Activities of Secretary-General in Washington, D.C., 15-18 April

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon travelled to Washington, D.C., on Wednesday evening, 15 April, in order to meet with United States officials and participate in the Spring Meetings of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund.  Ban Ki-moon was the first Secretary-General to receive invitations to speak to the Development Committee and the International Monetary and Finance Committee of those two bodies.

On Thursday morning, 16 April, the Secretary-General and his senior aides briefed the House Foreign Affairs Committee.  He discussed the United Nations' work on many issues of mutual concern, including Ebola, climate change, Syria and Yemen.

The Secretary-General then met in the Pentagon with United States Defence Secretary Ashton Carter, and he expressed his appreciation for the United States contribution to United Nations peacekeeping missions around the world.

The Secretary-General discussed with the Secretary of Defence the preparations for the 2015 summit on peacekeeping reform.  They also talked about United Nations peacekeeping missions around the world, including those in Haiti, Mali and South Sudan.  They also discussed the situation in Yemen.

After that, the Secretary-General returned to Capitol Hill, where he met with members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and discussed mutual concerns, in a discussion similar to that with the House members in the morning.

In the evening, the Secretary-General spoke at the National Press Club about the challenges the United Nations faces in its seventieth year.

He warned that Yemen is in flames.  He called for an immediate ceasefire in Yemen by all the parties.  He said that it was time to support corridors for lifesaving aid — and a passage to real peace.  The Saudis had assured the Secretary-General that they understand that there must be a political process and that the United Nations-supported diplomatic process remained the best way out of a drawn-out war with terrifying implications for regional stability.

The Secretary-General also made a special plea on behalf of Palestinians in the Yarmouk refugee camp in Damascus, who are caught between the military machine of the Syrian Government and the brutality of extremist groups, Da’esh-ISIL. 

The Secretary-General also discussed climate change and announced that he would visit the Vatican later in April and meet with His Holiness Pope Francis to discuss common concerns, including the encyclical on the environment that he plans to issue in the months ahead.  (See Press Release SG/SM/16669.)

On Friday morning, the Secretary-General and the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) Heads heard from the Presidents of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone about the efforts to deal with the Ebola outbreak in those countries.  In the international response to Ebola, the Secretary-General said, we had seen multilateralism at its best.  As a result, he said, there had been a significant decline in new Ebola cases.  The Secretary-General said that the marathon effort had been a success, but the last mile may be the most difficult.  (See Press Release SG/SM/16670.)

He later told reporters that we must focus on reaching zero Ebola cases and staying there.  He said that this was now the toughest stage of the response.

Following that press conference and an interview with Shawn Donnan of the Financial Times — on financing for development — the Secretary-General had a bilateral meeting with Mohammed Khazaee Torshizi, the Vice Minister for Finance of Iran.

The Secretary-General then met President Ernest Bai Koroma of Sierra Leone, and they discussed ‎the efforts to deal with the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.  The Secretary-General emphasized the importance of getting to zero cases and also pointed to the need for post-Ebola recovery once that goal has been reached.

Mr. Ban also participated in an event entitled “Universal Financial Access 2020”, hosted by the World Bank Group.

He later spoke at a working luncheon on climate change, in which he said that this year’s annual Spring Meetings of the World Bank and IMF came at a critical moment.  He added that 2015 was the year to set the world on course to a more sustainable future for generations to come.  (See Press Release SG/SM/16673.)

The Secretary-General then participated with World Bank President Jim Yong Kim in an event, “Call for Action for 2015: 30 seconds to end poverty by 2030”, in which he, among many other speakers, delivered a message of no longer than 30 seconds to call for an end to extreme poverty — in other words, people having to live on $1.25 a day or less — within the next 15 years.

Following that meeting, the Secretary-General met with President Alpha Condé of Guinea, and they continued to discuss efforts to reach zero cases of Ebola in that country.  They also discussed the work of the United Nations Mission on Ebola Emergency Response (UNMEER).

On Saturday, 18 April, the Secretary-General had a working breakfast with businessman George Soros, the Chairman of Soros Fund Management.  He followed that with a morning meeting with the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Strategy and Finance of the Republic of Korea, Choi Kyung-hwan.

He then travelled to the IMF, where he was greeted by IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde.

The Secretary-General spoke at the International Monetary and Finance Committee, saying he was honoured to become the first Secretary-General to do so.

He told the Committee that 2015 was a time for global action for people and for planet Earth.  And he discussed the goal to eradicate poverty and create shared prosperity, with people at the centre of the new agenda.

The Secretary-General noted the key events in the coming months, including the Third International Conference on Financing for Development, which will take place in Addis Ababa from 13-16 July, and the United Nations Special Summit, from 25 September to 27 September, where a new universal, ambitious and integrated post-2015 development agenda is to be adopted.  (See Press Release SG/SM/16676.)

Moving to the World Bank, the Secretary-General then participated in a working lunch of the Development Committee, followed by his participation in the Development Committee’s plenary meeting.

He told the gathered finance ministers that sustainable development is country-led and needs country ownership.  It was not an exercise that can be designed top-down.  Governments were in the driver’s seat.  (See Press Release SG/SM/16677.)

Before returning to New York, the Secretary-General also spoke on Saturday night at the Global Citizens Concert in Washington, telling the gathered crowd to use their passion to build a better, sustainable world.  (See Press Release SG/SM/16678.)

He then departed Washington for New York that evening.