REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Corinne Momal-Vanian, Director the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired the briefing, which was attended by the Spokespersons for the World Health Organization, International Labour Organization, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, World Food Programme, United Nations Refugee Agency and the United Nations Children’s Fund.

South Sudan

Adrian Edwards, for the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), stated that the number of people fleeing fighting in South Sudan continued to rise almost three weeks on from a truce agreement.

Since the signing of the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement on 9 May in Addis Ababa, the number of internally displaced people had grown by 46,000 people to 1,005,096. Over the same period, the number of South Sudanese refugees in Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan and Uganda had swollen by over 20,000 to 370,000 people.

Mr. Edwards said that South Sudan had been mired in civil conflict for over six months, aggravating an already dire humanitarian situation. The truce signed earlier in May had been the second so far.

Ethiopia was currently hosting the largest South Sudanese refugee population at 131,051 people, mostly women and children. Recent arrivals said that they had fled fighting in neighbouring Jonglei and Upper Nile states, particularly the area around Mathiang in Longechuk county of Upper Nile State. Those from other areas said that they feared imminent attacks or food insecurity.

To accommodate the refugees, UNHCR and the Ethiopian authorities had opened three new camps in 2014, two of which (Leitchuor and Kule I) had a combined population of 95,085 refugees and were already full. The third camp, Kule II which the UNHCR had opened on 17 May, was already hosting 5,997 refugees. With 16,500 more refugees at the border waiting to be relocated there, and an average of 1,000 South Sudanese arriving daily in Ethiopia, the UNHCR had already started looking for additional land for a fourth camp.

Mr. Edwards stated that, with the conflict in South Sudan having put four million people at risk of acute food insecurity, the UNHCR was concerned at the potential for further displacement internally and into neighbouring countries over the coming weeks. South Sudan was also host to some 320,000 refugees from Sudan. Among those, the UNHCR was also worried about food shortages, particularly in the Maban area of the Upper Nile.

Many people across South Sudan were unable to farm at the moment, access their normal food sources, or migrate with their livestock. An added challenge for those hoping to flee areas of fighting was that roads and river crossings were becoming impassable because of the rainy season.

UNHCR thanked donors for the USD 600 million pledged in Oslo the previous week towards UN humanitarian operations aimed at alleviating the plight of forcibly displaced South Sudanese. That included operations inside South Sudan, as well as the four countries hosting South Sudanese refugees.

Answering a question on UNHCR's expectations and provisions in case of famine, Mr. Edwards explained that the trends were worsening in South Sudan, and they were worried about the food situation and the impact that it might have on further displacement.

Asked if they had been able to preposition supplies ahead of time or it was really insufficient, Mr. Edwards said that the UNHCR had brought an additional humanitarian relief for the refugee populations arriving in neighbouring contries, but inside South Sudan it was a different story. For example, in the area in Maban the flow of aid had been severely restricted by fighting between the Government and rebel forces along the main road to that area. The UNHCR had depleted its warehouse stocks a few days earlier. Normal prepositioning of food had become very problematic, which was why they continued to raise the case of the Sudanese refugees in Maban in particular.

On the question whether the UNHCR was pleased with the USD 600 million dollars pledged, Mr. Edwards said that they had to be translated into actual funding for it to be usable, but of course it was a major help that money would come in. There was still a gap which had to be filled, in the neighbouring Central African Republic, where at the moment there were still enormous needs.

Ms. Byrs for the World Food Programme (WFP) added that the WFP had reached over one million people in April under its emergency and recovery-based operations. In spite of continuing access and security challenges, the WFP had been able to increase its life-saving food and nutrition assistance to 76 per cent more vulnerable people across South Sudan than in January. In addition to providing emergency assistance to 594,000 IDPs and conflict-affected residents, the WFP had reached some 200,000 Sudanese refugees residing in camps in Upper Nile and Unity states with food and nutrition assistance as well as 280,000 people in the states not directly affected by conflict with nutrition, food-for-assets and food-for education activities.

Significant resources pledged by the donor community at the Oslo conference would help WFP to meet rising humanitarian needs. That much-needed support would contribute to the crucial funding needed by the WFP to scale up its emergency and recovery-based programmes to reach 3.2 million of the most vulnerable populations in 2014.

Ms. Byrs said that, in addition to moving food by air and road, the WFP Logistics had ramped up its efforts to increase food deliveries by river. In the previous week, the river corridor via the Burbe river from Gambella, Ethiopia to Akobo, South Sudan, and nearby locations had been operationalised. In addition, the WFP had received approval from South Sudanese authorities to transport food commodities via barge along the Nile, from Juba to conflict-affected locations in the north of the country. The first barges were expected to be ready to leave within the following ten days.

Ebola in Sierra Leone

Fadéla Chaib, for the World Health Organization (WHO), informed that on 25 May, the first case of Ebola in Sierra Leone had been confirmed. One single case had been confirmed thus far, with four deaths suspected in Koindu chiefdom. That region shared a border with the current Ebola virus disease hotspot Guéckédou in Guinea.

Ms. Chaib stated that the WHO was working with the Sierra Leone authorities to put in place preventive measures and evaluate the situation. A WHO team had been deployed to the region to confirm the situation, conduct epidemiological investigations and initiate preliminary response measures. For the moment, WHO did not recommend that any travel or trade restrictions be applied to Sierra Leone based on the current information.

Regarding the Ebola virus disease in Guinea, Ms. Chaib informed that, since the beginning of the outbreak, the cumulative total number of clinical cases was 258, including 174 deaths. Out of those cases and deaths, 146 cases and 95 deaths had been absolutely confirmed as Ebola-related, while the rest were probable and suspected. In response to the new cluster of cases and deaths in Guinea, the WHO had redeployed experts to the affected areas to support the investigation, and help establish isolation facilities, case management and infection prevention and control. WHO did not recommend any travel restrictions to Guinea at this stage.

Asked whether WHO experts could address the journalists, Ms. Chaib said that the WHO Ebola experts were deployed in Guinea and Sierra Leone at the moment.

Somalia

Christophe Boulierac, for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), briefed on the alarming situation of children and women in Somalia. Mr. Boulierac said that children and women needed urgent humanitarian help.

UNICEF would soon suspend its essential health services in Somalia if additional funding was not made quickly available. Mr. Boulierac added that the services supplied by UNICEF and its partners in Somalia had saved many lives so far, and some three million Somali were currently receiving health assistance, principally in the centre and in the south of the country. The assistance included free vaccinations.

In general, more than 70 per cent of healthcare in Somalia was provided by UNICEF and its partners, including supplies of medicines, all vaccines, cold chain, the wages of employees, training of health workers, fuel for generators of water and medical equipment.

UNICEF's suspension of health services would represent an enormous difficulty, in particular for children. Some 620,000 children would no longer have access to free vaccinations and medical services such as basic treatment for diarrhea and pneumonia. The suspension would also affect the supply of antibiotics, pre-natal services currently benefiting 280,000 pregnant women and other services for 713,000 women of childbearing age.

Mr. Boulierac added that in terms of funding for the Strategic Response Plan for 2014 in Somalia, UNICEF had received funds only for 10 per cent of its needs, about USD 15 million, out of the USD 150 million requested. UNICEF urgently needed USD 12,5 million to pursue health primary emergency services. USD 9 million for nutrition assistance was urgently needed to intensify treatment and care for 50,000 children who were currently suffering from severe acute malnutrition in Somalia. If they did not receive life-saving therapeutic assistance, about 200,000 children under five in Somalia would be at risk of dying of malnutrition by the end of this year in Somalia. If those children did not quickly receive therapeutic assistance, that situation would become even worse with the lack of access to preventive nutrition interventions.

Mr. Boulierac stressed that if no funding was received immediately, UNICEF would have to suspend essential life-saving health services within one month.

Madagascar

Elisabeth Byrs, for the World Food Programme (WFP), briefed on the critical food situation in the south and southwest of Madagascar, where it was estimated that 28 per cent of households in rural areas were suffering from food insecurity. Among them, 2.7 per cent were in severe state of food insecurity. Ms. Byrs said that the numer of people suffering from food insecurity amounted to four million, after cyclones and a plague of locusts had damaged the previous year’s harvests.

The food security situation remained critical particularly in the south and the south-west of the country where most households had not yet recovered from shocks faced in 2013. The most vulnerable communities were still experiencing adverse conditions such as persistent locust plague and poor rainfall. Harvests prospects were particularly unfavorable in the areas affected by locusts and there were already indications of worsening malnutrition trends.

The WFP, together with around 10 NGOs, was helping 33,000 vulnerable children and orphans in Madagascar, providing them a hot meal every day. She added that given the current amount of funding, mainly from France, WFP could continue this programme only until the end of July, after which it would urgently need USD 7 million.

Ms. Byrs said that the WFP assistance to orphans and vulnerable children aimed to encourage access to education for the poorest, neglected or abused children who had left the formal education system or were at risk of dropping out. It consisted of a daily hot meal made of rice, pulses and oil and nutritious products such as Super Cereal, a micronutrient-fortified corn-soy blend. The support helped reduce disparities in access to education.

While enrollment rate in primary education in Madagascar dropped from 73 percent in 2010 to 69 percent in 2012, interventions that promoted access to education as school meals could help reverse that trend.

Mali

Jens Laerke, for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), stated that the clashes between government forces and rebels in the town of Kidal in northern Mali, over the previous ten days, had displaced some 4,000 people in the region. About 1,000 of the displaced had been registered in the nearby town of Gao, where they were staying in host families.

The humanitarian coordinator in Mali, David Gressly, had said that the cease fire between the separatist and the Malian authorities on 23 May would pave the way for more humanitarian workers to return to the flash point town of Kidal. Since April, a rapidly worsening security situation had prevented United Nations agencies from being physically present in Kidal, but agencies had continued to carry on their programs through NGO partners and local organizations. Those partners on the ground in Kidal had provided assistance since the beginning of the violence, mainly in terms of medical care to the wounded and by tracking displacement of people.

Mr. Laerke said that the United Nations agencies were planning to send more humanitarian relief to the northern region, where there was need of food and first aid equipment, access to water and proper sanitation. In recent days, some displaced people had been able to return to Kidal from the farm lands around the town where they had gone into hiding. Humanitarians on the ground were focusing on carrying out assessments on their needs and urgently re-establishing access to clean water, while providing support to health facilities in Kidal and Gao. Some food and non-food distribution was also on going.

Republic of the Congo

Asked for a comment on the expulsion of more than 40,000 people from the Republic of the Congo, Ms. Momal-Vanian referred to the official statement by MONUSCO, the United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The inquiry would be forwarded to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights for their comment.

Geneva activities

Ms. Momal-Vanian informed that the Conference on Disarmament was meeting in public at the moment.

Committee on the Rights of the Child had commenced its session the previous day. It was discussing the report of Jordan at the moment, to be followed by Kyrgyzstan and the United Kingdom later in the week, and India, Indonesia and Saint Lucia the following week.

Ms. Momal-Vanian informed that the United Nations Office at Geneva would be closed on Thursday, 29 May as it was a public holiday, while the regular press briefing would take place on Friday, 30 May.

Hans von Rohland, for the International Labour Organization (ILO), said that the ILO Fair migration: Setting an ILO agenda would be presented on 28 May, at the opening of the International Labour Conference.

Ms. Chaib informed that the WHO was holding a press conference on the occasion of World No Tobacco Day 2014, on 31 May 2014, in Press Room III at 11:30 today. WHO was calling on countries to raise taxes on tobacco to save lives and boost economies. The press briefing would discuss how countries could successfully increase taxes on tobacco, and what WHO was doing to help them. The speakers would include Dr Armando Peruga, Programme Manager, Prevention of Non-communicable Diseases, and Dr Ayda Yurekli, Coordinator, Tobacco Control Economics Unit, Prevention of Non-communicable Diseases, at the WHO.

The representative of the International Organization for Migration also attended the briefing, but did not brief.

The webcast for this briefing is available here: … http://bit.ly/1wen4v9