ACTIVITIES OF SECRETARY-GENERAL IN SENEGAL, 25-28 APRIL
The Secretary-General arrived in Dakar, Senegal, in the evening of Tuesday, 25 April, following brief stopovers in London and Paris. At Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris he met with Catherine Bertini, his Special Envoy on the Drought in the Horn of Africa, who briefed the Secretary-General about her recent visit to the region. They later met with the press.
On Wednesday morning the Secretary-General opened the World Education Forum, calling on governments and civic groups to focus on educating girls as part of a renewed effort to provide education opportunities to all youngsters worldwide. The objective, he said, is that by 2015 all children should be able to complete their primary education, a goal he first announced in his Millennium Report.
"The first step", he said, "is for societies to recognize that educating girls is not an option; it is a necessity" (see SG/SM/7369). After giving his address, the Secretary-General stepped outside the conference complex where students were demonstrating in support of the conference's goals. They carried signs saying, "Education is freedom"; and one girl held a placard which read, "Teach us too". The Secretary-General and his wife spent about a quarter of an hour mingling and chatting with the students.
At midday, the Secretary-General met with Senegal's new President, Abdoulaye Wade, who was accompanied by his Prime Minister, Moustapha Niasse, his Foreign Minister, Cheikh Tidiane Gadio, and other members of the new Government.
The Secretary-General said that Senegal's peaceful and democratic change of government was an inspiration for all of Africa. The President discussed national issues, such as the separatist movement in Casamance, which he said he was confident could be resolved peacefully, and regional ones, such as peace efforts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. (Mr. Niasse had been the Secretary-General's Special Envoy for the Democratic Republic of the Congo peace process.)
The Secretary-General and the President then had a private exchange before a luncheon hosted by the President.
In the afternoon he gave a press conference at the World Education Forum. He then met with representatives of a half dozen civic groups that were active at the Conference. In the evening, he attended two receptions, one hosted by Prime Minister Niasse, and the other by Education Minister Kansoumbally Nbiaye.
While continuing to monitor the World Education Forum, the Secretary- General joined his wife Nane on Thursday, for visits to a clinic and a school.
In the morning they went to the outpatients centre of Fann Hospital, where they were briefed on Senegal's successful fight to contain the AIDS virus. Drawing on strong social structures and cooperative programmes involving religious and civic groups, an aggressive government policy over more than a decade has kept the national rate of HIV infections low.
Among the briefers at the clinic was the distinguished Senegalese medical researcher, Souleymane Mboup, who first discovered the existence of an older virus, HIV-2, which is concentrated in West Africa, as well as in the former Portuguese colonies further south. Nane Annan asked a female doctor if traditional taboos hadn't made it difficult to carry out a national information programme. Of course, the doctor replied, but the danger posed was so great that we had no choice.
The Secretary-General and his wife also had some private time with patients at the clinic. On the way out, traditional communicators, or griottes, who were used widely in the anti-AIDS campaign, sang their message. The Secretary-General told Senegalese television afterwards that he was profoundly impressed with how the Government had led such a successful nationwide cooperative effort. The team that had briefed him, he said, were "Solide et solidaire" -- showed solidity and solidarity.
After returning to his hotel, the Secretary-General met with Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo. They discussed West African security issues, primarily peace efforts in Sierra Leone.
In the afternoon, he and Mrs. Annan visited a primary school, headed by a dynamic female principal, where girls' education was a priority -- slightly more than half the students are girls.
The Secretary-General was interviewed by Selly Raby Kane, a 13-year-old journalist for Radio Guneyi, broadcast by and for children from Dakar. Asked why he thought children's radio was important he answered: "What children have on their minds and what they have to say is very important for me and for their parents. So we should listen."
In the late afternoon, he returned to his official programme with a tête-à-tête meeting with the Senegalese Prime Minister, Moustapha Niasse. This was followed by a session with the Foreign Minister, Cheikh Tidiane Gadio, with whom he discussed regional issues. The Minister renewed his Government's pledge to settle peacefully the issue of the separatist movement in Casamance.
The Secretary-General concluded his visit to Senegal on Friday, when he travelled to the Gambia.