New Zealand will be pressing the case for greater investment in conflict prevention at meetings of the United Nations General Assembly and Security Council next week, Foreign Minister Murray McCully said Friday.

McCully, who will travel to New York for the meeting, said the General Assembly had called for a high-level debate on the peace and security challenges currently facing the UN.

"This is an opportunity to make the case for the UN to invest more in conflict prevention, in order to address threats to security before they escalate," McCully said in a statement.

"As the current president of the UN Security Council, Egypt is hosting a ministerial debate on counter-terrorism. This will focus on steps to combat extremist ideology," he said.

McCully would deliver New Zealand's statements at both events and also meet with other foreign ministers in support of former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark's campaign to become the next UN secretary-general.

Source: XINHUA