REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE
2 September 2014
http://www.unog.ch/unog/website/news_media.nsf/(httpNewsByYear_en)/68B810D7741917B6C1257D470033D008?OpenDocument

Corinne Momal-Vanian, Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired the briefing which was also attended by Spokespersons for the Office for the Coordination for Humanitarian Affairs, United Nations Refugee Agency, the United Nations Children’s Programme, World Food Programme and the World Health Organization. 

Iraq – Humanitarian Response

Christophe Boulierac, for the United Nations Children’s Programme (UNICEF) said in response to a break in the two-month long siege of Amerli, UNICEF had delivered on Monday 1 September 45 metric tonnes of life-saving supplies for the estimated 3,000 children, women and their families who had been trapped in dire conditions. The UNICEF supply convoy consisted of seven trucks dispatched from Erbil directly to Amerli without transfer to unmarked vehicles, and included the Mayor of Amerli as a passenger, noted Mr. Boulierac. 

The delivery was the first in a series of planned aid convoys and was now supporting 15,000 people with family food packs, oral rehydration kits for health clinics, emergency food rations, therapeutic food for malnourished children, family hygiene kits and more than a thousand bottles of water. 

Those supplies came in the context of UNICEF’s mass humanitarian, supply-driven operation of relief and assistance, explained Mr. Boulierac. Since January, UNICEF had delivered lifesaving assistance to 641,243 people displaced throughout Iraq, and since 2 August, UNICEF had delivered nearly 360 metric tonnes of humanitarian aid for more than 314,000 displaced people, including safe drinking water, supplementary food and emergency health kits, among other items.

Fadéla Chaib for the World Health Organization (WHO), said WHO had been requested to provide medicines and surgical supplies to Amerli district in Salah Al Din governorate in response to the health needs of the population, who had been suffering in the besieged town of Amerli for over two months.

The health situation in the town had been reported to be difficult, including difficulties to get obstetric equipment to assist pregnant women. The town has one main public health centre with one physician, one assistant pharmacist, and 64 paramedics. The WHO and United Iraq Medical Society ( NGO) would set up a mobile clinic in Anbar Governorate with an ambulance.

Iraq – Polio Vaccination Campaign

Christophe Boulierac, for the United Nations Children’s Programme (UNICEF), said despite the ongoing conflict, violence and displacement across Iraq, a mass polio immunization campaign succeeded in reaching 3.75 of four million children under the age of five in 12 Iraqi Governorates. The campaign came at a time when the number of displaced children continued to increase on a daily basis. Approximately 65,000 internally displaced children were vaccinated in the Kurdish Duhok Governorate alone. Mr. Boulierac said that a joint press release had been issued by UNICEF and World Health Organization on the polio vaccination campaign in Iraq. 

Fadéla Chaib for the World Health Organization (WHO), said amid ongoing conflict a massive polio campaign for children had been completed in Iraq, with support of UNICEF and WHO. The five-day campaign between 10 and 14 August was organised by the Iraqi Ministry of Health with the support of UNICEF and the WHO, and was part of the national response to the re-emergence of the poliovirus in Iraq earlier this year. 

The confirmation of two cases of polio in Iraq in February and April this year ended a 14-year period during which Iraq remained polio-free, said Ms. Chaib. With a relatively high number of unvaccinated children due to difficulties in accessing families and children, especially in slums and conflict zones, experts said Iraq had now become vulnerable to a wider outbreak of the crippling and incurable disease. 

Background information on polio in Iraq and in the region could be found in the briefing note, said Ms. Chaib. 

A journalist enquired about the situation of children in Iraq, especially those who had been under siege for two months in Amerli. Mr. Boulierac replied that he had spoken with his UNICEF colleague on the ground in Erbil but it was difficult to get a clear picture, and even the figure of 3,000 children living in dire conditions was an estimate. He hoped to receive more detailed information soon.

Responding to a question about the health situation in the Amerli district, Saladin Governorate, Ms. Chaib said reports received indicated it was difficult. Persistent problems included a lack of medicines, such as for obstetric deliveries, and a lack of health workers. WHO was providing 40,000 doses of vaccines including BCG and Hepatitis, and also working to set up a medical clinic.

Ukraine

Adrian Edwards for the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) introduced his colleague Vincent Cochetel, Director, Bureau for Europe. 

Mr. Edwards said the number of people displaced inside Ukraine had more than doubled in the past three weeks, and as of 1 September UNHCR estimated that some 260,000 people had now been displaced inside Ukraine, compared to 117,000 as of 5 August. 
Ongoing fighting in eastern Ukraine, in particular around Donetsk, Luhansk and neighbouring towns, is driving more people from their homes and increasing the need for humanitarian aid, he said. 

Most of the displaced, 94 per cent, were from eastern Ukraine and remained in the Donetsk, Kharkiv and Kyiv regions. UNHCR believed the actual number of people displaced was higher as many were staying with families and friends and chose not to register with the authorities.

Because of insecurity, humanitarian actors had not been able to assess the situation of people displaced in the Luhansk region. UNHCR planned to conduct a fact-finding mission later this week, assuming the situation allowed. As of 1 September, 2.2 million people remained in conflict areas, according to the Ukrainian authorities, said Mr. Edwards. 

The number of those using the three corridors set up by the Ukrainian authorities to flee conflict areas was decreasing, mainly due to recent incidents when civilians had lost their lives in attacks. Reportedly 6,000 people had left through these corridors since the end of July.

In the Donetsk region since last Tuesday local authorities reported that some 10,000 people left Mariupol to Zaporizhzhia and Berdiansk and other locations, following military activities of the anti-Government forces in Novoazovsk.

Ongoing shelling had left people in conflict areas with limited access to food, water, and other basic necessities. In Donetsk, Makiivka and Gorlovka the regional authorities estimated there were 20,000 people with disabilities and needing help. In Luhansk, residents had been without proper supplies of food and water, and dealing with electricity shortages and communications problems for a month. Buildings and roads were severely damaged, impeding efforts to provide humanitarian aid. In Yasynuvata, some 150 people had reportedly found shelter in basements without electricity. Many of them were elderly. Newly displaced people were arriving with limited resources and were more dependent on aid. Additional assistance would be needed as the upcoming cold season approached.

After the Ukrainian government re-established control of various towns in the northern part of Donetsk region in early July, many internally displaced people quickly returned. For instance, some 20,000 displaced people returned to Slovyansk from other areas of the Donetsk region. Local authorities in Slovyansk estimated that while some 40 per cent of the population was displaced at the peak of the hostilities, the vast majority (up to 90 per cent) had returned home. Last Saturday, 27 August, a UNHCR team saw long lines of cars, many with children, waiting at checkpoints to enter the Slovyansk area from the north. It appeared that returns were accelerating in preparation for the school year, said Mr. Edwards. 

With external displacement, the number of Ukrainians seeking refugee status or asylum in Russia increased by almost 66,000 during August. According to the Federal Migration Service of the Russian Federation, 121,190 Ukrainians had now applied for refugee status or temporary asylum since 1 January. Since late July, the quotas for temporary asylum set for several regions including Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Rostov, and Chechnya had been filled, meaning that Ukrainian nationals needed to seek asylum in other regions. In addition, 138,825 Ukrainians had applied for other forms of legal stay such as temporary or permanent residence permits and under the programme of resettlement of compatriots.

A larger number of Ukrainians were arriving in Russia under the visa-free regime. According to the Russian authorities around 814,000 Ukrainians had entered Russia since 1 January 2014. That figure included people who had applied for refugee/temporary asylum and other residence options, noted Mr. Edwards. 

Most Ukrainians arriving in Russia stayed with relatives, friends or found private accommodation either in a host family or rented their own apartments. The Russian authorities had adopted several regulations to facilitate the temporary stay of Ukrainians arriving on its territory.

UNHCR continued to support local government and civic society, as well as deliver assistance directly to the most vulnerable. To date, UNHCR had distributed over 150 metric tons of humanitarian assistance to the Donetsk and Kharkiv regions, hosting over 100,000 displaced persons. UNHCR had also coordinated distribution of food provided by different foundations, added Mr. Edwards. 

A total of 4,106 Ukrainians requested asylum in the European Union between January and July 2014, compared to 903 applications in the whole 2013. Most Ukrainian applications for asylum were in Poland, as well as in Germany and Sweden confirmed Mr. Edwards, adding that an additional 380 Ukrainians had sought asylum in Belarus in 2014 as of 1 September.

Mr. Edwards said that the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres was very concerned about the situation, and had said If this crisis is not quickly stopped, it will have not only devastating humanitarian consequences but it also has the potential to destabilize the whole region. After the lessons of the Balkans, it is hard to believe a conflict of these proportions could unfold in the European continent.

Ms. Momal-Vanian said Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had also spoken to the press on Ukraine earlier today from Auckland, New Zealand, where he was travelling. The Secretary-General said the crisis in Ukraine was a source of great concern that had regional and even global implications. The Secretary-General reiterated that there was no military solution to the crisis, and called for a political dialogue which would lead to a political solution. 

Answering questions on the situation in Ukraine, Vincent Cochetel, Director, UNHCR Bureau for Europe, said UNHCR estimated that 90 per cent of the population had felt safe enough to return, although they still faced challenges such as the destruction of schools and housing and assistance was slow to come into those areas. In a city such as Slovyansk, for example, not all schools had been damaged, so classes in existing schools were being doubled to restore a sense of normality for the children. UNHCR was concerned about 3,500 children still staying in some of the 1,600 collective centres which were not fit for the winter. Those children needed to be relocated, and UNHCR wanted to do that before the winter began, in the middle of October. 

A journalist asked Mr. Cochetel about his visit to Russia last week and what he saw there. Mr. Cochetel replied that UNHCR teams on the ground had visited different regions in Russia where Ukrainian refugees had arrived and seen how congestion had led the authorities to relocate many Ukrainian refugees to 60 of the 80 Russian territories. The first line of reception in the border areas was very good, and the Russian authorities had not requested any assistance from UNHCR. However, there were challenges, including that some of the accommodation centres may not fit for winter. It was important that the capacity was adjusted to the needs of the people, said Mr. Cochetel. 

A journalist asked whether UNHCR feared a mass exodus of the population, due to the on-going fighting in Donetsk, Luhansk region. Mr. Cochetel replied that High Commissioner Guterres was extremely concerned about the risk of further displacement of major proportions in that part of the country. There were around 45,000 internally displaced persons in some 1,648 collective centres. Some collective centres were as small as 20 to 30 people, some were larger, he noted. 

Could the number of internally displaced persons be higher than UNHCR’s estimates, another journalist asked. Mr. Cochetel said the 260,000 figure was a low estimate, particularly because many people did not want to register with the authorities in their new location. The reasons for that included that they often stayed with their relatives, that they feared being conscripted into the Ukrainian army, or they feared retaliation upon return to their home city. 

A journalist asked whether Ukrainian refugees were going to Poland, Belarus and other European countries, and whether the United Nations Refugee Agency had an approximate estimate of their numbers. Mr. Cochetel said they did not yet have figures of people going to either European Union countries or non-European Union countries such as Moldova and Belarus. UNHCR was also aware of some people going to the Baltic countries. They were not going into the asylum system and so UNHCR had difficulty in tracking those figures; it had requested data from the relevant Governments. Mr. Cochetel added that he could not therefore give a precise estimate, but to give an idea of the dimensions of the problem, one Baltic country had received some 20,000 people. 

A journalist asked about how the UNHCR fact-finding mission would work, especially as some of the train and air networks in Ukraine were not apparently functioning. Mr. Cochetel said normally the way the humanitarian infrastructure worked in such a situation was that the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) worked inside the conflict area, and the rest of the United Nations family tried to do what they could close to the conflict areas. For the time being ICRC could not fully operate and were only providing basic services. Other United Nations humanitarian agencies did what they could in areas retaken by the Ukrainian army or where people were displaced, trying to get as close as possible to the front line. Currently they were operating just a couple of kilometres away, close to the Sea of Azov. 

Would UNHCR negotiate with the Russians, asked a journalist. Humanitarian agencies had to talk to all sides in conflict situations, and UNHCR had done that in the past, answered Mr. Cochetel. With respect the basic humanitarian principals: access, impartiality, neutrality and the do-no-harm principle, UNHCR could operate anywhere if the parties agreed. 

Ebola

Elisabeth Byrs, for the World Food Programme (WFP), said WFP was stepping up assistance to people impacted by Ebola in the three most-affected countries – Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone – and increasing logistical support to the whole humanitarian community fighting the spread of the virus. 

WFP had launched a regional emergency operation to reach 1.3 million people in health centres and quarantine areas. It was providing food and logistical assistance alongside national governments, the World Health Organization and other partners to support the treatment of Ebola patients and mitigate the risk of the virus moving into new areas. Furthermore WFP was deploying a total of 50 additional staff across the three most affected countries. 

The United Nations Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS), which was managed by WFP, had deployed a 19-seat aircraft which since 16 August had been shuttling between Conakry, Freetown and Monrovia to allow vital access for humanitarian personnel and the delivery of live-saving cargo. An UNHAS helicopter, stationed in Monrovia, would fly to affected areas in the next few days, said Ms. Byrs. 

WFP also managed the United Nations Humanitarian Response Depots (UNHRD) that stored emergency supplies. The UNHRDs in Dubai and Accra had dispatched 30 metric tons worth US$340,000 of protective gear, including gloves, masks and health kits in the region for WHO, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and WFP.

WFP urgently needed financing of US$70 million for a regional emergency operation until November. UNHAS flights at a total cost of US$7.3 million through 13 October were only 38 per cent funded. WFP was also launching a logistics operation at a cost of US$7.5 million, said Ms. Byrs. 

In Guinea, where WFP began food distributions due to the Ebola outbreak four months ago, around 40,000 people had been reached. Preparations were being made to gradually increase distributions to 464,000 people over a period of three months. More information on the operations in Guinea, in Sierra Leone and in Liberia where in the press release, said Ms. Byrs. 

Christophe Boulierac, for the United Nations Children’s Programme (UNICEF) said the Ebola outbreak in West Africa had hit some of the poorest countries in the world and health care systems were struggling to cope. 

In the affected areas, especially in Sierra Leone and Liberia where the disease was spreading widely and rapidly, the collapse of the health system was challenging regular health services. There were fewer health workers and less access to health services in quarantine zones. That led to more pregnant women and children being at risk of dying from avoidable diseases, said Mr. Boulierac. 

Indirect consequences of the Ebola outbreak included the virtual standstill of vaccination campaigns, and cases of malaria, diarrhoea, pneumonia, or acute malnutrition, especially prevalent at this time of the year, being left untreated. Cholera was endemic in the region, and the threat of measles and polio outbreaks were of urgent concern. Children were at risk of dying from preventable diseases simply because they could not get the treatment or prevention services they needed. 

The impact on education was equally significant, continued Mr. Boulierac, not only in terms of access to schools as some were being used as isolation wards, but also the availability of teachers, the quality of teaching and learning, and the safety of school premises. Out of a population of three million living in zones highly affected by the Ebola outbreak, at least one million children may miss months of schooling, he said. If governments opted for all schools in the countries to remain closed until further notice, as projected in Liberia, many more children in primary school would not be able to continue their education.

Mr. Boulierac also briefed on how UNICEF partners with other organizations were working to counter fear, rumours and misconceptions about Ebola through public awareness and social mobilization initiatives such as local radio and television broadcasts, door-to-door campaigns, training of community based workers and local leaders and cell phone messaging. The messages focused on prevention and responsible behaviours and reduction of stigma. He also spoke about UNICEF work to provide water and sanitation services to the affected communities as well as appropriate training for the health and medical partners. 

Additional priorities for UNICEF and its partners in Ebola-affected areas included stepping up life-saving interventions in health, HIV and nutrition, providing psychosocial support to children and families affected by Ebola, and preparing for children’s return to school including through alternative education opportunities in quarantined areas, where children were not able to attend schools.

Fadéla Chaib for the World Health Organization (WHO), said the agency’s latest Ebola statistics would be issued by Wednesday morning. She briefed on WHO’s initiative to create a roadmap to guide and coordinate the international response to the outbreak of Ebola virus disease in West Africa. 

Ms. Chaib informed journalists that on Thursday 4 and Friday 5 September, WHO would host a consultation on potential Ebola therapies and vaccines in Geneva. The consultation had been convened to gather expertise about the most promising experimental therapies and vaccines and their role in containing the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. The meeting, which would take place at the Hotel Starling close to Geneva airport, would be attended by around 150 people, including a number of WHO experts. 

The current Ebola outbreak in Africa was without precedent in terms of number of people affected, its complexity and the weight the outbreak imposed on health services, said Ms. Chaib. There was great public interest in affected countries in experimental therapies that existed in certain laboratories, and they thought such therapies could help in the fight against Ebola. 

However, as some of the experimental therapies and vaccines had never been put on the market, WHO was mandated to inform its Member States about the progress of development in the research, which was the reason the meeting was being held. 

At the meeting WHO would bring together all of the experts and researchers who were working on therapies based on blood, antiretroviral therapies and two vaccines. The purpose of the meeting would be to obtain the most accurate information on their current state of development, said Ms. Chaib. 

The experts and researchers would also agree on ethical considerations, including how the interventions had been achieved, and how the therapies could be used within different groups including children, the elderly and people with chronic diseases. 

Financial issues would also be discussed, such as whether purchases should be made and most importantly, if WHO was to recommend any of the therapies, how many quantities would be available. WHO would share that information with its Member States; it would then be up to national health regulation authorities to discuss interest with the concerned laboratories. 

The meeting would run from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days, and although it would be closed to the press, the opening session would be public, and journalists wishing to attend should contact Chris Black at WHO. A press note would be issued. Ms. Chaib noted that a virtual press conference would be held after the meeting at 6 p.m. on Friday in the Library room at WHO. Details of speakers would follow this week. 

Ms. Momal-Vanian also noted that a press conference on the Ebola outbreak in West Africa was scheduled to take place in New York today, at 12 p.m. EST with United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson, World Health Organization Director-General Dr. Margaret Chan, and United Nations system Senior Coordinator for the response to Ebola Virus Disease Dr. David Nabarro. Journalists could follow the briefing live via United Nations webcast at http://webtv.un.org/ webtv.un.org.

Answering a question about disruption to vaccination campaigns in countries affected by the Ebola outbreak, Mr. Boulierac said many campaigns were paralyzed and remained at a standstill. 

Ms Chaib added that since the beginning of Ebola outbreak in Western Africa, WHO had continued to cover all the other urgent health needs of the population. WHO had highlighted on a number of occasions that Ebola was a priority and an emergency, but other health operations had to be maintained, including regarding maternal and child health care, the fight against HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria. 

Ms. Chaib continued, highlighting that the countries affected by the Ebola virus already had poor health care systems and many local health workers had been contaminated by Ebola and died, which represented a considerable loss for the West Africa region where there was already a lack of health professionals. WHO continued its other health activities with its offices and operational staff throughout the world, emphasized Ms. Chaib. 

Gaza

Jens Laerke for the Office for the Coordination for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that organizations on the ground reported an unprecedented scale of destruction in Gaza, after the ceasefire in Gaza allowed for more in-depth assessments of the structural damage caused by the conflict. An estimated 18,000 housing units had been either destroyed or severely damaged, leaving more than 108,000 people homeless. 

In total, some 13 per cent of the housing stock in the Gaza Strip had been affected. That was in addition to the pre-crisis housing deficit of 71,000 housing units, where many people were already living in overcrowded or inadequate conditions. Finding temporary housing solutions for those people would be one of the major challenges facing local authorities and the humanitarian community in the coming period.

Gaza’s public services, which were already over-stretched before the crisis, also came under extreme strain during the conflict. Water and electricity networks were damaged, and Gaza’s only power plant shut down after an Israeli airstrike on 29 July. 

Repairs and maintenance could not take place at the plant due to the fighting and the targeting of technical personnel in several instances: at least 14 electricity, water and waste-water technicians employed by local companies were killed by Israeli attacks, and at least ten others were injured, said Mr. Laerke. 

As a consequence, electricity was still out 18 hours per day in most areas across Gaza and only one in ten people received water daily. 

Since the announcement of the ceasefire on 26 August, the number of internally displaced people had been very fluid. As of yesterday afternoon local time, a little more than 55,000 internally displaced people continued to take shelter in 36 United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNWRA) schools. In addition, it was estimated that at least 50,000 internally displaced people were still living with host families, said Mr. Laerke.

Syria

Elisabeth Byrs, for the World Food Programme (WFP), said WFP dispatched food to a record-breaking number of 4.1 million people inside war-ravaged Syria in August due to improved access with increased cross-line operations within Syria and more cross-border convoys. 

Over the last six weeks, WFP and partners crossed lines to reach more than 580,000 people, more than four times the 137,000 people reached in the preceding six weeks, said Ms. Byrs. 

Ms. Byrs said that since July 25 a total of five cross-border convoys, via the Bab Al Salam crossing from Turkey and Al Ramtha from Jordan, had carried food rations including rice, lentils, oil, pasta, bulgur, canned food, wheat flour, beans, salt and sugar for 69,500 people in the hard-to-reach areas of Aleppo, Idleb, Quneitra and Da’ra governorates. 

WFP needed to raise US$35 million dollars every week to meet the food needs of families affected by the conflict in Syria and refugees in neighbouring countries, emphasized Ms. Byrs. 

Ms. Byrs noted that an operational update was attached to the press release, which also highlighted how despite the widespread insecurity hindering WFP’s access to many parts of the country, it aimed to support 4.25 million people in need of food assistance across all 14 governorates every month.

North-East Nigeria

Adrian Edwards for the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), said recent attacks from insurgent groups in the north east of Nigeria had prompted thousands of Nigerians to find refuge in Cameroon in the past 10 days, with some newly arrived refugees sleeping on the ground in schools and churches and children suffering poor health. 

UNHCR was very concerned that even once they have crossed into Cameroon, they were still being pursued by insurgents and had already started to relocate some of the refugees to a refugee camp where they could enjoy safer conditions, said Mr. Edwards. 

According to authorities, in the last ten days at least 9,000 people had arrived in Cameroon’s Far North Region, more than 2,000 sought refuge in Niger, and more people continued to arrive. The new arrivals fled recurrent attacks in the past three weeks in the Gwoza area in Nigeria’s Borno State, before reaching safety in Cameroon. 

Authorities reported that 5,500 refugees had arrived in Kolofata, 3,000 in Kerawa and 370 in Mora, in the Mayo Sava and Logone-et-Chari districts. However, even upon arrival in Cameroon, they were not necessarily out of harm’s way, said Mr. Edwards. On Sunday, insurgents attacked Kerawa town inside Cameroon, forcing refugees and some local residents to flee further inland. 

UNHCR teams had had limited access to the border areas in the past weeks because of the increasing insecurity, said Mr. Edwards. Despite the volatile situation, UNHCR was able to go to Mora over the week end, where teams met the new arrivals living in churches and schools and with host families. The refugees told UNHCR teams that everyone had fled and that their villages in north east Nigeria were now empty. 

On Sunday, the UNHCR team reached the Cameroonian border village of Koza and met with some refugee women, Mr. Edwards reported. They told them that when their homes were attacked some days ago in Gokou, in Nigeria’s Borno State, their husbands had sent them with their children to hide in the surrounding mountains. They later saw heavy smoke coming from their village, which made them fear insurgents had burnt their homes. They had had no news of their husbands.

On Monday, UNHCR started to relocate 80 of the new refugees, mainly women and children, from Koza to the refugee camp of Minawao, some 120 kilometres from the border. The camp was already hosting some 6,000 Nigerian refugees who were transferred from the border earlier in 2013 and 2014. In early August, relocation to the camp was suspended due to insecurity, recalled Mr. Edwards, adding that today, security allowing, UNHCR would start the relocation of refugees from Mora and Kolofata to the camp. The total number of Nigerian refugees in Cameroon now stood at some 39,000 according to local authorities, including 19,633 who had been registered by UNHCR.

Insurgents crossed the border last week and attacked villages on the Cameroon side, prompting some 1,700 local inhabitants to flee further inland to villages near the border with Chad. Villagers fled in panic after insurgents slit the throats of three people in the Church in Assighassia. The attackers also burnt down a police and a gendarmerie stations, a local cotton company, and stole some 400 cows, said Mr. Edwards. UNHCR was extremely concerned that attacks from insurgents seemed to also now target civilians in Cameroon territory.

In addition, more than 2,000 Nigerians fled last week to the Lake Chad islands in Niger, fleeing attacks in Nigeria Borno State. Niger was already hosting more than 50,000 forcibly displaced from Nigeria who had arrived in the country since May 2013; 1,500 had found refuge in Chad. Inside Nigeria, some 645,000 people were displaced in Adamawa, Borno, and Yobe States, as a result of the violence.

Were the attacks in Cameroon becoming more frequent, and what was the Government’s response, a journalist asked. Mr. Edwards replied that more refugees were clearly arriving into Cameroon, despite difficulties with access and fears insurgents were pursuing people across the border. It was not safe in north-east Nigeria and now it was clearly not safe once they crossed into Cameroon. Mr. Edwards said he had no information about the Cameroonian Government’s response as of yet. 

Somalia

Jens Laerke for the Office for the Coordination for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said the Humanitarian Coordinator in Somalia was expected to make a statement later today on the serious deterioration in the food security situation in Somalia. The statement was triggered by a new assessment by the Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit and the Famine Early Warning Systems Network which reflected a significant decline, owing to a lethal mix of drought, surging food prices and conflict, said Mr. Laerke. 

Geneva activities

Ms. Momal-Vanian said the Conference on Disarmament was holding a public plenary this morning, the penultimate meeting before the close of its 2014 session next week. 

The Committee on the Rights of the Child on Monday opened a three-week session. This week it would review the reports of Venezuela, Morocco and Fiji. The Committee would review the reports of Singapore, Hungary and Croatia next week.

The Committee for the Protection of the Rights of Migrant Workers also started a new session yesterday, which would last for one week, in which the situation in Belize and Ghana would be reviewed. 

Ms. Momal-Vanian informed journalists that Rolando Gomez, for the United Nations Human Rights Council, had offered to give a briefing, to take place on the afternoon of Thursday 4 September 2014, about the upcoming twenty-seventh regular session of the Human Rights Council which opens Monday 8 September. He would be in touch with further details. 

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) would hold a press conference on 3 September at 11.00 a.m. in Press Room 1 to present the 2014 report on UNCTAD’s assistance to Palestinian People. Mr. Mahmoud El-Khafif, UNCTAD Coordinator of Assistance to the Palestinian People, would be speaking. 

Fadéla Chaib for the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that the launch of the first WHO Global report on suicide prevention would take place on Thursday 4 September 2014 at 11 a.m. Geneva time. The report, which compiled 10 years of global data and research, had been sent to journalists under embargo, with a fact sheet. A virtual press conference would take place at 11 a.m. in Press Room I with Dr. Shekhar Saxena, Director, Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse, Ms. Alexandra Fleischmann, a Scientist in the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse, WHO, Dr. Etienne Krug, Director, Department of Violence and Injury Prevention and Disability, WHO, and Ella Arensman, President of the International Association for Suicide Prevention. The report was embargoed until 11 a.m. on Thursday.