Abdullah, Bahous discuss women’s empowerment
The UAE’S foreign minister and Executive Director of UN Women discuss the critical role of women in conflict prevention and resolution as well as in peace building
Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, met Sima Bahous, Executive Director of United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women), and Under-secretary-general of the United Nations, on the sidelines of the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly.
During the meeting, which was held at the Permanent Mission of the United Arab Emirates to the United Nations in New York, both sides discussed how a whole-of-society approach can drive the women’s empowerment and gender equality agenda forward.
Sheikh Abdullah welcomed Executive Director Bahous’ visit earlier this month to the UAE. Both sides discussed the UAE’S efforts in areas of women’s empowerment across all segments of society, as well as mutual cooperation efforts between UN Women and the UAE, including through the UN Women Liaison Office for the GCC in Abu Dhabi.
The two also discussed the critical role of women in conflict prevention and resolution as well as in peace building. In this regard, they discussed continued cooperation through the UAE’S Sheikha Fatima Bint Mubarak Women Peace and Security training initiative, in partnership with UN Women.
Sheikh Abdullah also met separately with a number of foreign ministers of countries participating in the 77th session of the UN General Assembly in New York.
He met Dr Faisal Mekdad, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates of Syria; Nasser Bourita, Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccan Expatriates; Stanley Kakubo,
Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Zambia; Donika Gërvalla-schwarz, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora of the Republic of Kosova; and
Bilawal Bhuto Zardari, Federal Minister of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan.
Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed and his counterparts discussed several issues on the agenda of the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly, and exchanged views on regional and international developments.
During the meetings, the parties reviewed bilateral cooperation and partnership between the UAE and these countries in several sectors, including sustainability, energy, renewable energy, food security, economy, education, tourism, investment and culture.
He also briefed the ministers about UAE’S efforts to combat climate change and its preparations to host the 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28) in 2023.
The meetings were atended by Reem Bint Ibrahim Al Hashemy, Minister of State for International Cooperation; Sheikh Shakhboot Bin Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of State; Khalifa Shaheen Al Marar, Minister of State, Ambassador Lana Nusseibeh, Assistant Minister for Political Affairs and Permanent Representative of the UAE to the United Nations, and Omar Saif Ghobash, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation for Cultural Affairs.
Meanwhile, the UAE delegation atended the fith day of high-level meetings on the sidelines of the 77th Session of the United Nations General Assembly.
Khalifa Shaheen Al Marar, Minister of State, participated in a ministerial-level meeting organised by the United States with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, and Yemen. Al Marar also with Geir Pedersen, Special Envoy of the United Nations Secretary-general for Syria.
For his part, Sheikh Shakhboot Bin Nahyan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of State, met King Mswati III of Eswatini, and Dr Barnaba Marial Benjamin, Minister of Presidential Affairs of South Sudan. He also held productive discussions with Cristina Duarte, United Nations Under-secretarygeneral and Special Adviser to the Secretarygeneral on Africa, and Michael Moussa Adamo, Foreign Minister of Gabonese Republic.
In addition, Sheikh Shakhboot met former Nigerian President Mahamadou Issoufou, Chair of the UN High Level Panel on Security and Development in the Sahel. He also participated in an event hosted by the Hedayah Centre on efforts to counter extremism and best practices on rehabilitation and reintegration. For his part, Ahmed Ali Al Sayegh, Minister of State, met Ali Sabry, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka.