In keeping with the good offices mandate I received from the General Assembly and from the Commission on Human Rights, I have established a dialogue with the Government of Myanmar in order to address various issues of concern to the international community, in particular with respect to the process of democratization and national reconciliation in that country. During the period under review, my Representatives have held several rounds of talks in New York and Yangon with Secretary 1 of the State Law and Order Restoration Council, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and other authorities of the Government. In the talks, a series of ideas were discussed, which, if implemented, would assist in moving the process forward.
I welcome the Government's decision to lift the restrictions imposed on Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and to release a number of other political prisoners, including several leading members of the National League for Democracy. I look forward to further steps to speed up the return of multi-party democracy in Myanmar. I will report to the General Assembly at its fiftieth session on the progress of those discussions, which are being continued on my behalf at Yangon in August by the Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs.
To return to the Table of Contents