Staff Correspondent: Twelve of the world’s leading voices for global progress and change at a meeting in Oslo, Norway last week focused on ways to help new partners connect with the lifesaving work of the United Nations. The semi-annual meeting, presided over by UN Foundation Founder and Chairman of the UN Foundation Board of Directors Ted Turner, took place from June 19 to 25 in Oslo, the northernmost region of the country, according to a message received in Dhaka yesterday.

The Board met with government, corporate and nonprofit leaders to build support for UN efforts to improve global health catalyze innovations in international development and call for global action on climate change. The meeting’s schedule included a special session with Norway’s Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg to map out ways to leverage Norway’s ongoing support of UN causes and innovations that improve women’s and children’s health, including significant commitments to vaccinating children in developing countries.

The board discussed UN Foundation and UN priorities and programs as part of meetings with Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre and Erik Solheim, Minister for the Environment and International Development. The meeting was hosted in Norway by Board member Gro Harlem Brundtland, Director-General Emeritus, World Health Organization and former Prime Minister of Norway. While in Oslo, the UN Foundation Board members met with King Harald V, Queen Sonja, Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit, added the message.

Who joined UN Foundation Board members Turner, Annan, Brundtland and Wirth in Norway are Queen Rania Al Abdullah (Jordan), Chairperson of the Queen Rania Foundation for Education and the Jordan River Foundation; Igor Ivanov (Russia), former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation; Hisashi Owada (Japan), President of the International Court of Justice; Emma Rothschild (U.K.), Jeremy and Jane Knowles Professor of History at Harvard University; Nafis Sadik (Pakistan), Special Advisor to the UN Secretary-General; Yuan Ming (China), Director, Institute of International Relations at Peking University; Andrew Young (U.S.A.), Chairman of Good Works International and former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations; and Muhammad Yunus (Bangladesh), Founder of the Grameen Bank, added the message.