ACTIVITIES OF SECRETARY-GENERAL IN UNITED KINGDOM, 5 - 8 JULY
United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan arrived in London from Tripoli, Libya, in the evening of Tuesday, 5 July 2005, to attend the summit of the Group of Eight (G-8) in Gleneagles, Scotland, later in the week.
The following morning in London, the Secretary-General met with a group of London schoolchildren who presented him a message asking their leaders to keep their promises on the Millennium Development Goals, and asking, “Please make the world a better place for all of us by 2015.” Hundreds of orange balloons were released into the sky as the Secretary-General chatted with the children.
In the evening, the Secretary-General delivered the keynote address to a capacity crowd of some 2,500 at St. Paul’s Cathedral, at an event organized as a challenge to the G-8 on global poverty and the Millennium Development Goals. (See Press Release SG/SM/9984-DEV/2527.)
The Secretary-General drew attention to the make-or-break moment we now face on achieving the Millennium Development Goals. Saying that the Goals are people-centred, time-bound and measurable, he noted that they are achievable and have unprecedented political support. Considering how far we have come to achieve them, he argued, a failure by some countries not to meet many, or any, of the Goals by 2015 would be a tragic missed opportunity.
He called on Governments to take courageous decisions at the G-8 meeting at Gleneagles, and the World Summit in New York in September, which is expected to be the largest gathering of world leaders in history.
Earlier in the day, the Secretary-General met with editors of The Financial Times, and took part in a special G-8 panel discussion with Jonathan Dimbleby of ITV, that was aired on the eve of the summit. With him on the panel were Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa, British Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown, and two artists who sang in the Live 8 concert -- Chris Martin of the group Coldplay and Sting.
Thursday morning, the Secretary-General left London for Gleneagles via Edinburgh. He had just left London and was en route to Edinburgh when the terrorist attacks in London occurred.
Following a morning meeting with leaders of the G-8 industrialised countries and Brazil, South Africa, Mexico, India, China, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Trade Organization, the host, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, read out a joint statement condemning the “barbaric attacks” and saying that “those responsible have no respect for human life”. (See Press Release SG/2100.)
The parties to the statement affirmed that they will not allow violence to change their societies or their values, or to disrupt the work of the summit. “The terrorists will not succeed”, they said.
The Secretary-General later issued the following statement on the London bombings. (See Press Release SG/SM/9986.)
“I was devastated by the atrocious bombings that struck London today. These vicious acts have cut us all to the core, for they are an attack on humanity itself. My thoughts and prayers are with all those who have lost loved ones, all those who were hurt, all those who were traumatized by this tragedy. I grieve with all Londoners at the wounds that have been inflicted on this wonderful city -- this city that is home to people from so many countries and cultures -- and express my solidarity with the Government and people of the United Kingdom in this hour of trial.
“Today, the world stands shoulder to shoulder with the British people, who with others around the world had mobilized so powerfully against poverty and climate change ahead of the Group of Eight summit, and who, I am sure, will confront this ordeal with the same spirit, courage and determination. I look to the Group of Eight, in their deliberations over the next few days, to show themselves equal to that resolve. Let us not allow the violence perpetrated by a few to deflect us from addressing the aspirations of billions of our fellow men and women who are demanding change.”
The Secretary-General attended an official luncheon hosted by Prime Minister Blair and then held a meeting with Hilary Benn, the United Kingdom Minister of State for International Development.
On Thursday evening, he took part in a dinner hosted by Jack McConnell, First Minister of the Scottish Executive.
Friday morning, the Secretary-General met briefly with Prime Minister Blair, who returned late Thursday to Gleneagles after spending the day in London in the aftermath of the attacks, together with South African President Thabo Mbeki and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso.
On the sidelines of the summit, he also had a meeting with Live 8 artists Bono and Bob Geldof, together with film director Richard Curtis.
He then to took part in the G-8 meeting with leaders from South Africa, Senegal, Ghana, Nigeria, United Republic of Tanzania, Ethiopia, Algeria and the African Union, IMF and the World Bank, which resulted in a joint communiqué on Africa.
As he left Gleneagles, the Secretary-General congratulated Prime Minister Blair and his fellow G-8 leaders on what they have done for Africa. The leaders carried the hopes of the people around the world who wanted progress towards reducing poverty in Africa, and today they got it, he said.
He noted the promise to double aid to Africa by 2010, as well as welcome progress on debt cancellation. Further, the African leaders at the G-8 summit reaffirmed their commitment to good governance, democracy and the fight against corruption.
The Secretary-General said he had hoped that the G-8 leaders might have committed themselves to a clear, unambiguous date to end export subsidies. But he added that this is the beginning, not the end, for the people and the leaders who made today’s success possible.
“I hope Gleneagles will be remembered as the beginning of something very big, perhaps even the beginning of the end of mass poverty”, he said.
The Gleneagles Plan of Action on climate change, clean energy and sustainable development is also an important step forward, he said, though he said he believes it needs to be complemented by an agreed international framework for stabilizing greenhouse gas concentrations beyond 2012, with broad participation by all major emitters from both developed and developing countries, as well as intensified research into new technologies that can reduce emissions and alleviate their harmful effects. (See Press Release SG/SM/9991.)
In a statement on the final communiqué, the Secretary-General also welcomed the attention the G-8 leaders have given to critical regional issues, such as the need to ensure a successful Israeli disengagement from Gaza and parts of the West Bank, and a prompt resumption of the Six-Party Talks on the KoreanPeninsula.
Following the G-8 meeting on Africa, the Secretary-General left the United Kingdom via Edinburgh for Khartoum, Sudan.