10/03/2026 President
PACE President Petra Bayr, in New York to attend the UN Commission on the Status of Women, met UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres yesterday for an exchange with him on key issues facing both organisations.
“The UN and PACE share the same objectives and concerns: consolidating the rules-based international order, ensuring the protection of human rights in every corner of the world, protecting the environment, and addressing the impact of AI on democracy, human rights and the rule of law,” said the President following the meeting, where she was accompanied by PACE Secretary General Despina Chatzivassiliou.
The President informed Mr Guterres about the Parliamentary Assembly’s ongoing work to provide accountability for Russian aggression against Ukraine, a new platform for Russian democratic forces and protection of the environment, and identified together with him some areas where PACE could contribute further to the work of the global body, notably on implementing the UN Pact for the Future.
The President is in New York, together with a delegation of 20 members of the Assembly, to attend the 70th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW70) where she is due to hold a series of bilateral meetings with top UN officials, including the President of the UN General Assembly and the President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union.
She will also speak at a side-event organised by PACE on Thursday 12 March on the topic: “Countering backlash and safeguarding women’s rights” and will take part in a number of other side-events organised by Unicef, UN Women, the IPU, Canada’s UN mission and others.
