Secretary-General's encounter with the press after his visit to the Royal Moroccan National Library

SG: I am impressed by the level of progress the Moroccan Government, under the leadership of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, has made in achieving the Millennium Development Goals. I met His Majesty the King in September when he came to the UN's special summit meeting on the MDGs. And I also had a good meeting this time while visiting Morocco. I highly commended his leadership in lifting many people out of extreme poverty and providing educational opportunities to many young children. I am impressed by the level of educational opportunities: over 90 percent of children between the age of 6 and 11 [?].

Morocco has also made great progress in reducing maternal and child mortality. I hope that Morocco will make further progress. At this time, I would like to again commend the National Initiative for Human Development, [an] initiative of His Majesty the King. I know this year marks the fifth anniversary and [that] the Moroccan Government is hosting [a] special meeting celebrating and marking this fifth anniversary of the National Initiative for Human Development, in Agadir. I hope this will be a venue to take stock of what has been [done] and what should be [done] further to achieve the Goals by 2015. Again, I highly commend the role and the initiative of the Moroccan Government. The United Nations, the country team's funds and programmes stand ready to work together to assist the Moroccan Government.

Q: The UN has been working in Morocco since 1950. What are the main realizations?

SG: They are working very hard. We have 14 agencies here. In fact, His Majesty highly commended and appreciated the United Nations' role and I assured him that the United Nations would continue to work together with the Moroccan Government with a strong ownership and lead by the Moroccan Government.

Q: Yesterday you took part in the World Policy Conference in Marrakesh, [inaudible on importance of global governance]

SG: We are living in a era of multiple crisis. These multiple crisis can only be solved through multiple solidarity, global solidarity through enhancing global governance. In Marrakesh, I delivered my speech emphasizing the importance of enhancing global governance. The World Policy Conference in Marrakesh was a great success in, first of all, generating the awareness of the world leaders and also working together in close coordination among countries, among important groups like G8, G20, G77 and Chine. This is something very important which can enhance the capacity of the international community in addressing global challenges. Thank you.