Secretary-General, at New York Event, Applauds Humanitarian Initiatives of Lions Club International, Encourages Support for Post-2015 Development Agenda

Following is UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s message, as delivered by Cristina Gallach, Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information, for Lions Day, in New York today:

I am delighted to convey my best wishes to the Lions Clubs International on the occasion of its thirty-seventh annual Lions Day at the United Nations.

We deeply value this extraordinary collaboration.  Our relationship dates back to the adoption of the United Nations Charter 70 years ago in San Francisco, when Lions Clubs helped to formulate the non-governmental section of our founding document.  Since then we have worked together on many successful humanitarian ventures, above all the Sight First programme that has helped restore sight to more than 30 million people worldwide.

I commend your focus this year on Serving Children in Need.  You have expanded your programmes beyond your regular United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) contributions and are helping children to grow, learn and enjoy a better quality of life through a variety of imaginative programmes.  The United Nations stands with you as you work to improve the lives of young people.

Looking ahead, the United Nations will count on Lions Club members to support the implementation of the new development agenda that Member States will adopt later this year, including a set of sustainable development goals.  Those efforts can build on the valuable work you are carrying out with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

Momentum is also building behind global action on climate change.  Our goal is a meaningful, universal agreement at the Paris Climate conference in December this year.  We also have more work to do in reducing the risk of major disasters.  The Third United Nations World Conference on Disaster Risk Management, which opens next week in Sendai, Japan, can set clear targets for reducing mortality and economic losses.

The world faces multiple conflicts and the rise of violent extremism.  But ours is also an era of tremendous opportunity.  In this year in which the United Nations marks its seventieth anniversary, we have major opportunities to take transformative steps to set the world on course for a safer, more prosperous, equitable and sustainable future for all.

Thank you once again for your contributions to that shared work.  The United Nations looks forward to the contributions you will continue to make and I wish you all the best for a memorable Members’ Day.