Secretary-General heads to Sweden, Denmark and Switzerland next week

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will depart next week on a three-nation tour that will take the United Nations chief to Sweden, Denmark and Switzerland, his spokesperson announced today.

Michele Montas told reporters that during his official visit to Sweden, Mr. Ban plans to meet with Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt and have an audience with King Carl XVI Gustaf.

He will also visit the gravesite of former Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld, deliver a lecture at Uppsala University and meet with a group of non-governmental organizations.

From Stockholm, the Secretary-General is scheduled to go to Copenhagen, where he plans to address the 13th Olympic Congress. He will also deliver a lecture at the University of Copenhagen, entitled “The Road to Copenhagen: Meeting the Climate Challenge.”

The Secretary-General has called climate change “the defining challenge of our era” and there are only a couple of months to go until countries gather in Copenhagen to conclude an ambitious new agreement to curb greenhouse gas emissions at December’s UN climate change conference.

During the working visit to Denmark, he is also expected to meet with Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen and Development Cooperation Minister Ulla Tørnæs.

Mr. Ban then travels to Geneva, where he will attend the International Telecommunication Union’s ITU TELECOM WORLD – an event that will explore, among others, major issues around information and communication technology and economic growth.

He also will deliver remarks focusing on disarmament at the Third Edition of the Geneva Lecture Series, added Ms. Montas.