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 (UNOG), chaired the briefing, which was also addressed by Spokespersons for the World Health Organization, the World Meteorological Organization, the World Food Programme, the United Nations Refugee Agency and the World Intellectual Property Organization.

Activities of the Secretary-General

Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier drew attention to a statement of the Secretary-General in which he congratulated the Greek Cypriot leader, Mr. Demetris Christofias, and the Turkish Cypriot leader, Mr. Mehmet Ali Talat, on the outcome of their meeting hosted by the Secretary-General's Special Representative, Michael Møller, on Friday, 21 March 2008. He warmly welcomed the leaders' decisions to expeditiously set up a number of working groups and technical committees, and to meet again in three months' time to review their work and start full-fledged negotiations under UN auspices. The statement was available in the Press Room.

Geneva activities

Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said that as of this afternoon, the Human Rights Council will discuss the follow-up and implementation of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action. This would be followed by a general debate on the questions of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related forms of intolerance, and follow-up and implementation of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action.

Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said that the Council would elect the members of its Advisory Committee in the afternoon of Wednesday, 26 March. Once its members were elected, the Advisory Committee was scheduled to hold its first session from 4 to 15 August 2008 in Geneva. It would take the place of the former Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights of the former Commission on Human Rights.

Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said that the Council would elect the members of the Advisory Committee in secret ballot, from the list of candidates whose names had been presented by States Members of the United Nations States following consultations with their national human rights institutions and civil society organizations. The geographic distribution of the 18 members of the Advisory Committee would be as follows: 5 members from the African States; 5 members from the Asian States; 2 members from the Eastern European States; 3 members from the Latin American and Caribbean States; and 3 members from the Western European and other States.

The Advisory Committee would function as a think-tank for the Council, of which it was a subsidiary body, and work at its direction. It would provide expertise to the Council in the manner and form requested by the Council, focusing mainly on studies and research-based advice. Such expertise would be rendered only upon the Council's request. The scope of the Advisory Committee’s advice would be limited to thematic issues pertaining to the mandate of the Council. It would not adopt resolutions or decisions. A note to correspondents on the subject was available in the Press Room.

The Human Rights Council would proceed, probably on Thursday morning, with voting on draft resolutions submitted for adoption during its 7th session.

Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said that the Conference on Disarmament would hold a plenary session on Thursday, 27 March, at 10:00 a.m.

Finally, Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier announced a press conference on Wednesday, 26 March, at 2:30 p.m., to present UNESCAP's Economic and Social Survey for Asia and the Pacific 2008. UNCTAD economist Cape Kasahara would present the report.

Other

Fadela Chaib of the World Health Organization (WHO) drew attention to a joint WHO/Rotary International/CDC/UNICEF press release on polio in Somalia. Somalia, which had already eradicated polio in 2002, had become re-infected in 2005 by a poliovirus originating in Nigeria. Today, Somalia was again polio-free, not having reported a case since 25 March 2007, exactly one year ago. The Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) called it a ‘historic achievement’ in public health. It was the result of the efforts of more than 10,000 Somali volunteers and health workers who had repeatedly vaccinated more than 1.8 million children under the age of five by visiting every household in every settlement multiple times, across a country ranked one of the most dangerous places on earth. Only four polio-endemic countries remained – Afghanistan, India, Nigeria and Pakistan – and the eradication of polio globally now depended primarily on stopping the disease in these countries. Consistent financial commitment continues to be crucial. The global effort currently faced a shortage of USD 525 million for 2008-2009.

Paul Garwood of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) announced that WMO was today marking World Meteorological Day with a ceremony at 3:00 p.m. at WMO headquarters. At 12:15 p.m., there would also be a press conference with the participation of WMO Secretary-General Mr. Michel Jarraud and IPCC Chairman Dr. Rajendra Pachauri. The theme of the Day was “Observing our Planet for a Better Future” and WMO was using the occasion to call for increased investment in weather, climate and hydrological observation technologies.

Christiane Berthiaume of the World Food Programme (WFP) said that Josette Sheeran, Executive Director of WFP, had on Thursday, 20 March, sent a letter to all Heads of Government asking for an additional USD 500 million for WFP’s annual budget. WFP had last fall budgeted USD 2.9 billion to help 73 million people in 2008, the same number of people as in 2007, but with the rise of the price of cereal and fuel, it had become apparent that at least USD 500 million more would be needed. This was a very conservative figure, given that prices were continuing to go up. Moreover, additional funds would be required if new crises emerged during the course of the year. WFP needed to receive commitments and promises from donors as soon as possible. Otherwise, beginning in May, some difficult decisions would have to be made, either to reduce the number of beneficiaries or to reduce the rations, or a combination of both.

Jennifer Pagonis of the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) announced that one of the world's largest resettlement operations had started this week in Nepal. Over 100 refugees from Bhutan had left their camps in eastern Nepal last weekend for Kathmandu and were heading to the United States this week. This was the largest movement of refugees from Nepal's camps so far, and the pace would pick up in the coming months. By year's end, over 10,000 refugees were expected to leave for resettlement countries such as the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Denmark, the Netherlands and Norway. To date, a total of 25,000 refugees had registered for resettlement after up to 17 years in the camps. More than 107,000 refugees from Bhutan were currently living in seven camps in eastern Nepal.

Ms. Pagonis said that following a deportation on Sunday 23 March of 16 Liberians by the Ghanaian authorities - 13 of them registered with UNHCR as refugees – UNHCR had urged Ghana to cease any further forcible removals. The deportation followed a five-week sit-in demonstration by a group of Liberians, which had started last month at the Buduburam refugee settlement. Refugees were demanding to be resettled to third countries or, if they were to return to Liberia, for the return grant, currently $100, to be increased to $1,000. The series of events leading to the deportation was detailed in the briefing note. UNHCR regretted the deportation and hoped that its ongoing negotiations with the Ghanaian authorities would help resolve the situation of the refugees still in detention.

Samar Shamoon of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) announced a press briefing on Thursday, 27 March, at 3:00 p.m., on domain name developments and cyber squatting. The speaker would be Francis Gurry, WIPO Deputy Director General. The briefing would take place in Press Room 1.