Home | First lady | Activities of Silvia Gašparovičová | Year 2007 | Mrs. Silvia Gašparovičová in the U.S. during the 62nd UN General Assembly in New York, 22 - 28 September 2007
The slovak First Lady visited with the President of the Slovak Republic in late September New York and New Jersey in the United States. As spouse of the Head of the Slovak delegation she attended with him the negotiations during the 62nd General Assembly of the United Nations (UNGA). In addition, she had an interesting program with wives of other heads of delegations of participating countries and also several other meetings with representatives of U.S. non-governmental organizations.
At the beginning of her stay in the U.S., together with President of SR she met with representatives of Slovakian compatriot community in the city of Holmdel, New Jersey, which held the 30th anniversary Slovak Heritage Festival. The event, which brought together thousands of compatriots living in the U.S. was marked by spontaneous, happy and cordial atmosphere and once again showed how strong are the bonds and what is precious heritage of our ancestors, which persists for decades in traditions, customs, folklore, and transmits into the younger generation already born in the U.S..
During the next days, First Lady participated in the deliberations of the 62nd UN General Assembly in the UN building, including the opening ceremony with the speech of the UN Secretary General Mr. Ban Ki-moon, President of the UNGA Mr. Srgjan Kerim and the U.S. President Mr. George W. Bush, as well as the initial high-level meeting on climate change, and during the general debate one could hear the speeches of several presidents, including the President of the SR. Together with him she attended the reception, administered by the U.S. President and Mrs. Laura Bush in the Waldorf Astoria hotel for heads of delegations and their spouses.
Mrs. Silvia Gašparovičová participated also in several social events held during the 62nd UNGA. One of these was the meeting of First Ladies at the Museum of Modern Art (called MoMA), associated with breakfast, which was organized by the wife of UN Secretary General Mrs. Ban Soon-Taek for the spouses of heads of delegations. Here, First Ladies had the opportunity to exchange their views and finally see together this artistic tent with more than 150-thousand artifacts of modern art in just the 75th jubilee year since its opening.
She also accepted the invitation from the wife of the U.S. President Mrs. Laura Bush to a meeting connected with a lunch in the Morgan Library and Museum on Madison Avenue. In her speech, Mrs. Bush highlighted the main theme "Literacy and Health". In debates and discussions with other First Ladies she exchanged several opinions, experiences and contacts in the area in which the ’Slovak Foundation of Silvia Gašparovičová – Education and Health for Everybody’ it operates.
During her stay in New York City Mrs. Silvia Gašparovičová visited the Office of the Permanent Mission of Slovakia to the UN. During an informal visit she met with the mission staff, she was interested in their working areas and expressed to them my appreciation and gratitude.
The main meeting of the First Lady during this business trip in the U.S. was a meeting with the representatives of two major international non-governmental humanitarian organizations in the U.S., focusing on helping women and children, particularly in conflict and post conflict areas, helping orphans and refugees.
How the Care International to the UN representative Mrs. Kathleen Hunt has informed, the CI organization was established at the end of the World War II. in 1945 and now its 13-thousand members are operating in nearly 70 countries, in the U.S. and Latin America, countries in South, West and East Africa, Asia, Middle East and Europe. In its program the organization covers urgent help and reconstruction in areas affected by natural disasters, military conflict, reconstruction in post-conflict areas and assist in crisis situations (provide temporary homes, medical assistance, sanitation, food and drinking water), helps in the fight against poverty, providing health care (including prevention, identification, treatment of portable diseases, HIV/AIDS), as well as prenatal care and family planning. It provides access to education for poor, helps parents cover the costs of education of their children and develop a number of other activities. In particular, it is relentlessly engaged in the preparation and then the application of such legislation which prevents the commission of unrighteousness to vulnerable children and women worldwide, and helps enforce the rules of humaneness, justice, equality and respect for the human rights of all.
The organization Care International operates under cover of the UN and its representative Mrs. Kathleen Hunt highlighted at the beginning of the meeting the excellent cooperation with the staff of the Permanent Mission of Slovakia to the UN on several joint projects under the UN. She was lively interested in the activities of the First Lady and her Foundation in Slovakia, the specific projects she knowed in advance and offered her active cooperation.
First Lady highlighted in the characteristics of projects of the Slovak Foundation of Silvia Gašparovičová the aspect of fruitful exchanges of views and experiences with representatives of other countries, such as with an italian association, which resulted in the resumption of cooperation on the project Telefono Rosa, as well as the representative of the irish women’s organizations during her official visit to Ireland, which also entered into cooperation. She stressed that in this trend she would like to continue - to expand the scope, the possibilities of mutual cooperation not only at European level but also worldwide.
In this context she was interested in the U.S. tax system, the system of non-profit non-governmental organizations functioning on the American continent, how is their cooperation with the Senate or Congress, and specifically how the financing of CI projects works. When comparing those facts with the status is in Slovakia, she found that in our legislation are still reserves that have to be resolved, that the system operation and funding of NGO´s is transparent, and the effect of their activities stronger. The interview also touched on other social topics – one of them was the problem of the Roma community, education and school system.
Representative of another non-profit organization Women Commission for Refugee Women and Children (WCRWC) Mrs. Sandra Krause, presented the program and the main focus of the organization she represents. This organization was founded in 1989 and is engaged in conflict affected countries and crisis areas such as Afghanistan, Kosovo or Rwanda, Sudan or Colombia and many others. Its main purpose is to monitor and ensure the protection of women and children, who have become displaced persons or refugees, who have lost their family or are homeless. It assist them in refugee camps, counseling centers, provide their health care and access to their education. In its asylum programs it helps them to integrate into society and take responsibility for their own livelihood. It also offers advice in other areas such as protection from domestic violence or family planning. The organization works closely with Care International and other institutions around the world that can effectively promote the adjustment of legislation in countries where human rights are repressed.
At the end of the meeting representatives of the two institutions re-declared their admiration for the activities that First Lady does in Slovakia in the Slovak Foundation of Silvia Gašparovičová and proposed to cooperate, either directly or through the Permanent Mission of Slovakia to the UN New York. Mrs. Silvia Gašparovičová thanked for this offer, appreciated the importance and benefits of such an exchange of experience in the areas in which she works in Slovakia with every effort. She evaluated the meeting as fruitful and ended it with a statement that she is looking forward to a mutual cooperation. |
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