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

United Nations Headquarters, New York

15 January 2018

 

PRESIDENT TRAVELS TO U.A.E., HIGHLIGHTS IMPORTANCE OF GOOD ENERGY POLICIES

  • The President is currently in the United Arab Emirates. Today he attended the opening of the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week – which is the largest gathering in the Middle East on sustainable development. The theme this year was “Driving the Global Energy Transformation.”
  • He also met bilaterally today with officials from the United Arab Emirates – including the Ministers for Foreign Affairs, Climate Change and the Environment, Youth Affairs, and Human Resources.
  • Yesterday, in Abu Dhabi, the President delivered remarks to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) Assembly.
  • He said, “With the right energy policies we can provide energy to everyone without creating additional burden on our planet.” But to make this transition to sustainable energy, many countries need support.
  • In a few hours, he will head to Kuwait for meetings with Kuwaiti officials.

 

GENERAL ASSEMBLY TO HEAR FROM SECRETARY-GENERAL ON 2018 PRIORITIES

  • The General Assembly plenary will hold an informal meeting tomorrow to hear from the Secretary-General about his priorities for 2018.
  • That will be at 10:00 a.m. in the Trusteeship Council Chamber. The meeting will be open and webcast.

 

PRESIDENT NAMES CO-FACILITATORS FOR TUBERCULOSIS MEETING

  • The President has appointed the Permanent Representatives of Antigua and Barbuda and Japan to co-facilitate the holding of a high-level meeting in 2018 on tuberculosis.
  • The General Assembly decided to hold this meeting in a resolution that it adopted during the 71st session.

 

PRESIDENT SUPPORTS TRANSPARENT, INCLUSIVE PROCESS FOR ELECTION OF HIS SUCCESSOR

  • Asked about the election of the next President of the General Assembly, the Spokesperson said that the current President and the Member States wished to see a transparent and inclusive process.
  • He later added that, as part of this process, according to resolution 71/323 entitled “Revitalization of the Work of the General Assembly”, there would be informal interactive dialogues, for which the modalities were still being worked out.
  • Asked about the role of the regional groups, the Spokesperson later said that, by resolution 33/138, the General Assembly decided that in the election of the President of the General Assembly regard should be had for equitable regional rotation of this office. Consequently, the President of the 73rd session of the General Assembly was to be elected from the Latin American and Caribbean Group.