Honorable Prime Minister Mark Brown meets the new UN Resident Coordinator.

Mr. Themba Kalua, the newly appointed Resident Coordinator for the United Nations Multi-Country Office for the Cook Islands, Niue Tokelau, and Samoa was warmly welcomed by the Prime Minister of the Cook Islands  Honorable Mark Brown at the presentation of  his Letter of Credence on the 21st  of August 2023 at the Prime Minister’s Office.

            Mr Kalua from Malawi was appointed by the UN Secretary Antonio Guterres and officially assumed this role on August 5th 2023. He is the second UN RC for the UN MCO in Samoa since the UN General Assembly Resolution 72/279 on the reform of the UN development system to better respond to the 2030 Agenda, including a “reinvigorated, empowered, and independent” Resident Coordinator system.Mr Kalua as the UN RC is the highest-ranking representative of the UN development system at the country level and he is the designated representative of – and reports to – the Secretary-General.

Mr Kalua was very honoured to have met the Prime Minister on this occassion and had the opportunity to discuss the long term development aspirations of the Cook Islands and to understand priority areas to strengthen the coordination support from the UN to help Cook Islands achieve their development goals.

            The United Nations and the Cook Islands have maintained diplomatic relations since 1992, when the UN recognised that in the conduct of its foreign affairs, the Cook Islands interacts with the international community as a sovereign and independent state. Since then, the Cook Islands has attended multiple UN conferences open to "all States" as well as signed and ratified UN treaties open to "non-member governments".