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

EMERGENCY SPECIAL SESSION

The United Nations General Assembly will resume its Emergency Special Session tomorrow, Thursday, at 10AM ET, following a request from a group of Member States and in accordance with resolution ES-11/2 of 24 March 2022.

The request for the resumption, received by the Office of the President of the General Assembly, was dated 5 April.

It was signed by representatives of Antigua and Barbuda, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Georgia, Japan, Liberia, Republic of Moldova, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, United States and the Head of the Delegation of the European Union, on behalf of 27 members of the European Union.

Action on a draft resolution is expected at tomorrow’s Emergency Special Session.

That draft resolution is entitled ‘Suspension of the rights of membership of the Russian Federation in the Human Rights Council’. It is initiated under agenda item 5 of the Emergency Special Session.

The draft resolution was submitted for co-sponsorship by the following countries: Ukraine, Antigua and Barbuda, Canada, Colombia, Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Georgia, Germany, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Liberia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Poland, Republic of Moldova, the United Kingdom and United States.

If a vote takes place, it will require a two-thirds majority of those present and voting.

The draft resolution is attached. The letter and the draft resolution are also available at https://www.un.org/pga/76/2022/04/05/letter-from-the-president-of-the-general-assembly-joint-letter-with-a-request-to-resume-11th-emergency-special-session/

 

MIGRATION

Also tomorrow, Member States will continue consultations on the Progress Declaration. That’s the intergovernmental document that will be the outcome of the International Migration Review Forum. Tomorrow will be the second round of consultations.

Ambassador Rabab Fatima, the Permanent Representative of Bangladesh and Ambassador Olivier Maes, the Permanent Representative of Luxembourg, are the co-facilitators of the International Migration Review Forum.

The Forum will be held at the UN General Assembly starting on 17 May. It will be preceded by a one-day informal interactive multi-stakeholder hearing on 16 May.

QUESTIONS

The Spokesperson was asked if any Member States will speak before or after the vote. The Spokesperson said that if a vote takes place, there will be introductory statements and some Member States may elect to speak before or after the vote.

The Spokesperson was asked for draft text of the resolution. The draft resolution is attached. The related letters and the draft resolution are available at https://www.un.org/pga/76/2022/04/05/letter-from-the-president-of-the-general-assembly-joint-letter-with-a-request-to-resume-11th-emergency-special-session/

The Spokesperson was asked to clarify the two-thirds voting requirement. The Spokesperson said that abstentions do not count. The resolution requires two-thirds of yes/no votes to be adopted.

The Spokesperson was asked for President Shahid’s reaction to the Security Council meeting – is the UN. The Spokesperson said that President Shahid would not comment on the Security Council. The Spokesperson can further add that the Security Council is one of the six charter bodies and it has its President, Permanent and Elected members. The President of the General Assembly is responsible for the conduct of GA Affairs. It would neither be prudent nor responsible on his part to comment on a Charter body for which he is not responsible.

The Spokesperson was asked if the draft is adopted, can Russia get its voting rights back. The Spokesperson said that at issue is Russia’s current membership on the Council, which ends in December 2023. Any action on Russia’s membership past that date is up to Member States. The Spokesperson also suggested that journalists reach out to Rolando Gomez, who is the Spokesperson for the Human Rights Council.

The Spokesperson was asked for a precedent of suspension. The Spokesperson confirmed the only other time this took place was with Libya in 2011.

The Spokesperson was asked for additional details on Libya’s suspension from the Human Rights Council in 2011. The Spokesperson said that she would include the related resolution with the noon briefing notes. Resolution A/RES/65/265 from March 2011 is attached. https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N10/528/44/PDF/N1052844.pdf