REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Marie Heuzé, the Director of the United Nations Information Service at Geneva, chaired the briefing which also heard from Spokespersons for the UN Refugee Agency, the World Health Organization, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and the International Organization for Migration.

Secretary-General’s Statement on Passing of WHO’s Director-General

Ms. Heuzé said the Secretary-General yesterday said he was shocked and deeply saddened to learn of the sudden passing of Dr. Lee Jong-Wook, Director-General of the World Health Organization. He said Dr Lee had taken over the reins of WHO in the wake of the SARS outbreak of 2003, and had been working energetically to strengthen the organization further in its global public health responsibilities. He had been at the forefront of the global fight to prevent an avian flu pandemic, and had been a champion as well in the battle against a host of other public health threats from HIV/AIDS to tuberculosis.

The text of the Secretary-General’s statement was available in the press room.

Secretary-General’s Visit to China

Ms. Heuzé said Secretary-General Kofi Annan had been in China since 19 May. Yesterday, he met with Prime Minister Wen Jiabao and discussed UN-China cooperation and UN reform, the Millennium Development Goals, China's contribution in Africa, as well as the Global Compact. The Secretary-General then met with the UN country team and spoke with UN staff at the UN compound in Beijing. In the afternoon, he met with State Councillor Tang Jiaxuan, and discussed topics including Iran and East Asian relations.

Sudan

Ms. Heuzé said the UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) was reporting that Sudan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced over the weekend that the Government welcomed the upcoming visit of the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy, Lakhdar Brahimi, and Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Hedi Annabi. The talks were expected to focus on the implementation of the Darfur Peace Agreement and the transition from African Union troops to U.N. peacekeeping forces in Darfur.

Meanwhile, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Sudan, Jan Pronk, had agreed to hold regular meetings between UNMIS and local government leaders in West Darfur, as part of ongoing efforts to explain the Darfur Peace Agreement. The decision followed Mr. Pronk’s three-day visit to West Darfur which ended over the weekend. When African Union commanders raised the issue of insufficient resources for its current tasks, Mr. Pronk assured them that the international community was currently preparing to start strengthening the force.

Myanmar

Ms. Heuzé said Under Secretary-General for Political Affairs, Ibrahim Gambari, last weekend completed a trip to Myanmar. On his final day, Mr. Gambari met with the country's head of state outside the capital. Following his return to Yangon, he met with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. That meeting lasted close to an hour and took place at a government guest house. During the visit, Mr. Gambari met with key political stakeholders and held wide-ranging discussions on the country's National Convention and democratisation process. He urged all his interlocutors to engage in an inclusive political process for the benefit of the country and its people. Mr. Gambari also held extensive discussions on the humanitarian challenges that Myanmar faced, and in particular the need to establish an enabling environment for humanitarian actors, including access. He placed particular emphasis on the continuing conflict in Kayin State and the need to protect civilians.

Jennifer Pagonis of the UN Refugee Agency said over the last three months, there had been an influx into Thailand of some 2,000 refugees from Myanmar who said they were fleeing renewed conflict and human rights abuses in Kayin state. The predominantly ethnic Karen refugees said their houses and villages had been burned and civilians killed. Many were very weak and suffering from illnesses. Many of the refugees passed through the "Eh Htu Hta" camp for internally displaced people (IDPs) just on the other side of the border in Myanmar. There, they say, hundreds more displaced Karen villagers were living in desperate conditions and were reportedly waiting to see whether conditions in their home areas improved so that they could return. Otherwise, they might try to cross the border into Thailand if the situation deteriorated. UNHCR was working with the Thai Government and non-governmental organizations to ensure that the new arrivals were admitted to the camps and were provided with adequate shelter and protection.

Iraq

Ms. Heuzé said the Secretary-General had welcomed the announcement of the formation of the new Iraqi government, and extended his congratulations to Prime Minister Al-Maliki and members of the first constitutionally elected government of Iraq. The Secretary-General wished the new Government every success in confronting the enormous challenges facing Iraq. He hoped that the process of forming a broad-based and inclusive government would be completed as soon as possible, so that it would be able to quickly address the crucial issues of national reconciliation, security, the rule of law, respect for human rights, reconstruction and development.

The Secretary-General’s statement was available in the press room.

Geneva Meetings

Ms. Heuzé said the Conference on Disarmament had last week held intensive and interesting meetings in which the Member States had exchanged views for the first time in many years on the issue of a Fissile Material Cut-Off Treaty (FMCT). The draft tabled by the U.S. delegation would be carefully studied in the capitals. Many delegations expressed the hope that it would give political impetus to the CD, even if no agreement had yet been reached on the programme of work. The Information Service had issued press releases in English and in French on each open plenary, and had also made available statements read out at the meetings. The Conference had yesterday concluded its debate on an FMCT. Since Thursday, 25 May was a day off, the next plenary of the Conference would be held at 10 a.m. on Thursday, 1 June. The Conference would be starting its thematic discussion on the issue of the prevention of an arms race in outer space under the Presidency of Ambassador Valery Loshchinin of the Russian Federation.

The Committee on the Rights of the Child was continuing its work at the Palais Wilson. Today, Chamber A of the Committee would be taking up the second periodic report of the Marshall Islands and Chamber B would be considering the third periodic report of Mexico. [It was later announced that the Committee had postponed the consideration of the report of the Marshall Islands because the delegation had not shown up.]

World Health Assembly

Fadela Chaib of the World Health Organization said today was the second day of the World Health Assembly. At the plenary, State Members were still making general statements. Committee A was also meeting for the first time to discuss strengthening pandemic-influenza preparedness and response, including application of the International Health Regulations. If time permitted, the Committee would also discuss the eradication of poliomyelitis. This afternoon at around 3.10 p.m., the Prince of Wales would address the plenary for around half an hour.

Yesterday, after the sudden death of the Director-General of WHO, Dr. Lee Jong-Wook, Member States had asked that the Executive Council hold an extraordinary meeting and that would start at 6 p.m. this evening. The Executive Council would mainly be talking about the consequences of Dr. Lee’s death for WHO. She would have more information during the day.

Concerning the funeral of Dr. Lee, Ms. Chaib said it would be held on Wednesday, 24 May at the Notre Dame Cathedral in Geneva at 12:30 p.m. It would be open to the public. There would be three speakers paying homage to Dr. Lee, a representative of the family, a representative of WHO and a representative of Member States.

Representing the Secretary-General, who was in China, would be Mark Malloch Brown, the UN’s Deputy Secretary-General. There would also be a number of heads of UN agencies attending.

Human Rights

José Luis Díaz of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said OHCHR had issued a new report on Sudan, focusing largely on Darfur. The report concluded that Sudanese authorities were failing to uphold many of the commitments made last year under an accord to end a decades-old civil war. In a review of the situation in Sudan from December 2005 to April of this year, OHCHR, in cooperation with the United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS), said in the report that the conflict in Darfur had reached a new level of violence, both in intensity and frequency. Human rights violations in Darfur continued as the conflict escalated, and there had been a failure to protect civilians from attacks that included sexual and gender-based violence in the region, as well as a failure to hold people accountable for conflict-related crimes.

Mr. Díaz said the report covered the period before the signing of the Darfur peace agreement, which took place in Abuja on 5 May. However, reports received from Sudan and the region since then indicated that the violence was continuing. Even as the agreement was being signed, new attacks had been taking place, particularly in south Darfur, between 4 and 8 May. Ongoing violence by the Government and its allied militias, as well as by the SLA continued to aggravate the humanitarian crisis as the number of internally displaced persons was increasing significantly. The report was available on the website of OHCHR and the press release on the report had been sent out.

Asked if this report was the one that had been presented to the Security Council, Mr. Díaz said the report presented to the Security Council was by the Secretary-General, this one was by OHCHR.

In response to a question about accusations that the Sudanese Government had already violated the peace agreement, Mr. Díaz said he could not comment on whether there had been specific violations, but he could say that the reports OHCHR was getting said that fighting was continuing between Government forces, militias and rebel forces. There were a number of rebel factions that had signed the accord which made things even more difficult. The conclusion was that despite the signing of the peace agreement, the situation had not improved that much in Darfur and it was still very critical.

Mr. Díaz said the human rights unit of the UN Mission in Iraq was issuing its bi-monthly report which covered March and April. In the report, it was noted that while ordinary civilians continued to bear the brunt of violence in the country, the targeting of politicians, members of the public administration including the police, the army, doctors, journalists and academics was increasing. The report noted that the assassination of judges and judicial personnel was undermining the ability of the judiciary to conduct its duties. It also noted that increased attacks against relatives of intended targets were particularly disturbing. The report and the press release would be available shortly.

Mr. Díaz said that the Special Rapporteur on the right to education, Vernor Munoz Villalobos, had issued a statement in which he encouraged the implementation of the Plan of Action of the World Programme for Human Rights Education. It would be available during the day.

In response to a question on the decision by the Committee against Torture concerning the presence of the former Chadian President in Senegal, Mr. Díaz said he would have to check and get back to the journalist.

Responding to another question, Mr. Diaz said the High Commissioner had consistently condemned racist attacks and racism wherever they occurred around the world. She had done so in the Russian Federation, a country mentioned by the journalist, during her February visit there. The UN also had other human rights mechanisms dealing with the issue of racism. He did not think it was fair to accuse the High Commissioner of being passive about the issue of racism.

Other

Elizabeth Byrs of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said the UN Special Humanitarian Envoy for the Horn of Africa, Kjell Magne Bondevik, had yesterday started a visit to European donor capitals, Brussels, London and Berlin, with the aim of encouraging them to contribute more funds, especially for the long-term, to meet critical needs in the Horn of Africa. In early May, Mr. Bondevik had undertaken a five-nation mission to Eritrea, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Somalia and Kenya. Only $ 139 million had been received to date in response to the UN regional appeal for the Horn of Africa for $ 443 million. Available at the back of the room was a press release with more details. Mr. Bondevik would be in Geneva tomorrow, 24 May, and was available for interviews.

Jennifer Pagonis of the UN Refugee Agency said the Assistant High Commissioner for Protection, Erika Feller, was in Madrid today for the opening of a conference on "Rescue at Sea and Maritime Interception in the Mediterranean”.
Ms. Feller would also visit the Canary Islands where, in recent weeks, hundreds of people had arrived by sea from North Africa.

Ms. Pagonis said a group of 186 Palestinians, including four pregnant women and 29 children, had been stranded for about a fortnight in no-man's-land at the Tanf border checkpoint on the Iraq-Syria border. The Palestinians fled Baghdad for the border following a decision by the Government of Syria earlier this month to accept a first group of 287 Palestinians. Most of the earlier group had been stranded for two months at the Iraq-Jordan border before being given entry by Syria. The current group of 186 Palestinians has so far been denied entry into Syria, despite UNHCR's efforts. Additional Palestinians were reportedly still on the Iraqi side of the border also hoping for entry into Syria.

Jemini Pandya of the International Organization for Migration said a handbook on how to establish successful labour migration policies in countries of origin and destination was launched today on the second day the 14th OSCE Economic Forum in Prague. The main objective of the handbook, which had been jointly produced by the IOM, the ILO and the OSCE, was to assist States, particularly those in the OSCE area, in their effort to develop sound labour migration policies and programmes. In Peru, IOM, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the Ricky Martin Foundation (RMF) were today launching a regional information campaign to promote an IOM counter-trafficking hotline number (0800-2-3232) in Peru.

Ms. Pandya said IOM and the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Stability Operations of the United States Department of Defense were co-sponsoring an in-depth workshop on "Information Sharing in Insecure Environments". And in Ethiopia, IOM had completed the voluntary return of more than 5,500 internally displaced people (IDPs) within the Ethiopian Somali regional state (SRS), which had an estimated IDP population of 80,000.