REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Marie Heuzé, the Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired the briefing which provided information about the Secretary-General's activities, the human rights situations in Myanmar and Pakistan, the effects of Super Cyclone Sidr in Bangladesh, and the upcoming release of the World Human Development Report (2007/2008). It also gave updates on the plight of thousands displaced by fighting in Mogadishu, the situation of flood victims in Tabasco and Chiappas, and reported the outbreak of a mystery illness in Angola, among others. Spokespersons and representatives of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the International Federation of the Red Cross, the United Nations Development Programme, the World Health Organization, the UN Refugee Agency, and the International Organization for Migration participated in the briefing.

Secretary-General's Travels

Ms. Heuzé said that the Secretary-General was in Beirut, Lebanon, this morning. He had arrived yesterday, and had met with Lebanese leaders, including Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, in order to assist Lebanon in securing democracy. The Secretary-General had called for the free and fair election of a new President, according to constitutional rules without foreign interference. Earlier yesterday, the Secretary-General had been in Tunis, where he had addressed the international conference on counter-terrorism taking place there, Ms. Heuzé said. His remarks on that occasion were available in the press room.

Tomorrow, the Secretary-General would be in Valencia, Spain, for the launch of a fourth report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which was currently holding its twenty-seventh session in Valencia. The fourth and final IPCC report was to be a synthesis of the preceding reports, and was expected to constitute the core source of factual information about climate change for policymakers in the years to come.

Geneva Activities

Ms. Heuzé recalled that two human rights treaty bodies were currently in session at Palais Wilson. The Committee against Torture was meeting in closed session this morning, and this afternoon it would conclude its consideration of the report of Benin, which would be the last report to be examined at its present session. As for the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, it was meeting in private until the end of the session. Both Committees would release their concluding observations on the reports considered during these sessions in public meetings on Friday, 23 November, and copies of those concluding observations, as well as roundup press releases with summaries of the conclusions, would be available in the press room. A concluding press conference for the Committee against Torture would be announced.

Secretary-General's Statement on Bakassi Peninsula Attack

Yesterday the Secretary-General had offered his encouragement to the Governments of Cameroon and Nigeria following an attack against a Cameroonian military installation in the Bakassi peninsula on 12 November. He had expressed his sincere condolences to the Government and people of Cameroon, and also reaffirmed the readiness of the United Nations to continue to support the constructive efforts made by the two countries, notably within the framework of the Cameroon-Nigeria Mixed Commission – which had often met in Geneva – to strengthen border cooperation and bilateral relations overall. Copies of the statement were available in the press room, Ms. Heuzé said.

Human Rights

José-Luis Diaz of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) began with a piece of good news: Asma Jahangir, the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion had been released from house arrest not very long ago. Colleagues from the Office had spoken with her, to confirm her release. It was hoped that that would be the fate of other human rights defenders who had been detained in the wake of the declaration of a state of emergency in Pakistan. It was further hoped that human rights defenders and others who had been imprisoned or detained for peaceful expression of their beliefs or for exercising their activities would also be released immediately.

Mr. Diaz said that Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar Paulo Sergio Pinheiro had concluded his visit to that country. He spoke to reporters in Bangkok yesterday. OHCHR would try and organize a press briefing with journalists here in Geneva before the Special Rapporteur addressed the Human Rights Council. A confirmation would be sent later today.

The High Commissioner had written to the Kenya National Human Rights Commission to congratulate them on a report released a couple of weeks ago that contained allegations of police involvement in the extrajudicial killing of some 500 people, many of them members of a sect characterized as a criminal sect in Kenya. In her letter, the High Commissioner expressed her admiration for the courage of the Human Rights Commission in issuing the report, which, among others, called on the authorities to investigate the killings. The letter and more details of the report would be sent to journalists later today. OHCHR wished to highlight this action because it was an example of the very valuable work that could be provided by national human rights institutions when they were set up in accordance with the Paris Principles for independent human rights institutions.

In response to a question, Mr. Diaz said the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial executions, Philip Alston, had asked the Government of Kenya for permission to visit the country to look into this situation.

Sixth UNCTAD Interregional Debt Management Conference

Catherine Sibut-Pinote of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) announced that UNCTAD was holding its sixth conference to review issues in debt and development at the Palais des Nations next week, from 19 to 21 November. The biennial meeting would review topical and sometimes contentious issues such as who had the ultimate responsibility for lending and borrowing decisions and the lack of arbitration mechanisms for resolving debt disputes. It would also look at the problem of debt sustainability of the poorest countries. Participants would include representatives from Governments, international financial institutions and non-governmental organizations. All the meetings were open to the public. An information note was available at the back of the room and the conference agenda, list of participants and other information materials would soon be put in the press room.

Plight of Displaced in Somalia

Veronique Taveau of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said that available in the back of the room was a media release concerning the situation in Somalia and what UNICEF was doing to help the children and women newly displaced from Mogadishu. UNICEF's representative for Somalia had stressed UNICEF's grave concern about the situation of the displaced families living in make-shift camps along the road between Afgoye and Modgadishu, and reaffirmed its commitment to assist the displaced and to deliver the necessary aid, despite the deteriorating security situation. So far, UNICEF had provided shelter and care for over 60,000 people. To avoid the risk of disease, UNICEF had been contributing to the daily delivery of over 3 million litres of water and the construction of latrines to serve 250,000 people. In addition, 30 school tents would soon be erected to serve 6,000 children. The first week of December would also see the launch in Agofye of a package of health care services, including an immunization campaign, for over 260,000 people.

Bangladesh Cyclone

Elisabeth Byrs of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that, during the night of 15 November, Super Cyclone Sidr – a category 4 cyclone – had hit the south and southwestern coast of Bangladesh. Along the coastline and in 15 districts, 3.2 million people had been evacuated. Of those, 620,000 had been taken to cyclone shelters and others to highlands. Relief and rescue items – including dry foods, medicines, tents and lighting materials – had been prepositioned by the authorities as a precautionary measure.

Ms. Byrs underscored that Bangladesh was particularly vulnerable to cyclone damage: in 1991 a cyclone had killed 138,000, and, in 1966, a cyclone had claimed 500,000 lives in Bangladesh. At the moment, no comprehensive damage assessment or figures were available. Some 1,000 fishermen had been reported missing since last night. The Government had held an initial discussion with local donors, including the Red Cross. The UN Country Team stood ready to respond, and a joint Government-UN assessment had been launched. Briefing notes were available.

Christiane Berthiaume of the World Food Programme (WFP) reported that the Dhaka, Cox's Bazar and Chittagon airports had closed. Strong rains were continuing to fall in Dhaka, with rising, gale-force winds. WFP had deployed a team of five and supplies to Jessore and today had sent six rapid assessment teams. Just under 100 tons of high-energy biscuits, sufficient to feed 400,000 people for three days, had been delivered and another 100 tons were in reserve. The trucks were ready to go. Fortunately, WFP already had an important presence on the ground in Bangladesh, and was able to respond quickly.

Jason Smith of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said that, as of this morning, there were 150 confirmed fatalities in Bangladesh. There was ongoing concern regarding approximately 150 trawlers with fishermen unaccounted for. The Bangladesh Red Crescent Society and colleagues in the International Federation had begun preparing for the cyclone on Monday. This appeared to be a case in which strategic disaster risk reduction efforts – begun as long as five to six years ago – had had a significant impact on saving lives in the area. On Wednesday, the Red Crescent began mobilizing 30,000 volunteers to sound evacuation alarms and all indications were that that volunteer action had been extremely successful. Many of those had been evacuated to specially constructed shelters, some built by the Red Cross Red Crescent Federation over the past five years or so, and each of which had a capacity of 2,000 persons. At present, Red Cross Red Crescent staff were beginning damage assessments and providing humanitarian aid in the form of water, water purification tablets, first aid and other supplies.

Human Development Report 2007

Jean Fabre of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) announced the publication of the new edition of the Human Development Report (2007/2008). As always, the report assessed the state of the world from a human development standpoint and ranked countries' performance. The analytical component of this year's report looked at the impact of climate change on human beings and on economies. This edition of the report was special in that it contained by far the greatest number of concrete recommendations since the series began almost 20 years ago. It could be considered as a policy agenda for confronting the human and economic consequences of climate change. The first briefing on the launch, which would take place in Brasilia on Tuesday, 27 November, would be here in Geneva, on Tuesday, 20 November, following the regular UNIS briefing. Copies of the report and other media materials, all under strict embargo, would be available at the press conference.

World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims

Fadéla Chaib of the World Health Organization (WHO) recalled that each year road accidents killed 1.2 million people and injured and disabled as many as 50 million more. Traffic collisions were also the leading cause of death among young people between 10 and 24 years old. For those reasons, in 2005, the UN had designated the third Sunday of November as the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims. On 18 November this year a number of events were being planned by victims' associations and other groups around the world. A press release in French and English was available at the back of the room.

Mystery Outbreak in Angola

Ms. Chaib announced that reports had been received of an outbreak of illness in Angola. Over the course of a few weeks now, over 100 persons had fallen ill, but WHO did not know yet know the cause of the illnesses. All the cases reported were from one town in the north of the country – Cacuaco. The first case was diagnosed on 2 October, but since 14 November the number of cases had been growing. Symptoms included pain, loss of sensation, lack of motor control, sleepiness and fever. Researchers in WHO's Geneva and Africa headquarters were currently trying to work that out. Hypotheses included exposure to a toxic substance and environmental contamination that was transmitted via the food chain, but the possibility of an infectious disease had not been ruled out. Updates would be available on WHO's website (www.who.int).

Flood Victims in Tabasco and Chiapas

Jemini Pandya of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), in an update on flood damage in Mexico, said that IOM was participating in the UN interagency response to provide assistance, including emergency shelter and provision of non-food items, to over 600,000 people in flood-affected areas. In Tabasco, more than 200,000 people were still living in some 900 shelters, and 5,000 people in Chiapas remained in 50 shelters there. Government experts reported that due to the quality of the soil and topographic conditions in the affected areas, including large forests and mountainous areas, emergency conditions were likely to persist for some time to come. A briefing note was available.

Other

Ms. Pandya said announced the start of a regularization campaign this week for Peruvian migrants in Ecuador, beginning with a first group of 500 Peruvians. The regularization programme, based on an agreement between Ecuador and Peru, did not provide permanent residence, but granted participants a work permit which would ensure against deportation and guarantee the same rights to migrant workers as to nationals. It was estimated that ultimately some 30,000 Peruvians and Ecuadorians living in the border region would be regularized under the programme.

Janaina Borges of the World Trade Organization (WTO) said that next week WTO was holding the first Aid for Trade Global Review. On Monday, 19 November, there would be a technical-level discussion that was open to the press. On Tuesday, there would be a high-level global review, with the participation of a several heads of international organizations, including the President of the World Bank, and the Managing Director of International Monetary Fund. On Wednesday, 21 November, the General Council would hold a debate starting at 11.30 a.m., following which WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy would hold a press conference. Journalists were asked to stand by from 5 p.m. World Bank Director Robert Zoellick would brief the press on Tuesday, at 3 p.m., and Dominque Strauss-Kahn, Managing Director of the IMF, would hold a press conference on Wednesday, at a time to be announced.

In conjunction with the Global Review, on Tuesday, WTO Director-General Lamy would hold meetings with the Finnish Minister of Foreign Trade and Development and Sweden's State Secretary for Development Cooperation. On Thursday, 22 November, he would meet Korea's Minister of Agriculture and Brazil's Minister of Aquiculture and Fishing, Ms. Borges said. The Director-General's schedule and the regular WTO weekly schedule for next week were available in the press room.

Ms. Taveau reminded journalists that UNICEF was organizing a round table next Monday in celebration of the eighteenth anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, in which young people and leading experts would participate. The event would be held in the Council Chamber of the Palais des Nations on Monday, 19 November, from 12 to 1.30 p.m. An information flyer was available.

Ms. Chaib announced that next week WHO was holding an intergovernmental meeting of on pandemic influenza preparedness, to discuss the sharing of influenza viruses and the benefits of such cooperation, which include access to vaccines. The meetings would be held from 20 to 23 November at the Palais des Nations in Room XVIII. All plenary meetings would open to journalists.

Jennifer Pagonis of the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) reminded journalists that Deputy High Commissioner for Refugees L. Craig Johnstone would brief journalists on his recent trip to Sudan and Chad, as well as on the situation of the Ark of Zoe orphans at 3 p.m. today in Room III.

At the end of the meeting, Ms. Heuzé announced a host of other press conferences that were taking place at the Palais des Nations today. Following the briefing, at 11.30 a.m. the ITU was holding a closing press conference for the World Radio Communication Conference, with Hamadoun Touré, Secretary-General of ITU, and others. At 12.30 p.m., in Room I, OCHA's Toby Lanzer, the UN Resident/Humanitarian Coordinator for the Central African Republic, would speak on the humanitarian situation in that country. Then, at 2 p.m., the Permanent Mission of Sudan was holding a press conference on the kidnapping and trafficking of 103 Sudanese children in Chad by l'Arche de Zoe, in Room III. Dr. Hassabu Mohamed Abdelrahman, Commissioner for Humanitarian Assistance would speak.