SG/T/3047

Activities of Secretary-General in Ethiopia, 12-16 July

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon flew on Saturday, 11 July, from New York to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to attend the third International Financing for Development Conference.

Upon arrival on Sunday, 12 July, the Secretary-General participated in the closing of the Civil Society Organization Forum held in the margins of the Conference, where he encouraged civil society to seize the opportunity to usher in a new era of international cooperation on financing for sustainable development.  (See Press Release SG/SM/16931.)

On Monday, 13 July, at the headquarters of the Economic Commission for Africa, which hosted the Conference, the Secretary-General met with Hailemariam Desalegn, Prime Minister of Ethiopia, whom he commended for his strong leadership in working to produce a historic outcome document for the Addis Ababa Action Agenda.

In opening the Financing for Development Conference, the Secretary-General called on world leaders and Ministers to exercise flexibility and compromise, and overcome narrow self-interest in favour of working together for the common well-being of humanity.  He stressed that a successful outcome was crucial for securing an ambitious post-2015 development agenda and a comprehensive agreement on climate change.  (See Press Release SG/SM/16934.)

 

In the afternoon, the Secretary-General participated in a working lunch on Malaria Financing for a New Era (see Press Release SG/SM/16935), as well as in a World Bank event entitled “Billions to Trillions — ideas to action” (see Press Release SG/SM/16936), and an event on “Financing Sustainable Energy for All” (see Press Release SG/SM/16937).

He also spoke at a Business Sector Steering Committee.  (See Press Release SG/SM/16945.)

Later, he launched the Global Financing Facility in support of the “Every woman, every child” initiative, saying that this country-led partnership represents a new model for aligning development partners with country priorities and leveraging innovative sources of financing from different sectors.  (See Press Release SG/SM/16938.)

These activities were followed by a trilateral meeting on South Sudan with the Prime Minister of Ethiopia in his capacity of Chairman of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), and with Dlamini Zuma, the Chairperson of the African Union Commission.  In remarks to the press afterwards, the Secretary-General repeated his call to President Salva Kiir and former Vice-President Riek Machar to give up war.  He also urged President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda and President Omar al-Bashir of Sudan to use their influence on the parties to help end this conflict.

The Secretary-General’s day ended at a dinner with Heads of delegations to the Conference, hosted by the Government of Ethiopia.

On Tuesday, 14 July, the Secretary-General participated in a series of side events to the Conference on gender equality, industrial development and the role of the private sector.

He also had a bilateral meeting with the Vice-President of Sudan, Bakri Hassan Saleh, during which he underlined that a transparent and inclusive political process is the only solution for Sudan to address the violent conflicts on its territory.

In the afternoon, the Secretary-General visited the Empress Zewditu Memorial Hospital to launch the UNAIDS MDG6 Report.  He stressed that when it comes to halting and beginning to reverse the AIDS epidemic, the world has delivered but that AIDS is not over in any part of the world.  (See Press Release SG/SM/16944.)

That day, the Secretary-General also met with Boni Yayi, President of Benin.

On Wednesday, 15 July, the Secretary-General met with Rebecca Nyandeng de Mabior of South Sudan, widow of First Vice-President of Sudan, John Garang.  They shared their deep concern about the current situation in the country and emphasized the impact of the violence on the women of South Sudan.

The Secretary-General then visited a United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) project, “Connecting women and female youth to the exports market”, designed to create sustainable employment and business for vulnerable women.

Before leaving Addis Ababa, he gave a press conference at the Economic Commission for Africa, where he said that Member States were in the final stages of their negotiations, with an agreement in sight, and encouraged them again to give the world the foundation of a revitalized global partnership for sustainable development that should leave no one behind.  An agreement was reached the same day.  (See Press Release SG/SM/16948.)

The Secretary-General arrived back in New York in the morning of Thursday, 16 July.

For information media. Not an official record.