PRESS CONFERENCE BY MOROCCO ON TRACHOMA INITIATIVE

Blinding trachoma could be eliminated in Morocco by 2005, Dr. Joseph

A. Cook, Executive Director of the International Trachoma Initiative (ITI), told correspondents at a Headquarters press conference this afternoon.  Sponsored by the Permanent Mission of Morocco, the conference was held to announce the success of the country’s trachoma control programme.

PRESS BRIEFING BY FAO ON YEAR OF MOUNTAINS

Noting that nearly all of the world's current conflicts were being fought in mountainous regions, Jacques Diouf, Director-General of the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations this afternoon stressed the importance of brining peace to those areas in order to ensure food security for impoverished and hungry people all over the world.

Speaking at the global launch of the International Year of Mountains,

PRESS BRIEFING BY UNDER-SECRETARY-GENERAL NITIN DESAI

PRESS BRIEFING BY UNAIDS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

A new initiative of major foundations to expand the scope of mother and child HIV programmes was the direct result of the Secretary-General's call to action and of the special session of the General Assembly, Dr. Peter Piot, Executive Director of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) told correspondents at a Headquarters press conference this morning.

PRESS BRIEFING ON AFGHANISTAN BY DEPUTY EMERGENCY RELIEF COORDINATOR

The humanitarian situation in Afghanistan remains critical despite the political agreement reached in Bonn, Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator Carolyn McAskie told correspondents at a Headquarters press briefing this afternoon.

PRESS BRIEFING BY COORDINATOR OF UNITED NATIONS VOLUNTEERS

To those people who viewed volunteerism as a "fluffy" subject, the Executive Coordinator of the United Nations Volunteers (UNV), Sharon Capeling-Alakija, would say that volunteers had contributed up to 15 percent of the gross domestic product of a country and served as a "sociological superglue" to hold communities and societies together.

PRESS BRIEFING ON SITUATION IN SOMALIA

Somalia was on the verge of a total economic collapse, unparalleled in modern history, the United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia, Randolph Kent, said today at a Headquarters press briefing.  But he emphasized that there were “obvious and doable” solutions.

PRESS BRIEFING BY COORDINATOR OF IRAQ PROGRAMME

Originally envisioned as a temporary arrangement, but now entering its sixth year, the “oil-for-food” programme in Iraq was beginning to show signs of ageing, the Humanitarian Coordinator for the Office of the Iraq Programme, Tun Myat, told correspondents this afternoon.

PRESS CONFERENCE BY PRIME MINISTER OF SPAIN

Concluding an intense four-day visit to the United States, the Prime Minister of Spain, Jose Maria Aznar, told correspondents at a Headquarters press conference this afternoon that the fight against terrorism, regardless of its origin, was a fight in which all countries were involved. 

PRESS BRIEFING BY OFFICE FOR COORDINATION OF HUMANITARIAN AFFAIRS