REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Corinne Momal-Vanian, the Director of the United Nations Information Service, chaired the briefing, which was also attended by Spokespersons for the World Trade Organization, the World Meteorological Organization, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the International Organization for Migration, the World Health Organization, the UN Refugee Agency and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Horn of Africa

Elisabeth Byrs of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said that, despite massive efforts by humanitarian agencies to continue to scale up their response, the situation in the Horn of Africa continued to deteriorate due to the sheer scope of the disaster, as well as continuing constraints in terms of access and logistics, poor harvests and unfavourable weather conditions. According to weather forecasts there would again be below-normal rainfalls between October and December and the situation might not improve before the first quarter of 2012. Far too many people were dying, and efforts must be continued. Also, with expected rainfall deficits in parts of eastern and central Sudan, the prospect of the Horn of Africa crisis expanding westward must be considered.

More than one-eighth of Djibouti’s population, 136,000 people, were now suffering from chronic food insecurity. People were fleeing rural areas to seek refuge around the cities, thus severely overcrowding the towns and contributing to sanitary problems such as acute diarrhoea and possibly cholera.

The UN appeal was 58 per cent funded, Ms. Byrs went on to say. Another $1 billion still needed to be secured and OCHA was appealing to donors to maintain their efforts. More donors should join and the private sector needed to provide support. The UN noted with satisfaction the pledges for the Horn of Africa crisis made at the African Union Pledging Conference, worth $350 million.

Adrian Edwards of the United Nations Refugee Agency said that, with the crisis in the Horn of Africa continuing and worsening, UNCHR had noted an evolving displacement pattern during August, with fewer Somalis leaving the country to the main neighbouring countries Kenya and Ethiopia, and less displacement within Somalia, but rising arrivals across the Gulf of Aden, in Yemen.

In Somalia, UNHCR’s Population Movement Tracking partners had reported a significant drop in the numbers of people arriving in Mogadishu. It appeared that the influx of internally displaced people into Mogadishu had peaked in July, when nearly 28,000 had fled to the Somali capital in search of help. However, since the beginning of this month, just over 5,000 displacements into the city had been recorded. The average daily arrival rate in the city had dropped from more than 1,000 per day last month to an estimated 200 in August.

Almost no movements or returns had been recorded in districts of Mogadishu previously under Al-Shabaab control, mainly due to insecurity - now in the form of guerrilla warfare. Several protection issues, including looting in these districts, had also been reported. Furthermore, there were no livelihood opportunities and most of these areas had been destroyed by previous fighting. AMISOM had also imposed restrictions on civilian movement or return to previously Al-Shabaab-controlled areas while security operations were conducted.

UNHCR was also seeing reports of Al-Shabaab continuing to place restrictions on movement in areas under its control, particularly movements of men - most apparently in the Lower Shabelle and Bay regions in the wake of the Al-Shabaab withdrawal from the capital on 6 August. This seemed to have prevented large population movements, especially from Lower Shabelle, into Mogadishu.

Displaced persons interviewed by UNHCR’s Population Movement Tracking partners also indicated that donations from the Somali diaspora and mobilization by local and host communities in July and August to assist the affected populations during Ramadan might have enabled people to remain where they were.

Furthermore, international and local organizations, including UNHCR, had been better placed to deliver aid to populations in Bay, Gedo, South Bakool and Hiraan regions, particularly in areas along the Kenya and Ethiopia borders. This had helped to reduce the pressure on Mogadishu as a destination to seek aid. UNHCR had this week completed the distribution of 3,000 emergency assistance packages for up to 18,000 people in the Hiraan region, which was under Al-Shabaab control.

With nearly 498,000 Somali refugees, Kenya remained the largest host country. However, the pace of arrivals to the Dadaab refugee complex had recently slowed to 1,000 to 1,200 people per day, from 1,500 previously. At the same time, UNHCR staff on the ground said the overall health state of the latest arrivals, particularly the children, was worse than previously. In interviews with UNHCR staff, some of the new arrivals said they had come from Al-Shabaab areas of Gedo and Lower Juba, where insecurity had seriously hampered aid delivery. The relocation operation for recent arrivals who had been encamped on the outskirts of Dadaab’s camps had now transferred nearly 27,000 Somalis into family tents at the Ifo Extension and Kambioos sites.

In Ethiopia’s Dollo Ado camps, UNHCR remained concerned about the extremely poor health of recent arrivals from Somalia. Since early August, some 290 cases of suspected measles and 18 related deaths had been reported. Vaccination continued to be underway in the area’s four refugee camps, targeting all children between the ages of six months and 15 years. At the same time, UNHCR and its partners were continuing to step up health services in the camps. Four satellite clinics had been established. UNHCR planned to further decentralize services so that refugees could access medical care more easily.

More than 3,700 Somali refugees had reached Yemen’s coast so far in August. This marked an earlier than normal start to the traditional peak season for smugglers’ boats to arrive from Bossaso in northern Somalia, and was the highest monthly arrival rate so far this year. The new arrivals told UNHCR staff they had fled Somalia because of the unstable security situation, severe drought, high food prices and lack of job opportunities.

It was testament to the refugees’ desperation that they had chosen to flee to Yemen, which was itself affected by serious unrest. They had crossed the Gulf of Aden on what were often unseaworthy and overcrowded boats. Many did not survive the dangerous crossing. On Monday, two Somalis had drowned when their boat capsized. Nonetheless, more Somalis were expected to arrive in Yemen in the coming months. UNHCR believed many who had fled their homes were already waiting in Bossaso for calmer seas before starting their journey. Yemen hosted the second-largest population of Somali refugees in the region, nearly 192,000, with some 15,000 of them arriving since January.

Libya

Ms. Momal-Vanian said that UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had invited the heads of regional organizations to participate in a meeting today to discuss the situation in Libya. The African Union, the European Union, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, and the League of Arab States had all been invited. The meeting was aimed at developing means for these organizations to continue working in partnership in Libya during the post-conflict phase.

Speaking at a meeting of the Libya Contact Group yesterday in Istanbul, Ian Martin, the UN Special Adviser on Post-Conflict Planning in Libya, said that the priority now was to provide humanitarian assistance and to manage essential services in the fields of health, water and nutrition. UN humanitarian agencies and NGO partners were currently finalizing a plan of action covering a period of 30 days to respond to these priorities, said Mr. Martin.

Ms. Momal-Vanian said that the coming meetings were decisive regarding several questions, notably the assistance to be given to Libya in terms of reconstruction and resource management.

Jemini Pandya of the International Organization for Migration said that IOM had safely evacuated a group of migrants from Tripoli last night after an extremely challenging operation. The 263 people who had been evacuated represented 15 nationalities, with the largest group being Egyptians, and others being from Lebanon, Iraq, Algeria, Bahrain, Mauretania, Sudan, the Philippines, India, Switzerland, the United States, Canada, Italy and Germany. The boat had left Tripoli at about 9.30 p.m., much later than planned due to several issues pertaining to logistics and security. IOM staff on the ground had reported increased shooting around the port area in the later afternoon and early evening. The migrants, en route to Benghazi, were likely to arrive there early on Saturday.

As she spoke, another boat was leaving Benghazi, said Ms. Pandya. The ship had a much larger capacity of about 1,000 people. It was loaded with essential supplies, as well as humanitarian and medical aid as the city was in desperate need of medical staff and supplies. Also on board were 50 humanitarian workers from different organizations who mainly worked in the health sector. The boat was due to arrive in Tripoli late Saturday or early Sunday. Assuming security conditions were right, the IOM-chartered boat would dock and off-load the aid before the migrants were boarded for departure. This would give the organization more time to get the migrants to the port from various points across the city.

This was probably the single most challenging issue of IOM’s operation. Continued fighting in parts of the city, checkpoints and sniper fire were hampering the work. Movement was extremely slow and dangerous and crossing checkpoints manned by different groups with different demands was very challenging. Although IOM had managed to get the 263 migrants to the port, the organization remained deeply concerned that migrants who wanted and needed evacuation assistance might not be able to get it because they could not get to the port. The Sub-Saharan African communities were by and large living on the outskirts of Tripoli, which made things very difficult. The second evacuation operation would aim to assist groups of Bangladeshi, Chinese, Filipino, Indian and Egyptian migrants.

Tarek Jasarevic of the World Health Organization said that WHO and the UN humanitarian team were currently making arrangements to deliver 45 metric tons of medical supplies worth 5.6 million Euros to Tripoli. These supplies, apparently purchased by the Libyan authorities and stored in Tunisia, would be delivered as soon as possible as there was a need for trauma and war injury relief, for example.

Asked about the funding of the World Health Organization programme in Libya which had been announced ten days ago, Mr. Jasarevic said that WHO had received a payment of 100 million Euros to its bank account in Geneva. The organization was now starting to implement the plan which had been developed earlier. WHO estimated that the money could cover the costs of addressing urgent needs for a period of up to three months. However, this money was in no way related to the release of $1.5 billion of frozen Qaddhafi assets yesterday.

Ms. Byrs said that the Humanitarian Country Team for Libya was now revising the original flash appeal to reflect the fast-evolving situation and to meet newly identified humanitarian needs up to the end of the year. The $408 million appeal, launched in May to cover needs up to the end of August, would be revised in early September.

South Sudan

Rupert Colville of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said that the High Commissioner was very concerned about the recent fighting between the Murle and the Lou Nuer communities in Uror County, Jonglei State, South Sudan, which had reportedly resulted in at least 600 deaths, more than 850 wounded, the kidnap of more than 200 children, the burning of more than 7,900 houses and up to 26,000 displaced since 19 August 2011.

The High Commissioner called on the Government of South Sudan to take necessary steps to restore security in Uror County and to ensure the protection of civilians affected by the violence. She welcomed the response of the Government of South Sudan in setting up an investigative committee and the deployment of SPLA troops to act as a deterrent to further violence. The High Commissioner urged the Government to work with both communities to promote reconciliation and reminded the Government of its responsibility to protect, and to ensure good governance, the rule of law and the upholding of human rights, as well as to take necessary action to prevent inter-communal clashes and general instability throughout the country.

The UN remained committed to working with the Government of South Sudan to face the serious challenges it faced in building institutions that strengthen rule of law and respect for human rights. South Sudanese civilians were often the first victims of institutional shortcomings -- including an acute lack of properly trained South Sudanese police and military.

In a separate incident in South Sudan, the High Commissioner had been shocked and outraged to learn of a recent serious assault against the Chief of the Human Rights Section of the UN Mission in South Sudan and her Representative in South Sudan, Benedict Sannoh. On 20 August, Mr. Sannoh had been severely assaulted in a hotel in Juba by around 12 South Sudan police officers who beat, kicked and punched him in a sustained fashion while he was in a fetal position on the floor. Mr. Sannoh was subsequently detained for several hours, before being released and taken to a UN hospital where he remained for five days. He was now out of the country receiving further medical treatment.

This attack against a UN staff member in South Sudan was a serious violation of the Status of Forces Agreement between the UN and South Sudan, as well as international treaties governing UN privileges and immunities. Other incidents of harassment and intimidation of UN staff members by security forces had also been reported in South Sudan in recent months.

The High Commissioner had been in close contact with the leadership of the UN Mission in South Sudan. The Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Hilde Johnson, had raised this very serious incident directly with the President and Foreign Ministry. OHCHR understood that the authorities had indicated they would carry out an investigation.

The High Commissioner considered this incident to be totally unacceptable, and would follow the conduct of that investigation closely. The Government had a clear responsibility to ensure that human rights staff could do their work without fear and intimidation. Unless those responsible were held to account, this would send a chilling message to all those working in the defense of human rights in South Sudan.

Hurricane Irene

Clare Nullis of the World Meteorological Organization said that the US National Hurricane Center in Miami, one of WMO’s Regional Specialized Monitoring Centres, was issuing constant updates on the progress of Hurricane Irene, the first hurricane of the Atlantic season this year.

In its latest update, the National Hurricane Center said that Irene was still battering the Northern Bahamas as a category 3 hurricane on Thursday night. Maximum sustained winds were near 185 km/h. An extremely dangerous storm surge would raise water levels by as much as 2 to 3 meters above normal tide levels over the Bahamas. The surge would be accompanied by large and dangerous waves. Rainfall accumulations between 150 and 300 mm were expected in the Bahamas, said Ms. Nullis.

The National Hurricane Center predicted that the core would move North and stay well offshore of Florida and Georgia on Thursday night and Friday, approaching the coast of North Carolina on Saturday. Some strengthening was possible during today. New watches and warnings had been issued, including a hurricane warning for the North Carolina coastline and a hurricane watch extending northward to New Jersey. The Hurricane Center was also warning people further up the coast to closely monitor the situation. This was the first hurricane to make landfall in the US since Hurricane Ike. The latest warnings were available on http://www.nhc.noaa.gov and on the relevant Facebook page.

Ms. Byrs said that Hurricane Irene had killed two people and forced the evacuation of 1,000 persons in Haiti. Humanitarian actors were responding to heavy flooding in some northern towns. Domestic flights had resumed but shipping activities were still interrupted.

There had also been three deaths in the Dominican Republic and 37,740 people had been evacuated, of whom about 2,681 remained in shelters. Some 6,500 houses had been damaged.

Information on the situation in Puerto Rico, the Bahamas, and the Turks and Caicos Islands were available from the note at the back of the room.


Naming of Tropical Cyclones

Ms. Nullis said that since 1953 Atlantic tropical storms had been named from lists maintained by one of WMO’s hurricane committees. Originally the lists featured only women's names. But in 1979 men's names were introduced to alternate with the women's names. According to this season’s lists, the next two tropical storms which formed in the Atlantic would be called José and Katia.

The only time that there was a change in the list was if a storm was so deadly or costly that the future use of its name on a different storm would be inappropriate for reasons of sensitivity. If that occurred, at an annual meeting by the WMO Tropical Cyclone Committees, the offending name was stricken from the list and selected by another name.

At its meeting last March, WMO’s Regional Association for North America, Central America and the Caribbean’s Hurricane Committee retired two tropical cyclone names in the Atlantic – Igor and Thomas – from the official name rotation because of the deaths and damage they caused in 2010. They would be replaced by Ian and Tobias in 2016.

WTO Agenda

Ankai Xu of the World Trade Organization said that there would be a Dispute Settlement Body meeting on Friday 2 September at 10 a.m., to be followed by a briefing in the afternoon.

WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy would be in Zurich on Tuesday, 30 August to attend the opening event of a Congress of the European Association of Agricultural Economists. He would also meet with the President of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich and Swiss Federal Councilor Johannes Schneider-Amman.

On Wednesday, 31 August Mr. Lamy would attend a plenary session of a Union of French enterprises in Paris.

Other

Ms. Momal-Vanian said that the English and French messages from the Secretary-General on the International Day against Nuclear Tests, to be marked on Monday 29 August, was at the back of the room. The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation and the Permanent Mission of Kazakhstan had organized a seminar to be held at the Palais des Nations at 1 p.m. in Room VIII. The seminar notably included an address by Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, the Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva.

Ms. Momal-Vanian said that the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination had concluded the examination of the reports programmed for its summer session this week. Next week the Committee would gather in private meetings which were primarily aimed at adopting the concluding observations. These observations would be made public at the end of the session on Friday 2 September, in the afternoon.

The Conference on Disarmament would hold its next public meeting on Thursday, 1 September. On Tuesday the President of the Conference, Rodolfo Reyes Rodriguez, had announced that it would dedicate a significant part of its work between now and the end of the session to the preparation of its report on the 2011 session, to be submitted to the General Assembly.

Ms. Momal-Vanian said that 31 August was an official holiday marking Eïd al-Fitr, the end of Ramadan. The Palais des Nations would be closed on that day.

Ms. Nullis said that she had left a note at the back of the room about the WMO Secretary-General being elected Chairman of UN Water, a body which coordinated the work of 28 UN Agencies.