Buckingham:President of the General Assembly unveiled the Centre for United Nations Studies at the University of Buckingham, in the United Kingdom.
The PGA was received by the University’s Vice Chancellor, Sir Anthony Seldon. Ms. María Fernanda Espinosa spoke at the ceremony to mark the opening of the Centre, the first of its kind in the UK. The GA President said that as the world moves through a turbulent period, she cannot think of a better time to set up an institution devoted to diplomacy, conflict resolution and international organizations to shape global discussions.
After the opening ceremony, the PGA returned to London where she met with Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, the Minister of State for Commonwealth, the UN and South Asia at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. She also held separate bilateral meetings with Members of Parliament including H.E. Mr. Alok Sharma, the Secretary of State for International Development of the United Kingdom.
The PGA is concluding her second day in London by meeting with representatives of the United Nations Association in the UK, academia, civil society and NGOs. She highlighted some big challenges for the world including climate change, economic challenges, and the health of the multilateralism system, among others.
The PGA mentioned the work that her Office is doing to prepare the upcoming High-Level Week which will include the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development, the Climate Action Summit, the midterm review of the SAMOA Pathway for small island developing states; the High-Level Meeting on Universal Health Coverage and the High-Level Dialogue on Financing for Development.
Ms. Espinosa concluded by saying that she remains confident that – together – we can navigate the challenges we face because multilateralism works.