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

United Nations Headquarters, New York

29 September 2017

 

PRESIDENT NAMED AN INTERNATIONAL GENDER CHAMPION

  • Today, the President was named an International Gender Champion by the Permanent Representatives of Panama and Switzerland on behalf of the leadership network, International Gender ChampionsNew York.
  • The President is committed to leading by example and has put special emphasis on gender balance and women’s empowerment within own team. Currently, around 65% of his office are women, and there is gender parity at the senior level.

 

END OF HIGH-LEVEL HUMAN TRAFFICKING MEETING POSTPONED

  • The High-level meeting of the General Assembly on the appraisal of the United Nations Global Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons, which was supposed to have concluded on Thursday, will now conclude on Monday due to the high number of delegations wishing to speak.
  • The President will deliver closing remarks.

 

PRESIDENT DISCUSSES U.N. REFORM WITH OMANI FOREIGN MINISTER

  • The President met today with H.E. Mr. Yusuf bin Alawi bin Abdallah, Minister Responsible for Foreign Affairs of the Sultanate of Oman.
  • They discussed the importance of multilateralism and United Nations reform.

 

FIVE GENERAL ASSEMBLY COMMITTEES TO MEET ON MONDAY

  • Although the high-level week has ended, the work of the General Assembly is far from over.
  • Five of the six Main Committees of the General Assembly will meet on Monday, 2 October.
  • The First Committee – which handles disarmament and international security – will start its general debate and hear an address from the President of the General Assembly.
  • The Second Committee – which focuses on economic and financial matters – will also be starting its general debate.
  • The Third Committee – which handles social, humanitarian and cultural issues — will start its work with a general discussion on the agenda item “social development”. It will also hear a presentation by the Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons, Rosa Kornfeld-Matte.
  • The Fourth Committee, covering special political and decolonization matters, will start its consideration of decolonization items.
  • The Sixth Committee, handling legal matters, will debate measures on the elimination of international terrorism. Like the First Committee, it will also hear an address from the President of the General Assembly.

 

PRESIDENT REMAINS CONCERNED BY HUMAN TRAGEDY IN MYANMAR

  • Asked about why the President of the General Assembly had not addressed yesterday’s meeting of the Security Council on Myanmar, and had not been vocal on the issue, the Spokesperson said he had already stressed during past press briefings that the President was extremely concerned by the human tragedy in Myanmar, as well as its effects in Bangladesh. He added that the President had been in touch with the Secretary-General on this matter.
  • The situation in Myanmar was currently being handled by the Security Council, and the President was closely following that process, as well as developments on the ground.
  • Regarding yesterday’s Security Council meeting, it was not the place of the President of the General Assembly to speak there without an invitation.