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

United Nations Headquarters, New York

3 May 2018

 

PRESIDENT MARKS WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY BY CALLING FOR PROTECTION OF JOURNALISTS

  • The President spoke at an event this morning to mark World Press Freedom Day.
  • He said, “People need journalists. For information. For education. For inspiration. For solidarity. And, for hope – when the rest of the world seems to be looking away.”
  • He added, “When journalists are silenced, people suffer… So, on this day and all days, let us reassure journalists that they can count on us. Let us recommit: to protect them, to include them, and to respect the role that they play.”
  • The Spokesperson was asked whether the General Assembly had created the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations, which, according to the reporter, had cancelled a World Press Freedom Day event because of objections from certain Member States. The reporter noted that the Alliance’s web site referred to General Assembly resolutions.
  • The Spokesperson responded that those resolutions simply expressed support for the Alliance, which was an initiative by the Secretary-General and supported by a voluntary trust fund with no financial implications for the regular budget of the United Nations. The Spokesperson noted that the Alliance was neither connected to the President nor a subsidiary organ of the General Assembly.
  • Asked for the President’s reaction to the Alliance’s alleged decision to cancel its event, the Spokesperson said the event had not been affiliated in any way with the President or his office. As such, no official information about the event had been communicated to him. The Spokesperson stressed that the President stood firmly for press freedom, as he had said in his remarks this morning.
  • Asked what kinds of repercussions the Alliance should face, if it were determined that it had tried to “crush press freedom”, the Spokesperson said he could not answer any hypothetical questions. He reiterated the President’s strong support for press freedom in general.

 

DIALOGUES WITH CANDIDATES FOR NEXT GENERAL ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT TO BE HELD TOMORROW

  • Regarding the election of the next President of the General Assembly, informal interactive dialogues will be held with the candidates tomorrow in the Trusteeship Council Chamber. This will be the first time such dialogues have been held. The General Assembly decided to hold them for the sake of transparency and inclusivity.
  • Each of the two dialogues will last up to two hours and be presided over by President Lajčák. Each candidate will start with an introduction and then take questions and hear comments from Member States.
  • Time permitting, candidates might also respond to questions from civil society or other stakeholders. Those questions have to be submitted in advance through the President’s web site by 5:00 p.m. today. All of the proceedings will be webcast and open to the press.
  • The first dialogue tomorrow will take place from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. with H.E. Ms. Mary Elizabeth Flores Flake, who currently serves as the Permanent Representative of Honduras to the United Nations.
  • The second will take place from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. with H.E. Ms. María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés, the current Foreign Minister of Ecuador.

 

GENERAL ASSEMBLY DISCUSSES ALIGNING ITS WORK WITH 2030 AGENDA

  • Today the General Assembly held informal consultations on aligning its work with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. This was the 72nd session’s first meeting on this topic that involved the entire General Assembly membership.
  • In his remarks, the President said, “When we think of implementation [of the 2030 Agenda], we think of financing, capacity building and projects… But we also have to think about how we organize ourselves internally to maximize results. We have both gaps and overlaps. And we need to address them.”

 

PRESIDENT CHAIRS SELECTION COMMITTEE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS PRIZE 

  • The President held a videoconference today with the committee that will select the winners of the United Nations Prize in the Field of Human Rights. This honorary award was established by the General Assembly in 1966.
  • The Selection Committee consists of the President of the General Assembly, who chairs the group; the President of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), the President of the Human Rights Council, the Chair of the Commission on the Status of Women, and the Chair of the Advisory Committee of the Human Rights Council.
  • This was the committee’s first meeting.