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

INDONESIA QUAKE: PRESIDENT CONCERNED BY RISING DEATH TOLL

• On Twitter this morning, the President said he was following the reports coming out of Indonesia with great concern.
• He added that the rising death toll following the earthquake in Lombok, Bali and other islands, was heartbreaking.
• He said his thoughts were with the Indonesian Government, as well as the victims and survivors.

ASSEMBLY CONSIDERS 3 DRAFT TEXTS ON HIGH-LEVEL MEETINGS

• This afternoon at 3:00, the General Assembly plenary will meet to consider three draft texts.
• One is related to the organization of the General Assembly’s first ever high-level meeting on universal health coverage.
• Member States have agreed that the meeting’s theme will be “Universal health coverage: moving together to build a healthier world”. The one-day meeting will be held in New York in September 2019.
• Today, the plenary is expected to transmit the draft resolution on this topic to the General Assembly’s next session, due to anticipated budgetary implications.
• The plenary is also expected to transmit a second draft resolution to the next session – on high-level meetings of the General Assembly in September 2019 – also because of anticipated budgetary implications.
• Those meetings referred to in the second draft resolution will include: the High-level Dialogue on Financing for Development; the high-level meeting to mark the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons; and a high-level meeting on small island developing States – as well as the one on universal health coverage.
• The third text to be considered today concerns the modalities for the Intergovernmental Conference to Adopt the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration.
• The President will be chairing today’s meeting.
• Asked to explain why the draft resolution related to the high-level meeting on universal health coverage was being transmitted to the General Assembly’s next session, the Spokesperson said that, because of the anticipated budgetary implications, the draft had to be considered by the Fifth Committee, which handles administrative and budgetary matters. However, the Fifth Committee would not be meeting until the fall, hence the deferral.

PRESIDENT FOLLOWING SITUATION IN BANGLADESH

Asked about ongoing student protests in Bangladesh related to road safety, the Spokesperson said the President is following developments in Bangladesh closely.

• The Spokesperson added that the President expects that the national authorities will fully respect human rights and human dignity, when responding to protests.
• In general, “Improving global road safety” is an item on the General Assembly’s agenda. It is therefore an important issue for the President as well, the Spokesperson said.

SPOKESPERSON HIGHLIGHTS 4 HIGH-LEVEL MEETINGS TO BE HELD IN SEPTEMBER

• Asked for a list of high-level meetings that would be held at the start of the General Assembly’s 73^rd session, the Spokesperson later said that the high-level Nelson Mandela Peace Summit will be held on Monday, 24 September 2018, in accordance with resolution 72/243.
• The high-level plenary meeting convened by the President of the General Assembly to commemorate and promote the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons will be held on Wednesday, 26 September 2018, in accordance with resolution 72/251.
• The high-level meeting on the fight against tuberculosis convened by the President of the General Assembly, will be held on Wednesday, 26 September 2018, in accordance with resolution 72/268.
• The high-level meeting convened by the President of the General Assembly to undertake a comprehensive review of the prevention and control of communicable diseases will be held on Thursday, 27 September 2018, in accordance with resolution 72/274.