REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Marie Heuzé, Spokesperson of the United Nations Office at Geneva, chaired the briefing which also heard from Spokespersons for the UN Refugee Agency, the World Health Organization, the World Trade Organization, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and the International Organization for Migration.

At the beginning of the briefing, Louise Arbour, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, talked to journalists following the adoption of the resolution by the General Assembly establishing the Human Rights Council (see separate transcript).

Attack on UNHCR in South Sudan – UNHCR Says Number of Asylum Seekers Halved Since 2001

Ron Redmond of the UN Refugee Agency said to update journalists on the incident in which UNHCR’s compound in southern Sudan was attacked, a UNHCR staff member and a local guard, who were both severely wounded in the attack Wednesday night on the compound in Yei, south Sudan, were now in a stable condition in a Nairobi hospital after being evacuated by air from south Sudan's capital, Juba. During the attack by two armed intruders, one local guard and one intruder were killed. Six other UNHCR international staff were in the compound at the time of the attack but they were uninjured and were safe. High Commissioner António Guterres was sending a team from UNHCR’s Emergency and Security Service to south Sudan to assess the situation on the ground. The Assistant High Commissioner for Operations, Judy Cheng-Hopkins, and the Director of the Sudan-Chad operations, Jean-Marie Fakhouri, were flying to the region. UNHCR non-essential staff in Yei were travelling to Nairobi today for a de-briefing on the incident.

Mr. Redmond said UNHCR was releasing its annual report on asylum applications in industrialised countries, along with a press release summarizing the main findings of the report. Asylum applications in industrialized countries fell sharply in 2005 for the fourth year in a row. Last year, 336,000 asylum applications were submitted, 15 percent fewer than in 2004 in industrialised countries. In the last five years, the number of asylum seekers arriving in all industrialized countries had fallen by 49 per cent, almost by half. In the 25 countries of the European Union, as well as in Europe as a whole, the number of asylum seekers last year was the lowest since 1988.

In conclusion, Mr. Redmond said the High Commissioner would begin a 3 1/2-day visit to Beijing, where he would discuss a range of issues with Chinese officials.

Other

Fadela Chaib of the World Health Organization said the Ministry of Health in Azerbaijan had reported its first three cases of human infection with the H5 subtype of avian influenza virus. All three cases were fatal. In line with WHO policy, arrangements had been made to send samples to a WHO collaborating laboratory in the United Kingdom for diagnostic verification and further analysis. The samples arrived yesterday to London and the test results were expected shortly.

Ms. Chaib said WHO organised two technical meetings on preparedness for the impact of pandemic influenza on refugee and displaced populations, and on social mobilization to reduce the risks of avian influenza this week. New guidelines, entitled "Pandemic Influenza Preparedness and Mitigation in Refugee and Displaced Populations - WHO Guidelines for Humanitarian Agencies," were being finalized for publication in late March. WHO would continue to provide technical support to humanitarian agencies as preparedness activities were strengthened at the field level. On the second meeting WHO, together with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and UNICEF, met to identify ways to better support Member States and affected populations in developing clear public health communication to reduce the spread of avian influenza in animals and protect the human population from infection.

Glen Thomas of the World Health Organization, speaking about World TB Day which was celebrated annually on 24 March, said there would be a press briefing on 22 March to launch the annual global TB control report which outlined the current state of TB around the world, profiling 22 countries with a high incidence of TB. A new set of international standards of TB care would also be launched. A patients charter would also be launched which outlined responsibilities and rights of patients with TB.

Mrs. Heuzé said that available was a press release about another event related to World TB Day. Nobel Peace Prize laureates would speak out on the critical need to support and strengthen the health care workforce in fighting TB on Tuesday, 21 March at the World Economic Forum, 91-93 Route de la Capite, Cologny, in Geneva. All the details were available in the press release.

Josep Bosch of the World Trade Organization said next week, there were intensive negotiations on agricultural and non-agricultural products from 20 to 24 March. There would also be negotiations on the access of Russia to WTO. The schedule provided more details. Concerning Director-general Pascal Lamy’s schedule, he would be in Brussels on 23 march to give a speech at the European parliament on international trade, then would go to Paris in the afternoon to present the results of the Hong Kong ministerial conference at a meeting of the French Senate.

Elizabeth Byrs of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said available at the back of the room was a press release being issued today in Kampala and Geneva on a recent multi-donor mission to Uganda, led by Dennis McNamara, Director of the Inter-Agency Internal Displacement division of OCHA, who expressed serious concern at the regional impact of the ongoing conflict in the northern part of the country. Jan Egeland, the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, would be visiting Uganda on 30 and 31 March at the invitation of the Ugandan Government to discuss the situation.

Jean Philippe Chauzy of the International Organization for Migration said IOM was opening a new field office in Peshawar to begin the rehabilitation and reconstruction phase in the earthquake affected area, working with the North West Frontier Province Government. In Geneva, IOM today launched its online database of international, regional and national migration law aimed at providing government officials, researchers, migrants and the general public easy access through the Internet of international migration law.

Mr. Chauzy said IOM Director-General Brunson McKinley completed last week a successful visit to Japan. One of the important outcomes of this visit was a mutually confirmed partnership to jointly promote "Human Security", a key aspect of Japan's global policy.

Mrs. Heuzé reminded journalists that Doudou Diène, Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, would speak to journalists about the International Day on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination at 3 p.m. in press room 1.
Marie Heuzé, Spokesperson of the United Nations Office at Geneva, chaired the briefing which also heard from Spokespersons for the UN Refugee Agency, the World Health Organization, the World Trade Organization, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and the International Organization for Migration.

At the beginning of the briefing, Louise Arbour, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, talked to journalists following the adoption of the resolution by the General Assembly establishing the Human Rights Council (see separate transcript).

Attack on UNHCR in South Sudan – UNHCR Says Number of Asylum Seekers Halved Since 2001

Ron Redmond of the UN Refugee Agency said to update journalists on the incident in which UNHCR’s compound in southern Sudan was attacked, a UNHCR staff member and a local guard, who were both severely wounded in the attack Wednesday night on the compound in Yei, south Sudan, were now in a stable condition in a Nairobi hospital after being evacuated by air from south Sudan's capital, Juba. During the attack by two armed intruders, one local guard and one intruder were killed. Six other UNHCR international staff were in the compound at the time of the attack but they were uninjured and were safe. High Commissioner António Guterres was sending a team from UNHCR’s Emergency and Security Service to south Sudan to assess the situation on the ground. The Assistant High Commissioner for Operations, Judy Cheng-Hopkins, and the Director of the Sudan-Chad operations, Jean-Marie Fakhouri, were flying to the region. UNHCR non-essential staff in Yei were travelling to Nairobi today for a de-briefing on the incident.

Mr. Redmond said UNHCR was releasing its annual report on asylum applications in industrialised countries, along with a press release summarizing the main findings of the report. Asylum applications in industrialized countries fell sharply in 2005 for the fourth year in a row. Last year, 336,000 asylum applications were submitted, 15 percent fewer than in 2004 in industrialised countries. In the last five years, the number of asylum seekers arriving in all industrialized countries had fallen by 49 per cent, almost by half. In the 25 countries of the European Union, as well as in Europe as a whole, the number of asylum seekers last year was the lowest since 1988.

In conclusion, Mr. Redmond said the High Commissioner would begin a 3 1/2-day visit to Beijing, where he would discuss a range of issues with Chinese officials.

Other

Fadela Chaib of the World Health Organization said the Ministry of Health in Azerbaijan had reported its first three cases of human infection with the H5 subtype of avian influenza virus. All three cases were fatal. In line with WHO policy, arrangements had been made to send samples to a WHO collaborating laboratory in the United Kingdom for diagnostic verification and further analysis. The samples arrived yesterday to London and the test results were expected shortly.

Ms. Chaib said WHO organised two technical meetings on preparedness for the impact of pandemic influenza on refugee and displaced populations, and on social mobilization to reduce the risks of avian influenza this week. New guidelines, entitled "Pandemic Influenza Preparedness and Mitigation in Refugee and Displaced Populations - WHO Guidelines for Humanitarian Agencies," were being finalized for publication in late March. WHO would continue to provide technical support to humanitarian agencies as preparedness activities were strengthened at the field level. On the second meeting WHO, together with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and UNICEF, met to identify ways to better support Member States and affected populations in developing clear public health communication to reduce the spread of avian influenza in animals and protect the human population from infection.

Glen Thomas of the World Health Organization, speaking about World TB Day which was celebrated annually on 24 March, said there would be a press briefing on 22 March to launch the annual global TB control report which outlined the current state of TB around the world, profiling 22 countries with a high incidence of TB. A new set of international standards of TB care would also be launched. A patients charter would also be launched which outlined responsibilities and rights of patients with TB.

Mrs. Heuzé said that available was a press release about another event related to World TB Day. Nobel Peace Prize laureates would speak out on the critical need to support and strengthen the health care workforce in fighting TB on Tuesday, 21 March at the World Economic Forum, 91-93 Route de la Capite, Cologny, in Geneva. All the details were available in the press release.

Josep Bosch of the World Trade Organization said next week, there were intensive negotiations on agricultural and non-agricultural products from 20 to 24 March. There would also be negotiations on the access of Russia to WTO. The schedule provided more details. Concerning Director-general Pascal Lamy’s schedule, he would be in Brussels on 23 march to give a speech at the European parliament on international trade, then would go to Paris in the afternoon to present the results of the Hong Kong ministerial conference at a meeting of the French Senate.

Elizabeth Byrs of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said available at the back of the room was a press release being issued today in Kampala and Geneva on a recent multi-donor mission to Uganda, led by Dennis McNamara, Director of the Inter-Agency Internal Displacement division of OCHA, who expressed serious concern at the regional impact of the ongoing conflict in the northern part of the country. Jan Egeland, the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, would be visiting Uganda on 30 and 31 March at the invitation of the Ugandan Government to discuss the situation.

Jean Philippe Chauzy of the International Organization for Migration said IOM was opening a new field office in Peshawar to begin the rehabilitation and reconstruction phase in the earthquake affected area, working with the North West Frontier Province Government. In Geneva, IOM today launched its online database of international, regional and national migration law aimed at providing government officials, researchers, migrants and the general public easy access through the Internet of international migration law.

Mr. Chauzy said IOM Director-General Brunson McKinley completed last week a successful visit to Japan. One of the important outcomes of this visit was a mutually confirmed partnership to jointly promote "Human Security", a key aspect of Japan's global policy.

Mrs. Heuzé reminded journalists that Doudou Diène, Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, would speak to journalists about the International Day on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination at 3 p.m. in press room 1.