The Secretary-General of the United Nations will meet with government officials and UN staff and visit the city of Concepción.

(4 March 2010) The Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, will arrive in Santiago on Friday, 5 March to express solidarity and sympathy with the people and government of Chile following the 27 February 8.8 magnitude earthquake and to assess the humanitarian assistance effort and the scale of the disaster for himself.

The Secretary-General is expected to meet on Friday with President Michelle Bachelet and President-elect Sebastián Piñera, as well as senior government officials in charge of national disaster and emergency humanitarian assistance.

He will also reiterate that the United Nations system, through its Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, is committed to assisting the Chilean government and people with any assistance required, both immediate and long-term.

During his visit, Ban Ki-moon is also expected to visit the city of Concepcion, one of the cities most affected by the earthquake, and meet with staff at the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and other UN agencies and programmes in Chile.

For more informations, contact ECLAC's Information Services. E-mail: dpisantiago@cepal.org ; telephones: (56 9) 81368384; (56 9) 97023412; (56 2) 210 2484 /2040