REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Marie Heuzé, the Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired the briefing. John Ging, Director of Operations in Gaza for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, participated in the briefing from Gaza via conference call. Spokespersons for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the United Nations Conference for Trade and Development, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the World Health Organization and the World Food Programme also participated in the briefing.

Situation in Gaza

Ms. Heuzé said available at the back of the room was the transcript of the press conference which Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon gave yesterday in New York. The Secretary-General was flying from New York to Egypt today, and then would visit Jordan, Israel (Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Ramallah), Turkey, Lebanon, Syria and finally he would be in Kuwait for the Arab League Summit.

John Ging, Director of Operations in Gaza for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, participating via conference call from Gaza, said it was increasingly frustrating for UNRWA in Gaza. The conflict and its horrific consequences were still continuing. The people were still being killed, injured, the destruction was still going on day by day. There was a pervasive sense of fear throughout the Gaza Strip, which was populated by people who were quite battle hardened and had been through many conflicts in the past. Yet this conflict was unprecedented in its scale and scope. Everywhere he went, all the people told him that that they needed protection, nowhere was safe. The casualty figures spoke for that. First and foremost, this was a crisis of protection, there was a civilian population here with nowhere to flee, and the conflict was going on everywhere. The civilians were not safe in their homes, or in the UNRWA installations when they sought refuge. A military operation of this size, scale and scope could not be conducted without massive civilian casualties, and that was what was happening here, day and night. It was relentless. There was no escape from it and the fear was well-grounded for everybody.

On the provision of humanitarian assistance, Mr. Ging said he was very fortunate to have thousands of humane and courageous staff who were risking their lives on an ongoing basis to get the supplies of food, medicine and other vital aid to the people. The UNRWA staff worked throughout the day, not only during the three-hour lull. That was mainly to give the people a chance to more safely come out of their homes to the distribution points and clinics to seek assistance. Bringing the aid convoys through the check points was a huge logistical operation. People were increasingly desperate on the humanitarian side, so UNRWA was inundated now throughout the day. People had to run the gauntlet to get access to food and medical care. Water was also a huge issue as half a million people, mainly in the Gaza city area, did not have running water in their homes. The principal preoccupation of everybody in Gaza was safety as they realized that nowhere was safe. It would not be safe until the fighting stopped. The fighting had to stop. UNRWA welcomed the UN resolution and wanted to see it implemented. The bottom line was that the guns had to stop firing first and then they could go on to take care of the people who were trapped and isolated. Right now it was about the guns and the killings, the injuring and the destruction, that went on relentlessly hour after hour. This was the responsibility not only of the parties but of the international community. The killings were continuing right now in Gaza in full view of the entire global community.

Asked if more health facilities and ambulances had been targeted, Mr. Ging said he was pleased to report that after a very difficult week last week where there were casualties as a result of a breakdown in coordination of the humanitarian effort with the Israeli side, they had now established effective mechanisms that were working. The coordination with the Israeli military, the movements, the convoys, the work of the staff on the group, was actually effective and there had not been any new incidences since this system had been put in place. The “normal risks” of conflict remained.

A journalist said the Secretary-General was on his way to the Middle East and asked what UNRWA and the people in the Gaza Strip expected from the visit. In response, Mr. Ging said they were all very hopeful. The Secretary-General had been massively dynamic and hugely committed to stop the hostilities in Gaza from the very outset. He wished others were as active as he had been and used their resources as effectively as he had. The international community could not stand and watch as bystanders two parties that had expressed their intent not to stop. The civilian population had a legal right to effective action on the part of the international community to unfold the protections provided in the Geneva Convention.

Asked about the use of controversial or illegal weapons in the fighting, Mr. Ging said they had seen these reports and had seen the effects of the weapons that were being used in the hospitals, the horrific injuries. He could not pass judgement on the weaponry being used here, but he could say that he and many of the doctors were very distressed about the nature of the injuries that were being inflicted on men, women and children. A full investigation and full accountability were needed.

In response to another question, Mr. Ging said that there was no food available on the market in Gaza. The demands being placed on UNRWA were growing expedentiously and the stock levels were very low. In the past few days, more food aid had been getting in, reaching about 100 trucks entering daily, but they needed 400 to 500 trucks to meet the needs of the people in Gaza. The situation was desperate and they did not have enough. No fuel was getting in today because the crossing was closed for security reasons. The big issue was to bring in wheat to make flour. There had been no wheat coming in during this conflict until yesterday when 18 trucks made it through. They needed at least 100 trucks daily and they needed a surge initially because the bakeries were running out of flour and the mills had closed down because they had no wheat to make flour. It was a crisis at every level in every way.

Asked about the number of dead and injured so far, Mr. Ging said the Ministry of health and human rights groups on the ground were reporting that over 900 persons had been killed, including 292 children and 75 women. As for the injured, they were reporting 4,250, including almost 1,500 children. UNRWA would continue to call for accountability for all who had been killed and injured in this conflict in terms of their legal right as civilians for protection in this conflict. The civilian population was truly trapped and there was nowhere for them to flee, that was why the conflict had to stop. The people of Gaza did not support the firing of rockets into Gaza. The civilian population was paying the price of Hamas with their lives and their humanitarian plight.

Rolando Gomez of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said he wanted to focus on the follow-up to the resolution which the Special Session of the Human Rights Council adopted yesterday morning. What came across during the two days of discussions had been the need to respect international humanitarian and human rights law, the need for an immediate cessation of hostilities, the need for humanitarian corridors to remain open to allow the much-need humanitarian aid to get into Gaza, and the need to investigate violations and for accountability. In the resolution, the Council had decided to dispatch an urgent independent international fact-finding mission to investigate all violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law by the occupying power against the Palestinian people throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territory. The President was now tasked with devising and appointing this fact-finding mission. He was currently engaged in negotiations with the concerned parties as well as with the regional groups. As soon as there was a clear picture of the composition of the mission or any other details, a press release would be issued. There were elements in the resolution on the role of 10 Special Rapporteurs, including Richard Falk, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. The Special Rapporteurs and the mission would report back to the next regular session of the Council in March 2009.

Asked if it was realistic to expect the mission to get into the Gaza Strip, if journalists and many others could not, Mr. Gomez said this was the most important thing obviously. At this stage, the security situation did not allow for this mission to take place. The President would press in his consultations with the concerned parties for them to allow this mission to take place.

Dorothea Krimistas of the International Committee of the Red Cross said Jakob Kellenberger, the ICRC President, today was starting a three-day visit in Israel and the Occupied Territories. He crossed into Gaza this morning to get a first hand impression of the humanitarian situation on the ground and to meet senior Palestinian and Israeli officials to discuss the deepening crisis and to remind them of their respective obligations. The visit came at a time of intensified fighting, and ICRC had heard from people on the ground how they had spent one more terrifying night. People were trapped and were very afraid. Hundreds more fled in the south of the Gaza Strip yesterday without knowing where to go. Mr. Kellenberger would visit El Chifa Hospital later today where a four-member ICRC surgical team was working. The hospital was working around the clock and the health workers were exhausted, while the injured kept coming in. Mr. Kellenberger would also visit the Palestine Red Crescent Society in Gaza to pay tribute to the staff working there despite the security situation.

Paul Garwood of the World Health Organization said WHO remained extremely concerned about the damage to health facilities over previous days. They had received information about damages to hospitals and primary healthcare centres, the increasing number of casualties, the severity of the wounds and the incredible difficulty to ensure distribution of medical supplies. There were no signs so far of any cholera outbreak.

Emilia Casella of the World Food Programme said WFP had been able to deliver around 25 trucks in the past two days, and current stocks were about 4,450 metric tons which would last about three weeks. WFP still had a lot of difficulty in reaching people. WFP had 90 trucks loaded and ready to go across should movement increase over the crossings. The number of people now that WFP had been able to provide food assistance to since 27 December was 108,000 persons. Bakeries were running out of flour. There were queues of about six hours to receive bread. Yesterday WFP gave about 350 metric tons of flour to the Ministry of Social Affairs, and it was hoped that would be able to provide bread in their bakeries for about five days.

Elizabeth Byrs of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said there would be an information meeting for Member States on 14 January at 2 p.m. in the Palais des Nations to be co-presided by OCHA and UNRWA. This was a closed meeting, not open to the press. The appeal for $ 530 million was so far about 10 per cent covered. They had received $ 55.3 million and 2.8 million in pledges.

Geneva Activities

Ms. Heuzé said the Committee on the Rights of the Child opened its fiftieth session at the Palais Wilson yesterday and was today considering the report of Malawi. On 14 January, the Committee would be reviewing the report of Chad, and on 15 and 16 January, it would take up the reports of the Netherlands, Netherlands Aruba and Netherlands Antilles to the Convention and to the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography. Available in the press room was the background press release which listed the country reports which the Committee would consider during the rest of the session.

UNICEF’s State of the World’s Children Report

Veronique Taveau of the United Nations Children’s Fund said UNICEF’s latest State of the World’s Children report would be launched on Thursday, 15 January in Johannesburg. Available at the back of the room were copies of the report which were under strict embargo until 10:30 a.m. Geneva time on 15 January. The report was being launched in South Africa because it focused on the extreme risks for pregnant women and newborn babies in developing countries in Africa, and also in Asia. For example, the report said that women in the world’s least developed countries were 300 times more likely to die in childbirth or from pregnancy-related complications than women in developed countries. Also a child born in a developing country was almost 14 times more likely to die during the first month of life than a child born in a developed one.

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Ron Redmond of the UN Refugee Agency said UNHCR was increasingly concerned about the humanitarian situation and continuing attacks by the Ugandan rebel group, the Lord’s Resistance Army, on the civilian population in the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Oriental Province. According to the UNHCR team, the death toll in the Oriental Province was now estimated at 537 people. Another 408 people had been kidnapped by the Lord’s Resistance Army since the outbreak of violence in September last year. Rough estimates of the number of forcibly displaced in this part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo had now surpassed 104,000. The Congolese, Sudanese and Ugandan armed forces began a joint military operation against the Lord’s Resistance Army on 14 December. UNHCR was extremely concerned about the fate of residents who were now increasingly caught in a conflict zone near the borders of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic and Sudan.

Somalia

Elizabeth Byrs of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said there was a grave humanitarian crisis in Somalia following heavy fighting that started on 27 December in Galgaduud region. The situation there remained tense and the fighting had compounded an already grave humanitarian crisis in the region, which was experiencing a serious drought in addition to hosting some 130,000 internally displaced persons from Mogadihu. More than 50,000 were displaced. The Central Emergency Response Fund had allocated $ 5 million to help more than 65,000 Somali refugees who entered Kenya in 2008, bringing to 230,000 the number of Somalis living in Kenya.

Other

Catherine Sibut-Pinote of the United Nations Conference for Trade and Development said on Thursday, 15 January, there would be a briefing in Salle III at 11:30 a.m. on the report prepared by the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, UNCTAD and the regional economic commissions entitled World Economic Situation and Prospects 2009. The first chapter of the report which focused on world economic trends had been presented in Doha at the beginning of December. The focus of the briefing would be on the economic trends in Europe. There would be a number of launches around the world.

Fadela Chaib of the World Health Organization said the meeting of WHO’s Executive Board would be held from Monday, 19 January to Tuesday, 27 January. The meetings on 19 January in the morning would be devoted to the financial crisis and its impact on public health services around the world. There would then be a press conference held with the Executive Director of WHO, Margaret Chan.