Press Release

SECRETARY-GENERAL WELCOMES SUDAN PEACE TALKS BEING HELD IN KENYA

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

‘FIGHT AGAINST HIV/AIDS REQUIRES CONSTANT VIGILANCE AND RENEWAL’,

SAYS SECRETARY-GENERAL

Following is the text of the video message by Secretary-General Kofi Annan for the fifty-ninth session of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) in Bangkok, 1-4 September:

You meet at a decisive moment in the history of your region, and you have chosen to focus on a vital topic.

SPEAKERS AT TEST BAN TREATY CONFERENCE RAISE CONCERNS ABOUT POTENTIAL

THREATS OF NUCLEAR TERRORISM, RESUMED WEAPONS TESTING

(Reissued as received.)

NEW NAME FOR 1267 COMMITTEE

RIGHT TO IMPORT CHEAP GENERIC DRUGS, PHASE-OUT OF AGRICULTURAL SUBSIDIES

CRUCIAL TO POVERTY REDUCTION, SAYS SECRETARY-GENERAL

Following is the text of the video message by Secretary-General Kofi Annan in support of Oxfam’s “Big Noise” campaign:

RENEWED MIDDLE EAST VIOLENCE MUST NOT DIVERT INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY

FROM ‘ROAD MAP’, SAYS SECRETARY-GENERAL TO HEADQUARTERS CONFERENCE

Following is Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s message to the United Nations International Conference of Civil Society in Support of the Palestinian People, delivered by Kieran Prendergast, Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, in New York, 4 September:

HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE RULES ON COMPLAINTS OF VIOLATIONS FROM INDIVIDUALS

(Reissued as received.)

GENEVA, 4 September (UN Information Service) -- An independent human rights body has found violations of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in 12 countries.

Committee on the Inalienable Rights

of the Palestinian People

AM & PM Meetings

CIVIL SOCIETY SUPPORT INDISPENSABLE TO ACHIEVING MIDDLE EAST ‘ROAD MAP’,

SAYS SECRETARY-GENERAL, AS TWO-DAY HEADQUARTERS CONFERENCE OPENS

Panel Discussions Address Such Issues as Israeli ‘Separation Wall’,

Obstacles to Assistance, Grass-Roots Activism in Occupied Territories

Meeting on Role of Civil Society

in Conflict Prevention

AM Meeting

MEETING ON ROLE OF CIVIL SOCIETY IN CONFLICT PREVENTION HEARS CALLS

FOR COORDINATION, PARTNERSHIP AMONG GOVERNMENTS, NGOS, UN BODIES

EXPERT GROUP MEETING ON KNOWLEDGE SYSTEMS FOR DEVELOPMENT

AT HEADQUARTERS 4-5 SEPTEMBER

NEW YORK, 3 September (DESA) -- The Division for Public Administration and Development Management in the Department of Economic and Social Affairs is organizing an Ad Hoc Expert Group Meeting on Knowledge Systems for Development, from 4-5 September 2003 at United Nations Headquarters in New York.