Press Release

‘TOGETHER, WE CAN TURN THE GLOBAL TIDE AGAINST HIV/AIDS -– AND WE MUST’,

SAYS SECRETARY-GENERAL IN MESSAGE TO DUBLIN CONFERENCE

Following is the text of Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s video message for the conference “Breaking the Barriers:  Partnership to Fight HIV/AIDS in Europe and Central Asia”, in Dublin, 23-24 February:

SECRETARY-GENERAL, IN TOKYO REMARKS, PRAISES JAPANESE COMPANIES

FOR EVER STRONGER LEADERSHIP IN ‘CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP’

Following are Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s remarks at a luncheon with business leaders, hosted by the Japan Business Federation in Tokyo, 23 February:

SECRETARY-GENERAL CONDEMNS ‘SENSELESS MASSACRE’ IN NORTHERN UGANDA

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

SECRETARY-GENERAL CONDEMNS SUICIDE BOMBING IN JERUSALEM AS ‘HEINOUS CRIME’,

CALLS ON PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY TO BRING PERPETRATORS TO JUSTICE

The following statement attributable to the Spokesman for Secretary-General Kofi Annan was issued today in Tokyo:

LOCUST SITUATION HEADS TOWARDS PLAGUE, UN AGENCY WARNS

(Reissued as received.)

ROME, 23 February (FAO) -- The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) launched today an appeal to donors for $6 million urgently needed to support desert locust control operations in Mauritania and another $3 million for Mali, Niger and Chad, in order to prevent the early stages of the current upsurge from developing into a plague.

UN HUMANITARIAN WORKERS TRAVELLING TO MASSACRE SITE IN NORTHERN UGANDA

HEADS OF UNITED NATIONS PEACE MISSIONS IN WEST AFRICA MEET IN GORÉE, SENEGAL

(Reissued as received.)

Commission for Social Development

Forty-second Session

14^th Meeting (Resumed) (AM)

GOVERNMENTS SHOULD ‘CONSTANTLY STRIVE’ TO IMPROVE PUBLIC SECTOR, SAYS SOCIAL

DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION, AS IT CONCLUDES FORTY-SECOND SESSION

The Secretary-General, following consultations with the Chairmen of the five regional groups of Member States, today informed the General Assembly of his intention to appoint Justice Louise Arbour of Canada as the new United Nations High Commissioner of Human Rights.

Security Council       

4913^th Meeting (AM)     

ONE-YEAR ‘CONSOLIDATION PHASE’ NEEDED FOR TIMOR-LESTE MISSION TO REINFORCE,

STRENGTHEN ACHIEVEMENTS TO DATE, SECURITY COUNCIL TOLD

Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Describes ‘Remarkable Progress’;

Notes Areas in Which Additional Year of Support Could Make Major Difference