Secretary-General's visit to West Africa.

• Position: Javier Perez de Cuella. January 17-February 4, 1984

/He hoped that "the notion of multilateral co-operation, predicted on political premises, will regain its place and thus free the developing world as a whole, and Africa in particular, from the shackles of tensions between the great Powers". /Mr. Perez de Cuellar gave these views in a detailed statement to the Institute of International Affairs in Lagos, Nigeria, delivered on 25 January, at the midpoint of his trip. The Secretary-General described the situation in Africa as "a full-fledged emergency, requiring the attention and action of the international community as a whole". /Mr Perez de Cuellar, from 17 January through 4 February, visited Mali, Niger, Benin, Nigeria, Togo, Ivory Coast, Upper Volta and Senegal. In each country, he met with the Head of State and discussed economic problems of the region and the country. /Accompanying Mr. Perez de Cuellar were Adebayo Adedeji, Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), and Abdulrahim Abby Farah, Under Secretary General for Special Political Questions and Co-ordinator, Special Economic Assistance Programmes. Meetings were held between national experts and United Nations experts to discuss specific problems, in particular those caused by drought and desertification. /The following is a brief summary of the Secretary-General's activities in West Africa. /*mali (17-19 January): Mr. Perez de Cuellar met with President Moussa Traore in Bamako the capital. He also visited the ancient city of Tombouctou (Timbuktu) in central Mali, where he viewed the effects of drought and desertification. /Niger (19-21 january): Discussions were held in Niamey, the capital, with the President of Niger, General Seyni Kountche. Mr perez de Cuellar visited the Agrhymet Centre, which administers hydrology and meteorology progammes related to agriculture, a project of the Interstate Committee for Relief of Drought in the Sahel, undertaken with assistance from the World Meteorological Organization of the United nations (FAO). /The Secretary-General also visited the Office of cereal products of Niger, where stocks of locally grown cereals and foreign products are kept for distribution when necessary. /Benin (21-23 January): The Secretary-General met in Cotonou with Mathileu Kerekou, President of Benin, who gave him an economic memorandum on the short-term and medium-term socio-economic problems of the country. In it, he stressed the pressing needs of the country to overcome the disastrous consequences of the 1983 drought, especially with respect to food, animal feed and water resources development. Benin urgently needs 32,000 tons of...