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The UN General Assembly passed by acclamation a resolution on Monday, honoring retiring Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, and then speakers representing major geo-political groups rang out praises to a man who grew up during the Korean war with help from the world organization.
"On behalf of the General Assembly, I offer profound thanks to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for his service to the United Nations," said Peter Thomson, president of the General Assembly. "I wish also to thank Mrs. Ban Soon-taek on behalf of you all, for the steadfast support she gave throughout the decade of her husband's work and for her own dedication to the good works of the United Nations."
"I also seize this opportunity to pay tribute to Deputy-Secretary-General Jan Eliasson for his long service to the United Nations," continued Thomson. "He will ever serve as an exemplar for young diplomats, and all those who amidst the tortuous struggles, conflicts and strife of difficult days, hold fast to belief in the universal rights, infinite potential and the beauty of humanity."
"On behalf of you all, I wish the deputy secretary-general and Mrs. Kerstin Eliasson many years of happiness upon their return to Sweden," the Assembly president added during his tribute remarks before the 193-member body.
Maythong Thammavongsa, deputy permanent representative of Laos, on behalf of the Asia Pacific Group, introduced the draft resolution to the assembly.
"The draft takes tradition into account, since the Assembly generally honors the outgoing Secretary-General," he said. "But it is also logical because it reflects the reality, of an outgoing Secretary-General who has displayed such great professional and personal qualities and who has contributed, through many initiatives that have been welcomed ... to make progress towards modernization and democratization."
"Ban Ki-moon has made many sacrifices and undertaken extraordinary efforts, often under very difficult circumstances," the Vientiane envoy said. "It is with gratitude for those efforts that this draft resolution has been submitted."
After the brief measure was passed, representatives of the 193 member nations and other officials of UN organizations and observer entities stood and applauded the quiet-spoken diplomat from South Korea for nearly a minute before he bowed before them and took his seat at the top of the green-marble dais alongside Thomson.
Although last to speak, U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power, representing the Host Country of the world organization, reached back to Ban's early days in war-torn South Korea, but not before also thanking his wife and deputy for their services.
"If one were to have bet on the likelihood of a child becoming secretary-general of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon would have been a long shot at best," she said, relating how he had to move from his tiny village to the safety of his grandfather's home shortly after the Korean War broke out when he was five-year-old old.
Ambassador Jynis Mayeiks of Latvia, on behalf of the Eastern European Group, expressed "deep and sincere gratitude" to Ban "for your excellent service as the eighth secretary-general of the United Nations. Your calm and steady hand at the helm of the United Nations charted a stable course for the Organization through, at times, a turbulent decade."
"When you entered the office in 2007, the world was a quieter place yet to face the challenges of the economic recession and crises in many parts of the world," he said. "Conflicts, poverty, natural disasters and climate change, the unprecedented large movements of refugees and migrants, humanitarian crises, as well as the growing threat of violent extremism which can be conducive to terrorism have contributed immensely to the current global challenges; all of them have been on your agenda," Mayeiks said.
In response, Ban said that his role "has been a great privilege for me of a lifetime. As some of you said, I am a child of the United Nations. After the Korean War, UN aid fed us. UN textbooks taught us. UN global solidarity showed us we were not alone. For me, the power of the United Nations was never abstract or academic."
"It is the story of my life, and many Korean people," he said. "It is a story of many millions, and millions of people around the world, many children, young boys and girls. This profound appreciation grew even stronger every day during my service with the United Nations."
"For the past ten years, I have been honored to serve alongside the many courageous, dedicated and talented women and men of the United Nations," said Ban, whose last day in office is Dec. 31.
(APD)
