REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Alessandra Vellucci, Director of the United Nations Information Service, United Nations Office at Geneva, chaired the briefing attended by the spokespersons for the Human Rights Council, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the United Nations Refugee Agency, the International Organization for Migration, the World Food Programme, the World Health Organization, the World Meteorological Organization, the International Telecommunication Union, the Economic Commission for Europe and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.

Human Rights Council update

Rolando Gomez, for the Human Rights Council, said that the Council had opened its thirty-sixth session on 11 September 2017. It had heard an update by Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, during which he had raised a number of burning issues relating to country situations around the globe. States would have an opportunity to respond to that update today, 12 September, during the general debate; NGOs would also be invited to debate.

At 2 p.m., the Council would continue its dialogue with independent experts on the rights of older persons and on water and sanitation.

At 2.50 p.m., the Council would hear a statement by the Ministry of Justice of Burkina Faso, Mr. Bessolé Réné Bagoro.

During the remainder of the afternoon, the Council would hear presentations by the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, which would report on its 2017 visits to Azerbaijan and the United States of America, and by the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, who would address access to justice and remedies for victims of slavery.

On 13 September, the Council would hear additional presentations of thematic reports, including on international order; unilateral coercive measures, including the Special Rapporteur’s 2017 visit to the Russian Federation; the use of mercenaries; hazardous wastes, including the Special Rapporteur’s mission to the United Kingdom; and the right to development. A number of side events were also being held in parallel.

Bangladesh

Jean Lieby, Chief of Child Protection for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Bangladesh, speaking by phone from Bangladesh, said that the country was facing an influx of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar the scale and speed of which was unprecedented in Bangladesh, with some 220,000 having crossed the border between 4 and 10 September alone; there was no indication that the influx would stop soon.

There was a growing humanitarian crisis, affecting very large numbers of children. Acceding to preliminary data, 60 per cent of all refugees were children. Many had not slept for days and were weak and hungry after their long and challenging journey into Bangladesh. Many were also sick and urgently needed health care, while others were in difficult situations, had had traumatizing experiences and were in need of protection and psychological support. In addition, many babies had been born in Bangladesh and also required urgent help and treatment. Refugees, including approximately 12,000 babies, were at incredible risk. As camps continued to grow, so too did the need to provide safe drinking water and basic sanitation, and to prevent waterborne diseases. Many vulnerable persons, including children, women and older persons, were living in limited space and poor hygiene conditions. It was still currently the monsoon season, which meant significant rainfall. In that connection, waterborne diseases were especially dangerous for children.

In terms of child protection, UNICEF, together with its partners and relying on the use of child-friendly spaces, had been working to provide recreational activities. Also, a total of 1,128 children had so far been identified as having been separated from their families. Although those children often received care from their communities, they still needed to receive assistance in order to find their relatives. Furthermore, the number of unaccompanied children was expected to increase as children continued to be identified.

Education was also a critical issue. Some 62,000 children urgently needed education which, among other things, provided some feeling of normalcy. A total of 166 learning centres had been set up, with 12,521 children, including some 6,000 girls, in attendance. Additional educational efforts were needed. A total of 41 child-friendly spaces had been reserved and, since 25 August, 17,000 children, including 10,000 girls, had received psychosocial support. Overall, more than 200,000 children remained at risk.

Leonard Doyle, for the International Organization for Migration (IOM), said that Chris Lom was currently in Cox’s Bazar and would be available for an update by phone at the following press briefing. The counting process was still undergoing revisions, but it was clear that earlier expectations that provision would need to be made for 100,000 refugees in an emergency situation had been largely surpassed. The system was therefore already at full stretch and needed all the support it could get if all refugees were to be looked after appropriately.

Ms Doyle announced the figures that had just been communicated by the Intersectoral Cluster Group: 370,000 refugees had crossed over the border into Bangladesh since 25 August. The significant increase from the numbers announced until yesterday was largely attributable to the fact that many people were now moving from roadsides into spontaneous settlements and were being counted only at that point.

Adrian Edwards, for the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), said that a major UNHCR airlift with emergency relief supplies for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh was under way, with the first flight having landed in Dhaka just before 4.30 a.m. that day.

A UNHCR-chartered Boeing 777 had flown in with 91 metric tonnes of aid, including much needed shelter materials, jerry cans, blankets, sleeping mats and other essential items from the UNHCR global stockpile in Dubai. The cargo had been loaded onto trucks that would bring the aid to the refugee camps at Cox’s Bazar in south-eastern Bangladesh.

A second aid flight, donated to UNHCR by the United Arab Emirates, was scheduled to land at 2.15 p.m., local time, that day, contributing some 1,700 family tents. The two emergency flights were meant to meet the immediate aid needs of some 25,000 refugees. Further flights were being planned, ultimately delivering emergency aid for some 120,000 refugees in total.

The changes in the estimated total of stateless Rohingya refugees having fled into Bangladesh since 25 August was the result of additional interagency assessment teams being able to reach more villages, hamlets and pockets where refugees had gathered.

Rohingya refugees continued to arrive at Kutupalong and Nayapara camps, where UNHCR had operations. With more than 70,000 refugees currently in both camps, the population had more than doubled since 25 August. Both sites were beyond saturation point. Some refugees who had been living in those camps were hosting up to 15 newly-arrived families in their small huts, yet new arrivals were still spilling onto the walkways under plastic sheets. UNHCR had opened up public buildings and set up large tents to accommodate the new arrivals.

Many of the new refugees were staying in makeshift settlements or among local Bangladeshi host communities that generously shared whatever resources they had. Those spontaneous sites required proper planning to ensure basic shelter, safety and hygiene standards.

Meanwhile, UNHCR Assistant High Commissioner for Operations, George Okoth-Obbo, was in Bangladesh that week. In Cox’s Bazar, he would meet with Rohingya refugee families to better understand their needs and review the UNHCR response. While in Dhaka, he would meet with the Bangladeshi authorities to underline the readiness of UNHCR to significantly ramp up its response and provide support to the Government in addressing needs.

Bettina Luescher, for the World Food Programme (WFP), said that WFP was scaling up its response massively and had thus far provided more than 68,800 people with high-energy biscuits as they arrived seeking shelter in already overcrowded settlements in Cox’s Bazar. More than 1,000 women had also received high-energy biscuits in women-friendly spaces supported by the United Nations Population Fund. Furthermore, about 77,600 people had received warm meals – khichuri, a kind of rice and lentil porridge – through community kitchens operated by Action against Hunger, to which WFP provided rice. Those kitchens continued to provide meals for about 5,300 people per day. WFP was especially concerned about the health of women and children arriving hungry and malnourished. They were, as in any crisis, the most vulnerable. Nearly 3,000 pregnant women, new mothers and children under the age of five had received a special, high-nutrient porridge made of wheat and soya flour.

On 9 September, WFP had begun distributing 25 kilos of rice to newly arrived families both in registered camps and makeshift settlements. Nearly 60,000 people had received rice so far. WFP needed at least USD 14.8 million for its operations in Bangladesh; it had thus far received USD 3.2 million from Denmark and USD 2.4 million from Australia. It was a truly dire situation; people was desperate and scared.

In response to questions, Mr. Doyle for IOM said that earlier estimates concerning the number of refugees had been surpassed a number of times already. It was difficult to provide planning figures, especially because it was expected that the number of refugees would continue to rise as they came off the streets and were counted in the settlements. It was important to focus on getting help to those most vulnerable. Mr. Edwards for UNHCR added that the crisis continued to grow and numbers would likely be revised further in the future.

Asked to clarify the kinds of risks facing child refugees, Mr. Lieby for UNICEF said that in situations of displacement, families were often poor and therefore there were many possible risks facing children, including early marriage for girls and child labour. It was important to provide educational and recreational facilities: the more involved children were in such activities, the better protected they were.

Responding to a question regarding a recent reference by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to ethnic cleansing in Myanmar, Mr. Lieby said that access to colleagues in Myanmar continued to be difficult in the areas concerned. The information available came mainly from reports of human rights organizations in Myanmar and abroad. It was clear that some of the children arriving into Bangladesh were extremely distressed. It would be crucial to gather reports from the persons on site and forward them to the High Commissioner. Reporting on countries in conflict should further be extended to neighbouring countries where people sought refuge. Mr. Edwards added that UNHCR did not have humanitarian access to the affected areas in Myanmar, so it was difficult to supplement the information already provided by the High Commissioner. Having said that, among those who had fled to Bangladesh, many had reported their homes and villages being set on fire, forcing them to flee; their family members being burned, shot or slashed to death; and having had to hide in the jungle or mountains and then walking for days to reach the border. There were also high numbers of unaccompanied children, problems of sexual violence, trauma injuries and bullet wounds. Mental and physical health care was needed. It was an extremely grave situation.

In response to a question about contact between the United Nations and the Government of Myanmar, Alessandra Vellucci, for the United Nations Information Service, recalled that the Secretary-General was in contact with Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi. Mr. Edwards added that in addition to being in direct contact with the authorities in Myanmar, there were a few UNHCR international staff members locally based, but access was currently restricted.

Mr. Lieby added that UNICEF had emergency supplies on the way from Dhaka to Cox’s Bazar and an airlift from its Copenhagen stockpile, both of which would be delivered in the coming days. He recalled that USD 7 million were needed to continue operations over the following four months.

Hurricanes

Bettina Luescher, for the World Food Programme (WFP) said that WFP was in full alarm mode with the hurricane that had struck the eastern and western parts of the Caribbean especially hard. In coordination with governments and other actors, WFP was launching two 3-month emergency operations in the Caribbean. WFP had begun providing immediate assistance through emergency rations to save people’s lives and, once there was food on the market, would provide cash to buy food. Antigua would serve as the main WFP hub for the Eastern Caribbean while Turks and Caicos could serve as the main hub for the western part.

At the request of the Government of Haiti, WFP was distributing emergency rations in that country’s northern areas, which had been side-swiped by the hurricane though not severely damaged. Assistance had also been offered to the Cuban Government.

In the Lesser Antilles, WFP planned to work closely with the regional disaster agency and United Nations partners to assist the smaller islands hardest-hit by Hurricane Irma, some of which had seen 95 per cent of their infrastructure destroyed. Subregional hubs would be established in Antigua.

The United Nations Humanitarian Response Depot in Panama was due to airlift 40 metric tons of non-food items to Antigua on that day. Such depots, which were run by WFP on behalf of all United Nations and NGOs partners, contained everything from food to satellite phones to desk equipment The previous week’s airlift containing high energy biscuit and other emergency items was being rerouted to Antigua because such supplies were more urgently needed there. WFP had also deployed its staff from Panama and El Salvador to help in the operation and was sparing no effort to assist those hardest hit.

Clare Nullis, for the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), said that Hurricane Irma had been downgraded, as was normal when a hurricane made landfall. It would nonetheless make history for several reasons. There had been two very strong hurricanes in very tight proximity: Irma and Harvey, both category 4 hurricanes. It was the first time two category 4 hurricanes had made landfall in the United States in the space of one year. Hurricanes were measured not just by wind speed, but by energy generated. Hurricane Irma alone had generated enough accumulated cyclone energy to meet the definition of an average full Atlantic hurricane season. Its maximum winds of 300 km per hour had been maintained for 37 hours – the longest of any tropical cyclone on record. Further, it had remained a category 5 hurricane for three consecutive days – the longest period ever recorded in the satellite era. The devastation was clear from the sophisticated satellite data. Fortunately, Hurricane Irma had dissipated and another tropical storm – José – was now weakening.

WMO had recently received a slew by suggestions for naming future tropical cyclones; she recalled that the organization adhered to strict rotating lists and would not be able to accommodate all requests.

Tarik Jasarevic, for the World Health Organization (WHO), referring to a recently released regional office update, said that many health centres and hospitals had been completely or partially destroyed. In Barbuda, the hospital was no longer functioning; in Saint-Martin, health services were not being provided; and in Saint-Barthelemy, health services had resumed. An assessment by the health authorities, with the support of the Pan American Health Organization, was under way to determine exact needs.

Besides the physical damage to hospitals and health centres, which WHO would seek to help to rebuild, another important issue was the evacuation of patients for whom a functioning hospital could not be found, and the treatment of people with chronic diseases. It was also necessary to strengthen surveillance because after flooding there was an increased presence of mosquitos, which served as vectors in transmitting waterborne diseases. An additional problem was the replacement of health workers, many of whom had been personally impacted by the hurricane and who had been working constantly since the disaster. While looking for alternative solutions with the local authorities, WHO had sent their own staff to help.

Jennifer Ferguson-Mitchell, for the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), said that, in response to a request for assistance from the Government of Haiti, ITU had deployed emergency telecommunication equipment, including 20 satellite telephones, which would arrive in the coming days. Another 50 satellite telephones had been sent to its regional office in Barbados, where they awaited distribution to other countries in need. The telephones in question were Iridium telephones, with 10 broadband global area network terminals by Inmarsat.

It was important to remember that innovations in weather predictions and capacities had contributed to what some had referred to as the largest evacuation effort in the United States; that had saved many lives. In that connection, she drew attention to the release, on 5 September 2017, of a joint ITU-WMO handbook on the use of radio spectrum for meteorology, weather, water and climate monitoring and prediction, and on the international joint ITU-WMO seminar on the same topic, to be held on 23 and 24 October 2017.

In response to questions, Ms. Nullis for WMO said that the prediction of hurricane force and impact was the subject of much debate. While it was possible to determine, several days in advance the track that a tropical storm would take, even a very slight change in the storm’s so-called trajectory could make a huge difference in terms of impact, especially where densely populated areas were concerned. In the case of Hurricane Irma, some areas had fared better than expected, whereas others had suffered more flooding than projected. Hurricanes were measured by wind speed, but flooding and storm surges could prove more devastating, as had been the case in Florida and Hurricane Irma.

Update on Yemen

Tarik Jasarevic, for the World Health Organization (WHO), said that, since the second wave of outbreaks in April 2017, over 646,000 cases of cholera had been reported and that 265 people had died as of 10 September 2017. The number of cases had dropped in some of the areas worst affected during the initial outbreaks; however, in other areas, the number of cases was increasing. It was very difficult to respond to such outbreaks while the conflict was ongoing. Peace was only remedy to get the health-care system back up and running; in the alternative, Yemenis would continue to face disease and death. In the meantime, WHO and its partners were doing their best to help. Thankfully, the case fatality ratio was quite low, meaning that many people who had been diagnosed in time had been treated effectively. WHO and its partners had established some 1,300 treatment centres. Nevertheless, some 15,000 people did not have access to basic health care, roughly 30,000 workers had not received their salaries for nearly a year; and 16 million people did not have access to clean water, which obviously fostered the spread of cholera. Underfunding was another problem: the health sector as a whole was facing a funding gap of over 70 per cent; WHO itself had received about 50 per cent funding for the health response needed.

In response to questions, Mr. Jasarevic said that the first outbreak had occurred in October 2016. Following that, the number of cholera cases had declined, and then later risen again. It was therefore not useful to attempt to predict when the cholera outbreaks would cease or how many people would be affected overall. As long as people could not access functioning health facilities, people would continue to suffer. More than 2,065 people had died from cholera in a country where people continued to die as a result of the conflict or chronic diseases.

In response to a question about funding, Leonard Doyle, for the International Organization for Migration (IOM), said that the problem in Yemen was not necessarily lack of funding; rather, it was spending funds appropriately in a conflict-ridden country. The Director General of IOM was planning to visit Yemen for three days in early October; it was hoped that improvements could be made by IOM staff on the ground.

Nigeria

In response to questions about cholera outbreaks in Nigeria, Tarik Jasarevic, for the World Health Organization (WHO), said that he had no new information to provide since the press release circulated two weeks previously. The countries that had declared outbreaks were Yemen, Kenya, South Sudan, Somalia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

Since the beginning of 2017, DRC had reported more than 24,000 cholera cases and 500 related deaths. Cholera was endemic in parts of DRC, especially in the eastern parts of the country, with 800 cholera deaths reported in 2016. The alarm had been sounded the previous week mainly because of a sudden increase in numbers of cases reported in DRC. Fortunately, there had been no reported cases of cholera in Kasaï, which was an especially difficult area to access. He was not aware of any plans for vaccination there.

On 9 September, the Ministry of Health had convened a meeting with all agencies supporting the Government’s efforts in order to devise a strategy for reaching the most affected areas using a multi-sectoral approach. The map of cholera was a map of poverty and conflict. A meeting would be held in October with key partners to discuss the global response to cholera; a separate press conference would follow.

Launch of WHO Noncommunicable Disease Progress Monitor, 2017

Tarik Jasarevic, for the World Health Organization (WHO), said that on 15 September 2017, at 10 a.m., WHO would hold a press briefing on the 2017 Noncommunicable Disease Progress Monitor, which charted efforts made by countries in their fight against noncommunicable diseases. The report would be officially released on 18 September 2017.

WMO Africa conference

Clare Nullis, for the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), said that while the focus had recently been on tropical cyclones in the Atlantic, there had also been a number of weather-related disasters in Africa, including flooding in Niger and Nigeria and landslides in Sierra Leone in August. Climate services in Africa were patchy at best and non-existent at worst. WMO would hold a meeting in Addis Ababa with the World Bank and the African Union to push ‘hydro-services’, water services and climate services to inject new funding into them.

Release of the State of Broadband 2017 report by the UN Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development

Jennifer Ferguson-Mitchell, for the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), said that the annual Report on the State of Broadband would be released officially on 13 September by the United Nations Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development, which was made up of 50 of the world’s top leaders in the technology field, and co-chaired by Carlos Slim and President Paul Kagame of Rwanda.

Broadband technologies were critical in emergency response situations prior to, during and after. Online social communities were self-mobilizing during natural disasters in order to find sources of petrol, food and water. Problems arose when people did not have access to broadband or other means of communication. The report demonstrated that access to broadband was catalysing sustainable development and driving substantial transformation in many development-related sectors, including health, education, financial inclusion and food security.

The report was being released on the first day of the seventy-second session of the General Assembly and just ahead of the Commission’s meeting in New York on 17 September. The report was published annually and provided a unique global snapshot of broadband access and affordability with country-by-country data, measuring worldwide broadband access against key advocacy targets set by the Commission in 2011.

One of the top findings was that while 48 per cent of the world’s population was online, 3.9 billion people were still without digital access. The digital gap between developed and developing countries was growing. The Internet penetration in the developing world was projected to reach 41.3 percent by the end of 2017, with Internet user penetration expected to reach only 17.5 per cent of people living in least developed countries. On the positive side, fixed and mobile broadband services were becoming progressively more affordable in a large number of countries, making it also more accessible.

New measures to facilitate global access to UN vehicle regulations on safety and environmental performance

Jean Rodriguez, for the Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), said that new measures to facilitate global access to United Nations vehicle regulations on safety and environmental performance would come into force on 14 September 2017.

According to the latest revision of the 1958 agreement, minimal standards and safety and environmental performance for developing countries had been changed; however, UNECE was allowing countries to apply older agreements to make it easier to adjust gradually to more recent regulations, without having to immediately apply the strictest regulations enforced in Europe and Japan.

The Special Envoy of the United Nations Secretary-General for Road Safety welcomed the changes given that 91 per cent of road accidents occurred in developing countries. It was hoped that a significant number of emerging countries would benefit from the revised agreement and adopt the new regulations.

Joint report IOM/UNICEF "Harrowing Journeys"

Sarah Crowe, for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), announced the release of a joint report entitled “Harrowing Journeys” by UNICEF and IOM. A particularly disturbing finding in the report was that the majority of children and young people on the move were more likely to be exposed to abuse, trafficking, beating and discrimination than adults.

In response to requests for details, Ms. Crowe said that the main findings of the report were that children came from a number of countries, but by and large from West Africa, who came in along the Central Mediterranean Route and faced dangers at every step of the way. Conditions became much more hazardous when children travelled through Libya and also when crossing the sea, with an estimated 350 children having died at sea. Children were largely absent in the data available worldwide, an absence which the report attempted to correct. There were clear needs of refugees and migrants, in particular, safe and legal routes; such needs became all the more important when children were involved. Now that many boats were being stopped it was harder to have an accurate picture of the situation. Another finding had been that children with less education and coming from sub-Saharan Africa had greater risk of being exploited, beaten and discriminated against, especially in Libya.

Asked further question about how many children were involved in total, Ms. Crowe said that it was estimated that 15 million children were on the move currently, most of those along the Central Mediterranean Route being young boys who were travelling alone and therefore more vulnerable to trafficking.

In response to a question about children placed in detention in Libya, Ms. Crowe said that there was limited access to Libya, which was a fragile State. Under current conditions, young people should not be sent back to Libya because of the high risk of abuse that they faced there.

Leonard Doyle, for the International Organization for Migration (IOM), said that the report was based on interviews with some 22,000 migrants and refugees, including some 11,000 children and youth interviewed by IOM. Much of the work IOM did focused on the conditions faced by migrants going through Libya, who were frequently abused while in detention or by smugglers, lured into the country through social media, which seemed to have no accountability whatsoever. There were many actors involved and the report showed the particular vulnerability of children and their direct exploitation.

Mr. Doyle added that from the Central Route, the overwhelming number of children were coming from Nigeria, Gambia, Guinea, Eritrea and Bangladesh, the latter because smugglers were able to recruit people and lure them from Bangladesh. Along the way, the same smugglers became traffickers, exploiting migrants and refugees.

Mr. Doyle added that it had become popular in recent weeks to criticize IOM for operating in Libya. In the report, the complexities of the situation in that country became clearer, as did the simple-mindedness of the notion that humanitarian interventions were somehow responsible for the problems in such places.

Geneva Events and Announcements

Catherine Huissoud, for the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), said that at 2.30 that afternoon, a presentation would be given on the 2017 report on UNCTAD assistance to the Palestinian people. At 11.30 a.m. on 13 September 2017, the Trade and Development Board would meet to discuss the situation of least developed countries. Following that meeting, there would be a stakeout at 11.30 a.m. in front of room XVII with the Secretary-General of UNCTAD, the Vice-President of Ghana and the Deputy Chairperson of the African Union Commission, who would discuss how least developed countries can exit the poverty trap.

Alessandra Vellucci, Director of the United Nations Information Service at the United Nations Office at Geneva, said that at 3 p.m. that day, the General Assembly would declare open its seventy-second session. A press kit on the General Assembly would be circulated. At noon, New York time, on 13 September, the Secretary-General would address the press in New York. It would be webcast.

At 12.45 p.m. that day, Ms. Izumi Nakamitsu, United Nations Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, would speak to the press on the Conference on Disarmament.

At 9.30 a.m. on 13 September, a press briefing organized by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights would be held on enforced disappearances in the context of migration: a pressing concern requiring urgent action.

At 12.15 p.m. on 15 September, the Chairman of the Qatari National Human Rights Committee would hold a press briefing on the repercussions of the illegal blockade against Qatar in the field of human rights.