The Commission on the Status of Women, one of the oldest functioning bodies of the Economic and Social Council, had a long record of achievements in the advancement of women and women's human rights, its Chairperson Patricia Flor (Germany), told correspondents this morning at a Headquarters press conference.
Summing up the financial picture of the United Nations, the Under- Secretary-General for Management, Joseph Connor, told correspondents at a press briefing this afternoon that the Organization's cash position was weak, and getting weaker. Its unpaid assessments were slowly decreasing, and its ability to "cross-borrow" was drying up, he added.
At a Headquarters press briefing this evening, Antonio Monteiro (Portugal), Chairman of the Security Council Committee established by resolution 661 (1990) to monitor the sanctions regime against Iraq, reviewed the subjects taken up by the Committee's 167th meeting, held earlier in the day.
The newly appointed Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Iraq, Prakash Shah, said at a Headquarters press briefing today that the Secretary- General had indicated in a letter dated 5 March to the Security Council what was expected of him. Mr. Shah said he planned to leave New York on Wednesday or Thursday and set up his office in Baghdad before the end of March.
The Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Klaus Topfer, outlined UNEP's priorities and the global environmental agenda at a Headquarters press briefing this morning.
Four members of the Federation of African Women's Peace Network (FERFAP) discussed the role women played in peace and armed conflict, at a Headquarters press briefing this afternoon, sponsored by the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM).
Njuguna M. Mahugu (Kenya), Chairman of the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 864 (1993) concerning the situation in Angola, this afternoon informed correspondence of the just-concluded meeting of that sanctions monitoring body, at a press conference at United Nations Headquarters.
The Secretary-General was successful in his efforts to avert a catastrophe that could have affected the whole world because he spoke on behalf of the Security Council and also because he listened to the "pain and the hurt" of the Iraqi people, Minister Louis Farrakhan, of the Nation of Islam, said today at a Headquarters press conference sponsored by Libya.
Violence against women was a universal problem that was often overlooked, the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, Radhika Coomaraswamy, told correspondents at a press briefing this afternoon.
