REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

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

UNMAS

Agnès Marcaillou, Director of the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS), said that this week, Geneva was hosting the 18^th International Meeting of Mine Action National Programme Directors and UN Advisors. The theme was "More than Mines: the Evolution of Mine Action". It was UNMAS’s biggest annual meeting with national authorities and UN personnel working in mine action around the world.

Ms. Marcaillou said that mine action was about much more than just mines. It was about a whole range of other devices as well, such as explosive weapons of war, unexploded ordnance and improvised explosive devices, which killed humanitarian workers, peacekeepers, journalists and many others in the field.

Mine action had evolved since the mid-1990s, from the concept of anti-personal land mines and the Ottawa Convention to the situation today, when UNMAS was driven by the needs of people who were affected. What should also be emphasized was that broad segments of society, including local communities, were involved in demining. Local people were educated about dos and don’ts, and victim assistance was a very important aspect of what UNMAS did. It was also about advocacy, urging countries to join international legal instruments and enabling and local NGOs.

Today, UNMAS published the online Portfolio of Mine Action Projects 2015, which aimed to match the needs of affected countries and territories with donor resources. The 2015 Portfolio presented an overall funding requirement of USD 296 million, of which only USD 57 million, or 20per cent, had been secured to date. The country with the largest needs remained Afghanistan, with over USD 80 million needed for 2015, of which only USD 20 million had been secured to date. Some 75 per cent of the country’s territory had been cleared of mines. USD 32 million were required for Cambodia. The area of work with the highest needs was the clearance of landmines and other explosive remnants of war, with a current shortfall of USD 108 million globally.

The Portfolio was coordinated by UNMAS and represented an extensive effort by United Nations entities to organize and consolidate the mine action requirements of affected countries and territories in support of donor coherence. Some 60 states and four other areas had been confirmed to be affected by mines and/or cluster munitions as of October 2014. A further six states had either suspected or residual mine contamination. A total of 23 countries and territories had submitted Portfolios to the United Nations comprising 175 projects addressing national priorities. The Portfolio was available at http://www.mineaction.org/resources/portfolios and included new interactive options, such as graphs and charts summarising the needs according to country, region and area of work.

Ms. Marcaillou stressed the legacy of conflicts in the affected countries, which were suffering from unexploded ordnance. Mine action was at the core of humanitarian assistance, as refugees could not go home safely on contaminated land. Clearance projects counted for the largest funding shortfall. Needs ought to be matched with resources.

Asked which countries faced most mines deployed, Ms. Marcaillou said that allegations on new use were being made every day in such places as Libya or Syria but could not be verified as the UN did not have full access. The UN needed strict facts before making statements. For example, it could be said that cluster munition was present in South Sudan, because the UN there had verified its existence.

Libya

Rupert Colville, for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), informed that the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein had issued a press release stating that the mass beheading of 20 Egyptian Coptic Christians and apparently another Christian man in Libya had been a “vile crime targeting people on the basis of their religion”. He urged Libyans to unite against extremists launching attacks based on religious, ethnic, national, racial or political grounds.

“The brutal murder of these men, and the ghastly attempt to justify and glorify it in a video, should be roundly condemned by everyone, in particular by the people of Libya who should resist the urgings of takfiri groups,” High Commissioner Zeid said. “Murdering captives or hostages is prohibited under international law and Islamic law.”
In their response, Zeid said, the Egyptian air force must ensure full respect of the principles of distinction between civilians and fighters, and civilians objects and military objectives.

The beheading of the 21 men had taken place against the backdrop of increasing lawlessness amid the armed conflict in Libya. The Human Rights report published the previous week had detailed the rampant violence and fighting in the country, which was badly affecting civilians in general and specific groups in particular, including Coptic Christians, other minorities, migrants, journalists and human rights defenders. On 14 February, UN staff had received reports of the abduction of two human rights defenders in Tripoli. High Commissioner Zeid called for the two men’s release, and pending that, for their relatives to be informed of their location.

Mr. Colville said that the High Commissioner also urged all parties in Libya to work towards a meaningful dialogue to bring to an end the current conflict, and in particular to engage constructively with the efforts of Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Bernardino León, to advance an inclusive political process aimed at addressing Libya’s daunting political and security challenges.

Ms. Momal-Vanian added that the Secretary-General had issued a statement the previous day, condemning in the strongest terms the killing of the 21 Coptic Egyptians in Libya.

The Secretary-General had stressed that only through dialogue could Libyans build a state and institutions that were able to confront terrorism.

Answering a question on how many Coptic Christians were in Libya now, and if there was anybody trying to understand how they had been affected or provide them with any sort of security, Mr. Colville said that there were certainly other Coptic Christians in Libya and there were thousands of other Egyptian workers, the majority were Muslims. Local authorities were responsible for the security of foreign workers but this was very difficult given current circumstances.

Asked whether it was the first known ISIS attack in Libya, Mr. Colville explained that there had been previous attacks, but not on the same scale.

On the Egyptian response, Mr. Colville said the solution would ultimately need be within Libya itself. While he could understand why Egypt was acting so strongly, they were at risk of exacerbating the situation. Egypt had to distinguish between civilians and fighters, otherwise they would be at risk of killing civilians, which would anger many.

Mr. Edwards added that there was increased pressure on foreigners in Libya in general. In 2014, there had been an estimated 37,000 asylum seekers and refugees in Libya, while their number was now estimated to be much lower. Foreigners were feeling dangerously exposed. More people were being pushed to risk their lives by crossing the sea towards Europe. The second related issue was lawlessness, with smuggling becoming more lucrative. Those interviewed by the UNHCR recently had said that they had paid USD 500 and 1,000 to cross the Mediterranean. In a chain reaction, smuggling networks in the sub-Saharan Africa were also increasing.

Mediterranean migrants

Mr. Millman said that close to 4,000 migrants had been rescued on the Mediterranean over the previous four-five days, mostly by Italian forces and some by commercial forces and merchant ships. The count as of this morning was 3,800 saved since 13 February. For the whole of January, Italy’s Ministry of the Interior had reported 3,528 migrants that had arrived, which would make February an extremely busy month for trafficking so far.

With this unusual high rate of migrants, the IOM had been concerned that the human smuggling season had started earlier. There had been speculation as to why that had happened. Mr. Millman pointed out that with the lack of control due to the situation in Libya, even the smuggling gangs had not felt that they could hold their “inventory” and as a result would have to start vacating some of the space.

In one reported case, the Italian Coast Guard had been threatened by men with rifles who had been taking migrants off one of the small inflatable boats. The armed men had said they would shoot if the Coast Guard did not return the boats to the smugglers who needed them to go back to Libya to get more migrants. This incident showed how confusing and dangerous the situation was becoming.

Yemen

Elisabeth Byrs, for the World Food Programme (WFP), said that despite the challenging operational context in Yemen, the WFP activities had not been affected so far, and the WFP was delivering critical assistance as planned. For the previous several days, Sanaa had been quiet with shops and markets open, and people living normal lives. However, the situation remained extremely tense and volatile.

Ms. Byrs emphasized that there were no plans to downsize the WFP operations, and that they were able to work with endurance and in accordance with their mandate. WFP would continue with all planned activities.

In February, the WFP was aiming to reach 1 million people, including displaced people. Given that Yemen was the poorest country in the Arab region and the eighth most food insecure country in the world, the WFP planned to reach 5 million people in Yemen in 2015, which also depended on financial contributions.

WFP needed to mobilize USD 146 million to support its main relief and recovery operation over the coming 12 months.

Ukraine

Mr. Colville said that the OHCHR was alarmed by reports of continued shelling in Debaltseve, but had so far not managed to get reliable information on the fighting or casualties in the area. OHCHR was particularly concerned about the civilians trapped in the area, where a few thousand might be hiding in cellars, struggling to get food, water and other basic necessities. It was unclear how many civilians were still there.

The days preceding the ceasefire, which had begun at midnight on 15 February, had been marked by intense hostilities with numerous military and civilian casualties reported. In general, during the first two days of the ceasefire, the number of reported casualties, especially civilian, had decreased dramatically. Although artillery and small arms exchanges had not ceased completely, their impact on civilian population, apparently, had considerably decreased. So far, the OHCHR had only been able to document a few cases: two civilians were reported killed in Popasna in Luhansk region on 15 February, and several civilians were reported wounded in Avdiivka in Donetsk region on 16 February.

Overall, since the beginning of the conflict in mid-April 2014 and until 15 February, 5,665 people had been killed and 13,961 had been wounded in the east of Ukraine. That was the data available at this point. The UN Human Rights Mission in Ukraine and the World Health Organization anticipated a further increase in figures in the coming days because reporting on casualties during the pre-ceasefire period had been considerably delayed due to ongoing hostilities.

The UN Human Rights Office would issue its next full report on the human rights situation in Ukraine on 2 March.

Mr. Jasarevic added that 78 health facilities had been damaged in the fighting thus far, including six hospitals in the previous two weeks. Referral system was disrupted, and Donetsk was facing a lack of supplies, including vaccines. There was an increase in new tuberculosis cases in non-Government controlled areas, and an increase in mother-to-child HIV transmissions due to the lack of medicine. There were seven WHO mobile emergency health care units on the ground. Ten tons of medical supplies were being delivered to the Donbas area. More details would be available in the note.

Asked if the WHO was receiving any cooperation from the rebel authorities, Mr. Jasarevic said that they were receiving requests for assistance from non-Government controlled areas, as more doctors and health workers were leaving and more health facilities were damaged in these areas.

Sri Lanka report

Answering a question on the delay of the report on human rights in Sri Lanka, Mr. Colville said that it had been a difficult decision to make, but the High Commissioner felt that a few more months could make a positive difference, and promised that the report would come out in September. There was admittedly a lot of international scepticism, but the tone of the new Government was far more cooperative and constructive than had been the case before.

ALL IN Initiative

Sophie Barton-Knott, for UNAIDS, said that AIDS had become the leading cause of death for adolescents in Africa and the second leading cause of death for adolescents globally, second only behind road traffic accidents. Just one in four children and adolescents under the age of 15 had access to life-saving antiretroviral treatment. Furthermore, new HIV infections were not declining as rapidly as they were among other age groups.

To suppress those inequalities, UNAIDS, UNICEF, UNFRA, WHO, PEPFAR and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, had launched ALL IN, a new platform for action, to drive better results to reach adolescents.

Ms. Barton-Knott explained that the ALL IN initiative launched on 17 February 2015 with the support of the President of Kenya Uhuru Kenyatta, focused on four key action areas: engaging, mobilizing and empowering adolescents as leaders and as actors of change; improving data collection to better inform programming; encouraging innovative approaches to reach adolescents with essential HIV services and placing adolescents HIV firmly on political agendas to ensure concrete action and mobilize resources.

Asked about the actual situation in Cuba where a new form of HIV virus seemed to be spread more quickly than the ability of drugs to stop it, Ms. Barton-Knott said that UNAIDS was informed about the situation and was waiting to hear back from its scientific advisers in the field.

Geneva activities

Ms. Momal-Vanian said that the Conference on Disarmament was holding a public session at the moment. Mongolia had taken over the presidency of the Conference from Mexico.

The Committee for the Elimination of Discrimination against Women had opened three-week session the previous day. Today, the Committee was considering the report of Gabon. Reports of Azerbaijan, Ecuador and Tuvalu would be reviewed for the rest of the week.

The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights would start its session the following week, when it would consider reports of Paraguay, Tajikistan and Gambia.

Ms. Momal-Vanian informed about the press release of the Universal Postal Union joining “Better than Cash Alliance”. UPU had thus reaffirmed its commitment to encourage for a digitization of payments, which would help bring citizens into the financial fold and lift people out of poverty.

Ms. Momal-Vanian announced that today at 2 p.m. in Press Room III, the United States Permanent Mission would hold a press conference on US contributions to humanitarian efforts for the Syria crisis and US participation in high-level meetings on the Syria and Iraq crises. Speakers would include Jeremy Konyndyk, Director, Office of US Foreign Disaster Assistance, and Kelly Clements, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration.

The Permanent Mission of Ukraine would hold a press briefing on the implementation of Minsk Agreement, reached on 12 February 2015. The briefing would take place today at 3 p.m. in Press Room III, where the speaker would be Ambassador Yurii Klymenko, Permanent Representative of Ukraine.

On Friday, 20 February at 9:30 a.m, in Press Room III, the Permanent Mission of Ecuador would hold a press conference on the result of the presentation of Ecuador’s Report to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)
Speakers would be María Fernanda Espinosa, Permanent Representative of Ecuador to the UN Office in Geneva, Cecilia Vaca Jones, Minister Coordinator of Social Development,
Gina Godoy, Member of the National Assembly and Representative of the Legislative Body, and Alexandra Jaramillo, Deputy Minister of Justice, Human Rights and Worship.

Tarik Jasarevic, for the World Health Organization (WHO), informed about three press briefings. The first one, on 18 February at 10 a.m. in Press Room I, would be on the launch of the WHO report “Investing to overcome the global impact of neglected tropical diseases”. The report set investment targets and made the case for increased domestic investment to reach the targets of WHO’s Roadmap on Neglected Tropical Diseases by 2020 as well as sustain enhanced and equitable access to health coverage against these diseases to 2030. Speakers would be Dr Hiroki Nakatani, WHO Assistant Director-General, Dr Dirk Engels, Director, WHO Department of Control of Neglected Tropical Diseases, and Mr, Christopher Fitzpatrick, Health Economist, WHO Department of Control of Neglected Tropical Diseases. The press briefing was embargoed until 19 February at 10 a.m.

Another briefing would take place on the meeting of foreign medical teams fighting Ebola, which was undergoing at the moment and would last for three days. List of participants and the agenda of the meeting had been distributed to the journalists. The briefing would take place at Starling hotel on 18 February at 3:15 p.m. Dr. Ian Norton of the WHO, Jeremy Konyndyk of USAID and the WHO Director of Ebola response Dr Rick Brennan would address the journalists.

Answering questions, Mr. Jasarevic explained that the purpose of the meeting was to review the work of foreign medical teams, and what their future role would be in getting Ebola down to zero. Discussions were being held on how the teams could be used in surveillance and fact-finding.

Details on the availability of technical papers, parking and filming would be checked.

On 20 February at 2 p.m. in Press Room I, there would be a WHO press conference on safe usage of injections. Use of the same syringe or needle to give injections to more than one person was driving the spread of a number of deadly infectious diseases worldwide. Millions of people could be protected from infections acquired through unsafe injections if all healthcare programmes switched to syringes that could not be used more than once and restricted injections exclusively to those that were medically necessary. WHO was launching a new policy on injection safety and recommending the exclusive use of “smart” syringes for medical injections. Speakers would include Dr. Edward Kelley, Director of the WHO Service Delivery and Safety Department, and Dr. Gundo Weiler, Coordinator, WHO HIV/AIDS Department.

Jens Laerke, for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), informed about a press release on the visit of the OCHA Deputy Chief Kyung-wha Kang to the Central African Republic and Cameroon. Cameroon was squeezed between Nigeria and CAR, and people were fleeing from both sides. Successive floods and draughts had caused additional problems in Cameroon, where two million people were now in need.

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Spokespersons for the United Nations Development Programme and the International Labour Organization were also present, but did not brief.

The webcast for this briefing is available here: … http://bit.ly/unog170215