REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Marie Heuzé, Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired the briefing which also heard from representatives and spokespersons of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the World Health Organization, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and the World Trade Organization.

Human Rights Council

Ms. Heuzé said that this morning the Human Rights Council would continue its general debate with the High Commissioner for Human Rights that it had begun yesterday, and would also hear a presentation by the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, Doudou Diène, of his report on the manifestations of defamation of religions and in particular on the serious implications of Islamophobia on the enjoyment of all rights (A/HRC/6/6). Copies of that report were available in the press room. Later today, in the context of its review, rationalization and improvement of mandates, the Council would would consider the mandates of the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief and of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention. The Council is also scheduled to review reports on the defamation of religions, access to water and unilateral coercive measures.

A list of speakers and other information on the Council's meetings is available in the press room.

High Commissioner for Human Rights

José-Luis Diaz of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said the High Commissioner would brief journalists on Monday, 17 October, about her latest travels and the recent activities of the Office.

Mr. Diaz also drew attention to a note that had been sent out by the High Commissioner on the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly yesterday after two decades of negotiations. Those negotiations had been unprecedented, as they had involved not only Member States, but also indigenous peoples themselves. In the note, the High Commissioner hailed the Declaration as "a triumph for justice and human dignity".

Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Fadéla Chaib of the World Health Organization (WHO) said that, following the confirmation of five cases of Ebola in the Kasai Occidental province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, WHO was upgrading its field operations to support the Ministry of Health in managing and containing the outbreak. A team from the WHO Country Office had been present in the affected areas since 3 September 2007, with further staff from the WHO Regional Office for Africa joining the field operations on 7 September and this week from WHO Headquarters. There was now a team of some 10 WHO staff on the ground, including laboratory and logisticians. WHO was working in close collaboration with Médecins sans frontières and the Ministry of Health to upgrade existing facilities. A high priority was the establishment of a mobile field laboratory to be attached to the existing isolation ward in order to expedite rapid diagnosis of patients, in particular to differentiate between the Ebola and the Shigella virus, which had also been associated with this outbreak. WHO was also establishing a logistics platform in the vicinity to support the field operations and to facilitate access to the affected area. Briefing notes were available at the back of the room.

Responding to a question, Ms. Chaib noted that WHO had taken 40 samples in relation to the outbreak. For the moment, there were only 5 confirmed as Ebola, and the results for the remaining samples were expected next week.

Cholera in Iraq

Ms. Chaib of WHO updated journalists on the situation, announcing that the cholera outbreak in three provinces of Northern Iraq had now infected 16,000 people, including 10 deaths. Between 23 August and 10 September, at least 6,000 people had been reported with diarrhoeal diseases in Sulaymaniyah; almost 7,000 in Kirkuk province; and since 6 September the outbreak had spread to Erbil province, causing at least 3,000 cases. The good news was that, although the disease had spread, the number of deaths had remained the same. That was an indication that the measures taken to deal with the outbreak were having an effect. WHO's representative for Iraq, who was normally based in Amman, had made a number of trips to the north of Iraq, as well as to Baghdad to talk to the Authorities and coordinate with them on this issue. WHO had also pre-positioned 10 Interagency Diarrhoeal Disease kits – each with the capacity to treat 100 severe cases of cholera – in order to ensure adequate supplies of essential drugs, medical and laboratory supplies were available.

Situation in Uganda/Democratic Republic of the Congo

Veronique Taveau of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said that, in North Kivu, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the combat between the various factions there had made the distribution of humanitarian assistance to the affected regions yet more difficult had led to a new round of population displacements. Some 71,000 newly displaced persons had arrived from Sake in the camps at in the camps at Muganga. UNICEF was also extremely concerned by the new recruitment of child soldiers in the context of the fighting. No precise figures were available as yet, but according to UNICEF's representative in the region, 54 children had been recruited a few days ago in Nyamilima, near the border with Uganda, to fight in the armed militias that were disputing control of the region. The three militias involved in the fighting were the Mai-Mai, the Forces for the Democratic Liberation of Rwanda and rebels led by General Laurent Knunda.

Ron Redmond of the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said that most of the 35,000 Congolese refugees who had fled to Uganda last week from North Kivu province in Democratic Republic of the Congo had now returned home, as the fighting between the Army, renegade troops and local militias had died down. A briefing note was available.

New Flooding in North-Eastern India and Bangladesh

Ms. Taveau of UNICEF said that, less than a month since the strong Monsoon rains had left more than 800 victims in the two countries, Bangladesh and India were facing a new round of flooding. More than 1 million people had been evacuated or stranded as rivers in north-eastern India and Bangladesh rose to alarming levels. In India's Assam state, some 800,000 people had been evacuated, and a further 300,000 in Bangladesh had been displaced or marooned, most for the second time in as many months. A number of dikes had already ceded and flooded cultivated fields, causing major damage to crops and homes. Nearly a million hectares of cultivated land had been inundated. UNICEF was providing hygiene kits, emergency medical supplies, high nutrition biscuits, and oral rehydration salts, among others. Some 123,000 cases of diarrhoeal disease had been reported so far, with 20 deaths, some 40,000 cases of skin diseases linked to poor hygiene conditions, and 246 snakebites, 70 of them fatal. A news note was available.

Smuggling in the Gulf of Aden

Mr. Redmond of UNHCR said that, just 10 days after the resumption of smuggling across the Gulf of Aden, at least 56 people had died violently while trying to make the crossing from Somalia to Yemen. Since 3 September, UNHCR Yemen had recorded the arrival of 12 boats carrying 925 Somalis, Ethiopians and others. Another smuggler's boat apparently failed to reach Yemen after encountering problems about 100 kilometres west of the Somalian port of Bosaso. UNHCR had received reports yesterday that at least 100 Somalis aboard this vessel had made it back to shore in Somalia after being adrift for six days. Many of them had been beaten, and some had reportedly been doused with acid. The bodies of those who had not survived the six-day ordeal had reportedly been thrown overboard. UNHCR did not have the numbers of those who had died in that incident.

The most recent arrivals in Yemen had told UNHCR that they had been beaten by smugglers during the trip and that 24 people on their boat had died - 3 from beatings; 11 from being crammed into the hold; and 10 had drowned. Once they had reached shore, they said that they had come under fire from military forces based in the region of Jalbad, Mr. Redmond said. One Ethiopian had been wounded and transferred to medical facilities. The passengers – most of them from volatile areas in Somalia and the increasingly unstable Ogaden zone in Ethiopia – said they had paid between $70 and $150 to make the crossing. So far in 2007, more than 10,000 people have reportedly arrived in Yemen in 103 boats. A total of 282 people have died, while 159 remained missing and were presumed dead.

Update on Flooding in West Africa

Elisabeth Byrs of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), in an update on the situation in West Africa, said that, following torrential rains, floods had affected over 500,000 people in 12 countries. The current number of victims showed that the situation had worsened as compared with last year's low of 65,000 people at the same period. The situation was especially worrisome in Ghana, with some 260,000 there affected by the floods; in Burkina Faso, with 35,000; and in Togo, with 20,389. OCHA was particularly worried about the situation in northern Mali and northern Niger, where no monitoring was possible because of the floods. A press note was available.

Other

Ms. Chaib of WHO said international humanitarian agencies had agreed on a new set of guidelines to address the mental health and psychological needs of survivors as part of the response to conflict or disaster. The Inter-Agency Standing Committee Guidelines on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings clearly stated that protecting and promoting mental health and psychosocial well-being was the responsibility of all humanitarian agencies and workers. Until now, many people had viewed those issues as being the sole responsibility of psychiatrists and psychologists. A press release was available.

Jana Borges of the World Trade Organization (WTO) said that, following a meeting of the whole membership this afternoon on agriculture negotiations at 4 p.m., a briefing would be held for journalists, at a time to be confirmed via e-mail, but journalists should standby starting at 5.30 p.m. Next Friday, there would likely be another meeting of the whole, which would be confirmed. On industrial goods, so far there was no meeting scheduled for the whole membership, but small group consultations were ongoing for the following week, and would probably continue for the week after that. Next week there would be a trade policy review of Panama on Monday and Wednesday, 18 and 19 September, starting at 9.30 a.m. The Services bodies would be meeting to discuss issues of domestic regulation, specific commitments and GATS rules on Monday and Tuesday, 17 and 18 September.

Ms. Borges said that WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy was currently in Lima, taking part in a conference on Mobilizing Aid for Trade focusing on Latin America and the Caribbean, the first in a series of regional reviews to be undertaken. The Director-General would meet with Peruvian President Alan Garcia today. Next week, on 19 and 20 September, Mr. Lamy would be in Manila for the second Aid for Trade regional review, focusing on Asia and the Pacific. In the beginning of October the African review would be held in Dar es Salaam.

Ms. Heuzé said a number of documents on a variety of topics had been made available in the press room. There was a press kit on the opening of the sixty-second session of the General Assembly, which, among other things, contained a list of special events of interest to the media. For example, today there was a meeting chaired by the Secretary-General on the Millennium Development Goals; and on Tuesday, 18 September there was a press conference by the Secretary-General at 10.30 a.m. and a press conference by the President of the General Assembly at 1 p.m.

Available was the Secretary-General's message on the occasion of the International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer (16 September). Ms. Heuzé noted that this year 16 September marked the twentieth anniversary of the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer. Continuing on the theme of climate change, a media advisory on the High-Level Event on Climate Change, which was being held at United Nations Headquarters in New York on 24 September, had also been put in the press room. Finally, a communiqué was available on the World Meteorological Organization conference on desertification held in Madrid last week, as well as the statement by WMO Director-General Michel Jarraud at the Conference.

Mr. Redmond of UNHCR said that best-selling author Khaled Hosseini, a UNHCR Goodwill Envoy, had ended a 10-day mission to his native Afghanistan yesterday with a call for the international community to remain committed to the country. Hosseini was in Afghanistan for the first time since gaining international recognition for his best-selling novel, "The Kite Runner," in 2005. Hard copies of a UNHCR web story on his mission were available at the back of the room, or could be read on www.unhcr.org.

Ms. Byrs of OCHA announced that a Flash Appeal for Nicaragua would be launched in New York this afternoon by the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator John Holmes, at around 3 p.m. It was the eleventh Flash Appeal to be launched by OCHA so far in 2007, setting a record for the period. Flash Appeals all concerned natural disasters.