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UN DAILY NEWS from the
UNITED NATIONS NEWS SERVICE
13 May, 2008 =========================================================================
MYANMAR FACES SECOND CATASTROPHE WITHOUT MORE ACCESS FOR AID – UN
Unless more access to Myanmar is granted to allow aid to flow more quickly to victims of this month’s deadly cyclone, a second catastrophe could result, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warned today.
Despite some progress, efforts to help the 1.5 million people affected by Cyclone Nargis must be enhanced, a spokesperson for OCHA told reporters in Geneva.
Elizabeth Byrs said that, some 12 days after the cyclone struck, the UN and its partners have reached about 270,000 at-risk people, less than a third of those affected. Heavy rains have been forecast, further impeding aid efforts. Ms. Byrs called for an air and sea corridor to channel aid in large quantities as quickly as possible.
The official death toll reported by Myanmar’s Government has reached almost 32,000, with over 34,000 others missing.
Yesterday, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon voiced his “immense frustration” with the slow pace of relief efforts and called on the South-East Asian nation’s authorities to do the most they can to prevent the situation from deteriorating further.
Two UN human rights experts issued a statement today reiterated Mr. Ban’s call. Rudi Muhammed Rizki, the Independent Expert on human rights and international solidarity, and Walter Kälin, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative on the human rights of internally displaced persons, stressed that “persons affected by natural disasters enjoy the same rights and freedoms as any other persons, in particular with regard to access to food and potable water, basic shelter and housing, appropriate clothing as well as essential medical services and sanitation.”
The statement pointed out that 90 per cent of Myanmar’s population – nearly two-thirds of this category are women and children – lives in poverty. International assistance is urgently needed in both the short- and long-term, it noted.
Ms. Byrs said, however, that there have been some encouraging signs, with the Government making initial moves to ease restrictions. Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs John Holmes said yesterday that 34 new visas had been granted to UN personnel, but Ms. Byrs said today that this is not enough to respond to a disaster of this magnitude.
The UN refugee agency announced today that more than 40 tons of its shelter supplies – including plastic sheets, blankets, kitchen sets and tents – have reached Yangon, Myanmar’s largest city, in the past 24 hours.
Half of these items were airlifted in from Dubai. “Our staff are at the Yangon airport to claim the items for immediate dispatch to areas affected by the cyclone,” said Jennifer Pagonis, spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
The other half of the supplies were driven overland from the Thai-Myanmar border in two trucks, carrying items from UNHCR’s stockpiles for refugee camps along the Thai border, in a two-day journey through heavy rains.
The agency immediately handed the items, expected to benefit 10,000 people, to non-governmental and community-based organizations to be distributed in the hardest-hit areas of Yangon and the Irrawaddy delta.
UNHCR expects another round of supplies – including 4,500 plastic sheets, 17,000 blankets, some 1,500 kitchen sets and 75 mosquito nets, which arrived in the agency’s first airlift from Dubai last weekend – to be rushed to the outskirts of Yangon and to Bogale and Laputto in the Irrawaddy delta.
Another flight from Dubai is expected by mid-week, and a fourth is being planned, and UNHCR is also seeking supplies in the region to quickly send to Yangon.
Meanwhile, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) has sent more than 360 metric tons of food aid, of which 175 tons has been distributed. Only half of the rice necessary to feed 750,000 people for three months can be procured in Myanmar.
For its part, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) has flown in medical supplies for tens of thousands of people and is monitoring for communicable disease outbreaks in the wake of the cyclone.
The agency said that while diarrhoea and dysentery cases have been reported, there have been no confirmed cases of cholera. Immediate efforts are centering on caring and treating the injured and preventing communicable diseases.
WHO personnel, including 11 international staff, are operating in Myanmar, and eight emergency health kits – each able to treat 10,000 people for three months – have been delivered to the affected areas.
On 9 May, the UN launched a flash appeal for $187 million to provide urgently needed relief though key UN and other aid agencies.
The Organization has identified food, water purification supplies, sanitation facilities, shelter, fuel and essential medical supplies as crucial needs following the disaster.
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‘BILLION TREE CAMPAIGN’ BLOSSOMS TO SEVEN TIMES ITS SIZE, UN AGENCY SAYS
A grassroots campaign to plant trees around the globe has announced that it is raising its target from 1 billion trees to 7 billion trees, the United Nations announced today.
The campaign, which is under the patronage of Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and Kenyan Green Belt Movement founder Professor Wangari Maathai and Prince Albert II of Monaco, also announced today that in 18 months it has seen two billion trees planted, double its original target.
The campaign was launched by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) in 2006 as a response to the threat of global warming.
UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner said today: “Having exceeded every target that has been set for the campaign, we are now calling on individuals, communities, business and industry, civil society organizations and governments to evolve this initiative on to a new and even higher level by the crucial climate change conference in Copenhagen in late 2009.”
Tree planting remains one of the most cost-effective ways to address climate change. Trees and forests play a vital role in regulating the climate since they absorb carbon dioxide. Deforestation, in turn, accounts for over 20% of the carbon dioxide humans generate, rivaling the emissions from other sources.
Trees also play a crucial role in providing a range of products and services to rural and urban populations, including food, timber, fibre, medicines and energy as well as soil fertility, water and biodiversity conservation.
In terms of geographic distribution, Africa is the leading region with over half of all tree plantings. Regional and national governments organized the most massive plantings, with Ethiopia leading the count at 700 million, followed by Turkey (400 million), Mexico (250 million), and Kenya (100 million).
The two billionth tree was put into the ground as part of an agroforestry project carried out by the UN World Food Programme (WFP). It has now planted 60 million trees in 35 countries to improve food security.
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UN STANDS READY TO HELP VICTIMS OF CHINA’S DEADLY EARTHQUAKE
The United Nations is prepared to assist the Chinese Government help the victims of yesterday’s deadly earthquake in the southwest of the country.
According to media reports, more than 10,000 people have lost their lives following the quake, which measured about 7.8 on the Richter scale and was centred on Sichuan Province.
A UN Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC) Team alert was sent out yesterday to alert China that the world body is ready to help if needed, Elizabeth Byrs of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs ( OCHA) told reporters at a press briefing in Geneva today.
OCHA has also sent information to Chinese authorities detailing how UN emergency expert teams are on standby to provide assistance.
The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) expressed its deep concern over the large number of children affected by the massive quake. Television reports showed a collapsed middle school with 900 children trapped in the rubble near Sichuan’s capital, Chengdu.
Despite limited access to information due to cell phone networks being damaged by the quake, the agency has received reports that there were casualties in the neighbouring Gansu and Yunnan provinces as well.
According to UNICEF, Sichuan is one of China’s poorest and most populous provinces, with a total population of some 90 million.
The agency is worried that the number killed, injured and affected by the tremors will continue to rise as rescue teams reach impacted areas.
“UNICEF and other UN agencies are not usually requested to assist the Government of China in its response to natural disasters,” it said in a press release, noting that it has been informed that the National Disaster Reduction Centre of China – the official coordinating body for disaster response – has dispatched rescue teams numbering in the thousands supported by the country’s armed forces.
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ZIMBABWE: UN VOICES CONCERN OVER POLITICALLY-MOTIVATED VIOLENCE
The United Nations today expressed its concern over rising political violence in Zimbabwe, allegedly perpetrated by security forces, youth militias, war veterans and gangs of supporters of both the ruling the ruling ZANU-PF party and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).
The world body’s top official in the Southern African nation said the UN country team has received an increasing number of reports for humanitarian aid for those impacted by this violence in recent weeks.
Unrest and violence have been widespread in Zimbabwe following the 29 March presidential election, in which the incumbent Robert Mugabe was challenged by MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai.
“These incidences of violence are occurring in the communal, farming and urban areas and there are indications that the level of violence is escalating in all these areas and could reach crisis levels,” UN spokesperson Michele Montas told reporters in New York, adding that the Organization’s country team has received some evidence to substantiate these reports.
The UN team in Zimbabwe expressed its worries over those who have fled their homes – out of fear of reprisals by party activists – and lack food, shelter and other basic social services, which could lead to unprecedented humanitarian needs.
Having informed the Government of the situation, the world body called on authorities to address the humanitarian situation.
Last week, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for the next phases of Zimbabwe’s elections to be free and fair.
“He reiterates his strong belief that future stages of the electoral process must be conducted in a peaceful, credible and transparent manner in the presence of international observers,” according to a statement issued by his spokesperson.
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SECURITY COUNCIL SLATES WEEKEND ATTACKS BY DARFUR REBELS NEAR SUDANESE CAPITAL
The Security Council today deplored the weekend attacks by a Darfurian rebel group against the Sudanese Government on the outskirts of the country’s capital, Khartoum, but urged restraint from all sides and warned that no retaliatory action should be taken against civilians.
In a presidential statement read out by Ambassador John Sawers of the United Kingdom, which holds the rotating presidency this month, Council members strongly condemned Saturday’s attacks, which were carried out by members of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) in Omdurman.
The statement called on all sides to immediate stop the fighting, respect international humanitarian law and commit to peacefully resolving all outstanding issues in the Darfur conflict, which has raged since 2003.
“The Security Council urges restraint by all parties, and in particular, warns that no retaliatory action should be taken against civilian populations, or that has an impact on stability in the region,” it noted.
Condemning any attempts to destabilize Sudan by force, Council members reaffirmed their commitment to the sovereignty and unity of the African country.
They also called on the region’s States to implement their commitments under the Dakar Accord, reached earlier this year by Sudan and Chad in the Senegalese capital, “and to cooperate with a view to putting an end to the activities of armed groups and their attempts to seize power by force.”
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon issued a similar statement on Saturday after learning of the attacks in Omdurman, which abuts Khartoum.
Since the Darfur conflict began five years ago, as many as 300,000 people are estimated to have been killed through combat, disease, malnutrition or reduced life expectancy and at least 2.7 million others have been displaced from their homes because of fighting between Government forces, allied Janjaweed militiamen and rebel groups such as JEM.
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WATER AND SANITATION VITAL TO ACHIEVING OTHER DEVELOPMENT GOALS, UN OFFICIAL SAYS
Improving access to safe drinking water and decent sanitation worldwide will be critical to resolving many other challenges relating to sustainable development, such as desertification, rural health and ensuring that agriculture in poor countries is more effective, a United Nations official said today.
Aslam Chaudhry, the Chief of the Water and Natural Resources Branch of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), told a press conference at UN Headquarters in New York that water in particular was central to the current deliberations of the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD).
The CSD – a subsidiary of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) – is this year assessing the progress made in 72 areas outlined in its water and sanitation agenda in 2005, Mr. Chaudhry said.
He said that dozens of countries have reported to the Commission that they are making significant progress on this front, particularly in their efforts to better regulate and manage their often limited water resources. A water, sanitation and hygiene programme in some 70 countries across Asia and Africa was also reducing the burden of diseases in many nations, for example.
A lack of funding, infrastructure and capacity in poor countries were the main obstacles to further improvements, Mr. Chaudhry said, calling for assistance in all three areas as well as better coordination at the country level.
The annual CSD began meeting last week and has now moved into its high-level phase, which is expected to conclude on Friday.
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EXPERIENCED AUSTRALIAN OFFICIAL TO HEAD UN INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AGENCY
The United Nations agency tasked with protecting ownership of intellectual property announced today that an Australian national with extensive experience in the field has been nominated to become its next Director General.
Francis Gurry will now have to be appointed by the General Assembly of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) at its next meeting, scheduled to begin on 22 September in Geneva, before he can formally take up the post on 1 October.
WIPO’s Coordination Committee nominated Mr. Gurry this week after delegates voted from a list that originally included 15 candidates. In the final round of voting, Mr. Gurry received 42 votes, one ahead of José Graça Aranha, a national of Brazil.
Mr. Gurry will become only the fourth Director General in the history of WIPO, which was established in 1967, and he will succeed Kamil Idris of Sudan, who has served in the top post since 1997.
Since joining WIPO in 1985 as a consultant, Mr. Gurry has assumed various posts, and most recently he has been the Deputy Director General of the agency.
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GENERAL ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT HOLDS TALKS WITH ISRAELI AND PALESTINIAN LEADERS
General Assembly President Srgjan Kerim met today with Israeli and Palestinian leaders on the last leg of his official visit to the Middle East, stressing the need for a comprehensive peace settlement in the region.
Mr. Kerim held talks in Jerusalem with Israeli President Shimon Peres, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and senior members of the Knesset, the country’s parliament, including the Speaker, Dalia Itzik.
Accompanied by an official with the office of the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process (UNSCO), he also held discussions in Ramallah with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, according to a statement released by a spokesperson for the Assembly President.
The statement added that during all of his meetings, Mr. Kerim emphasized that a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict lay in the two States living side by side in peace and security.
He also condemned terrorism in all of its forms and voiced concern about the deaths of civilians in the conflict.
On this official tour, which has also included stops in the United Kingdom, Turkey and Egypt, Mr. Kerim has stressed that the Assembly has repeatedly reaffirmed its commitment to two States within recognized borders as the most viable solution.
“However, our mission has not yet been accomplished,” he has said. “After more than 60 years we still need a fully viable, secure and independent Palestinian State.”
Tonight Mr. Kerim is scheduled to attend the opening of a conference in Jerusalem, chaired by Tony Blair, the Representative of the Middle East diplomatic Quartet, about Israel’s role in a rapidly globalizing world.
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TWO SENIOR UN APPOINTMENTS OUTLINED BY SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today announced the details of two new appointments in senior positions in the world body in areas ranging from internal management of the Organization to economic development in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Angela Kane of Germany, currently serving as Assistant Secretary-General in the Department of Political Affairs, becomes the new Under-Secretary-General for Management, Mr. Ban’s spokesperson Michele Montas told reporters.
The experienced UN official has also previously served as Assistant Secretary-General for General Assembly and Conference Management and in senior posts in the Department of Political Affairs (DPA) and the Department of Public Information (DPI). In addition, she has field experience with the UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) and has been posted to Jakarta and Bangkok.
Ms. Kane will replace Alicia Bárcena Ibarra of Mexico, who will move to become the Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).
Ms. Bárcena Ibarra is herself succeeding José Luis Machinea of Argentina, who is retiring from the position of head of ECLAC, which is based in Santiago, the Chilean capital.
The Mexican national, who has worked often in the sustainable development field, served as deputy chief at ECLAC earlier in her career and was also Chef de Cabinet to the former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan before taking up her current post.
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BAN KI-MOON AND ‘FRIENDS OF LEBANON’ WELCOME DIPLOMATIC EFFORTS TO END CRISIS
A group that includes foreign ministers and representatives from the European Union and the Arab League, as well as United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, has welcomed an Arab League initiative to send a delegation to Lebanon to promote dialogue in the fractured country.
A statement released yesterday by the “Friends of Lebanon” called for the immediate election of a president without prior conditions and the establishment of a national unity government.
Lebanon is still without a president after 18 failed attempts to hold elections since November last year. In recent days, the capital, Beirut, has seen deadly violence on the streets between pro- and anti-Government militias.
The Friends’ statement added that, “We remain deeply concerned by the situation in Lebanon,” and called for the immediate cessation of violence, the withdrawal of gunmen from the streets, the unblocking of roads and the reopening of Beirut International Airport.
The group of ministers and representatives also talked yesterday by phone with a Lebanese Government minister.
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UN OFFICIAL WELCOMES NEW ECONOMIC MEASURES TO HELP PALESTINIANS
A new package of economic measures aimed at improving the economic situation for Palestinians, announced by Tony Blair, the Representative for the Middle East diplomatic Quartet, has been welcomed today by a top United Nations official in the region.
“I welcome the initial set of measures announced today by Tony Blair, in particular its focus on improving movement and access in opening up trade routes,” Robert Serry, who is the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process (UNSCO), said today. “I hope this marks the beginning of improved mobility, economic growth, security and confidence.”
According to Mr. Blair’s announcement, Israel has agreed to remove some checkpoints across the West Bank. It has also approved thousands of entry permits to Israel for Palestinian workers. Both sides have also agreed to facilitate access to and from Bethlehem, in a measure designed to boost tourism.
Mr. Serry added that “the UN is also giving strong support to the current efforts to achieve a Gaza ceasefire and a reopening of the crossings. Movement forward now is vital in itself, and to sustain the political process at a critical phase.”
The Quartet, which is chaired by the UN Secretary-General, comprises the UN, the European Union, Russia and the United States.
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SECRETARY-GENERAL TO GIVE SPEECH ON NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT AT HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will deliver a speech on nuclear disarmament next week at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
The event, which is scheduled to take place on 23 May, will be open to the public.
Before becoming Secretary-General, Mr. Ban was a Mason Fellow who earned a Master in Public Administration at the Kennedy School in 1984.
Earlier this month over 100 States completed a two-week meeting seeking to pave the way towards the review of the United Nations-backed Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which forms the foundation of the world’s nuclear non-proliferation regime.
The UN serves as the Secretariat for the NPT.
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EX-COMBATANTS COMPLETE UN-LED DEMOBILIZATION PROCESS IN CôTE D’IVOIRE
Nearly 200 ex-combatants with the rebel Armed Forces of the Forces Nouvelles (FAFN) have been given diplomas by the United Nations after completing a disarmament, demobilization and reintegration programme at Ferkessédougou in the north of Côte d’Ivoire.
The ceremony was attended by Ivorian Government ministers and the Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary General, Georg Charpentier, who also laid the first stone for a new education centre adapted for the reintegration of ex-combatants.
Michel Amani N’Guessan, the Ivorian Defence Minister, said: “The time for war has passed. We must build and make peace now with concrete acts.”
A spokesperson for the ex-combatants, Diarrassouba Ibrahima, assured the international community that the group was committed to the process and wanted the reintegration to happen as quickly as possible.
The 192 ex-combatants, including 12 women, all completed a course in cooperative management.
Côte d’Ivoire became divided in 2002 between the Government-controlled south and the rebel Forces Nouvelles-held north, but last year’s Ouagadougou Peace Agreement paved the way for an end to the conflict and included a provision calling for free and fair elections to be held. Last month it was announced that presidential elections would be held in November.
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BAN KI-MOON ‘DEEPLY DISAPPOINTED’ AT CONTINUING VIOLENCE IN DARFUR
Ongoing military activities by Darfur’s rebel groups as well as reprisal actions by the Sudanese Government and its allied militia are costing lives and limiting humanitarian operations in the strife-torn region, the United Nations Secretary-General says today.
In his monthly report to the Security Council on the joint African Union-UN peacekeeping mission in Darfur, known as UNAMID, Ban Ki-moon says he is “deeply disappointed that the parties continue to resort to violence and thus perpetuate the conflict in Darfur” that has raged since 2003.
He adds that he is “extremely concerned about the security situation in the Chad-Sudan border area,” and calls on Khartoum and N’Djamena to implement, without delay, the agreement on relations between the countries signed in March, and to restore order in the border area.
In Darfur, he writes that the violence is severely constraining efforts to move toward a negotiated settlement and is also “presenting a fundamental challenge to UNAMID, which is not a peacekeeping force designed to deploy or function in a war zone.” He adds that the mission’s freedom of movement has been restricted, a violation of the status-of-forces agreement with the Government.
Mr. Ban states that UNAMID, which replaced an AU-only mission at the start of the year, “cannot be a substitute for political engagement. Progress on the political track is essential if peace and security are to be restored to Darfur.”
So far this year, Mr. Ban reports, more than 100,000 civilians have been forced to flee from their homes, many of them not for the first time. In total, more than 2.5 million Darfurians have had to flee their homes in the past five years.
He also says that UNAMID is hampered by significant logistical challenges and insecurity, including banditry along the convoy routes. Movement of equipment by road from Port Sudan to Darfur, some 1,400 miles, currently takes an average of seven weeks.
The Secretary-General also repeats his appeal for helicopters and an aerial reconnaissance unit, as well as increased transport capacity for the mission.
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INTERNATIONAL TASK FORCE ON GLOBAL FOOD CRISIS OPENS NEW WEBSITE – UN
After holding its first meeting this week in New York, the new international task force on the global food crisis, which is chaired by United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, has opened a new website to provide updates on its activities.
The High-Level Task Force on the Global Food Security Crisis is working on a comprehensive plan to tackle problems caused by the worldwide rise in food prices. It brings together the heads of key UN agencies as well as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank and other international experts. The task force is due to present its action plan at a food summit in Rome to be held in early June.
The price of food commodities has risen by 83 per cent over the last 36 months on international markets, and it is estimated that 854 million people are in a state of food insecurity around the world.
Next week the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) is also holding a special session on the crisis.
The new website - www.un.org/issues/food/taskforce - lists task force participants and upcoming events, as well as key statements and documents.
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BOSNIAN CROAT COMMANDER JAILED BY UN TRIBUNAL TO SERVE TIME IN ITALY
A Bosnian Croat military commander, found guilty of committing crimes against Bosnian Muslims in the area around Mostar, was today transferred to a jail in Italy to serve out the remainder of his 18-year sentence, the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) announced.
Vinko Martinović, also known as Stela, had served as commander of a sub-unit of the Convicts’ Battalion, which was a military unit within the Croatian Defence Council.
In March 2003 Mr. Martinović was convicted by the ICTY for persecutions, inhumane acts, inhumane treatment, unlawful labour, wilfully causing great suffering or serious injury to body or health, murder, wilful killing, unlawful transfer of a civilian and plunder, and was sentenced to 18 years’ imprisonment.
Mr. Martinović was personally involved in the forcible removal of Bosnian Muslims from the west bank of Mostar, leaving that side of the town “completely rid of Muslims.”
The Muslims, including many women, children and the elderly, were forced out of their homes at gunpoint and their homes were looted. Many Muslim civilians from Mostar were rounded up and placed in a detention camp, where they were forced to dig trenches or carry wounded and dead soldiers, and serve as human shields on the front line.
Italy is one of 15 European countries that have signed an agreement with the ICTY to enforce sentences imposed by the Tribunal on convicted individuals.
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REFUGEES CAN RESUME RETURNING TO AFGHANISTAN FROM PAKISTAN – UN
After security concerns prompted the United Nations to suspend assistance to Afghan refugees who are voluntarily returning to their home country from Peshawar in Pakistan, the UN refugee agency announced today that it will reopen its voluntary repatriation centre (VRC) in the city.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) suspended assistance on Sunday because of security considerations in Afghanistan’s eastern province of Nangarhar. UNHCR said that its centre in Peshawar will start work again tomorrow and that its encashment centre for returning refugees in Mohmandra District, outside Jalalabad in Afghanistan, was also reopening tomorrow.
UNHCR said its other VRC in Balochistan region in Pakistan continues to function as normal. The UN agency advised refugees to plan their journeys well in advance to avoid traveling during the night.
There are some two million registered Afghans in Pakistan and approximately one million in Iran. UNHCR says it expects between 150,000 and 200,000 Afghans to return from Pakistan this year – similar to the amount of people who returned in 2005 and 2006.
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UN REFUGEE CHIEF TO HEAD TO YEMEN
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) António Guterres will embark on a five-day mission to Yemen tomorrow to assess the agency's efforts to help refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) first-hand.
During his mission, Mr. Guterres will also attend the opening of the UNHCR-backed Regional Conference on Refugee Protection and International Migration to be held in the capital Sana'a from 19-20 May.
Before attending this event, the High Commissioner visit UNCHR offices in Sana'a and Aden, along with the Kharaz refugee camp. He will also talk to urban refugees in Basateen in Aden and stop at UNHCR reception centres on Yemen's southern coastline.
In addition to Yemeni officials, Mr. Guterres will also meet with Somalis and Ethiopians who arrived in the Middle Eastern nation after making the hazardous journey across the Gulf of Aden in search of protection or a better life.
More than 15,300 people have been smuggled to Yemen so far this year, twice the number for the same period last year. “More than 360 people died making the voyage during the first four months of 2008,” UNHCR spokesperson Jennifer Pagonis told reporters in Geneva.
The Regional Conference is being organized by UNHCR in collaboration with the European Commission (EC)-funded Mixed Migration Task Force for Somalia, comprising international agencies working in the Horn of African nation. The gathering seeks to create a regional mechanism and a strategy to protect refugees and mixed migration in the region.
Yemen has been burdened with irregular migratory movements, but has kept an open-door policy to refugees. The country is calling for stepped up support from the international community, and UNHCR and other agencies have enhanced moves to support Yemen and other nations in the region and are also urging global action to enhance the response to the challenges.
Participants at the Conference will discuss the issues in the main countries of departure, transit and arrival. The action plan created will partially be based on UNHCR's 2006 Ten-Point Plan of Action on Refugee Protection and Mixed Migration that sets out a number of measures to assist States in dealing with the issue.
The two-day event will bring together senior level government officials from Djibouti, Ethiopia, Somalia (including Somaliland and Puntland), Yemen and the Gulf Cooperation countries, as well as representatives from the African Union, the EC, UN agencies, non-governmental organizations and civil society representatives.
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