On 2 October 2014, Christian Friis Bach was officially sworn in as UNECE Executive Secretary by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, in a ceremony held at the Council Chamber in the Palais des Nations in Geneva in the form of a Town Hall meeting with UNECE staff. In his opening speech, the Secretary-General lauded Mr. Bach’s vision and leadership, qualities which he had already come to appreciate during Mr. Bach’s highly visible role as the Danish Minister for Development Cooperation, and congratulated him on assuming the position of UNECE Executive Secretary. The Secretary-General set out three priorities that would shape Mr. Bach’s tenure: helping member States progress on the Millennium Development Goals in the next year, shaping the post-2015 development agenda, and ensuring that a strong climate change agreement is adopted by United Nations Member States at the Climate Change Conference of 2015. He praised UNECE’s historical legacy of convening countries to cooperate on a wide range of issues, and urged UNECE staff to maintain its dedication and commitment to its work even in the face of the political tensions and profound economic and social transformations in the region.
After thanking the Secretary-General for his visit and welcoming him to UNECE, Mr. Bach stated that he felt proud and privileged to work at the United Nations, which he called the finest workplace in the world. He said that he was especially happy to be sworn in in front of the staff of UNECE, an organization that he deemed “an undiscovered pearl”. Praising UNECE’s wide-ranging impact on people’s daily life via standards and guidelines for road safety, agricultural products, air quality etc., he vowed to help the “pearl” shine upon the United Nations. Mr. Bach also reiterated his commitment to the crucial management principles of transparency, accountability, participation and equality.
Mr. Bach stressed the importance of road safety in achieving sustainable development, and the considerable role UNECE plays in this field via its many international conventions. He invited the Secretary-General to join him in signing a poster formalizing seven personal commitments to road safety.The Secretary-General urged Mr. Bach to “drive safely” while steering UNECE and stressed the importance of sharing the same vision and working as “one UN” in order to reduce waste and inefficiency in the organization.
When asked how UNECE could increase awareness of its work within other United Nations agencies, the headquarters in New York, and countries outside the region, the Secretary-General advised staff to be proactive and assertive and to expand contact with the key players in the region such as the European Union and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. He said that he counted on Mr. Bach’s strong vision to strengthen UNECE’s public image, and promised to ensure that UNECE’s work would be more visibly shared at the October 2014 meeting of the Chief Executives Board.