Amina Mohammed, Deputy Secretary-General of the UN, wrapped up a three-day visit to Iceland on Tuesday, stressing the organization’s dual objective for peace – for the world and with nature. With less than two months until the COP28 climate conference in Dubai, Mohammed called for action for those on the frontlines of the raging emergency.
She visited areas experiencing the wrath of climate change, including the country’s second-largest and fast-melting glacier, Langjökull, and its ice cave. The Deputy Secretary-General also visited the most powerful hot spring in Europe, Deildartunguhver, with a staggering flow rate of 180 litres of water per second. She also visited the Hellisheiði Power Station, which is among the most significant single-site power plants worldwide, producing both electricity and hot water for domestic purposes.
Morocco Hosts IMF-WB Meetings Despite Quakes
Marking an end to her trip, Mohammed left on Tuesday for Marrakech in Morocco for the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank. The financial institutions are known to hold their annual meetings every three years in a developing economy that has shown strong economic policies and governance. Moreover, the Government of Morocco didn’t hesitate to host the event despite a brutal September earthquake that left nearly 3,000 dead and wreaked $11.7 billion in damages.
While the meetings in Morocco were originally scheduled for 2021, they were postponed twice owing to COVID-19 lockdown.
Ending The Wars Across Regions And On Nature
During her visit, Amina Mohammed held a number of bilateral meetings with senior government officials, including President Guðni Thorlacius Jóhannesson. “We must not give up. Times of distress call for courage, solidarity and determination. It starts at the Imagine Forum,” the Deputy Secretary-General wrote on X.
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She referred to the Nordic Solidarity for Peace event she attended on the last day. At the forum, she stressed the need for sustainable development and reinvigorating multilateralism. Among other things, she highlighted the importance of ending the wars across regions and on nature, which is worsening conflicts and challenges. Her Iceland trip came against a backdrop of raging violence between Israel and Hamas, a Palestinian Islamist militant group, amid thousands killed on both sides
