Version No. 1

2003 MAJOR UN SYSTEM ACTIVITIES OF INTEREST TO WORLD MEDIA

Calendar Prepared by Strategic Communications Division, DPI

             As of 21 January 2003

The calendar is updated regularly on the basis of information received and reviewed by the Communications Group. Inputs should be e-mailed to <gastaut@un.org> and <minami@un.org>.

       1993 – 2003         Third Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination

       1994 – 2004         International Decade of the World’s Indigenous People

       1995 – 2004         United Nations Decade for Human Rights Education

       1997 – 2006         United Nations Decade for the Eradication of Poverty

       2001 – 2010         International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence for the Children of the World
       2001 – 2010         Second International Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism

       2001 - 2010         Decade to Roll Back Malaria in Developing Countries, Particularly in Africa

       2003 – 2012         Literacy Decade: Education for All

       2002                     United Nations Year for Cultural Heritage

International Year of Ecotourism

International Year of Mountains

       2003                     International Year of Freshwater                    

January	May	September
February	June	October
March	July	November
April	August	December

Date	Conference/Launch/Observance	Location	Sponsor
JANUARY
8 January	Launch of the “World Economic Situation and Prospects 2003”	UN Headquarters	DESA
13 – 24 January	Ad Hoc Committee for the Negotiation of a Convention against Corruption, fourth session	Vienna, Austria	UNODC
13 – 31 January	CEDAW 28^th session	UN Headquarters	DAW/DESA
13 – 31 January	Committee on the Rights of the Child	Geneva, Switzerland	OHCHR
20 – 28 January	Executive Board of WHO (candidates to the post of next Director-General to be discussed)	Geneva, Switzerland	WHO
20 January – 28 March	Conference on Disarmament (first part)	Geneva, Switzerland	Secretariat of the Conf. On Disarmament
27 January	Report in accordance with Security Council Resolution 1441(2002)	Security Council, UN Headquarters	UNMOVIC and IAEA to update the Council
27 – 31 January	United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation, 51^st session	Vienna, Austria	UNSCEAR
FEBRUARY
3 February	Launch of Study on Opium Economy of Afghanistan: an International Problem	UN Headquarters	UNODC
3 – 4 February	Accelerating the momentum in the fight against HIV/AIDS in South Asia	Kathmandu, Nepal	UNAIDS/UNICEF
3 – 7 February	International Narcotics control Board, 76^th session	Vienna, Austria	INCB
10 – 21 February	41^st session of the Commission for Social Development	UN Headquarters	DESA
17 – 28 February	Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space: Scientific and Technical Subcommittee, 40^th session	Vienna, Austria	Office for Outer Space Affairs (OOSA)
17 – 28 February	Second session of the Preparatory Committee, World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS)	Geneva, Switzerland	ITU
18 February – 4 April	China Space Exhibit	Vienna, Austria	OOSA
21 – 22 February	Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Task Force	Geneva, Switzerland	DESA
24 – 28 February	FAO Committee on Fisheries	Rome, Italy	FAO
25 – 27 February	Launch of the South Asian Citizens’ Social Charter	Colombo, Sri Lanka	DESA
26 February	Launch of the Annual Report of the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB)	Vienna, Austria	INCB
MARCH
3 – 21 March	Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination	Geneva, Switzerland	OHCHR
4 – 7 March	Statistical Commission	UN Headquarters	DESA
7 March	Special Meeting of the Counter-Terrorism Committee	UN Headquarters	Counter-Terrorism Committee
8 March	International Women’s Day	Observances at Headquarters and worldwide	DESA/DPI
10 – 14 March	FAO Committee on Forestry	Rome, Italy	FAO
10 – 21 March	Ad Hoc Committee for the Negotiation of a Convention against Corruption, fifth session	Vienna, Austria	UNODC
16 – 23 March	World Water Forum	Kyoto, Japan	UNEP
17 March – 4 April	Human Rights Committee, 77^th session	UN Headquarters	OHCHR
17 March – 25 April	Commission on Human Rights	Geneva, Switzerland	OHCHR
21 March	International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination	Observances worldwide	OHCHR
22 March	World Water Day	Observances worldwide	UNEP
23 March	World Meteorological Day	Observances worldwide	WMO
24 March	World Tuberculosis Day	Observances worldwide	WHO
24 March – 4 April	Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space: Legal Subcommittee, 42^nd session	Vienna, Austria	OOSA
26 – 28 March	FAO/IFA (International Fertilizer Industry Association) Conference on Global Food Security and the Role of Sustainable Fertilization	Rome, Italy	FAO
31 March – 4 April	FAO Committee on Agriculture	Rome, Italy	FAO
March (tentative)	Launch of cocoa surveys for Columbia, Bolivia and Peru	TBC	UNODC
March (tentative)	Launch of study on amphetamine type stimulants	TBC	UNODC
APRIL
7 April	World Health Day 2003	Observances worldwide	WHO
7 – 11 April	Second Meeting of the Committee of Experts on Public Administration	UN Headquarters	DESA
7 – 12 April	Second Forum on HIV/AIDS/STD in Latin America and the Caribbean	Havana, Cuba	UNAIDS
8 – 15 April	Commission on Narcotic Drugs, 46^th session	Vienna, Austria	UNODC
16 – 17 April	Ministerial-level Segment (General Debate and Round Tables), Commission on Narcotic Drugs, 46^th session	Vienna, Austria	UNODC
17 April	Launch of Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific 2003	Bangkok, Thailand	ESCAP
25 April	Africa Malaria Day	Observances worldwide	WHO
26 April	World Intellectual Property Day	Geneva, Switzerland and worldwide	WIPO
28 – 29 April	UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific – Ministerial Meeting focusing on HIV/AIDS	Bangkok, Thailand	UNAIDS
28 April – 9 May	11^th session of the Commission on Sustainable Development	UN Headquarters	DESA
28 April – 16 May	Committee against Torture	Geneva, Switzerland	OHCHR
Last week of April – first week of May (tentative)	11^th session of the Commission for Sustainable Development	UN Headquarters	Secretariat
April (tentative)	Launch of Trade and Development Report	Geneva, Switzerland and worldwide	UNCTAD
April (tentative)	Launch of UNIDO Annual Report	Vienna, Austria and worldwide	UNIDO
MAY
3 May	World Press Freedom Day	UN Headquarters and observances worldwide (UNESCO’s observance to take place in Kingston, Jamaica)	UNESCO/DPI
5 – 23 May	Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights	Geneva, Switzerland	OHCHR
5 – 24 May	World Meteorological Congress	Geneva, Switzerland	WMO
12 – 15 May	FAO Committee on Food Security	Rome, Italy	FAO
12 – 23 May	Second session of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues	UN Headquarters	DESA
12 May – 27 June	Conference on Disarmament (second part)	Geneva, Switzerland	Secretariat of the Conference on Disarmament
13 – 22 May	Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, 12^th session	Vienna, Austria	UNODC
15 May	International Day of Families	Observances at Headquarters and worldwide	DESA
17 May	World Telecommunication Day – “The Internet: challenges, opportunities and prospects”	Observances worldwide	ITU
19 – 28 May	56^th session of the World Health Assembly	Geneva, Switzerland	WHO
19 May – 6 June	Committee on the Rights of the Child	Geneva, Switzerland	OHCHR
22 May	International Day for Biological Diversity	Montreal, Canada	Convention Secretariat
26 May – 6 June	International Narcotics Control Board, 77^th session	Vienna, Austria	INCB
26 May – 6 June	Third session of the United Nations Forum on Forests	Geneva, Switzerland	UNFF Secretariat/DESA
29 May	International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers	Observances at Headquarters and worldwide	DPI/DPKO
31 May	World Non-Tobacco Day 2003	Observances worldwide	WHO
May (tentative)	Launch of World Industrial Development Report	UN Headquarters, Vienna, Austria and worldwide	UNIDO
JUNE
3 – 19 June	91^st session of International Labour Conference	Geneva, Switzerland	ILO
5 June	World Environment Day	Observances worldwide	UNEP
11 – 20 June	Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, 46^th session	Vienna, Austria	OOSA
12 June	World Day against Child Labour	Geneva, Switzerland and worldwide	ILO
12 – 13 June	International Media Seminar on Peace in the Middle East	Beijing, China	DPI
16 – 20 June	90^th session of the IMO Council	London, United Kingdom	IMO
16 – 27 June	Ad Hoc Committee on a Comprehensive and Integral International Convention on Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities	UN Headquarters	DESA
17 June	World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought	Observances worldwide	Convention Secretariat (Bonn)
18 – 20 June	Fifth International Conference of New and Restored Democracies	Mongolia	Supported by DPA and UNDP
20 June	World Refugee Day	Observances worldwide	UNHCR
23 June	Public Service Day	UN Headquarters	DESA
24 – 27 June	Twentieth session of the CTBO Preparatory Commission	Vienna, Austria	CTBO
26 June	International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking – theme “Let’s Talk about Drugs”  Report on Global Illicit Drug Trends to be issued.	Vienna and Observances worldwide	UNODC
26 June	International Day in Support of Victims of Torture	Geneva, Switzerland and worldwide	OHCHR
26 June	Launch of annual 2003 Global Illicit Drug Trends Report	Vienna, Austria	UNODC
30 June – 1 July	Ad Hoc Committee for the Negotiation of a Convention against Corruption, 6^th session	Vienna, Austria	UNODC
30 June – 25 July	2003 Session of the Economic and Social Council	Geneva, Switzerland	DESA
30 June – 2 July	High-level Segment of ECOSOC session, theme: “Promoting an integrated approach to rural development in developing countries for poverty eradication and sustainable development”	Geneva, Switzerland	DESA
June (tentative)	Launch of Human Development Report on HIV/AIDS in Eastern Europe	TBC	UNDP/UNAIDS
JULY
5 July	International Day of Cooperatives	UN Headquarters and worldwide	DESA
Reports in July (tentative)	- World Economic and Social Survey - Economic Report on Africa 2003 - Human Development Report	UN Headquarters or Geneva Addis Ababa, Ethiopia UN Headquarters and worldwide	DESA ECA UNDP
11 July	World Population Day	Observances at Headquarters and worldwide	UNFPA
14 July – 8 August	Human Rights Committee, 78^th session	Geneva, Switzerland	OHCHR
28 July – 15 August	Sub-Commission on Promotion and Protection of Human Rights	Geneva, Switzerland	OHCHR
28 July – 10 September	Conference on Disarmament (third part)	Geneva, Switzerland	Secretariat of the Conference on Disarmament
July (or possibly by September)	Secretary-General’s meeting on the Global Compact	UN Headquarters	Executive Office of the Secretary-General
AUGUST
4 – 22 August	Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination	Geneva, Switzerland	OHCHR
9 August	International Day of the World’s Indigenous People	Observances at UN Headquarters and worldwide	OHCHR
12 August	International Youth Day	Observances at UN Headquarters and worldwide	DESA
28 – 29 August	International Ministerial Conference of Landlocked and Transit Developing Countries and Donor Countries and International Financial and Development Institutions on Transit Transport Cooperation	Almaty, Kazakhstan	Office of the High Representative for LDC, LLDCs and SIDS/UNCTAD, World Bank/regional commissions
August (tentative)	Launch of the World Development Report	Washington, D.C., USA	World Bank
August (tentative)	Launch of annual opium poppy surveys for Myanmar and Laos	TBC	UNODC
Last week of August	S-G Annual  Report on Implementation of NEPAD	UN Headquarters	Office of the Special Adviser on Africa
SEPTEMBER
early September	56^th Annual DPI/NGO Conference	UN Headquarters	DPI
September	Annual meeting of the General Conference of the IAEA	Vienna, Austria	IAEA
8 September	International Literacy Day	Observances at Headquarters and worldwide	UNESCO
15 September – 3 October	Committee on the Rights of the Child	Geneva, Switzerland	OHCHR
16 September	International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer	Observances worldwide	UNEP
20 – 21 September	Annual UNEP Clean Up the World Weekend	Observances worldwide	UNEP, NGO of Australia
21 September	International Day of Peace	UN Headquarters and worldwide	DPA/DPKO/DPI
21 – 28 September	XII World Forestry Congress	Quebec City, Canada	FAO, Government of Canada, Province of Quebec
26 September	World Maritime Day	Observances worldwide	IMO
26 September - 3 October	General high-level debate of the General Assembly	UN Headquarters	GA
September	General Assembly panel discussion on implementing the Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS	UN Headquarters with civil society participation	GA/UNAIDS
September	S-G Report on the Work of the Organization	UN Headquarters and worldwide	Executive Office of the Secretary-General
September	S-G Report on progress towards implementation of the Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS	UN Headquarters and worldwide	UNAIDS
September (tentative)	Launch of the World Investment Report	Geneva, Switzerland and worldwide	UNCTAD
September (tentative)	Launch of annual opium poppy surveys for Afghanistan	TBC	UNODC
September (tentative)	Launch of 2003 World Drug Report	TBC	UNODC
Late September (or early October)	International Freshwater Forum	Dushanbe, Tajikistan	DESA
OCTOBER
1 October	International Day of Older Persons	Observances at Headquarters and worldwide	DESA
4 – 10 October	World Space Week	Vienna, Austria	OOSA
7 October	World Habitat Day	Observances worldwide	UN-HABITAT
9 October	World Post Day	Observances worldwide	UPU
12 –18 October	Telecom World 2003	Geneva, Switzerland	ITU
16 October	World Food Day	Rome and worldwide	FAO, UN Secretariat
17 October	International Day for the Eradication of Poverty	Observances at Headquarters and worldwide	DESA/UNDP
20 October – 7 November	Human Rights Committee, 79^th session	Geneva, Switzerland	OHCHR
24 October	UN Day	Concert (to be confirmed) in the GA Hall and observances worldwide	DPI
26 – 31 October	International Conference for People Living with HIV/AIDS	Kampala, Uganda	UNAIDS
24  – 30 October	Disarmament Week	Observances worldwide	DDA
October (tentative)	Launch of State of the World Population 2003 Report	UN Headquarters and worldwide	UNFPA
October  (tentative)	Launch of the 2003 World Health Report	Geneva, Switzerland and worldwide	WHO
Last week of October	Africa Development Forum, theme – “Governance”	Addis Ababa, Ethiopia	ECA
NOVEMBER
3 – 7 November	Global Forum on Reinventing Government in Mexico	Mexico	DESA
6 November	International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict	Observances worldwide	UNEP (tentative)
10 – 14 November	21^st session of the CTBTO Preparatory Commission	Vienna, Austria	CTBTO
17 – 18 November	150^th Anniversary of the Brussels Maritime Conference	Brussels, Belgium	WMO
18 November	Global Launch of the Consolidated Appeal	UN Headquarters	OCHA
19 November	Presentation of 2003 UNEP Sasakawa Environment Prize	New York, USA	UNEP
20 November	Africa Industrialization Day	Vienna, New York and African capitals	UNIDO
25 November	International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women	Observances at UN Headquarters and worldwide	DESA/UNIFEM
27 November – 1 December	Seventh International Conference on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific	Kobe, Japan	UNAIDS
29 November	International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People	Observances at UN Headquarters and worldwide	Committee on the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People/DPA/DPI
29 November – 10 December	32^nd FAO Conference	Rome, Italy	FAO
November (tentative)	Launch of E-Commerce and Development Report 2003	Geneva, Switzerland and worldwide	UNCTAD
November (tentative)	Launch of the annual State of Food Insecurity in the World Report	Rome, Italy and worldwide	FAO
November (or December)	ESCAP Economic Bulletin	Bangkok, Thailand	ESCAP
Last week of November	Launch of the 2003 AIDS Epidemic Update	Worldwide	UNAIDS/DPI
DECEMBER
1 December	World AIDS Day – “Live and Let Live”	Observances at Headquarters and worldwide	UNAIDS/DPI
1 – 12 December	Ninth Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (and possible first Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol)	Milan, Italy	UNFCCC
3 December	International Day of Disabled Persons	Observances worldwide	DESA
5 December	International Volunteer Day	Observances worldwide	UNV
7 December	International Civil Aviation Day	Observances worldwide	ICAO
8 – 10 December	Commission on Narcotic Drugs, reconvened 46^th session	Vienna, Austria	UNODC
9 – 10 December	World Electronic Media Forum	Geneva, Switzerland	DPI
10 December	Human Rights Day	Observances worldwide	OHCHR
10 – 12 December	First Phase of the World Summit on the Information Society	Geneva, Switzerland	ITU
18 December	International Migrants Day	Observances worldwide	OHCHR
December (tentative)	Launch of the Report of State of the World’s Children	Worldwide	UNICEF
December (tentative)	Launch of the Status of the Global Climate 2003	Geneva, Switzerland	WMO
December	10^th Anniversary of the International Year of the Family	UN Headquarters	DESA
December	6^th Global Forum of the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council	Dakar, Senegal	DESA

Contributions for this calendar were received from the following UN departments and agencies:

United Nations Secretariat

Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA)

Department of General Assembly Affairs and Conference Services (DGAACS)

Department of Public Information (DPI)

Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)

Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)

United Nations Information Service in Bangkok (UNIS Bangkok)

United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG)

United Nations Office at Vienna (UNOV)

Specialized Agencies and Related Organizations

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)

International Labour Organization (ILO)

International Maritime Organization (IMO)

International Telecommunication Union (ITU)

Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS)

United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)

United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)

United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)

United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT)

United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO)

United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)

Universal Postal Union (UPU)

World Health Organization (WHO)

World Meteorological Organization (WMO)

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