11 May 2001

The President today concluded the week-long May session of the Open-ended Working Group on Security Council Reform. In his concluding remarks the President stressed the need for everyone to reflect on how the discussions can be continued in a productive and fruitful manner in order to move the process forward. He added that he hopes to be able to count on the support of all delegations during the June session, which will be held on June 11 to 15. The full text of his concluding remarks is available on the Statements and Messages page.

Prior to the meeting the President met with the two vice-chairpersons of the Working Group, Ambassador Thorsteinn Ingolfsson of Iceland and Ambassador John de Saram of Sri Lanka, and discussed the work of the Group with them.

Another open-ended working group chaired by the President, on issues related to Africa, was among issues discussed during the meeting between the President and Mr. Ibrahima Fall, Assistant Secretary-General from the Department of Political Affairs.

The President met with H.E. Dr. Mohammad Javad Zarif, Deputy Foreign Minister of Iran. Their discussion focused on issues related to the agenda item on Dialogue Among Civilizations.

During his meeting with the President, H.E. Mr. Kamalesh Sharma, Permanent Representative of India, brought up the issue of strengthening cooperation between the UN and the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), as well as IPU's participation in the Special Session on HIV/AIDS.