LONG LIST OF ACCOMPLISHMENTS IN AFGHANISTAN, BUT CHALLENGES REMAIN IMMENSE,

SAYS SECRETARY-GENERAL IN MESSAGE TO GENERAL ASEMBLY PANEL

Following is Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s message to the panel on "Afghanistan:  One Year Later", delivered by Kieran Prendergast, Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, in New York on 18 November:

Fifty-seventh General Assembly

Third Committee

52^nd Meeting (AM)

FIVE TEXTS ON HUMAN RIGHTS APPROVED BY THIRD COMMITTEE; DISCUSSION ON REFUGEES CONCLUDES

Approved Drafts Concern Human Rights Prizes, Elimination of Religious Intolerance,

Human Rights Defenders, Strengthening UN action, Decade for Human Rights Education

The Secretary-General arrived in Sarajevo from Geneva at midday on Sunday, 17 November, and had a working lunch with the heads of the principal international organizations in Bosnia and Herzegovina, including the Office of the High Representative, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the NATO-led Stabilization Force (SFOR) and the United Nations.

SECRETARY-GENERAL ENCOURAGES SUDANESE PARTIES TO PRESS AHEAD WITH PEACE TALKS

The following statement was issued on Saturday, 16 November, in Geneva by the Spokesman for Secretary-General Kofi Annan:

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan this morning telephoned the President of the Sudan, Omar Al-Bashir, and John Garang, leader of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement, to convey his encouragement for the current peace talks going on in Kenya.

UN MESSENGER OF PEACE, MUHAMMAD ALI, ON MISSION TO AFGHANISTAN 17-19 NOVEMBER

Muhammad Ali is undertaking a humanitarian mission to Afghanistan to raise awareness of the humanitarian needs of the people of Afghanistan and the work of the United Nations there.  The Mission is being sponsored by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP)

Secretary-General Kofi Annan arrived in Geneva on Thursday, 14 November, where on the following day he held a series of meetings with President Paul Biya of Cameroon and President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria to discuss follow-up to the World Court decision regarding the border dispute between the two countries over the oil-rich Bakassi peninsula.

Fifty-seventh General Assembly

Open-ended Panels

AFGHANISTAN PANEL PINPOINTS NATIONWIDE SECURITY, INSTITUTION-BUILDING, RECONSTRUCTION,

ECONOMIC REVIVAL, OUTSIDE INTERFERENCE AS PERSISTENT AREAS OF CONCERN

STATEMENT BY SECRETARY-GENERAL KOFI ANNAN FOLLOWING HIS GENEVA MEETING

WITH PRESIDENTS OF CAMEROON, NIGERIA

The following is the text of a communiqué which was read by the Secretary-General following his meetings in Geneva with President Paul Biya of Cameroon and President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria, on the 10 October 2002 ruling of the International Court of Justice:

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY MUST BE HARNESSED TO GLOBAL MISSION OF PEACE, DEVELOPMENT,

SAYS DEPUTY SECRETARY-GENERAL TO HEADQUARTERS SEMINAR

Following are the remarks of Deputy Secretary-General Louise Fréchette to the third seminar on policy awareness and training in information technology in New York, 15 November:

1267 COMMITTEE APPROVES NEW GUIDELINES

NEW YORK, 15 November (UN Department of Political Affairs) -- On 8 November 2002, the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1267 (1999) approved the new guidelines for the conduct of its work.  The new guidelines are based on Security Council resolution 1390 (2002) and on relevant provisions of resolutions 1267 (1999) and 1333 (2000).