Greetings from New York! UN General Assembly High-Level Week in September 2019

This year, the opening week of the 74th session of the UN General Assembly was more extensive than usual, as inter alia, the UN Secretary-General’s Climate Summit (23/9) and the UN High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (24-25/9) convened at the level of Heads of State. President Halonen’s program in New York covered questions related to sustainable development, climate change, gender equality, mediation, arms control and disarmament.

During the High-Level week, President Halonen spoke, on behalf of the Group of Eminent persons, at the Conference on Facilitating the Entry into Force of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (SPEECH). Furthermore, at the high-level event of the Every Woman Every Child movement, she deliberated on the role of gender equality in ensuring universal health coverage. In addition to several UN meetings, President Halonen participated at sessions organized by Sustainable Development Solutions

Network, Concordia, Council of Women World Leaders, Socialist International and Nizami Ganjavi International Center.

An important theme in New York was the role of women in mediation, and on 26 September, the launch of the Global Alliance of Regional Women Mediator Networks took place at the UN headquarters. President Halonen also emphasized women’s role at the Meeting of the UN Group of Friends of Mediation, during the same day.

The interrelationship between sustainable development and climate change was featured at several occasions. Mr. Ibrahim Thiaw, the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) met with President Halonen to discuss sustainable land management. President Halonen has an active role as UNCCD Land Ambassador.