‘DESERTIFICATION IS BOTH A CAUSE AND A CONSEQUENCE OF POVERTY’,

SECRETARY-GENERAL SAYS IN MESSAGE FOR INTERNATIONAL DAY

Following is the message by Secretary-General Kofi Annan for the World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought, 17 June 2003:

FUTURE FOR MILLIONS OF YOUNG REFUGEES JEOPARDIZED BY WAR, HATRED, EXILE,

SAYS SECRETARY-GENERAL IN MESSAGE ON INTERNATIONAL DAY

Following is the message by Secretary-GeneralKofi Annan for World Refugee Day, observed 20 June:

TALKING ABOUT DRUGS ESSENTIAL TO BREAKING SILENCE, STIGMA OF DRUG-DEPENDENCE,

SECRETARY-GENERAL SAYS IN MESSAGE FOR INTERNATIONAL DAY

Following is the message by Secretary-General Kofi Annan for the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, 26 June 2003:

GENERAL ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT PRAISES DEDICATION, COURAGE, VISION

OF UN PEACEKEEPERS ON FIRST INTERNATIONAL DAY

Following is the message of Jan Kavan (Czech Republic), President of the Fifty-seventh Session of the United Nations General Assembly, on the first International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers, observed 29 May:

FIRST INTERNATIONAL DAY OF UNITED NATIONS PEACEKEEPERS

TO BE COMMEMORATED ON 29 MAY

DIVERSIFICATION IS BEST LONG-TERM SURVIVAL STRATEGY OF PLANET’S SPECIES,

SAYS GENERAL ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT

Following is the message by Jan Kavan, President of the General Assembly, for the International Day for Biological Diversity, 22 May 2003:

‘PEACEKEEPING BY ITSELF CANNOT END WAR, BUT IT CAN HELP PREVENT A RECURRENCE

OF FIGHTING’, SECRETARY-GENERAL SAYS IN PEACEKEEPERS’ DAY MESSAGE

Following is the message by Secretary-General Kofi Annan on the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers, 29 May:

GENERAL ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT HIGHLIGHTS ‘GROWING CHASM’ OF DIGITAL DIVIDE,

IN MESSAGE ON WORLD TELECOMMUNICATION DAY

Following is the message of Jan Kavan (Czech Republic), General Assembly President, on World Telecommunication Day, observed 17 May:

‘WATER-RELATED DISEASES RESPONSIBLE FOR 80 PER CENT OF ALL ILLNESSES, DEATHS

IN DEVELOPING WORLD’, SAYS SECRETARY-GENERAL IN ENVIRONMENT DAY MESSAGE

Following is the message by Secretary-GeneralKofi Annan for World Environment Day, 5 June 2003:

The theme of World Environment Day 2003 -– “Water:  Two Billion People Are Dying for It!” -– highlights the centrality of water to human survival and sustainable development.

ON DAY OF VESAK, SECRETARY-GENERAL CALLS ON WORLD TO HEED

BUDDHA’S MESSAGE OF MINDFULNESS FOR HUMANKIND

Following is Secretary-GeneralKofi Annan’s message on the occasion of the Day of Vesak, which is being observed on 15 May: