21 March 2001

The President held his monthly meeting with the Chairpersons of the Regional Groups for the month of March, Mauritius, Pakistan, Armenia, Cuba and Belgium. The two facilitators for the preparatory process of the HIV/AIDS special session, H.E. Ms Wensley, Permanent Representative of Australia and H.E. Mr. Ka, Permanent Representative of Senegal briefed the meeting about the current status of preparations for the Special Session. The President briefed the Chairpersons also on the current status of the process of the improvement of the General Assembly working methods and Millennium summit follow-up. Mr. Holkeri gave also an overview on the work of the two open-ended working groups he is chairing, on Security Council Reform and Africa.

General Assembly met today with Mr. Holkeri presiding over its meeting. The Assembly adopted resolutions on organizational matters of Intergovernmental Event on Financing or development and the implementation of the outcome of Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II).

The President met with H.E. Mr. Anatoly Zlenko, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine. They discussed the Millennium Summit follow up, reform of the Security Council and the General Assembly and the upcoming events.

In his message on International Day for Elimination of Racial Discrimination the President stressed need for racial equality and tolerance. I another message the President noted that World Poetry Day, which is also observed on 21 March, celebrates the sharing of experiences between cultures. The full text of both messages is available on "Statements and Messages" page.