REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Ahmad Fawzi, Director a.i. of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired the briefing, which was also attended by spokespersons for the United Nations Refugee Agency, International Organization for Migration, United Nations Children’s Fund, United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, and World Health Organization.

United Nations Secretary-General

The United Nations Secretary-General was in Turkey today to attend the G-20 Summit in Antalya. The Secretary-General would also attend working sessions on development and climate change, growth strategies and employment, tourism, and the refugee crisis, and hold bilateral meetings with world leaders gathered for the Summit, including President Erdogan of Turkey. Mr. Ban was scheduled to return to New York on 16 November.

Staffan de Mistura, the Secretary-General's Special Envoy for Syria, was currently in Vienna, preparing for the continuation of the talks on Syria. Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, Special Envoy for Yemen, was meeting Saudi officials in Riyadh.

Geneva activities

The Committee against Torture was considering the report of Austria this afternoon, said Mr. Fawzi, while the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women had concluded the consideration in public meetings of all the reports scheduled for the session. The Committee would continue in private until the closing meeting on Friday, 20 November.

Mr. Fawzi drew the media’s attention to a number of press conferences on Monday, 16 November:

At 10 a.m. in Press Room 1, the International Labour Organization (ILO) would launch the new edition of its Key Indicators of the Labour Market. Rafael Diez de Medina, Director of the ILO’s Department of Statistics, was scheduled to speak.

At 11 a.m. in Press Room 1, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) would brief on the humanitarian situation in the Sahel, the impact of Boko Haram in the Lake Chad basin, and the situation in and around Mali, with Toby Lanzer, Assistant Secretary-General and Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Sahel.

At 3 p.m. in Room III, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) was issuing its next El Niño Update in the presence of WMO Secretary-General Michel Jarraud.

In the context of Geneva Peace Week next week, a high-level panel discussion on natural resources and conflict was taking place on Tuesday, 17 November, from 3 to 5 p.m., in Room VII. The event would feature an address by Michael Møller, UNOG Director-General, Her Excellency Ms. Päivi Kairamo, Permanent Representative of Finland to the United Nations Office at Geneva, and Alan Doss, Executive Director of Kofi Annan Foundation, formerly Special Representative of the Secretary-General in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and in Liberia.

Also in the context of Geneva Peace Week, UNOG was screening a film by Jeremy Gilley, “The Day After Peace”, on Wednesday, 18 November, at 6.30 p.m. at the Maison de la Paix.

The Human Rights Council's Universal Periodic Review Working Group was concluding its 23^rd session this afternoon, said Mr. Fawzi, and would adopt its recommendations for the human rights reviews of St Kitts and Nevis and Sao Tome and Principe, which had taken place earlier this week.

Fadela Chaib, for the World Health Organization (WHO), announced a virtual press conference with Dr Margaret Chan, WHO Director-General, on the very important problem of antibiotic resistance. The press conference would take place on Monday,
16 November at 2 p.m. WHO would launch a new global campaign during the first ever world antibiotic resistance awareness week to be marked from 16 to 22 November.

Ms. Chaib reminded journalists of the press conference on the health situation and the WHO response in the Syrian Arab Republic and the cholera situation in the wider region, which was taking place today, 13 November, at 11.30 a.m. in Room III.

UNHCR ramps up operation in Lesvos, focuses on sea rescue and improved reception

Adrian Edwards, for the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), said that Lesvos was the epicentre for arrivals in Europe, which placed an enormous strain on the island. Difficult sea conditions in the Mediterranean as winter approached did not affect significantly the arrival rates, with an average 3,300 people arriving daily in November. Of the 660,000 refugees and migrants who had arrived in Greece, more than half had landed on Lesvos. UNHCR was ramping up its presences in the Greek islands and in the North to provide refugees with immediate life-saving assistance.

Mr. Edwards introduced Diane Goodman, Deputy Director of UNHCR Europe Bureau and Head of Operations for Refugee Emergency, who briefed journalists via phone from Greece.

Ms. Goodman said that Lesvos was the epicentre of the refugee crisis, and while the influx was manageable at the European level, it was an extraordinary challenge for this islands whose infrastructure, oriented to tourism, was unable to cope. There were about 12,000 refugees and migrants in the reception centres on the island with a total capacity for 2,800 people, which led to conflicts between refugees, the police and with the local population. UNHCR was the only UN agency present in Lesvos, with 29 staff, which would soon increase to 40. So far, a humanitarian tragedy had been avoided, but with the winter approaching there were serious concerns and critical points, which included lack of land allocated for the establishment of new reception sites, the system for management of the reception sites was missing, and there was an urgent need to put in place proper registration and to significantly improve water and sanitation facilities.

UNHCR was working in partnership with other organizations and volunteers to provide life-saving assistance on the shores, ensuring the 24/7 transport for new arrivals, short-term shelter, hot meals and medical assistance, and was providing equipment to the Hellenic Coastal Service for search and rescue operations. Warm items of clothing were being provided to refugees as well.

Asked about UNHCR presence on Lesvos and the needed improvements, Ms. Goodman explained that the number of staff on the island had gradually increased; the focus was on increasing the capacity of the national staff to respond to this emergency, she said. It was important to stress that lives were being saved and that urgent needs were being met, and despite the fact that the situation was quite critical in some areas, there were visible improvements, but the urgent need to increase the reception capacities on the island remained. Between January and October 2015, of all the arrivals to the island, 56 per cent were from Syria, 30 per cent from Afghanistan and six per cent from Iraq. People spent between four and six days on the island before continuing their journey.

Responding to questions related to the expansion of reception capacities, Ms. Goodman expressed hope that the Greek authorities would allocate the land for the expansion of the reception sites and that UNHCR and other organizations would receive sufficient funds for the expansion of reception capacities. Ms. Goodman said that in Greece, UNHCR would support the expansion of reception capacities for an additional 20,000, while the Greek authorities expressed support to increase reception capacities for a further 30,000 people. UNHCR and the Greek authorities were conducting an assessment mission in order to develop a plan for the expansion of the reception facilities in the country. As far as Lesvos was concerned, the reception capacities needed to be flexible to adjust to the number of daily arrivals, which currently stand at 5,000 but were slowly coming down.

Several questions were asked about the absence of other UN agencies on the islands. Ms. Goodman said this was a refugee situation, and other United Nations agencies were working along the route. UNFPA and WHO would be joining the operation in Greece, and UNHCR also welcomed the cooperation with IOM. It was difficult to answer why other UN agencies were not present, and Ms. Goodman said that UNHCR had been present in Greece before the crisis, on other issues.

On the number of arrivals in Lesvos, Mr. Edwards explained that 3,300 arrivals per day was the average arrival rate during November so far. The situation was very volatile and the number of daily arrivals were on decline since the peak on 20 October, when 10,000 people had arrived in that single day. People were sleeping in the open and the capacity in the reception centres was insufficient, stressed Mr. Edward.

Please see UNHCR briefing note for further information.

Valetta Summit: IOM welcomes focus on voluntary return of migrants

Leonard Doyle, for the International Organization for Migration (IOM), briefed on the Valetta Summit and the first intercontinental agreement on managing migration between European and African leaders. Following very difficult negotiations, the final text of the Declaration focused on tackling the root causes of migration, including irregular migration, and IOM was particularly pleased that it included a focus on the preference for the voluntary return. This was particularly important as pressure for deportation from Europe was growing. Further information on the Valetta Summit in the IOM press briefing.

IOM circulated data on Mediterranean arrivals, available here.

UNICEF calls for immediate removal of landmines in Eastern Ukraine, and urgent repairs of the heating system before winter sets

Christophe Boulierac for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), said that William Fellows, Head of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Section, UNICEF Office in Ukraine, would brief the press by phone from Kiev, on the situation of 700,000 children in Eastern Ukraine threatened by cold and the upcoming winter.

Mr. Fellows said that about 700,000 children in Donetsk and Luhansk in Eastern Ukraine were at risk because of the potential failure of the heating systems during the freezing winter months. In those areas, temperatures of -20°C were common, with temperatures also known to drop to -30°C. Nearly five million people in Donetsk and Luhansk region were totally dependent on two centralised water systems, which crossed the frontlines and were heavily damaged during the conflict. UNICEF and its partners managed to get access to certain areas to repair some of the damage, but repairs in the remaining parts of the system were hampered by lack of access and the minefields, said Mr. Fellows. The water supply system, heating system and parts of the electricity supply system were all interlinked, which increased the urgency of the repairs before the winter set in; there was a real concern that water in the system would freeze and burst the pipes, causing further damage and the failure of the systems. UNICEF called for humanitarian access, the removal of mines, and the urgent repair of the infrastructure in order to minimise the risks to lives, especially of children.

Asked about difficulties in removing the mines, Mr. Fellows said that both sides to the conflict, the de-facto authorities and the Government, placed the mines, but the good news was that both had the capacities to demine the areas fairly quickly. While UNICEF did not have the maps of minefields, it did have detailed maps of where the repairs were needed in the supply system, which were shared with the parties to the conflict and with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

Road accidents more deadly than conflicts, kill 1.25 million persons annually

Mr. Fawzi noted that every year road accidents killed more people than conflicts: a staggering 1.25 million people died on the world’s roads annually.

Jean Rodriguez, for the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), briefed on the Second Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety to take place in Brasilia, Brazil, from 18 to 19 November 2015. UNECE Executive Secretary Christian Friis Bach and the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Road Safety, Jean Todt, would be there to advocate for a stronger commitments from countries and car industry to improve road safety and implement more effectively the United Nations road safety legal instruments. Mr. Rodriguez said nowadays, 80 per cent of the victims of road accidents were in developing countries, while twenty or thirty years ago, road safety was the issue for developed countries. The good news was that risks were well known, as were the policies to put in place.

The Economic Commission for Europe was depository of the United Nations treaties on the road safety, and its Convention covered all aspects of road safety: vehicle safety, road construction, road signs and signals, and others, and contained dispositions addressing all the major causes of crashes: speed limit, safe road infrastructure, drink-driving, helmets and safety features in cars. Another problem to be discussed in Brasilia would be the difference in safety features of same model vehicles sold in developed and developing countries and Mr. Rodriquez called on car manufactures to ensure that all vehicles sold everywhere in the world confirmed to same standards of safety.

Mr. Fawzi noted that one of the Sustainable Development Goals – the SDG 3.6 was to agree ways to half the number of road traffic deaths by 2020.

Fadela Chaib, for World Health Organization (WHO) added that Dr Margaret Chan was going to participate in the high-level meeting in Brasilia and reminded that road accidents were the number one killer of youth aged 15 to 29.

On World Diabetes Day, WHO calls for greater action to curb the global diabetic epidemic

Fadela Chaib, for World Health Organization (WHO), said that the World Diabetes Day, 14 November, was a call for greater action to turn the growing tide of the global diabetic epidemic. The annual World Health Day on 7 April would focus on diabetes. Some 350 million people in the world suffered from diabetes; in 2012 the disease was a direct cause of an estimated 1.5 million deaths and 80 percent of these were from low income countries. By 2030, diabetes would be the 7^th leading cause in deaths worldwide.