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 Conference on Trade and Development, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the International Committee of the Red Cross and the International Organization for Migration.
Sixty-Third Session of the General Assembly
Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said that the sixty-third session of the United Nations General Assembly would open at United Nations Headquarters in New York on 16 September. The annual General Debate, during which scores of heads of State and Government as well as Ministers traditionally addressed the Assembly, would begin on 23 September and would conclude on 1 October 2008. Press kits on the General Assembly session had been placed in the press room.
On 25 September, also at Headquarters in New York, private sector leaders and foundations and organizations of civil society would join heads of State and other high officials to commit to renewed efforts to obtain the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015. Some 100 heads of State and Government would attend the High-level Event organized by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and General Assembly President Miguel D’Escoto Brockmann. Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier underscored that this would be the first meeting on the MDGs at this level since 2000, when world leaders had committed themselves to achieving the goals set out in the Millennium Declaration. At the halfway point towards the target date of 2015, the High-Level Event would be a forum for world leaders to review progress, identify gaps, and commit to concrete efforts, resources and mechanisms to bridge gaps so that all countries could reach the MDGs. For further information, a media advisory had been e-mailed to journalists this morning, setting out the programme for the day. A press release on the High-Level Event had also been sent.
Geneva Activities
In Geneva, Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said that, on Monday, 15 September, Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva Sergei Ordzhonikidze would address the opening session of a Panel Event on Parliaments and Challenges to Democracy. That special event was being convened by the Inter-Parliamentary Union at the House of Parliaments in Geneva, from 9.30 a.m. to 12.30 p.m., to commemorate the International Day of Democracy. The agenda for that event was available from UNIS on request.
Turning to the activities of the Human Rights Council, Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said that this morning the Council would hold its annual discussion on the integration of a gender perspective. This afternoon, it would finish it interactive dialogue with Special Procedures mandates on human rights and international solidarity; on contemporary forms of slavery; and on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography. Afterwards, the Council would continue its process of review, rationalization and improvement of mandates which it had been pursuing for several sessions, looking at the mandates related to toxic waste; people of African descent; and the human rights situation in Cambodia. UNIS would issue press releases shortly following the morning and afternoon meetings, in English and French.
On Monday, the Committee on the Rights of the Child would open the work of its forty-ninth session at Palais Wilson, which would run from 15 September to 3 October 2008. During its three-week session, the Committee would examine reports presented by Austria, Bhutan, Djibouti, Lithuania, Uganda, the United Kingdom and Tanzania. A background press release, containing the schedule of meetings for the consideration of country reports, was available in the press room.
Also next week, the last round of open consultations in preparation for the third meeting of the Internet Governance Forum – to be held in Hyderabad, India, from 3 to 6 December 2008 – would take place on 16 September 2008, in Room XIX at the Palais des Nations, Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said. The consultations would be followed on 17 and 18 September by a meeting of the Multistakeholder Advisory Group, which was entrusted with assisting in the preparations for the annual meeting of the Internet Governance Forum. A press release on the meeting was now available in the press room. There would also be a press conference, on Tuesday, 16 September, given by Nitin Desai, Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Internet Governance, and Markus Kummer, Executive Coordinator of the Secretariat of the Internet Governance Forum.
Trade and Development Board
Catherine Sibut-Pinote of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) said that on Monday the Trade and Development Board would open its fifty-fifth session, which would run from 15 to 26 September 2008 at the Palais des Nations in Geneva. The Trade and Development Board was the executive organ of UNCTAD between its Conferences, the last of which, UNCTAD XII, had been held in Accra, Ghana, in April 2008. During the Board session the Secretariat would inform its 151 States members how it had adapted its work to implement the Accra Accord, adopted in April. The theme of the session was how UNCTAD could help developing countries to obtain the Millennium Development Goals, and would also be an opportunity for UNCTAD to define its contribution to the High-Level Event on the MDGs that would be held in New York on 25 September.
During their meetings, the Trade and Development Board would also look at the results of the recent World Trade Organization negotiations, and WTO Chief Pascal Lamy would participate in the opening meeting, Monday morning, Ms. Sibut-Pinote said. A press release containing the names of the participants, as well as the meeting schedule, would be available later this morning in the press room.
Georgia
Ron Redmond of the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said new figures on those displaced by the August conflict in the breakaway region of South Ossetia showed a total of 192,000 people had been forced to flee their homes – including 127,000 displaced in Georgia proper; 30,000 within South Ossetia; and another 35,000 to North Ossetia (Russian Federation). Most of the displaced in the Russian Federation had gone back. Of the 127,000 internally displaced persons in Georgia, 68,000 had since returned home, and UNHCR estimated that another 5,000 would go home before the onset of winter. As for the remaining 54,000 displaced, UNHCR estimated that 23,000 would need to be provided with alternative shelter through the winter months, but would be able to return home in 2009 once their houses have been rehabilitated.
The remaining 31,000 individuals were not expected to return in the foreseeable future, Mr. Redmond stressed. Given that Georgia was already hosting 223,000 displaced persons from previous conflicts, that new population would raise the number of the displaced in the country to 254,000.
Responding to a query as to whether UNHCR was still not being allowed by the Russian Authorities to enter the buffer zone, Mr. Redmond said that earlier this week there had been a joint OCHA-led effort to go into the buffer zone, which had failed. That was the last news he had received.
Mr. Redmond said that he had no information on people still fleeing. Replying on what UNHCR was doing to rehabilitate housing stock for the displaced, he said UNHCR and its partners already had more than 1,000 accommodation centres in Georgia and, in partnership with the Government, was identifying more buildings for accommodation, but they needed work. Given the huge number of internally displaced already in Georgia, many public buildings were already occupied.
Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier inserted that, when asked about Georgia during a press conference yesterday at United Nations Headquarters, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had informed journalists that he remained “in almost daily contact with world leaders”. “I have offered my good offices to facilitate international discussions, and we will explore possible peacekeeping or other arrangements for Abkhazia and South Ossetia. We are also looking at sending a fact-finding mission to Georgia,” the Secretary-General had added.
Haiti
Jean-Philippe Chauzy of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said that IOM’s relief operations to help vulnerable populations affected by tropical storms Hanna and Gustav had received new funding and in-kind support from the United States Government's Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA). Yesterday IOM had received a second OFDA consignment of 50 tons of priority aid items, delivered by air in Port-au-Prince, including enough plastic sheeting to protect a further 7,000 homeless families. OFDA had also pledged $1.5 million to reinforce the distribution of non-food assistance, the provision of materials for the construction or rehabilitation of temporary shelters, as well as improvement of access to clean water and sanitation. The distribution of that assistance would be carried out in coordination with the Civil Protection Authorities, as well as IOM’s United Nations partners, in the regions of Gonaives, Les Cayes, Petit Goâve, and Saint Marc, where IOM had permanent offices. IOM was also working to reach stranded people, including communities living in Les Anglais, Coteaux or Tiburon, which had so far received no aid. For its work in Haiti, IOM was appealing for $13.18 million as part of the UN Flash Appeal
Other
Mr. Redmond said that, on Monday, UNHCR would announce the winner of the 2008 Nansen Refugee Award. An embargoed press release and backgrounder would be issued in advance on the UNHCR website media page.
Miranda Eeles of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said that today UNICEF had released new figures that showed a 27 per cent decline in the under-five mortality rate, from 93 deaths per 1,000 live births in 1990, to 68 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2007. A number of countries had made particularly good progress in reducing under-five mortality, including the Lao Peoples Democratic Republic, Bangladesh, Bolivia and Nepal, each of which had reduced their under-five mortality rates by more than 50 per cent since 1990. The highest child mortality rate was still found in Africa. For example, in Sierra Leone, the country with the worst under-five mortality rate in the world, 262 out of every 1,000 children died before their fifth birthday. A press release was available at the back of the room.
Simon Schorno of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said that ICRC was appealing to donors today for an additional 4.2 million francs to finance its expanding activities in Pakistan, where it was working to meet the emergency needs of around 60,000 people affected by the armed conflict between government forces and opposition groups in the North West Frontier Province and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. The additional funding would be used to deliver relief to people displaced by the conflict, which had been started in recent weeks, but which would now be expanded to include food delivery and to support hospitals in assisting the displaced population. A press release was available.
Mr. Chauzy announced that today IOM had launched a field survey report on trafficking in persons in Afghanistan. An initial IOM report on human trafficking in Afghanistan published in 2004 had clearly established that Afghanistan was a country of origin for trafficked women and children for forced labour, as well as sexual exploitation, both for a domestic and international market. The Afghan Human Rights Commission had reported that hundreds of children were trafficked in Afghanistan for forced labour in brick factories and in the rug industry, although the real number was likely much higher. The report looked at the factors making Afghan people vulnerable to human trafficking, analysed trafficking methods and destinations, looked at the roles of key counter trafficking partners, particularly the Government of Afghanistan, and made recommendations for combating the phenomenon. The report was currently available on the IOM website (www.iom.int).