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

PRESIDENT TO HOLD PRESS CONFERENCE ON MONDAY

  • The President will brief the press at United Nations Headquarters in New York on Monday 11 December at 12:30 p.m.
  • He will brief on what the General Assembly has accomplished during the main part of the 72nd session and what it expects to focus on in the coming year.

D.R. CONGO: PRESIDENT DEVASTATED BY ATTACK ON U.N. PEACEKEEPERS

  • On Twitter this morning, the President said he was devastated by the horrific attack on UN peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
  • He said the General Assembly stands with these brave peacekeepers who made the ultimate sacrifice for the cause of peace.

PRESIDENT HEADS TO FRANCE NEXT WEEK FOR O.E.C.D. MEETING

  • The President will travel to Paris, France, next week. While there, on 14 December, he will address the Council of Ambassadors to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and meet with that body’s Secretary General.
  • The topics will be his priorities, including implementation of the 2030 Agenda [for Sustainable Development], and issues under the consideration of the General Assembly’s 72nd session.
  • On his way to Paris, as part of his monthly working visit to Bratislava, the President will address an intragovernmental body of the Slovak Republic on implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals. That will be on 12 December.

PEACE EFFORTS CAN’T JUST BE DRIVEN BY U.N. OFFICIALS, OTHER PARTNERS NEEDED

  • The President spoke at Columbia University this morning at an event entitled: “Sustaining Peace: Partnerships for Conflict Prevention and Peacebuilding.”
  • This was a United Nations-led dialogue with governments, the private sector, civil society, and academia.
  • It was one of the events leading up to the President’s high-level event on peacebuilding and sustaining peace, which he will convene in April 2018.
  • He stressed that efforts to sustain peace cannot be driven only by diplomats and UN officials. It must also come from women mediators, peace researchers, community activists, philanthropists, and investors.

GENERAL ASSEMBLY ADOPTS 2 NEW RESOLUTIONS ON CULTURE OF PEACE

The General Assembly adopted two new resolutions this morning under the agenda item “Culture of peace.”

The first resolution, entitled “Moderation”, was adopted by a vote of 135 in favour to 2 against with 0 abstentions. The Assembly underlined the importance of moderation as an approach within societies for countering extremism. It also proclaimed 2019 the International Year of Moderation.

By the second resolution, the Assembly declared 16 May the International Day of Living Together in Peace. That was adopted by consensus.

The President will speak this afternoon in the General Assembly on the “Strengthening of the coordination of humanitarian and disaster relief assistance of the United Nations, including special economic assistance”

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