International IDEA Secretary-General Yves Leterme will be in New York City for a string of high-level events at United Nations Headquarters. Friday, 25 September, marks the opening of the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit, preceded in the morning by an address to the 70th Session of the United Nations General Assembly by Pope Francis. The Pope is to address not only the importance of the new agenda, Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, but also the many international crises facing the globe today, foremost of which is the Syrian civil war and the concomitant uptick in refugees seeking asylum throughout the EU.
International IDEA S-G Leterme will moderate a side-event to the summit on Saturday on the necessity of accountability at all levels within the new agenda. Entitled “Engaging People for Sustainable Development: Accountability, Transparency and Participation”, the panel is being co-organized with the governments of International IDEA’s past, current and future Chair of its Council of Member States: Botswana, Switzerland and Mongolia, respectively. Mongolian President Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj, Swiss President Simonetta Sommaruga, and Botswanan Vice President Mokgweetsi E. K. Masisi will each present national examples of accountability institutions in the hope that guiding principles for the implementation and monitoring of the 2030 agenda can be identified. This event will be both webcast at webtv.un.org and live-tweeted by Stephen Graf @GrafStephen, International IDEA’s New York Office Communications Officer.
S-G Leterme will address UN Member States, Observers and other intergovernmental organizations within the plenary of the UN Sustainable Development Summit on 26 September. This will be followed by his attendance on Sunday at the Interactive Dialogue on “Building effective, accountable and inclusive institutions to achieve sustainable development” , where he will present the outcomes of the prior day’s event.
Following on the heels of the development summit is the Monday opening of the General Debate segment of the UN General Assembly’s 70th Session, where International IDEA’s S-G will attend the opening speeches of heads of state and government. Follow us on Twitter via #IDEA20.
