PRESS BRIEFING BY EMERGENCY RELIEF COORDINATOR

The humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, worsened by drought, required urgent action to prevent a catastrophe, Kenzo Oshima, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, told correspondents at Headquarters today as he briefed them on his recent trip to that country.

PRESS BRIEFING BY UN POPULATION DIVISION DIRECTOR

ON WORLD POPULATION PROSPECTS REPORT

The world would be about 50 per cent larger by mid-century as well as substantially older, more ethnically and culturally diverse, and more urbanized, with megacities concentrated in the developing countries, Joseph Chamie, Director of the Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, told correspondents this morning.

PRESS CONFERENCE BY SWEDEN AS CHAIR OF EUROPEAN UNION

Sweden’s Minister of Defence, Bjorn von Sydow, gave a press conference at United Nations Headquarters this afternoon on interaction between the United Nations and the European Union.  Sweden is currently Chair of the Union.

PRESS BRIEFING BY UNDP ASIA PACIFIC BUREAU HEAD

The United Nations Development Agency (UNDP) expected to play an even more active role in East Timor after the establishment of a national government there, Hafiz Pasha, Assistant Secretary-General and head of the Asia Pacific Bureau of UNDP, told correspondents at a Headquarters press conference this afternoon, as he briefed them on his recent trip to Asia.

PRESS BRIEFING BY SECRETARY-GENERAL’S SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE

IN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO

Kamel Morjane, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, told journalists this afternoon that he was satisfied with the confirmation given today by the various parties to the Congolese conflict that they planned to disengage their forces.

PRESS BRIEFING ON GLOBAL WARMING BY UNEP EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Global warming was not a prognosis for the future; it was an accelerating process today, and in which there would be no winners, only losers, Klaus Töpfer, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), told correspondents this afternoon, at a Headquarters press briefing.

He added that his presentation today was not intended to signal disaster but dramatic changes deserving urgent attention.

PRESS CONFERENCE BY FOREIGN MINISTERS OF ZIMBABWE AND NAMIBIA

The agreement by the warring sides in the Democratic Republic of Congo to pull back their troops 15 kilometres from the point of contact on 15 March was an important first stage in the peace process, the Foreign Minister of Zimbabwe, Stanislaus Mudenge, told correspondents at a Headquarters press conference this afternoon.

      He said that the pull-out, which would start on 28 February with a

PRESS CONFERENCE BY CÔTE D’IVOIRE

A parliamentary delegation being sent to Côte d'Ivoire would review appropriate ways to assist the tenuous transition process in that country, the President of Parliamentarians for Global Action, Shazia Rafi, told correspondents this afternoon at a Headquarters press conference.  Ms. Rafi was joined at the press conference by the Chargé d’affaires of the Permanent Mission of Côte d'Ivoire to the United Nations, Ahipeaud Guebo.

PRESS CONFERENCE BY VICE-PRESIDENT OF INTERNATIONAL NARCOTICS CONTROL BOARD

The growing trend of treating symptoms rather than actual disorders had essentially created a "pill popping" culture in the West, Herbert S. Okun, Vice-President of the International Narcotics Control Board, told correspondents at a press conference on the Board’s 2000 report.

PRESS BRIEFING ON SECRETARY-GENERAL’S HIV/AIDS REPORT

Leadership was the single most important factor in reversing the HIV/AIDS epidemic, the Deputy Executive Director of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) said this afternoon at a Headquarters press briefing, as she presented the report of the Secretary-General issued in preparation for the General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS, which will be held in New York from 25 to 27 June.