In celebration of the 75th Anniversary of the United Nations, the Board of Directors of the United Nations Association of New York invites you to attend a special panel of United Nations experts including:
Amina J. Mohammed
UN Deputy Secretary-General
Executive Office of the Secretary-General (EOSG)
H.E. Tijjani Muhammad-Bande
Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Nigeria to the UN
President of the 74th session of the UN General Assembly
H.E. Nicolas de Rivière
Ambassador and Permanent Representative of France to the UN
Henrietta H. Fore
Executive Director, UNICEF
Moderator
Richard Lui
Anchor, MSNBC
For the past 75 years the United Nations has played an ever larger part on the global stage in negotiating peace, security and international cooperation.
To reflect on how its influence has grown, and what this portends as we move forward, we are privileged to have this distinguished panel to give their reflections on the past and forecasts for the future.
Please join us for this special UN75 Panel, which will not only touch on many interesting aspects of the first 75 years of the United Nations, but will also address challenging questions, including whether the UN system is under threat, and how it can be made even more effective in the coming years.
Event Sponsor
We appreciate the direct sponsorship of LUNE ROUGE of this Fall 2020 Special Panel commemorating the 75th anniversary of United Nations, as we celebrate the vital role the UN continues to play in helping the global community advance peace, prosperity and justice.
Founded by Quebec visionary Guy Laliberté, Lune Rouge rallies skilled entrepreneurs from a wide variety of backgrounds around a single objective: to capitalize on one of Quebec’s most valuable resources—its unique creative talents—in order to stimulate entrepreneurial innovation. Their executive team possesses over 150 years of experience, and acting as mentors and coaches, they help the next generation of entrepreneurs through their commitment to companies and causes they support.
Panel Moderator
RICHARD LUI
Richard Lui has worked more than 30 years in media, technology, and business. A veteran, award-winning journalist, he has served a decade as news anchor at MSNBC and NBC News. While at CNN Worldwide, he became the first Chinese American male in U.S. history to anchor a daily national cable news program. Covering every national election since 2004, Lui has interviewed hundreds of politicians, from Detroit Mayor to U.S. President. In the 2000s, Lui reported from Asia as two key Muslim countries and Taiwan experienced pivotal elections while at Channel NewsAsia, an English-only news network broadcast in 20 Asian countries and territories.
Before journalism, Richard spent 15 years in business, launching six brands over three tech cycles, patenting a fintech model in 2003. He has held various board seats including audit committee for a fintech firm, advisory board chair for a Silicon Valley deep learning firm, and various non-profit boards. Business Insider named him one of 21 careers to watch and Twitter Counter ranks him in the top 1 percent in social media users. Lui is also a filmmaker, currently producing and directing two feature-length documentaries in the teen and 20-something space. He is also the author of a 2021 HarperCollins release.
He is on the board of Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation and Freedom United. He is a Fellow at the National Association of Corporate Directors, one of 200 U.S. State Department Traveling Speakers, a Senior Fellow at the German Marshall Fund think tank, and ambassador for NGOs focusing on gender equality and human trafficking.
Lui holds an MBA from Michigan Ross School of Business and is a graduate from UC Berkeley. A first generation Chinese and Polynesian American, Lui has a twist in his background. Because his grandfather, an unauthorized immigrant, filed false "Paper Son" documents, Lui’s real last name is Wong.
Guest Panelists
AMINA J. MOHAMMED
Amina J. Mohammed is the Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations and Chair of the United Nations Sustainable Development Group.
Prior to her appointment, Ms. Mohammed served as Minister of Environment of the Federal Republic of Nigeria where she steered the country’s efforts on climate action and efforts to protect the natural environment.
Ms. Mohammed first joined the United Nations in 2012 as Special Adviser to former Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon with the responsibility for post-2015 development planning. She led the process that resulted in global agreement around the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the creation of the Sustainable Development Goals.
She began her career working on the design of schools and clinics in Nigeria. She served as an advocate focused on increasing access to education and other social services, before moving into the public sector, where she rose to the position of adviser to three successive Presidents on poverty, public sector reform, and sustainable development.
Ms. Mohammed has been conferred several honorary doctorates and has served as an adjunct professor, lecturing on international development. The recipient of various global awards, Ms Mohammed has served on numerous international advisory boards and panels. She is the mother of six children and has two grandchildren.
H.E. TIJJANI MUHAMMAD-BANDE
His Excellency Tijjani Muhammad-Bande is the Permanent Representative of Nigeria to the United Nations.
He has had an outstanding career as a scholar and diplomat. He started his academic career at Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Nigeria, rising from Graduate Assistant in 1980 to full Professor in 1998, to Vice-Chancellor, in 2004.
Between 2000 and 2004, Professor Muhammad-Bande served as Director-General of Le Centre Africain de Formation et de Recherche Administratives pour le Développement (CAFRAD), in Tangiers, Morocco. From 2010 to 2016, he held the position of Director General of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies.
As Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations (2018-2019), he served as Vice-President of the 71st session of the General Assembly and was active in several forums, including the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations (C34), the Advisory Board of the United Nations Counter Terrorism Centre, and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Group.
His Excellency later became the President of the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly. Most notably, Professor Muhammad-Bande is a recipient of Nigeria’s Officer of the Order of the Federal Republic (OFR), one of Nigeria’s highest national honours.
H.E. NICOLAS DE RIVIÈRE
His Excellency Nicolas de Rivière took office as Ambassador, Permanent Representative of France to the United Nations in New York on 8th July 2019.
A graduate from the "Condorcet" class of French Ecole nationale d’administration (ENA), Nicolas de Rivière was previously Director General of Political and Security Affairs at the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs (2014-2019). He also served as Assistant Secretary for United Nations, International Organizations, Human Rights and Francophonie (2011-2014) and Deputy Permanent Representative of France to the United Nations in New York (2009-2010).
Vice-President of EADS-Astrium in 2001-2002, Nicolas de Rivière then served in the offices of two Foreign Ministers: first, as Counselor for Economic Affairs, Asia and North America in the office of Dominique de Villepin (2002-2004), then as Counselor for International Economic issues, Asia and Americas in the office of Michel Barnier (2004-2005).
Nicolas de Rivière has also served at the Permanent Mission of France to the United Nations in New York (2005-2010) as well as in Washington (1997-2001) and The Hague (1994-1997).
Nicolas de Rivière was conferred the insignia of Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur in July 2015.
HENRIETTA FORE
Henrietta H. Fore became UNICEF’s seventh Executive Director on 1 January 2018. She has worked to champion economic development, education, health, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief in a public service, private sector and non-profit leadership career that spans more than four decades.
From 2007 to 2009, Ms. Fore served as the Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and Director of United States Foreign Assistance. The first woman to serve in these roles, she was responsible for managing $39.5 billion of U.S. foreign assistance annually, including support to peoples and countries recovering from disaster and building their futures economically, politically and socially.
Earlier in her career at USAID, Ms. Fore was appointed Assistant Administrator for Asia and Assistant Administrator for Private Enterprise (1989-1993). She served on the Boards of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation and the Millennium Challenge Corporation. In 2009, she received the Distinguished Service Award, the highest award the Secretary of State can bestow.
From 2005 to 2007, Ms. Fore served as Under Secretary of State for Management, the Chief Operating Officer for the U.S. Department of State. She was responsible for the staff, resources, facilities, technology and security of the Department and was the Secretary of State’s principal adviser on management issues. She oversaw a management budget of $3.6 billion, 7,200 employees, 30,000 contractors and 267 embassies and posts in 172 countries.
From 2001 to 2005, Ms. Fore was the 37th Director of the United States Mint in the U.S. Department of Treasury, managing the world's largest manufacturer of coins, medals and coin products. In 2005, she received the Alexander Hamilton Award, the Department of Treasury’s highest honor.
Immediately prior to her appointment with UNICEF, Ms. Fore was Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Holsman International, a manufacturing and investment company. She also served on the boards of a number of domestic and international public corporations, including as Global Co-chair of the Asia Society, Chair of the Middle East Investment Initiative, and Co-Chair of WomenCorporateDirectors. She also served on the boards of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), the Aspen Institute, the Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy (CECP) and the Center for Global Development (CGD).
Ms. Fore has a Bachelor of Arts in History from Wellesley College and a Master of Science in Public Administration from the University of Northern Colorado. She is married and has four children.