Ministry of Foreign Affairs and External Trade RGOB
H.E. Mr. Lyonpo Damcho Dorji
Minister for Foreign Affairs
General Assembly Seventy-first session 20th plenary meeting
General Debate
Addressing the 71st Session of the United Nations General Assembly on 24th September 2016, Hon’ble Foreign Minister, Lyonpo Damcho Dorji, urged the international community not to squander the historic opportunity presented by the recent land mark global compacts including the 2030 Agenda, the Addis Agenda and the Paris Climate Agreement. Together, he said, the agreements “present a historic opportunity to secure collective resolve to advance peace, security, human rights, and sustainable development.” He called for urgent, focused, and comprehensive action to translate the agreements into real and meaningful dividends for all peoples and for all countries. He recognised terrorism as the most flagrant violation of human rights, and strongly condemned it in all its forms and manifestations.
The Foreign Minister is Leader of RGOB’s delegation to the 71st Session of the UN General Assembly. The theme of the 71st Session is “The Sustainable Development Goals: A Universal Push to Transform our World.”
While in New York, the Foreign Minister participated in the Annual Meeting of the Ministers of Least Developed Countries, the Fortieth Annual Meeting of Ministers for Foreign Affairs of the Group of 77, Foreign Ministers’ meets on the Asian Cooperation Dialogue and of SAARC, as well a high level event on Innovative Public Service Delivery through South-South and Triangular Cooperation. As one of the Vice Presidents of the Bureau of the Group of Landlocked Developing Countries, Lyonpo chaired the Fifteenth Meeting of LLDC Ministers on 22nd September 2016. Bilateral discussions were conducted with a number of partners, including Colombia, Denmark, Estonia, Ethiopia, Georgia, Maldives Mongolia, Singapore and the United States.
The General Assembly is the main deliberative, policymaking and representative organ of the United Nations. It is traditionally one of the largest annual gatherings of governments at the level of Heads of State, Heads of Government, and Foreign Ministers.