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

United Nations Headquarters, New York

16 April 2021

TOO MANY COUNTRIES STILL WAITING FOR COVID-19 VACCINES, PRESIDENT WARNS

  • This morning the President addressed a special meeting of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) called ‘A Vaccine for All’.
  • He noted that, from the earliest days of his Presidency, he had emphasized, time and again, the importance of the fair and equitable distribution of vaccines, including through his #Vaccines4All initiative. He commended ECOSOC for helping to take this issue forward.
  • But while recognizing that more than 800 million vaccine doses had been administered worldwide, he expressed concern that far too many countries continued to wait for vaccines – and that the ACT Accelerator and its COVAX Facility remained underfunded.
  • In that regard, he called on all Member States and partners to do four things: extend further resources to COVAX and other multilateral tools to supply and distribute vaccines, including UNICEF; invest in vaccine research, production and distribution; donate vaccines to countries in need; and scale up efforts to tackle misinformation and to educate people about the benefits of vaccines.
  • Asked for the President’s position on intellectual property waivers for COVID-19 vaccines, the Spokesperson said that was a trade issue, and it would not be for the President to weigh in on that. For his part, the President was mainly concerned about ensuring fair and equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines by everyone. The Spokesperson also reiterated the four asks that the President had made to Member States in his speech today.

 

ASSEMBLY PAYS TRIBUTE TO LATE PRESIDENT OF TANZANIA

  • This morning the General Assembly met to pay tribute to the memory of the late President of the United Republic of Tanzania, H.E. Mr. John Pombe Joseph Magufuli.
  • It is the Assembly’s practice to honor deceased national leaders who were sitting Heads of State at the time of death.
  • In his remarks, the President said, “President Magufuli was a champion of Tanzania’s development… He championed the building of healthcare and clean water facilities. He also focused on the youth of Tanzania… raising enrollment in primary schools by over 50% in five years.”
  • He added, “These achievements will long be remembered here at the United Nations. I wish the people of Tanzania and the family of the President well as they mourn this great loss.”

 

NEW RESOLUTION ON BIODIVERSITY ADOPTED BY CONSENSUS

  • Today the plenary met to take action on a number of items.
  • Among other things, it adopted by consensus a new resolution introduced by Kyrgyzstan.
  • That resolution is on transboundary cooperation for biodiversity conservation, restoration and sustainable use.

 

SPOKESPERSON ANSWERS QUESTIONS ON PRESIDENT’S RECENT TRAVELS

  • The Spokesperson was asked about the President’s recent visit to the UN cross-border humanitarian operations at the Syrian-Turkish border and what the next steps would be in terms of follow-up. The Spokesperson said that trip had been special for the President because, while he spoke frequently about Syria in the General Assembly Hall, it had been important for him to see firsthand the operations, as well as the work the UN monitors were doing to ensure the proper delivery of aid to northwest Syria, where more than 3 million people were in need of aid. The President was more convinced than ever that this humanitarian aid was necessary, that the operations must continue unhindered and be scaled up, and that the Security Council must ensure the continuation of the operations.
  • The Spokesperson said the President would continue to transmit these messages to Member States, including at General Assembly meetings on Syria, such as the upcoming one on the International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism (IIIM).
  • Asked about the President’s recent trip to three Islamic countries and whether the President would “balance” that by visiting other types of countries in the future, the Spokesperson first noted that most Presidents of the General Assembly traveled throughout their one-year term, whereas the current President, because of COVID-19, only had a five-month window in which to travel. The President definitely intended to travel more – if the pandemic would allow that. And he would certainly be taking geographical balance into account by visiting different regions.
  • Asked whether the President had discussed a Turkish-produced COVID-19 vaccine with Turkish authorities during his recent trip to Ankara, the Spokesperson said that topic had not been raised.
  • Asked whether the President had discussed Libya with H.E. Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, President of Turkey, during his recent visit to Ankara, the Spokesperson said that among the topics discussed were regional challenges and how they could be addressed through international cooperation. The Spokesperson had nothing further to add on that closed-door meeting.
  • Asked whether the President had discussed Turkey’s withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention during his trip to Turkey, the Spokesperson confirmed that this topic had come up during a meeting with the UN Country Team in Ankara. The Spokesperson said the President’s position on this topic had not changed and referred to what he had already shared on behalf of the President on 23 March.

 

TOO EARLY TO SPECULATE ON NEXT SEPTEMBER’S HIGH-LEVEL PERIOD

  • Asked whether the General Debate’s high-level period next September would be held in person and when that would be announced, the Spokesperson said he did not have a timeframe to offer in terms of an announcement. He added that it was still early to guess what would happen in September given the constantly changing dynamics with respect to COVID-19. As soon as there was clarity, he would share updates with the media.
  • The Spokesperson clarified that the President’s role was to provide a platform for Member States, including the Host Country, to come together and decide how they wanted the high-level period to play out.

 

SPOKESPERSON FIELDS QUESTIONS ON SECRETARY-GENERAL SELECTION & APPOINTMENT PROCESS

  • Asked whether a date had been set for the periodic coordination meeting between the Presidents of the General Assembly and Security Council, the Spokesperson said that meeting would take place on Monday 19 April. He added that the Secretary-General would be joining that coordination meeting, as he sometimes did.
  • Asked whether the selection and appointment process for the position of Secretary-General would be discussed during that meeting, the Spokesperson said it was not on the agenda.
  • Asked whether a separate meeting with just the Presidents of the General Assembly and Security Council was planned for this month, the Spokesperson said no separate meeting was envisioned.
  • Asked whether the President of the General Assembly was “worried” about the “lack of clarity” over the selection and appointment process, the Spokesperson said the President was not worried because he was “doing everything that he was supposed to be doing.” For example, on 7 May, he was convening an informal dialogue in which the current candidate would present a vision statement. The President would continue to operate in line with the guidance he had, including from General Assembly resolution 69/321. The Spokesperson added that the process would continue to unfold as a joint one with the President of the Security Council.
  • Asked whether the President was aware that there was “confusion over this process and the criteria for applicants”, the Spokesperson said the President was certainly aware that much attention was currently being given to this process. And because he followed the news and received regular briefings from his team, the President was also aware of all of the viewpoints being expressed. Moving forward, however, it was important to note that the President was only one part of this process and could not speak on behalf of the Security Council.
  • Replying to additional inquiries, the Spokesperson stressed that the President, from his side, was working to ensure a fair, transparent and inclusive process.
  • In response to a related question, the Spokesperson said there was currently one candidate, whose name had been circulated to all Member States by the Presidents of the General Assembly and Security Council, and six applicants, all of whose names had been forwarded by the President of the General Assembly to his Security Council counterpart in the interest of fairness. Any decision to circulate any of those six names to all UN Member States would have to be taken jointly by both Presidents.
  • Asked how the names were forwarded, the Spokesperson said that was done through letters. Asked if those letters would be made public, the Spokesperson said that letters from the President to all Member States were made public. Letters from the President to his Security Council counterpart were not.
  • Replying to a further question, the Spokesperson noted that, according to the UN Charter, the Security Council selected the Secretary-General and the General Assembly then appointed them. In that regard, he advised reporters to also direct their questions to the Security Council President’s spokesperson.