/2T unicef ^"^ Office of the Executive Director '3. Children's Fund UNICEF House Fbnds des Nations Unies pour 1'enfance 3 United Nations Plaza Fondo de las Naciones Unidas para la Infancia New York, New York 10017 (212) 326-7035 Telex: 49620199 / Fax: (212) 326-7758

15 March 2002

Further to ourjiiscussion yesterday,_I attach herewith a list of leaders who have confirmed thei^aftendance at the,Special Session on Children, 8-10 May 2002. As you will note the Special Session !

29 Africa 16 Latin America and Caribbean 12 Asia 7 Eastern Europe 6 WEOG

The low turn-out of leaders from the industrialized countries is likely to give a signal that the /I Special Session becomes a Summit of the Poor or that leaders of the rich countries do not care [ I enough about children. From the point of view of solidarity with developing countries, in particular with Africa, this would be an unfortunate signal.

We would therefore hope that the Secretary-General in his contacts with leaders of ji industrialized countries would impress upon them the need to attend the Special Session on Children || as a mark of their commitment to children and solidarity with developing countries.

We see the Special Session as a bridge between the Monterry conference on financing for development and the conference on Sustainable Development. The Special Session is aTs^a~pl>werfuT vehicle for promoting the millennium development goals, as the key MDGs relate to reducing mortality, combatting diseases such as HIV/AIDS, promoting basic education - which will all be reinforced with very specific targets and strategies coming out of the Special Session. The Secretary-General is uniquely placed to bring out these linkages as part of his priorities for the United Nations family in the coming decade.

We have been mentioning these points in the UNICEF input to briefing notes for the Secretary-General's visits and meetings. We would be grateful if these points could be made part of his standard talking points in meetings with leaders from WEOG countries in the coming weeks!

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Mr. Iqbal Riza Chef de Cabinet Kul C. Gairtam Office of the Secretary-General Deputy Executive Director United Nations Special Session on Children 8-10 May 2002

High Level Participation (List as of 15 March 2002)

I. Heads of State and/or Government / Vice-Presidents / Crown-Princes

1. Albania President Rexhep Meidani 2. Algeria President 3. Andorra Prime Minister Marc Molne Forne 4. Austria Chancellor Wolfgang Schiissel 5. Bangladesh Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia 6. Benin President Mathieu Kerekou 7. Bhutan HRH Dasho Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck 8. Bolivia President Jorge Fernando Quiroga Ramirez 9. Bosnia and Herzegovina President Beriz Belkic 10. President Festus Gontebanye Mogae 11. Burkina Faso President Blaise Compaore 12. Cameroon President 13. Cape Verde President Pedro Pires 14. Central African Republic Prime Minister Martin Ziguele 15. Chad Prime Minister Nagoum Yamassoum 16. Colombia President Andres Pastrana Arango 17. Comoros Prime Minister Hamada Madi Bolero 18. Coted'Ivoire President Laurent Gbagbo 19. Croatia President Stjepan Mesic 20. Dominican Republic Vice-President Milagros Ortiz Bosch 21. El Salvador President Francisco Flores Perez 22. Finland President Tarja Halonen 23. Gabon President El Hadj 24. Gambia President Alhaji Yahya A. J. J. Jammeh 25. Georgia President Eduard Shevardnadze 26. Ghana President John Agyekum Kufuor 27. Guyana President Bharrat Jagdeo 28. Haiti President Jean-Bertrand Aristide 29. Honduras President Ricardo Maduro 30. Jamaica Prime Minister Percival James Patterson 31. Jordan King Abdallah II cont.../

I. Heads of State / Government / Vice-Presidents / Crown-Princes

32. President Daniel T. arap Moi 33. Kyrgyzstan Vice-President Osmonakun Ibraimov 34. King Letsie III 35. Liechtenstein Prime Minister Otmar Hasler 36. Maldives President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom 37. Mali President Alpha Oumar Konare 38. Mauritania Prime Minister Cheikh El Avia Ould Mohamed Khouna 39. Mexico President Vicente Fox 40. Monaco Crown Prince Albert 41. Mongolia Prime Minister Nambaryn Enkhbayar 42. President Joaquim Alberto Chissano 43. Nepal Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba 44. Niger Prime Minister Hama Amadou 45. Nigeria President 46. Palau President Tommy Remengesau Jr. 47. Peru President Alejandro Toledo Manrique 48. Republic of Korea President Kim Dae-jung 49. Romania President Ion Iliescu 50. Rwanda President 51. Saint Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Denzil L. Douglas 52. Saint Lucia Governor General Perlette Louisy 53. Saint Vincent and the Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves Grenadines 54. Senegal President Abdoulaye Wade 55. Slovenia Prime Minister Janez Drnovsek 56. Somalia President Salad Hassan Abdikassim 57. President 58. Spain President Jose Maria Aznar 59. Sri Lanka President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga 60. Suriname President Runaldo Ronald Venetiaan 61. Swaziland King Mswati III 62. President Benjamin William Mkapa 63. The former Yugoslav President Boris Trajkovski Republic of Macedonia 64. President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni 65. Uruguay Vice-President Luis Hierro Lopez 66. Vanuatu Prime Minister Edward Natapei cont.../

I. Heads of State / Government / Vice-Presidents / Crown-Princes

67. Venezuela President Hugo Chavez Frias 68. Viet Nam Vice-President Nguyen Thi Binh 69. President Levy Mwanawasa 70. President

II.

1. Belgium Princess Mathilde of Belgium 2. Jordan Queen Rania Al-Hussein 3. Morocco Princess Lalla Myriem

III. United Nations System

1. ILO Juan Somavia, Director-General 2. WHO Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland, Director-General 3. WFP James T. Morris, Executive Director (from March on) 4. UNAIDS Dr. Peter Piot, Executive Director

Secretariat, Special Session on Children UNICEF 23 January 2002

Excellency,

I have the honour to refer to my letter of 27 March 2001, in which I invited heads of State and Government to personally attend the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on Children, originally scheduled to take place on 19-21 2001. As you are aware, the tragic events of 11 September led to the postponement of the Special Session.

I am pleased to inform you that the General Assembly has now decided to hold the Special Session on Children on 8-10 May 2002 at United Nations Headquarters in New York. Please allow me to take this opportunity to renew my invitation for you personally to attend the Special Session in May 2002.

The last several months have already yielded agreements to move forward, including regional action plans for children. The road map towards the implementation of the United Nations Millennium Declaration, and the growing international commitment to children's rights to survival, protection and development, offer increased opportunities to agree on an ambitious action plan for children in the decades to come.

I look forward to your personal participation and support to ensure that the Special Session will contribute in a truly substantive way to making the world fit for children.

Please accept, Excellency, the assurances of my highest consideration.

Kofi A. Annan

His Excellency Mr ./Mrs