Europe

SARS coronavirus

UN health agency hosts meeting to fight spread of animal diseases to humans

30 April 2004
With SARS, bird flu and other diseases linked to animals threatening human epidemics, the United Nations health agency is hosting a three-day meeting of international experts at its Geneva headquarters next week to improve surveillance, avert the occurrence and minimize the impact of such illnesses.

Russian organization wins UN refugee award

30 April 2004
The United Nations refugee agency today awarded its top prize to a Russian organization advocating on behalf of refugees and people uprooted from their homes seeking safe haven in the Russian Federation.

Annan seeks to continue UN peacebuilding efforts in Tajikistan another year

30 April 2004
The United Nations presence in Tajikistan is continuing to make an important contribution to that country’s post-conflict transition as it encourages the continuation of national dialogue and reconciliation and helps to bolster democratic institutions, the Secretary-General says as he seeks to extend the work of the UN Tajikistan Office of Peace-building (UNTOP) for another year, until 1 June 2005.
Louise Fréchette

Fréchette to make official visits to Italy and Switzerland

30 April 2004
United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Louise Fréchette is set to make official visits next week to Switzerland and Italy, where she will attend the official launch in Rome of the Global Compact, an initiative of Secretary-General Kofi Annan to encourage business and labour to support universal principles on human rights, work norms and environmental protection.
Pope John Paul II

At the Vatican, UN official discusses possible cooperation in preventing drug abuse

30 April 2004
The head of the United Nations drug and crime fighting agency today visited the Vatican, where in addition to an audience with Pope John Paul II he discussed possible collaboration in the prevention and treatment of drug abuse and illegal activities.

UN refugee agency concerned by new EU law on asylum seekers

30 April 2004
The United Nations refugee agency today expressed concern at new European Union legislation on asylum, warning that it might lead in practice to breaches of international refugee law.

Security Council restates support for Kosovo ‘Standards before Status’ policy

30 April 2004
The future status of Kosovo will only be taken up after the province’s Provisional Institutions of Self-Government (PISG) attain certain benchmarks – including free, fair and regular elections, free media and a sound and impartial legal system – outlined in a United Nations-backed plan, the Security Council said today.

UN says Europe must do more to halt species loss by shielding nature-rich farmlands

29 April 2004
With funding erratic and countermeasures seemingly random the European Union (EU) will miss its goal of halting species loss by 2010 unless it does more to prevent the decline of its most nature-rich areas of farmland, the United Nations environmental agency warned today.

UN nuclear agency fights not just weapons but diseases of mass destruction too

29 April 2004
The United Nations nuclear watchdog agency, better known for its efforts to combat the spread of weapons of mass destruction, today drew attention to its role in another battle – the war against diseases of mass destruction.
SRSG Harri Holkeri

Kosovo: UN envoy calls for major effort to rebuild trust after March violence

29 April 2004
Declaring that last month’s ethnic violence in Kosovo, the worst since the United Nations took over its administration five years ago, dealt “a huge setback” to stabilization and normalization, the top UN envoy there warned today that much more remains to be done to rebuild trust and confidence among all communities.