REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Elena Ponomareva-Piquier, Officer-in-Charge of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired the briefing. Sergei Ordzhonikidze, the Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva, made a special appearance during the briefing. Spokespersons for the World Meteorological Organization, the World Food Programme, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the World Health Organization, the World Food Programme and the International Organization for Migration also took the floor.

Seventieth Anniversary of Outbreak of World War II

Sergei Ordzhonikidze, Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva, said today the world marked the seventieth anniversary of the outbreak of World War II, which claimed the lives of 55 million fellow human beings all over the world. Over 20 world leaders were meeting in Poland on this occasion to pay their respects to the victims that were lost during one of the most tragic and barbaric wars in the world. The seventieth anniversary of the start of World War II held special importance for the United Nations. The Organization was founded on the ashes of war to prevent a re-occurrence of the horrors of the most ferocious war the world had ever seen. The United Nations main purpose was, as it said in our Charter, to “save succeeding generations from the scourge of war”, which has “brought untold sorrow to mankind”. This was our raison d’être. The key principles of the Charter and all modern principles of international law, such as non-aggression, the peaceful settlement of disputes and protection of human rights, were direct reactions to the War. This Organization embodied all the lessons learned from that tragedy. It was our collective responsibility to ensure that these lessons of tragic war lived on and were acted upon.

Mr. Ordzhonikidze said this anniversary took on particular significance here at the Palais des Nations, which housed the League of Nations. The League was also built on the ruins of a world war, but did not manage to prevent World War II. Here, they were constantly reminded of the horrific consequences when the international community failed to act collectively on the challenges they faced. This anniversary was therefore a reminder of the need to nurture multilateral efforts in different spheres of activity of the United Nations and to support our multilateral institutions for peace, development, disarmament and human rights. It was also a reminder of the need to continue our work for disarmament and non-proliferation, as well as human rights, peace and development. The development of nuclear weapons was also a product of World War II. The world needed to ensure that future generations could live in a world free of nuclear weapons and dangers. This anniversary was a call for strengthened multilateral disarmament and non-proliferation efforts by all Member States and a reminder of the special responsibility of the Conference on Disarmament. This was what he wanted to tell journalists on 1 September to remind journalists why the United Nations was here today.

Secretary-General’s Trip to Norway and Switzerland

Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon yesterday held meetings in Oslo with the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Norway, in which he discussed multilateralism and Norway’s role in the international community. In a joint press encounter with Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg, the Secretary-General said that Norway, by any standards, was “a steadfast believer in the goals and ideals of the United Nations” and he said he was very much encouraged by its strong support for the United Nations. He said he was very encouraged by the promise made by the Prime Minister this morning that Norway would be able to reach 1.1% of its gross domestic product to meet the targets of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

During their meeting, the Prime Minister of Norway announced to the Secretary-General that he would attend the 22 September Summit on Climate Change. Their discussion focused primarily on climate change issues and on the need to mobilize political will and create confidence building measures between the developed and developing countries. In his earlier press encounter, the Secretary-General had noted that one of the principal reasons for his visit to Norway was to see first-hand the dramatic changes to the Arctic and to learn what that meant for humankind. The Secretary-General flew north to Svalbard yesterday evening to meet with scientists who were gathering important climate data, before he visited the Polar Ice Rim today.

A transcript of the Secretary-General’s press conference with the Prime Minister of Norway was available in the press room.

Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said that as previously announced, Secretary-General Ban would visit Geneva to participate on Thursday, 3 September in the opening of the high-level segment of World Climate Conference – 3 at the International Geneva Conference Centre. The Secretary-General would give a press conference at the Centre on Thursday from 12:15 to 12:30 p.m. A bus would transport journalists from the Palais des Nations to the Centre. The bus would leave at noon from door VI.

World Climate Conference – 3

Lisa Munoz of the World Meteorological Organization said World Climate Conference – 3 opened yesterday at the International Geneva Conference Centre. Copies of the media agenda for today were at the back of the room, which included events planned for today. A full provisional schedule for the week could be seen at the WMO website. There were 2,000 participants in the Conference, approximately 1,200 whom were experts. Another 800 delegates would be coming for the high-level segment beginning on Thursday. A press conference was planned today at 11:45 a.m. in Room XI of the Centre to launch the UN World Economic and Social Survey, which was embargoed until 1600 GMT today. The daily press briefing would be at 12:15 today during which three experts in energy, transport and tourism would talk about the need for using climate information in these areas.

Ms. Munoz said tomorrow the big event was the World Climate Broadcast Forum, a gathering of weather broadcasters from all around the world, who would talk about how they could incorporate climate information and climate outlooks into their weather reporting. There would be a press conference on this at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, 2 September. There was also a press conference tomorrow afternoon with the World Food Programme to talk about climate and food security.

Emilia Casella of the World Food Programme said the Deputy Executive Director of WFP, Staffan de Mistura, would join WMO Assistant Secretary-General Jeremiah Lengoasa at a press conference tomorrow at 1 p.m. on the growing impact of climate change on humanitarian emergencies and global food security, and WFP/WMO work to bring scientific expertise to field-level operations.

Yemen

Elizabeth Byrs of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said that at 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday, 2 September, John Holmes, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, would speak to journalists about the launch of the Flash Appeal for Yemen. The meeting with donor countries would be held just before the press conference. The Flash Appeal would seek funds to help 150,000 persons. The humanitarian situation remained a grave concern in Yemen, especially the situation of the 35,000 persons who had been displaced in and around Sa’ada town. There was no water or electricity in the town. Access to the vulnerable persons was necessary, but the security situation was not allowing humanitarian staff to carry out their work. Access to the affected persons was the first priority.

Emilia Casella of the World Food Programme said WFP was repeating its call for safe corridors to be opened so that assistance could reach all of the displaced persons. Access was the most urgent issue. In July WFP was able to distribute food to 95,000 internally displaced persons who were displaced by previous fighting. In the month of August, WFP reach only 10,000 persons. Now they were looking at a number of 150,000 internally displaced persons. WFP staff and other humanitarian workers were indicating that around 100,000 people were currently on the move, although that could involve people already displaced and who were re-displaced by new fighting. WFP staff had now almost all been evacuated from Sa’ada. At the moment, WFP had 935 tons of food stock still in Sa’ada. That was enough to provide rations for a full month to around 60,000 people. This food was presently with WFP partners and it was hoped that if the security situation permitted, the partners would be able to begin distribution to the displaced persons in Sa’ada. WFP estimated that it would need about $ 6.6 million to fund its Sa’ada operation until the end of the year.

Andrej Mahecic of the UN Refugee Agency said a humanitarian crisis was unfolding in Sa’ada city in northern Yemen where the situation was deteriorating by the day. UNHCR was gravely concerned about the fate and well being of the civilian population trapped inside the city as a result of fierce fighting between Al Houthi forces and government troops, now entering its third week. To date, more than 35,000 people had been displaced in and around Sa’ada town. In total, UNHCR estimated some 150,000 internally displaced persons had been affected by the f0ighting since 2004. A 12-hour curfew was still in force. Food reserves were running out and black market prices had risen dramatically in most of the districts affected by the fighting. The security situation continued to impede the distribution of relief items intended for 370 vulnerable internally displaced people’s families. UNHCR urgently needed $ 5 million to respond to the emergency in northern Yemen. Those funds would allow UNHCR to provide protection and much needed assistance for some 70,000 internally displaced persons over the next four months in Sa’ada and other affected governorates.

Paul Garwood of the World Health Organization said that the lack of access, particularly to the people displaced inside of Sa’ada by the conflict, was a major concern to WHO. This concern was based on the inability of people to receive treatment for casualties caused by the conflict or by routine diseases. The threat of measles was high as the measles season was starting in the region. Malaria and diarrhoeal diseases could also be a problem. WHO was also concerned about its inability to get a clear picture about the number of people who were wounded and suffering inside the conflict zone. WHO was working with the Ministry of Health in the areas outside the conflict zone to supply medicines to treat people who had managed to escape. WHO was also providing malaria bed nets and rapid diagnostic testing kits for malaria.

Conference on Disarmament

Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said at the plenary of the Conference on Disarmament yesterday, Ambassador Christian Strohal of Austria, the President of the Conference on Disarmament, said that the window of opportunity for achieving a consensual approach on how to implement the programme of work was closing. He believed they all agreed that the window of opportunity for this year was closing yesterday. He said it was with serious regret that he informed the Conference that consensus on modalities of implementation of the programme of work still alluded them. With that situation and given the lack of time remaining, he believed the Conference was now best served to move on to the remaining tasks they had to tackle this year. They were preparing the annual report of the Conference to the General Assembly and the first draft would be available this week. He hoped it could be adopted by Thursday, 17 September.

The Austrian Foreign Minister would address the Conference at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, 2 September. Mr. Ordzhonikidze would also meet with the Austrian Foreign Minister. The Chairman of the First Committee of the General Assembly would address the Conference at 10 a.m. on Thursday, 3 September.

Influenza H1N1

Gregory Hartl of the World Health Organization, responding to questions, said so far, the majority of cases of Influenza H1N1 had occurred in younger people, even school-age children, because schools tended to be a very good place for transmission of the disease, like any other institution where there were a lot of people together. For the moment, teenagers and very young adults tended to be more affected than other age groups, probably because they all attended school and then university afterwards. Severe cases tended to be among persons 10 years old than that, and deaths tended to be among persons another 10 years older than that.

Somalia

Ms. Byrs of OCHA said civilians continued to be the victims of heavy fighting in Mogadishu in Somalia. During the week, at least 50 people were killed with dozens more wounded in different incidents between government forces and insurgents. Half of the Somali population, 3.8 million people, were in need of livelihood and humanitarian support and a further deterioration in the humanitarian situation may occur if current fighting levels continued. There were more details in the note at the back of the room. The appeal for Somalia was 53 per cent covered.

Mr. Mahecic of UNHCR said 16 people had drowned in the Gulf of Aden over the weekend in two separate incidents involving smuggling boats sailing from Somalia. In order to be able to respond to a potential massive influx of new arrivals, UNHCR had developed, along with other partners and local authorities, a plan on how to provide protection and assistance to as many as 20,000 new arrivals. In the past five days, a total of 17 boats carrying 835 people arrived in Yemen after making the perilous voyage across the Gulf of Aden from the horn of Africa.

International Organization for Migration

Jemini Pandya of the International Organization for Migration said IOM’s new Deputy Director General Laura Thompson was taking up office today. Until midnight yesterday, Ms. Thompson had been Costa Rica’s Ambassador in Geneva.