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28 JUNE 2000

On the third day of its twenty-fourth Special Session on Social Development, the General Assembly is hearing a further 37 speakers as delegates assess the progress made towards implementing the 1995 Copenhagen Declaration and Programme of Action adopted at the World Summit for Social Development.

Today’s list of speakers includes the President of Cameroon, the Vice-Presidents of the Philippines and Cuba, and the Prime Minister of Belarus.

All three Working Groups of the Special Session’s Ad Hoc Committee of the Whole are meeting today, and Mr. John Langmore will give you a progress report on the status of the negotiations.

Asked for an assessment of where things stand, Committee Chairman Cristian Maquieira (Chile) said he was satisfied with the pace of the negotiations.  The atmosphere was good, and delegates were displaying a willingness to address complicated and difficult political and technical issues.  That had allowed the Committee to reach agreement on about 75 per cent of the text.  There were still three days remaining, he observed, which meant that, at this rate, the Committee would not only arrive at an agreed text, but one of good quality.
 
Today, Assembly President Dr. Theo-Ben Gurirab will be the guest of honour at a luncheon hosted by Ambassador Kamalesh Sharma of India.  This afternoon, he will receive a courtesy call from Mr. Wen Jiabao, Vice-Premier of China.  At 8 p.m. the President will attend a reception hosted by the International Labour Organization at Victoria Hall.

I have a number of announcements.  First, the Bureau of the Ad Hoc Committee agreed this morning to allow journalists into the lounges in the E Building, where they can conduct interviews with delegates.  However, the meeting rooms remain closed to the press.  There are several people in the room today who can address any security and other questions you may have in that regard.

The Chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee is sponsoring a series of panel discussions, today and tomorrow, in Room XIX (19) in the E Building, and the press is invited to attend.  Today’s panel, entitled “An Enabling Environment and Resources for Social Development”, will take place from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.  It will be chaired by Mr. Roberto Bissio, of Social Watch, in Uruguay.  The invited panelists are: Mr. Patricio Aylwin, former President of Chile; Venerable Dattacheevo Bhikku, Vice-Abbot, Dhammakaya, Thailand; Eveline Herfkens, Minister for Development Cooperation of the Netherlands; Pascoal M. Mucumbi, Prime Minister of Mozambique; and Ms. Mamphela Ramphele, Managing Director of the World Bank.

The two other panels will take place tomorrow: the first, chaired by Mr. Juan Somavia, Director-General of the International Labour Organization, is entitled “Promotion of Full Employment”, and will be held from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.; tomorrow’s second panel will be chaired by Ms. Rima Khalaf, former Deputy Prime Minister of Jordan, is entitled “Social Integration: Basic Social Services for All”, and will take place from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.

At 2 p.m. today, in this room, World Bank Managing Director Mamphele Ramphele will brief the press on how international development goals can only be achieved if wealthy industrial countries, in addition to developing nations, shoulder their share of responsibilities.
 
At 11:30 a.m. tomorrow, 29 June, the President of Nigeria, Mr. Olusegun Obasanjo, will hold a press conference in Room V (5).  The Nigerian President is scheduled to address the Special Session as the first speaker tomorrow afternoon.