Press Release

Fifty-eighth General Assembly                              

UNITED NATIONS TEAM ARRIVES AT MOROCCAN QUAKE SITE

(Reissued as received.)

GENEVA, 25 February (OCHA) -- A United Nations Disaster and Coordination Assessment (UNDAC) team has arrived in Morocco after a powerful earthquake killed more than 550 people in northern part of the country near the coastal city of Al Hoceima.  The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) dispatched the six-member team.

UNITED NATIONS HUMANITARIAN MISSION ARRIVES IN LIRA, UGANDA

(Reissued as received.)

UN ECONOMIC COMMISSION LAUNCHES 2004 SURVEY OF EUROPE, SAYS

GLOBAL RECOVERY UNDER WAY, BUT CLOUDED BY IMPORTANT RISKS

(Reissued as received.)

SECRETARY-GENERAL WELCOMES REPORT OF WORLD COMMISSION

ON SOCIAL DIMENSIONS OF GLOBALIZATION

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

BARCELONA, UNIVERSAL FORUM OF CULTURES TO HOST WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY 2004;

THEME:  ‘WANTED!  SEAS AND OCEANS -– DEAD OR ALIVE?’

(Reissued as received.)

NAIROBI/BARCELONA, 24 February (UNEP) -- The city of Barcelona, known for its commitment to culture and urban renewal, will be hosting World Environment Day 2004, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) announced today.

ROTTERDAM CONVENTION ON TRADE IN HAZARDOUS CHEMICALS, PESTICIDES

ENTERS INTO FORCE

GENEVA/ROME, 24 February (UNEP/FAO) -- The Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent (PIC) Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade becomes international law and, thus, legally binding on its members today.

HEALTH AGENCIES ANNOUNCE EMERGENCY CAMPAIGN AGAINST YELLOW FEVER IN LIBERIA

(Reissued as received.)

MONROVIA, 24 February (OCHA) -– International health agencies announced Tuesday that they were joining forces with the Liberian Government to combat a yellow fever emergency in this bruised and battered land.

SECRETARY-GENERAL PROMISES UN ASSISTANCE FOLLOWING EARTHQUAKE IN NORTHERN MOROCCO

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

SECRETARY-GENERAL WELCOMES RELEASE OF MOROCCAN PRISONERS OF WAR

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

The Secretary-General welcomes the release by the Frente POLISARIO, with the assistance of a MemberState, of an additional 100 prisoners of war, who were repatriated on 24 February to the Kingdom of Morocco by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).