The President of the United Nations General Assembly Peter Thomson on Thursday met with the Ethiopian President Mulatu Teshome in Addis Ababa, his first official visit to Africa since taking office.
Thomson’s visit is meant to enhance relations between the UN and both Ethiopia and the African Union.
His visit will also focus on accelerating the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, with a special focus on engaging with the African Union to strengthen the linkage of Agenda 2030 with Africa’s Agenda 2063.
The General Assembly president expressed his gratitude for Ethiopia’s long-standing commitments to the work of United Nations, including as one of the largest troop contributors to UN peacekeeping missions.
Following the talks the African Union and the United Nations agreed to cooperate on the peace and security fronts.
Thomson also met with Admasu Nebete, Ethiopia’s State Minister for Economic Cooperation, and stressed the importance the United Nations is placing this year on momentum for the Sustainable Development Goals.
The president of General Assembly will also meet high-level AU officials and speak to the Permanent Representatives Committee on the current and future work of the General Assembly.
Before Ethiopia, Thomson was in Senegal in Dakar where he met with the country’s Minister of Fisheries and Maritime Economy Oumar Gueye, to discuss Ocean issues in the lead-up to The Ocean Conference.
