REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE
Marie Heuzé, the Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired the briefing which was also attended by Spokespersons for the International Labour Organization, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the UN Refugee Agency, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the International Organization for Migration, the World Trade Organization and the World Meteorological Organization.
Geneva Activities
Ms. Heuzé said the Committee on the Rights of the Child was today examining the reports of Guatemala on the Optional Protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, and on children and armed conflict. On Monday, 4 June, the Committee would take up the report of Ukraine on the Optional Protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography in the morning, and the report of Bangladesh to the same Optional Protocol in the afternoon. The Committee would conclude its session on Friday, 8 June after releasing its concluding observations and conclusions on the reports which it reviewed.
There would be a public plenary of the Conference on Disarmament at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, 5 June.
Ms. Heuzé said on Monday, 4 June, the Human Rights Council would be holding a special meeting to hear an address by Michelle Bachelet, the President of Chile, who would be speaking about Chile’s position on the importance of strengthening the system of the promotion and protection of human rights. The special meeting would be starting at 3:30 p.m. in Salle XVIII. It would be opened by Ambassador Luis Alfonso de Alba of Mexico, the President of the Human Rights Council. Sergei Ordzhonikidze, the Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva, and Louise Arbour, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, would also address the meeting. The meeting was expected to conclude by 4:15 p.m. A press release on the meeting was available.
The International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers was being commemorated today with a wreath-laying and flag-raising ceremony at the Palais des Nations, which would be followed by a round-table discussion. The ceremony would start at 3 p.m. at the United Nations Memorial in the Ariana Park when Supachai Panitchpakdi, Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference for Trade and Development and Officer-in-Charge of the United Nations Office at Geneva, would deliver the message of Sergei Ordzhonikidze, Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva. This would be followed by a statement by Laurent Attar-Bayrou, President of the United Nations Peacekeepers Association. The ceremony would then move to Salle VIII where the round-table discussion would start at 4 p.m. The theme of the discussion was “United Nations peacekeeping operations: A sustainable way to maintain international peace and security.” Participating in the round-table would be Mr. Attar-Bayrou, the Permanent Representatives of Switzerland and Ghana, and others. Ms. Heuzé would be moderating the discussion.
Ms. Heuzé said there would be two interesting press briefings on 4 June. The first would be held at 11 a.m. by the Reuters AlertNet team to discuss the online toolkit which had been created to make life easier for journalists covering conflicts and disasters. At noon, there would be a briefing on the Global Compact Leaders Summit which would be held in Geneva on 5 and 6 July. Speaking would be George Kell, Executive Head of the UN Global Compact Office.
Ms. Heuzé said the Secretary-General was in Germany earlier this week to attend a Quartet meeting on the Middle East. Available was the transcript of the Secretary-General’s comments during a brief press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
The Security Council on 30 May adopted a Chapter VII resolution on the establishment of a Special Tribunal for Lebanon. The resolution would enter into force on June 10 unless the Lebanese Government notified the Council of its entry into force prior to that date. It included, among other things, a set of provisions on the choice of the Tribunal’s location, its funding mechanisms and a request for the Secretary-General to deliver a progress report to the Council within 90 days. The Special Tribunal would try the suspected killers of the former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
A joint report issued by the United Nations and the African Union on the planned hybrid United Nations-African Union peacekeeping force in Darfur had been released yesterday in New York. Copies were available in the Documentation Centre. The report said the peacekeeping force would only succeed if its unity and coherence of command were not compromised and if the Sudanese Government cooperated.
Ms. Heuzé said the Secretary-General’s message for World Environment Day, 5 June, was available in the press room in English and in French. In his message, the Secretary-General highlighted the global nature of climate change.
International Labour Conference
Hans Von Rohland of the International Labour Organization said the ninety-sixth session of the International Labour Conference was this morning electing its President and Vice-Presidents. On Monday, 4 June, the two keynote speakers, the Presidents of Chile and of Ghana, would take the floor respectively at 10:30 a.m. and at 11:30 a.m. The International Labour Conference was being held at the Palais des Nations from 30 May to 15 June.
Central African Republic
Elizabeth Byrs of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said the Central African Republic was one of the most forgotten countries in the world and its humanitarian crisis seemed to be ignored by donor countries. The Economy Minister of the Central African Republic, Sylvain Maliko, and the Humanitarian Coordinator and Resident Coordinator, Toby Lanzer, were touring a number of European capitals to draw the attention of officials to the situation in the Central African Republic. The 2007 UN Appeal for the country for $ 80 million had only been covered by 30 per cent. The Central African Republic, with a population of 4 million, had a life expectancy of 39 years, and the HIV/AIDS prevalence amongst adults was between 10 to 15 per cent. One million persons in the country were affected by the current hostilities and there were 240,000 internally displaced persons. OCHA and the United Nations had decided to reinforce their presence outside of Bangui and would be setting up offices in Bossangoa, Kaga Bandoro, Ndele and Paou.
Ms. Byrs said on 27 June, a Development Partner Consultation would be held in Brussels to sensitize donor countries and partners about the situation, in the presence of Elie Dote, the Prime Minister of the Central African Republic, and the Resident Coordinator. This consultation would pave the way for a pledging conference in October.
Jennifer Pagonis of the United Nations Refugee Agency said UNHCR was preparing to deliver emergency aid for some 1,500 newly arrived Sudanese refugees from Dafak in southern Darfur who walked 200 kilometres to the Central African Republic to find safety, saying their homes had been bombarded by planes and helicopters. A UNHCR-led inter-agency assessment mission earlier this week to Sam-Ouandja, a remote town in north eastern Central African Republic, found the refugees, mainly women and children, who said they had walked for ten days to reach the Central African Republic, following paths only accessible by foot or donkey. They also claimed they were repeatedly attacked by "Janjaweed" armed militia between 12 and 18 May, adding there were more air attacks even as they were fleeing towards the Central African Republic. A UNHCR commissioned registration team from the National Refugee Commission of the Central African Republic was expected to arrive today in Sam-Ouandja and start registering the refugees. The Central African Republic hosts some 10,000 refugees, mainly from Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Chad.
Other
Veronique Taveau of the United Nations Children’s Fund said the Junior 8 Summit would be held in Heligendamm, Germany from 3 to 9 June in parallel with the G8 Summit. Seventy-four children and young people, eight from each of the G8 countries and 10 from developing nations, would be participating. They were chosen after a selection process organized by Morgan Stanley and UNICEF. The participants would debate four main themes: economic development in Africa, HIV/AIDS, climate change and new global challenges, including intellectual property rights and corporate social responsibility. Available was a note with more details.
Jean-Philippe Chauzy of the International Organization for Migration said in Guatemala, IOM had so far this year provided assistance to more than 7,100 irregular migrants who had been returned to their country from the United States.
In the Philippines, IOM Manila this week completed a three-day training seminar for operational staff from the Philippine Bureau of Immigration. Brunson McKinley, Director General of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), would today present the annual Director General's Award to staff in recognition of outstanding work. The ceremony would take place at 4 p.m. at the organization's headquarters in Geneva.
Anoush der Boghossian of the World Trade Organization said that next week, the Negotiating Group on market access for non-agricultural products would be meeting all week. There would be a briefing on Friday, 8 June. There would also be meetings of the Financial Services Committee on 6 June, and the Services: Specific Commitments Committee and the Services Council on 7 June, and Services Negotiations (Council “special session”) on 8 June.
As for Director-General Pascal Lamy, he would be meeting with the President of Chile on 4 June and the President of Ghana on 5 June. He would also be meeting with the Vice-President of the National Assembly of Viet Nam on 7 June.
Mark Oliver of the World Meteorological Organization said a press release would be issued later in the day about what WMO could do to beef up the meteorological services in the Maldives following the flooding which resulted from high tides and tidal waves last month. These would be immediate measures, and WMO was also considering more long-term measures as well.
Jennifer Pagonis of the United Nations Refugee Agency said UNHCR’s office in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, and a network of partners had continued to monitor population movements inside Somalia and now estimated that up to 90,000 Somalis may have returned to Mogadishu mainly from the Shabelle and Bay regions of south and central Somalia. This figure represented just over 23 percent of the 391,000 Somalis estimated to have fled from Mogadishu since February this year. Mogadishu remained without electricity and running water and sanitation was a major concern as garbage remained uncollected in many neighbourhoods in the city.
Ms. Pagonis said in Thailand, UNHCR was concerned to hear that the Thai authorities were considering deporting 48 newly arrived Lao Hmong back to Laos from Thailand. The Lao Hmong issue was complex and UNHCR appreciated the concerns of the Thai and Laos Government on the irregular migration aspect, but there may be people coming who had humanitarian reasons for building a life in a third country and UNHCR would be concerned that people like this may be deported.
Ms. Pagnois said UNHCR was very concerned about the lack of a strong and uniform commitment by coastal States to allow for prompt disembarkation which had resulted in some shipmasters ignoring their obligations and longstanding maritime tradition to help people in distress. This concern was being expressed after several people seeking to reach Europe in small boats across the Mediterranean had been ignored and left stranded in the middle of the sea while in life threatening situations and clear distress in recent weeks. UNHCR was particularly concerned about the whereabouts of at least 53 people of mostly Eritrean origin who went missing more than a week ago between Libya and Malta. In view of the grave nature of these events, UNHCR urged the European Commission to take further steps to reaffirm and outline the responsibilities of Member States to rescue lives at sea and to allow for disembarkation.