UN: Ban to Attend Meetings in Switzerland and Ethiopia

New York, Jan 18 2011 2:10PM

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will travel to Switzerland and Ethiopia next week for a range of meetings, according to an announcement made by his spokesperson today.

In Geneva, the Secretary-General will open the Humanitarian Funding Conference, an annual key event of the humanitarian community, attended by stakeholders such as donor countries, UN agencies, NGOs and representatives from the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. The conference aims to maintain and expand resources for worldwide humanitarian action in a time of greater needs but also fiscal constraints and slow economic recovery.

While in Geneva, Mr. Ban will also address the Human Rights Council, the inter-governmental body responsible for strengthening the promotion and protection of human rights around the globe, as well as the Conference on Disarmament, the international community’s multilateral disarmament negotiating forum.

He will attend the first meeting of the Accountability Commission for Women’s and Children's Health. Co-chaired by Prime Minister Stephen Harper of Canada and President Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete of Tanzania, the Commission is working on a framework for global reporting, oversight and accountability on women's and children’s health. This includes the creation of a system to track whether donations are made on time, resources are spent wisely and transparently, and whether the desired results are achieved.

Also in Geneva, the Secretary-General will meet with the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot leaders – Dimitris Christofias and Dervis Eroglu, respectively – and he will go to Lausanne where he will meet the International Olympics Committee.

The Secretary-General will then attend the World Economic Forum in Davos. He will speak at a number of sessions of the Forum, including those on combating chronic disease, human security, agriculture and sustainable development. He will also meet with a number of heads of state and government while in Davos.

Mr. Ban will later travel to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to attend the 16th Ordinary Session of the African Union Summit, where he is also expected to meet heads of state and government.

ENDS

© Scoop Media