PRESS BRIEFING BY SECURITY COUNCIL PRESIDENT

Presenting the Council’s monthly work programme at a Headquarters press conference this afternoon, President of the Security Council for April,
Adolfo Aguilar Zinser (Mexico) stressed that it was essential to keep the Council deeply involved in the subject of Iraq, as well as other issues pertaining to the maintenance of international peace and security. 

PRESS BRIEFING ON IRAQ HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE

An element, that remained true in any conflict was that United Nations humanitarian assistance should be provided independently, impartially and under strict control by the Organization, correspondents were told at a Headquarters press briefing this afternoon.

PRESS CONFERENCE ON BUSINESS FINANCING FOR DEVELOPMENT

An awfully good momentum had been started one year ago at the International Conference on Financing for Development, held in Monterrey, Mexico, but if good intentions did not turn into measurable actions, then everyone would lose out, Maria Livanos Cattaui, Secretary-General of the International Chamber of Commerce, said today at a Headquarters press conference sponsored by the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).

PRESS CONFERENCE BY NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS ON FINANCING FOR DEVELOPMENT

If the world’s richest countries were genuine in their stated desire to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, they needed to mobilize for the fight against poverty the same political will that was now manifest in fighting wars, correspondents were told at a Headquarters press conference this afternoon. 

PRESS BRIEFING ON CAMBODIA BY UN LEGAL COUNSEL

PRESS BRIEFING ON HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE FOR ERITREA

The current shortfall in funding for United Nations humanitarian aid to Eritrea could have catastrophic results, particularly if the war-torn nation’s current drought worsens, Simon Nbongo, United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator for Eritrea, told correspondents this afternoon at a Headquarters press briefing.

PRESS CONFERENCE BY SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE FOR CHILDREN AND ARMED CONFLICT

Noting a “dramatic transformation” in Sierra Leone, following his recent visit there, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, Olara Otunnu, called on the international community not to shift their attention away from that country at such a crucial moment. 

PRESS CONFERENCE BY UNITED KINGDOM SECRETARY OF STATE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS

“The one and only certain thing we know is that Iraq has not complied fully, actively and immediately on substance, and there is overwhelming evidence that it has made no attempt to do so”, said the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs of the United Kingdom, Jack Straw, today at a Headquarters press conference.

PRESS BRIEFING BY SECRETARY-GENERAL’S REPRESENTATIVE FOR GUINEA-BISSAU

Guinea-Bissau may be a very small country, but it has the potential to cause considerable instability in that region of fragile economies and fragile political systems, the Representative of the Secretary-General for Guinea-Bissau, David Stephen, said today at a Headquarters press briefing.

PRESS CONFERENCE ON G-8 CONTACT GROUP ON FOOD SECURITY IN AFRICA

The Group of Eight (G-8) Contact Group’s ministerial-level meeting on food and security in Africa had been held to give momentum to the search for solutions, rather than to replace those who were already working in the field, Pierre-Andre Wiltzer, Minister for Cooperation of France, said today at a Headquarters press conference.