Press Release

Fifty-eighth General Assembly                              

Commission on the Status of Women                          

Forty-eighth Session                                       

12^th Meeting (PM)

CANADA ‘PILLAR OF SUPPORT’ FOR UN LEADER IN PROMOTING PEACEFUL, GLOBAL

GOVERNANCE, SAYS SECRETARY-GENERAL, IN ADDRESS TO PARLIAMENT

Following is Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s address to the Canadian Parliament in Ottawa, 9 March:

I am very pleased to be here in Ottawa today, and I thank the Prime Minister most warmly for giving me the opportunity to address you.

SECRETARY-GENERAL PRAISES ‘STRONG AND INVALUABLE’ PARTNERSHIP

BETWEEN CANADA, UN AT OTTAWA WELCOME CEREMONY

Following are Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s remarks at a welcome ceremony hosted by the Governor-General in Ottawa, 8 March:

I am deeply moved by those kind words, and by this warm welcome.

Nane and I always look forward to visiting Canada, even though we don’t come here often enough.

Note to Correspondents

PANEL ON INDIGENOUS WOMEN IN CONFLICT PREVENTION,

PEACE-BUILDING AT HEADQUARTERS, 10 MARCH

UNITED NATIONS SEEKS $35 MILLION FOR HAITI

Port-au-Prince/New York/Geneva, 9 March (OCHA) -- The United Nations today launched a Flash Appeal for Haiti for $35 million to meet emergency humanitarian needs created by the recent violence that has engulfed the country.  The Appeal will fund humanitarian aid over six months for more than 3 million people, mostly women and children, out of a total population of 8.3 million. 

Regional conference on Small Arms, Light Weapons

in Almaty, Kazakhstan, 16 - 18 March

NEW YORK, 9 March (Department for Disarmament Affairs) -- Experts from the five Central Asian States -- Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan -— will attend a regional conference on the issue of small arms and light weapons in Almaty, Kazakhstan, on 16-18 March 2004.

SECRETARY-GENERAL URGES EXPANDED NATO ENGAGEMENT IN AFGHANISTAN,

STRONGER SUPPORT FOR UN EFFORTS IN AFRICA, HAITI

Following is the text of Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s opening remarks at a meeting with North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Parliamentarians in New York, today, 8 March:

SECRETARY-GENERAL DEPLORES DEADLY WEEKEND VIOLENCE IN MIDDLE EAST

Following is a statement issued today by the Spokesman for Secretary-General Kofi Annan:

The Secretary-General strongly deplores the Israeli military raids that took place yesterday in a densely populated area of the Gaza Strip in which at least 14 Palestinians were killed and dozens wounded.  The dead include several children.

SECRETARY-GENERAL, MARKING WOMEN’S DAY, HAILS HEROIC LEADERS OF FIGHT

AGAINST HIV/AIDS, URGING THEIR FURTHER EMPOWERMENT

Society’s Inequalities Put Women

At Unjust, Unconscionable, Untenable Risk, He Says

Following is the text of Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s remarks on International Women’s Day in New York today, 8 March: