Activities of Secretary-General in Norway 18-19 June

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres arrived in Oslo from Helsinki, Finland, on Monday, 18 June, at night.

On Tuesday, he was received by Norway’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Ine Eriksen Søreide, at Losby Manor, and in the morning, they held a press encounter  together with Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khayre of Somalia.

He then attended the Oslo Forum, where he emphasized the role of mediation to solve conflicts.  On the sidelines of the Forum, he met with Foreign Minister Søreide; Somali Prime Minister Khayre; Iran’s Vice-President, Ali Akbar Salehi; the Foreign Minister of Oman, Yousuf bin Alawi bin Abdallah; and Germany’s Minister of State at the Federal Foreign Office, Niels Annen.

The Secretary-General then had an audience with King Harald V and Crown Prince Haakon, who is one of the United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) longest serving ambassadors, having had the role since 2003.

The Secretary-General also visited a newly inaugurated exhibition on the Sustainable Development Goals at the Nobel Peace Centre, and he spoke to youth outside the Maritime Museum.

In the afternoon, he held a press encounter with Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg.  There, he praised Norway for being “a strong pillar of multilateralism and a strong defender of the rules-based international order” and thanked Ms. Solberg for her efforts to promote the Sustainable Development Goals and in particular for the protection of the oceans.  “We must all assume the protection of the oceans as a collective responsibility, and it is very heartening to see young children in Norway engaging in this issue to help rid the oceans of plastic,” he said.

The Secretary-General also met with representatives of the High-Level Panel on Building a Sustainable Ocean Economy.  He departed for Moscow, Russian Federation, that evening.