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

United Nations Headquarters, New York

21 March 2018

As announced yesterday, the President was supposed to have returned to New York from Bratislava today – so he could participate in events related to the Water Action Decade. But due to the snowy weather in New York, his flight was cancelled. He is therefore still in Slovakia. He hopes to be able to return to New York on Thursday evening.
The Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary, H.E. Mr. Péter Szijjártó, was also supposed to travel to New York to address the high-level launch of the Water Action Decade tomorrow. But his flight was also cancelled.
Therefore, President Lajčák invited Minister Szijjártó to Bratislava today, and they held a meeting on water-related issues. They also discussed the Global Compact on Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration.

The President’s high-level event to launch the International Decade for Action, “Water for Sustainable Development”, 2018-2028, will take place tomorrow, 22 March. The opening segment will take place at 10:00 a.m. in the General Assembly Hall.
Panel discussions will then be held at 3:00 p.m. in the Trusteeship Council Chamber.
The Decade is being launched because clean, accessible water is critical for sustainable development and the eradication of poverty and hunger. And it is indispensable for human development, health and well-being.
The Decade aims to facilitate the sharing of good practices and provide a platform for advocacy, cooperation, networking and partnership-building. It will also highlight the importance of integrated management of water resources.
Asked who would deliver the first statement on behalf of the President, the Spokesperson said that, due to the weather, the schedule was currently in flux. However, as of now, the President’s statement was to be delivered by H.E. Mr. Mahmoud Saikal, Vice-President of the General Assembly and Permanent Representative of Afghanistan to the United Nations.

Due to inclement weather, the President’s Office has decided to cancel tonight’s opening reception for the exhibit “Water Action Decade – Countries’ Perspectives” – as well as the slide projections on the United Nations building.
The reception has been postponed until this Friday, 23 March, from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
The projections will be shown tomorrow and Friday from 7:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

The President’s Chef de Cabinet will deliver a statement on behalf of the President this afternoon – to mark World Tuberculosis Day.
He is expected to say that tuberculosis is treatable and curable. Yet global action and investment fall far short of what is required to end the epidemic.
He will also pledge his commitment to work with the World Health Organisation and others to ensure a successful High-level Meeting on Tuberculosis on 26 September.

Asked for updates on the Secretary-General’s proposal to reform the United Nations development system, the Spokesperson said that the President of the General Assembly had appointed two co-facilitators to lead the related intergovernmental process.
He later added that Member States had first discussed the Secretary-General’s proposal in the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and then requested the President of the General Assembly to appoint co-facilitators. The process was therefore now under the General Assembly.
The co-facilitators were expected to release a “zero draft” of a General Assembly resolution in due course, and the third informal consultations on this matter would be held on 23 March. Member State representatives who spoke in the first two rounds of consultations expressed their expectations that the resolution should be adopted by consensus.

Asked for the dates of the start of the 73rd session of the General Assembly and the next general debate, the Spokesperson later informed the journalist that the 73rd session would open on Tuesday, 18 September 2018, and the opening date of the general debate would be Tuesday, 25 September 2018.
Asked how long the General Debate would last, the Spokesperson later added that, according to General Assembly resolution 57/301, “[the] general debate in the General Assembly shall open on the Tuesday following the opening of the regular session of the General Assembly and shall be held without interruption over a period of nine working days”.

Asked for updates on the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), the Spokesperson said that UN Women – and not the Office of the President of the General Assembly – was in the lead. He encouraged the journalist to contact UN Women directly.
He later clarified that the CSW was a functional commission of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) – not the General Assembly.