ACTIVITIES OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL IN ITALY, 4-10 APRIL
The Secretary-General arrived in Rome from Geneva in the evening of Tuesday, 4 April, to hold meetings with Italian officials and then to chair the United Nations Administrative Committee on Coordination (ACC) which brings together, twice a year, the heads of all United Nations funds, programmes and agencies.
He began his day on Wednesday by meeting with Italy's Foreign Minister, Lamberto Dini, who reported on the latest initiatives on debt relief announced at the Africa-Europe Summit taking place in Cairo, Egypt. They then had wide-ranging discussions that touched on the situation in the Balkans, specifically in Kosovo, and in the northern Caucasus, including Chechnya. They also reviewed a number of African issues, from the threat of famine in the Horn to peace efforts in Somalia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and also touched on Iraq.
The Foreign Minister stressed the importance of preventive diplomacy in order to lessen the need for peacekeeping. They also talked in some detail of Israel's announced intention to withdraw from southern Lebanon consistent with Security Council resolutions.
They discussed United Nations reform issues, including Security Council reform and cost-sharing. The Secretary-General thanked the Foreign Minister for Italy's support, specifically on debt relief and in East Timor. They both met later with the press.
The Secretary-General then joined Italy's Prime Minister, Massimo D'Alema, for a tour of a newly restored ancient Roman imperial villa. Afterwards they met for about three quarters of an hour, and then continued discussions over lunch. The Prime Minister dwelled on a number of themes in the Secretary-General's Millennium Report, including the need to strengthen international institutions in the age of globalization and how best to fight poverty and exclusion. The Secretary-General commented on how much the Prime Minister's ideas were supportive of his own and said he was "encouraged". Again, both men met with the press following their discussions.
The Secretary-General then went to the new headquarters of the World Food Programme (WFP) where he laid a wreath at a memorial plaque for WFP staff killed in the line of duty. He addressed several hundred assembled WFP staff and took questions on the humanitarian issue in Iraq, gender issues, and security of United Nations staff in the field.
He later went to the Senate of the Republic where he addressed members of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies, the first such address by a Secretary-General (see SG/SM/7351).
On Wednesday evening he met with Mike Moore, Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), and then with Eduard Kukan, Foreign Minister of Slovakia and his Special Envoy for the Balkans.
On Thursday, 6 April, the Secretary-General chaired the ACC, which was attended by more than two dozen heads of United Nations agencies, funds and programmes. These top leaders of the United Nations system first met in closed session -- principals only, no aides -- for a review of the Secretary- Generals Millennium Report, which they strongly endorsed.
They then broke up into two sub-groups for focused discussion. Mr. Moore of the WTO chaired one sub-group that dwelt on trade, human rights, labour standards and environmental protection. The second sub-group, on information technology, was chaired by the Secretary- General of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), Godwin P. Obasi. The twice-a-year meeting was co-hosted by the WFP and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and took place at the WFP Headquarters.
Over lunch, WFP Executive Director, Catherine Bertini, presented the Secretary-General with a birthday cake -- he turned 62 on 8 April. That afternoon, principals and aides got together for a round on globalization and the United Nations system, drawing on the reports of the two sub-groups.
The Secretary-General gave a press conference in late morning, at which he presented Ms. Bertini, whom he had appointed his Special Envoy to the Horn of Africa. Together they took questions on the developing famine in that region. The Secretary-General also took questions on the planned Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon, the Middle East peace process and Chechnya, among others.
On Thursday evening, the Secretary-General met with the Mayor of Rome, Francesco Rutelli, and then attended a reception at the City Hall given by the ACCs two co-hosts, the WFP and IFAD.
On Friday, 7 April, the Secretary-General met with the President of Italy, Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, at the Quirinale, or Presidential Palace, in Rome. The President had just visited Sarajevo, and their discussion initially focused on the United Nations' efforts to consolidate peace in the Balkans and on Italys contribution to those efforts They also touched on the Middle East and the Horn of Africa.
The Secretary-General then went to the Vatican where he had a private audience with His Holiness Pope John Paul II. He presented the Pope with a bound copy of the United Nations Charter, as well as a copy of his Millennium Report. They discussed the Popes recent visit to the Middle East and the message of peace and reconciliation that he delivered there. They also assessed the prospects for peace in that region. They then talked of the plight of the worlds poor and how to alleviate human suffering. They reviewed some of the ideas contained in the Millennium Report and resolved that in this Jubilee Year concrete results should be achieved to improve the lot of the worlds peoples, especially the poor.
After that meeting, the Secretary-General was joined by the more than two dozen attendees of the ACC. The Pope then addressed this group, citing the Secretary-Generals Millennium Report. The worlds problems arent new, he said, they have just acquired a global dimension. The United Nations family is the natural forum for developing new ways of thinking on how to deal with globalization. I pray, he concluded, that your work will be thoroughly pervaded by a generous and ambitious spirit of global solidarity.
The Secretary-General and Deputy Secretary-General Louise Fréchette then met with the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Angelo Sodano.
The ACC members then went to the headquarters of IFAD, where IFAD President Fawzi Al-Sultan hosted a working lunch. Over lunch, IFAD scholar Michael Lipton of the University of Sussex presented aspects of IFADs forthcoming Rural Poverty Report 2000-2001. Then Mats Karlsson of the World Bank highlighted the Banks latest views on the causes of poverty and how to combat it. Finally, Mark Malloch Brown, Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), outlined UNDPs anti-poverty strategy, as unveiled earlier that week in a major report.
The Secretary-General and members of the ACC then returned to the headquarters of the WFP for the final session of the two-day ACC meeting. On their agenda was the problem of HIV/AIDS and what measures should be taken to improve staff security and safety and how to fund them.
On Friday evening the Secretary-General met once again with Foreign Minister Lamberto Dini, this time in the company of the heads of the three Rome-based United Nations food agencies -- the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the WFP and IFAD. The Foreign Minister then hosted a dinner in honour of the Secretary-General and all members of the ACC.
On Saturday, the Secretary-General and his wife travelled to Florence, where they spent his birthday weekend. On Sunday, Mr. Annan received honorary citizenship of the city of Florence (see SG/SM/7354).
He left for Havana, Cuba, via Madrid, on Monday, 10 April, to attend the summit of the Group of 77 countries.