REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Marie Heuzé, the Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired the biweekly press briefing, which provided information on the Secretary-General’s programme in Geneva and travels to Rome and Oslo, the annual session of the Commission on Human Rights in Geneva, payments made by the United Nations Compensation Commission, three press conferences (on the Marburg disease outbreak in Angola, WIPO’s development agenda and International Roma Day), a donor conference for Sudan in Oslo, the situation in Darfur, a new report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), among other issues.

Spokespersons of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) participated in the briefing. A spokesperson from the World Health Organization (WHO) also attended but had no announcements to make.

Programme of the Secretary-General

Ms. Heuzé opened the briefing by confirming that the Secretary-General would attend the funeral of Pope John Paul II in Rome today, as a result of which the meeting of the United Nations System Chief Executives Board (CEB) for Coordination, originally scheduled to take place on Friday and Saturday, 8 and 9 April 2005, would not begin until tomorrow, 9 April. An inaugural dinner, offered by H.E. Ms. Micheline Calmy-Rey, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Switzerland, would be held this evening. The CEB met twice a year, under the chairmanship of the Secretary-General, and was attended by the heads of the UN specialized agencies, the Bretton Woods Institutions, the UN International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the World Trade Organization (WTO) and UN funds and programmes.

Ms. Heuzé said that the Secretary-General’s statement to the Commission on Human Rights had been made available yesterday to the press in all six official languages.

Geneva activities

Ms. Heuzé drew the attention of journalists to a press release issued yesterday on the United Nations Compensation Commission, which had made available payments of US$ 195 million in compensation, as approved by its Governing Council session held from 8 to 10 March 2005.

The meeting of the Group of Friends of the Secretary-General on Georgia was concluding today. Jean-Marie Guéhenno, Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, chaired the meeting.

Press conferences

Ms. Heuzé reminded journalists of a press conference at 11:30 a.m., immediately following the press briefing, organized by the World Health Organization (WHO), to provide an update on the Marburg epidemic in Angola. Dr. Mike Ryan, Director, Alert and Response Operations, WHO, would brief the press.

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) would have a press conference at 3:00 p.m. today, in Press Room 1, to provide a background briefing on the Inter-sessional Intergovernmental Meeting on a Development Agenda for WIPO. Speakers would include Geoffrey Yu, Deputy Director General of WIPO, and Sherif Saadallah, Executive Director, Office of Strategic Use of Intellectual Property for Development, WIPO.

International Roma Day would be the subject of a press conference organized by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) today at 2:00 p.m. in Room III. IOM would provide further details later in the briefing.

Human Rights

Commission on Human Rights:

David Chikvaidze, Media Liaison Officer for the 61st session of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR), informed journalists that the Expanded Bureau of the Commission on Human Rights had met last night. It had decided to have an informal meeting on the reform report of the Secretary-General on Tuesday, 12 April, from 9:00 am to 12:00 noon, in Room XVIII. The purpose of the meeting was to focus on the report of the Secretary-General - insofar as the future of the Commission on Human Rights was concerned - in an informal setting. In terms of time allocation, 150 minutes would be made available to Member States and Government Observers. The time would be divided between regional groups in proportion to the numbers of seats in the CHR. NGOs would be allocated up to 30 minutes, priority being given to joint statements. The deadline for inscription on the list of speakers was Monday, 11 April, 3:00 p.m. The Commission would hold an additional meeting that day, during the lunch period. Following the informal meeting on Tuesday morning, the Commission would move back to Room XVII to continue its normal programme of work, from 12 noon to 6:00 p.m. A brief non-paper on the modalities was available in the back of the room.

Mr. Chikvaidze said that the Expanded Bureau had also discussed the issue of time management. There was a delay in the schedule but it was not dramatic. Based on past experience, there was a good chance that the slack would be picked up closer to the end of the session.

Turning to the Order of the Day, Mr. Chikvaidze said that this morning, the Commission had concluded its general debate under agenda item 12 entitled “Integration of the human rights of women and a gender perspective”. Immediately afterwards, the Commission had begun its consideration of agenda item 13, entitled “Rights of the Child”. The Commission had held an interactive dialogue with Mr. Juan Miguel Petit, Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography. The Commission had also heard a presentation (without interactive dialogue) by Mr. Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, Independent Expert in charge of the Secretary-General’s study on the violence against children. As there were three sessions today (9:00 am to 6:00 pm), discussion on agenda item 13 would continue throughout lunchtime. At 3:00 pm, agenda item 3 would be opened for the interactive dialogue of Mr. Emmanuel A. Addo, Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in the Sudan. After the consideration of item 3 was exhausted, discussion of item 13 would continue. The deadline for the tabling of draft resolutions and decisions under agenda item 8 had been set at 3:00 pm today.

Mr. Chikvaidze said that seven new resolutions had been tabled in the course of the week:
§ Cuba had submitted draft resolution E/CN.4/2005/L.7 on "The work of the Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights" (item 16). There were no co-sponsors.
§ Malaysia (on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement and China) had submitted a draft resolution on "Human rights and unilateral coercive measures" (E/CN.4/2005/L.8) under item 10.
§ Also from Malaysia (on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement and China), was draft resolution E/CN.4/2005/L.9 on "The right to development" (item 7).
§ Pakistan (on behalf of the OIC) had submitted draft resolution E/CN.4/2005/L.12 on "Combating defamation of religions", under item 6.
§ Ethiopia (on behalf of the African Group) had tabled a draft resolution under item 6 on "World Conference against racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance and the comprehensive implementation of and follow-up to the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action" (E/CN.4/2005/L.13).
§ A draft resolution on "Inadmissibility of certain practices that contribute to fuelling contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance" (E/CN.4/2005/L.14) had been received yesterday under item 6. The Russian Federation had presented the draft resolution, with Belarus and Cuba as co-sponsors.
§ Finally, draft resolution E/CN.4/2005/L.15 (item 8), entitled “Human rights in the occupied Syrian Golan”, had been received yesterday.

Yesterday the Commission had adopted a draft Statement of the Chairperson on "Question of Western Sahara", which said that "The Commission of Human Rights decided, without a vote, to defer consideration of the matter to its sixty-second session under the same agenda item".

Two draft resolutions had been voted on yesterday afternoon, the former L.5 – Opt - (passed by 49Y; 1N; 2Abs); and L.6 – Mercenaries - (35Y; 15 N; 2 Abs), terminating the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the use of mercenaries and setting up a Working Group on the issue. All voting records were immediately put on the Extranet.

Turning to upcoming events, Mr. Chikvaidze said that the High Commissioner would participate in a panel discussion on 12 April on the subject of “Human Rights Violations and Remedies in the HIV & AIDS Epidemic”. The panel, which would take place in Room XXVII from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m., was organized by OHCHR, UNAIDS, Human Rights Watch and the Permanent Mission of Poland.

Journalists were informed of two press conferences, by Philip Alston, Special Rapporteur on extarjudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, today at 12 noon; and by Rodolfo Stavenhagen, Special Rapporteur on the situation for human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous people, on Monday, 11 April, at 2:30 p.m.

In reply to a question on how the process of reforming the Commission and/or reconstituting it as a Human Rights Council would proceed, whether it would remain in Geneva or move to New York and on possible timeframes, Mr. Chikvaidze replied that the Secretary-General had provided specific recommendations for his vision of the need to reform the UN human rights machinery; the issue was now entirely in the hands of the Member States.

In response to a question on the expected outcomes of the Informal meeting on the Secretary-General’s report, Mr. Chikvaidze noted that the Expanded Bureau of the CHR had decided that no outcome of the meeting would be expected.

Sudan

Ms. Heuzé said that the Secretary-General would leave Geneva on Sunday and travel to Oslo to address, on Monday, the opening of a donor conference for Sudan, organized by the Norwegian Government. The Secretary-General’s statement would be available on Monday morning, with an embargo until 10 a.m.

Ron Redmond of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said that Acting High Commissioner Wendy Chamberlin would arrive in Oslo on Sunday to attend the donor conference before traveling to the region the following week to get a first-hand look at UNHCR’s operations for refugees and displaced people from Darfur. In Oslo, Ms. Chamberlin would brief donors on UNHCR’s urgent funding needs. UNHCR was seeking US$ 60 million for its return and reintegration programme in south Sudan, but so far less than US$ 5 million had been received. Some 550,000 refugees and an estimated 4 million internally displaced people from south Sudan remained uprooted. Mr. Redmond referred journalists to a briefing note for additional information.

Damien Personnaz of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said that roughly two years had now passed since the conflict in Darfur had begun and that, from the point of view of UNICEF, the next 18 months were likely to be very difficult for three main reasons. First, the conflict remained unresolved. Second, due to the security situation, UNICEF only had access to 5-10% of the territories and one-third of the 6 million inhabitants of the three Darfur provinces. Finally, while most of the inhabitants of the many camps in Darfur had received basic necessities, not enough had been achieved to ensure their protection. Given the security situation, it would be difficult to have an impact in that area.

Mr. Personnaz said that a severe drought was becoming more and more problematic and that normally, at this time of year, the rains would have begun. Four million people were threatened by a lack of food security; 1.4 million children had been directly affected by the conflict; and 1 million children under the age of 5 were in danger of malnutrition. Mr. Peronnaz added that troops from the African Union had received little support. Finally, in the area of funding, UNICEF had received 30% of the US$ 135 million it had requested for Darfur-specific activities. If additional funds were not received by June, many programmes, particularly costly water programmes, would have to be cut.

Marburg disease in Angola

Elizabeth Byrs of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) drew the attention of journalists to a flash funding appeal launched yesterday by the United Nations for the Marburg hemmorrhagic fever outbreak in Angola, copies of which were available at the back of the room. The appeal had been launched at the initiative of donors themselves. It was a joint United Nations appeal, launched under the direction of the Angolan Government, on behalf of WHO, UNICEF and WFP, as well as NGOs such as the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. The appeal for US$ 3.5 million covered a period of three months, from April to June 2005. Ms. Byrs said that US$ 3 million had already been provided by the Angolan Government for the control of the outbreak. The Government of Italy had given US$ 200,000 to UNICEF; EC/ECHO had given 100,000 Euros to Medecins Sans Frontieres and would be given an additional 450,000 Euros to WHO. Additional contributions were also expected.

Other

Michael Williams of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) drew the attention of journalists to a press advisory on the launch of a new report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which would be released on Monday, 11 April. The report addressed an interesting problem faced in the effort to protect the Ozone Layer, which required phasing out ozone-depleting substances and replacing them with new chemicals. The problem was that while these new chemicals were friendly to the Ozone Layer, they were also greenhouse gases. By solving one problem, the depletion of the Ozone Layer, “we are contributing to another problem, namely Climate Change”. Mr. Williams said that the report would be launched on the IPCC (www.ipcc.ch) website on Monday. There would be no press briefing on the launch but experts around the world would be available to journalists. A press release would be available on Monday in English and French.

Mr. Williams then informed journalists that there would be press briefing at noon on Tuesday, 12 April, in Room III, on the subject of the worsening crisis facing the wild tigers in India. India had the largest population of tigers but even there only several thousand animals were thought to still exist and there were reports indicating that their numbers were plummeting. Willem Wijnstekers, Secretary-General of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), would brief journalists on his letter to the Prime Minister of India requesting a personal audience in order to discuss more fully what CITES could do to help the tiger and prevent poaching.

Mr. Redmond of UNHCR said that UNHCR warmly welcomed the granting of New Zealand citizenship today to 76 refugees who were among those rescued at sea by Norwegian freighter MV Tampa off the coast of Australia in August 2001. The group included 37 unaccompanied teenagers who became affectionately dubbed ‘The Tampa Boys’ by New Zealand officials who cared for them when they were subsequently accepted as refugees by New Zealand. Overall, New Zealand had accepted 208 Afghan refugees from the Tampa.

On Kosovo, Mr. Redmond said that UNHCR had just issued a new position paper aimed at guiding states and others involved in making decisions about whether individuals from Kosovo should receive international protection in the asylum country, or could be returned to Kosovo. This was the latest in a series of similar position papers issued periodically since the 1999 Kosovo crisis. Among the paper’s recommendations was that Kosovo Serb, Roma and ethnic Albanians living in a minority situation should continue to benefit from international protection in asylum countries and that returns should only take place on a strictly voluntary basis.

Jean-Philippe Chauzy of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said that on the occasion of the International Roma Day, IOM was organizing a press conference today at 2:00 p.m. in Room III. The briefing would focus on the plight of Roma Holocaust Survivors, who receive humanitarian assistance from IOM. Since 2002, the IOM, together with local partners including many Roma NGOs, had helped more than 64,000 Roma victims of the Holocaust in 14 countries receive basic life sustaining assistance such as food, firewood, coal and hygiene articles, as well as legal and medical assistance. This humanitarian programme was believed to be the only one of its kind.

Lucy Rickett of the World Trade Organization (WTO) gave a brief overview of next week’s agenda at WTO. On Wednesday, 13 April 2005, negotiations on agriculture would recommence and there would be a press briefing on the subject during the course of the week. On Monday, 11 April, negotiations on anti-dumping and subsidies would recommence. On Thursday, 14 April, there would be a press conference at noon in Room III at the Palais des Nations to introduce a new report, World Trade 2004 and Prospects for 2005. On Friday, 15 April, there would be a meeting on the membership negotiations of the Russian Federation. The programme of the Director-General of WTO, Mr. Supachai Panitchpakdi, would include a meeting on Monday, 11 April with the actor Colin Firth and representatives of Oxfam on the subject of Oxfam’s campaign on fair trade. There would be a photo opportunity outside the Director-General’s office at 3:30 p.m. Finally, the Director-General would participate in an FAO meeting in Rome on Wednesday, 13 April, on agricultural trade and food security.


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