REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Marie Heuzé, Director of the Information Service of the United Nations Office at Geneva, chaired the briefing which was also attended by Spokespersons for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the UN Refugee Agency, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the World Meteorological Organization, the World Food Programme, the World Trade Organization and the International Organization for Migration.

Geneva Activities

Ms. Heuzé said the Third Review Conference of States Parties to the Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons which May Be Deemed to Be Excessively Injurious or to Have Indiscriminate Effects (CCW) will be held from 7 to 17 November 2006 at the Palais des Nations. The Third Review Conference will be chaired by Ambassador François Rivasseau of France. The Conference will review the scope and operation of the Convention and its annexed Protocols and will consider any proposals related to the Convention or to its Protocols, or any other proposal for additional Protocols to the Convention.

On 12 November, the Third Review Conference will celebrate the entry into force of Protocol V to the Convention on Explosive Remnants of War. A special plenary meeting has been set aside to commemorate the event on Monday, 13 November. Twenty-five States have so far notified the Secretary-General of the United Nations, as depositary of the Convention, of their consent to be bound by the Protocol: Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, El Salvador, Finland, France, Germany, Holy See, India, Liberia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Nicaragua, Norway, Sierra Leone, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, Tajikistan and Ukraine.

Ms. Heuzé said the Eighth Annual Conference of the States Parties to the Protocol on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Mines, Booby-Traps and Other Devices (Amended Protocol II), annexed to the CCW, will be held on Monday, 6 November, at the Palais des Nations. The annual conference will be presided by Ambassador Tomáš Husák of the Czech Republic. The Conference is expected to review the operation and status of the Protocol, while emphasizing the necessity for universalization of the Protocol.

Background press releases on both meetings are available in the press room.

Ms. Heuzé said the Human Rights Committee is today concluding its eighty-eighth session, during which it reviewed reports from Honduras, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ukraine and the Republic of Korea. The Chairperson of the Committee, Christine Chanet, will brief journalists about the session at 11:30 a.m. today in Room III, right after the briefing.

The fifth session of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of Migrant Workers will also conclude today after meeting for one week and considering the initial report of Mexico.

The roundup press releases for both Committees, including the concluding observations and recommendations on the reports reviewed, will be available later this afternoon.

Next week, Ms. Heuzé said two other human rights committees will be starting at the Palais Wilson and will continue until 24 November. The thirty-seventh session of the Committee against Torture will consider reports from Tajikistan, Mexico, Burundi, the Russian Federation, Guyana, South Africa and Hungary.

The thirty-seventh session of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights will review the reports of the Netherlands, El Salvador, Tajikistan, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Albania.

Background press releases for these two Committees are available in the press room.

Sudan and Chad

Ms. Heuzé said Secretary-General Kofi Annan yesterday condemned the large-scale militia attacks in the Jebel Moon area of West Darfur, Sudan on 29 and 30 October. The attacks on eight civilian settlements, including a camp harbouring some 3,500 internally displaced persons, caused scores of civilian deaths and forced thousands to flee the area. The Secretary-General was particularly distressed on hearing reports that 27 of those killed were children under the age of 12. The Secretary-General called again in the strongest possible terms on the parties to respect their agreements and the provisions of international humanitarian law. He appealed once more to the Government of the Sudan to take all necessary measures to prevent further attacks against civilians, particularly by militia forces.

Ms. Heuzé recalled that on 31 August, the Security Council decided to send 17,000 peacekeepers to Darfur to replace the African Union force which was too small and which lacked funds. To date, Sudan continued to reject the idea of an UN peacekeeping force for Darfur.

José Luis Díaz, Spokesperson for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, said he wanted to give journalists a preview of a report which the Office would be issuing this afternoon. It was the sixth periodic report on the situation of human rights in Sudan, prepared by the Office in cooperation with the UN Mission in Sudan. The report said the attacks on Jebel Moon resulted in approximately 50 civilian deaths, and as many as 7,000 persons in the area were affected by the violence. Many fled to the south or across the border to Chad and in other directions. The attacks affected nine villages or locations, including a camp for internally displaced persons. The report called on Sudan to conduct an impartial, transparent and timely investigation into the attacks with the aim of persecuting those who planned, orchestrated and carried them out. The report also called on the Government to fulfil its responsibilities to protect civilians, disarm militias and facilitate access to necessary treatment for those who were injured in the attacks.

Ron Redmond of the UN Refugee Agency said UNHCR was extremely concerned about an attack on October 29 against civilians and displaced persons which occurred in the vicinity of Jebel Moon and Seleha areas, in West Darfur. UNHCR’s team in eastern Chad reported a group of 10 refugees crossed the border fleeing from this incident, where reportedly 300-500 Arab militiamen on horseback raided at least eight villages as well as the Hajlija IDP camp. UNHCR was sending a team today to the border area near Birak on the Chadian side to monitor the situation and see what assistance the refugees needed. According to initial reports, at least 50 civilians were killed. Thousands of people fled the locations that were attacked to safer sites in the Jebel Moon and Seleah areas.

Mr. Redmond said recent inter-ethnic violence, including attacks by Arab-led armed groups along the tense border areas in eastern Chad adjacent to Darfur, had now pushed the numbers of internally displaced in the past year up to an estimated 63,000 from an earlier figure of 50,000. Displacement in eastern Chad was mainly caused by inter-ethnic violence. At least 10 villages were attacked in early October by what villagers described as armed Arab-led groups. Dozens were reported killed and wounded. People fled after being attacked or out of fear they could be targeted. They headed to areas around UNHCR's Goz Amir refugee camp near the village of Koukou. The refugee camp currently hosted 18,000 Sudanese refugees from Darfur. In the Koukou area, UNHCR, along with its partners, delivered basic relief items such as plastic sheeting for shelter, mosquito nets, buckets, jerry cans and soap to the newly displaced. UNHCR was assisting some 218,000 Sudanese refugees in twelve camps in eastern Chad and more than 45,000 refugees from the Central African Republic in three camps in southern Chad. In Darfur, two million people were displaced.

Michael Bociurkiw of the United Nations Children’s Fund said a huge immunization campaign would start in Sudan on Sunday, 5 November. An estimated 7.8 million children would be vaccinated against polio, and a good part of those would also get vitamin A supplementation. UNICEF called on all parties to ensure the safety of the 40,000 vaccinators in all areas of the country.

WMO 2005 Greenhouse Gas Bulletin

Mark Oliver of the World Meteorological Organization said the WMO Greenhouse Gas Bulletin 2005 was released today. It showed that globally averaged concentrations of carbon dioxide reached their highest levels ever recorded in 2005. Nitrus oxide also reached record highs. The carbon dioxide levels were up .53 per cent from 2004. This report came just in time for the second meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol, in conjunction with the twelfth session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, in Nairobi from 6 to 17 November.

Geir Braathen of the World Meteorological Organization said the data on the rise in carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide levels was based on a large number of stations around the world, as well as from aircrafts and ships and was the result of a consensus among many laboratories and scientists. There was no sign that carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide were starting to level off. They were increasing at a steady rate as they had done over the last few decades. It looked like this situation would continue for the foreseeable future.

Asked if that meant that the Kyoto Protocol was worthless, Mr. Braathen said that the Kyoto Protocol was not useless. It had been in effect since early last year, but it would not be sufficient to stabilize the rates; it might reduce the increase, but even that would take time. This meant that for the next few years, any deceleration in the concentration of carbon dioxide or nitrous oxide would not happen. To really make the carbon dioxide levels decrease, more drastic measures would be needed than were in the Kyoto Protocol today.

WHO

Fadela Chaib of the World Health Organization said with regards to the election process of the new Director-General of WHO, a note to correspondents would be issued shortly on this process. Journalists would not be allowed into the Council Chamber because priority was being given to Member States, but they would be in another room. When the meetings in the Council Chamber were public, journalists would be able to follow them through a video link. If any of the candidates wished to give a press conference, this would be organized. The acting Director-General would today meet with journalists at 11:45 a.m. at WHO and would talk about the elections and would also speak about the results of his work while in office for the past six months. The Executive Council of WHO would start its work at 9:30 a.m. on Monday, 6 November. Around 6 p.m., there would be a press release with the final list of candidates for the post of Director-General. The Executive Council would interview the candidates on Tuesday, 7 November, and on Wednesday, 8 November, the 34 members of the Council would nominate one person. On Thursday, 9 November, the process would move to the Palais des Nations at 10 a.m. in the Assembly Hall when the World Health Assembly would meet to appoint the new Director-General. There would be a press conference around 4:30 p.m. to announce the appointment.

Somalia

Christiane Berthiaume of the World Food Programme said that in order to help those affected by the floods in Somalia and Ethiopia, WFP had provided almost 2,000 tons of food aid. The affected areas were difficult to reach during normal times, and the floods made them even more inaccessible. WFP was not excluding the possibility of needing to airdrop the food aid as roads were also flooded. Because of the inaccessibility, it was difficult to estimate how many people were affected by the floods.

Other

Ms. Heuzé said the first-ever meeting of the Internet Governance Forum concluded yesterday in Athens. The overall theme of the meeting was “Internet Governance for Development”. Highlights on the meeting were in the press room. The Forum was attended by more than 1,200 participants from more than 90 countries.

Ms. Heuzé said the Security Council would this month be discussing the issue of children and armed conflict and in that connection, available were the Secretary-General’s reports on children and armed conflict in Côte d’Ivoire and in Burundi. More reports and other documentation were expected, including on 20 November the report of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict. Interested journalists could ask for the reports in the Documentation Centre.

Ms. Heuzé said that Adolf Ogi, the Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Sport for Development and peace, was today presenting his report on the International Year of Sport and Physical Education 2005 to the General Assembly. Copies of the report were available in Mr. Ogi’s office. It provides an inventory and overview of programmes, conferences and initiatives from around the world that have taken place during the International Year.

Yesterday, UNOG Director-General informed the permanent representatives attending the Diplomatic Committee about the current situation relating to security measures for the United Nations family system of organizations in Geneva. He outlined the main requirements of the Headquarters Minimum Operations Security Standard (H-MOSS).

Michael Bociurkiw of the United Nations Children’s Fund said Albania had the largest number of young people in Europe, and one of its problems was trafficking and many of the destination countries were in Europe. A press release with details was available.

Carrie Auer of the United Nations Children’s Fund said Albania was considered to be one of the youngest countries in Europe, with a child population of 35 per cent. It was also one of the poorest countries in Europe and one in three children lived in poverty there. Since 1991 with the fall of the Communist regime, there had been mass population movements both inside and outside of the country, leading to community and family structures deteriorating. This had contributed to the problems seen today like child trafficking. It was difficult to know the number, but a recent report estimated that there were 1,750 victims from Albania between 2000 and 2004. Of these, 88 per cent were trafficked for commercial sexual exploitation, and of those, over 20 per cent were minors. The Government of Albania was focusing on anti-trafficking measures. UNICEF had been assisting Albania and was working with the Government to establish a broader system of child protection. Child trafficking in Albania was a European issue as most of the children were trafficked either through or to European countries.

José Luis Díaz, Spokesperson for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, said the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances issued a statement today, calling on members of the General Assembly to adopt the draft International Convention for the Protection of all Persons against Enforced Disappearances. The statement was available in the press room.

Josep Bosch of the World Trade Organization introduced a new press officer at WTO, Anoush der Boghossian. He said concerning WTO’s schedule next week, there would be a special General Council meeting on 7 November in which WTO’s Members were expected to adopt the final package of documents of the negotiations for the accession of Viet Nam to the organization. This meant that the negotiations had concluded successfully. Concerning the agenda of WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy, he was arriving back from the United States this weekend. He would attend the signing ceremony for the Viet Nam accession on 7 November, and then would co-chair a press conference at 1:30 p.m. with the Vietnamese Deputy Minister and the Chairman of the General Council.

Ron Redmond of the UN Refugee Agency said that at a briefing for donor governments in Geneva on Iraq yesterday, UNHCR said it was increasingly alarmed over the incessant violence in Iraq and distressed over the lack of an international humanitarian response to deal with the massive numbers of people being displaced. While the international community has provided billions of dollars in funding for recovery and development programmes for Iraq - many of which have not been implemented because of security concerns - humanitarian programmes inside Iraq and in neighbouring states remain neglected. UNHCR called for a renewed focus on the humanitarian crisis in the region. UNHCR estimated that there were at least 1.6 million Iraqis displaced internally, and up to 1.8 million outside the country in neighbouring states. Many were displaced prior to 2003, but an increasing number were fleeing now.

Mr. Redmond said in Colombia, dozens of Afro-Colombian and indigenous communities were at risk because of an upsurge in violence in the north-western part of the country. Hundreds had fled to other parts of Colombia, a few had crossed the border into Panama, and thousands more people were trapped and unable to leave. In the Western Sahara, and after a five-month suspension, UNHCR today resumed family visits between Sahrawi refugees living in the camps in Tindouf, south-western Algeria, and their relatives living in various towns in the Western Sahara Territory. In Kenya, and after a two-week suspension, the registration of new Somali refugees seeking asylum in Kenya resumed early this week with the introduction of tougher measures to curb false asylum claims. And in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, UNHCR was scheduled to start distribution today of clothing to some 50,000 internally displaced persons and returnees in the Gety and Kagaba camps in the Ituri region.

Jean-Philippe Chauzy of the International Organization for Migration said IOM had compiled the first of three of 15 Iraqi governorate reports to identify and prioritize areas of operation, plan emergency responses, and design long-term durable solutions to recent population displacements. The reports find that in all three governorates, a majority of displaced persons live in inadequate shelters, cannot meet monthly rental expenses or are facing pressures and tension due to overcrowded living conditions with family and friends. In Pakistan, IOM Rapid Response Teams have become operational in six earthquake-affected districts of north western frontier province and Pakistan-administered Kashmir, carrying out relief operations, providing medical assistance and training local communities in disaster preparedness to improve their ability to quickly respond to emergencies.

Mr. Chauzy said the briefing notes had information about assistance for returned migrants in Honduras, a workshop on skilled migration and development in Mexico, and building capacity to manage migration in the Caribbean.