Press Release

UNRWA CONDEMNS A WEEK OF ISRAELI HOUSE DEMOLITIONS IN RAFAH

(Reissued as received.)

UNITED NATIONS COMPENSATION COMMISSION PAYS OUT $185 MILLION

(Reissued as received.)

WORLD COURT AUTHORIZES ORGANIZATION OF ISLAMIC CONFERENCE TO PARTICIPATE

IN PROCEEDINGS ON CONSTRUCTION OF WALL IN PALESTINIAN TERRITORY

HUMAN RIGHTS EXPERTS EXPRESS CONCERN ABOUT SITUATION IN HAITI

(Reissued as received)

IN MONTREAL, DEPUTY SECRETARY-GENERAL INVITES STATES TO GIVE GREATER DYNAMISM

TO UN TO PROTECT WORLD’S PEOPLE FROM DANGER

Following is the text of the address by Deputy Secretary-General Louise Fréchette to the “Canadian Club” in Montreal on 19 January (translated, in part, from French):

INTER-COMMUNAL CLASHES IN COTE D’IVOIRE INCREASE

Committee on Elimination of

Discrimination against Women

639^th & 640^th Meetings (AM & PM)

AS WOMEN’S ANTI-DISCRIMINATION COMMITTEE CONSIDERS REPORT OF GERMANY, GOVERNMENT

EMPHASIZES RIGHT TO FREEDOM FROM VIOLENCE AS ‘POLITICAL PRIORITY’

ITALY, NIGERIA TAKE ACTION AGAINST HUMAN TRAFFICKING FOR SEXUAL EXPLOITATION

Italian Anti-Mafia Bureau and Nigerian

Attorney General Sign “Memorandum of Understanding” in Rome

(Reissued as received)

JOINT INSPECTION UNIT ELECTS CHAIRMAN, VICE-CHAIRMAN FOR 2004

(Reissued as received.)

GENEVA, 21 January (UN Information Service) -- At the first meeting of its winter session on 20 January, the Joint Inspection Unit (JIU) elected Inspector Ion Gorita (Romania) as its Chairman and Inspector M. Deborah Wynes (United States) as its Vice-Chairman for the current calendar year.

NEW GLOBAL AWARD SUPPORTING ENTREPRENEURS IN ENVIRONMENT, DEVELOPMENT

LAUNCHED IN MUMBAI AND DAVOS

(Reissued as received)

MUMBAI/DAVOS, 21 January (UNEP) -- In India, a network of women slum dwellers is collaborating with United Kingdom engineers and a French water company to improve water delivery in their communities.