REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE
Alessandra Vellucci, Director of the United Nations Information Service at the United Nations Office at Geneva, chaired the briefing attended by the spokespersons for the Human Rights Council, the World Health Organization, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the International Organization for Migration, and the International Labour Organisation.
Human Rights Council Update
Rolando Gomez, for the Human Rights Council, briefed the press on the Human Rights Council agenda of the day.
At 9 a.m. the Council had heard a continuation of the interactive discussion with the Working Group on transnational corporations and other business practices on global supply chains, on improving cross border cooperation between States with respect to law enforcement, and on its missions to Mexico and the Republic of Korea. It also heard from the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, Francois Crepeau on the situation of migrants in transit, and on his missions to Angola, Australia and Greece. This had been Mr. Crepeau’s final presentation to the Council having served six years on the job.
At 11 a.m. the Council had heard a presentation of the Report by the Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and in practice addressing the theme of women’s empowerment, and on its mission to Hungary and Kuwait. This was followed by an interactive discussion.
At 2 p.m. the Council would hear a presentation by the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children, Ms. Maria Grazia Giammarinaro, who would address trafficking in supply chains, and her missions to Kuwait and the United States. This would be followed by an interactive discussion.
At 3 p.m. the Council would hear a panel discussion on unaccompanied migrant children and adolescents and human rights. The opening statements would be given by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, Benyam Dawit Mezmur, Member of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, Cristiana Carletti, Associate Professor of International Law with the University of Roma Tre, Italy, Obiora Chinedu Okafor, Member of the Human Rights Council Advisory Committee, Lucio Melandri, Senior Emergency Advisor with the United Nations Children’s Fund, Gholamreza Hassanpour, an unaccompanied migrant youth, and another youth from Afghanistan who had fled his country in 2001 when the war broke out.
On Monday 12 June, the Council would continue its discussion with the Special Rapporteur on trafficking. This would be followed by a discussion with the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers who would present a report on a country visit to Sri Lanka in 2016. The Special Rapporteur on violence against women would also present the reports on his visits to Argentina, Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory, and the Special Rapporteur on freedom of expression and opinion, would present reports on his missions to Japan, Tajikistan and Turkey.
Syria Peace Talks
Alessandra Vellucci, on behalf of the Office of the Special Envoy on Syria, said that Staffan de Mistura had been in Moscow to meet the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov, and Minister of Defence, Sergey Shoygu. During his talks with Mr. Lavrov, Mr. de Mistura had underlined the complementarity of the Astana Talks and the Geneva Talks, noting that they were interconnected. In his discussion with Mr. Shoygu, Mr. de Mistura had addressed issues related to humanitarian assistance, demining, and the de-escalation environment.
Syria
Christophe Boulierac, for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), announced that heavy violence in the Syrian city of Ar-Raqqa were threatening the lives of more than 40,000 children who were remaining trapped in extremely dangerous conditions. He added that UNICEF had received alarming reports that at least 25 children had been killed and scored injured in the latest violence in Ar-Raqqa city.
Mr. Boulierac then explained that hospitals and schools had reportedly come under attack and that those attempting to flee were at danger of getting killed or injured. He emphasized that children were being deprived of the most basic and life-saving necessities and that little aid had reached Ar-Raqqa since 2013 due to violence and access restrictions.
He added that the conflict had resulted in massive displacements in and around the city, with some 80,000 children from Ar-Raqqa city now internally displaced and living in temporary shelters and camps. UNICEF had called on all parties to protect children inside Ar-Raqqa, provide safe passage to those wishing to leave the city and grant a protected environment to civilians who had fled the city.
Oliver Rosenbauer, for the World Health Organization (WHO), spoke of the cases of vaccine-induced polio cases in Syria. A vaccine-derived polio virus had been detected recently in two children in Syria, who had been paralysed as a result. A third child was also detected with the virus, but had not been paralysed. These strains of polio detected in these children were rare but could arrive. The area affected was the Deir-Ez-Zor Governorate in eastern Syria, which in 2013-14 had been affected by a wild polio outbreak. WHO faced the same challenges this time around and were preparing to have an outbreak response in order to stop the spread of the virus.
In response to questions, Mr. Rosenbauer stated that an outbreak response was necessary, similar to the outbreak response in 2013-14. Access to many areas was compromised, and WHO would be working with partners on the ground. The process was under way to tighten up the planning. The main difference between this outbreak and the previous one was that the current polio outbreak was a type 2 strain, meaning that a monovalent OPV vaccine type 2 would be used. This also meant that the vaccines used during the previous campaign would not render the children immune to the current polio virus. There was a global stockpile for this vaccine. There were 90,000 children under the age of five in the district, and this was the target population for WHO. How the vaccines would be delivered and who would be delivering them was still in question.
Asked how the children had gotten infected, and whether this was a result of the previous mass vaccination campaign, Mr Rosenbauer replied that this was the OPV polio vaccine paradox. This vaccine was needed to stop polio. However in situations when there was no optimal population immunity, such as was the case in the Deir-Ez-Zor Governorate, there may be a risk of having an outbreak. That was why the vaccine had to be employed only when the benefits of using it were greater. In an area like Deir-Ez-Zor Governorate, monitoring the situation was not straightforward. However a lot had been learned from the 2013-14 situation, and the operation should be feasible.
In response to another question, Mr. Rosenbauer stated that it was a relatively geographically restricted area, and that access was severely hampered. Other health interventions and vaccinations had taken place there, however, and a couple of vaccination campaigns had been run earlier this year. Access would be one of the key challenges. The plan was to conduct a campaign within two weeks of the outbreak, however at this time it was unclear whether this would be feasible.
When asked what was the threshold in terms of when vaccination campaigns became a risk, Mr. Rosenbauer replied that if the vaccination was above 80%, there was no risk, as it was good vaccination coverage. It was also a question of how densely populated the area was, whether there were malnourished children and so forth. If World Health Organisation reached only 50% of the children in the area, this would not be good enough to stop the outbreak.
Jens Laerke, for United Nations Office of the Coordination for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said that around 100,000 children were trapped inside the city of Ar-Raqqa. There were particular concerns regarding reports of shortage of food, medicines, fuel and other commodities. The World Food Programme had provided food for 11,000 people in a makeshift camp east of Al Raqqa city.
Cholera Outbreak in Yemen
Fadela Chaib, for the World Health Organization (WHO), briefed the press on the cholera outbreak in Yemen. The number of suspected cases was reaching 100,000 among which 791 deaths as of June 7 2017. The most affected were the most vulnerable segments of the population, namely children under 15 accounting for 55% of the population, and those over 60 which represented 33% of the fatalities. The World Health Organisation and the United Nations Children’s Fund had reported a high number of cases and were doing their best to concentrate interventions there in order to avoid further spreading of the disease. The country’s health system had been destroyed by two years of conflict, due to which important infrastructures damaged by violence and 14 million people had been left without access to clean water and sanitation. Health workers had not received a salary in more than eight months. WHO was fully responding to this outbreak in Yemen, in an effort to treat the sick and contain the outbreak. Out of 23 Governorates, 19 were affected. Since April 2017, more than 190,000 bags of intravenous fluids had been delivered. In collaboration with partners, WHO had supported the establishment of 100 diarrhoea centres and 166 rehydration and oral therapy centres.
In response to a question regarding whether or not there were sufficient supplies in the stockpile in terms of vaccinations, Ms. Chaib said recent talks had been held to look at the possibility to start a vaccination campaign. There was a 2 million stockpile of vaccines for cholera. It had been decided first to try and identify the hotspots of cholera, as well as how many people should be targeted by the vaccinations. Many of these hotspots were accessible, which was good news. Some people had been reached with other interventions, such as medical supplies, intravenous fluids, antibiotics, and so forth, thus it was possible to have a vaccination campaign. The use of the oral cholera vaccine was just one of the means to stop the spread of cholera. The logistical issues remained, such as how they would store them and whether there were enough trained workers to conduct the necessary campaign.
Ms. Chaib informed that a Boeing charter flight had successfully landed in May with 67 tons of material including chlorination tables. This constituted the largest plane load of medical supplies since the escalation of the situation in March, 2015. A further 15 tons had been sent subsequently. When there were severe cases of cholera, antibiotics and intravenous fluids were needed and water and sanitation were the key. Cholera could kill within hours, especially due to the age, malnourishment and other vulnerabilities.
Ms. Chaib said that the country had been in conflict with no access to regular health care water sanitation food, and doctors and nurses. The situation was very challenging. This outbreak had started at the end of April, and ever since, WHO and its partners were trying to help the country by disinfecting water tanking stations, chlorinating water supplies, and restoring water treatment plans. But this was not enough as 14 million people lacked access to health care. More partners were needed on the ground and it was difficult to work in these conditions. Cholera could be treated easily if very simple interventions were put in place. What was very difficult to put in place was vaccination campaigns in a conflict zone.
In response to questions, Ms. Chaib said that the fatality rate was less than 1% but it also depended on the district. The cholera outbreak was in 19 governorates, and in some the rate was higher than others. It was very difficult to differentiate between suspected and confirmed cholera cases.
Democratic Republic of Congo
Ravina Shamdasani, for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, stated that Mr. Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, was calling on the UN Human Rights Council to establish an international investigation into the widespread human rights violations and abuses that have occurred in the Kasai Central and Kasai Oriental Provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, including the existence of at least 42 mass graves. Since August 2016, some 1.3 million people had been displaced, and 30,000 had fled to Angola from the Kasais. Reports of mass killings and sexual violence had also been documented. The United Nations Human Rights Office in the Democratic Republic of Congo continued to receive reports of violations, but the security constraints had hindered investigations.
The response of the DRC Government has fallen short, in view of the gravity and widespread nature of the violations, and given the imperative need for justice for victims. The Government had failed to conduct meaningful investigations. The scale and nature of the human rights abuses, as well as the consistent inadequacy of responses by the Government obliges the United Nations Human Rights Council to mandate an independent investigation, Ms. Shamdasani said. It was imperative to ensure that the endemic impunity in the DRC was brought to an end and that a message was sent to the perpetrators that they would be held accountable.
Christophe Boulierac for United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), stated that the education in a situation of crisis gave children hope and stability. More than 150,000 children were missing out on school as violence and attacks against civilian populations continued. Since August 2016, 639 primary and secondary schools in the Kasaï region had been damaged by attacks. Many unaffected schools were now being used as emergency accommodation for families displaced by the violence or occupied by fighting forces. More than one in ten children had had their schooling interrupted due to the violence. Many school in the region had not been operating for more than 100 days. UNICEF was working to facilitate the national primary final school exam, offered remedial courses for out of school children and provided school equipment to children.
In response to questions, Ms. Shamdasani said that the High Commissioner had been discussing the need for credible judicial investigations with the DRC for some time now. The Office would continue to advise and provide support to the Government of the DRC in discharging its human rights obligations. While official investigations had been carried out into the allegations of crimes committed by the militia, the Government had failed to meaningfully investigate the actions of the FARDC and the police. In response to a question on whether the Government could be expected to cooperate, Ms. Shamdasani said she could not speak for the Government but that the Office of the High Commissioner hoped that the Government would fully cooperate with an international investigation. The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights called for investigations regardless of whom they were committed by.
Asked whether the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights thought that this call would pressure the Government, Ms. Shamdasani replied that the call would send a strong message to victims that the international community was throwing its weight behind ensuring justice, and it would send a strong message to the perpetrators of violations that they will be held to account.
Situation in Mosul, Iraq
East African Drought Appeal
Joel Millman, for the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said that the number of internally displaced persons due to the drought in East Africa had reached 700,000 persons in Somalia, 350,000 persons in Ethiopia, and over 41,000 in Kenya. The appeal was for USD 60 million. This was the worst drought to hit the regions in decades according to IOM. The efforts to remove the people from the draught areas included distribution of solar power lamps to women for safety concerns.
Mediterranean Refugee Crisis
Joel Millman, for the International Organisation for Migration, stated that 4,594 migrants had been repatriated from Libya through voluntary return programmes. This was an important development as was the decrease of deaths.
Geneva Events and Announcements
Hans von Rohland, for the International Labour Organisation, referred to four major events taking place during the International Labour Conference next week:
-A World Day Against Child Labour event in Geneva on 12 June co-organized by ILO and the United Nations Office at Geneva which would focus on protecting children from child labour in conflicts and disasters. A statement by the ILO Director-General on this Day had been issued today.
-The ratification of the two International Labour Organisation Conventions on child labour by India on 13 June.
-A press conference on 14 June, at the Palais des Nations in Press Room III at 10 am on the launch of the World Employment and Social Outlook – Trends for Women 2017 (under embargo). The report calculated the economic benefits of bringing more women into the labour market for the first time.
-A World of Work Summit on Women at Work on 15 June bringing together three women Presidents from Malta, Mauritius and Nepal and featuring a high-level panel discussion.
Christophe Boulierac, for United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), announced that on Tuesday, June 13 at 10 AM UNICEF would hold a Press Conference on the new UNICEF report that measured how rich countries were doing with children with regards to the Sustainable Development Goals. This report revealed that one in five children lived in income poverty and that the gap between the poorest and the median was widening. While this report was currently being distributed to these 41 countries, the only global briefing was takin place under embargo in Geneva on June 13th.
The webcast for this briefing is available here: http://bit.ly/unog090617