REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Marie Heuzé, 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 Children’s Fund, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the International Organization for Migration.

Statements of the Secretary-General

Ms. Heuzé informed journalists that the Conference on Disarmament was meeting this morning with one speaker on the agenda, the Ambassador of Myanmar. The Ambassador’s statement was available in the Press Room. [It was later announced that the Conference on Disarmament heard a statement by the NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security on the occasion of the International Women’s Day, as well as a farewell statement from Ambassador Juan Martabit of Chile and a statement from Myanmar on the need to prioritize nuclear disarmament. Syria, Peru, Norway, Algeria, Australia and China also made short statements, warmly thanking Ambassador Martabit of Chile for his work and reiterating their call for the greater inclusion of civil society in the work of the Conference.]

Human Rights

Ms. Heuzé said that the Human Rights Council would, until Wednesday afternoon, be examining reports presented by special rapporteurs and other experts. This morning, the Working group on forced disappearances would be presenting its report, followed by the Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, and the Special Rapporteur on torture. Reports would also be presented by the Special Rapporteurs on the right to health, the right to food, and freedom of opinion and expression. In the afternoon, reports would be presented by special rapporteurs and experts on human rights defenders, violence against women, and the effects of economic reform policies on human rights.

Tomorrow, Wednesday, reports would be presented on the right to housing and minorities. Reports on three countries would also be presented, on Sudan, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and Myanmar.

Ms. Heuzé that it was possible that the timing of two press conferences scheduled to take place today, on torture and arbitrary detention, could change, depending on the proceedings of the Council session.

A journalist noted that the NGO community had released a statement saying that they wanted the selection process for the successor of Louise Arbour as High Commissioner for Human Rights to be very transparent, and that they wanted to be consulted on the appointment. Would the Secretary-General make the short list of candidates public once he had one? Ms. Heuzé said that she would check with the Office of the Secretary-General.

Geneva activities

Ms. Heuzé informed journalists that the Conference on Disarmament was meeting this morning with one speaker on the agenda, the Ambassador of Myanmar. The Ambassador’s statement was available in the Press Room. [It was later announced that the Conference on Disarmament heard a statement by the NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security on the occasion of the International Women’s Day, as well as a farewell statement from Ambassador Juan Martabit of Chile and a statement from Myanmar on the need to prioritize nuclear disarmament. Syria, Peru, Norway, Algeria, Australia and China also made short statements, warmly thanking Ambassador Martabit of Chile for his work and reiterating their call for the greater inclusion of civil society in the work of the Conference.]

Darfur

Christiane Berthiaume of the World Food Programme (WFP) said that the humanitarian air service operated by WFP for the entire humanitarian community in Sudan would not be able to ensure the continuation of flights in Darfur as of the end of the month without new contributions from donors. No contributions had been received towards this year’s budget, which amounted to USD 77 million.
The service transported personnel of all the United Nations agencies, as well as non-governmental organizations (NGOs). In fact, 53% of the passengers were employees of NGOs. The suspension of the service would therefore disrupt the entire humanitarian operation in the region. The service was especially important at the moment given the deteriorating security situation in the region. The roads were extremely dangerous, with 45 trucks and six other WFP vehicles having been stolen since the beginning of the year, and 23 drivers still reported missing. WFP was arriving at an important time of the year where 2,000 tons of food had to be transported each day in order to pre-position supplies in advance of the rainy season, which would begin in May and render the roads practically unusable until October. At the moment, WFP was only able to transport half of that, or 1,000 tons, given the security conditions. Ms. Berthiaume said that the service operated 24 vehicles, including six helicopters in Darfur. An hour of flight time on a helicopter cost USD 4,000. Each helicopter flew an average of 80 hours and transported 3,000 passengers per month.

Other

Fadela Chaib of the World Health Organization (WHO) drew attention to a press release from one of WHO’s partners, the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council, on the observance of International Water Day on 22 March. The Council was also organizing a media event on 14 March, 3:00-4:00 p.m., on the launch of the Global Sanitation Fund. Speakers would include David Hezmann, Assistant-Director General of WHO, and H.E. Mr. A.G. Koenders, Minister for Development Cooperation of the Netherlands (tbc).

Ms. Chaib said that WHO would also be having an important press conference on Monday, 17 March, at 11:00 a.m., to report progress to date on the global Tuberculosis epidemic. The annual WHO report “Global Tuberculosis Control” would be made available in the Press Room, probably on Thursday, 13 March, under embargo until 6:00 p.m., 17 March. Speakers at the press conference would include Dr. Margaret Chan, Director General of WHO, President Jorge Sampaio, the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy to Stop TB, Dr. Peter Piot, Executive Director of UNAIDS, and Prof. Michel Kazatchkine, Executive Director of the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

In Iraq, Ms. Chaib said that a massive effort had begun on Sunday, 9 March, to deliver the combined Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR) vaccine to all children in Anbar under five years of age, amounting to over 200,000 children. Almost 600 vaccinators would participate in the house-to-house emergency “mop-up” operation, which was set to last for ten days. The operation was intended to control the measles outbreak in Anbar that had affected almost 100 young children in the last six weeks. Conflict and insecurity in the last three years had isolated Anbar from the rest of the country and eroded Anbar’s routine health services, leading to a serious drop in coverage of infants with the measles vaccine, falling as low as 25% by the end of 2007. The campaign was funded by the European Commission and organized by WHO, the Iraqi Ministry of Health, and UNICEF.

Elizabeth Byrs of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that in Tajikistan, long awaited warmer temperatures had replaced snow with intense rains and avalanches, while the East of the country and mountainous regions continued to suffer from extreme cold weather conditions, which were expected to continue at least until the end of March. Ms. Byrs recalled that on 18 February, the United Nations had launched an appeal for USD 25 million in order to provide assistance to some 250,000 people in the coming months. An assessment of the needs in the country had revealed that the agricultural sector had suffered a loss of USD 250 million. The Flash Appeal was at present 26.5% funded, with additional bilateral contributions having been reported from India (USD 2 million), South Korea (USD 100,000) and Turkey (four cargo planes carrying humanitarian relief items). Further details would be provided in a briefing report.

A journalist asked whether it was possible to request that the OCHA office in New York put out its press releases earlier in the day, especially those that concerned Europe and the Middle East. Often they were not received in Geneva until after 6:00 p.m., which was past the deadlines for many European newspapers. Ms. Byrs said that she would raise the issue with OCHA New York.


Miranda Eeles of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) provided an update on the return of the children taken from Chad by the NGO l’Arche de Zoé in October 2007, who were being reunited with their families. Tomorrow, Wednesday, staff of the Ministry of Social Affairs would travel to Adre to meet with local authorities and the families involved. On Friday, it was planned to move 83 children in two buses to Adre, accompanied by two social workers. Of the remaining 20 children, 14 would be transported next week and the families of the remaining six were still being traced. All the children would be given materials such as bed nets, clothing and mattresses to take back to their families. UNICEF would continue to support the children in the form of education, health and nutrition, and child protection mechanisms.

Anna Schaaf of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) highlighted ICRC’s concern over the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Somalia in recent weeks. The armed conflict had been intensified by waves of heavy fighting, not only in Mogadishu but also elsewhere in the country. Hundreds of thousands of people had been displaced and their situation had been exacerbated by the chronic lack of rainfall. Shortages of food and water had become life-threatening in the regions of Mudug, Galgadud, Nugaal and Bakool. Ms. Schaaf said that the ICRC was active in many areas in Somalia. Health care was being provided to displaced families in Afgoy and Daynile, and ICRC continued to provide extensive assistance to the two main hospitals in Mogadishu – Media and Keysaney. The high number of weapon-related injuries in these hospitals remained a source of great concern to the ICRC. Since the beginning of the year, 600 wounded had been treated, among them 350 women and children. In 2007, the two hospitals had treated more than 4,000 wounded. Since January, the ICRC had stepped up its humanitarian operations in the country. The ICRC appealed to all the parties that humanitarian relief personnel, as well as humanitarian and medical supplies, were respected and protected.

Jemini Pandya of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said that IOM would tomorrow be opening a centre in Tripoli, Libya, that would provide humanitarian assistance to irregular migrants stranded in the country. The center represented a major step forward in how such people were assisted. It was part of a broader EU-funded initiative to provide migrants with factual, unbiased information on the dangers of irregular migration, along with the option of voluntary return to and reintegration assistance in their country of origin. The center would also provide temporary accommodation for up to 40 people, medical assistance, support and counseling. Since April 2006 when IOM first opened an office in Tripoli, it had been inundated with requests for help. Nearly 1,830 irregular migrants in Libya had been helped, most from Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. With some 4,000 kilometres of land and 1,700 kilometres of sea borders, Libya was both a transit and destination country, with irregular migrants drawn to Libya by the demand for unskilled labour and by the strength of the local economy. IOM was looking for additional funding to assist migrants beyond the summer of 2008.

Ms. Pandya drew attention to a story in the briefing note about the opening of a new IOM office in Bahrain, Manama, to provide support to the Government in the management of labour mobility.

Ms. Pandya said that two IOM staff members had been presented with the Women of Courage Award by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. It was the second year of the award and this year it had been given to eight women from around the world in recognition of their courage and leadership in the struggle for social justice and women’s rights. The two IOM recipients were Cynthia Bendlin, manager of the IOM counter trafficking information campaign in the tri-border area of Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay, and Dr. Eaman Al-Gobory, IOM’s National Medical Officer in Iraq. Ms. Pandya said that the award came on the day that the body of the husband of another IOM doctor and colleague of Dr. Al-Gobory had been found. Also a doctor, he had been kidnapped on Sunday. His death highlighted the reality of the incredible dangers of living and working in Iraq.