Kofi Annan

The Secretary-General warmly welcomes the agreement reached between the Clinton Foundation and four drug manufacturers in developing countries to cut the price of antiretroviral AIDS drugs in half. These price reductions will not only make HIV treatment more affordable to many of those who could previously not afford them; they should also act as a further incentive for Governments, particularly in countries heavily affected by HIV/AIDS, to establish national treatment plans as part of their comprehensive prevention and care emergency strategies.

I am pleased to extend my best wishes to this gathering of IGAD. Allow me to commend the leadership of your outgoing Chairman, President Al Beshir of Sudan, and welcome the incoming Chairman, President Museveni of Uganda. The United Nations stands ready to work closely with IGAD on matters of common concern, with special focus on regional peacemaking in the Sudan and Somalia.

SG: Good morning.

Q: Thank you for taking our time this morning. Concerning Mr. Ahtisaari's report, how much do you personally believe you deserve or should accept blame for any of the failings and decisions that were criticized in that report?

Excellencies,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I would like to thank the Government of Spain for hosting this meeting, and the Core Group of Donors –the European Union, Japan, the United States and United Arab Emirates –for the invitation to join you.

Thank you, Tony [Jenkins], and congratulations to all the winners.

Dear friends,

My husband is deeply sorry he could not be here with you tonight. We both feel that what has happened since the last UNCA dinner two years ago -- in the world and to us as human beings -- has made us realize more than ever before how much we all need one another. We have all lost dear friends and colleagues, and we think of them again tonight. My husband and I are moved that your Association has found ways to honour their memory.

It is a great pleasure to send my greetings to all who have gathered for this annual luncheon.

First let me congratulate the newest fellows of the Dag Hammarskjöld Scholarship Fund who have been introduced here. [Mani Ngegba Sorie, of Sierra Leone, Namini Wijedasa, of Sri Lanka, Damakant Jayshi, of Nepal and Luisa Fernanda Rodriquez Quiroa, of Guatemala.

The security of the staff has been the constant concern of the Secretary-General and the Organization. There have been many previous evaluations of the United Nations Security Coordination System but following the attacks on UN staff on 19 August, the Secretary-General decided that there should be an independent investigation and asked Mr. Martti Ahtisaari to head it. The reports of three earlier internal investigations were made available to his team.

[The Prime Minister made opening comments in Spanish.]

SG: Thank you very much, Mr. Prime Minister. I think the Prime Minister has given you the gist of the topics we covered; and I would not want to repeat all of it.

But let me take this opportunity to thank the Prime Minister and Spain for the very important role they are playing in the UN and on the international scene.

Thank you, Mr. Johnson [Bill Johnson, Chairman of Heinz], for those very kind words.

Honorable Members of the Legislature, Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is a great honor for me to speak this afternoon to such a distinguished American audience, at this fine University in one of America's great cities.

I want to use this opportunity to make something clear which I'm sure most of you here already understand, but which I sense is sometimes overlooked or obscured in the heat of debate about the issues of the day.

The Secretary-General welcomes the declaration agreed in Tehran today by the Iranian Government and visiting EU Foreign Ministers regarding the nuclear programme of the Islamic Republic of Iran. He encourages the Iranian authorities to further cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to resolve all outstanding issues with the Agency.

The Secretary-General appreciates the efforts of the Government of Iran and the Foreign Ministers of France, Germany and the United Kingdom in working towards resolving outstanding issues regarding Iran's nuclear programme.