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

United Nations Headquarters, New York

22 October 2020

 

COVID-19 HASN’T SHAKEN OUR RESOLVE, PRESIDENT SAYS AT U.N. DAY CONCERT

  • The President is speaking now at the UN Day Concert, which has been organized by the Permanent Mission of Italy, and which features a virtual performance in the General Assembly Hall.
  • The President is expected to say that artists lift, inspire and unify us. Today they are doing that in celebration of the UN and all that it stands for. And this year, with a pandemic still raging around us, we celebrate under today’s theme of reimagining, rebalancing and restarting.
  • The President will say that, while COVID-19 may have shaken our world, it has not shaken our resolve – and what better guide than music and art to inspire us.
  • He will add that we are not rivals in the great, hallowed General Assembly Hall. We are a community, here to protect the shared values and principles upon which the UN was built.

PRESIDENT MARKS FIRST 30 DAYS IN OFFICE, SHARES ROAD MAP FOR REMAINDER OF SESSION

  • The President has sent a letter to Member States, sharing his reflections on his first 30 days in office. The letter notes that it has also now been 60 days since he arrived in New York to start preparing for the General Assembly.
  • In the letter, he announces that he is currently forming an Advisory Group on Gender – and establishing a Board of Advisors on Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries, and Small Island Developing States.
  • He also flagged a number of upcoming high-level meetings.
  • Those include two special sessions – one on COVID-19, which is planned for 3-4 December, subject to the decision of membership – and another one on corruption, to be held on 2-4 June 2021.
  • Other high-level meetings and processes will include: a meeting to commemorate the 25th Anniversary of the World Summit for Social Development in early December; a high-level meeting on middle-income countries in the first quarter of 2021; the Midterm Review of the International Decade for People of African Descent in March 2021; the annual High-level Debate on Urban Crime in Spring 2021; a high-level event on the contribution of culture to the achievement of sustainable development; a high-level meeting on water-related goals and targets of the 2030 Agenda; a high-level dialogue on desertification, land degradation and drought; the finalization of the political declaration of the 2nd UN Ocean Conference; a high-level meeting to review progress on the Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS in June 2021; and a series of engagements on biodiversity called the ‘Road to Kunming (COP15)’.
  • The President also noted that he would start holding Morning Dialogues with Permanent Representatives this month. This is a practice that was launched in the General Assembly’s 72nd session under President Miroslav Lajcak.

MISINFORMATION UNDERMINES EFFORTS TO CONTROL PANDEMIC

  • The President today joined the Secretary-General in pledging to pause before sharing information – in order to help stop the spread of misinformation online. He said misinformation on COVID-19 undermines our collective ability to control the pandemic and keep people safe.
  • He also met with the Ambassador of Latvia this morning, where the two discussed the gravity of the current “infodemic”, among other things.