Meetings Highlighted Pivotal Contributions Of Air Connectivity To Sustainable Development

The Secretary General of ICAO, Dr. Fang Liu, has completed an intensive series of high-level bilateral and multilateral meetings in the United Kingdom, where she encouraged the momentum on the long-term sustainability of all aspects of the international civil aviation network.

Dr. Liu undertook bilateral meetings with Baroness Sugg, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Transport, Mr. Dan Micklethwaite, the UK’s Director General for Civil Aviation, and Messrs Andrew Haines and Richard Moriarty, Chief Executive and Deputy Chief Executive, respectively, of the UK Civil Aviation Authority. The Secretary General was accompanied by the Representative of the UK on the Council, Mr. David Lloyd, and ICAO’s Deputy Regional Director for Europe and the North Atlantic, Mr. Elkhan Nahmadov.

Highlighting the pivotal contributions of air connectivity to sustainable development throughout these bilateral meetings, the Secretary General encouraged the UK continue to demonstrate leadership in aviation security and enhance the positioning of aviation issues within its global assistance strategy. The UK is commended for its significant role in the adoption and implementation of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2309 as well as related ICAO Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs) and the ICAO Global Aviation Security Plan (GASeP). It is stressed that the UK is particularly well placed to contribute to the holistic sustainability of global aviation in light of its leadership on assistance, being one of the few Development Assistance Committee (DAC) members to have met UN targets, and its widely recognized leadership on key aviation issues.

Dr. Liu highlighted in her bilateral meetings that the elimination of barriers to women’s participation in the workforce is of crucial importance to the aviation sector, given the tremendous traffic growth that is forecasted and the human resources that this will demand. She appreciated the UK’s exemplary approach to gender equity and committed herself to work with the UK and other ICAO Member States on their aspirations.

During her mission to London, which took place from 2 to 4 May 2018, the Secretary General also participated in the First Regular Session of 2018 of the UN System Chief Executives Board (CEB) , a United Nations Sustainable Development Group (UNSDG) Principals Meeting, a meeting of the Inter-Agency Coordination Group against Trafficking in Persons (ICAT), and an individual meeting with the Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Mr. Yury Fedotov.

At these meetings, Dr. Liu contributed to discussions towards enhancing the efficacy of the UN systems efforts towards the achievement of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals and highlighted the unique and crucial contributions of the aviation sector. The ICAT and UNODC meetings furthermore resulted in agreements to strengthen the UN’s involvement in the prevention of trafficking in persons through the international civil aviation network.

(Image provided with ICAO news release)

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