The next meeting of Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign ministers is due in Prague on January 15, Russian co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group Yuri Merzlyakov told local ANS television.

He also voiced his position on the recent statement by Armenian foreign minister Vardan Oskanian that Armenia is ready to show decisiveness with regard to the issue of Nagorno Karabakh's self-determination.

"We are currently working on a specific issue - the January 15 consultations on the Nagorno Karabakh conflict resolution. The parties will put forth their positions in Prague and we will try to

by Simon Ostrovsky

YEREVAN, Dec 17 (AFP) - It is one of Armenia's most revered sites, but for the poor, the trees around the giant Genocide Memorial outside the capital make more than a pleasant setting for the monument, they are their only source of heat as a bitter winter approaches fast.

Ever since Armenia became locked in war over Nagorno-Karabakh, an enclave in neighboring Azerbaijan in the 1990s, it has been under an energy blockade from the oil-rich post Soviet republic as well as its historic foe to the south, Turkey.

As a result, when the war was in full

INTRODUCTION

The principle of universal and equal suffrage, guaranteeing that every person who has the right to vote is able to exercise this right without distinction of any kind, extends, needless to say, to persons who are internally displaced. Safeguarding for internally displaced persons (IDPs) the ability to freely and fully exercise this right is therefore essential. Doing so is important not only on its own merits but also for enabling the internally displaced, who so often are marginalized, to have a say in decisions that affect their lives. Indeed,

Strasbourg, 19.11.2004 - A report of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) made public today spells out a series of steps Armenia and Azerbaijan could take to fulfill their commitment to settle the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict peacefully. In a draft resolution adopted at a meeting in Paris on Wednesday, PACE's Political Affairs Committee expressed concern at the creation of "mono-ethnic areas which resemble the terrible concept of ethnic cleansing", and reaffirmed the right of displaced persons from the area of conflict to return to their homes safely and with dignity.

INTRODUCTION
Child soldiering: a damaging and despicable practice

Overview

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has condemned child soldiering as a "damaging and despicable practice". Five UN Security Council resolutions have denounced it. Pope John Paul II has called the use of child soldiers a "horrible form of violence". About half the world's governments have formally committed themselves to end under-age recruitment or to do so in the future. Most major armed political groups, under increasing international pressure, have pledged (although

Committee Also Hears Introduction of 17 Draft Resolutions on Human Rights
GA/SHC/3802

Fifty-ninth General Assembly
Third Committee
40th & 41st Meetings (AM & PM)

Security issues due to armed conflicts and the threat of terrorism are becoming one of the major challenges to humanitarian operations, delegates today told the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) as it concluded its general discussion on refugees, returnees and displaced persons.

For information only. Not an official record
Joint OSCE/UNEP/UNDP News Release

TBILISI 22 October 2004 - Environmental degradation and access to natural resources could deepen contention in areas of existing conflicts in Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Nagorno-Karabakh and adjacent regions of Azerbaijan.

According to a new report released in Tbilisi today, the militarised situation also hampers waste management and disposal, and the maintenance and renovation of irrigation and hydroelectric dams, constraining economic growth.

The report, "Environment and Security:

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Armenia, which regained its independence in 1991 and won its 1992-1994 war with Azerbaijan, is at peace and rebuilding its economy but its stability is fragile. Nagorno-Karabakh remains an unsettled problem that easily could reignite, and the regional economic isolation that the war over it produced could become permanent if there is no resolution soon. Corruption and violations of democratic procedure have disillusioned a population half of which still lives below the poverty line. Armenia's friends in the West and in Russia need to work together to help it overcome

USA and Caribbean: Hurricanes Set Off Tornadoes, Floods

More than 600 people have died in Haiti from flooding and mudslides, the lethal aftermath of Tropical Storm Jeanne. Thousands more have sought high ground on the roofs of their houses as nine-foot floodwaters swept through impoverished urban centers. Rescue workers fear they will uncover more dead as waters recede. UMCOR expects to partner with Action by Churches Together, the international alliance of humanitarian aid organizations, in providing emergency food, tarpaulins, and other relief supplies.