REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Corinne Momal-Vanian, Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired the briefing which was also attended by Spokespersons for the High Commissioner for Refugees, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, the World Food Programme, the World Meteorological Organization, the International Labour Organization the International Organization for Migration, the World Trade Organization and the World Health Organization.

Syria

Rupert Colville of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) announced the High Commissioner had been invited to address a formal session of the General Assembly on Syria on Monday (13 February).

Answering questions on whether his office felt able to produce accurate numbers of casualties he said that clearly numbers were climbing every day, but issuing a ballpark figure was not appropriate. It was, however, an issue which was continually being looked at. He also said the Office of the High Commissioner was not the appropriate organ of the United Nations to made judgments as to the appropriate term for the current state of conflict in the country.

He was also asked about what was meant by the request of the High Commissioner for “effective actions,” explaining one measure proposed was to refer the situation to the International Criminal Court. This would be warranted as the Commission of Enquiry had unequivocally concluded that crimes against humanity had taken place, he said.

In response to a question about a Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) statement entitled "Syria Medicine as a Weapon of Persecution" and whether OHCHR had any information to support this, he said that international law required that in any armed conflict the wounded and the sick must be cared for and treated humanely, and the neutrality of medical facilities must be respected. If this was deliberately not done, it may amount to an international crime.

Fadéla Chaib for the World Health Organization (WHO) said like other United Nations agencies in Syria, WHO movement had been limited and they were struggling to get first-hand information from Homs. In the meantime the WHO was watching media reports and information from partners like MSF with concern, and said if the reports were accurate they were alarming as health facilities must be treated as neutral premises.

Having spoken to the WHO representative office in Damascus she said she knew there was a massive increase of weapon related injuries and complicated and delayed obstetric emergencies, but had no specific information on Homs. Staff on the ground also spoke of disruptions to regular health services due to a lack of security, limited access, and staff and the wounded alike being unable to safely reach health facilities. There were also disruptions in the medical and pharmaceutical supply system, with stocks at peripheral health facilities and strategic reserves liable to exhaustion within three months.

Answering questions she said NGOs on the ground were providing information saying there were problems with distributing medical supplies internally rather getting them into Syria in the first instance.

Responding to a final point, Ms. Momal-Vanian said any decision to send a United Nations peace mission would need to be made by the Security Council. She further drew attention to the recent discussion between the Secretary-General and the Secretary-General of the Arab League when the latter had said that he intended to send back Arab League observers, and suggested that a joint United Nations/Arab League mission should be sent. Discussions on this were ongoing and the Security Council would be consulted, she said.

South Sudan

Adrian Edwards for the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said the United Nations refugee agency was seeking $145 million in additional funds to help refugees fleeing fighting in Sudan's Blue Nile and South Kordofan states into Ethiopia and South Sudan. The amount was meant to cover the needs of up to 185,000 Sudanese refugees in the two countries.

Since June 2011, heavy fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-North) in South Kordofan and Blue Nile states had driven over 130,000 Sudanese refugees into Ethiopia and South Sudan, he explained, and UNHCR anticipates continuing arrivals over the next months with clashes continuing and humanitarian conditions deteriorating in the conflict zones. In this context, more than 30,000 refugees had already been registered in the two countries so far this year, a pace of arrival not foreseen during the regular 2012 planning cycle.

To meet this need the $145 million UNHCR was urgently seeking for this supplementary appeal was in addition to its regular 2012 budget of $269.1 million for programmes in Ethiopia and South Sudan.

Answering questions he said that in addition to urgent relocation from volatile border areas, UNHCR's emergency response included the provision of basic relief items and services, registration and child protection. In December, the agency mounted a massive airlift to bring in supplies such as tents, plastic sheets, jerry cans and kitchen sets to the refugees in South Sudan. UNHCR would also use the funds to build and service additional refugee settlements, improve road access and preposition relief supplies ahead of the rainy season starting in April.

Gaëlle Sévenier for the World Food Programme (WFP) said nearly five million South Sudanese were expected to struggle to provide food for their families in 2012, with over a million people severely food insecure. This was the result of poor harvests (down 25 per cent on the previous five-year average), soaring food and fuel prices, conflict and displacement, she explained.

In addition, the closure of border crossings linking the new country of South Sudan to Sudan had led to disruption in the supply of food commodities to the markets of South Sudan. Although the resulting trade gap had been partly filled with goods from Uganda, the long distances over poor road networks, high fuel costs and the depreciation of the South Sudanese pound, had led to very high market prices, she said. This had meant that sorghum and wheat flour prices in most areas were more than double what they were this time last year.

WFP was already planning to provide food assistance to 2.7 million people in 2012 but was now preparing to scale up operations in case the situation deteriorated, she noted, and said that if conflict continued to cause major population displacements and food prices rising, WFP estimated the number of people requiring food assistance could rise from 2.7 million to 3.3 million, more than a third of the population.

However, with a funding shortfall of $160 million, WFP was in urgent need of funds to support its $252 million emergency operation and to pre-position food before the start of the rainy season in March, she said.

Christopher Lom for the International Organization for Migration (IOM) added his colleague Jumbe had just returned from South Sudan and would be available to give more detail on IOM South Sudanese operations if needed.

H5N1

Fadéla Chaib for the World Health Organization (WHO) announced a technical consultation on recent unpublished research studies into the H5N1 avian influenza virus at the headquarters of the WHO in Geneva next week (16 and 17 February). This meeting followed the news of research done by two scientists at a medical centre in Rotterdam and one in Wisconsin last year which had created a more easily transmittable H5N1 virus. The disease was usually passed between birds and difficult for humans to catch, she explained, though once caught by a human was fatal in 60 per cent of cases.

Following concerns from members of the international community, the results of the research had yet to be published, and WHO had been asked to hold a meeting between those concerned to discuss the issues and try to find a balance between scientific research, and security and safety concerns. The meeting was limited, she added, with 22 participants, not all of which had yet confirmed their attendance, though there would certainly be members of each research team, representatives from WHO flu laboratory networks and representatives from the scientific journals Science and Nature who would eventually publish any results if agreed.

The meeting would be closed to the public and media, she added, so the results of the research remained confidential. However, over the two days discussions would cover exactly what had been done, the opinions of the researchers on the way forward and whether the results should be published in whole, or in part, and who would have access. The names of the participants would be available on Thursday morning, she said, as anyone taking part would have to make a declaration of no conflict of interest.

A press release would be issued on Friday afternoon and a virtual press conference arranged the same day, with content available in audio format. The speaker had yet to be confirmed but could be the WHO Assistant Director-General for Health Security and the Environment, Mr. Keiji Fukuda.

Answering questions she said representatives of Indonesian and Vietnamese laboratories had been invited, but she was unsure if they had confirmed their presence. She also mentioned that because many broader concerns have been raised that were not to be addressed at this time, a further meeting with a larger attendance may be convened at a later date.

This would discuss issues such as how should viruses like this be dealt with, where should they be kept, who should have access to this knowledge and the benefits of further research on this virus. She also confirmed the scope of the meeting was the two studies, in order to adequately allow all involved to comprehensively give their input on the specific issues raised. More information was available in the Media Centre of the WHO website, she said.

Judge Baltasar Garzon

Rupert Colville of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said there were concerns around one of the three cases against Spain’s Judge Baltasar Garzon, that related to the 1977 amnesty law.

Spain was obliged under international law to investigate past serious human rights violations, including those committed during the Franco regime, and to prosecute and punish those responsible, he said. It was also under the obligation to respect the right to reparation of victims and their families.

In accordance with the 2009 Human Rights Committee's recommendation, Spain had been informed it should repeal its amnesty law, which was not in conformity with international human rights law, he said. Judges should not be subject to criminal prosecution for doing their job (i.e. in this case upholding the international law standard that amnesties should not be granted for serious international crimes), since this could violate the principle of judicial independence.

In its 2009 Concluding Observations of the report presented by Spain, the Committee also recommended that Spain should consider taking the necessary legislative measures to guarantee recognition by the domestic courts of the non-applicability of a statute of limitations to crimes against humanity, he said.

Mali

Adrian Edwards for the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said the agency was stepping up its response to the Mali crisis with aid shipments by air and road to neighbouring countries for thousands of people fleeing clashes. The first of four scheduled cargo flights landed in Nema, Mauritania today (10 February) with 300 tents, he said.

UNHCR had initially purchased 1,200 tents for Mauritania, another 2,000 for Niger and 500 for Burkina Faso and these would be flown from stockpiles in Cameroon and Ghana while trucks will also be transporting basic relief items. Other items, coming from Accra, were due to arrive by the middle of next week

An estimated 8,000 people had crossed into Burkina Faso from Mali, of whom 6,000 are in the north, he said.

Gulf of Aden

Adrian Edwards for the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said at least 11 people drowned and another 34 were missing following a boat incident this week in the Gulf of Aden. Survivors were found on Somali beaches on Wednesday evening and had explained that their boat, crewed by three smugglers and carrying 58 passengers, had set sail for Yemen last Saturday (04 February).

However, soon after departure the boat's engine broke down and without power, they were adrift for five days, before the boat ultimately capsized on Wednesday in rough seas and bad weather. In a further shocking detail, survivors had recounted to local authorities how smugglers forced 22 passengers overboard soon after the engine failed, he said.

So far, 11 bodies have been recovered on beaches around the village of Ceeiaayo some 30 kilometers west of Bossaso. Locals also found 13 survivors, including two women and a teenage boy and girl. UNHCR was deeply saddened by the tragic loss of life, he said, hoped that investigations by authorities in the Somali port town of Bossaso would bring the perpetrators to justice.

He added that UNHCR was working with partners to alert people planning to cross the Red Sea or the Gulf of Aden to the dangers of the journey, following last year’s record number of 100,000 attempting the trip.

Weather conditions

Clare Nullis for the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) gave an update on the La Niña weather phenomenon saying conditions in the tropical Pacific had been at weak to moderate levels since around October 2011. Furthermore, model forecasts suggested that La Niña was near its maximum strength and hence was likely to slowly decline, though conditions were expected to persist until March to May 2012.

Expectations beyond that point were uncertain, she said, and while neutral conditions appear likely, possibilities for development of El Nino, or even redevelopment of La Nina could not be ruled out.

Meanwhile, much of Europe had issued weather warnings again today (10 February) because of extremely cold temperatures, snow or winds, or a combination of all three. Serbia had issued a red alert meaning the weather was very dangerous, as had part of northern Italy and Slovenia. The rest of Italy had an orange alert, meaning the weather was dangerous. Much of France also had an orange alert, she said.

The Phillipines

Christopher Lom for the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said additional funding had been received for IOM programmes to help families displaced by Tropical Storm Washi in the southern Philippines. The storm had affected nearly 400,000 people, he said, over half of them in Cagayan de Oro City and nearly 25 per cent of them in Iligan City. Of these nearly 20,000 displaced people were still living in poor conditions, he said.

Past, present and future migration

Christopher Lom for the International Organization (IOM) said a report on Italian migration between 1951 and 2011 launched yesterday (9 February) highlighted the country's transformation from an impoverished country of emigration 60 years ago to a major destination country for migrants.

The report, compiled with the Idos Study and Research Centre, showed that while 300,000 Italians emigrated in 1951, a remarkable 300,000 immigrants arrived in Italy in 2011. Romanians (968,576) were the largest national group of these, he said. The report could be downloaded from the IOM Italy website in either English or Italian.

Geneva activities

Ms. Momal-Vanian said the Conference on Disarmament would meet Tuesday morning (14 February) when the Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva, Mr. Tokayev, would address the Conference.

She continued saying the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination was to next week consider the reports of Mexico, Israel, Kuwait, Portugal, Vietnam, Canada, Turkmenistan, Laos, Qatar, Jordan and Italy. The report from Senegal expected for this session will now be presented in the next, she said. The first item on the agenda was to elect a new president and select its bureau for the next two years.

Meanwhile, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women begins Monday morning in Room XVI of the Palais des Nations and was to consider the reports of Algeria, Brazil, Democratic Republic of Congo, Grenada, Jordan, Norway and Zimbabwe.

She also announced the opening by the Director-General of the United Nations Office of a temporary exhibition on the 80th Anniversary of the World Disarmament Conference in the League of Nations Museum on Tuesday (14 February) at 18:30. All journalists were invited to attend the opening or visit the exhibition at a later stage.

Also next week she said the Secretary-General would travel to Vienna to participate in the opening of the third ministerial conference of the Paris Pact initiative against opium trafficking in Afghanistan, and take part in the commemoration ceremony for the 15th anniversary of the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO).

Martin Murphy for the International Labour Organization said a new book was to be published next week titled “Work Inequalities in the Crisis: Evidence from Europe” which looked at the impact of the crisis on different work-related topics such as employment, wages, income, working conditions, social dialogue. The report included data from 30 countries in Europe and incorporated national studies of 14 countries such as Germany, Spain, Hungary and the UK, he said. A press release and the executive summary of this would be available next week.

Jean Rodriguez for the Economic Commission on Europe (ECE) announced the upcoming “PPP Days 2012,” from 21 to 24 February 2012, jointly hosted by the ECE, the World Bank Institute and the Asian Development Bank. This four-day conference would convene public-private partnership practitioners (PPP) from all regions of the world to share their experiences on innovations in PPP policy, structuring and financing. The main theme would be strengthening institutions and frameworks for better PPP delivery, he said.

Michael Stanley Jones of the UNEP Secretariat of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions announced the publication of a report on electronic waste in Africa. The report showed that while domestic consumption made up the majority (up to 85 per cent) of waste electronic and electrical equipment (WEEE) produced in the region, he said the e-waste problem in West Africa was further exacerbated by an ongoing stream of used equipment from industrialised countries, significant volumes of which proved unsuitable for re-use and contributed further to the amount of e-waste generated locally.

The report drew on the findings of national e-waste assessments carried out in five countries (Benin, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Liberia, and Nigeria), from 2009 to 2011 and also provided the quantitative data on the use, import and disposal of electronic and electrical equipment in the region, he said. Tatiana Terekhova added that a new pan-African forum on e-waste had been convened by UNEP to bring together stakeholders to identify technical solutions to the problem and this was to be held in Nairobi, Kenya from 14 to 16 March.

Ankai Xu for the World Trade Organization said the WTO General Council took place Tuesday (14 February) and a briefing would follow at a time and place to be announced. Additionally, on Friday (17 February) there would be an informal meeting of the Trade Facilitation Negotiation Group. The WTO Director-General would attend the Council meeting on Wednesday then travel to Paris on Thursday to attend the OECD 11th Global Forum on Competition, she said.