REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Marie Heuzé, the Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired the briefing which also heard from Spokespersons for and Representatives of
the International Labour Organization, the UN Refugee Agency, the International Organization for Migration, the World Health Organization, the United Nations Conference for Trade and Development, the United Nations Children’s Fund and the World Food Programme.

Louise Arbour, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, also addressed the briefing. A summary of her comments is available separately.

Geneva Activities

The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination would be concluding its ongoing session on Friday, 9 March. During the session, the Committee had reviewed the situation in Canada, Israel, India, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Liechtenstein, Antigua and Barbuda and the Czech Republic. The Committee’s concluding observations and recommendations would be released on Friday afternoon.

At the Conference on Disarmament four countries were scheduled to speak this morning (Ukraine, Cuba, Colombia and Switzerland).

Ms. Heuzé said the World Meteorological Organization had prepared a press release on the passing away of the former WMO Secretary-General, Professor Godwiin Patrick Olu Obasi, who led the organization from 1 January 1984 to 31 December 2003. The press release and the biography of Mr. Obasi were available.

The Permanent Mission of Canada was inviting journalists to a presentation to be held this afternoon at 4 p.m. in Room XVIII of the Palais by Senator Romeo Dallaire, former Commander of the UN Observer Mission in Uganda and Rwanda and the UN Assistance Mission for Rwanda, on the protection of civilians in armed conflict.


Global Employment Trends for Women 2007

Hans von Rohland of the International Labour Organization said available was the embargoed press release on and summary of the ILO’s latest study “Global Employment Trends for Women 2007”. The documents were embargoed until 2300 GMT on 7 March.

Dorothea Schmidt of the ILO said since the ILO had published the global employments trends for women in 2004, there had been some progress, but it had been at a very slow pace. The main findings of this year’s report were that in absolute numbers, more women than ever before were participating in labour markets. They were either in work, or they were looking for a job. This overall figure however told only part of the story. During the past 10 years, the labour force participation rate, which was the share of working age women who worked or were seeking work, had stopped growing, with many regions registering decline. More women than ever before were actually in work. The female share of total employment was almost unchanged at 40 per cent in 2006. At the same time, more women than ever before were unemployed, with the rate of women’s unemployment at 6.6 per cent being higher than that of men of 6.1 per cent. Women were more likely to work in low productivity jobs, in agriculture and in services. Their share in industrial employment was much smaller than men’s and had decreased over the last 10 years.

Returns to South Sudan

Jennifer Pagonis of the UN Refugee Agency said UNHCR today launched a $56.1 million appeal for its operations this year to help tens of thousands of southern Sudanese refugees and internally displaced people return home and reintegrate in their communities. The funds were needed to boost the ongoing voluntary repatriation programme to assist the return from nearby countries of more than 100,000 refugees this year; to help 25,000 internally displaced people return home; to provide returnees with reintegration packages; to rehabilitate health clinics and schools; and to improve shelter and sanitation. Since a peace deal was signed in January 2005 between the Sudanese government and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLA), an estimated 102,000 refugees had returned home, including 32,400 with UNHCR's organised repatriation programme. An estimated 850,000 IDPs had also returned to south Sudan, mostly using their own means. Thousands more are expected to return in 2007.

Jemini Pandya of the International Organization for Migration said that in Sudan, more than 1,500 internally displaced people had been assisted by IOM over the past month to voluntarily return to former homes in southern parts of the Blue Nile State. By May, a minimum of 3,000 internally displaced persons were expected to be assisted to areas surrounding Kurmuk from northern parts of the Blue Nile State in partnership with UNHCR. This would allow them sufficient time to get settled before the start of the planting and rainy season. UNHCR and IOM had agreed to assist up to 15,000 Sudanese refugees from Ethiopia and Kenya and another 5,000 Sudanese refugees from the Central African Republic to return home in 2007.

Other

Fadela Chaib of the World Health Organization said available was a media advisory on an interagency discussion which was being held to commemorate International Women’s Day on 8 March from 12:30 p.m. to 2 p.m. in Salle XI of the Palais des Nations. The interagency debate would discuss how to improve the United Nations’ response to sexual violence in conflict and post-conflict settings. The Director-General of WHO, Margaret Chan, would issue a statement on the occasion of International Women’s Day which would be made available on 7 March.

Catherine Sibut-Pinot of the United Nations Conference for Trade and Development said the World Investment Conference of the World Association of Investment Promotion Agencies would be held on 8 and 9 March. The Conference would host numerous prominent personalities from the business community, politics, international organizations, academia and investment promotion agencies.

Damien Personnaz of the United Nations Children’s Fund, speaking about the earthquake which had hit Padang in Indonesia, said according to the latest figures, there were 82 deaths. UNICEF was sending two staffers who would arrive in Padang tomorrow morning to assess the situation. The immediate needs included shelter and health kits.

Mr. Personnaz said a cholera epidemic was continuing in the Republic of the Congo which had so far affected 5,555 persons, including 70 deaths within the past month. UNICEF had already offered $ 120,000 to help the Government with this epidemic.

Christiane Berthiaume of the World Food Programme said a UN-chartered food aid ship was still in the hands of pirates off the coast of Somalia, 10 days after the ordeal had started. There were still six gunmen on board the ship. Since the ship was taken over, WFP had had a lot of difficulty in finding agents willing to help transfer more food aid by boat to Somalia. WFP had 2,500 tons of food aid in the Tanzanian port of Dar El Salam, ready to be transported to Somalia. It was important to move this food to Somalia as soon as possible because the rainy season would be starting in the middle of April and transport of the food within the country became very difficult.

On the situation in Mauritania, Ms. Berthiaume said WFP was having trouble financing its operation in that country once again. WFP fed 60,000 malnourished children in Mauritania. WFP needed $ 14.4 million for its operation in Mauritania urgently, before the start of the rainy season in mid-April.

Jemini Pandya of the International Organization for Migration said IOM's Director General, Brunson McKinley, was today arriving in Japan on the first leg of a four-country trip to Asia during which he would also visit the Philippines, the Republic of Korea and China to deepen existing relations and to explore further areas of cooperation between IOM and Asian governments.