REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE
Marie Heuzé, the Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired the briefing which also heard statements from Spokespersons and representatives for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the World Food Programme, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the World Health Organization, the International Organization for Migration, the World Trade Organization and the International Labour Organization.
Human Rights Council
Ms. Heuzé said that today the Human Rights Council would conclude its adoption of the outcomes of the Universal Periodic Review on the reports of 32 countries. Those countries had been the first to undergo the review process over the course of the first two sessions of the Working Group, held in April and May this year. Today, the Universal Periodic Review outcomes for the reports on Sri Lanka, France, Tonga, Romania, and Mali would be reviewed.
Next week, on Tuesday, the Council would elect a new President, Ms. Heuzé noted. On Wednesday, the last day of the Council’s current session, there would be a wrap-up press conference with the outgoing President of the Council, Ambassador Doru Costea of Romania, at 1.30 p.m., in Room III.
Secretary-General’s Activities
Ms. Heuzé noted that the Secretary-General was in the United Kingdom today, where he met this morning with Prime Minister Gordon Brown and held a joint press conference. Yesterday, while in Paris, the Secretary-General attended and co-chaired the International Conference in support of Afghanistan.
Ms. Heuzé also wished to highlight the publication yesterday of the Secretary-General’s report on Kosovo, which detailed the changes to be made in United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo and the transfer of responsibility to the European Union. Unfortunately, for technical reasons, the report was not able to be downloaded this morning, but it should be available in the course of the day.
Ethiopia
Elisabeth Byrs of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) drew attention to the revised appeal for Ethiopia, which represented a considerable increase in the amount previously asked for – from $68 to $325.2 million. The majority of that money – some $268 million – was needed for food, after drought and crop failure caused the number of people in need of emergency humanitarian aid to more than double, from 2.2 million to 4.6 million Ethiopians. The worst-affected areas were in south and south-eastern Ethiopia, including Oromia, where livestock had already died from lack of water. Assistance was urgently needed to avert loss of life and further deterioration of the health of an estimated 75,000 children who were already suffering from acute malnutrition and illness. States were called on to act swiftly to contribute. A briefing note was available, as well as map showing the drought-affected regions and detailing the humanitarian response on the ground.
Somalia
A spokesperson for the World Food Programme (WFP) said that WFP had appealed to naval powers yesterday to help protect WFP ships carrying life-saving assistance from pirate attacks, or as many as 2 million Somalis could go hungry. Some 80 per cent of WFP food for Somalia was delivered by sea. From mid-November to 25 June, a succession of French, Danish, and Dutch frigates had escorted 27 ships loaded with 112,500 tons of WFP food – enough to feed nearly 1 million people for 6 months. Since the escort system was started, no WFP ships had been targeted by pirates, despite an upsurge of piracy in Somali waters. But the Dutch frigate that was currently providing escort for WFP shipments was scheduled to finish on 25 June, and WFP had no offers to take over from the Royal Netherlands Navy. Without these escorts, WFP maritime supply route would be threatened, according to WFP country director Peter Goossens, who had underscored that “millions of Somalis are suffering from a combination of insecurity, drought and high food and fuel prices. If relief shipments slow down, we could face a major catastrophe.” Experts feared that the number of people requiring food assistance later this year could reach 3.5 million people, nearly half the population. Without urgent new contributions, WFP would run out of food for Somalia in September. A news release was available in the back of the room.
Zimbabwe
Veronique Taveau of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said that, a few days before the International Day of the African Child, which would be celebrated next Monday, 16 June, UNICEF was calling on the Zimbabwean authorities to ensure that humanitarian assistance to children was reinstated as soon as possible, and expressed its grave concern at the suspension of the work of non-governmental organizations on the ground. For a week now humanitarian organizations had not been able to deliver assistance, and UNICEF estimated that 500,000 children had not received care, HIV/AIDS treatments, or food assistance. The Director-General of UNICEF had deemed the fact that assistance could not be distributed as a “violation of the rights of children and contrary to the Convention on the Rights of the Child”, an international treaty to which Zimbabwe was a party. A press release was available.
Teresa Buerkle of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) said that next week, most likely on Tuesday, a joint FAO-WFP crop and food supply assessment mission report on Zimbabwe would be released.
World Refugee Day / Global Statistics 2007
Jennifer Pagonis of the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), noting that next Friday, 20 June, was World Refugee Day, said that several events of media interest were being organized around the world to commemorate the Day. In London, on Tuesday, 17 June, High Commissioner António Guterres would mark World Refugee Day by opening UNHCR’s “Experience Darfur” refugee camp in Trafalgar Square. Also on Tuesday, at 10.30 a.m. Geneva time, UNHCR would be launching its Global Trends Report for 2007, containing the latest refugee statistics. An embargoed copy of the report, and a press release would be available on Monday.
High Commissioner Guterres wished to use World Refugee Day to draw attention to the Somalia situation and the impact 18 years of civil strife on its population – tens of thousands of whom continued to be forcibly displaced internally, and many of whom had fled to neighbouring countries such as Kenya, Ethiopia, Djibouti and Yemen, Ms. Pagonis said. After London, the High Commissioner would therefore fly to Kenya on a three-day mission where he was scheduled to visit the congested Dadaab refugee camp hosting more than 190,000 refugees, mainly from Somalia. He would also visit Kenyans in the Rift Valley who were internally displaced after post-election violence. Over 1 million Somalis were now internally displaced in a country where humanitarian agencies, including UNHCR, had sharply declining access to people in need of assistance. On 19 June, the High Commissioner would travel briefly to Naivasha in the Rift Valley and meet with internally displaced Kenyans and returnees. On 20 June, he would participate in activities to mark World Refugee Day at the University of Nairobi grounds.
Other
Ms. Pagonis said that UNHCR welcomed the final approval yesterday by the Italian Council of Journalists’ Associations of a code of conduct on reporting of asylum and migration issues. The document, known as the “Rome Charter’”, had been drafted by the Journalists’ Association and the Italian National Press Federation in collaboration with UNHCR. The Rome Charter would provide Italian journalists with guidelines to ensure that information on asylum-seekers, refugees, migrants and victims of human trafficking was balanced and accurate. It also called for migration and asylum issues to be included in journalism courses and established an independent Monitoring Centre that would monitor media coverage of asylum-seekers, refugees and migrants.
Fadéla Chaib of the World Health Organization (WHO) noted that tomorrow, 14 June, was World Blood Donor Day. A press release was available. WHO had officially inaugurated the Day in 2005, to reinforce two important basic principles for safe blood donations: donations should be voluntary and non-remunerated. A good example of changing practice in that regard had been achieved in China, which had gone from 80 per cent of blood donations being either paid or made by family members to 97.6 per cent of blood donations being made voluntarily in 2006. Another case was the United Arab Emirates, which had gone from a blood importing State in 1984 to being 100 per cent self-sufficient in terms of blood donations today. However, currently only 54 countries globally had achieved 100 per cent voluntary donations, including, most recently, Thailand, Turkey and Uganda. To put the need for reliable, safe blood banks in perspective, Ms. Chaib recalled that in developing countries 1 million women died in childbirth every year, nearly a quarter of them dying from blood loss. A press release was available.
Jean-Philippe Chauzy of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) announced, among other subjects, the opening next week, on Wednesday 18 June of the ninety-fifth special session of the IOM Council, which would meet in private. During the session, three new States members would be admitted – Mongolia, India and Somalia – bringing the number of IOM members to 125. Also on the agenda was the election of a new Director-General for a five-year term of office. There were four candidates in the running: the current Director-General, Brunson McKinley; William Swing; Luca Riccardi; and Sergio Marchi.
Janaina Borges of the World Trade Organization (WTO) announced the WTO schedule for next week. Throughout the week there would be meetings on Russia’s membership invitation. Those were informal consultations led by the Chair. On Monday, there would be regular meetings of two Services bodies; on Tuesday, the TRIPS Council would meet; and on Friday, 13 June, there was a meeting of the dispute settlement body.
Corinne Perthuis of the International Labour Organization (ILO) reminded journalists that the ninety-seventh ILO Conference was wrapping up today, with the French Labour Minister scheduled to address delegates.