October 13, 2006

GENEVA – The General Secretary of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) Rev. Dr Ishmael Noko, has congratulated South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-Moon on his appointment as the next Secretary-General of the United Nations.

The UN General Assembly appointed Ki-Moon, 62, on Friday, 13 October, to succeed Mr Kofi Annan, whose second five-year term expires on 31 December 2006. The UN Security Council had nominated the South Korean for this position early this week. He assumes office on 1 January 2007.

In a statement issued today, Noko pointed out that Ki-Moon will take up his new role "confronted by a formidable set of challenges, perhaps more so than at any previous point in the history of the United Nations." He will inherit the continuing security and human rights problems posed by international terrorism and the so-called "war against terror," the LWF general secretary stated.

The LWF general secretary noted that the South Korean diplomat will be taking up office amid increasing concerns about the proliferation of nuclear weapons. The new UN head "will be expected to intervene in several ongoing or recurrent conflict situations. He will face the considerable challenge of translating the UN's new commitment to the ‘responsibility to protect' and increased priority to human rights into effective action," Noko said.

Ki-Moon will assume leadership of the UN during what Noko described as perhaps the most critical period in the international effort to meet the social and economic challenges posed by the Millennium Development Goals. "He will be required to be an active manager of an organization whose appeals for increased resources are often inadequately answered, even as it continues to be loaded with expectations with regard to the promotion of international security, development and human rights."

Equally challenging, Noko noted, the new UN Secretary-General "will become the face of an organization which, though so obviously essential to the international community, is too often undermined by the national interests of its members."

Noko expressed the LWF's commitment to continuing its partnership with the UN "for the welfare of all those around the world who suffer from violence, hunger, poverty and oppression." He stressed the long and historic relationship between both organizations in the fields of humanitarian relief, refugee support, development cooperation, and the promotion of human rights.

Lutheran World Information