UNITED NATIONS - When President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo attended the opening of the 63rd UN General Assembly here last month, she met with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and discussed, among other things, the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) of the Philippines, international cooperation for food and energy, UN Peacekeeping Operations in which the Philippines is an important contributor, as well as the regional situation in Southeast Asia where the country plays a lead role in the ASEAN.
Arroyo and the UN chief also talked about the upcoming Second Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) and the Special Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Ministerial Meeting on Interfaith Dialogue and Cooperation for Peace and Development, which the Philippines will host in October this year and May next year, respectively.
Mr. Ban will depart for Asia later this month on a four-country tour whose itinerary includes stops in India, Nepal and Bangladesh, after the GFMD2 in Manila.
While in the Philippines, Mr. Ban will meet with President Arroyo, who will present him with the nation’s order of diplomatic merit. He will also receive an honorary doctorate from the University of the Philippines and address the Second Global Forum on Migration and Development.
“GFMD2 will enhance international cooperation to improve the conditions of global migration for the benefit of millions of migrants from all nations, including the Philippines. The Special NAM Ministerial Meeting, which will be the first-ever on interfaith dialogue, will consolidate Philippine leadership in promoting understanding and trust among different faiths to foster greater peace and development,” Press Secretary Jesus Dureza said in an earlier statement.
The Secretary-General is also scheduled to travel to India, where he is slated to hold talks with President Pratibha Patil and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, among other senior officials, as well as give a lecture at the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation and meet with Indian business leaders on climate change.
In neighboring Nepal, which abolished its 240-year-old monarchy in May, he will meet with President Ram Baran Yadav, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, other officials and members of the Constituent Assembly. He will also visit Lumbini, the Buddha’s birthplace.
Mr. Ban will then wrap up his Asian tour in Bangladesh, where he is expected to have meetings with President Iajuddin Ahmed and other top officials and to visit micro-finance, disaster reduction and climate adaptation sites. (www.asianjournal.com)
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