ECOSOC United Nations Economic and Social Counci : Activities of Secretary-General in United Arab Emirates, 17-19 January

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Madam Ban Soon-taek arrived in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, from New York on Sunday afternoon, 17 January.

The Secretary-General launched the report of the High-level Panel on Humanitarian Financing at the International Humanitarian City in Dubai, together with the Co-chairs of the Panel - Kristalina Georgieva, the Vice-President of the European Commission responsible for Budget and Human Resources, and Sultan Nazrin Shah of Malaysia.

Speaking to the media ahead of the launch, the Secretary-General took the opportunity to first welcome the news that a number of Americans detained in Iran and Iranians held by the United States had been released. He said he was also heartened by the lifting of sanctions against Iran and called for the full implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action in good faith.

Following that, he launched the financing report stressing its importance in helping to guide the humanitarian community's work on rising to the enormous challenges in our world.

'Together, we can deliver a new, more reliable, adequate and sustainable model of humanitarian funding,' said the Secretary-General, adding that the report 'is a clarion call for a more efficient approach to humanitarian financing'. (See Press Release SG/SM/17469.)

Before leaving Dubai for Abu Dhabi, the Secretary-General and Madam Ban also met with the United Nations Free & Equal campaign champion, Celina Jaitly.

That evening in Abu Dhabi, the Secretary-General spoke at the International Renewable Energy Agency debate, saying that access to clean energy is essential if we are to leave no one behind in the move to zero carbon emissions. (See Press Release SG/SM/17470.)

On 18 January, the Secretary-General attended high-level events during the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week, including the World Future Energy Summit and the Abu Dhabi Action Day. At both events, he underscored the importance of sustainable energy which he called 'the thread that connects economic growth, social equity and our efforts to combat climate change'. (See Press Releases SG/SM/17471 and SG/SM/17472.)

In the margins of Sustainability Week, the Secretary-General held a bilateral meeting with French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius and they discussed the next steps to be taken to ensure the implementation of the Paris Climate Change Agreement.

In a meeting with the Minister in Charge of Energy, Water and Environment of Morocco, Hakima el Haite, the Secretary-General congratulated the country's role as President of the twenty-second session of the Conference of the Parties (COP22). He also discussed efforts to address climate change with President Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson of Iceland.

He also met with the Minister for Foreign Affairs of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al Nahyan, and highlighted the importance of the country's support to United Nations-led peace efforts in the region.

In his meeting with the President of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari, the Secretary-General reiterated the United Nations' support to Nigeria and the countries of the Lake Chad Basin in the prevention of violent extremism.

The Secretary-General also met with the Vice-President of Yemen, Khaled Mahfoudh Abdullah Bahah, and urged the Government and all Yemeni parties, and the States in the region to commit to the comprehensive and permanent ceasefire in order to enable the rapid resumption of peace talks facilitated by his Special Envoy, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed.

The Secretary-General and Madam Ban left the United Arab Emirates for Geneva, Switzerland, on Tuesday morning, 19 January.