PRESS BRIEFING BY global commission on international migration

The role of the Global Commission on International Migration was to place international migration on the global agenda, analyse gaps in current policy approaches to migration and examine inter-linkages with other issues, such as development and security, the Commission’s co-Chair, former Swedish Minister for Migration and Development Jan Karlsson, told correspondents at a Headquarters press briefing this afternoon.

PRESS CONFERENCE ON LAUNCH OF SOCIAL WATCH 2004 REPORT

Social Watch launched its 2004 report at a Headquarters press conference today, with several representatives of the Social Watch coalition outlining the specific challenges to human security in their respective regions.

Press briefing by un-habitat executive director

Anna Tibaijuka, Executive Director of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) at a Headquarters press briefing this morning announced the 2003 Habitat Scroll of Honour Awards and introduced two of the recipients.

PRESS CONFERENCE BY SOUTH AFRICA

On 27 April at 10:30 a.m., a meeting in the ECOSOC Chamber would celebrate the role of the United Nations in supporting the freedom struggle in South Africa, which ended 10 years ago this month, Dumisano S. Kumalo told correspondents this morning during a press conference at Headquarters.

PRESS CONFERENCE BY PAUL VOLCKER, NAMED TO HEAD PANEL

INVESTIGATING ‘OIL-FOR-FOOD’ PROGRAMME

Very important accusations made about the United Nations, the administration of the “oil-for-food” programme, as well as activities outside the United Nations needed to be resolved, Paul Volcker, panel member of the Oil-for-Food Independent Inquiry, told correspondents this afternoon at a Headquarters press conference.

PRESS CONFERENCE ON REPORT CONCERNING PRIVATE SECTOR

PARTICIPATION IN WATER, SANITATION

The final report of the six-month Global Water Scoping Process was launched this evening at a Headquarters press conference sponsored by the Permanent Mission of Germany to the United Nations.

PRESS BRIEFING BY MINE ACTION SERVICE

“We can consign the anti-personnel landmine to the dustbin of history”, Martin Barber, Director, United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS), told correspondents this afternoon at Headquarters during a briefing on the status of the Mine-Ban Convention and the “Summit for a Mine-Free World”.

PRESS CONFERENCE ON ASIAN HIGHWAY NETWORK

An historic agreement to complete a 140,000-kilometre highway network linking 32 Asian nations will open for signature on 26 April in Shanghai, China, at a regional ministerial meeting of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), correspondents were told at a Headquarters press briefing this morning.

According to the United Nations envoy for the world’s poorest countries, despite real progress over the past three days, talks on drafting a global strategy to help small islands overcome the unique challenges they faced would have to continue during the coming months, in preparation for the international meeting to be held from 30 August to 3 September in Mauritius.

2004 ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL SURVEY OF ASIA AND PACIFIC

LAUNCHED AT HEADQUARTERS PRESS CONFERENCE

Developing countries in Asia and the Pacific experienced strong, broad-based growth in 2003 combined with low inflation, according to the Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific 2004, the flagship publication of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia (ESCAP).