Biography
Ban Ki-moon was sworn in as the eighth Secretary-General of the United Nations on Dec. 14, 2006. He is the second Asian to head the United Nations. U Thant of Burma, now Myanmar, was the first, serving from 1961 to 1971.
Ban served as South Korea's foreign minister from January 2004 until October 2006.
Ban's involvement in the U.N. dates to 1975. He served as chairman of the UN panel that oversees monitoring of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. Ban also served as chief of staff to Han Seung-soo, U.N. General Assembly president in 2001-2002.
Ban spearheaded efforts to adopt a U.N. resolution condemning the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
He has been a key player in denuclearization efforts on the Korean Peninsula. During the early 1990s he served as vice chairman of the South-North Joint Nuclear Control Commission. In September 2005, he helped secure adoption of a joint statement on North Korean nuclear development at the fourth round of the Six Party Talks.
Ban says he decided to become a diplomat after meeting President John F. Kennedy in the early 1960s, when he was a foreign exchange student living in California.
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Ban_Ki_Moon_Fact_File_070226[i++] = new Array("","Priorities","Ban has said his priorities as General-Secretary include:
I will seek to set the highest ethical standard. The good name of the United Nations is one of its most valuable assets – but also one of its most vulnerable. The Charter calls on staff to uphold the highest levels of efficiency, competence and integrity, and I will seek to ensure to build a solid reputation for living up to that standard.
We must hold all UN employees to the highest standards of integrity and ethical behavior. On this, I have sought to set an early example, by submitting financial disclosure statement to the UN Ethics Office, for standard external review … But all the financial disclosures in the world will mean very little if we do not bolster our ethical standards – and our implementation of them – both at Headquarters and in the field.
","","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", ""); Ban_Ki_Moon_Fact_File_070226[i++] = new Array("","Terrorism","Address to the UN General Assembly, Feb. 16, 2007:
Terrorism hurts all nations -- large and small, rich and poor. It takes its toll on human beings of every age and income, culture and religion. It strikes against everything the United Nations stands for. The fight against terrorism is our common mission.
The march of technology continues to outpace our efforts to stop it from strengthening the terrorists’ arsenal of destruction. And so the threat of terrorism continues to grow. The challenge before us is clear: we must take collective and concerted action to prevent terrorism from posing an existential threat to humankind.
Whether we like it or not, our generation will go down in history as one that was challenged to protect the world from terrorism.
","","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", ""); Ban_Ki_Moon_Fact_File_070226[i++] = new Array("","Darfur","Address to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Jan. 16, 2007:
We must step up action to confront the tragedy of Darfur. The human toll of the ongoing crisis is unacceptable. After more than three years of conflict, Darfur is story of broken hope. In the coming days weeks and months, I will coordinate closely with leaders in Africa and beyond. I will work through my Special Envoy, Jan Eliasson, to secure the constructive engagement of Sudan, African Governments, and the international community as a whole. We must work to end the violence and scorched-earth policies adopted by various parties, including militias, as well as the bombings which are still a terrifying feature of life in Darfur. Life-saving humanitarian work must be allowed to resume, and civil society in Darfur must have a voice in the peace process. And we must persuade non-signatories to join, while building consensus for a UN-AU force on the ground.
","","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "");
Ban_Ki_Moon_Fact_File_070226[i++] = new Array("","Nuclear proliferation","Address to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Jan. 16, 2007:
We need to invigorate disarmament and non-proliferation efforts. On North Korea, I will try my best to facilitate the smooth process of the Six-Party process, and encourage in any way I can the work for a de-nuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. On the specific challenges of North Korea and Iran, the Security Council has acted by adopting important resolutions. I am encouraged by the commitment of all Member States to those resolutions -- and I look to them to show equal commitment to bolstering the overall non-proliferation and disarmament regime at the global level. ","","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", ""); Ban_Ki_Moon_Fact_File_070226[i++] = new Array("","Climate change","-- Address to UNIS-UN Conference on Climate Change, March 1, 2007:
Global warming has profound implications for jobs, growth and poverty. It affects agricultural output, the spread of disease and migration patterns. It determines the ferocity and frequency of natural disasters. It can prompt water shortages, degrade land and lead to the loss of biodiversity. And in coming decades, changes in our environment and the resulting upheavals – from droughts to inundated coastal areas to loss of arable lands – are likely to become a major driver of war and conflict.
These issues transcend borders. That is why protecting the world's environment is largely beyond the capacity of individual countries. Only concerted and coordinated international action – supported and sustained by individual initiative – will be sufficient. The natural arena for such action is the United Nations.
…
We are all complicit in the process of global warming. Unsustainable practices are deeply entrenched in our everyday lives. But in the absence of decisive measures, the true cost of our actions will be borne by succeeding generations, starting with yours.
That would be an unconscionable legacy; one which we must all join hands to avert. As it stands, the damage already inflicted on our ecosystem will take decades – perhaps centuries – to reverse; if we act now.
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