United Nations – Visit by Jean-Yves Le Drian (New York, 27 March – 3 April 2019)

During this visit, Jean-Yves Le Drian will set out France’s priorities at the UN Security Council, which it will chair until March 31:

International peace and security

• The minister will chair a Security Council open debate on terrorism financing on March 28 with a view toward the adoption of a resolution. He will reaffirm the need to remain mobilized in order to prevent any resurgence of Daesh;
• He will take part in a ministerial meeting on peacekeeping in order to underscore France’s support for the efforts of the UN secretary-general to reform this key UN sector;
• He will chair (i) on March 29, a public meeting of the UN Security Council on Mali in the presence of Malian Prime Minister Soumeylou Boubeye Maiga and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres; (ii) on March 28, a ministerial meeting on the G5 Sahel alongside his Burkina Faso counterpart and in the presence of the authorities of several G5 states.

The fight against global inequality and collective efforts to address global challenges

• On April 1, Jean-Yves Le Drian will moderate a meeting of the UN Security Council on the protection of humanitarian and medical personnel in the presence of several NGOs. He will then take part in a briefing on international humanitarian law within the Security Council, which will be chaired by Germany in April. There will also be an exchange of views with NGOs on this occasion;
• On March 28, he will take part in a high-level segment of the UN General Assembly on climate and will co-chair a round-table meeting on climate funding in preparation for the climate summit proposed by the UN secretary-general scheduled to take place in September.

Defending multilateralism

Mr. Le Drian will reaffirm France’s robust effort on behalf of a strong multilateral system adapted to contemporary challenges:

• On April 2, he and his German counterpart Heiko Maas, as well as representatives from several nations of goodwill, will consider how to update and strengthen the multilateral system, giving rise to an alliance for multilateralism. He will give a speech on multilateralism and collective security to Columbia University students on April 3, which will take the form of a dialogue with Heiko Maas.
• He will meet with the UN Secretary-General and with Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix to review the main crises on the Security Council agenda.

He will also attend several events focused on French-American bilateral relations:

• On April 1, he will symbolically turn over a painting looted by the Nazis to its rightful beneficiaries and will meet with Jewish organizations in New York.
• In the area of innovation, on April 2 he will meet with entrepreneurs from French Tech New York, a group of start-ups based in the city.