HEADQUARTERS PRESS CONFERENCE ON WOMEN IN PEACEKEEPING

The United Nations must involve women in its peacekeeping and peace-building efforts, a group of women leaders from Afghanistan, Kosovo and East Timor told a Headquarters press conference this afternoon.

PRESS BRIEFING ON TERRORISM SYMPOSIUM BY UNDER-SECRETARY-GENERAL

FOR DISARMAMENT AFFAIRS

Jayantha Dhanapala, Under-Secretary-General for Disarmament Affairs, gave correspondents a brief introduction to the Symposium on Terrorism and Disarmament, to be hosted by the Department for Disarmament Affairs this afternoon at United Nations Headquarters.

PRESS BRIEFING ON EXPLOITATION OF CHILDREN AND CHILDREN AND ARMED CONFLICT

The Holy See had today deposited the instruments of ratification of the two Optional Protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, Archbishop Renato Raffaele Martino, Permanent Observer of the Holy See Mission to the United Nations, announced today in a joint Headquarters press briefing with Olara Otunnu, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict.

PRESS CONFERENCE ON FINANCING FOR DEVELOPMENT

The success of the upcoming World Trade Organization (WTO) meeting in Doha, Qatar, will depend on how it deals with the legitimate concerns of the developing world, according to Bagher Asadi, Chairman of the "Group of 77" and China, who spoke at a Headquarters press conference this morning.

PRESS BRIEFING BY OFFICE OF INTERNAL OVERSIGHT SERVICES

The Annual Report of the Office of Internal Oversight Services was a quantum leap over previous years and the results of its work were apparent in a projected savings of $58.5 million this year if recommendations were implemented, said Dileep Nair, Under-Secretary-General for Internal Oversight Services.  He was briefing correspondents this afternoon on today’s release of the Report.

PRESS BRIEFING BY DEPUTY EMERGENCY RELIEF COORDINATOR

Carolyn McAskie, the Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator, updated correspondents on the United Nations humanitarian efforts in Afghanistan this afternoon at Headquarters.

Ms. McAskie said that Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Kenzo Oshima, was following up an earlier trip to Pakistan and Iran with visits to other countries bordering Afghanistan -- Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan

HEADQUARTERS PRESS BRIEFING BY CONVENTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE

The parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change are expected to finalize the procedures and institutions needed to make the Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change fully operational at their seventh session at Marrakesh, Morocco, from 29 October to 9 November, it was announced at a press briefing here this morning.

PRESS BRIEFING BY CHAIRMAN OF COUNTER-TERRORISM COMMITTEE

PRESS BRIEFING ON AFGHANISTAN BY UN HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES

The worst-case scenario for refugee outflow was one and a half million people, said Ruud Lubbers, High Commissioner for Refugees, at a Headquarters press briefing this afternoon on recent developments in Afghanistan.

PRESS BRIEFING BY SECRETARY-GENERAL’S ADVISER ON ASSISTANCE TO COLOMBIA

The Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on International Assistance to Colombia, Jan Egeland, in a briefing to correspondents at the United Nations this afternoon, said the peace talks in Colombia were in crisis, with new difficulties in the talks between the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the Government of Colombia.