Note to Correspondents

CONFERENCE ON LIBERIA’S RECONSTRUCTION TO BE HELD AT HEADQUARTERS, 5 - 6 FEBRUARY;

UN SECRETARY-GENERAL, SECRETARY POWELL, LIBERIA’S BRYANT AMONG PARTICIPANTS

Representatives of governments, international financial institutions and the United Nations and its family of funds, programmes and specialized agencies will gather at United Nations Headquarters on 5 and 6 February for an international conference, aimed at addressing Liberia’s reconstruction needs following a devastating civil war.

Participants in the two-day International Conference on the Reconstruction of Liberia will include Secretary-General Kofi Annan, United States Secretary of State Colin Powell, Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin of France, Chairman Gyude Bryant of the National Transitional Government of Liberia, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL), senior European Union, Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF)officials, and more.

Co-sponsored by the United States, the World Bank and the United Nations, the Conference is being organized by the United Nations Development Group (UNDG)  -- created by the Secretary-General in 1997 to improve the effectiveness of United Nations development at the country level.  Spread over two days, the first day will be devoted to technical discussions, and on the second day there will be statements, reports and presentations by senior officials, as well as pledges of contributions to Liberia’s reconstruction.

The schedule of events, most of which will take place in the Trusteeship Council, is as follows:

Technical Discussions (5 February):

10 a.m. -- Opening Remarks:  Mark Malloch Brown, Administrator, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Chair, United Nations Development Group (UNDG); Andrew Natsios, Administrator, United States Agency for International Development (USAID); and Mats Karlsson, Country Director for Liberia, World Bank.

10:30 a.m. -- Presentation of the Results-Focused Transitional Framework, Financial Requirements, Coordination Mechanisms and Technical Discussions on the Plan of Action:  Christian G. Herbert, Minister of Planning and Economic Affairs, National Transitional Government of Liberia (NTGL); Harry Greaves, Adviser to the Chairman on Economic Affairs, NTGL; David Nabarro, UNDG; Richard Verspyck, World Bank; Arnim Schwidrowski, IMF; and Sipke Brouwer, European Commission.

11:45 a.m. -- Humanitarian Forum -– Consolidated Appeal:  Carolyn McAskie, Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs; Abou Moussa, United Nations Country Team Liberia; Zobaida Hassim-Ashagrie, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR); Rima Sala, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF); Gemmo Ladesani, World Food Programme (WFP); Julius Coles, Africare; Sister Barbara Brilliant, FMM Catholic Mission; and Nicola Reindorp, Oxfam International.

4 p.m. – Summary and Concluding Remarks from the Co-Chairs:  Mr. Malloch Brown, UNDP Administrator and Chair, UNDG; Mr. Natsios, USAID Administrator; and Mr. Karlsson, Country Director for Liberia, World Bank.

Ministerial-Level Pledging Conference (6 February):

9 a.m. -- Opening Remarks:  Kofi Annan, United Nations Secretary-General; Colin Powell, United States Secretary of State; Callisto Madavo, World Bank Regional Vice-President for Africa; and Thomas Kitt, Minister of State for Development Cooperation and Human Rights of Ireland, representing the European Union presidency.

9:30 a.m. -- Liberia’s Vision for the Transition:  C. Gyude Bryant, Chairman, National Transitional Government of Liberia.

9:45 a.m. -- Report from the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Coordinator for the United Nations in Liberia:  Jacques Paul Klein, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL).

10 a.m. -- Status of the Implementation of the Accra Agreement:  the International Contact Group on Liberia Co-Chairs –- Hans Dahlgren, Secretary of State of Sweden, representing the European Union, and Nana Akufo-Addo, Foreign Minister of Ghana, representing ECOWAS; Mohamed Ibn Chambas, Secretary-General, ECOWAS Implementation Monitoring Committee.

10:30 a.m. -- Presentation of the Results-Focused Transitional Framework, Financial Requirements and Coordination Mechanisms:  Christian G. Herbert, Minister of Planning and Economic Affairs, NTGL; David Nabarro, Technical Coordinator, Liberia Reconstruction Needs Assessment, UNDG; Mats Karlsson, Country Director for Liberia, World Bank; and Bio Tchané, Director of Africa Department, IMF.

11 a.m. -- The International Response:  Ministers of the Core Group:  Thomas Kitt, Minister of State for Development Cooperation and Human Rights of Ireland, representing the European Union; Dominique de Villepin, Minister for Foreign Affairs of France; Masaharu Kohno, African Personal Representative of the Prime Minister of Japan; Annika Söder, Deputy Minister for International Development of Sweden; Chris Mullin, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of the United Kingdom; and Constance Newman, Assistant Administrator for Africa, USAID.

2:30 p.m. -- Statements and pledges in support of Liberia’s reconstruction.

4:30 p.m. –- Summary and Concluding Remarks from the Co-Chairs: Mr. Malloch Brown, Administrator, UNDP, and Chair, UNDG; Mr. Madavo, Regional Vice-President, Africa Region, World Bank; and Mr. Natsios, Administrator, USAID.

There will be a press conference at 12:30 p.m. in room S-226.  Participating will be: Mr. Bryant, Chairman, National Transitional Government of Liberia; Mr. Natsios, USAID Administrator; Mr. Kitt, Minister of State for Development Cooperation and Human Rights of Ireland, representing the European Union presidency; Mr. Malloch Brown, UNDP Administrator and Chair, UNDG; and

Mr. Karlsson, Country Director for Liberia, World Bank.

In addition, the following VIPs are expected to attend the press conference:  United States Congressman Donald Payne; United States Congressman Emil Houghton; Mr. Akufo-Addo, Foreign Minister of Ghana (on behalf of ECOWAS); Sipke Brouwer, Director for West and Central Africa, European Commission.  Minister Akufo-Addo and Mr. Brouwer will answer any questions directed to them.

Among the documents before the Conference will be the Joint United Nations/ World Bank Needs Assessment Report on Liberia, which can be accessed at:  http://www.undg.org/.  Information about Liberia can also be found at the UNDP Liberia Web site:  http://www.lr.undp.org/; at the UNMIL Web site: http://www.un.org/Depts/dpko/missions/unmil/index.html; and the UN News Centre Liberia Web site:  http://www.un.org/apps/news/infocusRel.asp?infocusID=78&Body=West%20Afr….

The UNDP contacts for information about the Reconstruction Conference are:  William Orme, Chief, Media Section, at tel. (212) 906-5382, e mail: william.orme@undp.org; and Cassandra Waldon, Communications Specialist to the Director of Communications, at (212) 906-6499, e-mail:  cassandra.waldon@undp.org.

The address for the live and on-demand webcast is:  www.un.org/webcast

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