Mitrovica was only the most visible tip of a Kosovo-wide problem of attacks on minorities, including harassment, intimidation and persecution, the Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs in Kosovo, Dennis McNamara, told correspondents at a Headquarters press briefing this afternoon.
"I am still an optimist", Dr. Bernard Kouchner, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Kosovo, and the Head of the United Nations Mission in the province (UNMIK), told correspondents at a Headquarters press briefing this afternoon, as he was asked whether he was still as big an optimist as he had been just over six months ago.
The Iraq oil-for-food programme was inadequate on three counts, Hans von Sponeck, outgoing Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq, told journalists at a press briefing this afternoon at United Nations Headquarters.
A new book entitled Women at the Peace Table: Making a Difference was released at Headquarters today by the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM).
His first task as Chairman of the United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) would be to work out the organizational plan for the recently created Commission, Dr. Hans Blix told correspondents at a Headquarters press briefing this afternoon.
A petition from victims of landmines in 17 countries -- calling for the United States to sign the anti-landmine Convention -- will be delivered to United States embassies today, correspondents were told at a press conference held at Headquarters this morning.
Small arms were a cancer on the moral conscience of the international community, former Prime Minister of France and Co-Chairman of the Eminent Persons Group on Small Arms, Michel Rocard, told correspondents at a Headquarters press conference today. Also present were two other members of the Group -- Sola Ogunbanwo of Nigeria and Peggy Mason of Canada.
The inauguration of a new government in Croatia was a dramatic step for the region, Jacques Klein, Special Representative of the Secretary-General in Bosnia and Herzegovina, told correspondents at a Headquarters press briefing this afternoon.
Francesc Vendrell, the Secretary-General's Personal Representative and head of the Special Mission to Afghanistan, briefed correspondents at Headquarters this afternoon on his recent fact-finding trip to Afghanistan and neighbouring States.
