REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE
Elena Ponomareva-Piquier, Chief of the Press and External Relations Section of the United Nations Office at Geneva, chaired the briefing which also heard from spokespersons and representatives from the United Nations Refugee Agency, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development and the International Organization for Migration.
Secretary-General
Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said that the Secretary-General was extremely concerned by the humanitarian impact of the recent conflict on the civilian population in Georgia, which had suffered loss of life and injury, significant damage to property and infrastructure, as well as sizeable displacement. The Secretary-General welcomed the ceasefire agreement reached by the Governments of Georgia and the Russian Federation, but noted that, notwithstanding this agreement, there were reports of some continuing violence, with civilians bearing the brunt. He reminded all parties concerned of their obligation to respect and protect civilians in accordance with international humanitarian law and human rights law. The United Nations stood ready to assist the Governments of Georgia and the Russian Federation to respond to humanitarian needs of the affected populations. However, large parts of the conflict-affected area, particularly South Ossetia and the Gori region, remained, for the most part, inaccessible to humanitarian organizations due to ongoing insecurity, lawlessness and other constraints. The Secretary-General reiterated the critical importance of safe and unimpeded access for humanitarian actors to all conflict-affected areas.
Situation in South Ossetia (Georgia)
Ron Redmond of the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said that the High Commissioner António Guterres would travel to Georgia and the Russian Federation next week to assess UNHCR’s humanitarian operations in both countries and to discuss with the two governments any further support they may require. Mr. Guterres would continue to press for the protection of the civilian population, particularly the displaced, and for access by humanitarian agencies.
Mr. Redmond also said that UNHCR’s third humanitarian airlift flight this week to Georgia was scheduled to take off for Tbilisi from Copenhagen with more than 38 tonnes of jerry cans, blankets, kitchen sets and telecommunications equipment. It followed two earlier flights from the UNHCR emergency warehouse in Dubai on Tuesday and Wednesday. With today’s flight, UNHCR would have delivered more than 100 tonnes of relief supplies so far this week - enough for more than 50,000 people. Next week, on Tuesday and Wednesday, UNHCR would send two airlift flights to Vladikavkaz, Russian Federation, following the acceptance by Russian authorities of an aid offer from the High Commissioner.
UNHCR, which had six offices in Georgia working on behalf of some 275,000 previously displaced people, was pressing ahead with plans to distribute assistance to the newly displaced as quickly as possible. Initial supplies had been delivered to some 2,000 people in and around the capital. The security situation, however, remained a concern in some areas, Mr. Redmond added. On Thursday, for example, a UNHCR security team travelling to Gori had been held up by armed men at a checkpoint and their two vehicles hijacked. The importance of safe passage for those affected by the conflict had also been highlighted over the past two days by a UNHCR operation that had just ended this morning in western Georgia. Hundreds of Georgian civilians earlier this week had requested UNHCR’s help after fleeing their homes in the Khodori Valley in Georgia’s breakaway Abkhazia region. The group had been fearful of passing through military checkpoints, so it had asked UNHCR’s office in Zugdidi to accompany them to safety.
In conclusion, Mr. Redmond said that the latest estimates of displacement related to the conflict now totalled more than 118,000, based on figures provided by the governments involved. Russian officials in North Ossetia indicated some 30,000 people from South Ossetia were still in the Russian Federation. Georgian officials reported that up to 15,000 people had fled south into Georgia proper from South Ossetia. In addition, some 73,000 people were displaced in Georgia proper, including most of the population of Gori.
Elizabeth Byrs of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said access to South Ossetia and around Gori remained of utmost importance. Access to harbours was also crucial to convey assistance, in order not to rely on Tbilisi Airport only. OCHA had raised this concern to all parties to the conflict and hoped it would gain safe and unimpeded access as soon as possible in order to assess and meet the humanitarian needs. On the ground, coordination specialists had been deployed. In fact, problems of coordination were expected in the coming days, as many humanitarian agencies were heading to Tbilisi. There were also concerns about food as the World Food Programme stocks were starting to decrease.
A flash appeal was currently evaluated and might be launched in New York on Monday. Ms. Byrs also mentioned that OCHA had counted - through its tracking system - that aid amounted to $ 15 million. An additional $ 1.5 million had been pledged. A Situation Report issued by OCHA on the situation in Georgia was available at the back of the room.
Anna Nelson of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said that the authorities, in principle, were ready to give access to South Ossetia, but that ICRC had been told there were ongoing security concerns. ICRC was ready to go, at any time, from both North Ossetia and the Georgian Capital of Tbilisi. Staff was ready to leave on a moment’s notice and would be operational as soon as security guarantees were in place.
ICRC expressed concerns regarding the Georgian town of Gori, where it had not been able to return but was present earlier this week evaluating the situation in the main hospitals where medical supplies were needed. The ICRC team had decided to leave Gori following a security alert but had not been able to return as of today. ICRC was also concerned about the situation in Zugdidi where a team was currently present distributing assistance. It seemed that the main road between Tbilisi and Zugdidi had been cut off or blocked. It was therefore impossible to get further assistance to that town. A major concern was that the medical supplies ICRC had been able to get in there would start to run low. ICRC was planning to provide additional medical supplies when it would be able to get through to Zugdidi again.
Ms. Nelson also said that the Norwegian Red Cross field hospital had arrived on Thursday evening but had not yet been able to be deployed because needs had to be assessed first. They had a team of 12, including a surgical doctor and nurses, who were able to be ready within 24 hours. As for the Russian Federation side, ICRC had been told that the situation was calm and under control. In addition to doing some initial distribution of hygiene items with the Russian Red Cross, ICRC was also working to look closely at the emotional and psychological needs of people who were forced to flee their homes.
Summing up, Ms. Nelson said the priorities of the ICRC were gaining safe and unimpeded access to all areas of the conflict, providing medical assistance to the war wounded and distributing emergency assistance. The air bridge from the ICRC’s logistics centre in Amman continued. So far, around 100 tonnes of supplies had been flown to Tbilisi.
Gordon Alexander of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said UNICEF shared concerns with other agencies on access and safety on the ground. UNICEF was working closely with its partners of the UN system team on both sides of the conflict, mainly in two areas: immediate relief and planning for the next stage. UNICEF had distributed hygiene kits, water, recreational and school kits - to a value of $ 330,000 - in and around Tbilisi. Another $ 1 million was being made available for assistance in the region.
Mr. Alexander also drew attention to the situation of many refugees who were actually located in centres that were not really equipped for refugees, like kindergartens. According to assessments, the actual infrastructures of these places were not in good shape. Sanitation, water supplies and electricity were the main issues. The region was also moving toward a new school year and UNICEF wanted to set a goal to try to get every displaced child back into school by the new school year, in order to create that sense of normalcy that was really needed for children as well as for their parents.
Geneva Activities
In Geneva, Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said that to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the bombing of the Canal Hotel in Baghdad on 19 August 2003, the Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva, Mr. Sergei Ordzhonikidze, had invited staff to gather at the Salle des Pas Perdus, in front of the Assembly Hall, on Tuesday 19 August 2008 at 11.45 a.m. to observe a minute of silence and a wreath-laying ceremony in honour of the fallen colleagues. The journalists are also invited to attend the ceremony.
Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier recalled that the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination would this afternoon be concluding its 73rd session. UNIS would be releasing the concluding observations and recommendations of the Committee on all the reports reviewed, namely Ecuador, Namibia, Togo, Russian Federation, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Sweden. A final press release on the session would also be issued later today.
The Advisory Committee of the Human Rights Council was also concluding its first session. Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier recalled that the Committee had adopted yesterday eight recommendations to be submitted to the Human Rights Council. Among them were recommendations on refugees from hunger and on the right to food in United Nations refugee camps. Around 12:30, a press conference would take place with the President of the Advisory Committee, Miguel Alfonso Martínez of Cuba. [Journalists were later informed that the press conference had been postponed until 3 p.m.]
On Wednesday 13 August, the Conference on Disarmament’s seven Coordinators had reported orally to the six 2008 Presidents on the outcome of the latest round of thematic debates on the Conference’s agenda items. These Coordinators had generally validated their earlier conclusions drawn from the two rounds of informal meetings held in February. The latest thematic debates had served a useful purpose especially in terms of adding impetus to the work of the Conference through deepening understanding of the issues and providing the opportunity for Members to bring new issues and elements into the discussions. The thematic debates had also served, in effect, to validate the agenda of the Conference and its priorities, notably fissile materials as well as outer space, nuclear disarmament and security assurances. A note to correspondents had been issued. The next plenary meeting of the Conference on Disarmament was scheduled to take place at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, 19 August, under the Presidency of Venezuela.
Other
Véronique Taveau of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said UNICEF expressed its deep sorrow at the killing of four humanitarian workers in Afghanistan. UNICEF offered its heartfelt condolences to the families of those killed and injured. Three of the four aid workers were women. They were in Afghanistan to help and to deliver urgently-needed aid to those in need. Their deaths brought to 23 the number of aid workers killed in Afghanistan so far this year. It was becoming more and more difficult to work in this area, Ms. Taveau said.
Catherine Sibut of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) said an UNCTAD database providing trade statistics on creative goods and services was available online to the public as of today. She recalled that those products had been identified as one of the most vibrant sectors in world commerce, especially for developing countries. It could therefore be part of the solution for the participation of these countries to the international trade. This database was created following the release of the first Creative Economy Report 2008 by UNCTAD and the United Nations Development Programme in April this year. An information note was available at the back of the room.
Jean-Philippe Chauzy of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) drew attention to the living conditions of the displaced people in Iraqi tent camps. Although the number of displaced people living in tent camps remained very low compared to the overall number of displaced in Iraq - a few thousand out of 2.8 million displaced persons -, IOM assessment teams had raised concerns about the vulnerability of these persons. First they had had to face successive evictions; then conditions in those tent camps were extremely difficult: there was no access to potable water, nor to basic health care. Children had no access to education. Furthermore, the lack of privacy and personal dignity worsened the situation. These few thousand people needed assistance and had to be resettled in more decent conditions, Mr. Chauzy said.