Annan, UN Assembly President to head for Oslo to accept Nobel Peace Prize

The United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, and Han Seung-soo of Korea – the President of the UN’s main legislative and deliberative body, the General Assembly – will head for Oslo, later this week to accept the Nobel Peace Prize, a UN spokesman announced today.

The formal awards ceremony, which will take place on Monday, follows the 12 October decision by the Norwegian Nobel Committee to bestow the Nobel Peace Prize for 2001, in two equal portions, on the United Nations and Mr. Annan, "for their work for a better organized and more peaceful world."

On Sunday, the Secretary-General and the Assembly President, who will accept the Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of the United Nations, will give a joint press conference before participating in a rehearsal for the Nobel Ceremony. In the evening, the two UN leaders will have dinner with members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee.

After accepting the Peace Prize on Monday afternoon, the Secretary-General and the Assembly President will attend a reception in their honour hosted by King Harald V. In the evening, they will witness the traditional torchlight procession and then attend the Nobel banquet.

According to the spokesman, Mr. Annan's programme in Oslo will include a meeting on Tuesday with a group of non-governmental organization representatives at the Red Cross headquarters. The Secretary-General will then confer with the Norwegian Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, and meet with the leadership of the Norwegian Parliament. While in Oslo, he is also scheduled to officially open a donor conference on East Timor.

On Wednesday Mr. Annan will travel to Stockholm, where he will meet with Parliamentarians and the Prime Minister and have an audience with Their Majesties the King and Queen of Sweden.