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 High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the World Health Organization, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the World Food Programme, the UN Refugee Agency, the World Bank and the International Committee of the Red Cross.
High-Level Conference on Eliminating Sexual Exploitation and Abuse
Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said that yesterday morning the Secretary-General had addressed the High-Level Conference on Eliminating Sexual Exploitation and Abuse by UN and NGO Personnel, which was held in New York on 4 December. In his speech, the Secretary-General recalled that three years ago he had promulgated a Bulletin entitled "Special measures for protection from sexual exploitation and sexual abuse". In addition, he drew attention to the Statement of Commitment on Eliminating Sexual Exploitation and Abuse by UN and Non-UN Personnel, whose 10 commitments provided the framework for the development of a UN-wide strategy to implement the Bulletin, and called on all of those who had not yet done so to endorse the Statement at the earliest possible opportunity. Moreover, the Secretary-General highlighted the fact that he had put forward a draft policy statement and comprehensive strategy on assistance to victims of sexual exploitation and abuse by United Nations personnel, and said he looked forward to the discussions that the Member States would have on that proposal later in the month.
Finally, Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said, the Secretary-General recalled that last year he had established a group of legal experts to examine how to strengthen the accountability of UN staff, and related personnel. The group had now issued its report, which included a proposal for an international convention on the matter. Here, too, the Secretary-General had looked forward to discussions and early action on the part of the Member States. Copies of the Secretary-General's statement, in English and French, were available in the press room.
Other Statements by the Secretary-General
Also available in the press room were copies of the Secretary-General's messages of 5 December to the eleventh session of the Conference of the States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention, which was being held in The Hague, and to the fourteenth Ministerial Council of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which was being held in Brussels.
Human Rights Council
Yesterday, the Human Rights Council discussed the Universal Periodic Review mechanism, which it was charged with establishing under General Assembly resolution 60/251. This morning, Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier announced, the Council would begin its debate on Special Procedures, hearing a progress report by the facilitator of the Working Group on the implementation of operative paragraph 6 of General Assembly resolution 60/251, Ambassador Tomáš Husák of the Czech Republic. The other topics in the Working Group's report would be considered later this week. The complaint procedure would be presented by facilitator Ambassador Blaise Godet of Switzerland, on Wednesday, 6 December, and the advisory mechanism or expert advice would be presented by facilitator Ambassador Musa Burayzat of Jordan on Thursday, 7 December.
Darfur
Finally, Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier recalled that Tuesday, 12 December, the Human Rights Council would hold a special session on the human rights situation in Darfur. The session would open at 10 a.m. in the General Assembly Hall. The special session had been convoked at the request of the European Union, and had received the support of 33 of the 47 Council members. A background release on the special session would be available later this morning.
José Luis Diaz of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said that the Office would be making available a list of all the reports it had put out on Darfur. In that connection, he recalled that OHCHR had a presence in all three parts of Darfur for over two years now and they reported regularly on the situation there. The Special Rapporteur on Darfur, Sima Samar, would also be participate in the special session. Journalists had copies of the draft decision for consideration by the Council at the special session, which envisaged an assessment mission be sent to Darfur to be led by the Special Rapporteur. He would also make available a chronological list of what OHCHR had done in relation to Darfur, with links to all the different documents and reports.
Elizabeth Byrs of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OHCHA) said that on the afternoon of Thursday, 14 December, the Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General for the Sudan, Manuel Aranda da Silva was to present the work plan for the Sudan to donors. At 12.30 p.m. he would hold a press conference on the Sudan.
Biological Weapons Convention Review Conference
Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier noted that the Sixth Review Conference of the States Parties to the Biological Weapons Convention was continuing its work until Friday, 8 December. The Review Conference would adopt a Final Document, which was currently under discussion. As soon as there was anything more concrete to report, the President of the Conference, Ambassador Masood Khan of Pakistan, would hold a press conference, at a time to be determined later this week. The next public meeting of the Conference was tentatively schedule for tomorrow afternoon, but the work programme of the Conference remained fluid, and journalists would be informed as soon as possible when the next public session would be held.
Human Rights Day
Mr. Diaz recalled that Human Rights Day was this Sunday, 10 December. A series of background materials and story ideas were available on the Office’s website: www.ohchr.ch. Later today he would send journalists a list of contacts that could be interviewed for stories on the theme of this year’s Human Right's Day, the obligation of States to fight poverty.
Flooding and Mudslides in the Philippines
Fadéla Chaib of the World Health Organization (WHO) said that Typhoon Durian, which had hit the Philippines last Thursday, had now affected some 1.1 million people in 12 provinces of the country. Torrential rains and mudslides had carried away everything in their path. The number of dead and wounded were hard to ascertain, and the figures were being constantly updated. The last reports WHO had reported 425 dead and over 500 wounded, with hundreds reported missing. The typhoon had damaged sanitation facilities and hospitals, but it was not known yet how badly. WHO was working with the UN inter-agency assessment team to get a better picture of the situation. Priority had been given to distribution of potable water, as well as water purification tablets. At the Government's request, WHO was also to furnish water purification equipment. In addition, WHO was also pre-positioning enough New Emergency Health Kits to care for 10,000 people for three months.
Michael Bociurkiw of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) added that UNICEF was also participating in the UN assessment mission, and its team had just arrived in the country. They were working on the basis that 45 per cent of those affected were likely to be children. According to initial assessments, some 80,000 homes had been totally destroyed. Among supplies already provided by UNICEF were tins of sardines, rice, blankets, and water purification tablets. On Friday, UNICEF would send 4,000 family-size tents. Other items included large water storage tanks, and mosquito nets, for a total of some $175,000-worth of supplies so far.
Anna Nelson of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said the International Federation was launching an emergency appeal for CHF 8.8 million ($7.3 million) to assist 200,000 people over the next nine months who had been affected by Typhoon Durian, and three other recent powerful storms, which had wreaked havoc in the Philippines since the end of September. The head of their delegation in the Philippines had said this morning that it was still very hard to gauge to what extent relief had been getting through. Water was being restored in the cities, but in the countryside the situation remained dire. So far the International Federation had received estimates of over 67,000 fully collapsed houses and over 103,000 partially damaged. Assessment teams would be fully deployed by tomorrow. A press release on the emergency appeal was available at the back of the room.
As far as the impact of Typhoon Durian in Viet Nam, Ms. Nelson confirmed that 1,120 houses and 22 schools had been damaged had been damaged. Two people were reported dead and mass communications structures had been damaged.
Responding to questions, Ms. Nelson said that the Philippine National Red Cross was doing an incredible job and had been mobilized for several weeks now owing to the other storms. Today they would be distributing more food assistance to 7,500 people.
Flooding in the Horn of Africa
Ms. Nelson announced that IFRC would launch a revised emergency appeal for Kenya in the next 24 hours. They planned to target at least 560,000 out of the total of 723,000 affected by the floods. The preliminary appeal, launched on 17 November, had been for 9.8 million CHF, which they expected to be fully covered soon. The International Federation remained very concerned about the latest forecasts, which indicated that the rain could last until late December. A press release would be sent out later in the day.
Situation in Chad and the Central African Republic
Christiane Berthiaume of the World Food Programme (WFP) said that WFP operations in the west of Chad were becoming more and more difficult to carry out with their skeleton staff. The 220,000 refugees in the camp were assured their rations for December, but WFP was concerned because they had to pre-position 30 million tons of supplies – or 1,000 truckloads – now before the rainy season set in. And that with truck drivers who were increasingly hesitant to undertake trips as they feared for their safety.
In the northwest of the Central African Republic, WFP was particularly concerned about 150,000 people who had fled the violence and were living in the bush on whatever they could find there. There was a WFP mission in Paoua, where a number of villages had been burned to the ground and others had been deserted. WFP staff on the in ground reported that it was a real humanitarian crisis that had been completed forgotten. WFP needed $11 million to carry on with its operations.
Jennifer Pagonis of the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said that the fragile lifeline to the refugees in eastern Chad was stretching even thinner. The deteriorating and volatile security situation there was forcing UNHCR to find alternative means to assist refugees as it, along with all the UN agencies, reduced staff to the bare minimum in the three northern areas of Bahai, Iriba and Guereda. An incident during military activity in the town of Guereda on Friday 1 December, when four armed men forced their way into UNHCR's compound, threatened the staff at gunpoint and stole two vehicles, underlines the precariousness of the security situation our staff are operating in. Contingency plans are being activated with pre-positioning of supplies so the six camps directly affected by the staff reduction can run themselves for about one month. This process got underway yesterday, Monday, at Mile and Kounoungo camps near Guereda. Briefing notes were available at the back of the room.
Other
Ms. Nelson of the IFRC said that copies of the World Disasters Report 2006 were available in French, English and Spanish at the back of the room. It was embargoed until 14 December. A press briefing for the launch would be held in Room III on Wednesday, 13 December at 2 p.m. Speaking would be Mohammed Omer Mukhier, Head of the IFRC Disaster Preparedness and Response Department, and Jonathan Walter, the editor of the Report.
Mr. Bociurkiw of UNICEF announced the publication of a new report to be issued on UNICEF's sixtieth anniversary, The State of the World’s Children 2007, which demonstrated that gender equality produced the "double dividend" of benefiting both women and children and was pivotal to the health and development of families, communities and nations. It was the most comprehensive survey of global trends affecting children worldwide, providing a thorough almanac of up-to-date statistics and data on children. There would be a press briefing next Monday at 11 a.m. and journalists would receive a media advisory on Friday with further details. Advanced copies and a press release, embargoed until 00.01 Geneva time, on 11 December, were available at the back of the room. UNICEF Executive Director Ann Veneman would be launching the report in New York at 10 a.m. on 11 December.
Kjersti Brokhaug of the World Bank invited journalists to the launch of its report, Global Economic Prospects: Managing the New Wave of Globalization. Together with an analysis of medium-term prospects for the world economy, the report analysed the opportunities – and stresses – which would be created over the next 25 years as developing countries moved to centre stage in the world economy, with a particular focus on income inequality, labour markets, and the environment. The meeting would be held on Friday, 8 December from 10 to 12 p.m. at the International Conference Centre, following which there would be an opportunity to talk with the report's authors. Copies of the report would be available at the meeting, but would then be embargoed until 5 p.m. on 13 December.
Claudia McGoldrick of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) announced that on Thursday, 7 December, on the occasion of the launch of its annual appeals for emergency operations as well as headquarters funding required for 2007, ICRC President Jakob Kellenberger would brief the media on the ICRC’s priorities and challenges for 2007. The press conference would be held at 3.30 p.m. at ICRC headquarters. An embargoed press release on the event would be sent out tomorrow.