UN role and reform

14 December 2016, UN Headquarters

Remarks at unveiling of official portrait

Let me begin by thanking the artist, Professor Lee Won-Hee.
 
I have long admired his work and distinguished career.  But I never imagined that one day I would become one of his subjects.
 
Professor. Lee, thank you for the beautiful image you have given the United Nations.
 
You have depicted me in my office, the place from which I have sought to serve the world’s people for the past decade.
 
You have posed me with my hand resting on our one and only planet – starting with my home continent of Asia. 
 

12 December 2016, UN Headquarters

Remarks to the General Assembly Plenary Meeting to pay tribute to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and taking the oath by the Secretary-General-designate António Guterres

UN General Assembly gives Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon a standing ovation following the Assembly's adoption of a resolution paying tribute to his service to the United Nations. UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe

[Bilingual, as delivered version]
 

Thank you for your very kind words and for your trust.  I am deeply moved by your tributes.

Serving as Secretary-General of this great organization, has been a great privilege for me of a lifetime.

As some of you said, I am a child of the United Nations.   

After the Korean War, UN aid fed us.  UN textbooks taught us.  UN global solidarity showed us we were not alone.  

For me, the power of the United Nations was never abstract or academic. 

29 November 2016, UN Headquarters

Remarks at memorial in honour of Ambassador Joseph Verner Reed

Let me begin by thanking Ambassador Reed’s family for joining us.
 
We are pleased to welcome his daughter  Ms. Electra Reed, son-in-law Mr. Paul Kusserow and beloved grandchildren Marina Kusserow and Vladimir Reed.
 
Ambassador Reed was at home here.  So to his family, we say welcome to the United Nations.  Welcome home. 
 

26 November 2016, Ashgabat

Remarks at opening of new UN House in Ashgabat with H.E. Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, President of Turkmenistan

Salam. [“Hello.”]

Sizing Bilen Dushushýanyma Örän Shat.[“I am glad to be with you all.”]

It is a great honour and a pleasure to visit Turkmenistan for the third time.

I would like to thank President Berdimuhamedov and the people of Turkmenistan for their warm welcome and hospitality on each of these occasions.

This morning, we had a very successful opening of the Global Sustainable Transport Conference.

28 October 2016, UN Headquarters

Remarks in honour of King Bhumibol of Thailand

We come together to pay tribute to the life and legacy of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej, Rama IX, of Thailand – the world’s longest-reigning monarch.

On behalf of the United Nations, I once again express most profound condolences to Her Majesty Queen Sirikit, the Royal Family, the Government of Thailand and the Thai people.  

A visionary and a humanitarian, King Bhumibol was loved and revered by the people of Thailand and respected around the world.

26 October 2016, UN Headquarters

Remarks at Annual Staff Memorial Service

Good morning. Bonjour.

Five years ago, we instituted an Annual Memorial Service at headquarters to honour the women and men of the United Nations who gave their lives in the service of peace.

Today we come together to pay tribute to 210 of our colleagues who lost their lives in the line of duty between January 1st 2015 and June 30th of this year. 

We also pay tribute to the late Jori De Marco, who was killed while serving as a Security Officer for the Observer Mission in Tajikistan.

25 October 2016, UN Headquarters

Remarks at Staff Awards Ceremony 2016

Distinguished colleagues and friends,
 
I am delighted to be with you to continue our celebrations of UN Staff Day.
 
It is once again my great pleasure to celebrate the finalists of this year’s United Nations Secretary-General Awards.
 
Congratulating the winners and thanking all the finalists for what they have done for our Organization, above and beyond the call of duty, is a pleasure and an honour.
 
United Nations staff members are the Organization’s most important resource.
 

24 October 2016, UN Headquarters

Remarks at United Nations Day Concert

It is a great pleasure to welcome you to this special event to commemorate the 71st anniversary of the United Nations.  I thank the Permanent Mission of Hungary for bringing us together – the remarkably talented performers you are about to see and appreciate. 
 
The United Nations Day concert marks the birth of the United Nations in 1945, and offers an opportunity to reflect on the work of the Organization through the universal language of music.
 

13 October 2016, UN Headquarters

Press encounter with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Secretary-General-designate António Guterres

Ban Ki-moon: I am very happy and pleased and honoured to welcome to the 38th floor this new Secretary-General-designate. He will soon become Secretary-General, succeeding me. 

He will be looking and he will be addressing so many challenges from this 38th floor. There may be many challenges, at the same time, there is some hope for all of us. We have the Sustainable Development Goals, and Climate Change. These are two guides which will really bring a good sense of hope to many people.

I wish you all the best.

14 October 2016, General Assembly

Remarks to General Assembly meeting to pay tribute to the memory of H.E. Girma Asmerom Tesfay, the late Permanent Representative of the State of Eritrea to the United Nations

I join with the General Assembly to convey my deep sorrow for the loss of His Excellency Mr.  Girma Asmerom Tesfay who passed away on 5 October in New York.

I express my personal deep condolences -- as well as the condolences of the United Nations system -- to his family, to His Excellency Isaias Afwerki, President of the State of Eritrea, and to the Eritrean people. 

Ambassador Girma presented his credentials as Permanent Representative of the State of Eritrea to the United Nations on 23 April 2014.