REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Marie Heuzé, the Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired the briefing which was also addressed by Spokespersons for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the World Food Programme, the United Nations Refugee Agency, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the World Health Organization, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the United Nations Conference for Trade and Development, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and the International Organization for Migration.

Secretary-General’s Trip to Europe and Africa

Ms. Heuzé said Secretary-General Kofi Annan was on a trip which would take him to Turkey, Kenya, Ethiopia and Switzerland. He would be in Switzerland from Saturday, 18 November to Monday 20 November. On Saturday, he would go to Saint Gallen where he would deliver a speech on biotechnology and human security, discussing the need to ensure that advances in biotechnologies were used for the public good, and shared equitably around the world, while managing the potential risks. He would also receive the Max Schmidheiny Foundation Freedom Prize, which was presented to individuals and institutions that had made special contributions to the maintenance and development of open societies. He has directed the $100,000 prize to be given directly to the United Nations Refugee Agency. On Monday, he would inaugurate the new UNAIDS building next to WHO and would address the opening of the Sixth Review Conference of the Biological and Toxic Weapons Convention. Details of other meetings would be provided later in the week. The Secretary-General would also receive a prize from the Geneva Foundation. As this would probably be Mr. Annan’s last trip to Switzerland as Secretary-General, he was expected to hold a press conference on Monday but confirmation on the time was not yet available.

In Istanbul, the Secretary-General received the final report of the High-Level Group of the Alliance of Civilizations, an initiative of the Secretary-General, co-sponsored by the Prime Ministers of Spain and Turkey. He delivered a speech yesterday about the need for concerted social and political action to repair relations between people of different traditions and cultures.

The Secretary-General was presently on his way to Nairobi where he would address the high-level segment of the United Nations Climate Change Conference on Wednesday, 15 November. His embargoed statement would be available this afternoon. In the statement, he would stress the need for leadership and urgent action on a global threat that grew more alarming with every passing day. His next stop would be in Ethiopia where he would attend the opening of the Fifth African Development Forum and deliver his last major address on the issue of development. His embargoed statement would be available on Wednesday. Also in Addis Ababa, he would discuss the situation in Sudan, and particularly in Darfur.

Special Session of Human Rights Council on Situation in Gaza

Ms. Heuzé said the Human Rights Council would hold its third special session starting 10 a.m. on Wednesday, 15 November on the situation in the occupied Palestinian territories, especially northern Gaza and the incursion into Beit Hanoun. A background press release had been issued yesterday, listing the 24 countries which had supported the request for the special session. A draft resolution was presently circulating and would be made available to journalists. The meeting would be held in Room XVII. The Council held its first special session on 5 and 6 July on the situation in the occupied Palestinian territories and the second special session on 11 August on the situation in Lebanon.

Geneva Activities

Ms. Heuzé said a special high-level plenary meeting was held yesterday during the second and final week of the Third Review Conference of the States Parties to the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW), to mark the entry into force of the Protocol on Explosive Remnants of War (Protocol V) annexed to the Convention. The Secretary-General conveyed a message to the Conference, which was delivered by the Under-Secretary-General on Disarmament Affairs, Nobuaki Tanaka. The statement of the Secretary-General as well as a press release on the meeting were available in the press room in English and in French.

Today, at 11 a.m., a report “Portfolio of Mine Action Projects 2007”, which was published jointly by UNICEF, the United Nations Development Programme, and the UN Mine Action Service in the Department of Peacekeeping Operations was being launched in Room V. The message of the Secretary-General to this event was available in the press room.

Ms. Heuzé said the International Day for Tolerance was commemorated on 16 November. In the Secretary-General’s message on the day, Mr. Annan stressed that combating intolerance was in part a matter of legal protection. He said the right to freedom of religion – and to freedom from discrimination based on religion – had long been enshrined in international law, and incorporated into the domestic law of many countries. But the law was only a starting point. Any strategy to build bridges must depend heavily on education – about different religions, traditions and cultures - so that myths and distortions could be seen for what they were. The Secretary-General said opportunities must be created for young people, offering them a credible alternative to the siren song of hate and extremism. Freedom of expression must also be safeguarded, while working with the media to prevent it being used to spread hatred or inflict humiliation. The text of the Secretary-General’s address was available in English and in French. The Secretary-General repeated the same sentiments in his address yesterday upon receiving the Alliance of Civilizations report.

Ms. Heuzé said the Universal Postal Union Strategy Conference was a high-level meeting which met every four years. Available at the back of the room were some documents concerning the ongoing Strategy Conference in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates. A press release of the Strategy Conference was available. Today, the key speaker was WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy speaking via video conference.
Sergei Ordzhonikidze, the Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva, was also addressing the Strategy Conference today and his statement was available.

The message of the Secretary-General to the Inter Parliamentarian Union was available in the press room.

The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Committee against Torture were continuing their work at the Palais Wilson. This afternoon, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights would conclude its review of the initial report of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia which it started yesterday afternoon. Tomorrow, it would take up the initial report of Albania. The Committee against Torture was this morning starting its review of the initial report of South Africa, and this afternoon, it would hear the response of Guyana to questions raised yesterday on the initial report of that country. Press releases were available in English and in French.

In conclusion, Ms. Heuzé noted that due to the holding of the special session of the Human Rights Council tomorrow, the press conference by the President-designate of the Sixth Review Conference of the Biological Weapons Convention, Ambassador Masood Khan of Pakistan, had been moved to 3 p.m. on Wednesday, 15 November in Room III.

Jan Egeland’s Trip to Africa

Elizabeth Byrs of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said Jan Egeland, the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, met yesterday with rebel leader Joseph Kony to discuss a range of humanitarian issues related to non-combatants associated with the rebel group and to advance the peace talks between Kony’s Lord’s Resistance Army and the Government of Uganda. Mr. Egeland asked Mr. Kony to come with concrete humanitarian measures concerning the women, children and non-combatants who were currently with Kony’s army and the LRA leadership had agreed to come back within one month with an answer to this request. The LRA had also agreed to identify, by 22 November, those sick and wounded in need of care.

Mr. Egeland said that if the parties succeeded in the peace effort led by the Government of Southern Sudan and supported by the United Nations, there was a good chance that peace would break out in the region as a whole. However, he warned that failing to do so might have catastrophic consequences, not only in Northern Uganda, but also in Southern Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Central African Republic, for local communities.

Floods in Kenya

Elizabeth Byrs of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said at least 21 people had been killed in floods in Kenya caused by unusually heavy rains in the region, especially in the north of the country. Over the weekend, at least six people had died around the port town of Mombasa and in the northeastern town of Garissa. Roads linking Mombasa to the capital Nairobi had been cut of, as bridges had been washed away.

Ms. Byrs said of particular concern was the Dadaab refugee camp complex, sheltering some 160,000 people primarily from Somalia, in the north of Kenya which had also been affected. At least two people had died as a consequence of the flooding. Two out of three of the camps in Dadaab complex were flooded with about 80 percent refugees displaced within the camps. Flooding also hindered access to the camps, threatening the supply of relief items and access for humanitarian workers. From Nairobi, an emergency supply in terms of non- food items, including blankets and plastic sheets, would be airlifted to Dadaab within the coming days. The Kenyan Red Cross, in collaboration with the Kenyan Government, was expected to launch an appeal today to assist some 60,000 people affected by the floods.

Christiane Berthiaume of the World Food Programme said these floods were very serious and were being compared to the record 1997 El Nino rains that swamped much of eastern Kenya. WFP’s food centres were also flooded and a general distribution of food originally scheduled for Wednesday, 15 November, would not be possible. Trucks carrying high energy biscuits on their way to Dadaab had become stuck in the mud. The movement of Somali refugees into Kenya had slowed down in the past few days because of the floods. Parts of southeastern Kenya were also affected by the floods. Local authorities said tens of thousands of persons had become displaced in Kwale. Today, the Kenyan Government was starting an airlift of food and other non-food items to villages in Kwale for 3,000 persons totally cut off since the weekend. The only way to reach the affected areas as this point was by air.

Ron Redmond of the UN Refugee agency said two refugees were dead and more than 78,000 people had been uprooted by flooding that engulfed refugee camps in eastern Kenya over recent days as rising waters destroyed hundreds of homes in the mainly Somali camps near Dadaab. The sudden flooding had brought a major setback to UNHCR’s operations to settle thousands of Somali refugees who fled to Kenya in recent months to escape the conflict in their homeland. Hundreds of refugees in Ifo camp, the worst affected site, were able by late last night to move into nearby schools where they found shelter, while other refugees were able to escape to slightly higher ground in other parts of the sprawling camp. UNHCR estimated that up to 90 percent of Ifo's 54,000 refugees had been affected by the flooding, while in Dagahaley, some 10 kilometres away, up to 80 percent of the camp's 37,000 residents may have lost much of their belongings and many of their homes. There were more details in the briefing notes.

Anna Nelson of the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said Kenya’s Red Cross planned to launch an emergency appeal in the coming hours. A week ago, the International Federation released 150,000 Swiss francs from its Disaster Relief Emergency Fund for the victims of its flooding. The head of disaster response for the Kenya Red Cross expected the situation would continue to deteriorate and was warning of the risk of water-borne diseases, especially cholera.

Human Rights

José Luis Díaz of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said the world had moved one step closer to a treaty banning forced disappearances with the adoption yesterday in New York by the Third Committee of the General Assembly of the draft International Convention for the Protection of all Persons from Enforced Disappearance. The Human Rights Council had unanimously endorsed the draft International Convention and the Third Committee adopted it by consensus yesterday. The next step was for the full General Assembly to adopt the draft International Convention before it was opened for signature in Paris in February. An update would be provided when the full General Assembly adopted it.

Mr. Díaz introduced a colleague who had just joined OHCHR's media team. His name was Yvon Edoumou. As soon as he was settled in, Yvon's contact details would be made available.

Other

Christiane Berthiaume of the World Food Programme said last week, WFP had distributed food including bread, vegetables and tinned food to the hospital in Beit Hanoun in Gaza. The situation there remained very difficult and WFP had a lot of difficulty reaching affected people in Beit Hanoun to distribute food.

Ron Redmond of the UN Refugee Agency said with new attacks reported daily in southeastern Chad, UNHCR was extremely worried that an already volatile situation was continuing to deteriorate. The Government of Chad yesterday declared a state of emergency and said it was devising a strategy to deal with the situation. UNHCR remained concerned by the difficult humanitarian situation and the difficulties UNHCR was facing in properly assisting local residents, internally displaced people and refugees.
The violence, which had left more than 220 dead, appeared to mirror that of the neighbouring Darfur region of Sudan. UNHCR feared the inter-communal hostilities were spiralling out of control and could threaten the entire southeastern region of Chad.
UNHCR urged the international community to quickly mobilise a multi-dimensional presence in Chad to help protect hundreds of thousands of Chadian civilians and Sudanese refugees, as well as aid workers trying to help them.

Mr. Redmond said UNHCR deplored the forced return to Turkey by Azerbaijan authorities of a refugee recognised under the 1951 UN refugee convention. The refugee, a Turkish citizen of Kurdish ethnicity who had been granted refugee status in 1999 in Germany, was forcibly returned to Turkey on 13 October, 2006. She had spent the last two years in detention in Azerbaijan, initially and briefly on charges of illegal entry into the country, and subsequently on the grounds of an extradition request by a court in Istanbul. She was extradited despite UNHCR's and the Government of Germany's repeated interventions on her behalf to the Government of Azerbaijan.

Fadela Chaib of the World Health Organization said World Diabetes Day was commemorated on 14 November by the International Diabetes Federation and the World Health Organization. Diabetes affected around 180 million persons around the world in 2005, and it was estimated that this figure would double by 2030. In 2005, 1.1 million persons died from diabetes. A note with more details would be available on the WHO website.

“The Health of the People: the African Regional Health Report” would be launched on Monday, 20 November, Ms. Chaib said. It was the first comprehensive WHO report on health in 46 African countries. The embargoed report would be available shortly.

Michael Bociurkiw of the United Nations Children’s Fund said despite the difficult security situation in Iraq, UNICEF and the Iraqi Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization had begun a national polio immunization drive to protect 4.8 million Iraqi children. The campaign started over the weekend and the north already had been completed. Parts of the campaign in other areas had to be delayed for a few days because of security concerns, but they were now underway. Over 5,400 mobile vaccinators were participating in the campaign to immunize every child under five against polio in order to maintain Iraq’s polio-free status.

Mr. Bociurkiw reminded journalists that at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, 15 November, UNICEF’s Representative for Romania would speak to journalists about the child trafficking situation in eastern Europe in Room III.

Catherine Sibut-Pinot of the United Nations Conference for Trade and Development reminded journalists that UNCTAD’s Information Economy Report 2006 would be launched on Thursday, 16 November. An embargoed press conference would be held at 11 a.m. in Room III. The embargoed press release and related documentation were available in the press room.

Ms. Sibut-Pinot said an expert meeting on universal access to services was being held from 14 to 16 November at the Palais des Nations.

Jean-Philippe Chauzy of the International Organization for Migration said an IOM report published today found that families who had been displaced by recent sectarian violence in the oil-rich and volatile governorate of Kirkuk in Iraq did not have adequate access to shelter, food, water and sanitation, healthcare and other services, such as education and legal assistance. In Timor-Leste, IOM had helped 145 internally displaced families to return to their homes in the Akanunu neighbourhood of Hera, 20km east of Dili. In Pakistan, as the first heavy rains and snowfall heralded the early arrival of winter this weekend, IOM Rapid Response Teams continued disaster preparedness training for vulnerable communities in high-altitude areas of northern Pakistan. And in Indonesia, IOM was to expand its collaboration in the field of counter trafficking with Aisyiyah, the women’s wing of the 30-million strong Muhammadiyah organization.
IOM Indonesia currently provided return, recovery and reintegration assistance to trafficking victims, trained law enforcement agencies and the judiciary, and conducted awareness-raising activities around the country.

Marie-Agnes Heine of the International Organization for Migration said IOM had been implementing a compensation programme for certain victims of the Nazi regime since 2000. The programme was co-funded by the German Government and German industry. IOM was going to close the programme by the end of December 2006. That was the legally binding deadline. Under the German Foundation Act, the partner organizations were not allowed to make any more payments as of early next year. This would also be applicable in cases where beneficiaries had died prior to receiving their cheques or where necessary documents were not available earlier. Some 540 million Euros had been distributed under this programme in response to approximately 100,000 positive claims for compensation. A press release was available with more details.

Anna Nelson of the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said the International Federation would hold a press conference at 10 a.m. in Room III on Monday, 27 November, concerning the two-year commemoration of the tsunami. A press release would be issued to talk of the progress made so far and the challenges lying ahead. Also, the 2006 World Disasters Report would be distributed on 13 December and it would be embargoed until 14 December. An embargoed press release would be released in the next few days.