PRESS BRIEFING BY MONICA VILLELA GRAYLEY, SPOKESPERSON FOR GENERAL ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT ABDULLA SHAHID
Good afternoon!
I will start today with some updates for you, as many of you have asked me for the list of participants in the High-Level Meeting on Climate Action next week, on 26 October.
PGA’s High-Level Meeting on Climate Action to take place on 26 October
President Abdulla Shahid will convene the High-Level Meeting “Delivering Climate Action: for People, Planet and Prosperity” on 26 October. This will be a hybrid event in New York in two segments from 10am-1pm and 3pm-6pm ahead of COP-26.
Besides Heads of State and Government, the opening segment will have the Secretary-General in person, a recorded video on UNICEF Youth Advocates and other participants. The PGA has been engaging with young activists and students and will continue to interact with them during his official travels, as he listens to their suggestions on the climate emergency.
The first segment at 10.45 am. will have a discussion on “Taking Stock of the Road to COP-26”. The High-Level Meeting will also include representatives of the private sector, UN agencies and partners, the academia and civil society. The final segment, in the afternoon, will be about mobilizing responses by the entire society.
The event will focus on the gap between current and required technical and financial capacities to achieve the 1.5-degree Celsius target and how that gap can be met through showcasing best practices.
More on our website (www.un.org/pga) and here on our next briefings.
Mr. Abdulla Shahid saddened by the death of former Secretary of State, Colin Powell
This morning, Mr. Abdulla Shahid issued a tweet expressing his condolences to the family and friends of former US Secretary of State Colin Powell, who died today. Mr. Shahid said he was deeply saddened to hear of the passing of the former US Secretary of State. He added that Secretary Powell was a visionary leader and statesman, who dedicated his life to serving the American people.
PGA delivers video messages on poverty eradication and zero gravity parabolic flight
Over the weekend, the PGA delivered two video messages. In the first, on the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, Mr. Abdulla Shahid said that
for the 1.3 billion people in poverty – and the more than one hundred million people in extreme poverty – the pandemic was salt on a wound, exacerbating already tenuous conditions. For the PGA, the pandemic has given us all an opportunity to commit to a recovery that builds back better, particularly for those who have suffered the most. Mr. Shahid said we should all work together to put an end to poverty once and for all.
On the second message: the PGA spoke remotely at the Inaugural Zero-G Parabolic Flight aimed at advancing disability inclusion in space exploration.
The event was organized by the Royal Academy of Science International Trust and AstroAccess.
Yesterday, twelve professionals’ scientists, veterans, engineers, and artists with vision, mobility, and hearing disabilities tested the design for accessibility in zero-gravity and high gravity environments and carry out experimentation, data collection, and demonstration tasks.
Mr. Shahid praised the members of the Disabled Professional Team for their history-making initiative which sent a powerful and profound message to every girl and boy living with a disability: that all people are equal, that all people must be raised up and given the same opportunities.
PGA’s Agenda
Mr. Shahid met this morning with Judge Carmel Agius, President of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals. Later he talked to Permanent Representatives belonging to the “Uniting for Consensus Group”. This afternoon, he will grant an interview to the Xinhua News Agency and hold separate bilateral meetings with H.E Mr. Csaba Korosi former Representative of Hungary to the UN. After that, the PGA will meet at his Office Mr. Mark Suzman, CEO of Gates Foundation.
