REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Ahmad Fawzi, Director a.i. of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired the briefing, which was attended by Spokespersons for the United Nations Refugee Agency, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, International Organization for Migration, United Nations Development Programme, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, United Nations Children’s Fund, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, World Health Organization and the World Trade Organization.

Signing of the Paris Agreement

Mr. Fawzi informed that more than 165 countries had indicated that they would sign the historic climate change agreement reached in Paris in December at a signature ceremony hosted by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. More than 60 Heads of State and Government were expected at the event, which would start today at 8:30 a.m. New York time, and which would be broadcast live.

Geneva Activities and Press Conferences

The Committee against Torture was beginning this morning the review of the report of Saudi Arabia. On Monday, 25 April in the afternoon, it would hear answers from the Saudi delegation to the questions raised this morning by Committee experts. During this fifty-seventh session, which was taking place at the first floor conference room of Palais Wilson until 13 May, the Committee would also review the reports of Turkey, Philippines and Israel.

The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination would open its eighty-ninth session at the Palais Wilson (ground floor) on 25 April. During the session, which would continue until 13 May, the Committee would review the reports of Spain, Oman, Rwanda, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Namibia.

The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities had closed its fifteenth session the previous day. The concluding observations of the Committee on the reports of the seven countries reviewed during this session - Chile, Lithuania, Portugal, Serbia, Slovakia, Thailand and Uganda - would be made available on the webpage of the session on 25 April.

Today, 22 April at 2 p.m. in Press Room I, the World Health Organization would hold a press conference on the occasion of World Malaria Day 2016, on a push to eliminate Malaria. WHO was releasing a concise analysis of which countries were on track to or had the potential to eliminate Malaria by 2020. The speaker would be Dr. Pedro Alonso, Director of the Global Malaria Programme, WHO.

Today, at 6.30 p.m. in Hall XIV, the Special Envoy for Syria would hold a press stakeout.

On 25 April at 12.15 p.m., in Press Room III, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights would brief on the human rights situation in Iraq. Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights Kate Gilmore would discuss her week-long mission to Baghdad, Najaf, Erbil and Dohuk Internally Displaced Persons camps.

Catherine Huissoud, for the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), said that UNCTAD was publishing an update to the B-to-C e-commerce index, which had been initially published in 2015 and which showed the disposition of developing countries to conducting electronic commerce. The study covered 137 economies and some 97 per cent of the world population. More information was available in the press release; journalists could contact the experts directly for further information.

Ms. Huissoud also reminded of a press conference on the publication of the annual socio-economic report by the Economic Commission for Asia and Pacific (ESCAP), which would take place in Press Room I on 27 April at 11 a.m..

Jessica Hermosa, for the World Trade Organization (WTO), informed that the Rules Week would take place at the World Trade Organization the following week, with the main theme of steel. Most of the meetings would be on rules and how Governments often favoured their own industries. The previous Monday, 34 countries had met in Brussels to discuss the steel industry crisis, so the meeting at the WTO could be an opportunity to move discussions forward. In that context, meetings of two committees would take place. The Anti-dumping Committee would review dumping practices in a number of countries; for March alone, notifications against dumping came from the United States, European Union, Russia, India, Turkey, Brazil and Mexico. The second committee meeting would be on subsidised and countervailing measures, where there would be some interest in China, as written questions had been submitted in advance to China on its steel and other sectors.

Director-General Roberto Azevedo was going to Brazil the following week where he would address the World Environmental Law Congress, as well as the African Group retreat.

Ms. Hermosa also informed that Malawi was going through a trade policy review the following week.

Agreement between the Central African Forest Initiative and the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Sarah Bel, for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), said that the signing ceremony of a major agreement between the Central African Forest Initiative (CAFI) and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to address deforestation and forest degradation in the country would take place in the Delegates Restaurant of the Palais des Nations at 12:30 p.m. today.

Leslie Ouarzazi, Programme Manager for the United Nations Collaborative Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries (REDD) at UNDP, said that it was an important agreement, something the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Government had been waiting for since 2009. In 2012, the Government had validated a national REDD+ strategy. The Democratic People’s Republic of the Congo hosted the second largest tropical forest in the world. It was the largest agreement concluded under REDD+ in Africa. Thanks to the amount of USD 200 million, the Democratic Republic of the Congo would be able to start implementing the strategy and address the main causes of deforestation. The priority for the Government was twofold: to implement reforms at the national level to improve land use management, and invest in specific hotspots of deforestation to foster green growth and sustainable rural development. The idea was to address, at the local and subnational levels, all drivers of deforestation.

Responding to a question, Ms. Ouarzazi explained that the problem was that the vast majority of forest production was illegal. There was a critical lack of the formalization of the sector and not enough big industries willing to invest in concessions there. The priority for the Government was to make sure that sustainable policies in forestry could be defined, and to formalize the sector. Another priority was fighting off illegal activities, which were adversely affecting the forestry sector. Lifting of the moratorium on logging was not the key issue. The Government was committed to meeting necessary conditions in a phased approach, said Ms. Ouarzazi.

World Immunization Week

Christophe Boulierac, for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), informed that almost two thirds of children who had not been immunized with basic vaccines lived in countries that were either partially or entirely affected by conflict. Of countries in conflict, South Sudan had the highest percentage of unimmunized children, with 61 per cent not receiving the most basic childhood vaccines, followed by Somalia (58 per cent) and Syria (57 per cent).

Conflict created an ideal environment for disease outbreaks, and when medical services were available, insecurity in the area often prevented them from reaching children. Measles, diarrhea, respiratory infections and malnutrition were major causes of childhood illness and death, and in conflict and emergencies their effects could worsen. Overcrowding and lack of basic necessities like food, water and shelter made children even more vulnerable to disease.

Vaccination, particularly against highly contagious measles, was a high priority in humanitarian emergencies and was a central part of UNICEF’s response to protect children’s health in such settings. Immunization was a vital service that deserved and required protection from all parties to a conflict.

In Syria, Mr. Boulierac said that the immunization levels had plummeted from over 80 per cent in 2010, prior to the conflict, to 43 per cent in 2014. Polio, for instance, had resurfaced in the country in 2013, after 14 years. UNICEF had participated in the inter-agency convoy in Homs the previous day to Ar-Rastan town, delivering urgent assistance for 122,500 people in need. UNICEF provided support with vaccines, in time for the nationwide routine vaccination campaign starting the following week. In addition, UNICEF supplied micronutrients, diarrhea kits, high energy protein biscuits, and educational supplies.

In Libya, the first national polio vaccination campaign in two years had been completed the previous day. Some 1.2 million children were expected to have been reached. UNICEF had provided the vaccines, while WHO had covered the technical and delivery costs of the campaign. Ahead of the campaign, UNICEF had provided 1.5 million doses of polio vaccines to the country, through a special flight to the Mitiga Airport in Tripoli. The shipment contained enough vaccines to cover nearly 1.2 million children below the age of six. WHO had catered for all the operational costs of the campaign as well as the technical assistance.

Libya had been polio free since 1991. Conflict and violence had interrupted routine immunization against polio, mandatory since 1970. The campaign was the first since 2014. It was implemented across Libya’s 64 districts, and included 2,000 trained vaccinators working in 600 health facilities.

Tarik Jašarević, for the World Health Organization (WHO), stressed that Libya was polio-free and it was hoped that it would remain that way. He said that the country was facing numerous health-related challenges; for example, 80 per cent of nurses had left the country and warehouses had been destroyed, particularly in the east. There was a shortage of medicine and a very limited funding for the health sector. WHO had asked for USD 50 million funding for 2016, very little of which had been received. WHO was trying to support health care providers in the country to the degree possible, under the given circumstances.

Syria

Replying to a question on the number of people who had died in Syria, Mr. Fawzi said that Special Envoy Da Mistura, in an interview, had indeed referred to the figure of 400,000. Mr. Fawzi said that the question on the figures should be posed to the Special Envoy directly at a press stakeout later in the day.

Jens Laerke, for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), responded that OCHA had never independently and on its own provided casualty figures. It did not have the expertise or mandate to collect figures; the numbers being used were normally between 250,000 and 270,000 at least.

Election of the Next Director-General of the World Health Organization

Mr. Jašarević said that the process to elect the next Director-General of the World Health Organization was starting today. Member States could nominate candidates until 22 September, when the submitted names would be made public. In October, candidates would be given a chance to interact in a web forum on the WHO site, and then present their platforms. In January 2017, the Executive Board would use the electronic voting system to draw up a short list of five candidates, who would then be interviewed. Up to three candidates would be voted on by the World Health Assembly in May 2017, and the selected candidate would take over on 1 July 2017.

Asked about the transparency of the process, Mr. Jašarević said that the process had been revised since the previous cycle. The code of conduct had set up some requirements, including openness, dignity, equity and disclosure. In October and November, the candidates would be able to interact with Member States. Before, the Executive Board used to put forward only one name, and this time there would be up to three candidates presented to the Assembly. Mr. Jašarević would check whether the final voting tally by the World Health Assembly would be published.

Ecuador Earthquake

Leo Dobbs, for the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), provided an update on the aid relief efforts in Ecuador. The distribution of core relief items provided by UNHCR was planned to begin today in order to assist the people affected by the earthquake. The relief effort was subject to agreement with the authorities locally. The materials, including some 900 tents, 15,000 sleeping mats, 18,000 repellent-impregnated mosquito nets, plastic sheets and kitchen sets, had left UNHCR's global logistics hub in Copenhagen and arrived in Quito on 20 April. They had then been loaded onto 16 trucks and transported over badly damaged roads to Santo Domingo, in the centre of the country, and would be taken today to three locations in Manabi Province: Manta, Pernales and Portoviejo.

The aim was to deliver those items to some 40,000 people – refugees, asylum-seekers and local citizens alike – in the communities most affected by the earthquake. UNHCR had already delivered tents and plastic sheeting to Esmeraldas, Jama and Canoa, and had begun work on the construction of a camp to provide essential shelter to scores of displaced families.

Mr. Dobbs said that at least 580 people had died in the 7.8 magnitude quake and over 8,000 people were injured. In the worst-affected areas, approximately 40,000 people still needed emergency relief items, such as tents and jerry cans. Those people were particularly at risk, as many were refugees from neighbouring Colombia. Ecuador was the biggest refugee-hosting country in Latin America, providing international protection to over 200,000 Colombian refugees, many of whom had settled in the earthquake-affected areas.

Responding to a question, Mr. Dobbs clarified that the UNHCR was currently helping 40,000 people who needed help.

Joel Millman, for the International Organization for Migration (IOM), said that IOM had upped its funding from the Migration Emergency Funding Mechanism from USD 100,000 to USD 500,000. The money would fund initial emergency response activities prioritized by the Government, in line with a forthcoming flash appeal. IOM would lead the Camp Coordination and Camp Management Cluster and so-called Shelter and Non-Food Item Cluster of aid agencies. In the process, IOM would work closely with the Government, United Nations agencies and international non-governmental organizations.

Mr. Laerke informed that a flash appeal for Ecuador would be published later in the day.

Mediterranean Crossings

Mr. Millman said that the information on the tragedy off the Libyan cost was still scarce. Forty-one people were known to have survived and were in Greece. Arrivals to Greece, which had been down to zero, were creeping back up and amounted to 150 per day. The route might be picking back up, which could be due to the improving weather or the ingenuity of smugglers. There could still be a lot of demand in Turkey, and if there was demand, supply could be found.

Overall, IOM estimated that 180,245 migrants and refugees had entered Europe by sea in 2016, arriving in Italy, Greece, Cyprus and Spain. The latest figures for fatalities stood at 1,232, including the estimated 500 from the aforementioned tragedy off Libya.

Displacement in the Lake Chad Basin

Mr. Millman stated that IOM had reported three million people had been displaced so far by Boko Haram violence in the Lake Chad area. The area included four countries – Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon and Chad. That was probably related to the Mediterranean crossings through Libya going up, even though there was no definitely established correlation.

Burundi

Mr. Dobbs for UNHCR said that 25 April would mark the one year anniversary of the Burundi crisis. Almost 260,000 people had fled to nearby countries and thousands more could join them over the rest of the year unless a political solution was found and a descent into civil war averted. People continued to arrive to neighbouring countries, even if in smaller numbers. Many asylum seekers or new arrivals reported human rights abuses in Burundi, including torture, sexual violence, arbitrary detention, intimidation, forced recruitment and killings. Continuing international support was needed to help ease the tension and encourage an inclusive dialogue. UNHCR was seeking almost USD 175 million for its Burundi crisis operations in 2016, and was struggling to provide the necessary services.

Meanwhile, the worsening economic conditions inside Burundi could exacerbate the situation, fueling further displacement and making return conditions less favourable. Most of the refugees and thousands of internally displaced would probably not return home under present conditions. For those in Tanzania, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda, conditions in exile were already tough enough, and a large influx would make their lives even more challenging.

On the violence in United Nations refugee camps, Mr. Dobbs said that there were concerns over such disturbing reports, which could not be confirmed thus far. Some camps were crowded and safe zones there had limits. UNHCR was following up to establish whether violence was happening and whether the regime’s opponents were being followed. Mr. Dobbs acknowledged that sexual and gender-based violence was indeed a problem in camps.

Thailand

Ravina Shamdasani, for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), stated that the High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein had expressed growing concern about the military’s deepening role in Thailand’s civilian administration, as well as tight curbs on dissent, as the Kingdom prepared to vote on a final draft Constitution.

High Commissioner Zeid said that several critics of the draft Constitution had already been arbitrarily arrested, detained and harassed since the draft had been made public at the end of March. This week, former Government Minister Watana Muangsook had been detained by the military over remarks he posted on social media criticizing the draft. He had been released on bail the previous day.

The High Commissioner expressed particular concern that the clampdown on criticism would intensify following hard line comments by the Prime Minister and other senior Government figures. A new law governing the referendum placed limits on groups and individuals advocating for or against the draft Constitution. The law, which was awaiting Royal assent, could be interpreted arbitrarily and used against opponents. While the High Commissioner said that he appreciated that the public had been allowed to make submissions and some human rights provisions had been incorporated into the draft Constitution, he stressed the need for the general public, members of political parties, civil society, including non-governmental organizations, journalists and academics, to be given the space to express their views without fear of harassment, reprisals or arrests.

Ms. Shamdasani said that, since the military coup of 2014, the Thai Government had issued a number of new orders to strengthen the role of the military in policy-making and law enforcement after years of political upheaval and violent protests. The final draft Constitution released in March institutionalised the role of the military in policy making and law enforcement. Section 265 and 279 of the draft provided for the legalisation and continuation of military orders issued under Article 44 of the Interim Constitution, which had effectively allowed the head of the National Council for Peace and Order to issue any legislative, executive or judicial order. Over the past year, 61 such orders had been issued under Article 44. The High Commissioner repeated his call for all cases involving civilians to be transferred from military to civilian courts. He appealed to the Thai Government to fully abide by the international human rights treaties it has ratified.

In a reply to a question, Ms. Shamdasani said that since January 2016, at least 85 people had been detained or arrested, some of whom had been sent to “attitude adjustment” camps for a number of days. One person, for example, had been sent to such venues several times. On another question, Ms. Shamdasani said that people were being summoned and sent away for expressing their views. It thus had a chilling effect and sent a message that no criticism would be tolerated.

Ms. Shamdasani explained that there were clauses in the draft Constitution which provided that the role of the military administration would continue to operate as legal until a cabinet had taken its place. It could also vet the names put forward to the Senate. Other articles provided for the continuation of the orders put forward by the military administration.

Responding to El Niño

Mr. Laerke for OCHA informed that more than 60 million people across the world had been affected by drought, flooding and other extreme weather events triggered by the current El Niño, one of the strongest ever recorded. People urgently needed food, nutrition, health and water and sanitation services to get through the crisis, and support to build resilience to withstand future climate-induced emergencies.

Many countries were seeking international support for their humanitarian response plans while regional plans were being developed. Combined, those plans currently requested USD 3 billion, and the funding gap was over USD 2 billion. The Emergency Relief Coordinator, Stephen O'Brien, was gathering affected countries, regional organisations, UN agencies, NGOs and international donors in a Call for Support and Action in Geneva to highlight the scale of the crisis and the current response, and focus attention on the acute needs of affected people. The meeting would be open to the press.

Mr. Laerke said that a press briefing with high-level representatives from the meeting was scheduled in Press Room III immediately after the meeting, at 4:30 p.m. on 26 April.

The webcast for this briefing is available here: http://bit.ly/unog220416