ACTIVITIES OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL IN UNITED KINGDOM, 9-11 FEBRUARY

Secretary-General Kofi Annan, on arriving in London from New York on Wednesday, 9 February, held internal meetings, including with his Special Representative for Iraq, Ashraf Qazi, and his senior political advisor, Kieran Prendergast.

He began his official programme on Thursday with a meeting with the British Prime Minister Tony Blair at 10 Downing Street.

They discussed the results of the Iraq elections and the transitional process currently under way.  The British initiative on Africa, and the report of the Africa Commission to be presented in March, were also touched on.  The Secretary-General briefed the Prime Minister on the latest efforts towards United Nations reform and they also reviewed the political situation in Afghanistan, as well as efforts to deal with opium-poppy production there.

The Prime Minister and the Secretary-General then walked to Banqueting House, where Mr. Blair introduced the Secretary-General as a “tremendous unifier” in difficult circumstances.  The Secretary-General then laid out his vision for the United Nations’ agenda in 2005.

“Today we face threats to world order and world peace of a kind and a scale that we have not seen since the height of the Cold War”, he began.  He cited terrorism, weapons of mass destruction and HIV/AIDS and other diseases that can spread globally if not checked.  And the time is gone, he said, “when each country, or even each continent, could look after its own security”.

“We will not defeat terrorism unless we also tackle the causes of conflict and misgovernment in developing countries”, he went on.  “And we will not defeat poverty so long as trade and investment in any major part of the world are inhibited by fear of violence or instability.”

He mentioned two reports that he had commissioned, one on Threats, Challenges and Change and the other on Investing in Development, saying that taken together they provide an agenda that, if acted upon promptly by governments, would “give us the chance of a better, fairer and safer world in this century”.  The September 2005 summit at the United Nations would offer a unique opportunity to bring these issues together, he said.

He continued, “You see, the world does need a forum for collective decision-making and it needs an instrument of collective action.”  The United Nations was designed to be both those things.

The United Nations is already “moving with the times”, he went on, citing its efforts in support of democracy, good governance and human rights.  He mentioned United Nations support for elections in Afghanistan, Palestine and Iraq.

On Iraq, he said that it matters greatly that its transition should be a success.  “I am determined”, he asserted, “that the United Nations must play its full part to help the Iraqi people achieve that.”

He detailed the United Nations’ work in Iraq, mentioning his Special Representative's efforts to broaden the political process, United Nations electoral expert's support for the Independent Electoral Commission for Iraq, technical assistance for the writing of a constitution, as well as help with reconstruction, development and humanitarian assistance.

“I firmly believe”, he said, “that with help from the international community Iraq can use democratic institutions to build itself a stable and prosperous future”.

In concluding, he stated that “the time is ripe to bring economic and military security back into a common framework, as our fathers did at San Francisco sixty years ago.  They expressed their determination not only to 'save succeeding generations from the scourge of war', but also 'to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom.  Until now, that aspiration has been at best only partly realised”, he said.  “Let's resolve, this time, to do better.”  (See press release SG/SM/9715.)

The British Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, then launched a debate on the Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change, which the Secretary-General attended.  Mr. Straw and the Secretary-General then had a working lunch at Lancaster House, after which they spoke to the press.  They were asked questions about the oil-for-food programme in Iraq, Iran’s nuclear programme, the possibility of reopening Cyprus talks, and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

Asked for reaction to that country’s announcement that day that it was dropping out of the six-party talks, the Secretary-General replied, “I heard the news and I hope it’s not a definitive decision, because the other countries involved in the six-party talks and my own envoy, who’s been visiting North Korea and the region, believe that that is the route to go and they hope it will yield results.”  He added that he would urge the countries engaged in those talks to bring the country back to the table so that talks could resume “as quickly as possible”.

On Thursday afternoon, the Secretary-General went to 11 Downing Street for a meeting with Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown.  The Chancellor and the Secretary-General discussed the recent decision by the Group of 7 industrialized countries to forgive the debts of African nations.  They also touched on financing for development, including involvement by the private sector.

He then had a meeting with the Secretary of State for International Development, Hilary Benn.  They had a thorough discussion of the situation in Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.  They also talked about the High-Level Panel's proposal for a Peace-Building Commission and ways to make the September Summit of the General Assembly on United Nations Reform a success.  In addition, they reviewed the question of debt relief.

Returning to his hotel, the Secretary-General then had tea with former Development Minister, Clare Short.

On Friday, the Secretary-General began his day with a visit to the headquarters of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), the United Nations specialised agency responsible for maritime safety, efficiency of navigation and prevention and control of marine pollution from ships.  He was greeted by the Secretary-General of the IMO, Efthimios Mitropoulos, who introduced his senior staff.  They then went into an auditorium to address about 400 assembled IMO staff.

The Secretary-General told them, “you are one of the UN system’s quiet success stories”, praising the agency’s work in standard setting, technical assistance and, most recently, ensuring the security of world shipping.

“The United Nations is going through a difficult time”, he went on, mentioning that Paul Volcker’s Independent Inquiry Committee into the oil-for-food programme in Iraq had revealed “serious lapses in accountability, management and transparency”.  But he added, “I am determined to learn from these problems.”  He then took a number of questions from the staff.

Leaving the IMO, he walked to nearby LambethCastle for a private meeting with His Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams.  They touched on the follow-on to the report of the High-Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change, the problem of child soldiers, the need to limit the flow of small arms and the fight against HIV/AIDS.

Outside the palace, he stopped for a standard photograph with the outrider team of four motorcycle police who had been escorting his motorcade, and then surprised them by hopping on to one of the large bikes for the photo.

He returned to his hotel, where he met with the leader of Britain’s Conservative Party, Michael Howard.  Their discussions focused on the High-Level Panel Report, the situation in Darfur, the Iraqi transition, the nuclear issue in Iran and immigration/asylum issues.

In the afternoon, he departed to Munich, Germany, where he was to attend the forty-first Munich Conference on Security Policy.