The Ban Ki-moon Centre sends its sincere appreciation to all its friends, partners, and supporters

January 3, 2019

During the last days of the year 2018 and the first days of the year 2019, BKMC Co-chairs Ban Ki-moon and Heinz Fischer and CEO Monika Froehler met with the supporters, donors and potential partners of the Centre in Vienna, Austria. Among them was Sauli Niinistö of Finland during his visit to Austria.

Some of the Board members of the Centre residing in Austria, Ambassador Sadiq Marafi of the Kuwaiti Embassy and Ambassador Shin Dong-ik of the Korean Embassy, hosted a BKMC get-together at their residence where Senior Advisor Andrea Pfanzelter at KAICIID was also present as a Board member of the Centre. The Ban Ki-moon Centre took the opportunities to show its gratitude to both the Republic of Korea and the State of Kuwait as well as individual Board members that have continuously shown their greatest support to the Centre last year.

The Co-chairs also expressed the Centre’s appreciation to CEO Jongbum Park of Youngsan Group that is one of the few private donors of the Ban Ki-moon Centre for Global Citizens with a commitment to make annual donations to empower women and youth. Youngsan, based in Vienna, has achieved steady growth every year in the fields of production, trading and distribution and has become a responsible company that fulfills social responsibilities and duties through various social contributions.

CEO Monika Froehler said, “the Ban Ki-moon Centre for Global Citizens has just celebrated its first anniversary. Thanks to all of our partners, friends and collaborators for their support on our journey. A global citizen mindset is essential for the implementation of the SDGs. We are eager to work with you and build on what we achieved.“

The Ban Ki-moon Centre sends its wishes for the best of luck and lots of happiness to everyone for the new year 2019.
Watch Co-chair Ban Ki-moon’s season’s greetings: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENAEuGpSd-E

“We are at an inflection point,” Ban Ki-moon speaks out.

December 24, 2018

Ban Ki-moon Centre for Global Citizens’ Co-chair Ban Ki-moon delivered a keynote and had a panel discussion at an event hosted by a leading French agricultural cooperative group InVivo on December 19th, 2018.

“We are at a point of historical inflection in demographic and environmental levels,” said Ban.

InVivo aims to help French agriculture and agricultural cooperation to regain their rightful place in the global food value chain. CEO Thierry Blandinières ‏of InVivo said that the company is committed to bringing solutions for the challenges that the country and the world face. In order to achieve the sustainable development of the planet and human population, InVivo focuses on four fields of expertise: Agriculture, Animal Nutrition and Health, Retail and Wine.

Learn more about the group here: https://www.invivo-group.com/en

Photo: Jeudi Photo

University of Bordeaux confers an honorary doctorate degree to Ban Ki-moon

December 17, 2018

On December 17th, 2018, BKMC Co-chair Ban Ki-moon received an honorary doctorate degree from the University of Bordeaux in France. At the degree conferring ceremony, President Manuel Tunon de Lara of the university conferred the degree and a badge to Ban. It was to acknowledge Ban Ki-moon’s commitments to advancing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including achieving gender equality along with women’s empowerment and adapting to climate change.

“I just wanted to lead by example,” said Ban.

During the ceremony, an academic conversation was conducted between Professor Anne-Marie Tournepiche of Public Law at the University (a specialist in international and European law, law of armed conflicts and law relating to refugees) and Professor Sébastien-Yves Laurent of Political Science (a specialist in security matters and international relations). Also, a master’s student, Chayma Koucha, gave a speech which was followed by the degree acceptance speech given by Ban.

Photo: University of Bordeaux

Global Compact Network Thailand officially launches and encourages private sectors to adopt sustainable policies

December 15, 2018

Ban Ki-moon Centre for Global Citizens’ Co-chair Ban Ki-moon delivered a keynote at the official launch of Global Compact Network Thailand (GCNT), setting off private-sector collaboration for country’s sustainable development, in Bangkok, Thailand on December 14th, 2018. Founded in 2017, GCNT is currently joined by 40 leading Thai corporates whose common purpose is to facilitate balanced and sustainable economic, social and environmental development in accordance with United Nations Global Compact — a collaborative network of private sectors that encourages businesses worldwide to adopt sustainable and socially responsible policies with more than 13,000 members in 160 countries.

“By assembling leaders from the Thai private sector to form a Global Compact local network, the critical work that you are undertaking to alight your business with the ideals of the United Nations has my deep respect. Our world is going through pronounced changes resulting in elevated uncertainties and new risks. Keep working to make business a force for good. Together, we can respond to the urgency of our global challenges and construct a better tomorrow,” said Ban.

GCNT‘s primary mission in 2019 is to provide private organizations with necessary guidance to ensure that they recognize the role of business case for the achievement of sustainable development and enter the GCNT membership to create high-impact collaborations.

President Suphachai Chearavanont of GCNT says,

“Regarding the four major principles of sustainability, Thailand will start with human rights because it is the critical issue that contributes to the country’s credibility and international economic relations. At GCNT, we realize that human rights is a very sensitive subject and concerns various aspects, including child labors, foreign workers, female labors, welfare, and several other lesser-known issues. Therefore, it is important for us to identify human rights as an urgent priority that needs to be addressed within a short time frame. Apart from taking the role of center in sharing knowledge and opening up learning opportunity for members through activities as previously said, we also would like to invite business organizations across the country to join us in building a strong network capable of impacting a concrete change in the society, with aim to attain 100 members by end of 2019,”

Read more about the launch event and the network here: https://read.bi/2EBCK86

The Peace Museum of the 8th United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon opens in Eumseong

December 7, 2018

“The Peace Museum of the 8th United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon” had its grand opening on December 6th, 2018. The museum has been established in Eum Seong, a small county in Korea where Ban was born.

The 2800-square-meter museum is equipped with a cultural center that exhibits donated souvenirs that Ban has received from all over the world, materials and videos related to the UN, and also a virtual-experience hall for the Model UN General Assembly. There are also lecture rooms, an outdoor performance stage, and meeting rooms.

Beginning from next year in January, the museum will provide varied experience programs through which youth can learn more about the UN and become inspired to be global citizens. The museum is also surrounded by the Ban Ki-moon Peace Land and the Ban Ki-moon Memorial Hall.

“I hope the peace museum will become a venue for education that helps our youth become global citizens,” said Ban.

At the opening ceremony of the museum, around 300 guests came to celebrate it, including the Ambassadors from the Austrian Embassy, Kuwaiti Embassy, and Tanzanian Embassy in Seoul.

Ban also delivered a special lecture on the topic of “the United Nations and 21st-Century Leadership” at Eum Seong High School, encouraging the students to understand how they can contribute to make the world a better place.

Photo: Eumseong County Office

Global Citizen Festival initiated 5.65M actions led to 58 commitments and announcements

December 2, 2018

Global Citizen, the Ban Ki-moon Centre for Global Citizens’ partner, successfully hosted the Global Citizen Festival: Mandela 100 on December 2nd, 2018 in Johannesburg, South Africa. In celebration of the centenary of Nelson Mandela, the festival aimed to raise awareness of the need for more people taking actions for reaching the Global Goals including ending the extreme poverty and achieving gender equality. It featured the world-renowned artists such as Beyoncé, JAY-Z, Ed Sheeran, and many others, for which the tickets were given out for free to those who have successfully taken actions to make a social impact as global citizens.

Over 5.65 million actions were led to 58 commitments and announcements worth $7,207,436,824, which amount is set to affect the lives of 137,368,628 people in the world. Global Citizen surpassed its goal for commitments of USD $1 billion by seven times, with commitments from the World Bank, Vodacom, PEPFAR, Cisco, the government of South Africa and not to mention co-hosts of Mandela 100, the Motsepe Foundation. These donations alone added $5.4 billion on top of projected new commitments.

Top commitments:

Neglected Tropical Diseases: The fight to end debilitating, disfiguring, and fatal Neglected Tropical Diseases took a big step forward with impressive commitments from the END Fund, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, UK Aid, Virgin Unite, the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, the ELMA Foundation (UK), Mozambique, Botswana, and Belgium worth $149.9 million.
HIV/AIDS: A number of significant pledges were made in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Ambassador Deborah Birx, on behalf of the United States, made an historic commitment of $1.2 billion channelled through PEPFAR on Global Citizen’s stage. It is the largest pledge the US government has made to HIV/AIDS. Alongside this pledge, the Global Fund committed $369 million in South Africa over the next 3 years. Of this sum, USD $90 million is set to go towards preventing new HIV infections among adolescent girls and young women most at risk.
Motsepe Foundation: The hosting and presenting partner of the Global Citizen Festival: Mandela 100 announced a series of massive commitments totaling over USD $104.4 million. These commitments, announced by Dr. Precious Motsepe and Patrice Motsepe are set to advance education, economic inclusion, and equality of women and girls, as well as to ensure that current land discussions and processes in South Africa will result in land being made available to black people living in rural and urban areas.
South Africa: His Excellency Cyril Ramaphosa, President of South Africa, former anti-apartheid leader alongside Nelson Mandela, addressed the FNB Stadium and viewers around the world with a message of Global Citizenship, committing RAND 2 million for youth in South Africa, and announcing the government’s intention to spend RAND 6 billion to provide free access to school for poor children in South Africa.
Education: Significant strides were made to #FundEducation, with Sierra Leone committing to increase its education budget to 21.5%, Canada committing CAD $50,000,000 to Education Cannot Wait, and Germany committing to double its funding of the Global Partnership for Education from €18M to €37M and to increase its funding of Education Cannot Wait by €15M for a total of €31M. The government of Kenya also made a bold commitment to spend close to 30% of its budget on education.

Top announcements

The US Congressional Black Caucusannounced bipartisan support for taking action to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals through United States leadership and foreign aid.
Ireland’s Taoiseach Leo Varadkar announced that Ireland will increase its aid budget by 15% in 2019, working toward its goal of allocating 0.7% of its total budget to ODA.
Ghana has taken the lead alongside a number of Commonwealth countries and signed onto the Paris Call for Trust and Security in Cyberspace – a digital peace initiative.

Read more about what impacts the actions of the global citizens have brought: https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/mandela-100-impact-report-2018/

Photo: Jens Meyer / AP Images

BKMC hosts “Advocacy: Your Tool for Change” workshop at the African Youth Development Summit

November 30, 2018

BKMC CEO Monika Froehler hosted a workshop on “advocacy: your tool for change” at the African Youth Development Summit held in Johannesburg, South Africa on November 30th, 2018.

With 120 advocates, the Summit co-hosted by BKMC partner JCI and Africa 80 aimed to help young African leaders identify the challenges they face and actively seek for solutions for the sustainable future. The 3-day summit was free to attend, and upon successful completion of their participation, each participant received a complimentary ticket to the Global Citizen Festival: Mandela 100 organized by Global Citizen.

Lisbon hosts international conference and workshops on GCED

November 26, 2018

Last week, two events were held on the topic of Global Citizenship Education (GCED) in Lisbon, Portugal. The Ban Ki-moon Centre for Global Citizens’ partner UNESCO APCEIU hosted a two-day “2018 Europe and North America Regional Global Citizenship Education Network Meeting” in cooperation with UNESCO and GENE (Global Education Network in Europe) from November 21st to 22nd. On the following day, GENE organized an international conference on “Building a World of Justice and Solidarity: Global Education in the School System” in cooperation with the Portuguese government and UNESCO.

The two events gathered educators and researchers from universities and academic institutions, representatives from the ministries of education, stakeholders from inter-governmental organizations and NGOs, and others from different sectors. An interactive platform was provided for the participants to actively share their ideas and expertise on GCED for the successive days.

The Ban Ki-moon Centre also presented its work and advocacy for the subject, including its launch of the Global Citizenship Initiatives Portal, an online course on the SDGs and the notion of global citizenship as well as other upcoming courses, the annual Global Engagement and Empowerment Forum that the Centre hosts, and its number of engagements in other meetings and workshops on GCED.

These regional meetings and networking opportunities let the stakeholders seek for the betterment of the education system not only within the region of Europe and North America but across the world, pointing out the need of overall development of the global education system and cooperation between academic, governmental and international actors.

The outcomes of the discussions held during the two-day workshop hosted by UNESCO APCEIU will be publicized as a report. The report will show suggestions on how to advance GCED specifically in Europe and North America and how to implement and develop the education into working solutions for global challenges that the world faces.

Learn more about UNESCO APCEIU & GENE:
– www.unescoapceiu.org/en
– www.gene.eu

Photo by: Gustavo Lopes Pereira

GCC Health Insurance Conference & Exhibition

November 23, 2018

On November 18th-19th, 2018, The first “GCC Health Insurance Conference & Exhibition” was held in Bahrain where BKMC Co-chair Ban Ki-moon delivered a keynote at the opening session, followed by Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus of World Health Organization (WHO). The opening session as well as the ministerial session with Health Ministers, Deputy Ministers and global policy makers were moderated by Ambassador Kim Won-soo, who is a Board member of the Ban Ki-moon Centre for Global Citizens.

The Conference aims to bring together health, public policy, and insurance experts from the region and the globe to share insights on implementing and managing national health insurance. The two-day conference featured panel discussions on health insurance schemes and reforms. These include defining the roles of buyers and providers of healthcare services and insurance companies, along with defining the significant role of innovation in health information systems within the reform program.

Learn more about the conference, and stay tuned for pictures: https://www.gcchealthconference.com

Launch of the “Orange the World” Campaign at the Ban Ki-moon Centre for Global Citizens

November 23, 2018

Since 2015 the “Orange the World” campaign takes place during the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based violence. From 25 November, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, to 10 December, Human Rights Day the world’s most prominent monuments and buildings light up in the color orange to raise awareness and to represent a brighter future, free from violence against women and girls.

In Austria, the campaign is executed in a collaborative effort by the UN Women National Comittee Austria, Soroptimist International Austria, and HeForShe Graz. During the 16 days over 70 famous buildings and monuments will be illuminated in orange, ensuring that every region of Austria pays tribute to the cause. This year, the Ban Ki-moon Centre for Global Citizens joined forces and hosted the launch of the campaign on 21 November.

Co-Chair Heinz Fischer opened the event with a keynote about the history of women’s rights activism in Austria. 2018 is a symbollic year for the status of women for Austria, as it marks the 100th anniversary of female suffrage. Furthermore, our Co-Chair stressed that the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence serve to prepare ourselves to stand strong against violence against women during the entire year.

Co-Chair Ban Ki-moon surprised the guests of the event, congratulating them on their contributions to the campaign in a video message:

Violence against women and girls takes many forms and is still widespread throughout the globe. It includes rape, domestic violence, harassment at work, abuse in school, female genital mutilation and sexual violence in armed conflicts. It is predominantly inflicted by men.

He continued,

It fills me with joy and pride that Austria, my second home, will shine bright in orange during the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence and will stand strong in the fight against violence against women.

Subsequently, Desiree Schweitzer, president of the Austrian UN Women National Comittee and Head of Development Cooperation in the Austrian Foreign Ministry, and Marcella Sigmund-Graff, president of Soroptimist International Austria, empasized the importance of continued activism against violence against women, pointing to the fact that every thrid woman world wide suffers from sexual or physical violence at least once in her life.

In the end, Ban Ki-moon Centre CEO Monika Fröhler interviewed Anja Weisi-Michelitsch and Dr. Matthias Beitl, who will participate in the campaign by illuminating the Vienna based Austrian Museum of Folk Life and Folk Art and several smaller museums in the rural areas of the Austrian region Styria.

Guests were also able to enjoy musical interludes by violinist Sophia Hahn and pianist Richard Reiter.

This year, the theme of “Orange the World” is #HearMeToo. UN Women writes:

in recent months we have reached a tipping point, in large part due to the determination and bravery of grassroots activists and survivors and global social media conversation such as “#MeToo”, “#TimesUp”, “#BalanceTonPorc” “#NiUnaMenos”, #MetooIndia and “HollaBack!”. At the same time, we are experiencing a concerted pushback against women’s rights, human rights defenders and a shrinking civic space that threatens the progress achieved so far. Both trends point to one reality: no country, no organization is immune to sexual harassment and violence, and women and girls from all corners of the world still experience gender-based violence and abuse.

The Ban Ki-moon Centre is looking forward to an impactful campaign, not only in Austria, but worldwide. Only together we can achieve a gender-just world.

Category: Event