Ban to set off on three-nation tour next week

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will embark on a trip early next week that will take him to three major international events in the Spanish capital of Madrid, the Swiss city of Davos and the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.

The Secretary-General starts his trip by co-hosting the Food Security for All meeting, from 26 to 27 January in Madrid, with the Prime Minister of Spain, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero.

Participants at the gathering are expected to review of progress in achieving food security since last June’s High-Level Conference on World Food Security in Rome and define a road map to tackle hunger more effectively.

Mr. Ban then travels to the Swiss Alps for the World Economic Forum in Davos, where he will hold a series of bilateral meetings with world leaders and chief business executives, and deliver remarks on subjects ranging from climate change and water scarcity to the global financial crisis.

The Secretary-General plans to call for a new chapter in corporate engagement on these critical issues. He is also scheduled hold a press conference on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the internationally agreed upon targets to eradicate poverty and other social ills by the target date of 2015, as well as participate in a special session on Gaza.

From Davos, he travels to Addis Ababa to take part in the week-long African Union (AU) summit that ends on 3 February.