HRH Premier to honour Ban Ki-moon with Khalifa Bin Salman Award for Sustainable Development

Manama, Nov. 16 (BNA): His Royal Highness Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa will present the “Khalifa Bin Salman Award for Sustainable Development” to former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, during a special ceremony to be held on Sunday. Ban Ki-moon has been selected for the 2018 award in recognition of his “exemplary role in serving humanity, furthering peace and efforts leading to the formulation and adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals.” Shaikh Hossam bin Isa Al Khalifa, Chairman of the HRH Prince Khalifa Bin Salman Al Khalifa Award for Sustainable Development, had announced that Ban Ki-moon won the award during the "Bahrain Forum: Joint visions for a successful future" organised by Bahrain on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York in September. The Khalifa Bin Salman Al Khalifa Award is intended to motivate and encourage others, individuals or institutions actively involved in the realisation of Sustainable Development at national, regional or international levels, a criterion he exceeded without exception. In 2016, the award was accorded to Tanzanian Professor Anna Tibaijuka, a former Undersecretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Director of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT). The inaugural winner of the award was “The Green Brigade” Project in Burkina Faso in 2008, and was presented by Prince Khalifa Bin Salman Al Khalifa, while the second was the Brazilian Bento Rubião Foundation’s “Right to Land and Right to Housing” programme in 2010. Ban Ki-moon is the eighth Secretary-General of the United Nations. His priorities during his 2007-2016 presidency of the United Nations were to mobilise world leaders around a range of new global challenges, ranging from climate change, economic turmoil, spread of epidemics and increased pressures on food, energy and water. He also sought to build bridges of communication. The most salient features of his mandate included the promotion of sustainable development. His first initiatives were at the 2007 climate change summit and were followed by intensive diplomatic efforts that helped move sustainable development to the forefront of global programmes. He also sought to strengthen the peace efforts exerted by the United Nations through the New Horizon for UN Peacekeeping, the Global Field Support Strategy and the Civilian Capacity Review.