As the United States assumes the UN Security Council presidency, First Lady Melania Trump will chair a meeting on March 2, marking the first time a sitting American first lady has presided over the council.
The White House confirmed that the session in New York will focus on children, technology and education in conflict zones, with Melania Trump set to underline education as a pathway to tolerance and peace.
In a statement, the first lady’s office said the meeting aims “to emphasise education’s role in advancing tolerance and world peace,” adding that “Mrs Trump’s leadership will mark the first time a sitting US First Lady presides over the Security Council as members consider education, technology, peace, and security.”
The UN Security Council presidency rotates monthly among its 15 members, allowing the presiding country to set the agenda and chair meetings. The United States, one of the five permanent members alongside Britain, France, Russia and China, assumes the role for March.
Traditionally, the responsibility of chairing council sessions falls to the country’s UN ambassador or a senior government minister.
Past first ladies, including Eleanor Roosevelt, who played a crucial role in drafting the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, held significant UN roles but did not chair council sessions while serving as first lady.
TRUMP’S CLASHES WITH UN AGENCIES
The move also comes against the backdrop of Donald Trump’s equivocal stance toward the United Nations. He frequently attacked the organisation as “ineffective” and pushed for major reforms, while also pulling the US out of several UN-linked bodies, including the World Health Organization, UNESCO and the UN Human Rights Council.
Trump administration also cut funding to UN agencies dealing with Palestinian refugees and climate programmes, arguing that they were biased or mismanaged.
