Press Release

Fifty-eighth General Assembly                              

UNCTAD INTERACTIVE SESSIONS FOCUS ON ASSURING GAINS FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

FROM INTERNATIONAL TRADING SYSTEM

Participants Explore Policy Options, Strategies to Support Competitiveness

(Received from a UN Information Officer.)

united nations reports ‘steady decline’ of coca cultivation in Andean region,

launches surveys for Colombia, Bolivia, peru

(Reissued as received.)

Secretary-General Kofi Annan, accompanied by his wife, Nane, arrived in São Paulo from New York on Saturday morning, 12 June, for a four-day visit to open the eleventh session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, address a Special Ministerial Meeting of the Group of 77 and hold a number of bilateral meetings, including one with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

prohibition of torture ‘absolute’, binding on all states, in all circumstances,

says Secretary-General in message on international day

Following is Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s message on the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, observed 26 June:

terrorism strikes at very heart of all un stands for, says

Secretary-General in message to tashkent ceremony

SECRETARY-GENERAL deeply concerned by persistent instability in Democratic

Republic of Congo; calls on all parties to uphold transitional process

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for Secretary-General Kofi Annan:

AFTER LENGTHY CONSULTATIONS, STATES PARTIES TO LAW OF SEA CONVENTION

REACH CONSENSUS ON TWO PROPOSALS ON APPLICATION OF KEY ARTICLE

Difference of Views on Handling General Issues, Administrative Concerns

Following lengthy consultations and breaking a diplomatic impasse, the Meeting of States Parties to the Convention on the Law of the Sea adopted two proposals by consensus, as it continued its fourteenth session today.

Security Council                                           

Concluding Session of International Media Seminar Takes Up

Media’s Role in Quest for Middle East Peace

(Received from a UN Information Officer.)