World Bulletin
UNA-USA Joins Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in SeattleBy Christopher J. Tangney
Nov. 4 – UNA-USA President Tom Miller traveled with United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to Seattle on Oct. 25-27, marking Ban’s first visit to the city in his UN post.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, center, poses for a group photo on Oct. 26, 2009, with the Seattle Chapter of the United Nations Association of the United States of America. UN Photo/Evan Schneider. |
UNA helped organize the three-day trip, where Ban participated in a tree-planting ceremony at a City of Seattle event to raise awareness of climate change among students; received an honorary doctorate degree from the University of Washington; and spoke at a World Affairs Council symposium, stressing the urgent need for nations to reach a new accord next month at the climate conference in Copenhagen.
Among the guests at the World Affairs Council and University of Washington events on Oct. 26 were 15 to 20 members of UNA’s Seattle Chapter.
“Seattle is one of the oldest chapters of UNA-USA, and it was exciting to meet the secretary-general and Tom Miller,” Joan Lawson, treasurer of the Seattle Chapter, said. “We were treated like part of the elite and it felt good.”
Lawson has been a UNA member since the early 1980s and previously met former Secretaries-General Kofi Annan and Javier Pérez de Cuéllar, but rated the daylong experience with Ban near the top of her UNA moments.
She said the group from UNA Seattle was escorted to a front table for Ban’s address at the World Affairs Council Monday morning and were likewise seated in a VIP section behind Washington Governor Christine Gregoire, a Democrat, at the special commencement ceremony at the University of Washington that afternoon.
But perhaps the most unexpected surprise took place back at Ban’s hotel suite afterward, where the secretary-general invited UNA Seattle members for a photo opportunity. What was scheduled for five minutes evolved into nearly half an hour of face time with the UN’s most powerful figure. Ban talked with his guests about climate change and posed for individual pictures with members.
“I would definitely count this as a highlight of my UNA-USA life,” Lawson said.
The secretary-general and his wife, Yoo Soon-taek, were also guests at a dinner on Sunday, Oct. 25, hosted by Jonathan Roberts, chair of UNA-USA’s Executive Committee.
Before the dinner, Ban and Tom Miller met with Seattle business executives to discuss how the UN can improve its use of the Internet and new-media outlets. The meeting was organized and chaired by Roberts.
To read Tom Miller’s column on the trip, click here.
Christopher J. Tangney is the communications assistant at UNA-USA.
Related links: Read more from UNA President Tom Miller
Learn more about the UNA Seattle Chapter
Keywords:
Ban, Miller, Seattle, climate, Copenhagen, photo op
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