REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE
Michele Zaccheo, Chief of the Radio and Television Section, United Nations Information Service, chaired the briefing attended by spokespersons for the United Nations Children’s Fund, the United Nations Refugee Agency, the World Food Programme and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.
World Humanitarian Day
Michele Zaccheo started the briefing by recalling that today was World Humanitarian Day. He quoted from the message of the Secretary-General saying that “World Humanitarian Day is an annual reminder of the need to act to alleviate the suffering. It is also an occasion to honour the humanitarian workers and volunteers toiling on the frontlines of crises. I pay tribute to these dedicated women and men who brave danger to help others at far greater risk."
Concurrent with the media briefing, the UN in Geneva was organizing a commemoration of World Humanitarian Day, focusing on the stories of youth in humanitarian action. Michael Møller, Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva, opened the event, which was also attended by Filippo Grandi, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Nan Buzard, Executive Director of the International Council of Voluntary Agencies, as well as a number of youth representatives.
Other activities for World Humanitarian Day, included a side event on creative actions for humanity at 1 p.m. in room XIV, which would include a panel of young humanitarian artists who would share stories and talk about their work. A short film festival would also take place in the same room.
Michele Zaccheo referred to the Special Envoy’s decision to adjourn the Humanitarian Taskforce meeting, and to the statement issued yesterday by his Office, stating that “Mr. de Mistura has since received the communication from the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, stating its readiness to support his proposal of a 48-hour humanitarian pause in Aleppo.
The Special Envoy welcomes the Russian Federation statement, and the United Nations humanitarian team is now set to mobilize itself to respond to this challenge, as stated recently by Emergency Relief Coordinator Stephen O’Brien. Our plan is to collectively work out the operational details, and be ready for delivery as soon as possible.”
Jordan: Syrian Children & Education
Connecting by teleconference from Amman, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Representative in Jordan, Robert Jenkins, said that the Government of Jordan had launched, with UNICEF’s support, a nationwide “Learning for all/back to school campaign”, which sought to reach every child in Jordan, regardless of their nationality, and particularly to the 91,000 refugee children currently residing there and who were out of school. Jordan was in need for global support to enable such an ambitious campaign to be realised by the time the school year would start in two weeks. UNICEF strongly believed that education was critical to avoid a lost generation of children affected by the Syrian crisis.
Responding to a question on the concerned communities’ reaction to this campaign, he said that the strategy adopted was to ensure the current school system would not be affected by this campaign. An additional 102 schools would open afternoon shifts, he said, adding that a catch-up programme would specifically address the needs of children who had been outside of the education system for more than three years.
When asked about financial resources to support this campaign, Mr. Jenkins said although pledges by other countries had been significant, more funding were necessary for the implementation of this ambitious campaign. There was still a significant gap between the pledged amount and actual funds received, he added. Responding to a question whether child labour in Jordan was affecting this campaign, he said that UNICEF was working directly with vulnerable households to provide support in order to enable them to send their children to school. This included support towards strengthening the social protection system.
Jordan was an example to other countries on its ambitions and commitment in providing education to every child including Syrian refugee children in the country, he concluded.
Syria: Situation in Aleppo
Christophe Boulierac for the United Nations Children’s Fund, said that the heart-breaking images of Omran Daqneesh, the little boy rescued from a destroyed building in Aleppo, reminded us yet again of the unimaginable horror Syrian children faced as the world watched. No child in Syria was safe while the conflict dragged on. More than 3.7 million Syrian children under the age of five knew nothing but displacement, violence and uncertainty. Some 306,000 were born as refugees in neighbouring countries. UNICEF estimated that 8.4 million Syrian children were in need of humanitarian aid in Syria and neighbouring countries.
Regarding the situation in Aleppo, Mr. Boulierac said that access to safe water had continued to deteriorate in the past two weeks. The situation was particularly worsening for civilians living in the eastern parts of the city where taps had gone dry, and families having no access to safe water through the public network. At least 100,000 children living in the eastern parts of the city were facing dangers of outbreaks of water-borne diseases. As fighting escalated, risks continued to grow every day. Heavy fighting and the escalation of violence since 4 August 2016 were preventing technicians from repairing the severely-damaged electricity and water systems in the city.
UNICEF had been able to deliver 300,000 litres of fuel to operate the generators for water-pumping stations and ground wells in the western parts of the city, providing water to 1.2 million people. UNICEF had also provided water purification tablets and was trucking four million litres of drinking water on a daily basis to the western parts of the city. This was not enough and that it was not a solution, Mr. Boulierac claimed. It was critical for UNICEF to be able to reach all parts of the war-torn city and to provide much needed assistance. He repeated UNICEF’s call on all parties to the conflict to immediately allow safe and protected access for technicians to conduct urgent repairs to the electricity networks so that water was restored across the city.
Asked about UNICEF’s access to Aleppo, Mr. Boulierac said that UNICEF was indeed able to truck water to the western part of the city. UNICEF was particularly concerned about the situation in the eastern part of the city, where the population, including approximately 100 000 children, relied on water from wells that was potentially contaminated by faecal matter and unsafe to drink. The priority was to repair the electricity and water networks so that water is restored across the city, he insisted, underlining the need to enable technicians there and demanding that the fighting stopped in order to do that.
In answer to another question, Bettina Luescher, for the World Food Programme (WFP), insisted that WFP was not doing the bidding of any party. She assured that aid would never be suspended, and that WFP was insuring that the little kids, grandmothers, mothers and fathers got food whatever it took. WFP was deeply concerned about the situation in Aleppo, she said, and was able, during the week, to feed some 20,000 people in the eastern city. In June 2016, 30 percent of the food went into opposition-controlled areas, she added, insisting that political opinions of people did not matter to WFP, whose number one goal was to feed civilians. Continuing, she explained that NGOs on the ground needed a 48-hour pause immediately. Many little boys and girls needed help, as they were in the same situation as little Omran, who had touched the world. It was hard, but not impossible to come up with a 48-hour pause, she insisted. Answering another question, Ms. Luescher said that the siege had to stop, because it was inhumane, and insisted that the international community should pay more attention to this situation.
Iraq: Atrocities Against the Yazidi Community
Ravina Shamdasani, for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), referred to a press release issued this morning in relation to a report compiled by the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq and OHCHR and detailing the heart-wrenching testimony of Yazidi survivors of atrocities by ISIL in Iraq since August 2014.
South Sudan: Children Recruited by Armed Groups
Christophe Boulierac, for the United Nations Children’s Fund, announced that UNICEF’s Deputy Executive Director Mr. Justin Forsyth had been in South Sudan very recently. Hundreds of children were still being recruited by armed groups as violations increased, illustrating the deterioration of the situation and the extent to which children were affected by this horrible conflict.
Since the beginning of the year, more than 650 children had been recruited into armed groups in South Sudan. UNICEF feared that renewed violence in Juba and other parts of the country could imminently lead to further spike in child recruitment. UNICEF called for an immediate end to recruitment and an unconditional release of all children by all armed actors.
An estimated 16,650 children had been recruited by armed groups and armed forces since the crisis in South Sudan had first begun in December 2013. Mr. Boulierac stressed that when children were seized by armed groups or forces, they suffered immense physical and psychological long-term damage. UNICEF had overseen in 2015 the release of 1,775 former child soldiers in what had been one of the largest demobilizations of children ever. But this renewed fighting and recruitment in South Sudan risked undermining much of this progress.
Christophe Boulierac also reported an alarming rise in the number of women and girls being subjected to sexual violence since fighting had broken out in Juba on 8 July 2016. These incidents were largely occurring in the context of women trying to meet the basic survival needs of their families, forcing them to leave the protection of civilian sites and walk through highly militarized areas to access nearby markets. The systematic use of rape, sexual exploitation and abduction as a weapon of war in South Sudan had to end, together with the impunity of all perpetrators.
Mr. Boulierac stated that fighting had killed at least 1,774 children since December 2013 and that there were enough information available - including multiple witness accounts and consistent pattern from similar violence outbreaks in the past - to demand urgent attention regarding sexual violence. He added that while women and girls represented a majority of those affected, cases of men and boys being raped and sexually assaulted had also been reported. Unconditional access for all humanitarian interventions in Juba and all other parts of the country was urgently needed so as to provide support, protection, and assistance to children and women across the country.
Mr. Boulierac, in response to a question on the causes for the escalation of the recruitment of children by armed group, said that the enrolment of children in armed groups was closely related to the security situation. Together with malnutrition or sexual violence, enrolment of children in armed groups/forces showed that the situation was deteriorating.
Addressing a question on those responsible, he said that the overall pattern was that all parties to the conflict had carried out enrolment of children. Most of them were boys, he added in response to another question. However, it was reported that three at least 3 girls among children that were recruited this year.
Responding to a question on the consequences of South Sudan's opposition leader Riek Machar fleeing to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Michele Zaccheo said that speakers could not speculate on the humanitarian consequences of a political situation.
Nigeria: Alarm at Humanitarian Crisis in Northeast
Adrian Edwards, for the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), said that UNHCR was increasingly alarmed at the situation in northeast Nigeria, where advancing military campaigns by Government forces together with the Multi-National Joint Task Force had, in recent weeks, led to incredible suffering among the population of the area, many of whom had been out of reach of humanitarian help.
With the military campaign still in progress, the situation was still dangerous and volatile. There had been frequent hit-and-run incidents by militants, suicide bombing, attacks on civilians, torching of homes, and theft of livestock, he explained. On 27 July, a United Nations convoy had been attacked with an improvised explosive device and gunfire, injuring three humanitarians as well as members of the military escort. The level of peril and difficulty in delivering life-saving aid was high, and so were the costs.
Continuing, he referred to numerous reports of human rights violations in Borno and Yobe states, including deaths, sexual violence, disappearances, forced recruitment, forced religious conversions, and attacks on civilian sites. Some 800,000 additional internally displaced people had been identified as needing help, he noted. Severe malnutrition on a wide scale was being reported, and the needs of the population were growing every day. In Borno, 52,000 people were on UNHCR’s critically vulnerable list, 22,000 of these being children.
An additional complication was the knock-on effect of the military campaign, which resulted in further-spreading insecurity to the north and west, across the borders and into parts of Cameroon, Chad and Niger, where violent attacks against military personnel in Bosse town in June, had resulted in the worst displacement there since the beginning of the crisis in 2013. Amid this, more than 100,000 Nigerian refugees had been pressed back into Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states, becoming new internally displaced people in the process and also needing reception, registration, shelter, psycho-social support and material assistance.
UNHCR was responding by scaling its operations up. The immediate focus was responding to the needs of some 488,000 people in critical condition, and the needs of the returned refugees. Together with other United Nations agencies, the Nigerian government and its NGO partners, UNHCR had taken advantage of a narrow and recently-opened corridor to coordinate rapid joint needs and protection assessments in Damboa, Dikwa and several other areas in May and June. More recently, UNHCR had been able to assess humanitarian needs in Bama.
There were no civil administration or police services in these areas as of yet, although there had been slight and gradual changes since the aftermath of the United Nations convoy attack. Most inhabitants had fled, while counter-insurgency operations were continuing. Many of the displaced were women, children, elder persons, and others with urgent needs. Some adults had been seen being so exhausted they were unable to move, as well as children with swollen faces, hollow eyes and other clear indications of acute malnutrition. Many also had showed signs of severe trauma. People were screaming at night, there were aggressions among children, people complained about the lack of food and water. There was fuel shortage in the area so water could not be pumped. Additional displaced persons arrived daily.
Access to other areas remained impossible without military escort, and was only possible for few hours at a time. Armoured vehicles and military escorts providing better security and protection for UNHCR and humanitarian partners were urgently needed to effectively reach vulnerable populations.
The insurgency in Nigeria had mutated into a vast regional crisis confronting Nigeria and its neighbours – Chad, Cameroon and Niger, where over half a million people displaced. As of recently, there were more than two million internally displaced persons in Nigeria, out of which over 1,8 million who had been displaced as a result of the conflict with Boko Haram.
Bettina Luescher, for the World Food Programme (WFP), said that the Programme was, together with the Nigerian Government and sister agencies, scaling up its assistance to reach more than 700,000 people. WFP would give cash to people living where markets existed in order to buy food, and would directly give food to those living in areas where no market existed.
WFP was giving special nutritional food to some 150,000 children under the age of five in addition to their usual diet. WFP had been able to double the number of people that they could reach in the last 6 months. Despite this big increase, there was a big concern about the fact that more than three million people were still in the state of severe food insecurity, and that things could get worse quickly.
WFP had done a lot of research and vulnerability assessments, Ms. Luescher said. Experts had been pointing to the economic situation in Nigeria and its impact on food insecurity. Because of Nigeria’s economic downturn, the number of hungry people could double in north-eastern states. The dropping oil prices and the sharp rise in the price of imported staples had worsened the sufferings of these people. Experts were warning that the number of people living under food insecurity could go as high as 5.5 million people in the following month.
It was difficult to reach the areas and the people that had been cut-off, Ms. Luescher said. On behalf of the whole international community, WFP had run the United Nations humanitarian air service, with a helicopter bringing food and medication to more than 6,000 people in areas that were hard to reach over the previous year. WFP was in need of 52 million dollars before the end of the year.
Responding to a question on the regional implications of the fight against Boko Haram, Adrian Edwards said that there was incredible across borders in southern Niger, Chad and Cameroon, and that the UNHCR had extreme difficulty in reaching people there. There was real suffering, he said as that the situation was extremely volatile. Bettina Luescher added that WFP, in order to reach some parts of Nigeria, had to bring food from neighbouring Cameroon, as access was impossible via Nigeria.
In answer to a question, Ms. Luescher added that in the neighbouring countries, in June, WFP had brought food to more than 400,000 people. Some areas in Nigeria could not be reached from inside Nigeria, and had to be supplied from neighbouring Cameroon.
Asked about figures concerning food insecurity in Nigeria, Bettina Luescher said that three million people were either in moderate or serious food insecurity. The conflict, in addition to the lean season arriving as well as the rising food prices, made people much more vulnerable, and could make the number of people living under food insecurity go up to 5.5 million, she said. If the Government would step up and give cash to vulnerable people, one could quickly get that number down to 1.9 million by December.
Adrian Edwards, responding to a question on the need for armed vehicles for the delivery of humanitarian aid, said that what was needed was better security. UNHCR had had a humanitarian convoy with three members of its staff recently attacked, he said. Populations in this area were traumatised, he insisted. People had no access to food, water, sanitation or healthcare. Many women and girls recently released by Boko Haram were in urgent need for psychosocial support. Many women were pregnant, or had given birth in Boko Haram camps. Affected children were having terrible nightmares, and were reportedly getting excessively aggressive and violent with each other. It was also crucial to support national humanitarian actors, Ms. Luescher added.
Ethiopia: Human Rights
Ravina Shamdasani, for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), said that, given the extremely alarming reports that emerged earlier this month about serious human rights violations in the Amharaand Oromia regions, the High Commissioner had reached out to the Ethiopian Government seeking access for independent observers to assess the human rights situation.
OHCHR had received a reply from the Government indicating that they would launch an independent investigation into the events. OHCHR had welcomed this decision and urged the government to ensure that the investigation had a mandate to cover allegations of human rights violations since November 2015; that it was indeed transparent, independent, thorough and effective with the view to establishing whether the use of extensive force occurred and with a view to holding the perpetrators of any human rights violations accountable. OHCHR was standing ready to assist the Government in ensuring that the investigation is undertaken in line with international human rights standards.
OHCHR had also reiterated their request for access to the affected areas as the situation on the ground made it very challenging for civil society actors to operate, particularly in the Oromia and Amhara regions, where a large security presence had reportedly been deployed and where there had been reports of ongoing arbitrary arrests, intimidation and harassment.
OHCHR had called on the government to ensure that the rights to peaceful assembly and expression were protected and that those detained for exercising these rights be promptly released. Protests must be handled by security forces in full respect on international human rights laws and standards on the use of force. OHCHR had also called on the government to work on opening up the political and democratic space, which should include comprehensive reforms of the security sector as well as legislative and institutional reforms.
Thailand: Human Rights
Ravina Shamdasani, for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), informed that OHCHR was very concerned about the continued mounting constraints on democratic space in Thailand, and called for a prompt return to civilian rule. Following the military coup in May 2014, severe restrictions on freedoms of expression, opinion and assembly had been imposed through the use of criminal and military laws and orders. Leading up to this month's constitutional referendum, these measures had increased.
Overall, at least 1,300 people had been arrested or charged and 1,629 civilians had been tried before military courts. Since June 2016, at least 115 people had been arrested or charged under military orders, the Criminal Code and the Constitutional Referendum Act for expressing their opinion on the draft Constitution or for reporting human rights violations, including torture. Ms. Shamdasani said that 12 individuals had been arrested in the Chiang Mai Province in late July 2016, and that a student activist, who had been arrested on 6 August 2016, remained in detention.
OHCHR was urging Thailand to immediately drop all charges against political activists and human rights defenders, and to release those jailed for voicing on the draft Charter. OHCHR was also calling on the authorities to suspend the use of military codes and military orders in cases involving civilians. These measures were urgently needed, as Thailand moves towards an election in 2017 aiming to restore democracy. These would represent an opportunity for Thailand to meet its commitment - made during its last Universal Periodical Review in May 2016 - to fully respect freedom of expression and to guarantee a more inclusive, participatory and non-threatening environment for political parties, civil society organizations and the media.
Geneva Activities and Other Issues
Michele Zaccheo announced a Press Briefing on Monday, 22 August at 9 a.m. in Room III organized by the Permanent Mission of Nigeria on the Arms Trade Treaty Second Conference of States Parties, which would be held from 22 to 26 August 2016. Participating in the briefing would be Ambassador E. E. Imohe, President of the Arms Trade Treaty’s Second Conference of States Parties, Patrick Y. Gbemudu from Permanent Mission of Nigeria to the United Nations Office at Geneva, Anna Macdonald, Director of Control Arms, and Geoffery Duke, Executive Director of South Sudan Action Network on Small Arms.
Michele Zaccheo also announced the launch of the Global Shapers Annual Survey on Monday, 22 August at 12.30 p.m. in Press Room 1, by Adeyemi Babington-Ashaye, Head of Global Shapers Community, World Economic Forum.
Continuing, Mr. Zaccheo informed that the Conference on Disarmament, which would conclude the third and final part of its annual session on 16 September, would hold its next official public plenary session next Tuesday, 23 August at 10 a.m. This would be the first public meeting under the chairmanship of Ambassador Kim In-chul of Republic of Korea, who would be the successor of Ambassador Piotr Stachańczyk from Poland starting from 22 August until the end of the session.
The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, which was holding its ninetieth session at Palais Wilson, would meet in closed meetings until the close of the session scheduled for Friday 26 August, after which it would issue concluding observations on the reports of Greece, United Kingdom, Paraguay, South Africa, Lebanon, Ukraine, Sri Lanka and Pakistan.
The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which opened this week its sixteenth session, was concluding this morning the consideration of the periodic report the United Arab Emirates, which was started yesterday afternoon. During this session, which would run until Friday 2 September at Palais Wilson, the Committee would also examine reports of Guatemala, Colombia and Italy.