President Niinistö to attend the UN General Assembly in New York

The Office of the President of the Republic
Press release 51/2017
13.9.2017

President of the Republic of Finland Sauli Niinistö and Mrs. Jenni Haukio will be travelling to the United States on 14–23 September 2017. President Niinistö will be attending the opening week of the 72nd Regular Session of the United Nations General Assembly on 18–21 September 2017.

On Monday, 18 September, President Niinistö will meet with UN Secretary-General António Guterres and attend the UN Reform Event chaired by the President of the United States of America, Donald Trump. In addition to this, President Niinistö will deliver the Finnish National Statement at the High Level meeting on the Prevention of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse hosted by Secretary-General Guterres. Presidentti Niinistö has joined the Secretary-General's initiative (Circle of Leadership), whose aim is to gain the commitment of Heads of State and Government in the prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse.

On Tuesday, 19 September, President Niinistö will attend the Opening of the General Debate of the 72nd Session of the General Assembly as well as the Summit on a Global Pact for the Environment chaired by President of France, Emmanuel Macron. In the evening, President Niinistö and Mrs. Haukio will attend the Welcome Reception hosted by the President of the United States, Donald Trump.

President Niinistö will deliver Finland's National Statement at the General Debate of the 72st Session of the General Assembly on Wednesday, 20 September. He will also deliver a speech at the HeForShe event organized by UN Women, the United Nations agency for gender equality and women’s rights. President Niinistö belongs to the Champion World Leaders, an initiative of UN Women's HeForShe campaign. Champion World Leaders consists of Heads of State and Government, CEOs and university Presidents.

On Thursday, 21 September, President Niinistö will deliver the keynote speech at the Zero emission summit on Citizens’ Role in Mitigating Climate Change. The summit is part of Climate Week NYC, which is an event that has been organised by The Climate Group in New York since 2009.

President Niinistö will serve as Chair of the Delegation of Finland at the UN General Assembly. The Finnish delegation also consists of the Minister for Foreign Affairs Timo Soini and Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Kai Mykkänen.

Mrs. Jenni Haukio will be meeting with, for example, the Deputy Executive Director of UNICEF, Mr. Justin Forsyth in New York to discuss "Tiny Stories" a campaign based on an idea by Mrs. Haukio. She will also be attending a luncheon hosted by First Lady Melania Trump at the White House as well as the First Ladies' Initiative, an event hosted by Mrs. Laura Bush. The theme of the event is the leadership of women and status of girls and it is organised by the George W. Bush Institute.

President Niinistö and Mrs Haukio will also be visiting Washington and Minneapolis

President Sauli Niinistö and Mrs. Jenni Haukio will begin their trip to the United States in Washington D.C., where they will attend the Finland 100 gala at the Finnish Embassy on Saturday, 16 September President Niinistö will also be meeting with several U.S. Senators while in Washington.

At the end of the UN General Assembly week, the Presidential couple will travel to Minneapolis, Minnesota as part of the celebrations for the centenary of Finland’s independence.