Ban Ki-moon
Ban Ki-moon
Ban Ki-moonis a South Korean statesman and politician who is the eighth and current Secretary-General of the United Nations. Before becoming Secretary-General, Ban was a career diplomat in South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and in the United Nations. He entered diplomatic service the year he graduated from university, accepting his first post in New Delhi, India...
NationalitySouth Korean
ProfessionPolitician
Date of Birth13 June 1944
girl responsibility boys
Achieving gender equality requires the engagement of women and men, girls and boys. It is everyones responsibility.
suicide business thinking
The current model is global suicide. We need a revolution. Revolutionary thinking. Revolutionary action. Natural resources are becoming more and more scarce.
rights voice giving
It is up to each and every one of us to raise our voice against crimes that deprive countless victims of their liberty, dignity and human rights. We have to work together to realize the equal rights promised to all by the United Nations Charter. And we must collectively give meaning to the words of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that "no one shall be held in slavery or servitude"
ocean land long
For too long we have tried to consume our way to prosperity. Look at the cost: polluted lands and oceans, climate change, growing scarcity of resources from food to land to fresh water, rampant inequality. We need to invent a new model; a model that offers growth and social inclusion... that is more respectful of the planet's finite resources. Nature has been kind to human beings, but we have not been kind to nature.
our-world risk together
Many say our world is at a tipping point. If we do not act together, if we do not act responsibly, if we do not act now, we risk slipping into a cycle of poverty, degradation, and despair.
suffering execution death-penalty
The taking of life is too absolute, too irreversible, for one human being to inflict on another, even when backed by legal process... Where the death penalty persists, conditions for those awaiting execution are often horrifying, leading to aggravated suffering.
community poverty development
Women must be full partners in development, so they can lift themselves and their communities out of poverty.
progress fuel fossils
Society's dependence on fossil fuels is jeopardising social and economic progress.
country weather events
Extreme weather events continue to grow more frequent and intense in rich and poor countries alike, not only devastating lives, but also infrastructure, institutions, and budgets - an unholy brew which can create dangerous security vacuums.
real school home
Men must teach each other that real men do not violate or oppress women - and that a woman's place is not just in the home or the field, but in schools and offices and boardrooms.
children practice sweat
Millions of our fellow human beings continue to live as contemporary slaves, victims of abominable practices like human trafficking, forced labour and sexual exploitation. Countless children are forced to become soldiers, work in sweat shops or are sold by desperate families. Women are brutalized and traded like commodities. Entire households and villages labour under debt bondage.
inspiring two-sides development
Sustainable development and climate change are two sides of the same coin
poverty steps disease
It is but a short step from hunger to starvation, from disease to death.
opportunity climate-action foundation
Let us take advantage of the opportunities presented by climate action and lay the foundations for a more prosperous and secure future for all