OTTAWA, Oct. 6, 2019 — The Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean, 27th Governor General of Canada and 3rd Secretary General of La Francophonie, responds favourably to an invitation by His Excellency, Mr. Mukhisa Kituyi, Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) to join the Panel of Eminent Persons to advise the Organization on its direction and programmes. 

The Panel brings together former and current heads of state, heads of international and civil society organizations around a mandate to formulate policy recommendations with the aim of “Giving Impetus to Development in the New Era of Globalization and Industrialization”. 

“I am honoured,” says Michaëlle Jean, “to contribute to UNCTAD’s commitment as a key organ of the United Nations with a mission to support its 193 member States in their efforts towards sustainable and inclusive development, to update and consolidate its programmes and targets in light of the monumental challenges the world currently faces with regard to trade, investment, technology, political governance structures, economic systems, and social stability.” 

“During my tenure at the helm of La Francophonie, which brings together 88 states and governments on five continents,” explains Michaëlle Jean, “I saw the urgency of implementing new sustainable development strategies and the need for social inclusion as an imperative of economic growth. All the programmes, projects and actions I have carried out and supported have been primarily people-oriented, supported by a priority on investments in human capital, with women and youth as a central focus.”

Michaëlle Jean is in Geneva to take part in the initial meeting of UNCTAD’s Panel whose terms of reference are to assist the organization in rethinking and reinventing the development paradigm with a view to supporting its 193 member states as they respond to the new global dynamics, while, at the same time, repositioning themselves within this profoundly transformed environment.  

“I couldn’t agree more with the terms of reference chosen for the Secretary-General’s Panel as we tackle the daunting challenges of food security, climate change, environmental degradation, the erosion of multilateralism, rising anti-globalization sentiment, global political uncertainties and economic fragility, with their attendant risks to human security, including migration, terrorism and nuclear proliferation,” adds Michaëlle Jean.

Starting with the initial meeting in Geneva on October 6 and 7, 2019, the Panel will conduct and conclude its work in time for UNCTAD’s 15th Quadrennial Conference, scheduled to take place in Barbados in autumn 2020.

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), a subsidiary body of the United Nations General Assembly established in 1964, is a unique development organization whose mission is to promote sustainable development and prosperity for all.

Source: Office of the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean

For more information: Philippe Duhamel, philippe.duhamel@mac.com, cell. 1-514-629-6986

Related link: unctad.org

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