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

United Nations Headquarters, New York

21 April 2021

SYRIANS DESERVE PEACE AND JUSTICE, PRESIDENT TELLS ASSEMBLY

  • This morning, the plenary is holding a debate related to Syria – specifically on the report of the IIIM.
  • That stands for the International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism to Assist in the Investigation and Prosecution of Persons Responsible for the Most Serious Crimes under International Law Committed in the Syrian Arab Republic since March 2011.
  • Currently, 30 delegations are inscribed to speak.
  • In opening remarks, the President said the decade of conflict in Syria has led to the most heinous acts, including torture, forced disappearances, sexual violence, attacks on civilians, and the use of chemical weapons.
  • He noted the firsthand accounts of horror and suffering from Syrian civil society, which have been shared in the General Assembly Hall. He also noted his own recent travels to Turkey’s Hatay province, which hosts 450,000 Syrian refugees. There he met Syrian children, who have never known a true home of their own, and women, who, despite years of hardship, are determined to re-build their lives.
  • Regarding his visit to the UN trans-shipment hub at the Syrian-Turkish border, he said it was shameful that, after 10 years, we still need to advocate for humanitarian access. He expressed hope that the critical UN cross-border aid operation, which is a lifeline for millions in northeast Syria, would continue uninterrupted. And he called on the relevant Member States to ensure that its mandate is extended beyond July.
  • Regarding the IIIM, which was created by the General Assembly in 2016, he commended its victim/survivor-centred approach, as well as its gender strategy. He also asked all Member States to support it, so that it was sufficiently funded.
  • Stressing that accountability and impartial and inclusive justice are preconditions for reconciliation, he said the Syrian people deserve peace and justice.
  • Asked if the President felt that the upcoming elections in Syria could be “free, fair and credible, when half of the population fled the country,” the Spokesperson said it would not be for the President to comment on internal election processes. However, on the topic of Syria in general, he had been very vocal, including after his visit to the Turkish-Syrian border, about the humanitarian needs he had seen there, as well as the need for cross-border operations to continue so that vital aid could reach Syrians in Syria.

 

ASSEMBLY TO TAKE NOTE OF U.N.D.P. APPOINTMENT

  • Also today in the General Assembly Hall, the plenary plans to take note of the Secretary-General’s request to the General Assembly to confirm his appointment of Achim Steiner of Germany as Administrator of the UN Development Programme (UNDP).
  • This would be for a further four-year term of office, starting on 17 June 2021.

 

PRESIDENT MARKS WORLD CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION DAY

  • Today is World Creativity and Innovation Day. This day was proclaimed by the General Assembly in 2017.
  • To mark the occasion, the President tweeted that, after a year of pandemic-induced lockdowns, there couldn’t be a better time to appreciate the creative economy.
  • He also urged Member States to embrace the idea that innovation is essential to all aspects of human development.

 

HIGH-LEVEL DEBATE ON URBAN SAFETY, SECURITY & GOOD GOVERNANCE TO BE HELD TOMORROW

  • Tomorrow the President will convene the “High-level Debate on Urban Safety, Security and Good Governance: Making Crime Prevention a Priority for All.”
  • Opening remarks will be delivered by the President and the Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), who will also share a message from the Secretary-General.
  • Eleven ministers will address the meeting by video message. Those ministers will be from Guyana, Egypt, Japan, Maldives, Nepal, Ecuador, Spain, Republic of Moldova, El Salvador, United Kingdom and Peru.
  • There will also be an interactive panel discussion. Panelists will include the Executive Director of UN-Habitat and the Mayor of Medellín, Colombia.