Press Release

Human Rights Committee                                     

Fifty-eighth General AssemblyGA/AB/3606

Fifth Committee

33^rd Meeting (AM)

UNITED STATES PROPOSAL FOR $1.2 BILLION LOAN TO FINANCE

CAPITAL MASTER PLAN DISCUSSED IN BUDGET COMMITTEE

Also Takes Up Recommendations Made Following

Audit of Pension Fund’s Investment Management Service

MARINE TURTLE AGREEMENT REVIEWS PROGRESS

Countries Showing Greater Commitment to Conservation;

At Least Three More States to Sign Up to Regional Plan

(Reissued as received.)

BANGKOK, 16 March (UNEP) -- An innovative regional agreement is beginning to turn the tide for the ancient mariners of the world’s oceans.

SECRETARY-GENERAL, IN MESSAGE TO ANNUAL DIPLOMACY LECTURE, PRAISES SENATOR

JESSE HELMS FOR FOSTERING STRONGER RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN US, UN

Following is Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s video message to the first Helms International Diplomacy Lecture in Washington, D.C., 15 March:

ENTIRE SOCIETIES NEED TO GET INVOLVED IN COUNTERING DRUG ABUSE, UN COMMISSION

ON NARCOTIC DRUGS TOLD, AS IT BEGINS 47TH SESSION

SECRETARY-GENERAL ‘STRONGLY CONDEMNS’ DOUBLE SUICIDE BOMBING IN ASHDOD, ISRAEL

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

Fifty-eighth General Assembly                              

ARCTIC FACES DRASTIC CHANGE WITHOUT EUROPEAN UNION POLICY ACTION

(Reissued as received.)

BRUSSELS/COPENHAGEN, 15 March (UNEP/EEA) -- The Arctic’s unique environment and indigenous peoples are under increasing threat from industrial activities and the region is likely to change drastically unless decision-makers in the European Union and elsewhere address the challenges seriously.

JOSE ANTONIO OCAMPO TO SERVE AS UN FOCAL POINT FOR BOLIVIA

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

Human Rights Committee

Eightieth Session

2166^th & 2167^th Meetings (AM & PM)

HUMAN RIGHTS BODY OPENS SESSION, REVIEWS COLOMBIA’S HUMAN RIGHTS RECORD

The United Nations expert panel monitoring the efforts of world governments to ensure respect for civil liberties, promote self-determination, and safeguard fundamental freedoms kicked off its first substantive session of 2004 today in New York.