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

United Nations Headquarters, New York

23 April 2018

The President’s High-Level Meeting on Peacebuilding and Sustaining Peace starts tomorrow.
It’s expected to be the largest gathering of Heads of State and Government and Ministers, at United Nations Headquarters since the General Debate last September.
Speakers will include the King of Belgium; the Presidents of Colombia, Ireland, Central African Republic and the Gambia; the Prime Minister of Estonia; two Deputy Prime Ministers; 22 Ministers; actor Michelle Yeoh; and author Ishmael Beah.
A media stakeout will be set up on the 2nd floor outside the General Assembly Hall – tomorrow from 9: 00 a.m. to 1:20 p.m. The President will speak there at 1:00 p.m. And President Juan Manuel Santos of Colombia will speak at around 12:30pm. Other high-level speakers, as well as the Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth and Ishmael Beah, are expected to go to the stakeout as well.
In connection with the theme of Sustaining Peace, President Lajčák will deliver opening remarks at a High-Level Roundtable on Security Sector Reform and Sustaining Peace at 3:00 p.m. today in Conference Room 3. That is being co-hosted by Slovakia and South Africa on behalf of the UN Group of Friends of Security Sector Reform.
At 5:00 p.m., the President will address a high-level side event entitled “The preventive potential of human rights – what does it mean in practice?”. That is being organized by the co-chairs of the Human Rights/Conflict Prevention caucus.

On Twitter yesterday, the President said he was disgusted by the brazen attack on a voter registration center in Afghanistan. But he was confident that the Afghan people would not be deterred from exercising their rights.
He added that the General Assembly stands with Afghanistan and against terrorism – now and always.

The President spoke this morning at the General Assembly’s Interactive Dialogue on Harmony with Nature. That is being held in connection with International Mother Earth Day.
He said, “Our ever-increasing consumption is unsustainable… And if our population grows as predicted, by 2050 we will need about 3 planets to sustain our current lifestyles. But… we have neither a Plan B nor a Planet B.”
Calling for everyone to redouble our efforts for Mother Earth, he concluded by saying, “Living in harmony with nature is not just beneficial. It is necessary.”
The President also spoke this morning at the ECOSOC Forum on Financing for Development Follow-Up.

Over the next few days, the President will be holding a number of bilateral meetings with the dignitaries and officials who are in town for his High-Level Meeting on Peacebuilding and Sustaining Peace.
Today, he met with the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of Croatia. They discussed the concept of sustaining peace, the Global Compact on Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration, and regional issues.
He also met with the President of the Gambia. They spoke about the Gambia’s experience with sustaining peace, the Global Compact on Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration, and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
This afternoon, he is meeting with the Foreign Minister of Montenegro, the Deputy Secretary-General for Global and Economic Affairs of the European External Action Service, the European Union Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development, and the Executive Secretary of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific.