PRESS CONFERENCE BY DEMOCRATIC PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF KOREA

Although the Democratic People's Republic of Korea was withdrawing from the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), it had no intention of producing nuclear weapons or using its nuclear technology for anything other than peaceful purposes, such as generating electricity, that country's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Pak Gil Yon, told correspondents this morning at a Headquarters press conference.

PRESS CONFERENCE ON 2003 WORLD ECONOMIC PROSPECTS

Following a slower than expected start, the world economy was projected to pick up in the second half of 2003, Ian Kinniburgh, Director, Development Policy Analysis Division, Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), told correspondents this morning as he presented the “World Economic Situation and Prospects 2003”.

PRESS BRIEFING BY SPECIAL ENVOY FOR HIV/AIDS IN AFRICA

The Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa, Stephen Lewis, at a Headquarters press briefing this afternoon said a major newspaper in the United States, reflecting on the paucity of resources available for the fight against the AIDS pandemic, used a startling phrase, “murder by complacency”.  He differed in that assessment in only one particular:  “It’s mass murder by complacency”.

PRESS BRIEFING ON CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC

At the beginning of the New Year, a top priority for the United Nations Peace-building Support Office in the Central African Republic was to prevent the resumption of generalized conflict in that country, the Secretary-General's Special Representative told correspondents at a Headquarters press briefing today.

PRESS BRIEFING BY SECURITY COUNCIL PRESIDENT

France's Permanent Representative to the United Nations and Security Council President for the month of January, Jean-Marc de La Sabliere, briefed correspondents this afternoon on the Council's provisional programme of work for the month.

PRESS BRIEFING BY CHAIRMAN OF MONITORING GROUP ON SANCTIONS

AGAINST AL QAEDA, THE TALIBAN AND ASSOCIATES

Great strides had been made in combating Al Qaeda, but the terrorist group still posed a major threat to global peace and security, the Chairman of a Security Council monitoring group said at a Headquarters briefing today.

PRESS CONFERENCE BY CANADA

Today was a great day for the planet, for Canada and for the world, David Anderson, Canada's Minister of the Environment, proclaimed to correspondents this morning, as he announced his country's ratification of the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. 

PRESS CONFERENCE BY SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE OF SECRETARY-GENERAL

FOR CHILDREN AND ARMED CONFLICT

At a United Nations Headquarters Press Conference today, Olara Otunnu, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, launched a new report, in which the Secretary-General provides for the Security Council's review a list of parties in conflict situations who continue to recruit and use child soldiers.

HEADQUARTERS PRESS BRIEFING ON UNITED NATIONS MISSION IN BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

With the upcoming closure of the United Nations Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina (UNMIBH), that Mission would enter the history books as the "most extensive police reform and restructuring mission in the history of the United Nations," Jacques Klein told correspondents today at a Headquarters press briefing.

PRESS BRIEFING BY PRESIDENCY OF BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

Thanks to the United Nations Mission now coming to a successful end in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the country was ready to take on its responsibilities as a stable force in the region, the Presiding Member of its Presidency told reporters at a Headquarters press conference this afternoon.