Austrian Dignitaries Met Former United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen and Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer met with former United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in Vienna at the Ban Ki-moon Centre for Global Citizens. The Ban Ki-moon Centre awards scholarships to women and youth to promote the idea of global citizenship and advance the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) under the UN's 2030 Agenda.
Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen (l.) and former United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (r.). / Picture: © Österreichische Präsidentschaftskanzlei / Peter Lechner/HBF
Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen visited the Ban Ki-moon Centre for Global Citizens in Vienna and met with the two founders Ban Ki-moon and former Federal President of Austria Heinz Fischer. The two founders received Van der Bellen and gave the current Federal President a tour of the center, which is located in Vienna-Landstraße.
An honor to welcome the Federal President of the Republic of Austria @vanderbellen, received by Co-chairs Ban Ki-moon & Heinz Fischer in the @bankimooncentre. They all agreed on the importance of our work on women & youth, & dialogue & cohesion in light of the current challenges. pic.twitter.com/3p21mvARsB
— Ban Ki-moon Centre for Global Citizens (@bankimooncentre) September 8, 2022
Afterward, the high dignitaries talked about the current challenges and effects of the Ukraine war and energy security. "The clear goal of the organization is to advance the implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Climate Agreement," President Van der Bellen praised the organization, explaining, "We are experiencing multiple crises triggered by the pandemic and war against Ukraine: energy crisis, supply crisis, inflation. We can only overcome these crises together."
Chancellor Karl Nehammer visited the Ban Ki-moon Center
Chancellor Karl Nehammer also paid a visit to the Ban Ki-moon Center some days before Van der Bellen and received the former Secretary General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, for bilateral talks at the Federal Chancellery.
It was a pleasure to meet former @UN SG & @bankimooncentre Co-chair Ban Ki-moon today. We discussed the excellent cooperation with the Ban Ki-moon Centre on the Agenda 2030, the war in Ukraine & the challenges in the security of supply as well as recent global affairs. pic.twitter.com/69Ebp9ABMT
— Karl Nehammer (@karlnehammer) September 6, 2022
Topics of the conversation were, according to the report, in addition to the war in Ukraine and its long-term effects, also the rising global energy prices and food shortages, as well as efforts to address climate change and the Sustainable Development Goals.
Chancellor Nehammer thanked the "Secretary-General for his commitment as Chair of the Ban Ki-moon Centre for Global Citizens for the very good cooperation with the Federal Chancellery and the implementation of numerous projects to promote the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals." According to Nehammer, "it is gratifying that Austria has risen to 5th place worldwide in the SDG implementation ranking this year."