DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY THE OFFICE OF THE SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL

The following is a near-verbatim transcript of today’s noon briefing by Manoel de Almeida e Silva, Deputy Spokesman for the Secretary-General.

Hi, good afternoon everyone.  Sorry for this short delay. I am going to start with Afghanistan.

**Afghanistan

PRESS CONFERENCE ON WORLD ASSEMBLY ON AGEING

At a Headquarters press conference today on preparations for the Second World Assembly on Ageing, John Langmore, Director of the Division of Social Policy and Development, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, said the fact that many people were living longer was one of the greatest achievements of the twentieth century.

DAILY PRESS BREIFING BY THE OFFICE OF THE SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL

The following is a near-verbatim transcript of today’s noon briefing by Fred Eckhard, Spokesman for the Secretary-General.

**Security Council

PRESS CONFERENCE ON WOMEN'S COMMISSION

Gender mainstreaming, trafficking in human beings and gender aspects of the problems of HIV/AIDS and racism were among the issues to be highlighted during the two-week session of the Commission on the Status of Women, which began its work today, correspondents were told at a Headquarters press conference this afternoon.

DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY THE OFFICE OF THE SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL

The following is a near-verbatim transcript of today’s noon briefing by Fred Eckhard, Spokesman for the Secretary-General.

Good afternoon.

**Security Council

PRESS CONFERENCE BY FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA

Unless urgent measures were taken, the ethnic tensions of Kosovo could spill over its borders and destabilize the entire region, Zoran Zizic, Prime Minister of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, told correspondents at a Headquarters press conference this morning.

PRESS CONFERENCE BY UN CHILDREN’S FUND

Addressing child marriage as a violation of a child's basic rights, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) released a new report today entitled "Early Marriage: Child Spouses".  The report looks at the many implications of child marriages and analyses their root causes, seeking to begin a global campaign to end that widespread practice.

DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY THE OFFICE OF THE SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL

The following is a near-verbatim transcript of today’s noon briefing by Fred Eckhard, Spokesman for the Secretary-General.

We have a rather full agenda here, and we’ll try to get it all done in about 45 minutes.

PRESS BRIEFING BY UN DEVELOPMENT FUND FOR WOMEN ON MILLENNIUM PEACE PRIZE

The winners of a new award -- the Millennium Peace Prize for Women -- were announced by Noeleen Heyzer, Director of the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), at a press briefing today as part of Headquarters' activities commemorating International Women’s Day.

DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY THE OFFICE OF THE SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL

The following is a near-verbatim transcript of today’s noon briefing by Manoel de Almeida e Silva, Deputy Spokesman for the Secretary-General, and Susan Markham, Spokeswoman for the President of the General Assembly.

      Deputy Spokesman for the Secretary-General

      Good Afternoon.

**Kosovo