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

Good afternoon!

GA & SC elect Ms. Hillary Charlesworth to the International Court of Justice

 Earlier today the General Assembly and the Security Council conducted simultaneous and independent elections for a new member of the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

At the GA Hall, Mr. Abdulla Shahid presided over the meeting which elected, by absolute majority, Ms. Hillary Charlesworth as the new member of the ICJ. Ms. Charlesworth, from Australia, received 119 votes at the General Assembly and obtained absolute majority at the Security Council, according to the letter sent to the PGA by the President of the Security Council with the election result.

The other candidate to the ICJ, Mr. Linos-Alexander Sicilianos, from Greece, received 71 votes at the GA election.

A professor of Law, Ms. Charlesworth will now occupy the seat left vacant with the passing of H.E. Judge James Richard Crawford, from Australia, on 31 May. Her term in office begins today and will expire on 5 February 2024.

The International Court of Justice is composed of 15 judges elected to nine-year terms of office by the GA and the Security Council.

 

GA to hold HL Meeting on Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons

And now a note for your diaries:

On 22 and 23 November, the General Assembly will conduct a High-Level Meeting on the Appraisal of the United Nations Global Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons.

The objective is to evaluate the progress achieved in the implementation of the Global Plan. This appraisal takes place on a quadrennial basis and reflects on current gaps and challenges.

The two-day-meeting will include an opening segment followed by plenary meetings, two interactive panel discussions, and a closing plenary meeting. A political declaration on the implementation of the Global Plan is expected to be adopted at the opening plenary on 22 November.

The meeting will be attended by the PGA, the Secretary-General, the Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the Special Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons, especially women and children and a Civil Society Representative.

The Panel Discussion 1, in the afternoon, will touch upon enduring trafficking issues and gaps including the trafficking of women and children, particularly girls, for the purpose of sexual exploitation.

Panel 2 will discuss trafficking in persons in the context of COVID-19, and the misuse of information and communications technologies to facilitate trafficking, including of children for the purpose of sexual exploitation on the Internet.

The event will conclude on 23 November with plenary meetings at the GA Hall.

Civil society representatives will take part in the meetings with short videos broadcast at the GA. A list of over 50 Civil Society Organizations is already online at the PGA’s website under the section “Letters”.

 

PGA’s Agenda

Mr. Shahid started his day presiding over the election of a Judge for the ICJ. This afternoon he will receive at this Office in separate bilateral meetings the Permanent Representatives of Syria, Eritrea and Mr. Sandro Gozi, Member of the European Parliament.

The PGA will also meet the Ambassadors of Sweden and Germany to the United Nations.

 

Spokesperson to the PGA76

Finally, on a personal note, today is my last briefing to you on behalf of the PGA. I have informed Mr. Shahid that I am stepping down as his Spokesperson due to personal reasons. I am very grateful to the PGA for his understanding. I also thank the entire team for the cooperation we had over the last two months.

I wish All of you here in the briefing room as well as the Presidency of Hope all the best for the future.

 

This is all from us. Do you have anything else?

 

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