President Kutesa travels to Egypt, meets with SG of La Francophonie, EU High Representative and VP of the European Commission, and gets a courtesy call from Ugandan delegation to CSW59

New York, 16 March 2015

Statement attributable to the Spokesperson for the President of the General Assembly

General Assembly President Sam Kutesa travels to Egypt

The President of the General Assembly (PGA), H.E. Mr. Sam Kahamba Kutesa, left New York today for Cairo. He will undertake an official visit to the Arab Republic of Egypt from 17 to 19 March, inclusively. During that period, President Kutesa will have a series of high level engagements and meetings, including with H.E. Mr. Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, President of the Arab Republic of Egypt.

The President of the General Assembly will meet separately with H.E. Mr. Sameh Shoukry, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Arab Republic of Egypt.

In addition, the PGA will hold an interactive meeting and lunch with the Egyptian Council on Foreign Relations at the Diplomatic Club in Cairo.

The President of the General Assembly will also meet with the United Nations Country Team which is composed of 26 resident Agencies, Funds and Programmes, and an additional eight non-resident entities

Meeting with the Secretary-General of La Francophonie

Before leaving New York, the President of the General Assembly met on 9 March with H.E. Mrs. Michaëlle Jean, Secretary-General of the International Organization of La Francophonie, and former Governor General and Commander-in-Chief of Canada.

President Kutesa thanked and commended the Secretary-General of La Francophonie for the keynote speech she delivered on 6 March at the High Level Thematic Debate on Advancing Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women and Girls for a Transformative Post-2015 Development Agenda. President Kutesa and Secretary-General Jean exchanged views on the priorities of the 69th session, including the Post-2015 Development Agenda and its implementation, climate change, gender equality and women empowerment, cooperation between regional organizations and the United Nations.

Meeting with the European Union High Representative and Vice President of the European Commission

On 9 March, the President of the General Assembly also met with H.E. Ms. Federica Mogherini, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission on the occasion of the of the Fifty-ninth Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW59). The President and the High Representative exchanged views on important issues on the agenda of the 69th session of the General Assembly, including the Post-2015 Development Agenda and its implementation, Financing for Development, climate change, gender equality and women empowerment, As well as cooperation between regional organizations and the United Nations.

Courtesy call by a Ugandan delegation to CSW59

On the same day, a Ugandan delegation attending the 59th Commission on the Status of Women paid a courtesy call to President Kutesa. The PGA welcomed the delegates and briefed them on the priorities of the 69th session of the General Assembly.

The delegation included: Mrs. Patricia Babiha Munabi – Executive Director of the Forum for Women in Democracy (FOWODE); Mrs. Irene Ovonji-Odida – Chairperson, Action Aid Uganda; Mrs. Carol Kego Laker, Special Development Adviser, Irish Aid; Mrs. Regina Bafaki, Executive Director, Action for Development (ACFODE); Ms. Monica Emiru Enyou, Secretary General, National Association of Women Organisations in Uganda (NAWOU); and Ms. Rita Aciro, Executive Director, Uganda Women’s Network (UWONET).