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 was also attended by Spokespersons for the United Nations Children's Fund, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the United Nations Development Programme, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, the UN Refugee Agency, the International Committee of the Red Cross and the International Organization for Migration.

Secretary-General and Millennium Development Goals

Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had called for a comprehensive account of progress on the global partnership for development, as embodied in Goal 8 of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the result was the first report of the MDG Gap Task Force -- Delivering on the Global Partnership for Achieving the MDGs. The report sounded a strong alarm. The main message was that while there had been progress on several counts, delivery on commitments made by Member States had been deficient and had fallen behind schedule. They were already in the second half of the contest against poverty and they were running out of time. Trade and aid were still major barriers to achieving the anti-poverty goals that countries committed themselves to achieving by 2015, despite significant progress in debt relief for the poorest States. The Secretary-General said a shift in both quantity and quality was needed to fulfill the promise of halving extreme poverty, achieving universal primary education and gender parity, and improving the health and living conditions of millions of people. The international community had a responsibility to live up to its commitments. The Secretary-General said that the gathering of world leaders on 25 September in New York would provide an opportunity to start bridging the gaps.

Copies of a press release, an information note and also the report itself in English, French and Spanish were in the press room.

Conference on Disarmament

Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said the Conference on Disarmament would conclude the third and last part of its 2008 session on 12 September. The next and probably last public plenary of the session would be held at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, 9 September.

Human Rights Council

Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said the Human Rights Council would hold its ninth regular session at the Palais des Nations in Room XVII from 8 to 26 September. At the beginning of the session, the Council would hear its first update from the newly appointed High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navanethem Pillay of South Africa, whose four-year term started on 1 September 2008. During the session, the Council would hear reports from and hold interactive dialogues with its Special Procedures on the human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous people; on the adverse effects of the illicit movement and dumping of toxic and dangerous products and wastes on the enjoyment of human rights; on human rights and international solidarity; on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences; and on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography. The Council would also hold an interactive discussion with the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict and with mandate holders for the human rights situations in Burundi, Liberia and Somalia. Additionally, it would hear a presentation of a report on the defamation of religions by the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance.

A background press release was in the press room and as usual, coverage of the meetings would be available in press release twice a day during the session. The President of the Council, Ambassador Martin Ihoeghian Uhomoibhi of Nigeria, would give a press conference at 11:30 a.m. today, right after the briefing in Room III.

Crash of Humanitarian Plane in Democratic Republic of the Congo

Elizabeth Byrs of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said two OCHA personnel were among the 15 humanitarian colleagues who died when their plane crashed near Bukavu in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo on Monday. They were Damien Gugliermina, a French national, and Pankaj Sharma who was from India and was a UN volunteer. The other victims worked for the Belgium office of Handicap International, the Dutch chapter of Doctors Without Borders, and the United Nations Development Programme.

Veronique Taveau of the United Nations Children's Fund said UNICEF was saddened by the death of 15 humanitarian colleagues and two pilots in the Democratic Republic of the Congo who died when their plane crashed near Bukavu in the east of the country earlier this week. All those on board were humanitarian workers who dedicated their lives to saving the lives of others. It was the family of Damien Gugliermina who affected her and many in Geneva personally, as she had worked with him in Iraq and Jordan. He was working for OCHA in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to continue what he loved to do the most, to help people in the field. He would be missed.

Floods in Indian State of Bihar

Veronique Taveau of the United Nations Children's Fund said the situation in the northern Indian state of Bihar was worsening because of the flooding. According to the latest figures, more than 3 million persons were affected by the floods. Last year, flooding had affected other areas in Bihar and since then, UNICEF had stockpiled emergency material there. Therefore it was able to immediately help affected people with plastic sheets, hygiene kits and other aid. UNICEF had sent health teams to the affected areas in Bihar to check on possible diseases affecting women and children. It had distributed rehydration salts and water purification tablets.

Georgia

Robert Cohen of the United Nations Children's Fund said he wanted to focus on the challenges for the new school year in Georgia, which begins on 15 September. Given the recent conflict, the big challenge was to ensure that the children among the internally displaced persons could return to school. UNICEF used the return to school in September as a golden opportunity to help children to begin to recover from the trauma of war and restore their hope in the future. UNICEF was concerned along with the rest of the humanitarian community that not all children would be able to return to classes on time. UNICEF had joined with the Government of Georgia and other partners to organize a "back to school" campaign. Among the internally displaced population, some 35,000 were children who would face the challenge. Many of the schools and kindergartens had been occupied by internally displaced people. Ensuring that the schools were ready and that the internally displaced persons could be sheltered in appropriate conditions was a major problem. UNICEF had organized child friendly spaces and psycho-social activities, including recreation, informal learning and sports for children in the collective centers. UNICEF had also distributed over 1,000 "school in a box" kits that would provide learning materials for some 80,000 children, 700 recreation kits for 63,000 children, and mine awareness projects to raise awareness of the risk of mines and unexploded ordnance.

Haiti

Elizabeth Byrs of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said after Hurricane Gustav had hit Haiti, tropical storm Hannah had hit the country on 1 September. A provisional estimate of 90 persons had been killed. The airport in Port-au-Prince reopened on 3 September allowing search and rescue operations to be undertaken. Initial assessments had commenced while only limited humanitarian assistance had reached affected populations. There were some 250,000 affected persons in Gonaives only. Roads between Saint Marc and Gonaives and Cap-Haitian and Gonaives were blocked by fallen trees, preventing road access for humanitarian relief. An eight-member United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination team was deployed on 3 September. There were more details in the information note, including on the situation in Cuba, the Dominican republic and Jamaica.

Jean Philippe Chauzy of the International Organization for Migration said IOM yesterday took delivery of a first consignment of 50 tons of aid sent by the office of United States Foreign Disaster Assistance for Haiti. The supplies consisted of more than 10,000 water containers, 5,000 hygiene kits and enough plastic sheeting to protect some 5,000 homeless families. The aid was expected to reach affected communities in the South, South West and North Western departments that had been battered by three deadly storms in less than a month, with two others approaching.

Elizabeth Byrs of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said the United Nations was preparing a Flash Appeal for the victims in Haiti after Haiti had officially requested international assistance.

Philippines

Carla Hadad of the International Committee of the Red Cross said the situation in the Philippines was underreported unfortunately. The fighting that broke out between the Philippines armed forces and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front on 10 August was the worst since 2003. Up to 500,000 persons had been affected by this armed conflict after many were forced to flee their homes. Some had returned now, but many remained in evacuation centers for fear of renewed clashes. With the breakdown of the peace process, the population was likely to keep being affected by this conflict so ICRC was stepping up its humanitarian operations on the ground. The aim was to assist up to 325,000 persons until the end of this year. ICRC was working in close cooperation with the Filipino Red Cross to provide food, shelter, essential household goods, water and medical assistance to close to 60,000 displaced persons. It was the rainy season and many were sheltering in tiny tents made by palm leaves. Others had sheltered in local schools, and in some of the villages, it was time for school to start, so the displaced persons were asked to empty the school during the day. The children of the displaced persons did not have access to school. It was a worrying humanitarian situation.

Other

Veronique Taveau of the United Nations Children's Fund said UNICEF Switzerland was organizing a week of action entitled "play to provide aid" in Geneva starting 6 September, and the collected donations would be used to help street children in Russia. Available was a media note and a leaflet with the details.

Ron Redmond of the UN Refugee Agency said a total of 29 vulnerable Palestinian refugees stranded for the last two years in a makeshift camp in the desert on the Iraq-Syria border were set to leave on Monday to begin a new life in Iceland. The group included some of the most vulnerable refugee women, several of whom had lost their husbands during the conflict in Iraq, and their children. UNHCR appreciated Iceland's decision to accept them. An estimated 2,300 Palestinians were still living in desperate conditions in two refugee camps along the Iraq-Syria border.

Mr. Redmond said High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres was scheduled to address the upcoming Ministerial Conference on Asylum hosted by the French European Union Presidency in Paris on Monday, 8 September. An embargoed press release would be available in advance and the text of his statement would be posted on the UNHCR website after it was delivered.

Adam Rogers of the United Nations Development Programme said Switzerland and UNDP would be hosting the Ministerial Review Summit on the Geneva Declaration on Armed Violence and Development on 12 September. In 2006, there was a Ministerial Summit with an attempt to reduce the incidence of armed violence and review its impact on development issues. The Geneva Declaration committed States to achieving a measure of reduction in the global burden of armed violence by the year 2015. The Geneva Declaration was now signed by 94 States. A press conference would be held on Tuesday, 9 September at the Swiss Press Club.

Catherine Sibut Pinote of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development said there would be a press briefing on Monday, 8 September at 11 a.m. in Room III on the presentation of the 2008 Report on UNCTAD's assistance to the Palestinian people. The embargoed report was available. A press conference to introduce UNCTAD's report on economic development in Africa would be held on Tuesday, 9 September after the briefing.

Jean Philippe Chauzy of the International Organization for Migration said in Iraq, returns of internally displaced persons to Baghdad and Diyala were on the increase with government programmes and improved security, while ethnic strife drove new displacement in disputed Kirkuk, according to IOM0's latest Displacement and Return Assessment report published this week. There were other stories in the briefing notes.