15 December 2000

The President presided over the first informal consultations of the plenary on the special session of the General Assembly on HIV/AIDS. The discussion was based on a note about the special session on HIV/AIDS, provided by the Office of the President. The full text of the note is available on the "Statements and Messages" page.

Later in the day the President hosted a luncheon in connection with the HIV/AIDS special session.

The President met with the Chairman of the Fifth Committee, H.E. Sr. Gert Rosenthal to discuss the work of the Committee.

The President discussed the situation in East Timor during his meeting with the Permanent Representative of Portugal, H.E. Mr. Antonio Monteiro. The historical background of the current socio-economig situation in both West and East Timor as well as the importance of cooperation between diferent stakeholders during the transition period were among the issues discussed during their meeting.

The President's upcoming visit to East Timor was also brought up during a meeting with H.E. Mr. Stewart Eldon, the deputy Permanent Representative of United Kingdom, who recently visited East Timor as a member of the Security Council delegation.

The President met with a group of some thirty Permanent Representatives from various regions on the issue of the negotiations on the scale of assessments. He expressed his concern about the delay in being able to conclude the regular session of the 55th General Assembly. He pointed out that of particular concern was the work of the Fifth Committee, where several important issues were still outstanding. Among those issues, by far the most contentious is the one related to the scale of assessments, both for the regular budget and for peacekeeping. He pointed out that very little movement had taken place on grappling with the scale issue and that very little time remained to work out a consensual agreement. He then went on to seek the guidance of Permanent Representatives on what should be done, collectively, to move the process forward.

In the evening the President attended a reception, hosted by the Permanent Representative of New Zealand, H.E. Mr. Michael Powles, to say goodbye.