REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Corinne Momal-Vanian, Director of the UN Information Service in Geneva, chaired the briefing, which was attended by the Spokespersons for the World Food Programme, Human Rights Council, the International Organization for Migration, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, and the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Syria

Dibeh Fakhr, for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), reminded that that International Women’s Day would take place on Sunday, and that four years since the beginning of the Syria conflict would be marked the week after. On that occasion, the ICRC and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies had decided to communicate on women, to talk about the plight of Syrian women, of which four million were in need of many basic services including health services. The aim would be to show how these women were suffering from the consequences of the conflict, but also talk about the resilience they were showing by finding ways to cope and help their families survive, as many women were in charge of their families because of dead, detained or missing husbands.

Benoit Carpentier, from the International Federation of Red and Red Crescent Societies, said that they would issue a joint call to support and protect women coping with the conflict in Syria, who represented four million out of the ten million people displaced by the conflict. 5,000 of those women were pregnant, and the two bodies wanted a special focus on them. The focus on women was important as they were in charge of households, children and education, and generally of the next generation.

Patrick Hamilton, for the ICRC, added that ICRC female volunteers and staff were exposed to risks every day of the crisis. A number of them had been killed and injured over the previous four years.

The humanitarian situation in Syria was going from catastrophic to even worse. The violence continued to escalate, with grave and repeated violations of international humanitarian law committed all around the country by all of the actors participating in the conflict. The figures regarding humanitarian consequences were well known, with the UN and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights talking about some 200,000 killed, a million injured, half the population displaced, and tens of thousands of people reported missing or detained. The healthcare network had been largely shattered, as well as the essential water system which had been constantly under attack, potentially causing even more problems in the years ahead. The economy was in a difficult state and the resilience of most Syrians had been severely reduced by the ongoing crisis.

For humanitarians, the situation represented an increasingly difficult context to work in. The Arab Red Crescent Society, the ICRC’s key partner in this context, had suffered over the last four years with 40 of their volunteers killed. Four years on, it remained a particularly difficult context for the population and humanitarian actors. The ICRC had 300 staff with offices in Damascus and Aleppo, who were continuously trying to engage with all stakeholders so that humanitarian assistance could get to the people who needed it.

The ICRC continued to ask different fighting parties to respect international humanitarian law, to pass the message that medical personnel and health facilities should be protected, for people to continue to have access to the healthcare they needed, and that humanitarian assistance continue to be delivered all around the country, but particularly in the besieged areas.

Asked whether there had been any improvement in the way the Islamic State was treating women after ICRC’s contact with the militants, Mr. Hamilton said that the group controlled the territory where some 10 million people lived in Syria and Iraq. ICRC had reached out to the group in order to ensure that basic services were provided to the population under their control. Access had been a key issue in Syria in particular, but also in Iraq, not only with the Islamic State, but with others as well. ICRC was continuing to work on addressing the needs of the vulnerable population, including women.

On whether the ICRC was aware of any progress in bringing women to meaningful participation in peace talks, Mr. Hamilton said that the ICRC, as a neutral humanitarian actor, was not involved in political processes. ICRC was aware of local efforts to provide for truces or ceasefires, and was ready to help with such locally generated reconciliation efforts. ICRC was thus engaging with women’s groups at the level of such grassroots initiatives.

Answering a question on the access to Aleppo, the ICRC said that the UN initiative on the freeze zone was a political initiative, which the ICRC could not comment on. ICRC certainly appreciated any efforts which could lead to a negotiated solution to the crisis. ICRC had had presence in Aleppo since the beginning of the crisis. ICRC had good contacts in Aleppo with all sides on the front lines, and an ICRC representative had recently ensured that 17 people in wheelchairs were allowed to cross the front lines and were provided necessary care in the Government-controlled areas. Tishrin had been reduced to rubble, where many people were struggling to survive; ICRC had just managed to provide them with basic subsistence provisions.

Syrian refugees in Turkey

Elisabeth Byrs, for the World Food Programme (WFP), stated that Turkey was the country which welcomed the highest number of refugees, around 1,700,000, in 20 camps and outside of camps, across the country.

She explained that since 2011, WFP had been providing food assistance to the most vulnerable Syrian refugees through an innovative electronic voucher (e-food card) system. That system replacing food vouchers was making it possible for refugees to buy their food in shops like anybody else. Unfortunately, due to a critical shortage of funding, WFP was unable to provide assistance at the same levels as before.

In January, WFP had assisted 220,000 refugees in 20 camps throughout the country in partnership with the Turkish Red Crescent (TRC/Kizilay) and the Prime Ministry Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD). In the month of February, WFP had been forced to reduce the number of people assisted from 220,000 to 154,000, after withdrawing from nine camps.

Ms. Byrs emphasized how important that system was for refugees. The host country had already spent USD 4.5 billion to protect and assist the refugees since the beginning of the crisis. Since 2011, WFP had injected almost USD 700 million into the Turkish economy through its e-food card program and large-scale food purchases.

Predicting donation amounts was a real challenge for WFP; it was necessary to know those amounts before informing refugees outside of camps that WFP would launch assistance. WFP would require USD 9 million each month for its assistance to Syrian refugees in the country. That would mean a total projected funding shortfall of USD 71 million in donations for 2015. Given that the numbers of refugees was foreseen to increase, retaining and extending that e-card system would be essential.

Answering a question about WFP’s relations with the Government, Ms. Byrs said that they had a really close partnership and those e-cards were credited twice a month by the WFP (50 Turkish lira) and Turkish Government (35 Turkish lira). Since 2011, WFP had bought around USD 585 million worth of food from Turkey and in 2014, Turkey had been ranked as the WFP’s top supplier of food in the world with almost 600,000 metric tons of food, valued at USD 380 million procured from 28 different Turkish suppliers.

Rescues at sea

Leonard Doyle, for the International Organization for Migration (IOM), stated that IOM Italy reported that 941 migrants hade been rescued in the Channel of Sicily this week. There was still no detailed breakdown on their nationalities, although most of the survivors appeared to be sub Saharan Africans and Eritreans, as well as Syrians and Palestinians. At least 50 persons had reportedly drowned over the previous days.

The migrants had been rescued from several rubber dinghies and wooden fishing boats and had been brought to the Sicilian ports of Porto Empedocle, Augusta and Pozzallo. Rescuers included the Italian Coast Guard, an Italian Navy ship, operating in the framework of European Union’s Triton operation, and a commercial ship.

Many of the migrants who had spoken with members of IOM’s team explained that, with violence rising across Libya, it was no longer safe for Africans to remain in the cities, where many had previously found work in construction or cleaning homes. Those of African appearance were particularly restricted and discriminated against. Other migrants had spoken of rampaging gangs of robbers, who had raided African homes, kicking in doors and demanding cash.

Mr. Doyle said that the rising tide of African migrants leaving Libya reflected not only the growing dangers inside Libya, but also what appeared to be a calculation by human smuggling gangs throughout West Africa that Libya, with its proximity to Italy’s Lampedusa island, remained the best route to Europe for undocumented migrants.

Of over 8,000 arrivals by sea in 2015’s first two months, nearly 1,000 had come from Senegal and the Gambia – both countries not previously identified with the smuggling industry in Libya. There had also been an increase of Senegalese migrants using Tunis as an air-bridge to Libya. They flew into the Tunisian capital on one of three weekly flights, then travelled to Libya to find smugglers to send them to Europe.

Human Rights Council

Rolando Gomez, for the Human Rights Council (HRC), provided details of the programme for the Human Rights Council meetings on 6 March. The Council’s meeting had started at 9 a.m, and a full day discussion on human rights and climate change was taking place.

The aim of the meeting was to address the adverse effect of climate change on the full and effective enjoyment of human rights. Opening remarks were given by the Deputy High Commissioner Flavia Pansieri, and a video message by the UN Secretary-General was also shown. Panellists included the President of Kiribati and Mary Robinson, President of the Foundation Climate Justice and former High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Mr. Gomez said that the President of Kiribati called on States to redouble their efforts to achieve real actions on the ground to address the adverse effect of climate change on the enjoyment of human rights. The President declared that climate change was a moral issue and not an economic one.

The afternoon's discussion would begin at 3 p.m, when participants would address the adverse effect of climate change on state efforts to realize the right to food. It would feature a video message by the Special rapporteur on the right to food, while the panellists would include the Prime Minister of Tuvalu, another small island state.

Mr. Gomez reminded that the previous day the Council had concluded its high level segment which lasted for four days. In total, there had been 92 speakers. The Council had also held an interactive discussion with the High Commissioner which lasted most of the day on 5 March, during which 85 States and 13 NGOs delivered statements highlighting numerous issues and countries’ situations noted in the High Commissioner’s report.

Climate change

Rupert Colville, for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), also drew media attention to today’s full-day panel discussion at the Human Rights Council, examining the potentially devastating impact of climate change on human rights.

The panelists, as mentioned by Mr. Gomez, included the President of Kiribati, and the Prime Minister of Tuvalu, two Pacific Island States which were on the frontline of the global battle against climate change.

Opening the discussion, Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights Flavia Pansieri had told the Council that human-induced climate change was not only an assault on the world’s shared ecosystem but it also undercut the rights to health, to food, to water and sanitation, to adequate housing and – for the people of small island states and coastal communities – even the right to self-determination.

Mr. Colville stated that, if sea levels continued to rise at the current rate, those low-lying Pacific states could be submerged within decades. Some of their citizens had already been forced out of their homes. The two Governments were struggling to supply their people with adequate supplies of food and clean drinking water. They were now preparing for a time when they might have to become climate change “refugees”. In January, a minister from Kiribati had told the Human Rights Council that the Government was buying land offshore and providing people with the skills to “migrate with dignity” when their islands were no longer habitable.

If the islands of Kiribati and Tuvalu were to disappear beneath the waves, all the trappings of a modern state - government buildings, courts, hospitals and schools – would vanish with them. Their peoples’ right to self-determination would be undermined. Their leaders would have to find ways of reconstituting their States elsewhere, or persuade another Government to provide their citizens with passports, welfare and protection. Otherwise, such “climate change refugees” would become stateless.

Their stories were one small aspect of a massive problem which could affect many millions of people over the decades to come, with dire economic social and political consequences.

Mr. Colville said that the OHCHR was calling for human rights standards to be put front and centre of discussions on mitigating the negative impacts of climate change. Any action designed to limit climate change ought to have peoples’ rights at its core. That should be taken into account when the UN Climate Change Conference convened in Paris at the end of the year to draw up a new global agreement.

Indonesia death penalty

Mr. Colville said that the OHCHR was urging the Government of Indonesia to refrain from executing individuals convicted of drug offences by exercising its constitutional authority to grant clemency. Regrettably, six people found guilty of drug offences had been executed in January and several others are due to face the firing squad imminently.

While Indonesia's relentless efforts to fight the scourge of drug trafficking were understandable, that was not the way to do it, Mr. Colville stressed. In countries which had not abolished the death penalty, international human rights jurisprudence required that capital punishment might only be imposed for the ‘most serious crimes’ of murder or intentional killing. Drug-related offences did not fall under that threshold of 'most serious crimes'.

As the High Commissioner had stressed at the Human Rights Council the previous day, there was no evidence that the death penalty deterred drug crimes or any other crimes more than other forms of punishment. It was not the severity of punishment that deterred wrongdoers, but its certainty. The High Commissioner had also referred to a note issued by the International Narcotics Control Board on 4 March 2014, which encouraged the abolition of the death penalty for drug-related offences.

OHCHR called on the Indonesian authorities to reinstate the moratorium on the death penalty and conduct a thorough review of all requests for pardon with a view to commutation of sentence. OHCHR understood that reports had emerged in the previous few hours indicating that the executions might have been put on hold.

Asked to comment on whether the death penalty was a human rights or a sovereign issue, as some States had argued at the Human Rights Council this week, Mr. Colville said that the right to life was clearly a human rights issue. There was a General Assembly resolution on that issue every year, with numbers of supporters steadily growing year after year. There were whole regions which had abolished it completely, such as Europe, with the exception of Belarus. The Human Rights Committee, as the treaty body in charge of the monitoring of the implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, believed that, if applied at all, the death penalty should be executed only for the most serious crimes, such as murder.

World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction

Denis McLean, for the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR), stated that at the World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction, from 14 to 18 March, the international community was set to adopt a new framework that would guide global efforts to rein in disaster mortality and economic losses over the coming decade. The World Conference in Sendai, Japan, was the first since 2005, when countries had adopted the Hyogo Framework for Action, an all-encompassing, 10-year programme. In addition to giving details of what would be on the table in Sendai, the press briefing later in the day would give details of the impact of the Hyogo Framework for Action and provide disaster data for the previous decade.

The briefing on the Conference would take place in Press Room I at 4 p.m. today. Margareta Wahlström, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction, would address the media.

International Women’s Day

Ms. Momal-Vanian said that International Women’s Day was on Sunday, 8 March. On that occasion, the UN Information Service and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) would screen “Des Femms et des Hommes”, as a part of the Cine ONU series. The film director Frédérique Bedos would be present. The screening would take place in Room XVIII, at 5 p.m. today. UNCTAD Secretary-General Mukhisa Kituyi and UNOG Acting Director-General Michael Møller would address the audience, and a panel discussion would be held following the screening.

The message of the Secretary-General on the occasion of International Women’s Day was distributed. A number of other international organizations were also conducting activities, of which journalists had been informed.

Mr. Doyle said that more women were on the move than ever before. They represented approximately half of the world’s one billion migrants and were approximately half of the estimated 51 million displaced people worldwide. On the occasion of International Women’s Day, IOM called on the international community to ensure the empowerment of migrant and displaced women through the full realization of their human rights.

Geneva activities

Ms. Momal-Vanian said that the Conference on Disarmament was going to hear from the Foreign Minister of Finland on 9 March at 3:30 p.m. The Conference should continue, immediately afterwards, with a discussion on the prevention of the arms race in outer space. A plenary session was also planned for 10 March.

The Committee for the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights would present their concluding observations during their closing sessions this afternoon.

Mr. Colville announced that the Annual Sergio Vieira de Mello Debate would take place at the Assembly Hall of the Palais des Nations on 12 March at 6:30 p.m. The topic this year would be “Leadership Challenges in a World in Turmoil”. The event, which was organized by the Sergio Vieira de Mello Foundation and the Graduate Institute Geneva, would be hosted by CNN anchor Christiane Amanpour, and the first half an hour shown on CNN. Main panellists would be Antonio Guterres, High Commissioner for Refugees, and Zeid Ra’ad al Hussein, High Commissioner for Human Rights. People from outside were welcome at the event, but they needed to register in advance, by 10 March. More information was available at: www.graduateinstitute.ch/palais.

Spokespersons for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the World Health Organization, the International Labour Organization and the United Nations Refugee Agency were also present, but did not brief.
The webcast for this briefing is available here: …http://bit.ly/unog030615