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 Children's Fund, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the World Trade Organization, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and the Secretariat of the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention.

Haiti

Elisabeth Byrs of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that according to the information received from the Haitian authorities there had been 29,871 hospitalized cases and 1,603 cholera deaths so far. Ms. Byrs added that USD 19.4 million of the USD 164 million appealed for had been received. While vigilance was needed to ensure that the worst scenario of 400,000 cholera-affected people, as described by WHO, could be avoided, this could be achieved if the requested USD 164 million were mobilized rapidly. The faster the 70 health partners in Haiti received the funds, the faster they could act to contain the cholera epidemic, Ms. Byrs underscored.

Corinne Momal-Vanian, reading from a press release issued last night by PAHO, said that elections were “not expected to increase the spread of cholera,” adding that cholera “is not a communicable disease, such as influenza or the common cold, which can be passed among people in close contact via coughs or sneezes, and that it is transmitted almost exclusively through fecal contamination of water and food.”

With regards to the security situation, Ms. Momal-Vanian said that one of MINUSTAH’s mandates was to provide security and logistical assistance to the Haitian authorities for the organization of the elections. She cited the Special Representative of the Secretary-General who had assessed that Haiti was on track for credible elections.

Pakistan

Marixie Mercado of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said a UNICEF mission to Shadatkot in Sindh, conducted between 21 and 23 November, had revealed near-total destruction in rural areas, with returnees finding no homes, food, schools or livelihoods. While the majority of the internally displaced persons were returning in Sindh, stagnant flood waters continued to block some from returning. 271 schools were still used for shelter and housed over 40,000 people. An additional 54,000 displaced people, including over 30,995 children, remained in camps in Balochistan, said Ms. Mercado.

The November 2010 Damage and Needs Assessment, conducted by the Pakistani Government, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, estimated the overall flood recovery and reconstruction costs at between USD 8.7 and 10.8 billion. The national assessment had found that 5.3 per cent of health facilities and 6.2 per cent of education institutions had been completely destroyed or damaged.

The national Disease Early Warning System had identified 26 alerts for potential epidemics between 5 and 18 November. This included 7 suspected measles cases, 5 cases of acute watery diarrhoea, and 2 cases of neonatal tetanus. There had also been 119 cases of polio reported in 2010, while the total number of polio cases in 2009 had been 89 for the entire year, Ms. Mercado underscored.

UNICEF provided almost 2.8 million people in Pakistan with clean drinking water on a daily basis, along with vital sanitation and hygiene facilities. It had further provided over 10 million vaccines, set up or helped maintain hundreds of treatment centres for malnourished children and women, and it was working to restore learning spaces in flood-affected areas.

To date, UNICEF had received USD 169 million in funding against its USD 251 million appeal, including USD 41 million in pledges. This left a full third of its appeal unfunded. Unless funding was received, this would impact UNICEF's emergency and recovery operations as of the beginning of the New Year. A funding shortage would have an impact on all aspects of UNICEF's current activities in Pakistan and affect the number of children and families who receive safe water, vaccination campaigns and UNICEF's lady health workers programme. Even before the floods, 40 per cent of children in Pakistan had been underweight, Ms. Mercado underscored.

UNHCR welcomes Serbia-Croatia agreement on refugee and return issues

Andrej Mahecic of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said UNHCR welcomed yesterday’s announcement by the presidents of Croatia and Serbia of an agreement on resolving their two countries’ remaining refugee and return issues. Successful resolution of these issues would be an important step towards solving one of the longest protracted refugee situations in Europe - a legacy of the wars in this region of the 1990s.

While UNHCR had yet to see details of the Croatia-Serbia agreement, it hoped that steps would rapidly be taken to translate this into concrete action that would enable the resolution of this long-standing situation with the support of interested donors. UNHCR looked forward to working
with partners toward that end.

Tenth meeting of the State parties to the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention

Kerry Brinkert, Director of the Implementation Support Unit of the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention said the 10th meeting of the State parties to the Convention would take place at the Palais des Nations from 29 November to 3 December. Switzerland and Albania had joined forces to lead in the organization of this meeting, with Switzerland hosting and Albania presiding over it. It was particularly significant that Albania had taken such a leading role. Albania had taken full ownership of its responsibilities to destroy over 1.6 million anti-personnel mines in stockpiles within 4 years and to clear all known mined areas in its territory within 10 years. Albania had succeeded in doing so by capitalizing on the Convention’s cooperation provisions and thus now wished to give something back.

The 10th meeting of the State parties to the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention was entirely open to the press, Mr. Brinkert said. Press highlights included a press conference on 29 November at 9 a.m. and the opening ceremony at 10 a.m., featuring the Swiss Foreign Affairs Minister, the Deputy-Minister of Foreign Affairs of Albania and the President of the International Committee of the Red Cross. Journalists could also interview Daniel, an 11 year-old boy who had lost his leg after stepping on an anti-personnel mine in the Golan Heights earlier this year, between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. on 29 November, along with landmine survivor and Survivor Corps founder Jerry White.

Geneva Activities

Ms. Momal-Vanian said there would be no Press Briefings from 21 December 2010 to 7 January 2011 but the Information Service would still be at the disposal of the Geneva press corps during this time.

On Monday, there would be a special meeting to mark the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, Ms. Momal-Vanian went on to say. The meeting would take place at 4 p.m. in Room XIX and would include a message from the United Nations Secretary-General and remarks delivered by representatives of various organizations.

The Committee on the Rights of Migrant Workers had this week examined the reports of the three reports scheduled for review this session, namely Albania, Ecuador and Senegal. The Committee’s meetings on Monday would be dedicated to celebrating the twentieth anniversary of the adoption of the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families. Representatives of State parties, civil society organizations and other organizations would speak about experiences and opinions on the influence of the Convention in drawing up migration policies and practices.

Ms. Byrs of OCHA said that embargoed materials on the launch of the 2011 humanitarian appeal were at the back of the room.

Ms. Momal-Vanian said as part of the “1 Billion Hungry” campaign, the Liaison Office of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) would hold a “Final Whistle Call” event on Sunday, 28 November, at 5 p.m. next to the Chair at Nations. This worldwide campaign, which encouraged people to sign a petition online on www.1billionhungry.org, had been launched by FAO last May as a tool to show Governments that people care about the billion hungry. More than 2.6 millions of signatures had been collected throughout the world while FAO’s objective had been to collect 1 million signatures. The petition would be presented to Member States at the 140th session of the FAO Council in Rome on 30 November, said Ms. Momal-Vanian.

IOM Activities

Jean-Philippe Chauzy of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) gave a reminder that the World Migration Report 2010 would be launched at a press conference to take place today at 2 p.m. in Room III. The report co-editors, Khalid Koser and Frank Laczko, would be present at the press conference and for interviews and questions on the report (embargoed until Monday).

On Monday the 99th IOM Council would open, with the Kingdom of Lesotho, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, the Republic of Botswana and the Kingdom of Swaziland joining as new member States, bringing IOM's membership to 132. The Council would notably discuss the impact of migration on social behavior on Wednesday. Journalists were invited to attend the meeting, to take place in Room VII in the Palais des Nations. Interviews on the subject could also be organized.

Turning to the situation of irregular migrants at the Saudi Border, Mr. Chauzy said that after assisting more than 600 stranded Ethiopian migrants in mid-November, IOM would this weekend repatriate some 430 migrants, including about 140 women and some minors. The needs continued to be great, but the programme of humanitarian assistance, which was implemented in collaboration with United Nations agencies and notably the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, could only be continued with adequate funds.

IOM was working at several levels in the region. It would notably train and sensitize 60 coastguards, who were often the first persons to be in contact with irregular migrants, on issues related to illegal migration. This was part of IOM's bid to minimize the suffering related to illegal migration from the Horn of Africa to Yemen through the Gulf of Aden, Mr. Chauzy said.

UNICEF Agenda

Ms. Mercado said that on December 3 UNICEF's independent research centre would launch a study of how 24 of the world’s rich countries were doing in terms of inequality in child well-being. The report measured how far behind children were allowed to fall in these 24 countries in terms of material, health, and educational well-being. For each of the 24 countries, the report measured how far below the norm the most vulnerable children were being allowed to fall. While there would always be a bottom 10 per cent in every country, the critical question was how far below the median that 10 per cent was. The report raised complex questions and underlined that there were no widely agreed answers. The report was intended to stimulate debate towards the beginnings of a practical answer by measuring and comparing inequalities in child well-being across countries. The report would be launched in Helsinki, with national launches planned in Rome, London and Brussels. All materials were at the back of the room and embargoed until 3 December.

On another note, Ms. Mercado said that next Monday at 3.15 p.m. the Chief of UNICEF's HIV/AIDS Programme Division, Mr. Jimmy Kolker, would offer a pre-launch briefing on the fifth "Stocktaking report", UNICEF's annual report on Children & HIV/AIDS, ahead of the launching of the report the following day, on 30 November, in New York.

WTO Agenda

Janaina Borges of the World Trade Organization (WTO) said the Trade Negotiations Committee would hold an informal meeting at 10 a.m. on 30 November, to be followed by a briefing at 1 p.m. in Room PCR at the WTO. Also next week, the Trade Facilitation Negotiating Group would start to meet on Monday, the Goods Council would convene on Tuesday afternoon, the Hong Kong-China trade policy review would take place on Wednesday and Friday, and the United States-COOL dispute panel open hearing would start on Wednesday at 10 a.m. The Hong Kong-China trade policy review would start with a report that was already available, under embargo until Wednesday, on the WTO's website.