Security Council

4704^th Meeting (AM)

BEST PATH TOWARDS MIDDLE EAST PEACE REMAINS QUARTET’S ROAD MAP,

UNDER-SECRETARY-GENERAL TELLS SECURITY COUNCIL

Launch of the United Nations

Literacy Decade

UNITED NATIONS LITERACY DECADE (2003-2012) LAUNCHED AT NEW YORK HEADQUARTERS

Let “Literacy for All” Be Battle Cry, Says Deputy Secretary-General

Let “literacy for all” be the battle cry for the next decade, said Deputy Secretary-General Louise Fréchette at this morning’s launch at Headquarters of the United Nations Literacy Decade:  Education for All.

SECRETARY-GENERAL NAMES FERNANDO HENRIQUE CARDOSO, FORMER PRESIDENT OF BRAZIL,

TO LEAD HIGH-LEVEL REVIEW OF UN-CIVIL SOCIETY RELATIONS

Asking for a sweeping assessment of interaction between the United Nations and civil society organizations, and recommendations for improvements, Secretary-General Kofi Annan today appointed former Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso to chair a blue-ribbon panel on relations with civil society.

Committee on Relations

with Host Country

215^th Meeting (PM)

DELAYS IN OBTAINING ENTRY VISAS, PARKING PROGRAMME DIFFICULTIES

ISSUES RAISED AT HOST COUNTRY COMMITTEE MEETING

Meeting for the first time this year, the Committee on Relations with the Host Country today heard complaints over delays in obtaining entry visas and difficulties with the new parking programme.

LITERACY A PREREQUISITE FOR A HEALTHY, JUST, PROSPEROUS WORLD, DEPUTY

SECRETARY-GENERAL SAYS AT LAUNCH OF UN LITERACY DECADE

Following is the text of remarks as delivered today, by Deputy Secretary-General Louise Fréchette to mark the launch of the United Nations Literacy Decade:

UN ENVIRONMENT PROGRAMME-SUPPORTED FILM ‘OCEAN WONDERLAND 3D’ OPENS, AIMS

TO RAISE AWARENESS ABOUT THREATS TO WORLD’S CORAL REEFS

(Reissued as received.)

BOSTON, 11 February (UNEP) -- The Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Klaus Toepfer, is participating in the global launch here in Boston today of an outstanding new underwater 3D film about the world's coral reefs.

Commission for Social Development

Forty-first Session

4^th Meeting (AM)                               

SECRETARY-GENERAL CALLS ON ADMINISTERING POWERS, SPECIAL COMMITTEE

TO REINVIGORATE DECOLONIZATION PROCESS

Following is the text of remarks today by Secretary-General Kofi Annan at the opening meeting of the Special Committee on decolonization:

I am pleased to be with you as you open your 2003 session.  An important agenda remains before this Committee.

SECRETARY-GENERAL CONCERNED BY ARREST OF OPPOSITION PARTY MEMBERS IN MYANMAR;

URGES AUTHORITIES TO RELEASE ALL POLITICAL PRISONERS AND ENGAGE IN DIALOGUE

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

PRESS STATEMENT ON ANGOLA BY SECURITY COUNCIL PRESIDENT

Following is today’s statement to the press by Security Council President Gunter Pleuger (Germany):

Members of the Security Council welcomed the steps taken by the Government of Angola towards the full implementation of the Lusaka Protocol.