Activities of Secretary-General in Switzerland, 30 September-2 October
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon departed New York for Switzerland on Tuesday evening, 30 September.
His first appointment on Wednesday morning in Geneva was at the World Trade Organization (WTO), where he attended a public forum entitled “Why Trade Matters to Everyone”. The forum is an annual event organized by WTO, which attracts over 700 participants — delegates, media, academics, non-governmental organizations and the private sector. He said that trade can and should benefit everyone. That is why the international community needs to avoid protectionism. He called for an open, fair, rules-based and development-oriented international trading regime in the spirit of the Doha Development Round. (See Press Release SG/SM/16227.)
He then addressed a special session of the Executive Committee of the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), which meets once a year in Geneva. He told the Committee that never before in United Nations history have we had so many refugees, displaced people and asylum seekers. He added that the world must do more to prevent forced displacement, address its root causes, and support solutions for those affected by it. This requires greater resources and more political leadership. The Secretary-General also welcomed UNHCR’s plans to launch a global campaign to end statelessness in the next decade and called on all States to support it. (See Press Release SG/SM/16226.)
Later, the Secretary-General visited the Strategic Health Operations Centre at the headquarters of the World Health Organization (WHO), where he was briefed by the Ebola outbreak response operations team.
On Thursday morning, Mr. Ban held a working breakfast with the High Commissioner for Refugees and senior staff, before visiting the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) to swear in its new Executive Secretary, Christian Friis Bach.
He also visited the visit the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR),Zeid Ra’ad al Hussein, where he spoke to staff, before returning to New York where he arrived on Thursday afternoon.