REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Rhéal LeBlanc, Chief of the Press and External Relations Section, chaired the briefing attended by spokespersons for the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, the United Nations Refugee Agency, the World Food Programme and the World Trade Organization.

South Sudan: Grim Situation on the Fifth Anniversary of the Independence

Melissa Fleming, for the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), stated that, as South Sudan marked its fifth anniversary of independence on 9 July, UNHCR remained gravely concerned by the continuing violence in parts of the country and the resulting forced displacement of South Sudanese people, both internally and throughout the neighbouring region.

The world’s youngest nation currently ranked among the countries with the highest levels of conflict-induced population displacement globally. Nearly one in four of the South Sudan’s citizens was displaced within its borders or in neighbouring countries, affecting some 2.6 million people against a population that had stood at 11.3 million in 2013. A large majority were children. Civilians in South Sudan continued to bear the brunt of armed conflict. Sporadic clashes were commonplace, while growing food insecurity and deteriorating economic conditions foretold a grim outlook for the country at large. Agencies reported that the number of food insecure people in the country was expected to increase from 4.3 million to 4.8 million in line with seasonal vulnerabilities and the economic crisis.

Despite the peace agreement that had formally ended the civil war in August 2015, conflict and instability had spread to previously unaffected areas in the Greater Equatoria and Greater Bahr-El-Ghazal regions. Just the previous month, deadly clashes in Wau had resulted in the deaths of more than 40 people while up to 35,000 had fled their homes. Such fighting was characteristic of the trend that had produced fresh refugee outflows this year.

In the nine months that the ceasefire had been observed, Ms. Fleming added, there had been no major return movement from countries of asylum. In that period, the number of internally displaced people had risen by 100,000, while UNHCR had registered nearly 140,000 new refugees. There were now over 860,000 South Sudanese refugees in neighbouring countries, making it the world’s fourth largest refugee producing country, and second largest in sub-Saharan Africa after Somalia.

Overall, the humanitarian response was sorely lacking due to severe underfunding. UNHCR and 42 non-governmental partners were requesting USD 573 million for refugee protection and assistance programmes. With the inter-agency appeal funded at 17 percent (USD 85.4 million), agencies were constrained to prioritize emergency response and life-saving assistance activities. As a result, water, sanitation, hygiene, health and shelter interventions in most of the countries of asylum were below the global standard.

A question was asked on whether political leaders in South Sudan were putting enough effort in resolving the crisis. Ms. Fleming responded that the leaders had pledged to forge peace, but their militias had not necessarily listened. What was being seen was a habit of violence which needed to evolve into the practice of peace. Power-sharing between different leaders, who were issuing conciliatory messages, was in place, but their supporters needed to follow the suit. Unfortunately, on the fifth anniversary today, violence and hunger continued, Ms. Fleming stated.

On whether the South Sudanese were still fleeing to other countries, Ms. Fleming said that in the previous nine months, the number of internally displaced people had gone up by 100,000, whereas the number of refugees had increased by 140,000. Many displaced children were severely malnourished.

Responding to a question on the lack of funding, Ms. Fleming stated that the UNHCR and its humanitarian partners could provide good basic services in safe areas if the funding were forthcoming. Due to the lack of funding, the services were substandard.

Central African Republic: Renewed Fighting Causes New Displacement

Ms. Fleming informed that thousands of people from Central African Republic had crossed the border into Chad and Cameroon to escape renewed tension and fighting since mid-June in their fragile country and the UNHCR was fearing that more would come.

UNHCR staff in southern Chad had helped the Government’s national refugee commission register more than 5,643 CAR refugees in the villages of Sourouh and Mini, located near Mbitoye some three and seven kilometres from the border. Screening and registration of new arrivals was continuing. A further 555 refugees had crossed to Yamba village in eastern Cameroon. The exodus had begun on 12 June when clashes had erupted between livestock herders and local arable farmers in and around the north-west town of Ngaoundaye, Ouham Pende region. Such clashes had become a seasonal occurrence as herders moved their animals across the land, but this year, rival ex-Seleka and anti-Balaka militias had become involved.

The more intense and escalated fighting in 2016 had also affected a further 25,000 to 30,000 people within CAR, including many internally displaced in addition to those fleeing to Chad and Cameroon. New arrivals said that many people had fled to the bush and might try to cross borders if the situation did not improve. UNHCR shared growing international concern about the displacement and the rising tension and clashes, including in Bangui.

The latest violence came barely six months after the election of President Faustin Archange Touadera had ushered in hopes of lasting peace after three years of escalated conflict that had left thousands dead and almost one million displaced. Before the new influx, UNHCR and its partners had been providing protection and assistance to over 67,000 CAR refugees in southern Chad and some 260,000 in Cameroon. There were also 415,000 internally displaced people within CAR. UNHCR had appealed for USD 225.5 million for its CAR situation operations, but had only received USD 24.7 million.

The world needed to keep an eye on Central African Republic, stressed Ms. Fleming.

Asked for her thoughts on the possibility of a renewed warfare, Ms. Fleming said that often wide-spread conflicts started with small sparks. Central African Republic could be spiraling backwards to tensions which were quite dangerous. UNHCR was very concerned that the violence could grow into something much worse, which was why it was issuing an alert to the world. Actions needed to be taken to prevent an escalation.

In a response to another question, Ms. Fleming said that traditionally, there had been clashes between herders and farmers, but now the two opposing militias – ex-Seleka and anti-Balaka – were joining the clashes and fighting each other. Ms. Fleming clarified that the access to some of the areas where clashes were occurring was very limited. Humanitarians were quite restricted in their movements, but they were still doing their best.

On whether there were any compensating improvements in security and law and order, Ms. Fleming offered to connect the journalist to a UNHCR representative in Bangui.

Syria: Humanitarian Update

Responding to a question on Syria, Mr. LeBlanc said that the efforts were continuing with the view of having the talks resume as planned. Mr. de Mistura was closely monitoring the situation in the country. All parties were called upon to abide by the cessation of hostilities agreement. According to a briefing by Office for the Coordination Affairs from the previous day, in 2016, the United Nations and humanitarian partners had delivered humanitarian aid to more than 941,000 civilians in besieged and hard-to-reach areas in Syria. Humanitarian efforts on the ground were continuing as much as possible.

Bettina Luescher, for the World Food Programme (WFP), added that, over the previous month, the WFP had reached 4.1 million people across Syria. WFP was currently commissioning more flights. All of the 18 besieged areas had now been reached. WFP kept urging that all sieges be lifted and that there would be an end to the violence.

UNCTAD: Fourteenth Session to Take Place in Nairobi

Catherine Huissoud, for the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), informed that the information packages on the Fourteenth UNCTAD session, to take place in Nairobi from 17 to 22 July, were available, in English and in French, in Press Room I. All the information on the Conference was online. UNCTAD 14, titled “From Decision to Action”, would bring together Heads of State and Government, Ministers and other prominent players from the business world, civil society and academia to tackle global trade and economic development issues. The quadrennial Conference would provide an opportunity to consider the most appropriate means of delivering on the post-2015 development agenda and bringing prosperity to all. Ms. Huissoud was available for further inquiries, from Geneva until mid-next week, and then from Nairobi.

Secretary-General’s Activities

Mr. LeBlanc informed that the Secretary-General was in China today, where he had spoken to reporters after a meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, with whom he had discussed the situations in Myanmar, Sudan, South Sudan, Syria and elsewhere. They had also discussed the situation on the Korean Peninsula, which remained a grave concern for the region and the world. The Secretary-General continued to call for dialogue as the best path to break the cycle of provocation.

The Secretary-General had also expressed his deep condolences for the loss of life and damage caused by the latest flooding in several provinces in China and expressed the hope that the many displaced could return to their homes as soon as possible. He had also encouraged China’s leaders to create the space needed for the civil society to play a crucial role. Environmental activists, human rights lawyers and defenders, government watchdogs and other civil society groups could act as a catalyst for social progress and economic growth. The world would look to China to complement its remarkable economic advances by giving citizens a full say and role in the political life of their country.

The Secretary-General had also spoken at an event marking the tenth anniversary of the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. As of 27 June, there had been 165 ratifications of the Convention — which, the Secretary-General noted, also meant that 28 Member States had still not ratified. He urged them to do so without further delay, as a matter of basic human dignity and solidarity.

Geneva Events and Press Conference

Mr. LeBlanc said that the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development - the United Nations central platform for the follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted the previous September - would take place in New York from 11 to 20 July 2016.

The High-level Political Forum in 2016 was the first since the adoption of the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs. The session would include voluntary reviews of 22 countries and thematic reviews of progress on the Sustainable Development Goals, including cross-cutting issues, supported by reviews by the ECOSOC functional commissions and other inter-governmental bodies and forums.

The Human Rights Council would reconvene in Room XIX at 3 p.m. today in order to close its thirty-second session, which had been suspended one week earlier.

The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) was meeting today to consider the report of France. Earlier in the week, the Committee had considered the reports of the Philippines and Myanmar, and the following week it would look into the reports of Albania, Turkey, Uruguay and Mali.

The Human Rights Committee would hold a public session on 12 July at 10 a.m, to continue discussing the draft General Comment 6, on the right to life.

Jessica Hermosa, for the World Trade Organization (WTO), informed that the new World Trade Outlook Indicator would be launched on the WTO website at 1 p.m. today. That quarterly document would show how trade would perform in the near future. The Indicator used data on export orders, container and freight activities, car sales and other elements to see how trade would do in the coming months. The Indicator was being launched in Shanghai, ahead of the G20 meeting. An economist was on standby for a briefing, if there was interest.

Ms. Hermosa also informed that the Goods Council would be meeting the following week. One of the items of the agenda would include Russia raising a concern against the European Union’s anti-dumping measures on steel, and the United States’ import measures on imported seafood.

As for negotiations, there would be updates on two issues: development and intellectual property. The chairs of the two negotiations would be providing reports on how they saw the negotiations moving forward.

Ms. Hermosa informed that on 14 July, Liberia would become the Organization’s 163^rd member.

Turning to the activities of the WTO Director-General, Ms. Hermosa informed that on 9 and 10 July, Mr. Azevêdo would attend the meeting of the G20 Trade Ministers in Shanghai, China. On 12 July, DG Azevêdo would meet with representatives of the Global Services Coalition, as well as representatives of IBM and International Chamber of Commerce Brazil. On 13 July, he would talk to Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Chairman of the Senate of the Republic of Kazakhstan, and on 14 July, Mohsen Hassen, Tunisia's Minister of Trade.

Mr. LeBlanc said that the World Health Organization would hold a press conference in Press Room I at 1 p.m. today. Over the past year, up to one billion children had experienced physical, sexual or psychological violence. The World Health Organization and partners were launching seven interlinked strategies to reduce violence against children. The announcement would be under embargo until 7 p.m. on 12 July 2016.
The speakers would be Dr. Alexander Butchart, Coordinator, Prevention of Violence, WHO, and Dr. Christopher Mikton, Technical Officer, Prevention of Violence, WHO.

On 9 July, there would be a press conference related to the Mediterranean concert, in Room XIX at 12:15 p.m. The concert would take place in Room XX the same day at 5:30 p.m. The press conference would discuss music as a link to understanding among the cultural diversity of the Mediterranean. The speakers at the press conference would be Mohamed Auajjar, Ambassador, Permanent Representative of Morocco; Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser, High Representative of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations; Fathallah Sijilmassi, Secretary General of the Union for the Mediterranean; Miguel Ángel Moratinos, President of Onuart Foundation; and Tatxo Benet, Mediapro.

Mr. LeBlanc added that the Lebanese soprano Tania Kassis, in collaboration with the UN Information Centre in Beirut, had launched a new song “Al Ardou Lil Jami3” (“This Land is for All”), which would also be performed live in English and Arabic at the Mediterranean concert on 9 July. The song was a blend of western and eastern tunes and revolved around promoting humanitarian values and combating violence and war.

The webcast for this briefing is available here: http://bit.ly/080716