In New York - The Secretary-General’s report to the Security Council on the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), issued on 13 July, said that four international organizations and agencies will be working together in one operation under one leadership to create conditions of normalcy in Kosovo under which all peoples can enjoy the benefits of democracy and self-governance.

The Secretary-General strongly encouraged all ethnic communities and parties in Kosovo to demonstrate restraint and tolerance and fully cooperate with the international community in this endeavor.

Significant financial resources and personnel, including experts in various fields, will be required immediately, according to the report.

Citing other urgent needs in the aftermath of the Kosovo conflict such as the payment of local salaries in the public sector, the Secretary-General appealed to Member States who have not yet done so to make available the resources required. "If we are not able to meet this requirement, we will face a collapse of the public sector in Kosovo which will have tremendous implications for social order and jeopardize the success of the Interim Administration," he said.

Humanitarian - Louise Arbour, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, at a news conference in Pristina, said that she expects that the current work being done by the Tribunal teams will continue at least until next fall. She added that other indictments would be sent related to war crimes committed in Kosovo.

The Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) reported that the refugee crisis has had little impact on food availability in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, but it has aggravated general economic instability there.

FAO blamed the precarious food situation in Albania on the country's overall economic and development difficulties, not on the extraordinary circumstances created by the crisis.

Civil Administration - Amid increasing reports of attacks against Serbs and Romas, the acting Special Representative for Kosovo, Sergio Vieira de Mello issued a statement on behalf of all components of the United Nations mission, including the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the European Union, strongly appealing for an end to attacks and harassment of minorities. "Everyone who wishes to see his or her children to enjoy a prosperous and secure life in a new and democratic Kosovo has a duty to help end this violence now," he said.

Humanitarian - As the vast majority of the refugees have already gone home one month after the UN resumed operations in Kosovo, UNHCR is urging other agencies to begin immediate reconstruction of homes, apartment buildings and damaged infrastructure.

Information on mine and unexploded ordinance-related injuries and deaths in Kosovo between June 13 and July 12 has been released by the World Health Organization in Pristina. According the WHO, mines and unexploded ordinances caused an estimated 130 to 170 casualties during the 30-day period covered. The estimate is based on 97 confirmed cases.

Mines were responsible for 58 percent of the casualties while unexploded ordinances, including unexploded NATO cluster bombs, accounted for 40 percent.

The Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Kosovo Bernard Kouchner arrived in Pristina, accompanied by the newly appointed Principal Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Jock Covey (USA), Deputy Secretary-General for Reconstruction, Joly Dixon (Ireland), Kouchner's Special Advider, Eric Chevalier, and UNMIK's new Director of Information, Nadia Younes.

"I have an agenda," Kouchner told reporters at UNMIK's Pristina headquarters. "First to make sure that immediate humanitarian needs are met. Second to ensure essential public functions, specifically law and order. And third to lay the foundation for economic recovery and development … It's simple, but ambitious. The job can be done."

Civil Administration - The acting Special Representative, Sergio Vieira de Mello, met with Kosovo Albanian leader Ibrahim Rugova who returned to the province earlier today. A crowd of 3,000 to 4,000 Kosovars gathered around the UN mission headquarters upon his arrival chanting "Rugova, Rugova."

Civil Administration - The United Nations brought together the political leaders of Kosovo’s Albanian and Serbian communities in the first meeting of the Kosovo Transitional Council -- a critical first step towards the development of self-government in Kosovo.

The meeting, chaired by the incoming and outgoing Special Representatives of the Secretary-General in Pristina earlier today, was the highest political consultative body in Kosovo under the United Nations, which holds executive authority in the territory.

"In our hearts, we know this is about reconciliation. In our heads, we know that real peace takes time. But it is in our hands today to begin making Kosovo safe for all people. All decent people," the new Special Representative Bernard Kouchner said in his opening remarks to the Council.

Taking part in the meeting were six representatives of the Kosovo Albanian community, two Serbs, one Moslem and one Turk, in addition to the United Nations officials and Gen. Jackson representing KFOR. Absent were Kosovo Albanian leader Ibrahim Rugova and his political party, the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK).

Kouchner said he was disappointed that the LDK chose not to participate in the first meeting, and expressed hope they would reconsider their position, saying, "The work of the Council is too important to wait."

The Council agreed to meet again in nine days. They also agreed to form sub-groups to tackle the issue of prisoners and detainees, conduct joint visits to flashpoints such as Orohavac, Mitrovica and Gnjilane, as well as make common appeals for restraint on television and radio.

In Kosovo, the recruitment of applicants into the police training academy being set up by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) will begin Friday when forms for the future Kosovo Police Service will be distributed throughout the territory. Applications will be screened in Pristina. The plan is for the training to begin in August.

Humanitarian - As the refugee population in the neighbouring countries dwindles, former refugee camp sites in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Albania are being cleaned up and rehabilitated, and steps are being taken to repair environmental damage. UNHCR hopes to be able to close all the camps by early October.

Over the weekend, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Kosovo, Bernard Kouchner traveled to Pec, Prizren and Mitrovica as part of his familiarization tour of the province.

In Prizren, Kouchner swore in seven new judges and three new prosecutors, bringing to 19 the total number of judicial officials appointed by the United Nations. Judges who are travelling around Kosovo as part of a mobile court has so far heard 90 cases involving 198 persons in detention --- 95 of whom have been released. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has interviewed 253 potential judicial candidates.

Kouchner also met with the Serb Bishop Artemije on Saturday and KLA leader Hashim Thaci on Sunday.

Humanitarian - As of Sunday morning, a total of approximately 685,000 refugees had returned to Kosovo. It is estimated that there are 87,000 refugees remaining in Albania, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina and The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. Returns are still averaging between 2,000 and 3,000 per day.

Kosovo Police Service application forms were being distributed now and they were in circulation around Kosovo including KFOR brigade offices, United Nations International Police offices and UNMIK offices in the various districts. In Pristina they were available at the International Police headquarters building. The OSCE expects to have some 80 police instructors and the director of the police academy in place within the coming week. The first 350 recruits were expected to be selected and begin their training in mid-August. The initial training course will last for five weeks and will be followed by continued in-service training.

Humanitarian - The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said the security situation in Kosovo leaves much to be desired. Many residents to whom UNHCR staff have spoken in Kosovo, especially in the western part of the province, increasingly blame the poor security situation on gangs from Albania.

On the shelter programme, UNHCR was still very concerned about how people were going to get through the winter. There could be as many as 300,000 to 500,000 people who are going to need help in regard to shelter, rebuilding at least one room in their houses to make it weatherproof. So far UNHCR has distributed such materials as tents, window plastic and plywood to help in weather proofing efforts.

The second report of the Rapid Village Assessment Programme will be released by the middle of this week. It is prepared with the cooperation of UNHCR's Coordination Unit, NGOs, KFOR and other United Nations organizations and it covers the level of destruction in 500 of the 2,000 villages around Kosovo.

A press conference will be held at 9 a.m. tomorrow by Catherine Bertini, Executive Director of the World Food Programme at the WFP office in Pristina.

In New York - The report of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ) on the financing of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) supports the Secretary-General's request for $200 million to fund the Mission from its inception until a full budget is presented to the General Assembly this October.

In Vienna, the Secretary-General reviewed the institution-building role the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) is playing in the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK).

"Our aim is clear," he told the OSCE Permanent Council, "to help create a secure, multi-ethnic, prosperous and democratically governed society for all Kosovars, regardless of ethnicity."

He appealed to the OSCE to work closely with the United Nations to achieve this goal, saying, "we are in this together."

In Pristina, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative, Bernard Kouchner, met with Wesley Clark, the NATO Supreme Allied Commander.

Reconstruction - Tomorrow, Kouchner is scheduled to meet with World Bank President James Wolfenson and discuss the pressing needs for reconstruction the province.

A United Nations environmental assessment mission arrived in Pancevo, where an oil refinery and a petro-chemical plant were hit during the NATO air campaign. They will stay in Pancevo until Sunday and continue to visit other war-damaged industrial sites, primarily in Serbia.

Humanitarian - Meanwhile, with the campaign against the minority Serbs and Roma continuing inside Kosovo, UNHCR -- the lead agency in charge of refugee return and humanitarian assistance -- organized a reconciliation meeting in Prizren between the Albanian and the Roma communities.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), which is focusing its efforts on education, immunization and mine awareness activities inside Kosovo, said it plans to launch a measles immunization campaign targeting 30,000 children between one and two years of age as part of its operation to re-establish and re-invigorate Kosovo’s child immunization programmes, which were badly disrupted over the past year.

In New York - The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) met in the morning to discuss financing UNMIK. United Nations Controller Jean-Pierre Halbwachs introduced the report of the Secretary-General, which was requesting an initial $200 million for the operation until a detailed budget could be submitted later this year.