ACTIVITIES OF SECRETARY-GENERAL IN DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, 4-5 AUGUST 2006

On Friday, 4 August, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan arrived in Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic, to begin his first official visit to that country.

He and President Leonel Fernández Reyna took part in a forum dealing with the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals in that country.  The Secretary-General thanked the President and the people of the Dominican Republic for embracing the Goals and assured them of the United Nations’ ongoing support.

Later on Friday, the Secretary-General met with the President of the Senate, Andres Bautista, and the President of the House of Representatives, Alfredo Pacheco Osoria.  He then spoke at a gathering organized by the Global Foundation on Democracy and Development.  (See Press Release SG/SM/10587.)

In the evening, President Fernández, in recognition of the Secretary-General’s work, granted him the Dominican Republic decoration of “The Order of the Merit of Duarte Sanchez and Mella, Silver Cross” during a ceremony celebrated in the National Palace.  This was followed by a joint press conference with the Secretary-General, and a state dinner hosted by President Fernández.

In a separate programme during the day, Nane Annan visited the Dominican Republic’s largest children’s hospital, Robert Reid Cabral, accompanied by First Lady Margarita de Fernández and Secretary of Health Dr. Bautista Rojas.  She was briefed on the hospital’s efforts to improve child health services and then toured some of the wards and interacted with children and their families.

The Secretary-General returned to New York on Saturday, 5 August.