Leonel Fernández traveled to Europe to participate in UN events

The former President of the Republic and President of Fundación Global Democracia y Desarrollo (FUNGLODE), Leonel Fernández, traveled to Europe where he will complete an intense work agenda that includes his prominent participation in the activities planned to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), which will also be attended by the Secretary General of the UN, Ban Ki-Moon.

Fernández will start his agenda on Monday in the French capital, where he plans to visit the University of Paris 8th to hold two working meetings with Michel Wieviorka, Co-Director of the Collège d””Études Mondiales and Director of Studies at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales; Mario Pezzini, Director of the Center for Development of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD); and, Carlos Quenan, Professor of Economics at the Institute for
Advanced Studies of Latin America.

From Paris, France, the former Dominican President will travel to Geneva, Switzerland, where on Tuesday, June 17th and Wednesday, June 18th he will participate in the 28th Special Session of the Council for Trade and Development of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and in the Third Geneva Dialogue, activities that are part of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of UNCTAD.

In regard
to the first of these meetings, the keynote address will be offered by Ban Ki-Moon, Secretary General of the UN, while Triyono Wibowo, President of the Council for Trade and Development, will deliver the welcoming remarks.

At that meeting, to be held in the Assembly Hall of the Palais des Nations in Geneva, the following persons will also speak: MukhisaKituyi, Secretary General of UNCTAD; Simonetta Sommaruga, Vice President of the Swiss Confederation, and Hamad Bin
Abdulaziz, Minister of Culture, Arts and Heritage of Qatar.

Geneva Dialogue

The Third Geneva Dialogue will be held on Wednesday, June 18th. It will focus on "Trade as a mechanism for the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals", in which former President Fernández will have a special presentation that is scheduled for 10:15 a.m.

The opening remarks will be delivered by Mikhisa Kituyi,
Secretary General of UNCTAD, and Hamad Bin Abdulaziz, Minister of Culture, Arts and Heritage of Qatar.

Following Fernández’s intervention, Pertti Manajen, Ambassador of Finland, and Claire Melamed, Head of the Growth, Poverty and Inequality Program at the Overseas Development Institute, will speak. The first will address the issue A view to the "Processes of New York" in the role of trade on the implementation of the sustainable development goals, while
the second speaker will talk on trade as a facilitator of the Sustainable Development Goals.

That same day, in the afternoon, the "2014 Open Symposium: a world economic order for equality and sustainable development post-2015" will take place. It will be followed by two working sessions on the topics "Implementing tax policies for greater equity" and "New UNCTAD opportunities in the development agenda
post-2015."

Subsequently, there will be a panel discussion on the issue "macroeconomic dimensions of inequality", which will open with the interventions of Triyono Wibowo, President of the Council for Trade and Development, and Mukhisa Kituyi, Secretary General of UNCTAD.

The following speakers will also offer remarks: Deborah James, Director of international programs at the United States Center for Economic and Policy
Research; Supachai Panitchpakdi, former Secretary General of UNCTAD; Guy Ruyder, Director General of the International Labor Organization; Claire Melamed, Head of Programs at the Overseas Development Institute, and José Antonio Ocampo, Professor of Economic Practices at Columbia University, United States.

The following participants will also make presentations: Wellington Chibebe, Deputy Secretary General of the International Trade Union Confederation, Office of the
Secretary General, Belgium; and Jayati Ghoch, Professor at the Center for Economic Studies and Planning, Jawaharlal Nehru University, India.

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development was established in 1964 to address issues related to trade, investment and development. It is the main organ of the UN General Assembly.

Signing of agreements

As part of his one-week European agenda, former President
Fernández is scheduled to lead, in Madrid, the signing of several FUNGLODE agreements on interagency cooperation with the Center for Advanced Studies on National Defense and with the Baltasar Garzón International Foundation.