Press Release

Fifty-eighth General Assembly                              

EMERGENCY RELIEF COORDINATOR CONDEMNS KILLING OF AID WORKER IN SOMALIA

NEW YORK, 23 March (OCHA) -– The international humanitarian community is condemning an attack in Somaliland which has left one aid worker dead and two others injured.  On 19 March, staff of the German Agency for Technical Assistance were ambushed outside Berabera in Somaliland.

SECRETARY-GENERAL, DISTURBED BY ESCALATION OF FIGHTING IN NEPAL,

APPEALS FOR RESUMPTION OF PEACE PROCESS

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

SECRETARY-GENERAL DISPATCHES ENVOY TO EQUATORIAL GUINEA

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

SECRETARY-GENERAL STRONGLY CONDEMNS ISRAEL’S ASSASSINATION OF HAMAS LEADER,

WHICH RESULTED IN DEATHS OF EIGHT OTHERS

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

ONLY RATIONAL, INFORMED POLITICAL, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RESPONSE CAN REDUCE

DISASTER VULNERABILITY, SECRETARY-GENERAL SAYS IN WATER DAY MESSAGE

Following is the message by Secretary-General Kofi Annan on World Water Day 2004, entitled “Water and Disasters:  Be informed and be prepared”:

Secretary-General names Advisory Board on Water AND Sanitation

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has used this year’s observance of World Water Day to announce the establishment of an Advisory Board on Water and Sanitation, to galvanize global action on these issues, which are central to the world’s hopes of eradicating poverty and achieving sustainable development.

PRESS STATEMENT ON BURUNDI BY SECURITY COUNCIL PRESIDENT

Following is today’s statement to the press on Burundi by Security Council President Jean-Marc de La Sablière (France):

This morning, members of the Security Council heard a statement by Mr.Sadry, head of the United Nations Reconnaissance Mission recently sent by the Secretary-General to Burundi, on recent developments in the situation in that country.

Expanded European Union could offer promising new markets for bananas

Intergovernmental Group on Bananas, Tropical

Fruit to Discuss Future Challenges, Opportunities

(Reissued as received.)

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS TO HIGHLIGHT MIGRATION, POPULATION ISSUES

NEW YORK, 22 March (UN Population Division) -- Three keynote speakers will examine global concerns at this week’s meeting of the Commission on Population and Development at United Nations Headquarters.