Foreign Minister Meets With the United Nations Secretary-General

On Monday, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Maldives, Abdulla Shahid met with the Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres. The meeting took place as part of the Minister’s official visit to Washington D.C. and New York and was held in New York. Foreign Minister Shahid was accompanied during the visit by State Minister Khaleel, Secretary, Bilateral Dr. Hala Hameed and Permanent Representative of the Maldives to the United Nations, Thilmeeza Hussain.

At the meeting with the UN Secretary-General, Minister Shahid reiterated the commitment of the Government of Maldives to the United Nations and its Charter. He also reaffirmed his commitment to work closely with the UN bodies on priority areas such as climate change, environmental sustainability, gender equality and youth empowerment.

Moreover, Minister Shahid also expressed his gratitude to the Secretary-General for including the Maldives as one of the 30 pilot countries chosen for the ‘Early Warnings for All’ initiative. The Foreign Minister also praised the Secretary-General for his leadership and decision to convene the ‘Climate Ambition Summit’ during the High-Level Week of the 78^th Session of the UN General Assembly.

Speaking about the latter, Minister Shahid emphasized the work that needs to be done ahead of COP28 to the UNFCCC, due to be held later in the year in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Additionally, Secretary-General António Guterres shared with the Minister some of the current issues and concerns at the United Nations. On hearing this, Minister Shahid committed the full support of the Maldivian delegation to the Secretary-General and the UN team.