UNITED NATIONS RESIDENT COORDINATOR DEEPLY CONCERNED ABOUT DETERIORATION

OF HUMANITARIAN SITUATION IN SOOL PLATEAU, SOMALIA

NAIROBI, 30 October (OCHA) -– United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia Maxwell Gaylard is deeply concerned that the potential failure of the current short season Deyr rains in the Sool Plateau of Somalia could precipitate a humanitarian disaster affecting 15,500 pastoralist families.

SECRETARY-GENERAL WELCOMES SPIRIT OF OPENNESS, FORGIVENESS IN CENTRAL

AFRICAN REPUBLIC NATIONAL RECONCILIATION DIALOGUE

Following is the message of Secretary-General Kofi Annan to the closing ceremony of the dialogue of national reconciliation in the Central African Republic, as delivered in Bangui on 27 October by General Lamine Cissé, Representative of the Secretary-General in the Central African Republic:

SECRETARY-GENERAL, IN MESSAGE TO IGAD SUMMIT, LAUDS SUDAN PEACE PROCESS,

EXPRESSES CONCERN OVER SOMALIA HOSTILITIES

The following is the text of the Secretary-General’s message to the tenth summit of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) held in Kampala, Uganda, on 24-25 October and delivered by Mohamed Sahnoun, Special Adviser to the Secretary-General:

DEATH BY MALARIA THREATENS 15 MILLION ETHIOPIANS AS UN AGENCIES

APPEAL FOR $5.8 MILLION TO AVERT MAJOR EPIDEMIC

LIBERIANS DISPLACED BY FIGHTING CONTINUE TO STREAM INTO CAMPS,

UN INTER-AGENCY NEEDS-ASSESSMENT TEAM FINDS

UN EMERGENCY RELIEF COORDINATOR SADDENED BY DEATHS

OF AID WORKERS KILLED BY GUNMEN IN SOMALILAND

NEW YORK,21 October (OCHA) -- In a statement today, Jan Egeland, the United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator, expressed profound sorrow over the killing by unknown gunmen of two aid workers in the town of Sheikh, in northern Somalia.  He also extended his condolences to the bereaved families of the deceased.

FAO ISSUES DESERT LOCUST ALERT

Mauritania, Niger, Sudan, Neighbouring Countries at Risk

ROME, 20 October (FAO) -- Desert locust outbreaks in Mauritania, the Niger and the Sudan may locally threaten crops, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said on Monday, issuing an alert to inform affected governments and the international donor community.

UN UNDERTAKES FIRST HUMANITARIAN MISSION TO VOINJAMA, LIBERIA, IN FOUR YEARS

MORE AFRICAN COUNTRIES BACK LEAD-FREE PETROL

NAIROBI, 17 October (UN Environment Programme) -- An international effort to phase lead out of petrol in Africa is gathering pace as more and more countries develop and implement action plans for switching to unleaded gasoline.

SECRETARY-GENERAL SADDENED AT DEATH OF MOKTAR OULD DADDAH,

FIRST PRESIDENT OF MAURITANIA

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for Secretary-General Kofi Annan on the death of Moktar Ould Daddah of Mauritania: