REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Ahmad Fawzi, Director a.i., United Nations Information Service in Geneva, and Rhéal LeBlanc, Chief, Press and External Relations Section, chaired the briefing attended by spokespersons of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the United Nations Mine Action Service, the World Food Programme, the United Nations Refugee Agency, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the International Organization for Migration, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the World Health Organization, and the United Nations Development Programme.

UN Secretary-General

Mr. Fawzi announced that in the build-up to the high-level meeting on Global Responsibility Sharing for Syrian Refugees that would take place on 30 March in Geneva, the Secretary-General would leave New York on 23 March for a joint visit to Lebanon, Jordan and Tunisia, alongside the President of the World Bank Group, Dr. Jim Kim. The Secretary-General and the President of the World Bank would start their visit in Lebanon on 24 March. Accompanied by Dr. Ahmad Mohamed Ali al-Madani, President of the Islamic Development Bank, they would meet with the President of the Council of Ministers of Lebanon, as well as with several other senior officials.

They would also visit communities hosting Syrian and Palestinian refugees to reiterate their long-term support to Lebanon and discuss new approaches to building resilience and assisting national systems. On Sunday, the Secretary-General and Dr. Kim would travel to Jordan. They would meet with His Majesty King Abdullah II, as well as other members of the Jordanian Government. They would also visit the Zaatari refugee camp, which hosts refugees from Syria, and they would participate jointly in an open discussion with Jordanian youth.

On 28 March the Secretary-General and Dr. Kim would leave Jordan for Tunisia, where they would meet with President Béji Caïd Essebsi and other senior officials, and pay respect to the victims of terrorism. The Secretary-General would also attend a national conference on employment, hosted by the President of Tunisia. Lastly, on 30 March, the Secretary-General would be in Geneva to open the high-level meeting on Global Responsibility Sharing for Syrian Refugees. The Secretary-General would be expected back in New York in the evening of March 30.

The Secretary-General had announced the appointment of Nicholas Haysom of South Africa as his Special Envoy for Sudan and South Sudan. He had been and would remain for a few more weeks the Head of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), where he has been serving since 2014 as Head and Deputy from 2012 to 2014. Replacing Mr. Haysom as Special Representative in Afghanistan would be Tadamichi Yamamoto of Japan, who had served as Deputy Special Representative in Afghanistan since 2014. In turn, the new Deputy Special Representative in Afghanistan would be Pernille Dahler Kardel of Denmark.

Geneva activities

Human Rights Council

Rolando Gomez for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said that the Human Rights Council had ended on 22 March in the morning its Interactive Dialogue with the Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in the Central African Republic, Marie-Thérèse Keita Bocoum, before holding its Enhanced Interactive Dialogue on Burundi. At its special session in December, the Human Rights Council had adopted a resolution which requesting that the High Commissioner urgently organize and dispatch a group of experts to investigate the human rights situation in Burundi. The group had returned a few weeks ago and was presenting its oral update today.

It was the first oral update after the Burundi visit. Another update would take place in June and a report would be released in September.

Christof Heyns, Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, who had been part of that mission, had said in his remarks that evidence pointed to extra-judicial, summary and arbitrary executions, torture, and disappearances that had taken place during the crisis and that could be attributed to the State and, in some cases, to the armed opposition. Other statements would be made by Martin Nivyabandi, Minister of Human Rights, Social Affairs and Gender of Burundi, Jean-Marie Ehouzou, Permanent Representative of the African Union in Geneva, and Pierre Claver Mbonimpa, President of the Association pour la protection des droits humains des personnes détenus (APRODH).

The Council would then hold, from noon to 3 p.m., its Annual Discussion on Technical Cooperation dedicated to the theme of the rights of all migrants, including women, children, older persons and persons with disabilities. After 3 p.m., the Council would continue the dialogue on Burundi, and would then focus on country situations for Côte d’Ivoire, Ukraine, and South Sudan. On 23 March, the Council would focus on a number of country situations including Afghanistan, Columbia, Cyprus, Guatemala, Guinea, Haiti, Libya, Mali and Yemen. Thereafter, around 3 p.m. the Council would start considering the 39 draft resolutions that were before it.

In response to a question, Mr. Gomez said that the resolutions on DPRK and on Syria would be considered on 24 March.

Conference on Disarmament and Committees

Mr. Fawzi said that the Conference on Disarmament (CD) would hold a public meeting on 22 March at 10 a.m. – the first under the Presidency of Pakistan. The Presidency of Pakistan would officially end on 29 May. After Nigeria, Norway and now Pakistan, the CD would also be successively chaired, in 2016, by Peru, Poland and the Republic of Korea.

The Human Rights Committee would hold a public meeting on 22 March in the morning to continue the review of its General Comment on Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (related to Right to life). The Committee would then meet in private for the rest of the session. At the end of the session, on 31 March, the Committee would issue its concluding observations on the seven States Parties whose reports had been reviewed during the 116th session: South Africa, Namibia, Sweden, New Zealand, Slovenia, Costa Rica and Rwanda.

The Committee on Enforced Disappearances would close on 22 March in the afternoon its tenth session and would therefore issue its concluding observations on the three countries whose reports had been reviewed during the two-week session: Tunisia, Burkina Faso and Kazakhstan.

Press conferences and other announcements

Mr. Fawzi announced a stakeout on 22 March at 4 p.m. outside of Room XX, by the Minister of Human Rights, Social Affairs and Gender of Burundi, Mr. Martin Nivyabandi, after his intervention at the Human Rights Council.

He also announced a stakeout of Staffan de Mistura at 5 p.m. at Hall XIV with the members of the Syrian Women’s Advisory Board. Thereafter, he would hold his own stakeout on his meeting with the HNC.

Bruno Donat, for the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS), briefed the press on a gender-based workshop on Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) targeting Libyan women. Mr. Donat announced that 12 women participants from Libya were in Geneva, as part of a three-part workshop organized by UNMAS in collaboration with UNIDIR and the Small Arms Survey, the previous two instalments of which had been held in Tunis. There would be a small round table on 23 March at 12.30 p.m. in Room 7 in the Palais des Nations, which would be open to the media. The course explored how women could participate to contribute to peace, resilience and security. Mr. Donat ended his briefing in saying that this workshop was organized as per Security Council resolutions 1325, on women and peace and security, as well as 2220, stressing the utmost importance of women’s full and effective participation in all efforts related to countering the illicit transfer and accumulation and misuse of small arms and light weapons.

Tarik Jasarevic, for the World Health Organization (WHO), reminded the press of a press conference on 6 April in connection with World Health Day on the theme of diabetes. The WHO’s first ever report on diabetes was currently available and was under embargo for 6 April.

On 22 March, at 4 p.m., the WHO Director General would hold a press conferences on the WHO’s action regarding Zika virus and related neurological disorders.

In response to a question, Mr. LeBlanc said that the Geneva Conference on Preventing Violent Extremism, to be held on 7 and 8 April, would include an opening session on 8 April with the UN Secretary-General and Didier Burkhalter, Head of the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs.

Yemen

Jamie McGoldrick, Humanitarian Coordinator in Yemen, said that it had been a terrible year for Yemen, during which a war peppered with airstrikes, shelling and violence had raged on in the already very impoverished country. One in ten Yemenis, or 2.5 million people, had been displaced, 6,000 had been killed (half pf them civilians) and over 30,000 had been injured. Over 20 million people, or 80 per cent of the population, required some form of humanitarian assistance. Some 14 million required food assistance and 7 million were severely food insecure. Some 20 million people did not have access to water or sanitation. Human rights violations had soared. Some 90 per cent of food was imported.

The crisis posed security challenges and access challenges for humanitarians. Health workers were trying to reach patients, but airstrikes and shelling were affecting civilian infrastructure, including factories, ports, airports. The conflict was characterized by a blatant disregard by all parties of their responsibilities under international humanitarian law. Mr. McGoldrick expressed his appreciation for donors’ support in 2015, thanks to whom 50 per cent of the appeal had been funded, allowing to reach eight million people.

In 2016, there were more organizations on the ground: 69 NGOs, 25 international NGOs, and nine UN agencies and funds. In the past month, the UN was able to deliver emergency assistance to over 100,000 people and pump water for 3 million people. Some 4 million children had been vaccinated. More support was needed, and an appeal had been put out for USD 1.8 billion, to try and implement a new approach to this emergency in terms of food, water, health care and shelter and protection issues.

The country had had extremely high levels of poverty before the war, and currently, the war had escalated, in an already fragile environment.

In response to a question, Mr. McGoldrick said that there had been a localized cease-fire along the border with Saudi Arabia, which had allowed for more access to those areas. However, airstrikes had continued. He also said that the Special Envoy for Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, was continuing to lead the political process. He had been in Sana’a over the past days and had held discussions with the parties to the conflict. He had mentioned the possibility of talks in Kuwait and of a cessation of hostilities one week ahead of the talks. Mr. Fawzi confirmed that the Special Envoy had been in Sana’a for three days until 21 March and then had left for Riyadh to pursue his negotiations on final preparations for the next round of peace talks.

In response to another question, Mr. McGoldrick said that the blockade and congestion of ports and airports, because of the shelling of those structures, was one of the drivers of the humanitarian crisis. There was also a foreign currency crisis, stifling the ability to import and have lines of credit. Those issues were having an impact on the commercial sector, but also on the humanitarian sector.

There was still the ability to deliver humanitarian aid, but it was not as efficient as it should be.

Jens Laerke, for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said that the USD 1.8 billion appeal was 12 per cent funded so far.

Bettina Luescher, for the World Food Programme (WFP), said that WFP was feeding 3 million people in Yemen every month and would like to do more, but couldn’t as funding was scarce. Some USD 38 million per month was needed in order to feed 3 million people, and WFP was forced to cut rations - only 75 per cent of the full ration was being given to people. The conflict had exacerbated the food insecurity in the country. WFP needed to be able to move regularly and safely to reach all those in need. WFP was running food voucher programmes in some areas. Yemen should not be forgotten, with all the attention focused on the Syria crisis.

In response to a question, Ms. Luescher said that WFP was focusing on the neediest people and going to the ten Governorates where there was an emergency level of hunger, where some 20 per cent of the population were severely food insecure, in areas housing many internally displaced people who had fled the fighting, and of course in Saada and Taizz Governorates. Even if they did not get the full ration, they would be at least getting something.

Ms. Luescher also said that the appeal had been very well-funded in 2015. In 2016, support had been obtained from a number of donors, but it was not enough. In the face of so many humanitarian crises in the world, it was not easy to mobilize donors for this particular cause. Most countries gave money so that food could be bought by WFP, as much as possible in the region. Thereafter, it took up to four months to buy and bring the food.

Sarah Bel, for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), said that in addition to life-saving activities, it was necessary to invest in resilience and prepare the future reconstruction. UNDP focused on three priorities to get people back on their feet: mine clearance (in five Governorates), public service restoration and emergency employment. There was a considerable and growing contamination from cluster munitions directly affecting civilian-populated areas, with 15 Governorates contaminated at various levels (all Governorates west of and including Shabwah). There were anecdotal reports of extensive use of these munitions by the two main belligerents and by the multiple insurgent groups. In terms of action, more than 70 schools and public buildings had been cleared, 100,000 m2 of land critical to movement had been cleared, and over 1,500 explosives remnant of war had been destroyed in partnership with the Yemen mine action centre.

In terms of restoring public services, UNDP focused on emergency collection of solid waste, in combination with cash for work programmes. To date over 2 million people had benefitted from emergency employment, and waste collection was only one part of those cash for work schemes. UNDP targeted the most vulnerable population: women and young people under 30.

In response to a question, Ms. Bel said that the issue of mines was very much connected to the political discussions as the embargoes were not working. Mr. LeBlanc reiterated that the Special Envoy was continuing his meetings with the parties concerned in order to relaunch the talks. The Special Envoy had just finished a three-day visit to Sanaa, Yemen, and was expected today in Riyadh.

Tarik Jasarevic, for the World Health Organization (WHO), said that the conflict had claimed 6,408 lives and had left 30,193 people injured, from 19 March 2015 up to 15 March 2016. The health sector had been heavily undermined with 25 per cent of health facilities having been forced to shut down. Those still functioning were operating at sub-optimal levels with insecurity leading to restrictions in access. Access to medicines for chronic diseases was also very limited. The National Oncology Centre in Sana’a had announced that it was on the brink of shutting down due to critical shortages of staff, medicines and funding. Health workers had fled facilities because of violence. More than 100 health facilities had been exposed to incidents violence, including main hospitals, dialysis centres, warehouses and blood banks. Eleven health workers had been killed and 17 injured. IDPs and host communities were at risk of communicable and water-borne diseases, as water systems had almost collapsed and food shortages were increasing. Despite WHO’s response to the crisis, and that of other health partners,
gaps remained very important as millions remained in need of health services and thousands more could lose their lives unnecessarily.

WHO had been able to increase its delivery to Taizz city in recent weeks. The most recent delivery included 11 tons of life-saving medicines and medical supplies. Supplies had also been delivered to other areas of the country. Some 67,000 litres of safe water for dialysis centres in Taizz City had been delivered. Since the beginning of the crisis, WHO had reached a total of more than 7 million people in 23 Governorates, through the provision of medicines, medical supplies, medical teams and mobile clinics. More details would be available in the briefing note.

Migrants/ Refugee Crisis

Sarah Crowe, for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), said that UNICEF was very concerned about the new EU-Turkey agreement and its implications for children. In the new agreement, there was no mention of children, despite the fact that children made up 40 per cent of the people currently stranded in Greece. UNICEF said the agreement could leave children at risk as it did not address the pressing humanitarian needs of the 19,000 children stranded in Greece, 10 per cent of them unaccompanied. They needed to be properly identified, taken into protective care rather than detention, and a full assessment of their rights and best interests was necessary before any decision could be made regarding their future, including on return. Ms. Crowe added that institutions were overwhelmed in Greece, and had to be scaled up significantly in order to deal with the new caseload.

In addition, UNICEF urged that a number of other priorities be addressed. Child and family support services, such as child-friendly spaces and safe mother and baby centres had to be rapidly expanded as part of “Blue dot” services, which UNICEF worked on with UNHCR. Children stranded for longer periods in Greece would require an expanded set of basic services, such as emergency education, as many of them had been out of school for several months. She added that, in order to prevent disease outbreaks, urgent consideration had to be given to vaccinate refugee and migrant children, as many of them had been living in unsanitary conditions for weeks.

In response to a question, Ms. Crowe said that there were still many questions and many doubts regarding how children would be identified and how their needs would be addressed. It was not clear what would happen to any children who would be returned.

In response to another question, Ms. Crowe said that in the light of the new agreement, everything had to be reassessed. It had been a very different situation when people had been on the move. Now, there was a stranded population, and it was necessary to focus on protection, education and health needs, not only for that stranded population, but also potentially more broadly. Ms. Crowe added that the unaccompanied children coming through Gevgelija had previously always revealed their age as they wanted to keep going and avoid delays. She reiterated that children had to be protected, and not held in detention, as this exposed them to increased risks from traffickers or smugglers. The new agreement also opened up new risks for children and families taking unsafe routes.

In response to another question, Ms. Crowe said that the “Blue dots” on the Balkan route were on hold and it was necessary to reassess in the light of the new agreement and decide how best to adapt and support children’s needs.

Melissa Fleming, for the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), gave an update on the situation in Greece. She said that the provisions of the deal between the EU and Turkey had come into effect on 20 March. Already on 19 March, the Greek authorities had accelerated the transfer to the mainland of about 8,000 refugees and migrants who had arrived on the islands before the 20 March. This had been to separate them from people who arriving after that date, who would be subject to the EU’s new return policy. Arrivals had nevertheless continued on Lesvos. As of the morning of 22 March, 934 had arrived since 20 March, mostly Syrians and Iraqis. There were being held at a closed registration centre where they were temporarily accommodated, on the east of the island. The remaining 880 people were in a separate site and would soon be transferred to the mainland.

Up until now, UNHCR had been supporting the authorities in the “hot spots” on the Greek islands. However, under the new provisions, those hot spots had become detention facilities. In line with UNHCR’s policy on opposing mandatory detention, UNHCR had suspended some of its activities at all the closed centres. This included the provision of transport to and from these sites. UNHCR would however maintain a presence to carry out protection monitoring, to try and ensure that human rights standards were being upheld, and to provide information on the rights and procedures to seek asylum. UNHCR would also do as much as possible to provide advice on family reunification and access to services. UNHCR was concerned that the EU-Turkey deal was being implemented before the required safeguards were in place in Greece. Greece did not have the sufficient capacity on the islands for assessing asylum claims, not the proper conditions to accommodate people safely and decently, pending an examination of their cases.
Ms. Fleming noted that UNHCR was not a party to the EU-Turkey deal, nor would be involved in returns or detentions.

There were also very grave concerns on the mainland in Greece. UNHCR was doing as much as possible to help people who remained in Greece and who had arrived before 20 March, but after the border had been closed.

In response to a question, Ms. Fleming confirmed that hotspots were becoming detention centres because of the EU-Turkey agreement. They were detention centres because refugees were not allowed to leave. UNHCR would no longer be providing humanitarian assistance in the centres, transporting people to the centres nor taking part in the transfer of people to the ports from which they would be transferred back to Turkey.

Ms. Fleming added that said that UNHCR was providing medical assistance through partners such as Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) as well as Greek NGO partners. UNHCR was also providing everybody with shelter, food, supplies, to make their lives bearable, but the situation was very grave. There was also a concern about the children arriving after the 20 March cut-off date, kept in closed facilities on the islands. UNHCR hoped that there would be extra special attention paid to those children, particularly the ones traveling alone. UNHCR would be pushing for family reunification and the best interests of the child.

In answer to a journalist’s question, Ms. Fleming said that some time would be required before the return process began. The deal stated that safeguards would be put in place to ensure that people had the right to have individual interviews, but this was not yet in place. Apparently, there would be asylum judges and staff from different EU countries coming to the islands soon, but UNHCR was not involved in that part of the plan. As far as the returns to Turkey were concerned, so far UNHCR had not been asked to be involved expect potentially in the resettlement operation, however it was not clear yet to what extent.

Ms. Fleming stressed that the idea for the individual interviews was to ensure that no one be returned to Turkey if they felt that their lives would be at risk if they were to be returned. The agreement also stipulated that there would be no “refoulement” return to Syria or Iraq from Turkey. UNHCR was concerned enough to insist that this language be put in the agreement. She also said that new routes would probably open up, although if a really meaningful resettlement and humanitarian programme had been established, there would be no need for new routes. So far there had been no switch to Italy observed. On that point, Joel Millman, for the International Organization for Migration (IOM), said that so far Albania had not opened up as a new major route, and that there was more migration traffic from Albania to Greece than the other way around. The number of Syrians who had arrived from Libya in Italy in 2016 had dropped to six people in 2016, down from 42,000 two years previous. There was a lot of anticipation that this route could be reopened. Migration routes were extremely flexible, but there had been no new route to replace the traffic from Greece so far.

In answer to a journalist’s question, Ms. Fleming said that UNHCR was involved in asylum applications in countries where there was no asylum system in place, which was not the case in Greece. The system was young and weak, and UNHCR had consistently worked to help Greece strengthen the system and had called on Europe to help Greece in this process. UNHCR would not be processing asylum claims in Greece. Although it was not a party to the EU-Turkey deal, UNHCR had provided legal guidance and recommendations ahead of the deal which had stipulated that if it were to go through, safeguards needed to be in place in order for it to be acceptable under international and human rights law. The jury was still out on whether those safeguards would be implemented.

The relocation measures had been very poorly implemented by EU countries, for different reasons: very few places had been offered by governments, and refugees were not well informed about the relocation scheme, preferring to continue their journey and reach the countries of their choice. In the current situation there was no choice and there was much more interest among refugees for relocation. More countries were also committing to take in more people under the relocation scheme. Portugal was leading by example, as a small country with a struggling economy that had doubled its numbers and had called on other countries in Europe to participate out of solidarity and in accordance with European values. The latest numbers on relocations would be available in the briefing note. Ms. Fleming also specified that relocation only applied to the refugees in Greece; the term applying to first countries of asylum was “resettlement”.

Ms. Fleming also said that UNHCR already had a resettlement program in place in Turkey. But contrary to Jordan and Lebanon, where UNHCR registered people and made the selection based on its own data and criteria, in Turkey the local authorities were in charge of registration and made the initial recommendations, before UNHCR filtered the information. UNHCR was really pushing for resettlement for Syrian refugees from the neighboring countries, and hopefully that program would not be at the expense of the new EU-Turkey deal.

In response to a journalist’s question, Ms. Fleming said that the conference on 30 March in Geneva would be a ministerial level meeting with the attendance of the Secretary-General and the High Commissioner for Refugees. It would be a pledging conference for spaces for resettlement of Syrian refugees. It had been designed well before the new agreement between EU and Turkey.

Mr. Millman said that the numbers of Syrian migrants going through Africa were small compared to the situation two years previous. Dozens, possibly a few hundred were going through Mauretania. Mr. Millman could provide more specifics to the press later. Ms. Fleming confirmed that there were some Syrians who had settled in Soudan.

In response to another question, Ms. Fleming reiterated that on the islands, the centres which used to serve for registration and onward movement were no longer there to process people for transportation to the mainland, where they would continue to Europe. Instead, people were being detained there for re-admission to Turkey. But people would still arrive on boats, would still have issues at the ports, and UNHCR would continue its life-saving activities and provide information. One of the biggest problems was that people were completely baffled, confused and did not know what their options were. UNHCR would attempt to advise them.

In answer to a final question, Ms. Fleming said that UNHCR had provided language guidance and legal guidance during the drafting of the deal, and was now defining what its red lines would be in terms of operational activity.

Rupert Colville, for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), said that OHCHR shared the deep unease expressed by UNICEF; UNHCR and IOM regarding the EU-Turkey agreement, and the lack of clarity regarding what would happen. OHCHR had a number of particular concerns, especially regarding the contradiction in the agreement between blanket returns and individual assessment. States’ obligations under various treaties mean that they should not undertake arbitrary and collective expulsions. The agreement made no mention of children at all, whereas the best interest of the child should be paramount, irrespective of refugee status.

Mr. Millman said that the one millionth sea-borne migrant since January 2015 had arrived in Greece on 19 March. Over the past four years, a total of 1.4 million migrants had arrived on the three main Mediterranean routes. During the same period, 8,100 deaths had been recorded, and there had been a shipwreck within the past 24 hours off the coast of Libya with additional casualties. Some 13,770 migrants had arrived in 2016 on the Libya to Italy route, ahead of the 2015 total at the same time. A large number of Nigerians, particularly women, had reached Italy by sea. As many as 80 per cent had been subjected to some form of trafficking into the sex trade. Rapes of women had been reported before boarding, and a number of bodies had been found on the boats. IOM had managed to rescue 120 women bound for the Italian sex trafficking trade. They were currently in Italy and some had agreed to participate in prosecution.

In response to a question, Mr. Millman said that IOM only helped return voluntary returnees and was not a part of any form of forced deportation.

Brazil

Rupert Colville, for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), said that OHCHR was concerned about the increasingly politicised and heated debate that had engulfed Brazil over the past few days and weeks. OHCHR urged the Government, as well as politicians from other parties, to cooperate fully with the judicial authorities in their investigations into allegations of high-level corruption, and to avoid any actions that could be construed as a means of obstructing justice. At the same time, OHCHR urged the judicial authorities to act scrupulously within the confines of international and domestic law, and to avoid taking partisan political positions.

OHCHR was concerned that a vicious circle could be developing and would risk discrediting both the executive and the judiciary, thereby doing serious long-term damage to the State, and to the democratic achievements made in the past 20 years during which Brazil had been governed under a Constitution providing strong human rights guarantees.

Finland

Mr. Colville said that in Finland, the Government’s proposed new legislation on the Forest and Park Enterprise to regulate the management of State owned lands and waters had been discussed in Parliament in the week of 14 March. OHCHR was concerned that the Bill, as it stood, could lead to a significant weakening of the Sami indigenous people's rights over their traditional lands and resources. OHCHR encouraged the Government of Finland to further consult with the Sami with a view to obtain their free, prior and informed consent prior to adopting and implementing legislative or administrative measures that may affect them, and to ensure that adequate safeguards.