SECRETARY-GENERAL’S ADVISORY BOARD ON DISARMAMENT MATTERS TO MEET

IN GENEVA, 16 TO 18 JULY 2003, IN FORTY-FIRST SESSION

The Secretary-General’s Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters will meet for a three-day closed session in Geneva, from 16 to 18 July 2003.  Its last session was held in New York from 5 to 7 February 2003.  The Board meets twice a year.

Meeting of States to Consider Action

Programme on Illicit Small Arms Trade

9^th & 10^th Meetings (AM & PM)

FIRST BIENNIAL MEETING OF STATES TO ASSESS HALT TO ILLICIT SMALL ARMS TRADE CONCLUDES, HAILS PROGRESS WORLDWIDE IN JUST TWO YEARS

Thematic Discussions End on Import/Export Controls, Illicit Brokering

AID AGENCIES STRUGGLE TO MEET NEEDS IN LIBERIA

[OCHA]

NEW YORK, 10 July (UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs) -- Despite the relative calm stemming from a tenuous ceasefire in Monrovia, aid workers are struggling to meet the needs of Liberians.  Humanitarian agencies in Monrovia are constrained by an uncertain security environment coupled with shortages of both staff and supplies in the face of growing needs.

AFGHAN TEENS SPEAK OUT AGAINST EARLY MARRIAGE ON WORLD POPULATION DAY

(Reissued as received.)

KABUL, 10 July (UNFPA) -- “If my parents tried to force me to marry, I would refuse”, declared Zohal, 16, as her fellow students nodded in agreement.  The Afghan teenagers had just heard government leaders say that early marriage closes girls’ educational prospects and threatens their health, in a forum marking World Population Day.

Committee on Elimination of

Discrimination against Women

620^th & 621^st Meetings (AM & PM)

EXPERTS IN WOMEN’S ANTI-DISCRIMINATION COMMITTEE PRAISE SLOVENIA’S LEGAL FRAMEWORK

BUT STRESS NEED TO STRENGTHEN MECHANISMS TO COUNTER INEQUALITY

IN ADDRESS TO AFRICAN UNION SUMMIT, SECRETARY-GENERAL OUTLINES MAJOR CHALLENGES,

URGENT AREAS WHERE AFRICA MUST ‘DEMONSTRATE OWNERSHIP THROUGH ACTION’

Following is the statement delivered by Secretary-General Kofi Annan at the African Union Summit in Maputo, Mozambique, on 10 July:

SECRETARY-GENERAL ANNAN CALLS ON AFRICAN LEADERS TO POINT WAY TO TOLERANCE,

UNDERSTANDING AND PEACEFUL RESOLUTION OF CONFLICT

Following are the remarks made by Secretary-General Kofi Annan at the African Union Heads of State prayer breakfast in Maputo, Mozambique on 10 July:

Biographical Note

PRESS STATEMENT ON SITUATION IN BURUNDI BY SECURITY COUNCIL PRESIDENT

Following is today’s press statement on Burundi by Security Council President Inocencio Arias (Spain):

Members of the Security Council heard a briefing from the Secretariat on the situation in Burundi and expressed their deep concern over the latest resumption of hostilities and the deterioration of the humanitarian situation.

FAO SENDS SARS EXPERT TO CHINA

To Investigate Role of Animals in Spreading Virus

(Reissued as received.)

ROME, 10 July (FAO) –- The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) will send a senior Australian veterinarian to China on Friday for a three-week visit to help coordinate an international investigation into the roles animals might play in spreading the deadly SARS virus.