HIGHLIGHTS OF PRESS BRIEFING BY BRENDEN VARMA, SPOKESPERSON FOR GENERAL ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT MIROSLAV LAJČÁK

United Nations Headquarters, New York

28 September 2017

 

HIGH-LEVEL HUMAN TRAFFICKING EVENT ENDS TODAY

  • The high-level meeting of the General Assembly on the appraisal of the United Nations Global Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons wraps up today. Around 80 delegations are expected to speak today. Yesterday, there were statements by 21 delegations plus the Holy See. Those speakers included 1 Vice-President, 10 ministers and 4 Vice Ministers.
  • The President will deliver closing remarks at around 5:30 p.m. today. Right before that, there will be summaries by the Chairs of the two interactive panel discussions that were held yesterday. Those Chairs are the Permanent Representatives of Belgium and Qatar.

PRESIDENT CONTINUES CONSULTATIONS ON SECURITY COUNCIL REFORM

  • This morning the President met with the Co-Chairs of the Intergovernmental Negotiations (IGN) on Security Council reform of the 71st session. Those co-chairs are the Permanent Representatives of Romania and Tunisia.
  • The meeting was part of his general consultations on Security Council reform. The co-chairs shared their experiences over the past session.
  • Asked about expected action and timelines for Security Council reform, the Spokesperson noted what the President had said in his press briefing on 26 September, namely that the intergovernmental process is fully in the hands of Member States and that the President is interested in meaningful progress and a credible process that Member States could believe in.
  • The Spokesperson added that it was the President’s responsibility to appoint the new IGN Chair or Co-chairs. However, there was no set timeline to do so. The President had met and would continue to meet with interested negotiating groups and Member States.

TEAM OF EXTERNAL ADVISORS TO MEET IN NEW YORK ON 6 OCTOBER

  • On the President’s Team of External Advisors, the Spokesperson said that more information about the members had been posted on his office’s web site. The group’s first meeting would take place in New York on 6 October. It would include all members of the team who were able to travel to New York at that time.
  • The first meeting of the team would include a discussion on a wide range of global political issues, impressions of the General Assembly’s recently concluded high-level week, the messages emanating from the General Debate and the international challenges ahead.
  • The list presently consists of 15 eminent personalities from all UN regional groups. But responses are still expected from some esteemed personalities. Thus, the list is not final and may be expanded at a later date.

PRESIDENT IN COMPLIANCE WITH FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE RULES

When asked about the financial disclosure of the President and whether it would be publicly available, the Spokesperson stressed that the President had complied with all requirements and submitted his financial disclosure before the required deadline. It was now with the United Nations Ethics Office for review. Information would be made available in line with the standard practices followed by other senior United Nations officials. · The President remained fully committed to transparency and would not do any less than what was required and expected.