ACTIVITIES OF SECRETARY-GENERAL IN PHILADELPHIA, 30 APRIL

Secretary-General Kofi Annan and Mrs. Annan travelled to Philadelphia on the morning of Monday, 30 April, where the Secretary-General was the keynote speaker at the 2001 Annual Conference of the Council on Foundations. 

They attended a luncheon hosted by Dorothy Ridings, the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Council, which brings together foundations and corporate-giving programmes, whose mission is to promote responsible and effective philanthropy.  The Council member organizations have contributed a collective total of $16 billion worldwide.

Some 2,300 executives and trustees of leading foundations and corporations from across the United States participated in the Conference.  The Secretary-General told them they were "the link, both between the global and the local, and between market forces and social needs".

In his address, Mr. Annan focused on HIV/AIDS, which he called "the world's biggest public health challenge, but in some countries the biggest single obstacle to development". 

The Secretary-General emphasized the importance of providing resources to a global fund dedicated to the battle against HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases.  He also urged private foundations to increase and multiply their own contributions to deal with the AIDS crisis, and to encourage their participation in the General Assembly's special session on HIV/AIDS, to begin in New York on 25 June (see SG/SM/7783).

In Abuja, Nigeria, the previous week, the Secretary-General had told a summit of African leaders that, at a minimum, an additional seven to ten billion dollars needs to be spent each year in the struggle against AIDS.  He also outlined the five objectives of his call to action in the fight against AIDS (see SG/SM/7779).

The Secretary-General returned to New York in the afternoon.