FIGHTING POVERTY, STRENGTHENING SECURITY, REBUILDING TRUST SHOULD BE FOCUS

IN 2004, SAYS SECRETARY-GENERAL, ACCEPTING GERMAN MEDIA AWARD

Following is Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s address on accepting the 2003 Deutscher Medienpreis (German Media Award) in Baden-Baden, Germany, 21 January:

SECRETARY-GENERAL CONCERNED BY INCREASED TENSION THREATENING

OUTBREAK OF HOSTILITIES IN SOMALIA

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

POLITICAL WILL ESSENTIAL IN OVERCOMING CURRENT IMPASSE,

SECRETARY-GENERAL TELLS CONFERENCE ON DISARMAMENT

Following is the message by Secretary-General Kofi Annan to the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva, delivered today by Sergei Ordzhonikidze, Secretary-General of the Conference on Disarmament:

TRANSCRIPT OF PRESS CONFERENCE BY SECRETARY-GENERAL KOFI ANNAN

AT UN HEADQUARTERS, 19 JANUARY 2004

The Secretary-General:  Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.

As you know, I have just been meeting with senior representatives of the Iraqi Governing Council (IGC) and the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA).

GLOBAL POLIO ERADICATION INITIATIVE IS ‘SHINING MODEL’ OF COOPERATION

AGAINST COMMON ENEMY, SECRETARY-GENERAL TELLS MINISTERIAL MEETING

(Delayed in transmission.)

Following is the text of the video message by Secretary-General Kofi Annan to the ministerial meeting of polio-endemic countries on their role in ensuring global eradication, held in New York on 15 January:

SECRETARY-GENERAL URGES WORLD LEADERS TO REFOCUS ENERGIES ON POVERTY,

HUNGER, UNSAFE DRINKING WATER, ENVIRONMENT, DISEASE

Following is the text of remarks by Secretary-General Kofi Annan at the ceremony for the handover of the Group of 77 in New York today:

NO DEVELOPMENT TOOL MORE EFFECTIVE THAN EDUCATION OF GIRLS, EMPOWERMENT OF WOMEN

SAYS SECRETARY-GENERAL IN ADDRESS TO WOMEN’S HEALTH COALITION

Following is Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s keynote address to the annual gala event of the International Women’s Health Coalition, in New York on

15 January:

SECRETARY-GENERAL NAMES LAKHDAR BRAHIMI SPECIAL ADVISER

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

The Secretary-General met on Tuesday afternoon with his former Special Representative for Afghanistan, Lakhdar Brahimi, who has just completed an arduous assignment and needs some rest.

‘IN THE WORLD OF AIDS, SILENCE IS DEATH’, SAYS SECRETARY-GENERAL AT LAUNCH

OF UNITED NATIONS GLOBAL MEDIA INITIATIVE ON HIV/AIDS

Following are Secretary-General Kofi Annan's remarks for the launch of the United Nations Global Media Initiative on HIV/AIDS in New York, 15 January:

UN LOOKS FORWARD TO WORKING WITH SHANGHAI COOPERATION ORGANIZATION TO FURTHER

COMMON GOALS, SECRETARY-GENERAL SAYS AT INAUGURATION

Following is the message of Secretary-General Kofi Annan to the inauguration ceremony of the secretariat of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, delivered today in Beijing by Geir O. Pedersen, Director for Asia and the Pacific, United Nations Department of Political Affairs: