ECOSOC United Nations Economic and Social Counci : Activities of Secretary-General in Switzerland, 19-22 January

On Tuesday, 19 January, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Madam Ban Soon-taek arrived in Geneva, Switzerland.

The Secretary-General held bilateral meetings with the Director-General of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), Petteri Talaas, and the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Dr. Margaret Chan.

Following that, he met with the Permanent Representative of Venezuela in Geneva, Jorge Valero. Later in the evening, the Secretary-General participated in the swearing-in ceremony for Robert Glasser, the new Special Representative for Disaster Risk Reduction, and he visited the renovation site of Conference Room XVII at the Palais des Nations.

On Wednesday, 20 January, the Secretary-General left Geneva for Davos, where he started the day off with a round table on operationalizing the Sustainable Development Goals. (See Press Release SG/SM/17474.)

Following that, he gave interviews to CNN's Robyn Curnow and Facebook's Shannon Mattingly.

Also that day, the Secretary-General attended a meeting of business leaders at the Global Compact event on UN-Business Collaboration.

Later that day, he held bilateral meetings with the President of the World Bank, Jim Yong Kim, and his Special Envoy for Global Education, Gordon Brown.

On Thursday, 21 January, the Secretary-General spoke at the breakfast meeting on the World Humanitarian Summit highlighting the importance of the Summit, which would take place in Istanbul, Turkey, in May 2016. (See Press Release SG/SM/17481.)

At the Gender Parity Global Challenge Trustees Meeting in Davos, the Secretary-General announced the establishment of a high-level panel on women's economic empowerment, which would be co-chaired by the President of Costa Rica, Luis Guillermo Solis, and the Chief Executive Officer of IKEA Switzerland, Simona Scarpaleggia. The Panel is expected to make action-oriented recommendations on how to improve economic outcomes for women in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals. (See Press Release SG/SM/17479.)

On Thursday, 21 January, the Secretary-General attended the Workshop on Water Resiliency and, together with the President of the World Bank, announced his intention to form a new panel to mobilize urgent action towards the Sustainable Development Goal for water and sanitation (Goal 6).

During the course of that day, he held bilateral meetings with several other leaders, including the Prime Minister of Turkey, Ahmet Davutoğlu, King Philippe and Queen Mathilde of Belgium, and the Prime Minister of Norway, Erna Solberg.

The Secretary-General also held a trilateral meeting with the President of Cyprus, Nicos Anastasiades, and the Turkish Cypriot Leader, Mustafa Akıncı. Following the meeting, he told the media that he encouraged the leaders to capitalize on the current positive momentum and to continue working tirelessly towards finding a comprehensive solution to the Cyprus issue for the benefit of all Cypriots.

Later in the day, the Secretary-General officially announced the appointment of a group of eminent people to assist in the campaign to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. The group would be co-chaired by the President of Ghana, John Dramani Mahama, and the Prime Minister of Norway, Erna Solberg.

The Secretary-General held meetings with the Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum (WEF), Professor Klaus Schwab, and the Special Envoy of the President of the Republic of Korea, Choi Kyung-hwan.

He then attended 'The New Climate and Development Imperative' meeting at the plenary session of the WEF.

Calling for strengthened public-private partnerships, the Secretary-General said that he came to Davos to seek the support of political and business leaders 'for an ambitious agenda to transform the global economy, bring new opportunities to billions of people, and leave a healthier planet for future generations'. (See Press Release SG/SM/17496.)

At the end of the day, the Secretary-General spoke at the World Food Programme (WFP) Annual World Leaders Dinner, stressing that we all have a responsibility to answer the cries of people's right to food. (See Press Release SG/SM/17482.)

On Friday, 22 January, before leaving Davos for Zurich, the Secretary-General attended the Informal Gathering of World Economic Leaders on Responding to Humanitarian Crisis.

In Zurich, the Secretary-General spoke at the Annual Conference of Swiss Development Cooperation, highlighting the need to address the root causes of problems around the world and the importance of investing in development.

'In the face of multiple crises, development cooperation should not be diminished or diverted,' he said. 'We need to protect those in crisis while strengthening their societies.' (See Press Release SG/SM/17483.)

At a joint press conference with the Federal Councillor of Switzerland, Didier Burkhalter, the Secretary-General expressed his appreciation for the country's support for the United Nations, including for peace, development and human rights.

The Secretary-General left Zurich for New York later that day.