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 also heard from Spokespersons for and Representatives of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the International Organization for Migration, the World Food Programme and the International Labour Organization. Spokespersons for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the United Nations Children’s Fund were also present, but had no announcements to make.

Secretary-General on Situation in Myanmar

Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said that available in the Press Room was a statement by the Secretary-General expressing concern over the arrest of student leaders and others by the authorities in Myanmar. The Secretary-General had called on the authorities to exercise maximum restraint and had called for a constructive dialogue towards national reconciliation at this important time in Myanmar’s history.

Situation in Uganda

The Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA)-affected regions, Joaquim Chissano, was now on mission in the region, Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said. The Special Envoy had met with the President of the Central African Republic yesterday and today he would proceed to Juba for further consultations on the peace negotiations between the LRA and the Government of Uganda. The Special Envoy would also visit the Democratic Republic of the Congo as part of his current mission to the region.

Meanwhile, the UN and the Ugandan Government would deploy two joint teams to assess the impact of severe flooding across large swaths of eastern Uganda. The two teams were expected to begin their assessments in the Teso and Mbale regions by the end of the week. They would focus particular attention on the impact of the flooding on water, sanitation and hygiene facilities, health, food security, shelter, and road conditions.

Geneva Activities

Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said that World Federalist Movement (WFM) would hold its twenty-fifth World Congress in Geneva from 27 to 31 August. As this year marked WFM's sixtieth anniversary, a public seminar would be held on the theme "WFM and the UN in their Sixth Decade: To Save Future Generations from the Scourge of War". UNOG Director-General, Sergei Ordzhonikidze, would participate in the seminar, which would be held on Tuesday, 28 August at the Palais des Nations.

Earthquake in Peru

Elisabeth Byrs of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) announced that the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) had allocated $9.5 million in emergency funds for earthquake victims in Peru. A UN Flash Appeal was being finalized and would be launched next week, on Tuesday, 28 August, in Geneva. Details of the Appeal would be released to journalists at the regular briefing by the Information Service on Tuesday morning.

The current death toll stood at 514, Ms. Byrs continued, with 1,090 injured. The UN Inter-Agency Assessment Team that had been dispatched to affected areas had identified priority needs as dry latrines, housing material, blankets, clothing and disposable surgical supplies. There were currently 27 UN staff, from 10 agencies, working on relief efforts in Peru, among others, an environmental impact assessment of the disaster, in particular on rural communities. Today a donor's meeting would be held in Lima, with representatives from the UN agencies and the UN Resident Coordinator.

Jean-Philippe Chauzy of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said that, for its part, IOM had received $4,419,000 from CERF to carry out its emergency work in Peru. Working with the Government, UN agencies and national partners, IOM was taking the lead in establishing and managing temporary camps in the three provinces that had been hardest hit – Chincha, Pisco and Ica. IOM's first priority was to ship in the necessary supplies to care for those most in need, including 12,000 winterized tents; construction materials, including wood and plastic roofing; cooking utensils; blankets; and mattresses.

Mr. Chauzy noted that preliminary assessments indicated that 39,741 houses had been destroyed, as well as 14 hospitals.

Asked to comment on the incident involving the donation by Venezuela of cans of tuna for the earthquake victims that contained political messages on their labels, Ms. Byrs said that OCHA had a policy of asking for donations in cash, not in kind.

On another follow-up, Ms. Byrs confirmed that the situation was moving rapidly from emergency response to rehabilitation and reconstruction. However, there were still obvious needs and challenges, in particular with regard to shelter, as well as for rural communities that were difficult of access. In the district of Guadalupe, which was more remote and hard to reach, some isolated groups had still not received any assistance. Reaching those who had not been reached so far was OCHA's priority.

OCHA and IOM press notes containing details on the Peru response were available.

Christiane Berthiaume of the World Food Programme (WFP) said that, following WFP's appeal of $6.1 million on Wednesday to assist 80,000 of the most vulnerable quake victims for nine months, the response had been swift. Yesterday, the European Commission's Humanitarian Aid Department had donated €2 million in humanitarian assistance to aid those affected, of which some €400,000 had been directed to WFP for food assistance. A press release on the donation was available.

Ms. Berthiaume said WFP had already distributed some 692 tons of food to the victims of the earthquake in the 33 shelters that had been set up by the Government. In addition, a joint WFP/Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations team was currently working with the Government to evaluate the situation in rural areas. WFP staff in the region had reported this morning that the situation was improving, and that the main road from Lima to Pisco had been repaired, although traffic was still very heavy.

Hurricane Dean

In a brief update on the situation in the aftermath of Hurricane Dean, Ms. Byrs of OCHA said that, according to preliminary findings, 15,000 people in Jamaica were in need of assistance. A donors meeting had been held yesterday to raise funds. In Belize, the most significant damage appeared to be to the agriculture sector, with the loss of papaya plantations and the sugar cane crop. Some 1,000 to 2,000 people in Belize were estimated to be in need of assistance, including to rebuild their homes and owing to the loss of their livelihoods.

Sudan Flood Update

Ms. Byrs said that a Flash Appeal for victims of flooding in the Sudan was being launched simultaneously with the appeal for Peru, on Tuesday, 28 August. The United Nations had allocated $13.5 million so far to aid Sudanese flood victims (from both CERF and the Common Humanitarian Fund), and had received just under $1.5 million to date from donors. Those funds would enable the UN and its partners to respond to the most immediate needs, including clean water and emergency shelter, but there was still a substantial gap. More funds would be need to provide clean water for over 3 million people, to continue to provide emergency shelter and non-food items.

Flooding in Democratic People's Republic of Korea

According to the latest figures released by the Government of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea concerning flood damage, 437,000 people in 92 districts had now been affected, Ms. Berthiaume said. According to estimates provided by the Ministry of Agriculture, 223,381 hectares of rice, soy and corn crops had also been destroyed, or more than 20 per cent of the rice crop, and 15 per cent of corn production. At the invitation of the Government, WFP would be providing food assistance 215,000 persons for three months. WFP would maintain its policy of "no access, no assistance" and would assure the distribution of food aid by its staff. In that connection, WFP had requested the Government allow WFP to increase its personnel on the ground in the country.

Other

Ms. Laetitia Dard of the International Labour Organization (ILO) announced the launch of its fifth biennial report on Key Indicators of the Labour Market (KILM). The KILM, by publishing 20 key indicators of the labour market, analysed a wide range of global trends, including employment, the lack of work and the characteristics of jobseekers, labour productivity and the working poor. José Salazar-Xirinachs, Executive Director of the ILO Employment Sector and Ms. Sodergren, an Economist in the ILO Employment Trends Unit would participate in a press briefing on the launch, to be held on Thursday, 30 August at 10 a.m. in Press Room III. Press kits and press releases would be available at the press conference, under embargo until 23.00 GMT on Sunday, 2 September.