PRESS CONFERENCE BY PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF CÔTE D’IVOIRE

The international commission established to investigate allegations of human rights abuses in Côte d’Ivoire during street protests in March had betrayed the confidence of the Ivorian people and should be held accountable for its actions, that country’s Permanent Representative, Philippe Djangone-Bi, said at a Headquarters press conference this morning.

press conference by Security Council president

The month of May would be a busy one for the Security Council, as it would address several African issues and give considerable attention to Iraq, this month’s Council President, Munir Akram (Pakistan), told correspondents at a Headquarters press conference this afternoon.

Press Briefing by director, electoral assistance division

Elections should not be seen as “silver bullets that cured all ills”, Carina Perelli, Director of the Electoral Assistance Division of the Department of Political Affairs, said at a Headquarters press briefing this afternoon.

Press Briefing by UNDP director of regional bureau for Europe and cis

It was imperative for the European Union to embrace former Soviet countries -- such as the Russian Federation, Belarus and Ukraine -- if it wanted to succeed, Kalman Mizsei, Director of the Regional Bureau for Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), said during a Headquarters press briefing this afternoon.

PRESS CONFERENCE BY MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENT OF FRANCE

International action was an essential part of any environmental policy today because no country could pursue its environmental policy by itself, Serge Lepeltier, Minister for Ecology and Sustainable Development of France, said at a Headquarters press conference today.

 

 

PRESS BRIEFING ON OUTCOMES OF TWELFTH SESSION

 

OF COMMISSION ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

The presence of more than 100 government ministers in this week’s ministerial segment of the Commission on Sustainable Development had enshrined the place of water, sanitation, and human settlements in the international agenda, Commission Chairman Børge Brende (Norway) said at a Headquarters press briefing this afternoon.

press briefing by Under-Secretary-General for communicationS

and public information

Too many news stories were “slipping off the radar screen”, and the Department of Public Information had decided to provide correspondents with an annual list of stories it felt merited more focus, Shashi Tharoor, Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information, said today at a press briefing to launch a new initiative entitled “Ten Stories the World Should Know More About”.

PRESS CONFERENCE ON WATER AND SANITATION ISSUES

 

AT COMMISSION ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

The recently appointed Secretary-General’s Advisory Board on Water and Sanitation, with its pro-privatization bias, did not belong at the United Nations, Gemma Adaba of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) said at a Headquarters press conference this morning.

PRESS CONFERENCE BY JALAL TALABANI, MEMBER OF IRAQI GOVERNING COUNCIL

Jalal Talabani, member of the Iraqi Governing Council, briefed correspondents at a Headquarters press conference this afternoon on a range of issues, including the formation of an interim Iraqi Government to take over from the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) at the end of June.

press conference on international meeting to review

implementation of barbados programme of action

The international community had a moral responsibility to protect and help its most vulnerable members, including small island developing States, Julian Hunte (Saint Lucia), President of the fifty-eighth session of the General Assembly, said at a Headquarters press conference this afternoon.