REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE
Marie Heuzé, the Director of the United Nations Office at Geneva, chaired the briefing which heard from Spokespersons from and Representatives of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the World Health Organization, the United Nations Conference for Trade and Development, the UN Refugee Agency and the International Organization for Migration.
Report of the High-level Panel on System-wide Coherence
Ms. Heuzé said the High-level Panel on System-Wide Coherence in the Areas of Development, Humanitarian Assistance, and the Environment yesterday presented its report “Ten Ways For the UN to Deliver As One” in New York. The report was presented by the co-chairs of the panel, the Prime Ministers of Norway and Pakistan. The report, entitled Delivering as One, recommended a country-level consolidation of UN agencies, the strengthening of leadership on humanitarian and environmental activities, and the creation of both a new funding system and a new women’s organization. It said establishing “One UN” Country Programmes would streamline UN agency activities and be led by resident coordinators and handled by a strategic Sustainable Development Board that would eventually bring together boards of the UN Development Programme (UNDP), the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF). The panel also suggested testing the “One UN” programme in half a dozen countries next year to pave the way to a possible system-wide overhaul.
In a briefing yesterday, the Prime Ministers of Norway and Pakistan said the United Nations could save up to 20 per cent per year of its current costs system-wide through eliminating duplication and consolidating certain funds and programmes, freeing up more resources for humanitarian activities. Another concrete proposal in the report was a plan to merge three existing organizations that focused on women’s issues (United Nations Fund for Women, Office of the Special Advisor on Gender Issues, and the United Nations Division for the Advancement of Women) into one strong gender organization with its own under-secretary-general, in order to give women’s issues a stronger voice in the United Nations system.
Available was the Secretary-General’s statement welcoming the report, the report itself and the highlights of the press conference held by the co-chairs of the panel.
Geneva Activities
Ms. Heuzé said the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Committee against Torture were continuing their sessions at the Palais Wilson which would conclude on 24 November. The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights yesterday concluded its consideration of the third periodic report of El Salvador and was today starting its review of the initial report of Tajikistan. The Committee against Torture this morning would start its consideration of the fourth periodic report of the Russian Federation, and in the afternoon, it would conclude its review of the initial report of Burundi which it started considering on Thursday, 9 November.
There would be a number of interesting press conferences next week, Ms. Heuzé said. On Monday, 13 November, at noon, there would be a press conference on the Convention on Conventional Weapons, cluster munitions and anti-vehicle mines. It would be given by François Rivasseau, Permanent Representative of France to the Conference on Disarmament and President of the Third Review Conference, with the participation of the Cluster Munition Coalition.
Ms. Heuzé said on Wednesday, 15 November, there would be a press conference on the child trafficking situation in Eastern Europe at 10 a.m., and on Thursday, 16 November, there would be a press conference at 11 a.m. to launch UNCTAD’s “Information Economy Report 2006”. All the press conferences would be in room III.
New ITU Secretary-General
The Plenipotentiary Conference of the International Communication Union this morning elected Hamadoun Toure of Mali as the new Secretary-General of ITU. In the third round of voting, Mr. Toure obtained 95 votes while his runner-up, Matthias Kurth of Germany, obtained 60 votes.
High Commissioner to Visit Israel and Occupied Palestinian Territories
José Luis Díaz of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said there had been a lot of questions about the incident in Beit Hanoun. High Commissioner Louise Arbour was also shocked and distressed about the incident and the number of victims. She was going to visit Israel and the occupied territories in a little over a week, and Beit Hanoun was one of the places she was looking to go to. The High Commissioner would discuss this incident and the protection of civilians in general with the highest-possible Israeli authorities. The High Commissioner had on a number of occasions expressed her concern that Governments and people in authority must respect the supreme obligation to protect civilians in situations of armed conflict, and be mindful of their obligation to exercise precaution and respect the principle of proportionality in all military operations so as to prevent unnecessary suffering among the civilian population. There would be more details on the High Commissioner’s visit to the occupied Palestinian territories and Israel next week.
In response to a question, Mr. Díaz said the High Commissioner’s visit had been scheduled for some time, but now of course it took on added significance after the incident in Beit Hanoun.
Asked why the High Commissioner had not commented on the Beit Hanoun incident, Mr. Díaz said he believed the High Commissioner would be able to discuss with Israeli authorities the military operations in the territories, especially Gaza, and would recall the obligation of the authorities to respect civilians during armed conflict. She would be going to Gaza to see for herself and speak directly to people in authority about their responsibility. He believed what she planned to tell the Israeli authorities was much stronger and would have much more impact for her being there. The Secretary-General, his Special Coordinator and other officials and UN agencies had condemned the incident and the High Commissioner associated herself with those statements. One could always debate about the impact that one more statement in a list of several is going to have. But the High Commissioner considered it important to remind those in a position of authority of their responsibilities, to face up to their obligations.
A journalist asked if there would be a special session of the Human Rights Council on the situation in Gaza. In response, Mr. Díaz said he believed it would probably be held in the middle of next week, but there had not been any decision taken.
Mr. Díaz said the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories would visit Egypt from 11 to 15 November, Jordan from 15 to 18 November, and Syria from 18 to 22 November 2006. Since its establishment in December 1968, the Special Committee has repeatedly been denied cooperation by the Government of Israel or access to the Occupied Territories.
Matthias Burchard of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East said there was extensive destruction throughout Beit Hanoun in Gaza. Dozens of houses had been destroyed, hundreds damaged, roads had been torn up, water and electricity installations had been severely damaged and water wells had been destroyed. Beit Hanoun was without sufficient fuel and water. UNRWA was providing drinking water with its tankers and fuel supply for one week for wells servicing 20 per cent of the population. Tomorrow, UNRWA would start an emergency food distribution to the most needy – 5,400 families or around 27,000 persons. UNRWA’s schools would reopen for the 10,500 pupils and UNRWA’s Health Centre was already operating around the clock. UNRWA had no reserves to shoulder the damage done and it would publish a flash appeal next week. Today, 1.4 million people in Gaza relied on international support. The severity of this crisis was destroying all investments and efforts by the international community to build sustainable economic and governmental structures since 1993. At the end of this month, the United Nations would launch its Consolidated Emergency Appeal for the West Bank and Gaza. UNRWA’s share in it alone would amount to $ 246 million for 2007.
Michael Bociurkiw of the United Nations Children’s Fund said more than half of the 35,000 people in Beit Hanoun were children, so children had suffered particularly gravely in the latest incursion and in the past few weeks. The deaths of children due to the 8 November shelling was so far eight, but this number could rise. From 1 to 8 November, 17 children were killed in Gaza. And from 1 to 9 November the estimated number of injured children was more than 300. November was the second deadliest month of the year for children in the Palestinian territories after July, when 40 children died. UNICEF took part in a joint UN assessment of the situation in Beit Hanoun and it was estimated that the cost to repair the infrastructure and the homes that had been demolished was estimated to be about $ 10 million. UNICEF had distributed 156 baby hygiene kits and 100 family water kits, and tomorrow, more family hygiene kits would be distributed. Those who had lost their homes would get priority. Around 20 recreational kits would also be distributed. Child protection teams, also known as psycho-social intervention teams, had started their assessment today. What children and adolescents had endured the last few days would likely have a lasting impact. They had seen family members killed and their community destroyed. UNICEF reminded that all children had rights which must be safeguarded irrespective of the environment they happened to live in. Protection of civilians was an obligation under international humanitarian law. The violence must stop.
Human Rights
José Luis Díaz of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said High Commissioner Louise Arbour was warning today that unless the Sudanese Government curbs and disarms militias in West Darfur there could be more attacks like those around the Jebel Moon area that left over 50 civilians dead and thousands displaced late last month. The High Commissioner’s statement was available.
Emergency Relief Coordinator
Elizabeth Byrs of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said the last African trip by Jan Egeland as United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Emergency Relief Coordinator was underway. He would be looking at the two main ongoing crises in Africa: Darfur and Uganda. He would be arriving today in Nairobi, Kenya. He would be visiting Juba in south Sudan to talk with parties taking part in the negotiations between the Ugandan Government and the Lord’s Resistance Army, then to Kampala in Uganda, then to Khartoum in Sudan and finally to Darfur. Available at the back of the room was a press release issued yesterday in New York on his visit and it included contact numbers for spokespersons during his various stops. Mr. Egeland would give his last press release in Geneva on 28 November.
Ms. Byrs said also available at the back of the room was a press release in which Mr. Egeland said that yesterday’s massive attack on civilians in Sri Lanka showed that force continued to be used indiscriminately in the conflict in that country.
Other
Fadela Chaib of the World Health Organization reminded journalists of the press conference today at 12:45 p.m. to talk about a WHO initiative about clean care and the issue of nosocomial infections in hospitals and health care centres. A press release was available with all the details.
Anoush der Boghossian of the World Trade Organization said next week, there would be a meeting of the Technology Transfer Working Group on 14 November, and a meeting of the Least-Developed Countries Sub-Committee on 15 November.
Catherine Pinot-Sibut of the United Nations Conference for Trade and Development said the embargoed paper copies of UNCTAD’s Information Economy Report 2006 was available in the press room. The report was embargoed until 5 p.m. GMT on 16 November. There would be an embargoed press conference at 11 am. on 16 November in Room III.
William Spindler of the UN Refugee Agency said in eastern Chad, UNHCR staff were reporting that the recent spate of attacks on villages by armed men on horseback had also extended to the Koukou area, southeast of the town of Goz Beida. There were reports of attacks on villages in the Kerfi area, southwest of Goz Beida in which more than 200 people may have been killed, forcing hundreds to flee. Yesterday, an interagency mission travelled to the Koukou region where they found a pattern of burned villages. UNHCR remained extremely concerned about the deteriorating security situation in the region and the effect it might have on its humanitarian operation.
Mr. Spindler said after months of deterioration, the humanitarian situation in the southern Colombian region of Nariño near the border with Ecuador, had now reached a critical stage, with thousands of civilians either caught up in fighting or forced to flee. UNHCR called on the Government to address this ongoing crisis, which had caused several waves of mass displacement this year. In Argentina, UNHCR welcomed the approval of a refugee law by Argentina's Congress last Wednesday. The law provided a very solid framework for the full exercise of refugees' rights.
Jean Philippe Chauzy of the International Organization for Migration said in western Côte d’Ivoire, IOM was extending efforts to facilitate the safe and orderly return of thousands of internally displaced persons to their areas of residence. In Colombia, an agreement signed this week between IOM, the Colombian government, the US Agency for International Development and Argos, a Colombian cement company, would make the reintegration of ex combatants more sustainable by incorporating income generation projects. The new initiative aimed to develop activities that promote the reintegration into civil life of 350 persons, mostly heads of households. A new IOM report said official remittances to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi and Rwanda remained comparatively low compared to other African countries. And in Guatemala, nine Guatemalan families have received the keys to new homes as part of an IOM pilot project aimed at enhancing the development potential of international migration.