UN Secretary-General arrives in Tunis to attend Arab Summit

Tunis, Tunisia (PANA) - The United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, arrived on Saturday in Tunis to participate in the 30th Arab Summit, scheduled for Sunday in the Tunisian capital.

According to the Summit's official programme, Mr Guterres will make a speech at the opening session, meet with Tunisian President Béji Caïd Essebsi, and senior officials of his government, a diplomatic source in Tunis said.

The head of the United Nations will also meet with students to discuss the role of youth in national and international dialogues and consultations, as well as the efforts of the United Nations to ensure that young people and are listened to and their views put into effect.

Guterres will also inaugurate the new UN headquarters in Tunis, called "Blue House", and meet with women leaders and civil society representatives.

The UN spokesperson, quoted by the United Nations information centre, said that Mr. Guterres's priority during his Tunisian stay will be Libya.

He will participate on the margins of the Summit at the quadripartite meeting on Libya alongside the Secretary-General of the Arab League, Ahmed Abou El-Gheit, the High Representative of the European Union on foreign policy and security, Federica Mogherini, and the chairperson of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, and the UN Special envoy in Libya, Ghassan Salamé.

The UN Secretary-General's agenda includes a trip to Egypt on Monday to hold consultations with the Egyptian President, Abdel Fattah Al-Sissi, who chairs the African Union.

During his stay in Egypt, he will visit Al-Azhar University to meet with the institution's Grand Imam to express his solidarity and to assert the need to combat islamophobia and all forms of hatred and extremism.

From Egypt, he will visit Jordan where he will take part in the international economic forum on the Middle East, North Africa and the Dead Sea region.

In Jordan, he will visit the "El-Baqaa" camp, managed by the UN Agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA).

He will meet with students from a school, managed by the agency and women's representatives.

The UN Secretary-General will speak at the camp about the importance of continuing to fund the agency that provides services to millions of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, Lebanon and Syria.

-0- PANA YY/IN/JSG/BBA/VAO 30March2019