NOTE TO CORRESPONDENTS

ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT HEADS TO GENEVA AND ADDIS ABABA

United Nations, New York, 23 February 2018 – The President of the 72nd session of the United Nations General Assembly, H.E. Mr. Miroslav Lajčák, will be in Geneva, Switzerland, from 26 to 27 February. There he will address the opening of the 37th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, the Council’s Annual High-level Panel on Human Rights Mainstreaming and the Conference on Disarmament.

While in Geneva, the President is expected to meet with: the Federal President of the Republic of Austria, H.E. Mr. Alexander van der Bellen; the Chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, H.E. Mr. Dragan Čović; the Chief Executive of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, H.E. Mr. Abdullah Abdullah; the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Norway, H.E. Ms. Ine Eriksen Søreide; the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ecuador, H.E. Ms. María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés; the Vice Foreign Minister of Japan, H.E. Mr. Manabu Horii; and officials from the Human Rights Council, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the World Health Organization, the International Organization for Migration and the Geneva Peacebuilding Platform.

The President will travel to Geneva with his Special Assistant and Political Coordinator, Ms. Lenka Mihalikova; his Spokesperson, Mr. Brenden Varma; and his Adviser, Ms. Laura Schweizer.

From Geneva, the President will head to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on 27 February. There he will meet with officials from the African Union Commission, the Government of Ethiopia, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and the United Nations Office to the African Union (UNOAU). A major focus of his visit will be African perspectives on peacebuilding and sustaining peace.

In Addis Ababa, the President will be accompanied by his Special Assistant and Political Coordinator, Ms. Lenka Mihalikova; his Spokesperson, Mr. Brenden Varma; and his Senior Adviser, Ms. Nichola Sabelo.

Travel costs will be covered by the Trust Fund of the Office of the President of the General Assembly.

The President will be back in his office in New York on 5 March.

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For media inquiries, please contact:

Brenden Varma, Spokesperson for the President of the General Assembly, 1-212-963-7238, 1-347-556-3433, varmab@un.org.