REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Alessandra Vellucci, Director, United Nations Information Service, chaired the briefing attended by spokespersons for the Office of the Special Envoy for Syria, the World Food Programme, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the World Meteorological Organization, the International Organization for Migration, the World Health Organization and the World Trade Organization.

Syria

Yara Sharif, for the Office of the Special Envoy for Syria (OSE), said that this week, the Special Envoy for Syria had conducted several meetings as part of the diplomatic efforts and in preparation for the intra-Syrian negotiations to formally start in Geneva on 23 February. The Special Envoy had been actively engaged in meetings that would contribute to bringing parties closer together ahead of the intra-Syrian negotiations, including visiting capitals of stakeholders in Brussels, Rome and Moscow. In Brussels, he had attended a mediation conference as a panellist, while in Rome he had met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Angelino Alfano. In Moscow, he had had meetings with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sergey Lavrov, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Gennady Gatilov, and Defence Minister Sergey Shoygu. Today, the Special Envoy was in Munich to attend the Munich Security Conference and have a number of meetings.

Regarding Astana, Ms. Sharif said that a team of experts from the OSE had attended the meeting of the trilateral joint group, comprised of Iran, Russia and Turkey, on 16-17 February in Astana, Kazakhstan. The team had actively engaged with the members of the joint group, and with the delegations of the Syrian parties, representatives of the Government of Syria and of the opposition as well as with delegations of Jordan and of the United States, who had attended the meeting as observers. The experts had provided technical support and had shared UN experience and best practices related to the monitoring and verification of cease-fire arrangements, and the setting up of a mechanism for that purpose. The Special Envoy had welcomed the outcome of the meeting as a significant contribution towards strengthening the cease-fire on the ground and creating an environment conducive for the holding of UN-led intra-Syrian negotiations, which were scheduled to in Geneva on 23 February. The Special Envoy had noted with great appreciation that both the delegations of the Government of Syria and of the opposition had attended the plenary session, and that they had both reiterated their commitment to efforts to further consolidate the cease-fire. He had stressed that the members of the joint group and the Syrian parties should also focus on a set of confidence-building measures, including the release of detainees and abductees, the identification of missing persons and the facilitation of unhindered humanitarian access and free movement of civilians.

With regards to invitations to the intra-Syrian negotiations, the Special Envoy was putting the finishing touches on the participation of the Syrian parties in the initial round of intra-Syrian negotiations. He had issued invitations earlier this week. The OSE could confirm that those invitations had been positively responded to and that consultations were continuing. Syrian parties were expected to come into Geneva early in the week of 20 February. The OSE continued to plan for the formal intra-Syrian negotiations to begin on 23 February.

The Special Envoy was planning to brief the press on Wednesday, 22 February after the cease-fire task force. That would probably be confirmed on 20 February.

In response to questions, Ms. Sharif said that questions regarding the composition of delegations as well as observers would be answered next week. She also said that ongoing consultations were about confirming the final list of participants to the negotiations. Participants were expected to start arriving on 20 February. With regards to the agenda, Mr. de Mistura had confirmed in his meetings earlier this week that it would focus on the new constitution, governance and elections. The precise agenda was still being established. The architecture of the meetings would also be shared next week. Ms. Sharif also said that OSE had no plans of postponing the formal start of negotiations. In terms of logistics, specifically for camera crews, Ms. Sharif advised that preparations should be made for 22 February for a potential press conference by the Special Envoy to be confirmed next week. Ms. Vellucci added that provisions were being made for press coverage of arrivals starting on 23 February, and media opportunities would be communicated as soon as possible.

Asked about the OSE’s confidence in the success of the negotiations in Geneva, Ms. Sharif said that Mr. de Mistura had said in Moscow that he was hoping and wishing that the Geneva negotiations would be focusing, with an as inclusive as possible delegation, on three items: governance, a new constitution and elections, and that all those points would be seriously discussed.

In response to a question as to whether the term “political transition” could be used in reference to the Geneva talks, in a statement sent subsequently to the press Ms. Sharif clarified that the negotiations would be entirely guided by Security Council Resolution 2254, which talked specifically about governance, a new constitution and elections in Syria.

Ms. Sharif also said that on 20 February a note to correspondents would be issued to confirm if a press conference would indeed by organized on 22 February. She clarified that the OSE did not announce any meetings from Mr. de Mistura’s schedule before they happened.

Somalia

Ms. Vellucci introduced World Food Programme (WFP) Country Director for Somalia, Laurent Bukera. Speaking by phone from Nairobi, Mr. Bukera, who had just come back from Somalia, said that in the past week, he and his colleague Steven Lauwerier, the UNICEF Somalia Representative, had been traveling in the area between Puntland and Somaliland to review the gravity of the situation and what the WFP and UNICEF teams were providing on the ground. The situation had gone well beyond what had been developing over the past year; it had started exacerbating from the end of 2015/ beginning of 2016, when it had been referred to as a critical drought situation in the area between Puntland and Somaliland. Over the past week, Mr. Bukera and his colleague had seen a situation where people had been pushed to the extreme of their ability to sustain such extreme drought, not just for themselves but also for their livestock, a significant source of income as well as of food and milk, critical in those areas known for malnutrition. Mr. Bukera said that he had seen in a very small town about 500 families, nearly exclusively women and children, living in extremely precarious conditions, in basic makeshift huts, and with a large number of dead animals behind the settlements. The families had been moved to a town where assistance was provided and conditions were less harsh. The response from the WFP and UNICEF, which Mr. Bukera had witnessed there, had been scaled up from the initial response in 2016, with a three-pronged approach: a full relief package with food assistance, water vouchers provided by UNICEF, as well as a health and nutrition package, with some mobile clinics at work in the village.

Although the people in the villages were pastoralists, sometimes for the whole village, there was only one goat and one camel while in that area, pastoralists usually had hundreds of sheep and a large number of camels. Then, further north, in Iskushuban, Mr. Bukera had witnessed what could be called extreme migration: the pastoralists from the area had migrated in large numbers, a number of times in search of pastures and water. Those were only men, with livestock which looked not to be in good shape, but they had been in a place where there was vegetation and some limited, remaining water in a river in the area. It was the last stretch for those men, who had left their families, having moved them to a place closer to a town where there was more assistance, and had decided to migrate. They had almost nothing left and animals who had almost nothing to eat or drink. Mr. Bukera also said that he and his colleague had then travelled to Bosaso in north Puntland, and had regrouped to review the response that was being deployed.

In the two villages which he had seen, Mr. Bukera said that WFP and UNICEF teams were at work registering the most affected to provide them with a biometric identity and an ability to access cash-based transfer, water vouchers, as well as food and nutrition services. There had been a deployment of significant numbers of UNICEF and WFP partners whom Mr. Bukera had seen at work, registering people by the thousands every day, for the humanitarian agencies to be able to support them in the coming weeks as they prioritized the resources they had, and continued engaging with the donor community to fund what would be a very rapid, large-scale emergency response. There were a couple of months left to scale up five-fold the assistance that was being provided. The prices of locally produced food had increased, but the price of food on the shelves in the shops and of the food that had been imported, were still stable. It was critical not to let the market prices rise too high as that would be the trigger for a catastrophe. There was a window of a couple of months, and teams were deployed from the northern parts of the country, in the Horn of Africa, all the way down to the more central area of Bargaal. There was a need to keep the market functioning to avoid a catastrophe in the area. Insecurity was also omnipresent and was being handled with various mitigation measures as it was a key focus in Somalia.

This crisis was more widespread than in 2010/11, but the response and scale-up had already started ahead of time, unlike previous catastrophes. The very large humanitarian community in Somalia had been able to use all types of modalities for the last five or six years and was not just learning how to respond there.

In response to questions, Mr. Bukera said that the weather forecast was worrying and that the probability of rainfall for some parts of Somalia was very low. He said that he would use the word “catastrophe” and not “famine” and was hoping that it could stay that way. He also said that in 2011, there had been a reaction to a situation and not actions based on early warnings which was the case now. The systems which had been built over the past five years and the huge network of cash transfers were a platform for people to have the resources they needed to get access to food. Since 2011, all the ports serving Somalia had been upgraded and shipping line vessels were coming in. There had not been significant piracy incidents, the economy and the flow had continued. The traders planned to continue importing. It was necessary to appeal for an immediate response to allow people to have something to buy. The ability of the Somali market to support and to supply goods was much different from 2010/11, when everything had been disrupted. Mr. Bukera also said that ahead of receiving resources, the UN humanitarian agencies had started putting everything in place in order to be ready. The situation would be challenging, but many aspects were in much better shape today than they had been a few years ago. However, Mr. Bukera said that the severity and spread of the drought was in fact larger now than in 2010/11. Therefore, if there was not a response at scale and fast enough, there could be a catastrophe at least similar to the one experienced in 2010/11.

In response to another question, Mr. Bukera said that the WFP action plan was to reach 2 million people with urgent cash or food assistance, for UNICEF to reach another million children under five, as well as one more million pregnant and lactating women. Regarding support from the donor community, very many donors had provided support, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Finland, Germany. The humanitarian agencies were counting on them. Other countries who had helped the UN significantly in 2011 during the famine were the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and China, with whom the humanitarian agencies were engaging again to see if they could contribute to a response that could be historic in preventing a catastrophe. Finally, the political evolution in Somalia was a positive element which the international community would hopefully take into consideration, so that the new Government could receive help to start off on a good basis and not with a humanitarian catastrophe.

In response to a question about the need to activate the UN food security taskforce, Mr. Bukera also said that the coordination mechanisms with OCHA and other partners were working at full capacity and that the situation would be escalated as needed. The trigger to activate the UN food security taskforce would have to be defined in the headquarters of the humanitarian agencies.

Christophe Boulierac, for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), added that children were among the worst-affected by the drought. The 2011 famine had killed approximately 260,000 people, half of them children. It was currently expected that 944,000 children would be acutely malnourished in 2017, including 185,000 who would be severely malnourished and in need of urgent, life-saving support. It was very likely that the number of severely malnourished children would increase by 50 per cent to 270,000. By April, there were expected to be 4.5 million people in need of water, sanitation and hygiene assistance, and 4 million people without access to health services, due to planned closures of health centres due to a funding shortfall. The massive displacement caused by the drought threatened children’s education, with 113,000 children at risk of dropping out of schools, and 30,000 who had already dropped out
In the northern regions of Puntland and Somaliland. There was also an increased threat of gender-based violence and family separation.

There were approximately 3 million children out of school in Somalia today, and nationwide, 90 per cent of schools had no safe drinking water. UNICEF urgently required USD 130 million to support its response. More resources were needed to scale up coverage of services, increase the number of outpatient therapeutic centres to 700, and work more in the field of health and nutrition services, water, sanitation and hygiene.

In response to a question regarding whether the matter would have to be taken up to the office of the Secretary-General Guterres to trigger the activation of the food security taskforce, Mr. Boulierac said that he would get back to the press on that.

Clare Nullis, for the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), said that the WMO supported a fairly extensive network of regional climate outlook forums around the world. One of the best-established of those regional forums was the Greater Horn of Africa Climate Outlook Forum. That Forum had recently met and had issued its seasonal outlook for the forthcoming March to May rainy season. For many parts of the Horn of Africa that was the main cropping season.

The outlook did not bring good news for many parts of the region. Many parts of the greater Horn of Africa were expected to receive below average rainfall resulting in worsening food and water availability in countries already hit by drought. According to the Intergovernmental Authority on Development’s Climate Prediction and Applications Center (ICPAC), which had convened the regional forum, “What makes the current drought alarming in the Equatorial Greater Horn of Africa region is that it follows two consecutive poor rainfall seasons in 2016, and the likelihood of depressed rainfall persisting into the March-May 2017 rainfall season remains high. The situation will be worse in countries already experiencing drought, including Somalia, Kenya, Ethiopia, parts of Uganda, South Sudan and parts of Tanzania. Many parts of the region will experience serious water stress.”

State of the global climate

Ms. Nullis said that for the past months, the WMO had been talking about the extended spell of very high global temperatures. According to data from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, January 2017 had been the third warmest January on record. European figures from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) Copernicus had said that it had been the second-warmest. The long-term climate change indicators, such as CO2 concentrations, were significant and had reached new records again in January 2017. Also in January, record-low Arctic and Antarctic sea ice extent for that time of year had been seen.

Ms. Nullis then introduced David Carlson, Director of World Climate Research Programme sponsored by the WMO. Mr. Carlson said that extraordinary temperatures had been seen in the Arctic. It looked like the Northern Hemisphere circulation had changed, allowing warm air to penetrate deep into the Arctic. There had been at least three time periods, in November, December and January during which ice had not been gained in the winter. The missing ice in both poles had been quite extraordinary. This had an impact on the large-scale circulation in both hemispheres, how far cold air went south and warm air travelled north.

In response to questions, Mr. Carlson said that the number of years until summer sea ice would disappear or until we would reach some global average surface temperature crisis target, was decreasing. Climate change was not slowing down, it was relentless, and horizons were shortening very fast. He also explained that surface air temperature was not a good indicator and that surface air temperature in individual months should not be watched, but one should rather focus on the integrated ocean heat content, which was relentlessly going up.

Asked how long there was left for man to live, Mr. Carlson said that human beings were ingenious, creative and had been great survivors over several million years, but had never put themselves such a challenge. The time for international cooperation was now and political difficulties would have to be confronted. Ms. Nullis underscored that global will to act was still present as the Paris Agreement had entered into force in a record time in 2016. Ms. Vellucci reminded the press that the Secretary-General, speaking to youth in Cairo on Wednesday, had said very clearly that climate change was one of the main challenges we were facing.

Asked about contacts with the new US administration, Ms. Nullis said that the WMO worked with a large number of partners within the US, just like in other countries, and were in constant contact with them. Mr. Carlson said that a global, connected community was trying to work on environmental issues regarding the climate and greenhouse gas emissions, and its members were all paying attention to the others and striving to keep the networks going.

In response to further questions, Mr. Carlson reiterated that typically the scientific community was using the disappearance of summer ice as a key metric for global warning and had not paid attention to winter ice. That’s what was different now, and how it would play out in the 2017 summer remained to be seen, but it was a statement in itself that WMO was now looking at the winter problem.

Ukraine

Mr. Boulierac said that as the volatile conflict in eastern Ukraine entered its fourth year, 1 million children were in urgent need of humanitarian assistance - nearly double the number this time in 2016. The increase – an additional 420,000 girls and boys – was due to the continued fighting and the steady deterioration of life in eastern Ukraine.

Their everyday lives were very difficult as they were in the midst of a volatile and highly unpredictable conflict. Hundreds of daily ceasefire violations were putting children’s physical safety and psychological well-being at risk.

The situation was particularly grave for the approximately 200,000 girls and boys living within 15 kilometres on each side of the ‘contact line’ in eastern Ukraine, a line which divided Government and non-Government controlled areas where fighting was most severe.

In that zone, 19,000 children faced constant danger from landmines and other unexploded ordinance and 12,000 children lived in communities shelled at least once a month. Thousands of children were regularly forced to take refuge in improvised bomb shelters.

Teachers, psychologists and parents reported signs of severe psychosocial distress among children including nightmares, aggression, social withdrawal and panic triggered by loud noises.

Children had been forced from their homes and their access to basic commodities like heat and water had been cut off. The recent escalation of hostilities in and around the town of Avdiivka had left thousands of people without heating, electricity or water in freezing conditions in early February. This underscored an urgent need for a solution to this crisis.

UNICEF once again called for all sides to immediately recommit to the ceasefire signed in Minsk in August 2015 and to respect international humanitarian law, including allowing unrestricted humanitarian access. After three horrific years, children in eastern Ukraine urgently needed lasting peace.

UNICEF was appealing for USD 31.3 million to support its work in 2017, providing health and nutrition support, education, clean water, hygiene and sanitation as well as protection for children and families affected by the conflict. So far, approximately 10 per cent of the appeal had been funded.

Ms. Vellucci added that on 16 February, a new report from the UN Human Rights monitoring mission in Ukraine had shown that survivors of sexual violence committed in the context of the country’s armed conflict were often denied justice and left without adequate care and counselling. More information on the report was available with OHCHR.

Yemen

Fadela Chaib, for the World Health Organization (WHO), said that her colleague Tarik Jasarevic was still in Yemen, in Hudaida, and could be reached by phone by the press. WHO was escalating its response in several districts of Hudaida governorate. Internally displaced people had arrived in Hudaida governorate to escape fighting in Al-Mocha city in Taizz governorate.

New arrivals in Hudaida were overwhelming already weakened health facilities and overburdening vulnerable host communities. As a result of limited health services in their areas of origin, the newly displaced from Al-Mocha were increasingly prone to upper respiratory tract infections, skin diseases, eye infections and pneumonia. At least 100 cases of acute watery diarrhoea which had been reported in Hudaida. Malaria and dengue transmission were ongoing in Hudaida governorate, especially with the spread of mosquitoes and the lack of hygiene and sanitation. WHO was trying to help as much as it could, supporting some mobile clinics in the region in order to provide basic health services and help the injured. WHO was hoping to start on 20 February a nationwide polio vaccination campaign to immunize some 5 million children under the age of five. This would be the first polio vaccination campaign in 2017. Two nationwide polio-vaccination campaigns had been conducted with WHO and partners including UNICEF in 2016. Yemen had been polio-free since 2006, and WHO hoped to maintain that status.

In 2017, the health cluster in Yemen was appealing for USD 322 million, of which WHO was requesting USD 126 million in order to scale up the response to the increasing needs. The money would help provide basic repair and upgrading of health facilities, life-saving medicines and supplies, including for chronic illnesses.

In response to questions, Ms. Chaib said that it was challenging to get rid of polio, but it was possible. It was very important to vaccinate children, as the disease could paralyze them, especially those already weakened by malnutrition and a lack of water and sanitation. WHO was mobilizing its traditional partners in the campaign and also relying on a network of national volunteers who would be going door to door, to schools and homes to try to reach as many children under five as possible. Ms. Chaib would keep the press informed about the coverage of the campaign and the challenges encountered. In terms of security, WHO and partners would look at the geography of the country and try to target the places where there was maximum security. What was also usually done was to talk to the local authorities and the parties to the conflict in order to try and ensure a maximum of security for staff and volunteers.

In response to a question regarding the legality of the airstrikes of the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen, Ms. Vellucci called the press’ attention to a statement distributed on 16 February from the UN Special Envoy for Yemen, in which he had said, “attacks on civilians are unjustifiable, regardless of the circumstances. Women and children in particular have been subjected to unspeakable suffering in this brutal conflict. This should stop immediately. I call on all parties to adhere to their obligations under international humanitarian law and respect the sanctity of civilian life.”

Avian influenza H7N9

In response to a question regarding the avian influenza outbreak in China, Ms. Chaib said that there had been an increase in H7N9 cases since December 2016. The public had been informed through a document published by the WHO in January. China had a very good surveillance system of all the cases of avian influenza and the WHO China office would soon update the available numbers. There have been five waves of H7N9 since the first detection in 2013, this year a little earlier than usual. From 2013 until January 2017, there had been some 1,200 laboratory-confirmed cases of avian influenza reported to WHO. The number of most recent cases of H7N9, from September 2016 till January 2017, was of 306 laboratory-confirmed cases. Most of those cases (around 90 per cent) had known exposure to poultry or its environment. There was no evidence of sustained human to human transmission. China reported to the WHO under the International Health Regulations mechanism regularly.

Ms. Chaib also said that the fatality ratio in the current outbreak was still unknown as many cases were still under treatment. In the next update there would be more clarity about the number of cases and fatalities, if any. H7N9 was not very serious in poultry, which was why it could go completely unnoticed. However, it was very serious in humans.

Uranium

In response to a question on links between the use of depleted uranium and the Gulf War syndrome, in the context of reports on the use of depleted uranium ammunitions by US forces in Syria against ISIS, Ms. Chaib said that she would check with the WHO regional office and her colleagues working on those issues, and would get back to the press.

Iraq

Joel Millman, for the International Organization for Migration (IOM), said that four months into the combat to retake Mosul, there were currently some 160,300 individuals considered as displaced in the region. That was significantly below the 217,000 who had been displaced since the operations had begun, which was an indication that quite a number had returned to their homes during the course of the back and forth in the retaking of certain towns. Since January 2014, IOM’s displacement tracking matrix had identified over 3 million internally displaced persons in Iraq, about 505,000 families. However, about 1.5 million of them had already returned to their homes.

Almost 99,000 individuals had returned to their homes just in January 2017. It was a very positive trend. IOM had engaged in a number of rehabilitation operations, including rebuilding schools, helping launch businesses, making health clinics viable again and using mobile health clinics.

In response to questions, Mr. Millman said that among the challenges faced by returnees was security regarding the presence of militias. The international community was aware of those challenges. As far as he was aware, there had not been issues around camps or places where clusters of displaced persons had been identified, but he was willing to investigate the question and encouraged the press to get in touch with IOM press officers in charge of the report.

World Migrant Deaths

Mr. Millman said that IOM continued to track activities in the Mediterranean and worldwide in terms of migrants gone missing or who had been confirmed dead. In the hour after IOM’s press note had been prepared, nine more people had been found dead in Spanish waters, near the Canary Islands and not in the Mediterranean. At the same time, there had been reports of people trying to enter the Spanish enclaves in Morocco. Actual deaths in the Mediterranean in the Spanish waters in 2017 were already well past the 2016 half-year point, with 38 deaths including 14 for the past week, whereas in 2016 there had been only 70 for the whole year. On the central Mediterranean route from Libya to Italy, IOM was reporting over 230 deaths, compared to only 90 at the same time in 2016. Even though total deaths in the Mediterranean were lower than in 2016 because the passage to Greece had largely ended, passage through the central route was more deadly than ever.

Mr. Millman also said that this week, IOM had organized two flights from Libya for a total of 334 migrants who had gone back to Nigeria and Senegal. Since 1 January 2016, the total of migrants repatriated from Libya by IOM was 3,173. Many of those individuals were people rescued at sea who then had gone into detention centres. Between 6,000 and 7,000 were expected to be repatriated in 2017.

In response to a question about the nine people who had been found dead in Spanish waters in the night from 16 to 17 February, Mr. Millman said that there had been 51 people on the craft and the vast majority had been rescued. The nine dead were probably West Africans. In the IOM report there was a breakdown of the nationalities of arrivals in Italy in 2017. Côte d’Ivoire was the first nationality through January and surprisingly, Eritrea had disappeared from the list of the ten countries of origin of most migrants.

Senegal

In response to a question regarding 174 Senegalese migrants repatriated by IOM, Mr. Millman said that he had participated in one of those operations in 2015 and those had been certainly voluntary repatriations. IOM had been assisted by Senegalese diplomats as well. Mr. Millman did not participate in the recent operation but knew that it was a very strenuous and rigid system of making sure they were indeed from the countries they said they were, that they wanted to go home, and that IOM could secure documents from their country’s diplomats.

In response to other questions, Mr. Millman said that in some cases a grant to repatriating migrants was provided, depending on the country and on donor funds. One of the reasons people did not want to go back was because they had left with high expectations to come home with wealth, and they would be humiliated to go back with nothing. There were repatriation programmes of roughly 800 to 1,000 euros allowing to buy livestock or rent a motorcycle or a taxi so that the returned migrant could start to earn money and help his family.

Geneva Events and Announcements

Ms. Vellucci acknowledged a comment from the press regarding the need for OCHA and for OHCHR spokespersons to always be present at press briefings, and would relay that comment.

Ankai Xua, for the World Trade Organization (WTO), said that WTO’s trade facilitation agreement was a multilateral trade agreement to cut red tape and streamline customs procedures was likely to enter into force in the week of 20 February, once two-thirds of WTO’s 164 members would ratify it. The event could take place on 22 February from 12 to 1 p.m. This would be confirmed by email later.

On 20 February there would be a Dispute Settlement Body meeting, and there would be briefing emails and face to face briefings as usual. On 23 February there would be an informal meeting of heads of delegations for WTO members to exchange views on the preparations for the Ministerial Conference in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in December 2017. WTO spokesperson Keith Rockwell would brief the press around 1 p.m. on 23 February. On 24 February there would be a General Council meeting to allow members to exchange views on the appointment of WTO bodies’ officers.

Ms. Vellucci said that the Conference on Disarmament was holding a public plenary today, starting at 10 a.m. The delegations would take the floor on the topic of a revised draft decision (CD/WP.599/Rev.1 – working paper available in English) submitted by the Romanian presidency of the Conference. The draft decision focused on the creation of a working group on future perspectives, which would have a mandate to establish a common basis for a programme of work (including a negotiation mandate).

Ms. Vellucci announced that the Committee for the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), which had opened on 13 February its sixty-sixth session, would start this morning its review of the report of El Salvador.

Ms. Vellucci also said that the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights would start on 20 February its sixtieth session, which would run until 24 February at the Palais Wilson. On 21 February, the Committee would hold a day of general debate during which it would review in particular a draft General Comment on the obligations of the State in the context of the activities of companies.

Ms. Vellucci announced a press conference by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), on 21 February in Room III at 3 p.m., on the presentation of the winners of the Global Road Safety Film Festival 2017. The speakers would include Jean Todt - UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy for Road Safety, Michelle Yeoh – Actress, Luc Besson - Film director – Screenwriter – Producer, Christian Friis Bach - UNECE Executive Secretary, and the award winners.

On 22 February at 10 a.m. in Press Room 1, the Human Rights Council (HRC) background briefing on the 34th regular session of the Human Rights Council would be given by Rolando Gómez, Public Information Officer, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Human Rights Council Branch.

On 1 March at 2:00 p.m. in Room III, the Independent Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic would launch its report on its special inquiry into events in Aleppo based on its investigations of alleged human rights violations committed by all warring parties between 21 July and 22 December 2016. The report will be shared with media under embargo prior to the press conference. The speakers would be Paulo Pinheiro, Chairperson, Independent Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic, and Carla del Ponte, Member of the Independent Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic.

Finally, Ms. Vellucci asked the press about their interest in interviews, under embargo, about the forthcoming 2016 annual report of the Vienna-based International Narcotics Control Board, which this year had a focus on women and drugs, with INCB President Werner Sipp on 1 March, as well as in an embargoed pre-briefing call for media on 28 February. The main launch conference would be held in Berlin on 2 March at 11 a.m. CET, and the report would be embargoed until then. The press was invited to let Ms. Vellucci know of their interest.

The webcast for this briefing is available here: http://bit.ly/unog170217