NOON BRIEFING HIGHLIGHTS BY PAULINA KUBIAK GREER,
SPOKESPERSON FOR GENERAL ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT ABDULLA SHAHID
United Nations Headquarters, New York

OUR COMMON AGENDA

Today is the second and last day of the first consultation on Our Common Agenda.

Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed provided opening remarks.

The morning session featured a fireside chat with senior officials of the UN system.

The moderator was UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner. The panelists were top officials from ILO, UN-Women, OHCHR, UNESCO and the Secretary-General’s Special envoy on Youth.

In the afternoon, the fireside chat will feature a number of UN partners. These include the UN Secretary-General’s Advocate for the SDGs, the head of the Club de Madrid, the General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation, the mayor of Freetown, Sierra Leone, and a member of the Young Leaders for SDG.

The panel will be moderated by Melissa Fleming, the Under-Secretary-General for the UN Department of Global Communications.

The closing remarks will be given by Volker Turk, the Under-Secretary-General for Policy in the Executive Office of the Secretary-General.

The next consultation will start on Monday, 14 February. The theme will be accelerating the SDGs through sustainable financing and building trust.

 

HOLHUASHI DIALOGUES

Turning to the theme for today – which is gender…

The President of the General Assembly, Abdulla Shahid, this morning held a special Holhuashi Dialogue with women in diplomacy.

The Dialogue included more than 20 women – who serve in various positions within the Permanent Missions to the United Nations. This was the first time that such meeting was held with experts at all level, including young diplomats.

The President has said that women continue to play a pioneering role in shaping contemporary global norms and the institutions that govern them.

To achieve gender parity, he has said that more needs to be done to remove barriers and empower women in all professional fields, including diplomacy.

It is also a natural progression of the Presidency’s ongoing efforts to facilitate platforms for women to share their stories and for him to raise those voices to the highest levels of international diplomacy.

The Holhuashi Dialogues are held under Chatham House rules. But the President said that I could tell you that in the Holhuashi – he called for the next Secretary-General to be a woman.

As with all the previous dialogues, a summary of key themes will be circulated to Member States.

 

INTERNATIONAL DAY VIDEO MESSAGE

Today is the International Day of Women and Girls in Science.

The leading agency on this Day, UNESCO, chose “water unites us” as the theme for this year.

In his video message for the Day, the President notes that women account for only 33 per cent of world researchers.

He blames stereotypes and biases as being at the core of challenges facing women and girls in science… and points to education as a way out.

“For a young girl who aspires to go to outer space, or to the depths of the Ocean, education can take a daydream and turn it into an ambition,” the President said.

 

RASIT

The President is marking the International Day with at event organized by the Royal Academy of Science International Trust (RASIT), and the Permanent Missions of Cyprus, Kenya, Lebanon, Malta, Morocco, the Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Rwanda, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, and Tajikistan to the United Nations.

In his keynote address, the President weaved in the theme of water, by celebrating women and girls who are working to address water-related challenges. From ensuring safe drinking water, to providing proper sanitation, to addressing issues of water around agriculture or climate change.

He said that as President of the UN General Assembly, he is committed to supporting women and girls in any way, including in providing pathways for women and girls that aspire in the fields of science.

And he called on national governments, the international community, civil society partners, and the private sector to support efforts on this front.

RASIT SCIENTISTS

And as part of the RASIT event, the President this afternoon will deliver remarks to an interactive session with about 30 women scientists around the world.

The President will participate virtually alongside HRH Princess Dr. Nisreen El-Hashemite, Executive Director of the Royal Academy of Science International Trust.

Some of the themes to be discussed include – how women in science can contribute to the achievement of sustainable water solutions, which is SDG number 6. And the importance of science education.

 

ROBERTA BONDAR

And on that note, and coinciding with the Day, the Office of the President today launched a new video podcast series.

It is called “In Conversation with…”.

Given the focus of today, the first guest is Dr. Roberta Bondar. She is Canada’s first female astronaut and the first neurologist in space.

The video series is available on the President’s official YouTube and social media accounts, and you have a press release about the launch in your inbox.

 

FELLOWSHIP OF HOPE

And turning to the Fellows of HOPE… today is Friday, so the eight young diplomats are in their weekly training workshop facilitated by UNITAR.

Today’s session is about how the Department for General Assembly and Conference Management works. The session is headed by Radhika Ochalik.

And watch the weekly in review video on social media to hear from our fellow, Javier Spencer, talk about his work and how it supports his home mission of Antigua and Barbuda.

 

QUESTIONS

The Spokesperson was asked about the frequency of the new video podcast series. The Spokesperson answered that it would be done regularly, either on a weekly or bi-weekly basis.