Making the United Nations Relevant to all PeopleNOTE TO CORRESPONDENTS
GENERAL ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT HEADS TO VISIT SWITZERLAND AND THE VATICAN
United Nations, New York, 19 October 2018 – The President of the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly, H.E. Ms. María Fernanda Espinosa, will be undertaking her first international visit since taking office on September 18. She will travel to the United Nations Office at Geneva, Switzerland, from 24 to 26 October 2018, and participate in the Ethics in Action Initiative organized by the Vatican on 28 and 29 October 2018.
The President will utilize her travels to further focus in on priority issues she has highlighted for her presidency – decent work, human rights and migration. In Geneva, the President will speak at the opening ceremony of the World Investment Forum 2018 and the Global Leaders Investment Summit II: Investment in a new Era of Industrialization, and stress the importance in investing in youth and decent employment opportunities as a means of achieving the SDGs. Ms. Espinosa will also address the commemoration of the UN Day at Geneva, brief Member States and representatives of International Organizations based in Geneva on her priorities for the 73rd Session of the UN General Assembly, and hold a press conference.
While in Geneva, the President will discuss the priorities of the General Assembly, and utilize her bilateral meetings to discuss some of the most pressing issues surrounding human rights and employment. She will meet with representatives of United Nations offices at Geneva, including: Mr. Michael Møller, Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva and Ms. Michelle Bachelet , United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. With migration as a main theme in focus this year, she will also meet with Mr. Antonio Manuel de Carvalho Ferreira Vitorino, Director General of the International Organization for Migration (IOM). Furthermore, President Espinosa will hold meetings with Mr. Guy Ryder, Director General of the International Labour Organization (ILO); Mr. Mukhisa Kituyi, Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD); H.E. Mr. Vojislav Šuc, President of the Human Rights Council and Permanent Representative of Slovenia to the United Nations at Geneva; H.E. Mr. Coly Seck, Permanent Representative of Senegal to the United Nations in Geneva and President of the Human Rights Council in 2019; H.E. Ms. Veronika Bard, Permanent Representative of Sweden to the United Nations at Geneva; Mr. Volker Türk, Assistant United Nations High Commissioner for Protection of the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR).
From Geneva, Ms. Espinosa will continue to Vatican City on 26 October 2018.
At Vatican City, President Espinosa will continue to address the theme of decent work, by speaking at “Ethics in Action Initiative: Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all” organized by the Holy See. On the margins of the event, she will have an audience with His Holiness Pope Francis, and is expected to meet with Mr. José Graziano da Silva, Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
The President will travel with her Deputy Chef de Cabinet, Ms. Yanerit Morgan; Senior Adviser, Mr. Jonathan Viera; Media Adviser, Mr. Mark Seddon; and her Personal Assistant, Ms. Carolina Nazarro.
Travel costs will be covered by the Regular Budget of the Office of the President of the General Assembly.
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For media inquiries, please contact:
Mark Seddon, Media Adviser to the President of the General Assembly, seddon@un.org
For information on the press conference, please contact Alessandra Vellucci, Director of the United Nations Information Service, Geneva, +41 229 172 300, +41 792 173 065, avellucci@unog.ch
