S. Sudan VP to attend UN assembly meeting

September 8, 2013 (JUBA) – South Sudan’s new vice-president, James Wani Igga, will from 17 September be part of the United Nations general assembly meeting in New York.

Igga is expected to be accompanied by foreign affairs minister Barnaba Marial Benjamin, as well as his gender, child and social welfare counterpart, Awul Deng Acuil.

The delegation to New York will also be joined by Francis Nazario, South Sudan’s deputy ambassador to the UN.

The vice-president will reportedly hold some bilateral discussions with world leaders on the margins of the general assembly meeting in what marks his first official trip since his appointment.

He is also expected to meet South Sudanese communities in the United States, as well as civil society groups and religious leaders.

Comprising the193-member countries of the UN, the general assembly is the main policy making and representative organ of the world body, providing a forum for multilateral discussion on the full spectrum of international issues covered by the charter.

The assembly meets intensively in regular sessions from September to December each year, and thereafter as required.

(ST)