UNITED
NATIONS
GENERAL
ASSEMBLY
News and Highlights from the President
The
General Assembly met in plenary today
May 1 2002
The General Assembly met in plenary this afternoon at 3pm. It is expected to decide that a number of entities will be invited to make statements to the General Assembly meetings on information and communication technologies for development, scheduled for 17 and 18 June this year. The entities are listed in draft resolution A/56/L.76.
The Assembly is expected to take up a list of candidates for a five-year term as members of the Joint Inspection Unit. The list of candidates from Cuba, China, Russia, the US and Tanzania was put together by the President after consultations with a number of parties (A/56/110).
Then there is a draft resolution which, if adopted, will remove East Timor from the list of Non-Self-Governing Territories upon its accession to independence. It is document A/56/894.
The Assembly is expected to decide that the Prime Minister of Nepal will co-chair Round Table Three during the special session on children instead of the Republic of Korea.
Also, the Assembly is expected to decide to hold the General Debate of its 57th session from Thursday, 12 September, to Sunday, 15 September, and from Tuesday, 17 September, to Friday, 20 September 2002. In other words, the General Debate will take place over eight days with a High-Level plenary meeting on Monday 16 September devoted to the New Partnership for Africa’s Development. The draft decision is contained in document A/56/L.77.
Finally, Friday is World Press Freedom Day and in a message on the occasion, General Assembly President Han Seung-soo says among other things that,
“The third of May
is the day we pay tribute to the far too many journalists who have lost
their lives trying to inform us of what is going on in almost every corner
of the world, but particularly in zones of conflict or crisis. Every day,
these dedicated professionals subject themselves to the dangers presented
by accidents, natural disasters, landmines and, increasingly, to deliberate
targeting by the parties to a conflict. The latter hazard is totally unacceptable,
and I would like to take this opportunity to urge state and non-state
actors alike to take all measures possible to make the media profession
a less dangerous one.”