POINT DE PRESSE DU SERVICE DE L'INFORMATION (en anglais)

Elena Ponomareva-Piquier, Chief of the Press and External Relations Section of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired the briefing which provided information on the Middle East Quartet meeting in London; the General Assembly's first-ever interactive sessions with civil society groups; Geneva meetings and activities; the six-month anniversary of the tsunami and other issues. Spokespersons for the Economic Commission for Europe, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the International Organization for Migration, the World Health Organization, UNAIDS, the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees, the World Food Programme, the United Nations Children's Fund, the United Nations Conference for Trade and Development and the World Trade Organization participated in the briefing.

Middle East Quartet Meeting in London

Mrs. Ponomareva-Piquier said less than two months before Israel's scheduled withdrawal from Gaza, the Middle East Quartet met yesterday in London at the Principals' Level. In a statement issued at the end of the meeting, which was attended by the United Nations Secretary-General, the Quartet reiterated its belief that this was a moment of optimism in the search for peace in the Middle East, and was an opportunity that should not be missed to revitalize the Roadmap. The Quartet welcomed the meeting on June 21 between Prime Minister Sharon and President Abbas, underlining that contacts between the parties should now be intensified at all levels. The statement by the Quartet, which was made up of the United States, the Russian Federation, the United Nations and the European Union, was available in the press room.

General Assembly Holds Unprecedented Interactive Sessions with Civil Society

Mrs. Ponomareva-Piquier said the General Assembly yesterday started its first-ever interactive sessions with civil society groups which were presenting proposals on security, human rights, development and UN renewal, ahead of the Assembly's 2005 World Summit, which would be held from 14 to 16 September to review worldwide efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. The statement by Deputy Secretary-General Louise Fréchette on this occasion was in the press room.

Secretary-General Issues Statement on Kyrgyzstan

Mrs. Ponomareva-Piquier said the Secretary-General had issued a statement in which he said he was seriously concerned about the fate of Uzbek asylum seekers in Kyrgyzstan and, in particular, reports about their possible forced deportation to Uzbekistan. Copies of the statement were in the press room.

Geneva Meetings and Activities

Mrs. Ponomareva-Piquier recalled that 26 June marked the sixtieth anniversary of the signing of the United Nations Charter in San Francisco in 1945. This anniversary was an occasion to encourage a debate on important issues facing the UN and the international community. In Geneva, the anniversary of the signing of the Charter would be commemorated on Monday, 27 June in the evening. There would be a concert by the Kayaleh Chamber Orchestra in Hall XIV at 6:30 p.m., to be followed by the inauguration of an exhibition of contemporary international art which would show original works of art representing the cultures of many of the Member States.

Sergei Ordzhonikidze, the Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva, would inaugurate the exhibition in the Salle des Pas-Perdus, which would be followed by a cocktail. Journalists were cordially invited to attend.

The Conference on Disarmament yesterday heard twenty-eight of its members outline their positions on the issue of nuclear disarmament in response to the invitation last week by the President of the Conference, Ambassador Wegger Strommen of Norway, to hold four public plenaries to discuss the four main issues identified in the "food for thought" paper submitted at the beginning of the session by Ambassador Chris Sanders of the Netherlands. The next three sessions, to be held on 28 and 30 June and on 7 July, will respectively deal with fissile materials, outer space and security assurances. The press release on the meeting of the Conference was available in the press room in English and in French.

The Ad Hoc Group of Experts of the States Parties to the Biological Weapons Convention would be concluding its two-week session today. A round up press release would be available later in the day.

The Governing Council of the United Nations Compensation Commission would be holding its fifty-sixth session from 28 to 30 June 2005 under the Presidency of Ambassador Tassos Kriekoukis (Greece). A background press release was available and a press release with information on the results of the fifty-sixth session will be issued on 30 June 2005.

In conclusion, Mrs. Ponomareva-Piquier noted that the Director-General of UNOG, Mr. Ordzhonikidze, would open on Tuesday, 28 June a high-level meeting organized by the Economic Commission for Europe on energy security in the Caspian Sea region.

Jean-Michel Jakobowicz of the Economic Commission for Europe said that a press conference would be held on Tuesday, 28 June at 2:30 p.m. on the meeting on energy security in the Caspian Sea region which would be attended by the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources of Kazakhstan, the Minister of Fuel and Energy of Azerbaijan, a Special Envoy of President Putin of Russia, and the Director-General of the Ministry of Petroleum for Caspian Sea Oil and Gas Affairs of Iran. He recalled that the Caspian Sea region held the third largest world reserve of oil and natural gas after the Gulf and Siberia.

Six-Month Anniversary of Tsunami

Iain Simpson of the World Health Organization said that Sunday, 26 June would mark the six-month anniversary of the tsunami. WHO would issue documents later in the day on progress that has been made in rehabilitation and reconstruction since the tusnami. Documents would also be distributed by the Office of the Special Envoy, former United States President Bill Clinton, including a statement in which he drew together the issues which the United Nations had been working on and progress achieved on them.

Pete Haydon of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said that available at the back of the room was media material issued by the Federation on the six-month commemoration.

Jemini Pandya of the International Organization for Migration said IOM would be putting out a press release later in the day marking the six-month anniversary of the tsunami.

Other

Iain Simpson of the World Health Organization said that concerning the situation of Marburg in Angola, there had been no new cases confirmed since 12 June in the country WHO was now working to develop the epidemiology and laboratory capacity in Angola so that if there was a new outbreak, people there would be more able to deal with it without outside help.

Mr. Simpson said next week, journalists would be receiving the latest progress report on the "3 by 5" campaign on efforts to get antiretroviral treatment for AIDS in developing countries. Embargoed copies of the report would be available starting Tuesday, 28 June and there would be a briefing at 1 p.m. on Wednesday, 29 June.

Dominique de Santis of UNAIDS said that the seventeenth Governing Board Meeting of UNAIDS would be held from 27 to 29 June. All of the documents on the meeting were available on the website. Reports to be presented to the meeting included one on AIDS financing. The media advisory was at the back of the room. At 1 p.m. on Wednesday, 28 June, there would be a press briefing on strengthening the AIDS response in countries. Also available was an advisory on the Seventh International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific which would take place from 1 to 5 July in Kobe.

Ron Redmond of the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees said Assistant High Commissioner Kamel Morjane was scheduled to leave on Saturday, 25 June for Kyrgyzstan to seek a suitable solution for some 450 Uzbek asylum seekers whose fate remained very uncertain. This week, UNHCR had to redouble its efforts to prevent their forcible return. UNHCR continued to be especially concerned for 29 of the asylum seekers who were being kept in detention in Osh, away from the rest of the group, and who were under imminent threat of being sent back to Uzbekistan. Mr. Morjane was expected to remain in Kyrgyzstan for three days.

Mr. Redmond said that UNHCR's Director of International Protection Erika Feller had just returned from a three-day visit to Sudan's Darfur region. She said that although there were signs of increased stability in some areas, the situation in Darfur continued to be marred by unpredictability, violence and threats to the security of the affected populations. UNHCR had asked for $ 31.3 million for its Darfur operation, but so far had received only $ 3.9 million.

In conclusion, Mr. Redmond said that UNHCR had called on the Panamanian Government to grant refugee status to 831 Colombians who had been living in the country under a precarious temporary status for more than six years.

Christiane Berthiaume of the World Food Programme said that WFP was very concerned about the nutritional situation of Sudanese refugees in the Fugnido and Bonga camps in Gambella, Ethiopia, after a recent joint study with UNHCR and the Ethiopian Government showed an abnormally high rate of malnutrition among the 50,000 residents of the two camps. The study showed that the level of malnutrition among children in Fugnido camp was 20.7 per cent, and 2.2 per cent of severe malnutrition. In Bonga camp, the level of malnutrition among children was 19.3 per cent, plus 2 per cent severe malnutrition. This high rate of malnutrition was alarming and necessitated emergency intervention. At present, all children under five years and all pregnant or nursing women were being examined to incorporate them into supplementary food programmes.

Damien Personnaz of the United Nations Children's Fund said that UNICEF was further stepping up its operations to reach the children and women currently affected by Operations Restore Order and Murambatsvina in Zimbabwe. The Government had started these operations four weeks ago in an effort to clean up cities and to fight the black market across Zimbabwe. In doing so, tens of thousands of settlements and business activities had been destroyed. Available at the back of the room was a media release which contained details of UNICEF's efforts. UNICEF was seeking more than $ 2.7 million to continue with its existing activities.

Erica Meltzer of the United Nations Conference for Trade and Development said the resumed session of the UN Conference on the Tropical Timber Agreement would be held starting Monday, 27 June. This was the third such session of the meeting of producers and consumers who were discussing what needed to be changed in the Tropical Timber Agreement which had been in effect since 1994. The main outstanding issues were the allocation of votes between producer and consumer countries and financing. A press release would be issued later today.

Luis Ople of the World Trade Organization said WTO Director-General Supachai Panitchpakdi would be meeting with the Trade Minister of the Russian Federation at 3 p.m. this afternoon. The Minister had just finished addressing the Working Party meeting of the accession of Russia. Tomorrow, the Director-General would be in Zambia to attend the Least Developing Countries Ministerial Conference. On Thursday, 30 June, the Director-General would launch the WTO World Trade Report 2005 at 3 p.m. at WTO. The embargoed report would be available starting Monday, 27 June.

Jemini Pandya of the International Organization for Migration said better integration policies and social services were needed for Ethiopians who resettled in other parts of the country in order to help reduce vulnerability to HIV/AIDS and violence against women and children, according to a new IOM baseline study. In Zambia, the IOM office in Lusaka had provided return assistance to 12 Congolese minors who were being trafficked to South Africa. And in Japan, 13 women trafficked to Japan for sexual exploitation had been provided with voluntary return and reintegration assistance by IOM under a new programme to help trafficked victims in the country.