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

United Nations Headquarters, New York

19 December 2017

 

PRESIDENT TO HOLD PRESS CONFERENCE TOMORROW

  • The President will hold his end-of-year press conference at United Nations Headquarters tomorrow at 1:00 p.m.
  • He will brief on what was accomplished during the main part of the General Assembly’s session and what is expected when the resumed part starts in 2018.
  • All United Nations correspondents are then invited to an end-of-year champagne toast with the President in the Express Bar tomorrow at 6:00 p.m.

 

PRESIDENT RESUMES EMERGENCY SPECIAL SESSION FOLLOWING REQUEST FROM ARAB GROUP & ISLAMIC COOPERATION ORGANIZATION

  • The President of the General Assembly received a letter yesterday from the Permanent Representative of Yemen, who serves as Chair of the Arab Group, and the Permanent Representative of Turkey, who is the Chair of the Summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. The letter contained a request for the resumption of the tenth emergency special session of the General Assembly.
  • In light of that request, the President has informed Member States that the 37th plenary meeting of the tenth emergency special session of the General Assembly will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Thursday, 21 December, in the General Assembly Hall.
  • Asked about the procedure to resume emergency special sessions, the Spokesperson said that, for this particular one, by resolution A/RES/ES-10/18 of 16 January 2009, the Assembly decided to adjourn the tenth emergency special session temporarily and to authorize the President of the General Assembly at its most recent session to resume its meeting upon request from Member States.
  • Asked for details about the tenth emergency special session of the General Assembly, the Spokesperson noted that it was entitled “Illegal Israeli actions in occupied East Jerusalem and the rest of the Occupied Palestinian Territory”, and it had been convened for the first time in April 1997, following a request from the Permanent Representative of Qatar. It was last resumed in 2009.
  • The Spokesperson was asked whether the President was concerned that the emergency special session would “fan the flames”, and what the President’s message was to those who would be attending. The Spokesperson noted that the President’s role thus far with respect to this emergency special session had been to receive and act upon a request from Member States.
  • Asked whether any resolution by the emergency special session would be legally binding, the Spokesperson said that General Assembly resolutions were not legally binding. Nevertheless, they served as important expressions of political will from Member States.

 

ASSEMBLY ADOPTS HUMAN RIGHTS RESOLUTIONS

  • Today the General Assembly considered reports from its Third Committee, which deals with social, humanitarian and cultural matters.
  • That included the draft resolutions on: the situation of human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, which was adopted without a vote; the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, adopted by a vote of 81 in favour to 30 against with 70 abstentions; the situation of human rights in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, Ukraine, adopted by a vote of 70 in favour to 26 against with 76 abstentions; and the situation of human rights in the Syrian Arab Republic, adopted by a vote of 109 in favour to 17 against with 58 abstentions
  • Asked about the status of the draft resolution on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, the Spokesperson said that the draft had budgetary implications, which is why it had first gone to the Fifth Committee. After consideration by the Fifth Committee, it would go to the plenary for action, probably in late December.
  • Asked when the Fifth Committee would end its work, the Spokesperson said the expected end date was 22 December. However, that date was not set in stone, and it was up to the Fifth Committee to decide when it would end its work.

 

PRESIDENT HOLDS “MORNING DIALOGUE” ON COOPERATION BETWEEN U.N. OFFICES

  • This morning, the President held the third instalment of his new series of “Morning Dialogues.” These discussions bring together United Nations ambassadors for off-the-record chats on topics of interest to the UN.
  • Today’s dialogue focused on closer cooperation and coherence between the United Nations’ offices in New York, Geneva, Nairobi and Vienna.
  • Fifteen Permanent Representatives participated.

 

PRESIDENT PROMOTES EFFICIENCY IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

  • Asked what had prompted the President’s letter of 15 December to Member States, which strongly urged all officers presiding over meetings of the General Assembly to start such meetings on time, the Spokesperson said that, since assuming the presidency, the President had said that he would focus on maintaining decorum in the General Assembly and ensuring that it was run as well and efficiently as possible.
  • This letter was a part of those efforts.