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

United Nations Headquarters, New York

24 October 2017

The President delivered remarks at a United Nations Day event this morning.
He said, “We all have separate backgrounds, different cultures and varied national experiences. But in the end, we have one planet and we are one humanity. As a truly universal mosaic, the United Nations must continue to be the greatest champion for development, human rights and peace for all people.”
He also paid tribute to United Nations staff, calling them “the engines of the United Nations.”
The President will also speak at a United Nations Day concert tonight in the General Assembly Hall.
Asked if the United Nations was proud of its accomplishments given current international crises, the Spokesperson said that the President of the General Assembly had stressed that the United Nations needed to be as equipped as possible to help people across the world, because improving people’s lives was the reason for the United Nations’ existence.
The President recognized that reform was needed. At the same time, he was and always had been a firm believer in the United Nations and considered it to be the premier organization for addressing global problems on a global scale.

The President today addressed a special meeting of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) entitled “Aftermath of recent hurricanes: Achieving a risk-informed and resilient 2030 Agenda”.
He said that recent disasters remind us that climate change is not just the subject of philosophical debate – but a reality lived by millions of people around the world. Urgent action is needed to mitigate its effects.
He added that the impact of these disasters has made clear that vulnerability – including to natural disasters – is an obstacle to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

The President delivered introductory remarks at a “Meet the Author” event in the United Nations Bookshop today.
The former President of the International Court of Justice, Dame Rosalyn Higgins, presented the book “Oppenheim’s International Law: United Nations”.

This afternoon, the President will meet with the Deputy Secretary-General.
The expected topics of discussion are United Nations reform, implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, and migration.
Asked for more details about the purpose of the meeting, the Spokesperson noted that the President held monthly working luncheons with the Secretary-General. However, even though the President interacted with the Deputy Secretary-General frequently, he had never had the opportunity to hold a substantive discussion with her. Today’s encounter would therefore be the first such meeting.
In addition to the themes already mentioned, expected topics of discussion included promotion of the 2030 Agenda; financing of the Sustainable Development Goals, which was a subject of special interest for the President; and assistance to countries hit by hurricanes.

The Spokesperson was asked about a contribution of $30,000 by Georgia to the Trust Fund of the President’s Office. The reason for the contribution, according to the Office’s web site, was “to support funding of the position of Consultant for Legal Affairs”.
Asked if the position had been filled by a national from Georgia, the Spokesperson replied in the affirmative, noting that a Georgian national had occupied the position since the beginning of the General Assembly’s current session.
Asked how funding and outreach to Member States worked with respect to the hiring of staff in the President’s Office, the Spokesperson said that the President engages in fundraising, and Member States are welcome to contribute to the Trust Fund. All contributions are reported on the Office’s web site. The Spokesperson added that, sometimes, when Member States contribute money to the Trust Fund, they earmark it for certain purposes.