U.N. GENERAL ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT TO VISIT KENYA AND MEXICO

United Nations, New York, 1 December 2017 – The President of the 72nd session of the United Nations General Assembly, H.E. Mr. Miroslav Lajčák, will travel to Nairobi, Kenya, from 2 to 4 December.

On his first official visit to Africa as General Assembly President, Mr. Lajčák will address the United Nations Environment Assembly on 4 December under the overarching theme “Towards a Pollution-Free Planet”.

He will also hold meetings with: the President of the United Nations Environment Assembly and Minister of Environment and Energy of Costa Rica, H.E. Mr. Edgar Gutiérrez; the Director-General of the United Nations Office in Nairobi (UNON), Ms. Sahle-Work Zewde; the Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Mr. Erik Solheim; the Deputy Executive Director of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), Ms. Aisa Kirabo Kacyra; and representatives of the Kenyan Government and United Nations Country Team in Kenya.

While in Kenya, the President will address private sector gatherings such as the Business Symposium; the Science, Policy and Business Forum; the 2017 Sustainable Innovation Expo; and an event for business leaders on innovative ways to tackle pollution. He will also engage with young winners of the “Champions of the Earth” award in the margins of the Environment Assembly.

The President will then travel to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, to address the closing of a General Assembly stocktaking meeting on migration on 6 December. The meeting will bring together Member States and other actors to jointly shape a vision for the first ever global compact for safe, orderly and regular migration. The President will also participate in an exchange with civil society actors on migration.

The President will travel to Kenya with Senior Advisers Mateus Luemba and Abdelghani Merabet and Adviser Katharina Kandt. In Mexico, he will be accompanied by Ms. Kandt, Senior Adviser Kurt Davis and Advisers Lea Matheson and Eva Schafer. Travel costs will be covered from the Trust Fund of the Office of the President of the General Assembly.

The President will return to New York on 7 December.

***

For media inquiries, please contact:
Katharina Kandt, Adviser to the President of the General Assembly, +1 917 244 3890; kandt@un.org