REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Elena Ponomareva-Piquier, Chief of the Press and External Relations Section of the United Nations Office at Geneva, chaired the briefing which was also attended by Spokespersons for the International Telecommunication Union, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the United Nations Refugee Agency and the International Organization for Migration.

Secretary-General’s Activities

Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier, providing information on the Secretary-General’s schedule, said that the Secretary-General would participate today in the opening of the International Conference on Afghanistan in The Hague, Netherlands. On Thursday, 2 April, the Secretary-General was scheduled to be in London for the G-20 Summit for Stability, Growth and Jobs. On 3 April, Mr. Ban would be in Paris, where he would meet with the United Nations System Chief Executives Board for Coordination.

United Nations Climate Change Talks in Bonn

The first in a series of major United Nations negotiating sessions this year – designed to culminate in an ambitious and effective international climate change deal in Copenhagen in December – got under way Sunday in Bonn, Germany, Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said. The issues of finance and technology required by developing countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to adapt to the inevitable effects of climate change were at the heart of the talks in Bonn, along with discussions on reductions to be achieved by industrialized countries after 2012.

Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said the Bonn session should provide the basis for a negotiating text of the Copenhagen agreed outcome, which would be tabled in June. About 2,500 Government delegates and participants from 175 countries were in Bonn for the talks, which would conclude on 8 April.

Floods in Southern Africa

Elisabeth Byrs of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said the flooding in southern Africa was worsening and spreading, with excessive rainfall also affecting regions in Angola, Namibia, Zambia, Malawi and Botswana.

On Namibia, the United Nations agencies and their partners had launched a Flash Appeal yesterday for over $2.7 million to assist up to 350,000 affected by the floods, Ms. Byrs said. OCHA had dispatched a coordination specialist and a United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC) Team was on the ground. An assessment report was expected soon.

In Zambia, 16 districts were affected. Fields had been flooded, threatening to destroy the corn harvests. The Government was already coming to the assistance of the flood-affected, pre-positioning food supplies, airlifting fuel for generators and other assistance. Some regions were completely cut off and it was very difficult to affect distributions. In Angola, the figure had climbed to 200,000 flood-affected persons, but those numbers would certainly increase once assessment teams could reach areas currently rendered inaccessible by the floods. Military planes and boats were evacuating persons. Official figures reported that more than 100 schools had been destroyed and fields had been destroyed both by the floods and by fleeing elephants. In Botswana, there had been flooding in the north of the country and the Red Cross and the Government were distributing assistance and tents. OCHA feared that many villages would be totally flooded; currently eight villages were already completely covered by water.

These were the worst floods in these countries since 1963, and the worst in Botswana since 1965, Ms. Byrs stressed. The excessive rains were continuing and were not expected to stop, owing to a slight increase in the temperature of the surface of the Indian Ocean, and the flooding was expected to worsen. A press release was available at the back of the room.

Asked if the flooding was having an impact on the Zimbabwe cholera epidemic, Ms. Byrs responded that the rainy season was always a catalyst for and aggravator of water-borne diseases. The Ministry of Health reported 6,680 cases of cholera Zimbabwe between September 2008 and 26 March 2009, with 140 deaths. OCHA therefore feared a new spike in cases owing to these floods and was monitoring the situation very carefully.

Darfur

Asked for an update on the joint needs assessment owing to the expulsion of non-governmental organizations from Darfur, issued by OCHA last week, Ms. Byrs said that the assessment was a first step. It provided a sort of “snapshot” of the situation in some areas, but was not a comprehensive picture of the overall situation in Darfur. OCHA was trying to meet the most immediate needs of the people, together with the Government, and, for the moment, the assessment indicated significant gaps that could not be filled in the short or medium term. OCHA was monitoring the situation very closely to determine the effect of those gaps. They were also especially concerned about the imminent rainy season and the “hunger gap”. OCHA was also concerned that the lack of services could cause new displacement, including to Chad, or violence.

OCHA welcomed the commitment by the Government to fast track the technical agreement of all remaining non-governmental organizations, at the same time they needed to see an improvement in the operating environment immediately and longer-term restoration of trust between the Government and humanitarian organizations. Explaining the technical agreement, Ms. Byrs noted that the remaining non-governmental organizations had an agreement with the Government. It was also hoped that the assets of the expelled non-governmental organizations would be returned for humanitarian use and the remaining humanitarian staff of the non-governmental organizations would be treated properly.

World Telecommunication Policy Forum

Sanjay Acharya, of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), drew attention to the media advisory issued yesterday on the World Telecommunication Policy Forum that would be held in Lisbon from 21 to 24 April. The Forum would focus on key policy issues driving the current information and communication technology (ICT) environment that would guide ongoing global ICT policies, regulatory and standardization efforts worldwide, including subjects such as implications of the financial crisis in the ICT sector and Internet-related public policy matters. A press conference would take place on 22 April in Lisbon, and the Strategic Dialogue and the Policy Forum would be televised and webcast live.

Hundreds of Migrants Missing Off the Coast of Libya

Jean-Philippe Chauzy of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said that, according to information from IOM’s Tripoli Office provided this morning, up to three boats had gone down off the coast of Libya. It seemed very likely that those boats capsized because of overloading and very strong winds. There was a report of a fourth boat being in difficulty off the coast of Libya, which was towed back. That remained to be confirmed. When IOM reported 300 persons missing, that was based on what was regularly seen in such crossings to Lampedusa (Italy) – with overcrowded boats with no life-saving equipment; the goal was to cram as many passengers on as possible with total disrespect for their safety.

Libya was a destination for many migrant workers from sub-Saharan Africa, West Africa and also, increasingly, from the Horn of Africa. Over the past year, through its centre opened in Tripoli last year, IOM had provided help to more than 3,500 destitute, stranded migrants that wished to participate in its voluntary return and reintegration programme. Close to 37,000 migrants had arrived last year in Lampedusa from the Horn of Africa, most of them leaving from the Libyan coast. A press release would be available later this morning

Ron Redmond of the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) noted this was the beginning of the smuggling season in the Mediterranean. UNHCR Rome reported that two boats had arrived in Italy this week – one carrying 244 people in Sicily; and another with 219 aboard in Lampedusa.

High Commissioner António Guterres this morning had expressed his great sorrow at the tragic loss of life in the incident off the Libyan Coast, describing it as the latest tragic example of a global phenomenon in which desperate people took desperate measures to escape conflict, persecution and poverty in search of a better life. Globalization had been asymmetric, Mr. Guterres had noted: money moved freely; goods tended to move more and more freely; but the obstacles to the movement of people were still in place and, to a certain extent, increasing. They had more and more people on the move and more and more barriers to their movement, creating a situation in which a large number of the people who crossed international borders did so in an irregular way. Mr. Guterres had pointed out that the incident also underscored the need to increase international cooperation for rescue at sea.

In another development, Erika Feller, UNHCR’s Assistant High Commissioner for Protection, was visiting Greece from today until 3 April for a series of meetings with Greek authorities that would include a discussion of the current situation of asylum seekers in the country, including arrivals by sea. Greece was also a country that received migrants by sea. Tomorrow, Ms. Feller would visit the port town of Patras where mostly Afghan migrants, including asylum seekers and over 250 unaccompanied minors, lived in a makeshift camp, Mr. Redmond said.

Regarding reports by Libyan officials that at least 500 people were missing, Mr. Chauzy replied that it was unfortunately quite possible that the death toll was higher than IOM had estimated. Mr. Redmond said that UNHCR did not have specific information on the number of boats or people missing. According to information from the UNHCR office in Tripoli this morning, two boats had been rescued by the Libyan Coast Guard and admitted back to Libya. The total number of migrants on those boats was not yet determined, but the Ministry of the Interior had mentioned that it was over 100 people.

As to whether the patrols put in place would have an effect, Mr. Chauzy said that physical and legal barriers could not prevent the flow of desperate people. Mr. Redmond said that UNHCR had been working with the International Maritime Organization to strengthen measures for ensuring rescue at sea of such migrants, both by commercial shippers and governments. Those who had been returned had been detained and sent to screening centres in Libya. UNHCR representatives were travelling to those centres to make an assessment.