REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Elena Ponomareva-Piquier, Chief of the Press and External Relations Section of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired the briefing which heard statements from spokespersons and representatives from the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the UN Economic Commission for Europe, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, the World Economic Forum, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and the International Organization for Migration.

Representatives from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations were also present, but had no announcements to make.

Darfur Peace Process / Situation in Darfur

Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said that the Darfur Political Talks had opened last Saturday, 27 October, in Sirte, Libya. In his message to participants, the Secretary-General had expressed his disappointment that some movement leaders had chosen to stay away from Sirte. The Secretary-General remained convinced that all Darfurians should be represented, and had cautioned that for those who continued to stay away there was much to lose.

For their part, the senior mediators at the Sirte talks – UN Special Envoy for Darfur, Jan Eliasson, and his African Union counterpart, Salim Ahmed Salim – were engaged in substantive preparations with the parties on the way forward for the peace process, Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier noted. The two envoys had met yesterday with the delegations from the Government of Sudan, civil society and international and regional partners, as well as with representatives of the movements present in Sirte. Meanwhile, preparations were being made for a senior-level team to travel back to Sudan to consult with those who had not been present in Sirte.

The Secretary-General's message is available in the press room.

Elisabeth Byrs of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that yesterday in New York John Holmes had issued a statement expressing his alarm over the forced relocation of internally displaced persons in camps in Darfur. He was concerned about the way in which the relocations had been carried out, and the possibility that such action could contribute to more violence. A copy of his statement was available at the back of the room.

Situation in Gaza

Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said that yesterday the Secretary-General had reiterated his call for the cessation of indiscriminate rocket attacks by Palestinian militants targeting Israel and strongly condemned those actions. However, the Secretary-General had also expressed his strong belief that punitive measures taken by Israel which harmed the well-being of the entire population of the Gaza Strip were unacceptable. Mr. Ban called upon Israel to reconsider its actions and for all concerned to protect civilians and to meet their obligations under international law. Copies of the Secretary-General's statement were available in the press room.

In response to interest expressed by journalists, Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said she would invite the Head of the Geneva Office of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, Matthias Burchard, to update journalists on the situation in Gaza at the Friday briefing (2 November).

Activities of the UNOG Director-General

Today, UNOG Director-General Sergei Ordzhonikidze would address a high-level conference entitled "Multidimensional and Integrated Peace Operations: Trends and Challenges", organized by the Norwegian Government and taking place in Oslo, Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier announced. Other speakers at the two-day event were the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Norway, other high-level Government representatives, and United Nations officials. The Director-General would speak about coordination and coherence within the United Nations system, and on partnerships with regional organizations, non-governmental organizations and the private sector. The two-day conference concluded a series of regional seminars and consultations on multidimensional and integrated peace operations, organized by the Norwegian Government.

64th Session of UNCC Governing Council

In Geneva, Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said that the Governing Council of the United Nations Compensation Commission was holding its sixty-fourth session on 30 and 31 October, under the Presidency of Ambassador Alex Van Meeuwen of Belgium. A background press release was available.

UNECE Ministerial Conference on Ageing (6-8 November 2007)

Jean-Michel Jakobowicz of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) announced the UNECE Ministerial Conference on Ageing would be held in León, Spain, from 6 to 8 November 2007, to review progress made and analyse strategies for the way forward on the 2002 commitment on implementation of the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing. A press release was available at the back of the room.

New Trade and Development Index

Catherine Sibut-Pinote of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) announced the presentation of a new edition of the Trade and Development Index. Originally launched by UNCTAD in November 2005 as a tool for measuring and comparing commercial performance and development, today the Index had been refined and improved to assist Governments to better define development policies. There had also been a recalculation of the country rankings, which, when compared with that of 2005, showed that some developing countries had, with respect to certain categories, arrived at the same level as developed ones.

Ms. Sibut-Pinote said that Supachai Panitchpakdi, Secretary-General of UNCTAD, and Miho Shirotori, an economist from UNCTAD's Trade Division, would speak at a press launch for the new Index on Tuesday, 6 November at 11:45 a.m. in Room III. The launch was also being held in Washington, Istanbul and New Delhi that day, and the information was therefore under embargo until 5 p.m. GMT on Tuesday.

Global Competitiveness Report

Irene Mia of the World Economic Forum (WEF) announced the launch of WEF's 2007 Global Competitiveness Report, covering 131 countries, on 31 October at 11 a.m. CET. The United States had been ranked No. 1 once again, owing to its highly dynamic and sophisticated companies, and excellent markets. Among the top 10, the Nordic countries featured prominently again, Denmark, Finland and Sweden ranking 3, 4 and 6, respectively. All those countries had excellent political institutions, macroeconomic management, and had consistently put a huge focus on education and innovation. Switzerland was ranked No. 2 this year. Importantly, Switzerland ranked sixth in terms of patents registered, which was truly amazing given the size of its market. Seventh, was Singapore – the highest ranking for an Asian economy – with Japan coming eighth, owing to its macroeconomic instability. A leader in Africa was South Africa, which was ranked 44 this year, far ahead of the other countries of the sub-Saharan region. China and India were ranked 34 and 48, respectively, both of which were boosted by the sheer size of their economies, and the investments in innovation and education. The report also featured four country case studies: on Germany, Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates and Mexico. The report would be available online after the launch. A press release was available, but all information on the Report was under embargo until the start of tomorrow's launch.

In response to a question as to whether the United States ranking would be affected by the falling dollar, Ms. Mia confirmed that, of course, that had an effect, but there were a number of other factors, and the United States remained the most competitive market worldwide. As for why Switzerland was competitive, given what a journalist termed its "closed markets", that was because it had a high potential of innovation buttressed by a very good education system, which was reflected in very dynamic and sophisticated companies operating in the country. Switzerland also had very efficient markets and excellent infrastructure.

103 Children Held in Abeche, Chad

Veronique Taveau of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), in an update on the situation of the 103 children being held in an orphanage in Abeche, Chad, following an attempt by a French group to fly them to France allegedly for adoption, said that UNICEF had distributed food and games to the children and had just dispatched 10 staff to Abeche, including the Head of the Child Protection Unit, who had seen the children and reported they were doing fairly well. UNICEF was also training 40 staff to care for the children.

Investigations were continuing to try and discover who the children were and whether they had living relatives. For the moment, however, UNICEF could not say if the children were orphans or not, or where they were from. It was the Chadian Authorities who would be making any announcement on that front, Ms. Taveau said.

Somalia Displacement

Jennifer Pagonis of the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said that a weekend of violence in Mogadishu had set off another wave of displacement from the capital, with about 36,000 more Somalis fleeing from their homes. Aid workers had described this latest round of fighting as the worst in months. This morning, more people had been preparing to flee Mogadishu, although the situation had appeared to have calmed down. Hundreds of families in several neighbourhoods around the city's Bakara market had been seen loading trucks, buses and donkey carts with household items and some residents had said they had been told by city officials to vacate the four districts close to the market as security operations were going to be held there.

Most of those leaving Mogadishu were heading to the town of Afgooye, 30 kilometres away, which was already struggling to cope with up to 100,000 people fleeing violence in the capital earlier this year, Ms. Pagonis noted. UNHCR had already delivered aid to 78,000 in Afgooye this year, and was preparing to carry out more distributions.

Other

Mr. Jakobowicz of UNECE announced the publication of a new colouring book "Daddy, You Can Save The Planet!", which contained suggestions such as taking showers instead of baths, recycling paper, and turning down the thermostat, in order to combat climate change. It also included a CD-Rom with games that helped to increase children's knowledge of the environment. A press launch for the colouring book was being held in the same room, following the regular briefing today, and a press release and copies of the book were available.

Jean-Philippe Chauzy of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) drew attention to an IOM report published today highlighting the positive impact of remittances on the economy and living standards in Tajikistan. The report showed that the amount of remittances had grown from an estimated $550 million in 2004 to $735 million in 2005, mostly sent by Tajik migrants working in Russia, currently accounting for 31 per cent of the country's gross domestic product. To give an example of what that meant in real terms, the report noted that 50 per cent of the extremely poor households who have benefited since 1999 from remittances had now risen above the poverty line. The report concluded with several key recommendations on ways to maximize the flows of remittances and their impact on Tajikistan's development. It was available online at www.iom.int, and there was a press release with details at the back of the room.

Mr. Chauzy also announced the signing tomorrow by the Russian Migration Service and IOM of an agreement to underline both parties' mutual interest in the establishment and maintenance of long-term cooperation in migration management. The signing would take place during the 29th Plenary Session of the Interparliamentary Assembly of Commonwealth of Independent States.