SG: Good afternoon. It is a great pleasure for me to be here in Atlanta. I just came from a very moving visit to the Atlanta University Center, where I had a chance to view some of the original papers of Dr. Martin Luther King. I was really inspired. Dr. King was a great son of Georgia, but he had a vision that transcended the borders of this state and even this country. The United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights has a great deal in common with Dr. King's movement and his legacy. And we're trying to live up to these ideals in our activities around the world.

While I'm here, I'm also going to visit the Centers for Disease Control. The UN World Health Organization works in partnership with the CDC on many global health issues. And I'll be visiting the Carter Center to meet with President Carter and attend a meeting on Global Health with some of the top experts in the field. I'm very much looking forward to that.

Before I leave Atlanta tomorrow, I'll be attending a luncheon with the business community in Atlanta. So many of the companies based here have a global reach and a number of them are involved in the UN's global corporate initiative called the Global Compact.

Atlanta is also host to a UN entity – CIFAL. I will be visiting with them later this afternoon. CIFAL is one of twelve UN Training Centers for government officials and civil society leaders around the world. The work of CIFAL promotes UN's Millennium Development Goals – a blueprint to fight poverty around the world.

So this visit is a chance for me to meet many UN partners – engaged in human rights, diplomacy, global health, the environment, and good corporate behaviour.

One of my greatest concerns as Secretary-General is climate change. No matter how hard I work on the international scene, I find global initiatives only succeed when local communities take action. Here in Georgia, there are communities showing the way to deal with drought. I was interested to learn, for example, about Clayton County's water treatment system using wetlands and reservoirs.

Governor Perdue, your “Conserve Georgia” campaign is a major step forward and I commend you for it. You've said that Georgia's drought is a sign that we need to conserve natural resources. I think this true not just here but everywhere. I travel the world trying to make this point: that we have a responsibility to care for our planet for future generations. I applaud your States' efforts to conserve water, save energy, safeguard lands, prevent litter and promote recycling. I'm going to share what I've learned here in Georgia with leaders and communities around the world.

I'm happy to take your questions.

Q: Mr. Secretary. Could you please describe the latest policy regarding Myanmar and the relief efforts there?

SG: I am deeply concerned about this continuing tragedy in Myanmar, caused by this cyclone Nargis. As Secretary-General of the United Nations, I have been mobilizing all the Agencies and Funds and Programmes of the United Nations who deal with this humanitarian assistance, and I have been coordinating my efforts, the United Nations efforts, with international leaders.

The United Nations is very much encouraged by such an outpouring of support and aid for the Myanmarese people. It is desirable and crucially important for the international community to assist the Myanmarese people at this crucially important first few days.

However, I am also deeply concerned by the inability of many food aid and international aid workers not being able to deliver as soon or as much as we had hoped. I have been urging the authorities of Myanmar to be flexible in opening their boundaries so that all aid workers can enter into Myanmar. I am urging again at this time the Myanmar authorities to do that, to first of all issue visas expeditiously, and if possible, exempt all visa requirements for all UN aid workers, so that we can reach out to needy people. I am concerned that if we lose time at this very critical time, then, many more people will die because of this crisis. I am also concerned that disease may spread. This we must prevent as soon as possible.

I am trying to reach and talk directly to Senior General Than Shwe of Myanmar to urge him to allow aid workers to deliver this urgent food aid, with a sense of great urgency.

Q: Do you think there is a possible special role for the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in working with that tragedy?

SG: CDC has been making a great contribution and efforts in preventing the spread of disease, as well as promoting and inventing all the necessary care and treatment for malaria and treatable diseases. I am sure that CDC can play a role. At this time it would be necessary for the international community and volunteers to coordinate with the United Nations in promoting a coherent and organized and speedy effort.

Q: Mr. Secretary-General, France has been [inaudible] UN invoking its “Responsibility to Protect” to go around the Government in Myanmar and bring aid to the people directly. I wonder what you have thought about that, and I also wonder whether you got in touch with the General you just mentioned, and what he said?

SG: I think this idea has come out of frustration that we are not being able to see as rapid delivery as possible for all this humanitarian assistance. We are talking about very urgent humanitarian issues. People are dying, therefore I would like to see, first of all, a focus on how soon we can deliver and help those people at this time.

I would again remind the Myanmarese authorities that we are not talking about politics at this time. We are talking about only these humanitarian issues on an urgent basis.

Q: Sir, have you had a chance to speak with the ruling General there?

SG: I have requested a telephone call with him, and I expect that I will be able to speak to him, but nothing has been scheduled yet.

Q: [inaudible on ethanol production's effect on food supplies]

SG: There are many reasons which have caused the current global food crisis. Many people have been talking about biofuels. At this time, we do not have any clear cut information on a clear cut trade off between the impact of biofuel and agricultural production. I think more study and more work needs to be done in this case, and I think further it needs to be studied in a comprehensive way, particularly when it comes to non-food crops for biofuels.

This global food crisis again has reached a stage of an unprecedented challenge of global proportion. I have taken the urgent initiative to tackle this issue - first, on the immediate shortage of food deliveries and secondly, mid- and long-term goals. I have established a Task Force comprising of relevant United Nations agencies and Bretton Woods institutions like the World Bank and IMF, and I am going to hold the first Task Force meeting next Monday morning to discuss this issue. I have sent urgent letters of invitation to all the Heads of State of the Member States of the United Nations to join me in a meeting organized by the FAO [Food and Agriculture Organization] in early June. I hope that leaders will be able to discuss short-term and long-term strategies to overcome this issue. If this issue is not properly handled, I am concerned that this may trigger a cascade of many different problems, not only socio-economic problems, but even involving political and security issues. That is why the whole international community must address this issue with a sense of great urgency.

Q: In view of your coming trip to the Carter Center, would you share with us your opinions about President [Jimmy] Carter and his career, and also I am wondering, in view of his recent trip to the Mideast, whether you would consider that within the context of the UN and human rights.

SG: First of all, I have deep admiration and respect for President Carter for what he has been doing for all, concerning humanity, global health, disease control, Habitat. He is known as one of the great former Presidents who have been contributing greatly to the promotion of peace and development and human rights. I am going to participate in a Global Health meeting where the top expert leaders in global health will participate. This global health issue is one of the major, important elements of the Millennium Development Goals to realize before 2015. These are very important issues, which I take as one of my key priorities as Secretary-General of the United Nations. Again, on this peace process in the Middle East, recently, last week we had a Quartet meeting. We had again a meeting between the Quartet principles, including myself, with our Arab partners. I know that there are different assessments, on how this Annapolis peace process is moving, but this time what is important is that, first of all, we need to change the situation on the ground. Stability and peace should be rooted. We must also address the humanitarian concerns in Gaza. The United Nations has been providing humanitarian assistance to 80 percent of the population in Gaza. We cannot continue in such a way. This is a very unacceptable situation where many people are suffering from this humanitarian situation there. Therefore, it needs all the parties concerned – Israel taking more proactive measures to remove the roadblocks and to ease the closure of the crossings so that humanitarian assistance can be allowed in. There must be a stop to the firing of rockets into Israel. All these issues must be addressed comprehensively. I hope that we will be able to build upon this Annapolis peace process with a sense of flexibility and commitment so that we will be able to see the conclusion of a peace treaty by the end of this year.

Thank you very much.