REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Marie Heuzé, the Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired the briefing which provided information on new documents in the press room, Geneva activities and other issues. Spokespersons for and representatives of the World Health Organization, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees, the World Economic Forum and the International Organization for Migration participated in the briefing.

At the beginning of the meeting, Mrs. Heuzé welcomed a group of German journalism students who were attending the press briefing.

New Documents in the Press Room

Mrs. Heuzé said there were a number of new documents in the press room. They included the statement by the Secretary-General to the General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna which was delivered on his behalf by the
Under-Secretary-General for Disarmament Affairs Nobuyasu Abe. In the message, the Secretary-General said that this month’s World Summit was “a failure” when it came to dealing with disarmament and nuclear non-proliferation. He encouraged all countries to support the initiative of a group of States led by Norway to chart a way forward on those issues.

Another new document was the statement by the Secretary-General in which he expressed his alarm at the escalation of violence between Israel and armed Palestinian factions in recent days, which risked stymieing efforts to seize the momentum generated by Israel’s withdrawal of settlements from Gaza and the northern West Bank.

Geneva Activities

Mrs. Heuzé said 5,637 persons visited the Palais des Nations on Sunday, 25 September within the context of the "Diplomat for a Day" event which had been very successful. The visitors had toured the Palais, and those who also visited the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Villa La Pastorale had received a "diplomatic bag" which had been provided by the Geneva authorities.

Today, interested journalists could still see some of the paintings painted by 60 artists and around 200 children from around the world on the theme "Caravan of Peace from the Land of Peace". This event had been organized by the Mission of the Kingdom of Bahrain as part of the "Diplomat for a Day" activities.

Another event related to the sixtieth anniversary of the United Nations was the upcoming concert on 8 October by Senegalese artist Youssou N'Dour. Mr. N'Dour had spoken to journalists yesterday about what had motivated him to help set up the "Youssou N'Dour and Friends: United against Malaria" concert. For journalists who had not attended the briefing, there were copies of a comprehensive press kit on the concert at the back of the room.

Mrs. Heuzé said the Commission on Human Rights was today holding an informal meeting in Salle XVIII. Copies of the statement by High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour were already in the press room.

The Committee on the Rights of the Child would be concluding its session on Friday, 30 September. Today, the Committee was meeting in private to discuss its conclusions on country reports already considered during the session. She had tried to arrange for the Chairperson of the Committee, Jacob Egebert Doek, to attend the briefing, but he had not been able to come. However journalists would be meeting with him in a briefing on Friday. The Committee would be considering the periodic report of the Russian Federation on Wednesday, 28 September.

PrepCom 3 for the second phase of the World Summit on the Information Society was continuing its work in Salle XXII. Its meetings were public. Mrs. Heuzé reminded journalists that highlights of the discussions were prepared daily. Mr. Nitin Desai would be available for an informal briefing, probably on Thursday, 29 September, on the discussions on the issue of Internet governance which was the main contentious issue.

The Governing Council of the United Nations Compensation Commission was today starting a three-day session. There would be a briefing and a press release around 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, 29 September.

In conclusion, Mrs. Heuzé said Jean Fabre of the United Nations Development Programme was reminding journalists that the First Geneva Dialogue on Trade Policy would be held in Yverdon from 29 September to 1 October. The dialogue entitled "Preparing trade negotiators for pro-poor outcomes in forthcoming trade agreements", would be conducted by Kamal Malhotra, UNDP Senior Advisor on Inclusive Globalization who was based in New York; Yash Tandon, Director of the South Centre who was based in Geneva; and Manuel F. Montes, Regional Programme Coordinator from the UNDP Regional Centre who was based in Colombo. There would be a briefing about the dialogue held at 11 a.m. on Thursday in Salle III at the Palais. A press release with more details would also be available.

Other

Fadela Chaib of the World Health Organization said that at 11:30 a.m. today in Salle III, there would be a briefing to update journalists on the cholera outbreaks in West Africa and Afghanistan. It would be conducted by Claire-Lise Chaignat, WHO Global Cholera Coordinator. Available was a fact sheet on cholera. Ms. Chaib said a technical meeting had started yesterday at WHO on drug safety and it would conclude on Thursday, 29 September. Available was a fact sheet on the topic.

Next week, Ms. Chaib said, WHO would be publishing a global report on chronic diseases. The report, titled "Preventing Chronic Diseases: a vital investment", would be presented by JoAnne Epping-Jordan, Senior Programme Adviser, Chronic Diseases and Health Promotion, WHO; and Rogert Beaglehole, Director, Chronic Diseases and Health Promotion, WHO. There would be a press conference at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 October. Copies of the embargoed report and the press release would be available in the next few days. Geneva was the only launch for this important report.

Elizabeth Byrs of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said that Jan Egeland, the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, would be briefing journalists about the humanitarian situation in different regions including Darfur and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea at 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday, 28 September.

Ron Redmond of the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees said that last week, UNHCR had started the repatriation of some 1,500 Chadian refugees who had been staying in the Central African Republic over the past two decades. So far, 609 Chadians had been returned in two convoys. The repatriation operation should be completed by early October. Continuing insecurity in the north of the Central African Republic over the past several months had now prompted the refugees to return to Chad.

Mr. Redmond said UNHCR had just issued its latest advisory regarding the return of Iraqis to their homeland. Copies of this advisory were available at the back of the room. Noting that the security situation in much of Iraq had shown no improvement and had actually deteriorated in many places, UNHCR was concerned that some States were considering the withdrawal of protection afforded generally to asylum seekers from Iraq. UNHCR encouraged governments to postpone the introduction of measures which were intended to promote or induce voluntary returns for persons originating from southern or central Iraq.

In response to a question about the vote in the Swiss Parliament yesterday to deny the right to claim asylum to people without papers, Mr. Redmond said UNHCR had reiterated at numerous times its serious concerns relating to some of the provisions contained in this law and it had provided detailed comments to the Swiss authorities. UNHCR was disappointed that despite the fact that the number of asylum applications in Switzerland had been falling steadily and was now at its lowest since 1987, new restrictive legislation was being adopted which could make access to asylum procedures exceedingly difficult for genuine refugees. UNHCR was particularly concerned about provisions that would limit the right to asylum to people with no identity documents. It was often not possible for people fleeing for their lives to obtain travel documents. This provision was amongst the strictest in Europe.

Yann Zopf of the World Economic Forum said that the Forum would tomorrow be launching the "Global Competitiveness Report 2005-2006" which ranked 117 countries. The report was embargoed until 3 p.m. Geneva time on Wednesday.

Jennifer Blanke of the World Economic Forum said the Forum had been studying national competitiveness and producing reports on it since 1979. The aim of the reports was to provide insight into why some countries grew up sustainably and were able to provide prosperity for their citizens over time, while others were not able to do so. The Forum looked at a wide range of factors to see what were the key determinants that led to sustained growth and prosperity. The Nordic countries were consolidating their position at the top of the rankings. These countries were extremely competitive, sharing a number of characteristics including very stable macro-economic environments, fiscally responsible governments, an institutional environment which was extremely transparent and efficient, and a business community which was extremely aggressive in adopting new technologies and creating a culture of innovation. Finland was number one, and the United States came in second in the rankings.

Jean-Philippe Chauzy of the International Organization for Migration said an IOM charter flight carrying some of the last Vietnamese boat people destined for resettlement in the United States arrived in Los Angeles on Monday, 26 September. This group of 229 refugees was part of some 1,600 stateless Vietnamese refugees in the Philippines expected to be approved by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services and to depart for resettlement over the next four to six months.

Mr. Chauzy said according to an IOM-Danish survey just finished, fighting in northern Uganda had displaced just over 41,000 people in one district alone in the past year. Attacks by the rebel Lords Resistance Army on refugee settlements and villages had led to a permanent insecure living environment. At least 1.4 million people had been displaced in northern Uganda during the conflict.


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