Deputy Secretary-General to address African Union summit in Ghana

United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro will address the annual summit of Heads of State and Government of the African Union (AU), to be held in Ghana in early July, as part of a four-nation tour that will also take her to Austria, Guinea-Bissau and Kenya.

Ms. Migiro will represent Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at the AU summit, where she will speak at the opening session and hold a number of bilateral meetings, UN spokesperson Michele Montas announced today.

Prior to her participation at the summit, she will make an official visit to Austria, where she will address the opening ceremony of the 7th Global Forum on Reinventing Government, which is being hosted by the UN in Vienna. Since 1999, the Global Forum has addressed the need for improvements in governance and public administration worldwide.

From Vienna, Ms. Migiro is scheduled to visit Guinea-Bissau in what will be “the first-ever official visit of a Secretary-General or Deputy Secretary-General since that country joined the Organization in 1974,” Ms. Montas noted. The visit is intended to reaffirm UN support for the West African country’s ongoing efforts to consolidate peace, national reconciliation and constitutional governance.

Following her stop in Accra, Ghana’s capital, the Deputy Secretary-General will visit Nairobi, Kenya, where she will address the opening ceremony of the International Women’s Summit on Women’s Leadership on HIV and AIDS and meet with Government officials and civil society organizations.