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 Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the World Health Organization, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the UN Refugee Agency, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the International Organization for Migration and the International Telecommunication Union.
New Statements by the Secretary-General
Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said there were two new statements by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in the press room. On India, the Secretary-General expressed his deep sorrow and sympathy to the Government and people of India for the loss of life and destruction caused by a series of bombings in the North-East of the country. He strongly condemned this act of terrorism targeting civilians.
On the Maldives, the Secretary-General congratulated the people of the Maldives on the peaceful conduct of their nation’s first multi-party Presidential election, which marked an important step forward in the country’s democratic reform process. The Secretary-General encouraged all parties to work in a cooperative manner and continue to carry forward the reform process aimed at achieving a more open and democratic Maldives.
Geneva Activities
Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said the Human Rights Committee was today concluding its current session and a round up press release would be issued shortly. The members of the Committee would give a press conference at 11:30 today, just after the briefing, to talk about the results of the session.
The Committee on the Elimination of All Kinds of Discrimination against Women was today reviewing the periodic reports of El Salvador and Madagascar. On Monday, 3 November, the Committee would take up the periodic reports of Myanmar and Portugal. The Committee would conclude its present session on Friday, 7 November.
Two committees would be meeting from 3 to 21 November, the Committee against Torture and the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The background press releases were already in the press room. The Committee against Torture would be taking up the reports of Lithuania, Serbia, Kazakhstan, China (including Hong Kong and Macao Special Administrative Regions), Montenegro, Belgium and Kenya. All its meetings would be held at the Palais Wilson, expect for the meetings on Friday, 7 November and Monday, 10 November, when it would review the reports of China in Room XII of the Palais des Nations for logistical reasons.
The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights would be considering the reports of Nicaragua, Sweden, Kenya, Philippines and Angola, as well as the situation in Kosovo on the basis of a document submitted by the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo. The Committee would hold all its meetings at the Palais Wilson.
Situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said Kevin Kennedy, head of the UN Great Lakes Integrated Operational Team and Director of Public Information Designate for the United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC), speaking in New York yesterday about the situation in Goma in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, said the humanitarian situation was the main concern of the United Nations, including the tens of thousands of internally displaced persons who were on the move. Calling the situation extremely complex, Mr. Kennedy said MONUC has been patrolling Goma, where some collapsed elements of the Government forces (FARDC) have been engaged in looting and firing shots in the air. “MONUC has done its best to bring that situation under control and to make sure that there is a presence in the streets of Goma,” he said. He said the ceasefire announced by Laurent Nkunda, the leader of a rebel group, was holding, with United Nations blue helmets being stretched to the limit in trying to protect civilians escaping fighting and an escalation in hostilities in North Kivu province between the FARDC and the militia headed by Mr. Nkunda known as the National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP). The clashes had taken a heavy humanitarian toll, with tens of thousands of people – many of whom had already been uprooted from their homes – fleeing upon news that the CNDP was advancing towards Goma.
Mr. Kennedy stressed that the UN mission was “at the absolute limit of its capacities,” with 850 blue helmets, along with support units, in the city with a population of 1 million. Despite the limited resources, it was making every effort to ensure civilians’ safety, but “the fact is that MONUC’s ability to cover this entire city and to ensure the protection of every individual is obviously simply not there,” he said. The mission, which has some 17,000 troops in the vast Central African nation, is redeploying forces from other parts of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Mr. Kennedy expressed concern over the use of internally displaced persons as human shields by the CNDP, making it difficult for MONUC to respond to the situation. He also pointed out that while the problem in North Kivu, which bordered Rwanda and Uganda, was a Congolese issue, “it is nonetheless clear that Rwanda is an important factor in the region,” adding that Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had been in contact with Rwandan leaders regarding this. More details were available in the press release which was in the press room in English and in French.
Elizabeth Byrs of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said access to the areas of population displacements remained the biggest challenge for all humanitarian actors in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The precarious security conditions did not always allow access to the thousands of families displaced in the axis Goma – Rutshuru, Goma – Minova, as well as in the area north of Rutshuru. As of last night, the possibility of opening up emergency humanitarian corridors still had to be verified because of the instability. The population movements were continuing. An inter-agency assessment mission, coordinated by OCHA in Bukavu in South Kivu, would be deployed to Minova to look at the needs of the internally displaced persons. The situation was worrying. There was also information on sexual violence, which was still used as a weapon. They were working with the figure of an estimated 250,000 persons affected, in addition to tens of thousands who were always on the move since the recent fighting. Preliminary main needs included shelter, water, sanitation, medicines, food aid and protection.
In response to a question on the numbers of cases of sexual violence or rape, Ms. Byrs said she did not have definite figures.
Veronique Taveau of the United Nations Children’s Fund said UNICEF was particularly worried about the situation in North Kivu and the impact of the situation on the thousands of children and women who were already vulnerable. Despite the difficult and volatile security situation, she had received information this morning that a small humanitarian corridor had been opened outside of Goma. The figure estimates varied widely, but UNICEF estimated that out of the 50,000 displaced persons, between 20,000 and 25,000 were children. UNICEF was evaluating with its partners the needs and was following the evolution of the situation. UNICEF, with help from the World Food Programme, would be able to distribute high energy biscuits to help 6,000 displaced children. Also sanitation equipment, jerrycans and medical kits which could help 24,0000 persons would be sent. UNICEF was also following the issue of the protection of children. Registration points for non-accompanied children had been opened. UNICEF was working with Save the Children UK on this question. For now, UNICEF estimated that it needed $ 8 million to help with the situation in North Kivu for the next three months, but it expected that figure would change as the situation evolved. This amount would help with sanitation, health, protection and education.
Emilia Casella of the World Food Programme said WFP and UNICEF had moved high energy biscuits to a medical centre in Kibati, 15 kilometres north of Goma. Kibati had been the focus of displacement in recent days. WFP expected to conclude a rapid assessment today so that further food and supplies could be delivered as quickly as possible. In addition, WFP had loaned five rub halls, which were usually used as temporary ware houses, to UNHCR to be used as temporary shelters in Kibati. In addition, in expectation of an eventual outflux from north Kivu into Uganda, WFP was pre-positioning about 500 metric tons of food, enough to feed around 30,000 for a month, or 60,000 for the next two weeks. Last night, hundreds of WFP and NGO staff and their dependents slept in the WFP compound for the second successive night.
Fadela Chaib of the World Health Organization said the general hospital in Goma was overflowing with patients and the blood bank was not operational. The key health threats linked to the current situation were a lack of shelter which contributed to the spread of acute respiratory infections, particularly amongst the elderly and the young; a lack of water which fanned the risk of the broad spectrum of diarrhoeal dieases, and cholera was endemic to this region; and a lack of vaccine coverage which contributed to the spread of measles among the displaced, an illness which was highly fatal in such fluid situations. Other threats were a lack of food that contributed to acute malnutrition, while a lack of reproductive health services contributed to high maternal deaths; a lack of essential drugs or restricted access to such medicines contributed to increased illness and death; the breakdown of the disease surveillance system that gave rise to the threat of outbreaks; and the wounds from the violence, the mental and psychosocial health issues, and the need to protect all people, particularly women and children, from sexual violence.
This was the environment WHO was working in now. WFP and other UN agencies were working together to provide medication to around 60,000 persons.
Rupert Colville of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said available was a statement issued this morning by High Commissioner Navi Pillay on the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Ms. Pillay said over the past few days, a number of fresh violations had been recorded by UN human rights staff in the region. In the provincial capital Goma, looting, killings and rapes appeared to have been carried out primarily by renegade soldiers belonging to the national army known as the FARDC, many of whom had fled the fighting. Other serious abuses, including targeted killings, had been reported from areas held by forces of the National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP), commanded by Laurent Nkunda.
Mr. Colville said the High Commissioner said UN human rights officers on Thursday gathered information about a number of specific incidents that had occurred overnight. They visited one house in Goma where five people had been murdered, four others wounded and one three-year-old child was missing. Neighbours believed that the killings took place during an episode of looting. In another part of town, a FARDC soldier killed a man and his eight-year-old son, and wounded two other children belonging to the same family. The soldier, who left his uniform at the scene of the crime, was reported to have been later arrested by army authorities. Another FARDC soldier was reported to have been shot dead while looting, which was widespread in certain areas of the town. In one incident, a barman was said to have been shot dead by FARDC elements because he had failed to serve them quickly enough. In rebel-held areas north of Goma, CNDP fighters were reported to have fired indiscriminately at a clinic into which government soldiers had fled, leading to civilian casualties, and later in the week a similar incident took place at a clinic in Rutshuru. Human rights activists appeared to be targeted. Activists in both Goma and rebel-held areas had told UN staff that they had been threatened or narrowly escaped being killed. There was fear of both the FARDC and CNDP. According to an unconfirmed report, in the rebel-held town of Rugari, the President of the Civil Society has been shot dead by CNDP fighters.
The total number civilians killed so far was not known, but clearly this was an extremely dangerous situation. The High Commissioner called on the government to put in place radical institutional reforms so that its security forces could play an appropriate role under the constitution and fully respect the human rights of its citizens. The full statement was available at the back of the room.
Ron Redmond of the UN Refugee Agency said UNHCR had received disturbing reports that several camps for internally displaced people near the North Kivu town of Rutshuru, 90 kilometres north of Goma, had been forcibly emptied, looted and burned. UNHCR was in the process of trying to verify these reports. It was extremely concerned about the fate of some 50,000 displaced people living in these camps. The area around Rutshuru, where UNHCR had an office, had been the scene of fighting in recent weeks and it was now under rebel control. UNHCR was trying to verify these reports, but security continued to hamper their efforts. High Commissioner Antonio Guterres had against appealed to all sides in the conflict to respect humanitarian principles and to ensure the safety of civilians and those trying to help them.
In Goma, Mr. Redmond said a UN team was trying to make its way to Kibati, about 10 kilometres north of the city, to check on reports that some of the 45,000 displaced people who fled two camps there were now beginning to return. Many Congolese fleeing the fighting north of Goma had headed towards Uganda looking for safety. Some 8,500 refugees were now dispersed in a dozen villages along the border and were accommodated by host families, friends or relatives. UNHCR Uganda was working on setting up a small transit centre in Kisoro town for Congolese refugees willing to move to Nakivale refugee settlement, some 350 kilometres inside Uganda. So far, more than 2,000 newly arrived refugees had found shelter there. Meanwhile, some 1,200 refugees fled to Rwanda and were staying at a school in Gisenyi. It was clear that UNHCR was going to require more funding to cope with the new needs.
Asked to estimate how many people had been displaced since the fighting in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in August, Mr. Redmond said it was well over 200,000. He said last April, the estimates of internally displaced people in the North Kivu area were 847,000. That number was now over a million, with estimates ranging to up to 1.2 million.
Marcal Izard of the International Committee of the Red Cross said ICRC’s team in Goma reported that the situation there was calmer last night than the night before. This relative calm had allowed ICRC’s national staff to come back to their offices and to start work almost at the same level before the recent clashes. In Goma, ICRC was focusing on medical support, and it had provided yesterday urgently needed medical and surgical supplies to two of the important hospitals in Goma. Today, the ICRC surgical team which was still based in Goma was starting to operate on the dozens of the wounded who were now in these hospitals. The second issue which ICRC was focusing on was the provision of clean and safe drinking water. In the camp in Kibati, 15 kilometres north of Goma, ICRC was today setting up a water system that would help 10,000 people receive clean drinking water. Also, north of Rutshuru, there were tens of thousands of people who had fled Rutshuru, ICRC was reinforcing its team there and would then help them with medical supplies. The ICRC also had a food capacity to feed up to 20,000 people for the next two weeks.
Earthquake in Pakistan
Elizabeth Byrs of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said approximately 3,000 persons were currently displaced following the earthquake in Balochistan province and the aftershocks were pretty violent too. More than 15,000 mud and wood houses had been completely destroyed. Urgent needs of the most affected population included winterised tents, blankets and warm clothing, food, provision of health services and restoration of water supply schemes. The Government had not yet requested international support. Three main evaluation missions were still touring the worst affected areas. A health coordination office would be established in Balochistan and 3,000 hygiene kits had been dispatched by the United Nations Population Fund. The Government of Balochistan had dispatched 18 medical teams and ambulances with emergency kits and medicines. More details were available in her notes.
Emilia Casella of the World Food Programme said WFP was currently distributing a one-month emergency ration to 20,000 persons affected by the earthquake, including biscuits, pulses, beans, wheat flour and other items.
Veronique Taveau of the United Nations Children’s Fund said UNICEF was providing immediate life-saving assistance to children and women affected by the earthquake in Balochistan, which had left more than 70,000 homeless, including 30,000 children. UNICEF was worried about the children, especially because of the lack of shelter and the cold weather. UNICEF had been part of an inter agency and NGO assessment mission yesterday. The most urgent needs of the survivors were shelter, safe drinking water, food, warm clothing and emergency medical assistance. A priority for UNICEF was to ensure the availability of clean water as children were especially vulnerable to diseases, such as diarrhea and cholera.
Paul Garwood of the World Health Organization said arriving today in the affected areas were expected to be two truckloads of medicines which were enough to treat 50,000 persons for the next three months. Also another two kits containing materials to treat up to 400 people who suffered from extreme trauma injuries were expected to arrive today. WHO was also opening a mental health office in the affected region to help with provision of psycho-social support to survivors. The immediate health concerns was people’s access to health services, lack of shelter and the effects of the cold weather, access to safe food and water, and extremely low immunization coverage in the region, with particular concern for measles.
Carla Haddad Mardine of the International Committee of the Red Cross said ICRC was appealing for emergency funds today to assist earthquake victims in Pakistan. It was a preliminary appeal for nine million Swiss Francs to help the victims. Hundreds of smaller aftershocks continued today, although there was no further seismic activity today. The situation was difficult for people who were afraid to sleep indoors. The death toll in the most affected area was estimated at over 200, the number of wounded was still very difficult to estimate. ICRC estimated that between 20,000 and 30,000 persons had been affected by the earthquake. The affected area was at 2,500 metres above the sea level so it was extremely cold. The priority at this stage was shelter. A press release on the preliminary appeal would be available shortly.
Other
Elizabeth Byrs of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said the UN and its partners were requesting more than $ 17 million to fund emergency relief projects for hundreds of thousands of people affected by severe floods in Honduras following torrential rainfall. Authorities had categorized 57,681 people as severely affected by the foods who required immediate humanitarian assistance. Some 72,085 hectares of crops had been lost and the infrastructure had suffered extensive damage. There were more details in the briefing notes.
Veronique Taveau of the United Nations Children’s Fund said available was a media release and a news letter on the situation six months after cyclone Nargis hit Myanmar. There were positive reports on the relief efforts that had been carried out, but support was still required to bring medium to long-term solutions to children and their families.
Jemini Pandya of the International Organization for Migration said in Yemen, a joint assessment by various UN organizations, IOM, ECHO and non governmental organizations to Hadramut, a southern province of Yemen, had found that food could be an issue for flood victims for some time to come. Scores of people had been killed in the province and several tens of thousands of people displaced by floods caused by a tropical storm last week. With farming the main source of income in Hadramut and much of the land and crops damaged by floodwaters, the challenge was in ensuring those affected by the floods, estimated at several hundreds of thousands, had food for the mid-term. The storm hit the province just as crops were about to be harvested.
Ms. Pandya said IOM and USAID this week released a new six-month study, entitled "No Experience Necessary: The Internal Trafficking of Persons in South Africa." This qualitative study was the first survey research on the trafficking in children, women and men for labour and sexual exploitation within South Africa. The study focused primarily on public sector and civil society outreach workers, law enforcement and social workers, to determine their levels of awareness and first-hand information on trafficking, its nature, causes, routes and victims in South Africa. It concluded that victims of internal trafficking were most often from rural areas where unemployment and poverty increased vulnerability.
Janaina Borgese of the World Trade Organization said next week there would be talks of the trade and Environment Committee on 3 November; meetings of the Technical Barried to Trade Committee on 5 and 6 November; and a meeting on the Montenegro membership negotiations on 7 November. On 4 November, there would be an open hearing for the dispute brought by Japan against the United States relating to the zeroing.
Ms. Borgese said Director-General Pascal Lamy would give a speech at the Geneva Trading and Shipping Association on 3 November. He would meet with Brazil’s Minister for External Relations on 4 November, and would meet with Mali’s Trade and Industry Minister on 6 November.
Sanjay Acharya of the International Telecommunication Union invited journalists to lunch on 12 November at ITU. The ITU Council was beginning on 12 November, and this year, the Council would have a high-level segment, which included the Presidents of Rwanda and Burkina Faso and about 24 ministers as well as policy makers. The opening ceremony would be open to the press and would include a video message from Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, and statements by the Presidents of Rwanda and Burkina Faso. There would be a press conference at 11 a.m. at ITU following the opening ceremony, to be followed by a press lunch.