Source: "Obama, UN’s Ban Call for Unified Response to Sudan," Bill Varner and Hans Nichols, Bloomberg.com, March 10, 2009.
Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the UN, said Obama’s meeting with Ban less than two months into his administration was a sign of renewed support for the international organization.Editorial comment: The willingness of President Obama to meet with the Secretary General so early in his term in office is indeed encouraging. This is especially true given the economic crisis that the nation is facing, which must necessarily take a great deal of the President's time. I suspect this bodes well for the U.S. relationships with UNESCO during the Obama administration. JAD
“The early timing of this meeting and the breadth of its substance I think underscores the importance that President Obama and the administration attach to the United Nations,” Rice said today in New York.
After their Oval Office meeting, Ban expressed similar sentiments, saying that he was encouraged that Obama met with him “at such an early stage” of his presidency.
The Secretary-General welcomed President Obama's statement that the United Nations is an extraordinarily constructive partner for bringing peace and security to the world.
ReplyDeleteDear friends,
ReplyDeleteFirst, sorry for off topic comment.
I thought you may know the answer to this question: Did UNESCO declare 2009 to be the Darwin Year?
In local newspapers here in Turkey, there were many claims for this but I was unable to find an answer in the UNESCO site. Can you direct me to a reference?
Thank you.
I did post something about UNESCO's commemoration of Darwin:
ReplyDeletehttp://tinyurl.com/c7e7ll
Several international scientific unions have declared 2009 to be Darwin Year, and there is an annual Darwin Day celebrated on the anniversary of his birthday (February 12) but to the best of my knowledge, UNESCO did not join in the designation of this year as Darwin's Year.
Thanks for the information. That's been helpful.
ReplyDelete