REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Corinne Momal-Vanian, the Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired the briefing, which was also attended by spokespersons and representatives of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, the Food and Agriculture Organization, the World Food Programme, the United Nations Environment Programme, the United Nations Population Fund, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the World Trade Organization, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and the World Health Organization.

Pakistan

Elysabeth Byrs of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said returns had started in Sindh which was among the provinces that were hardest hit by the floods. Overall return movements in Sindh included around 386,000 people who were the first out of a reported 1.4 million people living in camps and informal settlements.

Whilst returns were taking place, in some areas, such as Dadu district, people remained trapped by stagnant flood waters and required urgent support. There were also reports of people returning home and facing secondary displacement as a result of a lack of clean water sources and a lack of access to basic services. The situation in Sindh remained of great concern, Ms. Byrs noted, and currently food assistance, shelter, drinking water, medication and hygiene were most needed.

Ms. Byrs also drew attention to the situation in Kyber Pakhtunkhwa province where a winter contingency plan was being developed under the leadership of the Provincial Disaster Management Authority and with support from OCHA. An interagency security and rapid needs assessment mission had also been undertaken in South Waziristan to ascertain the feasibility of returns.

The Revised Floods Emergency Response Plan 34 per cent funded, with USD 688.7 million received out of the USD 2 billion requested, Ms. Byrs said, underscoring that much remained to be received for this crisis which was far from being over.

Paul Garwood of the World Health Organization said in northern Pakistan, particularly in Kyber Pakhtunkhwa and northern Punjab, increasing numbers of acute respiratory infections cases had been seen. Concerns around malaria continued in Baluchistan and there had been an apparent increase in cases of Dengue fever in non-flood affected areas.

There was a strong effort by local authorities, United Nations agencies and NGO partners to respond to these threats through public awareness campaigns and stockpiling medicines in hospitals. The Pakistani Ministry of Health might make an announcement today and this could be shared with the Geneva press corps once it came in. So far WHO and health providers, including the Government, had treated more than 7 million patients since 29 July for a range of conditions mainly diarrhoea, malaria, acute respiratory infections and skin diseases.

World Food Day and the “1 Billion Hungry” campaign

Sandra Aviles of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said tomorrow, 16 October 2010, marked the thirtieth World Food Day. The theme of this year’s observance was “United against Hunger”, a theme which sought to recognize the efforts made in the fight against world hunger by all actors, at all levels.

In 2009, the number of hungry people in the world had reached the critical threshold of 1 billion, in large part due to soaring food prices and the global economic crisis. The gravity of the silent hunger crisis was the result of decades of neglect of agriculture and under-investment in the sector. Symptomatic of this neglect were the 22 countries which were facing the enormous challenges of repeated food crises and an extremely high prevalence of hunger due to a combination of natural disasters, conflict and weak institutions, as recently documented in a joint FAO/WFP study, said Ms. Aviles.

World food production would need to increase by 70 per cent to feed a population of over 9 billion people in 2050. With limited land, farmers would have to get greater yields out of the land already under cultivation. Smallholder farmers and their families represented some 2.5 billion people, more than a third of the global population. It was their crucial contribution to increased food production that this World Food Day wanted to highlight, Ms. Aviles underscored.

FAO had launched the “1 Billion Hungry” campaign in May 2010, inviting people from around the world to sign FAO’s anti-hunger petition and urging Governments to address global hunger as their central priority. To date, over 1 million people had signed that petition, which would be formally presented to FAO Members States at the 140th session of the FAO Council in Rome.

Ms. Aviles said 2010 had seen a decrease in the number of people suffering from hunger to an estimated 925 million, a figure which was still unacceptably high. On World Food Day, FAO was calling for further action and greater vigilance. Agriculture and food security were finally back on the international agenda, and with political will, determination and persistence, more food could be sustainably produced and adequately distributed to help lift people out of hunger.

Charles Vincent of the World Food Programme (WFP) said that on this World Food Day, they were appealing to donors, private corporations and individuals to assist in increasing productivity. WFP’s emergency responses in the last few years had focused on women and children, particularly those under the age of 2. Women in developing countries produced up to 80 per cent of the food consumed by households, 70 per cent of small-scale farming was done by women, and studies had shown that women reinvested 90 per cent of their income for their families and communities. WFP therefore aimed to support women in a variety of ways, including through support for small farmers, trying to provide innovative means of food assistance, such as voucher programmes and distributing food directly to women during emergencies, and developing and utilizing specialized and fortified blended food for pregnant and breastfeeding mothers and children under two. World Food Day was tomorrow, but everyday was “no food day” for almost a billion people, Mr. Vincent underscored.

Risky mining sites in South East Europe

Isabelle Valentiny of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) said UNEP has been analyzing all mining sites in South East Europe since 2006. It had identified some 150 sites, many of which raised considerable concerns regarding their environmental impact. An interactive map of these sites had been established and could be accessed through the link included in the press release at the back of the room.

Many sites in South East Europe had been abandoned after the conflict without being properly closed down. There were now hundreds of such orphaned sites and the owners could not be found for many of these. Environmental issues were thus very serious for some sites.

UNEP had conducted an assessment of the sites that were most at risk and had supported the remediation of the Reps and Rreshen mining sites in Albania. UNEP had also trained 40 persons so as to tackle the lack of expertise on how to properly close down abandoned sites.

Ms. Valentiny said UNEP had been calling for a comprehensive monitoring of all sites for several years. She added that the latest publication and some information on UNEP’s activities were available at the back of the room.

Launch of UNFPA State of World Population Report 2010

Anne Wittenberg of the United Nations Population Fund announced UNFPA’s launching of the State of World Population Report 2010. Entitled “From Conflict and Crisis to Renewal: Generations of Change”, the report looked at how women in conflict and post-conflict situations were doing 10 years after Security Council resolution 1325 had been passed.

A press conference would be held on Wednesday 20 October, 10 a.m., in Press Room I. The speakers would be Ambassador Martin Dahinden, Director-General of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, and Ms. Safiye Cagar, Director of the Information and External Relations Division.

Ms. Wittenberg said the main launch would be in London, but there would be launches worldwide. Media advisories in English and French were available at the back of the room and included a link to a website where journalists could access the report, press release and other information.

New Displacements caused by Lord’s Resistance Army

Adrian Edwards of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said UNHCR was very concerned at new displacement arising out of continuing attacks by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), whose latest ambush on Sunday in the northern Central African Republic town of Birao was reported to have resulted in abductions of young girls, looting, and shops being set on fire.

The LRA's campaign of terror against civilians had intensified since September with attacks in the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and southern Sudan. The northeast of the Democratic Republic of Congo had seen at least six attacks and three ambushes in the last few weeks, all in the Haut Uele district. In a single village, Nambiongo, 21 people had been killed and 2,500 displaced, while fear created by these attacks prompted 2,000 people to flee Dungu, the district headquarters. In southern Sudan, the LRA also attacked the villages of Ribodo and Nahua in Western Equatoria on 4 September, killing eight people and displacing 2,600, said Mr. Edwards.

So far this year, the Ugandan rebel group had carried out more than 240 such attacks. At least 344 people had been killed. In most cases these attacks had been on vulnerable, isolated communities, with indiscriminate killings, abductions, rape, mutilation, looting and destruction of property. Insecurity and poor infrastructure hindered assessment of needs and delivery of aid to affected communities, many of whose members were traumatized and too scared to return to their farms to cultivate their land. This meant these people would continue to depend on outside help for the foreseeable future, Mr. Edwards underscored. Since December 2008, the LRA had murdered 2,000 people, abducted more than 2,600, and displaced over 400,000. An estimated 268,000 remained displaced in Orientale province in northeastern DRC, over 120,000 in Western Equatoria in southern Sudan, and 30,000 in the southeast of the Central African Republic. Also, more than 24,000 civilians had been forced into exile.

International Day for the Eradication of Poverty

Ms. Momal-Vanian said that on Monday 18 October, the United Nations would commemorate the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty in collaboration with the non-governmental organization ATD Fourth World. A ceremony including musical interludes and the screening of a film would be held in Room III at 3 p.m. on Monday. This offered the opportunity to display solidarity with people living in extreme poverty and show the international community’s resolution to reduce poverty. This year’s theme for the commemoration of the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty was “From Poverty to Decent Work: Bridging the Gap”, Ms. Momal-Vanian said. She added that the event would allow children and the youth to make their voices heard.

Global Handwashing Day

The theme of today’s Global Handwashing Day - “More than just a Day” – aimed to make the simple, life-saving practice of washing hands a regular habit long after today, said Ms. Momal-Vanian. A press release on the topic was available at the back of the room.

World Statistics Day

Catherine Sibut-Pinote said she had brought some copies of the brochure to be published by the nine agencies that commemorated the World Statistics Day on 20 October. Ms. Sibut-Pinote also drew attention to the UNCTAD statistics flyer which would shortly be launched. She added that a press release providing the statistics based on which UNCTAD developed its reports would be issued next week.

Press Conference on DRC with Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights

Rupert Colville of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said the Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights Kyung-wha Kang had returned yesterday from the Democratic Republic of Congo, where she had been part of a panel interviewing victims of rape and looking at reparations, visiting six towns in three DRC provinces. Ms. Kyung-wha Kang would brief the press in Press Room III at 2.30 p.m. tomorrow.

Human Rights Committee

Corinne Momal-Vanian said the Human Rights Committee this morning completed its review of the report of Belgium. The last country scheduled for this session was Hungary, whose report would be examined next Monday and Tuesday. The Committee would make public its concluding observations at the end of its session on 29 October. To date the Committee had reviewed the reports submitted by El Salvador, Poland and Jordan.

Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women

Ms. Momal-Vanian said the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women had yesterday concluded its examination of periodic reports by countries scheduled for this session. It had reviewed the reports of five countries, namely Burkina Faso, Tunisia, Malta, Uganda and the Czech Republic. Today, the Committee would examine a special report on the impact of the 2002 Gujarat events on women, presented by India upon the Committee’s request.

Next week’s meetings were primarily dedicated to adopting concluding observations in closed meetings. These concluding observations would be published at the end of the session, on Friday 22 October.

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

Ms. Momal-Vanian said a press release on the outcome of the thirty-second Plenary Session of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which had met in Busan over the last few days, was available at the back of the room.

UNECE Agenda

Jean Rodriguez of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe said a highlight next week would be the Economic Forum which UNECE had organized in the context of the UN Special Programme for the Economies of Central Asia. Participants to that event notably included the Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan, the Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Afghanistan, the EU Special Representative for Central Asia and the Chief of the United Nations Centre for Preventive Diplomacy in Central Asia. The detailed programme had been emailed to the Geneva press corps yesterday.

On Monday at 1.15 p.m. a press conference would be held in Room II with Andrey Vasilyev, UNECE Deputy Executive Secretary, Eklil Ahmad Hakimi, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan, Omirtay Bitimov, Ambassador at Large for Afghanistan of Kazakhstan, and Robert Watkins, Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Afghanistan, subject to confirmation. The subject would be strengthening regional cooperation in Central Asia and would include discussion of the OESC summit taking place in Astana at the beginning of December.

WTO Agenda

Janaina Borges of the World Trade Organization said the Trade Negotiations Committee would meet on Tuesday in an informal meeting to take stock of informal negotiations that had taken place over the past few weeks. This may be followed by a briefing and information on that would follow by email.

Ms. Borges also said that the General Council would meet on Thursday 21 October, followed by a briefing, the details of which would be communicated by email. Ms. Borges drew attention to the Serbia-Montenegro membership negotiations taking place on Wednesday and said the Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures Committee would also meet on Wednesday. A full schedule was available downstairs.

Ms. Borges said that on Tuesday 19 October Mr. Lamy would chair the Trade Negotiations Committee. The following day Mr. Lamy would meet with Arnand Sharma, Trade and Commerce Minister of India, before attending the General Council on Thursday 21 October. On Friday, the Director-General would participate in a roundtable debate on the food crisis at the XIII summit of La Francophonie in Montreux.