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

United Nations Headquarters, New York

12 March 2021

 

WORLD HAS MORAL AND PRACTICAL OBLIGATION TO ADDRESS DIGITAL INEQUALITIES

  • The President delivered remarks today to a virtual event organized by the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) – entitled: “Development Challenges of COVID-19: What Role can E-commerce and Digital Trade Play?”.
  • He highlighted the relevance of e-commerce to meeting the Sustainable Development Goals – and how it could aid efforts to combat poverty; reduce inequalities; provide quality healthcare; enhance jobs and livelihoods; and improve gender equality.
  • He added that the international community had both a moral and practical obligation to address digital inequalities – as that would empower people everywhere and fuel economic growth.

 

PRESIDENT TO CONVENE HIGH-LEVEL MEETING ON WATER NEXT WEEK

  • The President will convene a high-level meeting on water next Thursday, 18 March, at 10:00 a.m. in the General Assembly Hall. An updated programme and provisional list of speakers are on our web site.
  • The opening segment will feature statements by the President; the Deputy Secretary-General; the President of the Economic and Social Council; the President of Tajikistan; the Prime Minister of the Netherlands, the President of the International Fund for Agriculture and Development, who chairs UN-Water; and a speaker from CONCAUSA, a youth group from Latin America and the Caribbean.
  • There are currently 76 individuals inscribed on the provisional list of speakers. Those include the Heads of State of Hungary, Austria and Slovenia; and the Heads of Government of Thailand, Egypt, Trinidad and Tobago, Nepal and Timor-Leste.
  • Ahead of the meeting, the President is stressing that healthcare depends on access to clean water and sanitation. This, of course, has been underscored by the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • Asked why the high-level meeting on water was being convened, the Spokesperson said the overall aim was to galvanize action towards meeting the water-related Sustainable Development Goals and targets – while making sure the international community was on track to meet those by 2030.
  • In response to a question about expected outcomes, the Spokesperson said a presidential summary would be prepared and circulated. The summary would feed into the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) and the UN Conference on the Midterm Comprehensive Review of the Water Action Decade.
  • He also said it was hoped that Member States and other stakeholders would announce commitments, which would then be collected on an online platform.

 

ASSEMBLY TO HEAR BRIEFING ON SYRIA ON 30 MARCH

  • The President will convene an informal plenary meeting on Syria – on Tuesday, 30 March, at 10:00 a.m. in the General Assembly Hall. This is related to the Assembly’s request to the Secretary-General – through resolution A/RES/75/193 – to brief the membership on Syria, including the country’s humanitarian and human rights situations.
  • The Secretary-General will be joined by: Rosemary DiCarlo, Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs; Ilze Brands Kehris, Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights and Head of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in New York; and Ramesh Rajasingham, Acting Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator.
  • Asked whether the meeting would take place in person, the Spokesperson confirmed that it would. Asked for more details, the Spokesperson noted that, as this was an informal briefing by the Secretary-General, there would be no list of speakers prepared in advance. If Member States wished to speak, they could push the button at their desk in order to request the floor.