Press Release

                                                            RD/910*

Commission on Status of Women                         WOM/1279

Forty-fifth Session                                   13 March 2001

12^th Meeting (PM)

UN UNIVERSITY SEMINAR ‘GLOBAL FINANCE AND CIVIL SOCIETY AFTER PRAGUE’

TO BE HELD AT HEADQUARTERS 3 APRIL

NEW YORK, 12 March (UNU) -- The United Nations University (UNU) will host a seminar on "Global Finance and Civil Society after Prague:  issues, challenges, implications for the United Nations” on Tuesday, 3 April from 3 to 6 p.m. in the Dag Hammarskjold Library Auditorium at Headquarters.

Commission on Status of Women

Forty-fifth Session

9^th Meeting* (AM)

OPEN COMMUNICATION AND ADVOCACY NEEDED TO OVERCOME HIV/AIDS PANDEMIC,

COMMISSION ON STATUS OF WOMEN TOLD

SECRETARY-GENERAL SAYS DAY FOR ELIMINATION OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION

CELEBRATES STEPS WORLD HAS TAKEN TO FREE ITSELF FROM RACIAL HATRED

Following is the message of Secretary-General Kofi Annan on the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, which is observed on 21 March:

Secretary-General Kofi Annan departed New York on Friday morning, 9 March, to begin a four-nation tour of Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and India.

SECRETARY-GENERAL SALUTES PAKISTAN’S UN CONTRIBUTIONS, OFFERS SUPPORT

FOR EFFORTS TO ESTABLISH DEMOCRACY, IN TOAST AT ISLAMABAD BANQUET

Following is the text of the toast delivered by Secretary-General Kofi Annan at the official dinner banquet hosted by the Chief Executive, General Perez Masharraf, in Islamabad, Pakistan, on 11 March:

Special Committee on

Decolonization

2^nd Meeting (PM)

DECOLONIZATION COMMITTEE DECIDES 2001 CARIBBEAN REGIONAL SEMINAR,

HOSTED BY CUBA, WILL BE HELD 23-25 MAY

ACCESS TO SAFE WATER FUNDAMENTAL HUMAN NEED, BASIC HUMAN RIGHT,

SAYS SECRETARY-GENERAL IN MESSAGE ON WORLD WATER DAY

Following is the message of Secretary-General Kofi Annan on World Water Day, which is observed 22 March:

Access to safe water is a fundamental human need and, therefore, a basic human right.  Contaminated water jeopardizes both the physical and social health of all people.  It is an affront to human dignity.

Commission on Status of Women

Forty-fifth Session

10^th Meeting (PM)

COMMISSION HEARS INTRODUCTION OF RESOLUTIONS ON HOSTAGE-TAKING, PALESTINIAN WOMEN,

HIV/AIDS, DISCRIMINATION IN AFGHANISTAN AND GENDER MAINSTREAMING