President Dr. Irfaan Ali will be leading a Guyanese delegation to the 79th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) next week in New York, USA.
While at UNGA, Ali is scheduled to deliver an address to the General Debate on Wednesday, September 25, and take part in a number of bilateral meetings with other Heads of State, including with the President of Paraguay, HE Santiago Peña and the President of Ecuador, HE Daniel Noboa. President Ali is also expected to have meetings with US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken; Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres; the Director General of the World Trade Organisation, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala; and USAID Administrator, Samantha Power, among others.
In addition to the General Debate, the President Ali is carded to speak at the UN’s Summit of the Future and attend the High-level event on the Global Coalition to Address Synthetic Drug Threats hosted by US President, Joseph Biden.
He will also participate in several panel discussions, including an Executive Roundtable discussion hosted by Former US President William (Bill) Clinton, the Clinton Global Initiative’s session on Preserving Our Planet through Sustainable Land Management; Concordia’s Guyana Health Panel with Mr John Hess and Mount Sinai, and The New York Times Climate Forward event. He is also slated to be a guest speaker on “Creating a New Narrative for Agriculture in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC)” at Columbia University, on the invitation of the Colombia Climate School and IICA.
In addition, the President is also expected to attend a high-level event on Sustainable Development Goal 4: Educating for the Next Generation hosted by Former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown and his wife, Mrs Sarah Brown.
The Head of State and his delegation, including the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, the Honourable Hugh Todd, will arrive in New York on Sunday, September 22, 2024, and depart on Thursday, September 26.
From UNGA, President Ali is expected to travel to the United Kingdom on the invitation of Concordia and Oxford University to address climate studies students on the Guyana case study and its Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) model. While in the United Kingdom, President Ali is scheduled to meet with newly appointed Foreign Secretary David Lammy and receive the People’s Choice (award) as the Caribbean Global Leader 2024.
Prior to attending UNGA, President Ali was the personal guest of His Royal Highness, King Charles III, at his home in Balmoral, Scotland. Discussions focused on our climate action and the successes of our LCDS.
