REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Corinne Momal-Vanian, Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired the briefing, which was attended by the Spokespersons for the International Organization for Migration, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, United Nations Refugee Agency, World Food Programme, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, United Nations Development Programme, United Nations Children’s Fund, International Labour Organization, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development and the Human Rights Council.

Ebola

Antonio Vigilante, Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Recovery and Governance (UNMIL), speaking by phone from Monrovia, stated that the Ebola crisis differed from any other crisis in many ways. The needs could not be identified precisely, the distribution of aid was complicated and it would be hard for Liberia to recover economically and socially. In contrast to conventional disaster situations which could only improve, the Ebola crisis was still developing and worsening each day. Each three weeks, the number of new cases was doubling, resulting in a current amount of around 3,100 registered infected people.

Apart from the aspect of health, the epidemic was affecting Liberia in an economic way, most notably the poorest five percent of the population. That aspect gained particular importance as half of the Liberian population were living in extreme poverty. In many instances, the breadwinner of the family had died leaving others with no means to sustain themselves. Moreover, prices of food, gas or commodity, had increased slowly but steadily. Thus, it was forecasted that that the crisis would change the social fabric of Liberia, even if the extent of such an alteration remained uncertain.

While in recent years Liberia had been growing, the projections for 2014 had already been cut by half. Those estimates relied on the decrease of productivity of the mining and agricultural sectors and the concurrent dependency of Liberia on commodity exports. By now, revenues of the State had been reduced and were currently reducing further which created a deficit in the balance of payment. However, pledges of support from international donors had been recorded so that the risk of an inability to pay was averted.

Mr. Vigilante said that, still, there were huge needs for additional social protection and social security measures. The hardest hit groups were farmers and traders, particularly of agricultural products and bushmeat, which was a major source of protein for many Liberians. The trade of meat had been banned because it had been identified as one of the origins of the outbreak.

The international and humanitarian community would be obliged to step up efforts to distribute food to the affected population more efficiently. At the epicentre of Ebola crisis, there was a strong presence of the United Nations Mission in Liberia and the United Nations Development Programme, besides many other organizations, such as the World Health Organization, the World Food Programme and the United Nations Children's Fund. Especially now, all organizations were actively engaged in approaches towards social mobilisation and community care.

Mr. Vigilante emphasised the need for international support, particularly since upcoming tasks, for instance the training of thousands of community workers for the purpose of providing care immediately in the communities, would be pretty challenging. On that note, the increase of health staff and most notably the provision of head staff were established as priority number one, since the amount of health staff for now covered only one tenth of the amount actually needed. Also, the acceleration of pledges, the flow of resources and the deployment of mobile laboratories were absolutely necessary to refill current gaps in supply.

Responding to questions, Mr. Vigilante stated that regular health workers were indeed coming in, but a lack of lack of specialised medical staff for the treatment of Ebola persisted. At the moment, the amount of specialised medical staff of all present organizations, including Medicines Sans Frontieres, culminated at around 150. Although he did not know the exact figures of nurses or currently trained Liberian health care workers, this number represented ten to twenty percent of the amount which was actually needed. The target was to increase the number of isolation beds to 2,000 and each bed required at least one medical staff member. The yet announced or implemented support, for instance from the African Union or the US was still insufficient in numbers of health staff provided. Simultaneously, it was hard to attract volunteers to support the work against Ebola.

In an answer to questions, Mr. Vigilante stressed again that in the current crisis, it was important to get as much medical staff as possible. Besides doctors, specialised nurses or assistants were extremely crucial for the fight against Ebola since its treatment was reliant not only on a specialised medical treatment, but also on the provision of Ebola-specific care. There had been a switch to a community-based approach which consisted of basic treatment training within communities.

Elisabeth Byrs, for the World Food Programme (WFP), stressed again that the Ebola was not just a health crisis, but it also had grave social and economic consequences that could spread far beyond only the affected country.

WFP was scaling up its emergency operation to provide food assistance within a package of care to more than one million people in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

As of 14 September, WFP had provided around 3,300 metric tonnes of food to more than 180,000 people in the three countries. Food distributions were ongoing in both urban and rural areas, often house-to-house, one family at a time. In the month of September, a total of 1,520 metric tons of food had been delivered so far.

Ms. Byrs informed that some 350 WFP staff were working on the Ebola Response, as almost all employees from the three affected country had been redirected from their regular programmes to focus on the health crisis. More than 50 international staff had been deployed to Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone and to the coordination cell in Dakar.

WFP and partners had launched mobile vulnerability assessments to investigate the impact of the Ebola crisis on 2,400 families’ food security across the three affected countries. Due to the exceptional nature of the crisis and the challenges to access Ebola areas of intense and widespread transmission, families were being surveyed by phone calls or using SMS questionnaires. The results should provide precious early indicators before regular market monitoring and food security market assessment could take place.

Ms. Byrs said that in Guinea, the WFP was aiming to target 353,000 beneficiaries. Focus was to reach people in the Ebola epicentre in Forest Guinea, but other areas affected by the virus would be targeted as well.

WFP Liberia was responding to a government request for support with scale up of its emergency operation and would provide food to 405,000 people in areas of widespread and intense transmission of the Ebola virus over three months. All of the country’s 15 counties were targeted.

WFP Sierra Leone’s immediate priority was to provide food to the Ebola treatment centres, to the most vulnerable areas of the capital Freetown and to the priority epicenter areas of Kenema and Kailahun.

Regarding the funding, Ms. Byrs informed that the WFP had so far received only 13 per cent of the USD 126.9 million required for its global Ebola emergency operations until February 2015.

Christophe Boulierac, for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), said that since August and up until today, UNICEF had sent nearly 550 metric tonnes of life saving supplies to treat patients and to protect health workers struggling to contain the Ebola Virus Disease outbreak in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

The top supply items that UNICEF was providing included chlorine used to disinfect water, soap, and personal protection equipment, such as gloves, gowns, coveralls, safety glasses and face masks. Medicines such as analgesics, oral rehydration salts, and injectable fluids had also been vital to treat patients.

The previous weekend, UNICEF had begun the packing 50,000 household protection kits for Liberia. Those kits were designed for families taking care of loved ones at home. Each contained a bucket, gloves, face masks, soap, and thick garbage bags to dispose waste. The first batch of nearly 10,000 would leave Denmark this evening for Monrovia. It would take five planeloads to bring the total number of kits to Liberia by the end of October. Mr. Boulierac said that planning was underway for a second airlift of 50,000 kits for Liberia. Sierra Leone was also considering the possibility of ordering those kits.

Overall, since August, UNICEF had flown 47 cargo flights into those three countries. The air bridge of support was expected to continue, with at least 12 more airlifts, foreseen before the end of October. The total projected metric tonnes planned from now until the end of October was 760 metric tonnes.

UNICEF was providing supplies through the financial support and commitment from the Government of Japan, USAID, the Paul Allen Foundation and the World Bank. UNICEF also acknowledged the generosity and compassion of private citizens who supported UNICEF’s work.

Fadéla Chaib, for the World Health Organization (WHO), clarified figures released in the Situation reports from 19 September and 22 September. A difference had been noticed, with the former mentioning 74 cases of infected health workers in Sierra Leone and 31 deaths, whereas the latter Situation report referred to 96 cases and 61 deaths. Dr. Eric Nilles, epidemiologist, explained that the WHO was making substantial efforts to improve its data quality and epidemiological understanding with the overall view of really improving the response to the outbreak. A retrospective investigation had led to this increase in figures, which did not reflect a recent significant increase in transmission among health care workers. WHO was continuing to improve the characterisation of the epidemic in Sierra Leone.

Ms. Chaib informed that several short documents were now published, given that it was exactly six months since the WHO had been notified of Ebola first cases in Guinea. Those documents were entitled: «Ground zero in Guinea»; «A traditional healer and the funeral » about Sierra Leone; «Misery and despair, tempered by some good reason for hope» about Liberia; Nigeria and Senegal, stable for the moment», and «Democratic Republic of Congo: classical Ebola outbreak». Four more documents should be released the following day, as analysis of lessons to be learnt from the epidemic and projections of dealing with those kinds of crises in the future.

Ms. Momal-Vanian added that an advance team of the UN Mission for Emergency Ebola Response had arrived in Accra, Ghana, to set up the operation headquarters and another team had arrived to Liberia.

Syria

Rupert Colville, for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), stated that the OHCHR was gravely concerned about the situation around the northern Syrian area of Kobani, whose residents, mostly Kurdish, had been fleeing an onslaught by fighters from the Takfiri group ISIL over the previous few days. Residents of Kobani had lived in difficult humanitarian conditions since the town and surrounding villages had first come under siege by ISIL forces in 2013, with shortages of food, fuel and potable water.

In the previous week, since 15 September, ISIL had reportedly captured at least 105 Kurdish villages in Kobani. OHCHR had received very alarming reports of deliberate killing of civilians, including women and children, the abduction of hundreds of Kurds by ISIL, and widespread looting and destruction of infrastructure and private property. In interviews with the UN Human Rights Office, those who had fled the area also warned that there was a severe water shortage. Kobani’s main supply of water had come from wells in the towns of Oukhan, Qula and Qientra, all of which were now under ISIL control. While an estimated 138,000 people had fled the area, hundreds of thousands remained in the region, living in fear of the kind of persecution that ISIL had carried out against religious and ethnic minorities elsewhere in Syria and Iraq.

Melissa Fleming, for the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), stated that more than 138,000 refugees, mainly Kurds, fleeing ISIS threats to towns and villages in northern Syria, had crossed into southern Turkey since 19 September. The latest arrivals had passed through the two remaining open border points at Yumurtalik and the crossing east of Murstipinar/Akmanak.

Turkish authorities had informed the UNHCR that they were now managing the entry of refugees through two border points (previously nine) in three phases: security checks in order to maintain the civilian character of asylum; health checks, including measles and polio vaccination for very young children; and registration.

Ms. Fleming said that mobile registration centres, large trucks donated by the UNHCR and complete with computers, biometric and photographic equipment, were operating in the border crossing of Yumurtalik and in the yard of a primary school of Namik Kemal, Suruc. Registration was also being carried out by government officials at a boarding school in Onbirnisan, in Suruc district hosting an estimated 50,000 refugees, as well as the Suruc town centre, which was less than 15 kilometres from the Syrian border.

Once registered, refugees received an ID card, which provided access to free health care services in Turkish clinics, as well as other aid provided by local municipalities, non-government organisations and other aid agencies. The card was a critical document that also showed that refugees had the temporary protection of the Turkish Government.

UNHCR field staff were visiting the border areas and areas hosting refugees on a daily basis, assessing urgent needs and coordinating the response among other humanitarian actors. UNHCR field staff reported that the majority of new arrivals were women, children and the elderly, who arrived exhausted having walked several kilometres to safety on a dusty, rough road, with their luggage. Some of the elderly and disabled were carried to safety by relatives, their wheel chairs hopelessly unsuited to the rough terrain.

On arrival, the refugees were given water before being transported to a registration point. The Turkish Red Crescent had set up a medical observation tent for injured refugees and more than 290 Syrians had been taken to the Suruc hospital by ambulances over the weekend.

UNHCR had already provided tens of thousands of relief items - blankets, sleeping mats, jerry cans and plastic sheets -- to help in the response, coordinated by the Government of Turkey. More aid was on the way. The first in a series of airlifts bringing aid for up to 200,000 people was expected to arrive at Adana airport, Turkey, from Amman, Jordan, on 24 September. Another three flights from Amman and Copenhagen were expected to follow later in the week.

Many refugees were sheltering with relatives and friends, while others were staying in schools, wedding halls, mosques or other buildings. The Turkish Government had set up two transit centres for 10,000 people each at Suleymansah Park in Mursitpinar and Onbirnisan, in Suruc, with support from the UNHCR. The Government was also continuing its work on two new camps already underway – Derik Camp in Mardin and Islahiye camp – also with UNHCR support.

Asked whether the existing open border crossings were sufficient and whether more people were expected to flee, Ms. Fleming said that both the Turkish Government and the UNHCR were preparing for the possibility of the whole Kobani population fleeing. It was not known if all of them would indeed flee, but they were preparing for such contingency.

Mr. Colville said that their biggest worry would be Kobani itself. As of 2006, the population of the Kobani town had been some 150,000 people, and the population of the region around half a million. A further hundred villages had been reportedly abandoned by inhabitants who were scared of ISIL. Potentially, the population movement might be much larger than so far.

Answering a question on pledges, Ms. Fleming said that the UNHCR was using its own stockpiles and had not yet released a new appeal. Turkey had taken in 1.5 million Syrian refugees, and needed to be supported.

On whether Turkey was receiving enough international support, Ms. Fleming responded that 130,000 refugees who had just arrived in Turkey was comparable to the number that the whole of Europe had taken during the entire three years of conflict. It was very possible that Turkey would receive more. Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq and Egypt, which had taken in most Syrian refugees, had to be strongly supported. Responding to another question, Ms. Fleming commented that buffer zones were problematic, and people should be allowed to seek safety across borders instead.

Mr. Colville added that, also in Syria, the OHCHR was closely following the trial of human rights defender Mazen Darwish who, along with two colleagues, had been charged with “promoting terrorist acts” as prescribed under article 8 of Syria’s broad and ill-defined anti-terrorism law. Mr. Darwish, Hani Al-Zitani and Hussein Ghareer had worked with the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression and had been detained in February 2012 in Damascus by Syrian Air Force Intelligence officials during a raid on their office.

The men had reportedly been ill-treated and tortured in detention, but those allegations had not been investigated. The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention had found that the three had been arbitrarily detained due to their human rights work, and had called for their immediate release. On 9 June, the Government had announced an amnesty, including for anyone charged under article 8 of the anti-terrorism law which formed the basis of the charges against Darwish, Al-Zitani and Ghareer, but they were never freed. The men were due to appear in court the next day, possibly for both the verdict and sentencing.

OHCHR was calling on the Syrian Government to release all those who had been detained for peacefully exercising their rights to freedom of expression, assembly and association, including human rights defenders, journalists and political opponents who had been detained under the anti-terrorism law.

Iraq

Ms. Byrs informed that the WFP had thus far provided urgently needed food assistance to more than one million people across Iraq who had been displaced since conflict erupted in mid-June, despite a challenging security situation and the continuous movement of people.

Despite the fact that displaced people were on the move and the ongoing fighting further complicated access, the WFP had provided food assistance in 13 out of the 18 Iraqi governorates, including the three Kurdish Governorates, Erbil, Dahuk, and Sulaymaniyah, as well as Nineveh, Kirkuk, al-Anbar, Diyala, Babel, Wassit, Karbala, Najaf, in addition to Muthana and Thi-Qar governorates.

Ms. Byrs said that around 1.8 million Iraqis had been displaced by the conflict in Iraq since mid-June. The humanitarian situation continued to deteriorate because of the fighting and many Iraqis were living in precarious conditions without access to food, water or shelter. Some were living under bridges or by the side of roads while others were living in camps or find shelter in unfinished buildings.

WFP was planning to continue to expand its food operation to assist 1.2 million displaced people by the end of the year. The majority of the one million people assisted by WFP received food parcels containing essential items such as rice, cooking oil, wheat flour, lentils, pasta, and salt. Each parcel fed a family of five for one month. WFP also provided emergency ready-to-eat rations that included canned food for those still on the move with no access to cooking facilities.

Before the latest crisis, WFP had already been assisting about 240,00 people displaced by conflict in Iraq’s al-Anbar governorate, as well as more than 180,000 refugees from the fighting in Syria who were sheltering in Iraq.

WFP had been able to scale up its operation in Iraq thanks to a USD 148.9 million contribution in July from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia that had helped the agency respond quickly and effectively to the humanitarian crisis. The assistance was part of a USD 500 million donation from the Kingdom to United Nations agencies to assist the people of Iraq.

Ms. Fleming stated that, in Jordan, the UNHCR had witnessed a sharp increase in Iraqi refugees in recent weeks, with 60 per cent of them citing fears of ISIS as the reason for their flight. In August and September, on average, 120 Iraqis per day had registered with the UNHCR in Jordan, up from 65 per day in June and July and just 30 per day in the first five months of 2014.

Almost two thirds of new arrivals (60 per cent) hailed from ISIS-controlled areas in Ninevah, Salah Al Din and Anbar governorates. Refugees reported their homes being burned, threat of forced conversion to Islam, fears of forced marriage, kidnapping and public threats. The rest of the newly arriving refugees in Jordan had fled sectarian violence in Baghdad and Basra.

So far in 2014, 10,644 Iraqi refugees had registered with the UNHCR in Jordan, with 1,383 registering in August alone – the highest monthly tally of new registrations since 2007.

Also in Jordan, for the first time since the Syrian war had begun more than three years earlier, refugees from the northern governorates of the country – including from Raqqa - made up the majority of new arrivals. In the past, refugees from southern Syria (Dara’a) had been more prevalent.

New arrivals continued to stream into Jordan, with a daily average of 250 people a day, seeking asylum through the north-eastern borders of Ruwashid. The number of refugees seeking asylum in Jordan because of ISIS was on the increase, with 46 per cent of new arrivals in the previous week citing that as the reason for their flight.

Ms. Fleming said that, meanwhile in Turkey, some 103,000 Iraqi refugees had come forward to be registered by the UNHCR or its partners, including 65,000 since June 2014 when ISIS forces had taken over Mosul and surrounds in Nineva governorate of northern Iraq. UNHCR knew that many thousands more were in the eastern part of Turkey and had yet to come forward for registration.

In August, UNHCR had carried out a profiling exercise among more than 2,500 Iraqis seeking to be registered with UNHCR’s partner in Ankara. Almost half of those interviewed said that they had escaped ISIS attacks, while another 20 per cent said that they fled for fear of ISIS attacks. A further 20 per cent indicated that they had escaped sectarian violence. Almost half of all interviewed households were Kurdish, while 33 per cent were Arabs.

Deaths in the Mediterranean

Mr. Millman said that the investigations were proceeding in three countries, following the loss of up to 500 migrants who had sailed to Europe from the port of Damietta, Egypt, earlier in September.

The International Organization for Migration was assisting Italy, Greece and Malta in separate investigations into a September incident that eyewitnesses say amounted to the deliberate scuttling of a vessel carrying at least 300 migrants from Egypt, Syria, Sudan and Palestine. Nearly two weeks later, only 11 survivors had been reported.

With the latest deaths at sea, IOM’s Missing Migrants Project had raised its 2014 total of fatalities to 3,072 on the Mediterranean Sea, more than the 700 lost there in all of 2013. Besides the Malta shipwreck, the exact date of which still remained unknown, at least four more fatal mishaps had added to this month’s death toll.

The search for victims’ remains and the anguish of relatives who believed their family members had been lost on the voyage had led to a steady stream of calls to IOM offices throughout the region, as well as IOM’s headquarters in Geneva. Emails and text messages with photos attached showed mainly middle class Egyptians, Palestinians and Syrians who had been undertaking the dangerous trip. Some images appeared to have been shot in Europe, where several victims were said to have studied or visited as tourists in the past.

Mr. Millman said that families were speaking of husbands, brothers and sons unable to find jobs in the damaged economies of Gaza and Egypt, the terror of violence in Syria and Sudan, and of prejudice against job-seekers in countries where well-educated migrants had been living. Others were relieved to learn that their loved ones had missed that voyage, although in some cases they expressed new fears that they might be lost on another boat, still unreported.

South Sudan

Jens Laerke, for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), stated that the security situation in Upper Nile State remained tense with clashes reported in several locations in mid-September, particularly in Renk where shelling had forced humanitarian partners to seek shelter in the UNMISS compound. Civilians were also reportedly moving towards the border with Sudan. In Lakes State, inter-communal clashes had been reported and the security situation remained unstable.

Meanwhile, heavy rains in September had caused more flooding especially in the UNMISS protection of civilians site in Bentiu in Unity state. Partners on the ground reported that living conditions were very difficult and that water, sanitation and hygiene conditions were a threat to people's health. Humanitarian partners were working on constructing more latrines there.

Mr. Laerke specified that, in terms of displacement, 1.3 million people were still internally displaced, some 97,000 of them in UNMISS protection sites. The largest site was in Bentiu, with an estimated population of 47,200 people.

Rapid humanitarian response operations continued in September to reach people in hard-to-reach areas of the conflict-affected states. Some 37 teams were deployed as of 17 September. In Jonglei, teams helped resume water and sanitation, health, food and nutrition activities and in Upper Nile food distribution had taken place for some 34,000 people despite the security concerns. Also in Upper Nile, a health assessment had been carried out and non-food items and mosquito nets distributed. Malaria had been on the increase during the rainy season, particularly in Upper Nile.

The South Sudan Crisis Response Plan 2014 which asks USD 1.8 billion was now 54 percent funded with USD 964 million. Of the USD 497.5 million pledged at the Oslo conference on 20 May 2014, 80 percent had been received.

Mr. Boulierac said that UNICEF was one of the partners that had taken part in the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis and was extremely concerned about the malnutrition situation of children, which remained dire.

UNICEF was expecting the IPC results to be announced this afternoon. The Ministers of Agriculture and Health were currently briefing the Council of Ministers on the latest IPC analysis and the Government had to endorse the results before they could be released.

Broadly, UNICEF was expecting that due to the season – September to December were months when harvest foods were available – the results were expected to be better than they had been in May, which was the peak of the lean season in South Sudan. However, by 2015, when remaining food stocks ran out, the situation would likely deteriorate.

Mr. Boulierac stated that, most importantly, it was critical to note that the malnutrition situation, especially for children, had not mirrored the seasonal improvements in food security, which was the case because of high rates of disease, lack of safe water and lack of access to basic health care. Diarrhoea and other illnesses prevented children from absorbing nutrients, so even where there was improved access to food, children could still be dangerously malnourished.

Malnutrition rates for children were at critical or serious levels in most parts of South Sudan. In some areas where large numbers of people displaced by the conflict had gathered, the rates of acute malnutrition for children were over 30 per cent, which was more than double officially recognized emergency levels.

UNICEF had been massively scaling up its nutrition response and had so far been able to reach 55,000 children with treatment for Severe Acute Malnutrition. With continuing increases in response, UNICEF was hoping to have reached 120,000 by the end of 2014.

Accessing malnourished children with humanitarian assistance was a major challenge because of ongoing insecurity and the rainy season, which had cut off almost all roads in the country. UNICEF was urgently appealing for USD 25 million to continue to scale up its nutrition response and to be able to preposition those life-saving supplies.

Thailand

Mr. Colville said that the OHCHR was very disappointed by the decision of an appellate court in Thailand affirming the conviction and sentencing of the editor and activist Somyot Pruksakasemsuk in Thailand on 19 September. Mr. Somyot, the editor of Voice Taksin magazine, had been convicted under the lèse majesté law after the magazine had published two articles deemed offensive to the King. In 2013, he had been sentenced to 11 years in prison, and the sentence had now been upheld. The authorities reportedly had not informed Mr. Somyot’s lawyer or his family of the date of the appeal verdict, thereby preventing them from attending the court.

In 2013, the High Commissioner had publicly expressed deep concerns about Mr. Somyot’s conviction and extremely harsh sentencing, saying that his case represented a setback for the protection and promotion of human rights in Thailand. The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention had concluded that Somyot’s detention was arbitrary and called on the Government of Thailand to release him.

Since the coup d’état on 22 May, according to information available to the OHCHR, the number of people in custody under the lèse majesté law had risen from 6 to 22, with another eight people facing charges but not currently in custody. OHCHR reiterated its call to the military government to restore space for free expression and public dialogue, in line with Thailand’s international human rights obligations.

Nigerian Refugees in Cameroon

Ms. Fleming said that the UNHCR was stepping up efforts to move some 5,000 Nigerian refugees in Cameroon away from the border town of Fotokol amidst ongoing cross border attacks by insurgents. Refugees had fled from the nearby Nigerian town of Gambaru Ngala, which had fallen under insurgent control earlier in September.

UNHCR had already relocated more than 8,600 to the Minawo refugee camp over the previous two weeks as cross-border fighting worsened. Some 100 Nigerian refugees were continuing to cross into Cameroon every day.

Several incursions into Cameroon had been pushed back by the Cameroonian Army, but the security situation remained precarious. On 18 September, insurgents had attacked a series of Cameroonian villages located along the border with Nigeria and burnt more than ten churches. That time, villagers had been alerted beforehand, and fled before the attackers arrived. Ten days earlier, insurgents had attacked villages in the area, killing eight people and seizing 300 motorbikes.

Ms. Fleming said that, since the beginning of the crisis in Nigeria, local authorities in Cameroon had reported the arrival of 43,720 Nigerian refugees, including 26,720 who had been registered by the UNHCR. The crisis in north eastern Nigeria had also displaced some 65,000 people to neighbouring Niger, according to authorities, and some 1,600 to Chad. An estimated 650,000 people were internally displaced in north-eastern Nigeria due to the insurgency.

In Fotokol, living conditions were dire. Refugees were living in overcrowded classrooms and in makeshifts shelters constructed with pieces of cloth. They were relying on the local authorities and villagers for food. The refugees had told UNHCR teams that they were living in absolute fear as insurgents were launching artillery shells into the town and wanted to relocate as soon as possible.

Human Rights Council

Rolando Gomez, for the Human Rights Council (HRC), informed that the Council today was holding a panel discussion on violence against children, addressing the progress made in implementing the recommendations of the UN Study on violence against children elaborated in 2006. The panelists included Marta Santos Pais, Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children. The rest of today’s events included a general debate on “item 7,” Human Rights Situation in Palestine and other Occupied Arab Territories, from 12 noon till 1 p.m, a general debate on “item 8,” a Follow up to the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, from 1 to 2 p.m, a presentation of report (ACEFRS) by the Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent, including its mission to Brazil, followed by interactive discussion, a General debate on “item 9,” Racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related forms of intolerance, from 3 till 4:30 p.m, and a presentation of report by the High Commissioner for Human Rights on the situation of human rights in Ukraine, by OHCHR Assistant Secretary-General, Ivan Simonovic, to be followed by interactive dialogue with States and NGOs.

On 24 September, events would include a series of country-specific reports: Sudan by Mashood Baderin, Cambodia by Surya Prasad Subedi, Somalia by Bahame Nyanduga, and Central African Republic by Marie-Therese Keita Bocoum. If time permits, the Department of High Commissioner would deliver a statement presenting country-specific repots and oral updates produced by the office, including Yemen, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Iraq and Sri Lanka. The end of the day on 24 September would feature a discussion a panel discussion on South Sudan. That would include Olusegun Obasanjo, the former President of Nigeria and current chair of the African Union mission in South Sudan, and the Minister of Justice for South Sudan, among others.

Geneva activities

Ms. Momal-Vanian reminded that the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities was concluding this morning the examination of the report of Equateur, after which it would consider the report of Denmark. The Committee had already looked into reports of New Zealand, Mexico, Belgium and the Republic of Korea.

The Committee on Enforced Disappearances was meeting in private until the end of its session, on 26 September, when it would adopt concluding observations. During the current session, the Committee had considered reports of Belgium and Paraguay.

The Human Rights Committee would commence its session on 7 October.

A press conference on child protection issues in Iraq, Palestine and Syria, and UNICEF’s sustainable response, would take place in Press Room 1 on 23 September at 1 p.m. The speaker would be Susan Bissell, Chief of Child Protection, Programme Division at UNICEF.

On 24 September at 4:15 p.m. in Press Room 1, US Mission would hold a press conference on the international harmonization of patent processes, US efforts on patent reform, international IP policy and enforcement.

Catherine Sibut, for the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), announced the participation of UNCTAD at the World Bio Markets Brazil in Sao Paulo. That participation would be based on its report entitled «The State of the Biofuels Market Regulatory, Trade and Development Perspectives». That report would be an updated version of a study published in 2006 on the biofuel markets and the impacts of that new sector for developing countries. A press release would be issued later in the day with a link to the report. Journalists could contact the experts.

Ms Sibut also announced the participation of UNCTAD at the Climate Summit in New York this afternoon. UNCTAD Secretary-General Mukhisha Kituyi would meet key actors of the private sector, on the occasion of round table dedicated to the climate change. Public actors and private companies should work together to fight against climate change, and Governments should provide them with a clear pattern in order for the actors to move forwards with biofuel research and production. The Secretary-General’s speech would be posted online after it had been delivered to the participants.

Jean Luc Martinage, for the International Labour Organization (IOM), announced three upcoming events. A conference would be held in New York tonight, jointly organised by the ILO and the Ford Foundation, aimed to promote employment and decent work in post-2015 objectives. Among other guests, Heads of States of Chile, Ghana and Costa Rica, as well as union leaders, and large employers such as Coca Cola, would all be present. The complete guest list was published on the ILO website and a live webcast would be transmitted between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m, Geneva time.

Regarding upcoming publications, ILO Director-General Guy Rider would go to Madrid on 29 September for the launching of a report on labour market in Spain. It dealt with creating new job opportunities in the country at a time when the Spanish market showed signs of recovery. The national report would be launched at the Spanish Economic and Social Council headquarters. Raymond Torres and Steven Tobin, the two main authors of the report, would be available before their departure to Madrid.

The International Day of Older Persons on 1 October would provide an opportunity to shed some light on social protection for the elderly people in the world through a message from Director-General Guy Ryder. A study on retirement pensions will be issued, based on Chapter 4 of the « World Social Protection Report" launched during the last International Labour Conference. The study and the press release will be sent to journalists on Monday, September 29.

The webcast for this briefing is available here: … http://bit.ly/XUx92W