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 Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the World Meteorological Organization, the International Organization for Migration, the World Health Organization and the World Intellectual Property Organization.
Director-General’s Agenda
Ms. Momal-Vanian said Director-General Sergei Ordzhonikidze would be addressing an event organized by the Ousseimi Foundation, a Geneva-based non-governmental organization, and sponsored by the Permanent Mission of Algeria from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on 4 November. The Foundation would be awarding its annual Tolerance Prize posthumously to the Emir Abd El-Kader Al Jazaïry - an Algerian Sufi scholar, as well as political and military leader and national hero. The prize was being awarded on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the Emir's efforts in 1860 to save the lives of 12,000 members of the Christian and Jewish communities in Damascus while he was in exile there. Other speakers at the event would include the President of the Human Rights Council and the President of the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Geneva Activities
Ms. Momal-Vanian said the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights opened its forty-fifth session at the Palais Wilson yesterday, and this morning was starting its consideration of the report of Uruguay, which would be concluded on 3 November at 1 p.m. The Committee would review the report of the Dominican Republic from 3 November at 3 p.m. to 4 November at 6 p.m., and it would take up the report of Switzerland on 5 November at 10 a.m., concluding on 8 November at 1 p.m.
The Committee against Torture also opened its forty-fifth session yesterday, and this afternoon would take up the report of Ethiopia, which would be concluded on 3 November at 1 p.m. The Committee would consider the report of Turkey on 3 November at 3 p.m. until 4 November at 1 p.m.; and the report of Bosnia and Herzegovina from 4 November at 3 p.m. to 5 November at 1 p.m.
Ms. Momal-Vanian said there were a number of press conferences scheduled for the day. Immediately after the briefing, at 11:30 a.m. in Room III, there would be a press conference organized by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development on the embargoed Human Development Report 2010. Then at 2:30 p.m., the new Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Valerie Amos, would be briefing the press in Room III. There was also a press conference at 3 p.m. in press room 1 on the activities of the International Civil Defence Organization.
Myanmar/Cyclone Giri
Elizabeth Byrs of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said that according to the Myanmar authorities, Cyclone Giri had left 45 dead, at least 10 missing and 49 injured. Around 81,000 people were homeless and at least 15,000 houses were completely destroyed, with a total of approximately 200,000 people affected. Marixie Mercado of the United Nations Children’s Fund would give more details as UNICEF had been on the assessment mission. The Government had expressed an urgent need for tarpaulins as tents were not considered suitable due to the hot weather in the affected areas. The Government currently estimated that about 100,000 zinc roofing sheets would be needed. UN agencies were mobilizing their efforts. Additional resources would be urgently required to respond to the humanitarian needs in the wake of Cyclone Giri.
Marixie Mercado of the United Nations Children’s Fund said the early findings of an assessment in four affected townships carried out by UNICEF with the Department of Health, WHO and local partners had found that around 81,000 people had lost their homes and all their belongings. A number of villages and islands around the coast had lost most or all of their fresh water sources and were expected to face serious water shortages as the rainy season was over. At least 57 health centres were destroyed or required immediate repairs. Most boats, which were the sole means of transport used by health providers to get to these islands, had been washed away or destroyed. The informal health coordination team, of which UNICEF was a member, estimated that 100,000 in one township alone needed health assistance. More than 430 schools were damaged or destroyed. FAO estimated that more than 40,000 acres of paddy were destroyed just weeks before the harvest. The humanitarian community anticipated that around 200,000 people would require food assistance over the coming three months. So far UNICEF had distributed 15 out of 40 emergency health kits prepositioned before the cyclone. Family kits, tarpaulin, medicine and water purification items were being distributed through the Myanmar Red Cross and partners. Nutrition supplies had also been prepositioned for distribution. UNICEF and its local partners were setting up temporary learning spaces with tarpaulin and bamboo and would supply emergency school supplies, furniture and latrines. UNICEF had deployed an emergency response team to the worst affected areas and was preparing to address priority needs.
Haiti/Hurricane Tomas
Ms. Momal-Vanian said the Government of Haiti, humanitarian partners and the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti were preparing a plan to respond to Hurricane Tomas, which was approaching the island and which could affect up to half a million persons.
Christian Blondin of the World Meteorological Organization said tropical depression Tomas was being closely watched. The information available on this subject was available on the Meteorological Service of Haiti’s website www.meteo-haiti.gouv.ht. Today, the tropical depression Tomas was around 13 degrees north and 69 degrees west, 250 kilometres south of Port au Prince. It was expected to reach Haiti on Friday, 5 November during the day.
Jean-Philippe Chauzy of the International Organization for Migration said IOM was working with the Government of Haiti, the UN stabilization mission in Haiti and humanitarian agencies to plan a response to Hurricane Tomas, which could strike the south of the country this week. Hundreds of thousands of Haitians as well as many of the 1.3 million internally displaced persons who had been homeless since the earthquake of 12 January would be endangered by the hurricane. Preparing for the worst case scenario, IOM had already moved 117 families living in tents in an area of Corail Cesselesse camp to temporary shelters last Sunday. The strong winds and torrential rain expected to affect Haiti would destroy the fragile shelters and put many camps at risk from landslides and flash flooding. Although most camps for internally displaced persons were located in the capital, a sizeable number were in the coastal cities of Jacmel and Les Cayes, which were particularly vulnerable to tropical storms. Hurricane Tomas was coming hard on the heels of the cholera epidemic which struck Haiti, and the hurricane could exacerbate the epidemic.
Elizabeth Byrs of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said the United Nations and humanitarian partners continued to dispatch supplies to key areas across Haiti while working to ensure that appropriate measures were being taken to enable response in Port au Prince. The Government and humanitarian partners were working with planning figures which indicated that 100,000 families, around 500,000 people, could be affected in the west and southern departments of Haiti. This meant prepositioning stock, medicines, food and other items. People were being informed that when possible they should take shelter with family or friends living in solid houses. The food stocks were enough for 1.1 million persons for six weeks.
In response to a question on the cholera epidemic in Haiti, Gregory Härtl of the World Health Organization said the latest figures available showed that there had been 4,764 hospitalized cases of cholera and 337 deaths. He said there had been genetic tests carried out on samples of the cholera bacteria taken from Haiti, and these had indicated that the original source of the bacteria was from southeast Asia. It was not clear how the bacteria would have travelled from southeast Asia to Haiti. It could be via food, water, ships or travelers.
Pakistan
Jean-Philippe Chauzy of the International Organization for Migration said IOM’s Humanitarian Call Centre was now fully operational in Pakistan nationwide, providing flood victims in all affected provinces with practical information on where to find humanitarian services and how to access them. The toll-free helpline had received up to 1,800 calls a day since it geared up to full operations mode last week from people seeking humanitarian aid. There were more details in the briefing notes.
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Jean-Philippe Chauzy of the International Organization for Migration said IOM was beginning work this week in the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the emergency re-opening of the Dungu-Duru-Bitima axis roadway in the country’s Haut-Uele, Oriental Province, previously abandoned due to disrepair and security concerns. The emergency project sought to reclaim the roadway and make it passable for humanitarian transport by March 2011. There were more details in the briefing notes.
World Intellectual Property Organization
Samar Shamoon of the World Intellectual Property Organization said WIPO was hosting a meeting on copyright licensing in the digital age on 4 and 5 November. The global meeting on “Facilitating Access to Culture in the Digital Age” was on emerging copyright licensing modalities and would explore different approaches to licensing creative content in the rapidly evolving on-line marketplace and in view of the proliferation of new forms of on-line distribution. WIPO Director General Francis Gurry and Harvard University professor Lawrence Lessig would be opening the meeting, which would feature a range of eminent speakers from government, business and civil society, and which would be open to the press. Journalists were welcome to attend and interviews could be set up. The programme of the meeting was available at the back of the room. Her colleague, Victor Vasquez, who was organizing the meeting from the WIPO Culture and Creative Industry Sector, was available in the room in case journalists had any questions.
Tarik Jasarevic of the World Health Organization said the fourth session of the Conference of the Parties of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control would be held from 15 to 20 November in Punta del Este in Uruguay. The media advisory was available at the back of the room, updating journalists on what the conference would discuss, namely new treaty instruments such as the proposed protocol on illicit trade in tobacco products. They would also deal with implementation of certain articles dealing with the regulation of contents of tobacco products and their disclosure, measures concerning tobacco dependence and cessation and education, communication, training and public awareness. Proposed outline recommendations for economically sustainable alternatives to tobacco growing would also be on the agenda. For the first time the Conference would also debate price and tax policies; control and prevention of smokeless tobacco products and electronic cigarettes, and liability with regard to the health effects of tobacco consumption. As of today, the Convention had 170 States parties plus the European Union. More than 600 participants were expected to attend the conference.