3 May 2001

The President today addressed the World Press Freedom Day observance, which was held in the United Nations Headquarters. This year's theme was "Fighting racism and promoting diversity: the role of the free press" and in his remarks Mr. Holkeri spoke about the enormous role that the media can have in the fight against racism. He asked for a positive contribution from the media in this fight, and noted that it can be as simple as not using stereotypes or unnecessary references to a person's race or religion. The full text of his remarks is available on the Statements and Messages page.

The President met with the Chairpersons of the Regional Groups for the month of May. Among issues discussed were the Preparatory Committee for the International Conference of Financing for Development, the Special Session of the General Assembly on HIV/AIDS and the process of improving the working methods of the General Assembly. A summary of the issues raised by the President during the meeting is available on the Statements and Messages page.

During his meeting with the Secretary-General of the United Nations, H.E. Mr. Kofi Annan, the President took up, inter alia, the special session on HIV/AIDS.

Preparations for the upcoming General Assembly special session on HIV/AIDS were on focus also during President's meeting with one of the two facilitators of the preparatory process, H.E. Ms. Penny Wensley, Permanent Representative of Australia.

H.E. Mr. Amadou Kébé, Permanent Observer of the Organization of the African Unity (OAU) and the President discussed the state of preparations for the next meeting of the Open-ended Working Group on the Causes of Conflict and the Promotion of Durable Peace and Sustainable Development in Africa.

The President today met also with Ms. Aira Kalela, Deputy Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification. They discussed the ways to ensure a proper funding mechanism for the convention, possibly in the context of the Global Environment Facility (GEF).

During his meeting with Professor Dan Steinbock of Columbia Institute for Tele-Information (CITI), Columbia Graduate School of Business, the President discussed the future of mobile communications, especially in the light of the Finnish experience.

A meeting between the President and Mr. Gary Allen, President of the Christian Mission for the United Nations community also took place today.

Later in the day the President attended to a reception hosted by H.E. Mr. Sergey Lavrov, Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation.