Background Release

ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL TO BEGIN ANNUAL SESSION ON 30 JUNE

WITH HIGH-LEVEL MEETING ON RURAL DEVELOPMENT

Scheduled to Conclude on 25 July, Council Will Also Consider

UN Development Activities, Coordination Issues, Humanitarian Affairs, Conference Follow-up

Economic and Social Council

2003 Organizational Session

12^th Meeting (AM)

ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL APPROVES OBSERVER STATUS FOR THREE ORGANIZATIONS

The Economic and Social Council, in a brief meeting this morning, decided to grant observer status to the Islamic Development Bank; the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization; and the Common Fund for Commodities.

Economic and Social Council

2003 Organizational Session

11^th Meeting (AM)

Economic and Social Council

2003 Organizational Session

10^th Meeting (AM)

Economic and Social Council

High-Level Segment Preparatory

AM & PM Meeting

RURAL DEVELOPMENT CRITICAL TO MEETING ANTI-POVERTY GOALS SET

AT 2000 MILLENNIUM SUMMIT, ECOSOC TOLD

Series of Round Table Discussions Held

in Preparation for High-Level Segment in Geneva

RURAL AREAS RECOGNIZED AS KEY IN ANTI-POVERTY FIGHT,

ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL TOLD

Growingrecognition that the rural areas –- where 75 per cent of the world’s poor live -- are key in the fight against poverty is coupled with newly rising levels of international assistance, Lennart Baäge, the President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development, told a meeting of the United NationsEconomic and Social Council (ECOSOC) today.

ESCALATING CRISIS IN RURAL AFRICA MAIN CONCERN AT ECOSOC MEETING

OF MINISTERS, UN AGENCY HEADS IN NEW YORK, 30 APRIL

Economic and Social Council

2003 Organizational Session

9^th Meeting (AM)

ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL ELECTS MEMBERS OF HUMAN RIGHTS

COMMISSION, OTHER SUBSIDIARY BODIES

The Economic and Social Council this morning filled vacancies on a number of its subsidiary bodies, including the Commission on Human Rights, to which it elected 24 members.

GENERAL ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT SAYS UN MEETING OF FINANCE, TRADE INSTITUTIONS OFFERS HOPE FOR MORE PROFOUND PROGRESS IN ACHIEVING ANTI-POVERTY GOALS

Following is the statement by the President of the General Assembly, Jan Kavan (Czech Republic), to the special high-level meeting with the Bretton Woods institutions and the World Trade Organization in New York on Monday, 14 April:

SECRETARY-GENERAL URGES DEVELOPED COUNTRIES TO ‘DRAMATICALLY REDUCE’

AGRICULTURAL SUBSIDIES, AT HIGH-LEVEL ECOSOC MEETING