UN chief looks forward to "strong and effective partnership" with Obama

Source: Xinhua | 01-22-2009 08:08

UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 21 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon Wednesday extended his congratulation to Barack Obama on his inauguration as the 44th U.S. president, saying "American and the United Nations can look forward to a new era of strong and effective partnership."

"It is with great optimism that I congratulate Barack Obama on his inauguration as the 44th president of the United States," Ban said in a statement.

Ban, who just returned from his week-long visit to the Middle East to press for an early cease-fire in Gaza, said, "More than ever before, the challenges we face as a community of nations are global in scope."

"Economic uncertainty. Climate change. Pressing issues of peace and security, including disarmament and nonproliferation. The multiple crises of food, energy and human development. By their nature, these are issues that require strong and collective response," he said.

"President Obama was explicit in committing his administration to tackling all of these problems, urgently and decisively," he said.

Obama, who was sworn in Tuesday as the first black president in the U.S. history to succeed George W. Bush, "spoke of the need to 'harness the sun, the winds and soil to fuel our car and run our factories'" in his inaugural speech, the secretary-general noted.

"He expressed his determination to 'roll back the specter of a warming planet' with a more sustainable, responsible U.S. energy policy," Ban said. "He vowed to work with developing nations to 'make farms flourish and let clean water flow, to nourish starved bodies and hungry minds'."

"This is also the work of the United Nations," Ban said. "Our goals are shared. Together, America and the United Nations can look forward to a new era of strong and effective partnership, delivering results and the change we need."

Editor:Zhang Pengfei