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

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

Good afternoon.

**Guest at Noon

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

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

Good afternoon,

**Nuclear Terrorism

TRANSCRIPT OF PRESS CONFERENCE BY SECRETARY-GENERAL KOFI ANNAN AND SPECIAL ENVOY

The Secretary-General:  It’s now nearly 100 days since the United Nations was asked to take the lead in coordinating relief efforts for the victims of the tsunami.  It was a massive and daunting challenge.  In all the circumstances, I think Jan Egeland here, and Margareta Wahlström in the region, have done a remarkable job; and the response to our appeals for funds has been truly amazing.

Daily Press Briefing by the Office of the Spokesman for the Secretary-General

Following is a near-verbatim transcript of today’s noon briefing by Stephane Dujarric, Associate Spokesman for the Secretary-General.

Good afternoon.

**Haiti

Daily Press Briefing by the Office of the Spokesman for the Secretary-General

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

Good afternoon,

**Haiti

We have the following statement attributable to the Spokesman regarding an incident in Haiti yesterday:

Daily Press Briefing by the Office of the Spokesman for the Secretary-General

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

Good afternoon,

**Statement Attributable to the Spokesman for the Secretary-General

PRESS CONFERENCE BY ECONOMIC COOPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT MINISTER OF GERMANY

International cooperation for development was the most effective security policy, Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul, Germany’s Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, told correspondents during a press conference at United Nations Headquarters this afternoon.

Daily Press Briefing by the Office of the Spokesman for the Secretary-General

Following is a near-verbatim transcript of today’s noon briefing by Stéphane Dujarric, Associate Spokesman for the Secretary-General.

Good afternoon.

**Asian-African Summit

The Secretary-General, as you know, will be departing later today to attend the Asian-African summit in Jakarta, which is taking place later this week.

PRESS CONFERENCE BY UN-HABITAT

 

The international community must upgrade conditions for its existing 1 billion slum-dwellers to avert a crisis by year 2020, when 500 million new slum-dwellers would be added to the urban environment, the head of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT) told correspondents at Headquarters today.

Press conference ON 2005 ALAN CRANSTON PEACE AWARD

Speaking at a Headquarters press conference this afternoon prior to an awards ceremony at which he was to receive the 2005 Alan Cranston Peace Award, businessman and philanthropist Ted Turner called the huge nuclear arsenals of the United States and Russia “the most important threat we face” and cited the urgent need to get rid of all nuclear weapons as soon as possible.