SECRETARY-GENERAL MEETS WITH PRESIDENT OF KENYA ON SECOND DAY OF AFRICAN VISIT
Press Release
SG/T/2050
SECRETARY-GENERAL MEETS WITH PRESIDENT OF KENYA ON SECOND DAY OF AFRICAN VISIT
19960430 NAIROBI, 29 April -- On the second day of his visit to Kenya, the Secretary-General met at 9:30 a.m. with President Daniel arap Moi, at State House, Nairobi.During the meeting, which lasted for 30 minutes, they reviewed issues of peace and security in Africa with special reference to the situations in Burundi, Somalia, Sudan and Rwanda. The President pledged his full support for United Nations activities for peace and security in Africa. The Secretary-General also reviewed with the President a series of United Nations initiatives to reverse the trend towards marginalization of Africa including the United Nations System-wide Initiative for Africa and the current ninth United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD IX) which opened on 27 April at Midrand, South Africa. The President was accompanied by the Vice- President and Minister for Planning and National Development, George Saitoti, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Kalonzo Musyoka, and the Permanent Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Sally Kosgei. The Secretary-General was accompanied by the Under-Secretary-General and Special Advisor to the Secretary-General, Ismat Kittani, the Administrator, United Nations Development Programme, James Gustave Speth, and the Executive Director, United Nations Environment Programme, Elizabeth Dowdeswell.
The Secretary-General then proceeded to the United Nations Office at Nairobi, where at 10:30 a.m. he formally opened the first 1996 session of the Administrative Committee on Coordination, to last until 30 April. The twice- yearly meeting of executive heads of all United Nations organizations and agencies is presided over by the Secretary-General. It is the first time that it is meeting in a developing country.
The high-level meeting will focus on the implementation of the new initiative on Africa launched by the United Nations system. It will also continue the development of a system-wide approach to implementing the programmes of action adopted at the series of international conferences and summits convened by the United Nations over the past three years. The holding of he meeting in Nairobi reflects the focus of the session on African development, as well as the growing importance of the United Nations headquarters in Nairobi.
- 2 - Press Release SG/T/2050 30 April 1996
At 2:30 p.m. the Secretary-General met at the United Nations Office at Nairobi with the African Permanent Representatives accredited to the Office. At 3 p.m., the Secretary-General addressed the staff of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and of Habitat II as well as other United Nations offices based at Nairobi. He stressed that the staff of the United Nations was the only capital of the United Nations and that his first priority was to protect them. He also explained that the United Nations was giving special priority to Africa to reverse the marginalization of the continent. Finally, he stressed the importance of the United Nations system to work in an integrated manner. Later on, he continued to chair the Administrative Committee on Coordination. In the evening the Secretary-General attended a reception hosted by Ms. Dowdeswell, Executive Director of UNEP, on the occasion of the Administrative Committee on Coordination.
Tuesday morning the Secretary-General will leave Nairobi for Europe. At 10:30 a.m., he will hold a press conference at the airport.
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