REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Corinne Momal-Vanian, Director, United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired the briefing, which was also attended by Spokespersons for the Human Rights Council, International Labour Organization, United Nations Development Programme, International Organization for Migration, United Nations Children’s Fund and the World Food Programme.

Syria – Winter Support

Christophe Boulierac, for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), said as the Syria conflict neared the four-year mark, UNICEF estimated that at least seven million internally displaced and refugee children were in desperate need of assistance, and now even more due to the bitter winter sweeping through the Middle East. Amidst the harshest conditions of the winter so far, UNICEF had delivered warm clothing, blankets, heating supplies, cash and vouchers to more than 900,000 children in Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey.

The harsh winter did not spare children and cases of child deaths had been reported, said Mr. Boulierac. Six children were reported to have died due to the weather, particularly in Syria and Lebanon. Many children continued to live in unfinished buildings and inadequate shelters that exposed them to sub-zero temperatures, heavy snow and strong winds.

In Syria, winter supplies had reached 350,000 children and the distribution continued nationwide. There were snow storms, sand storms and floods. In the Idleb governorate 300 tents were swept away by floods, affecting about 1,000 people. There had been fires in dwellings, particularly due to a lack of security lights, domestic cases of poisoning or when families burned plastic in their houses.

Temperatures in parts of Syria were currently reaching -11 degrees Celsius. Children were particularly vulnerable because most families did not have access to fuel or electricity, or because they didn’t have the purchasing power or due to scarcity on the market. In recent weeks, for example, the cost of diesel increased by a further third, 16 per cent of gasoline. The price of fuel had increased 350 per cent since the beginning of the crisis.

In Syria, UNICEF and partners were distributing winter clothing for 350,000 children and continued to monitor the developments by providing an immediate response, such as provision of tents and hygiene kits, with other stakeholders, such as UNHCR and Red Crescent. UNICEF was also supporting the Ministry of Education in providing fuel tanks and radiators in 65 schools for 40,000 children and 1,400 teachers. In total UNICEF is planning to support 583 schools in Syria and Lebanon with heating.

In Al-Ryada in the city of Aleppo, where many displaced people lived in unfinished buildings, UNICEF had confirmation of five deaths in Damascus or nearby in connection with climatic conditions. The prevailing harsh winter and snow-storm had created untold miseries amongst the displaced population, said Mr. Boulierac. He reported that three family members died in Al-Mujtahed neighbourhood of Damascus city due to fire caused by using fuel alternatives for heating. The father and children, boys aged 17 and five years, died while the mother and daughter suffered deep burns. A one year old child was reported to have died because of the cold in Al-Hajar Al-Aswad, a southern neighborhood of Damascus next to Yarmouk camp. And two infants from one family in Douma, eastern Ghouta of rural Damascus, were reported to have died yesterday due to the cold, and lack of food and medicine in the siege. The ATAREB hospital in the governorate of Aleppo reported increased respiratory and infectious diseases in children, said Mr. Boulierac.

At least one child died, with his father and another adult in Lebanon while crossing the Syrian-Lebanese border from Syria. In preparing for the winter UNICEF Lebanon had stored 28,000 winter kits but the number of vulnerable children who needed clothes and winter items had increased exponentially, said Mr. Boulierac. There were also more and more children living in informal settlements. The lowest temperatures had been in the Bekaa region; ice winds, rain and snow. UNICEF Lebanon’s winter items and vouchers had been provided to 200,000 children in the most exposed areas of the country, including in elevated areas such as Aarsal and it aimed to reach a total of 478,000 children in the coming weeks.

Mr. Boulierac also briefed on UNICEF assistance in neighbouring countries. In Jordan, UNICEF was also assisting the Syrian children taking refuge and had provided winter kits and cash assistance to 100,000 vulnerable Syrian refugee children and their families in camps and communities. In Turkey, the winter response had reached 62,000 children, including 22,000 children from Kobane aged three to 11 years in Suruc, said Mr. Boulierac. And in Iraq, winter clothing kits had been distributed to over 200,000 children in over 100 hard-to-reach and high altitude areas. However, more and more children living in tents and other informal dwellings were being exposed to respiratory tract infections and other illnesses associated with cold weather.

In total, UNICEF had distributed winter clothing, blankets, heating supplies, cash and vouchers, benefitting 916,000 children in Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey of the 1.3 million target children.

Challenges faced included the growth of the number of vulnerable children in need on a daily basis; planning, particularly due to the increasing numbers of families moving to informal settlements; and that as many Syrians had run out of savings they were resorting to desperate measures, including moving to tented settlements as a last resort.

UNICEF appealed to its donors and supporters to keep helping to ensure its work could continue.

Joel Millman, for the International Organization for Migration (IOM), said IOM had been supporting an Inter-Agency winterization campaign led by the Lebanese Ministry of Social Affairs, UNOCHA and UNHCR, providing assistance in line with sector guidelines to both Syrian refugees and Lebanese returnees from Syria – a group that IOM had been asked to target, in coordination with the Lebanese government.

Since November 2014, IOM had supplied over 1,000 families with winter assistance. Some 600 families in Akkar (North Lebanon), the Bekaa valley and South Lebanon have received assistance consisting of cash transfers for fuel, stoves and blankets. A further 419 families living in substandard shelters, often tented settlements particularly vulnerable to cold, had received weatherproofing kits, including plastic sheeting, wood, and basic tools.

Mr. Millman quoted IOM Lebanon coordinator Fouad Diab who said: “This year’s winterization effort has been better coordinated than in the past to reach families in greatest need – both Syrian and Lebanese. But as shown by the latest storm, the scale of those needs continues to far outstrip the assistance being provided.”

Answering questions about whether the Government had control in the most at-risk areas, Mr. Boulierac said the examples he cited were all close to Damascus. Children were also suffering in the two governorates of Al Raqqa and Deir-es Zour, affected by sans storm and snow storm, which were partly controlled by the Islamic State, he said, and it was hard to verify the exact situation, he said, adding that it would not be surprising if more casualties were identified in the coming days in the region.

Central African Republic

Elisabeth Byrs, for the World Food Programme (WFP), said the situation in the Central African Republic remained unstable. The security situation was unpredictable and hostile. The political context was still tense and the economic recovery of the country would take time. Ms. Byrs said every destabilisation of the security situation had severe consequences for the population in terms of accessing humanitarian assistance within that region.

In that context, WFP, in collaboration with its partners, had launched a report evaluating the food security situation in the country. The information in the report was based on data collected from 2,166 households covering all prefectures of the country between 13 and 25 September 2014. The report set out how humanitarian assistance could best address the current needs and showed the long-term impact of the food insecurity, especially regarding negative effects on children’s growth and people’s means of income.

Approximately 30 per cent of the population, 1.5 million people were assessed as being in a moderate to severe food security situation, said Ms. Byrs. The displaced people lived with host families and in camps and were the most vulnerable groups. In Bangui, the people who returned to their homes were equally affected by the situation. The Mambéré-Kadéi, l’Ouham, la Nana Gribizi, l’Ouham-Pendé, Bangui and the Haut-Mbomou prefectures had the lowest food security assessment, and people living there faced high rates of displacement and recurring violence.

The report showed that the most affected by food insecurity were poor households, headed by women, displaced or returned persons, whose primary sources of food were markets, who did not have financial resources and had low levels of education. Affected people were adopting coping strategies that were becoming increasingly damaging and dangerous, said Ms. Byrs.

The main source of income in Central African Republic was the sale of food products, accounting for 60 per cent of incomes in the country, but currently food production was low. The main restrictions faced by households in generating income were: lack of capital to invest (61 per cent), lack of job opportunities (31 per cent) and lack of land or production equipment (27 per cent), concluded Ms. Byrs.

There was more information in the briefing note, said Ms. Byrs, and the report was available on the WFP website.

Boko Haram attacks in Nigeria

Ravina Shamdasani, for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), said OHCHR deeply deplored the vicious, ruthless attacks against civilians in the north-eastern Nigerian town of Baga, where Boko Haram had reportedly been operating since 3 January 2015. While the exact details remained unclear, what was fairly certain was that mass killings and mass forced displacement had occurred. The deliberate targeting of civilians was clearly prohibited by international law, said Ms. Shamdasani. OHCHR was very concerned at reports that there were children and elderly people among the victims.

The killings at marketplaces in Maidugiri, also in Borno State, and in Potiskum, in Yobe State, were particularly shocking given reports that girls, possibly one as young as 10 years of age, may have been forced to carry out the attack. The use of a child to detonate a bomb was not only morally repugnant but constituted an egregious form of child exploitation under international law.

OHCHR urged the Government to act swiftly to restore law and order, while ensuring that security operations were conducted in line with international law and full respect for human rights. OHCHR also urged Nigerian authorities to redouble their efforts to create conditions for an effective investigation into the incidents, with a view to establishing the facts surrounding the killings and holding the perpetrators accountable.

Mr. Momal-Vanian noted that she had distributed the Secretary-General’s statement on the attacks to accredited press.

Responding to a question from a journalist asking what could be done; Ms. Shamdasani responded that a statement by the spokesperson for the Nigerian Ministry of Defence had outlined attempts to re-establish law and order. OHCHR urged that those efforts be redoubled and encouraged them to take place with full force, but stressed that such efforts had to be taken in line with international human rights obligations of Nigeria.

Jens Laerke, for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), responding to a question, said the attacks in Baga Town in Borno State on 3 and 7 January had displaced 150,000 people, according to the Borno State Emergency Management Agency. Independent access was not currently possible, so that figure had yet to be verified by the UN. However, humanitarian assistance was being provided by the Federal Government through the National Emergency Management Agency, the State Emergency Management Agency in Borno State, the Nigerian Red Cross and other local actors. OCHA stood ready to provide further support if asked to do so.

Replying to a question asking where the internally displaced persons had moved to, Mr. Laerke said there was a complete lock down and no independent access to the area so it was difficult to give precise details, but the pattern of internal displacement showed that most people were staying with host families, not in camps.

William Spindler, for the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), announced that 11,320 Nigerian refugees had fled into Chad since the attack on 3 January, of those, 60 per cent were women and girls, 40 per cent were men, and 84 were non-accompanied children. Some 2,000 people were currently stranded on an island on Lake Chad and UNHCR was transferring them to the Chadian mainland. UNHCR, WFP and other agencies were providing assistance to the new arrivals.

Papua New Guinean fishermen returned home

Joel Millman, for the International Organization for Migration (IOM), described the remarkable story of two Papua New Guinean men picked up drifting in the Pacific, who would soon set foot in their homeland for the first time in six months, after their planned 60-kilometre journey turned into an epic 16-week tale of survival on some of the world’s remotest waters.

The fishermen had survived at sea for 16 weeks, with only some rice and flour which lasted for two weeks, then by eating fish, including a six-foot shark which they wrestled aboard, and turtle, which they caught using improvised spears made from a pot handle and nails. The fish and turtle meat were cut up in small pieces and dried over the tin roofing materials on board, which they also used to capture rain water. Sometimes the men found coconuts floating in the water, and other times they went three days without food, surviving on rain water or salt water mixed with rain water, until they caught another fish. Twice they came close to rescue, but were missed by two passing fishing boats.

Michael Bolong and Ambrose Wavut were eventually picked up by a Micronesian tuna-fishing boat, and had been in Pohnpei, the capital of Micronesia, since 29 November. The men would complete their amazing journey on Thursday 15 January, returning home thanks to tickets purchased via IOM’s Humanitarian Assistance for Stranded Migrants (HASM) fund.

Geneva Activities

Corinne Momal-Vanian, Director of the United Nations Information Service Geneva, announced that the United Nations Special Envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, would give a press conference on Thursday 15 January at 12.30 p.m. in Press Room III.

In response to a question about the reported Libya Peace Talks, Ms. Momal-Vanian, said that UNSMIL had issued a press release at the weekend stating the talks would take place in Geneva this week, but details had not yet been confirmed. If the talks went ahead, they would probably start on Wednesday (14 January) at the Palais des Nations. Ms. Momal-Vanian informed journalists that she hoped to distribute lists of participants once confirmation was received, and to provide arrival and handshake photographs. There may also be a press conference, she noted.

The Committee on the Rights of the Child opened a new session on Monday 12 January at Palais Wilson during which it will review 12 country reports. This morning the Committee continued its review of the reports of Cambodia and the Dominican Republic. The reports of Turkmenistan and Sweden would be reviewed from 3 p.m. this afternoon; the report of Mauritius from 3 p.m. on Wednesday; and the reports of Gambia and Tanzania from 3 p.m. on Thursday. Next week the Committee would consider the reports of Jamaica, Uruguay, Colombia, Iraq and Switzerland.

The Conference on Disarmament starts its 2015 session next Monday, 17 January, and was expected to hold its first public meeting of the year at 10 a.m. on Tuesday 18 January. A background press release would be issued this Thursday, said Ms. Momal-Vanian.

Ms. Momal-Vanian announced that copies, in English and French, of press releases concerning the new World Economic Situation Prospects 2015, which would be officially released on Monday 19 January. The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) had scheduled a press conference for 11 a.m. on Monday 19 January in Room III on the report. Everything was under embargo until that time. The Executive Summaries, in English and French, were available on demand.

Ms. Momal-Vanian announced that a high-level Education for Peace conference would take place at 5 p.m. on Wednesday 14 January in the Assembly Hall of the Palais des Nations. The Education for Peace conference, convened in the framework of the seventieth anniversary of the United Nations and the ninetieth anniversary of the International School of Geneva, would feature a keynote speech by United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein. Syrian-Palestinian cartoonist Mr. Hani Abbas, winner of the 2014 Cartoonist for Peace award, would give a live cartooning demonstration and talk about his work, including cartoons published in response to last week’s events in Paris. Mr. Abbas would also announce the winners of an Education for Peace Cartoon Competition for school children. The event would also feature other high-level speakers, musical performances and the opening of an exhibition. Journalists were welcome to attend with their regular UNOG passes.

Rolando Gomez, for the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC) announced the Human Rights Council would hold an organizational meeting at 3 p.m. today in Room XX of the Palais des Nations. The new President of the Council, Joachim Rücker, Permanent Representative of Germany to the United Nations Office at Geneva, had called for a minute of silence at this afternoon’s meeting, in memory of all victims of terrorism and extremism. He also noted that a new Universal Periodic Review session started on Monday 19 January for two weeks, and a detailed background press release and media advisories for each of the 14 States to be reviewed would be issued tomorrow.

Hans von Rohland, for the International Labour Organization (ILO), announced that a new ILO flagship report “World Employment and Social Outlook 2015” would be launched on Monday 19 January. ILO Director-General Guy Ryder and Raymond Torres, Head of the ILO Research Department would hold a press briefing at 10 a.m. on Monday 19 January in Press Room III. The Report was strictly embargoed until midnight on Monday. It incorporated ILO’s annual Global Employment Trends report, but had a wider perspective: it was not just a forecast of global unemployment levels but also explained the underlying factors. The report also looked at the rising middle class in the developing world, and the risks of social unrest, especially in areas of elevated youth unemployment. Journalists would receive embargoed electronic copies of the report on Friday 16 January.

Sarah Bel, for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), said she was the new UNDP Geneva Communication Officer and delighted to take up the post in Geneva. Ms. Bel said she would regularly brief on UNDP activities in the 170 countries it worked in, starting at the regular briefing this Friday when she would present a new report on the socio-economic impact of Ebola in West Africa.

The spokespersons for the World Health Organization and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development attended but did not brief.