New UN General Assembly President Says Will Focus on Sustainable Development

Peter Thomson, 71st UN General Assembly session president, said at his first press conference that sustainable development will be at the focus of the General Assembly’s efforts this year.

UNITED NATIONS (Sputnik) — Sustainable development will be at the focus of the UN General Assembly’s efforts this year, 71st General Assembly session president Peter Thomson said at his first press conference at the United Nations.

"I want to repeat that mantra of mine, which has become the theme for the 71st session of the General Assembly, that is all about the sustainable development goals and that it is a universal agenda to transform our world", Thompson stated on Tuesday.

Thomson noted that he had put up a team in the Office of the President comprised of experts from UN agencies and the World, and headed by Ambassador Dessima Williams of Grenada.

The team, Thomson added, will be working on achieving the UN’s 17 sustainable development goals that are part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development adopted by the General Assembly on September 25, 2015.

Elimination of hunger and poverty, ensuring quality education, decent work and economic growth are goals set, among others, to be achieved by 2030.