Published Weekly by the United Nations Information Centre New Delhi

55 Lodhi Estate, New Delhi 110003

13 March, 2004

• Sec-Gen Deplores `Senseless' Bomb Blasts In Spain
• Security Council Strongly Condemns Terror Attacks In Madrid
• With Iraqis Signing Interim Constitution, S-G Stresses Need For National Dialogue
• Sec-Gen Strongly Deplores Latest Round Of Middle East Violence
• Dismayed At Violence, S-G Vows UN Support For Peaceful Solution In Venezuela
• UN Envoy Wraps Up Latest Trip To Myanmar In Push For National Reconciliation
• UN Meeting To Chart Future Counter-Terrorism Measures
• IAEA `Seriously Concerned' Over Gaps In Iran's Declaration
• UN: Libya Submits Report On Its Chemical Arms Scheme, Setting Stage For Probe
• Libya Signs Accord For Enhanced IAEA Inspections
• Date For Referenda On Cyprus Set For 20 April
• UN Appeals For $35 Million In Emergency Humanitarian Funds For Haiti
• First Members Of UN Humanitarian Mission Leave For Haiti
• UNDP Project Aims To Clear Landmines in Bosnia & Herzegovina
• S-G Says Only Security Council Can Call For UN Probe Of Aristide's Leaving Haiti
• UN Peacekeeping Troop Numbers Projected To Keep Growing
• Computer Manufacturing Soaks Up Fossil Fuels, UNU Study Says
• ILO: Women Still Face Pay And Job Discrimination In The Global Workplace
• UNESCO: Treaty Protecting Cultural Property During War Becomes Law
• FAO Warns Against Hasty Poultry Restocking
• Filming Begins On First Movie Shot At UN Headquarters In New York
• WHO Launches Photo Contest

Reacting to news of several bomb blasts in Spain, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan on 11 March reiterated his stance that there is no justification for targeting civilians, and said the perpetrators must be held to account for their crimes.

"Once again we see senseless killing of innocent people," Mr. Annan told the press upon arriving at UN Headquarters in New York. "Killing of innocent people cannot be justified regardless of the cause." 

Offering his deepest sympathy to King Juan Carlos, the Government of Spain and to the people and friends who were killed or injured in the explosions, the Secretary-General said he hoped that the perpetrators would be brought to justice swiftly.

In Geneva, the Acting UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Bertrand Ramcharan condemned the bombings as "unconscionable and monstrous."

"The one thing terrorists all over the world have in common, whatever their claims, is an utter disregard for life and all human rights", Mr. Ramcharan said, vowing that these attacks "will not succeed in destroying the edifice of international law and human rights."

He joined Mr. Annan in stressing that the perpetrators must be brought to justice "within the human rights standards that help bind our societies together and that they constantly assail."

The United Nations Security Council on 11 March strongly condemned the bomb attacks in Madrid that killed at least 190 people and injured more than 1,200, and called on countries to cooperate in the effort to bring the perpetrators to justice.

Acting just hours after a series of bomb explosions rocked three train stations in the Spanish capital, the Council unanimously adopted a resolution condemning the attacks perpetrated by the terrorist group Euskadi ta Askatasuna (ETA) saying that it regards them as "a threat to peace and security."

The resolution also expressed the 15-member body's "reinforced determination to combat all forms of terrorism," and conveyed its deepest sympathy and condolences to the people and Government of Spain and to the victims of the attacks and their families.

The text also urged all States "to cooperate actively in efforts to find and bring to justice the perpetrators, organizers and sponsors of this terrorist attack."

Speaking to reporters outside the Council's chambers after the vote, the Deputy Permanent Representative of Spain, Ana María Menéndez, said: "In this moment of grief and pain and suffering for the Spanish people, we have felt comforted by the unanimous and very fast adoption of resolution 1530 by the Security Council.

"[It] is an unequivocal condemnation of the terrible terrorist attacks that took place in Madrid and claimed the lives of more than 190 people so far and wounded approximately 1,200 or more Spaniards," she added.

"We would like to thank the international community and the members of the Council for their solidarity and their support," Ambassador Menéndez said.

Reacting to news of the signing of an interim constitution by Iraqis on 8 March in Baghdad, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan stressed the need for all-encompassing, nationwide discussions that would help boost stability in the country.

A UN spokesman said the Secretary-General took note of the signing of the law of administration for the transitional period in Iraq, and that Mr. Annan would study the document carefully.

"In this regard, he'll also review the possible role which may be envisaged by the Iraqis for the UN," Fred Eckhard said, adding that the Secretary-General "emphasizes the importance of an inclusive national dialogue and genuine consensus-building among all Iraqis, which will help to promote stability in Iraq as the country moves closer to regaining its sovereignty."

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan on 8 March strongly deplored the latest round of violence over the weekend in the Middle East.

Reacting to Israeli military raids on 7 March in a densely populated area of the Gaza Strip, which left at least 14 Palestinians killed _ including several children _ and dozens wounded, the Secretary-General, through his spokesman, called on the Government of Israel "to abide by its obligation under international humanitarian law to avoid civilian casualties and to desist from the use of disproportionate force in densely populated areas."

The spokesman's statement also strongly deplored "the reckless action" by Palestinian extremists on 6 March at Erez checkpoint, where hundreds of Palestinians and UN and other international staff regularly cross to and from Israel, which resulted in the deaths of two Palestinian security officers.

It was the third attack at Erez since the beginning of the year.

Voicing dismay at the violence that has rocked Venezuela over the past week, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan on 5 March pledged the world body's backing in achieving a peaceful resolution.

In a statement read by his spokesman, the Secretary-General welcomed the support given to the work of the Venezuelan National Electoral Council by the Organization of American States (OAS) and the Carter Center, hailing it as "an important element in ensuring a peaceful, electoral and constitutional solution to the country's political impasse."

Spokesman Fred Eckhard said the UN "will continue to be engaged in supporting the Government and other parties in seeking peaceful solutions to resolving their differences."

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan's Special Envoy has concluded a visit last week to Myanmar, where he continued efforts to facilitate national reconciliation and democratization based on the participation of all parties concerned in the country's process for a democratic transition.

Razali Ismail was in the country from 1 to 4 March for talks with Government officials, including Prime Minister General Khin Nyunt and Foreign Minister Win Aung. He also met with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and other senior members of the National League for Democracy (NLD), as well as representatives of various ethnic nationality groups.

"During these meetings, the Special Envoy emphasized the need for all the parties, in the name of the people of Myanmar, to turn over a new page so as to make the democratic transitional process all-inclusive and credible," UN spokesman Fred Eckhard said at a press briefing in New York.

"In this context, he was encouraged by the expressions of commitment of the Prime Minister to implement, in an all-inclusive manner, the Government's seven-step roadmap, starting with the reconvening of the National convention," he added.

According to the spokesman, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi indicated to Mr. Razali during their discussion that she and her colleagues from the NLD's Central Executive Committee should be released and allowed to resume political activities, and for the offices of the NLD to be reopened.

Despite the unfortunate events of Depeyin on 30 May 2003, she also indicated her willingness to work for a "harmonized" relationship with Prime Minister Khin Nyunt's government in order to move process ahead, Mr. Eckhard said, referring to the place where NLD members were attacked and some arrested.

Bolstering the joint efforts of international organizations in the global fight against terrorism is the focus of a United Nations conference in Vienna, which opened on 11 March against the backdrop of the multiple bomb explosions at three train stations in Spain.

The two-day meeting, which began with a minute of silence in honour of the victims of the Madrid attacks, aims to recommend concrete suggestions to strengthen the planning, coordination and execution of future joint activities, and move towards strengthening the exchange of information in a bid to stem the terrorist scourge.

The session addressed current and emerging threats, with two working sessions focused on the danger posed to civil aviation by Man-Portable Air Defence Systems (MANPADS) and on the need to break the nexus between terrorism and organized crime.

12 March session will look at preventing the financing of terrorism; ratification and implementation of 12 international anti-terrorism instruments; border management issues; and coordination among key organizations at all levels.

Speaking at the event, organized by the United Nations and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Antonio Maria Costa, Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), said there is strong evidence of a close link between terrorism and organized criminal activities, including trafficking in drugs, firearms and human beings, as well as money-laundering.

While noting with satisfaction marked progress in cooperation by Iran, the head of the United Nations atomic watchdog agency on 8 March voiced serious concern over gaps in Tehran's declaration of nuclear activities and called on it to take the "vital" initiative to provide all relevant information fully and promptly in the coming months.

In his first briefing to the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) Governing Board since Iran signed additional safeguards aimed at preventing the development of nuclear weapons, Director-General Mohamed ElBaradei also said full cooperation was essential from countries from which nuclear technology and equipment for Tehran originated.

At the same time he welcomed the "active cooperation and openness" shown by Libya, which renounced internationally proscribed weapons in December, and called the withdrawal by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) a dangerous precedent threatening the credibility of the non-proliferation regime.

He noted "with satisfaction" that since October Iran had granted IAEA inspectors access to requested sites, documentation and personnel and suspended reprocessing and uranium enrichment related activities as a confidence building measure. But, he added: "It is vital that, in the coming months, Iran ensures full transparency with respect to all of its nuclear activities, by taking the initiative to provide all relevant information in full detail and in a prompt manner."

Calling for expanded cooperation from countries where nuclear supplies originated, Mr. ElBaradei declared: "Hopefully, with no new revelations, and with satisfactory resolution of these and other remaining questions, we can look forward to a time when the confidence of the international community has been restored."

On Libya, Mr. ElBaradei said its failure over many years to declare its nuclear material and activities represented a breach of its obligation to comply with provisions of its safeguards agreement, "and its acquisition of a nuclear weapon design is clearly a matter of utmost concern."

But he added that following Tripoli's renunciation of weapons of mass destruction, it "has responded promptly to the Agency's requests for information, and assisted the Agency in gaining a full picture of its nuclear programme," and agreed to conclude an additional protocol of safeguards.

On the DPRK, Mr. ElBaradei said the IAEA had been unable to draw conclusions on its nuclear activities since Pyongyang terminated onsite agency verification activities in 2002, but he welcomed the continued six-party talks in Beijing on the nuclear issue, with the participation of China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Russia, the United States and the DPRK.

He also noted that the IAEA had found increasing evidence of a complex black market network in nuclear materials as part of its verification of Libyan and Iranian activities. "An important part of our investigation is to find out whether the sensitive nuclear technologies in question have been spread to any other countries or end-users," he said.

Meeting its obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention, Libya on 5 March submitted a complete initial declaration on those arms to the treaty's watchdog agency, a United Nations spokesman reported.

"Libya's declaration includes approximately 23 tons of mustard gas, one inactivated chemical weapons production facility, and two chemical weapons storage facilities," Fred Eckhard told the press. Tripoli acceded to the treaty at the beginning of this year as part of its overall renunciation of weapons of mass destruction.

He noted that this development "paves the way for the inspection and verification of its declaration."

The Hague-based Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), which monitors the pact, said experts would begin conducting inspections at all declared sites and facilities in Libya shortly.

A delegation of senior Libyan officials also turned in a destruction plan for these weapons and related production facilities.

That text will be reviewed later this month by the agency's Executive Council.

Hailing Tripoli's full compliance with the treaty, OPCW Director-General Rogelio Pfirter said, "This is good for Libya, the region and the international community since it strengthens this multilateral disarmament regime and represents a tangible step towards the ultimate elimination of these weapons of mass destruction."

The destruction of Libya's chemical weapons and the capacity to produce them is set to be completed by 29 April 2007.

Less than three months after renouncing all programmes leading to the production of internationally proscribed weapons, Libya on 10 March signed an agreement granting the United Nations atomic watchdog agency enhanced access to verify that its nuclear activities are for peaceful purposes only.

The Additional Protocol to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), signed by the Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Mohamed ElBaradei, and Libya's Assistant Secretary for Services Affairs, Matooq Mohamed Matooq, also requires the North African country to provide an expanded declaration of its nuclear activities.

Mr. ElBaradei said the signing, at IAEA's Vienna headquarters, indicated Libya's commitment to move away from weapons of mass destruction while continuing to reap the full benefits of nuclear applications for peaceful uses such as energy, agriculture and medicine. Tripoli has stated its intention to act as if the protocol is already in place, pending its formal entry into force.

To facilitate preparations for the conduct of referenda on each side, the top United Nations adviser on Cyprus has informed the Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders that the date for a referendum has been set for 20 April, according to the UN mission in the country.

The announcement by Secretary-General Kofi Annan's Special Adviser on Cyprus, Alvaro de Soto, came on 8 March, the UN peacekeeping force on the island (UNFICYP) said.

Last month, the Greek Cypriot leader, Tassos Papadopoulos, and the Turkish Cypriot leader, Rauf Denktash, agreed to continue meeting in Nicosia until 22 March to discuss a plan initiated by Secretary-General Kofi Annan to reunify the island ahead of its entry into the European Union on 1 May.

If the talks succeed in reaching agreement on modifications to the plan, then the entire proposal will be submitted to separate referenda for approval by the Greek Cypriots and the Turkish Cypriots.

The United Nations on 9 March launched an emergency "Flash Appeal" for $35 million to meet the medical and nutritional needs of 3 million Haitians over the next six months.

UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Jan Egeland told the press in New York that problems in the already troubled country have been exacerbated by recent turmoil. "What we saw is that the dramatic events of the last few weeks put the Haitian people, who were already suffering from deprivation and poverty, in an even more vulnerable position."

Regional organizations tried to work out a compromise between then-Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and his unarmed opposition prior to Mr. Aristide's departure for the Central African Republic.

Humanitarian access is very limited in Haiti, which remains volatile, Mr. Egeland said. More than 3,000 prisoners have been released _ and then armed by various gangs _ while thousands of political activists are also carrying weapons. Looting, killing and arson are widespread in the capital, Port-au-Prince, he added.

The Flash Appeal runs in tandem with a consolidated appeal for $85 million launched last April to cover 18 months of humanitarian and other aid for the country of 8.3 million people.

But that drive has only received pledges of $38 million, so beyond food, water and sanitation, there is no money for other needs, such as economic recovery, one year after the appeal was launched, Mr. Egeland said.

"Haiti has by far the worst health indicators of the Americas before the crisis, with the highest infant and maternal mortality rates, the highest level of malnutrition and the highest percentage of people living with HIV/AIDS all over this hemisphere," he pointed out, appealing for donors to come forward with funds.

Currently, some 50 UN staff members are in Haiti, while a multidisciplinary assessment team will travel there on 10 March, according to a spokesman for the world body.

With United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan saying the international commitment to Haiti could be needed for "10 years or more," the first group from a UN multidisciplinary team went to the troubled Caribbean country on 10 March as humanitarian assessment missions resumed in its provinces.

"An inter-agency team, comprising representatives from the World Food Programme (WFP) and the UN Development Programme (UNDP), is scheduled to assess needs in Gonaïves and Hinche _ if security conditions allow," UN spokesman Fred Eckhard told journalists in New York.

Representatives of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said, meanwhile, that Haitian farmers might be unable to sell their harvests and earn money to buy essential food. In its emergency humanitarian appeal for $35 million, FAO included $4 million to help improve food security and meet the food needs of some 3 million people.

In a separate development, the Secretary-General, in his address on 9 March to both Houses of the Canadian Parliament, made a special plea for a long-term commitment to Haiti. "Half-hearted efforts of the past have been insufficient," he said.

"We cannot afford to fail this time."

At a subsequent news conference, which followed his meeting with Prime Minister Paul Martin, Mr. Annan said the commitment to Haiti could be needed for at least 10 years.

He also said the Security Council, in passing a 29 February resolution whose preamble said the Council had taken note of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide's resignation, had acted on the basis of a letter of resignation and the transfer of power to Haiti's Chief Justice.

The Council had determined that a multinational force was needed because of the volatility in the country, Mr. Annan said.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on 10 March announced a multimillion dollar project to help Bosnia and Herzegovina _ Europe's most heavily landmine-affected country _ eliminate the deadly threat posed by those weapons.

Surveys have so far identified an estimated 670,000 mines and 650,000 pieces of unexploded ordnance (UXOs) at 10,000 locations, blighting more than 4 per cent of the total territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina, according to the agency. Only 10 per cent of these areas have been cleared.

The five-year, $11.8 million project aims to help the Government by setting up a national office to issue tenders for anti-mine activities while providing continued funding for the Bosnia and Herzegovina Mine Action Centre.

The initiative will also clear mines and UXOs from 4 million square metres of land needed for economic development.

UNDP Resident Representative Jens Toyberg-Frandzen said the aim is to help free Bosnia and Herzegovina of the landmine threat. "Only by working in partnership on mine action can we achieve security for all," he said.

Since the end of war in 1995, mines have killed almost 1,500 people and injured about 5,000 others in Bosnia and Herzegovina, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan on 11 March said the Security Council was responsible for deciding whether there should be an investigation of how President Jean-Bertrand Aristide came to leave Haiti.

"This is an issue that the Council will have to discuss and determine whether it takes it up or not, because the Council acted on the assumption that the President had resigned and they had a letter of resignation before them," he said as he entered UN Headquarters, replying to a question on calls for a probe from the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the African Union (AU).

"If they want to get into the investigation and they gave me the mandate, I would be duty-bound to undertake it. And so this is an issue that we will need to discuss with the Council," he said.

The number of United Nations peacekeepers serving around the world continues to grow even as the number of missions remains relatively static, according to the latest overview of the UN peacekeeping budget.

The annual review shows that more peacekeepers and military observers are needed by UN missions, but the levels of civilian police and civilian staff required are falling at the same time.

The overview indicates that 29,190 peacekeeping troops were used in 15 missions in July 2000 to June 2001, rising to 34,901 troops in 11 missions in 2002-03 and a projected 46,478 troops for 2004-05.

UN spokesman Fred Eckhard told reporters on 5 March in New York that while the number of peacekeepers and missions often changes on a cyclical basis, there is an overall upward trend.

"I don't know if we would surpass the peak which may have been in 1993, [when] we had between 70,000 and 80,000 peacekeepers _ at that time, there were three huge missions: Bosnia, Cambodia, Somalia. But we're moving in that direction," Mr. Eckhard said.

Mr. Eckhard also noted that an expansion of the UN's Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) has been underway since Lakhdar Brahimi delivered the Report of the Panel on UN Peace Operations.

"They're still struggling to fill the vacant posts," he said. "But I think we're in a much better position today to manage the volume of work. That said, the prospective start-up in the near future of so many missions is going to put a strain even on the expanded Peacekeeping Department."

The total peacekeeping budget in 2002-03 was $2.6 billion across 11 missions, increasing to an estimated $2.7 billion in 2004-05, when there is expected to be one more mission.

Between 2000-01 and 2004-05, the number of military observers is forecast to rise from 1,510 to 2,022, while the number of civilian police is slated to fall from 7,800 to 4,250 and the level of civilian staff is expected to drop from 16,262 to 11,414.

The manufacture of an average desktop computer and monitor uses more than 10 times its weight in fossil fuels and chemicals, according to a United Nations University (UNU) study which has called for worldwide action to halt "the growth of high-tech trash."

The study, released on 7 March, shows that the construction of an average 24-kilogram computer and 27-centimetre monitor requires at least 240 kilograms of fossil fuel, 22 kilograms of chemicals and 1,500 kilograms of water _ or 1.8 tons in total, the equivalent of a rhinoceros or sports utility vehicle.

The report _ which examined the environmental impact of the information technology revolution _ said computer manufacturing is much more materials-intensive than making a car or refrigerator, which need only one or two times their weight in fossil fuels.

More than 130 million computers are being sold each year now, and "today it is hard to imagine life without one of these indispensable 21^st century tools," one of the co-editors of the UNU study, Eric Williams, said. "But it is exactly because they have become so ubiquitous that we must be aware of the negative impacts of the PC boom."

Mr. Williams and his co-editor, Ruediger Kuehr, have called for government incentives to extend the life of personal computers and curtail the desire or need to rapidly discard them for newer models.

They also identified several other potential environmental consequences of the PC boom, such as exposure to hazardous materials during the computer manufacturing process or when used computers have been dumped in landfills.

Women are entering the global labour force in record numbers but they still face higher unemployment rates and lower wages, and success in crashing through the "glass ceiling" to top managerial jobs remains "slow, uneven and sometimes discouraging," the United Nations labour agency reported on 5 March.

Women represent 60 per cent of the world's 550 million working poor, according to a new report by the International Labour Organization (ILO) prepared for International Women's Day, marked on 8 March. A separate updated analysis deals with trends in the efforts of women to break through the symbolic glass-ceiling barrier.

"These two reports provide a stark picture of the status of women in the world of work today," Juan Somavia, Director-General of the Geneva-based ILO, said. "Women must have an equal chance of reaching the top of the jobs ladder."

Mr. Somavia warned that unless progress is made in taking women out of poverty by creating "productive and decent employment," the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) of halving poverty by 2015 would remain out of reach in most parts of the world.

Last year, some 1.1 billion of the world's 2.8 billion workers, or 40 per cent, were women, representing an increase of nearly 200 million in the past 10 years, according to Global Employment Trends for Women 2004. But the explosive growth has not been accompanied by true economic empowerment for women, the report says. Nor has it led to equal pay for work of equal value or balanced benefits.

"In short, true equality in the world of work is still out of reach," the ILO states.

While the gap in numbers has been closing in all regions since 1993, the rate has varied widely. In the transition economies and East Asia, the number of women working for pay per 100 men is 91 and 83, respectively, but in other regions such as the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia, only 40 women per 100 men are economically active.

Of the world's 550 million working poor, those unable to lift themselves and their families above the $1 per day threshold, 330 million, or 60 per cent, are women, the report says. Adding the 77.8 million women who are unemployed means that at least 400 million decent jobs would be needed to provide poor women with a way out of poverty.

As for job quality, the overall employment situation for women has not evolved significantly since 2001, according to Breaking through the glass ceiling: Women in management - Update 2004, which shows that women's share of managerial positions in some 60 countries ranges between 20 and 40 per cent.

A treaty stipulating that cultural heritage must be protected during war and that individual perpetrators of "crimes against culture" must be held responsible became law on 9 March in participating countries, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) said.

The Second Protocol to the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in Event of Armed Conflict entered into force after Costa Rica became the 20^th country to ratify the pact.

UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura said it is now more important than ever to protect cultural property in times of war. "Given its deeply symbolic value, belligerents too often make it a deliberate target for acts of pillaging, destruction and vandalism," he said.

Under the Second Protocol, an Intergovernmental Committee comprising 12 States Parties will monitor the implementation of the Convention and its two Protocols. The Committee will be able to designate certain cultural properties as being "of the greatest importance for humanity" and give them "enhanced protection."

The 1954 Convention has 108 States Parties. The First Protocol, adopted the same year, has 87 States Parties. It forbids the export of cultural property from an occupied territory, requires the return of such property to the territory from which it was removed and forbids warring parties to retain cultural property as war reparations.

Noting that some Asian countries hit by the recent deadly bird flu epidemic are already planning to declare selected zones virus-free and to restock decimated flocks, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on11 March warned against any such hasty action to prevent the disease flaring up again.

"In the battle against the disease, there are definitely some improvements. But we fear that the virus may continue to circulate in the environment, even without an outbreak, or any clinical signs in animals," said the Chief of the Animal Health Service at the Rome-based agency, Joseph Domenech.

Over the past two months, more than 100 million birds have either died of the flu or been culled, while there have been 33 confirmed cases of the disease's transmission to humans, 22 of them fatal.

"Appropriate precautionary measures have to be put in place to be absolutely sure that infected zones are free from infection and will remain free," Mr. Domenech said.

Before restocking, countries must prove the absence of virus circulation by research. This process can involve using non-vaccinated chickens in affected areas to test for possible infection, as well as monitoring poultry movements, preventing contact between domestic and wild birds and implementing intensive disease surveillance, FAO said.

If countries want to resume exports they have to prove that they are free from avian influenza and their status will be verified by independent international experts, it added.

The virulent H5N1 strain has been confirmed in Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Laos, Thailand and Viet Nam, while poultry has also been culled in Pakistan.

Filming has begun on The Interpreter, the first movie to be shot inside the United Nations Headquarters in New York, after the UN gave formal permission to the movie's producers on 5 March.

The thriller, which stars Sean Penn and Nicole Kidman, is not intended to be a propaganda device for the UN, director Sydney Pollack and UN Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information Shashi Tharoor said at a joint press conference.

Mr. Tharoor said the UN granted approval to The Interpreter only after senior officials studied the script and held "extensive discussions" with Mr. Pollack.

He said they also signed off partly because of "our own great regard for Mr. Pollack as an artist and given his track record and experience as a film maker."

Mr. Tharoor said UN officials believe The Interpreter is "going to bring a lot of people into the movie theatres…who would not otherwise have paid much attention to this Organization."

The Director said he was attracted to the visual setting offered by the world body. "People haven't seen what's inside," Mr. Pollack said. "You have tons and tons of visitors but most of the people in the United States don't know what the UN looks like and don't understand how the UN works and don't know what its day-to-day business is."

The first scenes at UN Headquarters were shot last weekend. Mr. Tharoor said filming would only take place on weekends, public holidays or nights so as not to disturb the regular work of the UN. The set is closed to tourists and UN staff.

Mr. Pollack predicted that shooting on the film, estimated to cost $80 million, would take 14 weeks. He also voiced hope that it would be released late November.

Against a backdrop of over half a million pregnancy and childbirth deaths, 5 million new cases of HIV infection, and nearly 70,000 fatal abortions each year, a United Nations agency on 10 March launched a photographic contest as part of its efforts to highlight the importance of sexual and reproductive health.

The UN World Health Organization (WHO) is inviting photographers from around the world, both amateur and professional, to submit images that capture four key stages in the "River of Life" _ as the exhibition is called _ Love, Life, Illness and Death.

The contest, closing on 13 April, will be judged by a panel of experts. The winning photographs will be displayed at the World Health Assembly in Geneva in May 2004 and used in a WHO campaign on sexual and reproductive health.