REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Corinne Momal-Vanian, Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired the briefing which was also attended by Spokespersons for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the UN Refugee Agency, the International Organization for Migration, the World Health Organization, the World Food Programme and the World Meteorological Organization.

At the beginning of the briefing, Ms. Momal-Vanian wished everyone a happy new year, and hoped that things would be warming up soon. She said she had learned that press room 1 had been icy cold yesterday and had taken immediate measures to remedy that situation as soon as she had been informed.

Secretary-General Lists Priorities for 2010

Ms. Momal-Vanian said UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had yesterday addressed an informal meeting of the General Assembly, outlining the United Nations priorities for 2010, beginning with the urgent need for a renewed focus on sustainable development. The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were among the seven “strategic opportunities” to be realized not over decades but within the next twelve months, Mr. Ban said. Ms. Momal-Vanian recalled that in December 2000, world leaders met in New York and adopted the Millennium Declaration, in which they set out eight priority Millennium Development Goals to be met by 2015. The Secretary-General said; “We have only six years left before 2015. Therefore, I have urged the Member States, that through this MDG Summit Meeting, which is going to be convened in September of this year, we will have to take stock of what has been achieved during the last nine years, by that time ten years – what we will have to do, and we will have to reaffirm our commitment to achieve these Millennium Development Goals: to alleviate abject poverty, to help people from [contracting] preventable diseases, and to provide the necessary opportunities for many people, providing equal and good, decent opportunities for primary education.” He said world leaders should join together to make 2010 a year of sustainable development – to meet the MDGs, address climate change, promote global health and take the necessary steps for lasting and robust economic recovery. Negotiating a binding agreement on climate change, as well as to deliver on commitments made to date, was the second priority emphasized by the Secretary-General. Other priorities were stepping up efforts to prevent violence against women, and the appointment of a Special Representative on the prevention of sexual violence in armed conflict; working towards a nuclear-free world; preventing and resolving deadly conflicts around the world; human rights and the rule of law; strengthening the International Criminal Court; and strengthening the UN system.

Copies of the transcript of the Secretary-General’s remarks to the press following the General Assembly meeting were available in the press room.

Secretary-General Organizes Retreat with Regional Organizations

Ms. Momal-Vanian said the Secretary-General yesterday and today was heading a high-level retreat outside New York City between the United Nations and regional organizations. The heads of 14 regional and other organizations were participating, including the African Union, the League of Arab States, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and others. The meeting was aimed at further enhancing cooperation in peacemaking and peacekeeping, conflict prevention and crisis management between the United Nations and regional cooperation. The retreat would be followed by a Security Council debate on Wednesday on UN-regional cooperation, at which Mr. Ban and other top-level participants would speak.



Round Table on Disarmament

Ms. Momal-Vanian said Sergei Ordzhonikidze, the Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva, last Friday participated in a round table meeting with the heads of international organizations dealing with disarmament organized by the Secretary-General in New York. The Secretary-General said there was a new window of opportunity in disarmament and non-proliferation. He was convinced there was much they could do to achieve their common goal of a world free of weapons of mass destruction. He said in the coming year, he would continue to build support for his Action Plan for nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation.

Committee on the Rights of the Child

Ms. Momal-Vanian said yesterday the Committee on the Rights of the Child had opened its fifty-third session in Geneva. Today, the Committee, which was meeting in two chambers, would be reviewing the reports of Mongolia and Paraguay. On Wednesday, 13 January, the Committee would be reviewing the reports of Estonia and Burkina Faso, and on Thursday, it would consider the reports of Cameroon and Sierra Leone. Next week, the Committee would be taking up the reports of Tajikistan, Ecuador, Israel, El Salvador, Norway and Liechtenstein. During the third and last week of the Committee’s session, it would be meeting behind closed doors except for its concluding meeting on the last day, 29 January.

Question and Comment

Asked if the Secretary-General would be participating in the meeting on Yemen in London at the end of the month, and if he planned to visit Yemen, Ms. Momal Vanian said they had not had any announcement regarding the Secretary-General’s participation in a conference on Yemen in London, nor a visit to Yemen. Nothing had come out yet.

A journalist said he just wanted to thank Ms. Elena Ponomareva-Piquier for all her work to help journalists in the past few months as Office-in-Charge of the Information Service.

Floods in Albania

Elizabeth Byrs of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said northern parts of Albania were experiencing severe floods as a result of heavy rainfall in late December 2009 and January 2010. The situation had been exacerbated by the high water levels in three dams. More than 4,000 persons had been evacuated from the flood-affected regions. The regions of Shkodra and Lezha were the most affected. The Albanian Government had requested international assistance. Immediate needs included boats, helicopters, water pumps, generators, fuel, food and medicine. The Government of Albania believed that another 16,000 to 20,000 people may still need to be evacuated as heavy rainfall was expected to continue in coming days. OCHA had offered Albania an emergency grant of 50,000 and a number of countries had also offered aid.
There were more details in the briefing notes.

UNHCR on Yemen, Somalia and Democratic Republic of the Congo

Andrej Mahecic of the UN Refugee Agency said he would speak today about Yemen, Somalia and the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In Yemen, there was no lull in the fierce fighting between the government troops and Al Houti forces in Sa’ada province in northern Yemen as the conflict entered the sixth month. Thousands of Yemeni civilians continued to flee to neighbouring provinces, desperately seeking safety, shelter and assistance. These newly displaced people brought stories of intense clashes in Razeh, Saqain and Sahar districts and reported dozens of civilian casualties as a result of air strikes and heavy fighting. UNHCR
was not present in the conflict area and had no independent confirmation of these reports. UNHCR now estimated that some 200,000 people had been affected by the conflict in Yemen since 2004, including those displaced by the latest escalation which erupted in early August last year.
The internally displaced people (IDPs) now arriving to Hajjah and Amran governorates travelled by whatever means available. Many made the long and tiring journey to the IDP camps in Hajjah province on foot while others remained trapped in the conflict area. The latest influx was straining already stretched shelter capacity and quickly depleting aid resources in the area. Following the government’s request last week for a fourth camp, a UNHCR site planner was currently working with the local authorities on the identification of a suitable location. The shelter situation was equally dire in Amran province where most of the arriving IDPs were staying with host families or renting. The acute lack of shelter and accommodation was creating tensions between the displaced and the local population. UNHCR was calling on donor countries to continue their support to its operation in Yemen to be able to cope with the situation and to provide protection and much needed assistance.

On Somalia, Mr. Mahecic said the widening strife in Somalia was having a devastating effect on the civilian population and sparking increasing displacement. Over 150 people were reportedly killed or injured and some 7,000 people displaced in the latest clashes between two rival militia groups, Al Shabaab and Ahlu Sunna Wal Jaama, in Dhusamareb in Galgaduud region of
Central Somalia on 2 January. Sketchy reports indicated that the displacement figure might be higher. Local NGO partners had told UNHCR that the IDPs had fled to some 16 villages around Dhusamareb. Most of them were reported to be living under trees and many children had been taken ill as a result of the cold nights. Fearing renewed fighting, the IDPs had said they had no
intention of returning to their homes until the situation stabilized. As the security situation did not allow UNHCR’s immediate intervention, they were in discussions with their local NGO partners to find ways of delivering assistance to the people displaced by the latest fighting in the quickest time possible. Many parts of Central Somalia were experiencing an upsurge in fighting, including parts of the capital Mogadishu and Beled Weyne, the regional capital of Hiraan region. Due to the continued conflict, the civilian population was extremely vulnerable, as services and livelihood had been badly interrupted and were increasingly limited. Meanwhile, the number of Somalis streaming into the neighbouring countries had also increased. More than 110,000 Somalis sought asylum in Kenya (55,000), Yemen (32,000), Ethiopia (22,000) and Djibouti (3,000) in 2009, bringing the total number of Somali refugees in the region to over 560,000.

As for the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mr. Mahecic said more than 107,000 Congolese refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo had now fled to the Republic of Congo since early November. Another 17,000 refugees had crossed into the Central African
Republic, where UNHCR estimated that at least 60 per cent were children, many of whom had fled from orphanages. The Congolese refugees fled from the Equateur province of north-west Democratic Republic of the Congo after fighting started in late October when Enyele militiamen launched deadly assaults on ethnic Munzayas over fishing and farming rights in the Dongo area.
The tensions had since expanded to most parts of Equateur province. The army of the Democratic Republic of the Congo had launched an offensive against the Enyele militia. There was an acute need for formal refugee sites to be established in both the Central African Republic and in the Republic of Congo as the majority of the refugees occupied public buildings and spaces. This massive influx was severely stretching the meager resources of this impoverished region, which could lead to tensions with the local community.

International Organization for Migration on Yemen, Thailand

Jean-Philippe Chauzy of the International Organization for Migrating said the IOM office in Sanaa was launching a comprehensive programme to help the Government and civil society in Yemen address the challenges linked to the massive influx of highly vulnerable migrants and asylum seekers who travelled the Gulf of Aden route and regularly arrived along the Yemeni coast. The EURO 2 million programme, which was funded by the European Union's Instrument for Stability, aimed to better protect the rights of all persons involved in migration, including victims of trafficking and to combat irregular migration and human trafficking. As part of the programme, IOM would train law enforcement officials to identify and assist victims of trafficking and other vulnerable persons amongst migrants arriving in or transiting through Yemen. The Organization would also help civil society organizations and Government agencies to support and assist vulnerable migrants, including victims of trafficking.

Mr. Chauzy said IOM had resettled over 17,000 refugees from Thailand in 2009, bringing the total number of refugees moved from the country's refugee camps to new homes abroad to over 74,000 since 2004. The majority of the refugees - over 57,000 or nearly 80 per cent - came from Myanmar, and belonged to the Karen and Karenni ethnic groups. A further 15,000 were ethnic Hmong from the Lao People’s Democratic Republic. Over 80 per cent of the 74,000 were resettled in the United States, with the remainder accepted by Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.

On Pakistan, Mr. Chauzy said IOM today signed agreements with local contractors to assist the Government of Pakistan with 13 projects to rehabilitate and reconstruct infrastructure damaged by military operations in Malakand division last year. The signing, which was jointly organized by the Northwest Frontier Province government and IOM in Peshawar, was part of the multi donor-funded Pakistan Humanitarian Response Plan 2009 and followed consultations between the North West Frontier Province government, local communities and IOM to identify infrastructure rehabilitation and rebuilding needs in Swat, Buner, Dir and Malakand districts. There were more details in the briefing notes.

World Health Organization on WHO Executive Board

Fadela Chaib of the World Health Organization said the WHO Executive Board would meet from 18 to 23 January at WHO Headquarters. A media advisory was available at the back of the room. The Board would discuss 18 technical and health items, important management matters and about 10 progress reports. Delegates would receive updates on pandemic influenza preparedness, implementation of the International Health Regulations, status of the health-related Millennium Development Goals, international recruitment of health personnel, strategies to reduce the harmful use of alcohol and other important topics. The annotated agenda was also available.

In response to a question by a journalist about discussions in the Council of Europe on WHO’s policy concerning H1N1, Ms. Chaib said criticism was part of an outbreak cycle. The organization expected and indeed welcomed criticism and the chance to discuss it. Providing independent advice to Member States was a very important function of WHO. WHO took this work seriously and guarded against the influence of any vested interests. WHO welcomed any legitimate review process that could improve its work. At a later date, WHO would undoubtedly work with outside experts to examine its response and their findings would be made public.

Other

Emilia Casella of the World Food Programme said WFP today appointed Tunisian film star Hend Sabry as an “Ambassador against Hunger”. A press release with more details was available.

Ms. Casella said for the press briefing on the UN humanitarian air service tomorrow, if there was particular interest among journalists, she might be able to receive the report ahead of time and send it out tomorrow morning ahead of the briefing.

Carine Van Maele of the World Meteorological Organization said yesterday and today, representatives of more than 100 countries were meeting to follow-up on the decision taken by the World Climate Conference – 3 to establish a Global Framework for Climate Services to strengthen the provision and use of climate predictions, products and information worldwide. The meeting would be concluding today and she would keep journalists informed about the results.