NEW YORK – Her Excellency Reem Al Hashimy, United Arab Emirates Minister of State for International Cooperation, was in New York to lead the UAE delegation to the High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development. On the sidelines of the forum, Minister Al Hashimy met with H.E. Mr. Antonio Guterres, Secretary-General of the UN to discuss the crisis in the Gulf and other regional issues.
During their meeting, Minister Al Hashimy emphasized the UAE’s priority to establish security and stability in the region. She stressed that while the UAE, along with its partners, commended the efforts of members of the international community to mediate the crisis, a solution to the current situation had to come from the region. She confirmed the importance of the UN’s role as a convener of multilateral dialogues on combatting terrorism and incitement of extremism. Minister Al Hashimy and Secretary-General Guterres discussed UAE’s engagement in UN counter-terrorism initiatives, as well as its commitment to promoting tolerance in the region.
On Yemen, Minister Al Hashimy underlined the UAE’s strong support for the efforts of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Mr. Ismail Ould Sheikh Ahmed, in resolving the conflict. Further, she briefed Secretary-General Guterres on the ongoing discussions between the World Health Organization, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and the UAE to strengthen the coordinated response to the cholera epidemic and malnutrition in Yemen, which he welcomed.
Earlier in the day, Minister Al Hashimy met with the elected Members of the UN Security Council to discuss the recent political developments in the region, accompanied by Ambassadors and Permanent Representatives to the UN Lana Nusseibeh of the UAE and Abdallah Al Mouallimi of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, as well as representatives from Egypt and Bahrain. Minister Al Hashimy briefed the Ambassadors and senior representatives from Bolivia, Ethiopia, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Senegal, Sweden, Ukraine, and Uruguay on the ongoing efforts of the group of four Arab States that cut ties with Qatar to address the issue of state-sponsored terrorism and the incitement of extremism.
n addition, Minister Al Hashimy met with H.E. Mr. Peter Thomson, President of the 71st Session of the United Nations General Assembly. During their meeting reiterated the UAE’s commitment to achieving Agenda 2030. President Thomson commended the UAE’s engagement in implementing the Sustainable Development Goals at home, as well as supporting other Member States in achieving the goals to ensure that no one is left behind. Minister Al Hashimy expressed the UAE’s commitment to strengthening its partnership with the UN and fellow Member States to ensure a sustainable, peaceful, and inclusive environment for all people.
Finally, Minister Al Hashimy also met with Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General of the World Health 
Organization (WHO), and Dr. Nata Menabde, Executive Director of the WHO Office at the UN, to discuss the UAE’s growing partnership with WHO. The group exchanged views on the situation in the region, in particular strengthening the coordinated response to the cholera epidemic in Yemen, with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Dr. Tedros added that conflicts arising from terrorist activities are the key drivers for the spread of epidemic diseases in the region.
Ambassador Nusseibeh also attended the four meetings.