Secretary-General travels to Italy for three-day official visit

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon heads to Rome later today for a three-day visit to the Italian capital to coincide with celebrations marking the 150th anniversary of the country’s unification.

Mr. Ban is scheduled to meet Italy’s President Giorgio Napolitano, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and Foreign Minister Franco Frattini while in Rome, and he will also attend events commemorating national reunification in 1861.

The Secretary-General is also slated to open a high-level conference on the topic of inter-ethnic cities that is being staged by the Alliance of Civilizations, Italy, Canada and the International Organization for Migration (IOM).