ACTIVITIES OF SECRETARY-GENERAL IN COSTA RICA, 15-18 MARCH 2002
The Secretary-General flew to San Jose, Costa Rica, in the evening of Friday, 15 March. He was greeted at the airport by Foreign Minister Roberto Rojas and had a press encounter.
On Saturday morning, he met briefly with representatives of United Nations agencies working in Costa Rica.
Dr. Elizabeth Odio, the Costa Rican Vice-President, then accompanied him to the University of Peace, located outside of San Jose. There he met with University Rector Martin Lees, and former Costa Rican President Rodrigo Carazo who, 20 years ago, proposed the concept of the University of Peace to the United Nations General Assembly. Also present were the Vice-President, the Foreign Minister, Congresswoman Sonia Picado and members of the faculty. The Rector thanked the Secretary-General for challenging the University to revitalize itself. He described a revised academic programme with students from 33 countries, greater internationalization of programmes and staff, and increased financial support from donors.
The Secretary-General then unveiled a plaque commemorating his visit and planted a tree, before joining the faculty and guests for an outdoors lunch.
He and his wife Nane then had some private time on Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning, returning to San Jose on Sunday afternoon. In the evening, he was the guest of President Rodriguez Echeverria at an informal dinner. Over dinner, the President and his wife, Lorena Clare de Rodríguez, described recent advances in Costa Rica's social policy. Under a law adopted a year ago, for example, responsible paternity is encouraged by providing that children born outside matrimony are recognized and adequately provided for by both parents. The First Lady also described her successful efforts as an advocate of sex education in the nation's schools.
On Monday morning, the Secretary-General met one-on-one with President Echeverría. The rest of his delegation met with the Foreign Minister, Roberto Rojas López, and were briefed on a proposal on human rights that Costa Rica is intending to introduce. The President and the Secretary-General then joined their delegations and offered their views on a number of issues, including the University of Peace, Afghanistan and the Monterrey Conference on Financing for Development.
The Secretary-General and the President then gave a press conference. In response to a question about Mary Robinson, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Secretary-General said, "she's done a great job; she's made a contribution; she’s put human rights on the map." In response to a question about the Democratic Republic of the Congo, he said that the United Nations had confirmed that Rwandan-backed rebels had seized the town of Moliro and were offering to hand it over to the UN. He said he was not sure that the United Nations had the capacity to take the town and added, "they should not have gone in there in the first place." He added that he hoped the inter-Congolese dialogue would resume as quickly as possible and that all parties would come to the table.
In the late morning he flew to Tegucigalpa, Honduras, for an official visit to that country, the third on his four-country Central American tour.