Activities of Secretary-General in France, 29 June–1 July

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres departed New York on Tuesday, 29 June, for Paris, where he arrived on Wednesday morning.

Upon arrival, he had a bilateral meeting with President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysée Palace.  They discussed the Generation Equality Forum which France was hosting that afternoon, as well as the climate crisis and the need for multilateralism to solve global challenges.  They also discussed the situation in the Sahel.

Following the meeting, the Secretary-General took part in a working lunch offered by President Macron with the Executive Director of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women), Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, and members of French and international civil society.

That afternoon, the Secretary-General attended and spoke at the opening session of the Generation Equality Forum, which took place at the Carrousel du Louvre.  He said that gender parity is essentially a question of power, and that this power is rarely given but needs to be taken.  In that regard, the Forum is a big part of this grass‑roots movement to obtain power by creating coalitions and to rebalance power globally.  (See Press Release SG/SM/20805.)

In the evening, the Secretary-General attended a dinner of Heads of State and Government, heads of international organization and civil society at the invitation of President Macron.

The Secretary-General departed France for Valencia, Spain, on Thursday morning, 1 July.