REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Corinne Momal-Vanian, the Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired the briefing, which was also attended by spokespersons of the World Meteorological Organization, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, the World Trade Organization, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the United Nations Children's Fund, the World Health Organization, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and the International Organization for Migration.

Diarrhoe and vomiting outbreak in Haiti

Fadela Chaib of the World Health Organization said an outbreak of diarrhoe and vomiting had been reported from Haiti’s Artibonite region, involving some 1,500 cases and 150 deaths. This outbreak was not in an area directly affected by the earthquake of 12 January. Several stool samples had been taken and the results were expected later on. The situation in Haiti regarding Cholera was quite significant as for over a century no Cholera had been reported from that country. At the request of the Haitian Government the international community had begun responding. Medical teams had been mobilized, medical supplies were being provided to local hospitals and dehydration salt sachets and 10,000 purification tablets had been distributed. Further teams were traveling to the area tonight and tomorrow to assist local authorities. Although WHO could not confirm the nature of the cases, it was concerned at the speed with which this had spread. The situation clearly underlined the need to provide assistance to people living in Artibonite. The humanitarian community would continue to work in close cooperation with local authorities to provide all the assistance needed in responding to this outbreak. For the time being it could not be confirmed that the observed cases were cholera.

Marixie Mercado of the United Nations Children's Fund said there was a press release at the back of the room from UNICEF's country office in Haiti.

Philippines

Elysabeth Byrs of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said the situation in the Philippines after Typhoon Megi was worrying. Over 1 million persons had been affected by the typhoon, casualties have risen to 19 deaths and 28 injuries, and about 8,000 houses had been destroyed and more than 14,000 partially destroyed. Isabela province, a key producer of corn and rice in the country, was hardest hit by Megi. There, 41 per cent of the population, or about 600,000 people, had been affected by the consequences of this typhoon. Isabela had also suffered devastating consequences in terms of agriculture. The priorities were now the agricultural sector and providing shelter. Concerns about Isabela province were even greater as, prior to being further devastated by Typhoon Megi, the province was already suffering from the impact of Typhoon Parma in 2009 and the ongoing El Niño drought. There was also a tropical depression building close to the Philippines. The tropical depression, named Katring, would follow the same track as Typhoon Megi if it maintained its current course and was predicted to enter the Philippines area on 24 October.

Floods in West and Central Africa

Adrien Edwards of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said UNHCR was expecting to begin an emergency airlift to Benin in the next days amid the floods there which, according to government and UN estimates, were now affecting some 680,000 people. While UNHCR's normal work in Benin was in relation to the refugee and asylum-seeking population of some 7,300 people, UNCHR had been called upon to help with the emergency shelter needs of some of the homeless people in southern parts of the country, where it had a presence. As of today the focus was on making arrangements for the reception, storage and distribution of UNHCR relief items. UNHCR planned to initially airlift some 3,000 tents from its emergency stockpile in Copenhagen. It had already been providing tents and mosquito nets from its more limited stockpiles in the region. It was also helping providing logistical support to UNHCR partners for their transportation needs while also reinforcing its staff presence, said Mr. Edwards.

Of clear concern to all was the rising number of people who were being affected by these floods. Seasonal heavy rains had been hitting West Africa for several months and normally lasted until November. However, what had happened this year went well beyond normal flooding for Benin. Fifty-five out of the country's 77 districts were affected. Weather forecasts this morning showed no signs of any let up yet. UNHCR's refugee population, which was located in the south of the country, was not heavily affected at this time.

Elysabeth Byrs of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said this year’s floods in West and Central Africa were indeed the worst since about 1963. According to expert teams on the ground in Benin and insights gained through air inspections of the country, the number of people affected would still substantially increase. Second most hit by the floods after Benin was Nigeria with 300,000 people affected, followed by Niger with 226,000. Burkina Faso, with 105,000 people affected by the floods was also severely hit, as was Chad with 150,000 people affected, Guinea with 41,000, Mali with 16,000 and Togo with 22,700 persons affected. In total, more than about 1.5 million people were affected by the floods in Western and Central Africa, Ms. Byrs said, adding that this number would continue to rise as the rainfalls continued.

Yemen

Adrien Edwards of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said slow implementation of the peace agreement signed in June between the Yemeni government and Al-Houti forces was prolonging civilian displacement in northern Yemen's Sa'ada province. As winter approached, UNHCR estimated that more than 300,000 people remained displaced and needing help. To date only around 20,000 Yemeni internally displaced people had returned to their homes in Sa'ada governorate. Many people told UNHCR that the biggest obstacles to larger scale returns were the lack of security and safety, fear of reprisals or new fighting, and extensive destruction of houses and infrastructure. Reports of incidents involving land mines and unexploded ordnance were frequent and often involved children, shepherds, or returnees, and had fatal outcomes.

Mr. Edwards said the fragile security situation in Sa'ada meant that UNHCR staff were only able to access the displaced and returnees in a radius of a few kilometers of Sa'ada City itself. The situation seemed to be somewhat improving, allowing, as of recently, some movement of UNHCR staff outside the security belt around the city. However, UNHCR remained concerned about the lack of access and the humanitarian situation in other parts of the governorate.

As most of those who fled from Sa'ada were likely to spend the coming winter displaced – either in camps or with host families – UNHCR was rushing additional blankets and tents as well as some support to those who had found accommodation on their own, which would help the IDPs through the cold period. So far, some 30,000 IDPs had received winter assistance – mostly in Amran province north of the capital Sana'a. In order to assist some of the 2,400 displaced still sheltering at the Mandabah makeshift site, in the most northern tip of, Yemen just a couple of kilometers from the Saudi border, UNHCR has dispatched a five-truck aid convoy from Saudi Arabia. These internally displaced persons had been living in quite harsh conditions lacking shelter, sanitation and food. The trucks reached Mandabah late last week and brought tents and other shelter material, thousands of blankets and mattresses, hygienic items and cooking sets. Further large scale distributions in Sa'ada and Sana'a governorates were scheduled for the next two weeks. Together with its partners, UNHCR planned to provide blankets and other aid to some 100,000 IDPs in need of such assistance.

Cholera in Nigeria

Marixie Mercado of the United Nations Children's Fund said Nigeria was reporting its highest caseloads of cholera in recent years, namely 38,173 cases including 1,555 deaths since the beginning of the epidemic in January. The number of cases so far in 2010 was almost three times the total of all of 2009 and seven times as much as in 2008. The Red Cross estimated that women and children accounted for 80 per cent of these cases. Although the spread seems to have been largely contained, new cases were still being reported from already affected states, particularly from the North East of Nigeria. While the case fatality rate was 4.5 per cent overall, the proportion of affected people dying of cholera was above 10 per cent in States that were either severely affected by flooding or had large numbers of internally displaced persons – 20 per cent in Plateau, 16.9 per cent in Sokoto and 11.1 per cent in Gombe. UNICEF was supporting hygiene promotion and supplies in camps and flood-affected communities and provided supplies for cholera treatment.

Fadela Chaib of the World Health Organization said seasonal factors as well as poor hygiene conditions and population movements in the area contributed to this unusually high incidence of cholera. Nevertheless, this area was known to be epidemic for cholera and was regularly affected by small outbreaks. WHO, with international and national health partners, was providing technical support to Nigeria’s Ministry of Health. At the regional level, several Ministries of Health, including those of Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria, had met from 16-18 October in Abuja to reinforce the surveillance and revise the preparedness and response plans to cholera epidemics around Lake Chad. WHO was expecting to provide an outbreak disease in the course of the day or next week, said Ms. Chaib.

Pakistan

Jemini Pandya of the International Organization for Migration said this week, for the first time since the floods in Pakistan, IOM staff had managed to meet people living in Punjab villages whom IOM had trained in disaster preparedness in July this year, just before the floods. According to villagers in Jhang district, 122 local volunteers had been able to rescue approximately 1,000 flood victims during the peak of the disaster. A man who had led community-based disaster management teams told IOM that he and six other volunteers, along with members of the Government rescue force, had managed to rescue 155 people in one village in just one day.

In Jhang district, training had been given in three locations because they lay at the confluence of two rivers and were flood-prone. Trainees included key members of the community, including school headmasters, female health care workers and local government workers. Besides training these people were given boats, life jackets, medical kits and tools such as shovels and ladders to carry out rescues. The training in July was part of the “One UN" programme in Pakistan, Ms. Pandya said.

The IOM-led Shelter Cluster had provided emergency shelter to almost half a million families across the country, representing over 3.4 million people. But needs were still great, Ms. Pandya said, adding that over 7 million people had yet to receive emergency shelter.

Violence in run-up to Guinea election

Rupert Colville of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said OHCHR was deeply concerned by the manner in which Guinea’s security forces, in their efforts to quell a series of demonstrations that had taken place in Conakry earlier this week, had used excessive force and resorted to live fire, killing one man and injuring at least 62 others. OHCHR appreciated that the authorities had had a difficult task dealing with the 18-20 October demonstrations which in some cases degenerated into acts of violence, including stone-throwing, the burning of tyres and erection of roadblocks, and resulted in some 10 members of the security forces receiving injuries. Nevertheless, OHCHR believed the security forces committed serious human rights violations by indiscriminatingly shooting at unarmed civilians, sometimes at point-blank range, and by breaking into and ransacking private homes, and severely beating young men who had not offered resistance.

Five sectors of Conakry had been particularly affected, namely Hamdallaye, Ratoma, Matoto, Bambeto and Afia Minière. Some of the security forces’ operations appeared to target entire areas indiscriminately, with little effort to distinguish between violent protestors and residents who had not taken any part in the protests. They had also illegally and arbitrarily detained an unknown number of people, held them in undisclosed places of detention, and prevented them from having access to lawyers. In addition, human rights officers had been denied access to a gendarmerie detention cell, in the commune of Hamdallaye, where a number of protestors were allegedly still being detained incommunicado. OHCHR Guinea was particularly concerned that members of security forces who had taken part in these police operations included the Force Spéciale de Securisation du Processus Electoral, which was the special police unit that was formed and trained to secure the electoral process.

Victims of alleged human rights violations documented so far by OHCHR staff in Conakry included a 22 year-old man who had allegedly been hit in the head by a tear gas bomb thrown by a police officer on 18 October in the commune of Hamdallaye, and who was still in a coma; a 7 year-old boy who had been shot in the head by a stray bullet in the Matoto neighborhood of Conakry on 20 October, who also remained in a coma; a family whose house in the Afnia Minière neighbourhood of Conakry had been shot at and then broken into by several gendarmes, who then reportedly subjected an elderly man to a severe beating with their fists, truncheons and rifle butts. The gendarmes had then arrested the man, his wife and several of his children and detained them for five hours before releasing them. The elderly man could barely move as a result of the assault, and received treatment at a local hospital. The same group of gendarmes was also reported to have shot three young men aged 18 to 25 at point-blank range, wounding two of the victims in the arm and one in his thighs.

OHCHR staff recorded a number of other extremely violent incidents of a similar nature, aimed in particular – but not exclusively – at young men. OHCHR is particularly concerned that some members of the security forces appear to have been making threats, and even conducting assaults, on the basis of victims’ ethnicity or political affiliation, and is calling on political leaders to restrain their supporters in the run-up to the elections. OHCHR also called on the transitional Government to ensure that members of the security forces scrupulously adhere to international standards governing the use of force and firearms, Mr. Colville said.

Geneva Activities

Corinne Momal-Vanian said the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women would this afternoon hold the closing meeting of its session. Contrary to what Ms. Momal-Vanian had announced on Tuesday, the concluding observations on the six reports examined over the course of this session would only be made public next week. The concluding observations would be available on the website on the session. The link to that website would be included in the roundup release that the Information Service would release this afternoon.

Ms. Momal-Vanian said the Human Rights Committee had examined all reports scheduled for consideration during this session. It would adopt the concluding observations on these reports in closed meetings and make them public at the end of the Committee’s session on Friday, 29 October.

Ms. Momal-Vanian also reminded that a press conference would be held today at 11.30 a.m. in Room III to launch the book “L’ONU pour les Nuls”.

Ms. Momal-Vanian said Sunday, 24 October, marked the United Nations Day and the message published by the Secretary-General for that occasion was available at the back of the room, both in English and in French. Also in the context of the 65th anniversary of the entry into force of the United Nations Charter, the Geneva International Model United Nations and the Non-Governmental Liaison Unit of the United Nations Office at Geneva would hold a conference entitled “Youth expectations regarding the United Nations”. That conference would be held from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. in Room XII.

UNCTAD Agenda

Catherine Sibut-Pinote of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development drew attention to two meetings to be held next week. Next Monday and Tuesday a meeting would take place in an effort to facilitate the pilot phase of the Natural Resources Information Exchange platform. Six African countries would participate in this pilot phase, namely Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Mauritania, Mozambique and Nigeria. A number of Deputy Ministers working in the field of natural resources from these countries were expected. The meeting would take place next Monday and Tuesday, 25 and 26 October, in Room XXVI, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. The names of speakers would be sent by email.

Another important meeting was the pre-conference event to LDC-IV which was to be held in Istanbul, Turkey, at the end of May or early June. Next week’s event was the first pre-conference event in Geneva that would address the challenge of finding productive jobs to the rising workforce in least developed countries for an inclusive and sustainable development. The meeting would take place from 27 to 29 October. Also, the Geneva Press corps had already received an invitation to a press conference with the participation of the Deputy Secretary-General and the Secretary-General of UNCTAD who would speak about the pre-conference event to LDC-IV and the LDC-IV conference.

WTO Agenda

Janaina Borges of the World Trade Organization said the Dispute Settlement Body would meet next Monday, followed by a briefing. The time for the latter would be confirmed by email. Also on Monday and Tuesday, there would be meetings regarding Russia’s accession negotiation and throughout the week several Committees linked to the Goods Council would meet. The Council for Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) would also meet from Tuesday onwards, followed on Thursday by a meeting on the TRIPS negotiations for the Doha round. On Tuesday, there would also be a Committee on Trade and Development session on aid for trade. The detailed schedules were available in the Press Room.

Ms. Borges said WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy would be in Brussels on Monday, 25 October, for meetings with Eurpean officials and a speech at the Solvay Brussels School. On Tuesday, Mr. Lamy would be in Berlin for meetings with Government officials and the participation at a conference on raw material security. On Wednesday, 27 October, the Director-General would participate at the African Economic Conference, before going to Senegal and Rwanda.

WHO Agenda

Fadela Chaib of the World Health Organization said WHO Director-General today started her visit to Saudi Arabia in company of the Director of WHO’s Regional Office in Cairo. Tomorrow, Ms. Chan would participate at a conference on “Mass gatherings and Health” in Jeddah and meet the Saudi Minister of Health.

From 24 October onwards Ms. Chan would be in Riyadh where she would visit several centres and hospitals specialized on eyes and cancer. On Tuesday, 26 October, the Director-General would travel to Pakistan, visiting several centres for malnourished children and meeting emergency workers and the international community. Ms. Chan would be back in Geneva on 29 October.

Speculations about harsh winter

Clare Nullis of the World Meteorological Organization said there had been speculations and rumours circulating on the internet that Europe would face its coldest winter in a thousand years. These were premature speculations that were not backed up by authoritative and robust science, Ms. Nullis said, adding that the operational long-range forecasts that were available at present did not indicate a particularly severe winter in Europe.

Launch of new Observatory on Migration in Africa, Caribbean and Pacific Regions

Ms. Pandya said a new institution focusing on data in the African, Caribbean and Pacific regions would be launched in Brussels on Monday. The African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Observatory on Migration, an initiative of the Secretariat of the 79-member ACP Group of States, would be run by IOM and a Consortium of partners and associates with funding from the European Union and support from Switzerland and IOM. The observatory would be important because it would help fill a critical gap in the knowledge of South-South migration, said Ms. Pandya.

As a first step, the ACP Observatory would create research networks in each of the ACP sub-regions. Initially, programmes involving research on a range of migration subjects would begin in 12 pilot countries.

The launch on 25 October will be followed by a two-day conference, aimed at highlighting concrete challenges faced by ACP countries and regions on migration research and migration management, with a view to defining the Observatory's research priorities for 2011. Jean-Philippe Chauzy would be in Brussels for the launch and could be reached on his usual telephone number.

Conference on Unaccompanied Minors Rights

Ms. Pandya said IOM had organized a conference on the rights of unaccompanied minors who traveled to Europe. There was a growing concern over this issue because nearly 11,000 minors had applied for asylum in 22 European Union Member States in 2009, an increase of 13 per cent from 2008. Unaccompanied minors who had fled care centres were highly vulnerable to exploitation and abuse and required special attention and care.

The conference would serve as a platform to present information on the latest policy and programme developments on assistance to unaccompanied minors in the EU. It also provided all those dealing with unaccompanied minors with concrete tools such as a manual on best practices for the reception, protection and treatment of this group of minors.

Ms. Pandya also highlighted yesterday’s relocation of humanitarian cases from Malta to Germany and an initiative that would help Iraqi female-headed households and victims of trafficking in Syria. More information on these topics was available in the note at the back of the room.