PRESS BRIEFING BY MONICA VILLELA GRAYLEY, SPOKESPERSON FOR GENERAL ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT ABDULLA SHAHID
Good afternoon! How are you today?
Before we started, I would like to say hello to somebody who is here in the Press Briefing Room for the second time. She is a new colleague, Naureen Hossain from Inter Press Service, IPS. Welcome!
GA President meets Heads of State and Government of Small Island States at COP26
This morning, at COP26 in Glasgow, the PGA met with Heads of State and Government of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS).
Mr. Abdulla Shahid delivered his message on the urgency of climate action to keep the 1.5-degree-Celsius target.
The PGA highlighted that no other group of countries are as at risk of immediate and severe climate impact; no others are as close to the frontlines as they are; and few have been as ambitious in their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) as the island nations. For Mr. Shahid, ocean health and climate change are inherently connected.
The GA President arrived on Saturday in Glasgow to take part in the UN Conference on Climate Change. He met several Heads of State and Government, young climate activists and women’s groups.
After the AOSIS Leaders’ Breakfast, Mr. Shahid held a separate bilateral meeting with women leaders of Civil Society Organizations.
Mr. Shahid and his delegation will return to New York tomorrow afternoon.
More information on the PGA’s participation in COP26 can be found on his Twitter account @UN_PGA and on our YouTube channel @UNPGA76.
PGA’s message on International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists
Mr. Abdulla Shahid released a message to mark the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists, which is marked on 2 November,
The PGA’s video was played earlier this morning at the Virtual High-Level Event on “Hate Speech and the Safety of Women Journalists”.
The event was hosted by the Permanent Missions of Greece, France and Lithuania to the UN, the Group of Friends for the Protection of Journalists and UNESCO.
In his remarks, the GA President said that “the spread of misinformation during the pandemic, in particular, has reminded us of the value of rigorous fact-based reporting.”
Mr. Shahid said that unfortunately, we are witnessing a steady global proliferation of attacks on journalists, simply for doing their jobs.
According to UNESCO, between 2006 and 2020, over 1,200 journalists have been killed for reporting the news and bringing information to the public. In nine out of ten cases the killers go unpunished.
The PGA highlighted that too often women journalists are disproportionately impacted as targets of hate speech, threats of violence, and harassment – both online and offline.
He concluded by saying that “the courage required to be a journalist should be the same courage required of any profession, in which one can expect to work with their lives, freedom and dignity intact.”
The entire message is on the UNPGA76 YouTube channel.
This is all for today. Any questions here or on the screen?
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#Deliver4Climate #Deliver4Equality
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