REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE
Elena Ponomareva-Piquier, Chief of the Press and External Relations Section of the United Nations Office at Geneva, chaired the briefing, which was also addressed by Spokespersons for the World Meteorological Organization, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, the United Nations Development Programme, the United Nations Refugee Agency, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the International Organization for Migration, the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Inter-Parliamentary Union.
Activities of the Secretary-General
Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said that the Secretary-General had this morning met with Ms. Louise Arbour, High Commissioner for Human Rights, and Ms. Kyung-Wha Kang, Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights. He had also met with Dr. Margaret Chan, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) and H.E. Mrs. Sahana Pradham, Foreign Minister of Nepal. Finally, the Secretary-General had met with former Secretary-General Kofi Annan at 10:30 a.m.
Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said that three statements of the Secretary-General had been made available in the Press Room. In the first, the Secretary-General had expressed his sorrow at the news of a UN helicopter crash some 85 kilometres east of Kathmandu, Nepal, yesterday. According to latest information received, the helicopter had been carrying seven UNMIN (United Nations Mission in Nepal) personnel and a crew of three. In the second statement, the Secretary-General expressed deep concern about the violent clashes between police forces and demonstrators in Armenia over the weekend. He called on all parties to exercise full restraint and to find a way out of the current crisis.
In the third statement, the Secretary-General expressed concern about the increased tensions and heightened rhetoric emerging over the weekend involving Colombia and its neighbours, Ecuador and Venezuela. He urged restraint and called on all three countries to address their shared concerns in the spirit of dialogue and cooperation that has traditionally characterised their relations.
Geneva activities
Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said that the Conference on Disarmament would this morning hear statements from dignitaries from the Netherlands, Kazakhstan, Romania, Iran, Slovakia, Colombia and Norway. This afternoon it would here statements from representatives of the governments of Turkey, Japan, Ukraine and the Republic of Korea. The list of speakers was available in the Press Room. Tomorrow, at noon, the Foreign Minister of Sweden would address the Conference.
Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said that the Human Rights Council was this morning continuing its high-level segment, which would conclude Wednesday morning. The list of dignitaries addressing the Council today was available in the Press Room. On Thursday, Louise Arbour, High Commissioner for Human Rights, would present her annual report to the Council, followed by an interactive dialogue between Ms. Arbour and members of the Council. There would be another interactive dialogue on Friday with the special rapporteurs and experts on freedom of expression, arbitrary detention, violence against women, trafficking in persons, migrants, extreme poverty, toxic waste, and the effects of economic reforms. Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier recalled that press releases on the work of the Council were being issued twice a day.
The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination would this week be meeting in closed sessions to discuss its final observations on the reports presented during the session. The observations would be made public on Friday. Reports from the following States were under discussion: Fiji, Italy, United States, Belgium, Nicaragua, Moldova and the Dominican Republic.
Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said that today the United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG), the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Slovakia and the Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces were hosting a seminar to mark the anniversary of the holding on 20 February 2007 of the first open debate of the Security Council, under the Presidency of Slovakia, on the theme of security sector reform. Mr. Sergei Ordzhonikidze, Director-General of UNOG, had opened the seminar, which was taking take place at the Palais des Nations from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The Minister for Foreign Affairs of Slovakia, Mr. Ján Kubis, was the principal speaker.
Gaza
Elena Mancusi of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), said that as a result of Israeli ground and air operations in the last week, 123 Palestinians had been killed, of which at least 55 had been unarmed civilians, including six women and 27 children. In addition, 279 Palestinians had been injured, including 49 children. On 1 March, the deadliest single day since 2000, 63 Palestinians had been killed and 172 injured. To date in 2008, 234 Palestinians had been killed in IDF operations, compared to 301 killed in the entire year of 2007. During the last week, five Israelis had also been killed, including one by a rocket landing in Israel and four from military operations inside of Gaza. In addition, 19 Israelis had been wounded, including four children.
Reviewing general access conditions, Ms. Mancusi said that fuel supply remained a concern and that 30 out of 87 ambulances run by the Ministry of Health and the Red Crescent in the Gaza Strip had been unable to function as a result of fuel shortage. The Gaza water utility reported that all 140 water wells in the Gaza Strip had now run out of fuel, leaving all Gazans with at best intermittent water supply. In terms of UNRWA’s operations, Ms. Mancusi said that four UNRWA schools in Gaza and Rafah had sustained damage as a result of IDF operations in the area. On 2 March, only 12 out of 214 UNRWA schools in the Gaza Strip had been operational. Attendance at UNRWA schools in northern Gaza was zero at the moment.
Ms. Mancusi said that UNRWA fully endorsed the Secretary-General’s condemnation of Israel’s disproportionate, indiscriminate and excessive use of force, as well as the firing of rockets from Gaza into Israel. UNRWA urged a return to peaceful dialogue as the only way out of this cycle of attack and counter attack. It was critical at this time that all sides exercised restraint, allowing a return to the peace process, and at the same time allowing UNRWA and other humanitarian actors to carry out their work. Further details were available in the background note at the back of the room.
Dorothea Krimitsas of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said that over the last few days, the ICRC had been coordinating medical evacuations in Gaza under difficult conditions. In some cases, ambulances had had to wait several hours before being able to come to the help of the wounded. In the last few days, operating theatres and intensive care units had been working around the clock, putting medical staff under immense strain. ICRC’s priority now was to ensure that the hospitals in Gaza had the capacity to treat the wounded and that they had the necessary resources and supplies to do so. The warehouses of the ICRC had enough medical stocks to deal with the current emergency, but that could change very quickly. ICRC was also conducting evaluations of the water supply, as well as the damage caused by military operations, and was providing families with tents and hygiene kits. ICRC would continue to focus on the protection of the civilians in the area.
International Women’s Day
Louisa Ballin of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) said that on occasion of International Women’s Day, IPU was organizing two events today. Immediately following the briefing, there would be a press briefing on the subject of “Women in politics 2008: Room for improvement despite significant gains”. Speakers would include Anders B. Johnsson, Secretary General of the IPU, and Kareen Jabre, IPU Programme Manager for the Promotion of Partnership between Men and Women. The briefing would focus on the latest statistics on women’s participation in parliaments and governments around the world. Then, at noon, Mr. Johnsson would open an exhibition on women in politics in the ‘Passerelle’ of the Palais des Nations. The opening would be followed by a reception, to which journalists were cordially invited.
Ms. Krimitsas of the ICRC recalled that tomorrow, Wednesday, at 2:00 p.m., ICRC would be holding a press conference on the occasion of International Women’s Day on the theme of “Women and the Missing”. The speaker would be Florence Tercier, ICRC’s Women and War Adviser. The briefing would take place in Press Room 1.
Other
Jean Fabre of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) said that a press conference to launch the 6th Forum of the Forum of the World Alliance of Cities against Poverty would take place in Geneva on 11 March. The objective of the Forum was to reinforce local democracy in order to better fight poverty, the main component of all the MDGs, concentrating in particular on “the bottom billion” of the world’s poorest. The Forum would take place from 26-28 March in Athens, Greece. Up to 1,000 participants were expected to attend, representing a large number of municipalities from approximately 100 countries. The press conference on Tuesday, 11 March, would take the form of a press luncheon at the 8th floor restaurant in the Palais des Nations (to be confirmed). Those interested in participating were requested to register for the luncheon. Details would be circulated electronically.
Ron Redmond of the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said that irregular migration to Yemen, including across the Gulf of Aden, had increased massively during the first months of 2008 compared to the same time last year. By 1 March, a total of 182 boats carrying 8,713 people had arrived in coastal areas of Yemen and at least 113 people had died making the perilous voyage. At least 214 others were missing, most of whom were presumed to have drowned. The steep increase compared to 2007 was partly due to the use of new smuggling routes, across the Red Sea from Djibouti.
Mr. Redmond said that UNHCR was continuing to provide emergency aid to small groups of Sudanese refugees from West Darfur who were arriving in the Birak and Korok areas in eastern Chad. UNHCR planned to start transferring the most vulnerable of refugees on Thursday to safer inland camps. Some 13,000 Sudanese refugees had arrived in eastern Chad since 8 February, fleeing aerial bombing and ground attacks in West Darfur. Over the weekend, UNCHR teams at the border had distributed emergency kits, including blankets, to refugees.
In eastern Sudan over the weekend, Mr. Redmond said that the government of Sudan and UNHCR had launched a joint registration operation for hundreds of thousands of mostly Eritrean and Ethiopian refugees. The registration, due to last for several months, had officially started on Sunday and it was estimated that more than 133,000 refugees would benefit from the exercise.
Mr. Redmond said that further information on the above issues was available in the briefing note. Additional information would also be circulated on efforts by the Sri Lankan Government and UNHCR to assist 71 boat people who had been rescued by the Sri Lankan navy yesterday after they had been found adrift on the high seas off northern Sri Lanka. The boat had been adrift since 20 February due to engine failure. Reportedly, 20 of the people on board had died of starvation and dehydration.
Elizabeth Byrs of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) provided an update on the floods in Ecuador. Floods had increased during the last two weeks as a result of La Nina phenomenon. Some 300,000 people were affected, of which some 100,000 were in need of immediate assistance including food, shelter and water. Approximately 50% of the provinces of the country were affected. The rains were expected to continue, with flooding expected to continue until April. OCHA had deployed a UN Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC) Team to Ecuador, which had established a coordination center in Guayaquil and was supporting the effort of national authorities and other humanitarian actors in coordination and information management. OCHA had approved a $50,000 grant to be used for the purchase of immediate relief supplies, logistical support and coordination.
Ms. Byrs added that OCHA had launched a Common Humanitarian Action Plan (CHAP) for humanitarian and early recovery assistance in Sri Lanka, requesting $146 million to provide aid to 190,000 internally displaced persons in the country. Further information was available in the briefing note.
Paul Garwood of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) drew attention to events taking place in four locations around the world on 12 March 2008 to mark the third International Polar Day. The events would focus on the theme of “Changing Earth”. To better understand the impacts of human-induced climate change, there was a need to understand the natural forces of planetary change. Further information was available in a media advisory available at the back of the room.
Jemini Pandya of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said that a study by IOM aimed at assessing the mental health and psychosocial needs of Iraqi refugees in Jordan and Lebanon had found high levels of emotional and psychological distress. The assessment, carried out between November 2007 and January 2008 among 200 families, revealed that more than half of those interviewed disclosed distress factors including panic attacks, anger, tiredness, sleep problems and fears. For those who had experienced direct violent attacks, psychological distress was overwhelming. The insecurity of their refugee life, a lack of employment and the de-professionalization of Iraqis whose qualifications were unrecognized, poor living conditions and access to health and social services, including education, had further aggravated the situation. Domestic violence was on the rise among the refugee families as men lost their traditional role of breadwinner. The report recommended urgent intervention in order to avoid long-term psychological problems, including training for various community and health professionals, as well as other direct interventions. Further details, including a link to the full report, were available in the briefing note.