Chair:
Adoption of the Ministerial Declaration
Adoption of the procedural report of the HLPF
Closing remarks:
Conclusion of the HLPF
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.
Mr. Li Junhua of China was appointed Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs by UN Secretary-General António Guterres, effective 25 July 2022. Prior to this, he served as China’s Ambassador to Italy and San Marino, and previously as Ambassador to Myanmar.
Mr. Li brings over three decades of diplomatic experience, including extensive engagement in multilateral forums such as the UN General Assembly, ESCAP, G20, APEC, ASEM, and BRICS. He has held key roles in China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including Director General of the Department of International Organizations and Conferences, and Minister Counselor at China’s Permanent Mission to the UN.
In his current role, Mr. Li leads UN DESA’s support for the implementation and follow-up of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including the High-level Political Forum. He oversees services to the General Assembly’s Second and Third Committees, ECOSOC meetings, and various intergovernmental processes. He also directs DESA’s policy analysis and capacity development work, serves as Convenor of the Executive Committee on Economic and Social Affairs, and advises the Secretary-General on development issues such as climate change and financing.
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