President of the UN General Assembly H.E. Mr. Dennis Francis Visits SIIS

2024/01/30

On January 28, 2024, H.E. Mr. Dennis Francis, President of the United Nations General Assembly at its 78th Session, visited SIIS. Accompanying him were Collen Kelapile, Chef de Cabinet; Keisha Mcguire, Special Envoy and Special Adviser on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment; Monica Valeria Grayley, Spokesperson, and others.

H.E. Mr. Dennis Francis attended the Roundtable, and talked about UN and multilateralism before engaging in interactive discussions with Chinese scholars on various related issues.He delivered a keynote speech, calling on the international community to strengthen cooperation, return to the core principles of the United Nations Charter, and collectively address global challenges. He particularly emphasized the significant role of China in this process and expressed anticipation for countries to reach a new global consensus at future summits, promoting more effective multilateralism and contributing to global peace, prosperity, progress, and sustainable development.

The Roundtable was moderated by SIIS Vice President Prof. Li Kaisheng, and Chairman of SIIS Academic Advisory Council Prof. Yang Jiemian delivered the closing remarks. Other speakers included Xu Bu, member of the United Nations Secretary-General’s High-Level Advisory Board on Effective Multilateralism;Zhang Minxuan, Director of UNESCO Teacher Education Centre;Xu Mingqi, Vice-chairman of the Shanghai Center for International Economic Exchanges; Chen Shiyi, Counsellor of Shanghai Municipal Government; Wu Chunsi, Director, Institute for International Strategic and Security Studies, SIIS; Yu Hongyuan, Director, Institute for Public Policy and Innovation Studies, SIIS; Mao Ruipeng, Secretary-General, Center for Studies on Theories and Practices of Major-country Diplomacy with Chinese Characteristics, SIIS;and Zhang Qiyue, Assistant Director, Institute for Global Governance Studies, SIIS. Yan Jiarong, Counsellor, Department of International Organizations and Conferences, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Ye Liang, Deputy Director-General, Foreign Affairs Office of Shanghai Municipal People’s Government accompanied the delegation.Some of the SIIS scholars also attended the meeting.