Annan to address US public in nationally broadcast Town Hall meeting

Kofi Annan, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, will address the United States public on 11 October - one month to the day after the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington D.C. - during a Town Hall meeting that will be broadcast nationwide.

Moderated by Walter Cronkite, the event will enable Mr. Annan to engage the US public in a conversation by reaching out to their communities. Via satellite from the UN in New York, the Secretary-General will detail how the UN can support the global effort against terrorism. After his address, he will take questions from people gathered in ten cities - Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Seattle, St. Louis and Tampa.

Each individual city will host a panel of experts and a local moderator to facilitate ongoing discussion after the satellite portion of the broadcast concludes. The focus of the local meetings will be the impact of the terrorist attacks on the United States and the world. Some of the moderators include NBC's Bob Costas in St. Louis, former Colorado Senator Tim Wirth in Boston, and the National President of the League of Women Voters, Carolyn Jefferson-Jenkins, in Denver. The invitation only audience will be comprised of business and civic leaders, elected officials, youth, community leaders and clergy.

The Town Hall meeting is being produced by The Better World Campaign, a project of the Better World Fund, a sister organization to the United Nations Foundation. The Fund was created from a portion of an initial gift of $1 billion from American philanthropist and businessman Ted Turner. The organization is a bi-partisan, non-profit education and outreach initiative that aims to enhance awareness and appreciation for the work of the UN and the role it plays in international affairs.