REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

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

Syria

Simon Ingram, for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), spoke about the revised appeal for the Syria crisis, which affected 5.1 million children in the country now in need of humanitarian aid. That was comparable to the entire population of Jordan, or 80 per cent of the population of Switzerland. The number of children directly affected inside the country had grown by one million in 2014 alone. In addition, some 1.45 million of children displaced outside of Syria also needed assistance.

UNICEF’s funding needs stood at USD 770 million in order to meet the needs of Syrian children inside and outside of Syria, out of which 37 per cent had been raised thus far. Clean, safe water and sanitation were a critical area, at the time of the year when the risk of water-borne diseases was greater than ever. The fact was that UNICEF’s work in water, sanitation and hygiene was dangerously low, as the funding for it stood at only 23 per cent of what was needed. Some of the critical services might need to be discontinued as a consequence of the dearth of funding. Provision of clean water, solid waste management and other activities might need to be cut, which would have a very direct impact on the life of refugees, especially at the time when polio remained a very realistic and current threat. Mr. Ingram reminded that there had been 36 confirmed cases of polio in Syria and two cases in Iraq, which was why it was critical that immunization efforts continue in the coming months in order to prevent further outbreaks.

Melissa Fleming, for the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), said that there was a press release on the funding appeal, with an exact breakdown of how much was needed in 2014, including the adjustment of numbers and predictions on needs, which were continuously dire. The High Commissioner for Refugees, together with partners, was presenting the appeal to donors at the moment, as the budget had been stripped to the bare minimum which could provide refugees with dignified life.

Asked about the details of the polio immunization campaign, Mr. Ingram said that it was indeed a partnership between UNICEF, WHO, national authorities and local non-governmental organizations. It was a large, regional response to polio, targeting more than 22 million children across the region, which consequently required a significant mobilization of a wide range of actors. If the funds UNCIEF was asking for did not materialize – and raising such a large amount of money was not easy - tough decisions might need to be made in the end and critical programmes be cut indeed.

Answering a question, Ms. Fleming said that the UNHCR was registering 100,000 new refugees per month, which was lower than predicted at the beginning of the year. Some countries had introduced border-management activities, which, along with the worsening security situation in the country, may have contributed to the slowing down of the outflow of refugees.

Iraq

Dan Epstein, for the World Health Organization (WHO), said that the WHO was working with UNICEF on polio vaccination in Iraq. Sub-regional vaccination campaigns in Baghdad and two other Governorates had just been completed, and according to the monitoring of the Iraqi Red Crescent, 95.5 per cent of children under five had been reached. There had also been a campaign in the Ninewa Governorate districts, where more than 23,000 thousand children had received polio vaccines. Activities in the Kurdistan region had been postponed due to logistical challenges, but the necessary doses of vaccines had been secured and delivered to the Ministry of Health.

In general terms in Iraq, since the last outbreak of fighting, the WHO had provided medicine and medical supplies to more than 170,000 people in the Ninewa Governorate. WHO had also facilitated the air lifting of 15 tons of medicines and medical supplies. The Ministry of Health of Kurdistan was working together with WHO on procuring necessary supplies which were currently missing in Kurdistan, including medicines for kidney failures, hypertension, diabetes, IV fluids and antibiotics. The issue of concern was that there were more than one million internally displaced persons, who were at increased risks of communicable diseases, including risks of polio, cholera, measles and tuberculosis. There was an immense burden on the existing health system in Kurdistan.

Regarding communicable diseases, five suspected cases of measles had been recorded among internally displaced persons in Anbar, and water quality was being tested to reduce to the risk of diarrheal diseases. There was a risk assessment mission going to various internally displaced persons’ areas, and public health experts from the WHO had trained local health officials. WHO was working with Kurdish health authorities on an early warning electronic system; WHO’s goal was to cover 600 out of the 1,000 health facilities in Kurdistan.

Christiane Berthiaume, for the International Organization for Migration (IOM), said that, with security in Iraq continuing to deteriorate, the IOM field teams had delivered emergency assistance and were gathering information on the needs and locations of large numbers of displaced people. Because of the ongoing fighting, the teams were unable to reach some areas of the Governorates of Ninewa, Salah al-Din, Baghdad and Diyala, epicentres of the violence in the country.

IOM had mapped and identified the needs of 375,354 newly displaced people in 390 locations in Iraq during June alone and distributed non-food items to 17,340 people located in the governorates of Ninewa, Erbil and Sulaymaniah.

The data collected by IOM showed that the most pressing priority for the displaced was non-food items, followed closely by food items. Eighty-six per cent of the population identified was in need of essential items such as clothes, coolers and household items, including basic furniture, and 73 per cent of the population required food support. Needs for shelter and health care for children were also among the top priorities.

IOM data revealed that the majority of the displaced had found refuge in their governorate of origin. Ninewa, Salah al-Din and Diyala hosted no displaced people identified as having displaced from other governorates. Eighty-three per cent of the displaced people in Ninewa had chosen to stay in their governorate. Families fleeing across governorate borders had gone mostly in the northern governorates of the Kurdish Region of Iraq - Erbil, Sulaymaniyah and Dahuk, resulting in very few families remaining in the south of the country.

Despite major disruption caused by ongoing security threats, IOM was also coordinating with several embassies to assist in the evacuation of third-country nationals stranded inside Iraq. IOM was currently facilitating the evacuation of seven Nepalese nationals in Kirkuk.

Mr. Ingram said that the needs of children were escalating across the region, and more and more demands were being put on UNICEF’s limited staff and resources. Responding to a question, he said that he was not aware of any direct contact with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in either Iraq or Syria, and could not comment on any coordination with that group.

Answering a question, Mr. Epstein said that the WHO had been working on polio eradication around the world since 1985, often times in conflict zones. In Central America, for example, various parties, including guerrillas, would agree to so-called “days of tranquillity” so that polio immunization campaigns could be conducted. The only way to get polio eradicated was to work with everyone, and with health being a common factor, it should not be difficult to persuade different parties to cooperate on it. The immunization effort would continue with all possible means.

Sudan

Melissa Fleming, for the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), said that the UNHCR was deeply concerned over recent forced returns, or refoulement, of Eritrean and other asylum seekers and refugees from Sudan. Those included an incident in Eastern Sudan on 30 June, where 74 Eritreans had been sent back to Eritrea through Laffa border crossing point, according to information received from immigration authorities.

The asylum seekers had been convicted on charges of illegal entry into Sudan under national immigration laws. They had not given access to asylum procedures in order to have their claims reviewed by the competent authorities. Such deportations of asylum seekers amounted to refoulement and constituted a serious violation of the 1951 Refugee Convention as well as the 2014 Sudanese Asylum Act.

Ms. Fleming stated that the UNHCR reminded the Government of Sudan of its obligations under international and Sudanese law and urged the Sudanese authorities to provide all asylum seekers immediate access to asylum procedures and protection from refoulement. There were currently 160,000 refugees and asylum seekers in Sudan, mainly from Eritrea, Ethiopia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Chad and South Sudan.

Asked whether it was the first time that some refugees had been expelled without hearing, Ms. Fleming said the UNHCR was concerned about the new trend of a large number of Eritreans just arriving and being sent back. That may have been related to a new act by the Government of Sudan requiring foreign nationals to legalize their residency, which was causing huge concern among foreigners, including recognized refugees and asylum seekers, who were fearing arrest and deportation.

Ms. Fleming specified that the UNHCR did not have monitors on the ground in Eritrea, and there was no significant international presence there. Eritrea was a country of concern - people leaving Eritrea were in need of international protection, as their lives would be in danger if they were to be returned.

Ms. Fleming said that the UNHCR was in contact with the Government of Sudan immigration authorities, and was seeking access to the people who had been recently arrested. UNHCR was providing legal advice to them and stepping up its efforts to put an end to forcible expulsions.

South Sudan

Elisabeth Byrs, for the World Food Programme (WFP), stated that the WFP was concerned that the crisis in South Sudan was pushing the country towards a hunger catastrophe. Fighting had led to alarming food insecurity in areas isolated by conflict.

WFP was facing serious challenges in transporting food to deep field locations due to access and security concerns. That hampered the WFP’s annual pre-positioning exercise, in which it stocked up warehouses in areas that would become inaccessible during the rainy season. Heavy rains had made most of the roads in Unity State impassable.

Ms. Byrs said that the WFP estimated to have lost more than 4,600 metric tons of food through looting in several locations, which was enough to feed more than 275,000 people for a month. WFP urged all parties to respect the neutrality of humanitarian agencies, and to protect the humanitarian supplies so badly needed to assist innocent civilians affected by the conflict. Despite those immense challenges due to insecurity, the WFP had dispatched more than 91,000 metric tons of food around the country since the start of 2014.

WFP was using a combination of airlifts and airdrops to reach people in remote areas of Jonglei, Unity and Upper Nile states. As the rainy season set in and road access was cut off to two-thirds of the country, the WFP had launched a special operation requiring almost USD 17 million to provide 10 aircraft needed for food deliveries.

Mobile interagency teams were reaching the most inaccessible locations where the nutrition situation was critical. They were deployed in remote, hard-to-reach areas to support the crisis response. The teams included staff from other UN agencies and non-governmental partners to provide a full package of food, nutrition and livelihood assistance along with emergency health and protection services.

Ms. Byrs specified that the WFP had so far provided food and nutrition support to more than 1.2 million people, of whom around 300,000 people were in 16 protected sites and 900,000 beneficiaries across South Sudan had been provided with food assistance.

WFP needed significantly more donor support to continue providing food assistance. The agency had a funding shortfall of USD 419 million for its emergency operation to reach the 2.9 million people it planned to help by the end of 2014.

Jens Laerke, for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said that food was a large part of the appeal for South Sudan, but there were other needs as well. The revised appeal stood at USD 1.8 billion, out of which 42 per cent had been received until now. Mr. Laerke stressed that it was really important that the rest of money come in. The largest donors thus far were the United States, United Kingdom, the European Commission, the Central Emergency Response Fund, and Canada.

Ms. Berthiaume for the International Organization for Migration (IOM), added that the security situation was indeed deteriorating across South Sudan, and the IOM had been engaging a response effort for IDPs in Bor, Malakal and Bentiu. There were 40,000 displaced people at a UN base in Bentiu, as opposed to only 2,000 several months ago. The situation in Bentiu was particularly dire. The number seemed sure to increase, and the situation would get worse. There was a realistic danger that famine could be declared in September.

Ukraine

Ravina Shamdasani, for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), stated that, following the end of the ceasefire on 30 June in Ukraine, the United Nations human rights monitoring mission in Ukraine had reported numerous cases of death of people in Donetsk and Luhansk who were caught in the middle of the ongoing security operations.

OHCHR had received numerous alarming reports of deaths in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions, including the killing of a five-year-old girl, due to the intensified security operations taking place since the ceasefire ended on 30 June.

Ms. Shamdasani said that a press release by High Commissioner Pillay would be issued shortly. The release read that there had also been reports of the use of landmines, which had allegedly led to three deaths and left several people injured. The High Commissioner also said that she was particularly disturbed by a message on the website of one leader of the self-proclaimed ‘Donetsk People’s Republic’, which stated that underage children and women were legitimate targets and that the goal was to ‘immerse them in horror’. Such blatant incitement to violence was utterly reprehensible and a clear violation of international human rights law, Ms. Pillay said in the release.

Asked who was using landmines, Ms. Shamdasani said that the OHCHR was still investigating reports, which were new, and for the time being it was not clear who the perpetrators were. She confirmed that there had also been reports of shelling, including of mortars hitting residential areas. OHCHR was trying to establish exactly what happened.

Answering a question on the open letter sent to the High Commissioner by the Permanent Mission of Israel, Ms. Shamsadani confirmed that the OHCHR had indeed received the letter, and that the High Commissioner would respond to it, without making her response public.

Ebola

Mr. Epstein said that the Emergency Ministerial meeting in Accra, which had finished the previous night, had agreed that the current situation was a serious threat to all countries in the region, and adopted an inter-country strategy. Topics discussed included coordinating, financing, communication, cross-border collaboration, logistics, case management, infection control, surveillance, contact tracing and community participation. There was a consensus that, despite the ongoing efforts so far, a number of gaps and challenges remained. The WHO would establish a Sub-Regional Control Centre in Guinea to act as a coordinating platform to consolidate and harmonize the technical support to Western African countries by all major partners.

An update on the numbers showed that there had now been 779 cases in the three countries involved - Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, out of whom 481 had died (61 per cent).

Asked about efforts to eradicate Ebola, Mr. Epstein said it was possible to stop the outbreak, even though it was a bigger challenge than ever before. It could be stopped if five important measures were taken: contact tracing; infection control in healthcare facilities; community education and participation, including about burial practices; giving people real facts and eradicating myths; and following contacts of infected persons and testing them within 21 days.

WFP Executive Director trip to Spain

Ms. Byrs informed that the WFP Executive Director, Ertharin Cousin, would make a two-day visit to Spain the following week, during which she would meet Government representatives and members of civil society and the private sector in Madrid and inaugurate a new WFP-managed logistics hub in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria that would enhance humanitarian and disaster response.

On 8 July, Ms. Cousin would join Government officials in the port of Las Palmas to inaugurate the latest addition to the United Nations Humanitarian Response Depot network, a new hub that would boost the capacity of the entire humanitarian community to prepare for and respond to emergencies in West Africa and the Americas. It would be used to manage items such as mobile storage units, medical supplies, IT equipment, ready-to-eat food and prefabricated building material on behalf of UNHRD’s 59 humanitarian partners, to be deployed within 48 hours of an emergency.

Geneva activities

Ms. Momal-Vanian informed that the Committee for the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) was considering the report of Syria today, while the following week it would look into reports of Georgia, Lithuania, Swaziland, and the Central African Republic.

The Committee for Civil and Political Rights would start its session at the Palais Wilson on 8 July, during which it would consider reports of six countries: Chile, Sudan, Malawi, Georgia, Ireland and Japan.

Ms. Momal-Vanian informed about the press release on the new United Nations report on the momentum to reach more Millennium Development Goals, which would also be sent to the press corps electronically. The Secretary-General would launch the MDG Report 2014 in New York on 7 July after 10 a.m. local time, which would be broadcast live. The report and the press release were under embargo until the launch.

Today at 11:30 in Press Room III, the Secretariat of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) would hold a briefing on the 7-11 July Standing Committee. It would focus on what it meant, what could be expected, top 10 endangered species and “the good, the bad and the ugly” - where countries stood on law and enforcement. Speakers would include John Scanlon, CITES Secretary-General, David Morgan, Chief of the CITES Scientific team, and Marceil Yeater, Chief of CITES Legal Affairs and Trade Policy.

Ms. Momal-Vanian informed that the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) would hold a briefing on the First Session of the Preparatory Committee for the Third United Nations World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction. The briefing would take place on 7 July at 11:45 a.m. in Press Room I, and the speakers would be Margareta Wahlström, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction, Thani Thongphakdi, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Thailand to the United Nations in Geneva, and Päivi Kairamo, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Finland to the United Nations in Geneva.

Jean Rodriguez, for the Economic Commission for Europe (ECE), informed that Montenegro had joined the Commission’s Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (Water Convention). Montenegro’s accession to the Water Convention was an important step in the process of strengthening transboundary water cooperation and integrated water resources management in South-Eastern Europe. The Convention provided an important legal basis for dialogue and cooperation, especially relevant in the light of recent severe flooding which had affected parts of the region.

Mr. Rodriguez also informed about the Masterclass from 7 to 10 July for senior officials from Belarus, including 10 Deputy Ministers (finance and all line ministries involved in infrastructure - health, energy, water, education, transport, housing, defence etc). Altogether, around 40 participants were expected to participate. The event was part of a public-private partnership (PPP) capacity building project (2013-2015) in Belarus financed by the European Union and jointly implemented by UNECE and UN Development Programme. On 11 July, the participants would do a field visit to Neumatt Burgdorf, a cantonal prison in Bern built and operated through PPP.

Ms. Shamdasani informed that a discussion aimed at assisting the UN Committee on women’s rights to elaborate on the obligations of States to ensure the right to education for girls and women would take place on 7 July, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. in Room XVI at the Palais des Nations. Among the keynote speakers at the event would be Mariam Khalique, who had been one of Malala Yousafzai’s teachers in Pakistan. The event would be opened by Navi Pillay, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights; Abdulaziz Almuzaimi, Director of the UNESCO Liaison Office in Geneva; and Marie-Pierre Poirier, Regional Director for UNICEF’s Regional Office for Central, Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States.

The representative of the International Labour Organization also attended the briefing, but did not brief.
The webcast for this briefing is available here: … http://bit.ly/THgQEx