REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Marie Heuzé, the Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired the briefing which was also addressed by Spokespersons for the World Health Organization, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the United Nations Refugee Agency, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the World Food Programme and the International Organization for Migration.

Activities of the Secretary-General

Ms. Heuzé drew attention to a statement issued yesterday by the Secretary-General on Iraq. The Secretary-General was encouraged by the discussions held in Baghdad on Saturday in preparation of a meeting of Foreign Ministers of the countries neighbouring Iraq. A press release on his statement issue was available in English and French.

On the situation in Uganda, Ms. Heuzé recalled that the Secretary-General had appointed a Special Envoy, Mr. Joaquim Chissano, for Lord's Resistance Army(LRA)-affected areas. Mr. Chissano had been in the region since late last month carrying on consultations with the LRA leadership and northern Ugandan parties, as well as with concerned regional countries. A press release was available on the Secretary-General’s statement in this regard.

Ms. Heuzé said that the Secretary-General had spoken on Saturday with President El Bashir of Sudan. The Secretary-General had informed him of the choice made, in agreement with Alpha Oumar Konare, Chairperson of the African Union (AU) Commission, of a UN-AU joint Special Representative and a Deputy Special Representative for the Darfur region, as well as the force commander for the joint mission.

Zimbabwe

Ms. Heuzé said that the Secretary-General had yesterday issued a statement expressing concern about the detention since Sunday of opposition leaders in Zimbabwe, following the break-up of a public meeting by riot police. The statement and a press release were available.

José Luis Díaz of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights drew attention to a statement in which the High Commissioner for Human Rights welcomed the order of Zimbabwe’s High Court that Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), be provided immediately with all necessary medical treatment and today be brought before the Court or released. The High Commissioner went on to say: “I welcome the speed and firmness with which Zimbabwe’s courts have acted in the face of shocking reports of police abuse… This form of repression and intimidation of a peaceful assembly is unacceptable, and the loss of life makes this even more disturbing. I urge the Zimbabwean authorities to ensure an immediate, impartial and comprehensive investigation into these events”, the High Commissioner said. “I encourage the courts to continue to discharge their responsibilities as guardians of the rights of all Zimbabweans.”

The statement referred to consistent reports of excessive use of force at a rally on Sunday, 11 March, resulting in one death and many casualties, including to women and children. According to reports, as of late yesterday forty-nine persons continued to be detained and the situation regarding an additional 125 persons was unclear. Some of those beaten and injured had been denied access to legal representation.

Human Rights Council

Ms. Heuzé noted that there were no changes to the list of speakers in the Order of the Day circulated on Friday, 9 March. On Wednesday afternoon, 14 March, The High Commissioner would be presenting her annual report on the activities of her Office in 2006. Ms. Heuzé also recalled that the report on Darfur had been made available to journalists yesterday.

Conference on Disarmament

Ms. Heuzé said that the Conference on Disarmament was currently hearing a series of statement. This morning the Conference had heard or would hear from the Vice President of Colombia, the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Latvia, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iran, the Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs Japan, the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Poland, the Assistant Foreign Minister of Viet Nam, the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs of Italy, and the Ambassador of Austria.

Press conferences

Ms. Heuzé drew attention to the press conferences scheduled this week. Today at 11:15 a.m. there would be the Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and at 2:00 p.m. the Minister of State of Turkey on “the Alliance of Civilizations”. Tomorrow, 14 March, there would be a press conference of the Secretary-General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference on the issue of human rights at 2:30 p.m. On Thursday, 15 March, Ernesto Rubio, WIPO Assistant Director-General, would speak about the international trademark system in 2006 at 11:00 a.m. At noon, there would be the press conference of the Minister of Justice of the Republic of Sudan. All the press conferences would take place in Room V, except for WIPO’s, which would take place in Press room 1.

Mozambique

Elizabeth Byrs of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that the United Nations and its humanitarian partners had launched a Flash Appeal for US$17.7 million to support the Mozambican Government in responding to emergency needs arising from severe flooding that began in February and Cyclone Favio. The funds would be used to provide life saving emergency assistance for 285,000 affected people for a period of up to six months. The Appeal came in response to the Government’s US$71 million Recovery and Reconstruction plan launched on 5 March, which focused on the resettlement of people, the reactivation of agricultural production, water supplies and roads, health and educational support, the reconstruction of public infrastructure and rapid recovery support to the private sector.

Since the beginning of February, torrential rains had caused rivers to overflow resulting in widespread flooding in the central and southern parts of Mozambique. It was estimated that 285,000 people had been affected by the floods; of these, 163,000 had been displaced and were now sheltered in accommodation centers. It was further estimated that over 150,000 people had been affected when Cyclone Favio made landfall in Mozambique on 22 February. Immediate needs included food security, health and nutrition; shelter; child protection, education; logistics and coordination. Initial funding from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to the amount of US$9.6 million had been made available to the United Nations agencies to enable them to jump-start their activities ahead of the anticipated donor response to the Flash Appeal.



Other

Jennifer Pagonis of the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said that in Sri Lanka, more than 40,000 civilians had fled fierce fighting in the country’s east over the past week, pushing to an estimated 127,000 the number of displaced within the affected district of Batticaloa. As an initial response, UNHCR has already transported 2,500 plastic sheets and 1,925 family tents to be distributed among the affected population. With existing displacement sites already overcrowded, UNHCR had asked the government to step up efforts to meet the needs of the displaced.

At the same time, the return of civilians from six divisions in Batticaloa to the Trincomalee district had begun yesterday. Interagency monitoring reports indicated that heavy pressure has been applied on internally displaced people to return, including local authority statements that assistance would be stopped if they stayed in Batticaloa. UNHCR was continuing to advocate for voluntary return, without undue pressure or duress, and had offered to accompany the process.

Ms. Pagonis said that the High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres was currently visiting Ecuador and had called for more international cooperation to help thousands of Colombian refugees in Ecuador. Little was known outside the region about this humanitarian crisis, one of the longest and most forgotten in the world today. Mr. Guterres had called for the support and solidarity of the international community. It was estimated that up to 250,000 Colombians had fled to Ecuador to escape the armed conflict in their home country.

Simon Pluess of the World Food Programme (WFP) said that WFP would be able to continue to provide humanitarian assistance to Colombian refugees in Ecuador thanks to a donation of $396,000 from the Spanish Government. In coordination with the Ecuadorian Government and UNHCR, WFP had distributed monthly rations to some 63,000 Colombians since 2005. The operation had been planned to last for one year only but the increasing flow of refugees had made it necessary to extend the operation for an additional eight months and to expand the number of beneficiaries by 1,200 people, resulting in an additional cost of $800,000.

In Greece, Ms. Pagonis said that UNHCR was urging the authorities to allow the urgent disembarkation and grant access to the asylum system of 16 stowaways found nearly a week ago on a cargo ship docked in the port of Piraeus. The stowaways had apparently boarded the Antigua flagged 'RITA' cargo vessel in Turkey. Most of the group had expressed their wish to claim asylum. Those claims were delivered yesterday, 12 March, to the relevant Greek authorities but as yet there has been no response. UNHCR was concerned that their ordeal not be prolonged as there were five minors amongst the group and two people with serious health problems.

Ms. Pagonis said that UNHCR deeply regretted the refoulement on 3 March by Turkey of a refugee from central Iraq, who been accorded refugee status by UNHCR on February 13. Upon learning that a deportation order had been given to the refugee, UNHCR had written to the Turkish authorities, reiterating UNHCR's position that Iraqis from southern and central Iraq 'should be favorably considered as refugees under the 1951 Convention. Regretfully, the government had not responded. UNHCR appealed to the Turkish authorities to refrain from any such deportations and to all governments in the region to keep their borders open for Iraqis fleeing persecution.

Mr. Pluess said that WFP had today appealed for donations for a new operation to provide food assistance for 30,000 the poorest Iraqi refugees who were now in Syria after fleeing escalating violence in their own country. WFP was appealing to donors to provide $1.7 million to purchase and distribute over 2,800 metric tons of rice, vegetable oil and pulses up to the end of the year. The operation would be conducted in close cooperation with UNHCR. Many of the refugees did not have the financial reserves to meet their daily needs, including the schooling of their children. WFP was already assisting almost 7,000 Iraqis in Syria and would increase the number of those benefiting from food aid by 2,500 every month until the end of the year.

Fadela Chaib of the World Health Organization (WHO) drew attention to press releases on three important meetings taking place this week. In London, influential women from all over the globe had come together to urge the world to redouble efforts and boost investment to reduce the global burden of maternal and newborn death. The meeting was being held under the auspices of the House of Commons to mark UK Mother’s Day on Sunday, 18 March. Key participants included Cherie Blair, wife of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom; Mrs. Mathato S. Mosisilli, First Lady of Lesotho; Liya Kebede, Supermodel and WHO Goodwill Ambassador; and members of parliament from countries included Botswana, Brazil, Cambodia, Indonesia, Pakistan and Tajikistan. Ms. Kebede would be in Geneva tomorrow, 14 March, to meet with Dr. Chan from noon until 3:00 p.m.

In Prague, more than twenty technology companies were meeting today with the IMPACT task force set up by WHO and partners, to assess technologies which could improve the global prevention, tracking and detection of counterfeit medicines. Counterfeit medicines were on the rise in most countries but were particularly widespread in developing regions. IMPACT’s latest figures estimated counterfeits at around 1% of sales in developed countries to more than 10% in developing countries. In parts of Africa, Asia and Latin America the percentage was as high as 30%.

Ms. Chaib said that a new international Task Force set up under the auspices of the Global Health Workforce Alliance (created by WHO in 2005) would meet for the first time today to tackle the global shortage of health workers. The Task Force was chaired by Lord Nigel Crisp, former Chief Executive of the National Health Service in England, and included two African Ministers of Health – Dr. Stephen Mallinga of Uganda and Marjories Ngaunje of Malawi.

Jean-Philippe Chauzy of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said that IOM was ramping up its distribution of aid in West Sumatra’s quake zone. IOM would today begin distribution of first aid to those most affected, in partnership with three local NGOs, at the request of the local authorities. IOM’s relief operation in West Sumatra was funded by the Dutch Government, which had made Eur 1.5 million available to the Red Cross and IOM for emergency relief goods, medical aid and logistics to help the approximately 6,500 thousand persons displaced by the earthquake.

Mr. Chauzy announced the launch, in Southern Africa, of the first of four regional information campaigns for 2007 to raise awareness about the problem of human trafficking. The campaign was being launched simultaneously in Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe in ten different languages, on both community and national radio stations throughout the region. According to a 2003 IOM report, trade in humans for purposes of sexual exploitation was flourishing in the region. A nationwide campaign on human trafficking was also being launched in Argentina, with the participation of the popular Uruguayan actress and singer Natalia Oreiro. Further details were available in the note.