PRESS STATEMENT ON BURUNDI BY SECURITY COUNCIL PRESIDENT

Following is the press statement on the situation in Burundi delivered by Security Council President Mikhail Wehbe (Syria):

SECRETARY-GENERAL WELCOMES RESIGNATION OF PRESIDENT CHARLES TAYLOR; HOPES

EVENT MARKS BEGINNING OF END FOR LIBERIA’S ‘LONG NIGHTMARE’

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for Secretary-General Kofi Annan:

‘WITHOUT URGENT ACTION MORE LIVES WILL BE LOST’ SAYS SECRETARY-GENERAL,

AS UN HUMANITARIAN AGENCIES REQUEST EMERGENCY FUNDS FOR LIBERIA

Following is the Kofi Annan’s message for the launch of the Revised Humanitarian Appeal for Liberia, delivered by Jacques Paul Klein, his Special Representative for Liberia, in New York on 6 August:

UNITED NATIONS HUMANITARIAN AGENCIES REQUEST $69 MILLION

IN EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE FOR LIBERIA

United Nations humanitarian agencies requested $69 million in emergency assistance for Liberia this morning at Headquarters, with Secretary-General Kofi Annan saying, “The logic of this emergency appeal is simple:  without urgent action more lives will be lost.”

SECRETARY-GENERAL WELCOMES ESTABLISHMENT, SWIFT DEPLOYMENT

OF LIBERIA MULTINATIONAL FORCE

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for Secretary-General Kofi Annan:

PRESS STATEMENT ON GUINEA-BISSAU BY SECURITY COUNCIL PRESIDENT

Following is the press statement on Guinea-Bissau delivered today by Security Council President Mikhail Wehbe (Syria):

SECRETARY-GENERAL GRATIFIED WITH SECURITY COUNCIL’S SUPPORT FOR WESTERN SAHARA

PEACE PLAN, INVITES PARTIES TO ‘ACT CONSTRUCTIVELY’

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for Secretary-General Kofi Annan:

The Secretary-General is gratified that the Security Council has adopted a resolution expressing its clear and strong support for his efforts and those of his Personal Envoy, James A. Baker III, and for the peace plan.

TOP AFRICAN PERFORMERS NAMED IN LATEST ECONOMIC REPORT

ADDIS ABABA, 30 July (Economic Commission for Africa)-- African countries that have made the most progress in putting in place the right policies to reduce poverty top the rankings in the latest Economic Report on Africa (ERA 2003), the annual Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) flagship publication launched today.

UN APPEALS FOR $530 MILLION FOR SOUTHERN AFRICA

(Received from UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.)

GENEVA/JOHANNESBURG, 29 July -- The United Nations today launched a 2003/04 Regional Consolidated Appeal (CAP) for southern Africa to provide life-saving assistance for 6.5 million people severely weakened by consecutive failed harvests, extreme poverty and HIV/AIDS.

SECRETARY-GENERAL CONGRATULATES SECURITY COUNCIL ON GIVING MONUC STRONG MANDATE

TO FULFIL DIFFICULT MISSION IN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO

Following are the remarks by Secretary-General Kofi Annan to the Security Council this morning, after the adoption of the resolution on the United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC):