HIGHLIGHTS OF PRESS BRIEFING BY BRENDEN VARMA, SPOKESPERSON FOR GENERAL ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT MIROSLAV LAJČÁK
GENERAL DEBATE LASTS LATE INTO THE NIGHT; 111 MEMBER STATES HAVE TAKEN THE PODIUM
• It was a late night for the General Assembly last night. The plenary adjourned at 10:44 p.m. The President chaired until the very end.
• Yesterday, which was the third day of the General Debate, the General Assembly heard from 16 Heads of State, 3 Vice Presidents (including a Crown Prince), 13 Heads of Government, 1 Deputy Prime Minister and 8 Ministers.
• Thus, in total so far, the General Assembly has heard from 111 Member States (including 72 Heads of State and 21 Heads of Government) — plus the State of Palestine and the European Union.
• Four delegations spoke in exercise of the right of reply last night — Ukraine against the Russian Federation; India against Pakistan; Afghanistan against Pakistan; and Pakistan against India and Afghanistan.
• In response to questions, the Spokesperson said the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea was scheduled to be the last speaker of the morning session on 23 September.
• The Spokesperson was asked why he had not included the State of Palestine’s Head of State in his original count of Heads of State. The Spokesperson clarified that he had presented the information in that way, in order to distinguish between Member States and observer States.
IN G20 & G77 SPEECHES, PRESIDENT CALLS FOR LEADERSHIP & COOPERATION
• The President this morning addressed the 10th Ministerial Meeting of the Global Governance Group with the G20 Troika.
• He said: “Without collective efforts and ambitious leadership, including by the G20, we won’t be able to achieve the 2030 Agenda.”
• He also spoke at the 41st Annual Ministerial Meeting of the Group of 77 (G77). There he called for stronger cooperation between the G77 and the General Assembly – and for that cooperation to focus on people.
• He also addressed the Ministerial Meeting of the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and a Group of Friends Ministerial Meeting entitled “Youth Engagement: The Nexus to Building Inclusive Societies and Sustaining Peace”, organized by the Alliance of Civilizations.
• His statements can be found here.
PRESIDENT MEETS WITH MEMBER STATES & INTERNATIONAL OFFICIALS
• The President held a number of bilateral meetings today – including with the Foreign Ministers of Belarus, Belgium, Kuwait, Hungary and Turkey.
• He also met with the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean, the Secretary-General of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), the Director-General of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the Executive Director of the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) and the Director General of the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
• All readouts will be posted here.
COUNTRIES IN ARREARS MAY BE ABLE TO VOTE IF THERE ARE CONDITIONS BEYOND THEIR CONTROL
• The Spokesperson was asked about Somalia being denied voting rights in the General Assembly due to its being in arrears in the payment of its dues. The Spokesperson said that this was in line with Article 19 of the United Nations Charter. On 12 September, the very first day of the 72nd session, this issue had been considered. The Secretary-General had sent a letter to the President of the General Assembly, and the General Assembly had taken note of that letter.
• The Spokesperson later added that one of the first issues that the General Assembly’s Fifth Committee considers during its main session is to permit countries falling under Article 19 to vote if it is deemed that inability to pay is due to conditions beyond the control of the Member State.
• The Committee on Contributions in its most recent report (A/72/11) recommended that Somalia (as well as Comoros, Guinea-Bissau and Sao Tome and Principe) be permitted to vote despite its arrears. It was up to the Fifth Committee to decide whether or not to follow that recommendation and then that decision would have to be adopted by the General Assembly plenary.
OVER 1,500 BILATERAL MEETINGS EXPECTED DURING GENERAL DEBATE
• Asked to provide numbers of all side events and bilateral meetings that were being held at United Nations Headquarters during the General Debate, the Spokesperson later informed the journalist that, as the high-level period was still taking place, he could only provide the number of meetings held as of today but would provide updated statistics after 29 September.
• As of today, a total of 354 meetings had been held in United Nations conference rooms from 15 to 22 September, out of which 252 were side events and other meetings.
• For the period of 18-22 September, there had been 1,455 confirmed bilateral meeting reservations. Another 62 had been scheduled for 23-26 September.
OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS
PRESIDENT TO BRIEF PRESS ON 2 OCT: Asked when the President would be holding his first press conference of the session, the Spokesperson said that would take place on 2 October at 11:00 a.m. at United Nations Headquarters. The President expected to brief on the achievements of the General Debate and how the outcomes aligned with his expectations.