REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Elena Ponomareva-Piquier, Chief of the Press and External Relations Section of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired the briefing which provided information about new documents by the Secretary-General, Geneva activities and other issues. At the end of the briefing, the Chairperson of the Committee against Torture talked to journalists about the session which is concluding today. Spokespersons for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the World Health Organization, the International Organization for Migration, the World Meteorological Organization, the World Trade Organization, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the United Nations Children's Fund and the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees participated in the briefing.

New Statement and Report by the Secretary-General

Mrs. Ponomareva-Piquier said the message of the Secretary-General on the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, which is commemorated on 25 November, was available in the press room. The Secretary-General noted that violence against women remains pervasive worldwide. That was why this year's "16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence", starting today, would be used by Governments, United Nations entities and civil society activists to focus on the detrimental consequences of violence against women on the well-being of the world as a whole. The statement was available in English and in French in the press room.

A new report by the Secretary-General on the United Nations Operation in Burundi was available. The Secretary-General noted that in the five years since the signing of the Arusha Agreement, the people of Burundi had taken major strides towards establishing durable peace in their country. The achievements made so far had been important. However, the overall situation remained very fragile. An immediate and most urgent priority was to ensure that the armed conflict with the FNL was brought to an end. The Secretary-General had recommended the extension of the mandate of the United Nations Operation in Burundi for six months, until 31 May 2006. The report was available in the Documentation Centre in English and in French.

Geneva Meetings

Mrs. Ponomareva-Piquier said the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights was today concluding its thirty-fifth session. The Committee had considered the reports of Slovenia, Austria, Uzbekistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Libya and its concluding observations and recommendations on the reports would be put in the press room as soon as they had been issued by the secretariat.

The Committee against Torture was also concluding its session today. The Committee took up the reports of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Nepal, France, Ecuador, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Austria, and Sri Lanka and its concluding observations and recommendations were already available. The Chairperson of the Committee, Fernando Marino Menendez, and two of its members would be speaking to journalists at 11 o'clock during the briefing.

A Special Meeting would be held from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 November to commemorate the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. Sergei Ordzhonikidze, UN Under-Secretary-General and Director-General of the Untied Nations Office at Geneva, would read out the statement of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on this occasion. A note to correspondents with the tentative programme of the Special Meeting was available in the press room. The meeting would be held in Room XX.

Human Rights

José Luis Díaz, Spokesperson of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, said journalists should have received yesterday the statement by the High Commissioner and the Special Rapporteur on violence against women on the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.

In relation to women and gender, Mr. Díaz said that a francophone seminar would be held today and tomorrow in Geneva on the new Human Rights Council. The High Commissioner and the Swiss Federal Councillor for Foreign Affairs were addressing a letter to the seminar in which they said they were interested in the question of the name of the new body in French. They were asking that consideration be given to naming it "Conseil des droits humains", rather than "Conseil des droits de l'homme"; the latter was literally "rights of man", so the former was more inclusive. He would send copies of the letter to journalists.

Mr. Díaz said journalists had received this morning a statement from Rodolfo Stavenhagen, the Special Rapporteur on the human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous people of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, on his visit to New Zealand.

Other

Fadela Chaib of the World Health Organization said concerning the outbreak of yellow fever in the South Kordofan State of Sudan, there had been 491 cases, and 126 deaths reported. A WHO expert had already arrived in South Kordofan to help the work of the Federal Ministry of Health of Sudan. There were only 100,000 vaccination doses against yellow fever in Sudan, while there were 1.7 million persons in the state who should be vaccinated. The Government had asked for vaccines from the Global Alliance for Vaccine and Immunization emergency vaccine stockpile and the vaccinations should be arriving today in South Kordofan.

Dick Thompson of the World Health Organization said concerning some news reports in German newspapers, he wanted to say that WHO did not believe that China was hiding any human cases of Avian Influenza. WHO believed that China was notifying the organization as rapidly as it could and it was being as transparent as possible in this outbreak.

Jean-Philippe Chauzy of the International Organization for Migration said IOM's ninetieth Council would begin on Tuesday, 29 November at the Palais des Nations. IOM's 116 Member States would be focusing on moving "Towards Policy Coherence on Migration" as part of its International Dialogue on Migration. A press release on the Council's two-day annual meeting was available.

Gervais Appave of the International Organization for Migration said migration was a very complex and polarizing issue. That was why, five years ago, IOM had introduced the International Dialogue on Migration to bring Member States together to reach some common understandings about the nature of migration and how it aught to be managed. This year, three key reports on migration management had been issued. The reports had all concluded that it was necessary to have more coherence at the migration policy level. The upcoming IOM Council would draw attention to the fact that migration could no longer be dealt with through uni-dimensional policies. It was time for migration to be brought into all national, regional and global strategies for economic growth and for the management of social situations.

Mark Oliver of the World Meteorological Organization said WMO's Secretary-General Michel Jarraud would be going to the Montreal United Nations Conference on Climate Change. WMO's main message would be adaptation and reliable and timely weather. Hydrological products and services were crucial to these adaptation measures
that could be taken in countries to adapt to climate change.

Aurelia Blin of World Trade Organization said the full programme of the meetings of the World Trade Organization for next week was available in the press room. They included a meeting of the General Council on 1 and 2 December, which would be followed by a press conference by WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy. Mr. Lamy's schedule for next week was also available, and it included meetings with the Romanian Minister of Commerce, United States Congressmen, and the Swiss Economic Minister on 28 November.

Elizabeth Byrs of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reminded journalists that Dennis McNamara, the Special Advisor on Displacement to the United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator, would be speaking to journalists at 12:30 p.m. today in press room 1. He would be speaking about the problem of the 2 million Ugandans displaced by Africa's longest running conflict.

Ms. Byrs said concerning the contamination of the Songhua River in China, OCHA's environment section was following the situation closely. To date, there had been no request from China for international assistance. The United Nations had offered its services to China and to Russia. A situation report on this issue would be issued later today.

Available at the back of the room were copies of a press release, which was being simultaneously issued in Islamabad, on the situation of the UN's appeal for victims of the earthquake in Pakistan. Ms. Byrs said the appeal was still missing more than half the $ 550 million requested, and there was concern that focus and support may be shifting away from urgent relief needs to long-term reconstruction and rehabilitation.

Damien Personnaz of the United Nations Children's Fund said an interesting report entitled "Gender Achievements and Prospects in Education - the Gap Report" would be released tomorrow. According to the report, 46 countries had fallen short of the target of getting as many girls as boys into school by 2005. Nearly 115 million children, the majority of them girls, remained out of primary school, according to UNICEF. Copies of the embargoed report and the press release were available at the back of the room.

Concerning the Democratic Republic of the Congo, UNICEF was concerned that renewed conflict in Ituri province was once again putting children at risk. UNICEF was ready to assist approximately 14,000 people who were fleeing recent fighting in the province. UNICEF estimated that 80 per cent of the displaced population were women and children.

Jennifer Pagonis of the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees said
High Commissioner Antonio Guterres was currently in Pakistan to express his solidarity with earthquake survivors and to discuss the future of Afghan refugees in the country. He had visited Muzaffarabad, one of the areas worst hit by the October 8 earthquake. Mr. Guterres and UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie held a joint press conference in Islamabad this morning. The High Commissioner then left to visit a camp in Peshawar, from where he would leave for Iran tomorrow.

Ms. Pagonis said on 27 and 28 November, leaders of 35 European and Southern Mediterranean countries would meet in Barcelona to mark the tenth anniversary of the launching of the Barcelona Process, a wide framework of political, economic and social relations between the 25 Member States of the European Union and 10 Mediterranean partners. UNHCR welcomed this important and ambitious process which had laid the foundations of a regional partnership across the Mediterranean Sea which, among other issues, included cooperation on population movements. UNHCR called on all countries engaged in the Barcelona process to strengthen their commitments to ensure the right to seek and enjoy asylum and the principles of international protection.

In Slovenia, UNHCR was concerned about some amendments to the Asylum Act that were currently under preparation. Ms. Pagonis said that if adopted, there was a real danger that persons in need of international protection may be deported to countries where their life or freedom was threatened.

Committee against Torture

Fernando Marino Menendez, the Chairperson of the Committee against Torture, said the Committee this session had considered the reports of seven States parties. The Committee had also reached decisions on 16 individual complaints under article 22 of the Convention. High Commissioner Louise Arbour had addressed the Committee and the Members had exchanged views with her about the reform plans of the UN system, and the human rights protection system in particular. The Committee was committed to the defense of the rule that torture and inhuman treatment were absolutely prohibited. There were no exceptions to the prohibition of torture.