REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Elena Ponomareva-Piquier, Officer-in-charge of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired the briefing which was attended by Spokespersons for the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the United Nations Refugee Agency, the World Health Organization and the World Intellectual Property Organization.

Secretary-General

Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said that the UN Secretary-General, Mr. Ban Ki-moon, had told yesterday the G8 leaders and the other participants in the Major Economies Forum meeting in L’Aquila, Italy, that their climate change commitments were not sufficient and that more efforts were needed if governments were to reach a meaningful agreement on climate change this December in Copenhagen.

According to the Secretary-General, the commitments did not reflect the required range of cuts in greenhouse gas emissions. “The time for delays and half-measures is over,” he said. “The personal leadership of every head of State or government is needed to seize this moment to protect people and the planet from one of the most serious challenges ever to confront humanity.” He also warned the countries represented in L’Aquila, that if they failed to act this year, they would have squandered a unique historical opportunity that might not come again, said Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier.

Mr. Ban welcomed the G8’s agreement to a long-term goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 80 per cent by 2050 but said that this target was not credible without “ambitious mid-term targets, and baselines”, said Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier.

The Secretary-General welcomed the G8’s pledge to spend US$15 billion over the next three years to tackle food insecurity, said Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier. He also noted with concern the acceleration of the H1N1 flu pandemic with overloaded health-care systems in the southern hemisphere. G8 members therefore should commit to at least US$ 1 billion in additional spending to assist struggling countries, added Mr. Ban.

Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said that the Secretary-General would attend the Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, next Wednesday, 15 July. The Summit would be held from 11 to 16 July.

Economic and Social Council

Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said that the UN Economic and Social Council had concluded its High-Level Segment yesterday by adopting a Ministerial Declaration. This morning the Council was holding a dialogue with the Executive Secretaries of the Regional Commissions on the theme of “regional perspectives on the global economic and financial crisis, including the impact on global public health”.

The Council would further start its Coordination Segment this afternoon during which it would focus its debate on the follow up to the 2008 Ministerial Declaration, said Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier. This debate would be continuing trough Monday 13 July and Tuesday 14 July.

Jean Rodriguez of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) said that UNECE’s Executive Secretary, Mr. Jan Kubic, was also participating to the ECOSOC dialogue with the Executive Secretaries of the Regional Commissions, during which he would make a presentation on the impact of the financial crisis in the UNECE’s region.

Véronique Taveau of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said that UNICEF would participate in a Panel discussion on the theme “the impacts of the financial and economic crises on sustainable development, particularly their social implications” from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Monday 13 July. UNICEF Deputy Executive Director Hilde Johnson, United Nations Environmental Programme Administrator Helen Clark and International Labour Organization Director General Juan Somavia would be among the participants.

Human Rights Committee

Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said that the Human Rights Committee would hold its ninety-sixth session, at the Palais Wilson in Geneva from 13 to 31 July 2009, during which reports submitted by the Governments of Tanzania, the Netherlands, Chad and Azerbaijan on measures taken to implement the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights will be reviewed by the Human Rights Committee.

Situation in Somalia

Rupert Colville of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said that the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, was saying that it was clear that grave violations of international human rights and humanitarian law – possibly amounting to war crimes – were being committed in Somalia, as fighting continued to ravage Mogadishu, and the South Central part of the country.

It was clear that civilians – especially women and children – were bearing the brunt of the violence. Displaced people, human rights defenders, aid workers and journalists were among those most exposed, and in some cases were being directly targeted, said Mr. Colville.

UN human rights officers had been interviewing refugees and internally displaced people who had fled the recent upsurge of violence. Witnesses had told them that the so-called Al Shabaab groups fighting to topple the Transitional Government had carried out extrajudicial executions, planted mines, bombs and other explosive devices in civilian areas, and had used civilians as human shields, said Mr. Colville.

Fighters from both sides were reported to have used torture and to have fired mortars indiscriminately into areas populated or frequented by civilians, said Mr. Colville. There had also been increasing evidence in recent months concerning the scale and nature of child recruitment by various forces fighting inside Somalia, which was also a serious violation of international human rights and humanitarian law. The majority of these children were teenagers, 14 to 18 years old.

The High Commissioner believed that some of these acts might amount to war crimes, said Mr. Colville. The work of human rights defenders and journalists, in Mogadishu in particular, had become extremely precarious. Since the beginning of the year, six journalists had been killed in Mogadishu, four of them apparently victims of targeted assassinations, while the others had been killed in cross fire.

Once order had been restored - and OHCHR believed order would be restored in Somalia one day as it tended to be everywhere at some point - those responsible for the human rights violations and abuses should be brought to justice. The gathering of evidence, by all who were in a position to do so, had to continue so that those committing these terrible crimes in Somalia would one day receive their due punishment before a court of law, and their victims would finally see justice, said Mr. Colville.

At the moment in Mogadishu and southern and central regions, regular judicial institutions had effectively ceased to function. UN human rights staff had received credible reports that in areas controlled by insurgent groups, ad hoc tribunals were judging and sentencing civilians without due process and in violation of Somali as well as international law. The punishment handed down by these tribunals included death sentences by stoning or decapitation, as well as amputation of limbs and other forms of corporal punishment. Places of religious significance and cemeteries were also reported to have been destroyed by the so-called Al Shabaab groups.

Situation in Pakistan

Ron Redmond of the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said that the Pakistani government yesterday had announced the first stage of a four-phase programme to return internally displaced persons to some areas of the districts of Buner and Swat in the northwest of the country. The government had said that the first returns should start on Monday, July 13, and that displaced people staying in camps would be the first to be given an opportunity to return to their homes.

More than 2 million people had been displaced since early May in North West Frontier Province. While some 260,000 of the displaced were staying in 21 camps, the vast majority of people were still being accommodated with host families, in rented houses, in school buildings and other public facilities, said Mr. Redmond.

The government had confirmed that returns would take place in conformity with recent guidelines that had been developed jointly with the government, UN and partner agencies. Those guidelines were based on the principles of voluntary, safe and dignified returns, which were universal principles that UNHCR liked to see applied everywhere, said Mr. Redmond. The willingness of people to return would be assessed and a list of candidates for return would be established at a ‘return application desk’. A list of vulnerable people, people who might require specific assistance to get back, would also be established.

Mr. Redmond said that the plan should work so that prior to returning on a voluntary basis, internally displaced people would also have access to proper information on the security situation in the return areas; the magnitude of the destruction; and the availability of basic services and facilities. There had been significant damage in some areas of conflict. Another major issue was the presence of mines and unexploded ordnance that constituted a real threat to returnees, particularly children. Inter-agency assessments to the affected areas would be used to confirm the conditions for a sustainable return.
All the above principles had been discussed in a Return Task Force, which was chaired by the government and which had clearly indicated that it would act in accordance with them, said Mr. Redmond.

The Return Task Force, which had been established in Peshawar and which comprised several UN agencies and aid organizations, was working on a detailed plan on specifically who would be doing what. This would be shared tomorrow with authorities, said Mr. Redmond.

H1N1 Pandemic

Fadela Chaib of the World Health Organization (WHO) said that there might be a 50 per cent chance that the results of this week’s extraordinary meeting on H1N1 of the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization would be announced this afternoon. The Group’s recommendations had not yet been fully examined by all the people that had to see them before their public release. Also today, WHO should release its latest updated figures on the H1N1 pandemic.

Least Developed Countries Report

Catherine Sibut-Pinote of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) said that on 14 July 2009 at 11:30 a.m. Charles Gore, Special Coordinator for cross-sectoral issues in the UNCTAD would hold a press conference for the launch of the Least Developed Countries Report 2009, called “The State and Development Governance”. The report would also address the impact of the crisis on the 49 Least Developed Countries.

Early Childhood Development Emergency Kit

Véronique Taveau of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said that UNICEF would launch its Early Childhood Development Kit, a brand new UNICEF tool for young children, aged 0-6 years, in emergencies. Ms. Ann Veneman, UNICEF Executive Director would present the tool to the press in Geneva at 2:00 p.m. on 15 July 2009.

Conference on Intellectual Property and Public Policy Issues

Samar Shamoon of the World Intellectual Property (WIPO) said that they were hosting a Conference on Intellectual Property and Public Policy Issues on 13 and 14 July at the International Conference Center Geneva (CICG). The Conference would look at the interface between intellectual property and certain public policy objectives, such as public health, climate change and food security. Several heads of agencies would speak at the Conference, including the Director General of WIPO, Mr. Francis Gurry, World Trade Organization Director General, Mr. Pascal Lamy, WHO Director General, Ms. Margaret Chan, the President of the International fund for Agricultural Development, Mr. Kanayo Nwanze and the Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization, Mr. Michel Jarraud.

Ms. Shamoon indicated that two press conferences would be held at the CICG during the Conference. The first on Monday 13 July at 1:15 p.m. with Mr. David Lammy, Minister for Higher Education an Intellectual Property of the United Kingdom and Mr. Francis Gurry WIPO Director General. The second would be on Tuesday 14 July at 10:45 a.m. at the CICG with Mr. Pascal Lamy, Mr. Kanayo Nwanze and Mr. Francis Gurry.

The meeting on public policy issues would be preceded by a meeting from 9 a.m. to 10:30 am on Monday 13 July on intellectual property and the needs of the visually impaired which would bring together various stakeholders, representatives of blind organizations, publishers, technology consortiums and Member States. On Monday evening there would be a reception in the main building of WIPO where a performance by blind Nigerian musician and songwriter Cobhams Emmanuel Asuquo would be held.

UNECE Agenda

Jean Rodriguez of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) said that UNECE’s Executive Secretary, Mr. Jan Kubic, would meet with Helen Clark United Nations Development Programme Administrator next Monday 13 July to discuss joint activities.

On 15 and 16 July Mr. Kubic would travel to Turkmenistan where he would hold bilateral meetings with several Governmental representatives. On 16 July he would participate in a regional coordination meeting of the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea, said Mr. Rodriguez.

Also next week, there would be a joint meeting of the Bureau and Working Group tasked with the Implementation of the Convention on Industrial Accidents to discuss the execution of the work plan of the Convention for 2010. Also next week, there would be a Regional Workshop on Agricultural Quality Standards and the Use of Standards in Technical Regulations in Osh, Kyrgyzstan.