REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Marie Heuzé, the Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired the briefing which heard statements from spokespersons and representatives from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the World Health Organization, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the World Food Programme, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the World Trade Organization, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, and the International Organization for Migration.

Secretary-General on Pakistan Bombings

Ms. Heuzé said Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had expressed his shock at learning of an attack on the convoy of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in which two roadside bombs in the southern city of Karachi had killed more than 100 people and injured many more. In a statement, issued yesterday in New York by his spokesperson, Mr. Ban strongly condemned that terrorist attack, and trusted that all political forces would act together to strengthen national unity. Press releases in French and English were available.

United Nations Office at Geneva

In Geneva, the Human Rights Committee had opened its ninety-first session on Monday at Palais Wilson, Ms. Heuzé said. Today, the Committee would consider the fourth report of Austria. Earlier this week, it had reviewed the reports of Georgia and Libya, and next week the reports of Costa Rica and Algeria would be taken up. The Committee's concluding observations on the situations in those countries would be made public at the end of its three-week session, on 2 November.

Ms. Heuzé said that a number of senior appointments by the Secretary-General had been announced yesterday in New York. Of particular relevance for Geneva was the appointment of Jan Beagle of New Zealand as Deputy Director-General of the UN Office in Geneva (UNOG), as part of the Secretary-General's efforts to strengthen the overall management capacity and coordination among the organizations of the Secretariat here. A press release with a bio of Ms. Beagle was available in the press room.

Human Rights

José-Luis Diaz of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) announced that a press release would be sent later today on the visit of the Independent Expert on minority issues and the Special Rapporteur on racism to the Dominican Republic next week.

Responding to a journalist who had asked if the High Commissioner for Human Rights would take a position on the recent racist statements made by Nobel Prize Winning scientist James Watson, Mr. Diaz said that the High Commissioner's position on such issues had always been very clear, and she had articulated that position many times in various different forums. It was certainly hard to believe that such ideas were still circulating in today's world. It was a blatant example of racism, with absolutely no basis in scientific fact, as scientists around the world had hastened to point out. From what he had read organizations in the United Kingdom were apparently requesting that the remarks be examined to determine whether they breached anti-racism legal provisions. OHCHR would follow those developments.

Ms. Heuzé added that in the name of freedom of expression a certain amount of stupidities and inanities had to be allowed, such as the scientifically and political inane statement by James Watson. However, whether through statements made by the High Commissioner or by the Secretary-General, the United Nations system strongly condemned such racist statements.

Update on Global Action Plan for Pandemic Influenza Vaccines

Fadéla Chaib of the World Health Organization (WHO) said that today a technical meeting was being held at WHO headquarters to review progress made over the past year to increase stocks of vaccine in case of a global flu pandemic. As everyone knew, there was a shortfall of several billions of doses of flu vaccine in case of a global flu outbreak. The Global Action Plan for Pandemic Influenza Vaccines set out what had to be done now to increase production capacity and make up the shortfall. Participating were experts, scientists, national regulatory bodies, scientific organizations and vaccine manufacturers from developed and developing counties. A press release would be available Monday morning. Journalists could contact Melinda Henry for more details.

Update on Floods in West Africa and Central America

Elisabeth Byrs of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), with a last-minute figure in on those affected by flooding in Guinea (20,685 persons), said that OCHA now reported that over 800,000 people had been affected by floods in West Africa. The flooding had touched 13 countries – Mali, Burkina Faso, Mauritania, Niger, Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal, Gambia, Liberia, Togo, Sierra Leone, Benin, and Ghana. Among those most gravely impacted by flooding were Ghana, with over 332,000; Togo, with over 127,900; and Burkina Faso, with over 92,900 affected. A joint UN flash appeal for $12 million for the victims in Ghana, launched on 9 October, was only 22 per cent funded so far. A separate flash appeal was being prepared for Burkina Faso and would be ready in a few days.

Ms. Byrs reported that a stock of non-food items worth $310,000 had arrived in Burkina Faso on 4 October from the OCHA warehouse in Brindisi, and on Wednesday, supplies had reached Mali.

Jean-Philippe Chauzy of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) announced the receipt of additional funding to alleviate the suffering of flood victims in Ghana from the Canadian Government. Canada had provided US$ 210,000 for IOM relief operations in the country, which would target the most vulnerable still in need of shelter and basic relief items, such as tents, blankets, kitchen sets and sleeping mats. Mr. Chauzy recalled that the September floods in northern and some western regions of Ghana had affected more than 330,000 people, had killed another 56, and had destroyed thousands of hectares of crops.

In Central America, Ms. Byrs confirmed that 28 people had died, more than 36,500 people had been affected, and 3,351 houses had been damaged, due to heavy rains that had pummelled the region for more than a week. In Costa Rica, which was among the countries hardest hit, with 18 dead and 75 per cent of the national territory affected, the Government had declared a state of emergency. Damage and losses to infrastructure, agriculture and housing was estimated at $70 million.

Available in the back of the room was an update on the floods in West Africa and Central America, as well as the UN response to flooding in Haiti.

Impending Volcanic Eruption in East Java

Ms. Byrs said available at the back of the room was an OCHA situation report on the impending eruption of Mount Kelud Volcano in East Java. OCHA and the Javanese authorities were closely monitoring the situation, and 22,000 people had already been evacuated. The volcano was expected to erupt at any time, and it was expected to spew out mud and poisonous gasses.

In response to a question, Ms. Byrs noted that there were reports that as many as half of the 22,000 that had been evacuated had since returned to their homes, despite the authorities assurances of the imminent danger.

WFP Workers Under Attack

Christiane Berthiaume of the World Food Programme (WFP) said WFP Executive Director Josette Sheeran had issued two statements today, condemning the arrest of WFP staff in Somalia and the brutal attacks against WFP staff in Darfur. In Somalia, Ms. Sheeran had condemned in the strongest terms the continued detention of WFP staff by the security forces, who had stormed a UN compound in Mogadishu on Wednesday. "It has become extremely difficult for us to feed hundreds of thousands of hungry people in Mogadishu and throughout Somalia" Ms. Sheeran said. "We need the Government to protect humanitarian workers." In Sudan, where three WFP-contracted drivers had been shot dead, Ms. Sheeran noted that 3 million people were relying on WFP for assistance. A WFP press statement was available in the back of the room.

Responding to a question, Ms. Berthiaume affirmed that WFP operations, though temporarily halted in Mogadishu, continued in other areas of Somalia. WFP regularly fed some 75,000 people in the Somali capital.

Ms. Byrs added that next Friday, 26 October, Eric Laroche, the Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia, would hold a press conference on the humanitarian situation in the country at 12 noon, in press room 1.

UNICEF Child Alert on Afghanistan

Veronique Taveau of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) announced that release of UNICEF's Child Alert report on Afghanistan, where 25 per cent of children died before their fifth birthday. The Alert would be launched on Thursday, 25 October, at 11 a.m. in Room III by Martin Bell, UNICEF UK Ambassador for Humanitarian Emergencies and author of the Alert; Catherine Mbengue, UNICEF Country Representative for Afghanistan, and Najibullah Mojadidi, Adviser on Health and Education to the President of Afghanistan. The Child Alert contained both a written report and a multimedia presentation featuring photography, video and audio reports and could be viewed at http://www.unicef.org/childalert/Afghanistan/. A media advisory was available at the back of the room. Following the launch, Martin Bell would show his film on Afghanistan, at 12 p.m. in the Salle de Cinema (E building), to be followed by a discussion.

North Kivu

Jennifer Pagonis of the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), in an update on the situation in North Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo, said that Thursday UNHCR had started the process of transferring those who had been displaced by violent clashes in the region from congested makeshift settlements, some without any clean drinking water, to a new camp set up by UNHCR which had the essential basic facilities. It was hoped that the transfer of a first group of 500 people would be completed today. UNHCR would start transferring a second group of more than 7,000 internally displaced to the new camp next.

Displaced people were continuing to arrive at sites around Goma, Ms. Pagonis added. In just the last 10 days, more than 500 families had reportedly arrived in the Mugunga area, and that was just a small part of the overall displacement in North Kivu. Aid agencies estimated over 370,000 people had been displaced in North Kivu since December 2006. UNHCR feared many of the internally displaced remained in areas inaccessible to humanitarian agencies, and was therefore working closely with the authorities to identify additional sites. A briefing note was available at the back of the room.

Other

Anoush der Boghossian of the World Trade Organization (WTO) said that today at 11.30 a.m. there would be a briefing on agriculture negotiations at WTO headquarters. Next Monday, 22 October, there would be a meeting of the Dispute Settlement Body, to be followed by a briefing. On Tuesday and Wednesday, 23 and 24 October, the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Council would meet. On Thursday, 25 October, informal negotiations would be held on Ukraine's membership application, and on Friday, 26 October, informal negotiations would be held on membership for Cape Verde.

Turning to the activities of WTO Director-General, Pascal Lamy, Ms. der Boghossian noted that Mr. Lamy would be in Washington, D.C., over the weekend, to participate in the International Monetary Fund's Financial Committee Meeting on Saturday and, on Sunday, to attend the World Bank's Development Committee Meeting. Mr. Lamy would travel to New York on Thursday, and on Friday, 26 October would participate in the UN System Chief Executives Board meeting at UN Headquarters. Other meetings of the Director-General during his United States trip were noted on the agenda available in the back of the room.

Catherine Sibut-Pinote of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) said that, within the framework of the annual IMF and World Bank meetings in Washington, D.C., this weekend, a new blog was being launched on Sunday to provide a new forum for discussion and interaction between scholars, students, professionals of various backgrounds and the public at large. The blog, www.ideas4development.org, was being launched by seven directors of international development agencies: Kemal Dervis (United Nations Development Programme), Abdou Diouf (Organisation de la Francophonie), Donald Kaberuka (African Development Bank), Pascal Lamy (WTO), Supachai Panitchpakdi (UNCTAD), Jean-Michel Severino (Agence française de développement) and Josette Sheeran (WFP). The launch would take place at World Bank headquarters in the United States capital at 2.30 p.m. EST. A press release would be available shortly.
Ms. Byrs of OCHA reminded journalists of the meeting next week, from 22 to 26 October, of the Global Symposium +5: Setting Information Standards for Humanitarian Action would be held in Room XIX at the Palais des Nations. On Thursday, 25 October, from 9.10 to 9.30 a.m. Emergency Relief Coordinator and Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, John Holmes, would address the Symposium in an open meeting. Copies of the speech would be available at that time.

In an update on rehabilitation efforts following the Asian tsunami in 2004, Mr. Chauzy said that IOM had handed over the last units of 902 permanent homes built for Acehnese tsunami-survivors near Calang on Aceh's west coast. Calang, a thriving village and home to some 9,000 people before the tsunami, had been totally destroyed by the tsunami, which had killed two thirds of the population there.

Mr. Chauzy then highlighted a number of new IOM initiatives to combat human trafficking. In Sri Lanka, IOM and the Sri Lankan Government had launched a $500,000, programme to help law enforcement officials to identify cases of human trafficking and successfully prosecute those responsible. In Portugal, IOM and its partners had launched two public service announcements to be shown on the main television channels to mark the first annual European Day on Anti-Trafficking. In Costa Rica, IOM and Costa Rica's National Institute of Women were launching a new mass information campaign next week aimed at stopping the trafficking of women for sexual and labour exploitation. Finally, in Mexico, IOM and the National Human Rights Commission of Mexico were holding an international seminar to discuss the impact of irregular migration and to stimulate discussion amongst all sectors of society on the need to uphold the human rights of migrants. The two-day seminar would begin on Monday, 22 October in the southern city of Villahermosa. A press release was available at the back of the room.