UN Secretary-General-designate Ban Ki-moon was sworn in as the next Secretary-General to succeed Kofi Annan at an oath of office ceremony in the UN General Assembly on Thursday.

Witnessed by high-ranking diplomats of member states and senior UN officials, Ban repeated the oath after current General Assembly president Sheikha Haya Rashed Al Khalifa.

"I, Ban Ki-moon, solemnly swear to exercise in all loyalty, discretion and conscience the functions entrusted to me as Secretary-General of the United Nations, to discharge these functions and regulate my conduct with the interests of the United Nations only in view, and not to seek or accept instructions in regard to the performance of my duties from any Government or other authority external to the Organization."

Addressing the ceremony, Ban pledged to act as a harmonizer and bridge-builder in the UN's endeavor to build a more peaceful, prosperous and just world.

"I will do everything in my power to ensure that our United Nations can live up to its name, and be truly united; so that we can live up to the hopes that so many people around the world place in this institution, which is unique in the annals of human history," he said.

He said that by strengthening the three pillars of the United Nations, security, development and human rights, the international community could build a more peaceful, more prosperous and more just world for succeeding generations. "As we pursue our collective endeavor to reach that goal, my first priority will be to restore trust," he added.
He stated that one of his core tasks would be to breathe new life and inject renewed confidence into the sometimes weary Secretariat, and seek to set the highest ethical standard.

"I hope to become known to all of you-Member States and staff alike - as a Secretary-General who is accessible, hard-working and prepared to listen attentively," he added.

(Xinhua News Agency December 15, 2006)