A 'relentless' promoter of health as a human right
Over the past decade, health issues have attained an unprecedented prominence at the United Nations.
Decade of Leadership: United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is a Special Report prepared by The Washington Times Advocacy Department.
Over the past decade, health issues have attained an unprecedented prominence at the United Nations.
NEWSMAKER INTERVIEW: U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Thursday that his greatest achievement at the helm of the world's biggest international organization was last year's climate change accord in Paris, and he expressed open frustration that Republicans in the U.S. continue to obstruct President Obama and to politicize the subject.
A big picture can be clearly seen from a distance. Only historians are likely to properly judge the truly remarkable achievements of the most invisible secretary-general in the history of the United Nations — Ban Ki-moon.
I have known Mr. Ban Ki-moon for more than a decade. In the next few paragraphs, I will talk about the man that I had the privilege to work with, as our paths crossed together since 2001 while juggling different portfolios within and across the U.N. system.
I suspect you may not be aware of the similarities between Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and President John F. Kennedy.
Outgoing United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's journey to the world's largest international body started in a war-torn country that received emergency assistance from the same institution.
I was fortunate to have had the opportunity to meet on numerous occasions with Ban Ki-moon when he was the Republic of Korea's minister of foreign affairs and trade.
Ban Ki-moon, the eighth secretary-general of the United Nations, is wrapping up his second and final five-year term with the global body at the end of this year. His dedication to the U.N. is strong and personal — he was a recipient of U.N. assistance during and after the Korean War. However, U.N. supporters have criticized him as being, in the words of The Economist, "the dullest — and among the worst" of the individuals serving in that capacity.
While the world was transfixed by the election for the next president of the United States, less attention was paid to the process that delivered the next secretary-general of the United Nations, Portuguese diplomat Antonio Guterres.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has been an effective leader of the United Nations in the recent decade.
Ban Ki-moon's signature contribution as secretary-general will be his stalwart advocacy of an effective international global climate agreement. While the bilateral agreement between the United States and China before the Paris summit was a crucial breakthrough, Mr. Ban worked hard and long to prepare the ground for multilateral progress.
Bonnie and Wayne Collier were jolted awake in their mobile home by a cellphone weather alert early Sunday. They jumped up, turned on the TV, saw a tornado warning and decided to run.
The imminent criminal plea deal between Volkswagen and U.S. prosecutors in an emissions-cheating scandal could be bad news for one group of people: VW employees who had a role in the deceit or subsequent cover-up.