PRESS BRIEFING BY REEM ABAZA, SPOKESPERSON FOR GENERAL ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT TIJJANI MUHAMMAD-BANDE

Good afternoon. This has been another busy week for the President of the General Assembly.

I’d like to note in the beginning that last week he was on an official trip to Kuwait where he met the Prime Minister and other High-Level Officials and civil society among others. The Trip included Qatar as well. Over there he met the Prime Minister, the Foreign Minister and participated in the Doha Forum.

During the trip updates were sent to you via email and posted on the PGA’s official social media accounts and website.

Humanitarian Coordination

The PGA arrived in New York at around 8 AM on Monday. On the same day he delivered remarks on strengthening the coordination of Humanitarian and Disaster Relief Assistance of the United Nations. The President of the General Assembly noted that humanitarian crises are becoming more protracted and increasing in size and complexity. He added that “we need to strengthen our collective efforts to address the root causes of crises and to prevent further suffering.”

Indigenous Languages

On Tuesday the President of the General Assembly Tijjani Muhammad-Bande delivered remarks to mark the end of the International Year of Indigenous Languages. He noted that every month two indigenous languages vanish from the face of the earth and that the surviving 4,000 Indigenous Languages are spoken by a mere 6% of the world population.

He said that linguistic diversity is essential to preserving humanity’s common heritage and called for a re-commitment to continue promoting indigenous languages.

COP25

On the same day the PGA briefed Member States on the UN Climate Change Conference (COP25) which was held in Madrid, Spain.

 He said that the conference was a “window of opportunity to demonstrate our clear and unequivocal commitment to increase ambition on mitigation, adaptation and finance.”

And added that It was disheartening that negotiations failed to reach consensus on many key areas of the “rulebook” of the Paris Agreement. 

He emphasized the need to take multilateral action now and to align actions with commitments.

CEDAW

And yesterday The PGA addressed an event on the fortieth anniversary of the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) or the so-called ‘women’s bill of rights’.

The PGA said that CEDAW sets the foundation for all successive milestones in the path to gender equality. He mentioned that discrimination on the grounds of gender persists today and one in three women will experience gender or sexual based violence in their lifetime.

He called on all Member States to uphold the rights of women, adding that this begins with the universal ratification of CEDAW and its full implementation.