GENEVA, Switzerland

July 7, 2009

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon visited the 2009 Innovation Fair held at the UN Palais des Nations in Geneva yesterday. The fair is part of the High-Level Segment of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), which is meeting here this week with a focus on global health.

UNSG Ban Ki-moon with UNICEF Communications Specialist Erica Kochi

UNICEF and partners represented at the fair are presenting new technologies and products that have helped revolutionize child and maternal health care.

“Health is the foundation for peace and prosperity,” said Mr. Ban in his address to ECOSOC delegates. “Investments in health are investments in society. They save lives and benefit economies through improved productivity.”

Read the complete article here.

From Rowena Luk, who is working on the RapidSMS Senegal Tostan project:

The following poem was received and broadcast (via RapidSMS) to one of our
villages in rural Senegal earlier today. Note that it even rhymes in French.

“Puvoir tuché tt l monde come si l monde été une ronde: simpl ingégn 1guin
d temp TOSTAN ns t some reconéçen”

(Translation: “Being able to reach the world as if the world was just a
round dance: easy, well-thought, a gain of time. Tostan, we are grateful”)