PHA-Exchange> ANNAN MEETS WITH HIS SPECIAL REGIONAL ENVOYS IN THE WAR ON AIDS

[Aviva]

ANNAN MEETS WITH HIS SPECIAL REGIONAL ENVOYS IN THE WAR ON AIDS
New York, Jan 16 2004  4:00PM

Seeking to draw up a global balance sheet of the United Nations battle
against HIV/AIDS, Secretary-General Kofi Annan today held 
his first annual consultations with his special envoys dealing with
pandemic on a regional basis as well as with Peter Piot, 
Executive Director of the joint UN programme on the disease
(<"http://www.unaids.org/en/default.asp">UNAIDS).

Mr. Annan saw the meeting as an opportunity for the four envoys - who
deal with AIDS in Latin America and the Caribbean, Eastern 
Europe, Asia and the Pacific, and Africa - to assess the situation in
their respective regions, including the performance of the 
UN and the <"http://www.theglobalfund.org/en/">Global Fund to Fight
AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, a UN spokesman said.

The Secretary-General told the envoys at the closed-door meeting that
AIDS is a priority issue for the UN system, and for him 
personally, and stressed the envoys' value in reaching out to countries
as they respond to the AIDS epidemic.

The meeting came a day after Mr. Annan hosted a summit of executives
from the worldwide media at UN Headquarters in New York, 
where the media leaders made major commitments towards expanding public
knowledge and understanding about HIV/AIDS.

The envoys at today's meetings were George Alleyne for Latin America
and the Caribbean; Lars Kellings for Eastern Europe; Stephen 
Lewis for Africa; and Nafis Sadik for Asia and the Pacific.