REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Alessandra Vellucci, Director, United Nations Information Service, chaired the briefing attended by the spokespersons for the World Health Organization, the United Nations Development Programme, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the World Meteorological Organization, and the International Labour Organization.

Syria

Ms. Vellucci said on behalf of the Office of the Special Envoy for Syria (OSE), that on 27 March the Deputy Special Envoy had chaired separate meetings with the Government of Syria and the Syrian opposition delegation announced on 11 February.

The Special Envoy had returned from the meeting with the League of Arab States in Jordan on 27 March and would participate in meetings with the invitees this afternoon. That programme was still provisional and the arrivals of the delegations would be announced regularly as confirmations came in so that the press could cover the arrivals.

In response to questions, Ms. Vellucci said that she had asked the Office of the Special Envoy for the list of participants to the meetings and those lists would not be available before the meetings, but she would ask for those lists to be shared officially after the meetings. Ms. Vellucci also confirmed that the Special Envoy would be seeing the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov over the course of the day today.

Yemen

Tarik Jasarevic, for the World Health Organization (WHO), said that more than 14 million people had no access to health services in Yemen, including more than 2 million who had been internally displaced. As fighting continued in certain governorates, the transportation of medical personnel and the treatment of the injured was getting very difficult. There was also a need for clean water.

From 19 March 2015 to 28 February 2017, the conflict had caused 7,719 deaths and 42,922 injuries. The number of deaths was believed to be higher given that that figure only captured data reported by health facilities. Despite the work of WHO and partners, there was still a shortage of medicines in particular in the most affected governorates in Yemen. Provision of surgical care was very difficult because many specialized staff had left the country. Currently, more than half of all health facilities were closed or functioning only partially. At least 274 health facilities had been damaged or destroyed as a result of the conflict, 13 health workers had been killed and 31 injured. For more than six months, health facilities in Yemen had received no financial support to cover operational costs and staff salaries. That led to difficulties for the population to receive care. Mr. Jasarevic said that he had been in Yemen himself in February and had seen a chemo-dialysis centre in Hudaydah which was on the brink of ceasing operations, as there was no more fuel to run the obsolete chemo-dialysis machines. The centre treated 600 people with kidney failure who would probably die without treatment several times a week.

Malnutrition rates were also increasing in Yemen, as were the numbers of malaria and dengue fever cases. There had also been an outbreak of cholera, but luckily, due to the intervention of health authorities and partners the numbers of new cases had been steadily decreasing over the past two months.

WHO, since March 2015, had reached millions of people with more than 1,200 tons of life-saving medicines and supplies. WHO had established 15 therapeutic feeding centres in seven governorates, working with the Ministry of Health and health partners to provide therapeutic feeding for severe and acute malnutrition among children. WHO had also supported the rehabilitation and maintenance of 26 diarrhoea treatment centres which had helped reduce the number of cholera cases in Yemen. Since the beginning of the conflict more than 4.7 million children under five had been vaccinated against polio as part of four national polio campaigns conducted by WHO, UNICEF, health authorities and partners. For 2017 the health cluster was appealing for USD 322 million, of which WHO was requesting USD 126 million in order to scale up the response to the increasing needs.

In response to questions, Mr. Jasarevic said that in 2016, more than 28,000 suspected cases of dengue fever and more than 218,000 suspected cases of malaria fever had been reported. Figures for 2017 were not available. The general situation was worsening as there was less access to mosquito nets and medicines. He would get back to the press on the figures prior to 2016. He confirmed that the figures for the number of health facilities damaged or destroyed referred to 2016, and were taken from the latest survey published by WHO a few months ago. Asked about the responsibilities in the destruction of health facilities, Mr. Jasarevic said that WHO had no expertise or mandate to examine the cause of the destruction but was focusing on the impact on public health of health facilities being damaged or destroyed. WHO was collecting information as that was part of its mandate given by the World Health Assembly, had already issued one report, and would also issue new figures soon on attacks on health workers as reported by partners.

Mr. Jasarevic also reiterated that health workers had not received salaries for six months. Operational costs, including the cost of fuel, were not being covered. WHO had provided more than 3.7 million litres of fuel since the beginning of the conflict to help hospitals to continue functioning. With the upcoming summer there was a risk of rupture in electricity. People had no money to pay for transport to go to health facilities and there was a shortage of medical staff, so certain surgeries were not being carried out. The whole system was collapsing. It was necessary to scale up and try and support the system.

Sarah Bel, for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), said that along humanitarian emergency support the priority was also to provide an income to the most vulnerable groups, to restore food production and get basic services up and running. Unemployment was extremely high in Yemen, as farmers, fishermen and livestock producers had lost their assets. A large number of schools, hospitals, water, sanitation and hygiene assets were damaged. IDPs were returning to their homes, adding pressure on public service delivery, and it was necessary to bring normalcy into the lives of citizens. The work carried out by UNDP included repairing civilian infrastructure, improving public service delivery such as getting access to water, helping food producers to resume production, and supporting 2 million Yemenis to benefit from a new source of income through cash for work programmes. For example, in Aden, a project to remove rubble had allowed in the past three months to clear more than 650 truckloads of debris, translating into 1,509 days of labour.

Before the war, Yemen had ranked 154^th out of 187 countries in the Human Development Index. In the most recently published index, Yemen ranked 168^th out of 188 countries.

Christophe Boulierac, for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), said that after two years of brutal conflict, families in Yemen were increasingly resorting to extreme measures to support their children, as UNICEF had indicated in a report published on 27 March. Yemen was the poorest country in the Middle East, and had become one of the largest food security and malnutrition emergencies in the world. The number of extremely poor and vulnerable people was skyrocketing. Around 80 per cent of families were in debt and half the population lives on less than USD 2 a day, according to the report. Coping mechanisms had been severely eroded by the violence. Families were eating much less, opting for less nutritious food or skipping meals.

Close to half a million children (462,000) suffered from severe acute malnutrition - a 200 per cent increase since 2014 (when that number was at 160,000) - raising the risk of famine. One in every two children under five in Yemen suffered from stunting. Half of the children suffering from severe acute malnutrition were in the areas of Hudaydah, Sa’dah, Taizz, Hajjah and Lahij. UNICEF estimated that every ten minutes, at least one child died in Yemen as a result of preventable causes such as malnutrition, diarrhoea or respiratory tract infections.

As family resources diminished, more and more children were being recruited by warring parties and pushed into early marriage. Over two thirds of girls were married off before they reached 18, compared to 50 per cent before the conflict escalated. And children were increasingly being used by armed parties as the fighting intensified. The number of children killed in the conflict since 2015 was 1,546; the number of children injured was 2,450. Out of the more than 14 million people with no access to health care, seven million were children. Up to 1,600 schools could no longer be used because they were destroyed, damaged, being used to host displaced families or occupied by parties to the conflict. Some 350,000 children were unable to continue their education as a result, bringing to 2 million the total number of children out of school.

Working with partners, UNICEF continued to provide urgent life-saving assistance to the most vulnerable children, including vaccinations, therapeutic food, and treatment for severe malnutrition, education support, psychosocial counselling and cash assistance, and required financing to maintain those vital programmes as well as support family coping mechanisms.

In response to a question, Mr. Boulierac said that 13 per cent children were out of the primary school system. He confirmed that every ten minutes a child died in Yemen from preventable causes. He would get back to the press with the absolute number of child deaths since the escalation of the conflict, if available. Malnutrition was making children particularly vulnerable and prone to die from relatively benign illnesses.

In response to a question, Ms. Vellucci said that there would be a pledging conference on Yemen in Geneva on 25 April. The High-Level meeting on Yemen would be organized jointly by the UN, Switzerland and Sweden. The meeting would not only aim to ask for funds, but also underline the deterioration of the humanitarian situation in the country. The meeting would take place at the Palais des Nations and would be held at the ministerial level, with the participation of Member States, humanitarian agencies, regional organizations and international and local NGOs. Jena Laerke from OCHA would be able to provide more information.

South Sudan

Mr. Boulierac said that one month since famine had been declared in parts of South Sudan, UNICEF, together with the World Food Programme and other partners, had delivered life-saving assistance to 145,000 people, including 33,000 children under the age of five. Thirteen mobile emergency teams, known as the Integrated Rapid Response Mechanism (IRRM), had been deployed to areas of Unity State where more than 100,000 people were living in two famine-affected counties. Through its missions, UNICEF was able to provide critical assistance to large numbers of children who it would not be otherwise able to reach. More than a quarter of a million children – 290,000 in total - were estimated to be severely malnourished in South Sudan.

UNICEF and WFP had designed the IRRM in early 2014 to bring urgent assistance by air and river to desperate families. Since then, rapid response teams had provided aid to more than one million people. The missions went deep into South Sudan.

Famine – UNICEF funding update

Mr. Boulierac also said that more than a month after famine had been declared in South Sudan, time was running out for more than a million children as drought and armed conflict devastated lives in northeast Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen. Children could not wait for yet another famine declaration before action was taken. He said that UNICEF had learned from Somalia in 2011 that by the time famine had been announced, untold numbers of children had already died. That could not happen again.

Some 22 million children had been left hungry, sick, displaced and out of school in the four countries. Nearly 1.4 million are at imminent risk of death in 2016 from severe malnutrition.

UNICEF would require close to USD 255 million to provide those children with food, water, health, education and protection services for just the next few months, according to a new funding update. Most of the funds – over USD 81 million –would go towards nutrition programmes to screen children for malnutrition and provide them with therapeutic food.

Iraq

Rupert Colville, for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), said that the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, was deploring the massive loss of civilian lives in west Mosul in recent days, victims of actions by ISIL and of airstrikes.

Bodies continued to be found in buildings where civilians had been reportedly held by ISIL as human shields, and had been subsequently killed by airstrikes conducted by Iraqi Security Forces and International Coalition forces, as well as by Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) allegedly planted in the same buildings by ISIL. Numerous other civilians had been killed by shelling and had been gunned down by ISIL snipers as they had tried to flee.

The High Commissioner had welcomed the announcement by Iraqi Security Forces and the International Coalition that they were conducting investigations into some of the most serious incidents resulting in loss of civilian lives, and had stressed that “the investigations into all such incidents must be thorough and transparent, to establish the facts and the number of civilian casualties in each case, and the findings must be made public.”

The UN Human Rights Chief had also called on them “to undertake an urgent review of tactics to ensure that the impact on civilians is reduced to an absolute minimum, in full accordance with international humanitarian law.” He had urged the Iraqi Government and its partners to ensure the rights of surviving victims were respected and that they received appropriate reparations and other medical and psycho-social support as required.

According to information verified by the UN Human Rights Office and the UN Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI), at least 307 people had been killed and another 273 wounded between 17 February and 22 March. The most deadly incident had occurred on 17 March, when an airstrike -- reportedly targeting ISIL snipers and equipment -- had hit a house in al-Jadida neighbourhood in western Mosul city. Witnesses had reported that ISIL had previously forced at least 140 civilians into the house to be used as human shields. They had also said that ISIL had booby-trapped the house with IEDs. So far, official figures indicated at least 61 people had been killed in this single incident, but the actual figure may be much higher.

In another serious incident, on 22 March, an airstrike had hit a residential building in Rajm Hadid neighbourhood in western Mosul city. ISIL had reportedly filled the house with people from the surrounding neighbourhood, including children, and had then used the house to launch rocket-propelled grenades against the Iraqi Security Forces. The airstrike had killed a seven-year-old girl and had trapped eight other children under the rubble, seven of whom had been later found and taken to hospital.

In addition, between 23 and 26 March, reports had been received that at least 95 civilians had been killed in Risalah, Nabils, Uruba and Sainaah al-Qadimah neighbourhoods in western Mosul city as a result of shelling, vehicle-based and other explosive devices planted by ISIL, as well as by ISIL snipers.

There were also reports that ISIL had forcibly transferred civilians within western Mosul. On 20 March, ISIL militants had allegedly forced 38 families to leave their homes in the Bab al-Beth neighbourhood, as Government forces had begun operations in the area, and had moved them to a west Mosul neighbourhood known as 17 Tamouze, using them to shield their fighters as they relocated, as well as in strategic locations. ISIL had also reportedly forced families to stay in some 15 houses on the frontlines in the Nablis and Risala neighbourhoods and were using those houses to launch attacks on Government forces. There had been numerous reports that ISIL snipers had shot at, and in some cases had killed or wounded, civilians attempting to flee towards the Iraqi Security Forces, and that ISIS had also shelled civilians in areas of the city retaken by Government forces.

“ISIL’s strategy of using children, men and women to shield themselves from attack is cowardly and disgraceful. It breaches the most basic standards of human dignity and morality. Under international humanitarian law, the use of human shields amounts to a war crime,” High Commissioner Zeid had said. “And shooting civilians in the back as they flee for their lives is an act of monstrous depravity.”

Zeid had stressed that the conduct of military operations in densely populated areas continued to pose a significant and serious risk to civilians who remained in those areas. “The conduct of airstrikes on ISIL locations in such an environment, particularly given the clear indications that ISIL is using large numbers of civilians as human shields at such locations, may potentially have a lethal and disproportionate impact on civilians,” he had said.

OHCHR did not underestimate the enormity of the challenges facing the Iraqi Security Forces and their Coalition partners as they tried to dislodge ISIL from their last strongholds in Mosul, and the immense difficulties they faced in trying to save civilians from their nightmare existence under ISIL control. This was an enemy that ruthlessly exploited civilians to serve its own ends, and clearly had not even the faintest qualm about deliberately placing them in danger. It was vital that the Iraqi Security Forces and their Coalition partners avoided this trap, reviewed how their procedures complied with their obligations under the international humanitarian law principle of precaution, and considered all tactical options available with a view to avoiding civilian loss of life and, in any event, reducing the impact of operations on the civilian population to an absolute minimum.

In response to questions, Mr. Colville said that most likely civilian casualties had increased in Mosul, not only because of Iraqi forces’ and Coalition actions, but also because ISIL was deliberately killing civilians and putting them in extreme danger. In those circumstances, the forces in place had to be exceptionally careful, as there were tens of thousands of civilians still present in that part of Mosul and ISIL was using them as human shields. That placed an obligation on all parties to take all feasible measures to avoid or minimize civilian casualties when responding to requests for support. Irrespective of what ISIL was doing, it was essential that the Coalition and the Iraqi forces tried hard to minimize the impact on civilians, even though that was not easy, as they had obligations under international humanitarian law.

According to Mr. Colville, witness after witness had said that ISIL had forced them to remain in houses and had even locked them in rooms while positioning fighters on the roofs, from where they had launched attacks on Iraqi army forces. Witnesses had also repeatedly said they had been forced to move around with ISIS fighters in the street. Witnesses had said that ISIL had told them that the best thing they could do was to “die for the caliphate”, which also explained perhaps why they had deliberately targeted and killed civilians attempting to flee or failing to abide by instructions. ISIL was involved at every level. In terms of the airstrikes which had caused casualties, that was also complicated by the fact that ISIS had reportedly also placed explosives in those same buildings that they had herded civilians into, which would have compounded the devastation when the buildings were hit by an airstrike. Many elements had to be reviewed. Still, the Coalition and Iraqi forces really needed to take care of civilians, and the investigations underway needed to be very thorough and transparent. Investigations needed to run their course before exact responsibility could be attributed.

In response to further questions, Mr. Colville said that UNAMI had been consistently publishing casualty figures for many years. He would check whether the breakdown between civilians and combatants was available.

Mr. Colville also referred the press to an ICRC factsheet on the use of explosive weapons in populated areas, particularly focused on explosive weapons which had “wide-area effects” and were likely to have indiscriminate effects as a result. The choice of weaponry was very important. Use of explosive weapons in densely populated urban areas must in all circumstances, to quote ICRC, “comply with international humanitarian law rules regulating the conduct of hostilities, in particular the prohibition of direct attacks on civilians or civilian objects, the prohibition of indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks, and the obligation to take all feasible precautions in attack.” In each individual case the key issue would be to determine whether precautions had been taken, was the weaponry used justifiable in the circumstances, and so forth. The investigations needed to look at every aspect of the issue. The question would be, if snipers were operating from a rooftop, was a massive bomb the only way to deal with that or could other methods have been used.

In response to a final question, Mr. Colville said that the information on what was happening in Mosul and about ISIL actions was coming from people who had managed to escape in the past few days, and UNAMI human rights staff in the region were trying to get as much information as possible, and cross-check and corroborate it. It was still difficult to obtain precise information, but there was an emerging clarity on what ISIL was doing in terms of the use of human shields and in terms of the targeting of people who were fleeing.

Answering a question, Ms. Vellucci added that an estimated 279,000 people were currently displaced as a result of the military operations in Mosul. More than 198,000 of them were estimated to be displaced from western Mosul since military operations in the western neighbourhoods had begun in early February 2017.

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Asked about the missing UN experts who had disappeared in Kasaï province two weeks ago, Mr. Colville said that they were not UN human rights staff but part of a separate group of experts. The situation in Kasaï in general was very alarming as the High Commissioner had pointed out in his speech to the Human Rights Council. Mr. Colville advised the press to get in touch with MONUSCO regarding the two missing UN personnel. Ms. Vellucci added that the UN Deputy Spokesperson had declared in New York that everything was being done to find them. The experts had been part of a panel of experts related to MONUSCO. Ms. Vellucci would check for more information with New York and would share that with the press.

Hurricane names

Clare Nullis, for the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said that the WMO’s Hurricane Committee had just finished its annual meeting in Costa Rica. The Committee had decided to retire the names Matthew and Otto from the rotating list used for hurricanes, because of the numerous fatalities and damage they had caused in 2016. Matthew would be replaced by Martin and Otto would be replaced by Owen in the rotating list of names.

Matthew had been the season’s most devastating hurricane. It had caused at least 546 deaths according to Government figures in Haiti and had really set back socio-economic development in the country. Otto had made landfall in southern Nicaragua and was responsible for 18 deaths including ten in Costa Rica.

The Committee’s discussions had focused, as every year, on how to improve public warnings and communications of those warnings. One of the decisions made by the Committee was to add potential hurricane advisories when it was known that there was a risk of them developing into a hurricane, in order to give authorities more advance warning.

United States

In response to a question regarding the possibility of an executive order in the United States rolling back policy in the field of climate change, Ms. Nullis underscored that the current media coverage on the issue was so far coming from an unnamed official, and it was premature for WMO to comment. The science spoke for itself. In the past week WMO had issued its annual statement on the state of the climate, saying that 2016 had been the hottest year on record. Extreme climate conditions were continuing well into 2017. In all its responses the WMO stated that it welcomed the ratification of the Paris Agreement on climate change and that it was very important for everyone to press with the implementation of that agreement. She reiterated that climate change was real.

Geneva Events and Announcements

Ms. Vellucci reminded the press of a special meeting of the Human Rights Council on 29 March at 11.30 a.m. in Room XX of the Palais des Nations on the occasion of the visit of President Michelle Bachelet. The President would also meet with the Council bureau just before the special meeting. A photo spray would be organized by UNIS.

Ms. Vellucci also announced a short briefing by phone with Jamie McGoldrick, Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Yemen, right after the press briefing today at 11.45 a.m. The topic would be the humanitarian situation and current challenges in Yemen two years after the intensification of conflict.

Clare Nullis, for the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), said that some of the world’s top ozone scientists had started a meeting this morning at WMO Headquarters in Geneva. There were assessing the state of the ozone layer. There would be presentations on the relationship between ozone layer and climate change. The meeting would last until 30 March. A press release would be issued and a press conference could be organized, otherwise the press should contact Ms. Nullis for interviews with the experts. The Montreal Protocol, which protected the ozone layer, was one of the major international environmental success stories.

Hans von Rohland, for the International Labour Organization (ILO) announced an event on “The Future of Work we want: a Global Dialogue,” which would bring together renowned economists, academics, and stakeholders from the world of work, on 6 and 7 April. They would discuss the quality of work but also questions such as whether robots would replace human workers, or the impact of demographics on the future of social security. The press was invited and did not need to register but should indicate to Mr. von Rohland whether they wished to participated so that they could be given badges. The six sessions of the event could also be followed live on the ILO website. There would be a press breakfast on 7 April at the ILO, with the ILO Director-General, at 8 a.m. All the information would be sent to the press in writing shortly.

Ms. Vellucci then announced a press conference of the World Health Organization (WHO), on 30 March at 10 a.m. in Press Room 1, in advance of World Health Day which would take place on 7 April on the topic “Depression: let’s talk”. The speaker would be Dr. Shekhar Saxena, Director, Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse, WHO.

The webcast for this briefing is available here: http://bit.ly/unog280317