Press Briefing: Opening Remarks | End of Main Session

Remarks by H.E. Mr. Abdulla Shahid, President of the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly

14 December 2021

It is a pleasure to be with you today.

Welcome to those of you here in-person and those of you online.

I was last in this briefing room on 1^st October. And since then so many things have happened and I have a lot to update you on.

I have spoken with some of you in the hallways, and at the UN Correspondents Association gala.  As I have told you – both individually and at the gala – your work is essential; you tell the world what the United Nations is doing – or not doing.

Continue keeping my spokesperson and me on our toes. And for me that includes literally. I could always use the extra inches in height.

In all seriousness, my dear friends, know that I will always stand up for your right to report what is accurate and unbiased.

Before I take your questions, allow me to outline a bit of what has happened during these past few months:

You know I have promised a Presidency of Hope, built on five ‘rays of hope’.

On the first two rays: recovering from the pandemic and rebuilding sustainably, let me be very clear: our only respite from COVID-19 is to successfully ensure vaccine access for everyone, everywhere. No one is safe until everyone is safe.

I have been advocating this point since the start of the session and I have recently escalated this effort.

At the moment, I am working on a New Year’s “resolution” on vaccines. My hope is to get all 193 Member States on board by January, to coincide with the high-level event on vaccine equity here in New York. That event is going to be on 13 January. I sincerely hope you will help promote and cover this event, as this issue affects all of us.

Our goal is to ensure equitable access, and subsequent delivery of vaccines to everyone, everywhere, at the earliest. I want to see renewed political commitment and meaningful engagement to ensure universal vaccination.

I also promised to respond to the needs of the planet.

On 26 October, I held a thematic debate on delivering climate action for people, planet, and prosperity. The event was about showcasing solutions. About highlighting the fact that humanity has the skills, the technologies, the resources to combat climate change – we simply are not applying them adequately, efficiently, or at scale.

I took the messages from that event with me to Glasgow, to COP26.

Frankly, COP26 did not meet everyone’s expectations, but it did continue to push us in the right direction. As part of the Glasgow Climate Pact, the 1.5°C target is alive, even if it is on life support. That is a reason to be optimistic.

A personal highlight in Glasgow was meeting with women scientists and listening to their stories of achievements and challenges.

This brings me to my ray of hope on human rights.

I am a lifelong supporter of gender equality. My cabinet here at the UN is gender balanced. I have promised to only participate on panels that are gender balanced. And I take every opportunity to meet with women and girls, be that heads of state, or women scientists, or civil society, or school children. I want to listen to and learn about their experiences. I am an ally and advocate for gender equality, I want to hear directly from women and girls what it is that will be most useful for them.

I also believe it is imperative that we involve young people in what we do, and I am very proud of my Fellowship for HOPE, that was launched only weeks ago, and the successful candidates, which were just recently announced.

Through this fellowship, eight young diplomats will join my office starting in January. They are coming from Antigua and Barbuda, Bhutan, Grenada, Guinea, Lao PDR, Nauru, Uganda, and Zimbabwe. That is 5 women and 3 men. They will be attached to my Office, working with my teams, and also take seminars and workshops organized by UNITAR.

I know they will contribute to the success of the Presidency of Hope. And more importantly, as a small islander who has seen and experienced the struggles of so many countries in keeping up with the rest of the world on the diplomatic stage, I know they will walk away with knowledge and skills to support their nations. As true multilateralists.

I would like to see this program continue in future General Assembly sessions and we are putting in place the systems, procedures and architecture to help facilitate that.

In terms of revitalizing the United Nations, I am continuing to support the IGN process, as well as revitalization of the General Assembly. I am also supporting Member States as they continue to deliberate on implementation of ‘Our Common Agenda’.

In November, I had the pleasure of hosting 150+ civil society representatives in the GA Hall – the first such engagement since the pandemic – and I am glad that the UN Headquarters will be reopen to civil society organizations starting in January 2022.

Throughout the session, I have maintained and built close ties with the President of ECOSOC and have coordination meetings regularly with the Secretary-General and the Presidents of the Security Council.

Looking ahead, my friends, and related to this, on 11 January, I will be holding a briefing to present my priorities for the resumed part to all member states, to be followed shortly thereafter by Secretary-General’s report on the organization, as well as the joint statement with the President of ECOSOC.

In terms of connecting with Membership, I am pleased also to have continued the process of my predecessors hosting morning dialogues. This session it is done under the name ‘Holhuashi dialogues’, which is a Maldivian term. We have had five so far, with 45 Ambassadors in attendance.

All of this is of course in addition to the work within the General Assembly Hall.

I convened the 50^th plenary meeting last Friday, 10 December. We have already had high-level meetings on Durban Declaration and Program of Action and on trafficking persons. We have many more to come.

I expect that all the reports of the Main Committees, with the exception of the Fifth, will conclude this week. I am working closely with the Chair of the Fifth Committee to end on time, on the recess date of 23 December.

Since we last spoke, I have traveled. I went to Glasgow and China, and had very good meetings.

My attention now is very much on the new year, on vaccine equity, on welcoming the new Fellows to our team, on initiatives around tourism, and around debt, which we are leading on, and on ensuring that we champion women and girls, and a sustainable recovery at every turn.

I think I have spoken enough.

It would seem I have a lot to do.

Let me stop here and hear from you.