REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE
Marie Heuzé, the Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired the biweekly press briefing, which provided information on the Secretary-General’s report on United Nations reform presented yesterday to the General Assembly, the Secretary-General’s travels to Algiers, the annual session of the Commission on Human Rights in Geneva, the observances of World Water Day and World Meteorological Day, yesterday’s observance of the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, the 30-year anniversary of the coming into force of the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention, the ILO Governing Body’s consideration of a report on the situation of forced labour in Myanmar, and other issues.
Spokespersons of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the World Food Programme (WFP), the International Labour Organization (ILO), the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the Geneva Forum participated in the briefing. A spokesperson from the High Commissioner for Refugees also attended but had no announcements to make.
Report of the Secretary-General on United Nations Report
Ms. Heuzé opened the briefing by informing journalists that the report of the Secretary-General, “In Larger Freedom: towards development, security and human rights for all”, which had been made available yesterday in English and French, was available in all six official languages of the United Nations as of this morning. The Secretary-General had presented the report, which laid out his proposals for reform of the United Nations, to the General Assembly yesterday morning, New York time. Also available was a transcript of the Secretary-General’s press conference that followed his presentation to the General Assembly. Ms. Heuzé said that in addition to proposals for reform, the report also addressed actions needed in order to achieve the Millennium Development Goals agreed to by world leaders five years ago. The Secretary-General’s report would be at the centre of the debate among Member States over the next six months, leading up to the high-level plenary meeting of the sixtieth session of the General Assembly, from 14 to 16 September.
Ms. Heuzé said that the Secretary-General had left New York yesterday and was travelling to the Algerian capital, Algiers, to attend the Summit of the League of Arab States, which had begun today. The meeting would address the situation in the Middle East, especially in the occupied Palestinian territories, as well as the situation in Lebanon. The Secretary-General would address the Summit tomorrow, Wednesday, and also meet bilaterally with leaders attending the Summit. He was expected to return to New York on Thursday.
Human Rights
Commission on Human Rights:
David Chikvaidze, Media Liaison Officer for the 61st session of the Commission on Human Rights, informed journalists that the Expanded Bureau of the Commission on Human Rights had met this morning and decided that there would be an additional meeting tomorrow from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., non-stop.
A new Vice Chairperson of the Commission had been nominated by Ukraine to replace one of the current incumbents who was no longer able to perform these functions. An election would take place tomorrow, Wednesday, under agenda item 1, according to rule 19 of the rules of procedure.
The Expanded Bureau of the Commission had reconfirmed its meeting today with representatives of non-governmental organizations at 2:00 p.m. in room XXI. Henceforth, for the duration of the session, meetings with NGOs would take place on a weekly basis, every Tuesday.
Mr. Chikvaidze said that two dignitaries would be addressing the Commission today – Mr. Joschka Fischer, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Germany, at 11.00 a.m., and Mr. Gabriel Entcha-Ebia, Garde des Sceaux, Minister of Justice and Human Rights of the Republic of Congo, at 11.15 a.m. The Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Kosovo, Mr. Soren Jessen-Petersen, would address the Commission at 12:45 p.m. and the countries concerned would have the right to speak for 5 minutes each following Mr. Jessen-Petersen’s statement. In the afternoon, debate on Item 7, the right to development, would continue. Depending upon the progress made, it might be possible to begin discussion on item 8, on the question of the violation of human rights in the occupied Arab territories, including Palestine.
Turning to upcoming events, Mr. Chikvaidze said that Professor John Dugard, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, would give a public briefing tomorrow, Wednesday, at 2:00 p.m. in room XXVII, followed by a press conference in press room I at 3:00 p.m. Mr. Vitit Muntarbhorn, the Special Rapporteur on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, would hold a press conference in press room I on Tuesday, 29 March, at 2:00 p.m. Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, the Special Rapporteur on the situation in Myanmar, would hold a press conference on Wednesday, 30 March, at 10:30 a.m. in press room I, and a public briefing at 1:00 p.m. in room XXVII.
Mr. Chikvaidze reminded journalists that the question of Sudan would be taken up under item 3 on Friday, 8 April, and the question of Colombia under item 3 on Wednesday, 13 April. For both of these, additional meetings would be arranged.
Furthermore, the Secretary-General’s Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women, Rachel Mayanja, would address the Commission on 5 April, under item 12 (Integration of the human rights of women and the gender perspective).
Two resolutions had been tabled yesterday afternoon. The first, on “Israeli practices affecting the human rights of the Palestinian people in the occupied Palestinian Territory, including Jerusalem” (E/CN.4/2005/L.4), had been tabled under agenda item 8 by Libya on behalf of the Arab Group. The second, on “the Situation in Occupied Palestine” (E/CN.4/2005/L.5), had also been sponsored by Libya on behalf of the Arab Group. Copies of the resolutions were available at the back of the room.
Mr. Chikvaidze concluded by informing journalists that a CD-ROM compiling all documentation (reports, resolutions, dignitary statements, audio files and pictures) of the last session of the Commission was now available on the website of the Office of the High Commission for Human Rights. Hard copies of the CD-ROM would be available upon request from 11 April.
Asked whether there was any reaction from the President of the Commission to the Secretary-General’s report, Mr. Chikvaidze said that there was not. It was too early. Member States would need time to evaluate the proposals and the matter would be discussed by the General Assembly.
High Commissioner for Human Rights
Jose Luis Diaz, Spokesperson for the High Commissioner for Human Rights, said that it was the view of the Office of the High Commission for Human Rights that the Secretary-General’s blueprint was a promising step forward for human rights in the United Nations system. It recognized the centrality of human rights to development and security, as well as the value in its own right of promoting human dignity. A number of the recommendations were strictly a question for member States to decide, such as the establishment of a human rights council. The driving notion behind that proposal, however, namely the upgrading and overhauling of the existing human rights machinery, was extremely important.
The report called for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to be strengthened with more resources and staff, and for it to play a more active role in the deliberations of the Security Council and of the proposed Peacebuilding Commission..
The role of the High Commissioner had expanded in areas such as crisis response, support for the Millennium Development Goals and conflict prevention. But the Office remained woefully ill-equipped to respond to the broad range of human rights challenges facing the international community. As the Secretary-General had written, Member States' proclaimed commitment to human rights must be matched by resources to strengthen the Office's ability to discharge its vital mandate.
Mr. Diaz said that the Secretary-General had asked the High Commissioner to submit a plan of action within 60 days. The High Commission had designated a team to begin working immediately in order to draft this action plan. The team would be looking at how the Office could be best equipped to respond to the opportunities and challenges it was facing, and primarily how to move to an era of implementation, how to make human rights real for people around the world.
Disarmament
Ms. Heuzé recalled that an important disarmament event, namely the Conference on “Safeguarding Space Security: Prevention of an Arms Race in Outer Space”, would conclude today. The Conference had been initiated by Hu Xiaodi, Ambassador, Permanent Mission of China to the Conference on Disarmament, Anton Vassiliev, Minister Plenipotentiary, Deputy Head of Delegation, Mission of the Russian Federation to the Conference on Disarmament, and the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR). A press conference would take place at 11:45 a.m. in Room III to brief the press on the results of the meeting.
Patrick McCarthy of the Geneva Forum informed journalists that on 26 March 2005, the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC) will have been in force for 30 years. The Convention had made an entire category of weapons of mass destruction illegal, namely disease-causing weapons. On the occasion, a press briefing would be held on Thursday, 24 March, at 10:30 a.m. in Room III, under the heading of “The Biological Weapons Convention Turns 30: How Effective is it in Preventing States and Non-State Actors from Using Disease as a Weapon?” The briefing was sponsored by the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR).
Ms. Heuzé said that as of Monday, 21 March, and until 12 June 2005, the Conference on Disarmament was under the presidency of Nigeria, represented by Mr. Joseph U. Ayalogu, Permanent Representative of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to the United Nations Office and other International Organizations in Geneva. The next plenary meeting of the Conference would take place on Thursday, 24 March, at 10:00 a.m.
World Water Day
Ms. Heuzé announced that to mark today’s observance of World Water Day, the official website for the International Decade for Action, “Water for Life”: 2005-2015, proclaimed by the General Assembly at its 58th session in 2003, would be launched today. The site (www.un.org/waterforlifedecade) would provide information materials, documents and a wealth of other material on water-related issues and the efficient management of water for the benefit of humankind. The Secretary-General’s message to launch the Decade was also available on the site.
International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
Ms. Heuzé said that Sergei Ordzhonidze, Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva, had yesterday participated in the observance of the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. The Director-General had read out the Secretary-General’s message for the day, which stated that the international community must not give up either the struggle against racism or hope for victory.
Forced Labour
Corinne Perthuis of the International Labour Organization (ILO) informed journalists that ILO’s Governing Body, which was currently holding its 292nd session, would be discussing the position of the Government of Myanmar with regard to the elimination of forced labour on Thursday, 24 March, at 10:30 a.m. The Governing Body would be considering a report prepared by a High-Level Team that had visited Myanmar 21-23 February to evaluate the attitude of the authorities and to assess their determination to continue their cooperation with the ILO in this regard. It was agreed that ILO would organize a press briefing on the subject following the conclusion of the Governing Body’s deliberations on the issue, probably at around 1:30 p.m. on 24 March.
Other
Ms. Heuzé informed journalists that United Nations Development Programme’s human development report for the Arab world would be launched in Amman, Jordan, on 5 April. An advance briefing would be held, under embargo, on 30 March, at noon, in press room I.
Fadela Chaib of the World Health Orgnization recalled that a press conference would be held on Wednesday, 23 March, at 10:00 a.m., to mark World Tuberculosis (TB) Day and to launch WHO’s Global Tuberculosis Control Report.
Ms. Chaib also informed journalists that a team from WHO had arrived in Uige Province in northern Angola to assist a task force that had been put in place at the national level to investigate the outbreak of acute haemorrhagic fever syndrome, which had claimed 80 deaths, including many children under the age of five. A total of approximately 100 cases had been reported. Laboratory samples had been collected, which were in the process of being analyzed. The results would be announced on the WHO website.
Zheng Yunjie of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) announced that the programme for the celebration of World Meteorological Day 2005, 23 March, would include a welcome address by Michel Jarraud, Secretary-General of WMO, and a statement by the Guest of Honour, Supachai Panitchpakdi, Director-General of the World Trade Organization. Two films produced by UNTV for the occasion, one 15-minutes long and the other 3-minutes long, occasion would also be screened. Copies of the films could be obtained from WMO. The statement of Mr. Jarraud was available in English and French at the back of the room. Arabic, Russian and Spanish language versions could be obtained from WMO.
Christiane Berthiaume of the World Food Programme (WFP) announced that after having devoted attention in recent weeks to providing food aid to communities in Afghanistan cut off by snow, WFP was now turning its focus to urgently needed food distribution to Afghans hit by floods created by melting snow and torrential rains. Although WPF had made contingency plans to provide assistance to people affected by the floods, which had been expected, the situation had been exacerbated by the heavy rains in the last few days. This was believed to be the severest winter in Afghanistan in 20 years. Ms. Berthiaume said that WFP’s overall operational budget in Afghanistan amounted to US$341 million from April 2003 to September 2005 but that to date WFP still faced a shortfall of over 25 percent of total funds.
Ms. Berthiaume said that WFP was appealing for US$10 million to ensure that drought and a locust invasion did not combine to destroy the livelihoods of over 800,000 vulnerable people living in Mali and Niger. These were two of the poorest countries in the region, with well over 60 percent of the population in both countries living below the poverty line. The situation was very serious as signs of malnutrition had been observed not only among children but also among the adult population.
Jean-Philippe Chauzy of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) announced that IOM had given three contractors in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, the green light to proceed with the manufacture of semi-permanent housing units for victims of the 26 December Tsunami, thus providing employment for an estimated 550 internally displaced persons. The Indonesian Government had in January asked IOM to provide 11,000 such units for affected residents in Aceh.
Mr. Chauzy also said that IOM had assisted a group of 24 migrants who had been left stranded by smugglers in the desert in Mauritania to return home to Bangladesh. The migrants had each paid up to US$ 12,000 to smuggling networks who had promised to take them to Europe.
Finally, the IOM office in Santo Domingo and the Association of Domestic Workers of the Dominican Republic had organized a two-day seminar on human trafficking focusing on the domestic service sector. The report of the seminar was available on IOM’s website.
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