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,
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the World Food Programme, the United Nations Refugee Agency, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the World Trade Organization and the International Organization for Migration.

Activities of the Secretary-General and Deputy Secretary-General

Ms. Heuzé said that in the context of United Nations reform, the General Assembly had yesterday adopted resolutions on the work of the Secretariat in Peace Operations and Disarmament. The Assembly had endorsed the Secretary-General’s proposal of a new structure whereby the new Department of Peace Operations would consolidate all factors dealing with strategy, planning and deployment, while the Department of Field Support would take on the responsibility of the management of current missions. The Secretary-General’s statement had been made available to the press yesterday.

The Deputy-Secretary had concluded a visit to Europe. She had met with representatives of the European Union in Brussels where she had also delivered remarks on the need to strengthen the cooperation between the United Nations and the European Union in the field of development to ensure that the efforts of the two organizations had a greater impact. The Deputy Secretary-General’s remarks had been made available to the press.

Human Rights

Ms. Heuzé said that the Human Rights Council was continuing its session in Room XVII and considering the follow-up of the decisions of the Council, including decisions of the Special Sessions of the Council on the situations in the Palestinian territories, Lebanon and Darfur.

The press conference of Jody Williams, leader of the High-Level Mission sent by the Human Rights Council to Darfur, originally scheduled for 1:30 p.m. today, would most likely be delayed somewhat. An announcement would be made once the once the time was confirmed.

José Luis Díaz of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said that the High Commissioner for Human Rights strongly condemned the killing of Isse Abdi Isse, chairman of the Somali human rights non-governmental organization Kasima. He had been shot dead in Mogadishu on 14 March, where he had been attending a seminar. Attacks on human rights defenders and threats to journalists and the media were far too common in many parts of Somalia, as had been consistently reported by the Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in Somalia, Ghanim Alnajjar, and others. The High Commissioner emphasized that human rights defenders must be allowed to carry out their human rights work in safety and without fear of retaliation. She urged the Transitional Federal Government to conduct a prompt and impartial investigation into this case and into every attack on human rights defenders.

Mr. Díaz said that the Coordinating Committee of National Institutions for the Protection of Human Rights, which grouped all the national human rights commissions and ombudspersons for human rights around the world, would be meeting in Geneva next week, 21-23 March. In the morning of Wednesday, 21 March, before the meeting began in earnest, there would be a discussion on how to prevent torture and the role that national institutions could play in preventing torture. Representatives from over 70 countries were expected to participate. The meeting, which would take place in Room XVIII, would be open to the press and the last hour would be devoted to a question and answer session. A list of participants and the provisional agenda would be circulated to the press.

Ms. Heuzé was joined by French political cartoonist Jean Plantu and Afsané Bassir-Pour, Director of the United Nations Regional Information in Brussels (UNRIC), to introduce the exhibition “Cartooning for Peace”, currently on display in the Palais des Nations. Ms. Heuzé said that Mr. Plantu was in Geneva to participate, along with a number of cartoonist from around the world – including from Algeria, Iran, Israel, Lebanon and Russia – in the latest in a series of debates focusing freedom of expression at a film festival and international forum on human rights on Saturday, 17 March. Mr. Plantu said that in October 2006, a first encounter on the theme of “Cartooning for Peace” had taken place at United Nations Headquarters in New York with Kofi Annan. The idea had been to defend the freedom of expression of cartoonists – whose works were often spontaneous, impertinent, disturbing, disrespectful, funny and annoying – following the outrage that the cartoons of the prophet Muhammad published by the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten had sparked. The cartoonists participating in the debate worked under very different constraints, with some having to contend with censorship and threats to their personal freedoms, and these differences would inform the debate on Saturday.

Geneva activities

Ms. Heuzé said that the Conference on Disarmament would this morning hear statements by the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of Spain and the Under Secretary for Human Rights and Multilateral Affairs of Mexico. Their statements were available.

The new Permanent Representatives of Canada and Nigeria had presented their credentials to the Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva yesterday. Press releases had been issued in this regard.

Outbreak of meningitis in Africa

Fadela Chaib of the World Health Organization (WHO) drew attention to a press release in English and French on WHO’s response to meningitis outbreaks in four African countries – Burkina Faso, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan and Uganda. These countries were part of the “Meningitis Belt”, which stretched from Senegal in the West to Ethiopia in the East, an area with an estimated population of 300 million people. Some 16,000 cases, including 1,670 deaths, had been reported to WHO from these four countries. A campaign of vaccination had been completed in some areas and was continuing in others. A great effort had been undertaken to find a sufficient number of doses of the vaccine. The International Coordinating Group on Vaccine Provision for Epidemic Meningitis had so far released 1.1 million doses of vaccine to respond to the outbreak in southern Sudan and was ready to provide additional doses if needed.

Appeals for funding for Madagascar and Uganda

Elizabeth Byrs of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OHCHR) said that the United Nations had issued a flash appeal for USD 9.6 million for six months to support the Government of Madagascar in its efforts to address the humanitarian needs arising from the tropical storms and floods affecting the country over the past months. The appeal was being launched on behalf of the United Nations agencies and the NGO humanitarian organizations present in the country. The beneficiaries of the aid would be the 293,000 people affected by cyclones, floods and heavy rains throughout the country, including 33,000 displaced. The food security situation had dramatically deteriorated, as 80% of the harvest in the southeast of Madagascar had been destroyed. In its appeal for aid on 20 February, the Malagasy Government had estimated the needs to amount to USD 242 million. A number of countries had already responded with contributions amounting to USD 3 million. They included France, Norway, China, United Kingdom, Morocco and Switzerland.

Simon Pluess of the World Food Programme (WFP) said that WFP had launched an urgent appeal to the donor community to provide funds for 1.5 million displaced people and refugees in Uganda. Without additional funding, WFP would have to cut by 50% food rations to them. In 2006 there had been quite a considerable movement of return of internally displaced people but there were still 1.28 million trapped in squalid camps in the northern districts of Amuru, Gulu, Kitgum and Pader. Funding had been very difficult in the last two years and since 2005, WFP had at times had to reduce rations by up to 50%. If the shortage of funds continued, WFP would also be forced to make further cuts in maize and beans rations for 600,000 school children, as well as 240,000 people affected by HIV/AIDS. Out of a total budget of USD 127 million for WFP’s operation in 2007, only USD 37 million had been received.

Other

Ms. Chaib of WHO drew attention to the fact that 24 March was World Tuberculosis Day. The theme of the Day this year was “TBA anywhere is TBA everywhere”. A report was being releases on that occasion, copies of which had already been made available in Press room 1. The report was only available in English but there were summaries in English, French and Spanish. A press release on the report would be issued on Monday. The report would be launched in several locations around the world but the principal media launch would take place in Geneva on Monday, 19 March, at 10:15 a.m. in Room V, with the participation of Dr. Margaret Chan, Director-General of WHO, and Dr. Peter Piot, Executive Director of UNAIDS. Journalists were requested to respect the embargo of Thursday, 22 March, at 1:00 p.m. GMT.

Ron Redmond of the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said that UNHCR had received renewed assurances today from the Sri Lankan Government that the agency would now be fully engaged in any further moves to return internally displaced people (IDPs) following disturbing reports yesterday that scores had been forcibly returned by authorities in the country’s east, despite serious concerns over the security situation there. According to reports, there had been a stepped-up police presence in Batticaloa district, where over 152,000 people were registered as IDPs, and that in at least ten displacement sites, scores of people had been ordered onto buses.

Mr. Redmond said that António Guterres, High Commissioner for Refugees, was in Bogota today as he neared the end of a weeklong mission to Ecuador and Colombia that included a meeting Colombian President Alvara Uribe and a visit yesterday to displaced Afro-Colombian people in Choco, in the north-west of the country. Today, Mr. Guterres would chair a conference on displacement in Bogota.

Mr. Redmond said that UNHCR was deeply disturbed by a raid conducted by the Iraqi security forces on Wednesday, 14 March, in a Palestinian area in Baghdad that had left at least one Palestinian dead. Nine Palestinians were reportedly still in detention, while 51 others had been released. The raid had prompted at least 41 other Palestinians to flee the capital, joining 850 other Palestinians who had been stranded at the Iraq-Syria border since last May. UNHCR and other organizations had received allegations of physical abuse and possibly torture being carried out in detention, an allegation denied by the Iraqi authorities. UNHCR continued to strongly urge the Iraqi authorities and multinational forces to provide protection to the extent possible to the Palestinian community in Baghdad and urgently appealed to countries in the region and outside to offer temporary relocation of Palestinian refugees from Iraq.

Mr. Redmond said that UNHCR's Assistant High Commissioner for Protection, Ms. Erika Feller, and UNHCR’s Geneva-based director for the Middle East and North Africa had yesterday begun a five-day mission to Yemen to review the agency’s operations in the country. The visit was also intended to raise awareness of the continuing arrival of mixed population movements by sea across the Gulf of Aden from the Horn of Africa and the challenges faced by the government and aid workers in Yemen.

Finally, Mr. Redmond said that UNHCR was very grateful to the Greek authorities for having allowed the disembarkation of 16 stowaways -- most of whom were of Iraqi origin-- in the port of Piraeus yesterday morning. They would be given access to the asylum system.

Josep Bosch of the World Trade Organization (WTO) said that a two-day high-level meeting on ways to help cotton producers in Africa was concluding today. Pascal Lamy, Director General of the WTO, would hold a press conference today at 1:00 p.m. in Room W at WTO Headquarters, to report on the results of the meeting. At the conclusion of Mr. Lamy’s press conference, the ministers participating in the meeting would hold their own press conference.

Mr. Bosch said that Mr. Lamy would be traveling to Indonesia on Monday, 19 March, to attend a meeting on agriculture of the Group of 33 Countries. On Friday, 23 March, Mr. Lamy would travel to Mexico at the invitation of the President of Mexico for meetings with the Government. WTO’s programme for next week included a dispute settlement meeting on 20 March, the trade policy review of Canada on 21-22 March, and the screening of the Non-Confidential Session on the panel of Airbus and Boeing on Thursday, 22 March, at 10:00 a.m.

Jemini Pandya of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) drew attention to IOM’s press briefing notes, which covered the following issues: IOM’s appeal for USD 5.3 million to help 20,000 refugees living in camps in Zambia to return home to the Democratic Republic of Congo this year; IOM’s relief efforts to victims of flooding in Angola’s eastern province of Moxico; and the first IOM convoy carrying IDPs to their former home state of Warrap in South Sudan.