WASHINGTON, Feb 15, 2008 (AFP) - UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Friday hailed the upcoming visit of President George W. Bush to Africa as "important" and urged him to use the occasion to help eradicate hunger and disease on the continent.
"Your visit to African states at this time will be very important and historic," Ban told Bush in the Oval Office after the two leaders held talks.
"I hope you are able to discuss with African leaders on how to realize these Millennium Development goals, how to help people overcome abject poverty, and sanitation, and access to educational opportunities," Ban said.
Bush in turn thanked Ban for his "leadership" in Iraq and in working to resolve Kenya's political crisis, and commended Ban's "tireless work" with other troubled nations such as Sudan and Myanmar.
"I appreciate very much your desire to help the poor and feed the hungry, and on my trip to Africa this week, that's exactly the same message I'll be taking," Bush said.
"That the American people are a compassionate people, a decent people, who want to help moms ... deal with malaria, and families deal with HIV/AIDS, and the need to feed the hungry."
The UN General Assembly in 2000 adopted a Millennium Declaration that calls for the global adoption of eight goals by 2015, including ending hunger and poverty, achieving universal education, reducing child mortality, improving maternal health and promoting gender equality.
Other goals include environmental sustainability, ending HIV/AIDS and malaria and creating global development partnerships.
Ban visited Kenya earlier this month to add his diplomatic weight to efforts led by his predecessor as UN secretary general, Kofi Annan, to break the political deadlock that has aggravated post-electoral violence in which 1,000 people have been killed.
Bush and his wife, Laura, leave Friday on the five-nation tour which is to begin in Benin on Saturday, followed by stops in Tanzania, Ghana, Rwanda and Liberia.
It is expected to be Bush's last visit to Africa before his presidential term expires in 2009.
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