REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Elena Ponomareva-Piquier, Chief of the Press and External Relations Section of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired the briefing which was also attended by spokespersons for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the UN Refugee Agency, the World Health Organization, the Economic Commission for Europe, the United Nations Conference for Trade and Development and the Universal Postal Union.

Copenhagen Conference

Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was closely following the situation as negotiations in Copenhagen continued. Delegates continued to work on a set of texts before Ministers arrived in Copenhagen this weekend. The negotiations were focusing on new commitments for developed countries under the Kyoto Protocol and a new long-term cooperative deal under the Climate Change Convention, which would include key issues such as mitigation, adaptation, technology and deforestation. The Secretary-General believed that negotiators had to get down to the business of solving problems and finishing this negotiation. They owed the world that. The negotiators had until mid-December to make progress in the search for consensus on efforts to ensure a reduction of gas emissions. They would then pass the task to the Ministers, who would be arriving in the Danish capital on 16 December. These Ministers would have two days to resolve any remaining questions before the Heads of State and Government concluded the conference.

Marie-Francoise Borel of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said the Secretary-General of the International Federation, Bekele Geleta, has issued a statement concerning the main concerns that the International Federation held with regards to the Copenhagen Conference on climate change. Mr. Geleta said that it was essential, from the point of view of the International Federation, that the conference’s final declaration reaffirmed the engagement of States to reduce risks linked to disasters, to prepare for disasters and to reinforce intervention programmes in the case of catastrophes. The main focus should continue to be on adoption of an approach based on solutions which would allow an active fight against the recrudescence of risks linked to clime change. Intervention systems should be reinforced in cases of disasters at all levels, local, national and international. The statement of Mr. Geleta was available, as was another note on recommendations by the International Federation to States parties attending the Copenhagen conference.

Secretary-General’s Meetings Concerning Case of Aminatou Haidar

Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said Secretary-General Ban yesterday spoke with the Spanish Foreign Minister, Miguel Angel Moratinos. The Secretary-General and the Foreign Minister Moratinos discussed the condition of Ms. Aminatou Haidar. The Secretary-General expressed concerns about her deteriorating health and emphasized that a solution needed to be found with the utmost urgency. He proposed possible steps to resolve the situation. Mrs. Haidar has been on hunger strike since mid-November.
The Secretary-General was scheduled to meet with the Moroccan Foreign Minister today.

Director-General of UNOG Addresses Closing Ceremony of the "The Courage to Lead: A Human Rights Summit for Women Leaders"

Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said Sergei A. Ordzhonikidze, United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva, yesterday, on the occasion of Human Rights Day, addressed the closing ceremony of the "The Courage to Lead: A Human Rights Summit for Women Leaders". Mr. Ordzhonikidze said working towards the end of discrimination against women and girls was a moral obligation of any society. Enabling women to fulfil their potential and contribute to the common good was one of the United Nations’ core objectives. Gender empowerment was not only a goal in its own right, but it was also key to achieving broader security and development aims. United States Secretary of State Hilary Clinton also participated in the ceremony via videolink. The Director-General’s full statement was available in the press room.

Donor Pledges for 2010 for Central Emergency Response Fund

Elizabeth Byrs of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said a high-level UN conference was held in New York yesterday in which 63 donors pledged $ 424 million for 2010 to support the Central Emergency Response Fund. This figure was roughly $ 50 million more than the amount pledged at last year’s conference when some $ 380 million was raised. Five new donors stepped forward: Madagascar, Mauritania, the Russian Federation, Singapore and the Sovereign Order of Malta. Several long-standing donors also announced significant increases in their contributions, including Norway, Belgium, Brazil, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Kazakhstan, Luxembourg, Pakistan, Slovenia, South Africa and the United States. There were also private donors. With the funds pledged yesterday, the Central Emergency Response Fund was already close to its $ 450 million annual target for 2010. There were more details in the notes at the back of the room.

It was also agreed that a briefing would be held on 17 December with staff from OCHA’s regional office in Panama on all the crises in Latin America.

UN Refugee Agency on Iraq, Yemen and Stockholm Programme

Andrej Mahecic of the UN Refugee Agency said UNHCR was shocked and saddened by the recent bombings and continued violence in Iraq which had left hundreds dead and wounded this week. Despite the efforts of the authorities, the security situation remained precarious. For this reason, UNHCR’s guidelines on Iraqis should continue to be applied and countries needed to refrain from forcibly returning Iraqis originating from the region of central Iraq back to those governorates deemed to be unsafe.

In Yemen, Mr. Mahecic said thousands of civilians continued to flee their homes in northern Yemen as the fighting between government troops and Al Houti forces entered the fifth month. The situation in Sa’ada province remained tense and the newly arriving internally displaced people reported clashes in Haydan, Beni Muath, Eel Ammar and Al Taleh areas. The continuing massive influx was straining existing shelter and aid resources in the neighbouring Hajjah and Amran provinces. An estimated 175,000 people had been affected by the conflict in Yemen since 2004, including those displaced by the latest crisis.

Mr. Mahecic said UNHCR welcomed the adoption of the Stockholm Programme, setting the priorities of the European Union on asylum and other justice and home affairs issues from 2010 to 2014. At the same time, UNHCR called on the European Union to ensure that migration management objectives did not overshadow refugee protection principles.

World Health Organization on World Malaria Report/H1N1

Fadela Chaib of the World Health Organization reminded journalists of the WHO press briefing on 15 December to launch the World Malaria Report 2009. A media alert would be sent to journalists later today listing the various embargoed documents that would be available regarding the report.

Gregory Hartl of the World Health Organization said there would be an epidemiological update on the H1N1 virus this afternoon as usual.

A journalist asked if WHO had any comment on recent publications questioning the efficacy of tamiflue as being effective with healthy people, including the Cochrane review published in the BMJ. Mr. Hartl said while the report appeared in the BMJ, its lead author was from the Cochrane Institute. What the Cochrane was looking at was seasonal influenza, not H1N1. WHO did not have any disagreement with the Cochrane concerning what they looked at. However, over the last eight months, in the course of the pandemic, a substantial body of evidence had been building up to indicate that the medication was effective at reducing and/or preventing severe illness and even death in populations who were at risk to begin with, and in populations who developed severe illness. WHO’s recommendations had been and continued to be that concerning infection with H1N1, if the person was in a high-risk group, that person should start oseltamivir treatment immediately. If the person was not in a high-risk group, but had symptoms which persisted over three days and were getting worse, the person should take oseltamivir treatment. Healthy individuals did not need to be treated with oseltamivir.

Other

Jean Rodriguez of the Economic Commission for Europe said the UNECE was participating actively in the Copenhagen conference and its Executive Secretary, Jan Kubis, would be participating for most of next week in a number of events at the conference. UNECE’s activities covered many key areas relevant to mitigating or adapting to climate change. These included sustainable energy, transport, buildings, forestry, integrated water management and public participation. He would shortly be sending out a detailed programme of the ECE’s activities at the Copenhagen conference next week.

Mr. Rodriguez said next week, the Executive Body for the Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution would be meeting in Geneva from 14 to 18 December to discuss its programme of work for the next two years. The Compliance Committee for the Aarhus Convention would also be meeting in Geneva from 15 to 18 December.

Catherine Sibut-Pinote of the United Nations Conference for Trade and Development said the Ad Hoc Expert Meeting on transit ports servicing landlocked developing countries was meeting today in Geneva in Room XXI. Also, the Ad hoc Expert Meeting on Facilitating Access of Small Organic Farmers in Developing Countries to Supermarket Shelves started yesterday and was concluding today. They were meeting in Room VII. A training course for Syrian trade officials on the multilateral trading system and accession to the WTO started in Geneva on 7 December and was also concluding today. If journalists were interested in more information about these meetings, they could check the UNCTAD website or they could contact her.

Next week, Ms. Sibut-Pinote said the multi-year expert meeting on international cooperation: South–South cooperation and regional integration would hold its second session from 14 to 16 December 2009 to discuss areas in which South-South and triangular cooperation could support sustainable agriculture development and food security in developing countries. The first session was held last February. There was a lot of material on this important meeting on the UNCTAD website.

Rheal LeBlanc of the Universal Postal Union reminded journalists that at 11:30 a.m. today, there would be a press conference by the UPU Director General, the ICANN President and CEO and the CEO of Poste Italiane on the announcement of a significant development regarding the top-level domain name .post. There was also a press kit at the back of the room on efforts by the postal sector in the fight against climate change and how to make its work greener. Next week, the UPU Director General would be in Copenhagen to participate in two events relating to the Copenhagen conference.