FINAL PRESS CONFERENCE BY PRESIDENT OF FIFTY-FIFTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Outgoing General Assembly President Harri Holkeri (Finland) had just declared closed the fifty-fifth session of the Assembly, when he briefed correspondents at a Headquarters press conference this afternoon on his hopes for the future of the Assembly.

HEADQUARTERS PRESS CONFERENCE BY UNWRA COMMISSIONER-GENERAL

A worsened humanitarian and political situation would result from the decline in donations to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNWRA), Peter Hansen, Commissioner-General of that agency, told correspondents at a Headquarters press conference this afternoon.

PRESS CONFERENCE BY PERMANENT OBSERVER OF PALESTINE

His delegation’s aim in travelling to the recently-concluded Racism Conference in Durban was to contribute to its success, Nasser Al-Kidwa, Permanent Observer for Palestine to the United Nations, told correspondents at a Headquarters press conference this afternoon.

BRIEFING BY CO-FACILITATORS ON ISSUES RELATING TO LEGACY OF PAST

DURBAN, 5 September -- The co-facilitators appointed to handle issues relating to the legacy of the past gave a briefing to journalists this evening as they broke from their latest negotiations in Durban, South Africa.

AFRICA WILL BE SECURITY COUNCIL FOCUS DURING SEPTEMBER,

FRANCE TELLS CORRESPONDENTS

Africa will be first and foremost among the Security Council's concerns this month, its new President for September, Jean-David Levitte of France, told correspondents at a press briefing today at Headquarters, at which he distributed the Council's schedule for the month and drew correspondents' attention to some of its highlights and objectives.

PRESS BRIEFING BY UNAMSIL PUBLIC INFORMATION CHIEF

From January to today, the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone  (UNAMSIL) had helped with the voluntary disarmament of just over 16,000 combatants and was involved in negotiations for the release of about 2,600 child combatants, UNAMSIL's Chief Public Information Officer, Margaret Novicki, told correspondents this afternoon at a Headquarters press briefing. 

‘SIGNIFICANT NARROWING OF DIFFERENCES’ IN LEAD-UP TO DURBAN RACISM CONFERENCE,

SAYS UNITED NATIONS HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

Significant progress had been made on the most sensitive issues contained in the draft official documents to be presented to the World Conference Against Racism, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson said in Geneva this morning.

PRESS CONFERENCE BY UNITED NATIONS WORKING GROUP ON INDIGENOUS POPULATIONS

At a Headquarters press conference today marking the International Day of the World's Indigenous People, Human Rights Officer and Secretary of the United Nations Working Group on Indigenous Populations, Julian Burger, welcomed the establishment last July of a new United Nations body that was expected to elevate the concerns of indigenous peoples within the United Nations hierarchy.

PRESS BRIEFING BY DESA ON CENSUS TAKING

The Director of the Statistics Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Hermann Habermann, told correspondents at a Headquarters press briefing today that the census was the most important data collection that any country undertook; the process, one way or another, sought to touch everybody in a country.