Issued by: The Department of Foreign Affairs
MEDIA STATEMENT ON MEETING OF HEADS OF SOUTH AFRICAN MULTILATERAL MISSIONS WITH THE TOP MANAGEMENT OF THE DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS IN PRETORIA ON 7, 8 AND 11 AUGUST 1997
Members of the Top Management of the Department, including the Minister and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, met over three days with the heads of Multilateral Missions in New York, Geneva, Addis Ababa, Brussels and Vienna.
Workshops were held on South Africa's forthcoming Chairmanship of the Non Aligned Movement (NAM) and the role of human rights in South Africa's foreign policy. The UN Secretary General's reform proposals were also discussed, and it was noted that South Africa was broadly supportive of the various proposals, but would comment in greater detail during the 52nd Session of the General Assembly.
The Department expects that a significant proportion of the 113 Member States of NAM will be represented at the Summit which South Africa will host during the last quarter of 1998, by their Heads of State or Government. Hosting the Summit will be a major undertaking, both in terms of logistical arrangements and the development of substantive policy positions for deliberation by the Membership.
South Africa was elected to serve on the Commission on Human Rights from 1997 to 1999, in which it has been playing a construc- tive and leading role. The international community will celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on 10 December 1998. Due to the significance of human rights for South Africa, the workshop decided that South Africa would celebrate and publicise this milestone through a series of media and other events.
ISSUED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS PRETORIA 12 AUGUST 1997