Subj : Peters UN talks focus on 'global challenges' in Pacific region
To   : All
From : News Person
Date : Wed Apr 10 2024 11:48 am

Foreign Minister Winston Peters has held official talks with United Nations
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in New York today, with a focus on a
"shared commitment to partnering with the Pacific Islands region".


"Small states in the Pacific rely on collective action to tackle urgent
global challenges, including sea level rise and sustainable economic
development," Peters said.


Peters said discussions with the Secretary-General underscored the "crucial
role that the United Nations must play" in helping the Pacific to meet these
challenges.


"Having spent time with the Secretary-General in New Zealand and the Pacific
in 2019, it was important to resume our dialogue on the region's priorities -
and what more we might do to work together to help advance them."


In his speech to the UNGA debate on the Middle East yesterday, Peters
highlighted the war in Gaza as a "focus of discussion".


An immediate ceasefire is needed to halt the humanitarian catastrophe in
Gaza, he said.

"UN agencies, including UNRWA, are playing a crucial role in delivering
humanitarian assistance and other vital services to Gazans. We discussed New
Zealand's latest contributions to these efforts, the ongoing investigations
into UNRWA, and New Zealand's next annual payment due in June. New Zealand is
committed to playing its part to aid Palestinians caught up in the conflict,
including through appropriate UN agencies."


Peters expressed New Zealand's condolences to the Secretary-General over the
loss of more than 175 UN staff in the Gaza conflict

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