On 7-8 February 2018, the Global Engagement and Empowerment Forum on Sustainable Development was successfully held in Seoul, South Korea. The Forum was co-hosted by the Institute for Global Engagement and Empowerment (IGEE) and the Ban Ki-moon Centre for Global Citizens. With the theme of ‘People and Planet at the Centre’, the Forum aims to provide a platform for exchange and sharing among all stakeholders and actors working together to achieve the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Speech by United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres

Address by Miroslav Rajcak, President of the United Nations General Assembly

Korean Prime Minister Lee Nayong delivers a speech

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, President of the United Nations General Assembly Miroslav Lajčák and Prime Minister Lee Nak-yeon of South Korea delivered keynote speeches at the opening ceremony. Ban Ki-moon, the eighth Secretary-General of the United Nations and Co-Chair of the Ban Ki-moon Centre for Global Citizenship, Heinz Fischer, the eleventh President of Austria and Co-Chair of the Ban Ki-moon Centre for Global Citizenship, Jack Ma, the principal founder of the Alibaba Group and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Alibaba Group, and Kim Yong-Hak, the President of Yonsei University, were present at the forum.

Ban Ki-moon (left), Jeffrey Sachs (centre), Zhu Xufeng (right)

Group photo of participating guests

Jeffrey Sachs, Director of the Centre for Sustainability Studies at Columbia University and Chairman of the International Academic Committee of the Institute for Sustainable Development Goals of Tsinghua University (TUSDG), delivered a speech on ‘Sustainable Development: People-Centred, Earth-Centred’, Professor Zhu Xufeng, Associate Dean of SPPM and Executive Director of TUSDG, and Zheng Yi, Head of Office of TUSDG, were invited to attend the forum.