Press Release

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:

‘TOGETHER, WE CAN TURN THE GLOBAL TIDE AGAINST HIV/AIDS -– AND WE MUST’,

SAYS SECRETARY-GENERAL IN MESSAGE TO DUBLIN CONFERENCE

Following is the text of Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s video message for the conference “Breaking the Barriers:  Partnership to Fight HIV/AIDS in Europe and Central Asia”, in Dublin, 23-24 February:

SECRETARY-GENERAL CONDEMNS SUICIDE BOMBING IN JERUSALEM AS ‘HEINOUS CRIME’,

CALLS ON PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY TO BRING PERPETRATORS TO JUSTICE

The following statement attributable to the Spokesman for Secretary-General Kofi Annan was issued today in Tokyo:

LOCUST SITUATION HEADS TOWARDS PLAGUE, UN AGENCY WARNS

(Reissued as received.)

ROME, 23 February (FAO) -- The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) launched today an appeal to donors for $6 million urgently needed to support desert locust control operations in Mauritania and another $3 million for Mali, Niger and Chad, in order to prevent the early stages of the current upsurge from developing into a plague.

HEADS OF UNITED NATIONS PEACE MISSIONS IN WEST AFRICA MEET IN GORÉE, SENEGAL

(Reissued as received.)