REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Elena Ponomareva-Piquier, Chief of the Press and External Relations Section of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired the briefing which provided information about the Secretary-General urging the implementation of measures on the reform of the United Nations; vacating 18 posts in the UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea; remarks by the Secretary-General on the upcoming report into the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri; Geneva activities; developments concerning aid for earthquake victims in Pakistan; the ozone layer and other issues. Spokespersons for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the World Health Organization, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees, the United Nations Children's Fund, the World Food Programme, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the International Federation for Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the International Organization for Migration and the World Meteorological Organization participated in the briefing.

Secretary-General Urges Implementation of Measures on UN Reform

Mrs. Ponomareva-Piquier said the Secretary-General yesterday gave the keynote speech at the Conference on Reforming the United Nations that was held at Colombia University. He said the agreements reached at the World Summit had established a starting-point for reform and the challenge now was to implement what was decided, and to fill the gaps that had been left. He said there was no denying that on some issues the outcome of the World Summit was a disappointment, and a missed opportunity, like on the threat of weapons of mass destruction and the absence of an agreement on Security Council reform. The challenge now was to fill these gaps, even while working – as an urgent priority – to implement all the agreements that had been reached. The Secretary-General's speech was available in the press room in English.

Vacating 18 Posts in UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea

Mrs. Ponomareva-Piquier said that as a result of the continuing ban on UN helicopter flights by the Eritrean Government, the UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea had assessed its operational effectiveness and had determined that the continuing occupation of small posts in isolated places had become untenable. The Mission had decided to vacate 18 of the 40 posts it had maintained, as well as one Team Site of military observers. Troops from these posts would be used to augment other posts in the Temporary Security Zone, in order to make their strength operationally viable. The posts were being evacuated immediately. The Secretary-General was asked about the UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea and he warned that “we will have to take some very hard and critical decisions as to the usefulness of staying there if we cannot operate.” He said the United Nations still had not received any explanation from the Eritrean Government and conceded, “Our relationship with the Eritrean Government has not been an easy one.”

Remarks by the Secretary-General on the Upcoming Report into the Assassination of Rafik Hariri

Mrs. Ponomareva-Piquier said the Secretary-General spoke to the press yesterday on the upcoming report of Detlev Mehlis into the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. On the issue of a possible extension, the Secretary-General said he would make his decision only after he has seen Mehlis’s report which he expected to receive before the weekend, possibly on Friday. He also stressed that he was determined to make it as technical as possible and not allow for the politicization of the process.

Geneva Activities

Mrs. Ponomareva-Piquier said Sergei Ordzhonikidze, the Director-General of UNOG, will visit Brussels on Thursday, 20 October, where he would participate in the annual inaugural event of the Royal Academy of Overseas Sciences. The Director-General would speak about the United Nations at 60.

The Human Rights Committee had started its eighty-fifth session yesterday. Mrs. Ponomareva-Piquier said her colleagues from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights would provide more details on the meeting.

As part of the events to commemorate the sixtieth anniversary of the United Nations, a public debate would be held on Thursday, 20 October on the future of the United Nations from 8 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. The debate would be moderated by Shashi Tharoor, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Information and Communication. Other speakers included Bernard Kouchner and Nafis Sadik. Journalists were cordially invited to attend the debate which was being organized by the United Nations Office at Geneva and the Graduate Institute of International Studies and was being held at the Auditoire Jean Piaget at Uni Dufour.

Human Rights

David Chikvaidze, Media Liaison for the Commission on Human Rights and the Treaty Bodies, said that Ms. Christine Chanet, the Chairperson of the Human Rights Committee, had yesterday morning opened the eighty-fifth session of the Committee at the Palais Wilson. The Committee had adopted its agenda and programme of work and had heard a statement on behalf of the High Commissioner who was currently in New York, delivered by Alessio Bruni, a colleague from the Office. In a private meeting, non-governmental organizations had briefed Committee members on the countries whose reports would be reviewed during this session. Edwin Johnson Lopez, Member of the Committee and Chairperson of the Working Group on communications, had also presented his report.

Mr. Chikvaidze said that in the afternoon in a public meeting, the Human Rights Committee had started its consideration of the fifth periodic report of Canada. The Canadian delegation was headed by Ambassador Alan Kessel who introduced the delegation and made an opening presentation. The Canadian delegation then responded to the 15 questions included in the list of issues addressed last July by the Committee to the State party.

Mr. Chikvaidze said Ms. Chanet would be the guest at the briefing on Tuesday, 25 October to update journalists on the work of the Human Rights Committee, mid-way into its session. Mr. Chikvaidze reminded journalists that the Committee would consider during its present session periodic reports of Canada, Paraguay, Italy and Brazil. It would also hold country report task forces on the United States, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region China.

Mr. Chikvaidze said that in his presentation yesterday at the opening of the session, Mr. Bruni had touched, among other things, on the reform of the treaty bodies and the proposal for a unified, standing treaty body. A concept paper was being developed on this issue and should be available in early 2006 when it would be circulated for comments, particularly to treaty body members. It was envisaged that a brainstorming meeting on the paper would be organized in May 2006, the results of which would be considered by the Fifth Inter-Committee Meeting and the Eighteenth Meeting of Chairpersons of the Treaty Bodies in June 2006. This process would be followed up by a two-day intergovernmental consultation of States Parties which would be convened in the second half of 2006. This was just to give journalists a heads up.

José Luis Díaz, Spokesperson for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, reminded journalists that the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers would be briefing journalists right after the briefing in press room 1. He would be talking about his visit to Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, including his meeting with four Uzbeks being held in Osh in connection with the events in Andijan in mid-May. A press release was available.

Mr. Díaz said he had also sent another press release by the Independent Expert of the Commission on Human Rights on extreme poverty who would be going to the United States from 23 October to 8 November.

Developments Concerning Aid to Victims of Earthquake in Pakistan

Fadela Chaib of the World Health Organization said clean water continued to be a main priority in the areas affected by the earthquake in Pakistan. Hundreds of thousands of litres were still necessary in that region. For the moment, there was still no information about any epidemics in the affected areas. Surveillance for diseases was a priority for WHO and its partners. One of the biggest hospitals in Islamabad was receiving around 300 new patients daily and patients' families were being kept in tents outside the hospital building. WHO was coordinating aid to the health sector along with the Pakistani authorities.

Elizabeth Byrs of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said concerning the financing of the Emergency Appeal for Pakistan, $ 15 million in contributions had been received as well as $ 45 million in pledges; this meant that only 5 percent of the main appeal figure had been covered. The UN had also received many in-kind contributions to the appeal, whose value was not counted as part of the appeal.

Ms. Byrs said concerning the high-level information meeting for Member States and the inter-agency standing committee for the UN assistance to the affected countries, which had been initially set for later this month, no exact date had been set up yet. On Thursday, 20 October, Jan Egeland, the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, would be in Geneva and she was trying to set up a briefing with him. She would update journalists about this briefing later.

Ron Redmond of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees said hundreds of tons of UNHCR relief supplies, including thousands of urgently need tents, were being rushed to Pakistan earthquake victims. At least three UNHCR cargo flights had arrived overnight and a fourth was still in the air. UNHCR was being joined in the massive logistical efforts today by the Government of Turkey and NATO. The airports in Pakistan remained congested and affected by bad weather. In all, UNHCR was shipping as quickly as possible more than 15,000 ten-person tents, 220,000 blankets, 68,794 plastic sheets, 500 plastic rolls, 31,840 kitchen sets, 2,000 stoves and 5,000 lanterns from stock in several countries. UNHCR had appealed for
$ 22 million to fund its activities, and so far it has received $ 1 million from Japan and 250,000 Euros from Italy.

Damien Personnaz of the United Nations Children's Fund said UNICEF was very worried about the situation of affected children in Pakistan following the earthquake. Initial statistics showed that 32,000 children had been killed, 42,000 children had been injured, 2 million children were without shelter, and between 160,000 and 250,000 children had received no aid to date. Normally, two or three weeks after a crisis, it was possible to start evaluating medium- and long-term needs, but at the moment, UNICEF was still at the survival phase. Shelter was the main priority need, as was water.

Simon Pluess of the World Food Programme said that after WFP had provided food aid in the towns, it was now starting to look at the food situation in the villages in the mountains which had been closest to the epicentre of the earthquake. Rain, snow and fog were preventing helicopters from flying, and roads were still blocked. WFP was using donkeys and horses to carry food aid to these villages. WFP and its partners had delivered food aid to up to half a million persons in Pakistan, but there remained at least as many people in need who had received nothing yet. The response from donors was also worrying WFP. For the $ 56 million appealed for, only $ 9 million had been received.

Antonella Notari of the International Committee of the Red Cross said ICRC was concentrating on assistance to Pakistan-administered Kashmir. A hospital had been set up in Muzaffarabad. Her colleagues had already spoken about the geographical and meteorological conditions which were holding up assistance. The priority for ICRC was administering medical care. ICRC was also active in reuniting affected families and relatives.

Marie Francoise Borel of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said the Pakistan Red Crescent Society and the Federation had distributed a total of 189 truckloads of relief materials in affected areas to date, and this number would increase significantly over the coming days. The Pakistan Red Crescent was setting up two Basic Health Care Units in Batagram and Balakot. Each could deal with up to 30,000 patients for three months. There were more details in the note at the back of the room.

Jemini Pandya of the International Organization for Migration said IOM was continuing to focus on the rapid delivery of essential relief items to the survivors. IOM was today sending tents, beds and mattresses to the Abass Shahid Hospital in Muzaffarabad. It would also be providing ambulance transport for medical evacuees arriving in Muzaffarabad by helicopter. Donors had so far pledged just over $ 10 million in response to the $ 20 million IOM appeal for a six-month relief operation focusing on emergency shelter, the provision of surface transport and medical evacuations and health related activities.

Ozone Hole

Mark Oliver of the World Meteorological Organization said late last month, the records showed that the ozone hole had reached its maximum size for the season, making it the third-largest ozone hole ever after 2003 and 2000. This appeared to show that measures agreed upon at the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer and the Montreal Protocol were having an effect and that a plateau had been reached. The latest ozone bulletin was available at the back of the room.

Geir Braaten of the World Meteorological Organization said the ozone hole 2005 had reached its peak around 19 September and it had now started to decline as was expected at this time of the year. This was the third largest ozone hole ever, and it was more or less as one would expect from the present levels of chlorine and bromine in the atmosphere. As the amount of chlorine and bromine will now continue to decline over the next decades, albeit very slowly, one might expect that the ozone hole would get smaller and smaller. At the same time, climate change would lead to higher temperatures on the ground, but the stratosphere temperature would decrease. That would encourage more ozone loss in the Arctic and in the Antarctic.

Other

Simon Pluess of the World Food Programme said in Azerbaijan, urgently needed food aid for 130,000 displaced Azerbaijanis could come to a complete halt in just three weeks time unless urgently needed resources were received. This would be a severe blow to the displaced population and would come at the onset of the harsh winter and during Ramadan. WFP was facing a shortfall of $ 4 million for its current operation which was scheduled to end in mid-2006.

In Chad, an influx of as many as 11,000 new refugees from the Central African Republic since June was making it very difficult for WFP to provide food for these refugees in addition to its operation to feed about 32,000 long-term refugees, Mr. Pluess said. The new refugees were arriving in poor shape and were in need of urgent assistance. Food supplies were running out and WFP was in need of an additional $ 930,000 to ensure adequate supplies for all the refugees until the end of January 2006.

Ron Redmond of the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees said that just in the last couple of weeks, there had been about 400 new arrivals of refugees from Central African Republic into Chad.

Jemini Pandya of the International Organization for Migration said as part of the UN Interagency Flash Appeal for Guatemala, the IOM office in the country was preparing to conduct a census of the population affected by this month's torrential rains and mudslides and to rehabilitate or rebuild bridges. And in Bolivia, a week of public events would kick off a new mass information campaign aimed at raising awareness amongst potential victims, the general public, the media and other sectors of society on the dangers of human trafficking.

Fadela Chaib of the World Health Organization said from 7 to 9 November, the World Health Organization, the Food and Agriculture Organization, the World Organization for Animal Health and the World Bank would meet to discuss avian influenza and human pandemic influenza at WHO Headquarters in Geneva. One of the main objectives of the meeting was to confirm the two main strategies to control avian influenza at source in animals for the short and medium term, and simultaneously, to prepare for human pandemic influenza. The meeting would also assess national, regional and global needs.

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