Meeting with Her Excellency Ms. Helen Clark, the Former Prime Minister of New Zealand and the Former Executive Director of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP)

On Sunday, 22^nd  May 2016, The Council held a meeting with Ms. Helen Clark at the Diplomatic Club (El-Tahrir Club), within the efforts of Ms. Clark to promote her candidacy for the position of the next UN Secretary General. On the New Zealand side, the meeting was attended by Ambassador Barney Riley, New Zealand’s Ambassador to Cairo, and Ms. Rosemary Banks. On  ECFA side, the meeting was attended by Mr. AmrMoussa,the former Secretary-General of the Arab League, Mr. Nabil Fahmy, the former Egyptian Foreign Minister, and Mr. Dr. Mostafa El-Feky, the former First Assistant of the Minister of Foreign Affairs. The meeting was directed by Amb. Abdel Raouf El-Reedy, the Honorary Chairman of ECFA, and was held over lunch. The  council members in attendance in addition to Amb. Reedy were Amb. Dr. Mohammed Ibrahim Shaker, Amb. Dr. EzzatSaad, Amb. Mohammed Anees Salem, Dr. Mona MakramEbeid.

1) Honorary Chairman, Amb. Abdel Raouf El-Reedy commenced the meeting by expressing the council’s high praise and consideration for Ms. Clark’s presence in Cairo and its keenness on observing how she will make improvements to the international community, should she be elected Secretary General following the upcoming election in October 2016. Amb.El-Reedy also stressed on the importance of this position in light of the critical condition of the contemporary international community with regards to the increase of terrorist activities and extremism as well as the instability in the region.

2) Mr. AmrMoussa began with a formal welcome and introduction of H.E. Helen Clark, noting her 9 year premiership in New Zealand and highlighting that New Zealand’s UN record in regards to the situation of Palestine is quite favorable indeed. Mr. Moussa made the following points:

• The United Nations has not totally failed in its duties as the specialized agencies have proven quite effective.

• The UN Security Council is in need of reform, especially in terms of the Veto, in order to accommodate contemporary challenges.

• There is an emerging consensus among member states of the Security Council in particular that H.E. Helen Clark should be in the short list for the position of Secretary General.

3) Ms. Helen Clark began expressing her ties with Egypt and the Arab World during her premiership of her country for 9 years;

• Given her nine years in office as the Prime Minister of New Zealand, she is an exceptional candidate for the position with reference to her pragmatic and effective approach to pressing issues.

• Reform is necessary given the three pillars of the UN; human rights, development, and international peace and security.

• There is an evident need of increasing engagement and activating the role of the Secretary-General according to article 99 of the charter.

All the attendees participated in the discussion through presenting notes and ideas and exchanging opinions with Mrs. Clark. Additionally, Ambassador Nabeel Fahmy inquired about her plans regarding the international system and her prime priorities in imposing change.Dr. Mona Makram Ebeid pointed out that by virtue of the years of Mrs. Clark’s work in the United Nations Development program, it is important to use the help of the civil society organizations and especially parliament’s representatives that work in civil society.Ambassador Mohamed Shaker expressed his hope that the Middle East would become a Nuclear Free Zone, incentivizing Mrs. Clark to promote stability in the region.