PRESS BRIEFING BY THE UNITED NATIONS INFORMATION SERVICE

Rolando Gómez of the United Nations Information Service (UNIS) in Geneva, chaired the hybrid briefing, attended by the spokespersons and representatives of the International Labour Organization, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the World Health Organization, the Food and Agricultural Organization and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe.

Update on the International Labour Conference

Rosalind Yarde, for the International Labour Organization (ILO), said today was the second day of the International Labour Conference. The plenary discussions of the Director-General’s report and the report of the chairperson of the Governing Body would start today.

The committees on Apprenticeships, Labour Protection, a Just Transition and Finance were continuing their work. The General Affairs committee would be discussing Belarus today and a resolution relating to the observance of the Conventions on freedom of association, the right to organize and collective bargaining.

The Committee on the Application of Standards had published the list of 24 individual cases it would examine on the application of ratified Conventions, concerning Afghanistan, Armenia, Cambodia, Cameroon, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Gabon, Guatemala,

Guinea-Bissau, Indonesia, Italy, Lebanon, Liberia, Madagascar, Nepal, Netherlands, Sint Maarten, Nicaragua, Nigeria, North Macedonia, Peru, Philippines, Turkmenistan and United Kingdom. (The schedule of cases can be accessed here.)

On 14-15 June, a World of Work Summit would take place on “social justice for all”. The heads of States or of Government of the following countries would attend the Summit in person: Switzerland, South Africa, Malta, Central African Republic, Bangladesh, Holy See, Togo, Equatorial Guinea, Tunisia, Fiji, Madagascar, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Barbados, Iraq, Eswatini, Cabo Verde, and Haiti. (The conference agenda can be accessed here.)

Answering questions, Ms. Yarde said the Finance committee was meeting today to adopt a provisional decision on the programme and budget; this decision would be discussed by the plenary probably on Friday.

Humanitarian situation and needs of people fleeing the Sudanese conflict in neighbouring countries

Pietre Kremer, Deputy Regional Director for Africa of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), speaking from Addis Ababa, said Sudan was going through its eighth week of fighting. The crisis had now taken a regional dimension. The economy of Sudan was being destroyed; the human toll was extremely high; and hundreds of thousands of people – 80% being women and children – had fled the country and the conflict.

In this context, IFRC was making two appeals to finance its operations: one for Sudan itself, to the tune of 60 million Swiss francs, and another one for six neighbouring countries, for 42 million Swiss francs. There was a neglect to cover the urgent humanitarian assistance, as witnessed by the fact that IFRC had collected less than 2 million Swiss francs after a previous appeal.

Both appeals were to support local actors dealing with the crisis, to help them reach people to cover their basic needs, including protection as well as water and food. For Sudan, IFRC already had received in-kind support from sister national Societies. But it was far below the level of engagement and funding that was needed. In neighbouring countries, the approach also went through national Societies which had been involved in the response from the beginning, by way of humanitarian service points at the border that provided safety, relocation, as well as social and material support.

(Press release and contacts: https://www.ifrc.org/press-release/sudan-critical-funding-needed-urgently-continue-aid-people-affected-conflict )

World Food Safety Day (7 June)

Margaret Harris, for the World Health Organization (WHO), introduced Dr Francesco Branca, WHO Director of Department of Nutrition and Food Safety. Dr Branca said we would be celebrating, tomorrow, the fifth global World Food Safety Day , on the theme “Food standards save lives”. It would be led by WHO together with the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) and the Codex Alimentarius Secretariat.

The Codex Alimentarius produced food standards, which were also important for health. Every day, an estimated 1.6 million people around the world became sick from eating unsafe food. Over 40% of them were children: on average, 340 children under 5 died [every day] as a result of eating food contaminated with bacteria, viruses, parasites or chemicals. WHO, FAO and the Codex Alimentarius stressed that access to safe, nutritious and healthy food was a basic human right, and that this situation should not happen. That was why the Codex Alimentarius established standards on acceptable limits of pesticides residues, residues of veterinary drugs, microbes and viruses in food.

Food systems were changing very fast and science was needed to know what the challenges were. But the most important was to find a response. To that effect, FAO and WHO, who were working on the implementation of standards, had established a trust fund to enable countries to implement their food control systems, particularly low and middle-income countries. It was about capacity building, laboratory capacity and making sure that every actor knew how to implement the standards correctly.

Starting today, WHO and FAO would hold week-long “Health talks on food safety” regarding the implementation of the food safety strategy.

Dominique Burgeon, Director of the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) office in Geneva, said that another important issue affected millions of people around the world: food safety in situations of food scarcity. When food was scarce, people would go to great lengths to keep themselves and their families fed, and there was a direct correlation between situations of food scarcity and increased threats to food safety. There were around 600 million people afflicted by foodborne illness every year, and 420 000 dying as a result.

Food safety was part of food security, and it was a top priority for FAO. The Organization worked on all aspects of the food chain, addressing food safety issues from farm to consumers. Good hygiene practices were fundamental to keep food safe: in this regard, in 1969, the Codex Alimentarius Commission had adopted the General Principles of Food Hygiene, which had formed the basis of food safety legislation in many countries.

With this year’s World Food Safety Day coinciding with the 60 ^th anniversary of the Codex Alimentarius Commission, FAO was releasing a new toolbox providing practical guidance on Good Hygiene Practice (GHP) and Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP), which was designed for people working in food production and food safety and quality.

That was why FAO and WHO were helping countries to reinforce their food security and health security policies, and to implement the Codex rules. This was especially important for vulnerable countries, where the risks were greatest.

Answering questions on the influence of private sector companies, Mr. Branca stressed that the development of standards remained entirely independent. The FAO/WHO programme to provide scientific advice to their joint committees, and the committees themselves, were entirely funded by government institutions, with no funding from the private sector – this would be incompatible with the WHO rules of engagement with non-state actors. Mr. Burgeon added the work done by the Codex, including the General Principles of Food Hygiene, as well as over 10 000 quantitative standards, were used by governments to formulate legislation: after that, it was for the governments to deal with the implementation of the law. There were always people trying to circumvent the law, but there was a strong basis in place.

Mr. Branca also said the Codex Trust Fund had facilitated the participation of 50 countries. More could be done to allow low and middle-income countries to participate. Gracia Brisco, FAO Food Standards Officer in Geneva, added that participation of developing countries in the Codex Alimentarius had sharply risen since 1995, when the World Trade Organization was born.

Other questions were raised on the labeling of fresh produce and processed products. Mr. Branca described existing mechanisms and good practices to avoid risk of contamination of fresh produce before they are processed and stored. As for processed products, there was a role for the private sector to ensure standards were implemented; WHO had started discussions on who was to make the assessments. Markus Lipp, FAO Senior Food Safety Officer in Rome, explained that one of the functions of food safety was to limit the amount of harmful substances that may be present inadvertently in food: heavy metals, pesticides, bacteria – these were limited by law or regulation but not labeled. There was no added value to label harmful substances, since food products that contained them would be either forbidden or, if already sold, withdrawn. On the other hand, intentionally added substances were labeled (including vitamins, allergens and flavors) to inform consumer choices.

UNECE – Five decades of safety belt use have saved millions of lives

Jean Rodriguez, for the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), said we were celebrating days five decades of compulsory wearing of seat belts in cars, which had saved millions of lives around the world. According to WHO, wearing a seatbelt reduced the risk of fatal injury to front seat occupants by 45% to 50%, and the risk of death and serious injury to rear seat occupants by 25%.

The technical requirements for the use and installation of safety belts were based on United Nations Regulation No. 16, adopted by UNECE’s World Forum for the Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations, which came into force in 1970. Compulsory wearing of seat belts was first introduced by a country by France in 1973, then by Spain, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden, and in most European countries in the 70s and 80s.

Over the last 50 years, seatbelt wearing had spread to every continent, but according to the latest WHO Global Status Report on Road Safety, only 105 countries had safety-belt laws aligned with best international practice. This meant 88 UN member States still did not have adequate legislation. In many developing countries, a large proportion of second-hand vehicles were not properly equipped, and implementation and checks were not fully in place. Also, use by passengers in rear seats was only between 71-86% in several EU countries, which was insufficient. Some 1.35 million people still died on the roads every year, more than 90% of them in developing countries.

Jean Todt, UN SG Special Envoy for Road Safety, had commented “(…) We now must work with governments and all relevant industry stakeholders to ensure that people in the developing world enjoy the same level of safety as those in developed countries. That means adopting and enforcing safety-belt laws in line with international standards and providing access to vehicles, both new and used, with appropriately fitted safety-belts.”

Responding to questions, Mr. Rodriguez stressed that in countries where motorbikes were a dominant mode of transportation, wearing a helmet was of paramount importance; UNECE was therefore encouraging the development and production of affordable and quality helmets. Another problem was the resale of used cars that were stripped of their safety-belts, among other spare parts that were sold separately on the second-hand market.

18 000 persons had died in road accidents in France in 1973, against 3500 these days: this was due to a combination of technical progress and legislation – including compulsory seatbelts. Responding to a question, Mr. Rodriguez noted that Africa was the continent with, proportionately, the highest road casualty rates. In some countries, there was also a need to secure the crossing of highways by pedestrians.

Announcements

Margaret Harris, for the World Health Organization, announced that the awards ceremony of the “Health For All” Film Festival would take place today at 5 p.m. at the Organization’s headquarters. Journalists present would be able to meet the winners of the contest. Ms. Harris also said that WHO would issue a press release (under embargo until 2 p.m. today) on “Tracking Progress on SDG7”: it would focus on the access to energy by healthcare institutions and the use of clean energy.

Rolando Gómez, for the United Nations Information Service (UNIS), reminded that yesterday, journalists had received remarks by the Secretary-General on three of his policy briefs under Our Common Agenda, regarding: the reform of the international financial architecture, moving beyond gross domestic product, and the Global Digital Compact. According to the Secretary-General, “these three briefs provide ideas on how we can revitalize the multilateral system; accelerate efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals; and keep global temperature rise as close as possible to the 1.5-degree limit of the Paris Agreement.” All briefs, eleven in total, were expected to be released by the end of July.

Mr. Gómez said the Conference on Disarmament was holding a plenary meeting devoted to a panel discussion on “transparency in armaments”, including transparency on nuclear doctrines and arsenals.

Mr. Gómez also said that in New York, beginning at 4 p.m. Geneva time today, the General Assembly would elect five non-permanent members of the Security Council, whose mandate would start on 1 January 2024.

On Monday, 12 June, at 2 p.m., the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees would hold a press conference to announce its Annual Global Trends Report on Forced Displacement in 2022 (document under embargo until 14 June, 5:01 a.m. CEST). Speaking would be Filippo Grandi, UN High Commissioner for Refugees.

Finally, Mr. Gómez reminded that Thursday, 8 June, would be World Ocean Day. In a message published on this occasion, the Secretary-General stressed the need to raise awareness on the importance of the ocean and its resources, on the impact of human activities, and on the need for conservation and sustainability.

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