KOFI ANNAN SAYS FAILURE TO INCLUDE NON-PROLIFERATION
IN SUMMIT DOCUMENT IS A "A REAL DISGRACE"

"Good
afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. 

Let me apologize for the delay, but I suspect you all knew
what was happening, and it wasn’t in my hands.  But the good news is that we do
have an outcome document
(on UN reform), which has just been approved by the General Assembly, almost
unanimously, with two delegations reserving their position. 

The document includes a good chapter on development   We
have got the establishment of the Human Rights Council approved.  We have got
the Peace Building Commission approved.  We also have Responsibility to
Protect.  We have got a definition, a statement on terrorism, as well as the
Democracy Fund which has been established. 

The big item missing is non-proliferation and disarmament.
This is a real disgrace. We have failed twice this year. We failed at the
(nuclear) Non-Proliferation Treaty and we failed now. I hope the leaders will
see this as a real signal for them to pick up the ashes and really show
leadership on this important issue when we are all concerned about weapons of
mass destruction and the possibility that they may even get into the wrong
hands. So I will appeal to the leaders who are coming here in the next few days
to really step up to the plate and accept the challenge and show leadership on
this issue.

I think I will pause here and take your questions."

[A transcript of the questions and answers
will follow]

OTHER DEVELOPMENTS IN THE UN SYSTEM

ANNAN CO-CHAIRS "MINI-SUMMIT" ON BURUNDI

• The Secretary General co-chaired a "mini summit" on Burundi today with the
  president of the Republic of Uganda to mark the assumption of power of the new
  government in Burundi. Also in attendance were presidents, heads government,
  and foreign ministers of regional countries, representatives of the African
  Union and the European Commission, and senior officials representing the
  Governments of the United States, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.
   
• The summit agreed in principle to the establishment of a forum of
  Burundi’s partners to help support the new government and promote peace and
  development in that country. The secretary general told the group the
  suggested mechanism could bring together international support "in a
  coordinated and coherent manner."

  The Secretary-General said, "Its
  establishment would be in line with the recommendations on Peacebuilding made
  in my report ‘In larger freedom’. And if, as I hope, Member States agree this
  week to establish a Peacebuilding Commission, the proposed forum could be
  expected to liaise closely with the new body."

ANNAN: UNITED NATIONS AND ASEAN MUST WORK HAND-IN-HAND

• Secretary-General
  Kofi Annan, in an address
  to the leaders attending the ASEAN-UN Summit today, stressed the
  importance of close cooperation between regional organizations and the United
  Nations in promoting peace, stability and prosperity in the world, and
  outlined a wide range of areas of cooperation
  between the two organizations.
   
• The Secretary-General also expressed his
  concern about the threat posed by the
  current avian flu epidemic. "I
  am glad that a number of ASEAN governments have taken firm action to improve
  surveillance, identify infections and control the disease at its source,"
  he said. "Many governments,
  notably Malaysia and Thailand, have prevented human infection.  But we must
  all remain vigilant.  Human influenza pandemics
  exact a terribly high human and economic cost. Early
  warning of a transmissible human flu virus is vital."
   
• He went on to say that "I
  understand that some governments are working closely with civil society and
  private entities on prevention and preparation, and that is indeed the way we
  should move forward.  Those efforts deserve strong international support,
  including from the United Nations system."

SECURITY COUNCIL PASSES RESOLUTIONS
ON ERITREA/ETHIOPIA AND AFGHANISTAN

• The

• The World Food Programme (WFP) today

• The Global Polio Eradication Initiative - spearheaded by the World
  Health Organization, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and other partners –
  today

• Despite encouraging progress in cutting poverty and
  improving the working lives of people in Asia under the Millennium Development
  Goals (MDG), unemployment reached a new record high in the region while jobs
  growth remained "disappointing", says a new
  report from the
  International Labour Office
  (ILO) issued here today.
   

• The report, "Labour and Social Trends in Asia and the Pacific
  2005", says new data show that some three quarters of the world’s poor– or
  close to 2 billion people subsisting on less than the equivalent of US$ 2 a
  day—live in Asia .

UNESCO AWARDS PEACE PRIZE TO SENEGAL PRESIDENT

• The

• Deputy Secretary-General Louise Frechette will be giving the closing
  remarks today at the launching of the High Level Commission on Legal
  Empowerment of the Poor"(HLCLEP). The event is to start at 6:00 p.m. The
  HLCLEP is a new, independent, global intergovernmental initiative that sets
  out to explore how nations can reduce poverty through reforms that expand
  access to legal protection and economic opportunities for all.
   
• The Commission is being launched by a group of developing and developed
  countries. The Commission, which will complete its work by late 2007, is
  co-chaired by former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and Peruvian
  economist Hernando de Soto.
   
• The Deputy Secretary-General is to give an address today at the opening of
  the Roundtable Forum on "Innovation and Investment:
  Scaling Science and Technology to Meet the MDGs". The event starts at
  2:30 p.m. The roundtable’s objective is to enable policy makers to deliberate
  on the role of innovation and technologies in the achievement of the MDGs. It
  is aimed at amplifying the recommendations of the  Report "In Larger
  Freedom" and at building partnerships to support the UN Information and
  Communication Technologies (ICT) Task Force ahead of the World Summit on the
  Information Society.

•  The