Activities of Secretary-General in Switzerland, 23-24 January

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres arrived in Davos, Switzerland, from New York early on Thursday, 23 January, to attend the annual World Economic Forum.

He first participated in the informal gathering of world economic leaders where he was joined by a number of world leaders.  He focused his remarks at the closed-door meeting on how to bring about a cohesive and sustainable world.

The Secretary-General then dropped by a lunch organized by the United Nations Global Compact.  He told the attendees to not be just business leaders, but also be leaders in society for essential values.  He encouraged them to put pressure on their Governments to price carbon, embed climate risk and implement policies of inclusion.

If we are going to solve the global challenges, he said, we need to make multilateralism, including the United Nations, more inclusive and open to the private sector, civil society, youth groups and local governments.

The Secretary-General then delivered a special address to the World Economic Forum.

On Friday, the Secretary-General held a number of bilateral meetings, including with Nechirvan Barazani, the President of the Kurdistan region of Iraq, with whom he discussed the security, political, and humanitarian situation in Iraq and the region.

The Secretary-General also met with Sheryl Sandberg, the Chief Operations Officer of Facebook.  He also met with his incoming Climate Envoy, Mark Carney, as well as with World Economic Forum Chairman Klaus Schwab.

Prior to leaving Davos, the Secretary-General met with a group of young people from the Global Shapers programme for a listening session about the future of multilateralism and the United Nations.  This is one of the many conversations that would be held as part of the United Nations seventy-fifth anniversary.

The Secretary-General arrived back in New York late on Friday afternoon.