POINT DE PRESSE DU SERVICE DE L'INFORMATION (en anglais)
Corinne Momal-Vanian, Director of the UN Information Service in Geneva, chaired the briefing, which was attended by the Spokespersons for the World Health Organization, the International Labour Organization, the Human Rights Council and the United Nations Refugee Agency.
Human Rights Council
Rolando Gomez, for the Human Rights Council (HRC), provided an update on the current 28th session of the Human Rights Council and events that would take place during the week.
The Council had continued this morning with the annual high-level panel on human rights mainstreaming dedicated to the “Enhancement of International Cooperation in the field of human rights.” The panelists would explore ways to reinforce cooperation between States to reach stronger consensus in advancing a host of human rights issues through capacity building and various human rights policies and programs. The session would end at 12.00 noon today, to be followed by a high-level segment.
A concept paper on the panel had been shared the previous night that included Deputy High Commissioner Flavia Pansieri’s opening remarks referring to the 70th anniversary of the UN Charter. Ms. Pansieri had also underscored the numerous shortcomings that had still remained despite the progress that had been made: 1 in 3 women had still experienced physical or sexual violence and 50 countries had still no legal protection or remedies for domestic violence. Despite the progress achieved in the advancement of the Millennium Development Goals, policy makers and policies had still neglected the people in the most vulnerable situation in too many places. She had stressed the need to ensure that the financing framework of the post-2015 sustainable development had been consistent with the existing human rights agreement.
Mr. Gomez added that, with the continuation of the session, 31 dignitaries would speak today. The previous day, high-level speakers had highlighted a number of issues including the situation in the DPRK, Syria, terrorism, the so-called Islamic state, Ukraine, the abolition of the death penalty, climate change and human rights of the rights migrants and asylum seekers, etc.
Mr. Gomez drew attention to the opening statement of Human Rights High Commissioner Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein the previous day. He had called on the international community to “renew, by the strongest action, its dedication to the reality of inalienable and universal human rights, to end discrimination, deprivation and the seemingly inexhaustible litany of conflicts and crises that generate such terrible and needless suffering.” Zeid had also said that the most powerful tool the Council had in its arsenal against poverty and conflict was the “weapon of massive instruction.”
The President of the Council, Joachim Rücker had met with a number of dignitaries the previous day on the side-lines of the Council, including Presidents and Foreign Ministers from Hungary, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Morocco and Georgia as well as the Secretary-General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. The President would meet with the Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation and Ministers of Foreign Affairs from Armenia, Germany, Burkina Faso and the European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs.
NGO side events would mostly begin on 5 March, and they would number about 180 in total.
There had been two reports posted in the morning: on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran (report of the Secretary-General) and on the occupied Palestinian territories by Marakim Wibisono, to be presented to the Council on 23 March.
Ms. Momal-Vanian informed that the German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and the European Union Foreign Policy Chief Frederica Mogherini would address the press this afternoon, at the stakeout position next to Room XX, at 2.30 p.m. and at 4.10 p.m, respectively, but the exact times of their encounters would depend on the timing of their presentations at the Council.
Nigerian refugees in Cameroon
Adrian Edwards, for the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), stated that Cameroon’s Far North region had seen a new influx of refugees over the weekend following clashes in northeast Nigeria between regional military forces and insurgents. The Cameroonian authorities said that some 16,000 Nigerian refugees had entered the country, and were reportedly caught amid ongoing violence in villages along the border.
UNHCR was working with Cameroon to relocate refugees as quickly as possible away from areas of active conflict to a transit site at Kousseri, which lay 90 km from the border and 370 km north of Minawao where there was an established refugee camp. Because of conflict between military forces and insurgents happening on the Cameroonian territory, UNHCR did not have access to border areas where refugees had arrived. Together with humanitarian partners, including the World Food Programme, International Medical Corps, IEDA Relief and Public Concerm, UNHCR was ready to conduct screening at the transit site and to provide emergency assistance in health, nutrition, water, and food for new arrivals.
Mr. Edwards informed that relocation convoys from the border to Kousseri would begin on 4 March. Following screening procedures, UNHCR would then organize daily transfers of 2,000 refugees to Minawao camp where urgent shelter and sanitation construction was already underway. At Minawao, UNHCR would also be providing basic relief aid, such as blankets, kitchen sets and soap. The camp currently hosted 32,621 Nigerian refugees.
The Government of Cameroon continued to provide critical escorts for humanitarian and relocation convoys to ensure the physical protection of refugees and humanitarian actors. Because of the evolving security situation in the region and the prospect of more refugee arrivals, UNHCR was discussing the setting up of a second refugee camp, further away from the insecure border.
Once screening had been completed, those latest movements were expected to bring the total number of Nigerian refugees in Cameroon to nearly 66,000, of whom 41,571 refugees had already been verified by UNHCR.
Meanwhile in Niger, insurgent attacks in early February on Bosso and Diffa towns had resulted in a deterioration in the humanitarian situation in the area, with the internal displacement of an estimated 50,000 people towards the city of Zinder and across the Diffa region. UNHCR, with regional authorities, UN agencies and NGO partners, had carried out a rapid evaluation in the Diffa region at the sites hosting displaced people. The situation was particularly worrying around Lake Chad, especially in the north of Bosso due to the presence of landmines. Access to those populations, who were in dire need of food, water and shelter, was seriously constrained. A sharp rise in prices of food and basic commodity items at the local markets further compounded the difficult socio-economic situation of both the displaced population and the host community.
In the western part of the Diffa region, UNHCR would recommence within the following days, in partnership with the National Commission of Eligibility, the voluntary relocation of refugees from host villages at the border to the Sayam Forage refugee camp, located 50 km north of the border. UNHCR was also working to establish another site for refugees or internally displaced persons, should the situation in Diffa region continue to deteriorate.
Mr. Edwards specified that over 100,000 people had found refuge in Niger in the previous two years, including Nigerian refugees and returning nationals of Niger, according to the authorities. The previous week, the state of emergency in the Diffa region had been extended for an additional three months by the Niger Parliament.
Answering a question on how active the fight was along the border and into Cameroon, Mr. Edwards explained that the fighting had been taking place close to the border very recently, which was one of the key factors explaining the recent amount of people going into Cameroon from North Nigeria during the previous weekend. It also made the situation along the border quite dangerous, which was why the UNHCR was trying to move people out of that area as fast as possible.
Asked how many internal displaced people there were, Mr. Edwards remarked that this was still an escalating conflict with about 1,000,000 displaced people in North East Nigeria and close to 250,000 displaced in the surrounding countries. UNHCR considered those numbers, as well as the whole situation, very worrying because of the insecurity and the problems of access. Mr. Edwards would provide the specific numbers later on, but with latest arrivals it was estimated that 66,000 people had fled into Cameroon.
On some reports saying that Boko Haram members were pretending to enter Cameroon as refugees and how that could be prevented, Mr. Edwards responded that this was a common problem which happened in many conflict situations and UNHCR had implemented mechanisms to separate people out. Mr. Edwards stressed that one could not be a refugee if one was a combatant, which was clearly specified in the Refugee Convention.
ID cards for South Sudanese in Sudan
Mr. Edwards said that in Sudan, the Government had started to register South Sudanese people living there and issuing ID cards giving them the right to work and access to basic services. The process had started on 1 February and was the result of an agreement signed in December between UNHCR, Sudan’s Commissioner for Refugees and the Directorate General of Passports and Immigration. Over 54,000 South Sudanese had been registered and nearly 37,000 identity cards had been produced so far.
Under the agreement, registered South Sudanese over the age of five were given an ID card for the duration of their entire stay in Sudan. With that card, they would have the same rights as Sudanese citizens. They had the right to work and buy property, as well as freedom of movement and to live anywhere in the country. They would now also have access to the same services as Sudanese citizens.
Mr. Edwards specified that an estimated half a million South Sudanese were living in Sudan. That included the 120,000 who had fled there since December 2013 when South Sudan’s conflict had erupted, and an estimated 350,000 others who had remained in Sudan after South Sudan’s secession in 2011. Shortly after the violence had broken out in South Sudan, the Sudanese Government had announced that South Sudanese should be treated as Sudanese citizens and had maintained an open door policy since then.
UNHCR was supporting the implementation of that initiative, both financially and with technical capacity. Registration centres had been established in 12 sites in Khartoum State, where the exercise was expected to continue until March before being rolled out to other locations across the country. White Nile State, where an estimated 66,000 South Sudanese refugees were living in six sites, would be the next location. Subsequently, registration and provision of ID cards would continue in other states over an 18-month period. After that, various mobile units would be maintained to register new arrivals from South Sudan.
Since the start of the South Sudan emergency, UNHCR and partners had assisted over 84,000 South Sudanese arriving in Sudan. In sites in White Nile State, South and West Kordofan, basic needs had been progressively met through the establishment and expansion of essential services by government counterparts, the Sudanese Red Crescent Society, UN agencies and NGOs. In Khartoum, over 3,000 families had been assisted with basic items, such as mats, blankets, jerry cans and cooking utensils to improve their living conditions. Identifying vulnerable people and providing them with assistance had remained a key focus of the response countrywide.
Mr. Edwards added that, thus far, violence in South Sudan had displaced over two million people during the last 14 months, including more than 500,000 who had fled across the border to neighbouring Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan and Uganda.
Responding to a question on whether the people who were still arriving in Sudan from South Sudan would also have the right to obtain their IDs or if they were in a different category, Mr. Edwards explained that all South Sudanese fleeing into Sudan were eligible to get an ID, which would provide them with human rights protection and access to the same services as Sudanese citizens.
Geneva activities
Ms. Momal-Vanian said that the Conference on Disarmament was holding a high-level segment this morning, and was hearing from the dignitaries of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Germany, Austria, Spain, United Kingdom, Cuba and Japan.
The Committee for the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights were meeting in private this week. Their concluding observations would be published during their closing sessions.
Fadéla Chaib, for the World Health Organization (WHO), specified that on 4 March at 3 p.m in Press Room I, WHO would present new guidelines on the intake of sugar among adults and children. The guidelines would provide countries with recommendations on limiting the consumption of sugar to reduce public health problems like obesity and dental caries. In fact, intake of free sugars varies by age, setting and country.
The speaker would be Dr. Francesco Branca, Director, Department of Nutrition for Health and Development at the WHO, who would brief media on the new recommendations which based on analysis of the latest scientific evidence.
The guidelines, consisting of 59 pages, would be available the day before, but they were under embargo until 4 March, at 3 p.m.
International Women’s Day
Hans von Rohland, for the International Labour Organization (ILO), said that the ILO would launch the “Motherhood Pay Gap” Report, on the occasion of International Women’s Day and on the 20th anniversary of the Beijing Conference. The press conference would take place in Press Room 1, on 4 March at 10 a.m. The report was under embargo until midnight on 5 March. Speakers would be Shauna Olney, Chief of the Gender, Equality and Diversity Branch of the ILO, and Kristen Sobeck, ILO Economist and Wage Officer.
Ms. Momal-Vanian said that, on the occasion of the International Women’s Day, UN Information Service (UNIS) and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) would screen “Des Femmes et des Hommes”, as a part of the Cine ONU series. The film director Frédérique Bedos would be present. The screening would take place in Room XVIII, at 5 p.m. on 6 March. UNCTAD Secretary-General Mukhisa Kituy and UNOG Acting Director-General Michael Møller would address the audience, and a panel discussion would be held following the screening.
Ms. Momal-Vanian also informed that the Inter-Parliamentary Union would present the annual statistics and trends on women in parliament and a review of progress over 20 years since Beijing Platform for Action. IPU Programmes Division Director Kareen Jabre would address the press in Press Room I on 5 March at 10:30 a.m.
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Spokespersons for the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, and the World Food Programme were also present, but did not brief.
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The webcast for this briefing is available here: … http://bit.ly/unog030315