PRESS BRIEFING BY REEM ABAZA, SPOKESPERSON FOR GENERAL ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT TIJJANI MUHAMMAD-BANDE
Myanmar
The President of the United Nations General Assembly Tijjani Muhammad-Bande convened a virtual informal meeting this morning on “The Situation of Human Rights in Myanmar” to enable the Secretary General’s Special Envoy on Myammar, to brief the General Assembly.
The meeting was convened in accordance to General Assembly resolution 74/246 entitled, “The Situation of Human Rights in Myanmar”.
Lebanon
On Lebanon, The President urges all countries and stakeholders to fund the humanitarian appeal and response, noting that the needs are enormous after the recent deadly explosions in Beirut.
And earlier this week The President said that the swiftness of the global response, underscored by the outpouring of solidarity that has continued to trail the incident, demonstrates that multilateralism is not only viable for resolving conflict and building consensus, but that it is also a veritable means for supporting one another in times of need.
The President added that the “people of Lebanon have shown us the true spirit of their proud country. In the days since the deadly explosion, we have been deeply moved by the images of Lebanese citizens picking up the pieces – extending acts of kindness and solidarity towards their neighbours who have lost everything….It is upon us to band together and ensure that they will not have to shoulder this burden alone.”
Closing date of UNGA 74th session
The General Assembly adopted a decision to postpone the closing date of its 74th session to Tuesday, 15 September, that’s the same date for the opening of the 75th session of the Assembly.
And I’ve shared this with you earlier, but it’s worth reminding again that the President of the General Assembly Tijjani Muhammad-Bande circulated a letter from the President elect of the 75th session of the Volkan Bozkir conveying the theme for the general debate of the session.
The theme is: “The future we want, the United Nations we need: reaffirming our collective commitment to multilateralism – confronting COVID-19 through effective multilateral action”.
PGAs meeting
This week the President of the General Assembly invited 6 former Presidents of the Assembly and the President-elect of the 75th session for a virtual meeting to welcome the PGA-elect and offer an opportunity for exchanging experiences and ideas. They talked about many issues including the importance of multilateralism especially today when the world is facing many common challenges among them the COVID-19 pandemic.
Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons
The President circulated a letter yesterday informing the Membership that the high-level plenary meeting of the General Assembly to commemorate and promote the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons will take place on Friday, 2 October during the seventy-fifth session of the General Assembly.
The meeting will be convened primarily in a virtual format with all statements pre-recorded. The high-level meeting will raise awareness about the threat posed to humanity by nuclear weapons and the necessity for their total elimination in order to mobilize international efforts towards achieving the common goal of a nuclear-weapon-free world.
UN Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice
In another decision, the Assembly decided to hold the Fourteenth United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice in Kyoto, Japan, from 7 to 12 March 2021, with pre-Congress consultations to be held on 6 March 2021.
This Congress was scheduled to be held from 20 to 27 April 2020, before it was postponed, earlier, until further notice because of the COVID-19 global pandemic.
Youth Day
On International Youth Day, the President of the General Assembly said that young people are the trail-blazers of progress, as entrepreneurs, activists and community leaders, they do not only inspire change – but they create it. In the era of COVID-19 and the long-lasting social and economic negative effects it has on youth – and with only 10 years left to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals – the President said that the vision and commitment of youth are paramount to creating a more sustainable and inclusive world.
The President encouraged young changemakers from all over the world to take part in the upcoming virtual UN75 Youth Plenary, on 9 September 2020, and add their voices to shaping the United Nations for decades ahead
The Youth Plenary will provide a valuable platform to capture ideas and solutions from young people for the Decade of Action and Delivery to implement the Sustainable Development Goal and galvanise support for multilateralism.
The event will designate youth representatives, who will address the high-level event on September 21 under the theme: “The Future We Want, the UN We Need: Reaffirming our Collective Commitment to Multilateralism”
