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 statements by the Secretary-General and the G-8 + 5 on yesterday’s bombings in London, the visits of two Special Rapporteurs of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) to Niger and Afghanistan respectively, a meeting of the Expanded Bureau of the CHR, security incidents at camps for internally displaced persons in Darfur, refugees in Chad, and humanitarian programmes in Sudan.

Spokespersons of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the World Food Programme (WFP), the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) participated in the briefing.

The Secretary-General

Ms. Heuzé opened the briefing by drawing attention to statements of the Secretary-General and the leaders of the G8 + 5 participating in the meeting in Gleneagles, Scotland, made available in English in Press Room I yesterday. The French-language versions were now also available.

In his statement, the Secretary-General had said, inter alia: “Today, the world stands shoulder to shoulder with the British people, who with others around the world had mobilized so powerfully against poverty and climate change ahead of the Group of Eight summit, and who, I am sure, will confront this ordeal with the same spirit, courage and determination. I look to the Group of Eight, in their deliberations over the next few days, to show themselves equal to that resolve. Let us not allow the violence perpetrated by a few to deflect us from addressing the aspirations of billions of our fellow men and women who are demanding change.”

Also available in Press Room I this morning was a statement attributable to the Spokesman for the Secretary-General condemning in the strongest terms the brutal murder of Mr. Ihab al-Sherif, the chargé d’affaires of the Arab Republic of Egypt to Iraq.

The Secretary-General would be traveling from Gleneagles, Scotland, to Khartoum to take part in tomorrow’s inauguration of the Government of National Unity in Sudan. He would be returning to New York on Sunday.

Documents

Ms. Heuzé proceeded to draw attention to a number of documents that had been made available to the press.
§ A French-language version of the information note on next week’s meeting on small arms in New York (11-15 July 2005) was now available. The English-language version had been distributed at the previous briefing, on 5 July 2005.
§ Yesterday, a press release had been issued in English and French on the 84th session of the Human Rights Committee, which would be held from 11 to 29 July 2005 in Geneva. The Committee would be considering State reports from Yemen, Tajikistan, Slovenia, the Syrian Arab Republic and Thailand.
§ A summary of yesterday’s meeting of the Conference on Disarmament on Negative Security Assurances had been made available to the press at the conclusion of the meeting. This had been the fourth and final plenary meeting of the Conference devoted to a particular issue at the request of the President of the Conference, Ambassador Wegger Strommen of Norway.

Press conferences and events

Ms. Heuzé announced a press conference by Mr. Jean Ziegler, Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, upon his return from mission to Niger, on Wednesday, 13 July 2005, at 2:30 p.m., in Press Room I. Ms. Heuzé recalled that Niger was suffering through severe drought and chronic malnutrition. Unfortunately, while the warning signs of a massive famine were there, the international community had not yet responded seriously to the various appeals that had been launched, whether they were from the United Nations or from the government of Niger. Mr. Ziegler would be leaving for Niamey today with a UNTV team.

Finally, Ms. Heuzé informed journalists that the President of the Swiss Confederation, Mr. Samuel Schmid, would be presiding over a major symposium in Bern on Saturday, 9 July 2005, celebrating the 100-year anniversary of the discovery of the Theory of Relativity by Albert Einstein. On this occasion, Mr. Sergei Ordzhonikidze, Director-General of UNOG, would be meeting with the President of the Swiss Confederation and would participate in the celebrations. The programme was available for those interested.

Human Rights

José Luis Díaz of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said that Ms. Yakin Ertürk, Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women, would be travelling to Afghanistan from 9 to 19 July 2005. She would be addressing press at the conclusion of her visit in Kabul and submitting a formal report to the Commission on Human Rights at its next session.

Commission on Human Rights

David Chikvaidze, Media Liaison for the Commission on Human Rights and Treaty Bodies, OHCHR, informed journalists that the Expanded Bureau of the Commission on Human Rights had met on Wednesday, 6 July 2005, to review the list of candidates for the Special Rapporteurs posts established by the 61st Session of the Commission. The Chair would make the appointments within the next week or so. The Expanded Bureau had also reviewed the calendar of working groups. Some changes had been made; it was a work in progress.

Turning to the calendar of meetings, Mr. Chikvaidze said that there would be a meeting of the Sub-Commission in closed session on 26 July 2005. The Chair of the Commission would take part in a meeting of the Economic and Social Council at the end of July.

Mr. Chikvaidze concluded by reminding journalists that the Human Rights Committee would begin its session on Monday, 11 July 2005. OHCHR would be experimenting with the same media arrangement that had been used for the 61st session of the CHR with a view to providing media with a greater quantity and quality of information. The same would be attempted for other treaty bodies as well as the 57th session of the Sub-Commission.

Security incidents in Darfur

Ron Redmond of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and
Christiane Berthiaume of the World Food Programme (WFP) informed journalists of reports received this morning about security incidents in the West of Darfur where a interagency registration exercise had been taking place in eight camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs) around El Geneina in West Darfur. Groups of young men armed with sticks had attacked aid workers who were supervising the registration exercise. Eight had been injured, one of whom, while not seriously injured, was still at the hospital. UNHCR, WFP, UNICEF, as well as all NGOs had withdrawn from most of the camps. Some of the aid workers were being escorted back to El Geneina by African Union forces. The IDP population had requested the registration be conducted because there were people residing in the camps who were not IDPs. It was recalled that there were an estimated 60,000 to 70,000 IDPs in camps around El Geneina and that, in all, about 2 million people were displaced in Darfur.

Other

On Chad, Mr. Redmond said that UNCHR was still awaiting word from Chadian authorities on its request for the urgent relocation of some 10,000 recently arrived refugees from the Central African Republic (CAR). The refugees had fled unrest in the CAR over a three-week period in early June and had been living in difficult conditions around 17 villages in southern Chad’s Gore area. With the onset of the rainy season, it was essential that the IDPs were moved to a single site where they could more easily be provided with humanitarian assistance. Flooding was already beginning to obstruct movement in the region. UNHCR’s team in M’Djamena was scheduled to meet with government officials this morning. The situation was urgent. There was serious concern about a measles outbreak, malaria and a possible cholera outbreak. UNHCR was sending more staff to the Gore area and was in the process of seeking the release of about USD 1 million from its emergency fund. Additional details were provided in the briefing note at the back of the room.

Ms. Berthiaume said that WFP shared UNHCR’s concerns with regard to newly arrived refugees in Chad. WFP had already been providing aid since 2003 to some 30,000 refugees from CAR refugees in two camps in Chad. An appeal for USD 3.4 million had been made to fund that operation but no response had been received until the month of May. While 70% of the funds requested had now been received, it would take months for the aid supplies to reach their destination given the treacherous conditions. Additional resources – amounting to USD 1 million for 1,000 tons of aid – would probably be required for the 10,000 new refugees. In the meantime, funds would be borrowed from other operations to meet the most urgent needs of the refugees.

Ms. Berthiaume said that Niger, the second poorest country in the world, was a prime example of a country that was very poor but did not get as much attention as many others since it was relatively stable and not involved in conflict with its neighbours. About 60% of the population lived beneath the poverty line. The country required long-term assistance. Yet, until very recently, there had been little or no response to an appeal for USD 4.2 million which would enable WFP to provide aid for 460,000 people in Niger. The situation had now deteriorated and more was required. WFP would therefore be launching a new appeal to enable it to provide assistance to
1 million people.

Joseph Bosch of the World Trade Organization reminded journalists that he would be giving a briefing today at noon in Press Room 1 on this week’s meetings of the negotiating group on market access for non-agricultural products. At 4 p.m. today, Keith Rockwell, Director of the Information and Media Relations Division, WTO, would be giving a briefing on this morning’s Heads of Delegation meeting and on the participation of WTO’s Director-General in the G-8 meeting in Scotland. Mr. Bosch then reviewed next week’s agenda at WTO. On Monday, 11 July 2005, there would be a meeting of the Negotiating Group on Rules; on Tuesday, the Committee on Trade-Related Investment Measures would meet; on Thursday, the working group for the accession of Cape Verde would meet; and on Friday there would be a dispute settlement meeting. The Director-General would travel to China to attend an informal ministerial meeting on 12-13 July 2005. On 15 July, he would receive the Vice Minister of Economy and Labour of Germany.

Jemini Pandya of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) informed journalists that the Director General of IOM, Mr. Brunson McKinley, would be attending the inauguration of the Government of National Unity of Sudan tomorrow in Khartoum. The inauguration provided an opportunity to remind the international community not to forget Sudan. The needs of southern Sudan, in particular, had been put on the backburner. Despite a donor conference in April to help rebuild southern Sudan, during which more than USD 2 billion had been pledged, funding for humanitarian programmes remained largely unmet. As those displaced by the 21-year conflict returned to their former homes, the need to facilitate voluntary returns and provide reintegration assistance was becoming even greater. There were an estimated six million IDPs in Sudan. IOM had appealed for USD 38 million dollars for its programmes in Sudan but had so far only received USD 4.2 million, with more than half the sum for Darfur. Beyond September, there would be no funds left for programmes in Sudan. The situation was becoming urgent.


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