New York, March 22 (QNA) - The permanent delegation of The State of Qatar to the United Nations organized the 2nd UN Senior Women Leaders Retreat for 2023 in partnership with the Office of the Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations from March 16-19 in New York.
At the opening of the retreat, HE Permanent Representative of the State of Qatar to the United Nations Sheikha Alya bint Ahmed bin Saif Al-Thani expressed her pleasure in organizing the retreat in partnership with HE Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations Amina Mohammed.
In her statement, Her Excellency stressed the State of Qatar's pride in organizing the retreat for the second time as it represents a platform for UN senior women leaders to discuss complex global issues, communicate and exchange ideas, and strengthen women's leadership.
Her Excellency praised the leading role played by HE UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to correct the imbalance between genders in UN leading positions. Her Excellency stressed that the State of Qatar supports the efforts of the UN Secretary-General in that regard, as evidenced by forming the Group of Friends on Gender Parity that was established in 2015 to improve women's leadership and gender balance across the United Nations system.
Concluding her speech, Her Excellency expressed her gratitude that this retreat is an appropriate occasion to discuss important issues, such as the 2023 SDG Summit, scheduled to be convened in September 2023.
HE the Permanent Representative of the State of Qatar to the United Nations, along with HE Permanent Representative of Ireland to the United Nations Fergal Mythen, as co-facilitators, will lead the unofficial consultations to formulate the political declaration that will be adopted during the summit.
A group of 38 women leaders from various UN agencies participated in the retreat, including HE Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations Amina Mohammed, Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Doreen Bogdan-Martin, Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and Director-General of the United Nations Office at Vienna Ghada Fathy Ismail Waly, Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNPF) Natalia Kanem, Secretary-General of United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Rebeca Grynspan, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia Rola Dashti, and Executive Director of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women) Sima Sami Bahous. (QNA)