MINISTERS TO SIGN NEW ENVIRONMENTAL TREATY ON PROTECTING CASPIAN SEA

TEHRAN, 3 November (UNEP) -– Ministers from Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russian Federation and Turkmenistan are meeting in Tehran today and tomorrow to adopt and sign the Framework Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Caspian Sea.

Fifty-eighth General Assembly

Second Committee

23^rd & 24^th Meetings (AM & PM)

SECOND COMMITTEE TOLD OF VITAL NEED FOR RENEWED CONFIDENCE IN TRADE LIBERALIZATION

AS KEY FOR SUCCESS OF NEGOTIATIONS AFTER FAILURE AT CANCÚN

Multilateralism, Non-discriminatory Trading System Important

For Spurring Economic Growth in Developing World, Says Morocco’s Delegate

UNODC CALLS FOR INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATION FOLLOWING

INTER-REGIONAL ADVISER’S RESIGNATION

(Reissued as received.)

Fifty-eighth General Assembly

First Committee

20^th Meeting (PM)

NUCLEAR WEAPON STATES CALLED ON TO HALT IMPROVEMENT, STOCKPILING

OF NUCLEAR WARHEADS, IN TEXT APPROVED BY FIRST COMMITTEE

Four Resolutions Recommended to General Assembly;

Others Address Middle East, Environmental Norms, Small Arms Traffic

NO READY-MADE, ONE-SIZE-FITS-ALL SOLUTIONS TO CHALLENGES OF GOVERNANCE,

SECRETARY-GENERAL TELLS GLOBAL FORUM ON REINVENTING GOVERNMENT

Following is the message of Secretary-General Kofi Annan to the fifth Global Forum on Reinventing Government, delivered by José Antonio Ocampo, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, Mexico City, 3 to 7 November:

SECRETARY-GENERAL WELCOMES 2 NOVEMBER BURUNDI AGREEMENT

AIMED AT SETTLING POLITICAL, POWER-SHARING ISSUES

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

UNITED NATIONS LAUNCHES INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF RICE

Symbol of Cultural Identity and Global Unity

(Reissued as received.)

NEW YORK, 31 October (FAO) -- The United Nations today launched a major international drive to increase the production of rice.

SECRETARY-GENERAL LAUDS ADOPTION BY GENERAL ASSEMBLY

OF UNITED NATIONS CONVENTION AGAINST CORRUPTION

New Instrument Described as New Framework for Action against ‘Insidious Plague’

This is the text of an address by Secretary-General Kofi Annan today on the adoption by the General Assembly of the United Nations Convention against Corruption:

TENTATIVE SCHEDULE OF MEETINGS OF UNITED NATIONS BODIES IN NOVEMBER 2003

The following is a tentative list of United Nations meetings scheduled to be held in November, including major meetings of intergovernmental organizations related to the United Nations:

Meetings continued from previous month:

NEW UNCTAD PUBLICATION REVIEWS MARKETING POTENTIAL

FOR ORGANIC PRODUCE FROM TROPICAL COUNTRIES