PRESS BRIEFING BY REEM ABAZA, SPOKESPERSON FOR GENERAL ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT TIJJANI MUHAMMAD-BANDE
High-Level week
Under silence procedure, the General Assembly adopted, last evening, decision 74/562 on the High-Level Meetings during the 75th session of the Assembly.
- The General Assembly decides, without setting a precedent, that each Member State, observer State and the European Union can submit a pre-recorded statement of its official, which will be played in the General Assembly Hall after introduction by their representative who will be physically present in the Hall.
This applies to the general debate, the high-level meeting to commemorate the seventy-fifth anniversary of the United Nations, the Summit on Biodiversity, the high-level meeting on Beijing +25 and the high-level meeting to commemorate and promote the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons.
- In addition to the verbatim records, the President of the General Assembly will circulate as a document of the Assembly a compilation document of the statements delivered by Heads of State or other dignitaries by means of pre-recorded statements.
Taking into account the need for physical distancing and expected limitations on the number of individuals physically present in the UN building at the same time, the decision revises the schedule for the previously mentioned 3 High-Level meetings.
- the Summit on Biodiversity to be held on Wednesday, 30 September 2020;
- the high-level meeting of the General Assembly on Beijing +25 to be held on Thursday, 1 October 2020; and
- the high-level meeting to commemorate and promote the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons to be held on Friday, 2 October 2020.
In keeping with established practice, the UN Secretariat will circulate a Note Verbale providing instructions regarding the list of speakers for the general debate.
As requested in the decision, the President of the General Assembly Tijjani Muhammad-Bande will communicate the other organizational arrangements, including instructions regarding the lists of speakers, for the other high-level meetings.
The Secretariat will soon circulate an information note for delegations to provide details on the arrangements for the high-level meetings and the general debate of the seventy-fifth session of the General Assembly.
Climate related Disasters
This morning, the President of the General Assembly said that it is of critical importance that the international community develops robust resilience mechanisms that will serve as bulwark to climate change related disasters as witnessed in Africa and the Caribbean.
The President was speaking at an event on Risk Informed COVID-19 Recovery and Rehabilitation and Strengthening Resilience to Climate Change Related Disasters in Africa and the Caribbean.
He emphasized on the importance of maintaining momentum towards a green and sustainable future that allows us to live in harmony with nature and achieve prosperity for all.
The President added that a healthy planet unlocks massive potential for the implementation of the rest of the SDGs, particularly as a pathway to recover from COVID-19 in a green, and sustainable manner.
Lecture at Centre for UN Studies, University of Buckingham
The President delivered, yesterday, the second annual UN Lecture to the Centre For United Nations Studies at the University of Buckingham.
Mr. Muhammad-Bande said that seventy-five years ago, the world took a historic step by establishing the United Nations. World leaders, at the time, reckoned that the creation of a forum at which state parties could iron out their differences before those differences got out of hand, would ensure that events like the Second World War never occur again.
He added that “those Leaders chose hope over cynicism, proactive engagement over indifference, and cooperation over distrust…. At the root of the resolve to transform a divided world into the United Nations was this abiding faith in multilateralism.”
The President said that at a highly polarized world, multilateralism is the only guarantee of peace, security, and sustainable development. The world will benefit more if we cultivated the give-and-take spirit, which is a central element of multilateralism.
