..Press Release................................ UNESCAP News Services

Date 17 June 2005
Press Release No: L/24/2005

WELCOME STATEMENT OF
Mr. Kim Hak-Su
Under Secretary-General of the United Nations

For the visit of HRH Princess Astrid of Belgium

17 June 2005, United Nations Conference Centre, Bangkok

Her Royal Highness Princess Astrid of Belgium
His Excellency Mr Armand De Decker, Minister of Development Cooperation
His Excellency Mr Jan Matthysen, Ambassador of Belgium to Thailand
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

On behalf of the United Nations Agencies in Asia and the Pacific, I have the honour to welcome Your Royal Highness, Your Excellency Minister of Development Cooperation of Belgium to the Headquarters of the United Nations in the region.

Belgium has long been providing active support to the United Nations system and it has recently granted financial and resources assistance to various United Nations agencies, especially OCHA, in the common efforts to alleviate the suffering of people in the region due to impacts of the Tsunami disaster. Your visit in the region at the time close to the commemoration of six months after the Tsunami disaster is an important message to all of us of the personal concern of Your Royal Highness and the commitment of the Royal Government of Belgium to assist the tsunami-affected people. As the Asian and Pacific region is the most disaster prone region of the World, the United Nations system needs this kind of support and commitment to help build resilience of communities and nations to disasters as elaborated in the Hyogo Framework for Action adopted at the World Conference on Disaster Reduction, held in Kobe last January.

We are particularly happy to welcome Your Royal Highness to visit this Headquarters the second time, since your last visit in September 2003. The contribution of Your Royal Highness as the Head of the Belgium Red Cross Society to the global efforts of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies is highly appreciated by people and countries in the region.

We will this opportunity to brief Your Royal Highness, Your Excellency Minister of Development Cooperation and the members of the entourage of the relief efforts coordinated by OCHA, on humanitarian assistance provided by the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies as well as the efforts being undertaken by UNESCAP and future directions of the establishment of multi-hazard and multi-nodal early warning and promotion of disaster preparedness in the region.

Thank you.

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