SECRETARY-GENERAL'S VISIT TO UGANDA, 8 - 9 MAY
Press Release
SG/T/2138
AFR/67
SECRETARY-GENERAL'S VISIT TO UGANDA, 8 - 9 MAY
19980522 The Secretary-General arrived in Kampala in the afternoon of Friday, 8 May. Immediately upon arrival, he participated by satellite in the 1998 CNN World Report Conference, which was shown live on television. He later addressed United Nations staff in Uganda, then met with Foreign Minister Eriya Kategaya.He met on Friday evening with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni for about three quarters of an hour, and then had dinner with him.
They discussed the nature of conflict in Africa, in general, as well as specific examples, such as those in the Sudan, Burundi, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the Middle East. The Secretary-General raised the issue of what he called "the armies of losers" -- defeated soldiers who crossed borders with their weapons after losing a war, creating havoc wherever they went. They talked about issues of joint governance, during which the President observed "there must be democracy; otherwise Government is just another armed faction". The problems of African refugees came up, as did regional approaches to trade.
On Saturday, the Secretary-General travelled an hour from Kampala by helicopter to the town of Mbale, where he launched a Private Sector Development Promotion Project sponsored by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). There, he called for the empowerment of African women as entrepreneurs. He drew loud applause when he said, "women are much more reliable than we are", referring to women's high repayment rates with micro-creditors.
He then returned to Kampala, where he addressed a meeting on refugee issues in the Great Lakes region convened by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Sadako Ogata, and by the Organization of African Unity (OAU) Secretary- General, Salim Salim. He called, among other things, for establishing a multinational intervention mechanism to separate combatants from refugees. (See Press Release SG/SM/6557.)
He had lunch with heads of United Nations agencies and then spoke to the press before departing for Eritrea. In response to a question about Rwanda's demand for the recall of the Spokesman of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, he said he intended to protest it. Referring to all aid recipients, he said that the United Nations resources were limited, as was its patience, and it may have to work more closely with those Member States who are willing to cooperate with it.
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