PAHO Director Mirta Roses Periago and Nobel prize-winning economist Amartya Sen were among the featured speakers at a special forum on ethics and development hosted by the Inter-American Development Bank in Washington, D.C., in early January.

President Francisco Flores Pérez of El Salvador honored PAHO/WHO Representative Horacio Toro with the Order of Dr. José Matías Delgado in mid-January for his "eminent services" to the country. Toro has since been named PAHO/WHO representative in Brazil.

Rosa Celorio, Latin America program specialist at the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), spoke on a panel at PAHO headquarters on Nov. 25, 2003, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.

PAHO Deputy Director Joxel Garcia (left) and Joaquín Molina, acting PAHO/WHO representative in Mexico, attended the Summit of the Americas in Monterrey on Jan. 12–13.

Antanos Mockus, former mayor of Bogotá, Colombia, made a presentation at PAHO headquarters in November 2003 on the strategy he used to reduce violence rates in one of the hemisphere's most violent cities.