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 Manouel 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

Hi.  Good afternoon. 

**Secretary-General in South Asia

PRESS CONFERENCE ON UN PEACE OPERATIONS REPORT

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.

Good afternoon.

**Secretary-General

I'll start with the Secretary-General's programme in South Asia.  He arrived in Dhaka, Bangladesh, late afternoon, after concluding his visit to Nepal.

PRESS BRIEFING BY SECRETARY-GENERAL’S SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE

FOR ETHIOPIA AND ERITREA

Despite problems that must be resolved, the peace process between Ethiopia and Eritrea would not fall apart, Legwaila Joseph Legwaila, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Ethiopia and Eritrea and Chief of the United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE), told correspondents at a Headquarters press briefing 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 Manoel de Almeida e Silva, Deputy Spokesman for the Secretary-General, and Susan Markham, Spokeswoman for the President of the General Assembly.

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.

Good afternoon, everyone.  Thank you for coming.  We have a busy day today, with several meetings and the Council in session.

**Secretary-General in South Asia

PRESS CONFERENCE BY AFRICAN GROUP OF STATES

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.

**Secretary-General

PRESS BRIEFING BY COMMISSION ON STATUS OF WOMEN

Women were not born vulnerable but were made vulnerable by persistent gender-based discrimination and that was why the work of the Commission on the Status of Women was so important, Dubravaka Simonovic, Commission Chair, told correspondents at a Headquarters press briefing this morning.

PRESS CONFERENCE BY KOSOVO SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE

“The future for Kosovo Serbs is dependent on their integration into Kosovo society”, Hans Haekkerup, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Kosovo and head of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), told correspondents at a Headquarters press conference this afternoon, after briefing the Security Council on the situation in that province.