PRESS CONFERENCE BY SECRETARY-GENERAL KOFI ANNAN AND UNDER-SECRETARY-GENERAL FOR COMMUNICATIONS AND PUBLIC INFORMATION KENSAKU HOGEN AT HEADQUARTERS, 13 MARCH

Press Release
SG/SM/6485

PRESS CONFERENCE BY SECRETARY-GENERAL KOFI ANNAN AND UNDER-SECRETARY-GENERAL FOR COMMUNICATIONS AND PUBLIC INFORMATION KENSAKU HOGEN AT HEADQUARTERS, 13 MARCH

The SECRETARY-GENERAL: Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I would like to introduce to you this morning Mr. Hogen, the new Under-Secretary- General for Communications and Public Information. He comes to us with quite a lot of international experience, and on top of it all he is also a great linguist, who speaks English, French, German and Italian. I am sure you will have a few questions for him, but let's stick to the United Nations working languages: French and English. And he will perhaps say a few words and then take your questions.

Since he is a star, if you don't mind I'm going to be leaving him here with you, so as not to distract. And I'm sure you have no questions for me this morning.

KENSAKU HOGEN, Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information: I very much doubt that, Mr. Secretary-General.

How do you do? My name is Kensaku Hogen. I just arrived on Tuesday of this week to take up the job of Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information. And I would like to thank -— he's left, but I would like to thank the Secretary-General for kindly appointing me to this very important job. And I very much look forward to working here because I firmly believe that the United Nations has much to offer in the future. It is offering many things at this time, but in the twenty-first century, the main concern, as I understand it, of most of the human beings around the world will be problems that pertain to ourselves -— environmental issues, development, human rights, food security -— all these things that concern our daily lives.

I was asked in an interview in Tokyo: What is your thinking about the difference between the twentieth century and the twenty-first century? I said, the twentieth century had been a century of turmoil, ideological conflicts and wars, but the twenty-first century, we like to look at it as a century for citizens and a century for the people. And all these issues need international cooperation. No one country can resolve the issue, for example, of global warming. Every nation has to get together and work towards improving human life. So in this respect, I think the United Nations has much to offer. So I'm very happy to be appointed the Under-Secretary-General for Communications, because the United Nations has to offer to the rest of the world the wonderful things we are doing.

And in this connection, I think it is very important that, ladies and gentlemen of the United Nations press corps and the United Nations and my Department, in particular, work together to make sure that the things that take place in the United Nations are properly communicated to the world.

(Interpretation from French) I also understand that there are French- speaking members of the press corps here. Though my French is not as good as my English, I think I can nonetheless say the following.

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As I said in English a short while ago, there are many things, many functions that the United Nations can play an active roll in, where the United Nations has actually been performing, the United Nations has been addressing many issues that are fundamentally important for each and every individual. From the surveys it would appear that the vast majority of the world's population on every continent would like issues relating to the environment, global warming, food security, unemployment, development, etc., that directly impact on the life of each individual to be so addressed. For that reason, I think the twenty-first century will be the century of the people, the century of the citizens.

The problems I was referring to earlier require the cooperation of all countries. Otherwise it will be very difficult to address successfully the problems that I've mentioned. The role and functions of the United Nations, therefore, are still perceived as very important, and it is essential, ladies and gentlemen of the press corps to the United Nations, that you and my Department have very friendly and fruitful relations. Thank you very much.

QUESTION: On behalf of the United Nations Correspondents Association, which will be of direct relevance to your new post, I welcome you to this first briefing. I hope the cooperation between your office and the press corps here will be productive on both sides.

The first question is a really broad one. You have had a chance to make at least a preliminary study of what your mandate is going to be and what your office will do towards your goal. Have you thought of any particular innovative ideas to bring to the office?

MR. HOGEN: Thank you very much. I'm very glad you asked this question. As indicated in the special report produced last year, the strategic communication efforts are, I think, important, rather than the routine, what kind of resolution had been passed, what kind of speeches had been made, etc. These things are of course very important, but I think we need to target on special events.

For example, if I may ask -- I hope you don't take it as a rude attitude -- I hope everybody knows what takes place on June 8 and 9 in this building, in New York. It is the special session of the General Assembly on drugs. I don't know whether everybody knew about the fact that on June 8, 9 and 10 we have this special session to discuss the very important question of drugs.

So this is one of the examples. We need to target certain events that are very important and make strategic efforts to have not only the ladies and gentlemen here but to have the entire world know about what's going on in the United Nations. Some of the political and peacekeeping efforts, which are of course very important, do get coverage of all the media, but many of the socio-economic items that the United Nations does, like the things I just mentioned -- women's rights, equality among sexes (which I did not mention) --

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but all these socio-economic aspects of our activities need to be understood in a broader and deeper way. So if we call this sort of strategic communications effort as being represented, as being specified in that particular report, I completely agree with that report. This is in response to your question, sir; this is one of the target areas that I would like to focus on.

QUESTION: Congratulations from the German correspondent here. Did I get it right? You speak German?

MR. HOGEN: Ja, ich spreche deutsch.

QUESTION: Would you mind this extraordinary question? Would you mind telling the German audience what you are doing here right now?

MR. HOGEN: In German? If it is all right with ...[continued in German]

QUESTION: You are well aware that Mr. Akashi, the former Under- Secretary-General of the United Nations, started his career at the United Nations and went up to Under-Secretary-General, so he was quite experienced in the United Nations in dealing with management and other tasks. How are you going to fill the gap between your experience as a long-time diplomat of one country and his?

MR. HOGEN: We are talking about my respected senior, Mr. Akashi. He worked at the United Nations for 40 years, and I am just starting, so there is no comparison. Mr. Akashi is the UN man, the UN man in terms of perhaps a personal relationship with the ladies and gentlemen here, and all the Japanese press here who would read Japanese, I'm sure. Yasu Akashi is the other name for the UN in Japan, and your question is a very tough one to answer, but a very easy one to answer, sir, because there is no comparison between Yasu Akashi and me, because he is sort of -- if I am a student, he is a professor. He is a senior, senior professor, and I need to learn -- well, I have learned a lot from him. He was kind enough to invite me to lunch. We met many times, and he gave me his home phone number and fax number so that I can call him any time that I'm in trouble here. So I think that would perhaps answer your question.

QUESTION: Since there is a report that there is a shortage of personnel in the Spokesman's office, what are you going to do, Sir, to solve this obvious problem, and who is going to be in charge of creating a team in the Spokesman's office? The Spokesman himself, or yourself?

MR. HOGEN: With all my respect to Fred Eckhard, I think this is the Spokesman's top priority, and in the chart, as I understand it, we are under a sort of similar umbrella, no question about it. But, of course, there is a shortage of personnel in the Spokesman's office: I am aware of that. I will

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do whatever I can to be of support to make sure that Mr. Eckhard's operation will be a smooth and improved one. That much I can say for now.

QUESTION (interpretation from French): Since you have addressed us in French and German, I will venture to pose this question in French. For some years now, we have seen the disappearance of the third-world press in the United Nations, as you can see from this room. Twenty-five years ago, the third world was highly represented here. Twenty or 25 years ago there was the Ghana News Agency and the Indonesian News Agency. Today, they are nowhere to be seen. Rather than reporting directly on what goes on in the United Nations, we tend in the third world to print what other countries say about what happens in the United Nations.

What do you plan to do to make the United Nations go back to what it was created to do in this respect?

MR. HOGEN (interpretation from French): Perhaps we could look into the reasons why third-world journalists have left, and why there are -- I am not saying none, but far fewer journalists from the third world. What is the reason they are no longer here? I do not know why third-world journalists have left; perhaps you know better than I what the problem is, because you have been here for a long time, have you not?

QUESTION (interpretation from French): I think that the last report on journalists in the United Nations was prepared by the United Nations Institute for Training and Research in 1960 or 1961 or thereabouts. Are you planning to revisit that report and study the reasons why there has been a systematic departure of the third-world press?

MR. HOGEN (interpretation from French): This is a very difficult question. I will have to consult with my colleagues on it, to see what can be done and if there is any possibility of improving the situation. Unfortunately, that is all I can say for the time being, because I do not have enough information at my fingertips to respond directly. I shall have to consult with my colleagues to see whether there is a way in which we can improve the situation.

QUESTION: You arrive at the United Nations at a time when the Secretary-General's mission to Baghdad has raised the stature of the institution in the eyes of many people around the world, and yet the same Republican leaders in the United States Congress who have held up the United States contribution to the United Nations have been critical of his trip. Do you have any thoughts as to how in your new position you might deal with or overcome some of these negative perceptions among leadership in the United States?

MR. HOGEN: Like it was reported in The New York Times today, I am not in a position to interfere with the domestic situations of the United Nations

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political scene. But I would be very happy if whatever arrears would be defrayed as soon as possible.

To tell the truth, I was asked by somebody in one of the interviews that I had in New York City -- was it January or December? I forget which month -- about a similar question -- in other words, about the United States arrears -- and I responded in the same way. And there was a follow-up question in that interview: You wouldn't mind going to the Capitol Hill and discuss with the people in the Capitol Hill about this very question? And of course, I was in an interview, you see, and I was doing my best to pass that exam, so of course I said: No, not only I don't mind, I have been doing that since 1981.

From '81 to '85, for the first two years I was Economic Counsellor at the Japanese Embassy in Washington, and from '83 to '85 I was in public affairs, the Press Counsellor. Now, fortunately or unfortunately in terms of public affairs, the Japanese economy is not doing too well, which for the Japanese is very bad. But we are not getting so much bashing, if you will, from the outside, so the pressure that had been on the shoulders of the Japanese officials now is pretty much alleviated. But in '81 to '85, we were making our positions, explaining to our American friends about the Japanese position all the time.

So I answered to the gentleman who asked the question: I have been doing that kind of thing for the last 17 years. So that, I think, pretty much answers your question that, if I was given an opportunity, I would be happy to deal with these aspects. But again, I don't want to interfere over this issue inside the US Administration and the Capitol Hill, because it was a rather hopeful article, wasn't it, that we read this morning?

QUESTION: I am also asking: Do you think the United Nations needs to promote to the American public the positive contributions that the United Nations makes in world affairs, so that the public will put more pressure on political leaders in the US to support the United Nations?

MR. HOGEN: Well, according to opinion polls, as I understand it, more than 60 per cent of American people do have sympathetic and supportive views on the United Nations. Certainly, grass-roots opinions are very important, so I think it is very important that we address ourselves to the American community. I don't know whether "pressure" is the right word or not, but through our efforts to communicate the things we are doing in the United Nations, would be also through the grassroots of American citizens, would be conveyed and transmitted to the people in the Capitol Hill or in the Administration.

QUESTION: Japan's share of United Nations dues will exceed 20 per cent in two years, which will be very close to the United States. How do you view the Japanese public's feeling towards this big share, because, since Japan is right now under economic crisis?

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MR. HOGEN: I would say that the general feeling of the Japanese vis-à- vis the United Nations, I think, is one of the most favourable ones in the world. I can't speak for all the other countries, but as far as Japan is concerned, I think Japan has respect for the Organization; Japanese are interested in what's going on in the United Nations; and there is no question about it.

In terms of the opinion poll, I think that Japan shows the highest figure -- over 71 per cent, close to 72 per cent of the ordinary Japanese do support the United Nations. So, having said that, I think most of the Japanese would accept the fact that we are contributing in a bigger way to the United Nations. And many people do feel very proud to do so.

But in view of the bad economy -- but again, perhaps your analysis and my analysis of the Japanese economic situation might differ. It is not for us to discuss at this forum. But I don't think that the Japanese economy is as bad as it might look. And I don't think the Japanese people would directly link the Japanese economic situation to the Japanese contribution to the United Nations. Of course there are some opinions that would perhaps lead in that direction, but I don't think that the grassroots Japanese would immediately have recourse or resort to that kind of opinion.

But one of the things about which the Japanese people are more mindful about than the economic situation and our contribution: the number of Japanese workers or staff members in the United Nations per our assessed contribution. I was at a television interview, a morning show of NHK, 10 days ago, and the question was asked: "Mr. Hogen, this is our contribution and this is the number represented in the United Nations. According to our analysis and the analysis of the United Nations, the number should be double. What do you think about that?" That was the question.

I said to the gentlemen: "Well, maybe that's right, but the question is maybe on our side. The United Nations is saying, if more Japanese apply, go ahead and we'll be happy to examine their qualifications, but not so many Japanese apply".

So I asked the interviewer, "Which camera is on my face?"

And he said, "The one in the middle".

So I looked at it and said, "Young men and women of Japan, please have courage and apply to the United Nations". Because many of them speak English and other foreign languages nowadays. "So please apply."

And the good news was that the television/radio station -- NHK -- right after the broadcast had so many in-coming telephone calls, asking how to apply to the United Nations. So I don't think we are doing too badly.

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