Press Release

FIRST SESSION OF COMMITTEE ON PROTECTION OF RIGHTS

OF MIGRANTS IN GENEVA FROM 1 TO 5 MARCH

Committee to Elect Bureau, Establish its Rules of Procedure,

Draw Up General Guidelines on Reports to be Submitted by States Parties

(Reissued as received.)

RELIEF SUPPLIES BEING STOLEN FROM RECIPIENTS IN SUDAN

NEW YORK, 27 February (OCHA) -– Internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Sudan’s Darfur region report that armed militias are robbing them of the aid they have received from United Nations agencies and non-governmental organizations.

Economic and Social Council                                

2004 Organizational Session                                

6^th Meeting (PM)

UNITED NATIONS ‘DISAPPOINTED’ IF MEDIA REPORTS OF BRITISH SPYING TRUE;

SAYS SUCH ACTS UNDERMINE DIPLOMATIC INTEGRITY, CONFIDENTIALITY

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for Secretary-General Kofi Annan:

We have seen today’s media reports alleging that the Secretary-General’s phone conversations were tapped by British intelligence.  We would be disappointed if this were true.

SECRETARY-GENERAL SADDENED BY TRAGIC DEATH OF PRESIDENT

OF FORMER YUGOSLAV REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for Secretary-General Kofi Annan:

The Secretary-General learned with deep sadness of the tragic death of the President of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Boris Trajkovski, and members of his delegation in a plane crash today.

Security Council                                           

REGIONAL WORKSHOP IN TURKEY ADDRESSES TERRORISM, ORGANIZED CRIME

(Reissued as received.)

VIENNA, 26 February (UN Information Service) -- As a result of a close cooperation between Turkey and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), a “Regional Workshop for Central Asia and the Caucasus on International Cooperation against Terrorism and Transnational Organized Crime” took place from 23 to 25 February 2004, in Antalya, Turkey.

Security Council                                           

HUNGARY WORKS WITH UNODC ON NATIONAL CRIME PREVENTION STRATEGY

(Reissued as received.)

VIENNA, 26 February (UN Information Service) -- Hungary’s new National Strategy for Social Crime Prevention was the focus of a half-day workshop organized here yesterday by the Hungarian Ministry of Justice and the Vienna-based United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

MILLIONS OF CHILDREN’S FUTURE BLIGHTED BY FUNDING CRISIS IN SOUTHERN AFRICA

GENEVA, 26 February (OCHA) -– The future of millions of children in six southern African countries is being put in jeopardy by a massive lack of funds and international support for crucial aid projects, according to a warning issued today by eight United Nations agencies at the launch of the Mid Term Review of the Consolidated Appeal for southern Africa.