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 and Representatives of the World Health Organization, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and the UN Refugee Agency.

Secretary-General’s Activities

Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was in Washington, D.C. yesterday, where he met with the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi. In the afternoon, the Secretary-General delivered the Commencement Address at the School of Advanced International Studies in Washington DC under the theme: “Global Leadership in a Time of Crisis”. In his address, he called for a special brand of global leadership and a new multilateralism to deal with the new and complex challenges facing the world today. The Secretary-General highlighted the fact that just as the world’s people have become more interdependent, so too have the issues, adding that no nation can deal with them alone.

The Secretary-General was now on his way to Sri Lanka.

Geneva Activities

Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said the Conference on Disarmament was meeting now in the Council Chamber. There would be a press release issued once the meeting concluding. [It was later announced that the next plenary of the Conference will be held on Tuesday, 26 May at 10 a.m.]

The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights was today concluding its observations and recommendations on the reports of Australia, Brazil, Cambodia and the United Kingdom which it reviewed during its session. The Committee’s concluding observations and recommendations on the reports would be issued towards the end of the day and there would be a roundup press release.

The Committee on the Rights of the Child was starting its fifty-first session at the Palais Wilson on Monday, 25 May, during which it would review the promotion and protection of children's rights under the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in France, Sweden, Mauritania, Bangladesh, Niger and Romania. The Committee would also review efforts made by Slovenia and Oman with regard to their implementation of the two Optional Protocols to the Convention, on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, and on the involvement of children in armed conflict. At its opening meeting, the Committee would swear in six newly elected Committee members and would elect a new Bureau, including a Chairperson, four Vice Chairpersons and a Rapporteur, from among its Members, following which it would adopt its agenda and review its organization of work. During the session, the Committee would be pursuing the elaboration of a general comment further clarifying the concept of child participation as contained in the Convention.

In response to a question about the possible Special Session of the Human Rights Council on Sri Lanka, Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said the Bureau of the Council would meet at 11 a.m. this morning and she hoped to be in a position to tell journalists when the Special Session would be held later in the day. [It was later announced that the Special Session will start at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, 26 May, and will conclude on Wednesday, 27 May]

World Health Assembly

Fadela Chaib of the World Health Organization said the World Health Assembly would be closing its work l today. A roundup press release would be issued later in the day, as would the closing statement by Margaret Chan, the Director-General of WHO. There would also be a virtual press briefing at 5 p.m. in Room III.

Influenza A H1N1

Ms. Chaib of the World Health Organization said concerning the latest statistics on the Influenza A H1N1, as of 6 GMT this morning, 42 countries had officially informed WHO of 11,168 cases of Influenza A H1N1, and 86 deaths, including 75 in Mexico, 9 in the United States, 1 in Canada and 1 in Costa Rica. This was an increase of 134 cases from the day before, including 52 new cases in the United States and 35 new cases in Japan. There would be more details this afternoon on developments concerning Influenza A H1N1 in the 5 p.m. virtual press briefing.

Protecting Health from Climate Change

Maria Neira, Director of the Public Health and Environment Department at the World Health Organization, said a very ambitious plan of action on climate change and health has been approved at the WHA. Twenty-eight countries intervened to support this global plan of action for WHO’s Secretariat. Essentially what the world plan on climate change and health was about was recognizing that climate change was affecting our health, since there was now overwhelming evidence proving that. There was a role that the health sector could play on adaptation, and preparing our health systems to better cope with those diseases that might appear associated with the global warming. There was also the role that the health sector could play on mitigation, meaning that by reducing green house emissions, there could be health benefits, so there would clearly be a benefit for the health of the people on reducing green house emissions, and WHO would be quantifying those health benefits in order to produce very good health arguments to move forward on the environment and climate change agenda. There was also a WHO request to be part of all the negotiations, mechanisms and groups that were dealing with climate change, and making sure that the post-Kyoto agreement would incorporate the health dimension and the human face of climate change. WHO would be cooperating with all the UN agencies and groups in order to make sure that there was a clear understanding that there was a link between climate change and our health. A lot of effort still needed to be done in terms of advocacy in order for people to understand this. Once the general public understood that climate change was linked to their heath, this would provoke a very important social movement that would contribute to boost the climate change agenda.

Ms. Neira said available was a document entitled “health hospitals, healthy planet, healthy people” which was about how the health sector could reduce their own carbon footprint.

In response to questions, Ms. Neira said the plan on climate change and health outlined a role for the health sector that went beyond its traditional way of working. In order to go ahead and implement this work plan, the health sector needed to work with other sectors and needed to try to influence their decisions on issues like transport or energy sources. In terms of action, they would implement the global research agenda which had just been defined, the global plan on research outlined the priorities; they would help countries by providing technical assistance to do their own vulnerability assessment and to work on their national plans to adapt and to be prepared for the adverse effects of climate change; and they would help countries to be prepared to receive funds from existing climate change related ports of financial support which were available.

United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East

Elena Mancusi-Matef of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East said in the week of the World Health Assembly, UNRWA was focusing this briefing on its health interventions in the Occupied Palestinian Territories as well as in Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. UNRWA today would also present its annual report of the department of health for 2008.

Guido Sabatinelli, Director of Health of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, said the World Health Assembly had provided the opportunity for UNRWA to prepare and release the annual report at the same time. It was a quite comprehensive document and in the five minutes that he had, he would not be able to present their achievements and the constraints that they faced. UNRWA, in spite of financial and political constraints, was expanding in its response to the health needs of the refugee population that was now almost five million in five field operations. UNRWA provided comprehensive primary health care, including both curative services and preventative medicine. UNRWA’s health programme was delivered through a network of 137 clinics and one hospital; the health programme employed almost 4,000 persons, including 430 medical doctors. UNRWA provided curative services that included dental services and radiological and laboratory services. On preventative care and health protection and promotion, UNRWA provided maternal and child health in all aspects. There was also control of communicable diseases, the most important of which was vaccination of children that reached almost 100 per cent of children living in the camps and among the population that they served. UNRWA also provided screening for non-communicable diseases, diabetes and hypertension.

Mr. Sabatinelli said the results of the programme were relatively good. Infant mortality ranged between 15 (West Bank) and 25 (Gaza Strip) per 1,000 live births. That was comparable to the figures from the hosting countries in Syria and Lebanon and Jordan; however it was much higher than the figures recorded in Israel, where it was only 5 per 1,000 live births. The full report on the impact of the war in Gaza at the end of 2008 would institutionally be in the report for 2009, but the 2008 document also had a chapter which indicated the consequences of the war, which included more than 1,400 deaths and 5,000 injured persons. Today, the situation in Gaza and the occupied Palestinian territory in general was still deteriorating in the sense that the blockage that was imposed, even before the war, was heavily affecting the health of the people. The blockage had also affected the ability of UNRWA to provide health services. Before the war, reportedly 4,000 items could generally be imported into Gaza, whereas now only the import of 40 items was allowed. UNRWA was unable to repair the health centres that were damaged, nor the schools and homes, because of restrictions on the import of building material. UNRWA also had difficulty in printing the school books as there was no paper. There was a shortage of files to keep medical records in UNRWA health centres because of this paper shortage. Also since 2 November, no petrol or diesel was being delivered to Gaza, and only very limited cooking gas was being delivered. In addition to the widespread unemployment, the situation had affected the ability of families to provide adequate food to children, so 30 per cent of children below 36 months were anemic, as well as 50 per cent of pregnant women. This situation was very worrisome for UNRWA.

Last year, there had been a global increase of prices. UNRWA was planning for the next biennium and it foresaw that there would be a shortage of one fourths of the budget. What would be the consequences of that, asked Mr. Sabatinelli? Since there was an expanding need and very limited resources, probably next year UNRWA would be obliged to suspend some of the services that were essential to the population. UNRWA’s health budget was $ 80 million to provide for 4 million persons, i.e. $ 20 per person per year. WHO advised countries to spend at least $ 60 per person per year as an absolute minimum. As for the consequences of the shortage of funds, they might be obliged for example to close the hospital of Qalqilya, reduce oral health services etc.. Nonetheless in this case, the consequences on the health and dissatisfaction of the beneficiary population would be of highest concern.

Sri Lanka

Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said yesterday, the Chef de Cabinet of the Secretary-General, Vijay Nambiar, traveled to the camps housing the internally displaced (IDPs) in Vavuniya and then flew over what was formerly known as the conflict zone, a day after his helicopter had to turn back midway due to bad weather. Mr. Nambiar met with the President of Tamil United Liberation Front, a Tamil political party. They discussed the situation with the internally displaced persons who remained in the conflict zone. They also discussed civilian casualties and those who were injured and missing, the continuous shelling which resulted in abandoned hospitals, and the allocation of more land to address overcrowding and suitable provisions, especially for children. Mr. Nambiar was expected to visit the north of the country today and he would meet with a group of Members of Parliament of the Tamil National Alliance.

Elizabeth Byrs of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said the United Nations was still extremely concerned about overcrowding in Menik Farm camps, which were next to Vavuniya and were the biggest camps with their four zones. Around 251,000 internally displaced persons were in Vavuniya. Another 1,500 wounded people and their caregivers were in hospitals. A number of mobile hospitals had been set up in the surrounding area around Vavuniya, especially by MSF, but they were still not enough. The United Nations needed freedom of movement for people in the camps to allow those who had been identified as non-combatants to voluntarily relocate to stay with host families if they had that option. The United Nations reiterated the need for the screening and registration process to be carried out as quickly as possible. There remained some restrictions on access by humanitarian actors and their cars to Menik Farm camps. The situation in the Menik Farm camps was slowly improving, in Menik farm Zone 4, a total of 1,800 tents had been erected and 30,000 people had been moved in so far. Work continued to provide more shelter and improve water and sanitation.

Pakistan

Andrew Purvis of the UN Refugee Agency said the number of people formally registered by local authorities, with UNHCR’s help, after they fled the fighting in Lower Dir, Buner and Swat districts of Pakistan’s North West Frontier Province since 2 May had surpassed 1.7 million. About 200,000 were in camps and the rest were staying with families and friends or in schools and other communal buildings. UNHCR’s main role in the joint UN response in the emergency phase of this crisis was to provide shelter and other relief supplies, provide technical help in setting up and coordinating camps and assisting local authorities with registration of displace people. In the camps UNHCR was working to provide more shade above tents to help protect people from the intense heat. Separate communal shelters for men and women, or cool rooms, with electricity, fans and coolers would be set up to provide more respite from the heat. UNHCR was also constructing individual or communal kitchens in the camps. UNHCR was continuing to identify additional sites for new or extended camps.

UNHCR’s total projected needs until the end of 2009 were for $ 105 million, of which $ 84 million was still needed. The combined appeal for the revised Humanitairan Response Plan by the UN and its partners in Pakistan was for a total of $ 543 million, of which $ 88.5 million was already committed.

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Mr. Purvis of the UN Refugee Agency said UNHCR was deeply concerned about growing reports of atrocities and abuses against civilians in the North and South Kivu provinces committed by rebel groups and by government forces, which continued to cause major population displacements in the region. Attacks and reprisals had been mainly blamed on the so-called Democratic Front for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), but also increasingly by the Congolese national army (FARDC). Since January, repeated attacks by the FDLR in North and South Kivu had driven more than 370,000 people from their homes and into the forests or to other places where they could be safe. UNHCR urgently appealed to the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with the support of the international community, to provide protection to the civilian population and to end the atmosphere of impunity surrounding crimes committed by members of the FARDC, the national police or by armed rebels such as the FDLR. There were more details available in the briefing notes.

Other

Mr. Purvis of the UN Refugee Agency said the UNHCR Office in Colombia was deeply concerned about a recent wave of death threats against human rights workers and social activists, including displaced leaders working to defend their communities’ rights.