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 High Commissioner for Refugees, the United Nations Development Programme, the Conference of the Convention on Biological Weapons, the World Bank, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the World Health Organization, the International Office for Migration and the World Trade Organization. The President-designate of the Review Conference of the Convention on Biological Weapons also addressed the briefing.

Syria

Rupert Colville for the High Commissioner for Human Rights clarified to journalists that the comments of the High Commissioner yesterday were not intended to declare Syria in a state of civil war, but rather that civil war was a very real prospect for the future if the ruthless repression was not stopped now.

Ethiopia

Andrej Mahecic for the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said hundreds of Somali refugees in southern Ethiopia's Dollo Ado region had been relocated from an overcrowded transit centre to a new camp, Bur Amino. The camp was opened on Wednesday and became the fifth one in the Dollo Ado region. The first group of some 400 refugees was moved by bus from the transit centre to Bur Amino, 26 kilometres away.

On arrival, the visibly relieved refugees underwent health and nutrition screening before being shown to their tents and given hot meals. The relocation to Bur Amino would decongest the transit centre. For weeks, 7,500 recent arrivals from Somalia had been living in the centre, built to host one-third of that population for a few days only. Rain and poor shelter conditions exacerbated the already low nutritional and health status of the refugees there, especially the children.

UNHCR and Ethiopian authorities were continuing with the gradual relocation, moving 500 refugees every four days, as parts of Bur Amino camp were still being developed. Construction had been delayed primarily because the site's rocky soil hampered the building of sanitation facilities.

Migrant remittances

Dilip Ratha for the World Bank said that the amount of remittances sent by migrants to developing countries increased by eight per cent in 2011, reaching $351 billion dollars. He added that this was only based on official reports and the figure, if you include unofficial channels, would be higher. Numbers had dropped during the 2009 economic crisis and remittances had fallen by five per cent, he said, though they had quickly recovered and seven per cent growth was expected in 2012. By 2013 the amount of remittances was expected to top $400 billion.

Risks to this included the ongoing crisis in some parts of the world, he noted, and unpredictable factors such as currency movements and oil prices. In this context the G8 and G20 objective of reducing remittance costs by five percentage points in five years was on track, as costs were down from 8.8 per cent in 2008 to 7.3 per cent, although costs were still very high in Sub-Saharan Africa.

He continued by saying the World Bank had set up a task force to advise countries on the implementation of diaspora bonds, which sought to leverage migrant remittances for national development purposes.

Answering a question, he said the data came from central bank reporting to the IMF on the balance of payments and gaps in reporting were filled by country economists and central banks directly.

Volunteering

Ms. Momal-Vanian explained that Monday (5 December) was International Volunteer Day.

Jessica Sallabank for the International Committee of the Red Cross said that following the close of the successful ICRC 31st Anniversary Conference all resolutions were now online. The Research Advocacy Report on Volunteers, launched this week, showed that 13 million people currently volunteered for the Red Cross and the Red Crescent worldwide, she said. Many of these people worked in acute danger and found themselves in conflict and emergency situations. This report, therefore, was commissioned to look at how to enact legislations and encourage governments to better protect volunteers. There were a number of anecdotes included from active service such as Syria and Libya, she added.

Adam Rogers for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) spoke of the upcoming official launch of the first State of the World’s Volunteerism Report, saying it was under embargo until midnight on Sunday 4 December (EST, 6:00 a.m. Monday morning 5 December Geneva time). It was the first attempt to look at volunteering globally, he explained, and examined why and how people volunteer, and marked the tenth anniversary of the International Year of Volunteers.

The report sought to make the case for the recognition of volunteerism as an essential component for the sustainable and equitable progress of communities and nations, he said, and sought to acknowledge and recognize the valuable role of volunteers in their communities. Interestingly, the report also shed light on some misconceptions about volunteering, showing participation from both the developed and developing world, though how volunteering was defined needed more definition.

The report brought together data from a range of sources and was published by United Nations Volunteers, he explained, a programme active in 130 countries, which mobilized around 7,700 volunteers a year and was represented on the ground through UNDP.

Biological Weapons Review Conference

The Seventh Review Conference of the Convention on Biological Weapons will hold its opening session in Room XVIII from 10:00 on Monday, and the session will run until
22 December. The opening ceremony will be followed by a general discussion which will continue until Wednesday morning. A background document on the subject was published yesterday.

Ambassador Paul van den Ijssel for the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) Review Conference outlined the schedule of next week’s meeting saying it would include discussion of pandemics, in terms of the BWC’s role as an integral part of the global health security apparatus.

There was increasing recognition that the risks stemming from disease events were inter-connected regardless of whether their origin was natural, accidental or deliberate, he said, and it was critical that we improve how our inter-related responses work together to confront these risks and threats. This includes not only how to deal with disease but also to provide for improved assistance and cooperation in preventing the hostile use of the life sciences.

Saying that bioterrorism was now not a risk but a reality, the review conference would help to strengthen international response capacity between many of the organizations which would respond to a global catastrophe. Other updates that would be heard included progress on tightening national laws and regulations, industry-led standard setting, and the evolution of best practice to minimise the risk of malign use of biology.

The responsible conduct of science was also a major theme and Sates Parties were to address the implications of the very latest advances in the life sciences. The BWC was the premier global forum for dealing with these issues, he said, and next week would see a stream of high level representatives from around the world.

Responding to a question he added that discussions on a legally enforceable mechanism were likely at the meeting. Fadéla Chaib for the World Health Organization also answered a question saying she would gather information from the WHO departments which covered the areas under discussion and distribute them as soon as possible.

2012 Nansen Refugee Award

Andrej Mahecic for the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) announced the launching of the nomination phase for the 2012 Nansen Refugee Award, the refugee world's highest honour. The UNHCR was calling on members of the press, the public, and humanitarian community to nominate deserving candidates. The period for doing so, was between now and 29 February.

The Nansen Award was established in 1954, and was named after the first high commissioner for refugees, Fridtjof Nansen. Its first winner was Eleanor Roosevelt. Others since then have included Handicap International, MSF, Mozambican humanitarian Graca Machel, US Senator Ted Kennedy, and photojournalist Alixandra Fazzina. This year, the award went to the 290 staff of Yemen's Society for Humanitarian Solidarity, and its founder Nasser Salim Ali Al-Hamairy.

Geneva activities

Ms. Momal-Vanian said tomorrow (3 December) was the International Day of Persons with Disabilities. The Secretary-General’s statement for the Day was available at the back of the room.


Next week would be a very busy week in the Palais de Nations, added Ms. Momal-Vanian and so a summary of all events would be sent at the end of the day to help journalists manage their time.

Jemini Pandya for the International Office for Migration (IOM) said next week saw the 100th IOM Council, as well as the Organization’s 60th anniversary, and so would be marked with a special ministerial conference as part of the Council’s scheduled meeting. On Monday, at least 14 new members and a selection of substantial organizations would join the IOM, she said, and on Tuesday the ministerial element itself would include keynote speeches from the President of the UN General Assembly and the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Migration and Development. The Migration Report 2011 would be officially launched following these on Tuesday morning. These events would be webcast live on the IOM website she added.

Andrej Mahecic for the High Commissioner for Refugees said the UNHCR ministerial meeting at the Palais des Nations next week from 7 to 8 November was to be the largest in the organization’s history and was part of efforts to recommit and reengage the support of member states for the key legal treaties protecting refugees. A special treaty event would be held on Tuesday (7 December) which would see new accessions and the announcement of policy changes in signatory states. At least 75 countries had confirmed participation at the ministerial level, he said. A detailed media advisory would be issued today, he said, though a full agenda would not be released until next week.

Ankai Xu for the World Trade Organization said on Monday (5 December) at 10:00 there would be a meeting of the Accession Working Party in the Montenegro membership negotiations, as well as a Trade Policy Review Body meeting looking at an overview of developments in the international trading environment. On Friday (9 December) there would be an informal meeting of the Government Procurement Committee at 15:00.

Meanwhile today (2 December) the WTO Director-General was in Accra, Ghana to attend a meeting with African Union trade ministers, tomorrow (3 December) again in Accra he was to attend a Pan-African Private Sector Trade Policy Committee and a working lunch with private sector leaders. On Tuesday (6 December) he was to meet with the President of the United Nations General Assembly and on Thursday (8 December) attend the swearing-in ceremony of the Appellate Body members, both events in Geneva.