Chair:
Adoption of the Ministerial Declaration
Closing remarks:
Conclusion of the High-level Segment of ECOSOC
Her Excellency Paula Narváez was elected the seventy-ninth President of the Economic and Social Council on 27 July 2023. Ambassador Paula Narváez is currently the Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Chile to the United Nations in New York. Her Excellency Paula Narváez assumed her duties as Permanent Representative of Chile to the United Nations on 08 June 2022. Before this latest appointment, Ms. Narváez was the Officer-in-Charge at the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women) in Guatemala, from February to May 2022. She also served as Socio-Political Adviser at the UN-Women Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean, from October 2021 to February 2022, and Regional Adviser for Governance and Political Participation in the same office, from 2018 to 2020. Between 2016 and 2018, Ms. Narváez was Minister Secretary General of Government, and she served as a Presidential Adviser from 2014 to 2016. From 2012 until 2014, she was a Latin America and Caribbean Section Program Specialist at UN-Women, based in New York. Following the eruption of the Chaitén Volcano in Chile in May 2008, Ms. Narváez served as the delegate of then-President Michelle Bachelet to the Chaitén Volcano Emergency, from 2008 to 2009. She has also held a number of other Government positions. Ms. Narváez earned a master’s degree in Latin American Studies from Georgetown University in the United States; a master’s degree in economics and regional management from the Universidad Austral de Chile; and a degree in psychology from the Universidad Nacional Andrés Bello, also in Chile.
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has appointed Mr. Li Junhua of China as the Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs effective 25 July 2022.
Prior to his appointment, Mr. Li was Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of China to Italy and San Marino. He brings to the position perspectives and visions on fostering multilateral economic and social cooperation, with a commitment to engage with all parties to further implement the 2030 Agenda including dedication to serve Member States. He has contributed to numerous meetings of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), the United Nations General Assembly and Security Council, as well as other multilateral meetings including the G20, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), Asia–Europe Meeting (ASEM), BRICS etc.
As Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, Mr. Li guides UN Secretariat support for the follow-up processes of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development. He also oversees the substantive services to many intergovernmental processes, including the annual meetings of the Second and Third Committees of the General Assembly, the meetings of the Economic and Social Council, including its Development Cooperation Forum, and the work of the subsidiary bodies of ECOSOC. In addition to intergovernmental processes, Mr. Li oversees DESA’s policy analysis and capacity development work. He also serves as the Convenor of the Executive Committee on Economic and Social Affairs, and advises the United Nations Secretary-General on all development-related issues, including climate change, internet governance, and financing for development.
Mr. Li began his career at the Foreign Affairs Ministry in 1985. Since then, he has served in various capacities, including as Director General of the Department of International Organizations and Conferences, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China (2013-2019), Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of China to Myanmar (2010-2012), Deputy Director General of the Department of International Organizations and Conferences (2008-2010), Minister Counselor (Political), Permanent Mission of the People’s Republic of China to the United Nations (2003-2008), Division Director and Counselor in charge of UN General Assembly and Security Council Affairs (2001-2003), Second and First Secretary, Permanent Mission of the People’s Republic of China to the United Nations (1997-2001). Third and Second Secretary, the Department of International Organizations and Conferences (1992-1997) and Assistant to the Permanent Representative, Permanent Mission of China to the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, Bangkok (1986-1992).
Mr. Li holds a Master’s in International Public Policy, School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University. Mr. Li is married.
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