NOON BRIEFING HIGHLIGHTS BY PAULINA KUBIAK GREER,
SPOKESPERSON FOR GENERAL ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT ABDULLA SHAHID
United Nations Headquarters, New York
ROAD SAFETY
The President of the General Assembly, Abdulla Shahid, today met with Jean Todt. He is the UN Special Envoy for Road Safety.
They discussed preparations for the High-level meeting on Road Safety which will take place starting on 30 June, and related joint efforts.
President Shahid and Mr. Todt also discussed donor engagement for the UN Road Safety Fund.
MIGRATION
Also this morning, President Shahid met with Ambassador Rabab Fatima, the Permanent Representative of Bangladesh and with Ambassador Olivier Maes, the Permanent Representative of Luxembourg.
They are the co-facilitators of the International Migration Review Forum.
The first IMRF will be held at the UN General Assembly starting on 17 May. It will be preceded by a one-day informal interactive multi-stakeholder hearing on 16 May.
Today’s bilateral meeting was about the Progress Declaration. This is the intergovernmental document that will be adopted by Member States at the IMRF.
Member States will hold consultations this Thursday to move forward on the Progress Declaration.
ITALY
This afternoon, President Shahid will meet with Ambassador Maurizio Massari, the Permanent Representative of Italy. They will discuss Security Council reform, among other issues.
SG MEETING
And one of the last but not least meetings today is with Secretary-General António Guterres.
This is the monthly coordination meeting.
Those are some of the bilaterals that President Shahid has today.
CONSCIENCE
Today is the International Day of Conscience. President Shahid tweeted, saying today is a reminder to mobilize efforts to promote peace, tolerance, inclusion, understanding and solidarity, in order to build a sustainable world of peace, solidarity and harmony.
https://twitter.com/UN_PGA/status/1511355232298618882
STELLA
And before I take your questions, let me briefly turn the microphone over to HOPE Fellow Stella Kamukama. She will tell you about Friday’s training organized by the UN Institute for Training and Research, or UNITAR. As you know, the Fellows spend each Friday in conversation on a specific topic related to the United Nations.
In UNITAR last Friday, the PGA Fellows had training on UN and Democracy Building. Mr. Massimo Tommasoli, the Permanent Observer for the Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA), facilitated the training.
It focused on the role of democracy in defining the mission of the UN in four key areas for instance – democracy and peace and security, development, human rights, and gender equality.
The key takeaway was understanding the ways the electoral tribunal functions.
IDEA is an intergovernmental organization that works closely with the United Nations in promoting sustainable democracy worldwide.
QUESTIONS
There were no questions for the Spokesperson.
