President in New York for UN General Assembly

Mabasa Sasa in New York
President Mugabe arrived here on Sunday for the 71st Session of the United Nations General Assembly, which is expected to add impetus to the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals adopted at last year’s Summit.

The SDGs are 17 successor international development targets to the Millennium Development Goals and the theme for this year’s General Assembly Session , which will be chaired by president-elect Peter Thomson of Fiji, is “Sustainable development goals: a universal push to sustain our world”.

President Mugabe is accompanied by First Lady, Dr Grace Mugabe, Foreign Affairs Minister Simbabarashe Mumbengegwi and his Tourism and Hospitality Industry counterpart Dr Walter Mzembi and other senior Government officials.

Zimbabwe’s Head of State and Government flew in from Margarita, Venezuela where he addressed the 17th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement on Saturday.

He was received at John F Kennedy International Airport late Sunday afternoon by Zimbabwe’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Frederick Shava, and mission staff.

This year’s session is a keenly awaited affair as it will grapple with two succession issues: that of a new UN Secretary General to replace Mr Ban Ki-moon, as well as a General Assembly President to take over from Mr Mogens Lykketoft.