REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Marie Heuzé, Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired the press briefing which was also attended by Spokespersons for the Office of the High-Commissioner for Human Rights, the International Labour Organization, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the World Health Organization, the United Nations Development Programme and the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

Geneva Activities

Ms. Heuzé said that the Human Rights Council was currently holding its tenth session in Room XX, the Human Rights and Alliance of Civilizations Room.

The Conference on Disarmament was also holding a public meeting today, during which the Vice-Foreign Minister of Chile, Mr. Alberto Van Klaveren, the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs of Italy, Mr. Vincenzo Scotti and Mr. Ivan Pinter of the Czech Republic, on behalf of the European Union, had planned to take the floor, said Ms. Heuzé. Also, this Saturday 7 March 2009 at 10:30 a.m., the Conference on Disarmament would hold a public meeting to hear a statement by the Russian Foreign Minister, Mr. Sergei Lavrov.

Upcoming press conferences this week included one by the Deputy Minister of Justice of Sudan, Mr. Abel Daiem Zumrawi, on Thursday 5 March at 11 a.m. to address the upcoming decision by the International Criminal Court. On the same day, at 12 p.m., the President of the United Nations General Assembly, Mr. Miguel D’Escoto Brockmann, would speak about the UN reform and the financial crisis, said Ms. Heuzé.

Human Rights Council Tenth Session

Rolando Gomez of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said that the High-Level segment of the Human Rights Council continued today. About thirty ministers were inscribed to speak. Yesterday, seventeen dignitaries, as well as the High Commissioner had addressed the Council. The high-level segment was scheduled to continue tomorrow, to be followed by the general segment.

Women’s Day 2009

Ms. Heuzé said that the United Nations was organizing a round table this Friday afternoon between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. at the Palais des Nations to mark the International Women’s Day 2009. During the event, the Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva, Mr. Sergei Ordzhonikidze, the Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, Ms. Kyung-Wha Kang would speak about gender equality and the role of women in the context of the financial crisis. A note to the correspondents would be distributed in the coming hours.

Corinne Perthuis of the International Labour Organization said that the ILO would also mark the Women’s Day with a roundtable on Friday morning. Further, the Global Employment Trends for Women 2009 report, which would provide an update on the projected impact of the economic crisis from a gender perspective based on the latest data would be issued on Thursday and a press conference would take place at 2:45 p.m. Speakers would include the ILO employment Sector Executive Director Mr. José Salazar Xirinachs and the ILO Bureau for gender Equality Director, Ms. Jane Hodges.

Anna Schaaf of the International Committee of the Red Cross said that the ICRC was, on the occasion of International Women’s Day 2009, focusing on the plight of women in war and the fact that they needed to have a better access to healthcare. A special webpage had been put up to illustrate the plight of women in war (accessible through http://www.icrc.org).

Gaza Recovery Operations

Adam Rogers of the United Nations Development Programme gave an update on their work in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. UNDP was the facilitator of the United Nations and partners’ early recovery team. They were coordinating the damages and needs assessments and the compilations and analysis of the data gathered by their UN partners and Non-Governmental Organizations. To restore basic social services UNDP had been waiting for funds, but after yesterday’s good news they expected them to be forthcoming. The funds would serve to implement a number of projects focusing on rubble removal, reviving the agricultural sector and the reconstruction and rehabilitation of the water reservoirs in the Gaza Strip.

A working Gaza built upon what had been achieved in the emergency relief phase, said Mr. Rogers. UNDP’s goal was to not just to enable a smoother transition to long term recovery but to restore livelihoods, government capacity, shelter to offer hope to those that had survived the crisis. To date UNDP had carried out a number of initiatives as part of the programme of assistance to the Palestinian people, including US$ 80 million operations in the Gaza Strip, concentrating on labour in terms of infrastructure activities aimed at creating jobs, sustaining livelihoods and improving housing, water, sanitation, education and health services. So far this year they had, especially during the last military operation, distributed food packages to over 30,000 Palestinians not served by UNRWA including in Beit Hanou, Rafah and Gaza City.

The food aid programme had delivered US$ 500,000 in emergency relief. In its capacity as co-lead of the UN early recovery team, UNDP was working with the Palestinian Authority and national and international partners to assess damages and needs and to devise plans for rebuilding, said Mr. Rogers. They had mobilized a team in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and had deployed early recovery experts to assist in rapid assessment in Gaza. These assessments were setting the basis for recovery and reconstruction and would feed into the Palestinian Authority’s early recovery and reconstruction palm.

UNDP had also commissioned a household survey in order to understand the recovery priorities of the Palestinian people in Gaza, said Mr. Rogers. Initial findings had indicated that the economy in Gaza required significant aid and would take years to fully recover. They had surveyed a random sample of nearly 2,000 households and the survey had revealed that two-thirds of Gazans were living below the poverty line. The latest round of violence had only exacerbated the situation. UNDP had signed an agreement with the Palestinian Authority to provide a total contribution of US$ 50 million to fund cash assistance packages to the Gazan population. The initial phase of the packages had already been implemented.

UNDP had also recently signed an agreement with the Palestinian Authority with a total contribution of US$ 270 million to fund compensation for damaged agricultural property in Gaza, said Mr. Rogers. The project aimed at compensating farmers in the Gaza strip for the direct losses as a result of the 22 days military operations which had targeted Gaza most recently. 40,000 farmers would benefit from the initial phase of this agreement.

Humanitarian Aid

Elisabeth Byrs of the Office of the Coordination for Humanitarian Affairs said that Mr. Mark Bowden, Humanitarian coordinator for Somalia, would give a press conference tomorrow at 11 a.m. to talk about the humanitarian situation in Somalia.

ILO Governing Body March Session

Ms. Perthuis said that the ILO Governing Body would hold a session from 5 March to 27 March 2009 to address issues ranging from the ILO’s budget and the international financial crisis. Several dignitaries planned to attend the meeting, including Professor Jospeh Stiglitz on 12 March, and Dominique Strauss-Kahn towards the end of the session. Also tomorrow, Lord Mark Malloch Brown would give a conference between noon to give the British vision of the upcoming G-20 Summit this April.

World Health Organization Bulletin

Fiona Fleck of the World Health Organization, presenting WHO’s Bulletin said that it was WHO’s peer-reviewed journal. It was a scientific journal and a forum for debate. Not all the studies and content in the Bulletin were generated by WHO. Every month WHO was sending out a note to the media to highlight the latest features or new studies included in the Bulletin. This month’s highlight included the topic of HIV/AIDS and ageing. Other interesting features in the current issue included a story on the use of genetically modified mosquitoes to combat parasitic diseases like dengue fever and an interview with the coordinator of the hospitals in Gaza during the recent violence. The Bulletin is accessible online through: http://www.who.int/bulletin/en/