His Excellency Mr Ban Ki-moon, current Secretary-General of the United Nations, will give this year’s Cyril Foster Lecture on “Human Protection and the 21st Century United Nations”. It will be held in the Examination Schools on 2 February at 6pm, and will be open to the public.
BAN KI-MOON
At the time of his election as Secretary-General, Mr Ban was his country's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade. His long tenure with the Ministry included postings in New Delhi, Washington D.C. and Vienna, and responsibility for a variety of portfolios, including Foreign Policy Adviser to the President, Chief National Security Adviser to the President, Deputy Minister for Policy Planning and Director-General of American Affairs. Throughout this service, his guiding vision was that of a peaceful Korean peninsula, playing an expanding role for peace and prosperity in the region and the wider world.
Mr Ban has received numerous national and international prizes, medals and honours. In 1975, 1986 and again in 2006, he was awarded the Republic of Korea's Highest Order of Service Merit for service to his country. In April 2008, he was awarded the dignity of the “Grand-Croix de L'Ordre National” (Grand Cross of the National Order) in Burkina Faso, and in the same month received the “Grand Officier de L'Ordre National” (Grand Officer of the National Order) from the Government of Côte d'Ivoire.
THE CYRIL FOSTER LECTURE
The Cyril Foster lecture was founded in 1960. In his 2001 Cyril Foster lecture, former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan summarised how the lecture came into being:
‘The story of Cyril Foster and his bequest is both humbling and inspiring for all of us who work in international affairs. Here was a man who lived and died in a caravan, in conditions of such obscurity that virtually nothing is known about him, except that he owned several small shops in the London area. Even the precise date of his death is uncertain. And yet the cause of international peace was so important to him that he left almost all his money to this University -- with which he had no known previous connection -- leaving you to decide how best to use it to promote the cause of peace.
His sole stipulation was that you arrange for "a prominent and sincere speaker" to deliver this Lecture, once a year, "dealing with the elimination of war and the better understanding of the nations of the world".’
HE Mr Ban Ki-moon will be the 4th Secretary-General of the UN to give a Cyril Foster lecture. Three Secretary-Generals who have previously given a Cyril Foster lecture are: HE Mr Pérez de Cuéllar, HE Dr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, and HE Mr Kofi Annan.
Please note that we expect large numbers of attendees, so please arrive early to secure a place.
- University card essential for admission.
- Non-University card holders will be asked to show valid photographic ID.
- Strictly no backpacks or large bags allowed.
*********
This press release is reprinted by Alanna Shaikh out of an obscure sense of guilt. It does not represent the opinions of Alanna Shaikh or any of her employers.
No comments:
Post a Comment