REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Marie Heuzé, the Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired the briefing, which also heard from Spokespersons for the International Committee of the Red Cross, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the World Health Organization, the World Food Programme, the International Organization for Migration, the United Nations Refugee Agency, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.


Geneva Activities

Marie Heuzé said the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination had concluded its examination of reports yesterday which included those from Estonia Yemen, South Africa, Oman, Mongolia, Denmark, Norway and Ukraine. Today, the Committee this morning discussed the situation in Malawi and the Seychelles under its review procedure for countries whose reports are more than five years overdue. When the Committee reconvenes at 3 p.m. this afternoon, it will consider the situation in Namibia and Saint Lucia under this review procedure and will also discuss its early warning and emergency action procedures.

The Director said the Conference on Disarmament was holding a general debate this morning on its programme of work on disarmament and transparency in armaments under the Presidency of Senegal. The representative of Colombia was inscribed to address the Conference. Other speakers were expected to brief the debate.

The Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights was continuing its session and was holding a public meeting this morning in Room 18. The current and final session of the Sub-Commission was scheduled to conclude on 25 August.


Middle East crisis

Marie Heuzé referred to the statement issued yesterday by the Secretary-General in which he said he was relieved to note the cessation of hostilities in Lebanon called for by the Security Council appeared to be generally holding. In his statement, the Secretary-General also urged the parties to make every effort, in the interest of the civilian population on both sides to continue and consolidate the cessation of hostilities and urged the parties to move swiftly to convert it into a lasting ceasefire, in cooperation with the United Nations forces, through the measures prescribed in resolution 1701. Copies of both the Secretary-General’s statement and of the Security Council resolution were made available in the Press Room.

The Director said the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon – UNIFIL – reported that the situation on the ground was calm but tense, and despite a number of sporadic clashes, generally both sides seemed to be exercising restraint. Copies of a UNIFIL press release were also made available.

Humanitarian assistance to Lebanon

Marie Heuzé told journalists that the 24-truck convoy, which departed from Beirut yesterday, had arrived in the southern city of Tyre over night.

Concerning this convoy, Elizabeth Byrs of the Office of the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said seven of the 24 trucks had already distributed food and water in the southern Lebanese town of Tyre while 14 trucks will proceed to Rmeish tomorrow. The usual journey of 45 minutes from Saida to Tyre took over five hours due to the damage caused to the roads and infrastructure. The humanitarian agencies were now fully operational and nine convoys were sent yesterday. At present there were three crossing points over the Litani River which humanitarian agencies were able to use and UNIFIL, with local support, were repairing other bridges.

Annick Bouvier of the International Committee of the Red Cross said the ICRC’s key priority remained to reach the civilian population in villages and to ensure that all wounded were evacuated and all bodies were recovered. ICRC also assisted local specialists in repairing Tyre’s power station and provided help to refugees who were in a hospital in Tibnin. More information was available in a press release.

Fadela Chaib of the World Health Organization announced that a WHO team, headed by Dr. Robert Holden, was in southern Lebanon where they were evaluating damages caused to sanitation infrastructure. Today the WHO, together with UNICEF, transported 60 tons of fuel to South Lebanon for 18 hospitals to cover their operational needs for the next ten days. Additional convoys with fuel would be sent over the coming days.

Wivina Belmonte from UNICEF said one of the urgent issues in Lebanon given the numbers of people moving down south from Beirut as well as from Syria back to Lebanon was that of unexploded ordnance and landmines. UNICEF began an information campaign today through TV and radio spots as well as by handing out leaflets to people moving into areas that had been shelled with messages stressing the dangers these unexploded ordnance and landmines posed. An information note was made available with additional information on urgent needs for the population in Lebanon including water and vaccinations for children.

Chris Lom of the International Organization for Migration said the Organization today started to help Lebanese IDPs to return to the South. The first IOM convoy of 20 buses and three trucks, organized with a local NGO partner the Islamic Medical Society, was currently leaving Beirut with some 800 IDPs returning to Tyre and the surrounding area. On arrival, the returnees will be taken to a transit centre run by the Tyre municipality. The number of foreign nationals evacuated by the Organization passed the 10,000 and another 3,000 were expected to be evacuated over the next week. The IOM yesterday launched an appeal for 26.4 million USD to fund operations in Lebanon over the next six months.

Christiane Berthiaume of the World Food Programme said the WFP would today attempt to send an emergency relief boat from Beirut to Tyre. The Greek boat Anamcara, which arrived on Sunday with humanitarian aid and loaded with 21 trucks, was supposed to depart today for delivery. Out of the 21 trucks, 12 will remain in Tyre; of these 12 trucks six carry supplies from the WHO, five carry supplies from UNICEF and one fuel for hospitals in Tyre. Two additional convoys were expected to depart today for Rmeish and Hasbaya both in southern Lebanon, with 15 and 19 trucks respectively.

On a related development, Ms. Berthiaume of WFP referred to the donation from the European Commission of 3.8 million USD to ensure the delivery of vital assistance to nearly one million persons displaced by the conflict in Lebanon. This donation comes in addition to an earlier EC commitment to WFP of 1.3 million USD for emergency food assistance.

Jennifer Pagonis of the United Nations Refugee Agency said thousands of displaced Lebanese both within Lebanon and from Syria were streaming back to their homes since the ceasefire started on Monday. UNHCR had teams monitoring these returns 24 hours a day at the four border points from Syria. An estimated 10,000 people had already returned to their homes in Lebanon as of yesterday. Some 180,000 people in total had fled Lebanon for Syrian since the conflict broke out last month. Inside Lebanon, UNHCR teams were set up at major points on the return routes and were distributing assistance such as plastic sheeting, mattresses, water and other supplies to returnees. UNHCR was prepared to assist up to 50,000 Lebanese who may delay their return from Syria. Additionally, Ms. Pagonis reported that one C-130 aircraft landed today in Beirut from Jordan loaded with family-sized tents, mattresses and a rub hall. Two more flights to Beirut were scheduled from Amman on Wednesday, which will complete the five UNHCR charter flights arranged with the Royal Jordanian air force during the emergency.

Responding to a question, Elizabeth Byrs of OCHA said it was agreed that concurrence for United Nations land convoys would no longer be required. However, there was still a naval blockade that was in effect.

Concerning the number of children who had been injured or killed in Lebanon as a result of the conflict, Wivina Belmonte of UNICEF said it was difficult to assess these figures however according to statistics from the Higher Relief Committee more than 1,000 people overall had been killed as a result of this conflict and 3,700 injured. Moreover, some one million people had been displaced of which one half were children.

Humanitarian Assistance to Gaza

Michael Bociurkiw from UNICEF said the humanitarian situation in Gaza was slowly becoming a children’s catastrophe given the fact that last month alone 38 children had been killed; that was the highest number of children killed since the beginning of the intifada. Of this number 25 per cent were below the age of ten. In addition to the children who faced physical risks, UNICEF was concerned about those who had been inflicted by what they refer to as the “invisible injuries”, namely the psychosocial trauma resulting from the conflict. UNICEF had been providing psychosocial counseling to children and caregivers to help them recovery from this trauma. UNICEF’s message was that all sides had a responsibility to protect children in Gaza who numbered around 800,000. Mr. Bociurkiw added that at the end of the week UNICEF would be issuing a donor update providing more specific figures on UNICEF’s activities in Gaza.

Responding to a question, Mr. Bociurkiw said UNICEF’s main areas of responsibility in Gaza addressed education, child protection, water and sanitation, and health and nutrition needs. Some three-quarters of the population in Gaza were totally reliable on outside assistance, he said.

Asked to elaborate what was meant by “all sides had a responsibility to protect children in Gaza”, while illustrating a point through by drawing attention to the number of unexploded ordnance left behind in Gaza thus putting children at risk, Mr. Bociurkiw said everyone had a role to protect the most vulnerable in their situation; in the case of Gaza these most vulnerable were the 800,000 children who lived there.

Sri Lanka

Marie Heuzé said the Secretary-General issued a statement yesterday on the situation in Sri Lanka in which he said he was increasingly alarmed at the ongoing violence in Sri Lanka.

In his statement, said he was “profoundly concerned at the rising death toll, including the seven people killed in a bomb attack in Colombo today [yesterday], and reports of dozens of students killed in a school as a result of air strikes in the northeast. He deplores the assassination over the weekend of a veteran Tamil human rights advocate. The Secretary-General calls on both parties to allow humanitarian agencies free and unimpeded access to the affected population. He draws attention to the appeals by Sri Lanka's humanitarian community for both sides to allow the civilian population to leave the contested areas. The Secretary-General stresses that a return to civil war will not resolve the issues involved. He joins the Sri Lanka Co-Chairs in calling on the parties to cease hostilities immediately and to return to the negotiating table.”

Copies of the Secretary-General’s statement were made available in the Press Room.

Wivina Belmonte from UNICEF referring to a press release recalled the bombing yesterday of a compound in the Mullaitivu district of Sri Lanka in the northern part of the country that reportedly killed dozens of girls and wounded many more. The incident occurred at a former children’s home being used for first aid training workshops for girls hundreds of whom were injured in the bombing. According to the press release, as many as 40 adolescent girls were killed in this attack and some 100 wounded, many critically.

Jennifer Pagonis of UNHCR said continued heavy fighting in the north and east of Sri Lanka had sent several thousand more civilians fleeing their homes in search of safety in the last few days. Freedom of movement was heavily restricted in many areas, making it difficult both for civilians to move and for UNHCR to deliver much needed aid to them. UNHCR, together with other UN agencies, was preparing were. Many of the people who could get out of Jaffna District have begun making their way south to Killinochchi District, an area controlled by the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE or the Tamil Tigers, as they are commonly known), where the displaced were being assisted in schools and other communal centres. While air strikes in Batticaloa District had hindered access to many affected areas UNHCR, ICRC and other partners had been working closely with the military and local authorities to secure safe passage to the LTTE-controlled area of Vaharai Division.

HIV/AIDS

Fadela Chaib of WHO said the WHO, in collaboration with the International Labour Organization, would be announcing the launch of a coordinated global plan to address a major obstacle to preventing and treating HIV/AIDS at the 16th International AIDS Conference in Toronto. A press release with an embargo for 18.00 GMT was made available.


Jean-Luc Martinage of the International Federation of the Red Cross said the IFRC announced a new programme over the course of five years to combat HIV/AIDS in Southern Africa. Referring to a press release, he said there were over 11 million people living with HIV in Southern Africa, including 500,000 children, making the region the epicentre of the pandemic. “With adult prevalence rates now exceeding 20 per cent in most countries in the region, reaching more than 38 per cent in some areas, there was an urgent need to take the Red Cross work to a new level,” stated Françoise Le Goff, Head of the International Federation’s regional delegation in Harare. The new strategy focused on prevention for vulnerable groups and support for people living with HIV and aimed to strengthen home-based care programmes built up over the last decade. It also targeted the growing number of orphans who had lost one or both parents due to AIDS. Some 225,000 children will be supported over the next five years.

Wivina Belmonte from UNICEF recalled that in October last year UNICEF launched the “Unite for Children, Unite Against AIDS” campaign aimed at focusing at how widely children were affected by the pandemic. As a result of AIDS, many children were growing up “too fast, alone or not at all”, she said. One of the key messages UNICEF was highlighting at the Toronto conference was that on the high HIV infection rates as a result of mother-to-child transmission.

Referring to the press release from WHO, a journalist asked who the 57 countries were where there was a gap of health workers, to which Ms. Chaib said those countries were listed in the WHO’s World Health Report for this year.

Asked to provide details on where resources were coming from to aid the 225,000 AIDS orphans, Mr. Martinage of the IFRC said most of the funds were coming from an annual fund.


Afghanistan

Elizabeth Byrs said OCHA had allocated 11 million USD from the rapid response component of the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) for emergency relief for drought-stricken Afghanistan. The CERF grant component will be used to fill a three-month gap before the bulk of recent contributions become available in country for distribution. She recalled that the Government of Afghanistan and the United Nations launched a six-month appeal on 25 July 2006 for nearly 76.4 million USD to support the urgent needs of those affected by drought in Afghanistan. An estimated 2.5 million people living in mostly rain-fed areas of Afghanistan were facing an imminent food crisis due to inadequate rainfall in the months of April and May. This estimate is in addition to the 6.5 million people who are seasonally or chronically food insecure. Projects resourced from CERF funds were expected to be implemented within a three-month period, in keeping with the rules and regulations governing the use of the Fund.

Other

Jennifer Pagonis said UNHCR was greatly encouraged by the Kazakhstan authorities release today into UNHCR's care, of an Uzbek refugee who was the subject of an extradition request by Uzbekistan. The refugee was handed over this morning to UNHCR in the Kazakh capital Almaty for immediate permanent resettlement with his family. The Uzbek refugee in Kazakhstan, who had been living in the country for seven years with his family, was detained in late June following an Uzbek extradition request.

Ms. Pagonis also reported that today, High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres started a six-day mission to the southern Caucasus, visiting Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia.