REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Corinne Momal-Vanian, Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired the briefing, which was attended by the Spokespersons for the United Nations Refugee Agency, United Nations Children’s Fund, International Organization for Migration, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, World Health Organization, World Food Programme, World Meteorological Organization, World Trade Organization, United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, International Labour Organization, and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Ebola

Christophe Boulierac, for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), drew attention to a press communiqué that had just been released regarding delivery of supplies in countries affected by Ebola. A cargo plane with UNICEF medical supplies including protective equipment and essential medicine had landed in Sierra Leone today, as a part of UNICEF’s continued drive to tackle the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. In the fight to contain Ebola, the clock is ticking and it is therefore very important for UNICEF to rush these supplies. The medicine equipment included latex gloves, body bags, intravenous tubes, coveralls for health workers and antibiotics. That was part of a framework of measures adopted to contain the epidemic. That delivery aimed to immediately help African health workers in order to enable them to provide care in health centres while staying safe. In addition to medicines, the delivery included protective material intended to families. It was about to be used by all partners, and health teams in the countries concerned, ministries concerned and NGOs.

More generally, the delivery was part of a series of 32 shipments from UNICEF to those countries since the beginning of August, with a total of 402 metric tons of essential items to the three major Ebola-affected countries. Regarding figures, Mr. Boulierac said that 70.6 metric tons were flown in to Guinea, 213.8 metric tons to Liberia and 117.7 metric tons to Sierra Leone. Topping the list was protective equipment like latex gloves and masks for health workers, concentrated chlorine disinfectant, antibiotics, pain relief medicines. Those kits were designed for families to give them the time to reach a health centre in order to protect them and restrain contamination with sprayers, chlorine, gloves and garbage bags.

Mr. Boulierac said that, in addition to the delivery of equipment, UNICEF was also working on education, fearing that the impact of the current outbreak on the 4.5 million children living in the Ebola-affected areas would go far beyond just catching the virus. UNICEF was also very committed in social mobilization with songs, jingles and testimonies which illustrated the way health workers were going door to door. More and more community workers were trained to provide information to communities and counter rumours and false information.

Tarik Jašareviæ, for the World Health Organization (WHO), said that a press briefing would take place at 6 p.m. at the WHO, following the meeting of experts discussing experimental treatments on Ebola. Full report of the meeting would be available either over the weekend or early the following week. Assistant Director-General Marie-Paule Kieny would be accompanied by two African experts at the briefing.

The WHO Director-General was in New York at the moment, meeting with the Secretary-General, and working on the mobilization of the overall United Nations System to fight Ebola. Answering a question on financial contributions to fight against Ebola, Mr. Jašareviæ said that the WHO Roadmap assessed that USD 490 million would be necessary in order to put an end to the ongoing epidemics. The World Bank had pledged USD 200 million, and the African Development Bank had contributed USD 60 million. Out of the USD 490 million, the WHO needed USD 60 million for its activities, while the rest would go to the affected countries. WHO had received USD 4 million thus far.

On how many people were being sent to the field, Mr. Jašareviæ said that health workers were really needed, but treatment centres were also necessary for their deployment. There was a need for medical supplies to ensure proper operation of those centres. 202 persons from the WHO were currently deployed by WHO in the five countries: 70 in Sierra Leone, 59 in Guinea, 58 in Liberia, 14 in Nigeria, and one in Senegal. Local, national health workers were found through Ministries of Health, and were financed by WHO, but no updated figures were currently available.

Mr. Jašareviæ stated that some 256 health workers had been affected thus far. The trend was continuing, as they did not have enough reinforcements and were doing too long shifts, which almost inevitably led to errors and new infections.

Jens Laerke, for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said that since April 2014, humanitarian partners in West Africa had received more than USD 6 million from the UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), which was managed by OCHA, for the response to the ongoing Ebola outbreak. Out of that money, USD 2.7 million had been allocated to Guinea, USD 1.9 million to Liberia and USD 1.5 million to Sierra Leone.

The first rapid response allocations between April and June had focused on health and food response. In August, CERF had taken a regional approach to allocating funds to support air services in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. The UN Humanitarian Air Service received USD 3.8 million to facilitate humanitarian operations in the region.

Mr. Laerke explained that the CERF was a pooled fund mechanism with a number of countries, private sector partners and individuals providing the prepositioned funds which the Emergency Relief Coordinator could release for life-saving activities. More requests for CERF money to support the Ebola response were currently being processed for September.

Iraq

Adrian Edwards, for the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), stated that the major aid operation in Iraq was entering a new phase, with increasing pressure on accommodation, with winter looming.

Over the following few days, 10 further aid flights would be arriving in Erbil. Despite that ongoing work, pressure on accommodation remained acute. Many schools were still being used to house the displaced. In addition, there was urgent need to reinforce tents and other housing in preparation for the coming winter.

Over the previous week, aid had continued to flow in by plane, ship and road, being distributed across Iraq. The new airlift, supported by the people and Government of Norway, would bring close to 40,000 blankets, 10,000 kitchen sets, and almost 18,000 plastic tarpaulins/sheets.

Already, since mid-June, UNHCR and its partners had provided more than 100,000 mattresses, 10,000 family tents, and 40,000 water jugs and tens of thousands of other essential items for some of the estimated 850,000 people who had fled into Iraq’s northern Kurdistan region.

UNHCR was also continuing to support displaced in central and southern Iraq, where it had reached nearly 120,000 people across 15 governorates since January. Emergency aid kits had been pre-positioned in case of further need in Amerli in Salah al-Din Governorate.

Mr. Edwards said that, at present, there were eight camps across Iraq, housing close to 40,000 displaced people. UNHCR was providing help, including tents and emergency aid. Nineteen other camps were under consideration, being designed and constructed by regional authorities and aid agencies. UNHCR was supporting that work in some of the camps. It would also be providing tents, emergency aid and protection support as needed.

However, most of the displaced were not living in camps, and many were still in collective centers, unfinished buildings, mosques, churches and schools. More than 2,000 schools countrywide were being used to house the displaced, making it likely that the start of the school year, currently scheduled to begin in less than two weeks, would be delayed. People living in schools were being prioritized for movement to new camps as they opened. There remained a pressing need for a solution to the shelter crisis, as it was unlikely that security would improve sufficiently over the coming weeks for large numbers of people to be able to return to their homes.

Mr. Edwards stated that, in addition to emergency aid, the UNHCR was providing cash assistance to help those in rented accommodation. Thus far, the UNHCR had reached some 12,000 people, or 1,990 families. By the end of the year it expected to help close to 50,000 people with cash support. Cash support enabled people to buy what they viewed as being most important. Quite often, some of it went toward rent. UNHCR was also working on rehabilitating damaged housing.

Time was now of the essence in providing support to Iraq’s displaced. Winter was approaching fast, with snow, rain and muddy conditions. In less than three months from now, daily temperatures would average less than ten degrees Celsius, and the rains would begin. UNHCR had already released 20,000 additional family tents, but more warm clothing and heaters would also be needed.

Mr. Edwards specified that, across Iraq, an estimated 1.8 million people had been displaced since January 2014. They were spread around some 1500 sites across the country. Iraq was also hosting 215,000 Syrian refugees.

UNHCR urgently needed more financial support to be able to meet the needs of forcibly displaced people and host communities across Iraq amid the current emergency. UNHCR, as a part of the UN humanitarian relief effort, would be launching an appeal for an additional USD 350 million to help meet those needs. The main focus would be on providing life-saving protection services and assistance to respond to the most urgent basic needs of displaced Iraqis, including winterization support.

Ravina Shamdasani, for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), said that the Office had received reports of the ongoing systematic targeting of non-Sunni ethnic and religious groups, through killings, abductions, destruction of property and places of religious and cultural significance by ISIL, as well as increasing reports of ISIL killing Sunni individuals who refused to pledge allegiance to them.

Some of the reports included the following cases:

-Eyewitnesses had confirmed that on 24 or 25 August, ISIL had executed by gunfire 14 elderly Yezidi men in Sheikh Mand Shrine, Jidala village, western Sinjar. The elderly could not flee when ISIL took over the village on 24 August. ISIL had later destroyed the shrine.

-There were reports that on 26 August, five men had been executed in Mosul city after verdicts delivered by ISILs self-appointed courts. OHCHR was working to verify those reports.

-Seven Christians had been abducted from among a group of 33 who had been attempting to flee Hamdaniya district in Mosul on 22 August. OHCHR learned that among them was a three-year-old girl whose mother had been told she had to leave her or else they would shoot her and the rest of the family.

-On 25 August, 12 members of the Iraqi Security Forces and Sahwa had been allegedly executed by firing squad by ISIL in Hawija area in Kirkuk. On 31 August, 19 Sunnis had been allegedly executed in Saadiya, in Diyala Governorate by ISIL for not pledging allegiance to it.

There were also reports of vengeance killings targeting the Arab Sunni community in Tuz Khurmatu in Salah al-Din Governorate.

OHCHR reiterated that such grave human rights violations, including the systematic targeting of men, women and children based on their ethnic, religious or sectarian affiliation, likely amounted to a crime against humanity.

Asked whether the aid was being delivered only by air, Mr. Edwards said that help was also arriving via roads and by the sea. On the question on the conditions in Amerli and other liberated areas after the ISIL had been cleared, Mr. Edwards said that the UNHCR did not have any detailed information on that. Hundreds of thousands of displaced people in Iraq still could not access humanitarian aid. Ms. Shamdasani said that an OHCHR team on the ground was trying to establish what kind of violations had taken place during the ISIL presence.

In response to another question, Ms. Shamdasani specified that the ISIL was executing Sunnis who refused to pledge allegiance.

Asked what the total IDP population in Iraq was at the moment, Mr. Edwards said that the estimates had been revised a couple of time over the summer, but 1.8. million was a figure for those displaced since the start of 2014. Those people were not only in Kurdistan, but also in central Iraq. There was some additional, longer-term displacement dating back to 2007.

Speaking about winterization programmes, Mr. Edwards stated that normally winterization preparations would commence in May already, if they were taking place in established environments. UNHCR was helping repair buildings; there were 1,500 locations around Iraq where people needed help.

On whether humanitarian agencies were paying border fees to the ISIL for their trucks delivering aid, Mr. Edwards said that he was not aware of anything like that. Mr. Laerke said that there had been ten cross-border convoys from Turkey and Jordan into Syria since the Security Council resolution 2165, and there were no dues paid to anyone at the borders.

Answering a question, Mr. Edwards said that the Turkish authorities were in charge of refugee camps in Turkey, and they were ensuring that the camps maintained their civilian nature.

Asked about the funding, Mr. Edwards said that the UNHCR had previously asked for USD 220 million, and now there was an additional request for an additional USD 350 million.

Libya

Christiane Berthiaume, for the International Organization for Migration (IOM), stated that the situation in Libya was still deteriorating. Nearly 150,000 Tripoli residents had been made homeless by two months of ever-intensifying conflict, which meant almost 31,000 families. IOM Libya was monitoring the growing insecurity of some 200,000 overseas migrants living and working in Tripoli, Misrata and Benghazi. They included some 7,000 individuals whom the IOM categorized as “vulnerable migrants” in urgent need of evacuation assistance. Sky-rocketing food prices, severe power cuts, fuel shortages and difficulty in purchasing basic goods and services made the life more difficult for the inhabitants in Tripoli.

As Libya’s security deteriorated, IOM was continuing to field telephone calls from individual migrants wanting to return to their countries of origin and foreign embassies seeking help to evacuate their citizens. IOM had received an urgent request from Pakistan’s Embassy to help rescue as many as 2,000 Pakistani nationals from the embattled areas of Tripoli and Benghazi and to organize their safe return to Pakistan. Other migrants felt that they had little option but to join a tide of migrants, seeking to leave Libya to Italy by sea, a route that had become increasingly perilous since the latest fighting had broken out.

Ms. Berthiaume said that, since Libya’s latest crisis started in mid-July, IOM repatriated 125 migrants, many of them from Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Ethiopia and Côte d’Ivoire via Tunisia. It was presently working to arrange the evacuation of 30 Yemeni labourers seeking safe passage from Tripoli. On 31 August, the IOM has successfully evacuated from Tripoli 12 women from Ethiopia and Cote d’Ivoire to Tunisia. The women were living without basic assistance – food, water, psychological support – in immigration detention centres in Libya’s capital. Through the month of August, the IOM monitors said that at least 6,000 Egyptian nationals had also fled Libya through the country’s borders with Egypt and Tunisia. Nonetheless, the IOM estimated that up to one million Egyptians remained in Libya. The airport was severely damaged during the fights and could no longer been used for the evacuation of refugees. That security situation had an impact on the IOM capacity to deliver assistance but despite the difficult circumstances, IOM intended to continue evacuation operations for as long as it can, Ms. Berthiaume concluded.

Answering a question on the number of Egyptians still living in Libya, Ms. Berthiaume said that a precise number was difficult to assess.

Ms. Shamdasani said that conditions of detention in Libya were worsening, especially for vulnerable minorities. The OHCHR team had to evacuate from Tripoli, but was continuing to monitor the situation, by talking to human rights defenders.

Colombia

Ms. Berthiaume referred to a video from Colombia, which had been launched on 27 August, and was currently making a big impact online, drawing 13,000 viewers in the first two days. Three cities, nine cameras and a team of professional actors had joined forces to alert Colombians to the growing scourge of people trafficking in their country.

Human trafficking, principally for the sex trade, was second only to narcotics and arms-dealing among profitable illegal activities in Colombia, according to the national authorities. The video “Chain Reaction” was designed to challenge pedestrians at busy intersections in the cities of Bogotá, Cali and Pereira with the spectre of a fellow Colombian in danger. Chained to their spots, as if “captured” on an imaginary journey under the control of criminal traffickers, actors were trained to sit silently until passers-by intervened. In others they pulled at their chains and expressed anguish.

Cameras recording those reactions showed indifference was an all-too-common response. But the longer the “victims” remained chained to their spots, the more citizens stepped up to offer assistance. IOM said that it was a new experiment which prompted reflection on how to create connections to be able to react together and prevent close persons from falling into a trafficking network. It also aimed at motivating ordinary citizens to help trafficking victims.

Bahrain

Ms. Shamdasani stated that the ongoing violations of the rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association, and the targeting of human rights activists in Bahrain remained of serious concern.

Most recently, on 30 August, prominent Bahraini human rights defender Maryam Al-Khawaja had been detained at the Manama Airport and then transferred to a women’s prison on charges of assaulting a police officer. Al-Khawaja was the daughter of the former president and co-founder of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja, who had been in prison in Bahrain since 2011 and was currently on hunger strike, with his health reportedly deteriorating. The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention had found the detention of Mr. Al-Khawaja and other political detainees to be arbitrary and called for their immediate release.

Ms. Al-Khawaja, who resided in Denmark, had travelled to Bahrain to visit her father in prison when she was denied entry to her own country and detained at Bahrain airport upon landing, apparently because her Bahraini passport had expired. She was, however, travelling on her Danish passport. Her Danish passport had been allegedly confiscated and Ms. Al-Khawaja was taken to Isa Town women's prison on charges of assaulting a police officer, pending investigation by the Public Prosecution. She was reportedly due to appear in court on 6 September.

Ms. Shamdasani said that the OHCHR was seriously concerned that Ms. Al-Khawaja’s arrest was linked to her legitimate work to promote human rights in Bahrain through the Gulf Centre for Human Rights, of which she was a co-director.

Separately, on 31 August, the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bahrain had upheld a 10-year sentence against photojournalist Ahmad Humaidan, who was in detention since December 2012 when he had been covering protests. He had been convicted of taking part in an attack on a police station. Human rights defender Naji Fateel, co-founder of the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights, had also had a 15-year sentence against him upheld in the Court of Appeal in May 2014 on charges of establishing a group for the purpose of disabling the Constitution.

OHCHR also noted with deep regret that 13 political activists, including Mr. Al-Khawaja, and two doctors detained in 2011 for peaceful exercise of their rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly, remained in prison, serving out long sentences. Hundreds of young people were still in detention or serving lengthy sentences for their participation in demonstrations.

OHCHR urged the Government to take immediate steps to release Ms. Al-Khawaja and all human rights defenders and individuals detained for the peaceful exercise of their rights, and to ensure that all human rights defenders in Bahrain were able to carry out their important work in an effective manner without fear of harassment or prosecution.

Ms. Shamdasani said that the Office had been in touch with the authorities to raise its concerns on that case.

Ukraine

On whether the UNHCR was prepared for an eventual refugee situation around Mariupol, if it were to fall to the rebels, Mr. Edwards said it was an escalating, worrying situation in Ukraine, and the UNHCR was closely observing the overall conditions.

“Tackle Hunger” campaign

Elisabeth Byrs, for the World Food Programme (WFP), announced the launch of a partnership between the WFP and the International Rugby Board (IRB). They had launched an ambitious campaign to raise funds and awareness and support the world’s hungry as part of their Tackle Hunger partnership at Rugby World Cup which was the world’s third-largest sporting event in the world, after the Football World Cup and the Olympics Games.

Ms. Byrs stated that the Rugby World Cup would kick off on 18 September 2015 and it would last until 31 October.

The WFP and the IRB were launching a fund-raising campaign together. The aim was one millions meals for children. Ms. Byrs added that it was important to give visibility to that initiative in order to find funds for the WFP to help those children. The main problem of the humanitarians agencies was to find funds.

Geneva activities

Ms. Momal-Vanian reminded that the Human Rights Council was to open its regular 27^th session on Monday, 8 September.

The Committee on Migrant Workers was closing its session today, after having considered Belize and Ghana. The final roundup would be published in the afternoon.

The Committee on the Rights of the Child was continuing its session today, when it was finalizing the review of Fiji. The following week it would consider reports of Singapore, Hungary and Croatia. The Committee had already looked into the reports of Venezuela and Morocco.

The Conference on Disarmament would be holding its last public session of 2014 on 9 September.

Melissa Begag, for the World Trade Organization (WTO), informed that on 8 September, the Director-General Azevedo was meeting with Queen Maxima of the Netherlands in her capacity of United Nations’s Secretary General’s Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development, as well the Netherlands’ Prime Minister Mark Rutte, Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation Lilianne Ploument, Members of Parliament, the Centre for the Promotion of Imports from developing countries Director Max Timmerman, and the Company Members of the Confederation of the Netherlands Industry and Employers in the Hague.

On 10 September, the Director-General would meet with Austria’s Vice Minister of Economy, Family and Youth Bernadette Gierlinger in Geneva.

Muriel Scibilia, for the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), announced that a press conference chaired by UNCTAD Secretary-General Dr Mukhisa Kituyi and by Alfredo Calcagno, Chief of Macroeconomic and Development Policies Branch would be held on 10 September. The conference would present the new annual UNCTAD Trade and Development report, offering, as in previous years, some analysis on the global economic situation. It highlighted that six years after the financial crisis, the growth still had not recovered and trade remained subdued. The situation was stagnant in developing countries with a large gap between Asia and the rest of the developing world, including Africa, South America, and the Caribbean. The core issue of the report in 2014 was the global governance and the governments’ bargaining power to define a policy suited to their needs. That governmental leeway was analyzed from various angles, including industrial policy, trade policy and taxation.

In the report, UNCTAD noted that the lessons from the financial crisis still had not been learned, as if nothing had happened, although all the indicators were again in the red. Ms. Scibilia added that UNCTAD would be celebrating its 50^th anniversary this year and a chapter of the report was specially dedicated to the evolution of multilateral economic system. UNCTAD economists offered alternatives in the report and advised to boost the national demand and not to reduce wages to increase exports. There were a series of proposals to change the situation.

All the documents and the report had been posted onto the virtual press room.

Hans von Rohland, for the International Labour Organization (ILO), informed that the ILO Director-General would participate at the G20 meeting of Labour Ministers which would take place in Melbourne, Australia. On 9 September at 2 p.m. Melbourne time, a press conference would take place, where a joint report of the ILO, the World Bank and the OECD on the global labour market conditions would be presented. The report would include ILO’s updated numbers of unemployment in the world and different regions. A joint press release from the three organizations was planned to be sent in the afternoon on 8 September, with an embargo until 6 a.m. Geneva time on 9 September.

Jean Rodriguez, for the Economic Commission for Europe (ECE), informed that the Executive Secretary would be in Prague on 10 September to participate in the 22^nd OSCE Economic and Environmental Forum. The theme of the meeting, which would last from 10 to 12 September, was “Responding to environmental challenges with a view to promoting co-operation and security in the OSCE area”. The Executive Secretary would speak at the panel debate on Disaster Risk Reduction on the global agenda: implications for the OSCE area. Selected topics included the Third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction and post-2015 Framework for disaster risk reduction, the Post-2015 Development Agenda Sustainable Development Goals process and the role of disaster risk reduction, links between climate change, disaster risk reduction and security, and the role and contribution of the OSCE. UNECE cooperated with the United Nations Institute for Strategic Disaster Reduction on housing and land management, the Industrial Accidents Convention, the Water Convention, and the private-public partnership for disaster risk reduction.

Mr. Rodriguez informed that a workshop on migration statistics would take place in Chisinau on 8-12 September. Topics would include experiences with using data from the 2010 round of censuses for measuring migration, better utilization of administrative data sources to measure migration, measurement of “hard-to-count” migrant groups, and developments in return migration.

Ms. Nullis, for the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), informed that on 8 September, the new El Niño update would be released. The report was published periodically and would be sent out under embargo for 11:00 a.m. on 8 September. While the French and Spanish versions were still awaited, the English version was ready and could already be delivered.

On 9 September, there would be a press conference at 9:30 a.m. in Room III with the Secretary General of the WMO, Michel Jarraud. The WMO Annual Greenhouse Gas Bulletin on the levels of carbon dioxide and other major greenhouse gases in the atmosphere would be released then. That report was released annually and sought to impress the need for drastic action to cut greenhouse gas emission on climate change negotiators. Relevant documents in all working languages would be delivered under embargo on Monday.

On 10 September, an assessed scientific report on the state of the ozone layer would be released. It was done by around 300 scientists every four years. The main release would take place in New York at a press conference at 3:00 p.m, scheduled with Mr. Steiner of the United Nations Environment Programme. Since the interest of the journalists in that event was expressed, an embargoed press conference with a respective expert would be arranged in Geneva in the late afternoon on 10 September.

Ms. Nullis reported that, in the run up to the UN Climate Summit on 23 September 2014, WMO was in the process of releasing a series of videos with weather reports of the future. Each video was imaginary but featured a realistic weather report for 2050. This week, weather reports for Brazil, Japan and Denmark had been released. This would carry on every day in the following week, including two reports of the United States. The project was getting quite a lot of attention and it was hoped that it would help increase awareness of local impacts of climate change in the future.

Mr. Edwards announced that the winner of the Nansen Refugee Award winner would be announced at the end of the following week.