United Nations – President Goodluck Jonathan is among 121 heads of State and Government slated to attend the annual high-level debate UN General Assembly next week.

Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Prof. Joy Ogwu confirmed Jonathan’s attendance on Friday in New York.

She said the president would also attend a series of high-level meetings during the General Assembly.

On the agenda for the meeting are issues ranging from non-communicable diseases and nutrition to nuclear safety and desertification.

The Nigerian leader is also scheduled to attend the launch of the new Global Counter-terrorism Forum, an initiative promoted by the U.S government.

The forum brings together U.S traditional allies, emerging powers and select countries to address terror threats through a variety of new programmes.

According to a list of speakers programmed by the UN, Jonathan is scheduled to address the 194-member Assembly on Wednesday, Sept. 21, the first day of the general debate.

He is listed as the 14th speaker, before Brazil, U.S, Qatar, Mexico, Kazakhstan, France, Argentina, Lebanon, Republic of Korea, Equatorial Guinea, Morocco, Russia and Colombia.

Briefing journalists at the UN Headquarters in New York ahead of the opening of the General Assembly, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon said the agenda of world leaders was now more crowded than ever.

Ban intends to make a special plea before world leaders for the Horn of Africa, where the number of people in need due to drought, famine and conflict has grown from 12.4 million to 13.3 million.

So far, only two-thirds of the 2.4 billion dollars in assistance requested by the UN and its partners have been received.

Last month, Nigeria pledged two million dollars during an appeal organised by the African Union in Addis Ababa. (NAN)