Minister Thordarson visits United Nations, France and UK

Mr. Gudlaugur Thor Thordarson, Minister for Foreign Affairs, is back from his visit to New York, where he attended the United Nations General Assembly. He then went on to France, where he met with Minister for Foreign Affairs of France, Jean-Yves Le Drian, and visited UNESCO and the OECD. He finished his tour in the UK where he met with UK Foreign Secretary, Jeremy Hunt. 

During his visit to the United Nations in New York, the Minister had the opportunity to participate in meetings on human rights, climate action and healthy oceans, among other issues. He then delivered a statement in the General Assembly on behalf of Iceland. His statements are available here.

While in France, Minister Thordarson met with Mr. Jean-Yves Le Drian, Minister for Foreign Affairs of France, to discuss the European Economic Area (EEA), Brexit, climate action and the environment, among other issues. He also had the opportunity to meet with the Director-General of UNESCO, Ms. Audrey Azoulay. Iceland is a candidate for the Executive Board of UNESCO for the period 2021-2025. 

Minister Thordarson also met with Angel Gurría, Secretary General of the OECD, and Charlotte Petri Gornitzka, Chair of the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC).

Along with the OECD Secretary General Gurría, Minister Thordarson addressed a Barbershop event organized by Iceland and the OECD Secretariat with the participation of UN Women HeForShe movement representative, Isabelle Magyar. It is the tenth Barbershop event that Iceland has organized in International Organizations since 2015 but other Barbershop events have been organized in different fora by using the HeForShe Barbershop Toolbox provided by Iceland. 

Minister Thordarson ended his trip in Birmingham where he met with UK Foreign Secretary, Mr. Jeremy Hunt. They discussed bilateral relations, Brexit and European affairs.