EU at UN General Assembly: strong partnerships to rise together to global challenges

A number of high-level political events marked the European Union’s agenda on Thursday at the 72nd UN General Assembly in New York. High Representative/Vice-President Federica Mogherini announced at a side-event on Protecting cultural heritage from terrorism and mass atrocities, co-hosted by Italy and the EU, that Cultural Property Protection Experts will be appointed and deployed in the Common Security and Defence Policy Missions around the world, the first one at the new civilian mission to Iraq. On the occasion of the provisional entry into force of CETA, the HRVP met with Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland, expressing support for the historic agreement. Among others she also addressed a ministerial meeting on reaffirming commitment to the Youth, Peace and Security Agenda, participated in a high-level event on Somalia and held a number of bilateral meetings. Concluding the day, she participated in a dinner convened by US Secretary of State Tillerson. Commissioner Neven Mimica opened the EU side-event on Protecting the Rights of indigenous peoples in a high-level panel to mark the 10th anniversary of the UN Declaration on Rights of Indigenous Peoples and launching the Indigenous Navigator Initiative. He further had a number of bilateral meetings, including with Chief executive Officer of the World Bank Kristalina Georgieva; the UN High Representative for the least developed countries, Fekitamoeloa Katoa Utoikamanu; and with UN Special Envoy for Global Education Gordon Brown. Commissioner Christos Stylianides represented the EU at with a ministerial roundtable on Nigeria and the Lake Chad region, calling for improved humanitarian access to reach those in need and to step up protection to women and girls.