PRESS BRIEFING BY MONICA VILLELAGRAYLEY, SPOKESPERSON FOR GENERAL ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT ABDULLA SHAHID

                                                                         United Nations Headquarters, New York

Good afternoon! I will start today with a travel announcement.

 

GA President, Abdulla Shahid, will travel to Glasgow to take part in COP26

The President of the General Assembly will travel to the United Kingdom to attend the UN Conference on Climate Change, COP26, in Glasgow.

Mr. Abdulla Shahid and his delegation will leave on Friday afternoon.

The PGA will speak at the event’s opening on 31 October. Whilst in Glasgow, Mr. Shahid will hold several bilateral meetings with Heads of State and Government, women’s groups, young leaders for climate action and youth activists from the Small Island Developing States (SIDS).

On 1 November, the PGA will meet a group of women scientists and speak at a meeting with Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and SIDS.

The day after, on Tuesday, the GA President will deliver opening remarks at the Breakfast with Heads of State and Government of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS). He will also hold a separate meeting with women leaders of Civil Society Organizations.  

Mr. Shahid will travel with a deputy Chef de Cabinet, his sustainable development team leader, a communications adviser, his executive secretary and two security officers.

All travel costs are being covered by the PGA’s Office Trust Fund.

Mr. Shahid and his delegation will return to New York on 3rd November.

 

PGA’S Gender Advisory Board on Gender Equality will meet on 28 October

The PGA’s Advisory Board on Gender Equality will hold its first meeting tomorrow. Mr. Shahid announced all names of the participants of the Board last week. There are 11 advisers and two observers.

The GA President expressed his deep commitment to advance gender equality.

The members and observers were selected based on their experience and expertise.

Mr. Shahid believes that the Board will be instrumental to ensure that gender equality and empowerment of women and girls is a cross-cutting issue across the work of the 76th UNGA.

The Board has been expanded to include Member States, the UN Secretariat and key stakeholders. After the meeting, there will be a summary of the discussions which will be circulated to Member States and published on our website. This event will not be on UN Web TV.

 

PGA’S Agenda

The PGA started his day meeting the Permanent Representative of Algeria to the UN. He later received at his office the Ambassador of Singapore. Mr. Abdulla Shahid also held a meeting with the Director of Disarmament and designated President of the First Meeting of States Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), and the President of the Human Rights Council, Ambassador Nazhat Shameem Khan.  

This afternoon, he will take part in a luncheon hosted by the Permanent Representative of Kuwait. He will return to his Office to several separate bilateral meetings with Ambassador Gustavo Zlauvinen, President-designate of the 10th Review Conference of the NPT, Mr. Jean Todt, UN SG’s Special Envoy for Road Safety and Ms. Ruvendrini Menikdiwela, who heads the UNHCR Office in NY.

This afternoon, President Shahid will speak to Bloomberg TV channel.

He will finish the day with a dinner hosted by the Permanent Representative of Mongolia.

 

This is all from us for today. Do you have any questions?

 

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