REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Alessandra Vellucci, Chief of the Press and External Relations Section of the Information Service in Geneva, chaired the briefing which was also attended by Spokespersons for the Economic Commission on Europe, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, the World Food Programme, the World Meteorological Organization, the World Health Organization and the World Trade Organization.

South Sudan

Adrian Edwards for the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said his office strongly condemned the bombing of the Yida refugee site in Unity State, South Sudan on Thursday. The camp sheltered 20,000 refugees that had fled fighting in the Nuba Mountains of Sudan’s Southern Kordofan State, he explained, and two bombs had fallen though no casualties from the camp had been reported. At the time of the bombing the UNHCR had been readying new refugee sites away from the border, though relocation efforts are being hampered by heavy rains.

The UNHCR is concerned by the escalating tensions in the border areas between Sudan and South Sudan where hundreds of thousands of people have been uprooted. Reports also suggest another bombing in New Guffa village in South Sudan, causing civilian casualties, he explained. Up to 55,000 people are believed to be now moving southwards in Sudan’s Blue Nile state, he added, some towards New Guffa village, some towards the capital of Maban County while others may be crossing into neighboring Ethiopia. More than 30,000 Sudanese have already found refuge in Ethiopia and are being helped by the UNHCR and its partners, he said.

Rupert Colville for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) added that his office condemned the bombing. More information was needed about the incident, he said, but the aerial bombing of a camp containing civilians is an extremely serious matter and could amount to an international crime.

Answering a question Mr. Edwards reiterated that having seen statements from both sides it wasn’t possible to apportion blame.

Responding again he also said that the area around which people were being displaced was large, affecting peoples from both Sudan and South Sudan, though he did not have a definite number of those involved. He also explained that the Yida was a temporary camp and conditions weren’t ideal.

Egypt

Rupert Colville for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said they had been closely following events in Egypt since the ousting of former President Mubarak and were concerned about what appears to be a diminishing public space for freedom of expression and association. The military trial and jailing of the blogger and activist Alaa Abdel-Fattah after his criticism of the handling of protests by security forces was just one example of this, he said. Along similar lines the restrictive NGO law Number. 84 of 2002 had reportedly been used to investigate human rights groups and their funding sources.

The interim authorities must guarantee full respect for the right of freedom of expression and assembly, he said, which are particularly important to ensure free and fair conduct in the upcoming elections. Following the visit to Egypt by the OHCHR in April there was a call for the repeal of the state of emergency and the definite cessation of military trials of civilians, and it is disappointing that neither of these calls has been heeded, he said, while further calling for this to be done without delay.

Civil society organizations and activists who had helped bring about the change in regime, must be guaranteed space for open debate, even if it means that the interim authorities are harshly criticized in public, said Mr. Colville. He continued, that to this end, the OCHCR called for the release of Alaa Abdel-Fateh and all others who have been imprisoned for exercising their fundamental rights to free speech and association.

He also explained the High Commissioner did not currently have an office in the country or formal role in preparations. Freedom of expression and assembly were, however, very important with elections about to take place, he said.


Syria

Gaelle Sevenier for the World Food Programme (WFP) said, together with the rest of the humanitarian community, the WFP called for total access to Syria for the distribution of humanitarian aid.

She said the programme was concerned for Syrians in regard to access to basic foodstuffs as well as water, electricity and medical services. Working with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent food had already been provided to some vulnerable families, she explained, with a month’s worth of rations being provided for 22,000 people in August. Though the lack of access made it impossible to make a full evaluation of food security, the WFP was going to distribute a further 50,000 monthly packs of these monthly packs in November. Looking at previous years, basic foods were available but prices were high, and many families have now lost everything in the poor security situation and ongoing drought, she explained.

Currently the WFP was providing food help to around 100,000 Iraqi refugees using an SMS-based system which allowed people to buy rice, cheese, eggs and fresh produce, added Ms. Sevenier. The system was very flexible, she said, and allowed people to continue to get help, even when moving between towns. She also commented that it was hard to see how many people were affected and we could only look at figures from previous years.

Responding to a question on Syria, Rupert Colville for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said the High Commissioner had raised the issue with the Security Council on Wednesday, in which she mentioned casualties of over 3,500 people, welcomed the commitment of Syria to the Arab League but underlined that the killing of civilians had not stopped.

She had also suggested that human rights monitoring might ensure some progress on the ground and that the international community must insist that the government end the killing of civilians, release those arbitrarily detained and provide full and unimpeded access to the international committee of enquiry. The end of November would see the first report of the Commission on Inquiry on Syria, he said.

Somalia

Adrian Edwards for the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said that continuing conflict and bad weather in Somalia were further aggravating the refugee situation. UNHCR staff on the ground in Dobley say that fewer refugees are passing into Kenya and rains, which have made roads impassable, and fear of being caught in conflict are being cited as the main reasons. In Dobley itself, people are still arriving and say they fled rumoured further clashes and threats of forced return to their place of origin by Al Shabaab.

In Mogadishu, the UNHCR and its partner agencies are preparing an assessment of the internally displaced people’s (IDP) situation, which maps settlements and contains basic demographic and household size data. The preliminary results reveal there are almost 300 IDP settlements of various sizes, he explained. The cumulative IDP number will be presented to the Transitional Federal Government officials next week before being shared with the humanitarian community.

Meanwhile in Nairobi, a UNHCR-supported report was launched yesterday looking into civilian harm caused by the military conflict and the means by which it can be addressed, he said. Recommendations in the report include establishing a mechanism to track, analyze, investigate and respond to all incidents of civilian harm.

The report is also calling for all parties to the conflict in Somalia to immediately cease attacks targeting civilian and humanitarian agencies.

Libyan refugees

Adrian Edwards for the High Commissioner for Refugees thanked the Italian Navy for rescuing 44 people, mostly sub-Saharans, from a boat in Maltese waters last night. The boat had been sending out distress calls for two days and the delay in rescue had led to huge risks for the passengers, including a woman with a small baby who was then evacuated to Sicily. This is the first boat to arrive in Europe from Libya since mid-August, he said.

Camp Ashraf

Asked about the position of the OHCHR on the group protesting outside the Palais de Nations for a UN supervisory force in the Ashraf refugee camp Rupert Colville said that he believed options had been offered, by the United Nations, and others were under discussion. Likely outcomes were around resettlement and repatriation.

World Pneumonia Day

Jeffrey Rowland of the GAVI Alliance said that tomorrow was the third annual World Pneumonia Day. When commemorating the same day last year it was possible to say that hardly any children in the developing world were protected against the condition, he explained, while this year the global roll-out of pneumococcal vaccines meant 3.6 million children had been immunized. By this time next year the figure would be 13.6 million, he said.

The new vaccine used was rolled out a year ago and is tailored to the needs of the developing countries, he continued. Countries are introducing the vaccine at a remarkable rate, said Mr. Rowland, and tomorrow’s roll out in Malawi will see the 16th developing country supported by GAVI to combat the disease, with another 40 expected to take part by 2015. The introduction of the vaccine is due in a large part thanks to the contributions of GAVI donors, who gave $1.5 billion for the project, he added.

Responding to questions, he said it was premature to give a figure on the number of lives saved by the vaccination programme as it would take at least a year to judge effectiveness. He also explained that the large bargaining power of the alliance had brought down the cost of buying the vaccine, which costs $85 to $115 per dose on the Western pharmaceutical market, down to $3.50 per dose for high-volume distribution in the developing world through this programme.

He further drew attention to the impact of pneumonia on children suffering from HIV and AIDS, saying they are forty times more likely to contract the disease than healthy children, often causing death.

Olivia Lawe-Davies for the World Health Organization then explained the current recommendations for treating simple pneumonia. Based on existing evidence, a child may be treated at home using antibiotics, with more severe cases referred to a treatment facility. However, a recent study into whether equivalent results could be achieved using oral antibiotics administered at home by community health workers seems to have been successful and further work is being done to see if the results could be duplicated elsewhere. If so, consideration would be given to changing global guidelines of pneumonial treatment, she said.

Geneva activities

Ms. Vellucci said the Committee against Torture had this morning begun consideration of the report of Belarus, and country representatives would answer questions on Monday afternoon. Meanwhile the Delegation of Madagascar must this afternoon respond to questions asked yesterday by the experts. Consideration of the report of Greece was postponed to a future session. Over the next two weeks the Committee was to hold private meetings devoted to the consideration of complaints and the adoption of concluding observations on reports reviewed, including those of Morocco, Djibouti, Paraguay, Germany, Sri Lanka, Bulgaria, Belarus and Madagascar.

The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights begins a three-week session on Monday to consider the reports of Estonia, Israel, Turkmenistan, Cameroon and Argentina, she said, a background release of the session was distributed last night.

The Committee on Enforced Disappearances ended the work of its first session this morning, continued Ms. Vellucci, which had been devoted to the organization of work and working methods. The first States parties must submit their initial reports within two years. A final release will be distributed later in the day.

She also announced that the Director-General of the United Nations Office in Geneva, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev will deliver a speech today, Friday 11 November, and another on Monday, 14 November, at the meetings held on the Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons which may be deemed to be Excessively Injurious or to have Indiscriminate Effects.

He will also meet the Mayor of Nagasaki, who is planned to participate in the inauguration of the exhibition "Towards a World Free of Nuclear Weapons", organized by the Permanent Mission of Japan and the UN Office of Disarmament Affairs. Finally, he will meet the President of Iceland on Monday at 9:30am.

A press conference of the World International Property Organization on Monday, 14 November 2011 at 11:30 a.m in Press Room 1, was also announced, covering the launch of the WIPO Intellectual Property Report 2011. Speakers included Francis Gurry, Director General, WIPO and Carsten Fink, Chief Economist, WIPO.

Finally the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change would convene two important meetings in Kampala, Uganda: the first joint session of Working Groups I and II and the 34th Session of the IPCC, said Ms. Vellucci. At the first joint session a special report on managing the risks of extreme events and disasters to advance climate change adaptation would be finalized and presented to the public. There would be a press conference on 18 November at 1.30 p.m. Eastern African Time, where the final results of the report and the summary for policy makers would be presented. Possibilities existed to join the press conference online, she added.

Jean Rodriguez of the Economic Commission on Europe (ECE) said the Committee on Sustainable Energy would hold its annual session from 16 to 18 November in Room XII. This year’s main topic was “Securing affordable and sustainable energy.” There would be a number of important speakers from agencies and governments, he said. A press conference on the energy challenges for Europe would be held on Wednesday 16 November at 13:15 in Room III.

Also next week was the World Forum for the Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations, to be held from 15 to 18 November in Room VII, which would discuss four new projects on a range of subjects including pedestrian safety, automatic braking systems in lorries and alert systems to stop the contravention of road markings, he said.

Catherine Sibut-Pinote of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development added that on Monday morning at 10:00 am would open the Global Entrepreneurship Week in the Palais de Nations. The week tries to encourage entrepreneurship thorough small enterprises, particularly in the developing world, as a key way of creating employment, she said. Guests included the US Ambassador and representatives of PlanetSolar, a young enterprise that aims at circumnavigating the globe in a boat entirely driven by solar energy.

In addition to this, a press conference would be held on Tuesday 15 November at 12:00 midday to present the UNCTAD “Least Developed Countries Report 2011 - The Potential Role of South-South Cooperation for Inclusive and Sustainable Development.” The report would be available online to journalists as of Tuesday, though it was embargoed until 17 November 2011 at 5.00 p.m. GMT, she said.

Ankai Xu for the World Trade Organization said that on Monday 14 November, the trade policy review for Ecuador would be held, and on Tuesday, the Regional Trade Agreements Committee and the Government Procurement Committee. On Friday, the Dispute Settlement Body and a special session of the Agriculture Committee would be held. Meanwhile the WTO Director-General would be in Geneva on Monday next week to meet with the Vice Minister of Trade and Industry of Panama and the Chief Negotiator for Climate Change of Singapore; then on Tuesday, the Danish Minister for Development Co-operation.

Clare Nullis of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said her agency was co-hosting a conference on adaptation to climate change and food security in the Middle East and North Africa, starting in Kuwait City on Sunday 13 November, co-sponsored by the Food and Agriculture Organization. Speakers included the Minister of Education of Kuwait and the WMO Secretary-General.

An update on the development of La Niña, the weather phenomenon that affects our climate in many parts of the world, was due to be released next week, she added. A press conference could be arranged. Also, the Deputy Secretary-General of WMO would be attending the IPCC conference and press conference in Kampala announced earlier, she said, and would also give a press conference, in Geneva, on Monday 21 November at 11:00am on the annual greenhouse gas bulletin. The WMO annual report on the state of the climate was also due for release in Geneva on Tuesday 29 November.