REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE
Marie Heuzé, Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired the briefing, which was attended by spokespersons for the United Nations Children’s Fund, the World Health Organization, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the International Organization for Migration, and the World Trade Organization.
Human Rights Council
In New York, the General Assembly had resumed consultations on the Human Rights Council Wednesday under the chairmanship of Jan Eliasson, the President of the General Assembly. According to the Spokesman of the President of the General Assembly, the consultations had produced encouraging results. The General Assembly’s two Vice-Presidents, Ambassador Dumisani Kumalo of South Africa and Ambassador Ricardo Arias of Panama, would continue informal consultations with individual Member States or small groups of countries on three priority issues: the size of the Council, its composition and the method of adoption of country-specific resolutions. Consultations at the level of the General Assembly would continue at a later date.
Geneva Meetings
Ms. Heuzé announced that the Commission on Human Rights would meet on Monday, 16 January 2006, in a public meeting at the Palais des Nations (Room XVIII) to elect the Bureau of the Commission for its upcoming session in March 2006. It had been agreed that the chairman of the Bureau would be from Peru, and the vice-chairmen from Armenia (representing Eastern Europe), from the Republic of Congo, and from a Western European country still to be determined. The rapporteur would be from Asia, from a country still to be determined.
The Intergovernmental Working Group on the Effective Implementation of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action would meet in Room XXI from 16 to 27 January 2006. This would be the fourth session of the Working Group. The Agenda and Programme of Work of the meeting were available at the back of the room.
The Committee on the Rights of the Child had opened its current session on 9 January 2006 and would conclude on 27 January. These meetings were also public. Fifteen States would be presenting reports before the Committee: Switzerland, Bangladesh, Kazakhstan, Morocco, Peru, Ghana, Liechtenstein, Andorra, Trinidad and Tobago, Hungary, Lithuania, Azerbaijan, Mauritius, Saudi Arabia and Thailand. Press releases would be available on each session of the Committee.
Ms. Heuzé announced that the first part of the 2006 session of the Conference on Disarmament would begin on 23 January 2006 and would last for a period of 10 weeks, until 31 March 2006. Poland would be presiding over the session.
The Working Group on the Draft UN Declaration on the Right of Indigenous Peoples would meet from 30 January to 3 February 2006 in Room XVIII . The meeting was public.
The Open-ended working group to consider options regarding the elaboration of an Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights would meet from 6 to 17 February 2006. A provisional agenda was available at the back of the room.
The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination would hold its 68th session at the Palais des Nations from 20 February to 10 March 2006. The following States would be presenting reports: Mexico, Lithuania, Bosnia Herzegovina, Israel, Guatemala, El Salvador, Uzbekistan, South Africa, Guyana and Botswana.
Ms. Heuzé said that a number of other meetings were on the agenda and that a note providing the dates and additional details would be circulated to the press.
Director-General
Ms. Heuzé said that at the request of the Secretary-General, Sergei Ordzhonikidze, Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva, had attended the inauguration of the second term of President Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan in Astana on Wednesday 11 January 2006. The Director-General had also met with the President and the Foreign Minister of Kazakhstan. He would return to Geneva today.
Avian influenza
Fadéla Chaib of the World Health Organization (WHO) said that an update on the avian influenza situation in Turkey had been released the previous evening, 12 January 2006, on the WHO website (www.who.int). Summarizing its contents, Ms. Chaib said that the Turkish Ministry of Health was now reporting 18 laboratory-confirmed cases of avian influenza, of which three, all from the same family, had been fatal. It had now been confirmed that it was the H5 subtype of avian influenza that had caused their deaths. Human cases had been reported from nine of the country’s 81 provinces. Arrangements had been made to send specimens from several patients to a collaborating laboratory in London, the United Kingdom, for further analysis. The head of the laboratory was now in Ankara to help expedite the testing of samples. All available evidence indicated that no sustained human-to-human transmission had occurred. Contact with infected birds was the principal source of infection. The risk of infection for travellers to Turkey was considered negligible provided direct contact with dead or diseased birds was avoided. The present WHO level of pandemic alert remained unchanged, at phase 3.
Ms. Chaib said that the laboratory in London had yesterday reported to WHO a small mutation in one of the two viruses it had studied. It was too soon to say what the significance of this finding would be for human health. Further testing would be required.
Ms. Chaib concluded by recalling that a pledging conference on avian and human influenza would be taking place in Beijing on 17-18 January 2005, organized by the Chinese government, the European Commission and the World Bank. The purpose of the conference was to determine how much money was needed to assist countries to tackle the virus. The Director-General of WHO would attend the conference.
A number of journalists noted that they had repeatedly requested briefings by WHO experts on avian influenza to no avail. Considering that WHO was based in Geneva, it was regrettable that it had not been possible to arrange a single press briefing or press conference. Ms. Chaib said that she would convey the request.
Sudanese refugees
Ron Redmond of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) informed journalists about a milestone tripartite agreement that UNHCR had signed with Sudan and Kenya that set out the roles and obligations of each side in helping South Sudanese refugees go home from Kenya, where they had received protection for the past 14 years. The agreement, signed in Nairobi on 12 January 2006, was the first of seven tripartite agreements that UNHCR expected to sign with countries neighbouring Sudan that would clear the way for up to 70,000 refugees to return to South Sudan in the first half of this year. In all, the neighbouring countries hosted 550,000 South Sudanese. There were also up to 5 million internally displaced people in Sudan.
Mr. Redmond said that UNCHR teams were continuing to work around the clock in an attempt to properly assess the status of the Sudanese ex-demonstrators still remaining in detention in Cairo, Egypt, and who were threatened with deportation. On Wednesday, 164 Sudanese asylum seekers and refugees and holders of UNHCR registration cards had been released by the Egyptian authorities upon UNHCR’s recommendation. The Egyptian government had allowed UNHCR until Sunday to assess the status of the remaining 463 Sudanese in two prisons and one military camp. While UNHCR had sought a one-month extension to carry out a thorough review, it had been given one additional week. UNHCR so far had not received any guarantees from the Egyptian government that, as UNHCR had requested, no one would be deported. Among the recommendations that UNHCR had made was the immediate release of all women and children. Additional information on both issues was available in a briefing note at the back of the room.
A journalist asked what actions UNHCR had undertaken in the preceding months to try to resolve the situation of the Sudanese refugees in Cairo. Mr. Redmond said that UNHCR representatives had met and provided assistance to the refugees in the park practically every day during the preceding three-month period. Finally on 17 December 2005, UNHCR had managed to reach an agreement with the Sudanese in which the leaders of the demonstration acknowledged that mass resettlement to a third country was not realistic. However, the agreement had been rejected by the people in the square.
2006 Humanitarian Appeal
Elizabeth Byrs of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said that more than 130 participants representing 80 Member States had attended the “Programme Kick-off” for the 2006 Humanitarian Appeal, held on Thursday, 12 January 2006, at the Palais des Nations. Although a substantial number of pledges had been made, it was regrettable that pledges of no more than $1 million had been made for countries that were historically under funded, such as Central African Republic, Côte d’Ivoire and Guinea.
The pledges made included more than $105.8 million for Sudan, more than $36.4 million for the Democratic Republic of the Congo, $20.3 out of the $222.6 million required for Uganda, and $13.7 million out of the $276.3 million required for Zimbabwe. Further details were available in a press release available at the back of the room. There had also been good news for Pakistan. Contributions totalling $308.9 million, representing approximately 56% of the $550 million requested, had been received.
Other
Damien Personnaz of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) announced a press conference that would take place in Room III on Monday, 23 January 2006, at 2 p.m. to launch a UNICEF report on neglected emergencies, i.e. emergencies that did not receive adequate attention from donors or the media. This would be the third time that the report was issued. Daniel Toole, UNICEF’s Chief of Emergencies, would be the featured speaker. The report would be made available in English and French the press briefing on Friday, 20 January 2006, along with an embargoed press release.
José Luis Díaz of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said that Doudou Diène, Special Rapporteur on Racism, was ending today his visit to Switzerland, which had begun on 9 January 2006. He would be briefing press in Bern at 3:15 p.m. at the Palais Fédérale, where he would present his preliminary conclusions and recommendations on the situation of racism in Switzerland. He would also be issuing a report to the next session of the Commission on Human Rights and then submitting a fuller report after that. Mr. Diène would be briefing the Geneva press in connection with his appearance before the Commission.
Mr. Redmond of UNHCR said that given the current situation in Nepal, UNCHR believed that resettlement opportunities for some Bhutanese refugees who had been in the country for the last 15 years should now be seized. Some 105,000 Bhutanese refugees had been living in seven camps in the east of Nepal since the early 1990s – making it one of the most protracted refugee situations in Asia. Despite 15 rounds of bilateral negotiations between Bhutan and Nepal on repatriation, from which UNHCR had been excluded, not a single refugee had returned home. However, some Western countries had recently expressed a strong interest to UNHCR in resettling some of the refugees. Bhutan had said earlier that it would allow the return of some Bhutanese refugees. Additional information was available in a briefing note at the back of the room.
Mr. Redmond added that press releases were available in English and French on the appointment of two new UNHCR Assistant High Commissioners. Judy Cheng-Hopkins, a Malaysian national, had been named Assistant High Commissioner for Operations. Erika Feller, an Australian national, had been appointed to the new post of Assistant High Commissioner for Protection. Both appointments had been approved by the Secretary-General and would take effect 15 February 2006.
Jean-Philippe Chauzy of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said that tons of shelter material destined for the Allai valley in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province have been unable to get through as roads have become impassable due to road slides, snow and ice. Although close to 18,000 tents had been distributed to Tehsil Allai, the cold weather and snow was forcing between 140-280 people per day to migrate to lower elevations and into Maira camp. Complicating the shifting numbers was the movement of people into camps -- and more difficult to see -- from destroyed village to destroyed village. To help provide information about the shifting population numbers and to better target shelter aid, IOM was dispatching an additional assistant field coordinator to Bana. In addition, additional helicopter sorties had been requested and flown. Further information was available in a briefing note at the back of the room.
A spokesperson of the World Trade Organization (WTO) announced three meetings that would take place next week: of the Trade Policy Review Body for Malaysia on 17-18 January; and the Dispute Settlement Body on 20 January. Among the meetings of the WTO Director-General on Monday, 16 January 2006, was a meeting with the Foreign Minister of Norway on Monday. The Director-General would then undertake an official visit to Germany on Tuesday, where he would meet with Chancellor Angela Merkel and other German officials. On Thursday, he would return to Geneva for a speech at the International Labour Organization (ILO).
A press briefing on the annual World Economic Forum in Davos will take place on 18 January 2006, at 11:00 a.m. in Cologny. Speakers would include: Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum; Ged Davis, Director, Centre for Strategic Insight; Richard Samans, Managing Director, Global Institute for Partnership and Governance; and Peter Torreele, Managing Director, Community Development. Interested journalists were invited to register for the press conference with the World Economic Forum.