REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Elena Ponomareva-Piquier, Chief of the Press and External Relations Section of the United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG), chaired the briefing, which was also addressed by Spokespersons for the United Nations Refugee Agency, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, and the International Organization for Migration.

Activities of the Secretary-General

Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier drew attention to a statement of the Secretary-General in which he deplored the violent attacks against UNMIK Police and KFOR personnel that had occurred yesterday in Mitrovica, Kosovo. The Secretary-General urged all communities to exercise calm and restraint, and underlined the need for constructive dialogue in order to address the situation. The Secretary-General expected all sides to refrain from any actions or statements that could incite or provoke further violence.

Also available was a transcript of the Secretary-General’s press conference yesterday, following his luncheon with the members of the Security Council.

Geneva activities

Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said that the Human Rights Council would this morning hear statements from delegations wishing to intervene following yesterday’s presentation by Francis Deng, the Special Advisor of the Secretary-General on the prevention of genocide, of the report of the Secretary-General on the implementation of the Five Point Action Plan and the activities of the Special Adviser. The Council would then continue its review of mandates, focusing on those relating to involuntary disappearances, international solidarity, the use of mercenaries and minority issues.

Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier reminded journalists that this afternoon, the Council would hold a panel discussion on the subject of intercultural dialogue on human rights. A note to correspondents on the panel was available in English and French in the Press Room.

This morning, a plenary session of the Conference on Disarmament was for the first time taking place under the presidency of Ukraine.

Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier recalled that immediately following the briefing, at 11:30 a.m., Supachai Panitchpakdi, Secretary General of UNCTAD, would brief the press on the upcoming UNCTAD XII conference.

Darfur consultations

Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier recalled that the African Union and United Nations Special Envoys for Darfur, Salim Ahmed Salim and Jan Eliasson, were conducting informal consultations on Darfur with regional partners and international observers. The consultations, taking place in Geneva, had begun yesterday and would continue today. The objective of the Special Envoys was to reach an understanding with the regional partners and international observers on the road ahead for the political process.

Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said that the Director-General of UNOG, Mr. Sergei Ordzhonikidze, had participated in the opening of the meeting this morning.

The two Special Envoys would be holding press conference at the end of the consultations today, at approximately 5:30 or 6:00 p.m., depending on when the meeting would end. The press conference would take place in Room III.


Activities of the Director-General

Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said that the Director-General would today at 1:00 p.m. take part in a high-level panel discussion to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, which was taking place under the theme of “Dignity and Justice – the Cornerstones of Combating Racial Discrimination”. The Director-General would deliver the Secretary-General’s message, as well as his own remarks. The event would take place in Room XXI.

On Thursday, 20 March, at 10:30 a.m., the Director-General would deliver welcoming remarks at an event, organized by the World Health Organization and the Water Supply & Sanitation Collaborative Council, to mark World Water Day. The Chairperson of the Secretary-General’s Advisory Board on Water and Sanitation, His Royal Highness Willem-Alexander, Prince of Orange, would deliver the keynote address. A press conference would take place with His Royal Highness just prior to the event, at 10:00 a.m., in Room III.

UNHCR report on Asylum Levels and Trends in Industrialized Countries for 2007

Ron Redmond of the United Nations Refugee Agencey (UNHCR) said that copies of UNHCR's latest report on Asylum Levels and Trends In Industrialized Countries for 2007 were available at the back of the room. Among the highlights of the report was that some 338,000 new applications for refugee status had been submitted last year in 43 industrialized countries, a 10 percent rise compared to 2006. 2007 had seen a reversal in the 5-year downward trend in asylum applications in industrialized countries, largely because of an increase in the number of Iraqi asylum seekers. For the second year running, Iraqis had in 2007 topped the list of asylum seekers in the world's industrialized countries. Their number had almost doubled in one year, from 22,900 in 2006, to 45,200 in 2007. Nevertheless, Iraqi asylum seekers in industrialized countries represented only 1 percent of the estimated 4.5 million Iraqis uprooted by the conflict -- over 2.5 million of them within Iraq and another 2 million Iraqis in neighbouring countries such as Syria and Jordan. As the High Commissioner had pointed out, it was useful to keep in proportion the numbers of asylum seekers in industrialized countries versus the countries in the immediate region, which were carrying an enormous burden of Iraqi displacement. The top five countries of origin of asylum applicants in 2007 were Iraq (45,200), the Russian Federation (18,800), China (17,100), Serbia (15,400) and Pakistan (14,300). Further information was available in the briefing note. The report was also available on-line.

Other

On a related matter, Jemini Pandya of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said that five years after the 2003 overthrow of Saddam Hussein in Iraq, more people than ever before were displaced due to conflict and sectarian violence. There were now 5.1 million displaced Iraqis, of whom 2.7 million were IDPs and more than 2.4 million were refugees, predominantly living in neighbouring Syria and Jordan. The good news from last year was that the rate of displacement had significantly dropped since the time of the peak of the crisis in 2006, when more than 60,000 people were being displaced internally per month. Yet, conditions for the displaced had considerably worsened with shelter, food, and employment remaining priority needs. More than 75 per cent of IDPs did not have access to government food rations, nearly 20 per cent were without clean water, while 33 per cent do not have access to the medications they require. Despite the efforts of the humanitarian community, only 20 per cent of IDPS had received any assistance from an NGO or an international humanitarian agency. Ms. Pandya said that IOM continued to provide humanitarian assistance to displaced Iraqis, and was delivering emergency humanitarian food aid, which had benefited more than 330,000 IDPs in the past two years alone. Overall, IOM had assisted more than five million internally displaced, returnees, and host community members since 2003. IOM urged donors to step forward and give the humanitarian crisis in Iraq the attention it deserved. To date, a two-year IOM appeal to assist Iraq's internally displaced was still only 28 per cent funded, despite the suffering that was so evident.

Mr. Redmond said that the situation of more than 2,700 Palestinians who have been stranded and were living in inhumane conditions in two border camps at the Iraq-Syrian border continued to deteriorate. Over the past 22 months, UNHCR had been calling for urgent humanitarian solutions for this group and -- even if only temporary -- relocation elsewhere, preferably in the Arab region. In 2006, Canada had accepted 64 Palestinians from Iraq, while Brazil last year had received 107. In a more recent development, Chile had offered to receive for resettlement an initial group of 117 Iraq Palestinians. Sudan had also offered to accept 2,000 Iraq Palestinians. UNHCR appreciated all of these responses and hoped that all of the Palestinians would be able to leave the harsh conditions of the camps sooner rather than later.

Mr. Redmond drew attention to an item in the briefing note on the transfer of some of the estimated 14,000 refugees who had recently fled insecurity in the Central African Republic (CAR) away from the border to a temporary transit site 25 kms further inland.

Veronique Taveau of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) provided an update on the children being reunited with their families in Chad. The first 83 children had been reunited last Friday. UNICEF had provided each family with a small amount of money, the equivalent of USD 20, but of greater importance was the establishment of programmes to support the children. UNICEF and Save the Children were together establishing integrated programmes that would address needs relating to food, water and sanitation, education, protection, and support for the most vulnerable families in the form of support for revenue generating activities, such as small-scale trade, agriculture and farming. To begin with, the programmes would benefit some 4,000 children. Education would be one of the priority areas and would include repair of infrastructures, distribution of educational materials and incentives for teachers, most of whom until now had been untrained. The reunification of 13 additional children with their families in Tiné was now being prepared and would take place next Friday, 21 March.

Rupert Colville of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) alerted journalists to two reports that would be published shortly. Early tomorrow morning, OHCHR would release the report, along with a press release, of the fact-finding team sent to Kenya to report on the post-election violence there. On Thursday, 20 March, a joint report by OHCHR and UNAMID on the attacks on civilians in West Darfur in early February would be released. This afternoon, a press release would be issued quoting High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour in advance of the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

Elizabeth Byrs of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that the situation in Bolivia continued to deteriorate with floods likely to continue through April. The number of affected persons due to the floods, which had begun in November, caused by “La Niña” phenomenon, was estimated at approximately 400,000. The two areas most affected were Beni and Santa Cruz where some 5,000 and 2,500 families respectively were living in shelters. During the past week, continuous rain had caused the death of five children and left 18 people wounded in Santa Cruz. Since last November, the death toll had risen to 73 deaths. OCHA had launched a Flash Appeal for USD 18 million on 20 February 2008, which was only 28% covered to date. Contributions to the Appeal were urgently needed. OCHA had already provided USD 2.2 million through the Central Emergency Response Fund but this was far from sufficient.