Secretary-General's remarks to UN country team (unofficial transcript)

My dear colleagues, Nane and I and my whole team from New York are extremely happy to be here with you today, even though it is a rather brief visit. I have had the chance to hear from the agency heads about the activities that you carry out here and the kind of work that you are doing. I had the chance to talk to some of at the Government officials outside Botswana and I hope to be speaking to the President and other ministers and I am sure I will get the same report about your performance of the work you do here.

We are fortunate to be working in a country where there is a solid leadership on the key issues of concern to all of us and that in a way makes our work also easier. And I think it makes your own cooperation much easier and once we are able to pool our efforts and resources we will also be able to support the government better.

We were able to visit the Princess Marina Hospital this afternoon soon after we arrived, and we were very impressed to se the kind of work that is going on there which exemplifies the concern the leadership and the Government has taken on the issue of HIV/AIDS. We visited other countries and other hospitals and I must say, you in this country are ahead in many ways, the laboratory system that we saw, the work that has been under the concern of the doctors and nurses and the approach of bringing in the families so that they are all sensitised.

I am not implying that we are out of the woods and that the battle is won. We are still at the early stages yet. There are people who will have to be encouraged to come forward to be tested, to admit that they have the disease. For them to do that we will have to remove the stigma and discrimination associated with it. But now that people have the sense that they can be helped, that they can have treatment, I hope that many more will come forward.

I asked a critical question at the hospital when we visited this afternoon as to whether people react –or let's say if a wife gets tested, how quickly does the husband come forward to be tested. And I think there is a problem here in this area. I hear the women are a bit more courageous than the men. And we need to keep the work out, we need to encourage the men to do more, besides that, we are the source of the problem. So we should really talk to them and encourage them to also get tested and help us fight this disease. But I think on the economic front, it is quite clear to all of us that if we are not able to bring the HIV epidemic under control, it is going to have a very negative impact on the development of the country. In a way it's a disease that is not only taking away the present but it is also taking away the future, that is, killing some of the most productive people who are playing a critical role in the social and economic development. So we have a great challenge ahead of us.

From here I will be going to South Africa to attend the Johannesburg conference where leaders will come together to discuss sustainable development. This is not a conference about environment, but a conference about sustainable development. The conference is not only about economic growth but a conference also about managing the resources of the planet in such a way that you can leave it in a healthy state to our children and their children. We cannot continue plundering the resources the way we are doing and expect it to be sustainable.

I would expect the leaders meet in Johannesburg to discuss issues of water and sanitation, health, energy, agricultural productivity and bio diversity amongst others. We could also seek partnership with private companies coming together with governments to propose initiatives that they intend to take to help sustainable development. We are living in a new era, an era of partnership with governments; international organizations, NGOs and private companies and foundations that are working together.

And it is a spirit and approach that I would encourage them to take in your work here. And I think that some of you who work in health have seen that partnership at work. With either Merck or Bill Gates Foundation and other donors come in to team up with the Government and NGOs to make a difference. This kind of partnership can work in any of the teams that we are operating in.

When I met the agency guys earlier before coming down, the question of budget resources was raised. But this is another way, the path, we can use to expand our capacities by seeking out partners. Partners who will bring something to the table, either in terms of money, material or contributions in kind or more. Because unless we do that, the government contributions are not going to increase as fast as we would like. So the fastest way is through partnerships, working with NGOs and foundations and the private sector.

So let me say once again my dear friends, how happy I am to be here with you today. I would stop here perhaps to open the floor for a real discussion with you, our colleagues or for questions or advise.

Thank you.