UNITED NATIONS INTER-AGENCY INITIATIVES IN EMERGENCY AND HUMANITARIAN ACTION Update on region specific initiatives/EMRO 1 – 30 November 2003 If not specified otherwise, copy of all WHO contributions to UN partners in any of the subjects below is available at HAC/Geneva. Please contact Tanja Sleeuwenhoek: [email protected] Afghanistan s The WHO contribution to the Report of the Secretary-General on the situation of women and girls in Afghanistan is on file in HAC. s On 27 November, UNHCR held a memorial service in Geneva for Bettina Goislard, killed in Afghanistan on 16 November. Focal Point: Rayana Bu-Hakah, [email protected] Iran The new International Crisis Group report Dealing with Iran’s Nuclear Programme can be viewed on line: http://www.crisisweb.org//library/documents/middle_east___north_africa/_dealing_with_iran_s_nucle ar_program.pdf. Focal Point: Rayana Bu-Hakah, [email protected] Iraq International Reconstruction Fund Facility s The draft memorandum of understanding and letter of agreement to be used in connection with the UNDG Iraq Trust Fund (Fund) as well as the note for the record of 17 November on the UNDG Technical meeting on the Iraq Funding Facility are on file in HAC. Safety and Security of UN personnel in Iraq s The Report of the independent panel on the safety and security of UN personnel in Iraq is available on line: http://www.un.org/News/dh/iraq/safety-security-un-personnel- iraq.pdf Coordination s WHO inputs to the Secretary-General’s draft report to paragraph 24 of the Security Council resolution 1483 (2003) on Iraq are on file in HAC. s WHO participated in an inter-agency meeting in Nicosia from 10-16 November to work out strategies on how to work in an insecure environment. Background information s The new report from the International Crisis Group Iraq’s Constitutional Challenge can be viewed on line: http://www.reliefweb.int/library/documents/2003/icg-irq- 13nov.pdf Focal Point: Khalid Shibib, [email protected] occupied Palestinian territory s On 10 November, Commissioner General Peter Hansen, UNRWA briefed the Geneva based Humanitarian Liaison Working Group on the deteriorating humanitarian situation in the occupied Palestinian territories, especially with regard to the Palestinian refugees in Gaza. s An advanced edited copy of the Report by the Special Rapporteur, Jean Ziegler on the Right to Food, Addendum, Mission to the occupied Palestinian territories (E/CN.4/2004/10/Add.2) is on file in HAC. s In a public opinion poll jointly sponsored by the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy at Rice University in Houston and the International Crisis Group in Washington, DC, majorities among both Israelis and Palestinians living in the 1 UNITED NATIONS INTER-AGENCY INITIATIVES IN EMERGENCY AND HUMANITARIAN ACTION West Bank and Gaza expressed their support for a peace proposal that would resolve the key issues of borders, Jerusalem, refugees and the role of the international community. Focal Point: Lianne Kuppens, [email protected], Acting Focal Point; Pino Annunziata, [email protected] Sudan s On 2 December, the Resident/Humanitarian Coordinator for the Sudan, Mukesh Kapila, will brief ECHA members via teleconference on the humanitarian situation in the Sudan, including the crisis in the Dafur region, as well as plans to address the needs of internally displaced persons. s On 24 November, Mukesh Kapila briefed an ad-hoc IASC meeting in Geneva on current issues in the Sudan. s The Office of the UN Resident/Humanitarian Coordinator for the Sudan draft strategy for return of displaced people in the Sudan, October 2003-May 2004, is on file in HAC. s The UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for the Sudan, Tom Eric Vraalsen plans to visit Khartoum on 2 December. s The Sudan Assistance Bulletin, issue no. 14 of 15 November 2003, is on file in HAC. Focal Point: Rayana Bu-Hakah, [email protected] TS/28 November 2.