REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Ahmad Fawzi, Director a.i., United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired the briefing attended by spokespersons of the United Nations Children’s Agency and the United Nations Refugee Agency.

UN Secretary-General

Mr. Fawzi announced that the Secretary-General would be in Geneva on 30 March and would address the high-level conference on “Global responsibility sharing through pathways for admission of Syrian refugees” in Room XX. He would finish delivering his remarks around 11 a.m. and would then hold a joint stakeout with the High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi. The Secretary-General would be back in Geneva next week to address the “Geneva Conference on Preventing Violent Extremism: the Way Forward” on 8 April.

Geneva activities

Conference on Disarmament and Committees

Mr. Fawzi said that the Conference on Disarmament (CD) was holding a public meeting today at 10 a.m. The presidency of Pakistan would officially end on 29 May. After Nigeria, Norway and now Pakistan, the CD would also be successively chaired, in 2016, by Peru, Poland and the Republic of Korea.

The Human Rights Committee would be meeting in private all week before closing its session on 31 March, when it would issue its concluding observations on the seven States Parties whose reports had been reviewed during the 116th session: South Africa, Namibia, Sweden, New Zealand, Slovenia, Costa Rica and Rwanda.

The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities would open on 29 March in the morning, at the Palais Wilson, its fifteenth session (29 March to 21 April) during which it would review the reports of Portugal, Thailand, Chile, Slovakia, Serbia, Lithuania and Uganda on how they implemented the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. It would begin in the afternoon of 29 March the review of the report of Portugal.

During the current session, the Committee would hold a public reading of its General Comment on women and girls with disabilities on 12 April, and a day of general discussion on the right to independent living and to be included in the community on 19 April.

Press conferences and other announcements

Mr. Fawzi announced a joint stakeout with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi on 30 March between 11 and 11:20 a.m. outside Room XX.

The conference on “Global responsibility sharing through pathways for admission of Syrian refugees” would start on 30 March at 9 a.m. in Room XX, with remarks from Filippo Grandi, followed by a short film, and the opening statement from the Secretary-General. The opening session, lasting until 10 a.m., would be followed by remarks by neighbouring countries hosting Syrian refugees, between 10 and 11 a.m., leading into a panel discussion. In the afternoon another panel discussion would be held, on the high-level plenary meeting of the General Assembly on addressing large movements of refugees and migrants, due to be held in September. The conference would end at 6 p.m.

Mr. Fawzi also announced the “Geneva Conference on Preventing Violent Extremism: the Way Forward”, organized by the UN on 7 and 8 April in cooperation with the Government of Switzerland in Room XX. There would be a press briefing on 5 April at 9:45 a.m. in Room III by the Director of the counter-terrorism implementation taskforce and the UN counter-terrorism centre, Jehangir Khan, and the Swiss Ambassador-at-large for counter-terrorism, Stéphane Husy.

The first day of the conference would be dedicated to a meeting of senior experts on key issues related to the prevention of violent extremism. The second day of the conference would be dedicated to a high-level meeting, opened by the UN Secretary-General and the Swiss Foreign Minister, Didier Burkhalter, followed by statements by Government Ministers, heads of international and regional organizations, and other high-level representatives.

Yemen

Julien Harneis, for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), said that it had been one year since the internationalization of the conflict in Yemen. On the ground, there was a stalemate across most of the country with little change in the lines of the conflict in months. However, the shocking toll on children across the country continued every day. The impact on children differed across the country. In Taizz City, there was vicious street fighting, causing children to get caught in the crossfire and killed by snipers or by shelling. Taizz was the Governorate with the highest level of children killed or injured in Yemen in the past year.

The second location with a high number of fatalities and injured among children was in the northern governorate of Saada, with airstrikes raining down on the whole of the Governorate, leading to the destruction of civilian homes, markets, water systems, schools, health centres. Intense airstrikes across the whole of the northern Governorates continued to be seen.

In the south of the country, although there were no lines of conflict per se, there was significant insecurity and terrorism threatening children’s rights and well-being. Schools were being targeted by armed radical militants, who insisted on the separation on girls from boys and the removal of male teachers from girls’ schools, thus infringing directly upon girls’ right to education.

Beyond the violence, the economic conditions in Yemen were having an immense indirect impact on children. Fuel prices had increased by 100 per cent within the past year, and food prices in the most conflict-affected parts of the country, like Taizz and Saada, had reached ten times the normal level. Taxes had gone up while revenues for the average Yemeni had shrunk. GDP was estimated to have reduced by 28 per cent within the past year.

Some 2,290 children had been killed or injured within the past year (934 killed, 1,356 injured), 61 per cent of them in airstrikes. A massive spike in the recruitment of children had been seen. In the past year, UNICEF had verified 848 cases of child recruitment by all parties to the conflict, but mostly by the Houthis. The conflict had also led to schools being closed, either through damage, destruction or lack of security. Some 1,600 schools had been closed, and 380,000 children were no longer able to attend school.

Beyond the direct impact of the conflict, UNICEF estimated that nearly 10,000 additional deaths may have occurred among children under five years old in the past year due to preventable diseases as a result of the decline in critical health services including immunization and the treatment of diarrhoea and pneumonia. An estimated 320,000 children had severe acute malnutrition.

Despite those challenges, UNICEF had been able to deliver assistance across the country and continued to do so. UNICEF had vaccinated 4 million children against polio, 1.8 million against measles, and had brought safe water to 3.7 million people in the major cities, and catch-up education to 370,000 children. Much of that had been in partnership with Government services. However, the scale of the crisis for children was so large that humanitarian agencies were not able to cover all the needs of all the populations. They could at best cover the acute needs of Yemeni children. The only true solution was a negotiated end to the conflict.

In response to questions, Mr. Harneis said that the number of children killed and injured in Taizz was only slightly higher than in Saada, with violence affecting both the north and the centre of the country. He also said that the number of deaths of children under five as a result of the collapse of health services was a grave concern. The death toll due to disease was avoidable – those children would not have died had it not been for the war. Regarding recruitment, he said that it had been a problem in Yemen before the war and had been aggravated by the conflict. Carrying arms was a sign of masculinity and there was a societal expectation towards young boys to be able to defend the interests of their group. That societal construct was aggravated by the economic problems in the country and the military situation. The drop in revenues meant that many were looking for financial alternatives by joining an armed group. Mr. Harneis said that he had seen boys as many as 8, 9 or 10 years old carrying weapons, and that it was common for boys of 14, 15 or 16 years old to carry weapons.

In Yemen, children of the age of 14-15 had systematically been involved in conflicts, be it tribal conflicts or those of 2011 and 2014. What had changed was that more children and younger children were getting involved, and alongside tribal loyalties economic motivations were also playing a part in their recruitment.

In response to another question, Mr. Harneis said that children had not been deliberately targeted. However it was obvious that all parties to the conflict were not acting according to the laws of war, as their actions were indiscriminate and not proportionate, as exemplified by strikes on markets or residential areas, completely destroyed just because of the presence of buildings of slight military value, such as police stations. The ways in which the conflict was being conducted resulted in a high number of casualties among civilians and children. The biggest benefit of the upcoming cease-fire would be for parents and families to be able to access services. UNICEF had been able to deliver to health centres, schools and social service centres across the country all throughout the conflict, but if parents were too afraid to take the risk of accessing the service points, vaccination rates would drop and access to safe water and to education would be impeded. It was essential for the cease-fire to really hold.

Mr. Harneis also said that UNICEF had a regular dialogue with all parties to the conflict, both those directly involved as well as States supporting and/ or influencing the warring parties. UNICEF had raised the specifics of the violations with them and was working with them to reduce the impact on children. Some reduction in deaths and injuries had been seen in most parts of the country, but not in Saada or Taizz.

Of the 320,000 children at risk of severe acute malnutrition, UNICEF had been able to treat 200,000 across the country within the past year. The challenge was that those children were spread out across the country, including in some remote areas, and UNICEF was working to increase its coverage. The causes of malnutrition were partly economic, partly due to problems with access to safe water, and societal issues. There had never been a blockage with medical supplies and treatments, but those supplies and treatments only cured malnutrition and could not prevent it from happening. The increase in poverty in the population, the increase in food process, and the lack of clean water were the main challenges. In the vast majority of the country, the water was so deep it needed to be pumped up using petrol-powered pumps, and the doubling of fuel prices had compromised access to water.

Refugee and Migrant children

Sarah Crowe, for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), said that on the eve of the UN meeting on Safe Pathways, UNICEF was launching a series of films as part of a global initiative called “Act of Humanity”, aimed at fostering an understanding of what happened in the lives of children on the move in Europe. Some 24,000 children were still stranded in the Balkans and in Greece. The three short, animated films, under the title “Unfairy Tales”, were based on true stories and were all available online. Ms. Crowe also showed a picture drawn by a 14-year-old boy stranded in the Balkans, as an example of a child’s perspective on his voyage. The drawing showed a closed Europe with most countries encircled by barbed wire.

Capturing stories was a way of helping children come to terms with what had happened to them, and to start healing. It aimed to counteract negative perceptions towards refugees in Europe. More detail was available in the press release. The Unfairy Taleswere part of an initiative, #actofhumanity, emphasizing that children were children, no matter where they came from, and that every child had rights and deserved a fair chance. UNICEF wanted to showcase #actsofhumanity to inspire others.

Migrants/refugees

Adrian Edwards, for the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), said that the conference on “Global responsibility sharing through pathways for admission of Syrian refugees” would focus on the need to generate a substantial increase in resettlement for refugees from Syria, and on other answers for their plight. The conference was one of several key events in 2016 to do with Syria's refugees. It followed February's London Conference on Syria, which had focused on the financial dimensions of the humanitarian challenge posed by the more than 13.5 million people in need inside Syria and the 4.8 million refugees in the surrounding region along with the needs of communities in countries hosting them. It came in the run up to September's summit on refugees to be held at the General Assembly meeting.

Mr. Edwards said that the focus of the conference on 30 March would be the need for expanded, multi-year programmes of resettlement and other forms of humanitarian admission, including involving countries that till now had not been involved in such initiatives. Resettlement was not the only aim. Other pathways included humanitarian transfer or visas, private sponsorship, medical evacuation, family reunion, academic scholarship, and apprenticeships or labour schemes. He added that the event would also showcase innovative approaches, new partnerships, and successful case studies, and would be an opportunity for governments around the world to be part of finding solutions for Syrian refugees.

Mr. Edwards specified that some pledges of additional resettlement and other humanitarian admission places were expected to be announced on 30 March. However, given today's complex international context and with Syria's conflict continuing, additional places would be needed over the coming months and years, in particular to address the needs of the most vulnerable refugees and to relieve pressure on Syria's neighbours. In line with refugee situations elsewhere, UNHCR estimated that as many as 10 per cent of Syria's 4.8 million refugees fell into the highly vulnerable category, and that well over 450,000 places would be needed before the end of 2018.

Mr. Edwards pointed out that a limited number of designated seats for accredited Geneva Palais media representatives would be available at the back of Room XX, and the event would be live-streamed. In response to a question, Mr. Edwards said that an outline of the programme of the conference and the list of delegates would be shared, although precise times of speeches might vary. Interview requests would need to go directly to missions.

Private sponsorships were part of measures that UNHCR would like to see expanded. In refugee situations, solutions normally included local integration, voluntary return or resettlement. During the Syria conflict, a need for a substantial increase in alternative programmes had been seen.

In response to another question, Mr. Edwards said that since the end of 2014, 179,000 places for resettlement and other forms of humanitarian admission had been created, a number that would need to rise further. The 30 March event would try to galvanize and increase international attention to all those issues, and find solutions and answers for refugees. It would also be important to find better ways to deal with Syrian refugees, as more than a million had crossed the Mediterranean over the past year. Other, more viable alternatives had to be found.

Mr. Edwards also said that on 30 March some pledges would be made, but the main purpose of the event was kicking off a new chapter. He also mentioned a Canadian mission stakeout at 4 p.m. on 30 March. A summary press release about what would have been achieved during the day would be shared after the end of the conference, planned for 6 p.m.

The meeting would be attended by representatives of some 92 countries, 6 inter- governmental organizations, 14 UN agencies and 24 non-governmental organizations and 3 other bodies. UNHCR was the host of the conference, which was organized together with partners.

In response to another question about resettlement numbers, Mr. Edwards said as part of the 179,000 figure, which was the total of pledges made since the Syria resettlement conference at the end of 2014, there had been a number of initiatives, also going beyond resettlement. Canada had shown the way with 25,000 places. Germany has had a large humanitarian admissions programme and private sponsorships programmes in place for Syrians, almost 42,000 people. In addition, in Germany, people had been applying for places through regular asylum channels. Brazil had innovative new programs giving humanitarian visas out to Syrians through their Embassies abroad that allowed them to fly and claim asylum. Small countries like Portugal had taken Syrian students to finish their university studies. France had provided 2,600 visas to Syrians to fly and apply for asylum. Switzerland had put in place programs for extended family reunification.

South Sudan

Adrian Edwards, for the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), said that UNHCR was concerned about the increasing number of South Sudanese fleeing into Sudan because of increased food insecurity caused by the ongoing conflict and deteriorating economic conditions. Heightened food insecurity and growing unrest in parts of South Sudan, especially in the north-western States of Northern Bahr El Ghazal and Warrap, had resulted in the flight of some 38,000 people into East and South Darfur since the end of January. UNHCR was concerned that the situation could worsen still as the nutrition situation in Upper Nile, Warrap and Northern Bahr Ghazal grew increasingly serious.

Many of the people arriving in East Darfur and South Darfur had arrived in very poor conditions. Inter-agency missions were visiting to assess needs but there was already very clear difficulties as people had trouble accessing food along their route, and needed basic help and relief. Mr. Edwards said that Sudan was home to about 300,000 South Sudanese who remained in Sudan after the secession, and so far almost 200,000 South Sudanese had crossed into Sudan since the beginning of the conflict and as a result of food insecurity. Although they were not granted refugee status, they were entitled to the same legal rights as Sudanese citizens. UNHCR was urging that this protection continue to be granted to people fleeing the deteriorating security and humanitarian conditions.

With the number of South Sudanese fleeing their country still increasing, UNHCR was worried that the 2016 South Sudan Regional Refugee Response Plan that covered the refugee programs in neighbouring countries was only funded at 3 per cent. This left many life-saving activities, including the provision of clean water sanitation health services food and shelter severely underfunded. Additional information could be found in the briefing note.

In response to a question, Mr. Edwards said that since the start of the conflict, 2.3 million people had been forced to flee their homes, and food insecurity was increasingly causing people to get on the move. There were 2.8 million people now officially classified as facing a crisis of food security in South Sudan, according to FEWS NET. Mr. Edwards said that UNHCR was working with partners such as OCHA to assess needs. The issue they were seeing at the moment was that the global acute malnutrition rate had risen above the emergency threshold of 15 per cent. Once the precise needs were known, they would look at how to address them.

Mr. Fawzi added that the Government of South Sudan had signed an action plan with the UN to prevent the recruitment and use of children by the Government’s security forces. A press release on the topic was available.

The webcast for this briefing is available here: http://bit.ly/unog290316