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Deputy President Jacob Zuma will leave for Geneva, Switzerland on Saturday, the 24th of June to attend The United Nations General Assembly Special Session on Social Development, entitled "World Summit for social development and beyond: achieving social development for all in a globalising world". This session will take place from the 26-30 June 2000. Deputy President Zuma will address the plenary on the 26th of June.

The special session is being held to review the implementation of the commitments that were made at the World Summit on Social Development, held in Copenhagen in 1995. The delegation will consist of Ministers of Welfare and Population Development, Labour, Health, Members of Parliament, as well as other government officials from departments within the Social Sector Cluster. The Deputy President is scheduled to hold a bi-lateral meeting, on the 27th June, with the Vice Premier of the State Council of China, Mr Wen Jiabao, who will be leading the Chinese delegation. The discussions will focus on bilateral relations, UN multilateral affairs and issues of social development. He is expected to hold meetings with other leaders during the visit.

Information on all aspects of the twenty fourth special session can be found at the following web site: www.un.org/socialsummit. This site which will be updated daily during the special session contains news, issues and statements related to the session and will provide a live web cast of the plenary meetings and up-to-date information about documentation, schedules of meetings and some NGO activities.

For further information please contact Mathula Magubane - 082 371 1315

Issued by the Office of the Presidency, 21 June 2000