11 December 2000

Today, the President of the General Assembly was in Bonn, Germany, and spoke at the opening of the 4th session of the Conference of Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification. In his statement, Mr. Holkeri noted the importance of partnerships in implementing this Convention. He said that he was greatly encouraged that more than 30 national action programmes had already been prepared and that in implementing these programmes, a variety of partners were involved, including the private sector, local communities, women's groups and non-governmental organizations. The full text of his remarks is available on the "Statements and Messages" page.

The discussion during the meeting between Mr. Holkeri and the Federal President of Germany, Mr. Rau touched upon many issues, including the role of the President of the General Assembly and the agenda of the Assembly. President Rau was interested in negotiations on the scale of assessments, those relating to peacekeeping operations and those for the regular budget. The implementation of the so-called Brahimi report on the reform of peacekeeping operations, and the status of follow-up to the Millennium Summit were also touched upon. Security Council reform and its working-group also interested the Federal President, in particular the issue of veto rights.

Mr. Holkeri met with the Lord Mayor of Bonn, Mrs. Baerbel Dieckmann, who briefed the President of the General Assembly on the fairly drastic changes which took place in the city after the reunification of Germany. Mrs. Dieckmann characterized Bonn as a possible of the United Nations city, which offered the potential of being developed into a significant UN center.

The Executive Secretary of the Convention to Combat Desertification, Ambassador Arba Diallo, hosted a lunch in the honor of the President of the General Assembly. The luncheon was attended by a number of high-level representatives of the host government and United Nations agencies relevant to the convention.