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

United Nations Headquarters, New York

1 December 2017

 

PRESIDENT TO HEAD TO KENYA AND MEXICO

  • The President will travel this evening to Nairobi, Kenya. This will be his first official visit to Africa as General Assembly President.
  • He will address the United Nations Environment Assembly on 4 December under the overarching theme “Towards a Pollution-Free Planet”.
  • He will also meet with representatives from the international community, the Kenyan Government, the United Nations, the private sector, and youth.
  • The President will then travel straight to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, to address the closing of a General Assembly stocktaking meeting on migration on 6 December.
  • The meeting will bring together Member States and other actors to jointly shape a vision for the first ever global compact for safe, orderly and regular migration.
  • The Spokesperson was asked what the President thought about a proposed international document, under consideration by the United Nations Environment Assembly, that would ban plastic from the oceans. The Spokesperson later said that the President would support efforts to ban plastic from entering the oceans, in line with his commitment to a pollution-free world and the Sustainable Development Goals.

TIME FOR EPIDEMIC TO END, PRESIDENT SAYS ON WORLD AIDS DAY

  • Today is World AIDS Day.
  • To mark the occasion, the President said, “The focus of my presidency is people – and that includes people living with HIV. The AIDS epidemic has already lasted too long. It’s time for it to end. And everyone, everywhere should always be able to exercise their right to health, without stigma or discrimination.”

EXCLUDING PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES HURTS SOCIETY AS A WHOLE

  • The President spoke at an event to mark the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, which is this Sunday.
  • He said that when persons with disabilities are excluded or discriminated against, that’s not only a violation of their rights — it’s a loss for our society and its diversity.

DIALOGUE SESSION FOCUSES ON NEEDS OF SMALL STATES

  • Today the President convened the second instalment of “Morning Dialogues”, his new series of off-the-record informal discussions with United Nations ambassadors. The topic today focused on small delegations and how to ensure that they have a seat at the table.
  • Twenty ambassadors from small States participated.

ASSEMBLY CONDEMNS ATTACKS ON RELIGIOUS SITES

  • The General Assembly adopted a resolution by consensus this morning entitled, “Effects of terrorist acts directed against religious sites on the culture of peace.”
  • The Assembly strongly condemned all acts or threats of violence, destruction, damage or endangerment, directed against religious sites as such, that continue to occur in the world.
  • It also expressed its deep condolences to the families of victims of heinous terrorist attacks directed against religious sites, including the recent terrorist attack that took place in northern Sinai, Egypt, on 24 November.
  • The Spokesperson was asked for the President’s reaction to reports that some Member States were not happy with the rapid manner in which today’s resolution had been adopted. The Spokesperson replied that it was not up to the President to take a position on such a matter. At the end of the day, the Member States chose to adopt the resolution by consensus, and if there were delegations that did not like how that had happened, it was up to them to change such methods in the future.
  • Asked why the Spokesperson was reading out clauses from today’s resolution but had not done that for yesterday’s resolutions on Palestine, the Spokesperson responded that he had expanded upon today’s resolution because it was new and had not been adopted by past sessions of the General Assembly. At the same time, although yesterday’s resolutions on Palestine were traditionally adopted every year, they were still important, which is why he had flagged their adoption at yesterday’s press briefing. The Spokesperson refuted the journalist’s claim that he read out clauses from all other General Assembly resolutions except the ones on Palestine.
  • Asked why the summary of yesterday’s General Assembly meeting had not contained remarks from the representative of Palestine, the Spokesperson said such summaries were unofficial records prepared by the Department of Public Information (DPI) – not the Office of the President of the General Assembly. In that regard, he invited the journalist to direct his inquiry to DPI.

YEMEN: HUMANITARIAN ACCESS SHOULD BE UNHINDERED

  • Asked whether the President was indifferent to the situation in Yemen, and why the General Assembly was not addressing the matter, the Spokesperson said that, for the General Assembly to consider a matter, there had to be an initiative from a Member State.
  • Regarding the President, he continued to follow the situation in Yemen, and he firmly believed that anyone in need of humanitarian aid should be able to receive it. Humanitarian access should be “unfettered, unhampered, unhindered.”

PRESIDENT ALWAYS WILLING TO TALK TO THE MEDIA

  • In response to requests from the media, the President will be holding an end-of-year press conference on Monday 11 December at 12:30 p.m.
  • Asked how often the President felt that the highest officials of the United Nations should be giving press conferences, the Spokesperson said the President believed in full transparency. That is why he led by example and proactively shared information about the financing and staffing of his office on his web site.
  • The President was always happy to talk to the press and was willing to give press conferences whenever there was interest from the media.