MEP for Dublin and chair of the European Parliament Development Committee (DEVE), Barry Andrews, will co-chair a delegation of 15 MEPs who will be in New York on 20-24 September to meet with representatives of several UN and international organisations.
Accompanying the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, the delegation will be in New York to attend the UN Summit of the Future and participate in the Action Days preceding the Summit. President Metsola will also attend the UN General Assembly, hold bilateral meetings and undertake several speaking engagements.
Over the course of the weekend, MEP Andrews will lead the delegation, made up of Members from five Parliament committees, in meeting with high-level UN and international representatives, financial institutions, parliamentarians from across the globe, civil society representatives and other key stakeholders to discuss how to advance priority themes. Items on the agenda will include the Sustainable Development Goals, sustainable development financing, digitisation and technology, peace and security, future generations, and global governance.
MEP Andrews said: “The presence of MEPs from five committees of the European Parliament represents a real opportunity to demonstrate to global leaders just how serious we are about ensuring progress in key areas of development.
“As chair of the Development Committee I will be raising my deep concerns about the worsening humanitarian crises in Gaza and Sudan as well as the faster implementation of the SDGs. It was encouraging this week to see EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen single out the delivery of the SDGs as a key objective in her Mission letter to the new College of Commissioners.”
MEP Andrews will be co-hosting a discussion on “How can parliaments close the SDG financing gap?” with the National Assembly of Cote d’Ivoire on Saturday 21st, with the President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola also delivering a speech at this event.
Along with MEP Andrews, there will be MEPs from the committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET), Development (DEVE), Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI), and subcommittees on Human Rights (DROI) and Security and Defence (SEDE) that will form part of the European Parliament delegation.
