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 Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the World Health Organization, the World Food Programme, the UN Refugee Agency, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the International Telecommunication Union, the Economic Commission for Europe, the United Nations Conference for Trade and Development and the International Organization for Migration.

Director-General of UNOG

Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said Sergei Ordzhonikidze, Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva, yesterday delivered the message of Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to the Second Conference of the High Contracting Parties to the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons’ Protocol V on Explosive Remnants of War, which was meeting at the Palais des Nations on 10 and 11 November. The message was available in the press room.

The Director-General was today giving a press conference at 11:30 a.m. in Room III on the inauguration of the new Room XX on 18 November 2008.

Geneva Activities

Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said the Committee against Torture was this morning considering the initial report of Montenegro, and it would hear the response of that country on 12 November at 3 p.m. On 12 November in the morning, the Committee would begin its review of the second periodic report of Belgium, and would hear the response of Belgium on 13 November at 3 p.m. And on 13 November in the morning, the Committee would start its consideration of the initial report of Kenya, and it would hear the response of that country on 14 November in the morning. These were the last country reports that the Committee would be considering during this session. The Committee would wrap up its work on Friday, 21 November and issue its concluding observations and recommendations on all the country reports which it has considered during the session.

The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights was today reviewing the second to fourth periodic reports of the Philippines, which would conclude on 12 November at 1 p.m. The Committee would also consider the initial to third periodic reports of Angola starting 12 November at 3 p.m. and concluding on 13 November at 6 p.m. These were the last country reports that the Committee would be considering during this session. The Committee would wrap up its work on Friday, 21 November and issue its concluding observations and recommendations on all the country reports which it has considered during the session.

Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said the United Nations Popullation Fund was releasing its State of World Population report on 12 November. The main launch was in London, but the Director of the UNFPA Geneva office would brief journalists at 9:30 a.m. on the same day in press room 1. The topic of the report was culture, gender and human rights. The report and the press release were embargoed until 1 p.m. Geneva time on 12 November.

Elizabeth Byrs of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said there would be a press conference on 19 November to launch the UN Consolidated Humanitarian Appeal for 2009.

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said fighting continued intermittently over the weekend and earlier on Monday in North Kivu, according to the U.N. Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC). As a result of the spreading hostilities, the UN Mission had restricted the movement of UN personnel. Internally displaced civilians continued to gather at UN facilities. The UN Mission, meanwhile, said that a team it sent to the village of Kiwanja, near Rutshuru, to investigate reports of massacres of civilians had now returned. The team said that it received credible reports that civilians were targeted, that a large number of them were murdered, even though no precise number was yet available. The military hostilities on November 4th and 6th involved the PARECO movement and rebels loyal to Laurent Nkunda. The team visited 11 burial sites that witnesses said contained 26 bodies of combatants and civilians. Some sources gave a higher number for civilian deaths, but this was unconfirmed.

Elizabeth Byrs of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said clashes were still occurring in some parts of the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. The situation was still worrying despite this relative calm. Even if the humanitarian actors were able to distribute food and other aid, despite the fighting, there were still worries, including cases of cholera and reports of abuses against the civilian population. OCHA reminded all the warring parties of the need to protect the civilian population. The precarious security situation in South Lubero had led to humanitarian organizations leaving the area. The temporary suspension of humanitarian activities in this area affected water trucking activities towards Kanzabayonga, agricultural support to internally displaced persons and host families and protection activities. Internally displaced persons in the region of Rutshuru-Kiwanja remained without assistance since 29 October, with the exception of health assistance. On 9 November, the International Committee of the Red Cross finalised food distribution to 65,000 persons in Kibati.

Paul Garwood of the World Health Organization said WHO was extremely concerned about the increasing threat of cholera in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. Since the start of October, they had seen at least 1,000 cases of cholera emerge, and this was a result of the increasing insecurity in the region. This growing trend was of major concern to WHO and the international community. WHO had started buying locally from the region supplies for the treatment of cholera and had started distributing them among partners and to local health authorities. In Entebbe in Uganda, WHO had 60 tons of supplies that the World Food Programme had helped fly in, and they would be transported by road to Goma and surrounding areas. There were inaccessible areas where WHO felt that services were needed. People needed to make their water safe, water needed to be chlorinated, boiled, good personal hygiene was important as was the need for people to cook their food well. As part of WHO’s health response in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, WHO was seeking $ 2.6 million for the next three months to meet these kinds of disease control needs as well as to improve the assessment and surveillance of various health conditions and to improve coordination amongst partners.

Miranda Eels of the United Nations Children’s Fund said UNICEF had issued a press release today on the first emergency supplies being airlifted into Goma. UNICEF was trying to do everything possible to try to control the cholera epidemic from spreading. There were still inaccessible areas, namely Rutshuru. There were still cases of measles being seen in places of displacement. UNICEF was continuing its vaccination programmes. Malnutrition was also sure to rise in the conflict-affected and displacement areas. A nutritional screening was completed in Kibati but they were still awaiting the results. UNICEF was preparing to reinforce feeding centres in high risk areas and it already had dozens of feeding centres treating hundreds of malnourished children. There were more details in the press release at the back.

Emilia Casella of the World Food Programme said WFP continued to be extremely alarmed about the lack of access to North Kivu. It knew that there were many thousands of hungry people, most of them displaced from their homes, and they had received little or no assistance since the fighting intensified. UNICEF did finish yesterday the distribution of 10-day rations to 135,000 people. With the rainy conditions and a number of other difficulties, it had taken a number of days to complete that. UNICEF was looking to take advantage of any lull in fighting to deliver food in kind of hit and run operations. UNICEF had serious concerns about moving large quantities of food safely and ensuring that it went to the right people. UNICEF was calling on all parties in the conflict to abide by a genuine ceasefire to allow humanitarian workers full and safe access to those people who needed help. At the moment, WFP was prioritising the distribution of high-energy biscuits, together with UNICEF. Hundreds of thousands of people were still at great risk because they were not able to reach them. Access was continuing to be a concern. WFP estimated now that in terms of meeting the food needs of the people in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo over the next six months, it would take a budget of at least $ 61 million.

Ron Redmond of the UN Refugee Agency said while the situation remained volatile in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, UNHCR continued its efforts to assist thousands of internally displaced Congolese. Yesterday, a UNHCR-chartered plane carrying 36 tonnes of relief supplies from central emergency stockpiles in Dubai arrived in Entebbe, Uganda. From there, they would be either flown to Goma or transported by road. Despite some shooting reported last weekend, no major population movements had been reported in Kibati camp on the northern outskirts of Goma. Nevertheless, UNCHR remained extremely concerned about the security of some 65,000 internally displaced Congolese civilians in the two Kibati camps. High Commissioner Antoni Guterres again appealed to all sides in the conflict to respect the civilian character of the camps, to respect humanitarian principles and to ensure the safety of civilians and humanitarian workers. With the influx to Kibati, UNHCR planned to expand one of the two sites there. UNHCR was also extremely concerned over the reported displacement of thousands of people in Rutshuru and Kanyabayonga, north of Goma, where access was not possible because of continuing insecurity.

Human Rights

Rupert Colville of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said the High Commissioner for Human Rights was dismayed that at least five prisoners convicted of capital crimes were executed in Afghanistan following an order signed by President Karzai over the past four days. These were the first State implemented executions in Afghanistan since October 2007 when the Government carried out death sentences of 15 prisoners. Until that episode last year, Afghanistan had observed an unofficial moratorium on the death penalty since 2004. While recognizing the severity of the crimes under which the prisoners were charged, mostly murder, it was important to stress that the law enforcement and judicial systems in Afghanistan in their current state fell far short of internationally accepted standards guaranteeing due process and fair trial. Misconduct by the police and the judiciary had been well documented. Under these circumstances, there were actually grave risks that there would be miscarriages of justice and that innocent people may be executed. The High Commissioner was particularly concerned about the implementation of the death penalty by the Afghan Government when it had recognized the shortcomings of its law enforcement agencies and its judiciary and committed to reform both of them. There were also reports of the Government’s plans to execute more prisoners over the coming days. In total, more than 100 people had been sentenced to death in Afghanistan. OHCHR urged President Karzai to rejoin the growing international consensus for a moratorium on the death penalty.
There had been a rise in crimes in Afghanistan recently, especially kidnappings.

Yemen

Elizabeth Byrs of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said UN agencies in partnership with non governmental organized have appealed for $ 11.5 million to enable them to provide humanitarian aid to an estimated 650,000 people affected by recent severe floods in Yemen. There were more details in the briefing notes.

Zimbabwe

Emilia Casella of the World Food Programme said she wanted to draw the attention of journalists to the situation in Zimbabwe where people needed food assistance. WFP was scaling up its programme in Zimbabwe to feed 4 million people this month, compared to 2 million in October, which was basically doubling the needs. WFP expected for that figure to be above five million by early January. It was very concerning that WFP did not have enough food for these people and would not be able to provide every beneficiary in November with the full food ration and it would have to cut the ration in Zimbabwe. This could not come at a worst time. There was currently no food in the pipeline for Zimbabwe in January and February. Some weeks ago, WFP had spoken to journalists about what WFP expected to be a very serious food emergency arising in Zimbabwe in the new year, and it had appealed for $ 140 million for the Zimbabwe operation. Of that, WFP has received nothing so far.

Christians in Iraq

Ron Redmond of the UN Refugee Agency said UNHCR yesterday revisted Christian families displaced in villages in the Al Hamdaniya district, east of Mosul. Some 2,000 families fled Mosul in early October for fear of violence against the Christian community. The mission by UNHCR Mosul was to assess the extent of recently reported returns as well as the intentions of those still uprooted. A third of some 1,000 families displaced in the Al Hamdaniya area had returned to their homes in Mosul. There were more details in the briefing notes.

Other

Sanjay Acharya of the International Telecommunication Union reminded journalists that there would be a high-level meeting on climate change and ICTs and cybersecurity on 12 November at ITU Headquarters, which would be attended by the Presidents of Burkina Faso and Rwanda and some 25 Ministers. The meeting would be followed by a press conference at 11 a.m., then a press lunch to which journalists were invited.

Charlotte Griffiths of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe said films of the Marshall Plan: 1948-1953, which were lost from view for almost 60 years, would be shown at the cinema of the Palais des Nations on Thursday, 14 November and journalists were invited to attend. This was part of an international tour “Selling Democracy – Films of Marshall Plan: 1948-1953”. The UNECE was founded in 1947 in order to give effective aid to the countries devastated by World War II. And the Marshall Plan was established to help these same countries. Journalists could also interview the Marshall Plan historian Sandra Schulberg. A press release with more details was available.

Ms. Griffiths said UNECE’s Working Parties on Regulatory Cooperation and Standardization Policies and on Agricultural Quality Standards met in Geneva last week to discuss “green and blue” issues. Companies were under pressure all over the world from customers, non governmental organizations and the media to provide quality goods produced in a sustainable manner and companies wanted to be seen to put “green” products on the market, with the minimum use of pesticides and dangerous chemicals. They also wanted to be perceived as a fair employer, one that respected a code of conduct with all those employed on their premises and on those of their suppliers, such codes were often dubbed “blue standards”. A press release was more available with more details.

Catherine Sibut-Pinote of the United Nations Conference for Trade and Development said the executive session of the Trade and Development Board on financing for development would be held on 13/11/08 in room XXVI. Recent developments in the international financial system, coming on top of energy and food crises, had broad implications and would create new pressures in the area of financing for development. They would have effects in all the six areas highlighted in the Monterrey Consensus as requiring actions to promote financing for development.
At the annual session of the Trade and Development Board in September 2008,
UNCTAD Member States showed strong interest in acquiring a deeper understanding of the current financial crisis and in searching for possible policy measures to minimize its impact on their economies. They also expressed concern about the negative impact of financial turmoil on efforts to attain the Millennium Development Goals. In that context, a decision was made to convene an UNCTAD event to meet this demand and, more importantly, to contribute to the preparatory process for the financing for development review conference to be held in Doha in late November 2008. There would be a press release issued at the end of the one-day event.

Fadela Chaib of the World Health Organization said an interesting meeting would be held in Durban, South Africa next week, the Third Session of the Conference of Parties to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.

Ahmed Ogwell of the secretariat of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control said the third session of the Conference of the Parties to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control was scheduled to be held from 17 to 22 November in Durban, South Africa. The Convention had 160 parties who were expected to attend the meeting. Some six hundred delegates were expected. Apart from a general discussion on the progress of implementation of the Framework Convention, there were five key issues for journalists: draft guidelines for implementation of the Framework Convention to be discussed and adopted; draft guidelines for packaging and labelling of tobacco products; and draft guidelines for advertising, promotion and sponsorship related to tobacco. These three guidelines were expected to be adopted. The other two key issues were on alternatives to tobacco growing and tobacco dependence and cessation.

Ms. Chaib said World Diabetes Day was commemorated on 14 November. In 2007 and 2008, the theme of World Diabetes Day was Diabetes in Children and Adolescents. Diabetes was one of the most common chronic diseases of childhood. WHO estimated that more than 180 million people worldwide have diabetes. This number was likely to more than double by 2030. The number of children with diabetes is 800,000 in persons under the age of 20. In 2005, an estimated 1.1 million people died from diabetes. Almost 80 per cent of diabetes deaths occur in low and middle-income countries. There were more details in the note that she had distributed. This year, World Diabetes Day was being commemorated through a number of activities, including the illumination of the Jet D’Eau in the Lake Lemon in blue on 14 November and the illumination in blue of UN Headquarters and many other buildings in around 100 countries around the world.

Jean Philippe Chauzy of the International Organization for Migration said a two-day regional conference on refugee protection and international migration in West Africa, organized jointly be the UNHCR, IOM, OHCHR and the Economic Community of West African States would open on 13 November in the Senegalese capital Dakar. They would discuss issues relating to refugee protection and international migration in West Africa.