REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Elena Ponomareva-Piquier, Chief of the Press and External Relations Section of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired the briefing which was also addressed by Spokespersons for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the World Food Programme, the UN Refugee Agency, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the World Trade Organization.

Geneva Activities

Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families is today holding a round table discussion to celebrate the fifth anniversary of the entry into force of the International Convention on the Protection of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families. The Committee, which was meeting at the Palais Wilson from 14 to 25 April, had already reviewed the initial reports of Syria and Bolivia, and the Committee’s final observations and recommendations on the reports would be released at the end of the session.

As announced earlier this week by Sergei Ordzhonikidze, the Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, will deliver a lecture on “Are the development goals doomed to fail” at the Assembly Hall of the Palais des Nations from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 April. This was the inaugural lecture in a series of open conferences entitled “The Geneva Lecture Series”. Registration to participate in this event is compulsory for all, including those with access badges to the Palais des Nations and journalists. All members of the media are invited to register online at www.unog.ch/gls by 24 April at the latest. The registration is necessary so that the number of participants in the event is known. A note to correspondents was issued this morning with the details of how to register online.

Another note to correspondents was issued this morning concerning the Preparatory Committee (PrepCom) for the 2010 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) which will hold its second session from 28 April to 9 May 2008 in the Assembly Hall. This meeting is the second of three sessions that will be held prior to the 2010 Review Conference. The meetings of the PrepCom are public and journalists can attend. More details are available in the note.

Kenya and Increasing Food Prices

Elizabeth Byrs of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said concerns about food shortages were growing given the global crisis with rising food prices, and this situation had special repercussions for Kenya where tension was still high despite the announcement of the new power-sharing Cabinet. The situation in Kenya was further complicated by the fact that fungi had reportedly wiped out 5,600 hectares of rice in Central Province, which produced the bulk of Kenya’s rice, about 10 to 20 per cent of its annual production. Kenya was a net importer of rice, even during good years, and the fungi problem would increase the amount of rice that it had to import. In the last two months, global rice prices had soared by 75 per cent, while the cost of wheat had climbed by 120 per cent over the past year. This worsened Kenya’s food insecurity, as it would make the import of additional supplies even more expensive. This development contributed to the increase in tensions in the country, where four internally displaced persons had been killed in Rift valley while trying to return to their farms, and where there was an outbreak of cholera which had so far killed 60 persons out of 1,300 reported cases. There were more details in the note available at the back of the room.

Ms. Byrs recalled that last week, a revised appeal for $ 189 million for Kenya had been launched.

Increasing Food Prices

Christiane Berthiaume of the World Food Programme recalled that on 25 February, WFP had announced that it needed an extra $ 500,000 million in addition to its original appeal for $ 2.9 billion to feed 73 million people around the world in 2008. The increasing food prices meant that WFP would need more money still. For example, the price of rice, which WFP bought in Thailand for $460 a ton on 3 March, now cost $780 five weeks later. This meant that WFP needed $ 756,000 million extra and not $ 500,000 million. And no one could guarantee that the prices would increase further. “In other words, we are not looking at a picture any more, we are watching a movie”, said said. To date, WFP had received $ 900,000 million in response to its original appeal.

Refugees

Ron Redmond of the UN Refugee Agency said more than two months after the eruption of fighting in the northern part of Sudan's West Darfur region, UNHCR had transferred some 5,400 new Sudanese refugees to two Chadian camps. But it estimated another 8,000 people remained scattered in several villages along the volatile Chad-Sudan border. Continuing insecurity along the border and the logistical challenges of operating in such a remote environment had made the transfer operation extremely difficult. There has been sporadic military activity on the Darfur side of the border, and armed groups were often seen on the Chadian side. On Sunday morning, a UNHCR team on the Chad side of the border witnessed aerial bombing on the Sudan side southeast of the Chadian border town of Birak. Upon arrival in the camps, the refugees were given medical examinations, children were vaccinated and families received tents and household kits. The tents were used as temporary shelter until the refugees could build sturdier mud brick huts.

In response to a question, Christiane Berthiaume of the World Food Programme said journalists should have received a press release yesterday about WFP cutting rations in Darfur because of insecurity. There were some areas where WFP was unable to bring in as much food as necessary because of the security situation. It was important for WFP to stockpile food now because the rainy season was approaching. As far as the Darfur refugees in Chad were concerned, she had not heard anything about whether there was a specific problem affecting food distribution there.

Mr. Redmond said UNHCR had issued a position document advising governments to refrain from returning asylum seekers to Greece under the Dublin Regulation until further notice. The Dublin Regulation provided for a system to determine responsibility for examining asylum claims lodged in the European Union according to specific criteria, and aimed to ensure that each claim was fairly examined by one Member State to deter multiple applications and enhance efficiency. While the Government of Greece had taken a number of steps to improve its asylum system and practice, a substantial number of asylum seekers continued to face serious challenges in accessing and enjoying effective protection in line with international and European standards. Essential procedural safeguards were not guaranteed throughout the refugee status determination process, both at first and second instance, to the detriment of asylum seekers. They also often lacked the most basic entitlements, such as interpreters and legal aid to ensure that their claims received adequate scrutiny from the asylum authorities. UNHCR called upon the Government of Greece to promptly review its asylum procedure at first and second instances and in so doing take in due consideration UNHCR's advice. Furthermore, other governments and the European Commission were encouraged to reinforce their support to Greece.

Human Rights

Rupert Colville of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said OHCHR was expected to cease its activities in Angola by the end of May, after the authorities decided not to proceed any further with negotiations on establishing a formal Memorandum of Understanding under which it would operate. There were more details in the press release.

Asked what were the reasons for the decision of the Angolan Government, whether there were precedents and whether OHCHR would leave any staff in the country, Mr. Colville said the reasons were not entirely clear. OHCHR was in Angola and it was kind of a left over from the peacekeeping operation, so it was a kind of nebulous arrangement. OHCHR had been looking at establishing a standard Memorandum of Understanding similar to those under which OHCHR usually operated in other countries. The negotiations went on for more than a year, but in the last few weeks, it had become clear that the Angolan Government was not going to proceed any further. Initially, no staff would remain in Angola, but that could well change in the future. Angola was perfectly within its rights not to sign a Memorandum of Understanding. OHCHR regretted this as it believed there was still work to do in Angola. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour said she “respected but regretted” the Government’s decision. Angola was devastated by a 27-year civil war that finally ended in 2002, and there was a lot to do in terms of setting up infrastructure and procedures.

Mr. Colville reminded journalists that there was an OHCHR briefing at 11:30 a.m. today in press room 1 on the World Anti-Racism Review Conference. This was the first substantive meeting of the Preparatory Committee.

Other

Janaina Borges of the World Trade Organization said there were two briefings today. The first was at 12:30 on dispute settlement, and the second was on the meeting on agriculture and would be held after 5 p.m. Next week, there were informal rules negotiations on 21 and 24 April, and a public viewing meeting of the zeroing panel on 22 April. The trade policy review of Mauritius would be held on 23 and 25 April. The rules of origin committee was meeting on 24 April. As for the Secretary-General, he would be in Accra, Ghana from 20 to 22 April to participate in UNCTAD XII.

At the end of the briefing, Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said the International Organization for Migration had asked her to remind journalists of the press conference at 3:30 p.m. on Monday, 21 April, in press room 1 on boat arrivals on Lampedusa/Sicily and irregular migration issues in the Mediterranean region.