PRESS BRIEFING BY AMY QUANTRILL, DEPUTY SPOKESPERSON FOR GENERAL ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT VOLKAN BOZKIR

United Nations Headquarters, New York

8 September 2021

 

PRESIDENT OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY PRESS BRIEFING TOMORROW

  • On 9 September at 12 PM the President of the 75th session of the General Assembly, H.E. Mr. Volkan Bozkir will give a final press conference in the press briefing room. It is a hybrid event so journalists can join remotely. The President will make brief opening remarks and then take questions. Please indicate to the Spokesperson any questions in advance.

 

GENERAL ASSEMBLY HIGH-LEVEL PLENARY TO COMMEMORATE AND PROMOTE THE INTERNATIONAL DAY AGAINST NUCLEAR TESTS

  • This morning the President spoke at the General Assembly High-level plenary meeting to commemorate and promote the International Day against Nuclear Tests. Since nuclear weapons testing began on 16 July 1945, over 2,000 have taken place.
  • The President said: “These tests have long lasting health and environmental consequences. They devastate the communities they impact. They displace families from their homelands.”
  • The President welcomed the progress that has been achieved towards nuclear disarmament in the past year and urged for postponed meetings to be rearranged.
  • In the context of this High-level meeting, the President met with Dr. Rob Floyd, Executive Secretary of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization & thanked him for his efforts towards eliminating nuclear threats.

 

 ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE SPOKESPERSON FOR THE PRESIDENT OF THE 76TH  SESSION OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY

  • Finally, I am happy to announce that my successor will be Monica Villela Grayley, who will take over as the Spokesperson to the next PGA on 14 September.
  • Many of you will remember Monica as the spokesperson for the President of the 73rd session of the GA, Ms. María Fernanda Espinosa. Monica will join OPGA from the Global Department of Communications, DGC, and has served the United Nations as Chief of UN News Portuguese, Director of the United Nations Information Centre (UNIC) in Mexico, among other posts. Prior to joining the UN, she worked for the BBC World Service, in London, as a multimedia journalist and an editor, in the 1990’s she served as a producer at Deutsche Welle in Germany.  Monica started her career as a radio talk show hostess in Brazil, where she also worked for TV and press. She is fluent in Spanish, German, Portuguese and English and utilizes French as a working language in the UN.

 

HIGH-LEVEL WEEK

 

  • When asked about the Food Systems Summit, the Spokesperson can confirm it will take place virtually on 23 September https://www.un.org/en/food-systems-summit
  • When asked about the High-level Dialogue on Energy, the Spokesperson can confirm it will take place virtually on 24 September https://www.un.org/en/conferences/energy2021