In progress at UNHQ

SG/T/2450

ACTIVITIES OF SECRETARY-GENERAL IN FRANCE, 13 - 14 JUNE 2005

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan arrived in Paris on Monday morning, 13 June 2005.

Shortly after his arrival, the Secretary-General was briefed by his Special Envoy Terje Roed-Larsen, who had just returned from Syria where he met with President Bashar al-Assad on Sunday.

Following the meeting, the Secretary-General issued a statement from Paris saying that Mr. Roed-Larsen had told him that his discussions with the Syrian President were constructive and helpful.  The Secretary-General was encouraged by Mr. Roed-Larsen’s report.  He will continue working together with President Assad, the Syrian Government and other parties for the full implementation of Security Council resolution 1559.  (See Press Release SG/SM/9926.)

In the early evening, the French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy met the Secretary-General at his hotel.  This was their first meeting since Mr. Douste-Blazy’s recent appointment to his current post.  The Foreign Minister expressed France’s support for the Secretary-General’s on-going reform initiative.  They also discussed the situation in Lebanon and development issues.

Prior to the start of his official programme on Tuesday, the Secretary-General met with Koichiro Matsuura, Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

The Secretary-General then met with French President Jacques Chirac at the ElyséePalace.  During a bilateral meeting of more than 45 minutes, the Secretary-General and the President discussed a wide range of issues including United Nations reform, financing for development, the larger Middle East, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Western Sahara, Côte d’Ivoire, Togo and the Sudan.

Immediately afterwards, the Secretary-General and the President attended a meeting of international business leaders focused on the business community’s contributions to the Millennium Development Goals organized by the Global Compact.

He told the more than 300 officials invited to the event by President Chirac that the fight against extreme poverty, as enshrined in the Millennium Development Goals, is no longer a job for governments alone.  “It is the absence of broad-based business activity, not its presence, that condemns much of humanity to suffering”, the Secretary-General added.

He went on to say that while business is of vital importance to the fulfilment of the Goals, the business community has a lot to gain from the Goals as well since reducing poverty builds healthy and dynamic workforces, creates purchasing power and eases social tensions.  The Secretary-General stressed that this mutually advantageous relationship is at the heart of the United Nations Global Compact.

In his speech, the Secretary-General pledged that the United Nations would continue to look to governments of developing countries to put in place the necessary incentives, infrastructure, policies and property rights protections.  “Business cannot grow if States falter or fail”, he told the participants.

The Secretary-General noted that the recent positive efforts of European Union members to increase aid and the decision by the G-7 to cancel $40 billion of debt owed by 18 of the world’s poorest nations, mostly in Africa, give real hope.  However, he added we need even more positive decisions in favour of the developing world at the G-8 Gleneagles summit meeting next month and beyond.  (See Press Release SG/SM/9930.)

Afterwards, the Secretary-General had a working lunch at the ElyséePalace with President Chirac and British Prime Minister Tony Blair at which they discussed the preparations for the September Summit at the United Nations, as well as the need for increased development financing.  They also discussed the greater Middle East, including Lebanon, Syria, the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, and Iran.

At a press encounter on his way out of the ElyséePalace, the Secretary-General said he was relieved that Florence Aubenas and her Iraqi guide, Hussein Hanoun, were freed in Iraq, and voiced his hope that other hostages will also be freed soon.

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

For information media. Not an official record.