Thursday, October 01, 2015

Deputy PM Leo Dion addresses the United Nations General Assembly in New York, USA

Deputy Prime Minister Leo Dion (left) and Foreign Affairs Minister Leo Dion at the United Nations
Deputy Prime Minister Chief Leo Dion led a Papua New Guinea delegation on behalf of the Prime Minister and the people of PNG to the 70th United Nations General Assembly Session at the United Nations Head quarter in New York, USA.
The PNG delegation comprised of the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Immigration and senior government officials from the Department of Prime Minister and NEC, Foreign Affairs, National Planning and Monitoring and officers from PNG's Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York and the Embassy in Washington DC.
Dion at the post-2015 summit addressed the United Nations General Assembly on the September 26,  2015, where world leaders adopted the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to succeed the UN's Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by January 2018.
The gist of the Deputy Prime Minister's statement was on the National Government's initiatives to promote sustainable development in Papua New Guinea and issues on climate change, water, Health and Sanitation, Vision 2050, Long Term Development Plan and the National Strategy for Responsible Sustainable Development.
Dion said the drive by PNG to get international support on climate change also gained prominence when Pope Francis gave his speech on September 25, 2015.
"The Pope talked about the same thing that the Prime Minister  Peter O'Neill, has been emphasizing about on, climate change," he said.
Dion said climate change was a real issue that was affecting thousands of lives in PNF and in the Pacific region.
"PNG's contribution at the international level as Chair of the Pacific Islands Forum was our leadership in securing consensus among PIF countries in proposing SDG 14, which is to conserve and use the oceans, seas and marine resources in a sustainable manner.
"Our leadership in proposing goal 14 underscores our commitment to ensure the international community recognizes the importance of protecting our pristine marine environment."
He said this also underscored the 46th Pacific Islands Forum's commitment to work together.
Dion went on to pledge PNG' support of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals and the country's commitment to achieving better results.

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