Twelve of the world's leading voices for global progress and change gathered last week for the United Nations Foundation Board of Directors meeting in Norway. The semi-annual meeting, presided over by UN Foundation Founder and Chairman Ted Turner, took place on June 19-25 in Oslo and the northernmost regions of the country. 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 Board's discussions focused on ways to help new partners connect with the lifesaving work of the United Nations.

The meetings were hosted in Norway by Board member Gro Harlem Brundtland, Director-General Emeritus, World Health Organization and Former Prime Minister of Norway. While in Oslo, UN Foundation Board members met with HM King Harald V, HM Queen Sonja, HRH Crown Prince Haakon and HRH Crown Princess Mette-Marit. The Board'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.

UN Foundation Board members who joined Turner, Annan, Brundtland and Wirth in Norway are Her Majesty 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.