UAE Underscores Commitment To Multilateral Engagement At Opening Of UNGA

The United Arab Emirates opened its participation at the 74th Session of the UN General Assembly, UNGA, on Sunday with a firm commitment to multilateralism and the promotion of regional stability

NEW YORK, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News / WAM - 23rd Sep, 2019) The United Arab Emirates opened its participation at the 74th Session of the UN General Assembly, UNGA, on Sunday with a firm commitment to multilateralism and the promotion of regional stability.

In line with the nine priorities championed by the UAE at UNGA, UAE officials spent the opening day engaging in various high-level summits and numerous bilateral meetings on issues as diverse as regional security, humanitarian and development assistance, climate change mitigation, women’s empowerment, and youth mobilisation.

Some of the key engagements by UAE officials included, a meeting between Dr. Anwar Gargash, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, and Behgjet Pacolli, First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kosovo, and a meeting between Reem bint Ibrahim Al Hashemy, Minister of State for International Cooperation, and the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Mark Lowcock.

On the humanitarian front, Reem Al Hashemy held a number of bilateral meetings with high-level officials and representatives of non-governmental organisations, wherein she communicated that the UAE is firmly committed to providing humanitarian and development assistance to those in need and is recognised as the most generous donor relative to gross national income, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

Highlighting the UAE’s close partnership with the UN to alleviate hardship in countries like Yemen, Sudan, and Afghanistan, Al Hashemy met with Mark Lowcock and UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore.

She also met with Sigrid Kaag, Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation of the Government of the Netherlands, Peter Maurer, President of the International Committee of the Red Cross, UN Goodwill Ambassador Nadia Murad, and Louise Mushikiwabo, Secretary-General of Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie.

Al Hashemy later met with David Schenker, Assistant Secretary of Near Eastern Affairs in the US State Department, to discuss matters of regional security and how to ensure development assistance supports regional stabilisation initiatives.

She also held bilateral meetings with the foreign minister of Guyana, and the foreign minister of Jamaica, in which she signed a mutual entry visa exemption agreement between the UAE and Jamaica, which will come into force upon completion of the internal procedures of both countries.

For her part, Hessa Essa Buhumaid, Minister of Community Development, underscored the UAE’s commitment to addressing the needs of People of Determination and promoting their inclusion in society by participating in the UAE Consulate and Special Olympics New York’s Unified Bowling Event, accompanied by a number of UAE Ambassadors and Consuls.

Buhumaid highlighted that Abu Dhabi hosted the Special Olympics World Games in March 2019, stressing that the UAE is committed to their empowerment through services and facilities in the areas of education, health, jobs, and more.