WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME BRINGS AID TO BURUNDI CIVILIANS

DISPLACED IN CLASHES BETWEEN REBEL GROUPS

SCIENTISTS TURN SPOTLIGHT ON THREATS, OPPORTUNITIES

OF BOOMING MARINE AQUARIA TRADE

(Reissued as received.)

NAIROBI/LONDON, 1 October (UNEP)- - Over 20 million tropical fish, including 1,471 species ranging from the sapphire devil to the copperhead butterflyfish, are being harvested annually to supply the booming marine aquarium trade in Europe and the United States, according to the most comprehensive global survey ever undertaken.

NEW INTERNATIONAL COCOA AGREEMENT ENTERS INTO FORCE

(Reissued as received.)

WORLD’S PARLIAMENTARIANS ‘CAN DO MUCH’ TO ADVANCE UNITED NATIONS

REFORM AGENDA, SECRETARY-GENERAL TELLS IPU ASSEMBLY

Following is the message of Secretary-General Kofi Annan to the 109^th  Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Assembly, as delivered today in Geneva by Sergei Ordzhonikidze, Director-General, United Nations Office in Geneva:

SECRETARY-GENERAL WELCOMES ASSUMPTION OF DUTIES BY UN MISSION IN LIBERIA

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

SECRETARY-GENERAL CONGRATULATES AD HOC COMMITTEE ON SUCCESSFUL CONCLUSION

OF NEGOTIATIONS ON UN CONVENTION AGAINST CORRUPTION

NEW UN REPORT HIGHLIGHTS NEED TO ADDRESS ADOLESCENTS’

REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH CONCERNS AS GLOBAL PRIORITY

UNFPA to Launch State of World

Population 2003 on 8 October; Advance Access Available Online

(Reissued as received.)

Note to Correspondents

‘AGELESS’ EXHIBIT, SHOWCASING TALENTS, CREATIVITY OF OLDER PERSONS,

TO OPEN AT UNITED NATIONS HEADQUARTERS ON 2 OCTOBER

OLDER PERSONS ‘A MOST CHERISHED RESOURCE’, GENERAL ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT

SAYS IN INTERNATIONAL DAY MESSAGE

Following is the message of Julian R. Hunte, President of the fifty-eighth session of the General Assembly, on the occasion of the International Day of Older Persons, 1 October:

Fifty-eighth General Assembly

Second Committee

1^st Meeting (AM)

SECOND COMMITTEE ELECTS OFFICERS TO BUREAU, APPROVES WORK PROGRAMME

FOR FIFTY-EIGHTH ASSEMBLY SESSION

The Second Committee (Economic and Financial) elected four officers to its Bureau this morning and approved its programme of work for the fifty-eighth General Assembly session.