On visit to Los Angeles, Ban drums up support for UN’s work

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is meeting with key members of the creative community in Los Angeles to mobilize support for the goals and mission of the United Nations, including its efforts to deal with climate change, global hunger and the financial crisis.

The UN has collaborated with the entertainment industry on a number of projects under the Secretary-General’s Creative Community Outreach Initiative (CCOI), which aims to raise the profile of critical global issues in partnership with the international film and television industries.

Projects include a starring role for the UN on the season premiere of the television comedy “Ugly Betty” which was filmed on location at the world body’s Headquarters in New York. The episode highlighted the UN-backed campaign to raise awareness about malaria – which claims over 1 million lives annually.

This evening Mr. Ban is scheduled to address the Global Creative Forum at the Hammer Museum, where he is expected to highlight some of the “dramatic” stories the UN has to tell, including of staff members who worked amid tragedy and loss to help Haitians in the aftermath of the recent earthquake.

Also expected to attend tonight’s event are the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Margaret Chan, UN Messengers of Peace Michael Douglas and Stevie Wonder, and Terry George, Writer and Director of the film “Hotel Rwanda.”

Tomorrow, Chancellor Gene Block of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) will present the Secretary-General with the UCLA Medal. Established in 1979, the medal – the highest honour bestowed by the campus – is awarded to those who have made extraordinary and distinguished contributions to their professions and to society.

Mr. Ban will then deliver the Bernard Brodie Distinguished Lecture on the Conditions of Peace on the theme “Mobilizing the Global Citizenry: The United Nations in a Changing World,” in which he will focus on rallying the people of California to support the UN’s goals and mission.