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

GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOLDS DEBATE ON RESPONSIBILITY TO PROTECT

• The General Assembly plenary is holding a formal debate today on the responsibility to protect and the prevention of genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity.
• In his remarks this morning, the President said, “This Organisation was born from horror. Every United Nations Member State has made a commitment to confine such horrors to history. And the Responsibility to Protect can help us to meet this commitment. So it deserves our full attention today.”

PRESIDENT TO CHAIR UNRWA CONTRIBUTIONS COMMITTEE

• This afternoon, the President will chair the General Assembly’s Ad Hoc Committee for the Announcement of Voluntary Contributions to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).
• He is expected to say that we need to find an immediate solution for the Agency’s shortfall.
• But we also can’t forget the bigger picture: the urgent need for a political solution, which will allow Israelis and Palestinians to live side by side in peace. The meeting will take place at 3:00 p.m. in the Trusteeship Council Chamber.

ASSEMBLY TO REVIEW GLOBAL COUNTER-TERRORISM STRATEGY

• The General Assembly plenary will meet tomorrow morning for its sixth review of the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy.
• The president has circulated to Member States the draft resolution that will be considered at tomorrow’s meeting.

FIFTH COMMITTEE CONTINUING ITS WORK

• In response to questions, the Spokesperson said that the General Assembly’s Fifth Committee met over the past weekend.
• The Secretary-General’s management reform proposals and his Global Service Delivery Model (GSDM) report were still being considered. There was currently no date on the calendar for when that consideration would continue.
• The Spokesperson reiterated that the Fifth Committee was continuing to work.