Highlights of Sideline Events of President and First Lady’s Trip to UNGA76

Last Saturday, President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih and First Lady Fazna Ahmed departed to New York on an official trip to participare in the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly. The couple has been attending several events on the sidelines of UNGA 76.  
 

President Solih met with United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres last Monday, at the UN Headquarters. The duo shared dialogue on the pandemic and actions taken by the UN to aid its members’ recovery, including the collective action towards ending the pandemic by supporting initiatives such as COVAX that ensure equitable distribution of Covid-19 around the globe.  

 
In his meeting with the President of Portuguese Republic, Marcelo Rabelo de Sousa on Tuesday, President Solih shared mutual interest in promoting tourism between the two key destinations. A strong push is given to the pitch with both countries having achieved significant progress in vaccinating citizens against the Covid19 virus. President Solih further flagged discussions on renewable energy and digitization as areas for both countries to further consolidate coordination in.  
 
First Lady Fazna paid a visit to Carter Burden/Leonard Covello Senior Program in New York City on Wednesday. She inquired about the various programs conducted at the center, and spoke with the management regarding how similar programs can be implemented in the Maldives.  

 
President of Cabo Verde, Carlos Fonseca and President Solih held discussions on mitigating and adapting to climate change that both countries face in a similar manner, and to bring up the matter at COP26. They agreed on the benefits of mutual cooperation and exchange of knowledge. The meeting held on Thursday ended with hope from both sides to build on the promising tourism scope between the two nations.  

 
Later in the day, President Solih met with the President of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, Dr. Mohamed Irfan Ali. The two leaders discussed numerous mutual interests given the two nations belonging to Small Island Developing States, Commonwealth, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and Alliance of Small Island States. Both presidents also regarded the ongoing pandemic and measures taken to combat its ill effects in the respective countries. Concluding the call, both Presidents expressed their desire to continue strengthening bilateral relations between the two nations to promote issues of mutual interest.