Director of UN's Nairobi office speaks of papal visit to Africa

(Vatican Radio) A top UN official says many of the issues that Pope Francis will be highlighting on his upcoming visit to Africa reflect the challenges which the world body is facing as it marks its seventieth anniversary.

Just ahead of the Pope’s departure for Kenya on Wednesday, the Director General of the United Nations Office in Nairobi, Sahle-Work Zewde, talked to Vatican Radio’s Linda Bordoni about the Papal visit and about the future of the UN in Africa, which she said is “a continent that needs the United Nations much more than any other continent”.

Listen to the full interview:

 

"I think this gives him a platform to address Africa." She said, "It is a continent that needs the United Nations much more than any other continent, where all the works of the United Nations are relevant, and to tell us again about the values of the UN Charter, and that being in Africa gives us the responsibility to work for those people with whom we are very close."

Zewde said that many people are waiting for the Pope’s message. "I think [that it is important] to see the Pope coming here and addressing many of those challenges" faced by the people of Africa, "because he has been talking about those issues of inclusion, solidarity, dignity for all and so on, which resonate much more on this continent that anywhere else in the world."

She said that it is an important time for the UN as it celebrates the seventieth anniversary since its creation, with important initiatives being launched to mark the occasion. "With the Climate Change Summit coming up, this is a time for the United Nations to redefine itself, to see what it is that we have to do to be more relevant, to be more fit for purpose for the years to come. It is very important. It will bring us closer to our own values which are in the Charter."