REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Corinne Momal-Vanian, the Director of the UN Information Service in Geneva, chaired the briefing which was also attended by Spokespersons for and Representatives of the Economic Commission for Europe, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the World Food Programme, the UN Children's Fund, the UN Refugee Agency, the International Organization for Migration, the World Health Organization and the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

Horn of Africa

Ms. Momal-Vanian said that UN agencies were currently presenting to Member States the latest humanitarian response and funding plans for the drought-affected countries in the Horn of Africa. A note, based on each country’s humanitarian plans for 2011, revised upwards given the deteriorating situation, was at the back of the room. The note offered a summary of the humanitarian plans for the region, and more details on the funding plans were available from the country-specific appeals. The Director of OCHA Geneva, Rashid Khalikov, was available for interviews at the end of the meeting.

Another document, entitled “The Horn of Africa crisis by the numbers”, was also available at the back of the room, underlining that 12.4 million people needed immediate assistance and that US$ 1.4 billion were still required.

Responding to a question, Vanessa Huguenin of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said that the previous appeal for the Horn of Africa had been revised upwards to US$ 2.4 billion, of which US$ 1 billion had been received and US$ 1.4 billion were still needed.

Emilia Casella of the World Food Programme said that the second airlift of specialized nutritional food for malnourished children had arrived in Mogadishu this morning. The two flights so far had delivered a total of 28 metric tons of ready-to-use food which would be distributed in districts of the city. A total of 100 metric tons were destined for airlift into Somalia. Another flight has arrived this morning in Gedo, South Somalia, carrying 5 metric tons of high-energy biscuits feeding about 25,000 people. WFP’s partners have also begun screening for a supplementary feeding programme for malnourished children and general food distributions for their families which aimed to reach 175,000 people in the El Waq, Dolow, Belet Hawa and Luq districts. The organization’s supplementary feeding programmes in existing sites in the central parts of Somalia have also been expanded to take into account the regular hunger season.

In Kenya WFP was implementing supplementary feeding for all children under the age of 3 in six districts in northern Kenya where malnutrition rates have been found to be well above the emergency threshold. WFP would also provide school meals to all 589,000 school children in the arid northern districts during the August holidays, in addition to regular meals during term time. A total of 2.4 million people were currently receiving food assistance in Kenya of whom WFP is feeding 1.6 million and the government of Kenya 800,000. A specialised nutrition product (Nutri-butter) was being given to all children between 6 and 23 months and WFP was giving high-energy biscuits to all newly arriving refugees in addition to the 21-day food-ration they received upon arrival. WFP now had a permanent office in Dollo Ado and a dedicated fleet of thirty trucks carrying food from Nazareth to Dolo Ado, where it was increasing the capacity to respond to the influx of people. So far WFP had received pledges of US$ 250 million to respond to the crisis in the Horn of Africa, but the organization still had a shortfall of US$ 252 million.

Marixie Mercado of the UN Children's Fund said that this month UNICEF had brought in enough supplementary and therapeutic feeding supplies for 80,000 malnourished children in southern Somalia over the month of July. The supplies had come in via three flights to Mogadishu, two to Galkayo and one to Baidoa, as well as by two ships to Mogadishu. These supplies were now being distributed by partners on the ground in Mogadishu, Gedo, Middle Juba, Lower Juba, Bay and Lower Shabelle.

UNICEF was working to massively boost its pipeline. These supplies supported over 500 pre-existing nutrition centres in the South that treat malnourished children. They were also needed for a blanket supplementary feeding programme for 150,000 households over two months. UNICEF had reached 7,000 displaced families in Middle Shabelle, and was now rolling out feeding programmes for 8,000 people in areas people were moving to. Water, sanitation and hygiene supplies were also getting to families through the nutrition centres, as well as at camps for internally displaced person and in communities. Together with partners, UNICEF was reaching children, but many more need lifesaving assistance now. UNICEF had received about 29 per cent of the almost US$ 300 million required for the response across the Horn of Africa.

Fatoumata Lejeune-Kaba of the UN Refugee Agency said that UNHCR was very concerned about the protection of civilians in the Somali capital amid renewed fighting between pro- and anti-government forces yesterday. An offensive by pro-government forces in and around Bakara and Balcad markets had increased the risk for the capital's citizens as well as the estimated 100,000 internally displaced people who had recently fled drought and famine in neighbouring regions. UNHCR staff in Mogadishu has been confined to their compound as a result of the outbreak of fighting in Wardhiglleey district mid-morning and many inhabitants had already fled the area in recent months due to previous heavy fighting.

UNHCR was carrying out a protection assessment in settlements in Badbado, Mogadishu, and hoped to conduct such assessments in a further 10 settlements in the coming days. Meanwhile, the number of Somalis fleeing their homeland to escape the mix of conflict, drought and recent famine was increasing, and a surge in new arrivals could be expected given the renewed fighting in Mogadishu. The number of arrivals in Ethiopia was steady at 240 people a day and refugees continued to arrive weak and emaciated from hunger and the long trek from their villages, mainly in the Bay, Bakool and Gedo regions of southern Somalia. One in three children arriving in Dollo Ado from Somalia was malnourished.

UNHCR and partners continued work to complete the development of Hilaweyn, the fourth refugee camp in the Dollo Ado area, which would shelter 14,000 refugees who were to be transferred from the overcrowded transit centre. It was hoped that by Monday there would be enough water for 3,000 people and enough for 10,000 by the end of next week. Malnutrition remained a major concern in Dollo Ado, spanning children under the age of 5 up to people older than 18. Eighty per cent of new arrivals were under the age of 18, necessitating screening to enter feeding programmes as required.

UNHCR had mounted an aggressive response, including door-to-door screening of malnourished children who were then referred to nutrition programmes, screening by MSF at the reception centres, and supplementary feeding programme by UNHCR’s partner Save the Children. These efforts were complemented by hygiene promotion and public education to ensure that refugee families were aware of the existing health services and sought timely medical attention. Recent arrivals were increasingly reporting that they finally made the decision to flee when the last of their animals died and they had no further source of income or food.

In Kenya’s Dadaab refugee complex, work continued on the relocation of refugees who had settled spontaneously on the edge of Ifo camp to the extension part, where there were over 3,000 people since Monday. This Ifo Extension, meant to accommodate 90,000 refugees in total, had schools, boreholes and various services, as well as over 100 houses for extremely vulnerable refugee families. Oxfam had installed three water storage tanks with a capacity of 10,000 litres each, MSF-Spain was providing primary health care services from its health post located on the outskirts of the camp, and there were plans to construct three additional health posts inside the Ifo Extension. UNHCR airlifts had brought thousands of tents to Dadaab, but this was still insufficient to meet the needs of the growing refugee population, as some 45,000 tents were needed to provide emergency accommodation. Some 114,000 Somalis had arrived in Dadaab since the beginning of the year, including about 30,000 people awaiting registration. Work had also started at another site, near the Hagadera camp, known as Kambioos, which would also have the capacity to accommodate 90,000 refugees. UNHCR was planning to move 180,000 people to both the Ifo Extension and Kambioos sites by the end of November.

Jumbe Omari Jumbe of the International Organization for Migration said that desperate Somalis escaping the famine in South Central Somalia on foot into neighbouring Kenya were in dire need of food, water, medical care and transportation assistance. An IOM team had seen hundreds of exhausted Somalis on the 90 km stretch of broken tarmac road between the border town of Liboi and the Dadaab camps in north-eastern Kenya. The IOM team, which travelled the road to assess the conditions in the border region, assisted many exhausted elderly persons, pregnant women, women with small children and family members squatting by the roadside, unable to continue their journey. Their long trek, under intense heat, coupled with a lack of food and water, had lead to exhaustion, dehydration, acute respiratory infections, diarrhoea and malnutrition. Most of the refugees came from the Gedo district, in the middle and Lower Juba regions of south-western Somalia. Many said they had walked for up to three weeks to reach the Liboi border crossing between Kenya and Somalia.

Meanwhile, in Ethiopia, IOM was providing assistance to people sheltering in Melkedida and Bokolmanyo camps, close to the town of Dolo Odo, some 30 km from the border with Somalia. It was also planning to establish IOM mobile clinics to decongest the two camps. IOM and partners had also started to construct shelters in these camps, in collaboration with the Ethiopian Government. While its current work concentrated on Kenya and Ethiopia, IOM soon issue an appeal to extend its work to other areas affected by the emergency.

Pakistan

Ms. Momal-Vanian said that the floods which hit Pakistan one year ago, in July 2010, affected some 20 million people, submerged almost one-fifth of the country, claimed 2,000 lives and destroyed 1.7 million homes, notably in the provinces of Baluchistan, Punjab and Sindh. The largest UN appeal on record at the time, launched in the aftermath of the disaster and requesting nearly US$2 billion, has received US$759 million (38 per cent), according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. In a statement available at the back of the room the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Valerie Amos, said that: “In close cooperation with the Government, the humanitarian community provided emergency aid, including food, water, shelter and health care.” Ms. Amos added that “Today, we continue to support families, helping them to rebuild their lives, their homes, their livelihoods. Given the scale of the disaster, the response by the humanitarian community is to be commended.”

Fadéla Chaib of the World Health Organization said that a document prepared by the WHO office in Pakistan was available at the back of the room, summarizing the activities of the health cluster which was led by WHO and the Pakistani Government. The Pakistan floods had destroyed or damaged more than 430 health facilities, millions of consultations had taken place during the crisis, almost 70 million people had been treated, and thanks to WHO 14 million people received essential medication.

Jumbe Omari Jumbe said that IOM had assisted over 10.3 million flood-affected people in Pakistan during the twelve months following the 2010 floods. The organization has provided emergency shelter, health services, schools, hospitals, rehabilitation, public service announcements and handbooks. But massive needs remained and IOM was appealing for an additional US$ 3.6 million to launch a targeted response to help the most vulnerable families affected. After a successful pilot in 2011, IOM had decided to provide cash rather than material support to help affected families. This allowed beneficiaries to choose what materials to buy and the shelter design, as well as putting much-needed income into local supply chains.

Dan Rohrmann, the Representative of UNICEF in Pakistan, joining the briefing by telephone, said that both the Somalia and Pakistan emergencies affected the most vulnerable the hardest, including children. What was unusual in Pakistan was not only that it was the worst floods in 100 years, but the scale and the geographic scope: more than 18 million people -- of whom 7 million were severely affected, and half of them children -- spread out over at least one fifth of Pakistan. Furthermore, given the situation of children beforehand -- due to poverty and multiple emergencies -- existing vulnerabilities had been amplified, worsening the situation in terms of nutrition and sanitation and increasing the number of kids out of school.

The pictures of vast areas covered in water and areas only accessible by helicopter, as well as destroyed infrastructure and population struggling in camps, were certainly still present in the minds of people. One year on, Mr. Rohrmann was impressed by the resilience of the people, the commitment and response of the Pakistani authorities and the people, as well as the outpouring international support from both governments and individuals. Combined, this contributed to saving lives and providing unprecedented levels of health, nutrition, water and sanitation services. It also opened new opportunities such as learning for children who had never been to school before and who would not willingly let it go again after this experience. Non-governmental organizations and civil society had been engaged and capacities strengthened like never before, said Mr. Rohrmann.

Over the last 12 months, UNICEF had mounted one of the largest emergency responses in its history. Some of the numbers were simply staggering: 5 million people had received clean drinking water daily, tens of millions of children had been vaccinated against polio and measles and 2.5 million children under the age of 5 had been screened for malnutrition, including 350,000 who had been treated for severe and moderate acute malnutrition in stabilization centres and 800 outpatient therapeutic feeding programme centers. Also, 4,500 temporary learning centres supported some 330,000 children, of whom some 40 per cent experienced this for the very first time and many of these girls, with learning opportunities. In addition 750,000 children had received school supplies.

Today, while most people had returned, families were still struggling to rebuild their devastated livelihoods and communities and children continued to suffer from multiple levels of deprivation and exclusion. Malnutrition was of particular concern, with some 14 per cent suffering from acute malnutrition and 37 per cent being stunted, and safe drinking water and hygiene promotion was critical. Children, many of whom were from the poorest of the poorest families, must also be kept in a learning environment, as they are agents for change who are able to transform social behaviour in areas such as water and sanitation, nutrition and health.

But the challenges were great as Pakistan was the sixth poorest country in the world. Thirty-six per cent lived below the poverty line, 53 children were dying per hour due to preventable diseases and 7 million primary school-aged children were out of school. The early recovery and development clock was ticking but reset at a higher level.

The flood response not only gave attention to existing and new vulnerabilities – it also gave rise to programmatic innovation and best practice which would today allow to sustain the impressive results that were achieved and allow to show solidarity with affected populations, and to ensure that the international community would not forget and stand by the promise made at the onset of the floods a year ago.

Malawi

Ravina Shamdasani of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said that the OHCHR had been following with great concern the reports of human rights violations in the context of last week’s anti-government demonstrations in Malawi, including the killings of several protestors through the excessive use of force by the security forces. The Office called on the Government to stop the use of force and urged prompt, impartial and transparent investigations into these allegations of grave human rights violations.

OHCHR was extremely worried about reports of arrests of large numbers of people during the demonstrations, and death threats against several leaders of the protests following President’s announcement via radio that eight people he had specifically named would be arrested. OHCHR urged the Government to cease the use of mass arrests and threats to silence opponents.

The Office had furthermore received reports that the Government had shut down news websites and social media networks and had blocked signals from radio stations. Journalists had also reportedly been targeted and subject to violence and intimidation. OHCHR urged the authorities to respect the freedom of expression.

Sri Lanka

Ms. Shamdasani said that the UN human rights office would like to highlight reports that a body, believed to be that of a prominent human rights defender who had been missing since February 2010, was exhumed in Sri Lanka yesterday. The Office hoped that investigation and prosecution of this crime would now be expedited.

Pattani Razeek, the Managing Trustee of Community Trust Fund and a leading member of regional NGO networks, was last seen near the mosque in Pollonaruwa (North Central Province of Sri Lanka) on 11 February 2010. For some months, his family and colleagues had received calls demanding a ransom. Police investigations had made little progress amid allegations of political interference. Community Trust Fund members and Muslim community leaders had faced threats to drop the case. It was only in the past few weeks that two suspects had been arrested in relation to the case. The information they had provided reportedly led to the body.

OHCHR hoped that similar progress would be made in uncovering the truth behind the disappearance of several thousand individuals both during and since Sri Lanka’s conflict. In one such case, a freelance journalist and cartoonist, Prageeth Ranjan Bandara Ekneligoda, had been missing and considered “disappeared” since January 2010. OHCHR strongly urged the Government of Sri Lanka to expedite investigations and provide information on Mr. Ekneligoda’s whereabouts and fate.

The Office further encouraged the Government to seek the assistance of the UN Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances, which had many thousands of outstanding Sri Lankan cases on its books, by inviting it to visit the country.

Congolese returns resume as refugee status in Gabon nears end

Ms. Lejeune-Kaba said that UNHCR was working with the Gabonese Government to help find solutions for the last remaining Congolese refugees before their refugee status came to an end on Sunday. The cessation clause would apply to some 9,500 Congolese refugees and asylum-seekers living in Gabon today. They were among nearly 20,000 people who had fled civil conflict in the Republic of Congo between 1997 and 2003.

In January this year the Gabonese Government had announced its plan to declare the end of refugee status for Congolese nationals on its territory. The authorities considered that these refugees could now return safely to their home country and had called upon them to do so. The option was also made available for those who wished to remain in Gabon to apply for residence permits according to the provisions and conditions provided for in Gabonese law. Those who were successful in obtaining these permits would remain in Gabon as regular migrants and would no longer be refugees.

Some 450 refugees have signed up for repatriation over the past 10 days. More continued to do so as mobile teams from UNHCR, the National Commission for Refugees and the Gabonese Red Cross reached out to them. One return convoy was leaving today, and three more convoys would follow by next Friday. UNHCR had established a presence in Dolisie and Pointe-Noire in the Republic of Congo’s areas of return in order to better monitor the conditions and to help returnees reintegrate in their villages of origin.

To date, over 1,000 Congolese refugees have applied for the residence permit to stay in Gabon, and 217 have been granted the card in Libreville, the capital, where an average of 40 cards were being delivered every day. Mobile immigration teams were processing another 60 per day in the rest of the country. UNHCR helped refugees to get a residence permit by paying the 150,000 CFA (US$ 300) administrative fee required per refugee.

UNHCR was pleased by measures taken by the Gabonese authorities to keep immigration officials informed of the new procedures, particularly their assurances that there would be no arrests made after the cessation clauses come into effect on 31 July. These steps would allow refugees, beyond that date, to continue to apply for residency, seek exemption from the application of the cessation clauses, or to repatriate. UNHCR was working very closely with the respective Gabonese authorities to implement these transitional procedures.

Other

Ms. Momal-Vanian said that the ECOSOC was concluding its work today in Geneva, adopting the last resolutions before the end of the meeting. The next meeting of the Council would take place in New York when the ECOSOC would resume its substantive session (more details to be announced).

The Human Rights Committee was also concluding its work this afternoon and was scheduled to make public its concluding observations on the countries examined during this session (Ethiopia, Bulgaria and Kazakhstan).

The Conference on Disarmament, for its part, would resume its work at a public meeting on Thursday, 4 August.

Jean Rodriguez of the Economic Commission for Europe said that the Forest Products Annual Market Review 2010-2011 would be launched at a press conference on Wednesday, 3 August at 11 a.m. Room I. Forests in the UNECE region accounted for a little less than half of the global total and the UNECE region was the world’s largest producer (60 per cent worldwide), consumer (57 per cent), exporter (77 per cent) and importer (70 per cent) of wood and paper products. The embargoed report would be sent to journalists shortly.

Spokespersons and journalists bid farewell to Emilia Casella who will move to WFP Headquarters in Rome to take up her new role as the new Global Media Coordinator after serving as a spokesperson for WFP in Geneva since 2008. Until the new spokesperson for WFP’s Office in Geneva will be appointed, journalists are welcome to contact Ms. Casella (same email and telephone number).