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 also heard from Spokespersons for the World Meteorological Organization, the International Organization for Migration, the World Health Organization, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the UN Refugee Agency, the Economic Commission for Europe and the World Trade Organization.

Secretary-General in Spain

Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said the Secretary-General had arrived yesterday in Madrid. He met with Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Zapatero and they later held a joint press conference. Among other issues, they spoke about the situation in Western Sahara and the importance of last month’s decision by the Basque group ETA to declare a permanent ceasefire. The transcript of the joint press conference was available in the press room.

Today, the Secretary-General was chairing the Chief Executives Board which brings together the Heads of the UN agencies, funds and programmes. Next week, the Secretary-General would be flying to The Hague where he would speak on 12 April at the sixtieth anniversary of the establishment of the International Court of Justice. Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier reminded journalists that a press release with details about the solemn sitting was available in the press room.

New Website for UN Press Releases and Meetings Coverage Summaries

Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said the Department of Public Information was pleased to announce the launch of a new website for United Nations press releases and meetings coverage summaries, in English and French, at www.un.org/apps/pressreleases. Available was a short press release. Managed by the Department of Public Information’s Meetings Coverage Section, the website can be accessed directly from the Organization’s main website, www.un.org.

International Day of Reflection on the 1994 Genocide in Rwanda

Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said the International Day of Reflection on the 1994 Genocide in Rwanda was commemorated on 7 April. The Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva, Sergei Ordzhonikidze, was now delivering a statement at the commemoration ceremony which was being held in Room XVIII. A minute of silence was observed at the beginning of the ceremony. The Ambassador of Rwanda to the United Nations Office at Geneva, Venezia Sebudanti, and the Director-General of the non-governmental organization WSP International, Scott Weber, would also be addressing the ceremony, and then a documentary film would be shown.

World Health Day

Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said World Health Day was commemorated on 7 April.
The message of the Secretary-General on this occasion, in which he called for partnership to rapidly bolster the global health workforce, was available in the press room.

Mark Oliver of the World Meteorological Organization said a press release would be issued shortly on the relationship between infectious diseases and climate. There had been prediction models which had led to more successful forecasts of malaria outbreaks. A meeting was ongoing now at WMO to develop a multi hazard early warning and response system in West Africa to further develop this idea.

Jean-Philippe Chauzy of the International Organization for Migration said IOM, WHO and other agencies have been reflecting on the mobility of health workers which has had an evident impact for many years. This of course included the loss of the competencies of those health workers who left their countries of origin to go to the so-called developed countries. IOM was issuing an appeal for a more rigorous management of the mobility of health. IOM also believed that ensuring access to healthcare for migrants was key to improving global health and reducing the disease burden of countries. Available was a press release with more details.

Fadela Chaib of the World Health Organization said journalists had received all the necessary documents on WHO’s activities on World Health Day a week ago.

José Luis Díaz of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said he would be sending out shortly a statement from the Special Rapporteur on the adverse effects of the illicit movement and dumping of toxic and dangerous products and wastes on the enjoyment of human rights, Okechukwu Ibeanu, who was calling on States to take measures to counter harmful effects of chemicals contained in household and food products. The Special Rapproteur had issued this statement on the occasion of World Health Day.

Human Rights

José Luis Díaz of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said concerning the situation in Nepal, today was day two of a planned four-day-long national strike in the country. Despite a ban on demonstrations, there had been a number of demonstrations over the past three days in Kathmandu, including today. The OHCHR office in Kathmandu was reporting that the demonstrations were in relatively small numbers and arrests usually occurred as soon as demonstrations began. Most demonstrations had been peaceful. Over 70 persons had been arrested over the past two days, in a pattern of what seemed like pre-empted detention of political leaders. This morning, there were signs of some larger demonstrations in Kathmandu, with reports of gatherings in two locations, and numbers apparently being in the thousands. Teams from the office were monitoring the demonstrations. The demonstrators were saying that they were building up to a major protest on 8 and 9 April. The office’s teams would continue to monitor the demonstrations and the response of the police and security forces to those demonstrations.

It was difficult to pin down the number of demonstrations because they taking place in different locations and it was difficult to monitor with the people present on the ground, Mr. Díaz said. Keeping count was also difficult because many of the people arrested were held in custody for a short while and then released. The office could verify 160 arrests yesterday, bringing the total of those in detention last night to more than 200. However, it would appear that the actual number of arrests was likely to be considerable higher. There were also demonstrations and arrests taking place elsewhere in Nepal.

Asked if the High Commissioner for Human Rights would comment on the decision by the United States not to seek election to the new Human Rights Council and if the Office had anything to say about what the motive could be, Mr. Díaz said the decision was taken by the United States and the country’s representatives were the ones to ask about the motives. As the Secretary-General had said yesterday, there was disappointment would not seek election at this point, but it was encouraging that the United States had reiterated its support for the Council. The United States had said that it would work actively to make it a strong institution. The Office would like to focus on that part of that statement made yesterday.

A reporter asked how the Council could become a strong institution if the United States stayed away, and whether that would not automatically weaken it. Mr. Díaz said he did not think that this would automatically weaken the body. There were 190 other Member States of the United Nations, and a number of countries had already said that they would run for membership of the Council. In fact, the Western Group had already put forth more candidates than there were seats allocated to it in the Council. The United States said it would work to make the Council “as strong and effective as possible” and the Office took their word for it on that. The Office would of course have liked to see the United States, which was a very important member of the international community with a very long record of human rights promotion, as part of the Council, and it hoped that they would be there as soon as possible.

In response to another question, Mr. Díaz said he did not think and he hoped that this decision did not mean that the United States did not care about the Council. The United States had said it would work to make it a strong Council, and he took their word for it.

Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said the statements issued by the Secretary-General and the President of the General Assembly after the United States announcement were available in the press room.

Responding to another question, Mr. Díaz said the Office would like to see a real election for the Council. What was important was for counties to make strong and decisive pledges in declaring their candidacies for the Council, saying what they planned to do to promote and protect human rights, keeping in mind that the records of Members would be the first to be scrutinized. The Office could only encourage countries to seek membership because it believed that the scrutiny of records would encourage internal efforts to improve the records of countries. But there was no particular call on any one region to put ahead members. The complete list of countries which had declared their candidacies was available on the UN website.

Horn of Africa

Fadela Chaib of the World Health Organization said the regional launch of the Appeal for the Horn of Africa was taking place today in Geneva and Nairobi, and she wanted to provide some information about the health situation in that part of the world. The international community believed that around 15 million persons in Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia were suffering from hunger and were vulnerable to disease. Half of those 15 million persons needed help now. Food aid deliveries had started, but a multi-sectorial response was necessary to help the population of the Horn of Africa. This population needed clean drinking water, adequate sanitation, vaccination, and basic health care. The diseases most common in the Horn of Africa were malaria, diarrhoeal diseases including cholera, acute respiratory infections, tuberculosis and measles. According to the latest statistics, of every 100 children in the Horn of Africa, 20 suffered from malnutrition. HIV/AIDS infected persons were also very vulnerable in that region, as well as pregnant and lactating women. WHO was helping the Governments of the countries in the Horn of Africa to coordinate their health response, and also to assess the situation to ensure that moderate malnutrition did not worsen. WHO’s needed, as part of the regional launch of the appeal, $ 12.3 million. To date, it had only received $ 1.5 million of the required sum.

Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier reminded journalists that at 12:30 today, Kjell Magne Bondevik, the Special Humanitarian Envoy of the Secretary-General for the Horn of Africa, would brief the press in Room III about the launch of the regional appeal.

Pakistan

Jennifer Pagonis of the UN Refugee Agency said six months after the earthquake of 8 October 2005 in Pakistan, more than 64,000 earthquake survivors had left relief camps for home. Thirty camps had closed, leaving 86,750 people in over 120 camps with 50 or more tents. UNHCR continued to stress that returns must be voluntary and people are informed.

Jean-Philippe Chauzy of the International Organization for Migration said six months after the devastating earthquake that struck South Asia on October 8, 2005, the emergency ‘Winter Race" to save lives in Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP) and Pakistan-Administered Kashmir was officially over. But the challenge of rebuilding the area, where some 80,000 people died and 3.5 million were made homeless remained. IOM was appealing to international and private donors for support through the IASC ‘Action Plan for Relief to Recovery.' Projects which IOM was planning to undertake with donor support included rebuilding infrastructure, reconstruction of health centres, providing mental health and psychosocial care for quake survivors, and livelihood assistance.

Other

Mark Oliver of the World Meteorological Organization said the WMO Hurricane Committee session had just wound up in Porto Rico, and the names Dennis, Katrina, Rita, Stan and Wilma would now be withdrawn from the alphabetical name list of the Atlantic Basin Tropical Storms. This was because of the associated damage and death toll of these particular storms. The President of the Committee still had to rubber stamp this decision, so it was not absolutely certain yet. These names would be replaced with Don, Katya, Rina, Sean and Whitney. There were 21 names, which had to be short and easily understood and broadcast. The Committee would be releasing its prediction for the hurricane season in one week’s time and he would report on that when it happened.

Jean Michel Jakobowicz of the Economic Commission for Europe said that the ECE and the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific were launching a project to help Central Asian countries work together to improve dam safety and to prevent major dam accidents. The project, which would be launched at a meeting in Almaty, Kazakhstan on 10 and 11 April, intended to help countries establish dam safety regulatory networks that were in harmony with the networks of neighbouring countries, and to ensure that relevant principles were reflected in national legislation. It also hoped to promote cooperation between countries so that information could be shared quickly about the risk of accidents. A press release with more details was available.

Aurelia Blin of the World Trade Organization said a press release was available in the press room on trade developments in 2005 and expectations for 2006. It was embargoed until 11 April. At noon on 11 April, there would be a press briefing to speak more about the subject.

Ms. Blin said that on Monday, 10 April, there would be a number of meetings of services negotiations, and there would be a briefing at noon. On Thursday, 13 April there would be consultations on intellectual property – geographical indications extension. As for WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy, he would be in Rwanda on an official visit on 13 April, and would meet with African Union Trade Ministers in Nairobi, Kenya on 14 April.

Jennifer Pagonis of the UN Refugee Agency said in Colombia, hundreds of Wounaan indigenous people had now fled to the small town of Istmina in western Colombia after two of their leaders were killed in their ancestral territory last week by members of an irregular armed group. By yesterday (Thursday) afternoon, some 400 people had arrived and a boat carrying 200 people had to stop for the night in a small settlement further downriver after running out of gasoline. In the next few days, many more families were expected to make their way upstream from the Wounaan ancestral territories, some eight hours by boat on the San Juan River. Colombia was home to some of the world's oldest and smallest indigenous groups. Like the Wounaan, many were at high risk not only of displacement, but even of extinction because of the Colombian conflict. All indigenous communities had close links to their ancestral land, on which their cultural survival depends.

Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said the World Food Programme had asked her to announce that a press release was available on WFP airdropping food aid into the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s embattled Katanga province. These were WFP’s first food aid airdrops outside Sudan since 1998.

Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said a symposium would be held on 11 and 12 within the framework of the International Year of Deserts and Desertification 2006 at the International Geneva Conference Centre. The theme of the symposium was desertification, hunger and poverty.

At the beginning of the briefing, Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier congratulated Richard Waddington of Reuters who was elected yesterday as the new President of the Association of United Nations Correspondents (ACANU). She also congratulated the members of the ACANU Committee for their election or re-election. She thanked the former President, Jan Dirk Herbermann of Der Tagesspiegel and the outgoing Committee for their collaboration with the Information Service. She did not doubt that this spirit of working together in an atmosphere of openness and confidence would continue with the new team.