Victoria, Seychelles 19 May 2016 - The Seychelles islands have welcomed Mr Ban Ki-moon, the UN Secretary General on a two day historical visit in the country from the 7th to the 8th of May 2016. Mr. Ban Ki-moon’s visit to the small island state follows the invitation of the President of the Republic of Seychelles Mr James Michel, who was at the Seychelles International Airport to meet the UN Secretary on his arrival Saturday. Mr Ban is the first sitting UN secretary general to visit Seychelles since the country joined the Organisation in September 1976. He was accompanied on the visit with his wife Mrs Ban Soon-taek.

The United Nation’s Secretary General’s two-day visit included bilateral talks with the President of the Republic, an address to the National Assembly, visits to the Supreme Court, the Coast Guard base, Vallée de Mai nature reserve as well as the Botanical Garden. 

Accompanied by Environment, Energy and Climate Change Minister Didier Dogley, immediately after landing in Seychelles, the Secretary General took a short 15 minutes flight to the Island of Praslin to visit the Valle de Mai, a UNESCO (United Nation Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) world heritage site. Describing the nature reserve as a “truly unique site”, Mr Ban Ki-moon congratulated the country for conserving the area and said that ‘Seychelles should preserve the treasure of nature’. The short tour into the reserve forest allowed Mr Ban and his delegation the opportunity to appreciate both the female and male coco-de-mer trees, and the endemic black parrot found only on Praslin. To note Vallee de Mai was inscribed as a UNESCO world heritage site in December 1983.   

Back to the island of Mahe, on Saturday evening, Mr Ban Ki-Moon was received by President James Michel at the State House where they held bilateral meetings. Also present was the Vice-President Danny Faure, government ministers and other senior officials from the United Nations delegation. The bilateral talks centered on various issues of climate change, democracy, development goals, transnational crimes, sustainable use and conservation of oceanic resources as well as the fights against terrorism, corruption and piracy in the world. 

The President expressed his appreciation for the UN secretary general’s inspiring leadership in building peace, development and prosperity in the world, for his valued and consistent support to the position of Small Island States (Sids) like Seychelles and for his work in making the United Nations more connected to the youth. Mr Ban on the other hand reiterated the United Nations’ support to work with Seychelles to build on its record of protecting the environment, creating sustainable livelihoods and increasing the use of renewable energy. The UN Secretary General also thanked the government for its early ratification of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change and continued commitment in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

A reception was held for the Government, diplomatic corps and the UN delegation following the bilateral talks.

On the morning of his second and last day of the official visit in Seychelles, the UN Secretary General addressed an extraordinary session in the National Assembly. Speaking to the Speaker of the National Assembly, Dr. Patrick Herminie and the members of parliament as well as the National Youth Assembly, Mr Ban commended Seychelles on its great achievement;

‘…. your whole country is an inspiring example of sustainable development which has succeeded in steadily raising the standard of living. Your impressive record on the Millennium Development Goals shows that it is possible to thrive economically while including health care, education, caring for the most vulnerable and also protecting the environment. I also commend this Assembly’s strong record on democracy, demonstrated most recently by the decision to limit presidential terms and I congratulate you on this unanimous amendment of you Constitution which can serve as an example for the region,” said Mr Ban Ki-moon.

Mr Ban also spoke about the UN’s 17 sustainable development goals, particularly to goal 14 which refers to the conservation and sustainable use of the ocean, seas and marine resources for sustainable development. He congratulated the Seychelles for its leadership role with regards to issues of climate change and assured the government of the UN’s continued support as it builds on the progress already made.

Following his address to the National Assembly, Mr Ban visited the Supreme Court Annex. Accompanied by the Minister for Home Affairs Mr Charles Bastienne, Mr Ban was welcomed by high level delegation including the Chief Justice and the President of the Court of Appeal. The Supreme Court Annex which is an extension of the ‘Palace of Justice’ was opened in 2015 by the United Nation Office on Drug and Crime (UNODC) in collaboration with United Kingdom, Netherlands and the Trust Fund on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia to listen to piracy trails. Following the presentation, the UN Secretary General expressed his appreciation for the government’s strong will to combat piracy as he says Seychelles is one of the very few countries which arrest, detain and prosecute pirates. 

The Seychelles Coast Guard (SCG) base at Ile Du Port was the UN Secretary General’s next stop where he received a diplomatic welcome by Brigadier Leopold Payet, the Chief of Seychelles People’s  Defence Forces (SPDF) and other key officials. At the SCG, Mr Ban watched a demonstration of the country’s coastal surveillance system. The Secretary General’s last visit was the National Botanical Gardens which houses a wide collection of mature, exotic and endemic. There Mr Ban Ki-moon planted his own coco-de-mer seed, unique only to the Seychelles and fed giant tortoises at the Aldabra Tortoise enclosure. It was at the Botanical Gardens that United Nations staff working in the Seychelles had the opportunity to take a souvenir photo with the UN Secretary General and his wife.

The wife of UN Secretary-General Mrs Ban Soon-Taek, who over the past 40 years has been involved in activities to advance the cause of children, women and senior citizens visited the Seychelles Hospital children’s ward and the Foyer de la Providence during her husband’s official visit to Seychelles. On Saturday evening, accompanied by the Ambassador for Women and Children’s Affairs, Dr Erna Athanasius, Mrs Ban was welcomed by the Minister of Health Mitcy Larue and other high level officials in the ministry at the Seychelles Hospital. At the Pediatric ward, Mrs Ban interacted with patients and their mothers and offered gifts to each of the children.

On Sunday morning, accompanied by Minister Larue and Dr. Athanasius, she visited the Foyer de la Providence, an  orphanage  built for children who cannot be cared by their own families located in the centre of the capital Victoria.  Speaking to the catholic Sisters who cares for the children there, Mrs Ban said

“Children are our future, and you are doing a wonderful job in ensuring the survival and development of the children in Seychelles. I encourage you to keep up the good work,”

The children also received various gifts from Mrs Ban, who also left a hamper for each of the country’s other children’s homes, including Foyer de Nazareth, Foyer de la Solitude and the President’s Village.

After a busy two days, the UN Secretary General and his wife departed the Seychelles islands for Mauritius on Sunday afternoon. Speaking at the airport following Mr Ban’s departure the Foreign Minister Mr Joel Morgan described the diplomatic visit as very successful. Firstly, he has said, the visit has permitted the world’s top diplomat to see for himself the rate of Seychelles’ development on the political, social and environmental levels, and secondly it will reinforce the country’s relationship with the different United Nations and its agencies to a new level. 

The visit of the UN Secretary General and his wife coincides with the preparation of the commemoration of the 40th anniversary of Seychelles’ existence as a sovereign state and as membership of the United Nations in September this year. 

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For more information, please contact:

Doreen Hotive (Mrs), NPO/HIP Officer, Email:  hotived [at] who.int
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Below:

01. Mrs Ban Soon-taek (centre), together with senior Government officials and WLO at the Seychelles hospital 

02. United Nations Secretary General welcomed by President of the Republic of Seychelles Mr James Michel 

03. UNSG meets with UN staff in Seychelles at the Botanical Gardens