ACTIVITIES OF SECRETARY-GENERAL IN LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, 2-4 DECEMBER 2003
Secretary-General Kofi Annan flew from New York to Los Angeles on Tuesday, 2 December, where he arrived in the early afternoon.
That evening, in a speech to the Los Angeles World Affairs Council, the Secretary-General recalled the great achievements of multilateralism under United States leadership in the twentieth century and urged Americans to help preserve and build on them for the twenty-first century.
He said that American leadership will be more admired than resented, and more effective, if it is exercised through a multilateral framework and when it is based on strengthening the rule of law in international affairs. Amid the acrimonious debate going on in the world today, the Secretary-General said, between the coalition that acted in Iraq and those who opposed it, “the relevance and importance of the United Nations has, in some quarters, been called into question”.
But he contended that recent events have only underlined the need for the United Nations. “Collective action”, he said, “is needed to stem the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and to rebuild shattered societies.” (See Press Release SG/SM/9044.)
On Wednesday morning, he addressed a public session of the Los Angeles City Council. He welcomed the Council’s adoption the previous day of a resolution in support of the Millennium Development Goals. He told the members of the Council that as representatives of city dwellers they have an important role to play, as more than half of human kind now lives in cities. Cities, like Los Angeles, he said, can be vehicles for peace in the broadest sense of the word. (See Press Release SG/SM/9047.) Prior to addressing the City Council, the Secretary-General met with Los Angeles Mayor James K. Hahn and City Council President Alex Padilla. Among other issues, they discussed global environmental problems and the solutions that local governments can apply to those problems.
Later on Wednesday afternoon, he addressed a luncheon honouring the Roots of Peace organization, which is dedicated to fighting landmines. Since the anti-personnel landmine Ottawa Convention was opened for signature exactly six years ago to the day the Secretary-General said, millions of landmines have been destroyed. While the challenges ahead are enormous, there are powerful reasons to hope, he said. “Governments, business and civil society have understood how crucial it is to help communities clear mined areas to then make productive use of the land.” (See Press Release SG/SM/9048.) The luncheon was hosted by Diane Disney Miller, daughter of the late Walt Disney. The event took place in the newly opened Disney Concert Hall.
During that day, Mrs. Nane Annan visited a multicultural public school in Los Angeles, where she gave a slideshow on the United Nations and its work at a kindergarten class to about 100 elementary students aged eight to 10. The visit to Menlo Avenue School was organized by the American Forum for Global Education, publisher of Mrs. Annan’s two books for children, and the United Nations Foundation.
In the afternoon, the Secretary-General and Mrs. Annan spent some two hours at an HIV/AIDS clinic jointly run by the University of Southern California and Los Angeles County. The focus of the clinic’s work is on the care of the mother and the child. They strive to help women who are living with HIV/AIDS to take care of themselves so they can in turn take care of their children. The Secretary-General and Mrs. Annan had a chance to meet with some youth activists who receive treatment at the clinic. They told the Secretary-General of their concerns and their hopes for the future. He saluted these young people for their courage and their activism and he said he hoped that they one day could come and speak at the United Nations.
In speaking to reporters afterwards, the Secretary-General said he hoped the clinic’s comprehensive approach to AIDS treatment could be replicated around the world. He added that he was particularly impressed with the young people he had met. “These are the heroes”, he said, “given the stigma, the discrimination, the difficulty it is to come out”. In answering a question, he underscored the need to assist women who often face the brunt of this pandemic. Women, he said, have to be given the means to protect themselves, especially since men often failed to live up to their responsibilities.
Later that evening, the Secretary-General delivered remarks at the fiftieth Anniversary Gala of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) Goodwill Ambassadors. In his statement, the Secretary-General honoured 50 years of advocacy work by celebrities on behalf of children worldwide. (See Press Release SG/SM/9049.) The proceeds of the star-studded evening, which was emceed by actress Whoopi Goldberg, will go to a UNICEF fund dedicated to the late Audrey Hepburn. The fund works towards the rehabilitation of schools.
Immediately following the UNICEF event, the Secretary-General met with United States Senator Hillary Clinton, who happened to be in Los Angeles at the same time. The Senator briefed the Secretary-General on her recent trip to Afghanistan and Iraq.
The Secretary-General returned to New York on Thursday, 4 December.