REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Alessandra Vellucci, Director, United Nations Information Service, chaired the briefing attended by the spokespersons for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the United Nations Refugee Agency, the World Food Programme, the World Health Organization, and the International Organization for Migration.

Human Rights Council 34^th session

On behalf of Rolando Gomez of the Human Rights Council (HRC), Ms. Vellucci said that the Human Rights Council was voting and there were 30 draft resolutions pending for action today. The session would close today after all votes were concluded and after the President announced the appointments of four members of the Expert Mechanism on the rights of indigenous peoples and three special procedures mandate holders.

Syria

Ms. Vellucci confirmed on behalf of the Office of the United Nations Special Envoy for Syria (OSE), that the Special Envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, was beginning formal engagement with the invitees today. He would be meeting the Government of Syria delegation at 11 a.m., and the delegation of the Syrian opposition (announced on 11 February) at 4 p.m. A press stakeout following those meetings would be announced later today.

On 23 March, Deputy Special Envoy Ramzy had paid courtesy calls on all the invitees in their hotels as announced.

In response to a comment regarding a media advisory sent out late, Ms. Vellucci apologized for the delay because of a change of the email system which was underway. The IT services were aware of it and were working around the clock to solve the problem.

Ms. Vellucci also acknowledged requests for more visibility on the planning of media opportunities. There was a possibility that the Government and the opposition would organize press stakeouts right after the meetings with Mr. de Mistura, but that was to be confirmed. Over the weekend there would be meetings and media activities around arrivals and possibly stakeouts. Access to the Palais was possible from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. over the weekend for the non-permanently accredited journalists. Ms. Vellucci also confirmed that Mr. de Mistura was expected to be traveling to Jordan in the coming days but the date was not confirmed.

Jens Laerke, for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said that the Conference on Supporting the future of Syria and the region would take place on 4 and 5 April 2017 in Brussels. The Conference was co-chaired by the UN, by the European Union and five Member States. The press was invited to cover the conference. The first day would see some thematic sessions, feeding into the main event on 5 April.

The objectives of the conference, to which participants had been invited at the ministerial level, were to assess where the international community stood collectively in fulfilling commitments made at the Supporting Syria and the Region conference in London in February 2016, and consider the additional resources and requirements needed to further support Syria. It would also reconfirm the pledges made in London and seek additional support, not least against the two UN-coordinated appeals for Syria, the Humanitarian Response Plan for the response inside Syria and the Regional Refugee and Resilience Plan for the neighbouring countries.

The third element of this high-level conference was to highlight the efforts of the international community to support a successful outcome of the intra-Syrian talks in Geneva under the aegis of the UN, seeking a political solution to the crisis.

In response to questions, Mr. Laerke said that the Conference was supporting the future of Syria and the region on several dimensions. It was also a pledging conference and the invitees were encouraged to pledge further support to further international humanitarian action in Syria. The Government and the opposition were not invited as it was a conference about how the international community could support processes in Syria and the region. He also said that in the media advisory there was a link to a webpage hosted by the EU, which would continue to be updated, including with the list of high-level speakers. At least 70 countries and organizations had been invited at the highest level but it remained to be seen who would come. Mr. Laerke also confirmed that both the Russian Federation and Iran had been invited to attend.

Horn of Africa

Matthew Cochrane, for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), spoke about the IFRC’s emergency response effort to the worsening food crisis in Ethiopia. He quoted Frehiwot Worku, Secretary General of the Ethiopian Red Cross Society, as saying, “The Ethiopian Red Cross Society has been responding to this emergency for more than 12 months. But continued failed rains, and a lack of funding for our appeal and for many other appeals, has meant that the situation has continued to worsen. We cannot afford further delays. People need our help now.”

The document launched by the IFRC this morning was a revision of an appeal first launched in January 2016, in response to the same emergency which had steadily worsened. IFRC was thus announcing today a four-fold increase of its financial request, up to 13.6 million Swiss francs, and a five-fold increase of the number of people it was targeting with its support. The attention for the suffering in east Africa and other countries affected by this historic food crisis was welcome. IFRC felt however that it was important to point out that many organizations including the Red Cross had been responding to this crisis for a long time and trying to mitigate the impact of the drought and other factors. As a consequence of those continuing factors and the fact that those initial efforts had not been supported sufficiently, the situation had continued to worsen, and the IFRC was interested in increasing the place at the table for prevention in humanitarian action, moving forward.

In response to questions, Mr. Cochrane said that until recently there had not been sufficient attention focused on what was happening across the region. The leadership demonstrated by the UN and early this week by the ICRC was highly appreciated. The situation in south and south-eastern Ethiopia as well as in Kenya were also critical. If the needs were not responded to, they would worsen, as they were worsening in south and south-eastern Ethiopia. Regarding the categorization of countries facing food crises, category 1 comprises Somalia, Yemen, north-eastern Nigeria and South Sudan. Category 2 was where Ethiopia and Kenya were classified. There were many countries in Category 3: Malawi, Central African Republic, Uganda, for example. The peak of the lean season had not yet been reached, and action on an appropriate scale was needed to prevent the Category 3 countries from becoming Category 2. Category 2 was already a catastrophic situation.

Peru

Mr. Cochrane said the IFRC had launched another appeal this morning, just under 4 million Swiss francs, targeting about 50,000 people or 10,000 families in northern Peru, affected by the worst flooding in Peru since the 1990s. It had been a tremendously rainy season. The torrential downpour caused by the El Niño phenomenon just off the coast had caused the death of dozens of people, and had affected 630,000 people, which was a staggeringly large number. Tens of thousands of people had been made homeless. The Peruvian Red Cross was doing a remarkable job in responding to the crisis but the emergency had exceeded their capacity. One of the worrying signs already being seen was a number of very serious health needs emerging. Medical workers were already reporting an increase in diarrheal diseases and acute respiratory infections in children. It was also an area where dengue and chikungunya were endemic. The IFRC was working with communities to put in place measures so that they could protect themselves against those health risks, and to be able to quickly raise the alarm if the situation deteriorated. There were also shelter needs as homes had been washed away. One of the areas of focus were unconditional cash distributions to about 1,000 families, and that was contingent on funding coming through.

Bangladesh

Mr. Cochrane also said that the IFRC had launched an appeal seeking about 3.2 million Swiss francs in support of efforts by the Bangladesh Red Crescent Society (BDRCS) to address the most urgent humanitarian needs of thousands of Rohingya Muslims who had sought refuge in south eastern Bangladesh, fleeing violence in northern Rakhine State in neighbouring Myanmar. Almost 75,000 people had arrived in Cox’s Bazaar in the past few months. Most of them were living in informal settings and were highly vulnerable. The humanitarian needs were extensive. The majority of people crossing were women and children and there were serious protection concerns. The situation was not receiving the attention it deserved. There was an inherent urgency in the situation, and in a few weeks’ time the cyclone season would start, potentially making this situation significantly worse.

In response to a question about the amount of attention the crisis in Cox’s Bazaar was getting, Mr. Cochrane said that from the humanitarian perspective there was not enough awareness about how much those 75,000 people were suffering, and that he was hoping that the media attention on the political crisis would translate into more resources for the humanitarian response.

In response to further questions, Mr. Cochrane said that following the upsurge in violence in northern areas of Rakhine State in the last few months of 2016, the Myanmar Red Cross, with support from the ICRC and the IFRC, was delivering much-needed assistance to over 3,000 people displaced in the north and central parts of the state. That included the provision of drinking water, mosquito nets, kitchen sets and basic emergency relief items. However, since the end of 2016 access to affected areas of northern Rakhine had been restricted to most humanitarian organizations. The ICRC, with support from the IFRC and the Myanmar Red Cross continued to work on improving access to healthcare, and their teams are providing ongoing logistics for the staff of two Myanmar Ministry of Health and Sports mobile clinics, and for emergency referral services in remote areas in the north. The ICRC also supported capacity-building training for medical staff of hospitals in that area. In January 2017 at the request of the Myanmar Red Cross, the IFRC had released just under USD 70,000 to support emergency response preparedness measures to roll out a response as soon as access would be granted in the northern areas.

In response to a final question, Mr. Cochrane said that the Red Cross was targeting about 25,000 of the 75,000 people who had crossed over to Cox’s Bazaar in recent months. The conditions were very basic: informal camps, limited access to clean water and sanitation, which was why the approaching cyclone season was a major threat.

Myanmar

In response to a question regarding the resolution on Myanmar just adopted by the Human Rights Council (HRC), calling for the establishment of an independent, international fact-finding mission, Ms. Vellucci said that she would transmit the question to HRC Spokesperson, Rolando Gomez.

Yemen

Matthew Saltmarsh, for the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNCHR), said that after weeks of intense negotiations, UNHCR had reached the embattled district of Mokha in Yemen’s western governorate of Taizz, where hostilities between the warring parties had escalated since January.

Intensified fighting had led to more than 48,000 people being displaced from Taizz in the past six weeks alone. Humanitarian access to Mokha, a flashpoint of hostilities and one of the worst affected areas within the governorate, had been particularly challenging owing to ongoing clashes and movement restrictions imposed by parties to the conflict.

UNHCR teams had gone on mission to Mokha this week and had started distributions on Monday in an area close to the frontlines. More than 3,416 individuals affected by the conflict had received non-food assistance from UNHCR, which had included mattresses, sleeping mats, blankets, kitchen sets and wash buckets.

The majority of those displaced by hostilities in Taizz had fled to other parts of the governorate. UNHCR’s distributions in Mokha were provided to people who were displaced from other villages in the district.
UNHCR’s field staff had reported many were traumatised and living in desperate conditions, lacking water and sanitation and sharing limited resources with local host communities. Those displaced were being accommodated by local families or living out in the open, without any protection. Many had informed UNHCR that this was the first time they had received humanitarian non-food assistance. More than 18,151 individuals recently displaced from the Red Sea governorate had also been reached by UNHCR assistance in nearby governorates of Al Hudaydah and Ibb.

With the military situation remaining highly volatile on Yemen’s western front and hostilities extending, UNHCR had also secured access in six other districts in Taizz and would reach more than 42,000 people with emergency assistance in the coming days in Dhubab, Al Wazi’iyah, Mawza, Al Ma’afer, Maqbanah and Mawiyah.

Separately, in central Yemen, where 13,900 people were displaced by a recent flare up in hostilities in Utmah district, Dhamar governorate, UNHCR had also started distribution of aid to those now returning home. UNHCR distributions in Utmah had started on 22 March to assist more than 7,700 conflict-returnees.

With March marking two years since the beginning of the current conflict in Yemen, 11.3 per cent of Yemen’s population had been forcibly displaced by the war. There were two million people displaced across Yemen and one million had returned home to precarious conditions. Over 18 million people in the country required humanitarian assistance. UNHCR’s response to urgent humanitarian needs in Yemen remained only 10 per cent funded to date, affecting operations on the ground. The total appeal was USD 99.6 million for 2017. Mr. Saltmarsh would get back to the press regarding the last time that UNHCR had been able to reach people in Mokha.

In response to questions on the situation in the Mokha and Dhubab districts of Taizz governorate, Bettina Luescher, for the World Food Programme (WFP), said that most of the 44,000 people who had fled and had been displaced were fleeing to other parts of the governorate. In response, WFP had distributed food assistance to 12,000 people in Mokha and Mawza districts in Taizz, and more than 7,000 people in eight districts in Al Hudaydah, as well as another 4,400 people in other districts in Al Hudaydah. The food security situation in Yemen had rapidly deteriorated over the past two years and the emergency levels were high. Lack of funding, the ongoing conflict and restricted movement of humanitarian aid workers were the main obstacles to get food and other assistance to the people. Ms. Luescher would get back to the press with more details on the food distribution in Mokha. WFP was reaching around 7 million people every month in Yemen but because of shortfalls, was not able to provide them with full rations. An estimated 17 million people, or 60 per cent of the population, were hungry. That was 20 per cent more than in 2016. WFP was very concerned about the lack of access because of security problems, but despite those enormous challenges WFP managed to conduct food distributions or, in places where markets were still functioning, give families vouchers so that they could buy food on the markets. WFP was also concerned about nursing and pregnant women, and children at risk of acute malnutrition. All of the humanitarian players were working very hard in Yemen but the challenges were severe.

In response to further questions, Ms. Luescher clarified that a famine was declared when the death rate was double the usual rate, when child malnutrition rates were very high and when 30 per cent of the people did not know where their next meal would come from. Today in Yemen, out of the 22 governorates, seven were in emergency phase four, which was one level before declaring a famine.

Christian Lindmeier, for the World Health Organization (WHO), further clarified that famine, the highest level of food insecurity (level five), was a humanitarian catastrophe that occurred when 20 per cent of the population faced extreme food shortages with limited availability to cope, when acute malnutrition rates exceeded 30 per cent for children under five, and when two deaths per 10,000 people or four deaths per 10,000 children were reached per day. The challenge was definitely to gather data, and it was necessary to rely on official figures. Any food crisis was always accompanied by a public health crisis as acute malnutrition weakened the system and made children for example specifically vulnerable to diseases like measles or cholera.

Ms. Luescher said that various players worked together to study the data, to go deep into the field, and worked with Governments, medical experts, UN agencies, the FAO and WFP. Those evaluations could take months, that’s why the UN warned before famines, because by the time a famine was declared, people were already dying. For example in the areas affected by Boko Haram violence in Nigeria in 2016, the UN had suspected that there had been famine in some areas where no aid workers were going in, and because they did not have the data they could not officially declare it. Famine was a rarely-used word as it was necessary to be careful and not be alarmist. But in certain areas like South Sudan, the UN had been warning for a year of the risk of famine. The UN had been gearing up for months and years and raising money to be able to reach the people who were malnourished and hungry, and doing everything in advance.

In response to a final question, Ms. Luescher said that WFP had appealed for USD 950 million to support over 7 million people in Yemen in 2017. Of this, USD 460 million were urgently required from March to August, to fully cover the food needs of the people WFP wanted to reach.

Asked about the contribution of Saudi Arabia to the humanitarian response in Yemen, Ms. Luescher said that she would check and get back to the press.

Ms. Vellucci added that on 22 March, the Deputy Spokesperson for the Secretary-General had said that in this situation of complete food insecurity and possible famine, with two thirds of the population of Yemen already food insecure, it was essential that all parties to the conflict facilitated unhindered access to Yemen’s ports for humanitarian and commercial cargos. In response to a final question, Ms. Vellucci said that the United Nations had been involved for a long time in efforts in favour of a political solution to this crisis, and that the UN Special Envoy for Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, was doing everything possible to facilitate that and bring the parties to the negotiating table. Ms. Vellucci referred to a press release from the Special Envoy on 17 March, in which was detailed a series of visits by the Special Envoy in Europe to call for renewed political and humanitarian efforts to end conflict and alleviate suffering in Yemen. Political and humanitarian action needed to run in parallel.

Iraq

In response to a question about the funding for UNHCR’s appeal for Mosul, Mr. Saltmarsh said that for 2017, the appeal for Mosul was 2 per cent funded. The total appeal was for USD 578 million. For 2016, the appeal had been 57 per cent funded.

Libya

Leonard Doyle, for the International Organization for Migration (IOM), said that IOM was about to return to Libya with international staff starting in the week of 27 March. At the same time, IOM had found out overnight that there appeared to be another major tragedy in Libya with as many as 240 migrants having drowned (the number was unconfirmed). Five bodies had been found in two boats, and the vessels they had been found in typically carried over 150 each. The business of smuggling was driving this, and was a way by which many people financed their survival in the country. IOM had gone to a detention centre in Tripoli where frightened migrants were being kept, women separated from men, living in appalling, overcrowded conditions. There were as many as 40 more such detention centres, run by militias. During his visit to Libya, the Director-General of IOM, William Lacy Swing, had met with the Presidency Council in Tripoli, the Foreign Ministry as well as the Department for Combatting Illegal Migration, and had asked for the detention centres to be opened up, as those migrants had not committed any crimes and should be able to move around freely. IOM was also helping many of those migrants to return to their countries in a voluntary way.

In response to questions, Mr. Doyle said that migrants were arriving in great numbers in Libya and that the moment they stepped foot in Libya, they were taken by the militias, stripped of their possessions, extorted for funding, and there was a huge amount of trafficking of women, especially from Edo state in northern Nigeria, and from Senegal. It was an extortion machine. The numbers passing through Libya were higher than they had been. There were still about one million foreign nationals living in Libya.

Asked about the discussions that Ambassador Swing had held in Libya, Mr. Doyle said that the focus had been on improving the humanitarian situation of the detained and supporting and helping the Libyan coast guard, involved in many of the rescues.

As far as whether word was getting back to countries of origin about the dangers of migration, Mr. Doyle said that the economics of the system seemed to be conspiring in the direction of more and more migrants taking the route.

Joel Millman, for the International Organization for Migration (IOM), added that in the last 12 hours IOM had received many press inquiries about the 240 latest potential casualties but there was very little information. On the same dates there had been a Libyan operation which had rescued 54 people with several deaths as well, so there was a possibility that some might be counted twice. Being able to find out more would depend entirely on whether living witnesses would come forward and report on it.

Mr. Millman also said that the routes to Libya had changed throughout the year. IOM had a very active listening post in Agadez, in Niger, south of the Libyan border, where it did a lot of counselling with migrants. After March, a lot more activity was seen from the Horn of Africa with migrants coming through Sudan, and there were even routes through Algeria now. The numbers were well ahead of the three-month rate both in 2015 and in 2016 in regards to arrivals from Libya to Italy, which had both been very busy years.

Mediterranean update

Mr. Millman also said that as of 24 March, the Missing Migrants Project in Germany had indicated that there had been 20,000 since the beginning of 2014, a very high number for a short period of time. The average number of deaths was now running close to almost 13 deaths a day. With the warmer weather the traffic increased and so did the fatalities.

Geneva Events and Announcements

Ms. Vellucci said that on 29 March, the President of Chile, Michelle Bachelet, would visit Geneva. A special meeting of the Human Rights Council would be convened on 29 March at 11.30 a.m. in Room XX of the Palais des Nations on the occasion of the President’s visit. The President would also address a special meeting of the World Trade Organization (WTO) that day on the occasion of her visit to Geneva, at 3 p.m. in Room CR of the WTO. The President would speak about multilateralism, free trade and the role of the WTO in international trade. Journalists were welcome to attend. There would be no press conference afterwards. Both WTO and UN press badges would be honoured for entry. For photographers and camera people especially, it would be appreciated if they could confirm attendance with WTO press officers to help with the headcount. For other questions, please contact Jessica Hermosa at the WTO.

In response to a question regarding why there was not a special meeting of the HRC for the visit of the President of Senegal, Ms. Vellucci referred the press to the HRC Spokesperson Rolando Gomez.

Ms. Vellucci said that the Conference on Disarmament would hold a public plenary on 28 March starting at 10 a.m. It would probably be the last public plenary of the first part of its session, which would finish on 31 March. The second part of the session would start on 15 May and would conclude on 30 June.

The Human Rights Committee, which was currently holding its 119^th session at the Palais Wilson, would meet in private until the closing of its session, scheduled for 29 March. It would then publish its concluding observations on all of the reports examined during the session, those of Bangladesh, Serbia, Turkmenistan, Italy, Thailand and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), which had opened on 20 March in the afternoon its 17th session (running until 12 April in Room XVII of the Palais des Nations), would finish this morning its review of the report of Cyprus, started on 23 March in the morning. The Committee would review starting on 27 March in the afternoon the report of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The webcast for this briefing is available here: http://bit.ly/unog240317