Foreign Minister attends UNGA session

New York, Sep.21 (BNA): The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani, headed the delegation of the Kingdom of Bahrain participating in the opening session of the General Debate of the United Nations General Assembly at its 76th session, which was held at the United Nations headquarters in New York, under the theme “building resilience through hope - to recover from COVID-19, rebuild sustainability, respond to the needs of the planet, respect the rights of people, and revitalize the United Nations”, at the invitation of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, and the President of the 76th session of United Nations General Assembly, Mr. Abdulla Shahid. The session of the General Assembly was opened with a speech by the Secretary-General of the United Nations, . Mr. António Guterres, in which he noted that the unprecedented risks threatening the world today since the start of COVID-19, which had a significant negative impact, expressing his strong dissatisfaction with the lack of sufficient international cooperation in the field of vaccination. With regard to climate change, the UN Secretary-General referred to the latest reports on climate change which show the presence of dangerous signs in various regions and continents of pollution and disasters caused by climate change, calling on addressing climate change and its dangerous repercussions. On peace efforts, he urged for restoring dialogue between Israel and Palestine to achieve lasting, just and comprehensive peace, and that countries should stand together to overcome all crises. While the President of the 76th session of United Nations General Assembly, H.E. Mr. Abdulla Shahid, indicated that during the year and a half, the countries of the world have suffered silently, and are concerned about the spread of COVID-19 and its repercussions around the world. He also clarified the most important achievements made by the countries of the world during the past period, including the development of vaccines for COVID-19, noting that people desire during the next 12 months to achieve comfort and peace and to respond to the various challenges they face. He pointed out that during his presidency of the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly, he looks forward to supporting the need for equal distribution of vaccines to vaccinate the world and that a high-level session will be held on this issue, drawing attention to climate change and human rights as well. The Bahraini delegation included the Undersecretary for Political Affairs, H.E. Dr. Shaikh Abdulla bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, the Permanent Representative of the Kingdom of Bahrain to the United Nations in New York, H.E. Ambassador Jamal Faris Al Ruwaie, the Acting Chief of Organizations, H.E. Ambassador Shaikha Aysha Ahmed Saqer Alkhalifa, as well as a number of MoFA senior officials.