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 attended by Spokespersons for the World Meteorological Organization, the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction, the World Health Organization, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the International Organization for Migration, the UN Refugee Agency, the United Nations Children's Fund, the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Climate Change

Ms. Heuzé said that available in the press room were the remarks made yesterday by the Secretary-General in Zaragoza, Spain, at the International Exposition on Water. "There has been progress towards achieving water and sanitation millennium development goals but not enough" according to Mr. Ban. Climate change was making it more difficult to meet the water targets, continued the Secretary-General.

Gaelle Sevenier of the World Meteorological Organization said this morning WMO Secretary-General Michel Jarraud addressed the Thirteenth World Water Congress which was being held in Montpellier, France from 1 to 4 September. Mr. Jarraud was one of the keynote speakers and his statement held recommendations on how to remove obstacles created by climate change affecting the water sector. A press release was available. On Thursday, 4 September, Mr. Jarraud would be speaking on cooperation between WMO and Germany in Offenbach in the presence of the German Federal Minister of Transport, Buildings and Urbanization.

Ms. Sevenier said available was a press release on cooperation between the secretariats of the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) and WMO. The ability to detect the location of possible nuclear explosions would be significantly enhanced following the entry into operation yesterday of a new system, a technique called atmospheric transport modeling.

Also available was a press release on the recommendations contained in a declaration adopted by an International Symposium on Climate Change and Food Security in South Asia which was jointly organized by WMO and other UN partners and hosted by Bangladesh from 25 to 30 August in Dhaka. The President of Iceland addressed the closing session of the symposium which was attended by more than 250 experts and policy makers from 17 countries to discuss a Regional Agriculture Mitigation and Adaptation Framework for Climate Change for South Asia.

Hurricane Gustav

Gaelle Sevenier of the World Meteorological Organization said three years after Hurricane Katrina, Cyclone Gustav, which had already wreaked havoc around the Caribbean, has hit the United States. WMO has received numerous queries on how WMO names storms, so they have prepared a fact sheet which was available at the back of the room. Storms were given short, distinctive given names, and they were identified using names from a list arranged alphabetically. Six lists were used in rotation. The lists were listed on the press release, showing the names of storms from 2008 to 2013, and because of the rotation, the 2008 list would be used again in 2014. The only time that there was a change in the list was if a storm was so deadly or costly that the further use of its name on a different storm would be inappropriate for reasons of sensitivity.

Brigitte Leoni of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction said ISDR, given its international role in advocating in disaster risk reduction issues, was encouraged to see the way people were evacuated from the Louisiana coast and how lessons were learnt from the Katrina tragedy. Nearly 2 million people were evacuated on time, encouraged and assisted by the authorities. ISDR promoted the importance of such preparations and measures, and the role of a good alert and warning system which saved lives.

Paul Garwood of the World Health Organization said WHO has offered its assistance to all countries affected by Hurricane Gustav. Disaster specialists were in the Cayman Islands and disaster focal points were working in Haiti and Jamaica. WHO also had an emergency operation center operating in Barbados. WHO had seen limited damage to health facilities across the region affected by Hurricane Gustav. The cumulative death toll across the death toll was 76 deaths in Haiti, eight deaths in the Dominican Republic and 12 in Jamaica. The current estimates of the affected population from Haiti ranged from 5,000 to 8,000 persons, but that figure may go up to 20,000 once assessments were completed.

Elizabeth Byrs of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in Haiti, the number of families affected by Hurricane Gustav was 4,875 families. The number of dead was 76, plus nine persons who had disappeared and 35 persons wounded. More than 2,100 homes had been destroyed and 8,000 damaged. The hurricane had also affected the harvest and first assessments spoke of major destruction in banana plantations. In the Dominican Republic, eight persons were reported killed. The authorities said that 6,255 persons had been evacuated and more than 2,200 houses had been damaged. In Jamaica, OCHA planned to help with the consequences. Ninety per cent of the banana plantations in certain regions of Jamaica had been destroyed and 80 per cent in others. The damage to the agricultural sector was $ 1.7 billion Jamaican dollars. There were more details in the note at the end of the room.

Jean Philippe Chauzy of the International Organization for Migration said over the past 48 hours, IOM Haiti had provided essential non-food aid to impoverished residents of the West and South West departments, which bore the brunt of the damage caused by Hurricane Gustav. The aid consisting of 1,500 hygiene kits and 1,500 cotton sheets was distributed by IOM teams to vulnerable individuals and families in Petit Goâve, Grand Goâve and remote coastal areas west of Les Cayes. The distribution was undertaken in coordination with local Haitian Civil Protection partner NGOs. There were more details in the notes.

Flooding in India and Nepal and in West Africa

Paul Garwood of the World Health Organization said with regard to the flooding in India and Nepal, more than 3.1 million people had been affected in India and the death toll had increased to 56. In Nepal, some 70,000 persons had been displaced. There were no outbreaks of communicable diseases reported yet. But in Nepal, there had been increasing cases of diarrhea and acute respiratory infections. In both countries, there was an increased risk of water-borne infection and diseases due to the number of people displaced, the hot climate, inadequate levels of hygiene and sanitation, and the pools of stagnant water once the water receded. There was an urgent need for clean water and sanitation facilities. In both countries, WHO was working with the Ministries of Health to provide technical assistance as requested.

In response to a question about the floods in West Africa, Mr. Garwood said as of last week, the waters had yet to recede. There were forecasts that rising floods would continue through October. WHO had sent additional supplies to the region and helped the countries organize appeals for funding, particularly in Guinea Bissau where there had been a major cholera outbreak. The humanitarian crisis continued in that region and there was an urgent need for funds and supplies to be sent to the affected regions. The affected Governments were working very hard to provide help, but because of the scale of the crisis and the likelihood of it continuing, there would be a need for additional help.

Missing Plane Carrying UN Staff in Democratic Republic of the Congo

Elizabeth Byrs of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said a plane carrying humanitarian aid which was reported missing late Monday was found this morning 15 kilometers away from Bukavu in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Bad weather conditions were reported in Bukavu. Rescue operations were in place and it was not known yet if there were any survivors among the 17 people on board.

Georgia

Ron Redmond of the UN Refugee Agency said UNHCR remained concerned about the humanitarian situation in and around the Georgian town of Gori, just south of the boundary with the breakaway region of South Ossetia. The current shelter capacity in Gori was exhausted, with some 4,200 people registered as internally displaced persons (IDPs). All came from villages in the so-called ‘buffer zone' between Gori and the South Ossetian boundary. Some 1,200 were in the UNHCR tented camp in Gori, which was set up for internally displaced Georgians just five days ago. Another 1,000 were staying with host families, and some 2,000 were dispersed in 22 collective centres around the city. UNHCR's profiling teams are assisting Georgian registration authorities in determining the exact numbers, places of origin and the possibilities of return for the IDPs. UNHCR's initial assessment indicated that some 450 people arrived from their villages within the last week due to massive intimidation by marauding militias. The remaining 3,750 IDPs were actually on their way back home from Tbilisi and other parts of Georgia where they had sought refuge during the conflict, but got stuck in Gori when they could not proceed into the ‘buffer zone.' The latest arrivals from the buffer zone arrived in Gori on Friday. They told UNHCR they came from the village of Beloti. They said more than half of the village's population of some 200 people fled Beloti in the early stages of the crisis. Those who remained behind were now leaving due to beatings, harassment, looting and burning of houses.

Mr. Redmond said UNHCR teams reported that IDPs were deeply worried about the future of their families. Uncertain about whether or when it would be safe to return to their villages, they worried about their houses, their harvest and livestock and how they were going to survive the winter. With the completion of aid distributions in western and eastern Georgia as well as in Tbilisi, UNHCR staff had been re-deployed to Gori to reinforce the team there.

Miranda Eeles of the United Nations Children's Fund said she would like to introduce Maria Calivis, UNICEF's Regional Director for the CEE/CIS region, who had recently come back from Georgia and the Russian Federation, and there was a press release at the back of the room on her visit. Maria Calivis, UNICEF's Regional Director for the CEE/CIS region, said her four-day visit focused on further needs assessment and the quality of response for UNICEF's operations. She met with Government authorities, non-governmental organizations, donors and partners. A second aim was to raise UNICEF's concern for humanitarian access and to express readiness for life-saving interventions in South Ossetia. Much was being done, but much much more remained to be done. She was struck in the centers she visited that the majority of the displaced persons in these centers were women and children. The level of anxiety as they entered the fourth week of this crisis was increasing. People were demanding more information about their future. In Georgia, the conditions, though not the majority, were quite difficult. There was a lack of hygiene and sanitation, especially for those who were not housed in schools but in makeshift centers. There was a concern about the disabled children. There was also a stress on existing services like social services, social worker network, health services and schools. These were already stretched and underfunded before the crisis. As the crisis was being prolonged, they were taking a toll and the response in serving the disabled and other vulnerable persons in the population was becoming difficult. UNICEF was concerned that 43 per cent of all children living in Georgia just before the crisis had been identified as living below the poverty line. There was welcomed priority given by the donors and the Government on infrastructure rehabilitation. UNICEF joined others in asking that such investments should allocate a percentage to strengthen affected services. The date for the beginning of the school year had been postponed to 15 September in Georgia and UNICEF was working hard with the authorities to ensure that the children would be ready to go to school. But many of the displaced were housed in schools and kindergartens and many of these schools now needed refurbishment. Ms. Calivis said in North Ossetia, the displaced had been returning and EMERCOM had been providing them with assistance. Many were living with their extended families. They knew of 200 children who had started the school year yesterday in North Ossetia. UNICEF had provided them with basic supplies. There was a request to provide children with psycho-social support.

Paul Garwood of the World Health Organization said WHO and several of its partners in Georgia had undertaken assessments to various parts of the region, including to Gori where internally displaced persons were all reporting access to central health services and medicine and availability of ambulance services for medical emergencies. There were some gaps reported with relation to psycho-social care and support. There was also an assessment in the buffer zone where few people remained, most of whom were elderly and frail. It was essential for the humanitarian community to start work in the buffer zone to provide protection for the civilians and to help the displaced population to return to their areas of origin. Georgian health services were providing free health services to all IDPs. There were isolated cases of diarrhea, but there were no reports of communicable diseases.

Jean-Philippe Chauzy of the International Organization for Migration said an IOM team had completed a two-day assessment mission to western Georgia to evaluate the needs of families who had been displaced from their homes in Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The assessment, carried out in cooperation with local government authorities in Kutaisi, Batumi, Khelvachauri and Kobuleti, indicated there was an immediate need for folding beds, refrigerators, gas stoves, water boilers and hygiene kits to supplement the assistance so far delivered. As part of the UN Flash Appeal, IOM asked for an initial $ 1.9 million to provide emergency logistical support, shelter and non-food assistance over the next six months to tens of thousands of internally displaced people in Tbilisi and in other parts of Georgia. To date, IOM had received $ 100,000 from the Slovak Government to provide non food and shelter assistance to vulnerable displaced from South Ossetia. There were more details in the notes.

Displaced Persons in Pakistan and Afghanistan

Simon Schorno of the International Committee of the Red Cross said two weeks ago in northern Pakistan, ICRC started a large-scale assistance operation for about 200,000 displaced persons, and also across the border in Afghanistan. In recent days, the Government of Pakistan had announced a ceasefire in the northern region for the Ramadan period. In the last couple of days, around 70 per cent of the displaced persons had started to return to their homes. ICRC was adapting its response. It stood ready to continue its assistance programme. In Afghanistan, assistance of food and non-food items continued and in Pakistan, ICRC was in a better position now to assess the needs and to respond. Some people there were not returning and ICRC was now concentrating on those people.

Human Rights

Rupert Colville of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said OHCHR was very concerned and saddened at reports from Iran concerning the recent execution of two juvenile offenders, Reza Hedjazi and Behnam Zaare, and was also concerned that two other juvenile offenders, Mohammad Fadaaee and Amir Amrollahi, also faced an imminent risk of execution.
Reza Hedjazi was believed to have been executed on 19 August, and Behnam Zaare a week later on 26 August. These executions appeared to be in clear violation of international law which contains an absolute prohibition of the death penalty for juvenile offenders. Reza Hedjazi was reported to have been 15, and Behnam Zaare 16 years old when they committed their crimes. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, both of which Iran has ratified, prohibited the death penalty for crimes committed by people below the age of eighteen.

On 10 June this year, OHCHR expressed concern over the case of Behnam Zaare, one of the youths executed, along with three other named juvenile offenders on death row. OHCHR feared that Mohammad Fadaaee, one of those named on 10 June, and Amir Amrollahi, convicted for a murder he was believed to have committed when aged 16, also risked imminent execution. OHCHR urged the Government of Iran to stay the executions of both of them in strict compliance with its international human rights obligations, and not to impose the death penalty for juvenile offenders in the future.

OHCHR was also concerned over reports of a recent increase in the number of executions in Iran. On 27 July 2008, for example, 29 executions were reported to have taken place. A month later, on 28 August, another five people, including a woman, were reported to have been executed. In all, more than 220 people, including six juvenile offenders, were believed to have been executed this year in Iran.

Asked when the new High Commissioner for Human Rights might give a press conference, Mr. Colville said they would organize one as soon as she felt ready to hold one. There was a brief photo opportunity yesterday. It would be much better for everyone if she held a press conference when she was more at ease with the substance of her role, rather than simply to talk about the past. She was very keen to be accessible to the media so he was confident that she would hold press conferences frequently.

Other

The Conference on Disarmament was holding a plenary session and heard the representatives from Georgia, the Russian Federation, Norway, Ecuador, Mexico, Iran and Algeria.