OTTAWA, Sept. 23, 2019 — September 23 to 27, 2019, the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean, 27th Governor General of Canada and 3rd Secretary General of La Francophonie, is in New York City for a series of high-level meetings and keynote addresses focused on universal human rights in support of the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the 5 Summits being held on the occasion of the 74th Session of the United Nations General Assembly.

At the invitation of Global Dignity, co-founded by His Royal Highness Crown Prince Haakon of Norway,  Michaëlle Jean joins Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Ambassador Andrew Young, Sir Richard Branson and Professor Amartya Sen as new member of the Honorary Board of this network of leaders in over 70 countries who engage nearly one million young people across the world each year in the meaning and transformative power of full respect for human dignity. 

“I totally share Global Dignity’s vision of a world where empathy, compassion, understanding, and love triumph over hate and intolerance, injustice and inequality,” says Jean. 

“The work Global Dignity carries out in many countries—from Niger to Mongolia, from France to Bangladesh, from Portugal to India, to Canada …—truly is a matter of life and death”.

“This, I believe, is a lifesaving antidote to the hate, discrimination and xenophobia we see rising around the globe”.

The program of the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean over the course of this week at the United Nations begins tonight with an event that brings together celebrities and activists in support of dignity for all as an inalienable right where, after being introduced by His Royal Highness, Crown Prince Haakon of Norway, Her Excellency Michaëlle Jean will deliver an address.

Michaëlle Jean has been invited to participate in high-level meetings with key UN officials including Adama Dieng, Special Adviser to the Secretary General of the United Nations on the Prevention of Genocide, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations for Peacekeeping Operations, and Marc-André Blanchard, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Canada at the United Nations. 

On Thursday, she will be addressing a forum cosponsored by Global Dignity at Fordham University, Gabelli School of Business, on The Role of Dignity in Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. The closing plenary session will include a discussion with Madame Jean and Jeffrey Sachs, University Professor and Director, Center for Sustainable Development, Columbia University, moderated by Ruchira Gupta, Founder and President of Apne App Women Worldwide.

These invitations and engagements in connection with the 74th Session of the United Nations General Assembly touch upon issues central to Michaëlle Jean’s ongoing projects and commitments, in particular, on the eve of the 20th anniversary of Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security, the establishment of new strategies for greater participation of women in peacekeeping operations, mediation, and crisis prevention and resolution efforts. She will also address the importance of preventing and combating violent extremism and recognising young people and women as essential actors for the advancement of rights and freedoms, respect for human dignity and the protection of the environment on which life depends. 

Source: Office of The Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean
For more information: Philippe Duhamel, philippe . duhamel @ mac.com,
cell. 1-514-629-6986
Related link: bit.ly/2l15zTB 

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