DUSHANBE, September 22, 2008, Asia-Plus  -- President Emomali Rahmon today morning left for New York to attend the 63 rd session of the UN General Assembly. 

The 63rd session of the General Assembly of the United Nations opened on September 16 and the general debate will take place from September 23 to October 1 2008.  According to the UN News Center, more than 120 heads of state and government as well as foreign ministers and heads of delegations will make speeches at the session.   The Tajik head of state is scheduled to deliver statement at the session on September 25.  

On September 25, The UN Secretary General and the President of the UN General Assembly will convene a high-level event on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).  At the halfway point towards the target date, significant progress has been made, but urgent and increased efforts are needed by all stakeholders in order to meet the Goals by 2015.  The high-level event will be a forum for world leaders to review progress, identify gaps, and commit to concrete efforts, resources and mechanisms to bridge the gaps.

According to the MFA information department, President Rahmon will stay in New York till September 27 and during his stay there, Emomali Rahmon is expected to hold talks with the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and a series of meetings with his counterparts and senior representatives from a number of international financial institutions.  

In the meantime, Tajik Foreign Minister Hamrokhon Zarifi, who has been to New York since September 19 to coordinate preparation of President Rahmon’s to New York, is expected to hold talks with Mr. Adam Melkert, Under Secretary General of the UN and Associate Administrator of UNDP, Mr. John Holmes, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency, Dr. Salaheddin Al-Bashir, Foreign Minister of Jordan, Mr. Ehud Gol, Israeli Ambassador to Tajikistan, and Mr. Sha Zukang, Under-Secretary-General for Economic Social Affairs.  

Established in 1945 under the Charter of the United Nations, the General Assembly occupies a central position as the chief deliberative, policy-making and representative organ of the United Nations. Comprising all 192 Members of the United Nations, it provides a forum for multilateral discussion of the full spectrum of international issues covered by the Charter.  It also plays a significant role in the process of standard-setting and the codification of international law.  The Assembly meets in regular session intensively from September to December each year, and thereafter as required.