COTE D’IVOIRE:  VIOLENCE WILL WORSEN HUMANITARIAN CRISIS

NEW YORK, 3 December (OCHA) –- With tensions rising in Abidjan, Jan Egeland, the Emergency Relief Coordinator, expressed his concern for civilians trapped in that country’s conflict.  “If the country lapses back into war, it will only compound the suffering of civilians.  I urge all parties to bring an end to the fighting immediately to prevent a humanitarian crisis from worsening.”

ONLY COLLECTIVE ENGAGEMENT CAN TACKLE AFRICA’S URGENT URBAN CHALLENGE

SAYS SECRETARY-GENERAL TO CAMEROON ‘AFRICITIES’ CONFERENCE

Following is Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s message to the “Africities Summit”, delivered by Anna Tibaijuka, Executive Director, United Nations Human Settlements Programme(UN-HABITAT), in Yaoundé, Cameroon, 2 December:

SECURITY COUNCIL COMMITTEE ON SOMALIA DISCUSSES FINDINGS OF NOVEMBER MISSION

NEW YORK, 2 December (Department of Political Affairs) -- On 26 November 2003, the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 751 (1992) concerning Somalia, discussed its mission to the region and exchanged views on concrete recommendations reflecting the findings of the mission.

SECRETARY-GENERAL APPOINTS NEW SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE FOR SIERRA LEONE

The Secretary-General has appointed Daudi Ngelautwa Mwakawago as his new Special Representative for Sierra Leone, with immediate effect.

FAO STUDY EXAMINES IMPACT OF HIV/AIDS IN RURAL AFRICA

ROME, 1 December (FAO) -- The steady advance of HIV/AIDS is devastating rural households in Africa, plunging families into poverty and hunger, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said on World Aids Day.

HUMANITARIAN EFFORTS MAKING HEADWAY IN LIBERIA

NEW YORK, 28 November (OCHA) -– Humanitarian efforts to reach people in need throughout Liberia continued this week, passing two milestones.  For the first time in 14 years, electricity was supplied to central Monrovia, and when a humanitarian flight landed in Voinjama, a distant border town, it marked the first time the airfield had been used in more than a decade.

WORST YET TO COME FOR AFRICA’S AIDS ORPHANS, REPORT WARNS AS UNICEF

URGES HELP FOR FAMILIES SUPPORTING GROWING NUMBERS

With 11 Million Children Already Orphaned,

Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland Face Biggest Increases, Says Agency

UN COUNTRY TEAM TACKLES ETHIOPIA MALARIA OUTBREAK AS DISEASE THREATENS

TO EXACERBATE HIGH MALNUTRITION RATES

INSECURITY, POOR ROADS THWART HUMANITARIAN ACCESS AS CIVILIANS

SUFFER SHORTAGES IN EASTERN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO

SECRETARY-GENERAL WARNS COTE D’IVOIRE ‘COULD SLIP BACK INTO CONFLICT’

IN STATEMENT TO SECURITY COUNCIL

Following are Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s remarks at the meeting of the Security Councilwith the Ministers of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) on Côte d’Ivoire at Headquarters, 24 November: