HIGHLIGHTS OF REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Corinne Momal-Vanian, Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired the briefing which was also attended by Spokespersons for the International Telecommunications Union, the United Nations Conference for Trade and Development, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the United Nations Refugee Agency, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the International Organization for Migration, the Global Fund, and the Secretariat of the Stockholm Convention.

Geneva Activities

Ms. Momal-Vanian said the Human Rights Committee this morning was finishing its consideration of the periodic report of Hungary. This was the last country report that the Committee would be considering this session, and its concluding observations and recommendations on the reports of El Salvador, Poland, Jordan, Belgium and Hungary would be issued at the end of the session on Friday, 29 October. Also on 29 October, the Committee would celebrate its 100th session at the Palais des Nations in Room XIX.

The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women was meeting in private this week to finalize its concluding observations and recommendations on the periodic reports of Burkina Faso, Tunisia, Malta, Uganda and the Czech Republic, and the exceptional report of India on the impact of the Gujarat massacres on women in that country. The concluding observations and recommendations would be released at the end of the Committee’s session on Friday, 22 October.

Ms. Momal-Vanian said there would be a press conference at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, 20 October, by the United Nations Population Fund on the UNFPA State of the World Population Report 2010: From conflict and crisis to renewal: generations of change.

And on Friday, 22 October, there would be a press conference at 11:30 a.m. by two former UN colleagues on the launch of a new publication, “L'ONU pour les nuls”. Copies of the publication would be distributed.

Ms. Momal-Vanian reminded journalists that a note to correspondents had been issued yesterday concerning the annual accreditation for journalists for 2011. This would take place from 8 November 2010 to 14 January 2011 from 9 a.m. to noon and from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. The accreditation process would be suspended between Christmas and the New Year, from 24 December until 3 January. The note listed all the documents that journalists needed to provide.

World Statistics Day

Sanjay Acharya of the International Telecommunications Union said ITU was publishing today a new set of statistics on information and communication technology. The advance copy of the brochure on “the World in 2010” contained the figures and there was also an advance copy of the press release. The press release and the brochure would be released globally at 3 p.m. Geneva time. The statistics were being sent out on the occasion of World Statistics Day (20 October) and the United Nations Conference for Trade and Development was coordinating the event for the UN agencies in Geneva. Just after the press briefing, there would be an ITU briefing on these new facts and figures.

Catherine Sibut-Pinote of the United Nations Conference for Trade and Development said tomorrow, 20 October, the different presentations by the partner agencies on World Statistics Day would take place in Room XXVI in the new building starting 9:30 a.m. UNCTAD would also be launching a new web portal tomorrow and a press release would be issued later.


Floods in Benin

Elizabeth Byrs of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said that an aerial assessment of the impact of the floods in Benin, especially in the south and over the town of Cotonou, showed that two thirds of Benin was affected by the floods, with more than 76,500 km2 under water. There were 360,000 persons affected, 43 deaths, 97,815 persons without shelter. 55,575 houses and 276 schools were destroyed or flooded. There was an increase in cases of cholera in Cotonou. There were 800 cases of cholera in all of Benin, including 500 cases in Cotonou alone. So far, seven deaths had been reported. A flash appeal for Benin was being prepared. OCHA would be providing an emergency cash grant and there was a request that the CERF provide $ 8 million to the aid operation. Immediate needs included shelter, clean water, food and healthcare. There were more details in the briefing note detailing the contributions of the UN agencies and other organizations.

UNHCR

Melissa Fleming of the UN Refugee Agency said UNHCR had a new survey of Iraqi refugees, this time from inside Iraq. The poll of Iraqis who had returned to Baghdad from neighbouring countries found that the physical insecurity, economic hardship and a lack of basic public services had led the majority of those surveyed to regret their decision to return to Iraq. The survey also found that 34 per cent said they were uncertain whether they would stay permanently in Iraq and would consider seeking asylum in neighbouring countries once again if conditions did not improve. During the interviews, UNHCR were informed by the returnees of numerous instances of explosions, harassment, military operations and kidnapping occurring in their areas of return. Many interviewed stated that they were obliged to return to Iraq because they could no longer afford the high cost of living in asylum States. In this context, UNCHR continued to remain concerned by occurrences of forcible deportations of Iraqi refugees from their countries of asylum to Iraq. The majority of those interviewed said their income was insufficient to cover the needs of their families in Iraq.

Ms. Fleming said UNHCR had reported last year about the repatriation operation for Mauritanian refugees from Senegal, and that operation resumed yesterday following a 10-month break. UNHCR transported a first group of 121 passengers to the southern Mauritanian town of Rosso across the River Senegal that marked the natural boundary between the two countries. These refugees had been in Senegal for almost 20 years. UNHCR welcomed the resumption of the operation as well as Mauritania’s great involvement in the process and would continue to support the authorities in making the returns sustainable. UNHCR was giving the returning refugees a small cash grant and helping them with basic needs and also microcredit to the families.

UNICEF

Marixie Mercado of the United Nations Children’s Fund said there had been an increase in the number of reported cases of polio in Pakistan among children - 78 cases as of 14 October, which was a 26 per cent increase over the 2009 figures. This was despite the fact that UNICEF had supported the immunization campaigns that had reached more than 8.5 million children with a polio vaccine. For the winter months, UNICEF was working to provide families with clothing and hygiene supplies and to pre-position micro-nutrient therapeutic feeding supplies and health kits, including obstetrics supplies. Their funding gap as of today was still about 50 per cent of the $ 252 million appeal.

Ms. Mercado said that, starting tomorrow, parliamentarians from 10 AIDS affected countries in eastern and southern Africa, which was the epi-centre of the AIDS pandemic, would meet in Namibia to discuss social protection mechanisms that made a real difference in the lives of children who had been orphaned or otherwise made particularly vulnerable by AIDS. Eastern and southern Africa was home to 9.7 million children who had lost one or both parents to AIDS, and more than half the population lived on less than $ 1.25 a day. Some of the protection schemes that had worked to protect children included keeping them in school, cash transfers to extremely vulnerable families, slashing tuition and healthcare fees and legislation protecting against discrimination.

International Organization for Migration

Jared Bloch of the International Organization for Migration said this week, representatives from all sectors of Colombian society would come together at a Land Restitution Seminar, organized by IOM and the Colombian Ministry of Agriculture. The seminar would bring together representatives from the state institutions, as well as local authorities, all political parties, trade associations, trade unions, victims' organizations and academia. The discussion would focus on a draft law, currently being considered by Congress, which was vital for ensuring that the victims of dispossession, caused by the violence of illegal armed groups, could now return to their lands and regain ownership. More than three million Colombians have been displaced leaving behind their homes and land. Through its Land Restitution Policy, the Colombian Government hoped to hand back some two million hectares to the victims of violence.

Mr. Bloch said the IOM Regional Office for North America and the Caribbean was this week bringing together government and non-governmental officials from 19 Caribbean countries, along with representatives of regional institutions and international agencies, including CARICOM, OAS and UNHCR, to discuss human trafficking in the Caribbean region.

Global Fund

Veronique Taveau of the Global Fund said available at the back of the room was a media advisory about a round table organized jointly by the Global Fund and UNAIDS. The round table, held on the occasion of the Francophonie Summit in Montreux, would be held at the Hôtel Suisse Majestic Montreux on 22 October, from 10:30 a.m. to noon. The panel was made up of Michel Kazatchkine, Executive Director of the Global Fund; Philippe Douste-Blazy, President of the Administration Council of UNITAID; Djibril Diallo, Director at UNAIDS and others. There were contact numbers for journalists who were interested in interviewing any of the panel speakers.

Secretariat of the Stockholm Convention

Kei Ohno of the Secretariat of the Stockholm Convention said the Persistent Organic Pollutants Review Committee adopted a dozen decisions at its sixth meeting, which concluded last Friday, including ones aimed at strengthening chemical science on climate change and persistent organic pollutants, and investigating the impact of toxicological interactions of multiple chemical exposure. The Committee reviewed three chemicals that had been nominated as substances to be added to the Convention. There were more details in the press release at the back of the room.

Michael Stanley-Jones of the Secretariat of the Stockholm Convention said the outcomes of the sixth meeting of the Persistent Organic Pollutants Review Committee continued a trend in strengthening the scientific basis of decision making on chemicals of international concern. Donald Cooper, the Executive Secretary of the Stockholm Convention, had said that for the first time, Stockholm Convention parties would be asked to mandate the Persistent Organic Pollutants Review Committee to investigate interactions between chemicals. The recommendations taken by the Committee demonstrated the strong scientific basis of the international decision-making process on chemicals that were of global concern. In December, at the Cancun Climate Change Conference, the Stockholm Convention Secretariat expected to release the main outcomes of a global study on climate change and persistent organic pollutants.