“SITUATION WITH OPIUM CULTIVATION IN AFGHANISTAN REMAINS

DIFFICULT”, SAYS UN COUNTER-NARCOTICS CHIEF

(Reissued as received.)

SECRETARY-GENERAL RINGS PEACE BELL FOR UN COLLEAGUES, FRIENDS

STRUCK IN BAGHDAD, PEOPLE OF EVERY NATION NEEDING PEACE

Following is the text of remarks today by Secretary-General Kofi Annan on ringing the peace bell in observance of the International Day of Peace (21 September):

STATEMENT BY ECOSOC AD HOC ADVISORY GROUP ON GUINEA-BISSAU

NEW YORK, 18 September -- The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Ad Hoc Advisory Group on Guinea-Bissau hereby calls on donors to consider extending emergency assistance for Guinea-Bissau to be able to return to democratic rule following the resignation of President Kumba Yala.

ANNA LINDH REMEMBERED AS ‘UNIQUE SOURCE OF INSPIRATION,

GREAT FRIEND OF UN’, SAYS SECRETARY-GENERAL

Following is the message by Secretary-General Kofi Annan for the memorial ceremony for Anna Lindh, former Foreign Minister of Sweden, in Stockholm today, 19 September, delivered by Hans Corell, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs:

UN REFUGEE AGENCY LAUNCHES NEW GUIDELINES TO BETTER PROTECT

REFUGEE WOMEN AGAINST VIOLENCE

(Reissued as received.)

GENEVA, 19 September (UNHCR) -- The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on Friday invited the humanitarian and development communities to join forces in combatting sexual and gender-based violence against refugees, returnees and internally displaced people.

AS ZIMBABWE’S FOOD NEEDS INCREASE, UN HUMANITARIAN AGENCIES

STEP UP OPERATIONS TO ADDRESS UNDERLYING CAUSES

NEW YORK, 18 September -- United Nations humanitarian agencies in Zimbabwe are stepping up operations to address food shortages and their underlying causes.  The United Nations has also identified the need to strengthen a national immunization programme, which has been affected by the country’s economic downturn.

COLLEAGUES KILLED IN BAGHDAD EXAMPLE OF UN FAMILY ‘AT ITS MOST COMMITTED

AND MOST COURAGEOUS’, SAYS SECRETARY-GENERAL TO MEMORIAL SERVICE

Following are Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s remarks to the Memorial Ceremony in honour of colleagues killed in the bombing of the United Nations Mission in Baghdad, held in New York, 19 September:

General Assembly Plenary

Tenth Emergency Special Session

20^th Meeting (AM)                                           

GENERAL ASSEMBLY, MEETING IN RESUMED EMERGENCY SPECIAL SESSION,

Security Council

4829^th Meeting (AM)

SECURITY COUNCIL EXTENDS SIERRA LEONE MISSION UNTIL 31 MARCH 2004,

UNANIMOUSLY ADOPTING RESOLUTION 1508 (2003)

The Security Council this morning extended the mandate of the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL), which was to expire on 30 September, until 31 March 2004, welcoming the increasingly stable security situation there.

Fifty-eighth General Assembly

Plenary

2^nd Meeting (AM)

GENERAL ASSEMBLY ADOPTS WORK PLAN FOR FIFTY-EIGHTH SESSION

Acting on the recommendations of its General Committee, the General Assembly this morning adopted its work plan for the fifty-eighth session.