REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Ahmad Fawzi, Director, a.i., United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired the briefing attended by spokespersons of the World Meteorological Organization, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the International Organization for Migration, the United Nations Refugee Agency, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the World Health Organization, and the International Labour Organization.

UN Secretary-General
Mr. Fawzi said that the Secretary-General had been in Portugal on 12 May, meeting with Prime Minister António Luís Santos da Costa and with the Foreign Minister, and speaking about Portugal’s contribution to peacekeeping and the law of the sea and ocean affairs, as well as the evolving situations in Mozambique and Brazil. He was back in New York today, and on 21 May would be traveling to Qatar to attend the Doha Forum. That would be the first leg of the trip that would take him to the World Humanitarian Summit held in Istanbul on 23 and 24 of May, the Jeju Forum in the Republic of Korea, and the G7 in Japan. The Secretary-General would then be going to the annual DPI-NGO Conference in the Republic of Korea.

Geneva activities

Committees
The Committee against Torture was closing its fifty-seventh session on 13 May in the morning after adopting its concluding observations and recommendations on the reports of France, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and the Philippines. The Committee would hold a press conference at 12:00 p.m. in Press Room 1 (more details below). A roundup would be issued later in the day.

The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination would close its eighty-ninth session at 3 p.m. on 13 May after adopting its concluding observations and recommendations on the reports of Spain, Oman, Rwanda, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Namibia. A roundup would be issued at the end of the day.

The Conference on Disarmament would hold the first plenary of the second part of its 2016 session on 17 May at 10 a.m. in the Council Chamber under the Presidency of Ambassador Tehmina Janjua of Pakistan.

The Committee on the Rights of the Child would meet at Palais Wilson to hold its seventy-second session from 17 May to 3 June, to review the promotion and protection of children's rights under the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and its Optional Protocols in Samoa, Slovakia, Nepal, United Kingdom, Pakistan, Gabon, Bulgaria and Luxembourg. A background release had been issued on 12 May.

Press conferences and other announcements
Mr. Fawzi announced a press conference of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on 13 May at noon in Room III on the Committee against Torture Concluding Observations on France, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Philippines, Israel. The speakers would be Committee Chair Jens Modvig, Felice Gaer, Alessio Bruni, and Essadia Belmir.

Fadela Chaib, for the World Health Organization (WHO), announced a press conference on 13 May at 1 p.m. in Room III, on new WHO recommendations aiming to help health workers provide better care to the more than 200 million girls and women worldwide who lived with female genital mutilation. The speakers would be Dr Lale Say, Coordinator, Adolescents and at-risk populations team, WHO Department of Reproductive Health and Research (RHR), and Dr Doris Chou, Medical Officer, WHO Department of Reproductive Health and Research (RHR).

On 17 May, WHO Director-General Dr Margaret Chan would brief the press at noon in Room III on brief on the upcoming 69^th World Health Assembly which would take place from 23-28 May, and also on WHO’s recent activities.

Ms. Chaib provided some agenda details on the World Health Assembly, which would open at 9.30 a.m. on 23 May, with the Director-General’s speech at 2.30 p.m.. The special guest of the WHA this year would be Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. Press briefings would held every day of the Assembly, in Press Room 1 (except on Tuesday and Friday, when WHA updates would be part of the regular press briefing in Room III). The list of the 3,000 WHA participants would be posted on the WHO website over the weekend before the opening of the Assembly.

In response to questions, Ms. Chaib said that the topic of Zika would be present throughout the WHA, as part of most discussions on international health regulations, the reform of the WHO and the international response of the WHO to health emergencies. She also said that Zika was one of the most important health issues for the WHO at all levels and would be one of the key points of Dr. Chan’s speech. Countries affected by Zika would also speak about their efforts to mitigate the impact of the epidemic. The agenda of the WHA was decided by the members of the Executive Board, but after the formal opening of the Assembly on 23 May and the election of its President, there would be a meeting aimed at deciding whether additional agenda items should be added. Other topics discussed at the WHO would include Ebola, non-communicable disease, migrants’ health, health systems, and many others.

In response to a question, Christian Lindmeier, for the World Health Organization (WHO) clarified that there was a distinction to be made between the advice on measures to be taken by travellers to the Rio Olympics to protect themselves from Zika, and the measures being implemented to help protect the local population. He also reiterated that personal safety around Zika was a whole package, consisting of personal protection, preventive measures taken by authorities, and precautions taken by individuals upon their return. In response to another question, Mr. Lindmeier said that there were many scientific forums in the world discussing Zika. He also mentioned that a vaccine should not be expected in 2016, and would be more likely in 2018.

Finally, Ms. Chaib said that the world health statistics would be released under embargo in the week of 16 May.

Hans von Rohland, for the International Labour Organization (ILO), announced a press conference on 18 May at 10 a.m. in Room III, on the launch of the ILO flagship report, “World Employment and Social Outlook 2016” (WESO). The speakers would be Guy Ryder, ILO Director-General, and Raymond Torres, Director of the ILO Research Department. The report would be under embargo until 18 May at 10 p.m. Geneva time. Mr. von Rohland also said that the report included an estimate of the cost of eradicating extreme and moderate poverty around the world. He then mentioned the annual International Labour Conference which would be starting on 30 May, and announced that the President of the Swiss Confederation would speak that day at 12:30 p.m. in the Assembly Hall.

El Niño

Claire Nullis, for the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), said that WMO had issued today its latest update on El Niño/ La Niña. The El Niño phenomenon, one of the strongest on record, was now weakening very rapidly. However, it was still likely to influence climate patterns in some parts of the world until mid-year, and the significant humanitarian impacts associated with it would continue for much longer than that. The models consulted by WMO indicated that there would be a return to an ENSO-neutral condition by the end of the year. It looked increasingly likely that La Niña would develop in the third quarter of 2016.

In response to questions, Ms. Nullis said that there had been a lot of forward planning in conjunction with El Niño, and preparation had been better than ever. WMO had worked very closely with Governments, especially through the National Meteorological and Hydrological Services, and Governments were quite prepared. Still, it had been particularly difficult to limit the impact of drought. In regards to mosquitoes carrying disease, climate had an impact, but was not the only factor.

La Niña tended to have a global cooling influence on the climate. However, human-induced global warming and climate change was a very powerful factor. There was also a danger of flash floods affecting communities which were recovering from drought.

Turkey

Rupert Colville, for the Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights (OHCHR), said that OHCHR noted the response of a Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson to the High Commissioner’s press release on 10 May about the alarming reports of human rights violations in recent months in south-east Turkey, and in particular the statement that the Government of Turkey would be pleased to welcome a visit by the High Commissioner to the region. The High Commissioner, as a consequence, on 11 May had sent a letter renewing OHCHR’s request to the Turkish Government for its formal agreement to allow a UN Human Rights Office team to have access to the country, in order to independently examine allegations of violations of international law, including conflicting and competing claims.

The High Commissioner had emphasized that full and unhindered access for the UN human rights team to the affected population and locations, authorities, documentation and other relevant materials in south-east Turkey was essential for any credible fact-finding exercise. OHCHR was ready to send a team at the earliest opportunity and, in light of the statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, looked forward to swift official confirmation that this mission would indeed be welcomed and fully supported by the Turkish authorities. Turkey was one of the countries featured in the Committee against Torture concluding observations issued today, to be discussed at the press conference at noon today along with concluding observations on France, Israel, Philippines, Saudi Arabia and Tunisia.

In response to questions, Mr. Colville reiterated the need for a visit of an expert human rights team to do groundwork in Turkey, in order to look more closely into the allegations. The team would require access to all relevant populations and to the locations of the alleged violations: Cizre, Silopi, the Sur district of Diyarbakýr, and various other places. The High Commissioner would be happy to engage with the Turkish Government at the highest levels, once the team would have reported its findings.

In response to another question, Mr. Colville provided a summary of the allegations mentioned in the 10 May press release.

Democratic Republic of Congo

In response to a question,. Mr. Colville said that in attacks allegedly by ADF forces in the Erengeti area at least 500 civilians had been killed in the past 12 months. MONUSCO was sending a team to the area in the coming days. Mr. Colville would check and get back to the press regarding attacks in Kivu.

Gambia

Mr. Colville said that OHCHR remained deeply concerned at the situation of dozens of protestors who had been arrested during peaceful rallies on 14 and 16 April in the Gambian capital Banjul. OHCHR had received worrying reports that some of them, who were still in detention, had been tortured. OHCHR urged the Gambian Government to release all those who had been arrested and detained for simply having exercised their rights to freedom of expression, opinion and assembly.

OHCHR also reiterated their call to the Gambian authorities to launch an impartial investigation into the reported death in custody of Solo Sandeng, Chairman of the youth wing of the opposition United Democratic Party (UDP) on 14 April. OHCHR was deeply worried about the situation of Alhagie Ceesay, Director of the Teranga FM radio station, who had been on trial for sedition and false information since July 2015. OHCHR urged the Gambian Government to clarify his whereabouts, ensure that he was not submitted to torture and ill-treatment, and guarantee that his right to fair trial was fully respected. More details were available in the briefing note.

Vietnam

Mr. Colville said that OHCHR remained deeply concerned about the increasing levels of violence perpetrated against Vietnamese protesters expressing their anger over the mysterious mass deaths of fish along the country’s central coast. OHCHR called on the Government of Vietnam to respect the right to freedom of assembly in line with its international human rights obligations On 8 May, authorities had forcefully broken up demonstrations involving around 3,000 protesters in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. Tear gas had been used to disperse the protesters, and it had been reported that about 300 people had been beaten and arrested during the protests. Some women and children had been among those arrested and hurt. More details were available in the briefing note.

Migrants/refugees

Joel Millman, for the International Organization for Migration (IOM), said that IOM had heard reports from the humanitarian community out of Italy that almost 200 Syrian and Iraqi migrants had been rescued in the Mediterranean. For weeks now, IOM had been wondering whether traffic from the Turkey to Greece route had been diverted to the Central Mediterranean route. However, when the boat did come in, only two Syrians (possibly been long-term residents of Egypt)and no Iraqis had been found. There was still no evidence of the eastern Mediterranean traffic having shifted to the Libya to Italy route. In response to questions regarding the nationalities of the migrants, Mr. Millman mentioned Somali, Sudanese, and Comoros nationals.

As of 13 May, arrival numbers by sea for the whole of Europe were at 188,000 for 2016, whereas at the same time in 2015 they had been at only 92,000. In 2016 so far, there were 500 less deaths than for the same period in 2015, so the transit had become safer. The full update was available here: http://www.iom.int/news/mediterranean-migrant-arrivals-2016-188075-deaths-1357 .

IOM was releasing on 13 May figures on internally displaced people in Libya. Their total was estimated at 417,000 people. Of those, 230,000 or more were migrants, third-country residents in Libya. Approximately 4 per cent of migrants identified in that status, around 10,000 people, were in detention centres. Half of the 417,000 people were minors. More details were available here: http://www.iom.int/news/over-417000-internally-displaced-libya-iom-report .

William Spindler for the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said that approximately 1,000 people of various nationalities, including refugee families and unaccompanied children, had been rescued from the Mediterranean Sea in operations coordinated by Frontex. In one operation carried out on 12 May, some 500 people travelling in two fishing boats that had departed several days earlier from Egypt had been rescued off Sicily, south east of Cape Passero. According to the Italian Coastguard, among this group there had been some Syrians and Iraqis, as well as people of other nationalities. Apart from the two fishing boats that had sailed from Egypt, it was believed that there had been other smaller boats coming from Libya. Disembarkation of the 1,000 people was taking place today at four different locations in southern Italy: Catania, Palermo, Augusta and Crotone, and would probably last the whole day. UNHCR staff would be present and would be giving information and assistance to the persons rescued.

UNHCR continued to advocate for legal pathways for refugees to reach Europe through resettlement and humanitarian admission programmes, family reunification, private sponsorship, humanitarian and refugee student or work visas, etc, as a way to help put an end to the smuggling of human beings.

In response to questions, Mr. Spindler said that the disembarkation mentioned by IOM was the one of the four disembarkations that he had referred to. It was necessary to wait for all the people to disembark, and for UNHCR to talk to them, in order to have definitive clarity on the nationalities represented. There would be an update once more information would be available.

He also said that the leading nationalities in terms of arrivals in Italy in 2016 were: Nigeria (18 per cent), Gambia (10 per cent), Somalia (9 per cent), Ivory Coast (8 per cent), Eritrea (8 per cent), Guinea, Senegal, and others (7 per cent). In conclusion, it was not yet possible to say that there was a shift in routes from the eastern to the central Mediterranean.

Colombia

Mr. Spindler said that in Colombia, UNHCR was seeing increased recent forced displacement in the department of Chocó in the country’s west. In the past two months alone, more than 6,000 people had fled the fighting, as well as ongoing hostilities in the context of the country's civil war. The clashes, around the Baudo, Atrato and San Juan rivers, had also severely restricted the movements of a further 7,000 people. To date, the displacement had mostly affected Afro-Colombians and indigenous people. For those people access to livelihoods, including fishing, hunting and agriculture, had been completely cut off and their children were no longer able to go to school. The magnitude of the situation had overwhelmed the local authorities' ability to respond to basic needs, including food, healthcare, shelter and psychological support.

UNHCR was working in close coordination with the Colombian authorities and other humanitarian agencies to provide emergency assistance and logistical support to the displaced communities. The Government of Colombia was in the final stages of peace talks with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the principal guerrilla force in the country, and had recently announced the launch of formal negotiations with another group, the National Liberation Army (ELN). UNHCR today urgently called on all parties to the conflict to guarantee the safety of the civilian population. More details in the press release: http://www.unhcr.org/5735a0ca6.html

In response to questions, Mr. Spindler said that there was a large number of armed groups in Colombia, some ideologically motivated and some purely criminal, so it was difficult to know the identity of the groups on the ground. He also said that UNHCR was dealing with the consequences of the conflict and not with the conflict itself, and needed to preserve its neutrality. He clarified that in regards to IDPs, the primary responsibility rested with the authorities of the country.

Ethiopia

Christophe Boulierac, for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), provided an update in regards to the abduction of 146 children in the Gambella region of western Ethiopia, who had been taken to South Sudan, on 15 April. Ten more children had been released and returned to Ethiopia on 11 May, in addition to the 19 children previously released, bringing to 29 the total number of children recovered through the negotiations of the Ethiopian and the South Sudanese Governments. UNICEF was working in close collaboration with the Government of Ethiopia and partners on the response plan for those children: family tracing, reintegration, psychological support, basic health care, nutrition services, among others. The first group of children who had been released had been between 4 months old and 9 years old. In the second group of released children, five had been identified as severely malnourished and had been provided with ready to use therapeutic food and treatments. Measles and polio vaccines had been given to all of them. Efforts were underway to recover the remaining children, and UNICEF was calling for their swift and unconditional release to their families.

In response to questions, Mr. Boulierac said that the Ethiopian Government had said the children had been abducted during cattle raids conducted from South Sudan. The cattle raids were not new but tended to become increasingly lethal and were displacing people. An estimated 18,000 people, probably more than half of them children, had been displaced because of the raids in the districts of this region of Ethiopia.