The regional context must be favourable for the peace process in Burundi to be successful -- and the current situation was not conducive, Marc Nteturuye, Burundis Permanent Representative to the United Nations told correspondents this morning at a Headquarters press conference.
There were an estimated 20 to 25 million internally displaced persons worldwide, correspondents were told this afternoon at a Headquarters press conference. That number included anywhere from 10 to 20 million internally displaced persons in Africa, depending upon the criteria used.
Despite significant increases in the level of commitments from countries across the board, the fight against AIDS still fell two to three billion dollars short of what was needed, Jim Sherry, the Director of Programme Development for the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) told correspondents this afternoon at a Headquarters press briefing.
A contingency provision of $35 million had been included in the United Nations budget to cater for new political missions, Joseph Connor, Under-Secretary-General for Management, told correspondents at Headquarters this afternoon. It was the first time such a provision had been made.
The Headquarters building would be closed from 1 p.m. on 31 December until 4 January to allow testing and servicing of Year 2000 (Y2K)-related contingency plans, correspondents were told this afternoon.
