fall in international cases may reflect more efficient immigration and border controls, while the increase in the number of domestic cases may reflect greater public awareness of trafficking and improved domestic law enforcement. Out of a total of 5,498 victims helped by IOM in 2011, 1,606 were in Europe, 1,049 in South and Central Asia, 984 in the Western Hemisphere, 860 in East Asia and the Pacific, 696 in the Middle East and 303 in Africa. Roughly a third of cases involved children under the age of 18. Nearly two thirds of the total were women and a little over a third were men.

Mr. Chauzy said the IOM recently carried out training to combat human trafficking in Papua New Guinea of approximately 200 law enforcement officers, civil servants and non-governmental organization workers. The two-week training was conducted in the four border regions of the country throughout February and March. IOM also launched a mass information campaign this week to raise awareness of human trafficking in all of the targeted provinces, which would include a free counter trafficking hotline.

Finally, Mr. Chauzy said that IOM’s Director-General had written to the Executive Editors of the New York Times and International Herald Tribute following the publication in both newspapers of a grossly inaccurate implication regarding IOM in an Op-Ed titled ‘Can Privatization Kill’, published on 1 April 2012. In his letter the Director-General said: “The piece, which reflected researcher Thomas Gammeltoft-Hansen’s valid concerns about the human rights and treatment of forcibly returned migrants, regrettably contained one glaring error. It implied that the IOM was a party to, and profited from, forcible and sometimes fatal deportations increasingly delegated by governments to the private sector. IOM is a non-profit intergovernmental organization comprised of 146 member states. Under the terms laid down in its Constitution, it does not and has never played any role in forcible deportations”.

Mali

Melissa Fleming, Chief Spokesperson of the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), said the organization was deeply concerned about the deteriorating political and security situation in Mali, where thousands of people continued to flee their homes. The north of the country was becoming increasingly more dangerous due to the proliferation of armed groups in the region. Refugees pouring into neighbouring countries were reporting the presence of armed militiamen and home guards units set up by local communities to defend themselves. More than 2,000 people have fled to Burkino Faso and Mauritania over the past five days because of the insecurity and the political instability stemming from the military coup of 22 March in the capital. The refugees say they were fleeing not only because of generalized violence, but also mayhem in the towns and cities caused by increasing numbers of armed robbers, and a lack of food. Others said they left once it became apparent that the coup was not bringing peace between the government and Tuareg rebels. UNHCR was rushing to set up tent cities to provide food and shelter for those refugees, and of course to help neighbouring countries and host communities which have been providing safety and shelter to the refugees despite their own shortages.

Elizabeth Byrs, spokesperson for the World Food Programme (WFP), said that it was closely monitoring the evolving security situation in Mali, especially in the north of the country, and the impact on neighbouring countries. Recent fighting has caused over 192,000 people to flee their homes and seek refuge both inside Mali and across Malian borders in Mauritania, Niger, Burkina Faso and Algeria (an estimated 107,000 people have been internally displaced, although the real figure could be much higher). WFP said it was particularly concerned about the food needs of people living in Mali. UNHAS, the humanitarian air service operated by WFP, has scaled up its operations to fly in Niger, Mali and Mauritania. Passenger services were on hold. In Niger WFP launched an emergency operation to support 3.7 million people, with a special focus on children under two. Since the 21 March coup WFP activities have been suspended in the regions of Mopti, Kidal, Gao and Timbuktou, and WFP staff have been staying at home following widespread looting, including the ransacking of WFP offices and depots. Regarding funding, the total cost of WFP’s Sahel response was US$808 million. Contributions to the Sahel response currently amounted to US$307 million, leaving a shortfall of US$501 million. Donor contributions were urgently sought, especially within the next eight weeks, to guarantee a rapid response.

Twentieth Anniversary of the Siege of Sarajevo

Melissa Fleming, for the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), said that the siege of Sarajevo began 20 years ago this week (6 April 1992). Lasting almost four years, it became one of the most dramatic and emblematic events of the violent breakup of the former Yugoslavia and the conflict which left an estimated 200,000 people killed and some 2.7 million refugees and internally displaced – the largest displacement of people since the Second World War. Ms. Fleming said it was emblematic because it was a displacement of people as a tool of war, not as a consequence of war. Today, most of those forced to flee their homes during the 1991 to 1995 conflict have either returned or been locally integrated. However, the remaining refugees and displaced in that region of Europe were one of UNHCR’s five priority protracted refugee situations worldwide. UNHRC recently welcomed renewed efforts through a joint regional programme aimed at providing durable solutions, including speeding housing solutions, for some 74,000 most vulnerable and needy refugees. The programme was a commitment by all concerned governments in the region (namely Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Montenegro) and was supported by the international community. In order to support that effort an International Donor Conference would be held in Sarajevo on 24 April 2012, at which it was hoped to raise €500 million needed to find housing solutions for the remaining refugees, internally displaced and returnees.

In answer to a question about how many refugees were still displaced in the region, Ms. Fleming said the figures were open to interpretation, but she believed it was approximately 100,000. UNHCR had been assisting those populations since the end of the war, including work with governments to enable their return or local integration. Many of the people were in a traumatized and vulnerable state, with serious health problems, and there was a need to construct health institutions to particularly help elderly people who had psychological health problems and often were alone, without any family support. Existing institutions, known as ‘Collective Centres’ were often in a sub-standard state, for example many lacked even running water. It was impossible for many people to return home because their villages and communities have now been long-dominated by another ethnic group who may have been the perpetrators of the violence that forced them to flea in the first place. Legalistic details on property ownership and tenancy rights further complicated the situation.

World Health Day 2012

Tarik Jasarevic, spokesperson for the World Health Organization (WHO) said that to mark World Health Day (7 April) the WHO called for urgent action to ensure that, at a time when the world’s population was ageing rapidly, all people reached old age in the best possible health. The WHO would commemorate World Health Day on Wednesday, 4 April, and background documents, a press release and a programme for the commemoration were available at the back of the room. The programme included a roundtable to be held from 10 a.m. to 11.30 a.m. with the participation of Margaret Chan, Director-General of WHO, and Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum, and a number of other dignitaries. There would also be a personal testimony by Mirtha Nordet, a retired ophthalmologist who was pictured in the World Health Day poster doing a bungee dive. At 11.45 a.m., there would be a short press conference with Dr. Chan and a number of other speakers.

Dr. John Beard, Director of the WHO Ageing and Life Course, said that the world was rapidly ageing. Many people thought that was just an issue for rich countries, such as Europe and Japan, but in fact the fastest ageing was now occurring in lower and middle-income countries. By 2050 there would be two billion older people on the planet, and 80 per cent of them would be in what were currently low and middle-income countries. In the middle of the twentieth century, there were just 14 million people on the whole planet aged 80 or older. By 2050 there would be 100 million people over the age of 80 in one country alone – China – and 400 million globally. That was an incredible change that affected everyone. WHO saw older people as a resource, not a burden, but good health was the key to liberating that resource. WHO want to focus on solutions, namely ‘four key actions’. Those were to promote good health and healthy behaviours at all ages to prevent or delay the development of chronic diseases; to minimize the consequences of chronic disease through early detection and quality care; to create physical and social environments that fostered the health and participation of older people; and to ‘reinvent ageing’ by changing societal attitudes to build a society in which older people were respected and valued. Mr. Beard referred to the WHO Global Brief for World Health Day 2012, which would be released on 4 April 2012. The Global Brief analysed the key reasons for ill health in older people, and the surprising results showed that even in the poorest countries elderly people weren’t dying from infectious diseases or gastroenteritis; it was all about cardiovascular diseases, strokes, dementia and high blood pressure.

In response to a question Mr. Beard said ageing was an inevitable consequence of socio-economic development. As development took place families started to fragment and older people lived alone rather than with an extended family. In terms of absolute numbers Africa would experience the greatest increase in numbers of the elderly. Answering another question about the definition of ‘an elderly person’, Mr. Beard replied that the WHO saw ageing as a life event, and believed that having artificial categories where overnight a person suddenly went from being middle-aged to elderly was part of the problem. Traditionally, statistics defined the elderly as over 60, but hopefully 60 would soon be considered middle-aged. Today it was a moving target. In reply to a question about measuring life expectancy, Mr. Beard said that was a technical issue, as the WHO reflected life expectancy both at birth and at 60 years. There was less difference between poor and rich countries for life expectancy figures at 60: in the Americas for example, on average 60 year olds were expected to live another 24 years, while in Africa a 60 year old on average lived for a further 16 years, but that gap was increasing. In contrast, life expectancy from birth was 79 years in the Americas and developed countries, but 56 years in Africa.

Intergovernmental Negotiating Body on Protocol on Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products

Tarik Jasarevic, spokesperson for the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body on Protocol on Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products was ending its final session tomorrow. A press briefing would be held at 2 p.m. in the Palais by the Head of the Secretariat Dr. Haik Nikogosian and the Chairman of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body, Mr. Ian Waltham-George. Mr. Jasarevic said that most of the meetings were private in order to avoid interference from the tobacco industry, but the final agreed draft would be sent to the Conference of the Parties, which would take place in November 2012 in Seoul, Korea, to be considered for adoption.

International Labour Organization

The ILO was asked about the selection process for the position of Director-General of International Labour Organization. Hans von Rohland, spokesperson for the ILO, replied that nine candidates had been interviewed, and information on them could be found on the ILO website. The new Director-General would be elected on 28 May 2012.