REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Corinne Momal-Vanian, the Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired the briefing, which was also attended by spokespersons and representatives of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the World Health Organization, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the World Food Programme, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the International Organization for Migration.

Pandemrix/Narcolepsy

Alison Brunier, Communication Officer for WHO's Department of Immunization, Vaccines and Biologicals, said the WHO Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety had discussed all available data relating to reports of narcolepsy following vaccination with pandemrix -- the monovalent H1N1 vaccine produced by GlaxoSmithKline -- both from Finland and elsewhere during a teleconference last Friday.

Since August 2010, following the widespread use of vaccines against H1N1, an increased number of cases of narcolepsy, especially in children and adolescents between the ages of 4 and 19, had been reported from at least 12 countries. The rates from Sweden, Finland and Iceland had been notably higher than those from other countries. The National Institute for Health and Welfare of Finland considered it probable that the pandemrix vaccine had been one of a number of factors in this observed increase, and had called for further investigations to determine what those other factors might be. The Institute did think it likely that the vaccine increased the risk of narcolepsy within those with a genetic disposition of some sort. However, the increased risk had not been seen in younger or older age groups, and it had not been observed in association with any other vaccines, either flu or others, in the past.

WHO's Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety had concurred that further investigation was warranted concerning narcolepsy and vaccination, not only with pandemrix but also with other pandemic H1N1 vaccines. The conclusions of the Global Advisory Committee had been provided to WHO's Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization yesterday during a teleconference. On the basis of the risk assessment provided by the Committee, and given that the regulatory body responsible for licensing the vaccines had not taken any regulatory action, WHO did not change its position on the use of pandemic influenza vaccines. This meant that countries should continue vaccinating against H1N1 to immunize persons at risk of severe disease and use monovalent vaccines, including pandemrix, if trivalent seasonal vaccines were unavailable. At this time pandemrix remained on the list of WHO pre-qualified vaccines, while the long-term implications of observations on narcolepsy would be considered by the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization in due course. A statement of the Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety had been sent to journalists this morning.

Sri Lanka Floods

Elisabeth Byrs of OCHA said the second wave of floods that had now hit Sri Lanka were much worse and more serious than those that had hit the country some weeks ago. According to official figures, 1,132,654 people were affected by the floods, including 193,742 persons in 703 temporary evacuation centres in 15 districts. There had been fourteen deaths, nine injured and two missing persons reported to date, and it was estimated that more than 7,700 houses in 13 districts had been damaged or destroyed.

While the Sri Lankan Disaster Management Center was doing its best, resources had become increasingly limited. Another challenge was that some measures taken by the authorities, the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross in response to the first wave of floods had been annihilated, including the re-contamination of wells in the water and sanitation sector. The work was further complicated by flooded roads and the insufficient availability of boats and helicopters.

The USD 50 million Sri Lanka Floods Flash Appeal, which had been launched in early January, was currently funded to 15 per cent, with USD 7.7 million received, but would be revised upwards at the end of this month, given the current situation of unforeseeable rains which meant that the overfilled reservoirs could lead to new population displacement.

Emilia Casella of WFP said that WFP was scaling up its food assistance to flood-affected people. In January, the WFP had already provided rations to 500,000 people in five districts in response to the first wave of flooding. Now, with the second wave, WFP had dispatched food assistance for 326,000 people over the past weekend and continued to move towards 500,000 people in this ongoing emergency. The Ministry of Agriculture had said that in January 450,000 metric tons of rice paddies had already been damaged and now there was even more damage to the rice harvest, which was a particular problem for the most vulnerable people. Initial estimations suggested that at least 87,000 farming households would be affected by the damage to the rice crops, having a knock-on effect on the wider community of people who would be receiving that harvest food.

WFP was facing a number of challenges, Ms. Casella underscored. Not only had WFP been using the stocks for its conflict returnee programmes to assist flood-affected people, its rice suppliers also faced difficulties in meeting their deadlines to deliver to the WFP as they had themselves been affected by the floods.

More aid headed for Cote d’Ivoire as internally displaced population grows

Andrej Mahecic of UNHCR said that UNHCR was today starting a simultaneous airlift and road convoy to Cote d’Ivoire to pre-position aid ahead of distribution to the growing displaced population in the country’s west. A UNHCR-chartered Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 747 cargo plane was scheduled to take off from Liege in Belgium at midday today carrying 2,450 tents from UNHCR's emergency stockpile in Copenhagen. At the same time 93 tons of relief was due to be
trucked from Accra in Ghana.

All items would initially be stored in a UNHCR warehouse in the north of Abidjan. Meanwhile, the race was on in western Cote d’Ivoire to meet the shelter and other needs of the internally displaced people. As soon as this was done the aid distribution would start. The tents would provide shelter for up to 12,000 people, while the road convoy was bringing thousands of blankets, mats, mosquito nets, kitchen sets and other basics, said Mr. Mahecic.

UNHCR teams in western Cote d’Ivoire had so far registered close to 31,000 internally displaced people. Most of these were in Duékoué district, where some 22,000 people were being hosted in religious missions, spontaneous settlements and in surrounding villages. UNHCR was working together with the authorities to identify a site in the vicinity of Duékoué to establish a camp for these internally displaced persons. The registration exercise was being carried out by UNHCR together with IOM and UNFPA and should be completed before the end of the week. It would allow UNHCR and its partners to have a better picture of the number of displaced people and of their profiles.

In parallel, an inter agency mission on assessment needs, comprising several United Nations organizations including UNHCR, as well as of several non-governmental organizations operating in the area, discovered new groups of internally displaced persons on Monday in villages along the border with Liberia. These people would be included in UNHCR's registration exercise, and helped.

Most internally displaced persons in the west of the country had been displaced from their homes in early January as a result of ethnic tension and violence following the presidential elections of last November. In addition to recent internal forced displacement, Cote d’Ivoire was also hosting some 26,000 Liberian refugees. Some of these refugees told UNHCR that they felt at risk amid the volatile political situation in Cote d’Ivoire.

Responding to a question, Mr. Mahecic said that there were now 34,500 refugees from Cote d’Ivoire registered in Eastern Liberia, but the influx into Liberia had slowed down. Some 17,000 out of these registered refugees had already received food assistance, while more than 20,000 had received other basic relief items. Further distributions were in progress.



Eight asylum-seekers suffocate in Mozambique en route to South Africa

Mr. Mahecic said that over the weekend, UNHCR had learned of the deaths by suffocation on 2 February of eight Ethiopian asylum-seekers aboard a closed container truck in Mozambique. Police said the eight were among a group of 26 young Ethiopian men who had been trying to reach South Africa from the Maratane refugee camp in northern Mozambique.

The truck driver had reportedly only realized that the eight had suffocated when he had made a stop at Mocuba, after seven hours of driving from the camp. The truck had also been loaded with oil. Three others in the group had to be hospitalized and had since been discharged.

The dangers for people fleeing the Horn of Africa northwards across the Gulf of Aden and Red Sea were relatively well known. UNHCR believed the risks for those heading southwards through East Africa or via Indian Ocean routes were also substantial. In January, UNHCR had received reports that eight Somali and three Ethiopian asylum-seekers had drowned off the coast of Mozambique. In May last year nine Somalis had also drowned off Mozambique in the search for safety.

Mozambique’s Maratane camp was a stopping point for many on this journey. 10,985 Somali and Ethiopian asylum-seekers had arrived at the camp between January 2010 and January 2011. Of these, 6,660 were Somalis, while the remaining 4,325 were from Ethiopia. UNHCR estimated that 2,500 Ethiopians had headed towards South Africa from the Maratane camp last year.

As more people fled from the Horn of Africa to Mozambique, UNHCR was working closely with the Mozambique authorities to improve conditions in the Maratane camp, which had become congested under the weight of recent arrivals.

New Initiative to Assist Migrants Stranded in Tanzania

Jemini Pandya of IOM said that IOM and the Tanzanian government were this week launching an initiative to assist irregular migrants stranded in the country. The programme, funded by the Japanese government, sought to address some of the consequences of the increasingly large numbers of irregular migrants travelling through Tanzania from the Horn of Africa to South Africa and beyond. Many of the migrants became stranded en route and there was a growing need to provide emergency assistance to them including temporary shelter and medical care, as well as repatriation services for voluntary returnees.

IOM had already assisted more than 1,400 Ethiopian stranded migrants with voluntarily return and reintegration services since 2009. The programme would also provide training to relevant border authorities so they could provide appropriate assistance and referral services to stranded migrants.

In addition, regional immigration offices in Tanga and Arusha had been constructed and refurbished in order to host 150 irregular migrants with special rooms dedicated for women and children. The lack of adequate facilities to host irregular migrants intercepted on Tanzanian territory had proved to be a major challenge for the authorities.

Most of the irregular migrants were detected along Tanzania’s land and sea border areas. According to the 2009 IOM study “In Pursuit of the Southern Dream”, between 17,000-20,000 irregular migrants were smuggled every year through Tanzania en route to South Africa and beyond. However, many never reached their final destination, Ms. Pandya underscored.

Asian, EU Governments and Experts Meet to Debate Asian Labour Migration to Europe

Ms. Pandya said that Governments and experts from Asia and the European Union today met in Brussels to take part in a two-day dialogue to explore the future prospects of Asian migrant workers in Europe. The "2nd Asia-EU Dialogue on Labour Migration", organized by IOM, was designed to inform Governments in the two regions about current policies and trends in labour migration to improve mutual understanding and generate shared strategies for collaboration. Migration flows from Asia to the European Union were gradually expanding, despite the global economic downturn, and this meeting would play a particularly important role in promoting more skilled migration from Asia to Europe, said Ms. Pandya.

Conference Focuses on Greater Protection of Trafficked Victims in Djibouti

Ms. Pandya said that IOM, the United States Department of Justice and UNHCR were this week hosting a conference on combating human trafficking and protecting trafficking victims in Djibouti.
The conference, from 7 to 10 February, sought to promote national counter-trafficking strategies which take a victim-centred approach to investigation and enforcement efforts and was part of an IOM counter-trafficking programme in Djibouti that focuses on protection. Djibouti and neighbouring countries faced unique migration challenges due to their location at the crossroads between Europe, Asia and Africa. Djibouti was increasingly becoming a source and transit country for irregular migration across the Gulf of Aden and beyond, Ms. Pandya underscored.

Agenda

Corinne Momal-Vanian said that the Conference on Disarmament held a plenary meeting this morning and that later today, at 4 p.m. in Press Room 1, there would be a press roundtable on inter-religious activities, organized by the Permanent Mission of the United States.

Tomorrow at 2.15 p.m. in Room III WIPO Director General Francis Gurry would give a press conference on international patent system activities in 2010. WHO and the Roll Back Malaria Partnership would give a press conference at 3 p.m. in Room III on tax and tariff removal and its role in accelerating access to malaria prevention and treatment. The final list of speakers for this press conference would be distributed shortly.

Ms. Momal-Vanian said that the General Assembly would hold a day-long Thematic Debate on Disaster Risk Reduction tomorrow in New York, moderated by BBC presenter Zeinab Badawi. UNISDR media advisories were at the back of the room.

Claire Kaplun of the OHCHR said the Working Group on the Review of the Work and Functioning of the Human Rights Council had taken up its work yesterday and would meet repeatedly in February. The President of the Human Rights Council aimed to present a final document for approval during the sixteenth regular session of the Human Rights Council which would commence on 28 February. More information on the session was available both from the internet and the extranet, Ms. Kaplun said. She added that Cédric Sapey would replace her for the March session, as she quit her functions today.

Fadéla Chaib of WHO announced a press conference on the health impact of alcohol and alcoholism, to take place on 11 February at 1 p.m. in Press Room I. The Speakers would be the Director of WHO's Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse and a Member State representative. The press conference was related to a meeting at WHO (from today and until Friday) during which representatives of some hundred WHO Member States discussed how to put into action the strategy adopted by the World Health Assembly in May 2010 to fight the noxious use of alcohol. A report on how that strategy had been put into action by countries, entitled “The Global Status Report on Alcohol and Health” and embargoed until 1 p.m. on 11 February, could be received from Paul Garwood.

Ms. Casella said that the WFP organized a photo exhibit opening today in Building E on the mezzanine level. Journalists and staff were invited to attend the opening tonight at 6 p.m. where the Acting Director of WFP’s Office would be present and where refreshments were offered.