Pres Ali to address 79th United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday

– to officially receive Caribbean Global Leader 2024 award

President Dr Irfaan Ali, who was voted Caribbean Global Leader 2024 earlier this year, in the people’s choice category, will receive his award within days of attending the upcoming United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), where he’s expected to participate in several high-profile meetings. In addition, he will make a presentation at the Summit of the Future.
The President has already arrived in New York, where he is leading the Guyanese delegation to the 79th Session of the UNGA. According to a statement from the Office of the President, the Head of State will be delivering an address to the general debate on Wednesday, September 25.
He will also take part in bilateral meetings with the President of Paraguay, Santiago PenÞa, Ecuador President Daniel Noboa, United States Secretary of State, Antony Blinken; Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres; the Director General of the World Trade Organization, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala; and United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator, Samantha Power, among others.
“In addition to the General Debate, President Ali is carded to speak at the UN’s Summit of the Future and attend the High-level event on the Global Coalition to Address Synthetic Drug Threats hosted by US President, HE Joseph Biden,” the statement explained.
“He will also participate in several panel discussions, including an Executive Roundtable discussion hosted by Former US President William (Bill) Clinton, the Clinton Global Initiative’s session on Preserving Our Planet through Sustainable Land Management; Concordia’s Guyana Health Panel with Mr John Hess and Mount Sinai, and The New York Times Climate Forward event.”
President Ali’s schedule in the US will also include being a guest speaker at Colombia University, where he was invited to deliver a speech on “Creating a New Narrative for Agriculture in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC)”.
“In addition, the President is also expected to attend a high-level event on Sustainable Development Goal 4: Educating for the Next Generation hosted by Former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown and his wife, Mrs Sarah Brown.”
Caribbean Global Leader
Back in April, the Caribbean Global Awards had announced that based on the results of the People’s Choice for the best Caribbean Global Leader, President Ali had emerged with the most votes cast, an unprecedented 609 valid votes.
According to the statement, President Ali will travel to the United Kingdom after leaving the US on September 26, where he will receive his Caribbean Global Leader award. He will also meet with newly appointed Foreign Secretary David Lammy, a seasoned politician and Member of Parliament for Tottenham who was born and raised in London to Guyanese parents.
President Ali will also address climate studies students while in the UK, on the invitation of Concordia and Oxford University. It is expected that he will use Guyana and its Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) as a case study.
It was only on Friday that President Ali was the personal guest of King Charles III of the UK, at his home in Balmoral, Scotland. Discussions had focused on our climate action and the successes of the LCDS 2030.
Guyana has come in for praise from the western hemisphere, for its international and regional leadership on climate change and food security. A few months ago, Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director of Western Hemisphere Affairs at the United States National Security Council (USNSC), Daniel Erikson, had made it clear that Guyana was growing in stature and influence.
“Your leadership in the Caribbean Community is well recognized and your current role on the United Nations Security Council is a testament to the growing stature and influence of Guyana… in the area of climate, your areas through the Low Carbon Development Strategy 2030, clean resilient growth will go a long way to alleviating climate induced hazards,” he had said.
Following seven months of consultations, the Dr Irfaan Ali-led Administration launched the updated LCDS 2030 in 2022 and laid the document in the National Assembly. Under the first LCDS, Guyana and Norway had signed a US$250 million agreement enabling Guyana to earn payments for forest climate services.
Under the second LCDS, Guyana inked the historic US$750 million multi-year agreement for the sale of high-quality carbon credits to the Hess Corporation.