254 MILLION PEOPLE AFFECTED BY NATURAL HAZARDS IN 2003; FIGURES ON THE RISE

Locust crisis to hit North-west Africa again, situation deteriorating in the Sahel

Summer Harvest in the Sahel at Risk, Control Operations Expanded, Donor Response Slow

(Reissued as received.)

Security Council

5036^th Meeting* (AM)

SECURITY COUNCIL EXTENDS UN MISSION IN LIBERIA UNTIL 19 SEPTEMBER 2005,

UNANIMOUSLY ADOPTING RESOLUTION 1561 (2004)

The Security Council today extended the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) for another year, until 19 September 2005, as it looked ahead to that country’s elections, planned for no later than October 2005.

UNITED NATIONS MESSENGERS OF PEACE JOIN IN INTERNATIONAL DAY OF PEACE OBSERVANCE

JOINT STATEMENT BY COMMITTEE ON RIGHTS OF CHILD AND EXPERT

ON VIOLENCE AGAINST CHILDREN REGARDING BESLAN

(Reissued as received.)

GENEVA, 17 September (United Nations Information Service) -- The following joint statement was issued today by the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child and by the Independent Expert charged with preparing a United Nations study on violence against children, Paulo Sergio Pinheiro:

Fifty-ninth General Assembly

Second Committee

1^st Meeting (AM)

Second Committee Approves Work Plan for Fifty-Ninth General Assembly Session

The Second Committee (Economic and Financial) this morning approved its programme of work, as orally amended, for the fifty-ninth General Assembly session.

Afghan food production hit by drought, pests; Poor suffer from rising food prices

(Reissued as Received.)

NEW UN REPORT CITES DEVASTATING EFFECTS OF HIV/AIDS

NEW YORK, 16 September (Department of Economic and Social Affairs) -- The HIV/AIDS epidemic will have devastating consequences in the decades to come for virtually every sector of society ranging from households and farms, to growth of whole economies, according to a new report, The Impact of AIDS, issued today by the Department of Economic and Social Affairs’ Population Division.

On International Day for Preservation of Ozone Layer, Governments

Urged to Back Global Inventory Of Key Ozone-Damaging Pesticide

News Comes as Countries Air Cartoon ‘Ozzy Ozone’

To Raise Awareness of Threats to Earth’s Protective Shield

(Reissued as received.)

In statement to press, Secretary-General urges Security Council to act

on Darfur resolution without delay, unite in face of crisis

 

Following is Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s statement to the press on Darfur, on 16 September:

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.