Credit: By Gary Raynaldo /  UN General Assembly President Maria Fernanda Espinosa Garces speaks to journalists on her agenda during a press conference at the UN headquarters in New York, June 27, 2019.

By Gary Raynaldo      DIPLOMATIC TIMES

UNITED NATIONS  –  UN General Assembly President Maria Fernanda Espinosa Garces said there is still a lot of work to be done for the rest of  her UNGA presidency including the high-level week in September, and beyond for the commemoration of the 75^th Anniversary of the United Nations in 2020.  “We need a lot of political traction for the 75^th Anniversary. We need high level conversations on the future of multilateralism,”   Espinosa Gacres told reporters at press conference Thursday at UN world headquarters.  Looking back on her UNGA presidency, which will end during the high-level week in September, Espinosa Garces highlighted her work in making the UN all inclusive. 

“One of the changes we managed to introduce is to make the UN closer to the people, and the UN closer to the UN. Every single  high  level event has had participation of public sector, participation of women’s groups, civil society, activists. And we have really stirred up the conversation.”

-UNGA President Espinosa Garces. 

On migration, she advocated a preventative approach  that tackles the structural causes of migration, noting to the tragic photo of the bodies of Óscar Alberto Martínez Ramírez and his 23-month-old daughter, Valeria, migrants who were found in the Rio Grande on Monday June 24.   They  left El Salvador and died as they  tried to cross from Mexico into the United States.  “To be very honest when I saw that I was almost in tears because you know this can  not be happening.  we can not have more people die because they decide to  migrate to another country. That’s precisely why member states came together and crafted the Global Pact on Migration. It so happens that people on the move are human beings and as such they are entitled to have their fundamental rights respected.  And we really know what they (structural causes of migration) are, inequality, poverty lack of opportunities for young families.  And the other big lesson of the terrible disaster yesterday border. We need to fight human trafficking which is a major crime.”

Rising Hate Speech, Anti-Semitism- 

Espinosa Garces  also noted  the negative role of social media in spreading hate speech. She said rising anti-Semitism is “a wake-up call for the international community.  ” We have to acknowledge that anti-Semitism has grown. “I have mixed feelings there.  The role of social media in spreading hate speech, in spreading anti-Semitism. How can we control that?”

Espinosa Garces is the 73rd President of the UNGA.   Upon her inauguration in 2018, she officially became the fourth woman and the first Latina to ever lead the powerful UN General Assembly.   She has more than 20 years of multilateral experience in international negotiations, peace, security, defence, disarmament, human rights, indigenous peoples, gender equality, sustainable development, environment, biodiversity, climate change and multilateral cooperation. She was the first woman to be named Permanent Representative of Ecuador in New York, after having served as Ambassador in Geneva. She has served Ecuador as Minister of Foreign Affairs (twice), Minister of National Defence, and Coordinating Minister of Natural and Cultural Heritage. Espinosa Garces is an Ecuadorian who was born in Spain.