Prime Minister Perry Christie is leading the Bahamas Delegation participating in the 71st Regular Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA 71).

The prime minister and his delegation departed for New York on Sunday and are scheduled to return to Nassau on Wednesday, September 21.

Other members of the delegation will include the Hon. Fred Mitchell, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Immigration, the Hon. Shane Gibson, Minister of Labour and National Insurance and other senior government officials.

Joining the delegation will be Mr. Hubert Chipman, MP and Shadow Minister of Foreign Affairs and Mrs. Chipman. The Bahamas’ Ambassador to the UN is H.E. Elliston Rahming.

UNGA 71 opened Tuesday, September 13, 2016 and is expected to conclude mid-December 2016. The annual General Debate will take place September 20-30, with the theme, “The Sustainable Development Goals: a Universal Push to Transform Our World.”

Preceding the General Debate will be a summit on September 19 convened by the UN Secretary-General, H.E. Ban Ki-Moon, on ‘Large Movements of Refugees and Migrants.’ The aim of the summit is to bring countries together towards a more humane and coordinated approach regarding refugees and migrants. The Rt. Hon. Prime Minister of The Bahamas, along with other Heads of State and Government, will address the summit.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Immigration will deliver The Bahamas’ National Statement on September 26, when it is expected in addition to members of the Bahamas delegation, there will be in attendance nationals from the New York Bahamian Diaspora as well as Bahamians who have traveled from Nassau, and student winners and their chaperones of the annual Zonta Essay Competition and the Model United Nations (MUNS), an event organized by the Rotary Clubs of The Bahamas and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

This is the first General Assembly after the historic adoption of Agenda 2030, which established the new global agenda by setting a series of sustainable development goals to be achieved by 2030. The president of the 71st UNGA is Ambassador Peter Thomson of Fiji (a SIDs country like The Bahamas), while The Bahamas is one of the 21 vice-presidents.

It will be the last General Assembly of the Secretary General, whose term will end this year. A new Secretary General will be elected during the UNGA 71.

During the period of the General Debate, a number of other important events will take place such as President Obama’s Leaders Summit on Refugees (20th); a high-level event for the entry into force of the Paris Climate Agreement; the Commonwealth Foreign Ministers meeting; the CARICOM Foreign Ministers Meeting; a high-level meeting on “The Right to Development”; and individual meetings with CARICOM and Japan, India, and the Nordic countries.