24 April 2001

The President today held the monthly meeting between his office and the Chairpersons of the Regional Groups for the month of April. Among issues discussed during the meeting were the upcoming special session on HIV/AIDS, the process of improving the working methods of the General Assembly and the Millennium Summit follow-up. Also the work of the Working Group on the Causes of Conflict and the Promotion of Durable Peace in Africa and the work of the Open-ended Working Group on the Question of Equitable Representation on and Increase in the Membership of the Security Council were discussed. The summary of the meeting is available on the Statements and Messages page.

The President presided over the General Assembly meeting where the election of two additional judges for the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda was held. The Assembly elected Ms. Ramaroson from Madagascar and Mr. Maquru from Lesotho as the two new judges. The two additional judges are required as result of the Security Council decision last November to increase the number of Appeals judges in the Rwanda Tribunal and for the Yugoslavia Tribunal. The term of office for the current judges runs until May 2003.

Later in the day the President left for Abuja, Nigeria, to attend the African Summit on AIDS, tuberculosis and other infectious diseases.