REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Elena Ponomareva-Piquier, Chief of the Press and External Relations Section, chaired the briefing which also heard from Spokespersons for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the UN Refugee Agency, the World Health Organization, the International Committee of the Red Cross and the International Organization for Migration.

Geneva Activities

Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said that yesterday the Secretary-General had opened the Sixth Review Conference of the States Parties to the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and Their Destruction, which was being held in Geneva from 20 November to 8 December 2006. The Secretary-General's statement was available in the press room.

The Review Conference was this morning continuing its general debate, which it would conclude this afternoon. Press releases for this morning's meeting would be available in English and French in the press room by 3 p.m.

Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier reminded journalists that the Committee against Torture and the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights would not convene again in public until next Friday, 24 November, when they would present their concluding observations on the country reports examined during the course of their present sessions. In the interim, the Committee against Torture would meet in private to adopt its conclusions on the reports of Tajikistan, Mexico, Burundi, Russian Federation, South Africa, Guyana and Hungary; and that the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights would likewise meet in private to consider the reports presented by the Netherlands, El Salvador, Tajikistan, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Albania. Round-up press releases for both Committees, detailing the activities of the current sessions and containing summaries of the concluding observations for each country, would be issued in the afternoon of Friday, 24 November.

High Commissioner for Human Rights Visit to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories

Praveen Randhawa of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said that yesterday, 20 November, the High Commissioner had commenced a five-day visit to the occupied Palestinian territories and Israel. Ms. Arbour had gone to Beit Hanoun yesterday morning, where she had seen sites hit by Israeli artillery earlier this month, killing 19 civilians. The High Commissioner had said the call for protection had to be answered; they could not continue to see civilians, who were not the authors of their own misfortune, suffer to the extent of what she had seen. Ms. Arbour had said later that the full extent of the profound sense of deprivation in Gaza had become truly evident when one came to the territory. In the case of the attack in Beit Hanoun, an independent, credible and thorough inquiry was needed to examine where responsibility lay.

The High Commissioner had also held talks in Gaza with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, as well as with arrange of civil society representatives, including human rights defenders, Ms. Randhawa said. Today, the High Commissioner had travelled to the Israeli town of Sderot, the target of rocket attacks from militants in Gaza, and would see the separation barrier in the West Bank. As she arrived, a Qassam rocket exploded less than 500 yards away. In that context, Ms. Arbour had observed that Governments had a duty to protect their people; however, she had added that had to be done within the bounds of human rights law and international humanitarian law.

Flooding in Eastern Africa

Michael Bociurkiw of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) noted that the rains had been continuing at a very consistent pace in Somalia, primarily, but in the border areas of Kenya, where there were huge numbers of refugees, and in Ethiopia. UNICEF now anticipated that up to 1 million people could be directly affected by the flooding in coming weeks. So far more than 60,000 had been displaced in the province of Hiran alone.

To give context to the gravity of the situation, Mr. Bociurkiw noted that the flooding had followed on the drought of 2005/06; before the rains came, UNICEF had only managed to reach about 35 per cent of the 37,000 malnourished children left by the drought. Primary roads were now completely impassable and even some airstrips had been destroyed. With the World Food Programme, UNICEF was now looking at the prospect of bringing aid via boats, tractors, airdrops and helicopters to the affected populations. The rains had also dislodged landmines, which had been detected in Jowhar, for example. In Somalia alone, UNICEF estimated that it would need well over $7 million to provide aid to the projected 1 million who would be affected.

Jennifer Pagonis, of the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), said that UNHCR's emergency airlift to tens of thousands of refugees and surrounding communities in flood-stricken northern Kenya had delivered five planeloads of relief supplies since Sunday. UNHCR had also started a relocation movement by truck, donkey cart and on foot to help thousands of people move from flooded refugee camps to drier ground. Water levels had dropped in the Dadaab refugee camps since the last flash flood on Saturday, when UNHCR staff had said water levels rose by up to half a metre in just an hour. However, more houses had collapsed in Dagahaley – one of three camps that made up the Dadaab complex – due to continuing heavy rains. Briefing notes with more details were available at the back of the room.

Other

Fadela Chaib of the World Health Organization (WHO) reminded journalists of the press conference tomorrow, 22 November, to launch a report, "Opportunities for Africa's Newborns", prepared by the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health, to be held between noon and 1 p.m. in Room III. A press release in French and English had been sent to journalists, but was under embargo until tomorrow noon.

Dorothea Krimitsas of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said ICRC was releasing a report today about household economy in the West Bank and Gaza. The "Household Economy Assessment" report revealed that a growing number of households in the West Bank and Gaza were becoming impoverished, and that there had been significant deterioration in household economies over the past four years. About 60 percent of households in both areas fell into categories described by their own communities as "poor" or "very poor". The situation in Gaza, where extremely high levels of poverty had been detected, was especially bad. The report illustrated how recent events, such as the cutting off of funds to the Palestinian Authority and continuous restrictions on movement, were exacerbating the economic deterioration that had been under way for some time now. The report and a press release were available on ICRC's website: www.icrc.org.

Jemini Pandya of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said that available was a press release, embargoed until tonight, on child trafficking in West Africa, which highlighted how traditional and cultural beliefs and practices were being misused in order to traffic or exploit children, in some cases quite systematically. That was in an area where an estimated 2 million children had been either trafficked or were being exploited in other ways. There was also a broadcast-quality video programme on the topic available on the IOM website: www.iom.int.

Ms. Pandya wished to formally announce the new IOM video service, and said journalists were welcome to use the free footage posted on its website. Broadcasters could get archive footage on migration-related issues, or could find stories such as the video news release on trafficking in West Africa, where the latest news-related stories would be available.