REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Elena Ponomareva-Piquier, Chief of the Press and External Relations Section, chaired the briefing, which provided information on the Secretary-General's trip to the Middle East, the activities of the Human Rights Council and the Conference on Disarmament, the opening for signature of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, El Niño/La Niña, the situation of displaced and refugees in Chad and Somalia, and flooding in Mozambique and Zambia, among other things.

Spokespersons for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the World Meteorological Organization, the World Food Programme, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the World Health Organization, the United Nations Refugee Agency, and the International Organization for Migration participated in the briefing.

Secretary-General in the Middle East

Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said that Secretary-General Bank Ki-moon had arrived yesterday in Beirut, where he would meet with Lebanese leaders. Following his arrival the Secretary-General had made a statement to the press saying that, as Secretary-General, Lebanon was one of his priorities, especially the successful implementation of Security Council resolution 1701. The Secretary-General had extended his appreciation to the Government of Lebanon for its continuing commitment to 1701, and for its support and cooperation with the UN peacekeeping force, UNIFIL. The full text of the Secretary-General's statement was available in the press room.

Geneva Activities

Conference on Disarmament

Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said that today, before concluding the first half of its 2007 session, the Conference on Disarmament had been scheduled to take a decision on a Presidential draft decision that would appoint four coordinators for substantive discussions on three core issues of nuclear disarmament, prevention of an arms race in outer space and negative security assurances, and the appointment of a coordinator to negotiate a treaty banning the production of fissile material for nuclear weapons or other explosive devices. However, owing to requests from several delegations for more time to consult with their capitals, the Conference would consider a Presidential proposal to hold a special session in the inter-sessional period at which time action would be taken on the draft decision.

The second half of the 2007 session of the Conference would be held from 14 May to 29 June.

Human Rights Council

Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier recalled that today was also the final day of the Council's fourth regular session. The Council was scheduled to take action on the draft resolutions before it, including those which had been carried over from its second session. All the texts of the draft resolutions were available in the press room, and the Information Service would keep journalists apprised of the results of the voting. She reminded journalists that the fifth regular session of the Council would be held from 11 to 18 June 2007.

Inauguration of the Newly Renovated Place des Nations

Yesterday evening Sergei Ordzhonikidze, the Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva, made an opening address at the ceremony inaugurating the newly renovated Place des Nations. Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said a press release was available.

United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research Conference

On Monday, 2 April, and Tuesday, 3 April, the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) would hold a special conference, in the Council Chamber at the Palais des Nations, on the theme, "Celebrating the Space Age: 50 Years of Space Technology and 40 Years of the Outer Space Treaty", Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said. The Conference would be opened by UNIDIR Director, Patricia Lewis, and by the Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva, Sergei Ordzhonikidze. Among the issues that would be discussed were challenges to space security; confidence-building measures; and measures to improve space security. The full schedule of the Conference, which would open at 10 a.m. on Monday, was available on request.

Human Rights

José-Luis Diaz of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) drew attention to the opening for signature today of the Convention on the Human Rights of Persons with Disabilities in New York. The High Commissioner would take part in the ceremony at the General Assembly Hall, and there would also be a press conference held at 12.45 p.m. New York time, which would be webcast. The Convention would extend the full protection of human rights to some 650 million disabled persons around the world who had suffered from a protection gap up till now.

Mr. Diaz highlighted that this year had been a good one for standard setting in human rights. It had also seen the opening for signature of another human rights treaty, the Convention for the Protection of all Persons from Enforced Disappearance, which had been opened for signature last February in Paris. They had also seen the entry into force of an Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture, which allowed an international panel of experts to visit places of detention. That Panel had met for the first time in Geneva just a few weeks ago. The international structure of human rights continued to be strengthened.

Mr. Diaz also announced that the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Internally Displaced Persons, Walter Kälin, would be visiting Azerbaijan on 2 to 6 April, to identify challenges and durable solutions to internal displacement in that country.

El Niño/La Niña

Carine Richard-van Maele of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) announced the holding of a seminar in China this month to improve aeronautical meterological services. With the increase in air traffic, the demand for meteorological services for the aeronautical industry had become more acute. It was expected that that meeting would lead to, among other things, the creation of an aviation meteorology website.

Rupa Kumar Kolli, Head of the World Climate Applications Division at WMO, presented an update on El Niño/La Niña – anamolous conditions in the tropical Pacific Ocean that had significant regional climatic impacts around the world. Since the last update, a rapid dissipation of El Niño had occurred and there was a possibility for the development of La Niña later this year. However, it was cautioned that forecasts at this time of year were particularly unreliable, as the system was finely balanced at this time and susceptible to be deflected from its apparent track.

Situation in Chad

Christiane Berthiaume of the World Food Programme (WFP) said WFP had warned today that thousands of Chadians were running out of food in the eastern border region with Sudan and faced a desperate struggle to survive unless new donations met the needs of a rising tide of people who had been driven from their homes. WFP had planned to feed 50,000 displaced Chadians, but it now estimated that an additional 80,000 displaced people were in urgent need of assistance in the East. The additional requirement for the next six months was 7,500 metric tons of food at a cost of $7.5 million.

Continuing conflict and instability in the region bordering on Darfur in western Sudan had caused tens of thousands of rural Chadians to flee their homes over the past several months, Ms. Berthiaume said. A recent WFP-led assessment found nearly 130,000 displaced people living in makeshift shelters on the outskirts of villages – almost three times the number expected. Nearly half of these families were found to be severely food insecure and in immediate need of assistance. WFP was racing against time to pre-position as much food as possible before the rainy season, which was expected to start in late June, making most roads in eastern Chad impassable. Before the latest increase in the numbers of displaced needing food, WFP's $85 million Emergency Operation to assist Sudanese refugees, internally displaced people, and host communities in eastern Chad from January 2007 until June 2008 had received $39 million.

Situation in Somalia

Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said the Secretary-General had issued a statement yesterday, calling on all sides in Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, to put an immediate end to the fighting there. The statement was available in the press room.

William Spindler of the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said that at least 24 people had died and more than 12,000 had been displaced by the latest fighting in Mogadishu. That brought the number of people to have fled violence in the Somali capital since the beginning of February to an estimated 57,000. Those figures had been compiled by UNHCR based on information provided by non-governmental organizations working in Somalia. There had been a steady outflow from Mogadishu since the beginning of February, when armed groups had clashed with forces of the Transitional Federal Government, which had seized the capital in December from the Islamic Courts Union.

Mr. Spindler noted that the exodus had intensified last week when the Government told civilians to leave certain areas of the city, apparently so that it could step up its offensive against the insurgents. UNHCR's local partners in Mogadishu last week said that they had seen hundreds of people waiting anxiously in crowded bus stations or searching for truck drivers to take them out of the city. Others had packed their meagre belongings onto donkey-drawn carts and headed for safety.

Earlier this month, UNHCR had flown relief items to the Somali capital on two occasions, bringing 4,500 blankets, 1,800 jerry cans, 900 plastic sheets and 900 kitchen sets. That new displacement had further aggravated an already stretched humanitarian situation, Mr. Spindler said, as UNHCR and the other aid agencies had no access to Mogadishu and the surrounding regions due to the rampant insecurity. There were currently an estimated 400,000 internally displaced people in Somalia and tens of thousands of others had fled to neighbouring countries.

Flooding in Zambia

Elisabeth Byrs of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) announced that the Inter Agency Standing Committee had today launched an $8.8 million three-month Flash Appeal for Zambia, where widespread flooding had left some 300,000 people in need of assistance. Unusually heavy rains since December 2006 caused the flooding, which had led to the displacement of some of the affected populations, as well as the destruction of crops, houses and public infrastructure. The situation had worsened in mid-February, when further rains had led several major rivers to burst. It was estimated that more than 1.4 million people had been indirectly affected by the floods. There were 11 organizations participating in the Flash Appeal, including UNICEF, the UN Development Fund, WHO, and the International Federation of the Red Cross, as well as non-governmental organizations, such as Oxfam. The Government had been responding effectively and quickly to the crisis so far, but available resources had been exhausted and it urgently needed new supplies. A press release on the Flash Appeal was available at the back of the room.

World Health Day Events

Fadela Chaib of the World Health Organization (WHO) talked about the WHO programme for World Health Day, which was being celebrated on 2 April this year. The theme of this year's international day was "International Health Security: Invest in Health, Build a Safer Future". Political, business and opinion leaders were gathering in Singapore on 2 April, at 11 a.m. Geneva time, for a global debate that would focus on the urgent need to improve international health security. The high-level debate, hosted by WHO and the Government of Singapore, would focus on threats to collective health security, including emerging and rapidly spreading diseases, environmental change, the danger of bioterrorism, sudden and intense humanitarian emergencies caused by natural disasters, chemical spills or radioactive accidents, and the impact of HIV/AIDS. The wide-ranging debate would challenge panellists to confront the public health, business and diplomatic obstacles to improved cross-border cooperation, and urge them to find a way forward to more effective collaboration. Participants in the global event would include the Prime Minister of Singapore, Lee Hsien Loong, WHO Director General, Margaret Chan, the Minister of State of Foreign Affairs of Singapore, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Norway, among others. After the initial debate, the event would shift to a "town hall" format to stimulate wider discussion with an audience of more than 200 participants.

A press release had been sent out in three languages, and an issue paper on global health security was available on the WHO website at: www.who.int/world-health-day/2007.

Other

Ms. Chaib of WHO recalled that this afternoon, as previously announced, there would be a press conference following the completion of a two-day technical meeting on fostering a global approach to organ donation and transplantation. Speaking would be Dr. Luc Noel, Coordinator of Clinical Procedures at WHO; Dr. Adib Rizvi, Director of the Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation in Pakistan, and Dr. Blanca Miranda, Chief of the Medical Unit of the Organización Nacional de Trasplantes in Madrid, Spain. The conference would be held at 3 p.m. in Room V.

Mr. Spindler of UNHCR said, according to credible information received by UNHCR, a Chinese asylum seeker and her 8-year old daughter had been taken by the Russian authorities from their Saint Petersburg residence last Wednesday, 28 March, and put on a plane to China. The woman and her daughter had submitted a claim for asylum and their appeal against a first negative decision had been scheduled to be considered in St. Petersburg this afternoon. Both had been registered by UNHCR as persons in need of international protection. UNHCR was concerned at their forcible deportation, in violation of the Russian Federation's international obligations and of the Russian Federation Law on Refugees, both of which prohibited the return of asylum seekers to their country of origin before a final decision on their asylum claims had been made. UNHCR was following up with the asylum seekers' legal counsel and the Russian authorities to clarify the facts of the matter.

Mr. Spindler also announced that this week UNHCR had resumed the voluntary repatriation of Liberian refugees by sea. The Panama-registered "Kiriaki 1" had docked on Wednesday evening in Monrovia port, bringing back 214 Liberian refugees from Nigeria and Ghana. That was the first repatriation by sea since October 2006. A five-month long pause had been caused by the breakdown of another chartered ship and subsequent difficulties in identifying an alternative sea-worthy vessel. UNHCR also chartered commercial flights to repatriate Liberian refugees from Nigeria and Ghana, in addition to the ongoing repatriation by road from countries neighbouring Liberia. UNHCR expected to repatriate some 60,000 refugees from the camps in the region before the end of the organized repatriation, scheduled to take place by the end of June this year.

Finally, Mr. Spindler said that the third and last convoy of Sudanese refugees from Yarenja camp in Ethiopia had reached the Blue Nile State in Sudan on Wednesday, bringing back 494 people to their homes after years of exile. With the arrival of this convoy, the UNHCR organized repatriation from the remote Yarenja camp in Ethiopia had been fully completed and the camp would soon close. The Yarenja-Bambodi-Damazine return corridor had been opened on 10 March to help repatriate some 1,500 Sudanese refugees from that camp.

Ms. Byrs announced a press conference with the new OCHA Emergency Relief Coordinator, John Holmes, who would present the annual report of the Norwegian Refugee Council on displaced persons on 16 April at 11 a.m. in Room V.

Jean-Philippe Chauzy of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said the race was on to provide emergency assistance to more than 100,000 vulnerable flood victims in Mozambique currently in largely inaccessible sites. Persistent heavy rainfall in central and northern Mozambique in January and February had caused large-scale flooding and destruction in four of the country's 10 provinces. About 285,000 people had been directly affected by the floods, with 163,000 of them displaced from their homes and land. An estimated 107,500 had sought safety in temporary and often inaccessible sites. IOM would be providing non-food items to those displaced who had received the least assistance so far, after receiving nearly $800,000 from the UN's Central Emergency Revolving Fund. Priority needs were shelter, blankets, tarpaulins and tool kits. The Organization would also provide critical support to Government for the resettlement activities. With partners, IOM would establish mobile operational units in the field to help identify, demarcate and legalize thousands of family home sites with a view to maintaining access to livelihoods, traditional lands and essential social services.

IOM Accra had launched a six-week information campaign to promote safe migration and to prevent trafficking and irregular migration through and from Ghana to Europe, Mr. Chauzy announced. The campaign, which was funded by the European Union and the United Nations Development Programme, was backed by the Ghanaian Government which was trying to counter human trafficking and irregular migration of Ghanaians and Africans in general to Europe. The campaign urged Ghanaians who considered migrating to Europe to inform themselves and invited them, when in doubt, to call the hotline at the Migration Information Bureau set up at the Ghana Immigration Service by IOM and others.