REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Marie Heuzé, Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired the briefing, which also heard from Spokespersons for the International Labour Organization, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the World Health Organization, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the World Food Programme, the International Organization for Migration, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the Global Humanitarian Forum. A Spokesperson for the Prime Minister Raila Odinga of Kenya also made an announcement

ILO Turns 90 / International Labour Conference

Ms. Heuzé noted that yesterday, the International Labour Conference had marked the ninetieth anniversary of the International Labour Organization (ILO) by hearing addresses from six Heads of State on reforms that needed to be undertaken within the ILO framework to respond to the employment crisis.

Corinne Perthuis of the International Labour Organization (ILO) noted that the High-Level Segment of the Conference was continuing today. This afternoon the Conference would hear an address by Bruce Golding, the Prime Minister of Jamaica, at 3.10 p.m. There would also be a video message by the President of Bangladesh. In addition, there was a discussion on development cooperation and the global jobs crisis. This afternoon, the Vice President of Kenya would hold a press conference in Room 16 at 12.15 p.m. at ILO. Other Vice Presidents participating today were from Nigeria, Timor-Leste, South Africa, Dominican Republic and Burundi.

Ms. Perthuis highlighted that next Thursday, they would make available the text of an outcome document, with conclusions not only from the High Level Summit on the Global Jobs Crisis, but including all the messages delivered by ILO partners and members throughout the Conference with regard to the impact of the financial and economic crisis on the world of employment.

Human Rights Council

Rolando Gomez of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said that this morning the Council had begun with a general debate on the human rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, which would be followed later in the morning by the presentation of reports by the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Sudan, Sima Samar, who would then have an interactive discussion with the Council. In the afternoon, the Council would hold a general debate on follow-up and implementation of the Vienna Declaration, which basically spoke to regional efforts in the promotion and protection of human rights. Later in the afternoon, around 4 p.m., the Special Rapporteur on racism, Githu Muigai, would present his reports, including a report on his mission to the United States last year, followed by interactive discussion.

Mr. Gomez also drew attention to a press conference today at 3.30 p.m. with the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Sudan, Sima Samar, in Room III.

Salim Lone, Spokesperson for the Prime Minister of Kenya, noted that Prime Minister Raila Odinga, who was giving a keynote speech this morning at the Global Disaster Risk Reduction conference today, wished to hold a press briefing at the Palais to discuss issues involving that conference, but, more importantly for him, to discuss human rights. Mr. Odinga was a lifelong champion of human rights in Africa as a way of resolving and preventing conflicts. He wanted to restate that commitment, but also to talk about key issues in human rights in his country. As was known, there was a very strong debate going on in the Human Rights Council about Special Rapporteurs; in that connection, Philip Alston, the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial executions had done a very strong and critical report on death squads in Kenya. In addition, Kofi Annan – who had brokered a very important peace pact after massive killings following elections in Kenya – had received from a local coalition the names of 11 masterminds of the violence and he had said that unless a national tribunal was formed in Kenya, he would hand over the list to the International Criminal Court in August. Those were the issues the Prime Minister would like to speak to tomorrow. Ms. Heuzé said that UNIS would let journalists know this afternoon or tomorrow morning the time of the press conference.

Responding to questions about jurisdiction and the involvement of the ICC, Mr. Lone noted that the Judge who had headed the inquiry into the killings had handed the list over to Mr. Annan with a specific request to turn it over to the ICC if a national tribunal was not formed. Unfortunately, the first submission of a statute to form such a tribunal had been defeated in Parliament. In view of that, Mr. Annan set the time limit, saying he could not wait forever.

WHO Issues

Fadéla Chaib of the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that there would be no virtual press conference today. She was working on setting up a press conference with Dr. Marie-Paule Kieny on the subject of an H1N1 vaccine, which would be likely held at the ned of next week, given Ms. Kieny’s schedule. As to the discussion at last week’s press briefing (regarding the selective press conference held by WHO head Margaret Chan to announce the raising of the H1N1 alert level), she had reported the comments and concerns expressed to the Director-General’s office. WHO would respond to the letter of complaint received from certain journalists, and there would be a formal meeting with ACANU representatives to discuss the incident and how they could restore a much healthier and simpler relation between the Agency and accredited journalists. WHO was very conscious of the impact the work of journalists who followed health issues not just during crises, but all year long, had and hoped that good relations could be restored.

UN Refugee Agency / Global Trends 2008 Launch

Ron Redmond of the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) announced that a new UNHCR website had been launched yesterday, which featured an Angelina Jolie video message kicking off World Refugee Day (Saturday, 20 June).

Mr. Redmond also announced that the UNHCR annual global statistics on refugees and displaced and stateless persons (2008 Global Trends report) was being released this afternoon at 3 p.m. Copies of the report and press releases were available at the back of the room, under embargo until 1 p.m. GMT on World Refugee Day, 16 June.

Asked about whether UNHCR gathered statistics on environmental or “climate change” refugees, Mr. Spindler said that UNHCR was keenly aware of this issue. High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres had predicted that in the future they would see a blend of causes for displacement in the world, including climate change and environmental degradation. UNHCR did not have an exact count at this point, but if one looked at places like eastern Chad or Darfur it was clear that populations were forced from their land in part because of competition for declining resources.

Population Displacements in the Sudan

Emilia Casella of the World Food Programme (WFP) said that many might be aware of the attack that had occurred in South Sudan on the Sobat River on Friday, 12 June, in which 27 boats carrying 735 metric tons of WFP food had been attacked en route to deliver the food to Akobo. Some 16 boats had since returned to Nassir – the place they had been coming from – all but 1 of them looted of the food aboard. There was no indication yet on the fate of the remaining 11 boats or the food that they carried. The WFP Country Director had said that the attack on the boats carrying WFP food meant for 19,000 internally displaced persons in Akobo was “a major blow to our operation”, adding that “it is indicative of the deteriorating humanitarian situation in southern Sudan”. WFP had been trying to get into the Akobo area since April, when it had done a 15-day ration distribution for 16,000 people.

As a result of not being able to move large quantities of food aid by river, WFP would have to provide food aid by airlifts. Airlifts had started on 13 June, but unfortunately WFP needed to get in hundreds of metric tons into the area, whereas the planes they used had a capacity of only 5 metric tons. It was a pretty slow process and an extremely expensive one. In the short term, WFP would use the air operation to get food in, but it was not a long-term solution, Ms. Casella underscored. From January to May 2009, more than 135,000 internally displaced persons had been registered as in need of food aid, double the number before the crisis of May 2008. In southern Sudan last week, WFP had distributed food to about 306,000 people, through a combination of programmes, including general food distribution, school feeding and food-for-work programmes.

Asked about details of the attack, and allegations from the Nassir Authorities that the WFP boat had been carrying arms, Ms. Casella said she had absolutely no confirmation that there had been arms on those boats. But to be precise, they were not United Nations boats. As they often did, WFP was working with contractors and there had been no WFP staff on the boats. WFP could not confirm further details at this time.

Jean-Philippe Chauzy of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said IOM had published its latest village assessments and returnee monitoring report for Southern Sudan today, which noted that an overwhelming majority of the 2 million internally displaced persons who had returned to Southern Sudan and Southern Kordofan since the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in January 2005 continued to confront many challenges. Access to drinking water remained scarce, and in the large majority of villages visited rivers and unprotected wells were the main source of water. Access to adequate health care was also very sparse, with only 4 per cent of villages having a doctor living there. As for education, children in only 30 per cent of the villages visited had access to basic primary schools, and a third of those schools were outdoor facilities.

Situation in Pakistan

Ms. Casella noted that WFP, together with the local authorities, had carried out a registration and verification procedure together with the local authorities in the North Western Frontier Province of Pakistan. They were working on numbers now of about 2 million displaced persons needing food assistance with ongoing assistance needed for about 2.5 million. Last month, WFP had done distributions for 3 million people.

Mr. Chauzy noted that IOM and its partners was launching an initiative that would allow displaced persons in Swat, Buner and Dir districts in Pakistan to have better access to humanitarian assistance. They would receive information in “real time” via a variety of formal and informal networks, including via radio, leaflets. An information note was available.

International Day of the African Child

Veronique Taveau of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said that today the International Day of the African Child, a day that was celebrated throughout Africa by UNICEF and its partners. The theme this year was “Africa Fit for Children: A Call for Accelerated Action Towards Child Survival”. More than half of the 9.2 million annual deaths of children under five occurred in Africa. However, there was hope, as some of the least developed nations – Eritrea, Ethiopia, Malawi and Niger – had reduced their under-five mortality rates by 40 per cent or more since 1990. It was hoped that, working with its partners and the countries themselves, UNICEF could help to make those numbers yet better. A press release was available.

Other

Ms. Heuzé noted that they now had confirmation of a number of press briefings in connection with the second session of the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction. There would also be a press conference with World Meteorological Organization Chief Michel Jarraud and the Director of the Meteorological Service of Cuba, at 2 p.m. tomorrow. Elisabeth Byrs of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that today Under-Secretary-General John Holmes had been moved forward a half hour, which would now be at 12 p.m. at the Geneva International Convention Centre. There would be a photo op at 5 p.m., when John Holmes would visit an exhibit on climate change at CICG.

Keith Collins of the Global Humanitarian Forum said that on 10.30 a.m. on Thursday morning at CICG the Global Humanitarian Forum and World Meteorological Organization would unveil the Weather Information for All Project, a chance to tell a positive story about climate change. Kofi Annan would be heading the meeting, with WMO Director-General Michel Jarraud.

Ms. Heuzé also announced the schedule for the United Nations Special Adviser on Sport for Development and Peace, Wilfried Lemke, who was arriving in Kenya today to open the Forum on Productive Youth Development through Sport in Africa, being held from 16 to 18 June at the United Nations Office in Nairobi. The Forum would address the role that sport could play to help disadvantaged youth to become more socially responsible, and how actors interested in sport’s potential could better share resources and ideas. On Friday, 19 June the Special Adviser would head to South Africa, to address the inaugural FIFA “Football for Hope Forum 2009”, being held from 23 to 25 June in Vaal. On 21 June, Mr. Lemke would attend the match of the Confederations Cup, Italy vs. Brazil, in Pretoria, in his role as coordinator for United Nations activities and messages for the Football World Cup, to be held in South Africa next year.