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

Alessandra Vellucci, Director, United Nations Information Service, chaired the briefing attended by the spokespersons for the United Nations Development Programme, the Human Rights Council, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the International Organization for Migration, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the International Labour Organization and the World Health Organization.

South-South Cooperation

Ms. Vellucci introduced Jorge Chediek, Director of the UN Office for South-South Cooperation, for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Mr. Chediek said that South-South cooperation had increasingly become, over the past decade, more important than North-South cooperation in assisting countries in achieving their own development objectives. There was an increased understanding that sharing similar circumstances facilitated the relevance of sharing practices in the development processes of other countries. South-South cooperation had become very important from a quantitative and qualitative point of view in the new development architecture. In that context, for the High-level Committee for South-South cooperation in New York in 2016 a publication had been prepared, showcasing South-South cooperation practices related to the Sustainable Development Goals. Mr. Chediek was in Geneva to launch the first of a series of publications called “South-South in Action” on 1 March. In that series of publications UNDP was highlighting, through the contributions of different developing countries, how South-South Cooperation was making the world a better place. The first publication had been prepared with the Government of Thailand and would be launched at the Palais des Nations on 1 March at 1 p.m.

Mr. Chediek also said that the Member States had agreed to call a conference called Buenos Aires + 40, in reference to the incorporation of South-South cooperation into the UN system in 1978 through the Buenos Aires Plan of Action. Member States had agreed to commemorate that occasion by holding a conference to relaunch and highlight the importance of South-South Cooperation for the future, especially for the achievement of the 2030 Agenda.

Human Rights Council 34^th session

Rolando Gomez, for the Human Rights Council (HRC), said that the Council’s 34^th session had opened on 27 February with statements from the Secretary-General, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the President of the General Assembly and the Head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs of Switzerland. In his remarks, the Secretary-General had said that the disregard for human rights was a disease, and it was a disease that was spreading – north, south, east and west. The Human Rights Council had to be part of the cure. The High Commissioner had stated that without a commitment to fundamental human rights, to the dignity and worth of the human person and to the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small, our world would become chaos, misery and warfare.

The High-Level segment of the Council was currently underway, continuing from 27 February. Some 53 speakers were inscribed to speak today. On 1 March the Council would continue with the HLS, with another 24 speakers inscribed to speak. Thereafter, the Council would hold its general segment, which was an extension of the High-Level segment but at the Ambassador level. Approximately 20 speakers were inscribed to speak at the general segment, which would start around 1 p.m. The Council would then hear rights of reply sparked by statements on 27, 28 February and 1 March. The rights of reply would start on 1 March around 1.30 p.m.
Afterwards, the Council would hear from the more than 17 thematic Special Rapporteurs presenting reports, and a handful of country-specific rapporteurs. The first ones, on 1 March, were the Independent Expert on Foreign Debt, Juan Pablo Bohoslavsky, whose report would focus on labour rights in the context of economic reforms and austerity measures, and the Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing, Leilani Farha, who would present an annual thematic report as well as reports on her missions to India and Portugal. Ms. Farha would hold a press conference on 2 March at 10 a.m. in Press Room 1, to discuss her report on the “financialization of housing”.

On 1 March at 3 p.m. the Council would hold its biennial panel discussion on the death penalty, which would feature a number of statements including from the High Commissioner for Human Rights, as well as the Minister of State for European Affairs in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of France, Harlem Désir, the former President of Tunisia, Moncef Marzouki, and the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, Nils Melzer.

Mr. Gomez reminded the press of a press conference of the Independent Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic on 1 March at 2:00 p.m. in Room III, when the COI would launch its report on its special inquiry into events in Aleppo based on its investigations of alleged human rights violations committed by all warring parties between 21 July 2016 and 22 December 2016. The speakers would be Paulo Pinheiro, Chairperson, Independent Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic, and Carla del Ponte, Member of the Independent Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic. Embargoed copies of the report would be shared with the press ahead of time, probably in the morning that day. The embargo would be lifted at 2 p.m. on 1 March.

In response to questions, Mr. Gomez clarified that the Human Rights Council had held a special session in October 2016, passing a resolution specifically mandating the Commission to conduct a special inquiry into the events in Aleppo between 21 July 2016 and 22 December 2016. The findings would be laid out very clearly in the report. He also said that there would be testimony from the victims in the report.

Asked about media reports that the US was considering withdrawal from the Human Rights Council, Mr. Gomez said that any question about US policy should be directed to US representatives. He also said that the US had been a very active and constructive partner in the Human Rights Council for many years, spearheading a number of very important initiatives. The Council would definitely benefit from that continued engagement. The Council had not received any notification regarding withdrawal. In terms of procedure, in theory, revoking membership in the Council would entail going through the General Assembly, that had elected the country to the Council. He said that that had not happened in the Council before.

Thailand

Ravina Shamdasani, for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), said that OHCHR was disappointed by Thailand’s decision not to enact a draft anti-torture and anti-disappearance law, and OHCHR called on the Government to promptly reintroduce legislation to criminalize such deplorable acts. Despite the Government’s decision last May to enact the bill, OHCHR was informed in the past week that the National Legislative Assembly - the military-appointed parliament - had shelved the legislation which would have made enforced or involuntary disappearance and torture criminal offences.

Thailand’s Ministry of Justice had been working tirelessly on the bill for a number of years. The Assembly’s decision to reject the bill was very concerning given the continued allegations of torture and disappearances in Thailand, and it was deeply worrying that such actions may now continue without any legal redress. For too long, there had been no accountability on cases of torture and involuntary and enforced disappearances due to the lack of a legislative framework. As a result, perpetrators of such heinous crimes still could not be prosecuted.

The decision not to enact the bill was also a devastating blow to the families of those who had disappeared. They had the right to know the truth regarding the disappearance of their kin, as well as any progress and the results of investigations.

Since 1980, the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances had recorded 82 cases of enforced disappearances in Thailand, including the disappearances of respected lawyer Somchai Neelapaijit in 2004 and Karen human rights activist Pholachi “Billy" Rakchongcharoen in 2014. The Department of Special Investigation had recently suspended an inquiry into Somchai Neelapaijit’s disappearance due to the lack of a codified law on the crime. OHCHR was also concerned about the increasing number of criminal cases brought against human rights defenders in Thailand for reporting allegations of torture and ill-treatment.

Thailand’s human rights record would be reviewed on 13 and 14 March 2017 by the UN Human Rights Committee in Geneva, which scrutinized States’ implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Asked about the number of persons who had disappeared in Thailand in recent years, Ms. Shamdasani said that she did not have comprehensive figures but she did have figures on allegations of torture. On torture, Special Procedures had sent communications regarding nine cases of alleged torture by the military in 2014 and 2015, and OHCHR’s regional office in Bangkok had documented cases at least five cases in 2016, as well as at least six cases of deaths in custody in 2016. In terms of disappearances, three new cases had been documented in 2016. She would send the press more detail on those cases. She also confirmed that Thailand had ratified the Convention on Torture in 2007 and in 2012 had signed, but not ratified the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance. Thailand had accepted recommendations from the Committee Against Torture in 2014 to enact an anti-torture and anti-disappearances law, and that had also been raised in their UPR in 2016. Torture was not a criminal offense in Thailand (but it was not the only country in the world where that was the case). When people claimed having been tortured, and their claims were substantiated, they would sometimes receive financial compensation and their evidence would not be taken into consideration; however there were no criminal charges brought against the perpetrators of the crime of torture.

In response to other questions, Ms. Shamdasani said that in the absence of a specific law on enforced disappearances, if a body was not found or there was not enough evidence, the case would be eventually closed. Ms. Shamdasani also clarified that the definition of torture in international law was that it had to be perpetrated by a State actor. She said that in cases of disappearances, people could be in State custody without any transparency, they could be killed or sent to other countries without due process or the knowledge of the family or relatives. In all of those cases it was an ongoing human rights violation until the person was found, against the person and their family.

Yemen

Ms. Shamdasani said that OHCHR had received numerous reports of the recruitment of children in Yemen for use in the armed conflict, mostly by the Popular Committees affiliated with the Houthis. In all, between 26 March 2015 and 31 January 2017, the UN had managed to verify the recruitment of 1,476 children, all boys. However the numbers were likely to be much higher as most families were not willing to talk about the recruitment of their children, for fear of reprisals.

Just in the past week, OHCHR had received new reports of children who had been recruited without the knowledge of their families. Children under the age of 18 often joined the fighting after either being misled or attracted by promises of financial rewards or social status. Many were then quickly sent to the front lines of the conflict or tasked with manning checkpoints.

OHCHR reminded all parties to the conflict that the recruitment and use of children in armed conflict was strictly forbidden by international human rights law and international humanitarian law, and when concerning cases of recruitment of children under fifteen may amount to a war crime. OHCHR urged them to immediately release such children.

The conflict in Yemen had, between March 2015 and 23 February 2017, led to 4,667 civilian deaths and 8,180 injured civilians.

In response to questions, Ms. Shamdasani said that there had been cases of children as young as 10 who had been recruited. The children recruited in the past week had been between 15 and 18 years of age. According to OHCHR data, the majority of the children – more than 70 per cent – had been recruited by the Houthis. There had however also been cases of children recruited by forces loyal to the President.

Ms. Shamdasani also clarified that OHCHR’s focus was on civilians and that OHCHR had a different methodology in collecting casualty figures than WHO and UNICEF did. OHCHR had human rights monitors on the ground in Yemen who went to the sites of bombings or shellings and documented only those casualties who were verified to be civilians. WHO data included everyone, not just civilians. Their figures were those coming from health centres and hospitals.

In response to further questions, Ms. Shamdasani said that there had been a decline in the number of civilian casualties in Yemen in recent months. There had been less intensity of airstrikes and shelling. However, the toll did continue to rise, albeit less intensively.

Between 17 and 23 February, 13 civilians had been killed and nine injured. Of the 13, 12 had been killed by coalition airstrikes and one had been killed by the Popular Resistance Committees.

Ms. Shamdasani also clarified that according to international humanitarian law, recruitment of children under 15 may amount to a war crime and that recruitment of children in general, particularly forcible recruitment, would be a breach of international humanitarian law. She would double check regarding the recruitment of children of the age of 17 with the consent of their parents, and get back to the press.

Asked about child marriage, Ms. Shamdasani said that it would be a violation of international human rights law and not of international humanitarian law, which covered situations of armed conflict. She would get back to the press on the specific legal provisions regarding child marriage.

Christophe Boulierac, for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), said that every ten minutes, a child under five died in Yemen from preventable diseases such diarrhoea, pneumonia or measles, because the health system is on the verge of collapse. Some 50 per cent of the health facilities in the country were not functioning.

He also said that the rate of severe acute malnutrition in children under five had tripled between 2014 and 2016. There were currently approximately 2.2 million malnourished children in the country, including 462,000 children suffering from severe acute malnutrition.

In response to questions, Mr. Boulierac said that 1,490 children had been killed since the escalation of the conflict in Yemen in March 2015, and 2,321 children had been maimed. Those were conservative figures corresponding to verified cases and the numbers could be higher. UNICEF followed the monitoring reporting mechanism and had not changed its methodology in counting casualties since the escalation of the conflict. Mr. Boulierac would get back to the press with the number of children who had died of severe acute malnutrition since the escalation of the conflict in March 2015, in case this estimate was available. He reiterated that there were 462,000 children suffering from severe acute malnutrition, and also 1.1 million pregnant women who were malnourished. There was a combination of factors contributing to child malnutrition in Yemen: the crumbling health system, the lack of food and water as well as the lack of income and poor care practices. Mr. Boulierac would also double check on the availability of figures regarding child marriage in Yemen. Mr. Boulierac clarified that according to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, children were all people under 18 years old, unless under the law applicable to the child, majority was attained earlier. He said that the place of a child was not in an armed group or an armed force. All over the world one could see the psychological and physical damage inflicted upon children enrolled in armed groups and armed forces.

Regarding a comment from the press about a breach of an embargo on a UNICEF report on Libya on 27 February, Mr. Boulierac said that he noted the press’ wish to receive, in the future, an email informing about the breach of an embargo.

Famine warning in Africa

Joel Millman, for the International Organization for Migration (IOM), said that over 20 million people in South Sudan, Somalia, Yemen and northeast Nigeria were facing extreme levels of food insecurity. Severe drought conditions, conflict, insecurity, extreme violence and/or economic degradation, had led to famine in certain areas of each country, putting millions of people’s lives at risk and forcing millions to move in search of food and water.

“Inaction could mean the starvation of millions,” Mohammed Abdiker, IOM’s Director of Operations and Emergencies, had said. “IOM and partners need vital resources to continue to help those facing drought, food insecurity and famine. We have an opportunity to stop famine from spreading and affecting more and more people throughout these four countries and others, but only if we move fast,” he had added.

Famine had been declared in parts of South Sudan on 20 February 2017 due to conflict and insecurity, suggesting that as many as 100,000 people might be at risk. Without access to timely humanitarian aid, famine was likely to spread throughout the country. IOM was working with the UN World Food Programme (WFP) to biometrically register vulnerable populations in Panyijiar, a county on the verge of famine, to inform humanitarian response planning and distributions for those areas. The number of people facing severe food insecurity was expected to reach 5.5 million in July, the height of the lean season. (The current number was 4.9 million).

In South Sudan, one in every four people had been forced from his or her home due to the crisis that had broken out in December 2013. Some 1.89 million were internally displaced in the country and 1.37 million had fled to neighbouring countries.

In Somalia, the humanitarian situation was rapidly deteriorating and the likelihood of famine was increasing. Food and water shortages, due to drought conditions, were forcing pastoral communities to move in search of water and pasture. Mogadishu and Awdal had received more than 8,000 individuals each from drought-affected areas.

Between 1 January and 26 February 2017, 138,000 individuals had become internally displaced. The number of people moving across the border to Ethiopia, to seek food and services, was also increasing. More information was available in the briefing note.

In response to a question, Olivia Headdon, for the International Organization for Migration (IOM), said that in general, access to certain areas of South Sudan affected by the conflict had been an issue over the past few years, as highlighted by the Humanitarian Coordinator’s statement. Ms. Headdon confirmed that IOM worked with Governments as much as possible to deliver aid.

Jens Laerke, for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said that there was only one famine declared as of today, in South Sudan, and the other three situations were famine alerts. Mr. Laerke said that in a statement, the Humanitarian Coordinator in South Sudan was urgently calling for increased access to people in need. In several recent incidents, humanitarian work had been hindered. Most recently, 28 humanitarians had been forced to relocate from Mayiendit county in Unity State, one of the two counties hit by the declared famine, due to insecurity.

Mr. Laerke also said that in Oslo on 24 February, a major conference on the Lake Chad basin had taken place, focused very much on the situation in northeast Nigeria, where there was a famine alert. The conference had seen pledges from 14 donors for some USD 458 million for 2017 alone, plus an additional USD 214 million for 2018 and beyond. A total of USD 672 million had been pledged at the conference to the entirety of the Lake Chad basin, which included Cameroon, Niger, Chad and northeast Nigeria, but a lot of the funds would go to the response in northeast Nigeria.

Mr. Laerke added that in his statement, the Humanitarian Coordinator in South Sudan welcomed the President’s reassurance last week that all humanitarian organizations would have unimpeded access to needy populations across the country. Time was of the essence, and lives were in the balance, so it was critical that those words and reassurances of access be translated into concrete actions on the ground immediately.

In response to further questions, Mr. Laerke said that there was a mechanism whereby the high-level steering committee, which Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Stephen O’Brien and UNDP Administrator Helen Clark were part of, would meet frequently. Mr. O’Brien was very much preoccupied by the situation. He was currently in Yemen, one of the countries where there was a famine alert, and would thereafter visit Somalia, where there was another famine alert. It was extremely high on his agenda. Mr. Laerke also said that looking back at what had been said publicly over the past months, not least by the humanitarian coordinators in those countries, one would see that there had been increasingly vociferous advocacy towards donors to fund the programmes in the countries concerned, and to parties to the armed conflicts in those countries, pleading for unhindered access. The UN had been very vocal about the issue and had been conducting a significant amount of humanitarian diplomacy behind the scenes. He also said that the term of famine was a technical designation that could be applied once people were starting to die. Three countries were on the brink of famine but the situation could be turned around if the funding for the programmes designed for those countries came in.

Answering a question, Ms. Vellucci added that the UN had always been alerting the world about situations that could lead to a famine, and there had been no change in policy on that point. If the international community responded faster when the word famine was being used, that was dramatic as it meant that people were already dying. The very low amount of funds pledged for many other humanitarian crises showed donor fatigue, and it was necessary to fight against that trend.

United States

In response to questions regarding the perspective of a hypothetical scaleback in funding from the United States, Mr. Laerke for OCHA said that the UN was trying to raise funds across the board with all donors. That would continue. He was unaware of any concrete cuts anywhere at this point in time, and it remained to be seen what the US administration proposed as a way forward.

Mr. Laerke also said that he would get back to the press with information on the proportion of the funding for humanitarian appeals that the US accounted for. The US had always been a very significant humanitarian donor. Individual agencies should be asked directly about the proportion of direct US funding going to them. There was also direct bilateral funding, Government to Government, from the US and other donors. That was outside the purview of the appeals but the UN did its best to track it. Mr. Millman added that the US was IOM’s largest single donor and that it had accounted for 26 and 27 per cent of funding in 2015 and 2016 respectively. It was not a fixed number and much of it was project-driven.

Iraq

Mr. Millman for IOM said that the operation against ISIL in western Mosul was underway and there were new IOM figures on displacement in Iraq, as well as more details on the displaced, including a ten-day-old girl who appeared to have lost both her parents in a bombing. There were many reports describing who the 164,000 people displaced from Mosul were, which directions they were heading to and how they were being cared for.

Mediterranean update

Mr. Millman for IOM said that 16,775 migrants and refugees entered Europe by sea in 2017 through 26 February, almost entirely to Italy. In 2016, a much higher number had been reported because of the traffic to Greece. This year’s numbers to Italy were much higher than it had usually been the case in the winter. Mr. Millman said that this morning there had been 13 more deaths registered, one in Spain and twelve bodies found in a grave in Libya.

Regarding the high number of deaths reported in Libyan waters in 2017, Mr. Millman said that out of the total of 486 deaths reported for 2017 in the Mediterranean, some 248 had been reported in Libyan waters. Those were only known because of the activity of the Libyan Red Crescent and the Libyan coast guard. IOM had not been getting access to that information before 2017. That raised the question about how many more could have died in Libya in recent years without being reported or corroborated. Hundreds of people were also dying before they ever got near patrol boats, which mitigated the theory expressed by some that the rescue operation in Europe could be considered as a “pull factor”.

Syria

Ms. Vellucci said that the Special Envoy for Syria was continuing his consultations today and would meet with the Government of Syria representatives around 3 p.m. There would be a photo opportunity around Door 13. There would also be a pool for the photo spray at the meeting.

This afternoon there would be a stakeout by the Office of the Special Envoy for Syria and the timing would be confirmed shortly.

Geneva Events and Announcements

Hans Von Rohland, for the International Labour Organization (ILO), announced the launch of an ILO-Gallup report for International Women’s Day on 8 March. The report was titled “Towards a Better Future for Women and Work: Voices of Women and Men” and was based on a global Gallup survey conducted in 142 countries representing 98 per cent of the world population. The report would be under embargo until 8 March at 3 a.m. Geneva time. The launch would take place on 8 March at the Gallup headquarters in Washington D.C., with a round table discussion. There would not be a press conference in Washington D.C. It would be possible to interview an ILO expert in Geneva on 3 March. The press release and all materials should be ready by 3 March and there would be an embargoed website. Mr. Von Rohland would try to send the press release beforehand, perhaps on 2 March.

Ms. Vellucci added that the 2017 International Women’s Day theme would focus on “Women and in the changing world of work: Planet 50/50 by 2030”.

Ms. Vellucci also announced a press conference by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) on 3 March at 10 a.m. in Room III on the launch of "Women in parliament in 2016: The year in review" ahead of International Women´s Day on 8 March. The speaker would be Kareen Jabre, Director of Programmes, IPU.

Ms. Vellucci announced on behalf of UNAIDS that for Zero Discrimination Day on 1 March, UNAIDS had developed a campaign urging people to “make some noise” around zero discrimination, to speak up and prevent discrimination from standing in the way of access to health services. Data showed that one in eight people living with HIV reported being denied health care and around 60 per cent of European countries reported that stigma and discrimination among health care professionals remained a barrier to the provision of HIV services for men who had sex with men and people injecting drugs. UNAIDS had developed an agenda for zero discrimination in health care settings and was asking everyone to support this year’s campaign. A press release on this topic would be sent out by UNAIDS.

Christian Lindmeier, for the World Health Organization (WHO), reminded the press of an embargoed press briefing on 2 March at 2 p.m. in Press Room 1, on two new reports on the environment sector released by the WHO: “Inheriting a sustainable world: Atlas on children’s health and the environment” and “Don’t pollute my future! The impact of the environment on children’s health.” The reports would be under embargo until 6 March at 00:01 GMT (London time) and 01:01 CET (Geneva time). The speakers would be Maria Neira, WHO Director, Department of Public Health, Environmental and Social Determinants of Health, Annette Prüss-Ustün, Scientist, WHO Department of Public Health, Environmental and Social Determinants of Health, and Marie-Noel Brune Drisse, Technical Officer, Department of Public Health, Environmental and Social Determinants of Health.

Mr. Lindmeier also said that this week the bi-annual WHO consultation and information meeting on the composition of the influenza virus vaccines had started. A virtual press briefing would be organized on 1 March with two experts from the China CDC and the US CDC, as well as the Head of the WHO’s Global Influenza Programme. Mr. Lindmeier would try to have the time of the briefing changed to 4 p.m. to avoid conflicts with the press conference by the Commission of Inquiry on Syria.

Ms. Vellucci announced that Amina Mohammed, the new UN Deputy Secretary-General would be formally taking office today. She would have a swearing in ceremony in New York, after which she would address the Economic and Social Council at 10 a.m. New York time in her first official engagement. She might also give a press conference today in New York.

Ms. Vellucci said that the Conference on Disarmament would continue today its High-Level segment, which had started on 27 February. This morning, the Conference would hear the declarations of high-level officials from 11 countries and this afternoon, four other countries. The list of countries and the level of the speakers was available.

Ms. Vellucci announced that the Committee for the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), would be meeting this week in private, until the end of its 66^th session, on 3 March, following which it would publish its final observations on the reports of the eight countries reviewed during the session, which were Ukraine, Ireland, Jordan, El Salvador, Germany, Sri Lanka, Rwanda and Micronesia.