PRESS BRIEFING BY BRENDEN VARMA, SPOKESPERSON FOR GENERAL ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT VOLKAN BOZKIR

HUMAN RIGHTS CHALLENGES MUSTN’T BE FORGOTTEN, PRESIDENT TELLS 3RD COMMITTEE

  • The President today addressed the General Assembly’s Third Committee, which handles social, humanitarian and cultural issues.
  • He noted that the Third Committee is currently the only one of the six Main Committees to have a woman as its Chair. Applauding the election of Ambassador Katalin Bogyay of Hungary, he said we need more women in power and more women leaders.
  • He also said that, although COVID-19 remains our top priority, we mustn’t forget existing challenges in the area of human rights. In “Building Back Better,” we need to understand that promoting good governance, respecting the rule of law, and preventing human rights violations will support our response to the pandemic by making our societies more equitable and resilient.
  • He added that the Third Committee’s work would be crucial in considering the increases in racist discourse, hatred, stigmatization, stereotyping and misinformation, which have accompanied the pandemic.

 

DISARMAMENT & LEGAL COMMITTEES START THEIR WORK

  • The Sixth Committee, which handles legal matters, started its work with an in-person meeting today – spread out over three conference rooms. This morning, it adopted its programme of work and started its general debate with the topic: “Measures to eliminate international terrorism.”
  • The First Committee, which covers disarmament and international security, will start its work this afternoon with an organizational meeting. This will be an in-person socially distanced meeting in the General Assembly Hall.

 

PRESIDENT DISCUSSES U.N.-E.U. COLLABORATION WITH E.U. AMBASSADOR

  • The President is meeting now with the Head of the Delegation of the European Union (EU) to the United Nations, Ambassador Olof Skoog.
  • Expected topics of discussion include the importance of the UN-EU partnership, and EU support to the General Assembly and UN reform processes.

 

NUCLEAR WEAPONS MEETING NOT ADDRESSED BY FRANCE, U.K., U.S.

  • Asked whether France, the United Kingdom and the United States had addressed the United Nations high-level meeting to commemorate and promote the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons on 2 October, the Spokesperson later confirmed that those countries had not spoken.