In Geneva, Annan meets with UN officials and staff

Kicking off his visit to the United Nations complex in Geneva today, Secretary-General Kofi Annan held a series of meetings with various UN officials, advisers and personnel.

The Secretary-General started his day by seeing his Special Adviser on Sport for Development and Peace, Adolf Ogi, according to a UN spokesman in New York.

Afterwards, Mr. Annan met with representatives of the local UN Staff Council, and also addressed the UN staff, focusing mainly on the difficulties that the United Nations has faced in recent months following the Iraq conflict. Despite the problems the United Nations has had to deal with before and after the Iraq war, he encouraged staff members to continue to fulfil their duties as best they can.

The Secretary-General hosted a luncheon for the various UN agency heads in Geneva, and discussed with them a wide range of topics, including Liberia, the Middle East, Iraq and UN reform.

He then met with two of the agency heads - G.O.P. Obasi, who will leave his post as Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization later this year, and High Commissioner for Refugees Ruud Lubbers.

On Monday, the Secretary-General is scheduled to address the high-level segment of the Economic and Social Council's annual session, which will meet to discuss rural development.