A United Nations human rights team sent to investigate last month's violence in Uzbekistan reported that the security situation of over 400 refugees sheltered in a camp near the Kyrgyz city of Jalal Abad had greatly deteriorated following raids by a group of unidentified men.
Though eight East and Central European countries are entering the European Union, giving rise to dramatic changes in their region, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) still need “to engage fully in the process of reform and revitalization that is high on the agenda at the United Nations,” Secretary-General Kofi Annan said today.
The top United Nations envoy in Kosovo today said that it is time for the province’s majority and minority communities to move toward the resolution of Kosovo’s status by showing that they can build a stable, tolerant, multi-ethnic and democratic society.
Swedish diplomat Jan Eliasson was elected today to preside over the sixtieth session of the United Nations General Assembly, which is scheduled to open on 13 September.
United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan, who arrived in Paris this morning for a two-day visit, plans to hold separate bilateral meetings on Tuesday with French President Jacques Chirac and British Prime Minister Tony Blair, his spokesman said.
Welcoming what he called "continued openness and progress in the dialogue between Pristina and Belgrade," the head of the United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) today met in Belgrade with Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica and other senior officials from Serbia and Montenegro.
United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan is headed to Paris where he will meet early next week with senior French officials and then address some 200 business leaders on their contribution to meeting global socio-economic development targets.
The Secretary-General is currently considering what steps to take in the pursuit of his good offices mission on Cyprus, following the "pulse-taking" visit to the region recently by the head of the UN's Department of Political Affairs, a UN spokesman said today.
Saying the situation in Cyprus was calm but "still lacked a viable political solution," United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today recommended that the mandate of the UN peacekeeping force there be extended for six-months, under its present authorized strength.
United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Louise Fréchette arrived today in Kosovo, where she is slated to hold talks with senior officials and meet with peacekeepers as part of her ongoing bid to prevent sexual exploitation and abuse by blue helmets.
