Large dams were never simply good or bad, but they often came at too high a price in negative effects on people and the environment, Kadel Asmal, Chairman of the World Commission on Dams (WCD), told correspondents at a Headquarters Press Conference this morning.
The dialogue among civilizations should start with children, because adults were too old and biased to tackle such an important issue, Giandomenico Picco, the Personal Representative of the Secretary-General for the United Nations Year of Dialogue among Civilizations (2001) said today, at a Headquarters press conference launching a Web site for the Year.
The United Nations World Television Forum 2000 was not a panacea for the digital divide but was a useful step in exploring ways of bridging that divide, the Director of the Public Affairs Division of the Department of Public Information (DPI) told correspondents this afternoon at a Headquarters press briefing.
Jose Maria Figueres, former President of Costa Rica, will be the Secretary- General's Special Representative on Information and Communication Technology (ICT), the Under Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, Nitin Desai, announced this afternoon at a Headquarters press briefing.
In a "more or less coming of age", the United Nations Office of Internal Oversight Services had been accepted as an "agent of change", the Under- Secretary-General for International Oversight Services, Dileep Nair, told correspondents this afternoon at a Headquarters press conference.
At a Headquarters press briefing today, Secretary-General Kofi Annan introduced his new Special Representative and Head of the United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea, Legwaila Joseph Legwaila of Botswana.
The world of finance had become a global gambling casino, where huge sums were bet around the clock, Robin Round, Regional Coordinator of the Halifax Initiative, a Canadian non-governmental organization (NGO), told correspondents at a Headquarters press conference this morning.
Afghanistan's two warring sides had agreed in writing to a "process of dialogue" under the auspices of the United Nations, Francesc Vendrell, Personal Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the Special Mission to Afghanistan, told correspondents this afternoon at a Headquarters press briefing.
