UNIS/INF/334
31 August 2009

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon concludes visit to Austria

VIENNA, 31 August (UN Information Service) - United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has concluded his visit to Austria (28-30 August 2009) at the invitation of the Government.

On Sunday 30 August, the Secretary-General delivered a statement at the opening of the Political Symposium of the European Forum Alpbach on "Trust between Individuals and States". He also spoke at a meeting with participants of the Alpbach Retreat on "The UN Security Council and the Protection of Civilians: Improving Effectiveness and Accountability".

In his statement on "Trust and Renewed Multilateralism" Mr. Ban spoke of the interdependence of our world and the crises facing it: "A renewed multilateralism thus that delivers real results for real people is crucially necessary - A multilateralism where countries and regions engage each other in a spirit of trust, cooperation and mutual reliance."

On Friday 28 August, Mr. Ban attended a special ceremony to mark the 30th anniversary of the Vienna International Centre (VIC) and he visited the "Facing Nations - culture of humanity exhibit" which has just opened at the VIC.

Also on Friday, the Secretary-General held meetings with the Foreign Minister Spindelegger as well as the Director-General of the United Nations Office at Vienna (UNOV) and Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Antonio Maria Costa and other heads of Vienna-based organizations and staff.

Following a private visit to the Austrian President's summer residence in Mürzsteg, the UN Secretary-General then went to Tyrol for the Alpbach Retreat.

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For further information, please contact:

Anne Thomas
Information Officer, UNIS Vienna
Telephone: (+43-1) 26060-5588
Mobile: (+43-699) 1459-5588
Email: anne.thomas@unvienna.org

For more information about the VIC 30 th anniversary see the factsheets:

http://www.unis.unvienna.org/pdf/factsheets/vic30_factsheets_en.pdf

and

the brochure 30 Ways the United Nations in Vienna makes a difference:

http://www.unis.unvienna.org/pdf/factsheets/vic30_brochure.pdf