REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Elena Ponomareva-Piquier, Chief of the Press and External Relations Section of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired the briefing, which was also attended by spokespersons for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and the World Health Organization. Spokespersons from the United Nations Children’s Fund and the International Organization for Migration were also present, but had no announcements to make.

Secretary-General’s Statements: Copenhagen

Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said available in the press room were several documents, including the transcript of the Secretary-General’s press encounter yesterday in New York regarding the Copenhagen Conference. The Secretary-General had declared the Conference on Climate Change to be a “success”, and had remarked that the Copenhagen Accord marked “a significant step forward”. While the Secretary-General remained aware that the outcome of the Copenhagen Conference, including the Copenhagen Accord, “did not go as far as many would have hoped”, he had highlighted that, “Nonetheless they represent a beginning – an essential beginning. We have taken an important step in the right direction”, the Secretary-General had said.

Furthermore, Ban Ki-moon had underscored the necessity of examining the lessons of the Copenhagen Conference as they moved forward, saying “we will consider how to [improve] the negotiations process”. He had also announced that, early next year, he would establish “a high-level panel on development and climate change to strategically address such issues”.

Secretary-General: Sudan

Also available in the press room was the Secretary-General’s statement yesterday on the Sudan, Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said. Speaking before the Security Council on Monday, the Secretary-General had judged that the African Union High-Level Implementation Panel on Darfur, Chaired by former South African President Thabo Mbeki, could “make an invaluable contribution to the ‘soft-landing’” the United Nations and the African Union had been working towards, by helping the parties to the Comprehensive Peace Agreement to bridge their differences following the election and referendum [on South Sudan]. “This is an outcome that is badly needed for Sudan itself, but also for Sudan's neighbours and, indeed, for all of Africa”, the Secretary-General had added. He had also recalled the need to keep sight of the importance of compliance with Security Council resolution 1593, referring the situation in Darfur to the International Criminal Court.

Secretary-General: High-Level Meeting on the MDGs

Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said the Secretary-General had welcomed yesterday the General Assembly’s new resolution on next year’s planned Millennium Development Goal Summit, which would be held in September 2010 in New York. Mr. Ban had underscored that, coming amidst mixed progress towards the Goals and new crises that threatened the global effort to halve extreme poverty, the Summit would be a crucially important opportunity to redouble their efforts to meet the Goals by the agreed deadline of 2015. In that connection, the Secretary-General intended to make 2010 the year of the Millennium Development Goals. Copies of the Secretary-General’s statement were available.

Humanitarian Situation in Eastern Chad

Elisabeth Byrs of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) noted that the situation in the east of Chad continued to deteriorate. In that region, the United Nations and its humanitarian partners were assisting more than half a million persons – refugees and internally displaced persons. A new level of insecurity had been reached with the attack, on 20 December, of a convoy of the United Nations Mission in the Central African Republic and Chad (MINURCAT), escorted by the Integrated Security Detachment had been attacked on the road leading to Goz Beida in Koukou Angarana in the east of Chad, wounding one officer of the Detachment. The Integrated Security Detachment was made up of Chadian police and gendarmes that provided security in camps for refugees and internally displaced persons, as well as for the activities of humanitarian organizations. The attack had left wounded an officer of the Detachment. All transport except for ambulances were now suspended on the roads concerned. The attack represented a new level in the acts of banditry carried out against humanitarian workers because it showed they were now carried out even against humanitarian transports under security escort, which constituted a serious handicap for the distribution of humanitarian assistance by non-governmental organizations and the United Nations.

The situation was also very worrying in Assoungha. OCHA teams were currently analysing the results of the harvest, and food security for the population in the coming weeks was likely to be very precarious in areas where the security situation was also critical. Ms. Byrs added that, in November, a French staff member of the International Committee of the Red Cross participating in the evaluations had been kidnapped, and since then no assessment had been made for Assoungha. A briefing note was available.

Volcano Mayon Set to Erupt in the Philippines

Ms. Byrs said that, according to Philippine experts, Volcano Mayon in the Philippines was set to erupt. Some 120,000 people living in the eight-kilometre danger zone had been evacuated. OCHA was working with the Philippine National Disaster Coordination Council and the regional government on humanitarian and early recovery needs for the people affected. Everything was well under control. Several agencies such as the United Nations Children’s Fund and the World Food Programme had already prepared their plans and pre-positioned assistance. The International Organization for Migration had also already sent a team to the nearby town of Albay.

A-H1N1 Flu Virus

Gregory Hartl of the World Health Organization (WHO) said there would be an epidemic update both tomorrow and the following Wednesday. They would be shorter than normal, given the abbreviated holiday weeks. Secondly, Dr. Fukuda would not be able to attend the briefing in mid-January, but they would try and arrange something for the week before, as well as for the beginning of February.

Responding to a question on distribution of the vaccine, Mr. Hartl confirmed that it was starting, with the first two countries receiving the vaccine probably next week. Last week they had put up a note on the state of distribution and they would continue to post updates on the website on where WHO stood with regard to vaccine distribution and delivery.

The first two countries to receive the vaccine would be Azerbaijan and Mongolia. Mr. Hartl did not have the figure on the number of doses to be distributed with him, but they would receive doses to cover 2 per cent of the population of each country.

Regarding an end of the year total of confirmed cases, Mr. Hartl said that a briefing (web) note was being prepared on that subject, for release today or tomorrow, specifically because of the huge discrepancy between the number of laboratory confirmed cases and the number of probable or estimated cases. The note would go into detail about the differences between H1N1 cases were counted versus how seasonal flu cases were estimated. It was really a case of comparing apples with oranges; it would not be a true indication of the extent of the disease if they were to talk only about confirmed cases. National health authorities did not want to spend too much money testing cases which were actually mild. What was important was to be able to detect, confirm and treat rapidly the severe ones.

On “goat” flu, Mr. Hartl first wished to request that it not be called as such – unfortunately, the media appeared to have taken up that name. It was called Q Fever. Q Fever was primarily an animal disease. It was enzootic, meaning that it was endemic in animals in almost every country in the world. It was possible for the disease to be transmitted to humans, but there was an antibiotic treatment and it was curable if found early. In the Netherlands there had been apparently more cases than usual this year, with six human deaths. So it was a public health issue in the Netherlands, and that was why WHO was looking at it. However, it appeared that the Netherlands was a particular case. There was an animal vaccine for the disease, he added.

Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier announced that this was the last briefing of 2009. She wished everyone a Happy Holiday Season, and said the briefings would commence again in 2010 on Tuesday, 5 January.