FAO CHIEF STRESSES NEED FOR TANGIBLE ACHIEVEMENTS

IN SUSTAINABLE FOREST MANAGEMENT

(Reissued as received.)

      QUEBEC/ROME,21 September-- At the opening day of the XII World Forestry Congress (Quebec City, 21-28 Septembe), Dr. Jacques Diouf, Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), stressed that sustainable management of forests rests on tangible achievements.

SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR ON HUMAN RIGHTS IN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO

CONDEMNS RECENT INCIDENTS IN BUNIA

(Reissued as received.)

Fifty-eighth General Assembly

Interactive Panel (PM)

COMBATING ‘STIGMA,’ CIVIL SOCIETY PARTNERSHIPS, RESOURCE MOBILIZATION,

KEYS TO REVERSING SPREAD OF HIV/AIDS, SAY UN PANEL PARTICIPANTS

Fifty-eighth General Assembly

Plenary

4^th, 5^th and 6^th Meetings (PM and Night)

GENERAL ASSEMBLY CONCLUDES HIGH-LEVEL DEBATE ON HIV/AIDS,

HAVING EXAMINED PROGRESS MADE, REMAINING CHALLENGES

Fifty-eighth General Assembly

Plenary

3^rd Meeting (AM)

OPENING HIGH-LEVEL GENERAL ASSEMBLY MEETING ON HIV/AIDS, SECRETARY-GENERAL

CALLS FOR DRASTIC ACTION TO COMBAT DISEASE

Says That None of Agreed Targets Will Be

Achieved by 2005 at Current Rate of Progress

GENERAL ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT CALLS ON MEMBER STATES TO REAFFIRM

PLEDGE TO HALT AND REVERSE HIV/AIDS PANDEMIC

Following is the statement by the President of the General Assembly, Julian R. Hunte, at the high-level plenary meeting on HIV/AIDS, delivered today:

United Nations Environment Programme Opens China Office

BEIJING/BANGKOK/NAIROBI, 19 September (UNEP) -- The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) today opened an office in Beijing, China.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, UNEP Executive Director Klaus Toepfer said it was a response to the important progress being made in meeting environmental challenges in China, the world's largest developing country, and to the challenges lying ahead.

COLLEAGUES KILLED IN BAGHDAD EXAMPLE OF UN FAMILY ‘AT ITS MOST COMMITTED

AND MOST COURAGEOUS’, SAYS SECRETARY-GENERAL TO MEMORIAL SERVICE

Following are Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s remarks to the Memorial Ceremony in honour of colleagues killed in the bombing of the United Nations Mission in Baghdad, held in New York, 19 September:

ANNA LINDH REMEMBERED AS ‘UNIQUE SOURCE OF INSPIRATION,

GREAT FRIEND OF UN’, SAYS SECRETARY-GENERAL

Following is the message by Secretary-General Kofi Annan for the memorial ceremony for Anna Lindh, former Foreign Minister of Sweden, in Stockholm today, 19 September, delivered by Hans Corell, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs:

INCREASED INVESTMENT CRITICAL TO PROVIDE URBAN POOR WITH ADEQUATE SANITATION

AND CLEAN WATER, SECRETARY-GENERAL SAYS IN WORLD HABITAT DAY MESSAGE

Following is the message of Secretary-General Kofi Annan to mark World Habitat Day, 6 October:

The theme of World Habitat Day 2003 -- “Water and Sanitation for Cities” -- highlights the need to provide the urban poor with clean water and decent sanitation.