Activities of Secretary-General in Paraguay, 25-26 February
On Tuesday, 24 February, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, accompanied by Madam Ban Soon-taek, flew from New York to Asunción, Paraguay, for an official visit to the country.
Upon arrival on Wednesday, 25 February, in a brief greeting to the press, he said he was particularly honoured to be the first United Nations Secretary-General to visit Paraguay since Dag Hammarskjöld in 1959.
The Secretary-General then met with President Horacio Manuel Cartes Jara as well as with the Social Cabinet of the Presidency. He commended Paraguay’s progress in achieving the Millennium Development Goals, especially in the area of poverty reduction, and welcomed Paraguay’s efforts to counter illicit drug production and trafficking. He also expressed confidence that Paraguay would address the rights of indigenous peoples to land and to prior consultation on development projects.
Following those meetings, the Secretary-General held a joint press briefing with President Cartes Jara, during which he congratulated Paraguay on its recent election to the Human Rights Council and its decision to focus on the rights of women and children.
In the afternoon, the Secretary-General met with the United Nations staff working in Paraguay as well as with representatives of civil society and indigenous groups.
In the evening, he had a dinner meeting with Eladio Ramón Loizaga Lezcano, Paraguay’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, followed by a reception in the Secretary-General’s honour, during which he was presented with the keys to the city of Asunción and with a commemorative stamp of his visit to Paraguay.
On Thursday, 26 February, the Secretary-General visited the country’s Joint Training Centre for Peacekeeping Operations before leaving for Itaipu’s hydroelectric dam.
Back in Asunción, he had a lunch meeting with President Cartes Jara. He then addressed a special session of the National Congress of Paraguay, in which he stressed that parliamentarians are central to building a stronger Paraguay and a better world. He also praised Paraguay’s contribution to United Nations peacekeeping and its global leadership in addressing the special challenges of landlocked countries. (See Press Release SG/SM/16550.)
After addressing the Congress, the Secretary-General met with the presidents and vice-presidents of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies as well as with the president of the Supreme Court of Justice.
In the evening, after a round table with journalists from the four main newspapers in Paraguay, he left Asunción for Santiago de Chile.