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

 

PALESTINIAN PEOPLE

The President of the General Assembly, Abdulla Shahid, is today meeting with the UN Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People.

The agenda is to discuss recent developments in the occupied Palestinian Territory and the way forward for the Middle East Peace process.

The Committee consists of 49 Member States.

It is currently chaired by the Permanent Representative of Senegal, Ambassador Cheikh Niang

 

UN-HABITAT

President Shahid met earlier this morning virtually with the Executive Director of UN-Habitat, Maimunah Mohd Sharif.

They discussed preparations for the high-level meeting on the New Urban Agenda that will be held on 28 April.

The Executive Director briefed President Shahid on UN Habitat’s outreach to the various regional groups and the feedback received on the preparations for the high-level meeting.

 

GENERAL ASSEMBLY

After we met yesterday, the General Assembly took action on three resolutions and decisions.

The first resolution created the International Day of Plant Health. The Day will be marked annually on 12th May, starting this year. The resolution was adopted by consensus. It was sponsored by Bolivia, Finland, Pakistan, the Philippines, Tanzania, and Zambia.

The resolution recognizes that healthy plants constitute the foundation for all life on Earth, as well as ecosystem functions, food security and nutrition.

The General Assembly also adopted by consensus a resolution focused on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response.

The General Assembly also agreed to logistical issues related to the Ocean Conference that will be held in Lisbon, Portugal, starting on 27 June.

 

COMMODITIES

Turning to upcoming events in the General Assembly…

Tomorrow, there will be a one-day informal interactive dialogue of the General Assembly on Commodity Markets.

The opening segment will hear from the President of the General Assembly, Abdulla Shahid…

UNCTAD Secretary-General Rebeca Grynspan and UNIDO Director-General Gerd Muller.

That segment will be followed by presentations from FAO and UNCTAD on COVID-19 and commodity trends and prospects.

The event will then have two interactive panels.

One will focus on the threat of crises and the renewed impetus for diversification.

The second panel will be on overcoming dependence through technology and innovation.

The panelists include UN officials, representatives from the private sector, academia and civil society.

President Shahid will give closing remarks.

I will share the program today with the noon briefing note.

 

SYRIA

And looking further ahead, the General Assembly will hold an informal plenary meeting on the situation of human rights in Syria. That will be on Friday, 8 April in the morning.

The High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet will deliver the interim oral update/