Activities of the Secretary-General in Washington, D.C., 15 December

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon arrived in Washington, D.C., from New York on Thursday, 15 December.

Upon arrival at Reagan National Airport, the Secretary-General travelled to the White House.  At the White House, the Secretary-General had meetings with Barack Obama, the President of the United States; Joe Biden, the Vice-President of the United States; and Susan Rice, the National Security Advisor to the President of the United States.

During the meetings, the Secretary-General expressed his deep appreciation to the United States as the host country of the United Nations.  He also thanked the President for his Administration’s commitment to multilateralism, and for his leadership on the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, the President’s summits on United Nations peacekeeping and refugees and migrants, and the Iran nuclear agreement.

The Secretary-General, the President, Vice-President and National Security Advisor also exchanged views on global issues of common concern, including ongoing humanitarian crises, the situation on the Korean Peninsula and South Sudan.  All parties thanked each other for their common work on all of these issues over the eight years of President Obama’s tenure.

Following the White House meetings, the Secretary-General went to the offices of the United Nations Foundation for a farewell event with staff of the United Nations system offices in Washington, D.C.  The Secretary-General thanked the staff for their commitment to the work of the UN in the capitol of the UN’s largest contributor.

The Secretary-General then walked to the World Bank for a meeting with the President of the World Bank Group, Jim Yong Kim.

Following the meeting, the Secretary-General departed Washington, D.C., for New York City.