PM Kadhimi arrives in New York for UN General Assembly

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq’s Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi arrived in New York on Tuesday to participate in the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), where he is set to deliver a speech and meet with a number of heads of state from around the globe.

The high-level week of the 77th annual UNGA is set to commence on Tuesday and will continue through next week, with nearly 150 heads of state expected to deliver speeches. The theme of this year’s summit is “A watershed moment: transformative solutions to interlocking challenges.”

Kadhimi will deliver Iraq’s remarks during the week, according to a statement from his office, and will meet with several royals and top governmental officials “from the brotherly and friendly countries”, in addition to meeting with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

The Iraqi premier is expected to discuss the economic and political challenges that have plagued Iraq and the region during the meetings.

Iraq’s Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein met with his French and Jordanian counterparts, Catherine Colonna and Ayman al-Safadi, on the sidelines of the UN summit on Wednesday, discussing holding the second round of the Baghdad Conference for Cooperation and Partnership.

The first round of the Baghdad summit was held in August 2021 in coordination with France, and hosted several heads of state and foreign ministers of Arab countries, in addition to French President Emmanuel Macron. Hussein said that the conference laid the groundwork for joint cooperation on a regional level and solving problems through dialogue.