REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Alessandra Vellucci, Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired the briefing attended by the spokespersons for the United Nations Refugee Agency, the World Health Organization, the International Organization for Migration, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the United Nations Development Programme.

Bangladesh

Adrian Edwards, for the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), said that UNHCR was working with the Bangladesh authorities on a transit centre to prepare for a potential refugee influx in the coming days, following the arrival of approximately 11,000 refugees from Myanmar on 9 October.

UNHCR sources had reported that many of the new refugees came from the Buthidaung area in Myanmar’s northern Rakhine state. Buthidaung town was some 25 kilometres east of Maungdaw. Some said they had fled torching and killings back home; one boy had been seen with a big gash across his neck. Others had said they had left in fear ahead of anticipated violence.

To reach Bangladesh, they had walked for up to 14 days, many carrying children and baskets containing whatever they had been able to pack at short notice. They had waded through marshland before swimming across the Naf river that divided the two countries. Many women and children could not swim and had had to ride piggyback on volunteer swimmers. Some had used inflated plastic bags and UNHCR tarpaulins as makeshift flotation devices.

The new arrivals had now been moved away from the border areas into established camps and settlements in the Kutupalong and Balukhali area. UNHCR had trucked in plastic sheets and jerry cans for water and was coordinating with the Government and partners to provide the urgent services needed.

To prepare for possible further new arrivals, UNHCR’s government counterpart, the Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commission, had agreed to set up small first aid stations at entry points to provide water and attention for major medical emergencies among the fresh arrivals.

In addition, the Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commission had allocated land to set up a transit centre in the Kutupalong extension site. The Commission would lead preparedness activities with UNHCR in coordination with partners including WFP, UNICEF, IOM, WHO, ICRC and ACF. Basic assistance would also be provided at the entry points.

In response to questions from journalists, Mr. Edwards said that the numbers of refugees arriving in Bangladesh from Myanmar had dropped the previous week but had now regained their previous peak levels. It was unclear why the numbers had risen again. Many people had fled their homes up to two weeks ago but were only now crossing the border.

Christian Lindmeier, for the World Health Organization (WHO), said that a massive cholera immunization campaign had started today, 10 October, near Cox’s Bazar to protect newly arrived Rohingya and host communities from the life-threatening diarrheal disease. It was the second largest oral cholera vaccination campaign ever launched and would provide 900,000 doses of the vaccine to prevent cholera, which could take root in overcrowded conditions without adequate sanitation facilities.

The campaign had been planned for two reasons: firstly, the clear and present risk of the spread of cholera among the target population, and secondly, the commitment of the health sector to take preventive action to protect, promote and secure health. While vaccination would provide life-saving protection against cholera, it was intended to supplement rather than to replace other preventive measures including the scaling-up of water and sanitation facilities. In addition to the pre-positioning of supplies, WHO, UNICEF and partners were working with the Department of Public Health Engineering to monitor water quality and increase local laboratory capacity.

Since August, WHO had helped to plan and implement a measles, rubella and polio campaign that had provided life-saving protection to more than 100,000 children. It had also mobilized medical supplies to the affected region to meet pressing health needs, supported health services delivery at all levels from grass-roots interventions to specialized care and set up an early warning alert and response system to ensure a rapid response if an outbreak should occur.

In response to questions from journalists, Mr. Lindmeier clarified that the largest oral cholera vaccination campaign in the world had been conducted in Haiti in 2016 as part of the response to Hurricane Matthew.

Mr. Lindmeier confirmed that no cases of cholera had been detected to date in Cox’s Bazar. He said that in the first round of the vaccination campaign, more than 200 mobile teams would be targeting people over the age of 1 year – a total of approximately 650,000 individuals – in camps and spontaneous settlements. On 31 October, a second round would provide a second dose for 250,000 children aged between 1 and 5 years. The vaccine should provide protection against cholera for approximately six months.

Patrick Duigan, Senior Medical Coordinator in the Asia Pacific Region for the International Organization for Migration (IOM), speaking via telephone from Bangladesh, said that WHO, UNICEF, IOM, Médecins Sans Frontières, a number of other NGOs and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare had worked together to organize the vaccination campaign in a very short time.

There was an imminent danger of risk to public health: the vaccine was a life-saving intervention but provided protection against only one disease and for a time-limited period. A massive scale-up of water and sanitation services was needed in an area with very high population density. The vaccination teams were already going house-to-house on the first day of a 7-day campaign, but more resources would be required in order to reduce significant public health outbreaks in the future.

Rupert Colville, for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), said that on 11 October OHCHR would release an update report on Myanmar based on interviews with refugees in Cox’s Bazar.

World Day against the Death Penalty

Rupert Colville, for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), said that 10 October was World Day against the Death Penalty. OHCHR took the opportunity to repeat its call for all States to ratify the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights - the only universal treaty which directly aimed at the abolition of the death penalty.

In September, Madagascar had become the 85th State to ratify the Second Optional Protocol and the Gambia had moved a step closer by signing the treaty. OHCHR viewed their actions and those of three other States which had become States parties since 2016 - Togo, the Dominican Republic and Sao Tome and Principe - as progress in the abolition of the death penalty worldwide.

OHCHR hoped that these initiatives would inspire other States to push forward with efforts to abolish the death penalty and encouraged all States to ratify the Second Optional Protocol and to demonstrate their commitment to the universal abolition of the death penalty.

OHCHR stood ready to continue to support all efforts in this direction and opposed the use of the death penalty in all circumstances.

Zoonotic TB

Dr. Anna Dean, Technical Officer for Zoonotic and Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis for the World Health Organization, said that the first-ever roadmap on zoonotic and bovine tuberculosis would be launched on 12 October in Guadalajara, Mexico. It had been developed jointly by WHO, the World Organization for Animal Health, the Food and Agriculture Organization and the International Union against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease.

Tuberculosis (TB) was responsible for more deaths worldwide than any other infectious disease. Zoonotic TB was a neglected form of the disease that was predominantly passed from animals to humans through the consumption of unpasteurized dairy products. It was resistant to pyrazinamide, one of the major first-line medications used to treat TB, meaning that patients were often misdiagnosed and unable to access appropriate treatment. Bovine TB not only posed a food safety risk for people, but also caused major economic losses and trade restrictions, threatening the livelihoods of poor and rural communities.

The roadmap highlighted the need for multisectoral action to tackle zoonotic TB with a view to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and the WHO End TB Strategy, both of which sought to end the global TB epidemic by 2030. It articulated 10 priority actions for the human and animal health sectors and defined short- and medium-term milestones. Many of the recommended interventions would bring substantial benefits for the prevention of other zoonotic and food-borne diseases.

Social Good Summit

Sarah Bel, for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), said that UNDP was hosting the second edition of the Social Good Summit in Geneva on 13 October.

The Summit would bring together more than 40 entrepreneurs from developing countries and 100 mostly European and Swiss-based investors, as well as the development community. Its aim was to increase access to private capital for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals and to promote networking between sectors that seldom interacted. A number of mainly African entrepreneurs would pitch their products and services in the areas of access to water, electricity, nutrition or education. Also on the event programme was the opportunity to exchange knowledge on innovative financing mechanisms such as social impact bonds and crowd investing.

During the Summit, UNDP would present a report on the role of philanthropy in China for the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals. The Director of the China Foundation Centre and the Director of UNDP China would be available to talk to journalists on 13 October.

Geneva Events and Announcements

Alessandra Vellucci, Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, said that the 41st round of the Geneva International Discussions will take place in Geneva from 10 to 11 October 2017.

Press Conferences

The President of the 72nd session of the UN General Assembly - Priorities and vision for the 72nd session of the UN General Assembly
Tuesday, 10 October at 12:00 p.m. in Room III
https://www.unog.ch/unog/website/calendar.nsf/(httpInternal~Media~Daily~en)/D237BBEDC0C23A2EC12581AF0030A8B1?OpenDocument

UNISDR - The International Day for Disaster Reduction (13 October) - How disasters are fuelling homelessness worldwide
Wednesday, 11 October at 10:00 a.m. in Press Room 1
https://www.unog.ch/unog/website/calendar.nsf/(httpInternal~Media~Daily~en)/95851C5739C605E7C12581B10036FDEC?OpenDocument

Permanent Mission of Burkina Faso - With the President of Burkina Faso
Monday, 16 October at 4:30 p.m. in Room III
https://www.unog.ch/unog/website/calendar.nsf/(httpInternal~Media~Weekly~en)/4A8352EFD12FDBF8C12581B5002B86C7?OpenDocument

The webcast for this briefing is available here: http://bit.ly/UNOG101017