Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon Congratulates President-Elect Barack Obama

“This is, I believe an historic opportunity,” said Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, extending his heartfelt congratulations to United States President-Elect Barack Obama. With the many challenges facing the United Nations including the Millennium Development Goals, nuclear proliferation, the food and energy crisis, climate change and global financial turmoil, the Secretary-General is encouraged by Obama’s repeated message of hope, multilateralism and diplomacy while campaigning. The two (very busy) men met last year while on a flight between Washington and New York, taking the time to talk about the pressing goals of the UN. The Secretary General reported that he was very optimistic about their relationship in the future, noting that Obama “was very engaging and he knew a lot about the United Nations.”