POINT DE PRESSE DU SERVICE DE L'INFORMATION (en anglais)
Corinne Momal-Vanian, Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired the briefing which was also attended by spokespersons for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, the World Food Programme, the World Health Organization and the International Office for Migration.
Somalia
Ms. Momal-Vanian highlighted the recent statement of the Secretary-General in which he condemned, in the strongest possible terms, Al-Shabaab’s seizure of property and equipment belonging to several non-governmental organizations and United Nations agencies earlier yesterday. This brazen act prevented these organizations from providing life-saving assistance, he said. The Secretary-General also demanded in the statement that Al-Shabaab vacate the premises and return seized property to the affected agencies and NGOs and called for the ban imposed today by Al-Shabaab against these humanitarian organizations to be lifted immediately. He further called on all parties in Somalia to respect international humanitarian law.
Elisabeth Byrs for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) also referred to the statement by Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Valerie Amos, who said she was extremely concerned by Al Shabaab’s seizure of property and equipment belonging to several non-governmental organizations and UN agencies and added that any disruption to ongoing humanitarian efforts threatened to undermine the fragile progress made this year.
Marixie Mercado for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said that the Fund’s office and warehouse in Baidoa remained occupied. The impact of these actions on humanitarian operations was being assessed, but it was already known, for instance, that fifteen children with the most severe form of malnutrition with complications had been discharged from a nutrition stabilization centre. These were children at very high risk of death, she added, and any interruption aggravated that risk considerably. UNICEF was extremely concerned, more broadly, that interruptions to operations across Somalia posed great risks and staff were studying the situation very carefully.
Tarik Jasarevic for the World Health Organization (WHO) said that yesterday morning the WHO offices in Baidoa and Wajid were raided. All WHO staff members working in these areas were accounted for, he said, although the offices were looted with all medical supplies including two interagency kits, two diarrhea disease kits and a laptop missing. The quantity of medical supplies looted in these offices was limited as WHO only keeps minimal stocks for unforeseen emergency requests, he explained, and supplies were regularly distributed to health partners on the ground in order not to disrupt their operations.
For the time being, national and international organizations providing health care in the area had enough supplies to continue health services, he added. However, the WHO was the main provider of medical supplies, so there could be shortages if access was not re-established soon. WHO continued to be present on the ground in other parts of Somalia and to maintain its humanitarian health operations. There were currently four main offices and seven hubs across the country with a total of 50 staff based in Nairobi and 250 staff based in Somalia, he said.
Andrej Mahecic for the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said his office was concerned about Al Shabaab's announcement yesterday, which permanently revoked work permissions to a number of UN organizations including UNHCR in parts of Somalia under their control as this came at the time of a dire humanitarian crisis in southern and central parts of Somalia. After drought and famine, continued fighting and heavy rains further aggravated the dramatic condition of displaced Somali civilians. More than two thirds of Somalia's estimated 1.46 million internally displaced people live in southern and central parts of the country where humanitarian needs were immense. UNHCR was assessing the impact of this latest development on its humanitarian operations in these parts of Somalia.
Military operations and heavy rains were limiting the movements of displaced population in Somalia's Gedo region bordering Kenya and there had been no cross-border movements between Dobley in Somalia and Liboi in Kenya or vice-versa. People were said to be unable to move as the rains made roads impassable though others were reluctant to move, fearing ambushes or getting caught in the crossfire.
He continued by saying that in Mogadishu, the UNHCR had noted a profound change in the root causes driving the forced displacement, with the focus moving from drought to conflict. Overall, partners and staff were reporting that the movements into Mogadishu from other regions had declined compared to previous months, mainly due to fighting in Daynile and Heliwa districts, he said. Reported displacements were mostly within Mogadishu districts and also from Daynile to Hodan district.
Responding to questions as what may have triggered the actions by Al-Shabaab, Ms. Momal-Vanian replied saying it was not for the humanitarian organizations to guess their reasons. Instead the key point was to resume aid delivery as soon as possible. She then replied to a similar enquiry regarding accusations of bias within aid distribution saying the work of the United Nations was undertaken in a neutral and impartial manner in conformity with principles of humanitarian aid.
Kenya and Ethiopia
In neighbouring Kenya's Dadaab refugee camps, insecurity continued to hamper UNHCR's operations, added Andrej Mahecic for UNHCR, and it had been several weeks since the authorities stopped registering new arrivals. More than 360 refugees had been affected by cholera and acute watery diarrhea, most had been treated as outpatient cases and there was a need for more supplies of oral rehydration salts and other treatments, he explained. At the Kambioos site, the mortality rate had decreased and it was expected that the situation would further stabilize following food distributions over the weekend.
Despite security restrictions, the authorities managed to complete a mass oral polio vaccination campaign for all refugee children less than five years of age. Efforts are ongoing to enhance security measures in Dadaab, including the deployment of additional policemen, taking the number to around 320, and refugees from Hagadera camp are conducting road patrols to help secure access to the camps.
ln Ethiopia’s Dollo Ado camps, high rates of severe acute malnutrition (eight per cent) and global acute malnutrition (14 per cent) among refugee children under five at the transit centre had been reported he said. This was partly due to the low uptake of the wet feeding programme. ln response, UNHCR and partners were expanding the programme to all children up to the age of 10, and adding milk powder to the porridge to boost nutrient levels.
The transfers from the Dollo Ado transit centre to the new camp in Bur Amino would start, tomorrow initially with 500 people and would increase gradually until all the refugees were moved to the new site. Meanwhile, access to these areas was increasingly difficult due to heavy rains where the roads were intermittently impassable and the local airstrip was often flooded preventing flights from landing. This was seriously affecting supplies and operations as fuel, electricity and safe drinking water run low, Mr. Mahecic concluded.
Syria
Responding to a question, Andrej Mahecic for UNHCR said his office had received reports from Turkey that there were still seven to eight thousand people in camps close to the border hosted by the Turkish Red Crescent and there continued to be movement back and forth between the two countries.
Nutrition and HIV/AIDS
Ms. Momal-Vanian informed that the Secretary-General’s message for World AIDS Day was available to journalists at the back of the room.
Gaëlle Sévenier for the World Food Programme (WFP) said a small photo exhibition would be held on Thursday (1 December) to mark World AIDS Day at the entrance to the UNAIDS building in Geneva. Lauren Landis, Director of the WFP Office in Geneva, explained that WFP worked a great deal on the nutritional needs of HIV and AIDS sufferers across the world, as good nutrition is a vital part of treatment and supports sufferers in adhering to treatment and getting back to productive lives.
Mortality in the first month of treatment was thus shown to be two to six times higher in those suffering from malnutrition. She also said that in 2010 the WFP supported 2.5 million sufferers in 44 countries through HIV and TB programmes as well as support to national programmes. She further added that the WFP was a co-sponsor of UNAIDS and as such was responsible for making sure there was a strong integration with nutrition, and together with UNHCR, was responsible for HIV in emergency situations.
Ms. Sévenier also said that the Executive Director of the WFP was attending the 17th Conference of Parties in Durban on 6 December to take part in a number of events.
Geneva activities
Ms. Momal-Vanian explained that the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Activities had ended its work on Friday and would submit its final comments at the closing session in the late afternoon today. The countries examined were Estonia, Israel, Turkmenistan, Cameroon and Argentina.
She also said that this afternoon (29 November) a special meeting would be held in Room XIX at 16:00, with the participation of the Director-General of UNOG, to mark the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.
Ms. Momal-Vanian added that OCHA’s IRIN news agency had organized an exhibition titled, “At the front line of humanitarian reporting” which would be unveiled tomorrow (30 November) at 15:15 in Building E on the third floor.
Tomorrow (Wednesday 30 November) would see another press conference in Press Room 1 where the WHO, UNICEF and UNAIDS would release the 2011 Report "Global HIV/AIDS Response".
Also tomorrow (Wednesday, 30 November), OCHA would hold a press conference in Press Room 1 at 14:00 on the humanitarian situation in Haiti. Speaking would be the United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator for Haiti.
On Thursday, 1 December at 10.30 in Room III, the Swiss Permanent Mission would hold a press conference on the Fifth Global Forum on Migration and Development, an international conference on the opportunities and challenges of migration where accredited journalists could pose questions to the Chairman of the Global Forum on Migration and Development.
On Thursday 1 December at 15:00 in Room III, the Office for the High Commissioner for Human Rights would launch a social media campaign on human rights at a press conference before the International Day for Human Rights. The High Commissioner herself would be attending.
Catherine Sibut for the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) said that at midday today (Tuesday 29 November) at 12:00 noon UNCTAD would hold a press conference in Room III to mark the launch of the “Technology and Innovation Report 2011- Powering Development with Renewable Energy Technology” which would be embargoed until 17:00. GMT. Speakers would include the UNCTAD Secretary-General and the Director of the Division on Technology and Logistics.
She also reminded journalists of a two and a half day conference (29-30 November) organized jointly with the EnergyPact Foundation starting today at 14:30 in Room XVII, saying there would be a technical discussion this afternoon on nuclear energy, following which UNCTAD would publicly present at 16:30 the report which journalists had been given at midday. Tomorrow’s discussions would look at how emerging economies can contribute to a global green economy and Thursday’s programme would consider the use of new technologies, she explained.
Michael Stanley Jones for the Stockholm Convention of the United Nations Environment Programme said he was pleased to announce ‘Chemical Challenges, Sustainable Solutions’, a 10th anniversary global art contest for children and youth to be featured during the upcoming Rio+20 Conference. The contest would feature information about persistent organic pollutants (POPs) which enter people’s bodies, change ecosystems, and affect the life of our planet, he said. The contest was open to children aged five to 10, youths 11 to 15 and young adults 16 to 20 years of age, working in three categories: drawing, photography or short videos. There would also be a presentation of the submissions in the Palais des Nations at the time of the Rio+20 conference.
Jemini Pandya for the International Office for Migration (IOM) said that a press conference would be held at 14:00 this afternoon in Press Room 1 featuring the presentation of IOM's World Migration Report 2011: “Communicating Effectively about Migration” which was embargoed until Tuesday 6 December at 00:01 Geneva time. The report would be officially launched at the IOM Council at the Palais de Nations next week she said, which would mark 60 years since the Organization’s creation, she said. A ministerial meeting would be held on the second day of the three-day meeting (6 December) to celebrate this milestone, she explained.