The annual meeting of heads of state and government opened this Tuesday, September 20, 2022 at the United Nations headquarters in New York. Several topics of great interest are on the menu of this 77th General Assembly, namely the war in Ukraine, climate change and food security. Some important African meetings are also announced during this event of almost a week, in this case an extraordinary summit of ECOWAS to discuss the situation of Ivorian soldiers held in Mali.
The huge green and gold hall of the United Nations General Assembly (UN) hosts from this Tuesday, September 20, the 77th General Assembly of the United Nations. The Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro opens the work of this high-level meeting. The conference lasts about a week and the theme is “A Turning Point: Transformative Solutions to Intricate Challenges”.
Africa’s agenda during the 77th UN General Assembly
In the African delegation, Senegalese President Macky Sall will be the first head of state to take the podium. He will be followed in the afternoon by the President of the Seychelles, Wavel Ramkalawan, then by the Congolese Félix Tshisekedi and the Central African Faustin-Archange Touadéra and then the head of the Moroccan government, Aziz Akhannouch.
Tomorrow, Wednesday, September 21, several African Heads of State and Government are expected to address the United Nations. These include the presidents of Nigeria, Rwanda, Madagascar, Gabon, Ivory Coast, Kenya and Ghana. On other days, it will be the turn of the Prime Ministers and then the Ministers to speak.
Two special meetings announced for Africa
According to the agenda of the 77th UN General Assembly, a summit on security in the Sahel and the Gulf of Guinea is to be held. France, as well as a “high-level panel” of West African heads of state, including Niger’s President Mohamed Bazoum, as well as UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna, will take part in the discussions.
An extraordinary summit of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is also scheduled for Thursday or Friday. At this meeting, the 46 Ivorian soldiers held in Mali will be discussed since July 10.
